THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS of the Park District of Forest Park, Cook County, Illinois was held in the Administration Building of the Park District of Forest Park, 7501 Harrison Street, Forest Park, Illinois at 7:00 p.m. on April 20, 2006.
Roll Call: President Boy chaired the meeting. Commissioners Boy, Byrnes, Espinosa, McDermott and Sansone answered present. Also present were Director Dave Novak, Assistant Director Larry Piekarz, Superintendent Larry Buckley, Treasurer Gerald Sebesta, Attorney Jim Wascher and Secretary Chris Richards. Citizen Dr. Negale T. Jackson and Seth Stern of the Forest Park Review were also in attendance.
The Pledge of Allegiance was recited.
Approval of Agenda: Motion was made by Commissioner McDermott, seconded by Commissioner Espinosa to approve the agenda. Ayes: 5.
Approval of Minutes:
-Motion was made by Commissioner McDermott, seconded by Commissioner Espinosa, to approve the minutes of the March 16, 2006 Regular Meeting. Roll Call: Ayes: Commissioners Byrnes, Espinosa, McDermott, Sansone and Boy.
Correspondence: The Board reviewed the correspondence file which included our annual membership letter from the Forest Park Chamber of Commerce, the March 2006 Board Highlights of the Forest Park Public Schools District No. 91, an e-mail from Friedman & Holtz, our attorneys, announcing their new office location and phone numbers, and Illinois Park & Recreation Certification Board renewal notices for Director Novak, Asst. Director Piekarz and Recreation Supervisor Ryan-Robinette itemizing CEU's earned.
Public Comment:
Dr. N. Jackson, representing the Forest Park Restorative Institute, addressed the Board, requesting response to three questions:
Do you have any partnership with non-profit organizations in the community?
Do you have any outreach programs or after-school programs in partnership with community organizations that want to participate in these kinds of programs?
What are the future plans as far as replacing the basketball courts that are being torn down.
Director Novak replied that we do have arrangements with the Forest Park Youth Soccer Assn. and Forest Park Little League and we belong to the Forest Park Community Education Council, which is a partnership with the Village and the School District to provide educational and recreational programs to the community. Assistant Director Piekarz stated that we also hosted a program for Proviso Township that was cancelled by them due to lack of participation and we provided an after-school Teen Center, which unfortunately has been suspended because, with the renovations of Building #4, our DayCamp program has been moved to the room occupied by the Teen Center. Director Novak stated that a skatepark is being built where the basketball courts were and Commissioner McDermott noted that, in our Five-Year Comprehensive Master Capital Improvement Plan, there is a provision for basketball courts to be installed at the west end of the Park. Asst. Director Piekarz commented that we did donate the backboards and rims that we took down and installed them for the Community Center. Director Novak mentioned that he had attended a meeting on January 19th with representatives of the Restorative Institute, the Village and the School District. He indicated that they had discussed the use of Altenheim property and reiterated that the Park District is a separate entity from the Village and has no control over the use of that property. We do have open hours for our multi-purpose field, as well as rental procedures. He again invited Dr. Jackson and/or members of his group to meet with him with concerns and ideas so that he could include these on the agenda of a future meeting of the Board. He added that, since the meeting, he has not been contacted by anyone from the Restorative Institute.
Treasurer's Report:
-Treasurer Sebesta reviewed the lists of computer checks totaling $98,784.67 and manual checks totaling $9,403.08 for a grand total of $108,187.75 in disbursements for March and April. It was noted that the first payout for Recreation Building #4 Improvements was included in this month's bills. Motion was made by Commissioner Sansone, seconded by Commissioner McDermott, to authorize disbursements for March and April. Roll Call: Ayes: Commissioners Byrnes, Espinosa, McDermott, Sansone and Boy.
-Treasurer Sebesta reported that fund balances for the close of March totaled $945,705.86. Except for the Audit and Pool Funds, all funds show positive balances; we have received about 43% of last year's actual levy collected. Investments total $870,662.51 in a money market at Forest Park National Bank, yielding 3.35% He highlighted revenue accounts that have exceeded budgeted amounts, as well as expense accounts that are under-budget. Motion was made by Commissioner McDermott, seconded by Commissioner Espinosa, to accept the March 2006 Financial Statements. Roll Call: Ayes: Commissioners Byrnes, Espinosa, McDermott, Sansone and Boy.
Maintenance Report:
-Superintendent Buckley reported that his crew has been working on the grounds, especially the ballfields in preparation for both Little League and softball beginning next week. They have also installed all new underwater pool lights in the pool. He would like to fill the pool early this year to make sure that all the filter room work will hold up, so will begin powerwashing the pool next week.
Assistant Director's Report:
-Assistant Director Piekarz reported that he has ordered the new van and the movie screen. Larry Buckley is checking into whether it would be feasible and affordable to transfer and repair the boom to the old 15-passenger van as it is not worth trading in.
-Larry presented proposed verbage, approved through PDRMA, for signs at the new skatepark. Dave noted that the cement is being poured for the skatepark next week. Motion was made by Commissioner McDermott, seconded by Commissioner Byrnes, to approve the wording presented and titled Park District of Forest Park Bud Mohr Skatepark, Skatepark Warnings and Safety Rules.
Roll Call: Ayes: Commissioners Byrnes, Espinosa, McDermott, Sansone and Boy.
-Dave and Larry presented the proposed new design for the billboard, which will feature a photo of the pool and promote both the pool and the new skatepark.
-Assistant Director Piekarz outlined upcoming events: the Family Garage Sale on 4/22, Softball League opening on 4/24, Little League Opening Day on 4/29 and the Relay for Life on 6/23. The Little League Board has extended an invitation to the Board of Park Commissioners to attend the opening ceremonies on April 29 at 10:00 a.m.
-Larry passed around pictures of recent "tagging" and graffiti in the Park. He has met with Chief Ryan and Lt. Cody arranged for the reserve police to start working in the evenings, along with the rangers, beginning on April 28. Commissioner Byrnes suggested that we again look into security cameras to monitor areas of the Park that are prone to vandalism. Larry commented that we have added more teen programming in the summer brochure that may help to deter this negative activity.
-Larry has ordered food tickets specifically for the 4th of July this year. Deko's has asked to sell sandwiches this year on the 4th, however the Park District has traditionally handled the sandwich concessions and it is our main source of income for the day. Larry's recommendation is that we ask them to sell items other than sandwiches as they did last year and keep the sandwich sales for ourselves. The Board agreed.
-Larry thanked all who helped with the Easter Egg Hunt, especially our Easter Bunny Sandy Byrnes.
Director's Report:
-Director Novak reported that the Main Street Annual Meeting will be held on May 3, 2006.
-Dave reminded the Board that WSSRA's 5th Annual Derby Gala is scheduled for Saturday, May 6.
-Dave reported that Wayne's Auto Repair donated a fork-lift truck to the Park when he closed his business recently. We paid only $100.00 for the new battery that he had recently installed and the truck is valued at about $8000.00.
-Director Novak, along with Commissioners Boy and Espinosa, attended the Legislative Conference in Springfield on March 27th. There were some interesting speakers at the conference and during their trip Dave picked up new editions of the Illinois Park District Law Handbook and some materials on Parliamentary Procedure.
-Dave shared information regarding the Forest Park Firefighters Annual Candlelight Bowl to be held on Friday, May 19th. We will make a donation towards their raffle and Dave asked if any commissioners would be interested in getting a lane of bowlers together like last year.
Old Business:
-None.
New Business:
-Director Novak reviewed the Proposal for Architectural Service for Programming and Schematic Design Phase for the Addition, Improvements and Repairs to the Administration Building #1. As was discussed last month, approval of this proposal is the first step in continuing with projects planned for the Administration Building. Motion was made by Commissioner Espinosa, seconded by Commissioner Sansone, to accept W-T Engineering's Proposal for Architectural Service for Programming and Schematic Design Phase for the Addition, Improvements and Repairs to the Administration Building #1. Roll Call: Ayes: Commissioners Byrnes, Espinosa, McDermott, Sansone and Boy.
-Director Novak read a Resolution in appreciation for the donation of H. J. Mohr & Sons Co. towards the Skatepark and naming the Skatepark in honor of Bud Mohr. Motion was made by Commissioner Byrnes, seconded by Commissioner Sansone, to adopt the Resolution as read. Roll Call: Ayes: Commissioners Byrnes, Espinosa, McDermott, Sansone and Boy. Dave updated the Board on the status of the Skatepark and said that he expects that the Grand Opening should be able to be held in mid-May and that the family of Bud Mohr will be invited and presented with the Resolution.
-Dave reviewed the Change Order for the Building # 4 project, which totals $6467.00. The change order includes electrical work that will bring the electrical box up to code, as well as a window for the vestibule to allow staff to see who is in the vestibule area and the addition of a wall to hide plumbing and electrical wiring in the kitchen area.
Motion was made by Commissioner Espinosa, seconded by Commissioner McDermott to recess for five minutes. Roll Call: Ayes: Commissioners Byrnes, Espinosa, McDermott, Sansone and Boy.
Closed Session:
-Motion was made by Commissioner Espinosa, seconded by Commissioner McDermott to enter into closed session under Section 2(c)(1) of the Open Meetings Act for the discussion of matters concerning personnel. Roll Call: Ayes: Commissioners Byrnes, Espinosa, McDermott, Sansone and Boy.
-The Board reconvened in Open Session at 9:33 p.m.
-President Boy announced that there would be no action on matters discussed in closed session.
Adjournment:
-Motion to adjourn was made by Commissioner Espinosa at 9:35 p.m., seconded by Commissioner Byrnes. Ayes: 5.
Submitted by: Chris Richards, Secretary
Approved: Howard Boy, Board of Park Commissioners
Cathleen McDermott, Board of Park Commissioners
Date: ____5/4/06_______________________