Board Minutes

BOARD MINUTES
October 10, 2011

The regular monthly Board Meeting of the Board of Commissioners was called at 7:00 p.m. on October 10, 2011 at the Cynthia Neal Center, 8047 W. 91^ST Place, Hickory Hills, Illinois.

The following commissioners were present: Jerantowski, Michaels, Morgan, Potacki, Kosnick.

Also present were: Dan Maier, Recreation Director; Jennifer Fullerton, Executive Director; Jim Murphy, Maintenance Director and State Representative Kelly Burke.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Commissioner Kosnick moved, seconded by Commissioner Morgan, to approve the minutes of September 12, 2011. Ayes: Kosnick, Jerantowski, Michaels, Morgan, Potacki.

SECRETARY’S REPORT
Commissioner Kosnick received a September NRPA magazine. All commissioners received a PDRMA Fall Pulse newsletter, an Openlander Fall newsletter, a letter from Cook County Treasurer regarding filing the audit/financial report. Director Fullerton said she automatically downloads the audit to the Cook County Treasurer’s web site as soon as the audit is complete.  It was downloaded on the web site September 14^th.

CITIZEN’S REPORT
Kelly Burke said she represents Hickory Hills, Chicago Ridge, Evergreen Park, Palos Hills, Hometown, parts of Chicago and Oak Lawn. She met Jennifer Fullerton at the grand reopening of the new recreation center. She wanted to fill you in on some items in Springfield. Feel free to call the office when you need help. The most important thing we did this year was the budget. This year there was a more conservative approach. We are looking for a zero based budget or budgeting for results. It is an on going process. It hasn’t been done like this in 25 years. The governor proposed spending $35 billion and we took it down and agreed to spend $33.1 billion. If we get more money than that we are going to use it to pay unpaid bills. You probably have a lag time on money you should get. It may take a few years to get back on track. You should start to see your payables from the state more regularly. Mrs. Burke asked how many employees you have. Director Fullerton said 36 to 38. Mrs. Burke said many businesses are saying that it is too expensive to do business in Illinois. There was a worker’s compensation reform passed. There are AMA guidelines of how certain injuries are defined and how long you can get worker’s comp. Illinois has the third or second highest of worker’s comp. fee reimbursement schedule in the country. It will be $500-$700 million in cost savings to businesses to other employers. Let her know if there is cost savings when the worker’s compensation bills are sent to the district. If not check with your insurer if there is lag time. The Illinois Park Association is involved with government caucus. They came to us about the government sweeping funds for OSLAD into the general revenue fund. About 100 of us sent a letter to the governor to stop doing it and they said they will in the future. The governor has the right to make those sweeps but he shouldn’t make that a regular part of the budget process. There was a bill for FOIA where it pertains to municipalities, libraries and park districts. They used to be able to FOIA your day camp lists and get the addresses, phone numbers, etc. for children. It was done mainly for commercial purposes. Now you don’t have to release them. The PARC grants were awarded and she didn’t see one for Hickory Hills. Director Fullerton said she applied but was told no because we hired architect and put a shovel in the ground. Mrs. Burke said it is funded through the capital bill which means it gets paid quicker and they bond out so the bond is paid through a dedicated income stream. They have awarded $50 million but it will be a total of $150 million. Director Fullerton said she was told if you didn’t apply initially and have a project in two years you wouldn’t qualify for it. All the district’s that didn’t get a grant in the first round may still have a chance. But they weren’t sure for new projects. Mrs. Burke said that DNR said they will take new applications but they won’t open it for awhile. They need to do grant administration and it could be nine months or longer. She asked if we would go ahead with the project if we didn’t get a grant. Director Fullerton said we would but it wouldn’t be as large of a project, for example, the splash pad is not part of the project right now but it would be if we received a grant. Right now it is just the playground. Mrs. Burke said if you need any help or to write some letters to let her know. Commissioner Michaels said what is on everyone’s mind is the consolidation bill of the park districts. Mrs. Burke said there is a commission, that she is not on, but they are studying whether or not if the governments can come together. She doesn’t know what the criterion is. If it is to consolidation school district’s it would be completely different from your park district with another park district. Mostly they are looking at consolidating schools. She hasn’t heard anything concrete with libraries or any one else. Director Fullerton said it is not concrete right now but they would take a small district and said to the larger one that you have to take them on. Director Fullerton said if another park district took us over then we would worry about our community. Our residents tell us that the parks are beautiful and pristine and now you take on another park district that is not as nice and now you have to take on that burden. If someone takes us over you wonder what will happen to the parks and facilities and if they would be kept up like they are now. Mrs. Burke said the consolidation other than schools hasn’t been a big topic. If you have to merge with another entity that is not fiscally sound, how will you do that due diligence? How do make sure you are not consolidating with a large liability. You take all the time to make sure you have everything in order and to make sure you don’t upset the apple cart. Commissioner Potacki said someone from the state came out and gave us 100%. What if we take on someone else and now it is 75%. Mrs. Burke said the concern with consolidation is if the expenditures are reduced. In the schools they are looking at sharing offices, purchasing and insurance where you able to save money but still maintain your independence.  Director Fullerton said we save money, not so much daily operations but with insurance or other services. Mrs. Burke said with schools it is how can they share resources. Keep an eye on other local governments. Commissioner Kosnick said come up with other things like to have the volunteers that are commissioners go through training. Director Fullerton said she thinks he is talking about FOIA training and Open Meetings Act. Mrs. Burke said it is her bill and a great bill. If you go on-line to the attorney general’s web site you can take the training. Mrs. Burke said she was on the library board and took it voluntarily. She completed it in 45 minutes. Director Fullerton said FOIA was two hours and so was the Open Meetings Act. It is good information but what if they don’t have a computer. Mrs. Burke said there is no penalty. Director Fullerton read there is a penalty on the bill. Mrs. Burke said that everything was changed with that. It is an obligation to do it right. Director Fullerton said the bill says “as we previously reported the act is significantly improved over the original legislation which would have disqualified an officer from being a candidate in future elections for the officer in which he or she is serving and if he or she failed to complete the required training will also has subjected the official to a Class A misdemeanor.” Mrs. Burke said it was never a criminal provision. There is a Senate Bill 7 and it does a lot to reinforce teacher training. Each school board member has to take four hours of training. Public official training is a valuable thing. Commissioner Kosnick said he would agree with that. Europe produces better schools than ours. We need teachers that want to teach and get rid of dead weight.  Parents have no idea what their children do during the day. Some parents are aware and some are not. Director Fullerton said they will take the training because they have plenty of time to January 2013. Mrs. Burke said if you get the wrong answer you have to go back to the discussion section. Director Fullerton said you have to use Internet Explorer. FireFox freezes up when you are doing the training. It happened twice and the FOIA training took four hours to complete because you would get half way to page 40 and it would freeze up to where you had to start all over again. The person who answered the phone didn’t know what it was but sent her to the IT department and they knew to use Internet Explorer. Mrs. Burke said her office is in Oak Lawn if you need to call.

CITIZEN REPORT
Director Fullerton said the Wolak’s sent $1,000 check. This is the family that asked to plant a tree at Martin Park for her daughter a few years ago. She paid for the tree, plaque and mulch plus $2,000. We talked about putting in a handicapped accessible chest table or a bench. She also sent a letter to the park district which Director Fullerton read to the commissioners. It said, “It has been over a year that the tree was planted at Martin Park in memory of our daughter. We want to thank you for providing a place to visit to let you know how much we appreciate the beauty of our parks. We have been a resident since 1964 and our parks keep becoming more beautiful. Enclosed is a check to help sustain the care of the tree or to be used in anyway the park district seems appropriate. Again our thanks and appreciation to you and also to Jim Murphy who takes good care of the trees. We met him the day of the grand opening of Krueger Park and he conveyed his own feelings for Kathleen’s tree. It just made us feel all around good. Keep up the good work.”

Director Fullerton received an email from Ricky Skowyra and asked “When is the public hearing on the park district’s budget for the year”. She explained in the email that the budget hearing was in March because the budget begins May 1 and typically it will be in March every year.

MAINTENANCE REPORT
Last month Doornbus Heating completed the fall preventative maintenance on the district’s HVAC units. One of Krueger Park’s roof top units needs a new heat exchanger. The unit is a 12 ton Carrier. It was installed in 1996. It is on the old section above the gym. There is also another unit just like it. A price to replace the whole unit is approximately $11,125. To install a new heat exchanger would be $3,143. The second price was $3,490. Commissioner Potacki said the unit has a lot of years on it. Mr. Murphy said the compressor could go bad. Director Fullerton said we will have $42,000 in capital project budget once the $75,000 transfer is done from the recreation fund next month. The transfer is for Krueger’s new addition since we went over budget. Next year we will transfer another $75,000 from recreation into capital and we’ll have $112,000. We will buy the new marquee next year. Then in two years from now we will get a new bond. She would rather replace just the heat exchanger because anything else could come up. Commissioner Potacki said you are now at 30% of what a new unit costs. You can get 20 years out of a commercial unit. Mr. Murphy said he agrees with 20 years. Director Fullerton said we received a much lower price at $2,000 and asked Mr. Murphy who it was. Mr. Murphy said that company does not pay prevailing wage that is why it was lower. We can’t hire them unless they pay prevailing wage. Commissioner Kosnick said what is the potential that they make something better in five years. Director Fullerton said it could be more energy efficient in five years. Commissioner Potacki said you have to look at the warranties and usually you get five years. Mr. Murphy said that the Krueger Park unit is only a one year warranty on the brand new roof top units. Doornbus thought you could just change the heat exchanger and get by. He said you work on the compressors every year and they are in good shape. Doornbus said 90% of his customers are only changing the heat exchangers instead of the entire unit. There is no guarantee that something could go wrong. Commissioner Michaels asked if another company looked at it and said it was bad too. Mr. Murphy said you can see it as soon as you open the door. It is all rusted. Director Fullerton asked how the rest of the unit looks. Mr. Murphy said it looks fine. Commissioner Morgan asked how long a new heat exchanger will last. Mr. Murphy said he is worried if something else breaks like the compressor but we don’t have any problems with the compressor. You get a one year warranty for the heat exchanger. We replaced the heat exchanger for activity rooms A & B and the locker rooms three years ago and not the entire unit. Director Fullerton suggested just replacing the heat exchanger. Maybe the energy efficient units will become better in time. Commissioner Kosnick feels comfortable with just the heat exchanger. Commissioner Morgan said in her opinion the products they are making today are not as good as what they made 20 years ago. The products they make five years from now may not be as good as what you are getting rid of. Commissioner Kosnick said refrigerators used to last 20 years now it is black and white. Director Fullerton asked if we need a decision today. Mr. Murphy said yes because heating season is coming up. It should take a day to install. If it was an entire unit it could take two days and you wouldn’t be able to run programs in the gym. You only have one that is not working so you will have heat in there with the other units. Director Fullerton asked what is an economizer? Mr. Murphy said it takes the outside air into the building where you are not kicking on the compressors. When the compressors go on you are using electricity. Every unit has an economizer on it now.  

Commissioner Kosnick moved, seconded by Commissioner Jerantowski, to approve the heat exchanger for $3,143. Ayes: Kosnick, Jerantowski, Michaels, Morgan. Nayes: Potacki. 

Mr. Murphy said in the fitness center the air conditioning has gone out seven times. The unit shuts off. You can see the sock that is not expanded. He has been talking with Aaon and Rush Mechanical to take care of it. The Aaon representative came out two months ago and today for five hours. He ruled out all the problems other than voltage spikes. He has protectors on the motor so it doesn’t get burnt out so it shuts it off. When it goes off we have to turn the circuit breaker back on and it resets the computer and goes on. It was their best guy from Aaon that looked at the unit. He is going to call three times a week to see if goes off. If it keeps happening he would have to install line reactors. It helps absorb the electricity so we don’t have the spikes. It is just the fitness room and the other unit it working fine. Director Fullerton said she sent an email to WB Olson and Williams Architect and they sent it to WT Engineering. It is happening more frequent now. It stopped for awhile before that. Aaon said it all comes from ComEd. We do get flickers of power at both buildings. We get them more in the summer than winter. We could have them once to twice a month at CN. Mr. Maier said we get more at KP about four to five times a month. Mr. Murphy said it is a brand new unit. Aaon said that is the nature of what happens when dealing with ComEd. Director Fullerton said it has happened since we opened in May. Now it is more frequent. They said months ago that a part was going to be ordered. The warranty will start all over again if it is happening now. There is a final payment of $1,000 right now and we will hold the check until the unit is fixed. We are asking for approval today but not mailing the check. Commissioner Potacki said there is a meter they can put on it that shows when it stops and starts for a few days. Mr. Murphy said he had a meter on it all day. Before that every time it went out he had to read the numbers on the unit to Rush Mechanical. Rush Mechanical has tried his best to take care of the problem. Aaon was there from 9am-2pm. Director Fullerton said Mr. Murphy has been doing readings for months. Commissioner Potacki said it should show them a chart. Mr. Murphy will see how much it is to put a meter on it.

The rainfall and cooler temperatures has the turf growing quickly. During the month of October the maintenance department will be working on spraying the turf for broadleaf weeds, cutting down perennial plants and continuing to trim trees & shrubs throughout the grounds

The drain tile was installed along the east curb of the planter at KP and then it was ran into the parkway to drain. One square of concrete was removed and replaced. The planter is now draining fine.

Schedule to Shut Down or Put Things Away Are as Follows

·         Volleyball courts will be closed by October 30.

·         Drinking Fountains turned off by October 15. Martin Park’s will be shut off when softball ends.

·         Tennis Courts will be closed November 15. If the weather remains warm this date will be extended. Tennis lights will be shut off October 31.

·         Martin Park waterfall will be shut off the first week of November

·         Skate Park will be closed December 1.

·         Thorguard System will be shut down when soccer & softball ends.

·         Kasey Meadow Park / Prairie View irrigation systems will be blown out the last week of October.

The crane in the maintenance facility received its annual OSHA-TYPE inspection last month. UESCO Cranes found no problems with the unit. (Cost for inspection $323.71)

Tire Services repaired a rear tire on the Ford 250c tractor. This tire has calcium chloride in it. (Cost for repair $391.50)

A part-time maintenance position was filled by Jarrett Ambrosat. He is a Hickory Hills resident and is currently a student at Moraine Valley. 

The perennial plants that died in front of Krueger Park will be replaced in the spring.

RECREATION REPORT
There will be a food vending machine put at Krueger Park. It is from Bee Line Vending. It will be for a 90 day trail. A lot of people have been asking for it. You have to sell 20 items per day. It takes credit cards. They are responsible if it doesn’t work or a product gets stuck. It is computerized so it calls them and they send out someone in 24 hours. Director Fullerton said you may need a network drop and there is an expense with it. Commissioner Michaels said what if the product doesn’t fall out and my money is in the machine. Mr. Maier said there is a number on the machine that he can call or the customer can call. That is what we do with the Pepsi machine. Customers leave a name and number and he gives them their money back. He has a key so he can check if it is jammed. Pepsi can also tell if something is fixed. Commissioner Potacki asked what the turn around is on the product. Mr. Maier said they have all the expiration dates and monitor it so there is fresh product in the machine. Most of the products are no cholesterol and not fruits and vegetables. There may be chips in there that are healthy compared to other chips. The original contract had beverages in it and we told them it could only be food since we have an exclusive contract with Pepsi for beverages.  

There was a fitness center member who complained that the fitness center is not open until 6pm on Saturdays when violin is going on. We don’t do that because violin has scheduled lessons and it is all different hours. The teacher could be in until 6pm but could get cancelations and now is finished at 4pm. Each week is different. We need to have set hours for the fitness center. Director Fullerton said there are other issues like the cost of having a facility manager in the building. On Saturdays, after the fitness center is closed the facility manager’s time is charged to violin so we would have to raise the cost of the fitness center membership. One day it could be open until 2pm and the next week could be 6pm because of violin. Sometimes the violin teacher takes a break in the middle and she is gone for an hour. The fitness center member who wants to work out on Saturdays won’t know what time we close. Mr. Maier said violin has a good following and is getting more students so we try and accommodate them the best we can. When the schedule is put together on Saturdays the facility manager who comes in the morning that day has to check with the teacher on how long she will be there.  

Personal trainers are being interviewed right now and the job will be posted on the marquee. You have to have a certification. More members have been asking for it. You may get two or three people interested every two weeks.  

The Family Campout went well with a net loss of $489 and that is with maintenance which was $280. That is what we expected. 

The Horseshoe Casino had a net gain of $408. We had a full bus and it made more than Four Winds because Four Winds charges $4 per person but they give you a $10 voucher. The Four Winds trip has 17 on the wait list and when we get to 25-28 we can get two buses. Rivers Casino will be offered in the next brochure but they don’t give you any discount or anything free for groups like free food or slot plays. They won’t know until January if they start giving any discounts. The food at Horseshoe is good and is worth $17. Director Fullerton said everyone talks about Four Winds Casino trip and how much they like it. Commissioner Kosnick said it is the closest thing to Las Vegas. The next brochure will include Four Winds Casino and the Rivers Casino. Commissioner Kosnick asked if you add a second bus does it make more money.  Mr. Maier said not with 17 people. Adding a second bus because there is more than 17 people won’t make as much. The first bus is with Treasurers when he does the trip and it is $100 less than Executive who would drive the second bus. You have to have 24 people for a second bus. Many times 20% of the people on the wait list will not go on the trip once they are called to come in to register for it. Commissioner Kosnick said people have asked him about the wait list. Maybe you should have a sign that says we need a few more to sign up for the second bus. Mr. Maier said he can make an announcement at the senior luncheon next week. We have had a small and large bus.  

We have been putting pictures of programs and the fitness center on the marquee. It looks great at night too.  

There has been a request from a woman to offer Pickleball. We are looking into a free trial class in November or December to see if there is interest. It is on a miniature tennis court. Mr. Maier said it could be inside or outside. You have to put lines down. The permanent lines are expensive to put inside in the gym. All ages can play it.  

The sales in advance for Pumpkin Fest were not as good as the past three to four years. It rained all week before the event so that could be why. Commissioner Jerantowski said it rained last year at the event and the year prior to that. Mr. Maier said it depends on what happens with the weather. Director Fullerton said advance tickets this year were 197 and last year it was 251. At the gate this year we had 285 and last year it was 259. It didn’t matter that the day of the event this year was sunny and a little chilly because the pre-sales was down from rain up to the event. Mr. Maier said the student and adult volunteers were wonderful this year. The lines weren’t long. We received $310 from Durbin’s for concessions. The agreement was a $250 flat fee minus tickets for the volunteers plus $60 for 10% of the sales. They made a little over $1,000. Director Fullerton said they were busy the entire time. Commissioner Potacki said they should have sold coffee. Mr. Maier said they had hot chocolate last year and it was the biggest sales. They had to pay staff so they had to deduct it from their sales. Maybe we can move their location. They were by the marquee last year and this year they were near the front entrance. Director Fullerton said they can be moved to the ticket sales tent area. Mr. Maier said the giant slide was moved to the Maintenance Facility parking lot because the grass was wet and that worked out well. There were some different games and one of them was a musical pumpkin walk. We had bases around the pumpkins and the kids had to go around in a circle and when the music stopped they stopped on a base and if it was an orange base then they were out and took more bases away. The kids really loved it. The scarecrow making went well. He had to go downtown to the union street Salvation Army because the local one wouldn’t give us any clothes. We had some donations of clothes from residents. Director Fullerton said that Becky who worked as a volunteer said we can get clothes from her next year because she works for a shelter. Mr. Maier said the local Salvation Army on 111^th only gave us shirts last year. This year we had plenty of tops and bottoms. Commissioner Kosnick said the one on 111^th is only for woman.  Many kids decorated the canvas bags. Commissioner Jerantowski asked if the police brought bags for candy. Mr. Maier said we provide the bags. The police brought Trustee for about an hour and a half. Director Fullerton said we have never gotten Halloween bags from the police.

Commissioner Jerantowski suggested we wait to put drinks out until 11:45am for the luncheons. She has seen some people take three to four drinks before the luncheon starts. Mr. Maier said we have had trouble with parking so we are blocking off parts of the parking lot. We could put 300 pops out at the luncheon and they will go. We will have coffee before 11:45am. Years ago we only had coffee then we added water and pop the last few years.  

TREASURER’S REPORT
Commissioner Michaels moved, second by Commissioner Potacki to approve Claim Ordinance 675. Ayes: Jerantowski, Kosnick, Michaels, Morgan, Potacki. Commissioner Kosnick asked about check#28226 $50 Standard Bank for the safety deposit box and wanted to know what is in it. Director Fullerton said it is for the park district and all of the titles for the property and vehicles and all of our passwords. We have always had the box.

Commissioner Jerantowski made note of the Investment Report for September 30, 2011.   

Commissioner Michaels moved, seconded by Commissioner Morgan to approve the Operating Statement for September 20, 2011. Ayes: Jerantowski, Kosnick, Michaels, Potacki.  

DIRECTOR’S REPORT
In the board packet was an invitation to meet three legislators, one of them Kelly Burke, at Green Hills Library on October 14. Director Fullerton will not be able to attend since she has to attend PDRMA’s annual Risk Management Institute. Commissioner Kosnick asked if they are serving lunch. Director Fullerton said she has not gone to one with a lunch but it does list lunch on the invitation. Director Fullerton and Jim Murphy went to an after hours to meet the legislators when they first opened their office in Green Hills Library.  

Two sympathy cards were sent for Gordon Betcher; one to City Hall and one to the funeral home. He will be missed by everyone.  

We were discussing a brochure cover that says “Did you know” and it would feature the history of facilities and parks. We should wait a year since we just did a “Then and Now” series which featured history. Director Fullerton showed the covers for the “Did you know” for next year and what the cover will look like this year with a large sled hill picture and smaller pictures of other events and programs.  

Krueger Park Renovation and Expansion Project:
Director Fullerton showed a picture of the bench at KP for the fitness center. We purchased it from Ikea. Some other wood benches were $200 and up. We left the literature rack and if it is in the way she’ll move it. She didn’t want to take the literature rack off the wall because there will be holes in the brick.  

Payout #12 was included in the board packet. This is the last payout from WB Olson and we will have another bill from Williams Architect because we are waiting for as-built drawings. All the warranty books and manuals are on their way to the architect. WB Olson has listed allowance returned on the payout as $15,000. That is the amount they didn’t use for the project. That is great since we added so many extra items such as replacing ceiling tiles, extra petromat in the parking lot, landscaping and curbing around the marquee, the electrical piping for the marquee, added a second row of electric in the fitness center, painted lobby, remodeled the front desk, added a extra door, relocated the DVR and extra exit signs. The last budget amount discussed at the board meeting was $2,255,000 and as of today without the final Williams bill but including payout #12 we are at $2,220,000. Commissioner Morgan moved, seconded by Commissioner Michaels, to approve Payout #12 for $35,591. Ayes: Kosnick, Jerantowski, Michaels, Morgan, Potacki. 

Director Fullerton said some of the handicapped bumps in the front of the building are chipping off. We haven’t even entered the winter and they are flattening out. WB Olson and Dutch Barn are involved with it. WB Olson suggested sending extra stock. Director Fullerton told them that it will be difficult for maintenance to replace the handicapped tiles because they are in very tight. She was also concerned if they are failing now so why will additional stock help with it. We are going to hold $1,000 from Dutch Barn until they tell us what they are going to do about the product. Commissioner Morgan asked where the handicapped bumps are. Director Fullerton said they are outside; it is a pink type of surface with raised bumps, between the parking lot and the sidewalk. The bumps are chipping off and could eventually all just level off because they are cracking. Mr. Murphy said 3D Design put it in the specs and Dutch Barn installed it. They are working with Unilock because they make them and now they are discontinued. You have to get a wet saw and put it in tight so it doesn’t pop out.  

Martin Cement sent a revised letter regarding the color variation of the concrete on the deck.  The letter says in the last paragraph, “if the patio doesn’t have a more uniform appearance within three years and you and the board is not satisfied at that time we will offer you the concession of $1,000 cash or we will clean and seal the patio with a penetrating sealer one time.” The $1,000 is generous compared to the cost of the sealer. Commissioner Kosnick asked how long they have been in business. Director Fullerton said they have been in business a long time. They are a family business from several generations. She doesn’t like sealer because when people put it in their driveway some liked it and some don’t. They like it for the looks and the ones that don’t like it say they have to seal it every year and then it peels off and you can slip on it. She doesn’t want anyone to slip on the park district deck.

Youth Baseball:
In the board packet was a survey conducted by the South Suburban Professional Recreation and Park Association in 2008 for baseball field usage and fees. The survey shows that the majority of park districts are charging youth baseball organizations for field usage, lights and maintenance. When she was at the September director’s meeting she asked if any of the park districts give a donation to youth baseball organizations since Joe Moratta, the president of the Hickory Hills Youth Baseball mentioned this. All of the director’s said no if anything the baseball organization donate to the park district’s since they use park district fields. The survey says does your agency charge a fee for regular use of the ball fields. The survey showed 17 park districts said yes and 8 said no. The park district’s that didn’t charge were Bolingbrook, Richton Park and Oak Lawn. Oak Lawn doesn’t charge for the field but they do charge for materials such as in-field mix and chalk. We don’t charge for ball field mix. We spend approximately $6,000 for ball field mix. The president hasn’t called back about the requested meeting they asked for when we told them we were taking the mound away. 

Preschool 2010-2011 Bottom Line Report:
The Little Learners Preschool Bottom Line Report Summary was included in the board packet.  Little Learners net revenue was 16,244. Last year it was $14,051 for 09/10 and $8,438 for 08/09. We had 94 students on the bottom line report which includes students that dropped from the program and the prior year it was 92 and 83 in 2009. It was nice to see the new revenue increase even after adding a third teacher to sub while one of the teachers was gone half the year. Mackenzie is doing very well as a third teacher this year with an additional 10 children and it could go up to 12 before the year is over.   

Dance 2010-2011 Bottom Line Report:
The Dance Bottom Line Report was included in the board packet. The net revenue for dance was $33,359 which is slightly lower than last year which was $34,416. However, the net revenue for the recital bottom line was higher so overall it was a $100 net revenue increase from last year. Carl Sandburg has a new formula for charging government agency so the charge was less for the recital this year. The dance program had 466 registration this year, 434 last year and 446 the year before that. This is registrations not students. You can have one student enrolled in five classes. Ten years ago the net was only $3,000.  

Men’s Softball:
You may recall Director Fullerton mentioned at the last meeting that recreation program revenue was very low compared to last year when reviewing the operating statement. We ran a bottom line report for 2011 of where we stand as of September 14, 2011 for men’s softball for both the summer and fall seasons. In 2010, revenue was $40,775 for men’s summer and fall softball and in 2011 it was $23,955. That is a reduction of $16,820. However, expenses will also go down significantly. Expenses for summer and fall men’s softball in 2010 were $19,691. Dan is going to be proactive in trying to start a women’s softball league and a tournament next year to try to bring up this revenue. We are also looking into adding an After School program to offset this loss of revenue and many parents have asked for this program.

Holiday Closings for 2012:
The following are the 2012 holiday closings:

Date                                                                CN Office                   Fitness Center            

Good Friday, April 6                                      Closed                         6am-6pm

Easter Sunday, April 8                                    Closed                         Closed

Memorial Day, May 28                                   Closed                         9am-noon

Wednesday, July 4                                          Closed                         9am-noon

Labor Day, Sept. 3                                          Closed                         9am-noon

Thursday, Thanksgiving, Nov. 22                   Closed                         9am-noon

Friday, Nov. 23                                               Closed                         6am-6pm

Monday, Christmas Eve, Dec. 24                   Closed                         9am-noon

Tuesday, Christmas Day, Dec. 25                  Closed                         Closed

Monday, New Year’s Eve, Dec. 31                Closed                         9am-noon

Tuesday, New Year’s Day, Jan. 1, 2013        Closed                         9am-noon 

CN Security Camera DVR:
The digital video recorder for the security cameras at CN stopped working on September 12. We called Altec who sent over a price for a new DVR for $2,050. Then we sent the specs out for the DVR to several vendors and Griffon Systems, who we met at the annual convention, said it could be the power supply. We called Elite Computer because he works on our computers now and he replaced the power supply for $165 (parts and labor). The DVR was purchased in February 2008 with the security camera and should last two more years.

Parking for Senior Luncheons:
Commissioner Kosnick asked about the comment from the principal at Glen Oaks about parking at luncheons and she said parents are tax payers too. Doesn’t she realize it is a special event and it is for that purpose? Director Fullerton said Glen Oaks parking at KP has always been an issue during senior luncheons. Director Fullerton told her that seniors are also tax payers and it is the park district’s parking lot with our special event for the seniors. The parents are only walking across the street but the seniors now have to park blocks away to attend the luncheon. On the side street there are also many cars from the school already. Then Director Fullerton called the superintendent of School District 117 and she said they have had problems with parking at District 117 facilities and that is the response the parents say to them. We are going to block off the two far east sections of the parking lot. There will be two parking sections for fitness center members. A maintenance employee is going to have to sit in his truck and if he sees a parent walking to the school then he will ask them not to park there. He will tell them it is once a month and for the seniors so they don’t have to walk so far. Commissioner Jerantowski said the seniors are a lot older than the school parent.  

FOIA Training:
The FOIA bill for commissioners to complete FOIA training was included in the board packet. HB 1670 says for FOIA training, commissioners will have to complete the training by January 1, 2013 and you only have to take it one time not annually. Director Fullerton handed out directions of signing in for the training and each web page so they know what it looks like. The commissioners can do the training in her office and she will guide them along. The web site is www.illinoisattorney.gov.  

ADA Standards for Accessible Design:
The United States Department of Justice revised regulations for the American Disabilities Act. The regulations include new ADA guidelines for facilities and parks. Most park districts have hired a company called Recreation Accessibility Consultants to conduct an assessment of their facilities, parks and playgrounds. Director Fullerton called the president, John McGovern, and he quoted the cost for the assessment to be $12,000-$15,000 for all of our facilities and parks. There was another quote from Mark Trieglaff with ACT Services for $4,590 to do half the playgrounds and the two recreation centers. We don’t have to do this for the two garages. After hearing about the cost Director Fullerton called the US Department of Justice which is sending a 200 page manual that we can follow. Jim Murphy is going to read the manual and see if we can conduct the assessment in-house.  We also were told the master plan was $10,000 for an outside vendor to develop it and we ended up doing it in-house which saved a lot of money. We have to have Krueger Park done by March 15 because there is a fitness center at that facility. Jim will have to document signs and measure to make sure we are up to the standards. Commissioner Kosncik said so they look at the space on the slides and swings. Mr. Murphy does that already and knows the measurements. Mr. Murphy said he and the former executive director did it before with bringing in wheel chairs in the bathrooms and things like that. Director Fullerton said they want you to be started and working on it by March 15. You would get a fine if someone is handicapped and it is not accessible. They would have to file a complaint with the Department of Justice. She heard only one playground has to be accessible and we already have one at Woodland. Mr. Murphy said all the playgrounds are handicapped accessible with ramps going to everything and transfer points are at all playgrounds. Director Fullerton said at special events you should have an ADA accessible pathway which is not grass. John McGovern said you have to put snow fencing down on the grass to compact it down but in place of that you can take a handicapped individual around on the gator to where they want to go at a special event. If there are several people he would have to drive them for the entire event with pickups and drop offs. She is estimating it will take maintenance six months to complete all of it. Commissioner Kosnick asked why the quote from Mark for half the playgrounds. Director Fullerton said she asked him to quote for half and he would train the maintenance staff on how to do the rest of the playgrounds and a building.

PDRMA Review:
As mentioned previously, the park district is going through a PDRMA Review. This is an extensive review of all of our safety procedures, our safety records and facility inspections. The maintenance review was in July and received 100% and the recreation review was in August and also received a 100%. We received 100% for the Administrative section and an overall final score of 100% for the district. It is nearly impossible to achieve an overall score of 100% and there are very few districts that have achieved this in the past and present.

Miscellaneous:
Someone hit the railing at Woodland Park yesterday. The accident report from the police and the park district’s accident form was sent this morning to PDRMA. Larry Boettcher called and asked if he could fix it. Director Fullerton told him it is a custom railing so you can’t just fix it. He also suggested putting in concrete footings. She told him the car is higher than the footings and will still hit the railing and you don’t want to put a concrete wall there because if a car hits the railing there is some give to it once it is concrete the impact of the car hitting concrete could kill them. Then there was a call from the son of the women who hit the railing to pay for it but it was already submitting to PDRMA. Mr. Murphy said the women who hit it was parked across the street and then she pulled out of the driveway, turned around and went onto the grass and into the railing. Her brakes were soft and it broke her windshield and tore up her front end. There have been other accidents but they all came from different directions; one from Kean Avenue and one from parking on the hill without putting a parking brake on.

The August fitness center and walking track report were included in the board packet.

All three commissioners will be going to the Shed Aquarium at conference.

Commissioner Kosnick wanted to bring to the board’s attention the summary report for the fitness center. It went from up 800 visits in one month. He said that the three directors’ have done an excellent job. Everything that was done to KP worked out very well. Director Fullerton said from May to September the revenue increase is $20,000 from last year. Commissioner Kosnick said a lot of people have come up to him to tell him how much they like it and how beautiful it is and how they never knew the fitness center was there. All of you did a great job and continue to do a great job. When he was signing out today and he saw someone who went to the front desk with many questions in the brochure and the secretary really handled it well. He said he can see why people say they are comfortable there. The 100% from PDRMA is terrific. Director Fullerton said it is a great place to work too. This is a wonderful community and people appreciate the park district. When we received the 100%, Gerrit from PDRMA said when he talks about park districts, this is the park district he talks about. He said you are the best, the four of you are leading the staff in the right direction. We have our struggles everyday and receive complaints from customers where we wish we could give everything away for free. We have wonderful commissioners representing the community. We wish we could have received a grant for the expansion and built it larger because of the PARC grant. We were disappointed that we didn’t receive it because we put a shovel in the ground. Every time she tries for a grant she feels there is some reason why we can’t get it. There was a grant for hiring part time employees in the summer and because our camp staff went to a one day orientation, even though we didn’t pay them yet we didn’t qualify for the grant. We will work on a grant for Kasey Meadow and start early and wait until we receive it. Commissioner Morgan said there are a lot more people working out.

Commissioner Kosnick moved, second by Commissioner Morgan moved to adjourn to the next regular board meeting. Ayes: Jerantowski, Kosnick, Michaels, Morgan, Potacki.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:15 p.m.

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               Secretary

ATTEST:

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President