Here’s what’s happening at the Elmhurst Park District
By Chris Fox
For The Elmhurst Independent
The Elmhurst Park District Board held a regular meeting on March 13 at the district’s administrative office at 375 W. First Street. All seven commissioners attended the meeting, with Commissioner Doug Ennis participating via telephone.
There were no public comments.
Sugar Creek report indicates 30,000 rounds played in 2016
Providing a report from the Feb. 28 Sugar Creek Golf Course Committee meeting, Brian McDermott—the district’s director of enterprise services—stated there were just under 30,000 rounds played at the course in 2016. That figure is reportedly near the average of annual rounds at the course in recent years. McDermott noted that there were 12 fewer playable days in 2016 than in 2015. Several warm days this winter led to a significant number of rounds in early 2017, McDermott stated. There were more than 600 rounds played at Sugar Creek Golf Course during February 2017, he said.
Plunkett redevelopment awarded to Hacienda
The board voted unanimously during the meeting to award the playground redevelopment project at Plunkett Park to Hacienda Landscaping of Plainfield. The agreement includes Hacienda Landscaping’s base bid of just over $120,000, as well as an alternate of about $18,000. The board also voted unanimously to purchase nearly $165,000 in playground equipment through joint governmental purchasing agreements. Park district staff reportedly determined that purchasing the playground equipment instead of including it in the bid would reduce the overall cost of the project.
The playground at Plunkett Park is next on the district’s replacement schedule, and due to be replaced this year. The board recently reviewed concepts for the new playground and decided to choose a treehouse theme. Six companies submitted bids for the project, with Hacienda Landscaping submitting the lowest bid. The alternate bid of about $18,000 includes a new drinking fountain and water connection, as well as new split rail fencing. Hacienda Landscaping also completed work on the district’s 2013 renovation of the Washington Park playground, as well as the 2016 playground renovation at Butterfield Park.
The district budgeted $450,000 for the playground redevelopment project at Butterfield Park. The playground installation and alternate, along with the purchase of playground equipment, add up to about $305,000, leaving about $145,000 for surfacing, along with path and pavement improvements.
Playground resurfacing bid accepted from Perfect Turf LLC
Shortly after awarding the redevelopment project to Hacienda Landscaping, the board voted unanimously to award the playground surfacing project at Plunkett Park to Perfect Turf, LLC, of Wood Dale, in the amount of about $62,000. Perfect Turf, the lone bidder for the safety project, also installed a similar playground surface at Berens Park.
The playground project at Plunkett Park is scheduled to begin on Aug. 16. The project should be completed around Oct. 20.
Ordinance will ban tobacco use at park properties
The March 13 meeting also included a discussion of the district policy committee’s consideration of banning tobacco use on all district property, with the exception of Sugar Creek Golf Course. The board voted unanimously to direct district staff to bring an amended ordinance to the board that would institute the ban.
The district’s current policy prohibits smoking, including the use of e-cigarettes and any tobacco products, at all indoor facilities and within 20 feet of any district building or facility entrance. Smoking and tobacco use is also prohibited in all park district vehicles, and within 20 feet of a playground. The current policy also prohibits smoking and tobacco use within 20 feet of a participant or spectator at an organized outdoor event, and within 20 feet of a concession serving area that’s part of a district facility. Anyone found in violation of the current ordinance is reportedly subject to a fine of $100 to $250. The current ordinance does allow smoking and tobacco use at Sugar Creek Golf Course.
Ennis and Commissioner Mary Kies are the park district board’s two representatives on the district’s policy committee. Kies noted that she and Ennis were smokers in college, but gave it up. Kies said she was glad the district was moving in the direction of imposing a tobacco ban on all district property, excluding the golf course. In noting that the policy committee wants Wilder Park included in the ban, Ennis stated that the public sidewalk is not that far away from Wilder Mansion. He said smokers who attend events at the mansion will be able to go the sidewalk if they want to smoke.
Elmhurst Park District Executive Director Jim Rogers said that when the ordinance is changed, district staff will work to let the public know about the policy change.
CardConnect chosen as district CC processor
Board members voted unanimously during the meeting to select CardConnect as the district’s credit card processor. To comply with industry security standards, the district must process card-present transactions by reading data stored in electronic chips instead of magnetic stripes. The district’s current credit card processor does not offer processing equipment for electronic chip transactions. The district needed to select a credit card processor that will interface with the district’s registration software. CardConnect and one other company work with the district’s registration system. CardConnect and that other company, ETS, both submitted quotes based on 70,000 per year resulting in annual sales of $6.7 million. CardConnect’s annual fees based on that quote were about $134,000, approximately $9,000 less than ETS. Annual credit card fees are a cost already included in the district’s annual budget.
The park district board’s March 27 meeting has been cancelled. The board’s next regular meeting will take place on April 10.
