What’s happening at the Elmhurst Park District
By Chris Fox
The Elmhurst Park District Board held a regular meeting on Sept. 24 at the district’s administrative office at 375 W. First Street. All seven board members attended the meeting.
Public urges reduction in use of pesticides
Four people spoke during the public participation segment of the meeting. All four speakers encouraged the board to reduce the use of pesticides and herbicides in the district’s parks. The district currently does not use pesticides at Van Voorst Park.
Vision 2020 Communication Plan presented
The meeting included an update on the district’s implementation of its Vision 2020 Communication Plan. Laura Guttman, the district’s strategy and planning coordinator, provided the update. Guttman noted that the district is working to increase community engagement, and had hired Public Communications, Inc. (PCI), a Chicago based public relations firm, earlier this year. PCI is providing the district with assistance if the board decides to pursue a referendum. The district also hired PCI to help sustain community engagement about the district’s Vision 2020 plan, which became effective on Jan. 1, 2018. That plan is the district’s updated strategic plan.
Guttman noted that the district’s website—epd.org—will provide the community with a full range of information about the district and its strategic plan. She mentioned that PCI made a video that describes what residents want the district to provide to the community. She then showed the board the video, which is about three minutes long. Elmhurst Park District Executive Director Jim Rogers stated that the video would be shown at the state of the district address at The Abbey on Oct. 1.
Bid for special needs transportation awarded for $30,000
The board voted unanimously to award the transportation bid for individuals with special needs to Cook-DuPage Transportation, Inc./National Express Transit in the amount of about $30,000 for the district’s 2019 fiscal year. The company, which owns and operates more than 275 vehicles, will provide transportation to participants of programs at the Hanson Center by the Gateway Special Recreation Association. Cook-DuPage Transportation (CDT)/National Express Transit submitted the lowest of three bids. The bid reflects a 16-percent per-trip increase from the district’s current transportation contract with Superior Ambulance, which did not submit a bid for the district’s 2019 fiscal year.
Payment for 25% of City parking lot passes
Board members also voted unanimously to approve a payment of about $74,000 to the City of Elmhurst to cover the park district’s 25-percent obligation toward repaving the parking lot of the maintenance facility at 985 S. Riverside Drive.
The existing parking lot at the facility was 17 years old and in need of repair. The parking lot features a high volume of daily traffic from several city and park district vehicles, including large utility vehicles. The district and the city have an intergovernmental agreement for shared facility use, with the city utilizing park district property in York Commons for Fire Station #2, and the district using the space and amenities (including offices, indoor and outdoor parking stalls, fuel pumps) of the city’s maintenance facility at 985 S. Riverside Drive.
The grinding, repaving and restriping of the parking lot was part of the city’s contract paving program that included grinding and overlay work on about 6.2 miles of asphalt and concrete streets. The project was completed in May. The final construction cost to the city was nearly $300,000. The district’s 25-percent portion of the project, therefore, was almost $75,000.
The park district board will hold its next meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 9.
