By Chris Fox
For The Elmhurst Independent
The Elmhurst Park District Board held a regular meeting on June 11 at the district’s administrative office at 375 W. First Street. Commissioner Doug Ennis was absent from the meeting. There were no public comments.
The board voted unanimously to approve the meeting’s consent agenda, which included an annual prevailing wage ordinance. Illinois state law requires park districts to determine the prevailing wage rates to be paid to laborers, mechanics and other workers hired for public works contracts.
Auditing firm retained through 2019
Board members also voted unanimously to retain Lauterbach and Amen as its audit firm for years 2017 through 2019. The park district has retained Lauterbach and Amen as its auditor since 1998. The district will reportedly pay the firm $15,000 for the 2017 audit, $15,300 for the 2018 audit and $15,600 for the 2019 audit. According to state law, units of local government are required to have an independent audit each year.
Audit of Sugar Creek approved
The board also voted unanimously to accept the 2017 audit for Sugar Creek Golf Course. The accounting firm Selden Fox of Oak Brook completed the audit. Selden Fox was selected as the golf course’s auditing firm for 2015, 2016 and 2017. In 2015, the park district excluded the audit of the golf course from the scope of Lauterbach and Amen’s audit of the district.
Selden Fox’s 2017 audit of Sugar Creek Golf Course indicated total operating revenues of about $1,075,000 for the year, with total operating expenses of about $920,000. Elmhurst Park District Executive Director Jim Rogers noted that the course began 2017 with about $2.6 million in debt and ended the year with a little under $2.4 million in debt. He said the course continued to chip away at reducing its debt during 2017.
Park District audit approved
The board also voted to approve Lauterbach and Amen’s 2017 audit of the park district. Ron Amen of the Naperville-based firm made brief comments during the June 11 meeting. The district’s general fund reportedly began 2017 with a balance of about $4.9 million, and ended the year with a balance of about $5.5 million. The district’s general fund, special revenue/recreation fund, debt service fund and capital improvement fund reportedly began the year with a total combined balance of about $9.9 million and ended the year with a total combined balance of about $12.4 million.
Board discusses landscaping, engineering agreement
The meeting also included a discussion about the district’s landscape architect and engineering services agreement with Upland Design of Plainfield regarding the potential development of the property at 0S761 Old York Road as a dog park. The district’s Vision 2020 survey identified a dog park as a high outdoor facility priority. To address that need, staff solicited proposals for to gain community input, conceptual design options and cost estimates for the development of the property at 0S761 Old York Road. Upland Design was one of six firms to submit a proposal. Its submission listed a total cost of $22,600. District staff believed Upland Design stood out from the other candidates. The fee of $22,600 was within Rogers’ signing authority as the district’s executive director. The firm and the district will reportedly conduct two meetings over the summer to obtain additional community feedback.
Construction of dog park postponed
Rogers said the district will probably not propose construction of a dog park at the site in the 2019 budget. He said it is not his intention to budget to construct a dog park next year. He said the district may clean the site or begin some light grading of the site during 2019.
IPRA offers environmental report card
The meeting also included a presentation on the district’s progress in regard to the Illinois Park and Recreation Association’s Environmental Report Card. Daniel Payne, the district’s director of parks, provided the board with a brief presentation. He said the report card is an internal review done by district staff to assess the district’s practices on a variety of issues, including energy conservation.
Courts Plus boiler to be replaced for $100,000
The board voted unanimously to award the 2018 Courts Plus Boiler Replacement Project to West Town Mechanical of Bensenville in the amount of nearly $100,000. The current hot water boiler at the facility is nearly 30 years old and reportedly at the end of its useful life. The district submitted bids for the replacement of the existing boiler system, which was put into place during the 1989 expansion of the facility. West Town Mechanical was the only firm to submit a bid for the project. The firm is the current HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) contract maintenance provider for Courts Plus. The new system will reportedly offer improved energy efficiency and take up less space than the current boiler. The new unit should be installed in late July/early August.
The board will hold its next meeting on June 25.
