PARKS AND RECREATION COMMITTEE
MEETING MINUTES
February 2, 2004
Roll call at 7:50 p.m. indicated the following members were present: Chairman Ditsch, Marilee Brauer, Linda Uhl, Dan Fortman, Village Trustee Kim Lynch, YMCA representative Gil Fonger and Dan Repplinger. Absent were Village Administrator Russell Benford, Assistant Village Administrator Donna Lobaito, Beth Edwards, and Paul Steuer. Dan Repplinger agreed to take the minutes.
II.
Approval of Minutes from January 5, 2004.
On a motion from Dan Fortman, second by Dan Repplinger, the minutes from the January 5, 2003 meeting were approved by unanimous vote.
Master Plan discussion was cancelled for this evening due to inclement weather and the absence of Donna Lobaito.
Hawthorn Woods Woman’s Club President Lisa Charnogorsky spoke to the committee prior to the start of the meeting about the Woman’s Club interest in holding Public Concerts in the Community Park this summer. The committee agreed that these sorts of events at the gazebo would be nice and that all rules and restrictions concerning behavior and alcohol would need to be enforced. It was also made known that there was no funding in the budget to help support such an endeavor.
The schedule of activities has yet to be approved by the Village Board. It should be taken as an action item for the Village Board to approve the schedule submitted by the YMCA as they will be publishing this schedule in their mid-February newsletter.
· As of 1/16 the new pool at the “Y” has been open. Attendance has been up considerably since that time.
· With the Middle School North shifting to the new school building, the “Y” is now in partnership with “The Attic” on after school programs.
· As the “Woodtales” is published on a monthly basis, it may be a good idea to insert the “Y” schedule into it. Kim to speak to Kim Penny about getting the schedule in “Woodtales”.
B. Finance Report – P&R Fund balance is $1,402,965.07.
C. Village Staff Report – no report
D. Village Board Report – Village Trustee Lynch discussed the status of the HW Country Club Park. See below.
VI.
New/Old Business
A. Community Park – No response on drainage issues.
B. LZBSA Issues – Dave Creagh, Commissioner of LZBSA (Lake Zurich Baseball and Softball Association) was present to discuss some main issues bought up by the HW P&R committee. As general information, Dave was very pleased with the cooperation that LZBSA had with the Village of Hawthorn Woods, and wanted to continue to keep that relationship good. Of the ~2000 kids in the LZBSA, an unknown but significant amount of the participants were from Hawthorn Woods. He is the main contact concerning the addition of new fields into the association. During the meeting, Dave handed out a list of duties for the 21 fields that they currently use. The three main discussions were as follows:
· Surface reconstruction of the fields at the Community Park.
“Turface” quote was given to Dave. He recommended a “Special Blend” for a playing surface but was not sure if the “Turface” product was what they had in mind. Dave was going to consult with his head of field maintenance, Jim Taylor, and Jim was to contact Terry. Dave mentioned that he felt that the condition of the fields in Hawthorn Woods was generally very good. They would like to make two changes/improvements to the two community park fields. On the East Field, LZBSA would like it configured more like a Girls softball field by bringing the outfield grass closer to the diamond. In its current configuration, the infield clay is too large and the girls in the outfield end up standing on infield clay rather than outfield grass. On the other field, they would like a re-shaping of the pitchers mound to conform to Pony League standards. At this time, the mound is too small.
· Baseball fields at the New Community Park.
We informed Dave that Hawthorn Woods was considering installing 2 to 3 new baseball fields at the New Community Park. He was told that Hawthorn Woods had applied for a grant to improve the park, but had not received said grant at this time. We asked Dave for his recommendations for what would best serve LZBSA. He recommended that we should build 1 baseball and 1 softball field, and make the 3rd field a baseball field if a 3rd field could be built. He said that their registration numbers supported additional boys fields (with pitchers mounds and outfield fences set at 200 – 210 feet out). He mentioned that another desirable feature was a scoreboard where possible, and that the total cost per field should run in the $40K - $50K range. He seemed to be hinting that the Lions Park Field was too short and run down for good competitive play, and that although the association currently had enough fields for play, once the season starts, there are not enough fields available for play and practice. In so many words, new fields in good shape would probably be used for games with existing fields that need work used for practices. Dave said that they could not shoulder the burden of new fields and had no budget for new field development, but again implied that they may be able to help contribute to the development of new fields. The same situation concerned the construction of a concession stand(s) at the New Community Park. Dave said that if Hawthorn Woods built the shell that LZBSA could help contribute to build it out. Because LZBSA has had a poor track record in their concession business over the last few years, Dave suggested outsourcing the concessions and bringing in a mobile trailer until something more permanent could be established.
· Written Agreement between Hawthorn Woods and LZBSA.
Both the Parks and Recreation Committee and Dave had a chance to read and review the current agreement prior to the meeting. As the agreement expires in August of this year, it is important that a new agreement should be in place before that time. Changes that were discussed and should be made to a new agreement include:
· LZYBA should now be LZBSA
· The playing season should be in effect from 4/1 thru 10/31 to include “Fall Ball”
· Remove the “Saturday Clause” from page 2
· “Exclusive Use” clause is flexible to include the use by the YMCA as long as the field has not already been set for play
· Rework the “organized sports” verbiage
· Other minor verbiage changes discussed
· In general, Hawthorn Woods to continue to cut, care, feed and maintenance the outfield grass with the rest of the park’s lawns, LZBSA to set and maintain the infield area for league play.
Dave will send a copy of the current agreement in Word format to Terry for the inclusion of these changes. Dave will attend the March 1st meeting to go through final discussions on this agreement.
C. HW Country Club Park
Village Trustee Lynch advised the committee that Toll Brothers did not receive approval for the wetlands reconfiguration and construction of the earthen dam necessary to create the storm water management pond in its current designed location. At this time, the park is being redesigned and the plans redrawn to comply with what is acceptable for the topography of the land. As the village and neighboring residents had helped shape the park’s design and had relatively accepted its layout, it will be necessary to hold community hearings for those affected once a new proposal is submitted. Village Trustee Lynch advised that it would be a good idea to be present at the next Village Board Meeting on February 23rd. Dan Repplinger committed to attending this meeting.
The committee will review the Master Plan and discuss the neighborhood parks in the March meeting.
Next meeting will be Monday, March 1, 2004. The Master Plan meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m. with the regular meeting beginning at 7:30 p.m.
There being no further business to come before the committee, on a motion by Linda Uhl, second by Marilee Brauer, the meeting was unanimously adjourned at 10:10 p.m.