Sunday, March 23 at 6:30-9pm: Our registration system will be temporarily down for scheduled maintenance. We apologize for the inconvenience.

February 2025: Park Board Meeting Briefs

March 7, 2025

Updates from the February Park Board Meetings

February 12: Workshop Meeting of the Park Board

Canceled due to the weather.

February 21: Finance Committee Meeting

Staff reviewed Ordinance #2025-02, An Ordinance Amending the Appropriation Ordinance for Fiscal Year 2024 that will transfer a total of $145,000 from Recreation Fund Item Type 610, Salaries and Wages to Recreation Fund Item Types 680, Cost of Goods Sold, 650, Maintenance & Landscaping, and 720, Capital Outlay, in the amounts of $36,000, $100,000, and $10,000, respectively; plus  a transfer of $20,000 from General Fund Item Type 610, Salaries and Wages to General Fund Item Type 660, Utilities; lastly, a transfer of $18,459.28 from Special Recreation Fund Item Type 620, Contractual Services to Special Recreation Fund Item Type 720, Capital Outlay. 

Staff reviewed Resolution 2025-02 to allow the bidding of electricity for the District from Northern Illinois Municipal Electric Collaborative and Satori Energy.  

Staff provided construction updates for the New Facility and Site Improvements at West Ridge Park, Club Pickle and Padel, and the Recreation Center of Highland Park (landscaping plan for shared parking lot located at 1207 Park Avenue West, emergency repairs due to flooding, and the proposal from Williams Architects to provide architectural and engineering services for Phase Two of the locker room renovation).

Staff reviewed and provided contractor recommendations for the Park Avenue Dredging bid results and the Larry Fink Tot Lot Renovation bid results.

February 24: Master Planning Committee Meeting

The Lakota Group (designers, planners, and communication experts), aQity Research and Insights (survey consultant), and BerryDunn (Recreation Services Assessment consultant) held a kickoff meeting for the Greenprint Master Plan Update.

February 26: Regular Meeting of the Park Board

The Park Board of Commissioners approved the 2025 Park Avenue Dredging Project Bid, the 2025 Larry Fink Tot Lot Renovation Bid, the New Recreation Facility at West Ridge Park Construction Material Testing Proposal, the Williams Architects Recreation Center of Highland Park Locker Room Shower Area Remodeling Proposal, Ordinance 2025-02 An Ordinance Amending the Appropriation Ordinance for Fiscal Year 2024, Ordinance 2025-03: Authorizing and Providing for the Conveyance or Sale of Surplus Personal Property, and Resolution 2025-02 Authorizing the Purchase of Electricity for Park District Facilities and Meters and Authorizing the Director to Approve a Contract with the Lowest Cost Electricity Provider for a period up to 3 years.

Staff provided an annual report for Heller Nature Center and the Rosewood Interpretive Center comparing budgeted vs actual programming revenues, expenses, and participant utilization.