Post by wvhsparent on Aug 2, 2006 9:00:04 GMT -6
Naperville Park District working to re-establish residents' trust
By Amy Boerema
Daily Herald Staff Writer
Posted Wednesday, August 02, 2006
What do you think?
Is Naperville Park District doing a good job of maintaining its facilities or is there room for improvement? What parks do you think need the most work? Let us know what you think by e-mailing your thoughts to dpfencepost@dailyherald.com; faxing them to (630) 955-0895; or mailing them to Fence Post, P.O. Box 2497, Naperville, IL 60567.
Bette Kalina has a problem with Central Park.
The downtown site has so much potential, the Naperville woman says — but it’s in serious need of a makeover.
The benches are ugly and uncomfortable and have splintery edges, she says. The walkways are cracked and dangerously uneven.
And public restrooms are desperately needed for visitors to the Community Concert Center, she says.
“They built a beautiful facility, but my feelings are, ‘Complete the job,’ ” she says.
She’s one of several residents who say some Naperville parks aren’t being kept up to standard, whether it’s issues with mowing, pond erosion or playground equipment.
Naperville Park District leaders say they’re updating park standards now and already have implemented some new guidelines.
But with leaders moving ahead with plans to build an estimated $35 million indoor recreation center in Frontier Park, some users question if they’ve got their priorities straight.
“Complete one job before doing the next,” Kalina says.
Concerns
Parks commissioners themselves have raised questions.
Charlie Brown, Ron Ory and Kristen Jungles all have expressed concerns with park-related issues at recent meetings. They’ve not named specific sites that need improving, but touched more generally on park standards and conditions.
At the July 13 meeting, Jungles said park districts in Oak Brook and Joliet “have standards we can’t hold a candle to.”
“I think people in this community deserve to have better parks than there are now,” she said.
Ory said he’s concerned with the bigger picture and wants to know projected maintenance expenses as costs rise and more parks come online, and how that will fit into the district’s long-term capital plans.
“My concerns continue to be, ‘Can we afford the rec center and do everything else?’ ” he said. “And we don’t have a long-term finance plan in place to tell us that.”
You build trust by first maintaining your current assets, he said.
“If we don’t know where we’re at, or what it’s going to cost, I’m not sure we’ve built the community trust to the level we want it to be,” he said.
New standards
Even so, parks staff say that in a recent needs study, patrons overwhelmingly rated the physical condition of parks as either excellent or good.
Staff members say they’re almost done updating standards that haven’t been reviewed since 1999. And those ones never really were emphasized or followed, they say.
The community has grown tremendously since then, says parks director Ed Dalton, who arrived in Naperville about eight months ago.
New guidelines could be complete this month, and staff then will create a long-term equipment and staffing plan, he says.
“The commissioners are most concerned with why we got away from it and how we can get back to those guidelines,” he says.
Trail maintenance is an example of something that’s fallen to the wayside, he says. Workers currently are trying to establish consistent path widths and do more re-grading.
They also hope to revive a tree maintenance program that includes preventive measures like pruning district trees, he says.
Common complaints
Residents commonly call with questions about overgrown grass, shoreline erosion and outdated play equipment, some officials say.
Many park users and athletes have complained about unmowed grass. New mowing heights were adopted in April — a steady 2.5 inches, as opposed to between the previous 3 and 5 inches, Dalton says.
In the past year, they’ve added new mowing equipment and hired outside contractors to help with the work. They’re aiming to mow each park weekly.
“We’re not there yet,” he says.
A $4.5 million maintenance garage in Frontier Park that can hold such equipment will help workers get to parks on the south side — where most athletic complexes are located — more quickly.
Ultimately, the bigger athletic complexes will have workers stationed at each site to take charge of daily groundwork maintenance, Dalton said.
Leaders also have created a 10-foot no-mow buffer zone around all ponds, creeks and streams to help ward off geese and help with erosion control.
“Geese don’t feel as secure when there’s taller grass at the pond edge because there’s a fear of a predator,” he said.
That change has been an adjustment for some residents.
“They were used to looking out their back window and seeing the grass mowed right to the edge,” he said.
Long-term resolutions for unsightly shoreline erosion also are being evaluated.
“The quick solution is to line everything with stone, but it doesn’t look aesthetically pleasing and may not be the best solution for the long term,” he said.
Updating playground equipment is another area that’s being evaluated. Workers are developing an overall master plan for replacement of park amenities. Playgrounds are replaced on a rotating basis, but busier ones could be done sooner if needed.
An asset inventory, to be done by late August, will determine the condition of park amenities, and workers will create a priority list of projects to be addressed.
Central Park, which is city-owned and park district-maintained, is one site where city and parks leaders are working together to possibly install new benches and even out the walkways, Dalton said.
‘Gold standard’
Some commissioners have pitched their own ideas for park improvements.
Brown suggested using one park as the “gold standard” for how other sites should look, though the idea might not be feasible cost-wise, he said.
Parks officials also could help build a better connection between residents and their local parks, Ory says. A homeowner’s group had planted flowers around a park sign, but when the sign was moved, the flowers were neglected and ultimately damaged, he said.
“The ones that were left, the homeowners dug up,” he said. “We had alienated that whole group.”
He also emphasizes volunteering at parks or establishing an adopt-a-park program.
“We’re a community of volunteers and until we enhance ownership of our parks and say here’s an opportunity to beautify our neighborhood parks, I don’t think we’ve arrived yet,” he said.
By Amy Boerema
Daily Herald Staff Writer
Posted Wednesday, August 02, 2006
What do you think?
Is Naperville Park District doing a good job of maintaining its facilities or is there room for improvement? What parks do you think need the most work? Let us know what you think by e-mailing your thoughts to dpfencepost@dailyherald.com; faxing them to (630) 955-0895; or mailing them to Fence Post, P.O. Box 2497, Naperville, IL 60567.
Bette Kalina has a problem with Central Park.
The downtown site has so much potential, the Naperville woman says — but it’s in serious need of a makeover.
The benches are ugly and uncomfortable and have splintery edges, she says. The walkways are cracked and dangerously uneven.
And public restrooms are desperately needed for visitors to the Community Concert Center, she says.
“They built a beautiful facility, but my feelings are, ‘Complete the job,’ ” she says.
She’s one of several residents who say some Naperville parks aren’t being kept up to standard, whether it’s issues with mowing, pond erosion or playground equipment.
Naperville Park District leaders say they’re updating park standards now and already have implemented some new guidelines.
But with leaders moving ahead with plans to build an estimated $35 million indoor recreation center in Frontier Park, some users question if they’ve got their priorities straight.
“Complete one job before doing the next,” Kalina says.
Concerns
Parks commissioners themselves have raised questions.
Charlie Brown, Ron Ory and Kristen Jungles all have expressed concerns with park-related issues at recent meetings. They’ve not named specific sites that need improving, but touched more generally on park standards and conditions.
At the July 13 meeting, Jungles said park districts in Oak Brook and Joliet “have standards we can’t hold a candle to.”
“I think people in this community deserve to have better parks than there are now,” she said.
Ory said he’s concerned with the bigger picture and wants to know projected maintenance expenses as costs rise and more parks come online, and how that will fit into the district’s long-term capital plans.
“My concerns continue to be, ‘Can we afford the rec center and do everything else?’ ” he said. “And we don’t have a long-term finance plan in place to tell us that.”
You build trust by first maintaining your current assets, he said.
“If we don’t know where we’re at, or what it’s going to cost, I’m not sure we’ve built the community trust to the level we want it to be,” he said.
New standards
Even so, parks staff say that in a recent needs study, patrons overwhelmingly rated the physical condition of parks as either excellent or good.
Staff members say they’re almost done updating standards that haven’t been reviewed since 1999. And those ones never really were emphasized or followed, they say.
The community has grown tremendously since then, says parks director Ed Dalton, who arrived in Naperville about eight months ago.
New guidelines could be complete this month, and staff then will create a long-term equipment and staffing plan, he says.
“The commissioners are most concerned with why we got away from it and how we can get back to those guidelines,” he says.
Trail maintenance is an example of something that’s fallen to the wayside, he says. Workers currently are trying to establish consistent path widths and do more re-grading.
They also hope to revive a tree maintenance program that includes preventive measures like pruning district trees, he says.
Common complaints
Residents commonly call with questions about overgrown grass, shoreline erosion and outdated play equipment, some officials say.
Many park users and athletes have complained about unmowed grass. New mowing heights were adopted in April — a steady 2.5 inches, as opposed to between the previous 3 and 5 inches, Dalton says.
In the past year, they’ve added new mowing equipment and hired outside contractors to help with the work. They’re aiming to mow each park weekly.
“We’re not there yet,” he says.
A $4.5 million maintenance garage in Frontier Park that can hold such equipment will help workers get to parks on the south side — where most athletic complexes are located — more quickly.
Ultimately, the bigger athletic complexes will have workers stationed at each site to take charge of daily groundwork maintenance, Dalton said.
Leaders also have created a 10-foot no-mow buffer zone around all ponds, creeks and streams to help ward off geese and help with erosion control.
“Geese don’t feel as secure when there’s taller grass at the pond edge because there’s a fear of a predator,” he said.
That change has been an adjustment for some residents.
“They were used to looking out their back window and seeing the grass mowed right to the edge,” he said.
Long-term resolutions for unsightly shoreline erosion also are being evaluated.
“The quick solution is to line everything with stone, but it doesn’t look aesthetically pleasing and may not be the best solution for the long term,” he said.
Updating playground equipment is another area that’s being evaluated. Workers are developing an overall master plan for replacement of park amenities. Playgrounds are replaced on a rotating basis, but busier ones could be done sooner if needed.
An asset inventory, to be done by late August, will determine the condition of park amenities, and workers will create a priority list of projects to be addressed.
Central Park, which is city-owned and park district-maintained, is one site where city and parks leaders are working together to possibly install new benches and even out the walkways, Dalton said.
‘Gold standard’
Some commissioners have pitched their own ideas for park improvements.
Brown suggested using one park as the “gold standard” for how other sites should look, though the idea might not be feasible cost-wise, he said.
Parks officials also could help build a better connection between residents and their local parks, Ory says. A homeowner’s group had planted flowers around a park sign, but when the sign was moved, the flowers were neglected and ultimately damaged, he said.
“The ones that were left, the homeowners dug up,” he said. “We had alienated that whole group.”
He also emphasizes volunteering at parks or establishing an adopt-a-park program.
“We’re a community of volunteers and until we enhance ownership of our parks and say here’s an opportunity to beautify our neighborhood parks, I don’t think we’ve arrived yet,” he said.