McHenry Times

City of Harvard Park Board Met Feb. 15.

Here is the minutes provided by the board:

Chairman Jay Schulz called the meeting to order and called roll at 6:00 pm. Committee members present: Alderman Charlie Gorman, Alderman Matt Perkins, Bryce Bannwolf, Joel Kriete, Scott Logan, Pep Saucedo and Mike Vest. Also present were Mayor Kelly and Supt. Ryan Knop.

Public Comment

None

Approval of Minutes

A motion was made by Scott Logan, seconded by Bryce Bannwolf to approve the Park Board Minutes of January 18, 2021, as presented. All ayes. Motion carried.

Events Committee Fireworks Discussion

Supt. Knop related that during the Finance Committee Budget Workshop, Alderman Meza requested that Parks put $10-15,000 towards the Events Committee Independence Day Celebration. The item was then referred to the Park Board for discussion.

Scott Logan outlined the budget and event activities for the July 3rd event which will be combined with the Food Truck Feastival. The Committee is looking for various not-for-profit groups to run and organize various activities. The Committee initially was looking for about $5,000, but as of right now the preliminary budget in the amount of $21,250 is running about even but does not include park rental fees. The Committee would like to make the event entirely free to the public; Scott asked the Park Board to consider waiving the Park Shelter Rental fees which have yet to be determined. There is also a City requirement for a security deposit and police officers for numbers over 150 persons. Pep expressed concern that other groups might request a waiver once they knew fees were waived for the Events Committee. Mayor Kelly responded that there is a distinction in that the Events Committee is not a separate not-for-profit entity and is under the Park Board. Any money spent or received essentially ends up under the parks budget. A motion was made by Alderman Perkins, seconded by Pep Saucedo to waive the fees for the fireworks. Supt. Knop and Mike Vest requested clarification of the motion. Alderman Perkins clarified that the waiver was for the park rental fees for the Independence Day Feastival. All ayes. Motion carried.

The Park Board’s recommendation will go before the City Council on February 23rd.

Mayor Kelly noted there is a second issue to create a budget line item to contribute to the fireworks. The consensus was that based on the budget, the fees would be waived, but not to donate additional funds towards the fireworks.

New Playground Equipment at Northfield Park

Supt. Knop referenced his email regarding a budget line item to use excess funds in the upcoming budget to purchase new playground equipment at Northfield Park. The proposal includes installation. Items not budgeted would be plastic borders ($2,000) and mulch ($1,500-2,000) which could be done at a later time or taken out of capital improvements. Joel recommended that handicap accessible equipment be included

for consideration in all projects going forward. Ryan stated that the equipment would be ADA compliant, but not necessarily handicap accessible. There is a handicap accessible wheelchair swing in Lion’s Park by the library. The cost of a heavy-duty ADA swing is approximately $3,000, uninstalled. Several board members felt that the playground equipment should include a full handicap accessible swing. Ryan noted that funds need to be allocated for anything beyond the initial quote. Alderman Gorman made a motion, seconded by Scott Logan to accept Ryan’s original proposal to approve the quote from Team REIL, Inc., in the amount of $26, 599.00. All ayes. Motion carried. Ryan will get hard numbers by the next meeting on a handicap accessible swing which would be an add on free-standing piece of equipment and will find out what type of pad is required.

Swimming Pool

Ryan reviewed the IDPH Swimming Facility guidelines as well as the criteria necessary to move forward into Phase 5. Phase 4 guidelines allow the pool to operate with 50 people (including staff) or 50% capacity, whichever is less. Temperatures for employees and customers would need to be taken upon entrance and face masks worn when not in the water. There is an opportunity to operate more than 50 people if social distancing of 30’ per group of 50 can be maintained; this is not feasible with the pool layout. Ryan will put together a process in the event the pool opens as well as projected costs and net loss to operate the pool at a limited capacity with a reduction in pool pass sales. The March meeting is the deadline to make a decision whether to open the pool for the upcoming season to allow sufficient time to line up staff and training certifications. The timeline to move into Phase 5 is uncertain. Discussion tabled until next month.

Rec Center Discussion

Ryan and Chairman Schulz will prepare a survey to solicit resident input on an indoor facility to be reviewed by the Park Board at the next meeting.

Mayor’s Report

Mayor Kelly noted his expectation is that the community will be in favor of an indoor facility which will arm the Park Board to move forward with that task. The Park Board will need to engage other entities to work together to make it happen. A question will be included on the survey asking if individuals would be willing to serve on a citizens committee to bring about an indoor rec center.

Supt. Knop’s Report

Supt. Knop reviewed his monthly report.

New Business

Chairman Schulz plans on having the next meeting in the new City Council Chambers. The next regularly scheduled meeting is March 15, 2021 at 6 pm.

At 7:12 pm, a motion was made by Scott Logan, seconded by Alderman Perkins to adjourn the meeting. All ayes. Motion carried.