McHenry Times

City of Harvard Park Board met Feb. 27

Here are the minutes provided by the board:

Chairman Jay Schulz called the meeting to order at 6:00 pm. Committee members present: Chairman Jay Schulz, Alderman John Lavallee, Alderwoman Rosa Luna, Alderman Raul Meza and Scott Logan. Member Pep Saucedo was absent. Also present were Mayor Kelly, City Administrator Lou Leone and Supt. Knop.

Public Comment 

No comments.

Approval of Minutes 

A motion was made by Scott Logan, seconded by Alderwoman Luna to accept the Park Board Minutes of December 12, 2022, as presented. All ayes. Motion carried.

Project Update/Status 

Supt. Knop reported that the dog park fencing has been completed and the dog park is open to the public.

A survey is being conducted that is designed to collect preliminary information regarding the different recreation and programming interests that are desired for the Harvard Parks and Recreation Department to develop in the future. To date, 175 responses have been received, 2 of which were from the Spanish version survey. The survey ends on February 28th at 4 pm after which Ryan will put together a report that will be available at the March Park Board Meeting.

Supt. Knop has been in contact with Karen Sutera at the Library about the Northfield Park gazebo; the library is not going to be able to take one of the gazebos. However, the school district is interested in taking the secondary gazebo to be installed at Central School where the old playground equipment was. A motion was made by Scott Logan, seconded by Alderwoman Luna to approve donating one of the gazebos to the school district. All ayes. Motion carried.

Budget Discussion 

Supt. Knop updated the Park Board on the budget workshop held on Saturday, February 25th; the budget balanced and was approved. Projects to be completed in the upcoming fiscal year: 

• Lion's Park Mulch

• Park Pointe Tree Trimming (which was postponed from last year)

• Park Pointe Walking Path

• Northfield Park picnic table

• Pool pumps for small filtration tank

• Steps for pool ladders

• Park garbage cans

• Dog Park upgrades

Supt. Knop related there was minimal tree damage in the parks from the recent storms. His biggest concern was Lions Park and after inspection, he didn’t notice any significant damage. A community service guy helped him clean up the big stuff to be picked up during the Public Works storm damage pickup.

Rebuild Illinois Grant 

The IDCEO grant for a proposed walking path through Lion’s Park is still processing.

Vandalism Report 

No report.

Mayor’s Report 

Mayor Kelly will reach out to Senator Syverson regarding the grant funding he was working on.

Supt. Knop’s Report 

Supt. Knop reviewed his report as submitted.

Supt. Knop is working on a summer basketball program and has been in contact with the school district and the new varsity coach. The City’s current program is for 5th-8th grades and he would like to start getting 3rd and 4th graders involved to teach them basic fundamentals.

Pool documents have been preliminarily updated for the 2023 season. Supt. Knop is proposing modified times for hours of operation: Friday hours used to be 12 pm–8 pm with a proposed change to 12 pm-7 pm; Saturday hours used to be 1 pm-7 pm with a proposed change to 2 pm-7pm. The total open hours for the week haven’t changed just slightly modified times. Another change that is requested is with hours of operation. Pool pass members will have exclusive access for 1 hour after the pool opens from 12 pm–1 pm. This will be on the March Park Board agenda for official approval.

Harvard Parks Foundation Report 

Scott reported that the HPF has partnered with The McHenry County Community Foundation and created an endowment fund with $75,000 and an advisory fund with $25,000. The only event currently planned is a golf outing on August 2nd. The HPF is looking to set up a fundraiser with Rockford Charitable Games pending getting the required documents to obtain a Charitable Games License with the state.

The dog park is open with a ribbon cutting/grand opening to be scheduled at a later date.

Alderman Meza inquired about having a dog playdate/sign up and having a Facebook user group. Mayor Kelly suggested that any Facebook group should be user generated and perhaps get someone within their group to become the admin.

New Business 

Chairman Schulz noted several things to be addressed on next month’s agenda:

• Survey results; after discussion, the consensus was to keep the survey open until March 7th to reach more groups particularly in the Spanish community and other groups that use our parks. 

• Update on the School District IGA.

• What to do with the land next to the library that was the former community garden as well as the apple trees on the property.

The next meeting is Monday, March 20, 2023, at 6 pm.

At 6:25 pm, a motion was made by Scott Logan, seconded by Alderwoman Luna to adjourn the meeting. All ayes. Motion carried.

https://www.cityofharvard.org/sites/default/files/fileattachments/parks_and_recreation_board/meeting/14745/minutesparkboard2023-02-27.pdf