City of Palos Heights Recreation Committee met Dec. 13.
Here are the minutes provided by the committee:
CALL TO ORDER
Chairman Key called the regular meeting of the Recreation Committee to order at 7:05 p.m. at the Palos Heights City Hall, 7607 W. College Drive. In attendance were Chairman Key, Alderman Bylut, Alderman Clifford, Director of Parks and Recreation Matt Fairbanks, Lake Katherine Chair Terry Horvath, and recording secretary Morgan Pukula.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Chairman Key moved to approve the minutes of the November 8th, 2022 meeting with an update of Alderman Belgey being present on November 8th, 2022,seconded by Alderman Bylut. On a voice note, the motion passed unanimously.
PUBLIC COMMENT
None.
LAKE KATHERINE REPORT
Terry Horvath provided the Lake Katherine update:
Staff has been very busy during the winter months, and they have been fantastic with the limited amount of people we have. They are all willing to come in on weekends to finish projects and dedicate their time to our nature center.
∙ We hosted a nature lunar night hike where we had a group of people who hiked out in the children’s forest, had a fire, watched the full moon rise during the program and learned about constellations.
∙ We arranged for the staff to have a tour of the library, to see the new teen and youth facilities.
∙ We are expanding our outreach program and doing much more outside of Lake Katherine including going to our Palos Senior Center making nature art mosaics, wood burning classes and hikes with the seniors.
∙ Our number of volunteers has expanded to over 50, after covid. Our volunteer coordinator, Emily is leaving us but we will be looking for a new coordinator.
∙ A Trinity work day was held along the north side of the lake removing invasive species.
∙ For the first time, a group from Colonial Heights came out to do work on Bobbie’s Garden, an area between the Colonial Heights HOA and the bike trail. We coordinated with their rec committee and people from the association will have 10 volunteers come out to maintain the garden.
∙ We had our regular ecological volunteers come to clear the brush around the waterfall and also along the north side of the lake.
∙ We had our Holiday Hayride on Thursday night and was at capacity with 2 rides driving around the city to see lights, followed by ornament making in the nature center.
∙ Education: We held 3 field trips about animal groups and their characteristics. Junior Explorers offered programs about food chains, native American food from the 1700s and fall art in November. Each program has 2 sessions with all of them being at capacity. This week’s gingerbread & foxes were offered as a program. One was completely full and the other having ¼ capacity. 5 Scout groups came to learn about survival, bugs, eco practices, the environment, animals and Native Americans. Nature tots hosted 3 sessions about all things fall. All 3 sessions were full, with a waitlist in November. This week Winter Birds offered 3 sessions, with each being almost full.
∙ Overall, we’ve had a successful year. We sent out our financial appeal on giving Tuesday this year to raise funds for Mayor Robert Straz’s dedicated boathouse and dock. We sent invites out to our donors and utilized constant contact with our civic rec lists, as well as posted on our social media platforms.
∙ Financially, Lake Katherine has been doing very well and will be increasing our contribution to the city by $20,000.
Lastly, Terry wanted to mention the article in the Chicago Tribune titled, “Nature belongs to all of us”, which spoke about the rare black crowned night herons that live at Lake Katherine. The Nature Director Sophia, provided a list of the wildlife we have at Lake Katherine which includes: mute swans, mallards and geese in the winter months from November to about March. We have had blue winged teals on the water for the last few weeks and have also had a few sightings of pied-billed grebes, wood ducks and lesser scaups. At a glance they may look like typical mallards, but they have varying behaviors, sizes and coloring. Also during the winter, birds of prey are more readily seen although they are around all year. Last week a bald eagle was hanging out by the Nature Center all day and red-tailed hawks and coopers’ hawks are more easily spotted in the trees. Other unique animals seen mostly year round are American beavers, muskrats, belted kingfishers and a variety of birds including northern cardinals, black-capped chickadees and American goldfinches. Last spring, we had a family of great horned owls living in the children’s forest and we were able to show field trips and classes to those who have never seen an owl before. Baltimore orioles nest throughout Lake Katherine in the spring, as well as beautiful migratory song birds like warbler species, tree swallows and tiny ruby-crowned kinglets. In the warmer months, there are plenty of reptiles, amphibians and turtles.
PARKS & RECREATION REPORT
Director of Parks and Recreation Matt Fairbanks, provided the Parks & Recreation update:
∙ Recreation Program Updates: The Little Learner Preschool participated in the tree decorating contest on December 2nd and the teachers were made aware the Little Learners won the Holiday tree decorating contest. The Little Learners Preschool and the Little Sprouts will be having their holiday parties December 16th. Parents and guardians are encouraged to come to participate in craft making, songs, spending time with friends and having a special visit with Santa Claus. Our after school program, Power Play also has a Christmas craft and game event planned on the last day of Power Play for the season. The kids will be on winter break from December 22nd to January 9th. An update on our athletics: The fall second session of sports included, basketball, flag football, track and field, volleyball, peewee hockey and adult and tot multi-sport classes (educational classes) ended the week of December 10th. In addition, the fall all-star sports classes will conclude December 20th. Our classes and sports will resume April of 2023. Our indoor soccer league just ended their season on December 11th. The children received their end of the year medals and completed an 8-week course of practice and games. The league ended with 199 registrations, in comparison to the 156 kids we had registered in 2021. We are promoting our basketball league, where practices will start January 23rd through January 27th. The league is for both boys and girls, grades K-8. As of today, we have 389 registrations between all the divisions, with the registration deadline ending January 9th. In 2021, the league ended with 389 registrations, but this year we have a couple more weeks to surpass the amount of kids we had last year. We have a new nerf league that is similar to a capture the flag format, where teams play in groups of 5. The league had a total of 41 participants and ran from October 26th to December 7th. Our birthday parties have been extremely successful this year including different themes: nerf, sport, inflatable and tie-dye. This year we have had 67 birthday parties, compared to the 35 we had in 2021.
∙ Upcoming events
o New Year’s Celebration- We have been busy promoting and setting up for the event on December 30th from 10 am – 12 pm. Staff members are getting craft events ready, as well as blowing up 1,000s of balloons for the balloon drop. We currently have 79 people signed up and we are expecting a couple hundred.
o Review on Kris Kringle Market- The market was held on December 2nd and 3rd with about 70 vendors in attendance, with over 6,000 people. We were able to prioritize local businesses and promoted the event on our social media account, the Regional newspaper and our website. We ended up with 8 sponsors for the event. It included a visit from Santa, crafts for the kids and food and drinks. The Rec Department and the Holiday in the Heights committee collaborated to host this great event for the community. Chairman Key mentioned the food vendors were very well attended throughout the event, since last year there were issues in attendance.
o Review on Santa’s Holiday Adventure- On December 9th, participants came to the Rec Center to enjoy a night in comfy pajamas and have a movie night with Santa. Kids were able to do crafts, decorate cookies and write letters to Santa. The event sold out with about 40 people.
o Review on Santa’s Workshop- On December 10th, this free event took place at the Rec Center in the Orchard Room, along with the winter market. Santa was there to visit, the kids could write letters to Santa, decorate cookies and listen to music.
o Review on Winter Market- We hosted 2 markets, one on December 9th and December 10th. Vendors were set up in the gymnasium and was well attended. We thought the market and Santa’s Workshop worked well with each other.
∙ Veterans Playlot Update: We spoke with Public Works and they will not be able to start the work until the spring. Bob from Public Works thought the job would be able to start in April and end at the end of April, but will potentially take longer.
∙ Orchard Park Update: At the December 5th city council meeting, JSD was approved as the landscape/architect company to assist us with the project which includes the design development, construction plans, specs, bid proposal, bidding process and permitting construction observation and also the grant money from OSLAD. There are tentative plans for the construction and would be brought to the board at the next meeting.
∙ Dream Big Park Update: Chairman Key stated at the last meeting Mrs. Coyne and Linda from the RAB had concerns about the living fence providing privacy for the family home. The same week, Alderman Key, Matt, Mrs. And Mr. Coyne and Chad from CNC Landscaping were all present on the property. We discussed the berms and where they were to be located. The only concern that came from the meeting was the issue on drainage. It was assured that there would not be an issue with the drainage and that privacy would be achieved with the new landscaping.
NEW BUSINESS
∙ Request for motion to approve two new heaters for the pool in the amount of $14,101.10 from M. Cooper Winsupply.
Chairman Key motioned to approve $14,101.10 for the two new heaters for the pool, showers and concession stand seconded by Alderman Clifford. On a voice note, the motion passed unanimously. - AGENDA
OLD BUSINESS
Matt wanted to thank the committee for a great year. We have been able to accomplish a lot of different events and projects with the committee’s support.
Alderman Key wanted to thank the Rec Department for collaborating with the Holiday in the Heights committee and successfully completing the Kris Kringle event with special circumstances.
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business, Chairman Key moved to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Alderman Clifford. All in favor.
Meeting adjourned at 7:38 p.m.
https://palosheights.org/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_12132022-768
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