South Cook News

City of Palos Heights Recreation Committee met June 11

Here are the minutes provided by the committee:

CALL TO ORDER

Chairman Key called the regular meeting of the Recreation Committee to order at 7:21 p.m. at the Palos Heights City Hall, 7607 W. College Drive. In attendance were Chairman Key, Alderman Bylut, and Alderman Clifford. Also present were Director of Parks and Recreation Matt Fairbanks, Steve from Williams Architect, Lake Katherine Director Gareth Blakesley, recording secretary Morgan Pukula.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Chairman Key motioned to approve the minutes of the May 14, 2024 meeting, seconded by Alderman Bylut. On a voice vote, the motion passed unanimously.

PUBLIC COMMENT

None.

LAKE KATHERINE REPORT

Lake Katherine Gareth Blakesley reported:

• All tree dedications for spring were completed and plaques were installed.

• Our canoe and kayak season opened May 20th.

• The boat house and pier are open and operation. We came in just a little over budget and received an anonymous donor of $30,000.

• The donor, thank you event is Wednesday, June 12th at 5pm. Invites were sent to those who donated to the boat house and pier.

• A Cummins work group came out to transplant trees, spread mulch and garden. We also received a $5,000 grant from Cummins

• Two pollinator gardens were installed at schools as a part of a Nicor equity grant.

• The monthly senior weather watching class occurred at the Palos Senior Center.

• Gardens were mulched, weeded, planted and are now being watered, predominately by our volunteers.

• The grounds have been mowed, trimmed and the rain has helped with growth.

• Education classes:

◦ There were 19 field trips that included animal adaptations, wetlands, owls, food chains, webs, herbs, habitats, fishing and spring.

◦ We had 3 scout trips: trees, orienteering and eco hikes.

◦ Junior Explorers has 3 sessions of fishing, 2 sessions of kayaking and 3 sessions of composting

◦ Little Explorers had 3 sessions on rainbows and 2 sessions on rabbits.

◦ We received proper permits for reptile and amphibian possession, as well as for an endangered ornate box turtle.

◦ Staff is completing mindfulness online training tomorrow.

◦ Volunteers had a table educating people on cicadas and over 70 people visited the table.

◦ Camp begins next week, and 4 staff members are completing training.

• Alderman Bylut asked about the netting around the trees at Lake Katherine. Gareth said they covered some of the younger trees that had a lot of cicadas on them to prevent female egg laying. The egg laying will not damage the trees, but it does cause damage or scarring to the trees.

PARKS AND RECREATION REPORT

Director of Parks and Recreation Matt Fairbanks gave the recreation report:

• Pool Phase 1 Update: Staff met with Williams Architects multiple times this past week to perform bid interviews with the two low bids for the project. We’ve been evaluating all bid requirements, reviewing the cost analysis of the current pricing for pool construction, architect fees and the co-op purchases. Williams Architects and staff confirmed that Simpson Construction have met all the requirements and is the suggested contractor to complete the work for the pool project.

Steve from Williams Architects thanked the city for having him, and began speaking about where he thought the project went over budget. The main reason staff saw the increase, was the market and supply chains have not caught up to what they should be. Including some factors that we did not anticipate added on to the final cost. Matt stated the original number that was submitted to OSLAD was 1.58 million, and now we are closer to 2.2 million. The city’s portion is 1.6 million when the OSLAD grant is included.

The aldermen expressed concerns on the new cost of the project. Matt assured the committee that the Recreation Department staff did look into minimizing some of the recreational components to lower the costs. Construction will start taking place 2 days after the pool closes this season and completion is scheduled for April 1st 2025.

• Orchard Park Update: 90% of the turf restoration has been completed. About 80% of the plant material has been installed and landscape that still has to be completed will take place when they do final tree trimming and grass cutting. The spray pad equipment has been installed and last week the site furniture was installed. The four square still needs to be painted, as well as striping the parking lot. The completion of the walking path will take place next week. Once everything is complete, Hacienda will contact the Building Department for final inspections. Staff will be taking a virtual training class for the operation of the splash pad at the end of the month and JSD has submitted the certificate for substantial completion for review.

Matt spoke with previous HOA president, Kathy Lachowicz, who wished to donate a bench and memorial plaque in honor of Edgar Beaulieu who passed away in 2021. There will be a memorial ceremony at the soft opening of the park.

• Recreation Update: The recreation department finished hiring all summer staff for the pool. We have 43 lifeguards and managers and 27 pool and concession staff members. We unfortunately were not able to open on June 1st because of weather, but we did open June 2nd with a great turn out. Next month, we will have a pool attendance report.

The Farmer’s Market opened May 8th, and on average there are around 250 shoppers a week. This past Wednesday, we started our themed scavenger hunts for the kids.

Summer camps started June 10th, and have 150 campers enrolled in session 1. The summer camp counselors completed all their training on May 29th.

On May 25th, we held our dance recital at Trinity Christian College. The theme for the recital was, a day at the circus. There were 13 performances by the classes, with 350 people in attendance.

All-star sports classes ended on May 21st. Junior tee ball had 32 participants, junior soccer had 25 and basketball skills had 14. The junior tee ball and junior soccer were able to hold their classes at Meyers Park and occasionally brought them in to the recreation center for bad weather.

In May, we held 5 birthday parties at the recreation center. Birthday party themes consist of sports, tie-dye, NERF or inflatables. Staff is considering changing the tie-dye theme to Picasso; which would include a painting party, with canvases, paint and paintbrushes supplied by the recreation center.

The adult pickle ball league season ended May 14th and had 8 teams who participated.

They competed on May 21st for the semi-finals in the playoffs and the final game was on May 29th.

NEW BUSINESS

a) Chairman Key motioned to award bid to Simpson Construction Co. for the development of the Palos Pool Improvement project in the amount of 1,855,000.00, seconded by Alderman Bylut. On a voice vote, the motion passed unanimously.

b) Chairman Key motioned to approve payment application #3 to Hacienda Landscaping in the amount of $96,277.50, seconded by Alderman Clifford. On a voice vote, the motion passed unanimously.

c) Chairman Key motioned to approve payment to Williams Architects in the amount of $14,652.90 for construction document development, additional bid services, reimbursables and unit billing items for Phase 1 of the pool project, seconded by Alderman Bylut. On a voice vote, the motion passed unanimously.

OLD BUSINESS

Matt stated the tennis court at Palmer Park is going to be striped for pickle ball. It will cost the department $1,000.

ADJOURNMENT

There being no further business, Chairman Key moved to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Alderman Bylut. All in favor.

Meeting adjourned at 7:47 p.m.

https://palosheights.org/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_07092024-1029