City of Lake Forest Parks and Recreation Board met March 15.
Here are the minutes provided by the board:
I. Call to Order
The Parks and Recreation Board Meeting was called to order by Chairman Paul Best at 6:30p.m. The following were present:
Board Members: Mr. Paul Best
Mr. Kevin Carden
Ms. Nancy Duffy
Mr. Patrick Marshall
Mr. Marc Silver
Ms. Kaci Spirito
Staff: Ms. Sally Swarthout, Director of Parks and Recreation
Mr. Joe Mobile, Superintendent of Recreation
Mr. Chuck Myers, Superintendent of Parks, Forestry & Special Facilities
Mr. Anthony Anasczewicz, Program Manager, Athletics
Mr. Rich Paulsen, Supervisor of Parks
Ms. Dani Spann, Administrative Assistant
II. Approval of Minutes
Meeting minutes of the February 15, 2022 Parks & Recreation Board Meeting were presented and approved.
Board member Carden motioned for approval of the minutes and Board member Spirito seconded. The Board meeting minutes of February 15, 2022 were then unanimously approved.
III. Opportunities for the Public to Address the Board on Items not listed on the Agenda
IV. Approval of Contract- Recreation Center Multi-Year Bussing Services
Athletics Program Manager, Anthony Anaszewicz, presented to the Board, the proposed vendor fees for multi-year bussing services for summer camps. Mr. Anaszewicz gave a brief overview of the history and purpose of the bussing services. CROYA will use the bussing also, however, the CROYA services are not being approved by the Parks and Recreation Board. A bid opening was held on February 18th with two companies submitting bids. The two companies that submitted bids were Positive Connections and First Student. First Student came in with the lowest 3-year contract.
| Recreation
Programs | 2022 – 2023 | *2023 – 2024 | *2024 - 2025 |
| Positive
Connections | $ 59,925 | $ 157,950 | $ 165,746 |
| First Student | $ 24,977 | $ 82,208 | $ 87,777 |
| *CROYA | 2022 – 2023 | 2023 – 2024 | 2024 - 2025 |
| Positive
Connections | $ 9,987.50 | $ 10,500 | $ 11, 025 |
| First Student | $ 5,890 | $ 6,080 | $ 6,270 |
Requested Action: City Staff requests approval to award First Student a 3-year contract for Recreation Bussing Services from 2022-2025.
A motion was made by Board member Duffy to approve to award First Student a 3-year contract for Recreation Bussing Services from 2022-2025. The motion was seconded by Board member Carden.
V. Approval of Recommendation to Proceed with Request for Proposals for Design of Athletic Fields at Deerpath Park
Director of Parks and Recreation, Sally Swarthout, presented to the Board, the staff recommendation to move forward with a Request for Proposals for the design of synthetic turf athletic fields at Deerpath Park. Ms. Swarthout gave a brief background on the Comprehensive Parks Master Plan developed in 2019 and the importance of Parks and Recreation athletic fields as a priority. Ms. Swarthout went over the Project Timeline to date.
The first community engagement workshop was held in December 2021. The second community engagement workshop was held in February of 2022. This meeting was virtual and responses to questions from Workshop #1 were addressed. Director Swarthout went over the results from the workshops. The top three take aways were player safety, maximize playability and maximize field usage and conditions. Staff reached out to neighboring communities with questions addressing natural and synthetic turf in both usage based and maintenance-based questions. Neighboring communities with synthetic turf fields gave positive feedback with the turf fields and saw no increase in injuries. Staff utilized all input from community feedback, user group preferences and criteria obtained from the workshops and surveys throughout the evaluation process and creation of design options.
Four design options were considered:
-Option #1- Business as Usual- This option would leave the fields as they are.
-Option #2- Natural Grass Improvements
-Option #3- Synthetic Turf Improvements
-Option #4- Hybrid Natural/Synthetic Improvements
Director Swarthout went over the high-level estimated installation costs for synthetic turf and natural turf. Real numbers will be generated when the design is completed. Based on the priority ranking from the community survey, the engagement process and the staff matrix it shows that Option #3 meets the needs of the community and the top priorities expressed. Option #3 gives users the choice to use multi use synthetic turf fields and 14 other natural grass areas.
Discussion followed by Board members on the difference between athletic field parks and natural play parks. Superintendent Chuck Myers said the flexibility and playability is greater with synthetic turf rather than natural grass and the flexibility to turn over fields more frequently is higher with synthetic turf. Contaminants were discussed with natural vs. synthetic turf. Mr. Myers answered the design process will include and stress environmental concerns. Bioswales will be a significant buffer to catch contamination from synthetic turf. The amount of synthetic turf will be 10.2 acres. Chairman Best asked about the Summary Matrix and player safety between natural and synthetic turf. Director Swarthout answered with proper maintenance they are even with each other in regard to player safety.
Public comment was allowed with the following commenting:
Debbie Gallagher offered her opinion on the topic of artificial turf at Deerpath Park Jim Crawford offered his opinion on the topic of artificial turf at Deerpath Park Mike Mangiaracina offered his opinion on the topic of artificial turf at Deerpath Park Tom Ford offered his opinion on the topic of artificial turf at Deerpath Park
Amy Lincoln offered her opinion on the topic of artificial turf at Deerpath Park
Marion Cartwright offered her opinion on the topic of artificial turf at Deerpath Park Fred Arazon offered his opinion on the topic of artificial turf at Deerpath Park
Mary Goy offered her opinion on the topic of artificial turf at Deerpath Park
Mary Matthews offered her opinion on the topic of artificial turf at Deerpath Park Kate Rother offered her opinion on the topic of artificial turf at Deerpath Park
Reid Kelly offered his opinion on the topic of artificial turf at Deerpath Park
David Holmes offered his opinion on the topic of artificial turf at Deerpath Par
Fred Jackson offered his opinion on the topic of artificial turf at Deerpath Park
Rommy Lopat offered her opinion on the topic of artificial turf at Deerpath Park Peter Lacase offered his opinion on the topic of artificial turf at Deerpath Park
Kat Buckhardt offered her opinion on the topic of artificial turf at Deerpath Park Steve Malin offered his opinion on the topic of artificial turf at Deerpath Park
Rick Amos offered his opinion on the topic of artificial turf at Deerpath Park
Yuh Schabacker offered her opinion on the topic of artificial turf at Deerpath Park Mark Schabacker offered his opinion on the topic of artificial turf at Deerpath Park Alton Shader offered his opinion on the topic of artificial turf at Deerpath Park
The Board members had a chance to comment and give their opinion on the recommendation of proceeding with synthetic turf athletic fields at Deerpath Park.
Requested Action: City Staff requests the approval to proceed with requests for proposals for the design of synthetic turf athletic fields at Deerpath Park.
A motion was made by Board member Silver to approve to proceed with requests for proposals for the design of synthetic turf athletic fields. The motion was seconded by Board member Marshall. The motion was passed with a roll call of 5 yeas and 1 nay.
VI. Comments by Director
Ms. Swarthout informed the Board of the upcoming programs and local events.
• April Fun with the Bunny- You Got Egged, Egg Hunt Eggstravaganza, Bunny Baskets
• Go Lake Forest-Lake Forest College Walk- April 7th- 10:00am
• Girls Softball Registration Starts on April 19th
• Family Drive-In Movie Night- Saturday, May 13th from 7:00pm – 9:00on at Deerpath Middle School Parking Lot
VII. Board Member Comments
Board member Duffy recommended emailing a program for the virtual Passion for Dance Company recital and commented everyone did a great job. Board member Marshall thanked everyone for a great job on putting everything together for the presentation. Chairman Best complimented staff for doing such a great job on this process.
VIII. Adjournment
Board member Marshall motioned for adjournment and Board member Spirito seconded. The meeting was adjourned at 8:53p.m.
https://cms9files.revize.com/cityoflakeforestil/Document_center/Agendas%20and%20Minutes/Parks%20and%20Recreation%20Board/2022/PRB%20Minutes%2003152022.pdf
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