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Politics & Government

State of the Park District: After Turbulent Years, District is 'In Sync'

Park District highlights achievements, plans at the first-ever State of the Park District presentation.

The tide has turned at , with steady seas predicted in the present and near future.

“It’s no secret that the District has managed some turbulent times over the past decade, with frequent changes in leadership,” Park Board President Mike Reilly said Saturday. “However, the organization clearly is on much more solid footing and great things are being accomplished by the district on behalf of the community it serves.”

Addressing an early morning audience of a few dozen people at the Saturday, Reilly presented the first-ever State of Park District address. In his remarks he praised the leadership of Executive Director Ray McGury and process improvements in the way the Park Board and staff work together that now have them “in sync.” He also highlighted the district’s recent accomplishments, current projects and plans for the future.

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Later this year residents can expect to see a couple of new staff members in the district, he said. With major projects underway at Centennial Beach, Nike Sports Complex and Seager Park, “the time has come to address the District’s need to augment staff in order to adequately support these new recreational amenities,” Reilly said.

Historically the park district has operated “with an exceptionally lean staff” that has decreased as the number of parks grew, he said. In 2002, the district had 118 parks and more than 2,300 acres of land. In 2009 the District had 138 parks encompassing more than 2,500 acres, but also had 44 fewer employees, he said.

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“We’ve been operating a pretty lean and mean machine for some time. But at some point you come to a point where the community’s asking for more amenities—like in the northern part of town with Nike—so we are going to bring in a couple full-time people,” McGury said after the presentation. “We’re going to offset that, we’re not going to actually start that until midyear, so there will be cost-savings there.”

A part-time volunteer coordinator will also be hired this year to “give our volunteer program the time and attention it needs to flourish,” Reilly said. Last year the district had 3,800 volunteers who worked a total of  77,775 hours, which is valued at more than $1.7 million, he said.

“Look at how much of a savings it is to the district. We couldn’t do a lot of the things we do without volunteers, so we think that’s money well-spent to bring somebody in to kind of get their arms around that and take it to another level,” McGury said.

Overall, the district is in sound financial shape, officials said. The district has a balanced budget and renewed its “Triple A” bond rating.

“Our ability to maintain this level indicates several positive aspects regarding the financial resources of the district, which include: well-maintained finances with healthy reserves, diverse economic base benefits from proximity to Chicago and a favorable debt profile with minimal near-term borrowing plans,” Reilly said.

Despite the tough economy, both Naperbrook and Springbrook golf courses—which as self-funded and don’t receive tax dollars—showed profit in both 2009 and 2010.

“The profitability of the golf courses was due to a couple of main factors,” Reilly said. “Following an operational assessment conducted in early 2009, the golf courses were charged with enhancing their operations and identifying efficiencies. This resulted in eliminating some positions, but this occurred mainly through cutting operating expenses. Additionally, the courses have done an excellent job taking a close look at their maintenance processes and were able to bring some practices in house in order to realize significant savings.”

Three major Park District projects started in 2010 will be completed this year, Reilly said.

At , where half of the project has already been finished, improvements include a new front entry plaza, a new, safer patron drop-off area, new bathhouse entrance, family changing rooms, improved locker facilities and a new concessions building. A grand reopening will be held at beach near Memorial Day.

Sixty percent of the expansion has been completed since the project broke ground in the summer. Upon completion in mid to late summer of this year, the facility will have the district’s first lighted, synthetic turf field in addition to multipurpose sports fields, Reilly said. Other additions include lighted courts for tennis, basketball and volleyball, a playground and walking trail. It will also be the site of the district’s second cricket patch.

“With regard to cricket, it’s also worth noting that the Naperville Park District is the only park district in the country to have its own cricket league,” Reilly said.

Work at , which began in November, includes construction of an interpretive center that will be used for educational programs, as well as several site improvements. Those include a wildflower garden, native plantings, a trail and relocated basketball and volleyball courts. The project is expected to be completed this fall.

During 2011, four playgrounds will be renovated: Nike Park (not the sports complex), Burr Oak, Queensbury Greens and Springhill Greenway, Reilly said.

“All locations will be officially opened with a playground ribbon cutting later this year. Once the snow clears and it warms up, we also will be planning celebration events for two projects that were completed late in 2010: the south trail at Wildflower Park and the playground at Wil-O-Way Park,” he said. “Additionally, the OSLAD improvements to south Knoch Park will begin after Ribfest.”

Throughout the last few years the district has made great strides its environmental friendliness, and has been recognized for its efforts by local and state agencies.

“With nearly two years of work by the employee-led Green Team under its belt, the district continued to make significant progress,” Reilly said. “Some of these accomplishments included: shifting the district’s paper to 30-percent recycled content, which added no cost and actually saved budget dollars; 100 more volunteers participated in the district’s Earth Week projects than in 2009; new energy-efficient sports lighting was installed at south —it’s also less costly and has a longer lifespan; and the district implemented a holiday lights recycling program at several of its facilities through Elgin Recycling.

“The green efforts are among Naperville Park District’s projects focusing on continuous improvement. The district also recently conducted a 6-month operational assessment with consultant Springsted.

“It was good to hear that we’re already doing many things right. In fact, Springsted cited several examples of best practices that included our strategic planning process, strong financial management, a positive public image and diversity of recreational opportunities,” Reilly said. “However, we didn’t engage them just to give us a pat on the back. They also uncovered several areas where the district could improve including: succession planning, cross-functional management, clarifying the board’s policy-making role and the district’s mission, vision and strategic goals.”

The district received the final report from Springsted last month, he said, and staff and board are making progress on areas identified as needing improvement.

Currently the district is seeking national accreditation through the Commission for Accreditation of Park and Recreation Agencies.

“We may believe internally that the Naperville Park District is the best at providing recreation services,” Reilly said “However, in order to be acknowledged as the best, we need to be evaluated by an objective third party. Staff already is making progress toward national accreditation and the goal is to be officially accredited by this fall.”

The accreditation process will include an evaluation of all the district’s programs to determine if they fit with the Park District’s role and mission.

The program evaluation will be asking: “Is that really where we should be focusing our efforts?” McGury said. “... and really saying 'who are we as an organization?'”

Key 2010 achievements:

  • A survey of winter through summer 2010 program participants indicated a 90.67 percent satisfaction rate.
  • The district hosted 12 playground ribbon-cutting events and the fall rededication of Winding Creek Park
  • Centennial Beach experienced record-setting attendance. More than 170,000 people visited the beach last year - about 38 percent more than 2009.
  • The Illinois Department of Natural Resources awarded the district a $4000,000 Open Space Lands Acquisition and Development grant for the development of Knoch Park.
  • Three intergovernmental trail projects added 3.8 additional miles and made a continuous path throughout the community and several parks.
  • The district renewed its “Triple A” bond rating, which was first received in 2008. The district also received the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting from the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada, a distinction it has received ever year since 1991.
  • In May, the District became the first park district to receive the Earth Flag from DuPage County and School and Community Assistance for Recycling and Composting Education.
  • The district received first runner up from the Illinois Association of Park Districts in “Best Green Practices” category for their annual recognition program.
  • Naperbrook was named “Favorite Golf Course” by Naperville Glancer Magazine readers and Springbrook was honored as the “Best Golf Course” by Naperville Magazine readers for the second year in a row.
  • The Millennium Carillon celebrated its 10th anniversary, and hosted several special events throughout the year. It was also named Chicago’s favorite secret place in the Metropolitan Planning Council’s competition.
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