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News
Park official: new staff key to successful '04 : News : Oswego Ledger-Sentinel : Hometown Newspaper for Oswego and Montgomery, IllinoisPark official: new staff key to successful '04
| Mattingly also lists Boulder Point Center, Ogden Falls park among highlights
| by Lyle R. Rolfe
| 1/27/2005
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Bob Mattingly, Oswegoland Park District Board President, smiled as he looked over the list of district accomplishments for 2004.
The board began the year with a new executive director, Bill McAdam, who came from the Plainfield Park District to replace Bert Gray.
The board had spent several months during 2003 looking for the right person to replace Gray who became director of the Champaign County Forest Preserve.
McAdam was put to work immediately, according to Mattingly.
“Although he was hired at the end of 2003, it was the best thing the district did for last year,” he said. “We appreciate his leadership and vision he has shown since he came. That started everything out on a good note.”
Two other hires rank high on Mattingly’s list of accomplishments.
Chuck Legg of Oswego was hired as construction manager to oversee all projects on district property and Dave Margolis of Deerfield was hired as district naturalist to manage all natural areas in the district.
Legg is assigned to planning and development director Grant Casleton, and Margolis is assigned to operations director Mike Fee.
Mattingly said another highlight for last year was leasing the former automobile dealership at Boulder Hill Pass and Ill. Route 25 for the recreation department. This allowed them to expand their programs and put everything under one roof in a building that was remodeled specifically for this use.
“I think it’s a tremendous facility for our constituency and taxpayers, our staff, and participants. It’s very versatile,” Mattingly said. “Personally, in my opinion as someone who goes by there quite often on the bike trial, just cleaning up that corner is a great thing for the community. It had really become an eyesore.”
Buying four additional lots along Adams Street leading to the Fox River near downtown Oswego was a good move for the district, he said. Homes are still on two of the parcels and the other two had been razed. The land will be used for the expansion of Hudson Crossing Park and the bike trail in the future he said.
“They are an expansion of our river frontage. Not every community is fortunate enough to have a river like the Fox River,” he said.
No condemnations were necessary for any of the parcels.
“Then there’s Hudson Crossing Park,” Mattingly said. “What a great park for the community.”
The park is along Adams Street north of the former U.S. Route 34 bridge now part of the bike trail across the river.
“Everybody is driving down there to see how nice it is and how functional. People were using the park before it was open,” he recalled. “My son-in-law and my grandson were probably the biggest culprits. They live close by and love going down to it.”
Will assist in land-cash revisions
Mattingly said assisting the village in redoing its land-cash ordinance was important for the district. The value was raised from about $5,500 to $7,000 per acre.
“That has really enhanced our ability to acquire open space,” Mattingly said.
Staff members also developed a new accounting procedure to track land-cash donations.
Ogden Falls Park in Oswego’s Ogden Falls Subdivision was completed last year and playground equipment was installed in Washington Park in Oswego’s Hometown Subdivision.
“We’re happy they are done but we’re sorry it took so long,” Mattingly said.
The board enacted a district ethics ordinance and established an ethics committee, an important move. Staff members also developed individual department and district goals and the board revised and compiled all park ordinances into one book.
The board completed the Prairie Point–South Fields lease agreement with the Oswego School District which included a 25 year lease on the South Fields property. This is now the permanent home for PrairieFest.
“We feel very good about our relationship with the school district,” Mattingly said. “In fact, we’ve always had a very good working relationship with all the other government bodies and Bill is continuing that relationship.”
The Neighborhood Nights programs also has been very successful.
“When we open a new park or facility we invite the neighbors and have refreshments for them,” he said.
McAdam said they sometime do it in established parks to get people acquainted with the facilities in their neighborhood. “It’s a great way for us to meet the neighbors. It’s a very positive program,” he said.
Kiley Thiele, marketing director, has been in charge of these programs, he said.
The district joined the Fox Valley Special Recreation Association last year making a variety of programs available to the district’s handicapped residents. Although some services were available before they joined, there has been an increase in participation since joining, Mattingly said.
The district replaced an antiquated and unreliable telephone system improving communication with callers.
They also issued a three-year bond for capital projects that will result in a cost savings compared to issuing bonds every year. McAdam and Annette Hattner, business manager, were responsible for this, he said.
McAdam said the district had been seeing a decrease in the number of season passes sold for the aquatic center, so a new marketing plan was implemented resulting in an increase in pass sales.
Mattingly said the park district is looking forward to a big year in 2005.
The first project was to open Boulder Point for programs and activities.
“We’ve been getting very positive comments. We are doing cross programs, so there will be programs for children and parents at the same time,” Mattingly said.
He said they will be applying for an OSLAND grant that would provide funds to purchase and develop open space through the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.
McAdam said the staff will come up with possible projects and bring them to the board for discussion.
“We will take the ones with the best chance of being approved and apply for them,” McAdam said.
Bike trail grant applications on the horizon
And the district also plans to apply for a bike trail grant.
“One of my goals since coming on the board has been to join the east and west sides of the Fox River and this year we will finally do that with the bridge across the river from Violet Patch Park to the west side,” Mattingly said. Construction on the bridge is set to start in the spring.
Planning officials will implement an electronic mapping process in their department this year to help plan open space.
“This benefits the public by giving them better planned parks and helps us improve our maintenance,” McAdam explained.
The district also plans to update their employee policy manuals, assist Kendall County and the Village of Plainfield in revising their land-cash ordinances, and review and update the district’s organizational structure so they can better serve the people, Mattingly said.
Also on the agenda for this year are plans to assist the youth groups in organizing a sports council, assist park district foundation members in becoming active, revise and update the districts purchasing policies, develop a three-year capital projects budget plan, and a three-year operating budget plan, and keep an eye on state and federal legislation that could adversely affect the district.
McAdam said area legislators keep him informed of all proposed legislation affecting the district.
Implementing real time program registration on the district’s website is important, Mattingly said. It allows residents to know immediately if a class is filled. Under the present arrangement, they sign up but don’t know until a staff member calls them after reviewing the online registrations, whether the class is open. The new system also reduces work for the staff, he said.
“We’re going to continue to secure open space, and expand and improve the recreation programs and opportunities offered to the district residents,” Mattingly said.
He and McAdam agreed that these will probably always be district goals.
Mattingly said he is pleased with the past year.
“I always compare this to my school district (Indian Prairie 204 in Aurora and Naperville), which has been one of the fastest growing in the state. You always have to be thinking ahead—to be proactive so you don’t have to be reactive,” Mattingly noted. “I think Bill [McAdam] and the staff have led us as board members to keep us ahead of the game. You’ll always have some things come up that you have to react to. But, Bill has had experience with growth in Plainfield where they have been 3-4 years ahead of us, so he knows how to deal with these situations,” Mattingly concluded. |
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