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PARKS & RECREATION BOARD 2019/01/15 Packet PARKS AND RECREATION BOARD TUESDAY, JANUARY 15, 2019 6:30PM at MUNICIPAL SERVICES 800 N. FIELD DRIVE LAKE FOREST, ILLINOIS AGENDA I. CALL TO ORDER & ROLL CALL II. Charlie Kohlmeyer, Chairman _____ Shannon Maguire _____ Rich Adams _____ Nancy Duffy _____ Paul Best _____ Steve Reimer _____ Melanie Walsh _____ William Zordani, Student III. *APPROVAL OF MINUTES A. Approval of minutes of the December 04, 2018 Parks and Recreation Board Meeting IV. OPPORTUNITY FOR CITIZENS TO ADDRESS THE PARKS AND RECREATION BOARD ON NON-AGENDA ITEMS V. LAKEFRONT DISCUSSION VI. *FOREST PARK MAINTENANCE CONTRACT VII. *ANNUAL GROUNDS MAINTENANCE CONTRACT VIII. COMMENTS BY DIRECTOR IX. COMMENTS BY BOARD MEMBERS X. ADJOURNMENT *ACTION ITEMS The City of Lake Forest Parks and Recreation Board Meeting Minutes December 4, 2018 I. Call to Order The Parks and Recreation Board Meeting was called to order by Chairman Charlie Kohlmeyer at 6:00p.m. The following were present: Board Members: Mr. Charlie Kohlmeyer Mr. Paul Best Mr. Rich Adams Ms. Nancy Duffy Ms. Melanie Walsh Mr. Steve Reimer Ms. Shannon Maguire Mr. William Zordani, Student Friends of Lake Forest Parks & Recreation Foundation Members: Mr. Steve Malin Mr. John Powers Mr. Ed Zarek Mr. Patrick Marshall Mr. Ara Goshgarian Mr. Mark Milliman Mr. Mike MacDougal Mr. Fred Jackson Mr. Patrick Hoch Staff: Ms. Sally Swarthout, Director of Parks and Recreation Mr. Joe Mobile, Superintendent of Recreation Mr. Chuck Myers, Superintendent of Recreation Ms. Dani Spann, Administrative Assistant Special Guests: Mr. Steve Konters II. Approval of Minutes Meeting minutes of the October 16, 2018 Park & Recreation Board Meeting were presented and approved. Board member Duffy motioned for approval of the minutes and Board member Reimer seconded. The minutes were then unanimously approved. III. Opportunities for the Public to Address the Board on Items not listed on the Agenda No comments IV. Open Lands Park Naming Selection Superintendent Joe Mobile gave a brief overview of the Open Lands Park project and the renaming of the park. After meeting with Staff, they are recommending the park be renamed Veterans Park. There is a great amount of support from the community and this name will give a real memorial feel to the park. Mr. Mobile talked about Lars Matson, an Eagle Scout who would like to create a Veteran memorial in the park. Several guests from the community, including members from the American Legion spoke and shared their history and support of the new name, Veterans Park, and the idea to have a memorial on site. Former Mayor Rummel spoke about his history with Lake Forest and residents expressed importance of honoring our Veterans. Currently, there is not an area in Lake Forest that recognizes Veterans and this would be a great place to honor and remember past, current and future Lake Forest Veterans and their service. It was noted the Eagle Scout project will be an amenity worked into the current design. Staff, along with Lars will meet with Craig Bergmann and come up with ideas. A motion was made by Board member Adams to approve the renaming of the Open Lands Park property to Veteran’s Park and to proceed to City Council for their approval. The motion was seconded by Board member Walsh. The motion was passed. V. Comprehensive Master Plan Presentation Steve Konters from Hitchcock Design Group presented the proposed final draft of the Comprehensive Master Plan and gave a quick overview of the draft format and organization of the booklet. This draft is an opportunity to give feedback and comments before the final draft is sent for approval. Key highlights are located in the beginning to give a quick synopsis of the objectives of the plan. Mr. Konters stressed this is a living document. The different chapters will begin with a title page and an overview page stating the purpose and main content of the chapter. Chapter 2 shows the action plan items listed by each facility and their justification of strategies. Chapter 3 is the analysis and inventory of the facilities, parks and open spaces. He mentioned they are still compiling data for the North Shore comparison matrix. The next chapter talks about the community engagement phase along with the trends at the various local and state levels with the final chapter as an appendix going over the various reports received during the surveys and comments received through the online survey. There were several questions regarding the responses to the online survey that was conducted. Mr. Konters replied there was a very high percentage of responses and these household totals were verified by each unique IP address. He went over the survey results and how they were generated. A Master Plan becomes a guideline over 10 years, whereas items and estimated costs are analyzed annually. This Master Plan booklet can be viewed by the public with detailed survey results removed for privacy. Feasibility studies will be completed for any of the larger items on the Master Plan. Mr. Konters encouraged members to review this draft in more depth and to direct any comments to Joe Mobile to be accommodated for the final draft. This will be considered for final review by Parks and Recreation Board and Friends of Lake Forest Parks and Recreation Foundation for their adoption after the January 15th Parks and Recreation Board meeting. Small discussion followed on making a marketing condensed version of the history and adoption of the Plan. VI. Comments by Director Director Swarthout talked about the following upcoming events in December. 1. Cocktails With the Claus’ – December 7th at 7:00pm at Northcroft Park Pavilion- Fundraiser by the Friends of Lake Forest Parks and Recreation Foundation 2. Annual Holiday Art Sale – December 7th from 6:00pm - 9:00pm and December 8th from 10:00am - 4:00pm at the Stirling Hall Art Center 3. Winter Dance Spectacular– December 8th at 4:00pm at the Lake Forest Recreation Center Gymnasium 4. Dinner With Santa – December 8th & 9th at Northcroft Park Pavilion- Fundraiser by the Friends of Lake Forest Parks and Recreation Foundation 5. Claus’ Coach- December 16th Director Swarthout mentioned that a very sizeable donation was made by Nancy Hughes for the North Beach access road, going forward the North Beach access road will now be called, The Hughes Gateway. Also, it was approved to name the patio at the Deerpath Golf Course, The Bob Kiely Patio in honor of all his service and dedication. The target date for the North Beach access road to be utilized is mid-July, weather dependent. The ravine repair is scheduled to be done by the end of the year, weather dependent. After much input, staff is looking at next steps for the boardwalk. A short discussion followed on the boardwalk. Ara Goshgarian, Vice President of the Friends of Lake Forest Parks and Recreation Foundation, mentioned the Foundation would like to see more support and collaboration from the Parks and Recreation Board members for future events. VII. Comments by Board Members Board member Reimer mentioned developing a collaboration component between the Parks and Recreation Board and the Friends of Lake Forest Parks and Recreation Foundation. The subject of Parks and Recreation having their own website was mentioned. VIII. Adjournment Board member Reimer motioned for adjournment and Board member Duffy seconded. The meeting was adjourned at 7:43p.m. Respectfully Submitted Dani Spann Administrative Assistant SUBJECT: 2019 Lakefront Operations and Parking Discussion PRESENTED BY: Aaron Dalzot, Program Manager of Lakefront 847-810-3930 PURPOSE AND ACTION REQUESTED: Staff is currently preparing for the 2019 Lakefront season, and due to the established timeline for repairs of the Hughes Gateway, staff is trying to find a solution that will accommodate both south beach permit holders as well as the general beach user. With the loss of 104 parking spots in the north beach parking lot until mid-July, Staff are developing a plan to lessen the burden of that loss to our resident users so they can still enjoy the Lakefront during the closure. Staff is presenting several different options for discussion to obtain Board feedback and direction to move forward with choosing an acceptable option. No action is required. BACKGROUND/DISCUSSION: The South Beach parking lot has 88 regular spots, 5 handicap spots and 36 trailer spots in which permits are sold annually. The Top South also has 18 spots available to residents without a permit but that have a City sticker. With the road project, this is the only available onsite parking for our residents. Staff has considered many options and are now determining the best one for operations. Staff is suggesting that on weekdays, Monday through Friday, the south beach parking lot be open to any guest that has a City of Lake Forest Parking sticker with a few exceptions. The middle row of trailer spots would be reserved for vehicles that have compound or beach watercraft storage permits as well as staff would reserve an area of 12 – 15 spots in the lot for permit holders only. On weekend and holidays staff recommend that the south beach parking is for south beach permitted vehicles only, ie water ramp launch, watercraft storage, south beach parking. On the weekends and holidays, Staff would offer a shuttle service for our residents from an alternate location to be determined. Staff would monitor the weather and modify the parking accordingly based on usage. There are several different options being considered for the shuttle service. These options are listed below with the associated fiscal impacts of each option. All of the options include the continued service of golf cart shuttles from the south lot to the north beach. We would run one golf cart on Monday-Friday and run two on weekends and holidays, weather depending. Option 1: Hire a school bus. Option 2: Hire a CDL driver and utilize the senior center van. Option 3: Operate the CROYA van and a small trailer attached to haul beach equipment. The above options require the hiring of additional staff members to coordinate the queue line for the chosen method of transportation as well. 2 The above options also provide us with an additional service. If a non-resident parked at the Rec Center and wanted to take the shuttle, the worker could direct them to pay their non-resident fee at the fitness center desk and they could get their wrist band before they enter the bus. Other items that are also being suspended during this time include beach pavilions and non-resident launches until August 1st due to limited parking. The fees of the south beach parking passes will be prorated by 4 months (April, May, June, and July) to accommodate the inconvenience. Attached is a chart that shows the breakdown of cars at the South Beach parking lot from 2016, 2017, and 2018. It also has break down of weekends and holiday versus weekdays and how many days we went into overflow parking. South Lot Totals MAY JUNE JULY AUG SEPT Total 2016 373 1009 1234 984 477 4077 2017 432 1610 2938 2162 416 7558 2018 669 2769 12408 8083 103 24032 Total Holiday/Weekend Weekday 2016 4077 2871 1206 2017 7558 3323 4235 2018 24032 8289 15743 Overflow Holiday/Weekend Weekday 2016 4 1 2017 11 1 2018 28 11 Number of Days Holiday/Weekend Weekday 2016 32 68 2017 33 68 2018 33 68 As the charts above demonstrate, we had more guests on weekends and holidays in 2018 than the total number of guests at South Beach Parking for the entire year of 2017. We hit overflow 28 weekend days out of 33. With these statistics, we need to find some 3 balance between South Beach Permit holders to city sticker holders and try to accommodate everyone safely. Staff plan to ask the police to open parking on one of the city roads to residents as was done last year. This option does not include a shuttle service to the facility. Also, Staff recommend reaching out to the college again to see if we can utilize one of their parking lots for staff parking needs to alleviate the additional congestion. BUDGET/FISCAL IMPACT: The considered options all have a significant fiscal impact on the lakefront operations. Golf Cart Shuttle: The rental cost of providing two golf carts is $4,200 and the cost to staff this accommodation is $7,002 for a total of $11,472. Option 1: Hire a school bus. The cost to hire a bus would be $70 an hour. We would need the bus for 10 hours a day for 22 days making the, the cost to us $15,400. Option 2: Hire a CDL driver and utilize the senior center van. We could offer a current employee with a CDL license overtime pay to drive the van. The cost would be $45 per hour in overtime costs for the same 10 hours a day for 22 days, with a cost of $9,900 not including fuel costs. A second option would be to hire an employee that has a current CDL license at a salary of $14 per hour for the same schedule for a total of $3,080. Option 3: Operate the CROYA van and a small trailer attached to haul beach equipment. Staff would hire a driver for the van that would cost $1,980 in additional staff costs. With these options, we would need to staff the rec center parking lot to direct guests where to go and to coordinate pickups with the driver. The cost of this position would also be $1,980. Below is a breakdown of total cost analysis of the several different options. 2 golf carts $4,200 2 golf cart drivers $3,960 weekday golf cart driver $3,312 worker at rec $1,980 Total $13,452 Cost Cost Above (constant) Total Cost BUS $15,400 $13,452 $28,852 CDL PARKS DRIVER $9,900 $13,452 $23,352 CDL SENIOR CENTER $3,080 $13,452 $16,532 CROYA VAN $1,980 $13,452 $15,432 4 RECOMMENDED PARK BOARD ACTION: 2019 Lakefront Operations and Parking Discussion. No action required. SUBJECT: Approval of Forest Park Grounds Maintenance Services Contract for FY2020 PRESENTED BY: Chuck Myers, Superintendent of Parks & Forestry, 810-3565 PURPOSE AND ACTION REQUESTED: Staff is seeking Park Board Approval to enter into a one year contract with Mariani Landscape to provide mowing and grounds maintenance services at Forest Park, with the ability to extend the contract for an additional two, one-year terms, in the total amount of $39,932.33 for FY2020. BACKGROUND/DISCUSSION: Forest Park is one of the oldest and most celebrated parks on the North Shore and a treasure for the residents of Lake Forest. After the completion of the highly successful rehabilitation project in 2015, the City’s Parks Section resumed its maintenance responsibilities and was charged with keeping the park in its pristine condition. Since 2011, the City has been outsourcing mowing on other City-owned properties and it has proven to be a beneficial fiscal approach by reducing labor expenses and long- term capital equipment replacement costs. Given the Parks Sections current workload, City Staff recognized the need to outsource Forest Park in order to ensure that the park is maintained at the highest level possible. For FY2020, staff conducted an expansive bid process that includes mowing and extensive grounds maintenance services for Forest Park. In addition, staff included a three year option with this year’s bid process. The contract would provide The City with the ability to extend the contract after the first season or rebid the contract for FY2020. The bid opening was held on November 8, 2018. BUDGET/FISCAL IMPACT: Funding for the Forest Park grounds maintenance contract is budgeted in the Parks Fund 220 operating budget. The results of the bid process confirm that outsourcing mowing and ground maintenance of these areas is fiscally beneficial. Staff received four (4) bids for grounds maintenance services as detailed below for FY2020. Recommended Bidder/Proposer is BOLDED Company Name Dollar Amount Bid Mariani Landscape $ 39,932.33 Lizzette Medina & Co. $ 43,680.00 Chalet $ 44,060.00 Rocco Fiore & Sons $ 73,450.00 After careful review of the bids by City staff, we are recommending the selection of Mariani Landscape for a one year contract. Mariani has had a very successful record of performing these services at Forest Park for the past three years and on other previous City projects. They have excellent references for similar work with surrounding communities as well. Further, Mariani is very familiar with the park and has a complete understanding of the extremely high level that the park must be maintained at. Mariani Landscape will continue to offer the program started last year that encompasses a number of sustainability practices. First and foremost will be the deployment of fully electric mowers, blowers and line trimmers in all service operations at Forest Park. This equipment will deliver low noise, zero emissions and zero use of fossil fuels in the operation of this machinery. A traditional gas powered mower averages 95-100 decibels, the electric mowers being introduced will reach a maximum of 80 decibels and under normal operating parameters, even less. The emissions benefit is realized with all of the mowers having zero emissions due to the Lithium Energy Modules that provide the power source for these devices. No warm up period or idle time emissions are present with these electric powered machines. The further utilization of all Lithium-Ion battery powered lawn blowers and line trimmers will also provide lower noise pollution and zero emissions. A typical gas powered blower produces an average noise level of 99 decibels. The new electric blowers have a sound level of 56 decibels during normal use. All of the above activities and procedures combine to provide the City of Lake Forest with a responsible and environmentally beneficial program in the execution of the significant grounds maintenance services they provide. There will be no additional costs associated with the implementation of this program and it will begin at the start of the spring season. Below is summary of Project budget: FY2020 Funding Source Amount Budgeted Amount Requested Budgeted? Y/N Parks Operating Fund 220 $40,000 $ 39,932.33 Y PARKS & RECREATION BOARD ACTION: Approval to enter into a one year contract with Mariani Landscape to provide mowing and grounds maintenance services at Forest Park, with the ability to extend the contract for an additional two, one-year terms, in the total amount of $39,932.33 for FY2020. SUBJECT: Approval of Contract for Annual Grounds Maintenance Services Contract in the Parks FY2020 Budget PRESENTED BY: CHUCK MYERS, SUPERINTENDENT OF PARKS AND FORESTRY, 810-3565 PURPOSE AND ACTION REQUESTED: Staff is seeking approval to award a one year contract to Landscape Concepts Management in the amount of $101,540 for FY2020 for the mowing and grounds maintenance of City properties, cul-de-sacs, and right-of- ways. BACKGROUND/DISCUSSION: Annually, the Parks and Recreation Department researches opportunities to improve operational efficiencies and deliver services in the most cost effective manner. In 2011, the Parks section began outsourcing the mowing of many of our passive parks and miscellaneous parcels. We chose not to bid out all other park properties, such as the neighborhood parks, lakefront and community parks, due to the significant need to coordinate with ever-changing public use and athletic field schedules. The outsourcing of mowing has proven to be a beneficial fiscal approach by reducing labor expenses and long-term capital equipment replacement costs. In FY2018, staff conducted an expansive bid request that included the mowing of the eleven City areas along with the mowing of twenty City right-of-ways and 136 cul- de-sacs. Similar to the selection rationale for outsourcing areas in 2011, the right-of- ways and cul-de-sacs are also desirable to outsource since they involve routine scheduling requirements. In addition, the Parks Section included 3-year bids with the bid process and has the ability to extend the contract after the first season or rebid the contract for FY2019 and FY2020. Staff is recommending that the contract with Landscape Concepts Management Inc. be extended to FY2020. BUDGET/FISCAL IMPACT: Funding for the annual mowing contract is budgeted in the Parks Fund 220 operating budget. The FY2018 bid was $97,000 for the third year of the contract (FY2020) and an additional $4,540 was added for the mowing and maintenance of a newly established landscaped area on the northern portion of Western Avenue. Summary of Project Budget: FY2020 Funding Source Amount Budgeted Amount Requested Budgeted? Y/N Parks Operating Fund 220 $101,540 $101,540 Y PARKS & RECREATION BOARD ACTION: Approval to award a one year contract to Landscape Concepts Management in the amount of $101,540 for FY2020 for the mowing and grounds maintenance of City properties, cul-de-sacs, and right-of-ways.