With the Peotone School District’s board experiencing upheaval following the abrupt resignation of its president, which resulted in a vacant board member position, and the recently realized school budgetary woes, talks over the ball fields have stalled, leaving Peotone Parks uncertain of how to proceed.
Despite the school district’s circumstances, the park district wants to restart talks soon, as they are concerned they will be approached right before the baseball season begins, leading to a repeat of what happened this past spring.
“We want to make sure the fields are prepared for the season to start,” park board member Chris Miller said.
According to the park board, the last talks resulted in the former school district president informing them the school district was waiting on an architect, but it was prior to the budgetary constraints coming to light.
The park board is uncertain whether the school district agreed an IGA was in place, and since the circumstances have changed considerably with the school district, they’re unsure of the status or the school board’s wishes.
The park district determined the IGA with the village had lapsed; however, there was no record of the 1994 IGA between the park and school district ever being canceled, meaning it was still in effect.
The park district furnished a copy of the IGA to The Vedette, which states, “This agreement shall continue in full force and effect for a period of 10 years and thereafter on a year-to-year basis unless terminated by either party by a sixty (60) day written notice to the other party.”
The IGA outlines shared use and maintenance responsibility of the fields and property.
Park board members anticipate it will take time to reach a consensus regarding the IGA with the school district and then determine how to proceed, whether by rescinding the current one and issuing a new one, making an amendment, or changing course altogether. Another concern is the two-page IGA does not have a lot of detail in it, leaving a lot to interpretation.
Board member Shaun Ziems proposed sending a letter with questions and including a deadline to prevent progress from stalling again. The goal is to reach a mutual agreement on how to proceed before the season starts.
“If we are going to continue with the intergovernmental agreement as stated, here is the information we need to continue down that path,” Parks Manager Kelly LaMore suggested.
The debate over the ball fields stemmed from ownership, responsibility for maintenance, financing, and the extent of field maintenance.
Park board members maintain they are keeping the fields maintained to recreation field standards and expressed if the school district wants them to be more elevated, such as for varsity-level playing, it should finance the improvements.
With regard to the school district’s responsibility for the fields, the IGA states, “The School shall maintain so much of the park property as shall be used for school purposes during the school term and shall repair any damage done to the Park property caused by the School District by its use thereof.”
The park district contends the school has not contributed to the upkeep of the fields in any way.
The IGA states the park district’s responsibilities include: “The Park agrees to maintain the lights for the baseball diamond on the School property and maintain so much of the School property as shall be used for Park purposes and shall repair any damage done to the School property caused by its use thereof.”
“I think we realized how inequitable the arrangement truly has been,” LaMore said, before adding, “School districts spend lots of money to maintain athletic fields, and we’ve done that for them forever.”
“Only to the best of our financial ability,” Park Board President Barb Sim added, noting they have a small budget.
“We don’t want to rip fields out from under them and give them no place to play — that’s the intent,” LaMore emphasized, with Ziems in agreement.
“I don’t want this to be a hostile thing, I just want answers,” Ziems said.
“There just needs to be something in place, and what they come up with, we can meet them in the middle, I would think,” Miller added.
The board brainstormed ideas for forming a committee from the school district and park board to facilitate a feasible compromise.
They intended to draft and send a letter before the next board meeting.
“At least we could have communication then,” Sim added.
Potential for Aqua Project?
Miller reported receiving a response from Aqua — an undertaking he spearheaded in an attempt to get park funding from the water company.
The response was a pleasant surprise to the board since past attempts resulted in stalled or no communication. They met and discussed Aqua’s contribution to a project for the park district.
Ultimately, the meeting was productive, and the park district learned they needed to put together a formal proposal for Aqua to review.
Maintenance Updates
With weather conditions still above normal and with little rainfall for early fall, pond duckweed remains a problem despite multiple treatments from McCloud Aquatics and additional water treatments by Supervisor Jeff Eschbach.
Eschbach said he pulled the fountain because the duckweed clogs it and breaks the pump housing. He will reinstall it once the water is clear. LaMore said McCloud was supposed to come out for an additional treatment in the upcoming week.
Eschbach reported the park district is repurposing old telephone poles as parking blocks at Bate Park, weeds were sprayed for, hopefully, the last time of the season, and he spread three truckloads of mix at Fields 6 and 7.
In other news, the pricing for painting the park district’s main building roof was too high, so Eschbach will complete the work himself for $1,500. Additionally, he obtained pricing for shingles for the dugouts of Fields 6 and 7, with pricing coming in at $1,565 for architectural shingles, three-tab shingles $1,755, and a metal roof, almost double the other costs.
Four new signs will be erected around blind corners near the disc golf course to warn people of flying discs. The Kankakee Area Disc Golf Association donated the signs.
Eschbach also reported the naturalized area east of the Division Street playground and near the ball fields was trampled following the most recent football game, as people used it to cut through. The board mulled over cutting a path to prevent people from disturbing the naturalized area. Additionally, the district is planning for a controlled burn in the spring.
Finance Updates and Capital Improvement Expenditures
The park district has met twice with SKDO, and the accounting firm is working on standardizing reports and streamlining the district’s bookkeeping. A new management report will include a more formalized profit and loss statement and balance sheet, which more clearly show how funds are utilized.
SKDO is working on the annual financial report, and the district filed an extension for the Illinois Comptroller’s Report, which is usually due by the end of October, to allow the accounting firm more time to compile it. Both the financial report and the public funds statement were tabled, as SKDO is working on preparing them.
The district intends to heed the advice of SKDO regarding the levy ordinance, though they were waiting on information from Will County at the time of the meeting.
The board reviewed accounts payable and payroll, approving both. Additionally, the board unanimously voted to approve participation in the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund for full-time employees. Considerable discussion over the IMRF occurred, as participation is irrevocable.
“For us, it’s a lot of money, that being said, I feel like we should do it because it’s taking care of the employees. Not just that we appreciate our employees, but it’s important, to me, to show this has a future. I’m just acknowledging it’s expensive, but it’s important,” Ziems said ahead of the vote.
For capital improvements, the board unanimously approved purchasing a new utility vehicle at a cost of up to $10,800 to replace their broken Gator. Eschbach was authorized to choose the model that best fits the district’s needs, after months of price checking, waiting for used UTV pricing to become available, and comparing models. This expense was budgeted and will come out of capital improvement funds.
With the remaining capital improvement funds budgeted for the year, Bate Park will see improvements through the addition of new equipment. The board is hoping to find better pricing, as is often available at the conferences. Members of the board will be attending the IAPD Legal Symposium and annual conference.
The board will be reviewing options for resurfacing the tennis courts, repairing cracks, and potentially converting to a pickleball court once they come in from U.S. Courts.
Zombie Run Ready
Eschbach reported the path for the Zombie Run 5K taking place Saturday, October 25, at 9 a.m., is cleared and ready to go. LaMore said the park district is working with Mr. Diaz from the high school, who is helping train some zombies in acting and in makeup.
Those wanting to participate can sign up until the day of the race.
Stephanie Irvine is a freelance reporter.