Naperville Park District OKs Central Park plan
Naperville Park District commissioners changed their tune Thursday and approved Central Park renovations despite not having worked out an agreement with the city on maintenance issues.
Not wanting the city to lose grant money that could be in jeopardy, the board gave its OK with a 5-1 vote and will continue to negotiate with the city regarding maintenance.
The 3.8 acre park on Benton Avenue in downtown Naperville belongs to the city but the park district handles its upkeep.
The improvement plan for the park calls for flexible concert seating, improved traffic flow and eventually permanent restrooms. An improved sound system and handicapped accessibility are also included.
The enhancements would cost just under $4 million.
While the city council has already approved the plan, park board commissioners last month expressed concern about taking on additional maintenance costs. They refused to give their OK until a maintenance agreement had been reached.
But Thursday they approved the enhancements without that agreement in place.
Park district attorney Derke Price assured commissioners they weren't committing themselves to additional maintenance by giving their OK to the plan.
President Mike Reilly said there has been initial dialogue between the two entities that made the board feel comfortable that an acceptable agreement could be reached and commissioners didn't want the city to delay approval of the improvements and risk losing grant money that is time sensitive.
Reilly, Kirsten Young, Suzanne Hart, Gerry Heide and Marie Todd voted in favor of the Central Park plan while Andrew Schaffner voted against it. Ron Ory was absent.
"I don't want to put the cart before the horse," Schaffner said. "I'd like to know what are we getting into."
All six commissioners present then voted in favor of park district staff negotiating an agreement with city staff concerning maintenance.
The park district currently spends about $24,000 a year on landscape maintenance for the entire park.
Under new terms Price drafted, the district would continue to be responsible for construction and maintenance of the playground area. The park district would also pay up to $24,000 annually for landscape maintenance of the concert areas, which would be adjusted for inflation.
Anything above that amount, according to Price's draft, would be the city's responsibility.
"The $24,000 was designed to give budget assurances to how much we're going to spend a year maintaining the concert area," Price said.
The city has not yet provided input on the drafted terms. However, in preliminary talks, city staff had proposed that any costs above $24,000 be split evenly between the two entities.