Venue choice questioned for Kane County Fit for Kids summit
As Kane County's two-day "Fit for Kids" summit came to a close Thursday, its short-term legacy may be seen as a victory in the fight against childhood obesity but a failure in budgeting.
At least one Kane County Board member is questioning why the county decided to drop nearly $8,000 to host the event at private venue when the county just plunked down $1 million to help purchase the spacious Fox Valley Ice Arena.
The summit gathered leaders from throughout the community to formulate a plan to help area youth get in better shape.
The event was hosted at Riverside Receptions in Geneva, a facility owned by local developer Shodeen. The company has been a big campaign donor over the years to some Kane County Board members, board Chairman Karen McConnaughay and various Kane County Republican Party organizations. Its Riverside Receptions has been an occasional venue for county events throughout the years.
Kane County Board Member Christina Castro said the use of the Shodeen facility is a waste of money in light of the ice arena purchase and the plethora of meeting space other local taxing bodies might be willing to donate for a county event.
"Taxpayers were upset when we gave the $1 million to the forest preserve for the purchase of the ice arena," Castro said in an e-mail interview. "In order to demonstrate the effective use of the facility and to show it wasn't a waste of money, why not showcase the facility in question during the Fit of Kids program. During tough times, we need to get creative with what we have."
Health department staff said they chose Riverside Receptions because it offered a good price on a venue in the central part of the county, and was large enough to host up to 150 people while serving a healthy breakfast, lunch and dinner.
The department received price quotes from seven area venues but did not solicit formal bids because the $7,700 price tag did not legally require it.
Grant funding paid the bulk of the summit costs.
Health department Executive Director Paul Kuehnert said the ice arena simply couldn't handle the event.
"We know the capacity of county facilities," Kuehnert said. "That's always the first choice.
"But when you look at a meeting this large, where are you going to put them (at the ice arena)," he added. "It's true that there's a lot of open space on the ground floor, but you can't do a program when the ice arena is trying to do its business. We could have it on the ice, but I don't think everybody would like that."
Castro said the grant money should have been used for actual programming that encouraged health living for children. Even if the ice arena didn't fit the bill, the health department could have asked Geneva, St. Charles or Batavia to donate meeting space, she said.