Future a top priority for Naperville parks

Naperville Park District commissioners will soon be looking to the future as they create a new strategic plan.

Commissioners on Thursday approved spending $23,000 to hire consultant Executive Partners to help it create a three- to five-year vision for the district. The previous plan expired in 2008.

"I consider this probably one of the most important things we as a board do, and that's the development and implementation of a strategic plan," Commissioner Ron Ory said. "We've had several strategic plans in the past, and one of the things we neglected is that follow-up and implementation. We need to be committed to that, and I think we are."

Executive Partners has laid out a four-step process that includes examining data, developing a direction for the district, creating the strategic plan and creating a course of action for implementing the plan.

Park district Executive Director Ray McGury expects the process to take three to four months. He said it will identify the park district's goals, though it will not tie specific dollar amounts to each.

McGury said the document "creates a road map for you, and what it does then is, through the transparency this district has, it then ties back expenditures. ... The public can come in and look at this plan on our Web site and say now I understand why they did A, B and C."

Commissioners said they plan to use information from an upcoming resident survey, their Open Space and Recreation Master Plan and the goals staff have set in formulating the plan.

"When we go into this process we have to go into it with an open mind that everything is on the table," board President Mike Reilly said. "We certainly want to learn from what has been done in the past. We don't want to waste the time and money that's been put into any previous development, but this is one that should be able to stand on its own."