Recently in Park District Category

One good thing you can say about the Naperville Park District--it's actively promoting public participation in plans to overhaul the venerable Centennial Beach. (Now, if only it could keep an executive director around, but that's another story.)

Architects want to know what you think, and park staff will conduct guided tours Wednesday between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. and from 6 to 7 p.m. The changing rooms and main park building need mechanical upgrades, but the historic integrity of the 1931 building must be preserved, park officials say.

The district will also accept comments about the project via phone calls, e-mail and snail mail.

What improvements would you like to see made to Centennial Beach? What do you think of the park district's approach to the project?

Here we go again! Less than four months on the job, Naperville Park District Executive Director Daniel Betts is taking a leave of absence. It's been a revolving door of leaders over at the park district, with one controversy following another. The rest of the administration seem to be adept, but there's something about the director post lately.

Why do you think the park district is having such trouble keeping an executive director lately? Is it because the park board is factional and/or dysfunctional? Poor planning and policies? Just bad luck?

A report in Sunday's Sun describes what local governments are doing about high fuel prices. The city of Naperville, for example, says its cut fuel consumption by 6 percent in recent years by reducing the number of vehicles in its fleet, buying fuel wholesale, and taking other steps. The Forest Preserve District of DuPage County is using alternative fuels. The Naperville Park District is telling workers not to leave vehicles idling.

What do you think -- are these steps enough? Remember not long ago when a whistleblower told DuPage County Board members how public works employees were filling up personal vehicles with gas paid for by county taxpayers? And that was before $4 a gallon gas. How confident are you that there are no thefts by employees taking place now?

What are you doing to cut your own personal fuel consumption? What do you think government agencies should do to reduce fuel costs?

The Naperville Park District Thursday said it was considering a new proposal from Crestview Builders for the Ponds of Hobson West property, a 6-acre parcel between Plainfield-Naperville Road and West Street.

Monetary details of the new proposal were not disclosed. Last year the Park District offered Crestview $2.5 million for the land; the developer asked for $4.1 million. Residents hoping to save the land as open space instead of residential development said they were encouraged by the latest proposal.

It sounds like a deal may be close. Let's hypothesize and imagine a deal was reached for $3 million: should the park district spend that much for 6 acres? ($500,000 an acre?) In a perfect world everyone would love to acquire every last bit of open space and save it for recreation and preservation, but the reality is land costs money--in this case, taxpayer money.

Is it worth it, in your opinion? Should the park district close the deal?

Denver's deputy manager of recreation and facility services has accepted the position as executive director of the Naperville Park District, the Rocky Mountain News reported. Daniel Betts started working for Colorado's capital city four years ago and his resignation is effective March 4, the newspaper reported.

In Friday's (2.1) Sun, editor/publisher Jim Lynch wrote a pretty stinging column where he basically called the Naperville Park Board "dysfunctional." Is the park board just a rudderless ship? Where is the leadership and is this the kind of board Naperville wants? Tell us what you think.

The talk of the town in late 2007 was an ambitious plan to rethink land uses for more than 200 acres smack dab in the middle of One of the Most Desirable Places to Live on Earth. It was bounced around like a political hot potato between Naperville School District 203, the Park District and City Council before being unceremoniously dropped. What happened?

Time's up: A year has passed since the Naperville City Council imposed a one-year no-build restriction on 6 acres near Plainfield-Naperville Road and West Street, between two bodies of water owned by the Naperville Park District. Unless the City Council takes further action, a developer could move forward with plans to build homes on the land. What should happen with the Ponds of Hobson West?

One thing the Naperville Park District is good at is flying under the radar, politically speaking. Here we are in the midst of a search for a new executive director, plus this week the park board is expected to terminate construction management, architectural and engineering services contracts for the proposed $35 million Frontier Sports Complex Recreation Center, effectively killing that project, for now. Will the rec center ever be built?

The Naperville Park District board says its may decide the next executive director by Dec. 16. What does that person need to know about taking charge of Naperville's parks and recreation programs?