Hello everyone, thank you again for your support. We believe we have made an impact as the Glenview Park District (GPD) has taken steps to be more transparent into their decision making (updating meeting minutes from 4/13, 4/27 (x2), and 5/17). They have also shared details on opening Wagner Farm, the Grove parking lot, Community Bark West. We have also gotten a bit more transparency into their decision not to open Roosevelt Pool.
Below I'm sharing the GPD response (5/26) as well as a collective response today (5/27). As we unfortunately were not able to get a direct call with anyone at GPD they deferred us to the upcoming Board meeting tomorrow, 5/28, at 7pm CT.
Ask: if possible, please attend the Thursday, 5/28, Board meeting by dialing into the following number below. Please also send any further questions and concerns ahead of the call to the following email address: boardcomments@glenviewparks.org. In our response below you will see we are continuing to push for:
1) the opening of Roosevelt Pool as well as further details/transparency into how this decision was made
2) a reconsideration of their current policy to not issuing any permits for any Glenview Park District Facilities until September 1, 2020
Virtual Meeting
Call-In Number: +1 (312) 626 6799
Meeting ID: 832 1793 8960
Thank you again and please reach out with any further feedback.
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Collective response sent on 5/27
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Mr. McCarty,
Thank you for your detailed response. Again, we appreciate all the work that you and your extended team are doing to support the further opening of Glenview Park District (GPD) facilities.
We also appreciate the transparency in your email and plan to share it back with the 420+ Glenview residents who signed our petition. Thank you for the new information that the GPD provided in an email blast to residents on May 22 that seemed to be directly responsive to our petition. Although the GPD has provided weekly communications to residents, as you pointed out, we were specifically looking for transparency on the discussions regarding the three items that we mentioned in the petition precisely because GPD had not covered those items at all, other than to announce closures thereof. So, we are very grateful that you were able to accommodate our request for transparency with respect to these three items.
Additionally, we think there is a fair amount of confusion over the closures of Wagner Farm, the Grove parking lot, Community Bark West, playgrounds etc because those were not originally closed as “non-essential businesses” in accordance with the Governor’s executive order as you now mention in your response. Rather, GPD announced on April 3 that they were closing them because of resident complaints over non-social distancing. These items were included in our petition because the signatories thereto believed that having these locations closed for over 45 days to placate some residents deprived many other residents of locations that we should be able to enjoy. It is a moot point now that you have agreed to re-open them on Friday and again, we are grateful for your responsiveness to our request.
We’d like to share some initial feedback to your responses below but also will urge our petition members to join the upcoming board meeting on Thursday, 5/28, as you mentioned. We would hope that GPD could please answer these questions in the upcoming board meeting. While we have not personally joined the board meetings in the past, many of us have read the minutes and agenda items that are posted to the GPD website. We are again grateful that in response to our petition, GPD was able to update the last few sets of minutes in the last few days.
Reconsider your policy of not issuing any permits for any Glenview Park District Facilities until September 1, 2020
As you have mentioned before and as we all acknowledge, this overall situation is fluid and changing regularly. Why wouldn’t the GPD be open to adjusting as things change as permitted by the Governor? No one is asking for permits right now, but it would be an absolute terrible shame for the Governor to allow baseball, for example, in July or August, and GPD cannot or will not prepare the fields. As most of these facilities are still getting outside grounds maintenance we would hope that you and your team would be open to revisiting this as further details come down from the State.
Open both Flick Pool and Roosevelt Pool
There has been very limited information surrounding your decision to open only Flick pool. Given all the other facilities that are either not opening, or delayed opening, we would hope that you would reconsider this current decision. As there is an overall need to physically distance it would appear we would need more pool space, not less, to make this happen. There has been talk that the pools could move up a phase as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (the “CDC”) reports that there is currently no evidence that COVID-19 can spread to people through the water in pools, hot tubs, spas or water play areas. The CDC also says that proper maintenance, including disinfection with chlorine and bromine, should inactivate the virus in the water.
If the decision to keep Roosevelt pool closed was primarily a financial decision, we would hope you would further detail that decision so that tax paying residents could understand why this was done and perhaps also fund raise in support of its opening. We’re not sure if that’s even appropriate, but we are really trying to think outside the box on this to see how we could possibly open both pools. It’s really important to our community and we’re just trying to find some way to make it work.
Additionally, what was the cost benefit analysis done to assess this decision and was it done based on only allowing Glenview residents to enter the pools this summer in order to keep capacity low? For those that already bought their pool passes this year in anticipation of the pools being open be given a discount or refund?
We are disappointed to hear that not one single person on this communication chain has the time to meet with a group who has organized over 420+ residents to address our questions. We look forward to your reply regarding the above and hope that, at a minimum, the Board will address our questions at the meeting on Thursday.
Thank you
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Email from Michael McCarty, Executive Director, on 6/26 followed by collective response from petition stakeholders on 5/27:
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On Tue, May 26, 2020 at 11:11 AM Michael McCarty <Michael.McCarty@glenviewparks.org> wrote:
Thank you for expressing your interest in re-opening various facilities of the Glenview Park District. Jen Roberts, President of the Board of Park Commissioners, asked me to respond on behalf of the Board to your letter dated May 20, 2020 which was accompanied by a Glenview Park District Reopening Petition. Your letter and petition have also been shared with all Commissioners and will be included in the public record under correspondence at the May 28, 2020 Board Meeting.
The Board and staff of the Glenview Park District share your concern for the health and safety of our staff, patrons and members of the community as we continue to plan for the safe and responsible opening of park district recreational facilities. This is the main reason we have taken the actions and deliberate approach to follow the directions from the State and Federal agencies, the Governor’s Stay at Home Executive Orders, the Restore Illinois Plan as well as to seek out expertise from other parks and recreation agencies, the Park District Risk Management Agency (PDRMA) and the Glenview/Northbrook Coronavirus Response Task Force. The Glenview/Northbrook Coronavirus Response Task Force is made up of the Village Managers, School District Superintendents, Park District Executive Directors, Library Executive Directors and the President of Glenbrook Hospital.
The Glenview Park District has remained committed to transparency throughout these unprecedented times. All decisions regarding the availability of our programs and facilities have been extensively communicated by the Park District to residents through email blasts, our website, and our social media channels. The Park District communications can be found at https://www.glenviewparks.org/covid-19-community-health-preparedness/ In addition, the Village of Glenview, School Districts 30, 31, 34, 37, 225 and the Glenview Library have included our weekly updates in their weekly communications. (https://www.glenviewnorthbrookcoronavirus.info/
We have also had seven public Board meetings to discuss the proposed actions and decisions that the Park District has taken since the Covid-19 impacted our State and since the Stay at Home order went into effect on March 13, 2020. Board meetings are always open to the public and have remained open to the public using virtual technology when a physical meeting was not feasible. Highlights of the meetings are posted the day after the Board meetings on our website and minutes of these meetings are posted once they are formally approved by the Board. You may find these minutes by accessing the following web link https://www.glenviewparks.org/about/park-board/meetings-agendas-minutes/
At this time, I would like to share some valuable information and address some of your concerns. Although we will not be scheduling a special meeting with you, you have the opportunity to submit public comment at the next Board meeting or any future meeting of the Board of Park Commissioners. Our next Board meeting will be Thursday, May 28 at 7:00 p.m. via teleconference and provides you, along with any other interested parties, the opportunity to listen to the meeting and comment publicly in advance via email at boardcomments@glenviewparks.org by letter, or during the meeting via telephone. To attend the meeting, use the call in number posted on the board meeting agenda . You will be prompted to enter the meeting ID, which will also be posted on the board meeting agenda.
Unfortunately, due to the restrictions in phase two of the Restore Illinois Plan, we cannot open many of the amenities you requested in your letter. Please understand that this is a very fluid situation and changes on restrictions are monitored constantly. Adjustments may be made to our plans for opening facilities, if feasible, once we have the authority and are able to do so safely.
Reopen Wagner Farm, the Grove, Community Park West, Community Bark
West Dog Park, children’s playgrounds, parks
We recognize the value in allowing our residents to enjoy the fresh air, nature and opportunity to self-recreate while practicing responsible social distancing. Although our buildings and the Dog Park were closed as non-essential businesses and many amenities in our parks, like playgrounds and athletic fields, were closed or restricted due to the Governor’s Executive orders, our more than 800 acres of park land remained open to all residents including Gallery Park, Johns Park, Community Park West, and the other neighborhood parks. The grounds at the Grove were also open; however, we needed to restrict vehicles due to large crowds accessing the site that were in non-compliance with social distancing protocols. In the last two weeks we opened Glenview Park Golf Course, Glenview Prairie Club Golf Course, all outdoor tennis courts, outdoor pickle ball courts, boating on Lake Glenview, Frisbee golf and community gardens while adhering to state-mandated restrictions to keep staff and patrons safe. This past weekend outdoor one-on-one tennis lessons and golf lessons were offered.
On Wednesday, May 20, 2020, the Governor announced that the Northeast region is on track to move to Phase Three of the Restore Illinois Plan starting May 29, 2020. If we enter Phase Three of this plan we will expand our available recreational offerings, if feasible, based on the most recent restrictions and guidelines issued by the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) on Sunday, May 24, 2020.
· Vehicles will be allowed to Park at the Grove to make access easier for those who choose to walk the grounds
· The grounds at Historic Wagner Farm will be open for walking
· The members-only Dog Park will re-open
· Play will be expanded on outdoor tennis courts to include doubles (4 players per court)
· Planning is underway to open our indoor Glenview Tennis Center to offer individual and small group lessons in the near future
· One-on-one Personal fitness training indoors at our Park Center Fitness Center will be allowed
· Outdoor fitness classes of 10 or less individuals will be allowed and are being developed by our District staff
· Golf will expand to include play by foursomes and carts will be able to be used
· Restaurants with outdoor seating will be allowed to operate and serve meals outdoors, allowing Coarse Italian restaurant at the Glenview Park Golf Course to begin serving meals outdoors in addition to its carryout business
· The Farmers’ Market will open as schedule on June 20
· Playgrounds will remain closed
Camps have always been planned to operate once we reached Phase Three of the Restore Illinois Plan. To comply with the required safety restrictions and guidance from CDC, we had to redesign our camp programs and staff has worked tirelessly to do so. Information on the status of camp programs has been communicated to all camp registrants and the community in the last two weeks. The new camp offerings were communicated to all past registered campers on Thursday, May 21 and the entire community in our email update on Friday, May 22. Camp registration will begin this week and will only be offered initially to residents of the Glenview Park District. Please keep in mind that the boundaries of the Glenview Park District are not coterminous to the Village of Glenview. The Park District has a population of approximately 59,000 people which includes residents from the Village of Glenview, Village of Golf, parts of Des Plaines, Niles, Northbrook, Northfield, Skokie and some unincorporated areas.
Reconsider your policy of not issuing any permits for any Glenview Park District
Facilities until September 1, 2020
As part of planning for the day camps, staff needed to revisit the available locations which would meet the required guidelines to safely operate the camps. Some spaces previously used at school locations were no longer available so Glenview Park District spaces that were normally available for rentals or permitted use, such as field houses and rooms within our buildings were now needed for camp programs. This, along with current restrictions on large gatherings, led to the decision to restrict rentals until September, after the camp season ends and when hopefully restrictions on larger gatherings will be allowed.
Athletic fields cannot be rented at this time. We recognize the importance of organized youth sports and we have a long-standing successful partnership with the local baseball, softball, soccer and football organizations to provide for the use of our sports fields. We are currently reviewing the latest DCEO guidelines and restrictions that were just released on Sunday, May 24, 2020 which continue to prohibit competitive games and also any drills, practices, and lessons that involve contact between individuals. Social distancing and other space requirements, limits to group size and other guidelines (i.e., signage, spectators, face masks, etc.) must also be met before consideration can be given to re-opening the fields to organized sports groups.
Open both Flick Pool and Roosevelt Pool
Under the current Restore Illinois Plan, Aquatic facilities cannot open until Phase Four and the opening is further subject to approval and meeting requirements of the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH), the public agency that governs all pool regulations statewide. Due to a shortened pool season, loss of revenue and reduction in pool pass sales, the difficulty in hiring and training a large number of lifeguards and the cost of operating the outdoor pools, we have made the difficult decision that we can only safely and responsibly open Flick pool, the largest of our aquatic centers. Many neighboring park districts have decided to close their outdoor pools for the entire season.
In addition to having the legal authority to open our facilities and addressing operational and logistical matters, consideration must also be given to financial considerations. Approximately 52% of the District’s revenue comes from user fees. Like most businesses, we have lost significant revenue during the closure and needed to take considerable cost saving measures, including the furlough of nearly all of our part time staff and 50% of the full-time staff while continuing to cover the fixed expenses that accrue whether or not the facilities are open. For the near future, we expect to see a lower collection rate from real estate taxes and a slow return to the previously high participation in our programs which will continue to limit our operating revenue. This will require the District to continue to monitor its financial position closely when making operational decisions.
The Glenview Park District remains committed to re-opening our facilities as soon as possible once we have the authority to do so, can operate the park district in a fiscally responsible manner and can protect the health and safety of our staff, patrons and members of the community. We look forward to welcoming back all of our residents to enjoy the wide variety of programs and services the Glenview Park District is known for.
Sincerely,
Michael McCarty
Michael McCarty, CPRP
Executive Director
1930 Prairie Street
Glenview, IL 60025
Office: 224.521.2250
Michael.McCarty@glenviewparks.org