Horner Park Advisory Council
The meeting was called to order at 7:05 pm by President Peter Schlossman. The meeting was at the Horner Park Field House and a quorum was determined to be present.
Approval of Minutes
The minutes of the November 2012 meeting were approved, with font changes.
Report of the Treasurer
MB checking 5,186.75
MB savings 14,862.95
Paypal 593.58
Total: 20,643.28
Earlier in the month, Tom requested $150 for a gingerbread making class. Because of timing constraints, approval was given via email before the meeting.
Dog Friendly Area
The park district is requiring signed petitions within 5 blocks of the park and 3 community meetings to solicit community input. The DFAC has held 2 petitions drives and obtained 190 signatures. More petition drives are pending.
Two meetings have already been held as part of ward meetings. The DFAC would like to have the third meeting at Horner Park. Tom said a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday is the best times because of space limitations.
Petitions reflect positive support. Some money has been donated although fund-raising efforts have not yet begun.
River Project – No Report
Website Committee
Sarah is still researching tools for simultaneously sending stories to both Facebook and Twitter.
Sarah is also looking at parameters to determine what stories are appropriate and who should see them. The proposal is that Sarah will route requests for stories to the stewardship committee and wait for approval from two members.
Erica and Patrick have the ability to post dog friendly area and astronomy events, respectively.
Garden Committee – No Report
Concert Committee
The Concert Committee met in November and a schedule and budget has been developed. The opening day is Friday June 14, 2013 and the closing day is August 23, 2013. There will be six Friday night concerts and Saturday night/Sunday afternoon performances of Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors.
Lunar Media will be retained again for pamphlet production.
Park Briefs
Tom, under the direction of the mayor and director of the parks, is evaluating teachers with the goal of improving all programs.
Buffalo Park
John is trying to get three trees planted, pending discussions with Barb Wood.
Sunken Gardens
Three locations in the park have been identified as possible locations for new trees. At least one tree will be planted, probably a Linden.
Ravenswood Manor Park
John reported there was a raking day, creating 45 bags of debris.
Jacob Park
Ben was notified by lawyers for the CTA regarding a re-bid on the CTA lot adjacent to the park. The minimum bid has been lowered to $680,000. Ben is advocating that the park acquire the land and keep it as open space, even if it is not developed at this time. The park is being transferred from the 47th ward to the 40th ward, but the transfer date is not now known, so support must be obtained from both aldermen. Ben has talked to both Aldermen O’Connor and Pawar about the legality of downgrading the property to open space; there is some precedence since it is was done to a parcel of land offered by CPS. Ben requested that HPAC write a letter to both aldermen in support of acquiring the lot. Peter will write a letter, much like a previous letter, but with the addition of the possibility of downgrading the property. Ben is contacting other groups, such as Openlands and Friends of the Parks, to obtain their support. Kevin will give Ben the name of a contact at Water Reclamation, who may be interested in a land trade with the CTA. Ben reported that there is graffiti. Tom said to call both 311 and him so that he can go take pictures. There is play equipment planned for the park to replace the pirate ship that was removed. Tom will research details about community fund-raising for additional equipment.
Horner Park
In March, Tom is still considering a 1- or 2-day baseball clinic. Tom is still researching a free football clinic on Sundays in the spring. Tom reported that the park budget has allocated $21,000 for a woodshop instructor for 1300 hours a year. See attachment 1 for further information about the budget. The outdoor basketball courts were refinished this past year, under a grant from the Bulls and the NBA. John O will spearhead an effort to plant new trees at the memorial site.
New Business
John brought up that we need to remind the Chicago Park district that there is $10,000 that was ear-marked for HPAC several years ago. This will be further discussed next month.
Patrick is setting up telescopes behind the Horner Park field house on Tuesday, December 4 from 7pm until 10pm.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:10 pm and was followed by a holiday party at the Brauhaus. The next meeting is January 7th at 7:00.
Attendance:
Peter Schlossman – President, Larry Brown – Vice President, Kevin Anderson – Treasurer, Lisa Cleveland – Co-Secretary, Sarah Reiser – Co-Secretary, John O’Connell, Tom McManamon, Alan Mueller, Erica Beutler, Patrick Monaghan, Ben Ranney, Joe Byrd.
Respectfully submitted: Lisa Cleveland, Co-Secretary
