Horner Park Advisory Council
Meeting Minutes
January 9, 2016
Meeting called to order 7:08pm
Attendees:
John Friedmann
Amy Jahnke
Lisa Cleveland
Erica Beutler
John O’Connell
Kevin Anderson
December minutes were approved.
Treasurer’s Report
Kevin and Lisa haven’t had a chance to get together and transition the work.
Account balances:
MB checking 11,599.57
MB savings 44,737.96
PayPal 13,823.52
Total 70,161.05
- All online accounts reconcile with QuickBooks. A draft P&L report for the year was presented.
- Kevin is still working on coding the historic transactions to get the historic breakdowns by program, and to include the PayPal totals.
- Kevin has 3 donations he can’t account for; looking into them
- Amazon Credits may be a solution for QuickBooks sharing
Concert Committee
- John and Peter are looking into getting tax-exempt status for HPAC; Lisa questions the audit expense this requires vs. how much we would save using this status. Using the FOTP tax code is about $75/year. We need to determine what this audit cost is.
- 2017 Schedule: Moving along. Nobody has been officially booked yet; John is anticipating the entire season set by early February. Season will open June 9 with Old Town School. Theatre Hikes will also participate with Midsummer Night’s Dream in June, Around the World in 8 Plays in July, and The Complete History of America (Abridged) in August.
- Question for Deb Groh: Would it be possible to have an indoor space for Theatre Hikes if it rains?
- John is working on the database glitch to fix mail issues.
- Sponsorships/ sales: John is concerned about the committee, needs sales help. Amy to post on Facebook to help with concerts.
HornerFest is July 15
- John has the new list of films, but many are Disney. Looking to finalize the film in the next few weeks.
- John to work on getting tents/ beer permits. Things are in the works!
Dog Friendly Area
- Drawings from the CPD have been received.
- There is a large asphalt section that they had previously agreed to be turf. They need to confirm that this can be turf, as asphalt isn’t desirable. Estimated budget ~$220,000-240,000. Erica is questioning the costs that they have quoted.
- Edges are hard and square instead of round and soft like the DFA had requested; too many small areas dogs could get cornered in those areas.
- There does not seem to be a designated small dog area
- DFAC questions need for four gravel areas
- DFAC had asked for mulch around the base of a tree; they have given us a huge area of mulch where all trees are
- There is no path through the park where people could walk around
- Next steps are to meet with full DFA committee and Alderman Deb Mell to get everyone on the same page with changes to come back with to CPD
- Overall feeling is that there is too much asphalt; if a plan has to be like this, Erica wouldn’t pursue it.
- Idea was proposed for surface to be all mulch, and when budget allows to replace mulch with turf.
- Looking for a second entrance on the other side
- Erica: The DFAC is really looking for a good design that we can get potential donors excited about
- When the DFAC gets a design they are happy with, they will have a community meeting and invite public feedback
- Everyone is very grateful with Erica’s dedication to this effort!
1099 FOTP fiscal report issue: to use their tax-exempt status, HPAC needs to provide a fiscal sponsorship report to Friends of the Park for 2016. Peter is working on this with Erica already; Peter to take ownership and finish this, will reach out to Lisa and Kevin for information as needed.
Park Briefs
Horner Park
- Scientific Games Park Cleanup: We’ve had difficulty coordinating a date, so are going to reach out to Tree Keepers to help spread the mulch that is at the park.
- Riverfront progress: There is a fallen tree near Irving Park Road. Right now fence removal is scheduled for 2 years after this February; John F. is going to see if we can get that moved up due to the plantings taking hold well. Amy and Kevin have seen/ heard of people getting into the fenced-off area by the river.
- Irving Park Road underpass: Construction supposed to start this summer (first part of a 4-part process), also Addison flyover construction will start this summer.
- Ribbons on trees along California: Still unclear as to what these are
- Ash tree treatment donor(s)
- Basketball/ Baseball Camps (from Deb Groh): The basketball/baseball clinic was also a great success. We had 32 kids ages 9-12. The baseball portion of the clinic was facilitated by some AAA baseball players and coaches. The basketball portion was facilitated by CPD athletic department. The kids all really enjoyed themselves and learned a lot during the process.
- Santa’s Secret Workshop (from Deb Groh): There was a total of 27 people registered. We ended up taking a couple additional people as we had planned for 24. It went great. The kids were busy in the woodshop making a wooden tealight holder, a wooden snow flake, or a tool box. Some kids were able to make all three and some only one. It just depended on their skill level. They also make mosaic boxes and necklaces in art craft. The day ended with all the little elves wrapping their presents.
- Lunch with Bunny and Doggie Egg Hunt are starting to be planned. Erica will talk to Deb about a preferred date.
- Valentine’s Dance – February 10, 6:30 PM: Amy to help to promote on FB. Per Deb Groh, thank you to Jennifer Thornton, who will be donating the cookies and lemonade for the event.
- Horner Park just made the top 20 for people registered at a CPD location
Ravenswood Manor Park
- Tree replacement TBD
- Bench at Eastwood and Francisco is still missing; need update on the work order Deb placed for it
Jacob Playlot: no report
Sunken Garden: no report
Buffalo Park: no report
Stewardship Committee
- Will check in February to see when Earth Day is happening
- Park District asked if we wanted to apply for another grant for community gardens (application due Feb 24)
Website Committee
Kevin is behind on doing updates for the WordPress Fence.
New Business
Services are Saturday for Jason Hernandez’s (Alderman Mell’s chief of staff) wife. Motion that HPAC makes a donation with a value up to $200 to Jason and his family. John F. will ask Gina what is acceptable and we will make a donation from there.
Announcements
Valentine’s Dance – February 10, 6:30 PM
Meeting adjourned 8:14pm.
