Horner Park Advisory Council
Meeting Minutes
Minutes Jerry Giese, as president, called the meeting to order at 7:40 p.m. Jerry Giese also acted as secretary for this meeting.
Previous Minutes: Jerry gave an oral report for the June minutes because he left them at the office. Oops.
Treasurer’s Report: Anne Rozmin delivered the treasurer’s report from notes prepared by Elaine Taylor. The balances are as follows:
- Checking Account: 7,246.96
- Savings Account: 4,140.16
- Totals $ 11,387.12
Garden Committee: Suzie Novak delivered a written report because she was unable to attend the meeting. A copy of the report is attached.
Park Briefs: Terry Sweeney Represented the Park
Jacob Park: The June 26th concert at Jacob Park was a huge success. There were more than 60 people in attendance and all appeared to enjoy the concert, particularly the children. Dale Grandys deserves a special thanks for her efforts in promoting the event with special fliers distributed in the neighborhood. The CPD Craftmobile visits Jacob Park on a weekly basis. Terry Sweeney reports good attendance for that activity, too.
Concert Committee: John O’Connell reported the successes in this year’s fund-raising. More than 115 households and 49 businesses have contributed this year. John reports being close to the budgeted amount of revenue. John also asked for “giveaways” from the CPD to be added to the donations for ManorBash.
Ravenswood Manor Park: Anne Rozmin discussed the possible use of a planter box at the north point rather than a berm as part of the improvements. We asked about the status of the possible auguring of the soil east of play lot to alleviate the pooling of water. Shelly Greenwood has asked to replace the point of the memorial sundial. The Jeff Levine family placed that sundial in the park as a memorial. The council approved the requested repairs but also expressed concerns that the heavy use and rough play expose the memorial to continued risk of damage. The council would not object to the relocation of the sundial away from the park. John and Anne asked for more watering of the gardens at this park. The council took a walking tour of the park to review the status of the grounds and future projects.
Horner Park: Terry Sweeney highlighted several updates of the past month. Terry and his staff have begun a more rigorous crackdown on illegal vendors at Horner. Although impossible to stop, there has been a greater effort to limit their activities. Improvements have started to sidewalks and bike paths throughout Horner. Up to 75% of the surfaces will be replaced as part of the capital improvements budget. Summer camp is in full swing and at full capacity.
Sunken Garden Park: Regular monthly workdays have been scheduled for Sunken Gardens by the neighbors.
Horner Park Riverbank Initiative: The CPD has budget hearings scheduled for the North Region. The hearing at McFetridge is scheduled for July 23rd at 6:00 p.m. The council decided that they should present the HPRI at those hearings to document the project. Dale Grandys was not available to discuss the priorities for the Chicago River projects in the North Region.
Adjournment: Jerry Giese thanked all the people who attended and participated in the meeting. The meeting was adjourned at 8:40 p.m.
Respectfully submitted, Jerry Giese
Roster of those in attendance: Jerry Giese, President; Anne Rozmin, Vice President; John O’Connell; Larry Hodak; Terry Sweeney, Park Supervisor, CPD; Alan Mueller; Laurene von Klan (drop in).
