Horner Park Advisory Council
The meeting was called to order at 7:05 pm by Vice-President Larry Brown. The meeting was at the Horner Park Field House and a quorum was determined to be present.
Approval of Minutes
The minutes of the October 2012 meeting were approved, with changes.
Report of the Treasurer
MB checking 5,354.18
MB savings 14,862.95
Paypal 398.58
Total: 20,615.71
A check for $475 for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing General Fund was given earlier in the year and deposited in their account. We are expecting a $200 check for the Basketball Program.
Ann Rozmin is owed $50 for purchases of plants and soil for Buffalo Park. A motion was approved to distribute the funds to her.
Equipment purchased last month is being stored at Alan Mueller’s house.
Dog Friendly Area
Erica Beutler met with Alderman Mell and and was invited to speak at the 33rd Ward Advisory Council Meeting on October 18th regarding a dog park at Horner Park. Roughly thirty people attended the meeting. Several issues were discussed at this meeting with some attendees supportive of a dog park and some not. At the meeting, Erica was told that Alderman Pawar’s office was on board. Highlights of the questions and answers are on the Horner Park web site in the form of a Q&A article. Also on the web site are photos from the Lakeshore East dog park as an example of a CPD DFA that uses the artificial turf in a tree-lines setting.
A set of guidelines by CPD for dog parks will also be posted on the web site.
The next meeting to discuss the dog park is at Alderman Mell’s 33rd Ward Advisory Council Meeting on November 15th at 7 p.m. at the Horner Park Fieldhouse. Erica is placing placards around the neighborhood to encourage community participation. Notice of the meeting was also emailed out to several groups.
Erica has about 6 people working on surveys, another 6-12 who have said that they are considering joining the committee, and another 12 people on the committee.
River Project – No Report
Website Committee
The WordPress-based version of the Horner Park website went live on Oct. 31, 2012. All expressed enthusiasm for the new look. The front page of hornerpark.org now includes a sidebar widget displaying photos from the HornerParkAdvisory user on Flickr, and community members will be solicited to contribute park images.
John O’Connell asked if there is blogging capability. Sarah confirmed that, yes, WordPress will allow us to have multiple authors for writing “column” posts, which we hope to develop as a means of growing community involvement in HPAC in the months ahead.
Comments on the WordPress website are moderated and will be read and approved before going public.
HPAC now has a Twitter account and a page on Facebook (rather than just a Facebook member group as it previously had been). Sarah is researching auto-posting website articles to Twitter and Facebook.
Many thanks to Sarah for her efforts on the redevelopment and Michael Holm for assistance with the site go-live.
Garden Committee
Kevin has bulbs donated by Greencorps that can be used in any park.
Concert Committee
A concert committee for the 19th season is being kicked off at John’s house on Nov. 14 at 7:30 p.m. Anyone interested is welcome to attend.
Park Briefs
Buffalo Park
The Liz Freese Memorial tree planting took place on Oct. 20. Several people from the community participated. The planting was delayed one week due to unforeseen CDOT regulations.
Alan Mueller and Kurt Matthesius will be responsible for the watering of trees and planting beds in the park. John O’Connell reminded Alan to obtain a copy of the hydrant access permit from Sue Davenport and carry it when watering.
John O’Connell suggested the planting of additional trees, one in the park and two replacements along the parkway. An donor may be interested in contributing some or all of the funding for one of the trees.
John also expressed concern about the Bradford Pear trees along the parkway (planted 1993), noting their tendency to split over time. John and Theresa Hicks have examined the trees and discussed potential structural pruning which could prolong their life. Closer to Spring time, Theresa will investigate the possibility of obtaining an Openlands / Bureau of Forestry work permit to correct the problem.
Sunken Gardens
Tom spoke with the police captain regarding evening astronomy; there should not be problems for late night star gazing. Tom has not yet done anything with the sign; he will continue to monitor the situation. Tom also offered a permanent permit to Patrick.
A bench was damaged through vandalism in the park. The park steward informed Tom McManamon and the bench has, since, been repaired. In addition, all benches have been freshly painted. Many thanks to Tom McManamon by the community.
On Oct. 27, a park clean-up / planting event, coordinated by Luke Ross, took place. Volunteers from Ravenswood Gardens and Girl Scouts participated. Native plants obtained from the Northerly Island Plant Rescue and bulbs donated by residents were planted.
The proposal for tree(s) for the park submitted in early October is still pending. Tom McManamon will follow up with Barb Wood on the status.
Ravenswood Manor Park
The park steward, Sarah Reiser, suggested the need to have the lilacs pruned. Timing for most effective pruning and age of the plants were mentioned with the suggestion of possible replacement. Larry Brown asked Tom McManamon to speak with the Chicago Park District for a recommendation. Theresa was asked to draft the information appropriately for Tom’s use.
Sarah joined Luke at the native plant rescue at Northerly Island and subsequently planted several prairie varieties in Ravenswood Manor Park’s woodland garden.
At Tom McManamon’s request, a CPD crew trimmed trees of concern near the Play Lot. The question was raised whether all concerns were addressed upon completion of the work.
Jacob – No Report
Horner Park
Well over 50 trees were planted throughout the park. It was mentioned that Moore Landscaping was contracted to do the work. Tom McManamon noted that, prior to planting, no one was notified or consulted regarding the selection or placement of the trees. Imposing on a Memorial site at Horner Park was of particular concern. Tom plans to discuss the matter with Barb Wood.
The pumpkin patch was very successful. The high school students from Amundsen did not appear. Attendance was around 2500 participants; 2000 pumpkins available and 400 were left over.
Baseball and softball are finishing up and football is underway. CPS had a cross country meet.
There was discussion about a Baseball clinic, but Tom raised concerns that volunteers have to be fingerprinted. Tom will work on options available, and we will discuss a future meetings.
Tom has been talking about starting a free football clinic on Sundays in the spring. He is talking to the coaches of area schools. The clinic would be geared to 5th, 6th, and 7th graders.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:19 pm. The next meeting is December 3 at 7:00. The meeting will be off-site at a location to be determined later.
Attendance:
Larry Brown – Vice President, Kevin Anderson – Treasurer, Lisa Cleveland – Co-Secretary, Sarah Reiser – Co-Secretary, John O’Connell, Tom McManamon, Alan Mueller, Erica Beutler, Theresa Hicks, Patrick Monaghan, Sam Charles.
Respectfully submitted: Lisa Cleveland, Co-Secretary
