[0:00] I would like to call this meeting to
[0:01] order of the Urbana Park District Board
[0:03] of Commissioners on Tuesday, August
[0:05] 11th, 2026 at 6:00
[0:08] 0
[0:09] 4:00 p.m.
[0:11] Um
[0:12] at the Planning and Operations Facility.
[0:15] And so, our first item of business is
[0:17] called to order and remote attendance.
[0:21] And so, we do have our executive
[0:24] director, Rachel Lenz, attend attending
[0:26] remotely.
[0:28] Nice to see you, Rachel.
[0:30] But, no commissioners are attending
[0:31] remotely.
[0:33] All right.
[0:34] Um
[0:35] The second item of business is to
[0:37] adjourn to executive session.
[0:40] Um do I have a motion
[0:43] for moving into executive session?
[0:47] >> In accordance with Section 2, Part C,
[0:49] Exception Number 11 of the Illinois Open
[0:51] Meetings Act, I move to adjourn to
[0:54] executive session for the purpose of
[0:55] discussing litigation
[0:57] when an action against, affecting, or on
[1:00] behalf of a particular public body has
[1:02] been filed and is pending before a court
[1:05] or administrative tribunal, or when this
[1:08] public body finds that an action is
[1:10] probable or imminent, in which case the
[1:13] basis for the finding shall be recorded
[1:15] and entered into the minutes of the
[1:17] closed meeting.
[1:19] >> All right, that's been moved and
[1:21] seconded. And we need a roll call vote
[1:23] starting with Flora.
[1:24] >> I.
[1:25] >> All right, that passes unanimously. All
[1:27] right, we are going to
[1:30] meeting down the hall.
[1:34] All right.
[1:35] Um
[1:36] So, coming out of executive session, we
[1:38] do have a motion to make. Do I have
[1:41] >> Yeah, I move to authorize the executive
[1:44] director to enter into agreements with
[1:46] finance finance company upon final legal
[1:48] approval.
[1:50] >> Second.
[1:51] >> All right, that's been moved and
[1:52] seconded. We'll have a roll call vote
[1:54] starting with Sarah.
[1:55] >> I.
[1:57] >> Okay, that passes unanimously. All
[1:59] right, then we will move on to
[2:03] accepting the agenda.
[2:07] » I move to accept the agenda as
[2:09] presented.
[2:10] >> Second.
[2:11] >> All right, that's been moved and
[2:12] seconded. Can we have a roll call vote
[2:14] starting with Laura?
[2:15] >> Hi.
[2:17] Did I say that twice? And it's it's
[2:21] >> [laughter]
[2:23] >> It is and it's been accepted. All right,
[2:25] moving on to Roman numeral five, public
[2:28] comment.
[2:30] Uh
[2:32] I don't see anyone from the public, but
[2:34] I think do we have any UPD No, no staff
[2:37] introductions either. Okay.
[2:39] All right. Item six, um appointing the
[2:43] 2026-2029
[2:44] UPD class. Um
[2:47] Katie, do you want to join us for any
[2:50] discussion? You can
[2:52] come on up.
[3:07] Um so we have before us candidates for UPD.
[3:12] Um
[3:13] Correct me if I'm wrong, we don't we
[3:15] actually still have some vacancies at
[3:16] the end of the day.
[3:18] Okay.
[3:19] Um so we are we'd still be looking for
[3:21] two more people, is that
[3:23] >> I think that would be correct.
[3:25] >> Okay.
[3:28] Does anyone have any questions for
[3:30] Katie? Are questions about the UPD
[3:32] class?
[3:33] So is there one one individual did they
[3:35] drop out?
[3:36] >> Or
[3:37] >> Um
[3:38] they were from the same household
[3:40] and they were concerned about one not
[3:43] being able to make every meeting and we
[3:46] had discussed that that would still be
[3:48] okay.
[3:50] >> Like the other one
[3:51] would not person's position.
[3:54] Right? That's what
[3:55] >> Oh, in the position?
[3:57] >> No, sorry. It was what was discussed is
[3:58] that
[3:59] if the second person could attend.
[4:02] Because UPDC meetings are in fact open
[4:04] meetings. So, they wouldn't be Both
[4:07] members of the household would not be
[4:09] full members of UPDC, but one might be a
[4:11] sub
[4:13] to inform the others.
[4:20] Oh, yeah. Okay.
[4:21] Well, is there a motion to accept the
[4:24] current UPDC class?
[4:26] >> I move to approve the following
[4:27] candidates to serve 3-year terms as part
[4:30] of the 2026 through 2029 class of the
[4:34] Urbana Park District Advisory Committee
[4:36] or UPDC. The candidates are Wanita N.
[4:38] Rogers, Jeremy Walder, Kathy Adams,
[4:42] Nicole Heglund, and Sophia Maine. Maine?
[4:47] >> Mine. Mine.
[4:48] >> I can
[4:50] >> All right, that's been moved and
[4:51] seconded. So, we'll have a roll call
[4:53] vote starting with Sarah.
[4:54] >> Aye.
[4:57] >> Uh aye, and that passes unanimously. All
[5:00] right. Well, we're very excited about
[5:02] this new UPDC class.
[5:04] >> I have a question.
[5:04] >> And then in terms of the two open
[5:06] vacancies, you'll still be accepting
[5:08] applications
[5:09] >> Absolutely. I was going to say actually
[5:10] I was going to have a conversation with
[5:11] them
[5:12] today.
[5:12] >> Oh, great.
[5:14] Okay, great. Fantastic.
[5:17] Thank you.
[5:21] All right. Uh moving along to the Urbana
[5:23] Park District Advisory Committee report.
[5:27] Um
[5:28] There was no UPDC meeting in July. So,
[5:30] um there's none of that.
[5:32] Um and now moving along to the consent
[5:35] agenda.
[5:37] All right. So, as a reminder, all action
[5:39] items and information items appearing um
[5:41] on the consent agenda are considered
[5:43] routine by the board and will be We
[5:46] enact that in one motion. If there's any
[5:49] discussion desired by Commissioner,
[5:51] those can be removed and discussed
[5:53] separately.
[5:54] And so, are there any thing from the
[5:57] consent agenda that Commissioners are
[5:59] interested in removing?
[6:00] >> There's a typo in my name in one of
[6:02] these that need to be removed. Can we
[6:03] just
[6:04] >> I think we can just note that.
[6:07] Yeah, approve with amendment. Is that in the minutes?
[6:12] Okay.
[6:13] The regular
[6:14] I think it was regular board meeting.
[6:18] I think it was page five of that. It was
[6:20] way down there.
[6:23] Okay, thanks.
[6:25] All right.
[6:27] Okay, so as a reminder, I will read all
[6:31] of the
[6:32] record the titles of the items on the
[6:34] consecutive agenda. So, we're looking at
[6:37] item A, approval of the minutes of the
[6:39] July 14th, 2026 regular board meeting.
[6:43] Item B, the approval of the minutes of
[6:44] the July 14th executive session.
[6:47] Monthly reports, that include the
[6:50] administration report, the planning and
[6:52] operations report, the recreation
[6:54] report. Action to accept the
[6:57] philanthropy report and gifts listed
[6:59] with gratitude.
[7:01] Approval of the monthly paid accounts
[7:04] payable.
[7:06] Is that all?
[7:08] Yeah.
[7:09] So, those are So, those
[7:10] Do I have a motion to accept the consent
[7:13] agenda?
[7:13] >> I move to approve all the action items
[7:15] on the consent agenda and accept all the
[7:17] information items listed on the consent
[7:18] agenda in omnibus manner.
[7:20] >> Second.
[7:21] >> All right, that's been moved and
[7:22] seconded. We have a roll call vote
[7:24] starting with Laura.
[7:25] >> I.
[7:27] >> All right, it's been approved.
[7:29] All right, moving on to reports. I will
[7:31] turn this over to financial reports to
[7:34] Laura.
[7:35] >> Thank you.
[7:37] We are going to start with a bit of good
[7:40] news. This will be our first,
[7:42] uh, sharing of fund balance reports that
[7:45] actually has
[7:46] fund balance on it.
[7:48] So, that's pretty exciting news.
[7:50] >> What mountain since did you move?
[7:53] >> [laughter]
[7:54] >> So, uh, these reports, these revenue and
[7:56] expenditure reports show our receipts
[7:58] and expenditures for the prior 12-month
[7:59] period, the budget for the current
[8:01] period, and the preliminary unaudited
[8:02] results
[8:04] for 3 months ending on July 31st of
[8:05] 2026. For those following along in our
[8:08] packet, these reports begin on page 61.
[8:14] All right, starting on page one. This
[8:16] is, uh, we call it fund one. Um, this is
[8:18] all funds excluding the capital
[8:20] improvements fund.
[8:22] Uh, here we note that, uh, revenues for
[8:24] the period were $6,129,688.
[8:29] Um,
[8:30] as shared in last month's meeting, uh,
[8:32] we did receive in the month of June two
[8:34] of our property tax distributions, um,
[8:37] equating to the 49.9% of
[8:41] uh, taxes so far. So, right in line with
[8:43] where we normally are at this time.
[8:46] Expenditures here reflect $3,114,185.
[8:52] And this gives us a surplus after 3
[8:54] months, meaning that there, um, is an
[8:56] excess of revenues over expenditures of
[8:58] $3,015,305.36.
[9:06] Page two is our capital improvements,
[9:08] uh, fund by itself. Here, uh, revenues
[9:11] for 3 months were, um, $297,706.
[9:16] Um, here we did, um, book the final
[9:19] reimbursement from the CEO, uh, in
[9:21] regards to our pedal park, uh, Prairie
[9:23] Place.
[9:24] So, we had received the final $275,000
[9:27] to fulfill that grant.
[9:30] Expenditures $182,220.
[9:34] Um, here we are in a really nice little
[9:36] spot at a surplus once again with uh,
[9:39] revenues exceeding expenditures of
[9:40] $115,486.
[9:46] Page three is fund three and this is all
[9:48] funds of district wide and here's where
[9:50] the drum roll is that in the bottom
[9:52] right we actually have an ending fund
[9:53] balance um
[9:55] all funds $15,773,555.79.
[10:02] Remaining reports uh here are the
[10:06] individual reports for the three working
[10:07] funds of general, recreation, and museum
[10:10] as well as the last page of this report
[10:13] being the indoor pool UIAC fund.
[10:18] Are there any questions on
[10:20] that set of reports?
[10:21] All right, moving on to treasurer's
[10:23] report.
[10:25] This is a report of the amount of cash
[10:27] the district has on a single day, July
[10:29] 31st of 2026.
[10:31] Our 25 funds are listed down the left
[10:33] side of the page and where cash is
[10:36] invested is displayed across the top.
[10:38] Bottom right noting investments on this
[10:40] date $15,937,428.26.
[10:49] Page two then uh the very top section
[10:51] lists the amounts that we have in
[10:52] interest bearing accounts. Of that
[10:54] $15,900,000
[10:56] on hand $13,268,000
[11:00] $937.68
[11:03] is our investments at varying rates.
[11:05] Um we currently have three CDs uh one of
[11:08] which renewed during the month of July.
[11:11] Um rates are going up again so um the
[11:14] three
[11:15] interest rates that we have right now
[11:16] are 3.65, 3.9, and our newest one at
[11:20] 4.15% so we're back up again. That's that's
[11:23] good news.
[11:24] >> Mhm.
[11:25] >> The bottom section here is a list of
[11:27] interfund loans. We did have a little
[11:29] bit of new activity here of $5,100.
[11:32] Again,
[11:34] this is just covering until UIEC we
[11:36] receive the reimbursement from um the
[11:38] school district. They have been billed,
[11:40] so it should be on the way.
[11:41] >> I have a question.
[11:41] >> Mhm.
[11:42] >> I'm just curious in my 16 years in here
[11:45] if the gray box might be going away.
[11:47] >> Would you like it to go?
[11:49] >> [laughter]
[11:50] >> It might be exciting for the next board
[11:52] meeting if it's a it's zero and we don't
[11:54] need the set aside.
[11:56] >> [laughter]
[11:59] » I mean, if we need it, we can have it,
[12:00] but if they're gone and we don't need to
[12:02] hold space for those for that anymore,
[12:04] we can wipe it away.
[12:07] >> [laughter]
[12:08] >> Sorry, there's always There has always
[12:10] been
[12:12] a gray box here holding money.
[12:15] I agree.
[12:16] >> [laughter]
[12:17] >> Sorry.
[12:22] » What that
[12:23] >> The last thing you were talking about
[12:24] was
[12:24] >> Oh, uh in the summer months, the bottom
[12:26] part of this report, we did have a
[12:27] little bit more uh
[12:28] contributed where recreation is um
[12:30] assisting the indoor pool, which is what
[12:32] we normally do May, June, July until
[12:34] >> Mhm.
[12:35] Okay, so that's where the $5,000 amount
[12:37] was.
[12:37] >> That's how much was activity during
[12:39] July.
[12:40] >> Gotcha.
[12:40] >> on that number.
[12:43] over the last couple of months.
[12:46] All right, and then uh page three of
[12:48] this is the last section of the report,
[12:50] and this lists all the distributions for
[12:51] the month of July.
[12:53] Um here we note the vendor payments
[12:54] match the accounts payable in the
[12:56] consent agenda, and the total
[12:57] disbursements of funds, which includes
[13:00] payroll and vendors, is $1,250,482.96.
[13:07] Um the only thing I wanted to make a
[13:08] note of here is that um
[13:10] with uh the receipt of the property tax
[13:13] dollars, um the second one was late in
[13:15] June, um we did pass through to COSR, so
[13:19] you know, we collect
[13:20] >> Mhm.
[13:21] >> um levy on their behalf and then pass it
[13:23] through to them as the administrator. Um
[13:25] because there were two, that's why you
[13:26] see a line here for CUSR special wreck,
[13:28] and it's a it's a big one, 176,500.
[13:34] All right. Other questions on the
[13:35] treasurer's report? Then I present to
[13:37] you the treasurer's report for audit.
[13:40] >> I move to accept the treasurer's report
[13:42] for audit.
[13:43] >> Second.
[13:44] >> All right, it's been moved and seconded.
[13:45] Any further questions? If not, we'll do
[13:48] a roll call vote starting with Sarah.
[13:50] >> Aye.
[13:51] >> All right, it passes.
[13:53] All right, moving along to capital
[13:55] budget report.
[13:56] >> a report here. We just had a few
[13:58] expenditures this month, not a whole lot
[14:00] going on.
[14:01] Um but we do note with an asterisk in
[14:03] the respective column
[14:05] any new activity during the month of
[14:07] July.
[14:08] Um on our first page, this is our 2019A
[14:12] of
[14:13] capital budget, and we had a payment to
[14:16] Permatrak of $4,073.
[14:19] Um this is related to the um additional
[14:21] boardwalks that were getting installed
[14:23] over at the Houghton Wetlands.
[14:28] Next page is our 2026 budget.
[14:31] Um here we paid uh Daktronics $14,728
[14:37] for the scoreboard at Amdocs.
[14:39] And also at the bottom, $10,856
[14:43] was expensed to GameTime for um
[14:47] uh I believe it was a merry-go-round at
[14:48] Carl Park, so it's playground equipment.
[14:52] 2025
[14:55] $3,074
[14:56] was expensed to MCS. This was to upgrade
[15:00] the audio-visual system at the Lake
[15:02] House.
[15:04] And under equipment, we had $54,550
[15:08] um expensed to Morrow, and this was for
[15:12] um another F-150 pickup truck.
[15:18] 2024
[15:21] Um
[15:23] Am I missing something?
[15:32] Well, that's fine.
[15:35] » None of them None of them work.
[15:37] >> Okay.
[15:38] >> Not off the website, off of
[15:39] >> dead. None of that is showing on this
[15:41] version of the packet.
[15:43] >> What? Mine has notes.
[15:44] >> Interesting.
[15:45] >> But I actually got it off the website,
[15:47] too.
[15:47] >> I got mine off the website, too. Website
[15:49] has notes.
[15:53] » I love a challenge.
[15:54] >> 2020-2024 budget.
[15:56] Uh here we had uh a couple of
[15:58] expenditures for Prairie Weaver Park,
[16:00] $49,948
[16:02] expense to Farnsworth. Um this was for
[16:05] phase two, design number four, also
[16:08] renderings for phase three.
[16:11] A little further down, we had um
[16:14] actually this is a split um bill. We uh
[16:17] expense to Kerby and Tucker,
[16:19] um here up above, $5,150.
[16:23] This was towards um some work done at
[16:25] the Carl Pavilion. And uh you'll notice
[16:28] at the bottom another $17,975
[16:30] to round out that bill, was expense
[16:32] under contingency.
[16:34] And also under contingency, $7,650
[16:37] expense to IMEG, and this was um
[16:40] regarding the Poquoson Trails project,
[16:42] design number three.
[16:45] And the remaining budget had no activity
[16:47] in the month of July.
[16:52] And then if there's no additional
[16:52] questions on
[16:57] Thank you.
[16:58] Um
[16:59] if there's no other questions, I'll turn
[17:00] it over to Darren and Andy
[17:03] updates.
[17:05] >> All [clears throat] right, we'll start
[17:06] at Weaver Park.
[17:08] Uh so we had our punch list walk-through
[17:10] with uh architect and uh contractor. So,
[17:14] since our last meeting,
[17:16] uh they've been working on some of those
[17:17] items that are identified in the list.
[17:19] The main thing still
[17:22] that we're working through is the Ameren
[17:24] the final power connection to the
[17:26] building itself and light poles.
[17:29] So we do have a solution at this point.
[17:32] So ultimately Ameren did not like the
[17:34] hand hole that was behind the building.
[17:37] They don't want to have an option where
[17:39] anybody could tie into their electric
[17:41] service before it gets to the meter.
[17:44] So then they wanted that removed
[17:48] and our options were basically to either
[17:49] run a new line with a solid conduit all
[17:52] the way through which would have been
[17:53] very expensive.
[17:55] Or we were looking at doing
[17:58] a unistrut like H bracket that would
[18:00] actually stand up behind the building
[18:02] and have our meter on that which we
[18:04] weren't big fans of either.
[18:06] So we asked to be able to seal the hand
[18:10] hole the pit up basically and have a
[18:13] concrete pad a small concrete pad over
[18:15] it which Ameren has now
[18:17] approved us doing. So we are working on
[18:21] a change order with the contractor.
[18:23] To get that pad installed and then
[18:26] Ameren unfortunately is about four weeks
[18:29] out from when they can then come back in
[18:32] and then do the final connections of
[18:34] service. So
[18:36] Power at site will still be out for
[18:39] at least another three four weeks.
[18:43] And then I think on the right the last
[18:46] meeting
[18:48] we had images of the Baker's Lane trail
[18:51] and then along Washington Street. What
[18:54] was not done at the last meeting which
[18:56] I'm trying to show here is the lighting
[18:58] along the trail.
[19:00] And then they had kind of the main
[19:02] segments
[19:03] of the path along Washington but they
[19:05] had not kind of tied in to where it
[19:08] intersects with the drives or the
[19:10] walkways. So all that uh paving work is
[19:13] done. So, basically it's programming of
[19:15] the light poles and seating
[19:17] um is pretty much it that's left for
[19:19] that part of the project. Um
[19:21] looks really good.
[19:25] Um Laura mentioned the boardwalk, so we
[19:28] are in the closure for Hawk uh right
[19:30] now. Um we have our contractor coming
[19:34] out later this week and they'll actually
[19:37] install the foundations for the
[19:38] boardwalk itself.
[19:41] Um but the boardwalk has not been
[19:42] delivered yet to their um
[19:45] yard, basically. So,
[19:47] I'm hoping that in the next week it gets
[19:49] delivered. They're getting everything
[19:50] set up, so that all they'll have to do
[19:51] basically is get the crane and drop it
[19:54] down and then make the final connections
[19:55] to the foundations that they'll put in
[19:58] uh at the end of this week.
[19:59] So, worst case scenario, if it does not
[20:01] arrive, we'll have a small shutdown of a
[20:03] parking area just so they can drop the
[20:06] boardwalk itself in, but they're kind of
[20:08] taking care of everything they can do
[20:09] without it uh later this week.
[20:12] And then this is a picture from uh last
[20:14] year, actually, but the same crew is
[20:16] back out and this is um
[20:18] what they actually did today. So, they
[20:20] were out there uh starting this morning.
[20:22] Um it's the full um
[20:24] resealant of um the gym floor and the
[20:28] upstairs
[20:29] uh fitness room. So, first coat is done
[20:32] today. They'll be back tomorrow
[20:33] afternoon to do the second coat.
[20:36] And then we'll have 10 days of cure time
[20:38] on on both of those
[20:40] uh spaces.
[20:43] So, next meeting I'll have pictures of
[20:45] shiny uh wood floors.
[20:50] Uh BC Woods bridge. Uh so, we've kind of
[20:53] updated every few months about the
[20:55] progress of this project for the
[20:57] replacement. Uh we're actually out to
[20:59] bid right now. Um bids were distributed
[21:03] uh last Friday. We have a bid opening at
[21:06] the end of this month. We are trying to
[21:10] hit the September board meeting for a
[21:12] recommendation for award. There is
[21:14] potential that we're going to need some
[21:15] more time, and we'll be pushing back
[21:17] that recommendation to October. And a
[21:20] lot of that has to do with making sure
[21:22] um our
[21:23] basically ducks are in a row for all of
[21:25] our grant requirements reporting, that
[21:27] we're hitting our target goals for BEP
[21:30] uh contractors. Uh so, we want to make
[21:32] sure all that's kind of lined up and
[21:34] ready to go before we have something in
[21:35] front of you um
[21:37] for an award.
[21:39] So, once that just kind of overall
[21:41] timing, um
[21:42] once that gets uh awarded and we have
[21:45] contract documents complete this winter,
[21:47] will be the um
[21:49] removal for the trees that are needed to come out as as part of this project.
[21:54] And then, we're anticipating what could
[21:56] be up to 6-month lead time for when the
[21:59] bridge is actually fabricated and
[22:01] delivered. So,
[22:02] that could get us late spring um early
[22:05] summer for when the bridge actually
[22:07] arrives. Um what we did include in the
[22:10] specifications is that the contractor is
[22:12] not to demo the existing bridge until
[22:15] they have
[22:16] or close to ready for the new bridge to
[22:19] go in. We're trying to minimize the
[22:20] amount of time
[22:22] that it's going to be closed as as
[22:24] little as possible, but I mean,
[22:26] obviously there we're going to have some
[22:27] time.
[22:29] So, this may appear uh the next agenda
[22:32] for next month.
[22:35] And uh Payton, I wanted to
[22:37] give an update on some things that she's
[22:39] working for. We have a uh
[22:42] playground that's on our schedule and
[22:44] budgeted in 2026 capital, Sunny Crest.
[22:48] Uh and so, she's put together a timeline
[22:50] where we can do some public input.
[22:53] Uh so, September we're looking at public
[22:55] input opportunity number one. Uh she's
[22:58] identified a neighboring preschool. This
[23:01] is a tot lot.
[23:03] Uh has two to five uh play equipment
[23:06] currently in it. And so we'll work with
[23:08] the preschool, do a sticky dot activity,
[23:11] uh figure out what types of play
[23:13] equipment they like to go to the
[23:16] playground for the most. Uh we'll have a
[23:18] public meeting with a virtual option to
[23:21] provide input, which will have the same
[23:23] kind of questions, what play features uh
[23:25] people would want to see at this park.
[23:28] And then also a fill-in-the-blank
[23:30] activity, which is very similar to what
[23:33] we did for Prairie Play, which is like a
[23:35] Mad Libs kind of thing, too. So, we'll
[23:38] We have a
[23:40] public meeting at the site and a rain
[23:42] date, uh but we're also providing that
[23:44] virtual option, so we'll flyer the
[23:46] neighborhood and then everyone will have
[23:48] an opportunity to give
[23:50] input that way.
[23:51] So, then we'll use all of our our our
[23:54] information from public input number one
[23:57] to put together an RFP and then send
[24:00] that out and get playground options or
[24:02] play
[24:04] piece options from all of our vendors
[24:06] that we regularly work with.
[24:08] And then staff will review those options
[24:10] and come up with a final
[24:12] three or four. This is very similar to
[24:15] King, how we did King playground, too.
[24:17] Um
[24:18] and then we'll do public input number
[24:20] two. So, back to the preschool and back
[24:24] to a public meeting, same kind of thing,
[24:26] except this time it will be actually
[24:28] selecting the new playground itself. And
[24:32] then at that point we'll come back to
[24:35] the board and I anticipate December or
[24:38] January
[24:39] to approve purchase of that equipment.
[24:42] And then this is an in-house
[24:44] installation.
[24:46] So, I'm giving it two three months of
[24:48] lead time for the equipment itself and
[24:50] then we'll have spring construction
[24:53] next year, 2027.
[24:56] So, as we kind of move along, I'll bring
[24:58] more updates to
[25:00] uh the board meeting, but that's kind of
[25:01] what we're looking at right now moving
[25:02] ahead.
[25:06] And that's it. That's all my updates.
[25:12] » And Andy, do we know the sidewalk that's
[25:15] getting put in on Country Club, like how
[25:16] far down are they or how far down that's
[25:18] going to go? Is it going all the way?
[25:21] >> I don't know.
[25:22] >> Right now they're working it's like in
[25:23] front of like Del Puerto heading west.
[25:27] >> My assumption and I don't know, my
[25:29] assumption was it was going to Broadway,
[25:30] but I I don't know that.
[25:36] » Thank you.
[25:38] All right. Uh moving along to the You
[25:41] Belong Here report, Corky.
[25:42] >> Okay.
[25:43] Well, the written report was
[25:45] light. Staff have been really busy. So,
[25:48] I've got a list of a few things here.
[25:50] First want to mention that um
[25:53] the ribbon cutting event for CARE Cares
[25:56] that that currently have it on hold.
[25:58] That we're not going to do September
[26:00] 9th.
[26:01] And as we get further along
[26:03] >> my report.
[26:04] >> Oh, sorry.
[26:06] >> Sorry.
[26:08] >> I'll let Rachel talk about that. I got
[26:10] plenty of stuff to talk about.
[26:12] >> [laughter]
[26:12] >> Um but anyhow, uh it's going to be
[26:14] pushed back.
[26:15] Uh
[26:16] big event we did as a partnership with
[26:18] the Albemarle Police Department
[26:19] Community Engagement
[26:21] um basketball day uh the local office We
[26:25] had
[26:26] um
[26:28] We had three mayor, we had UNCC was
[26:32] there.
[26:33] Why on the Fly kids showed up as well.
[26:37] We ended up
[26:38] supposed to have around 70 kids. I think
[26:40] we ended up with around 90.
[26:41] >> That's fantastic.
[26:42] >> Um so
[26:44] but
[26:45] officers were there and other staff and
[26:47] those agencies that
[26:48] they they played, they had lunch, and
[26:51] then um,
[26:52] they showed a mental health, um, video at the end of
[26:58] because of the name of
[26:59] my head, but,
[27:01] um, anyhow, it was, uh,
[27:03] a good day. It was the second year. We
[27:05] ended up
[27:06] doing it last year by default because it
[27:08] rained at Victory Park.
[27:11] It was a rainy day, so they called last
[27:13] minute.
[27:14] This year we organized it to be at at
[27:16] the Health and Wellness Center, so.
[27:19] Um, anyhow, great event there.
[27:21] We had two play days, King Park. We
[27:23] ended up with 92
[27:25] >> Wow.
[27:26] >> Um, at King, uh, 155 at Larson.
[27:30] Uh, we did a 250
[27:32] year event with the library at It's 30,
[27:35] 35 kids at that.
[27:38] Of course, we had a great Daddy Daughter
[27:40] Dance Day that you were part of as well.
[27:43] Um, just, uh,
[27:45] shout out for the fact that
[27:47] Skate Fest is coming up on Labor Day
[27:49] weekend.
[27:50] Um, September 5th from 11:00 to 4:00 at
[27:53] Dr. Williams.
[27:55] Um,
[27:57] lots of good exciting stuff happening
[27:58] there. I'll give you some numbers.
[28:03] Um,
[28:04] start out with the Health and Wellness
[28:06] Center.
[28:14] As soon as I had it pulled up, I opened
[28:16] another and I lost it.
[28:19] There it is.
[28:24] Um, total number of members in
[28:27] uh, July
[28:29] uh,
[28:30] 2025 we had 734.
[28:34] Total number members in July of 2026 we
[28:36] had 1,917.
[28:39] And both of those do include OSF
[28:43] scholarships.
[28:45] Um,
[28:46] July building visits 25 we had 7,025.
[28:51] Really close this year in 2016 we had
[28:53] 7,141
[28:55] and that does not count
[28:57] our camp.
[29:01] 45 kids every week.
[29:03] >> Is this swipes and individual people
[29:05] paying?
[29:05] >> Individual memberships
[29:07] >> And and
[29:08] they daily passes or whatever, yeah.
[29:11] >> Total revenue
[29:13] last year was 17,447.
[29:17] Total revenue this year is 14,181.
[29:21] But this does not include all of our
[29:24] new
[29:25] We've had Silver Sneakers for a while
[29:26] but now have three or four different
[29:28] programs and those are monthly payments
[29:30] that come in separate.
[29:32] >> Okay.
[29:32] >> So I think that's why you're you're
[29:33] seeing a different number.
[29:36] It'll all catch up when all those
[29:38] >> Payments come in.
[29:39] >> monthly payments come in.
[29:41] So
[29:42] um
[29:45] So yeah, last year
[29:46] we had 32 memberships sold in July and
[29:50] this year we had 144.
[29:53] So things are going really well as Andy
[29:55] mentioned we are
[29:57] um closed at the moment. We are offering
[30:01] uh
[30:02] Rachel was actually able to work with
[30:04] Sarah and and Matt from Champaign. So um
[30:09] I personally told two people that they
[30:11] can go over to Windsor for free.
[30:13] >> How you how are we communicating that?
[30:16] >> We We had been posting it
[30:19] for last few weeks at the site.
[30:22] >> But I didn't like can we get an email
[30:24] about it?
[30:25] >> I don't know if they got it. They should
[30:26] have sent an email.
[30:27] >> I think they might have sent it.
[30:28] >> Brittany was doing that before she left
[30:30] on vacation.
[30:32] >> Maybe I got one. I don't remember. I
[30:34] should look. But I knew that I thought
[30:36] we were doing that and I was sort of
[30:38] waiting to hear. So I'll double-check my
[30:40] emails.
[30:41] >> It's okay. You're watching.
[30:43] >> Martin Center and Windsor.
[30:45] >> Merton and water?
[30:47] >> Yeah. And then, in return,
[30:49] um they will be sending their
[30:51] memberships when they close. They'll
[30:53] have the option of coming to our
[30:55] facility.
[30:57] >> That's great.
[30:59] I think that helps address some things,
[31:01] um
[31:02] you know,
[31:03] with the closing for 2 weeks.
[31:07] Are there like signs on the doors that
[31:09] people go up to use so they know?
[31:12] >> There are for certain There's a sign on
[31:14] there. I did not look to see if it says
[31:17] you can use your membership there.
[31:19] If that's on there or not. If it's not,
[31:20] we'll get it on there.
[31:22] But I I didn't check the sign yet.
[31:25] I've been looking at the numbers for
[31:28] a few weeks for
[31:29] the dates, but I did not
[31:31] I can't remember if it specifically says
[31:33] you can use your membership there.
[31:37] » Aquatics at Crystal Lake Park Family
[31:39] Aquatic Center, um
[31:41] member entries last year was 8,696
[31:46] through July.
[31:47] This year, member entries is 9,713.
[31:52] Um patron patron entries, which is
[31:55] walk-ups,
[31:57] um is 30,110
[32:01] and 25 and 27
[32:03] and 96 this year.
[32:06] Um total revenue
[32:08] um that's been brought in there is
[32:11] 25 It was 245,235
[32:14] and this year it's 246,293.
[32:21] Um
[32:22] >> What's that? Can you read those numbers
[32:23] again?
[32:24] >> Yes.
[32:25] So,
[32:27] the dollar amount for 25 was 245,235.
[32:32] And in 26 it was 246,293.
[32:40] So about same revenue.
[32:42] >> Yes, but that's with
[32:43] more entries, more memberships, and
[32:46] increased fees.
[32:48] >> So the fees changed, the structure for
[32:50] passes changed.
[32:51] So
[32:53] um it's more
[32:55] individualized numbers what we were
[32:57] getting with what we did families.
[33:00] We were getting like
[33:01] grandma, grandpa
[33:03] and the
[33:05] mom, dad, and the children.
[33:07] So we are following how
[33:10] other agencies, including Champaign, how
[33:13] they structure their fees for passes. So
[33:15] I'm guessing that's a little bit of
[33:17] why you're seeing the difference in the
[33:18] numbers.
[33:21] But that's the purpose of the passes.
[33:24] At least
[33:25] followed us.
[33:27] Uh more
[33:28] dollars.
[33:31] than it is
[33:32] >> Cuz before before individuals together
[33:34] under one membership, and now it's four
[33:36] separate memberships, but the dollar
[33:38] amount is
[33:38] >> Cost similar more money to do it that
[33:40] way.
[33:43] Yes, lastly what I'd like to mention on
[33:46] uh where you belong here standpoint is
[33:48] we did a
[33:50] partnership with a donor
[33:52] um and Don Moyer Boys and Girls Club
[33:55] on a swim lesson program
[33:58] um
[33:59] which
[34:00] was really great. The donors were super
[34:03] excited.
[34:04] Um we we've got um
[34:06] they did status you know where the kids
[34:09] were the instructors did where the kids
[34:11] were
[34:12] when they started and where they ended
[34:14] up after the program and it was a huge difference. So
[34:19] um we've also marked down and given a
[34:21] certificate. Marked down on that
[34:23] certificate if they were going to join
[34:24] in to our swim lesson programs. This is
[34:27] the level you're at. This is where you
[34:28] should sign up.
[34:31] They don't get that information, it
[34:32] doesn't matter cuz we test them every
[34:33] time, but at least we're giving them
[34:37] some groundwork for where they should
[34:38] go.
[34:39] >> Do those participant I mean, so when you
[34:42] say we work with the donor, was the
[34:43] program free through the Don Moyer
[34:46] Boys and Girls Club? And then will our
[34:50] we want kids to continue swimming, so is
[34:53] there money to support if needed
[34:55] scholarships or access at a lower rate
[34:58] for our programs as well or will that be
[35:01] a barrier to entry?
[35:02] >> We do always have the Urbana
[35:04] scholarships and then we do have our
[35:06] regular scholarships.
[35:08] Um
[35:09] and ultimately I think there is
[35:10] possibility for this program to continue
[35:12] on through more partnership with the
[35:14] donor.
[35:15] Um they're super excited about it. Um
[35:19] they all got
[35:20] swimsuits, swim caps, goggles.
[35:24] Um
[35:25] so
[35:26] um
[35:28] Don Moyer's
[35:30] So we will reimburse for our staffing.
[35:33] >> Okay.
[35:34] >> And Don Moyer's will reimburse for
[35:36] staffing, bussing.
[35:38] >> Mhm.
[35:39] >> So it's all taken care of by Don
[35:40] Moyer's.
[35:41] >> And do we have a sense of um how many
[35:43] Urbana kids are in that program?
[35:47] >> No.
[35:48] >> Okay.
[35:48] >> I mean
[35:49] I'm sure there are some, but I don't I'm
[35:51] not sure which ones signed up from
[35:54] Urbana to go to Don Moyer's.
[35:56] >> I just also wonder with uh
[35:59] if we're looking if we could I mean I
[36:01] love that program. I'm going to always
[36:02] support support swimming.
[36:04] Uh
[36:05] I wonder with Dream coming with
[36:07] Cunningham, right? Um I don't know if
[36:09] that facility still has a pool, but it
[36:11] used to have an outside pool. If there
[36:12] was Is there a way, right, to work again
[36:15] um with more partners in even doing it
[36:18] if we have the capacity in the indoor
[36:20] aquatic center, you know? Or something.
[36:22] >> And I do believe the donors want to move
[36:24] towards the indoor
[36:26] as well so that we're doing it.
[36:28] Our goal would be to do it before the
[36:29] swim season.
[36:31] So by the time we get it all set up
[36:33] >> So that they're ready to go out to the
[36:35] outdoor pool. Yeah.
[36:36] >> And then they did end up feeling
[36:38] program ended at the end of July.
[36:41] And so they've got passes for the rest
[36:44] of August.
[36:44] >> Okay.
[36:45] Fantastic.
[36:46] >> Um,
[36:48] we chose [clears throat]
[36:49] Don Moyer's originally because
[36:53] there's 176
[36:55] >> Right.
[36:56] >> Um, we've done some partnerships for
[36:59] some of the smaller groups,
[37:01] but we want to make sure we made a a
[37:03] bigger splash.
[37:04] >> Okay.
[37:05] >> For our space. Yeah.
[37:07] >> No, I think going to where the students
[37:09] are or the kids are makes a lot of sense
[37:11] than trying to have to
[37:13] have them always come, but that's great.
[37:15] I think we should
[37:16] work this, feed it into future
[37:19] employment. Oh, for like lifeguards and
[37:22] things like that. Yeah.
[37:23] >> Yeah.
[37:24] Like really encourage them. And we used
[37:26] to do this, but I think this would be a
[37:27] really great way of doing that.
[37:30] Our pipe. Yeah.
[37:35] » So that's all we have.
[37:37] >> Great. Thank you.
[37:38] >> Okay. Did you time that, Rachel? You
[37:39] did.
[37:40] How long was it?
[37:45] » All right. Executive Director's Report,
[37:47] Rachel.
[37:49] >> Okay. I just wanted to mention one more
[37:50] thing
[37:52] that I think belongs in like the legal
[37:55] monitors.
[37:56] And we had a meeting with
[37:58] the Strong Kids Campaign and
[38:00] we are partnering with them for their
[38:03] stuff as well.
[38:04] Um
[38:06] And they didn't finish it, but I don't
[38:08] know what
[38:09] Yeah, they're they're collecting school
[38:11] supplies for kids over in
[38:13] In-Park and so
[38:15] they do work with them to get our
[38:17] facilities
[38:18] located to stuff off of us.
[38:20] Last year they had the arts camp
[38:23] and I covered
[38:24] the finish boxes which is fantastic. And
[38:26] so
[38:28] I think that's what they're trying to do
[38:29] with some of the push.
[38:31] Meanwhile, we don't have any idea of my
[38:32] interns. So it's hopefully we'll be able
[38:35] to take it eventually. Those are the
[38:37] plans anyway.
[38:39] But we really don't have a clue.
[38:41] Anyway, it's interesting.
[38:43] You can stop right here.
[38:45] But
[38:45] and just real quickly, thank you so much
[38:48] for all of these surveys I got back. It
[38:50] was an important meeting that I didn't
[38:51] want to miss.
[38:52] But
[38:53] I also had texted
[38:54] my supervisor maybe
[38:56] a month ago saying there was a financial
[38:58] stability
[39:00] verification program kicking off
[39:02] the day I just needed
[39:04] and so it just perfect storm. But
[39:07] I spoke with my supervisor. I got
[39:09] we had a double meeting
[39:11] at sheltered in place.
[39:13] We did the workshop today. It was
[39:15] maybe at 3:00.
[39:17] And and
[39:18] you know, we're just flexible. That's
[39:20] what we
[39:21] were maintaining. So
[39:22] just a few things I wanted to touch
[39:24] point on.
[39:26] The validity of the election is
[39:28] happening this coming April. We didn't
[39:30] have
[39:31] a six-year choice at the election and
[39:34] then obviously
[39:36] one four-year choice. So
[39:38] um
[39:39] And it's considered circulating
[39:41] petitions on August 25th with the first
[39:43] day of filing
[39:45] on November 16th and the last day of
[39:47] filing
[39:48] on November 3rd.
[39:49] And
[39:50] we have two separate
[39:52] ballot certifications that we must
[39:54] submit. Again, two for the six-year and
[39:56] one for the four-year. So they will be
[39:59] denoted in the ballot
[40:01] separately just for the voters.
[40:04] Um
[40:05] And then
[40:07] we are doing a poll report poll training
[40:10] at the next update meeting
[40:13] on this coming fifth of
[40:14] January. And
[40:16] the campaign concepts is we're just
[40:18] going to be doing the calendar
[41:10] » Is that here?
[41:12] >> Yes.
[41:12] >> Mhm. Okay.
[41:13] >> Yes.
[41:15] They're at 6:00.
[41:17] So,
[41:18] we we're getting
[41:20] February out
[41:21] groups assigned locations and then teams
[41:24] about time to
[41:26] kind of check out the calendars and
[41:29] get themselves ready. So,
[41:31] we are asking one group to try and make
[41:33] it to different
[41:35] outdoor parks in the city of Rome.
[41:37] What was it? September 7th? September
[41:40] 9th?
[41:41] I think it's
[41:42] 9th?
[41:43] Right.
[41:43] 9th? Yeah, so before the
[41:45] >> Before the 4th.
[41:45] >> Yeah. Otherwise, we're hoping to figure
[41:47] all of this out before we have
[41:49] September.
[41:51] And that will be incorporated in
[41:53] our strategic plan. So,
[41:56] >> You were right, it's the 7th.
[42:00] >> But yeah, if you're interested in
[42:01] attending, if you have any
[42:03] errors with you,
[42:04] please let me know.
[42:06] And then,
[42:07] um
[42:08] you all have already been adopted into
[42:10] the fair too, which is great.
[42:11] And we'll see if I have any stops that
[42:13] you want to add and then
[42:14] um
[43:08] » Thank you.
[43:09] >> Mhm.
[43:10] >> Thank you.
[43:12] >> Um
[43:14] President's report.
[43:16] Let me go back to my
[43:18] I will just um reminders. He's not here,
[43:22] but I'll do it in his absence. Uh
[43:24] reminders for the calendar. So, we
[43:26] already talked about the August 25th Up
[43:29] Deck meeting. Um September
[43:32] 1st, 2000 we will have a board study
[43:34] session looking at technology updates.
[43:37] Um and then September 8th is our regular
[43:40] board meeting. Um and a reminder we will
[43:43] have an executive session then on that
[43:45] day to review, right? Um
[43:48] candidates for um
[43:51] We'll be reviewing any applications we
[43:53] come in for the for the board vacancy. Which by the way is wonderfully
[43:58] front and center on the webpage. So,
[44:00] thank.
[44:01] Easy to it's right there.
[44:03] Um
[44:05] And then September 22nd is another Up
[44:07] meeting um
[44:09] and I think Roger Digs is going to leave
[44:10] a
[44:11] Middlebrook history tour and that's the
[44:13] new class kickoff as well. So,
[44:16] um and it looks like we got a lot of
[44:18] activities still happening um
[44:20] as you know, as we we go through. So,
[44:24] um
[44:25] I'll talk about Jazz Fest when it's my
[44:27] turn to report on Foundation. Um or Jazz
[44:30] Walk, sorry. All right. Um
[44:33] So,
[44:35] moving we'll move on to uh liaison
[44:38] reports. The finance study group has not
[44:40] met. Um
[44:44] and so there's nothing to report. Um UPD
[44:47] policy study group, Laura or Sarah, do
[44:49] you want to report?
[44:50] >> We meet again on Monday.
[44:52] >> We met last week.
[44:54] Meeting again next week.
[44:55] >> Okay.
[44:57] So,
[44:57] >> still working through the room.
[44:58] >> Okay. So, well at some point something
[45:00] will come to us, I suppose.
[45:02] >> Eventually.
[45:02] >> Okay.
[45:03] >> Yeah.
[45:04] >> Um the Urbana Parks Foundation uh met
[45:06] yesterday and so I think the big thing
[45:10] is Jazz Walk. You should have received
[45:12] your Jazz Walk invitation in mail,
[45:15] hopefully yesterday or today. I think
[45:17] mine came Yeah, it's a postcard. Um
[45:21] would like as many people, you know, to
[45:23] be there as possible um pending
[45:25] obviously work obligations and things
[45:27] like that. Um
[45:29] so, it will pretty much be the same
[45:30] format as it has been. Rick Murphy will
[45:32] be providing music. There'll be hors
[45:33] d'oeuvres. Um ahead of time ahead of the
[45:37] schedule, so I think that starts at
[45:38] 4:00.
[45:40] Um as in the regular Jazz Walk starts at
[45:43] 5:30.
[45:44] Is that right? 5:30, yeah. So, um the
[45:47] other thing I will say is the Foundation
[45:48] has been a great supporter of also this
[45:51] um
[45:52] King School uh supply with the police
[45:54] office. So, I volunteered to um do some
[45:57] shopping for some of them. So, um I
[46:00] delivered a big a big load of school
[46:03] supplies today to the police station.
[46:05] So, thank the foundation and for their
[46:07] participation um in that. And I think
[46:10] that's kind of the the highlights.
[46:13] We talked a lot about finance stuff
[46:14] that's as well with the foundation. So,
[46:17] that was kind of a big discussion.
[46:20] All right. Um up deck planning study
[46:23] group
[46:25] >> will be meeting again in December.
[46:27] >> Okay.
[46:31] All right.
[46:33] Um there
[46:34] we have no old business that was removed
[46:36] from the consent agenda. So, we'll move
[46:38] along to new business, which is action
[46:40] on resolution 2026-07
[46:44] authorizing an intergovernmental
[46:46] agreement for participation in the
[46:48] Illinois public works mutual aid
[46:50] network.
[46:52] >> Uh yes. So, this is a a group that's uh
[46:55] pretty predominantly uh
[46:56] got public work type agencies. It
[46:58] includes the county, cities.
[47:00] They have opened up the park districts
[47:02] and our uh facility maintenance
[47:04] supervisor Luke Fisher, while working
[47:06] with St. Joseph, had an opportunity to
[47:07] work with this group. He actually served
[47:09] uh a a role uh in in leading
[47:13] the group here locally. But uh when the
[47:15] derecho came through St. Joseph in 2023,
[47:18] he called for assistance and uh was well
[47:21] supported. Uh you can see the force what
[47:22] would have taken them weeks to repair uh
[47:24] took just a couple of days. Um if we uh
[47:28] adopt this resolution, our participation
[47:31] is entirely voluntary. Uh so, you know,
[47:33] we would receive a call. We'd be
[47:35] notified that there is a an emergency.
[47:37] Could be a natural or man-made disaster.
[47:39] And if we have the uh capacity uh to
[47:42] volunteer, we could send our our our
[47:44] staff, uh send some equipment. Um but
[47:46] again, it's voluntary and we would we
[47:48] would pay our staff as if they were to
[47:49] work with us.
[47:50] Um the benefit, of course, to us is if
[47:52] we get a natural disaster, we can call
[47:53] on them. And today, there There a
[47:55] tornado, I think, yeah, Southern
[47:56] Illinois. So, uh it's timely. We're
[47:58] seeing more and more disasters and that
[47:59] is what we
[48:01] uh a good thing for us to participate
[48:02] in. It's very reasonable. It's $250 a
[48:04] year. Uh includes training and an annual
[48:06] conference as well. So,
[48:08] I'd be happy to answer any questions you
[48:09] might have.
[48:12] » With the 150 tornadoes that we've had in
[48:14] the state of Illinois this year, it
[48:16] seems like yeah, and
[48:18] it seems like a very good idea.
[48:23] Do you have a motion?
[48:25] >> Uh I move to approve resolution 2026-07
[48:28] authorizing an intergovernmental
[48:30] agreement for participation in the
[48:31] Illinois Public Works Mutual Mutual Aid
[48:33] Network.
[48:34] >> Second.
[48:35] >> All right, that's been moved and
[48:35] seconded.
[48:37] Um we'll do a roll call vote starting
[48:40] with Sarah.
[48:41] >> Aye.
[48:42] >> All right, and that passes.
[48:45] All right, and now for the
[48:48] what we've all been waiting for.
[48:50] >> [laughter]
[48:53] » Like the
[48:54] welcome Dr. Megan Owens of Blue Sky
[48:56] Recreation to talk to us about our
[48:58] strategic plan and community engagement
[49:01] report.
[49:03] >> Well, thank you very much for having me
[49:05] back.
[49:06] And
[49:08] um
[49:09] you're ready
[49:10] for the reports.
[49:12] Um
[49:12] our the presentation
[49:14] it should take about 30 to 45 minutes.
[49:17] >> Okay.
[49:18] >> Uh and so
[49:21] first I do want to say that your
[49:23] community was very willing to talk.
[49:28] And
[49:30] uh across the stakeholder interviews,
[49:32] across the focus group interviews, and
[49:35] groups, there was about a thousand pages
[49:38] from the transcripts. And so that's a
[49:40] really healthy database just from those
[49:44] interviews. And to me what that says is
[49:47] people were willing to share
[49:48] perspectives and also just have that
[49:51] communication between each other.
[49:54] There was really healthy conversations
[49:56] that happened during the focus groups.
[49:58] And then like we had a really healthy
[49:59] response rate. So, what I'm going to
[50:01] present to you today is an overview. You
[50:06] have a detailed report um that you know
[50:11] details all three data sources.
[50:14] Today what I'm going to focus on are the
[50:16] key findings and how the data informed
[50:19] those key findings.
[50:20] Um and as I go uh please feel free to
[50:23] write down your questions. Um I will be
[50:26] happy to answer whatever question you
[50:27] have. If possible, it might be best to
[50:30] hold that questions till the end um to
[50:33] make sure we can get through everything
[50:35] in as timely of a manner as possible.
[50:38] Um because
[50:40] you're doing great things.
[50:41] And people want to tell you about it,
[50:43] so.
[50:44] All right, as we get started,
[50:46] uh we're going to I'll share the process
[50:49] that I followed. Uh we'll talk a little
[50:51] bit about demographics here.
[50:54] Uh we'll go into the survey results to
[50:56] look at your usage rates, uh parks, mhm,
[50:59] programs, uh the whole lot, and then we'll get into
[51:04] the key findings, which ultimately
[51:06] across the three data points, there are
[51:07] three key findings that I pulled.
[51:10] Uh those
[51:11] may or may not end up being strategic
[51:14] goals for you. That's not really the
[51:16] point of that, but it's really to pull
[51:17] the data together to give you some more
[51:20] um higher level um areas to focus on.
[51:24] Uh so
[51:26] I do want to just very much commend the park district because we again we
[51:31] had a really healthy engagement here.
[51:34] There was approximately 1,200
[51:35] individuals. Um I spent extra time. I I
[51:39] interviewed additional stakeholders.
[51:41] Typically, it's usually around 10 to 15,
[51:45] um but I'm actually I'm really glad
[51:48] we did more because it gave a more
[51:51] complete picture
[51:53] and more engagement. Um, and so we had
[51:55] about 20 entities connected. Uh, there
[51:58] was a really solid push getting that
[52:00] survey out there. So, again, healthy
[52:03] number of um, close to, you know, over
[52:07] 1,100 respondents just for the survey.
[52:10] And then 35 participants across eight
[52:13] focus groups. We had um,
[52:15] six people for focus groups that did not
[52:18] end up attending. Either just didn't
[52:20] show or canceled. So,
[52:23] um, not too bad. The focus group
[52:25] participants mostly did come from from
[52:28] the survey. So, they
[52:30] gave them an opportunity to share more
[52:33] perspective, but then build upon the
[52:35] conversation.
[52:36] So, overall, I think it was a really
[52:38] healthy um, population that we engaged.
[52:42] Okay, so taking a look at our
[52:43] representation, our stakeholder
[52:45] expertise covered a wide range here. So,
[52:49] we see
[52:51] uh, our executives across Champaign,
[52:53] Urbana, and the county that tied into
[52:55] community engagement, social service
[52:57] providers. We had uh, legislative
[52:59] connections um,
[53:02] uh, and we can see uh, here as well. So,
[53:05] a nice round out of experience. Now,
[53:09] with our resident focus groups, uh,
[53:12] at the beginning of the project,
[53:15] the the steering committee did not have
[53:18] a particular group that we wanted to
[53:23] target, but it was more a full spectrum
[53:25] of of interest. And so, we really did
[53:28] cover nearly all areas of the park
[53:31] district, which I was pleased to see.
[53:34] So, all age groups um, and all program
[53:37] area for the majority of program areas,
[53:39] including your just kind of standard
[53:42] park patrons, um your nature
[53:44] enthusiasts, dog owners are represented,
[53:47] and our bicycle riders. So, from a uh
[53:51] expertise and interest area, I thought
[53:54] that that was a pretty strong
[53:55] representation.
[53:57] Uh I want to take a look at the survey
[54:00] uh respondent demographics here. And so,
[54:04] um
[54:05] this is one of the the areas I thought
[54:07] was particularly interesting. So, for
[54:10] your survey, you had a a larger
[54:14] population of that middle age group,
[54:16] which is not typical. Typically, you
[54:20] were usually battling to get that group
[54:23] to participate, and it's usually your
[54:25] older age groups that are more
[54:26] responsive. But, I think that this ties
[54:29] to where the survey was promoted, and
[54:33] especially at your events. So, um
[54:37] this I thought was a really healthy
[54:39] engagement, which then crossed over into
[54:41] the focus groups, which
[54:44] I was also really pleased to see young
[54:47] adult through older retirees. So, in
[54:50] addition to the the interest areas.
[54:54] From a gender perspective, a gender
[54:56] identification, this is fairly typical.
[54:59] It is often times the case that we have
[55:01] more female identifying individuals that
[55:03] respond to our surveys um versus male
[55:07] identifying, so that falls right in
[55:09] line, um which is always an area for
[55:11] improvement, um but it is it is a
[55:13] struggle, and it has been for quite a
[55:15] long time.
[55:16] Um from uh race and ethnic uh indication
[55:20] here,
[55:21] uh first here's our respondents. We had
[55:24] a, you know, uh those who went all the
[55:26] way to the end and answered this
[55:28] question. Um we do see a more dominant
[55:31] white population that did respond, and I
[55:34] wanted to show this in relation to the
[55:36] census. So, this is the latest census
[55:39] numbers for 2025. So, we do see we have
[55:43] a slightly over representation of white
[55:46] identifying compared to the actual
[55:49] census in the community. And so, again,
[55:51] we would want to look back and see
[55:55] um
[55:56] the efforts of where we promoted
[55:59] the survey and if there are areas for
[56:01] improvement upon that. However,
[56:04] um
[56:05] I think we're still
[56:06] you know, fairly solid here.
[56:08] The last one is going to be location.
[56:10] So, where residents these are.
[56:13] Majority is what we want to see is that
[56:15] they were Urbana residents. You had some
[56:17] Champagne and a small number of other.
[56:19] What I found interesting with the other
[56:21] and why I broke it out here is there
[56:23] were a number of individuals that live
[56:26] within the county but described
[56:29] participating in your programs and going
[56:31] to your park. And then you had this
[56:33] smaller number that has Urbana
[56:36] addresses, but they're outside the city
[56:38] limits. So, I'm sure you're well aware
[56:40] of that. You did have a couple people,
[56:43] you know, outside
[56:44] you know, counties, different counties
[56:46] even had a person from Tennessee take
[56:49] your survey, but they happened to
[56:52] have lived here a long time.
[56:54] So, from a demographic standpoint,
[56:57] I think right in line with what we were
[56:59] expecting.
[57:00] And some bonuses.
[57:02] Okay, so let's take a look at some of
[57:05] our usage rates here. One of our
[57:07] questions, and this is primarily this is
[57:09] all tied to our survey.
[57:11] One of our questions was in wanting to
[57:14] know where do people live within
[57:17] proximity to a park. And what we see is
[57:20] nearly 2/3 either live within a
[57:22] 15-minute walk or a 15-minute drive. And so
[57:29] that is Um, know, and we have a small
[57:31] number within um, you know, 15-20 minute
[57:34] walk. So, this, you know, is speaking to
[57:37] where um, you know, the kind of spread
[57:40] of your your parks are located.
[57:43] We changed this question from previous
[57:46] years so that we could see by park what
[57:50] our usage, our visitation rates are. And
[57:54] so, if we look down at the key at the
[57:56] bottom, this burnt orange color is that
[57:59] they didn't answer the question. The
[58:02] kind of what it was looking like black
[58:04] or navy blue on here means that they
[58:05] don't go at all. And then green is a few
[58:09] times a year, and your more variety of
[58:11] colors are your weekly um, more regular
[58:13] visitors. So, I don't think that this is
[58:16] a surprise to you, but your most visited
[58:19] parks are going to be Crystal Lake and
[58:20] Meadowbrook.
[58:22] Uh, we know that those are destination
[58:23] parks people travel to.
[58:25] What is interesting according to this
[58:28] responding group is Blair Park and uh,
[58:30] and Carl Park for neighborhood parks
[58:33] tend to be your most visited. And then
[58:36] when we look down
[58:37] uh,
[58:38] at you know, I know we were just talking
[58:40] about Sunnycrest hot lot, um, but you
[58:42] have some parks where the visitation is
[58:45] quite small.
[58:47] When it when I was in the focus groups
[58:49] with the the residents, there were a few
[58:52] individuals that
[58:54] told me in the conversation that they
[58:56] while taking the survey, they had to
[58:58] open up Google Maps because they didn't
[59:00] know where some of the parks were and
[59:01] they had never heard of them. So, that
[59:04] was just this little interesting
[59:05] anecdote here.
[59:07] Um, but uh,
[59:09] you know, just some information for us
[59:10] to see.
[59:12] This is much easier to see when it's all
[59:13] broken out uh, by park than as a whole,
[59:16] I think.
[59:17] So, we did this similarly for your
[59:19] facilities. And the same
[59:22] um,
[59:22] uh, key here with the colors. And we can
[59:25] see here that at the time that the
[59:28] survey was open uh,
[59:30] your aquatic center and Hawk were your
[59:34] most weekly visitors. That really does
[59:37] align with the season. Like I would
[59:39] expect to see the outdoor aquatic center
[59:41] to be up there as you know frequent
[59:43] visitors. And then we see Anita Purvis,
[59:46] we see Crystal Lake house
[59:49] as your more few times a year. That to
[59:52] me is telling me that those individuals
[59:55] are coming for events.
[59:57] So but depending on when events or
[59:59] specific programs are held that they're
[1:00:01] going to the those facilities.
[1:00:03] But this gives you some insight there as
[1:00:06] well.
[1:00:09] All right.
[1:00:10] We also wanted to know why people are
[1:00:13] participating in our programs and
[1:00:15] visiting parks. So not just that they
[1:00:17] visit, but why are they actually going
[1:00:19] there? And these are this is the
[1:00:20] information I think is really
[1:00:21] interesting for us to know. So from a
[1:00:23] park
[1:00:25] uh a program perspective, by far the
[1:00:28] majority of individuals are going to
[1:00:30] your programs for to address their
[1:00:33] physical health. And then we see the
[1:00:35] next number down is quite a big drop and
[1:00:39] that is they're looking at family member
[1:00:41] benefits.
[1:00:42] These are the programs where I would
[1:00:44] think that they're talking about
[1:00:46] children's programs or maybe even older
[1:00:49] adult programs.
[1:00:51] All right.
[1:00:52] And then something, you know, learning
[1:00:53] something new. So that's a pretty big
[1:00:57] distinction though. And in this question
[1:00:59] we were asking for the top two reasons
[1:01:01] that they participated in programs. Now
[1:01:03] we also asked why they were visiting
[1:01:06] your park. Same situation of asking for
[1:01:08] the top two. This one it has a similar
[1:01:13] uh
[1:01:14] split here of being outside in nature
[1:01:17] has a significant number here of
[1:01:19] responses. And then next down is
[1:01:22] physical health.
[1:01:23] So, how do we take this information
[1:01:26] together?
[1:01:27] We want to recognize that physical
[1:01:29] health is either one or two of the
[1:01:31] reasons that people are coming to you
[1:01:34] specifically for their experience. And
[1:01:37] this core this
[1:01:39] runs along what I heard in the focus
[1:01:41] groups where it's it's both physical
[1:01:43] health for your programs, but also they
[1:01:45] want to do it outside. And they look at
[1:01:48] your parks as contributing to their
[1:01:50] health. So, whether they're actually
[1:01:52] doing a physical activity, they can many
[1:01:55] people are connecting the fact that they
[1:01:57] have green space accessible to them as
[1:01:59] that is a contributing factor to their
[1:02:01] health.
[1:02:03] So, health is a top component here for
[1:02:05] engagements.
[1:02:08] So,
[1:02:10] as we transition here from usage into
[1:02:14] our key finding, I wanted to take a
[1:02:16] moment to share with you
[1:02:20] across the board what I heard in terms
[1:02:23] of the positive feedback, the
[1:02:24] highlights, and praise that individuals
[1:02:27] have
[1:02:28] for the park district as a whole. And
[1:02:30] there's five here.
[1:02:32] So,
[1:02:33] specifically there were three phrases
[1:02:36] that were
[1:02:38] used over and over again. And it it was
[1:02:42] you were a pivotal community player,
[1:02:45] you're a community resource, and you're
[1:02:47] a vital service provider. And so,
[1:02:50] I want to take a moment here just to to
[1:02:53] look at that because
[1:02:55] park recreation programs,
[1:02:58] youth, seniors, none of that's in there.
[1:03:01] They're looking at you as being a hub.
[1:03:04] And that is that is unique.
[1:03:08] That they look at the park district as
[1:03:09] being this kind of organizer, this place
[1:03:12] to go, this resource that is very
[1:03:16] connective for them.
[1:03:19] Uh as we kind of extend this out,
[1:03:22] this was this came through quite a bit
[1:03:25] in the focus group. So, I asked a
[1:03:26] question specifically to the focus group
[1:03:28] participants of if you could talk to an
[1:03:30] administrator, what would you say?
[1:03:33] Everyone always started off with this.
[1:03:35] That you care about the community and
[1:03:39] they're deeply that they appreciate that
[1:03:41] you care about them and that you're
[1:03:43] thoughtful about them. So, earlier in
[1:03:46] your meeting tonight, you were talking
[1:03:48] about how you're planning to go into one
[1:03:50] of the neighboring daycares. The idea
[1:03:53] and the fact that you do deep community
[1:03:55] engagement and connect with groups on
[1:03:58] planning and development has
[1:04:01] created this reputation for you. And so,
[1:04:04] they So, residents and stakeholders,
[1:04:06] even though they
[1:04:08] have ideas for improvements or
[1:04:09] evolution, they recognize it's coming
[1:04:11] from the place that you already have
[1:04:12] that reputation.
[1:04:15] And so, that blends into the amount of
[1:04:17] parklands. So, as people are traveling
[1:04:21] now and relocating, you know, for jobs
[1:04:23] to Urbana, you are being compared to
[1:04:26] where they live or where they travel to.
[1:04:28] And many people realize that what they
[1:04:30] have here in terms of a city park system
[1:04:33] and I'm not saying you as a you know,
[1:04:35] available in a city, that that is
[1:04:38] unique.
[1:04:39] Um so, you're kind you're in between,
[1:04:42] you know, for you have the forest
[1:04:43] preserve type property, but you also
[1:04:44] have the programming, um you know, like
[1:04:47] other nonprofits.
[1:04:48] Uh you have very well-maintained parks
[1:04:51] and that people appreciate that and that
[1:04:54] you have the scope of programming that
[1:04:57] others have
[1:04:59] the inability to provide. So, while that
[1:05:02] is a source of difficulty to provide for
[1:05:05] an entire community, you actually do
[1:05:07] have the ability to provide from,
[1:05:10] um
[1:05:10] you know, young um infant age all the
[1:05:13] way through as old as a person can be to
[1:05:16] participate in a program, and that is
[1:05:18] very much appreciated.
[1:05:20] And so, that leads us to what are they
[1:05:23] telling us for moving forward? And I'm
[1:05:27] bringing in a quote here from one of the
[1:05:29] focus group participants that is that's
[1:05:31] meant to set the stage because well,
[1:05:33] people are very appreciative because you
[1:05:36] have a strong, nearly 120-year
[1:05:39] reputation,
[1:05:41] they also have really high expectations.
[1:05:44] And it's tied to changes in your
[1:05:46] community.
[1:05:48] So, you have a lot of people who are
[1:05:50] invested in this community, who are
[1:05:51] young and passionate, so it's a great
[1:05:54] time to be living in Urbana.
[1:05:56] Now,
[1:05:58] as I've been in all these different
[1:06:00] conversations, digging into the data,
[1:06:03] learning about the community as well,
[1:06:06] I think this is also what
[1:06:08] allowed younger people, that
[1:06:11] 31-to-50-year-old
[1:06:12] age range, to participate at the rate
[1:06:15] that they did. So,
[1:06:18] it's help it's important that you don't
[1:06:21] underestimate
[1:06:22] that that segment of the
[1:06:25] population who is at their point in time
[1:06:28] stretched thin between children and and
[1:06:30] parents or jobs.
[1:06:32] Um, those are individuals that care very
[1:06:34] deeply, but they are also having high
[1:06:36] expectations for you.
[1:06:40] So, as we go here, we're going to talk
[1:06:41] about key three key findings.
[1:06:44] Uh, affordable access is vital, agency
[1:06:47] as a community resource, and for you to
[1:06:51] create bold and innovative strategies.
[1:06:54] So, again, I'm pulling the data from
[1:06:56] across all three data points into here,
[1:06:59] and I'll be sharing where that comes in.
[1:07:02] So, we're starting off with affordable
[1:07:04] access.
[1:07:07] There are two kind of competing
[1:07:09] situations that are happening here.
[1:07:12] Your your economic demographics for
[1:07:15] Urbana have shifted. So,
[1:07:18] uh
[1:07:19] there are more people that have less
[1:07:21] money to work with. So, you're going to
[1:07:24] see an increased scholarship need. And
[1:07:27] for those who can't qualify for
[1:07:29] scholarships, they're looking for
[1:07:31] affordable options.
[1:07:33] On the flip side, what you also do have,
[1:07:35] though, is
[1:07:38] people willing to pay for extended
[1:07:40] services.
[1:07:41] And so, either way, in either direction,
[1:07:44] costs are top of mind for all of your
[1:07:46] residents, and the stakeholders across
[1:07:50] the across the two communities are
[1:07:51] already also feeling that pressure, as
[1:07:54] well. So, when I talked with
[1:07:55] stakeholders,
[1:07:57] most places are
[1:07:59] have increased uh
[1:08:01] requests for scholarships. So,
[1:08:04] everyone's feeling the burden. And
[1:08:06] something that was really interesting
[1:08:08] and surprised me in the conversation.
[1:08:11] So, this came up in stakeholder
[1:08:13] interviews and in the focus groups from
[1:08:15] participants
[1:08:17] is this feeling of shame that
[1:08:19] individuals have. And I want to caveat
[1:08:22] this. The park district is not creating
[1:08:25] the shame.
[1:08:27] How it's the individual when they have
[1:08:29] to ask for scholarship and ask for
[1:08:31] assistance over and over again to each
[1:08:34] agency is battling
[1:08:37] the feeling of shame that they have. And
[1:08:39] they're And as they're asking, they're
[1:08:42] having to navigate that personally. So,
[1:08:45] what the ask was and request really from
[1:08:49] the park for the park district is
[1:08:51] how can access or affordable costs
[1:08:56] affordable fees be built in
[1:08:59] to reduce a person's
[1:09:02] need to navigate that internal struggle
[1:09:05] that they have.
[1:09:06] So,
[1:09:07] these are some things to, you know,
[1:09:09] think about from their perspective. And
[1:09:11] also,
[1:09:12] there is no question.
[1:09:15] You simply are expected to be
[1:09:17] accessible.
[1:09:19] That is the perception that is out
[1:09:21] there, that is a belief, and that is
[1:09:22] simply tied because you are a government
[1:09:24] entity and tax dollars are part of your your revenue source.
[1:09:30] That's never going to change.
[1:09:32] Uh
[1:09:33] but that brings in hard questions of how
[1:09:36] What's our What's our pricing strategy?
[1:09:39] So, let's bring in the survey data here.
[1:09:41] So, one of the questions we asked is,
[1:09:43] "What are the top challenges that your
[1:09:46] household is experiencing?" And our top
[1:09:48] one that was indicated, which actually
[1:09:50] was a big surprise to me, was work
[1:09:52] schedule conflict. So, this was
[1:09:55] particularly tied to the adult
[1:09:57] programming, and this came through in
[1:10:00] the focus groups as well.
[1:10:02] But the second one,
[1:10:04] not too far off, is limited access
[1:10:07] limited money for non-essentials.
[1:10:10] Uh So, what I just wanted to kind of
[1:10:12] take a moment here, though, because we
[1:10:13] did purposely word this as
[1:10:16] non-essential. There's not a great way
[1:10:18] to talk anymore about um discretionary
[1:10:21] income, cuz what's discretionary income
[1:10:23] anymore?
[1:10:25] And if we go back to why residents are
[1:10:28] coming to you for park access, for
[1:10:30] programs, if health is such a big part
[1:10:33] of that, that's actually not
[1:10:35] non-essential.
[1:10:37] Right? And so, how do we communicate
[1:10:40] the benefit that a person experiences by
[1:10:43] spending the money with you? So, just
[1:10:46] like they might have to pay a premium to
[1:10:48] go, you know, for health care, right?
[1:10:51] So,
[1:10:52] that's kind of a a
[1:10:53] side note here. But we We that the top
[1:10:56] uh barriers to participation are these
[1:10:58] two, work schedules and limited money.
[1:11:01] Um now, I will just say in the detailed
[1:11:04] report, I dug in with the focus group
[1:11:06] about program times and I got specific
[1:11:09] times for them that they would like
[1:11:11] their programs.
[1:11:12] So, it's in the report.
[1:11:15] Okay. Last one here uh for from the
[1:11:18] survey data is um we asked also what the
[1:11:21] most important issue that they want the
[1:11:24] park district to address moving forward.
[1:11:27] And we see health and wellness access as
[1:11:30] a top one, but then like neck and neck
[1:11:33] is affordable pricing and youth
[1:11:35] development needs.
[1:11:36] And so, uh
[1:11:38] you know, combined we can we can see the trend in the community and this is
[1:11:42] what I heard as well, specifically with
[1:11:44] the stakeholders, things that they are
[1:11:46] battling with as well.
[1:11:49] Okay, so just a little bit more here
[1:11:50] pulling this data together. And this is
[1:11:53] where some of the recommendations from your
[1:11:56] stakeholders, from your residents uh
[1:11:59] come in. And we have three areas here of
[1:12:02] collaboration, um fee basis expansion,
[1:12:05] and other areas of expansion.
[1:12:09] There is worry, and I'm using that word
[1:12:12] intentionally. There is worry that your
[1:12:14] Hawk scholarships, your OSS scholarships
[1:12:17] for the memberships are going to go away
[1:12:20] after the newness of Hawk
[1:12:23] is over.
[1:12:25] And so,
[1:12:27] people recognize that that was a primary
[1:12:29] reason for building Hawk was to expand
[1:12:32] access to a more populations. And so,
[1:12:36] how to
[1:12:38] it's going to be important to ensure the
[1:12:39] continuation of that.
[1:12:42] Uh the scholarship application
[1:12:44] awareness. There's been a lot of What
[1:12:46] was expressed to me was a lot of
[1:12:48] confusion on how to access the
[1:12:51] scholarships, but
[1:12:54] the access really comes in with the
[1:12:56] timing. And so, when a person learns
[1:13:00] about or hears about the scholarship, by
[1:13:02] the time they complete the application,
[1:13:04] get it submitted, and then hear back,
[1:13:07] and then can register,
[1:13:10] what they've experienced, and this is
[1:13:12] particularly with our day camps, is that
[1:13:14] the spots are filled up.
[1:13:17] If a If a person is applying for a
[1:13:19] scholarship, they're not likely to be
[1:13:21] able to pay the non-refundable rate,
[1:13:24] which is what they perceive as needing
[1:13:27] to happen in order to register. And so,
[1:13:30] they're caught in this cycle. And so,
[1:13:33] the recommendation is, how can the
[1:13:36] scholarship process be adjusted either
[1:13:40] for awareness, or are there spots that
[1:13:42] can be held for them, or are there other
[1:13:45] groups, like you already work with the
[1:13:46] school district, for um approved, you
[1:13:49] know, for the uh easy approval process?
[1:13:51] Are there other groups that you can work
[1:13:52] with um to expand that that process?
[1:13:56] Ex- Uh identifying fee-based expansion.
[1:13:59] So, this goes back to your affordable
[1:14:01] access. So,
[1:14:02] they're recommending that you evaluate
[1:14:04] pricing strategy.
[1:14:06] There has been changes across the
[1:14:08] industry as to how we're pricing our
[1:14:11] programs. For a long time, we were using
[1:14:13] this triangle model with, you know, at
[1:14:15] the tip was our like, you know, uh
[1:14:18] revenue generating and the your your
[1:14:20] specialty programs. Some of those
[1:14:22] specialty programs may not be considered
[1:14:25] specialty programs anymore. They may be
[1:14:27] viewed as um public good.
[1:14:31] And one of those is turning out to be
[1:14:34] day camp um in a lot of communities,
[1:14:37] because it allows parents or caregivers
[1:14:40] to work.
[1:14:41] So, as a whole, what they were talking
[1:14:44] about is, you know, are there decision
[1:14:47] are there opportunities for adjustments
[1:14:49] there? And then thinking about added
[1:14:51] services for a fee,
[1:14:53] uh
[1:14:55] are there things that can be combined
[1:14:57] and you have a little bit more of a
[1:14:58] premium experience people are willing to
[1:15:00] pay for for like a whole experience. So,
[1:15:04] if for example, Hawk memberships could
[1:15:06] include access to the indoor aquatic
[1:15:08] center.
[1:15:10] So, we have some opportunities there.
[1:15:12] The other area was the programs um
[1:15:14] expansion, considering other areas for
[1:15:17] expansion like uh your day camp program
[1:15:19] specifically and outreach. Your
[1:15:21] environmental education is completely
[1:15:24] unique to your agency. No one else has
[1:15:28] that. Everyone wants it.
[1:15:31] So, can you make more money off of this?
[1:15:34] It depends, right? But people, in
[1:15:36] particular stakeholders, are wondering
[1:15:38] how can we benefit? Can you come to us,
[1:15:41] uh you know, as an option? Programs, uh
[1:15:44] people simply
[1:15:46] would like more spaces for that. So, are
[1:15:49] there other organizations you can
[1:15:51] partner with to use their facilities
[1:15:54] um and you run the programs there.
[1:15:58] So, all of this is tying back to
[1:16:00] affordable access and this is front of
[1:16:02] mind for everyone.
[1:16:04] So, as we move forward into our other
[1:16:07] areas which
[1:16:09] have a little bit more um
[1:16:13] uh
[1:16:14] they're not as concrete, I guess I'll
[1:16:16] say, but they're more as
[1:16:20] how you are as an organization. There
[1:16:24] was a lot of conversation that started
[1:16:25] in the stakeholders that then
[1:16:27] transmitted into the focus groups of the
[1:16:31] park district evolving to being of
[1:16:34] service and not just being a service or
[1:16:38] providing a service like a program. And
[1:16:41] the image I have up here is intentional.
[1:16:44] It comes from one of the stakeholders
[1:16:45] and how they were describing their role,
[1:16:47] their entities role in the community as
[1:16:49] being part of a tapestry. So, on the
[1:16:52] left-hand side, you have this really
[1:16:54] beautiful-looking tapestry. Everything
[1:16:56] is, you know, perfectly knitted. You see
[1:16:58] the clear picture. But, it when you turn
[1:17:00] it over, it's extremely messy. But, what
[1:17:03] you actually see here is how the threads
[1:17:06] hold each other together.
[1:17:08] And so, as a government entity, as a a
[1:17:12] community resource, the park district is
[1:17:16] viewed like the city, like the library,
[1:17:19] like the school system, like MTD as a
[1:17:23] vital service, but that you are working
[1:17:26] in tandem to create the beautiful
[1:17:28] tapestry of Urbana. And so, that lends
[1:17:31] to the being of service, not just
[1:17:33] providing a program or services. And
[1:17:36] part of what was expressed is that it's
[1:17:39] not being communicated to the degree it
[1:17:43] should be.
[1:17:45] And so, there were some concerns uh
[1:17:48] across the the two the groups of stakeholders and
[1:17:52] residents that
[1:17:54] UPD is is not represented out in the
[1:17:57] community in the way that they believe
[1:18:00] you should be.
[1:18:01] In my conversations
[1:18:04] uh uh
[1:18:05] with staff and and, you know, Rachel,
[1:18:08] what I was bringing up is it's likely
[1:18:11] you all are out in the community, but
[1:18:14] your story isn't being told.
[1:18:17] And if people don't see you out there,
[1:18:19] they don't think you're representing
[1:18:21] them.
[1:18:22] So, how is UPD out there?
[1:18:26] was some uh challenge that was
[1:18:28] raised as well that
[1:18:32] we go in and we do community
[1:18:34] engagements,
[1:18:36] but then we stop.
[1:18:37] And so
[1:18:39] what people were talking about is they
[1:18:43] love they love being able to provide
[1:18:45] that feedback, but they want to find
[1:18:47] another way or they'd like to be invited
[1:18:49] in another way to stay engaged. So
[1:18:52] whether that's being invited after
[1:18:54] you're done communicating about a park
[1:18:56] development or park project to Up Deck
[1:18:59] or to another community group that's
[1:19:02] connected, but some way to kind of build
[1:19:04] that leadership pipeline um
[1:19:07] would help people feel more connected to
[1:19:09] what you're doing here.
[1:19:12] Specifically from my marketing
[1:19:13] standpoint, there was a lot of
[1:19:15] discussion around information being
[1:19:16] confusing, incorrect, not easy to
[1:19:18] locate, or simply not available or
[1:19:20] missing.
[1:19:22] A lot of this was tied to the website,
[1:19:24] but also just
[1:19:26] this lead this
[1:19:28] is part of what was communicated to me
[1:19:30] in the very beginning of there are a lot
[1:19:32] of people that just don't know about the
[1:19:33] programs and services.
[1:19:35] And that did come through in um in the
[1:19:39] community engagement here.
[1:19:42] And that the current methods of
[1:19:44] communication are just not effective. So
[1:19:46] some people, and I heard this in the
[1:19:47] focus groups, they're actually blaming
[1:19:51] poor marketing on why programs are
[1:19:53] getting canceled.
[1:19:55] Now whether that's true
[1:19:58] that was a part of my focus group. But
[1:20:01] that is some of the perception that is
[1:20:03] out there.
[1:20:04] So let's take a look at the questions
[1:20:06] that we asked on the survey cuz this was
[1:20:08] one of the areas we we wanted to dig
[1:20:09] into. Our first uh diagram here was we
[1:20:12] simply wanted to know where are people
[1:20:14] learning just about things that they
[1:20:16] want to do in general. This is not tied
[1:20:18] to the park district, so that's why you
[1:20:20] don't see your program guide listed on
[1:20:22] here. And what we see is the majority of
[1:20:25] people look toward their friends or
[1:20:28] direct emails and text messages from the
[1:20:30] businesses.
[1:20:32] Um
[1:20:33] and then we asked a follow-up question
[1:20:35] specifically to identify their preferred
[1:20:38] method of marketing from the park
[1:20:40] district. And direct email communication
[1:20:43] was your top uh
[1:20:46] method here. And uh not too far down is
[1:20:49] the program guide. Now, here's a little
[1:20:52] anecdote for you.
[1:20:53] Um
[1:20:54] you can't get rid of
[1:20:55] your printed program guide.
[1:20:58] Uh that is very popular.
[1:21:00] Uh so much so that people read it cover
[1:21:02] to cover. They rip out the page of your
[1:21:05] neighborhood nights and put it on their refrigerator.
[1:21:09] Um but they do appreciate that cuz
[1:21:12] that's not a given as well. And some
[1:21:14] people said in the focus groups even
[1:21:15] that simply getting the program guide
[1:21:17] mailed to them at home is their reminder
[1:21:20] that not just that you exist but that
[1:21:22] there are programs for them to register
[1:21:23] for.
[1:21:24] Um but the I think the interesting thing
[1:21:27] that also came up in our conversations
[1:21:30] and marketing came up organically in the
[1:21:32] focus groups uh was
[1:21:35] that
[1:21:36] social media is necessary but not
[1:21:39] preferred.
[1:21:40] So they don't rely on their social media
[1:21:44] because they they follow the algorithms,
[1:21:47] but they also know you have to be on
[1:21:49] social media. But if you're going to be
[1:21:51] on social media, the stakeholders
[1:21:53] recommended you do more short videos.
[1:21:56] So for instance, just you know, going
[1:21:58] back to what you talked about in
[1:21:59] tonight's meeting, your site updates
[1:22:02] doing a 30-second walk-around of of uh
[1:22:06] Prairie Weaver and putting that up on
[1:22:08] Facebook is a way for people to be
[1:22:11] informed about those updates.
[1:22:13] So that is how people are looking to be
[1:22:16] engaged on social media.
[1:22:19] So let's take a little bit more um depth
[1:22:21] here in that uh we asked, you know,
[1:22:24] other areas of uh marketing and that is
[1:22:28] um your community event calendar, smile
[1:22:30] brightly, Chambana moms are your kind of
[1:22:33] external areas here.
[1:22:37] Okay, so as we also kind of pulled this
[1:22:39] together, there was another area of
[1:22:43] uh challenge that arose in the
[1:22:45] conversations and through the survey,
[1:22:48] and that was that customer service is
[1:22:50] not consistent
[1:22:52] uh in the park district. Except if it is
[1:22:55] about general needs
[1:22:57] or if if a stakeholder's requesting
[1:23:00] Urbana to come to their event,
[1:23:02] that's fine. That's all great. That's where they experience good
[1:23:07] customer service. It's when the requests
[1:23:10] get a little bit more nuanced, and
[1:23:12] particularly what was discussed um is
[1:23:16] facility to facility, the information
[1:23:19] and experience
[1:23:21] differs greatly.
[1:23:23] So,
[1:23:24] uh
[1:23:25] ultimately, what people are looking for
[1:23:28] is to be able to do things at either
[1:23:30] facility regardless of what is done at
[1:23:32] that facility.
[1:23:33] The last area of challenge um for
[1:23:36] customer service came in with the timing
[1:23:38] of communication. So, how close program
[1:23:41] cancellations went out before the
[1:23:43] program was actually going to be held.
[1:23:45] If that was a program that a parent was
[1:23:48] counting on for their child care, that
[1:23:50] really sent their them into kind of a
[1:23:53] tailspin to find alternatives for. But
[1:23:55] then an interesting one came up with um job applications that kind of
[1:24:00] surprised me. So, how timely
[1:24:04] um were the responses were to uh
[1:24:09] like a young person submitting an
[1:24:11] application, or even the process of
[1:24:14] teens
[1:24:15] getting
[1:24:17] the ability to submit an application or
[1:24:20] come to a recruitment experience.
[1:24:23] Um so so there was some of the um
[1:24:26] communication challenges there.
[1:24:29] Okay, so as we looked at our survey, we
[1:24:33] had a question about uh our customer
[1:24:36] service. Uh green is representing that
[1:24:39] they did not answer the question.
[1:24:41] Purple is that they don't know or don't
[1:24:44] use.
[1:24:45] That is actually quite surprising to me.
[1:24:49] And so
[1:24:50] uh that's a fairly large segment here.
[1:24:55] Um
[1:24:55] which could be that they're doing most
[1:24:57] of their registration online than that's
[1:24:58] talking to people or they
[1:25:01] you know, they just can't remember a
[1:25:03] time that they did.
[1:25:04] Um but we so we see here a smaller
[1:25:06] number of people that responded and it
[1:25:08] looks pretty favorable and I wanted to
[1:25:09] look at this a little bit deeper. Um and
[1:25:12] this is one that we had split out by
[1:25:13] facility and um and uh some staffing
[1:25:16] areas. So we can see some strengths uh
[1:25:20] when we combined excellent and good and
[1:25:23] some areas for improvement when we
[1:25:24] combined fair and poor. And so uh we we
[1:25:28] look pretty strong at Anita Purvis
[1:25:30] Neuter Center and Phillips. Um but we
[1:25:33] might looks like we have a some areas or
[1:25:36] opportunities for improvements um with
[1:25:38] aquatics.
[1:25:42] So as we wrap up with community
[1:25:44] resource, the recommendations that we're
[1:25:46] coming to that are coming to you are
[1:25:50] about connection and um clarity. So
[1:25:55] there is no one answer for marketing.
[1:25:58] You have to create a portfolio approach.
[1:26:01] So what all of your your avenues for
[1:26:04] your agency, external, which would be
[1:26:06] your Champaign-Urbana Moms, your Smile
[1:26:08] Politely, but looking at your partners,
[1:26:10] who are your partner entities, like the
[1:26:12] school district, uh like you know, um
[1:26:17] the township, how can they help spread
[1:26:19] the word for you? We talked about
[1:26:21] videos.
[1:26:22] Um and one area that was brought up and
[1:26:26] something to, you know, kind of think
[1:26:27] about here is this concept of agency
[1:26:29] ambassadors. So, if friend
[1:26:31] recommendations are the way people are
[1:26:34] getting in their information because
[1:26:36] that's who they trust, who are your
[1:26:38] friends? Who is your agency friends? We
[1:26:41] call them ambassadors. And can you
[1:26:44] ensure that they are knowledgeable about
[1:26:46] your agency and everything that is
[1:26:48] offered, um whether it's just pertaining
[1:26:50] to a particular group or as a whole, so
[1:26:53] that they can help you spread the word,
[1:26:55] whether it's scholarships, whether it's
[1:26:56] services, or whether it's just informing
[1:26:59] individuals.
[1:27:01] Thinking about connection as engagement.
[1:27:04] So, this comes back to the customer
[1:27:06] service. How can we serve you today?
[1:27:09] There were a few stories shared where
[1:27:12] individuals
[1:27:15] needed that they were offering
[1:27:16] opportunities and the response was
[1:27:19] from the park district was no, thank
[1:27:21] you.
[1:27:22] Without consideration of, you know, is
[1:27:24] it a good opportunity? Or
[1:27:27] you know, thinking about when a person
[1:27:29] when a customer or resident went to one
[1:27:32] facility and wanted to pay the balance
[1:27:34] on a registration and that uh front desk
[1:27:37] staff person was like, well, you can't
[1:27:38] do that here.
[1:27:40] And that was it. And so, the idea of how
[1:27:43] can we serve you today is more about
[1:27:45] that lifetime connection versus just a
[1:27:47] one-time connection.
[1:27:49] Now, you belong here was talked about
[1:27:52] throughout the process and uh people are
[1:27:55] in favor of the transition that you're
[1:27:57] wanting to make that in terms of the
[1:27:59] agency philosophy. What they are looking
[1:28:01] for is
[1:28:03] the next step, which would be the
[1:28:05] actionable inclusive steps. So,
[1:28:07] specifically what came up is your
[1:28:10] registration process as of right now,
[1:28:12] which everyone Everyone was very happy
[1:28:15] that you're changing registration
[1:28:17] systems, because that was that was a
[1:28:19] source of frustration. But, your
[1:28:22] what was discussed is registration as
[1:28:24] it's currently created is not
[1:28:27] accessible.
[1:28:28] So, if you're English as a second
[1:28:30] language individual, um if you are an
[1:28:33] older individual, the the system is very
[1:28:36] difficult to navigate. And so, in the
[1:28:38] report, I provide some more details on
[1:28:40] how to how people are looking for it to
[1:28:42] be more accessible.
[1:28:44] Taking community education and cultural
[1:28:46] representation here is about
[1:28:49] adjusting your language and how you talk
[1:28:52] about what can be done in the parks. So,
[1:28:55] it's important to keep in mind, which
[1:28:57] I'm I I'm I know you're all well aware
[1:28:59] of, is that you have populations that
[1:29:02] change over because you have the
[1:29:03] university, and and we have people move
[1:29:05] around. And so, it is not a given that
[1:29:08] individuals automatically know that that
[1:29:11] the parks are for them. So, if a person
[1:29:14] is moving here from another country, it
[1:29:16] is
[1:29:18] we can't assume that they they know to
[1:29:20] go, because in their country, they
[1:29:21] likely have to pay for access, or they
[1:29:23] simply do not have access. The other
[1:29:25] part is knowing what you can do in
[1:29:28] parks. Like, can you Do you know you can
[1:29:30] go birding in BGC Woods or Crystal Lake?
[1:29:33] That's a given for all of us, but not
[1:29:36] for everybody, especially if you have
[1:29:37] people moving from a more urban area
[1:29:39] down here.
[1:29:40] And then, just the cultural
[1:29:41] representation as well with different
[1:29:44] ethnic artists, or even
[1:29:46] uh ethnic representation in um your
[1:29:49] events.
[1:29:50] And communication for clarity, a little
[1:29:52] bit more of what I was talking about
[1:29:53] with assumptions, um not to assume that
[1:29:57] everyone understands um what a capital
[1:29:59] project is.
[1:30:02] We know capital as large scale. Most
[1:30:04] people know capital as in capital A, or
[1:30:07] the capital of a country. So, how do we
[1:30:10] think about the end user and create the
[1:30:12] processes focused on them?
[1:30:15] So, the last one I have here is on the
[1:30:17] bold and innovative strategies. And I'm
[1:30:20] going to come back to
[1:30:22] this is where often times
[1:30:25] the the perspective of we're already
[1:30:27] doing so much, how do we do more? And I
[1:30:30] don't think that people are asking are
[1:30:32] actually asking you to do more. Think
[1:30:35] some of it was they're just they're
[1:30:37] wanting to see more of your expertise.
[1:30:43] And so, the being a public entity,
[1:30:45] having a very long reputation of of of
[1:30:50] high quality,
[1:30:52] people have those high expectations. And
[1:30:54] specifically, I heard in the focus group
[1:30:56] is
[1:30:57] because you are have already met my
[1:30:59] expectations, I think you can exceed my
[1:31:01] expectations.
[1:31:03] And so,
[1:31:05] what was interesting is also this phrase
[1:31:08] of what is your vision. So, I heard
[1:31:12] often
[1:31:14] people want you to tell your own story
[1:31:18] and not to be in someone else's shadow.
[1:31:23] So, this may be a change from before,
[1:31:26] which also I think goes back to the
[1:31:28] population that was engaged, which swung
[1:31:30] younger. And so, as you are moving
[1:31:34] forward as an agency into the next
[1:31:36] century, they're looking for you to
[1:31:38] evolve collaboratively. So,
[1:31:40] you don't have to go and do all these
[1:31:42] new things, but what are you doing in a
[1:31:44] collaborative way that, you know,
[1:31:47] addresses climate change, addresses, um,
[1:31:50] you know, affordability, addresses, um,
[1:31:53] youth development, all these pieces. You
[1:31:55] don't have to go it alone. You can do
[1:31:58] things alone that you are experts at,
[1:32:01] but what can you also be supportive of?
[1:32:03] And just having to ensure and making
[1:32:06] sure you're always improving
[1:32:08] and not just um staying the same. There
[1:32:11] were a couple big dream ideas that were
[1:32:14] shared that I'll I'll post with in a
[1:32:16] moment.
[1:32:18] Okay.
[1:32:19] So, we had a question on the survey
[1:32:21] about capital project enthusiasm, and
[1:32:24] this is why I brought up the term
[1:32:26] capital project cuz if we look at this,
[1:32:29] nearly half of your respondents weren't
[1:32:31] familiar with your project.
[1:32:34] And then, the ones who were, they had a
[1:32:36] lot to say about their excitement.
[1:32:38] They're really excited about a new
[1:32:40] bridge.
[1:32:41] And they're really excited about
[1:32:43] expanded bike access and the soccer
[1:32:47] fields that are coming and what's
[1:32:48] happening at King Park.
[1:32:50] But, if we had if we change this to park
[1:32:53] projects, you know, does that change
[1:32:56] their what they see on the online? Or do
[1:32:59] we do videos about updates? Does that
[1:33:01] bring them along as well?
[1:33:04] Now, we did ask a question about what
[1:33:05] spaces to develop in the future. This is
[1:33:08] what exactly what I would suspect
[1:33:10] because nature was such a big reason
[1:33:12] that they're going to your park. And if
[1:33:14] you are developing anything, they want
[1:33:15] it to be nature focused. But, this
[1:33:17] community use uh this multi-use
[1:33:20] community space comes up
[1:33:22] um
[1:33:23] here as well.
[1:33:25] All right.
[1:33:27] So,
[1:33:29] ultimately, we
[1:33:30] at the end of the focus groups, having
[1:33:34] listened across these different groups
[1:33:36] and talking to the individuals,
[1:33:38] what I was taking away is more people
[1:33:43] are wanting their to keep their dollars
[1:33:45] local and live local.
[1:33:48] And so,
[1:33:49] this is where
[1:33:51] you your agency is absolutely being
[1:33:54] compared
[1:33:55] to Champaign Park District,
[1:33:57] to the Forest Preserve, to park
[1:33:59] districts up in Chicago.
[1:34:01] You were compared to Atlanta, Madison,
[1:34:03] Wisconsin.
[1:34:05] And part of that's because you have
[1:34:06] people moving about, but also people
[1:34:09] travel, and they also see that
[1:34:13] they have that there's opportunities
[1:34:15] here, they think.
[1:34:17] So, what does that look like for them?
[1:34:19] They want you to stay aware of what is
[1:34:23] being offered, and that
[1:34:25] you are unique,
[1:34:27] but you are also collaborative.
[1:34:30] No one's expecting you to be what you're
[1:34:32] not, but they do want you to be They
[1:34:35] want you to consider what they want. And
[1:34:38] so, this is where program considerations
[1:34:40] about times of day that programs are
[1:34:42] offered, even topics, come into play,
[1:34:44] which are detailed in your report for
[1:34:47] you.
[1:34:48] The community education campaign is also
[1:34:51] where this comes in, and it's more of
[1:34:53] this invitation to participate. So,
[1:34:56] again, something that
[1:34:58] has been We've been talking about
[1:35:00] previously with
[1:35:01] the staff is um
[1:35:05] your signage.
[1:35:07] What languages are used on there? Is
[1:35:09] there braille? And most likely, probably
[1:35:11] what needs to happen is more use of QR
[1:35:14] codes.
[1:35:15] So that that is an accessible way to
[1:35:18] invite people, and so that they can be
[1:35:19] in your parks and do more activities and
[1:35:21] stay longer.
[1:35:23] Uh and having that accessible language.
[1:35:26] The accessible language
[1:35:28] does also really come into play with
[1:35:30] registration processes.
[1:35:32] Um and just feeling like they can um
[1:35:35] take part in that.
[1:35:37] So, this evolution to maintain.
[1:35:43] There were a few people
[1:35:45] that you know, wouldn't have supported
[1:35:46] you
[1:35:48] buy more land.
[1:35:50] The majority did.
[1:35:52] But what they do want is what you
[1:35:54] already have. They want you to keep
[1:35:56] maintaining it like you are, but also
[1:35:58] contemplating at this moment in time,
[1:36:01] and this is frequent, you know, you you
[1:36:03] assess this over and over again. At this
[1:36:04] moment in time, are we providing the
[1:36:06] access in our park? Is it providing the
[1:36:09] experiences for our residents that they
[1:36:10] want? And it doesn't have to be a
[1:36:12] complete redesign, but it's that
[1:36:14] assessment over and over again.
[1:36:16] Thinking about your program, knowing
[1:36:18] what is good and unique for you to do on
[1:36:21] your own, and where you can be of
[1:36:23] service to others.
[1:36:25] Athletic amenities came up specifically
[1:36:28] on outdoor basketball courts.
[1:36:32] Uh so,
[1:36:34] people know that you're also adding the
[1:36:35] soccer fields. Uh they're excited about
[1:36:38] that, but then the restroom access came
[1:36:40] up, which was an interesting one as
[1:36:41] well, because that was about young
[1:36:43] children and older adults.
[1:36:47] So, those are the two groups that need
[1:36:49] it quickly. And there it that will
[1:36:52] enable them to stay in the park longer
[1:36:54] or choose which parks to go to.
[1:36:57] So, that pertains mostly to your
[1:36:58] neighborhood park.
[1:37:00] Um as we kind of finish up here, just
[1:37:03] the inclusive operational practices,
[1:37:05] your communication, your registration,
[1:37:07] and building in a regular program
[1:37:09] evaluation.
[1:37:11] So, every 6 months,
[1:37:13] um you evaluating participant experience
[1:37:16] and needs.
[1:37:17] So, year two dream big ideas. The focus
[1:37:21] group participants specifically hope
[1:37:23] that you maintain the list of those
[1:37:25] dream big ideas that should you have a
[1:37:27] donor or an opportunity for an
[1:37:30] endowment, that you could put it toward
[1:37:33] projects.
[1:37:34] Uh the connective bike pathway system,
[1:37:37] uh specifically expanding the KRT trail,
[1:37:40] was one that was mentioned. So, this is
[1:37:43] not just connecting between parks, but
[1:37:45] allowing individuals to bike across, you
[1:37:49] know, one side of Urbana to the other
[1:37:50] side of Champaign. So, they understood
[1:37:52] that that's part of a collaborative
[1:37:53] process. But,
[1:37:55] basically, what's happening in downtown
[1:37:57] Champaign,
[1:37:59] uh
[1:38:00] the I the project that's um I think
[1:38:04] happening in Savoy for their Civic
[1:38:06] Center, and the closure of the Civic
[1:38:08] Center here, I think spurred this last
[1:38:10] one. In addition to a push from Main
[1:38:13] Street America or Main Street America,
[1:38:15] which is a national nonprofit
[1:38:16] organization to revitalize small
[1:38:18] downtown areas. This one was a really
[1:38:21] interesting one, is that
[1:38:24] people would like a space in downtown
[1:38:26] Urbana where they could gather, either
[1:38:29] that is a park that's being designed
[1:38:31] that people can go to. It's a multi-use
[1:38:34] space, but it's a civic space where
[1:38:37] people can gather. There's lots of
[1:38:38] examples around the country of this, um
[1:38:42] but there was a lot of different
[1:38:44] conversation. So, not just what is
[1:38:47] planned for the Boneyard kind of trail,
[1:38:51] but somewhere located down here where it
[1:38:53] could host a farmers market, it could
[1:38:56] host music, it could host a variety of
[1:38:58] things,
[1:38:59] um or even have a all ages playground.
[1:39:03] So, uh some more details are about these
[1:39:06] two in the report as well.
[1:39:09] So, I just want to close back with
[1:39:13] reminding you have this nearly 120-year history
[1:39:18] that people are aware of, they want to
[1:39:21] be a part of, whether it's them as a
[1:39:23] resident or as a stakeholder, and that
[1:39:26] you you are doing really great things,
[1:39:28] and the people do have high
[1:39:29] expectations, but they know you can
[1:39:31] already meet them.
[1:39:34] So,
[1:39:36] you know, how can you partner, how can
[1:39:38] you be strategic, how can you
[1:39:39] communicate on that information is what
[1:39:42] they shared with me.
[1:39:44] So, I appreciate
[1:39:47] uh the opportunity here, and I just
[1:39:49] provided a few recommend recommended
[1:39:51] considerations that are in your
[1:39:53] executive
[1:39:55] um report here of looking at your
[1:39:57] partnerships, thinking about corporate
[1:39:59] level financial partnerships,
[1:40:02] um
[1:40:03] customer service, and uh
[1:40:07] thinking about uh
[1:40:09] being able to tell your own story to
[1:40:12] step forward and um be unique. Um
[1:40:17] That's what people
[1:40:18] want to see from you cuz they believe in
[1:40:20] you.
[1:40:21] And so, that's what That's what was
[1:40:22] shared with me, and I am happy to answer
[1:40:25] your questions, and I appreciate you
[1:40:27] listening.
[1:40:33] Thank you very much.
[1:40:39] That was a lot to take in.
[1:40:40] >> It was. That's it was.
[1:40:43] But, thank you.
[1:40:44] >> Um
[1:40:45] I'm I'll sit down now.
[1:40:50] » The focus group demographics, how does
[1:40:56] that compare
[1:40:57] uh
[1:40:59] All right, because um
[1:41:03] to the survey? Did we have that
[1:41:04] separately? I don't Like, who with who
[1:41:07] participated in the focus groups?
[1:41:10] >> So, I did not ask focus group
[1:41:12] participants to
[1:41:14] um indicate their demographics.
[1:41:17] Um what I could, but I would be making
[1:41:21] judgments, but I did not ask them to
[1:41:23] disclose that.
[1:41:24] >> Okay. So, you said they were primarily
[1:41:26] came from the survey respondents.
[1:41:28] >> The majority did. I did
[1:41:30] uh do direct invites through some um
[1:41:33] established partners of the park
[1:41:35] district, and there were a few people
[1:41:37] that came to the focus groups from them.
[1:41:40] >> Mhm.
[1:41:40] >> So, it just was a smaller number, but I
[1:41:44] tried to do as much outreach as
[1:41:46] possible.
[1:41:47] Um
[1:41:47] but
[1:41:49] it was a little more challenging.
[1:41:58] » And I did uh
[1:42:00] speak to one person who was in one of
[1:42:01] the focus focus groups, and and she had
[1:42:04] sort of told me that, you know, there
[1:42:06] was that $20 Walmart gift card that was
[1:42:09] and uh
[1:42:11] she she felt like it was maybe a missed
[1:42:12] opportunity because rather than um
[1:42:15] advertising that ahead of time, "Hey, if
[1:42:16] you participate, you can have this gift
[1:42:18] card." She felt like the people in her
[1:42:20] group were surprised about it.
[1:42:22] And then they were, you know, maybe
[1:42:24] wanted it to be from somewhere else, you
[1:42:26] know, other than Walmart. That was they
[1:42:27] wanted a different gift card, something.
[1:42:29] So, I thought that was interesting. I
[1:42:31] mean, looking at like the demographics,
[1:42:33] you know, only you know, 40 out of the
[1:42:34] 960 respondents, only 43 of those
[1:42:37] individuals were identified as black or
[1:42:39] African-American. So, it's like
[1:42:41] clearly we're still not, you know,
[1:42:43] figuring out how to meet people where
[1:42:44] they're at. And I wonder
[1:42:46] you know,
[1:42:47] how different if, you know, if there
[1:42:48] would be a much different in the survey
[1:42:50] results
[1:42:52] if we'd reached a different dem-
[1:42:53] demographic.
[1:42:55] >> So, I I'd like to offer a comment that I
[1:42:58] felt like came up a lot in the overall
[1:43:01] in your 58-page document uh was this
[1:43:04] idea of trust.
[1:43:06] All right, I think that for me that was
[1:43:09] something that was really important and
[1:43:12] um resonates
[1:43:15] uh well, I love this book, The Speed of
[1:43:17] Trust, uh
[1:43:18] because I think it's so important,
[1:43:20] right? One of my favorite quotes is, you
[1:43:22] know, if you trust me, I can say the
[1:43:23] wrong thing and you still know what I
[1:43:25] mean, right? Um but I feel like that
[1:43:28] came up quite a bit in terms of working
[1:43:30] with different groups of people, right?
[1:43:32] In terms of building trust and it
[1:43:34] connected to the customer service piece
[1:43:36] around, you know, um
[1:43:39] I might not
[1:43:40] you might not be the right person, but I
[1:43:42] have a relationship with you, so I'm
[1:43:44] looking for you to help me.
[1:43:46] I also see this with undergraduates,
[1:43:48] right? Like in in my world, like right
[1:43:50] now they value the the person, not the
[1:43:52] entity. All right, they don't trust the
[1:43:54] establishment, they trust the
[1:43:56] individuals. And so that's sort of
[1:43:58] resonated with me and just in terms of
[1:44:00] how we think about what what we do and
[1:44:04] um
[1:44:04] you know,
[1:44:05] that I don't that that was really I
[1:44:07] think helpful. It also um
[1:44:11] connects to some things that I've been
[1:44:12] do- doing personally um after it was
[1:44:16] sort of suggested as we're looking for
[1:44:18] new Up Dec members and new members.
[1:44:21] Uh I'm going to use my commissioner
[1:44:23] comments time. Sorry, it's real.
[1:44:25] Uh it's related, I think. Um
[1:44:28] you know, after Jetty after Jetty
[1:44:29] Rhodes, I saw that they have these
[1:44:31] individual awards that they give to
[1:44:33] their community members, right? What
[1:44:36] wonderful people to try to recruit for
[1:44:38] Up Dec. Also, extremely busy when you
[1:44:40] look at these folks and what they're
[1:44:41] doing, but I asked LaShawn to for people
[1:44:44] that she might who might be good for the
[1:44:46] foundation or for Jetty Rhodes and those
[1:44:48] award winners' contact information. And
[1:44:51] then she gave me a list of like 10
[1:44:52] people. And so I've been reaching out to
[1:44:54] those people, having coffee with some of
[1:44:56] those people one-on-one. Um and you
[1:45:00] know, it was funny, one person was like,
[1:45:02] "Well, I'm really busy, but you're like
[1:45:04] the third person and I don't know you,
[1:45:07] but I know the other people." And so I
[1:45:09] thought, "Okay, I'll just, you know,
[1:45:11] I'll learn more um
[1:45:12] about this." So um I think it's really
[1:45:16] important, right? And I want to encour-
[1:45:18] I want to challenge also the
[1:45:20] commissioners, right? That we should be
[1:45:22] actively recruiting. And so I think this
[1:45:24] speaks to what you were saying. And
[1:45:27] having been on this board for 16 years,
[1:45:29] I have always thought we have undersold
[1:45:32] the incredible work that we do in this
[1:45:34] community. We are very humble and you
[1:45:38] know, quietly working behind the scenes,
[1:45:40] solving all sorts of problems,
[1:45:43] uh you know,
[1:45:44] I just think about like Weaver Park.
[1:45:47] Like that, I mean, we solved a real I
[1:45:50] wasn't even here for that and we solved
[1:45:52] a major like
[1:45:54] drainage problem and turned it into a
[1:45:56] beautiful thing, right? Um
[1:46:00] and so I think I just encourage us to
[1:46:02] think about how we do that and it might
[1:46:04] be hard for us to do that cuz it's not
[1:46:06] how it's not the culture of this
[1:46:07] organization. But um
[1:46:09] >> To tell our story.
[1:46:10] yeah. Yeah, I think
[1:46:12] we just want to do the good work um
[1:46:15] but it sounds like we need to do a
[1:46:17] little bit more in that area. So,
[1:46:20] um
[1:46:26] » [laughter]
[1:46:27] >> And I think that's a that's a challenge
[1:46:29] that many people have, let alone
[1:46:31] organizations, is how do you talk about
[1:46:33] what you do really well and
[1:46:36] um a perspective that I learned a while
[1:46:39] ago that I've tried to work with clients
[1:46:42] on as well is it's not as much about
[1:46:44] bragging about yourself but as sharing
[1:46:46] your expertise. Because if you do
[1:46:48] something really well, that means you
[1:46:50] learned how to do that and other people
[1:46:53] can benefit from that. And so,
[1:46:57] that's where I think the trust comes in
[1:46:59] is
[1:47:00] people
[1:47:01] think that you're doing really amazing
[1:47:04] things,
[1:47:05] not sure exactly what it is,
[1:47:07] but they want to know, but they also
[1:47:10] want to be proud. Like because you are a
[1:47:13] community entity,
[1:47:15] you're part of why they're
[1:47:18] you know, paying more taxes for a nicer
[1:47:20] house, right? Or you're part like the
[1:47:23] school system, right? You're part of
[1:47:24] that and people want to be proud of
[1:47:26] where they come from
[1:47:27] and you're part of why they would be
[1:47:29] proud.
[1:47:30] So, that's part of that communication.
[1:47:33] Um
[1:47:35] and I think that's also where the
[1:47:36] ambassadors come in because it's also
[1:47:40] easier if other people brag about you,
[1:47:43] right? That's where that friends
[1:47:44] recommendation comes in. And it's also
[1:47:46] how you reach different populations.
[1:47:48] I want to go back to Sarah your comment
[1:47:51] about the Walmart gift cards cuz you're
[1:47:53] absolutely right.
[1:47:54] Um everyone was aware that that was
[1:47:58] uh like the benefit of participating.
[1:48:00] That was on the survey.
[1:48:02] Um but oftentimes people don't pay
[1:48:04] attention to it, which is okay.
[1:48:07] However, the wall the location of the
[1:48:10] gift cards was a conver a topic of
[1:48:13] conversation and interesting what what
[1:48:15] is mostly recommended is they wish it
[1:48:17] would have been
[1:48:18] like a coupon for a program.
[1:48:22] So, they would have liked to spend their
[1:48:23] money with you.
[1:48:26] So, this is something to think about for
[1:48:27] the future. So, giving a incentive for
[1:48:30] participating in a focus group is the
[1:48:32] right thing to do.
[1:48:33] Um but I think in
[1:48:35] today's time with your community,
[1:48:37] that's part of that keep your money
[1:48:38] local.
[1:48:45] » It looks like we have some work to do
[1:48:46] with marketing.
[1:48:50] I mean, from what they're saying in the
[1:48:51] survey, the things that people don't
[1:48:53] know.
[1:48:56] » I actually noticed that like about the
[1:48:57] website and talked about that in your
[1:48:58] report. People having a hard time
[1:49:00] navigating the the website and then, you
[1:49:02] know, last night I was like, "Well, I
[1:49:03] sort of want to go and look at the old
[1:49:04] strategic plan." I went to the website
[1:49:06] and put that in the search bar and what
[1:49:07] you know, it seemed like a pretty easy
[1:49:09] thing to come up in the search and, you
[1:49:11] know, I ended up getting there by
[1:49:12] clicking through a few different pages
[1:49:14] and you know, links, but I thought,
[1:49:15] "Okay, that was a pretty good example of
[1:49:17] what should be an easy thing to find."
[1:49:19] So.
[1:49:28] if you have questions that come up
[1:49:31] to you after today, please feel free to
[1:49:34] send them to Rachel. I'm happy to
[1:49:37] respond to questions.
[1:49:39] If you have a question and you're
[1:49:40] wondering, "I didn't see this in the
[1:49:42] report. Do we have data for this?"
[1:49:43] Probably, yes.
[1:49:45] So, I'm happy to go back into the data
[1:49:47] and I'll go look at other things for
[1:49:49] you.
[1:49:50] But,
[1:49:51] my objective for you was to come back
[1:49:54] with usable information, and I hope that is what you can you can do with
[1:50:00] this report.
[1:50:02] And so, I thank you for the opportunity
[1:50:04] to to work with you
[1:50:06] on this project, and look forward to
[1:50:08] more opportunities in the future.
[1:50:10] >> Are you also able to share these slides
[1:50:12] with us?
[1:50:13] >> Yes.
[1:50:16] So, I will send it to Rachel after this
[1:50:18] of how we have to can like this is a
[1:50:20] >> Yeah, as a PDF or whatever is fine.
[1:50:24] » Of course.
[1:50:26] >> Thank you.
[1:50:27] >> Yeah, thank you.
[1:50:27] >> Thank you very much.
[1:50:34] » All right.
[1:50:38] Moving along, there's no action to
[1:50:40] remove anything from the consent agenda,
[1:50:41] and
[1:50:43] so we will move on to comments from
[1:50:44] commissioners.
[1:50:46] >> Real quick, I attended the
[1:50:48] Friday night performance of Frozen.
[1:50:52] Amazing.
[1:50:54] I mean, it was it was incredible. I had
[1:50:57] goosebumps. And then, it's not too late
[1:50:59] to buy your flamingos for the I think
[1:51:02] Friday's our last day to buy the
[1:51:05] flamingos, so don't forget that.
[1:51:11] » Um
[1:51:13] I I want to say I did read the the
[1:51:15] program guide guide cover to cover. I
[1:51:16] was one of those people. I thought it
[1:51:17] looked great.
[1:51:19] Um,
[1:51:21] yeah, I was a little surprised. There
[1:51:22] was one uh section that listed out all
[1:51:24] of the parks and uh
[1:51:26] all the amenities at the park and there
[1:51:28] was there was
[1:51:29] uh a column for ADA accessible picnic
[1:51:32] tables and I was really surprised that
[1:51:34] only two of the parks had that marked.
[1:51:36] Is that really
[1:51:38] >> All right.
[1:51:38] >> I don't think that could be right.
[1:51:40] >> like, "Is that really right? Probably
[1:51:41] shouldn't be too hard to get some picnic
[1:51:42] tables."
[1:51:42] >> Yeah, that would make sense.
[1:51:44] >> So, I just wanted to list raise about
[1:51:45] that. But, yeah, I thought the program
[1:51:46] guides looked looked really nice.
[1:51:48] >> I too read it cover to cover and I am
[1:51:50] also one of those people who use it as
[1:51:52] my reminder to register for things and
[1:51:54] text my friends, "Hey, does anyone want
[1:51:57] to go do X, [clears throat] Y, or Z?"
[1:51:59] So,
[1:52:00] yeah. So,
[1:52:04] All right. Uh
[1:52:06] I think we can call this meeting
[1:52:07] adjourned. Thank you, everyone.
[1:52:09] >> Thank you.
[1:52:10] Thank you.