Lincoln Park District asks for financial assistance from the city of Lincoln

[September 29, 2017] 

LINCOLN

On Tuesday evening, John Andrews, the director of the Lincoln Park District, addressed the Lincoln City Council during public participation. The week prior, Andrews had sent letters to each of the aldermen and on Tuesday said he was there to offer a brief overview of that letter.

The Lincoln Park district is currently supported through a levy of property taxes. Tuesday evening, he asked the city to consider offering additional help in three specific areas.

The park district is responsible for the mowing of all the city owned parks. He said over the years the costs associated with the park mowing and maintenance have continually risen, and it is getting harder for the district to cover those costs. He asked that the council would consider offering additional funding through the city budget to help fill the gaps.

Andrews spoke about the annual fireworks on the Fourth of July. He said the park district has a $9,000 budget for the fireworks and every year that money buys less and less. He noted that this year for example, he had talked to the fireworks provider about getting the most possible out of the funds. That person had told him that at best, the $9,000 would buy about a 20-minute show.

Andrews recalled that there was a period of time when the city hosted Heritage Day on the Fourth of July. With that activity, the city assisted with the cost of the fireworks. Andrews said that the Heritage Days had stopped, and it had been several years since the city has contributed to the fireworks. He said the park district also used to hold fundraisers to help support the fireworks program, but that is time consuming and takes a lot of involvement to get any kind of return.

He asked the city to consider putting financial support for the annual fireworks show back in their budget.

Finally, Andrews said that another issue the LPD is facing is in the sewer costs associated with the annual filling of the aquatic center with water.

Andrews said that the LPD purchases the water through Illinois American, but that in addition to water costs, the park district is charged a sewer fee based on the gallons of water used to fill the pools. He said that came to about $900 to $1,000. Andrews noted that it mattered not what the PD did with the water in the pool, they could run it down the sewer, run it out on the ground, or haul it to the country, and regardless, it would have to pay that sewer fee. He also noted that when the pools are drained for the winter, the water is pumped out and hauled to the country for release.

He asked the aldermen to consider waving that usage fee when the pools are filled. He reminded the council that the pool district is a community pool, and it seemed reasonable that the city would support a community activity.

In addition to seeking financial assistance, Andrews said the he would like to review the intergovernmental agreement between the park district and the city. He said there were areas that were very vague that he struggled to interpret.

At the end of his comments, Tracy Welch said he understood the dilemma with the sewer bill, and he agreed that it wasn’t right that the district pay sewer bills for filling the pool. However, he noted that making an exception for the park district would be difficult because there are other entities that face the same issues.

Welch also asked if Andrews had considered seeking monetary support from the Logan County Tourism Bureau. Andrews said he had not. Welch suggested Andrews do so.

There was no further discussion on the topic.

[Nila Smith]