The Superintendent of Parks at the Collinsville Area Recreation District told the elected CARD Commissioners that two full-time staffers do more than just cut grass, even in the summer. Despite his opinion, four of the five Commissioners voted to outsource grass cutting for the district, setting in motion a process that will eliminate two full-time positions in the Parks Department.
Speaking during the open meeting of the Board on May 20, Kevin Brown, superintendent of parks, also noted that mowing in March and November was not included in the request for bid issued by CARD, putting an additional burden on his already smaller staff. Commissioner Mark Achenbach, when explaining how he calculated the cost saving to the district, said two full-time staffers and one summer seasonal worker do little else but cut grass during the summer. Three Commissioners agreed with him.
The Board went to a closed session to discuss the mowing bids received. Brown initially participated in the closed session, but left after a short time. After the meeting was again open to the public, Board President David Tanzyus, Patrick Collins, Jeannie Lomax and Achenbach agreed that the full-time staff members and the summer seasonal worker could be replaced by a mowing service. Mary Ann Bitzer voted against the proposal.
Tanzyus, after the meeting, said the Parks’ positions, which have been year-round, are seasonal. Brown declined comment.
Prior to the closed session, Board members did not know a definitive amount of projected cost savings to be gained by eliminating the positions and outsourcing mowing. After the closed session, Tanzyus said they calculated a savings of $49,200 this year. He called the estimate “pretty darn solid.”
Estimates were based on the salaries of the two full time persons to be replaced and the seasonal worker not to be hired. Some other items considered were employee benefits, gas and depreciation of mowers.
Tanzyus also said a $25,000 “hole” in the Recreation Fund forced the Commissioners to make a money saving decision.
“It was either do something or do nothing and have the hole,” Tanzyus said.
Altered Grounds Outdoor Services LLC, of Pontoon Beach, won the mowing contract with a bid of $2,600 per mow. The other five bids received were about $4,700 per mow.
Interim Director Susan Zaber said that, as of Friday, the contract with Altered Grounds had not been finalized, so the two employees whose positions will be eliminated remained with the district.
Work has not begun to identify a new executive director, Tanzyus said. CARD has been without an executive director since Terry Wilson resigned on March 6.
Bitzer questioned why a search has not yet begun.
“Our most important function as a board is to hire a director,” Bitzer said. “We’re on a road to destruction in the way we work, in my opinion. We are not the experts, there is not one person at this table who is an expert in parks and recreation.”
The search will begin, Tanzyus said, after the budget process is completed. The last time the district was in search of a director, Wilson was hired after the budget was complete, Tanzyus said. Bitzer objected, saying the search started sooner.
“It definitely has to be on the agenda for the next meeting,” Tanzyus said. “I don’t know what else to tell you.”
In other business at the May 20 meeting, The Board voted unanimously to accept an Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation grant to install solar panels, which are expected to save the district $27,000 in energy costs each year. Tanzyus asked now former Splash City Aquatics Supervisor Karl Schmidt if the estimate was an actual estimate or just conjecture.
“It’s an actual estimate,” Schmidt said. “It was part of the grant submission.” Schmidt’s last day at CARD was May 23.
The vote came after discussion if the district had enough money to pay the grant amount of $417,600 up front to install solar panels while awaiting reimbursement. Overtures had been made to the City of Collinsville to assist CARD on the project by providing Tax Increment Financing, but those efforts ceased when Wilson left.
Tanzyus said he has not looked into the deadline to request TIF funds from the City for the project. The new executive director, Tanzyus said, will be expected to handle the TIF request.
During discussion about the grant, CARD Attorney Paul Evans informed the Board that the grant was a rare honor and that rejecting it could hurt the district in the future among major donors in the state, who tend to be interconnected, Evans said.
“I urge you to think about what happens if you don’t accept this grant and how it affects you in the future,” Evans said.
CARD also accepted bids on several items, including a 1987 Ford F600 bucket truck with 43,400 miles for $555. During the meeting, Tanzyus used his phone to search for a similar truck online and said he could not find one, so he assumed $555 was a fair price. The motion passed unanimously.
If the district had chosen not to accept bids for the items, they would have been sold at an auction. A 1987 Ford F600 bucket truck with 169,852 miles, from the City of Brookfield, Mo., was sold at auction in Oct. 2013 for $5,060.
The bids were accepted for the items, even though there may have been a potential to get more at an auction, Tanzyus said, because there is a cost associated with hosting an auction and no guarantee of a better price.
