A Chance Encounter with the Commissioners of the Joliet Park District Tomorrow MONDAY, July 14, 2014 — on the topic of the Pilcher Park Dam? We have just learned that two of the Park District Commissioners — Glenn Markum and Art Schultz -- are expected to be at the Parkwood Neighborhood Council meeting tomorrow evening at 7:00 PM. (This one meeting will be held at the Nature Center in the Pilcher Park). According to the President of the Parkwood Neighborhood Council: FYI - two of the Park District Commissioners (Glen Marcum and Art Schultz, Jr.) will be attending our meeting on Monday, July 14, 2014. I have asked if they could update the residents with the status of the the Pilcher Park Dam plan.” While we have no idea what the format of the meeting will be, nor have we as yet received a promised agenda from them, we DO believe any opportunity to ’show up’ on this issue is important. We do not know what the Commissioners plan to discuss. We DO know, however, that IDNR has been preparing answers to the questions that many of you raised at the Meeting that was held by the Joliet Park District and the IDNR in April. IDNR has told us that they were preparing to answer questions for which they HAD answers — and that they would NOT be answering questions for which they do NOT have answers. Examples of the latter are: What will the current Lake/Reservoir/Park look like when the dam is removed? According to IDNR they can NOT answer that question — because THEY DO NOT know. In case there is an opportunity to ask the JPD questions, either at tomorrow night’s meeting, or for any of us in future encounters, here is the List of Questions we have put together for all of our consideration. Should you ever have a chance to ask these questions and get any answers, please share that information here — with us. Questions for the Joliet Park District: Staff persons for individuals running for office this Fall have asked you Commissioners about the plans to remove the Pilcher Park Dam. They reported that they were told by you that you have obtained a commitment from IDNR that they would ‘beautify the entire area up to Gougar Road’, and further, that you would not allow the dam to be removed without this commitment. However, IDNR has told us that they have made no such commitment. They will simply plant in the area that they do work in — the ‘pool’ above the dam, no further — perhaps including there some docks for fishing. And, further that they do not know what the area will look like when the dam is removed because they have not done those studies. Are you mis-representing this situation to people who have constituents to answer to? When did the Joliet Park District (JPD) first learn about any Plans to Remove the Pilcher Park Dam? From whom? What role did JPD Staff play in developing such plans? Do you know how or why the Removal of the Dam came to be the only existing plan? Executive Director Egizio has said that the IDNR Plan to remove the dam is not the same as the Hickory Creek Watershed Plan. In what way do you think they are different? Executive Director Egizio has stated that if the JPD declined the removal of the Pilcher Park Dam, you would ‘lose all the rest of our grant money’. What grant monies were referred to? What agencies have stated that you would not receive funds if you did not agree to remove the Pilcher Park Dam? How is this different from transactional politics? What alternate proposals has the JPD considered before deciding to support removal of the dam? For example, since stream mitigation is the goal, why can’t the pond be dredged and the dam rehabilitated as a way of restoring the Hickory Creek waterway -- which was impaired by the IDNR Flood Control work downstream? Have you sought external opinions (outside of the agencies or entities that have a vested and political interest in the dam’s removal)? Is JPD planning any additional input/second opinion? When? Why cant funds be found to repair rather than remove the dam? At your November 2013 Board Meeting, did you believe you were voting to support the stream mitigation/dam removal project or did you believe you were (only) voting to support a study of removing the Pilcher Park dam? And did you know that the Joliet Park District staff had conveyed tentative approval for the dam removal to IDNR at least 6 months earlier than that vote? Have you sought a legal opinion about: Whether you can permit the dam to be removed, given the parameters of original Pilcher Bequest?Whether local property owners’ rights (fire protection, property values, etc) will be affected? What benefit will removing the dam/lake bring to the PEOPLE? What is the JPD’s understanding of what will be done, and why, and by what agencies, during dam removal? Who will be the local ‘sponsor’? What will their costs be? What benefits? What costs/losses? What agency decides the contracts for the work surrounding the removal of the Pilcher Park Dam? What is the procedure for obtaining and letting bids for this work? How open is this bid process? What role will the JPD play in this bid process? What money has been set aside for unexpected contingencies? What is the funding source? What steps will the JPD take to make sure this funding is adequate BEFORE any demolition starts? What are the potential liabilities that the Joliet Park District will be assuming should ‘mishaps’ occur along the way? What are the plans for patrolling the Park (especially if visibility diminishes after the dam is removed)? What assurance do you give us that security in the Park will improve? Will you close the inner loop road? Is it your goal to purchase ALL of the Hoberg land for inclusion into the Park? WHY, GIVEN THE CUMULATIVE NEGLECT OF CLOSURES (RATHER THAN REPAIRS), NEGLECT AND ENCROACHING CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR ACROSS THE PARK, SHOULD WE TRUST THAT YOU HAVE EITHER OUR – OR THE PARK’S BEST INTERESTS AT HEART?
Posted on: Mon, 14 Jul 2014 04:39:36 +0000
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