City of Centralia City Council met Aug. 28.
Here are the minutes provided by the council:
A Public Hearing was held on August 28, 2023 to discuss the City of Centralia’s OSLAD grant application. City Manager Smith called the meeting to order 12:00 p.m.
Staff Members attending: William K. Smith, City Manager; Finance Director, Jeremy Henderson; Economic Development Director, Derek Sherman; Assistant City Manager/City Clerk Kim Enke
City Manager Smith stated that the hearing was being conducted to discuss the OSLAD grant application and the narrative for public comment.
Economic Development Director Sherman stated that this grant is due within two weeks. He stated that he has illustrations, cost estimates and maps of the area included in the project. He stated that the grant is through the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and is for up to $600,000.00. He explained that this is due on September 15th.
Mr. Sherman explained that the property to be developed is Fairview Park. He detailed the history of the park and location stating that the city of Centralia, IL’s largest municipally managed public park consists of around 35 acres. Fairview Park is modeled after it’s prior use as an early 1900s horse racing track. Fairview Park is sandwiched between IL State Route 161 and Broadway Street with a single lane, one-direction interior road, designed in the shape of an oval with angled parking on the interior and exterior of the roadway. The proposed project is the first phase of the revitalization of Fairview Park; the proposed project is a redesign & development of our playgrounds.
Mr. Sherman explained that the redesign and development of the playgrounds is necessary as our existing playgrounds did not have any formal planning for specific age groups or specific types of play identified by child development psychologists. The redesign of the playgrounds consists of three playground areas focused on three age categories: six months to five-year-olds; five-year-olds to twelve-year-olds; and thirteen-year-olds & up. Each of these playgrounds will have the following two main categories of play identified by child development research: Group Play and Individual Play. Additionally, both types of play will have amenities and equipment to facilitate the following subcategories of play identified by childhood development research: Structured Play; Free Play; Physical Play; Sensory Play; Constructive Play; Creative Play; Pretend Play; and Competitive Play.
An overview of the planned areas was provided. The six months to five-year-old playground is focused on both Group Play and Individual Play with specific attention paid to Sensory Play, Creative Ply, Pretend Play, Free Play, and Structured Play. One set of equipment is to create a musical playground with the idea to name this area Tactical Tunes Studio or something similar to facilitate Sensory and Creative Play. The following pieces of equipment from Percussion Play and Rhapsody will make up the Tactical Tunes Studio: Vibra Chimes Full Set, Vivo Metallophone, Animato Metallophone, Tembos Pentatonic, Cyclone, Harmony, Handpipes, Djembes, Tumbadores, Rainbow Sambas, Congo Trio, Small & Large Babel Drum, and Grand Floor Piano. The thirteen-year-old and up playground is focused on two fitness-focused packaged playground equipment: FitCore Extreme and HealthBeat Outdoor Fitness System. The FitCore Extreme System provides a great fitness circuit workout for ages 5 & Up as it’s designed for circuit works or as an obstacle course akin to the popular Ninja Warrior television series. The FitCore Extreme System consists of the following equipment: A-Frame Cargo Net, Angled Balance Beam, Angled Overhead Ladder, Globe Grasp, High Step, Jump Hang, Ledge Hanger, Over Under Bars, Peg Bridge, Quintuple Steps, Rope Climb, Spiderwalk, Unstable Bridge, Vertical Cargo Net, Wheel Bridge, and a Welcome Sign. The FitCore Extreme will allow for Individual
Play and Group Play as a patron can complete the course alone or exercise on a specific piece of equipment or a group of patrons can compete to see who has the fastest course completion time or exercise together on individual pieces of equipment. The HealthBeat Outdoor Fitness System uses the latest exercise methodologies to provide a tailored workout for teens and adults of all generations and fitness levels. The HealthBeat Outdoor Fitness System has the following equipment: Ab Crunch/Leg Lift, Assisted Row/Push-Up, Balance Steps, Chest/Back Press, Elliptical, Hand Cycler, Mobility, Parallel Bars, Plyometrics, Pull-Up/Dip, Squat Press, Stretch, Tai Chi Wheels, and a Welcome Sign. Currently, there is no public park in Centralia with outdoor fitness equipment for our residents to exercise on similar to both FitCore Extreme and HealthBeat Outdoor Fitness System. Additionally, to our knowledge, there are no challenge courses similar to FitCore Extreme within a thirty (30) minute radius of Centralia, which means it could become an outdoor recreational attraction in our region. The five-year-old to twelve-year-old area would get a redesign using the existing equipment with other play structures being considered including ADA accessible equipment. He reviewed the layout of the equipment in the park showing the map to those in attendance and the purpose behind the design and plans. He stated that there was approximately $500,000 in equipment costs for the proposed project.
Public comments were made several in attendance. Vernell Burris requested that the Laura Leake Park be included with the application for funding along with Fairview Park. Economic Development Director Sherman explained that only one location could be included in the application to apply grant funding. He also discussed the $15,000 that was spent by the City in Laura Leake Park this past year. Tekoa Lee commented that this proposed project is going to cost more than $600,000.00 when factoring in labor and materials. She estimated that the City would need twice as much money to do what is being proposed. She also stated that she has been waiting years for something for Laura Leake Park, including better basketball courts and fencing for so long and it is disappointing that Laura Leake is not being considered for the grant. Marion Bunny Garrett stated that she was aware of the grant and grant process but wishes there was more transparency and input from the community, public, and other boards regarding the planning before moving forward with grant and plans. She discussed the recent expenditures and the donations from Walmart that were used for the Laura Leake Park improvements stating that she wanted more information about the expenditures made at the park. Economic Development Director Sherman stated that he would provide the expenditures to her after the meeting. Economic Development Director Sherman reported that the recreation committee was not consulted but the pool committee was asked if they wanted to utilize the OSLAD grant. The pool committee declined stating that even with a small splash pad the engineers cost estimate would have required additional funds over the $600,000 in grant funds. He stated that they expressed that they wanted to wait till there was more comment about the addition of a pool or splash pad before proceeding with funding. Rick Garrett stated that the last OSLAD grant the City applied for also didn’t include Laura Leake Park. He stated that he brought it up at the City Council Meeting and it was explained that funds were provided from the City for the parks. He stated that he doesn’t have a problem with the grant but has a problem with the exclusion of the Laura Leake Park. Tekoa Lee stated that if something is going to be done it should be done right. She expressed the need for an indoor facility with an outdoor area that included all of the planned areas that were discussed. She noted that weather hinders the use of the park, and it is only warm three months out of the year so an indoor park would be more beneficial. She expressed that there are many kids that don’t play sports and have nothing to do. She discussed the current use of the Centralia Recreation Complex and lack of recreation. She reiterated that the $600,000.00 grant is not enough for what needs to be done at Fairview Park and the grant needs to be rewritten for Laura Leake Park instead. She stated that the City should build an indoor facility for recreational activities. Derek Sherman clarified that the Recreation Complex is not owned by the City of Centralia and also clarified that the suggestion made by Ms. Lee was for the City to construct a complex for the purpose of creating another indoor recreational facility in the City. Reverend Val Powe discussed the expenditures at Laura Leake Park and the anticipated expenditures as well. He also stated that transparency is important, and he would like to see more people participating in the public hearings. He stated that he applauded the grant, prays for its success, and prays that any overflow of funds be used in other parks. Derek Sherman stated that the grant requires reporting of the expenditures to the State of Illinois and any overflow will be required to be returned to the State. Marion Garrett reiterated the need for more input on the park that will serve the community. She doesn’t expect a rewrite of the entire grant only modifications. Ms. Lee again questioned if $600,000 is enough to complete the project including labor. Derek Sherman stated that there are quotes for the equipment that are accurate and the installation will be done by the City employees where possible. David Miller asked if bids would be taken for the work and suggested that bids be solicited. Mr. Sherman stated that City employees are expected to be able to handle the project but if not, the bids would be solicited. Ms. Garrett suggested that the project would take these employees away from other projects and other employees may need to be hired. Reverend Val Powe stated that as a past city employee he understands and agrees that the City employees will not suffer and will be able to handle their responsibilities and also cut down on the cost of contractual labor. Cody Reynolds questioned if there were more details about the skate park area. Mr. Sherman stated that the skate park is part of the future plans but there are no set plans in that area at this time. He noted that the skate park and basketball court are two of the most used areas. Cody Reynolds also noted that donations would possibly be made for the skate park in the future. Tekoa Lee stated that she agrees that the skate park is highly used and the indoor facility for them would be beneficial. Cody Reynolds also stated that seating and shade in that area would also be beneficial. Tekoa Lee stated that she would like Laura Leake to be included but if funding was given to Fairview Park, she would like to the skate park have their upgrades, bathrooms, and seating as well as some upgrades in the younger area too. Tekoa Lee stated that she wanted to see a better quality of life for the residents using Fairview Park and Laura Leake park. Vernell Burris asked if this will be considered by the City Council and Derek Sherman stated that it would be on the upcoming agenda.
With no other comments or further discussion, the public hearing was adjourned at 12:40 p.m.
https://cityofcentralia.org/vertical/sites/%7BFC680FE7-BE5C-4903-A103-67AF5EF51655%7D/uploads/08-_August_28_2023_public_hearing_OSLAD.pdf
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