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Resident raises special-recreation fee concerns and asks about safety at 140th Street/John Humphrey Drive
Summary
A resident urged the village to explain rising special-recreation program fees and asked whether safety concerns at the 140th Street and John Humphrey Drive intersection are being addressed; staff said safety is part of the engineering design and the recreation director will follow up on program-quality and fee questions.
Helga Dijon, an Orland Park resident, used the March 3 public-comment period to ask how to question the portion of the village budget allocated to the special recreation department and to express concern about rising program fees and perceived declines in program quality.
"I received the budget thing, and I was looking at it," Dijon said, identifying herself and giving her address for the record. She said families of special-needs participants have seen program costs increase “drastically” while program quality has not kept pace; she said two adults she cares for who participate are ages 30 and 61 and asked how to get answers about fees and program content.
Mayor Picow and staff said the Committee of the Whole generally does not respond during public comment but noted that recreation staff could follow up. The mayor said the village’s budget season runs August through December and explained generally that fee increases across recreation programs reflect inflation and an effort to limit further property-tax increases. "The policy is still 52% of the program is subsidized," the mayor said, adding that as programs get more expensive the unsubsidized share is passed to users.
A staff member responsible for recreation (identified in the meeting as Ray) was scheduled to follow up with Dijon directly. The mayor also said program offerings are evaluated on attendance and instructor availability; staff said they have added programs and increased participation in some areas but would check specifics for the special-recreation offerings.
Dijon also asked whether the 140th Street and John Humphrey Drive project under discussion at the meeting would address safety and accidents at that location. Krishid, the staff presenter for the intersection project update, said traffic and safety are part of the engineering and construction-phase work, and that safety considerations are included in the intersection design.
No formal action resulted from the public comment; staff committed to follow up with the resident on special-recreation program questions.
Ending: Staff said they would contact the resident to provide more detail on program changes and fees and confirmed that traffic safety is part of the 140th/John Humphrey design process.
