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Trustees debate parks, islands and a small beautification increase amid limited funds
Summary
Trustees discussed a multi-year decline in parks/islands line items, roughly $10,000 in donations currently available, and the need for reference designs and contractor estimates; volunteers and trustees agreed to seek concrete cost figures before committing to larger projects.
Trustees spent a substantive portion of the March 10 presentation on parks and island beautification, asking staff for a line-item accounting of what was spent and what remains before approving new improvement spending.
One trustee said the parks/islands budget had declined from earlier years (examples cited verbally as $70k then $60k then $39k) and asked for a breakdown of actual expenditures to determine whether the current $39k covered cleanup only or also planned improvements. Staff said some cleanup (mulch and spring work) remains to be billed and that about $10,000 in donations is recorded for island work, but Saint Francis–linked funds are segregated for a specific island and cannot be reallocated without direction.
Trustees and volunteers agreed the village needs reference designs and contractor ballpark estimates before increasing the budget for substantial improvements. Several trustees suggested having a landscape designer or a local contractor provide a planting list and a price so the village can cost out three or four candidate islands; volunteers (named in the transcript as Kevin and Anne) were referenced as contributors to prior surveys and potential volunteers for preliminary plans.
Trustees directed staff to bring clearer line-item spending and to convene the beautification group with reference designs and estimates so the board can decide whether to reallocate funds or request a modest tax adjustment.
