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Oak Park council approves Event Hub furnishings, unveils public projects dashboard
Summary
Council authorized purchase of outdoor furnishings for the Event Hub, with staff estimating about $120,000 in savings by buying directly from the manufacturer, and demonstrated a new public projects dashboard that will show maps, schedules and progress updates for city capital work.
Oak Park’s City Council on Aug. 18 approved purchasing outdoor site furnishings for the city’s Event Hub and previewed a new public-facing projects dashboard intended to show maps, progress and contact information for capital work across the city.
Deputy City Manager David DeCoster told council staff analyzed alternate bids and concluded that purchasing furnishings through the Omnia Partners cooperative and directly from manufacturers would avoid contractor markup and tax, yielding an estimated $120,000 in savings for the Event Hub budget.“Analyzing the contracts and purchasing these items direct from the manufacturer, we think we're gonna have about a $120,000 savings in doing so,” DeCoster said.
Council members asked about features after staff showed product images: some tables include umbrella holes and others do not; the outdoor package includes benches and lounge ("harpo") chairs and seating around a planned fire pit. DeCoster said the contract covers only outdoor amenities and that staff can provide specifications on request.
In a related presentation, DeCoster demonstrated the Elevate Oak Park project dashboard, accessible from the city’s main website. The portal—hosted on a third-party site—shows a map of city projects, project types, contract amounts and projected completion dates, and includes filters for future-year capital improvement plan items. Staff said the dashboard will be updated weekly and will include links to the state's missdig utility-marking system so residents can view excavation notices for their areas.
Council approved the furnishings purchase after discussion; the motion carried. Staff said images and weekly updates for the Event Hub and other projects will be available on the dashboard once live.
