VISION 20/20 Evolves Into ACTION 2020 for Sycamore Parks

The Dog Park Committee and the Splashpad Committees will meet first

“So many people have asked me when we are going to get started on the projects proposed by the park district in its long-range plan: Vision 20/20”, says Sycamore Park District Board Vice President, Michelle Schulz.

Such is the dilemma after a successful November 4, 2014 referendum in which the community of Sycamore voted in favor of a tax rate referendum to carry out Vision 20/20. Ted Strack, Board President, reminds citizens that the referendum passed last year, but we won’t see the first of the new revenue until later in 2015. “In addition, there are a number of steps we must take before we will have enough funds available to issue the bonds we will need to complete the projects.”

The Sycamore Park District has not been wasting time, however. In the meantime, they have begun reviewing budget, creating timelines, and, most importantly, preparing for what it feels is the most important aspect of the planning for the future: Citizen Involvement.

“As we presented our plans in Vision 20/20 to the community—we had over 70 meetings about it—we emphasized that if the referendum were successful we would involve the community in the final planning for the projects found in our long-range plan”, says Bill Kroeger, Park District Commissioner. “Now we have “ACTION 2020”. The key aspects of this plan were finalized at a Study Session this evening.

ACTION 2020 is:

• A timeline for when projects will be done.
• A timeline for how we will involve the public in planning the final details.
• Six Citizen Committees that will help us achieve this, AND
• Goals for those Committees, and Timelines for their work.

Board Members Daryl Graves and Ann Tucker will begin the recruiting process for the first two committees next week. The Dog Park Committee and the Splashpad Committees will meet first because the “homework” they need to do has to take place this summer in order to assist architects and engineers in their final design planning that will begin late in 2015 and early 2016.  Click here to apply now.

“Citizens should watch the newspaper and listen to radio stations. Or they can follow us on our website or Facebook page for more information on how they can be involved”, says Park District Commissioner Ann Tucker.

The Committee names below are linked to pdf files with much more information about each committee.
The timelines for the various committees is as follows:

“If all moves without unforeseeable delays”, says Daniel Gibble, Executive Director of the Sycamore Park District, “we hope our projects will take place in the following timeline:”

“We can’t get there without community involvement”, says Commissioner Graves. “We hope a lot of people will apply for the Citizen Committees!”