Greetings,

From the September 7 Workshop Meeting:

RIFORD ROAD RESIDENTS DISCUSS SUMMER FLOODS,

SAFETY VILLAGE: FACT NOT FICTION

and the September 13 Village Board Meeting:

RIFORD ROAD RESIDENTS DISCUSS LAKE ELLYN FLOODING WITH VILLAGE

The Glen Ellyn Park Bench

Enjoy

Wow, that was quick:

Glen Ellyn Park District OKs money for platform tennis

Should have been. It was an absolute "no-brainer."

You should have stayed in town. This town is going to be the mecca of PT!

Of Course Billy Dallman who plays the sport cast the deciding vote so he voted for something that
directly and dis-proportionately affects him.

What a surprise.

The PD really hosed us over this time. Back in April the proposed agreement specified:

a) PD will contribute $50,000
b) Glen Ellyn Platform Tennis club (GEPTC) will contribute $250,000 in the following manner.
i) $150,000 in donations from various sources
ii) $100,000 from a loan 'secured by GEPTC' 'PD will have no responsibility in the repayment'
c)no restrictions on use by GEPTC

Total out of pocket for the PD - $50,000


Now we get an agreement that says:

a) PD will contribute $50,000 upfront
b) Glen Ellyn Platform Tennis club (GEPTC) will contribute $300,000 in the following manner.
i) $150,000 in donations from various sources
ii) $150,000 from a loan to the PD by the GEPTC to be paid back by the PD over 3 years.
c)exclusive court use for 3 years by GEPTC.

Total out of pocket for the PD - $200,000

wow, good job negotiating guys.

Is this a private PT Club with secret handshakes and skeleton keys to the courts? I believe any one of you could join if you were interested. That, in my book, does not make it disproportionate in the usage. If you choose not to join and play, then please continue whining and b*tching.

Yeah check out the interest rates. GEPTC is getting from our PD.

They estimate?. That the interest payments will be between four to five thousand per year.

That sounds like an interest rate of roughly three percent. For an unsecured loan. That is awfully good. So we're giving GEPTC a pretty good deal on the loan.

I keep wondering where they get One hundred and forty nine members from. I didn't see that last year.

At the end of the two years the PD, Taxpayers of Glen Ellyn will be on the hook for 150K. Also the GEPTC will have sole rights to the new courts and the hut.

Notice also that GEPTC will not have to contribute to pay for the upkeep and utilization of the courts and huts. How much do you think it costs to heat those courts. Usually during the Winter I pay around 300-400.00 A month in heating bills. I can't imagine how much it costs to heat those courts. But we will end up paying for that and the electricity for the Hut etc.

Yep great job there Dallman, Minogue, and Atwell way to look after your own interest there

GEPTC Website

From the Looks of things they are about 16,000 short of donations. They have to raise 50K to get to get a matching of 100K. A 2:1 split.

So what happens if they don't raise the other 50K.

Also notice that according to GEPTC that the GEPD will on the hook for the other 150K.

Let me clear up a few misconceptions. I no longer have a dog in this fight, so it really doesn't make any difference to me anymore.

That draft agreement in the board packet back in April was drafted (and included in the packet) by the park district's attorney prior to me or anyone else seeing it. I will add that it was drafted by an associate of the PD's law firm that knew little of the ongoing discussions between the platform community and the PD. Let me be clear that it was NEVER anyone's understanding that the PD was only going to contribute 50K. In fact when we saw that in the agreement we immediately called the PD and told them we were not proceeding under that arrangement. The preliminary discussions ALWAYS had the platform community obtaining (through donations and pledges obtained by or through the platform community) 150K and donating it to the PD for the project. Additionally, the platform community secured a loan in the amount of 150K that will also be used for the project and the interest on that loan for the first few years was payable by the platform community. That loan is NOT from the PD...it is a privately secured loan. In 2013 the PD will either make payments on that loan or pay it off. I have no idea where the concept that the PD was providing the loan to the GEPTC came from, but like I tell my children....reading is a skill.

Finally, the GEPTC will NOT control the courts or the hut. The facility will remain in the hands of the PD. The GEPTC will have time blocked off for league play. Also, the courts are not heated. The heaters are used solely to remove snow or moisture from the courts.

Fish, where does the 149 members come from. Does that count a family of 5 as five members?

Not sure about the membership numbers, but I think you are correct. To my knowledge, the PD does not offer family memberships, so I think if you have 5 in your family and each wants to play, then each person pays the fee and that counts as 5 members.

Rob,

Even the PD's own survey conducted last year showed, "Very little support exists for the addition of two more platform tennis courts."

Here is how it ranked:

% positive support for project:

44.8% Renovate Lake Ellyn Boat house
32.6% Build Nature Center
27.5% Build Outdoor Amphitheater
22.4% Renovate Newton Concession/Fieldhouse
20.8% Add Lights at Newton Tennis Courts
9.8% Add Platform Tennis Courts

last place! Yet again, we see a mismatch between public desire and Board direction.

The survey is at this link beginning on page 57 of the pdf.

It really is a fun game. If I could lose my tennis mentality (the big court game doesn't translate all that well to the small court), I would play all the time.

Everyone has a b**ch about something. If the money were spent on a nature center (#2) that I would never use, I would be complaining.

Also, as Fish has adequately pointed out, there are no renovate the Boathouse or Nature Center groups willing to pony up additional funds to get some of these balls rolling. #'s 2,3,4 and 5 mean nothing to me on the survey, yet I would be willing to let my already accounted for tax dollars go towards completion.

Has anyone been turned down for membership by the GEPTC? Have you been unable to reserve a court in times of your liking? If you don't like the direction the money is spent, I won't argue that you are wrong. I would argue that whichever way you chose to spend money, there will always be someone there to b**ch about it.

Greetings,

From the September 21 Board Meeting:

PLATFORM PLAYERS SUCCESSFULLY PROMOTE HUT

The Glen Ellyn Park Bench

Enjoy

quote:

drunken soldiers?

Sailors?

Anyway, I do agree that if the GE Park District was sitting at a bar around closing time . . . even I would have a hell of a chance at getting it into my bedroom. They at times seem to be that drunk.

That said, where does one draw the line when it comes to pleasing its residents? I think everyone will agree that what happened with the Ackerman S.S. was reckless. But, what is the definition of a splinter group? Frankly, I don't care about many, many, many of the courses or sports that the PD offers. Not the slightest bit interested in them, but I know that I have to look past them and realize that others are. Would I like to see the boathouse renovated/rethought into something that is actually useful? Of course. Do I give a flying **** about a $600,000 Safety Village? Hellz no . . . my kids are safe as all get out.

I really think that its time to put up or shut up when it comes to many with strong views. It seems to really bother a lot of folks about what is going on with the PD. Those people need to stop losing sleep over what they perceive to be injustices occurring within the PD Board ranks and join the fight themselves by running this spring. It truly is the only way to bring about change. And not the B.S. kind of Change that so many of you suckers fell for in November, 2008. But real, measurable local change. So many people ignore local elections when they truly are the sole elections that you can really make a difference.

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to draft my letter requesting a floating 2,500 seat lacrosse stadium located three feet above Lake Ellyn. That thing is gonna be sweet.

Likewise, I would expect them to spend their limited resources on programs benefit choices the majority of the community supports. How many times has the boat house been at the top of the community survey, yet the PD continues on with these pet projects.

Fish, please show where I would 'read' that the PD is providing the loan to the GEPTC.

If they did that, only ran things to benefit the majority, the catalog would be a two-sided sheet of paper with soccer, baseball, football, dancing and basketball information.

I'm talking 'limited resources'. In more robust economic times I have no problem supporting non-main stream sports in addition to those the majority is asking for.

At some point the PD should stop wasting their money on these surveys since they ignore them anyway.