The Flagg-Rochelle Community Park District was not built for speed. When someone comes up with a good idea or even a thought that the district chooses to research, it can become very frustrating as it seems to take forever to implement.
You, as an individual, are different than the park district, as you can make a decision and implement it that very same day. Park district employees may have an idea or a thought that we would like to act on; however, we are held accountable to an elected board of seven people who were put in place by you, the community, and only hold board meetings once per month. So when this idea is brought to the attention of the board, it may take months to get them the information and answer their questions and concerns, before it is brought to a vote.
We must follow the Open Meetings Act which says we cannot share information with the board members outside of a meeting that is posted, where all members of the public have an opportunity to attend.
This leads me to give some thoughts on Spring Lake. I have been sharing some thoughts with the board about our pool, as it might be coming to the end of its useful and fiscally responsible life.

We were told last fall, by our maintenance superintendent that Spring Lake needed between $250,000 and $300,000 of repairs and upgrades. He cautioned that at any time, when we go to open the pool for the year, that it may not be able to open. We have “kicked the can down the road” for several years on these upgrades, not knowing if there will be an alternative pool, in Rochelle.
Spring Lake is open for 86 days out of the year. Our cost (capital, operation, insurance and maintenance) over the years has been averaging well over $100,000. For budgeting purposes, we assume the pool will cost the park district $1,500 per day to operate, for every day that it is open.
This is a tremendous amount of money when you consider the relatively low number of people who use the pool. Ongoing conversations about an alternative pool have been taking place, ever since the city tabled its vote on the proposed YMCA, more than a year ago.
The timing may be right, as the park district may not be able to, or choose to, continue maintaining Spring Lake. We are hoping to setup our Facebook page and/or website with a survey, so the community has a place to express their thoughts and opinions on Spring Lake.
We would like to know whether residents are in favor of, or against, the park district finding ways to continue to operate the pool. And, we would love to know your alternative ideas and/or opinions on either side of the vote.
We always need to be thinking ahead, because even if we may come up with a plan now or in the near future, it may be months or even years before anything is able to be implemented. As a great example, the original grant for the bike path extension was written back in approximately 2009 and we will be completing it in 2017. As I stated earlier, the park district wasn’t built for speed. Don’t just have a good week, make it a great week!

Roger Bunger is the executive director of the Flagg-Rochelle Community Park District.