Working together, growing together

Roger Bunger
Posted 2/5/18

We have a new initiative at the Flagg-Rochelle Community Park District. We will be working with the community and our affiliate groups to make sure the park district is collaborating on projects and improving facilities in cooperation with other entities. I feel the best use of taxpayer dollars is making sure we are not doubling our efforts.

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Working together, growing together

Posted

We have a new initiative at the Flagg-Rochelle Community Park District. We will be working with the community and our affiliate groups to make sure the park district is collaborating on projects and improving facilities in cooperation with other entities. I feel the best use of taxpayer dollars is making sure we are not doubling our efforts.
We recently established a “Capital Committee” that is co-chaired by Tim Hayden and Dale Wells. The committee consists of Don Elliot, our superintendent of maintenance, Jackee Ohlinger, our recreation supervisor, and several members of the community. We established this committee to reach out to the affiliate groups (Rochelle Little League, Rochelle Junior Tackle, AYSO, Rampage, Hispanic Soccer League, Hispanic Baseball League, Tennis Club, and various other groups) in an effort to understand what the park district could do to help them improve their programs.
So far, we have added pickleball lines to a few of our tennis courts and updated some courts to pickleball courts, at the request of the tennis club members.
In cooperation with RJT, we updated the bleachers at Helms North to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, to increase the safety of the facility, and to give it a more modern and appealing look. In addition, we will be adding a press box to our building at this site to accommodate the press, run the scoreboard, and give RJT a place to film their games.
As for Little League and Rampage Baseball, we are installing new backstops and replacing the fencing down the first and third base lines at Rampage’s Helms North ballfield and the Tilton Park fields of Little League, minor league and girls softball. In addition, we have reached out to the Rochelle Elementary School District and received their permission to install new fencing and backstops on the three T-ball/Rookie League fields, located at May School.
We will be developing an additional field for the Hispanic Soccer League at VFW Park and replace all soccer goals and netting. This will give them access to additional parking, restrooms and an added field for practices and matches.

AYSO’s field of play will be a large undertaking for us this year. They play and practice on Lincoln School’s property. This field needs some attention, as the grass is sparse, there are some rocks, not particularly level, and there are drainage issues. Once again, we are working with the elementary district and will be bringing in loads of dirt, do some drainage work, level the fields and potentially build a storage building. By completing these upgrades and utilizing property that belongs to the school, we are able to collaborate with other taxing bodies and meet the needs of the affiliate groups by helping them to improve and update their programs.
Our thought process: We should be able to meet more needs for the community with less tax dollars from the community. This broad initiative would not be possible without the strong backing and dedicated efforts of the park district’s board of commissioners.
Working together, growing together.

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