Campton Township
Public Hearing Minutes
Community Center
Proposed Concept Plan for Poynor Park
June 15, 2004
7:30 P.M.
The June 15, 2004 Public Hearing on the Proposed Concept Plan for Poynor Park was called to order by Supervisor Anderson at 7:30 p.m. at the Community Center. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited.
Proposed Concept Plan for Poynor Park: Supervisor Anderson stated this is the first chance to put this in front of the public. These are only ideas and proposals. We are looking for public input. Jay Womack, ASLA, will present a tentative proposal. We are here to listen and then hear Public Comment. When you do give a comment or state a question please give your name and address for the Clerk.
Conservation Design Forum – Jay Womack, ASLA: J. Womack stated he is a landscape architect with the Conservation Design Forum. They use ecology and water management to restore the health of the land that was here before farming, and create a recreation area for children. You have a black and white copy of the map. It is a 120 acre site by Swanberg Road. We will put the higher use ballfields that are by the road, farther in. Hard surface parking will be asphalt, paver, or permeable paver. If permeable paver, water will seep into the ground so impurities, pesticides, oil, is filtered out naturally. Surface drainage will be through natural vegetation into pipes that infiltrate it. There is shelter on each ballfield. Closer to homes there is less intense use by soccer or football fields and passive recreation. To the west and south we create natural prairie. There will be walking trails made of hard surface so they will be wheelchair accessible. We will look for opportunities for sidewalks along the road for safe bicycling.
Public Comments: Linda Stritzel of Swanberg Road stated people in the Windings got no notification. Why this location. This is too congested. Discussion followed. N. Anderson stated the location of properties was identified three years ago when we had the open space referendum. Clerk Johansen stated there were four forms of notification that consisted of a legal notice in the Chronicle, a listing under Public Meetings on page three of this mornings Chronicle, a listing in Campton Township’s 2004 Spring Newsletter, and a listing on Campton Township’s website. Devin Moose stated he didn’t vote for baseball and succor fields. What groups did you meet with? J. Womack stated the Open Space group, and soccer and baseball groups. D. Gillen stated the Open Space Plan included supporters for active recreation for children, as well as passive recreation. We purchased about 900 acres of passive recreation (no ballfields) before we purchased this property for active recreation (ballfields). Ballfields had to be flat land. This property was ideal because it is flat. Linda Stritzel said a lot of peoples kids are grown up. What do we do with these fields when the kids are grown up. Kathy Nermoil of Buck Court said we belong to Burlington Central schools and will Burlington Central Schools be able to use these fields. How do we regulate so only Campton Township uses these fields. N. Anderson stated we will have to talk to all these groups. Kathy Nermoil said the property to the south floods. Where is that water going to go? J. Womack stated we are doing a tile study to determine where the water goes. N. Anderson stated the park will have to go through Kane County stormwater approval. Kathy Nermoil asked how much open space money can you spend to develop? N. Anderson stated a small amount of money has been put aside for development. Bryan Blanco of Badger Court said Corron has flat land, why not active recreation on that? D. Gillen stated grant requirements from the State of Illinois prevented that. Rosie Norman of Prairie Valley Drive said she is a landscape architect and having all those kids there is not cultural value. This is in my back yard. Walt Stritzel of Swanburg Road said he was not notified. Clerk Johansen said you are here. Please see my remark regarding notification earlier. Township Administrator Glas stated this is not a rezoning hearing that requires letters to adjacent and adjoining land owners. This is classified as agricultural. It must follow the development process and the stormwater process. The Public Hearing is to get public input. Earlier hearings had as many as 300 people involved. N. Anderson stated he wouldn’t vote for lights. He didn’t know they were on the plan. Walt Stritzel asked when does construction start? N. Anderson stated there is no projected start date. There is farming this year. Tom Rougas of Buck Court asked is the dam constructed out of concrete? J. Womack answered there is an existing earthen dam there that is stopping water from the north now. Tom Rougas asked are you going to produce revenue from this? N. Anderson stated no, we don’t charge for use of fields. Tom Rougas said you are developing a plan in response to perceived needs. What satisfies our group is less impact. We would like a 100 foot buffer zone. J. Womack stated you have more then a 100 foot buffer now. It is a 150 to 200 foot buffer. You have prairie right up to your yard. N. Anderson stated we want to work with the neighbors. Dave Coulian of Badger Court said there is a detention pond that overflows into that wetland. J. Womack stated we want it to drain into the pond. Ron Sikorski asked how many parking spaces are there. J. Womack stated 30 cars per field. Ron Sikorski asked how do we control parking once the park is closed? N. Anderson stated Brown Road Park is locked every night. We will do the same. Jim Plass of Chaffield Drive said he lives near Brown Road Park and its one ball field one year and another the next year. N. Anderson stated this will be similar. You finish the project in phases. Sandie Toms of Prairie Valley Drive asked how close is the parking lot to my back yard? J. Womack replied it’s about 200 feet from your yard, the walking trail is about 100 feet from your back yard. Sandie Toms asked for more trees. J. Womack stated we can put trees where ever we want. Barb Wojnicki, Kane County Board Representative, stated this is a concept plan. It is made to identify your concerns. It doesn’t have to be as you see it. If you put homes on this land, you create a need for more schools, more infrastructure, more traffic, more taxes. Wells are a concern in Campton Township. By making this natural area in the center, we create a wetland recharge that helps our wells increase supply with purified water. Homes will draw more water. Lawns do not recharge aquifers because water runs off them. N. Anderson stated we strive to keep your taxes low. Everything we have done, except for open space, has been done without increasing your taxes. That includes this Community Center we are in. Bob Thompson of Creekside Court asked can we cut the number of fields? N. Anderson stated most everyone here is from surrounding property. We would like the other side represented. This is all up for discussion now. Joe Garbarski of Weybridge Drive said he has lived here for 17 years. There were 200 people at a meeting for a sports related facility. They identified 1200 people that needed sports. It took until 1994 to make Brown Road Park a reality. They did it with no tax increase. These facilities are important to our community. What you see here is an example of the success we had at Brown Road Park. John Pree of Hunters Hill Drive said he lives by Brown Road Park. He is on the Park Committee. He has been here for 25 years. He thinks the proposed plan is a good deal. He definitely prefers this park to homes. If kids park in Brown Road Park at night, he calls 911. When there’s a problem you deal with it. A housing development would have problems too. Georgie Anderson asked is it Wasco Baseball that asked for these ballfields? N. Anderson stated, no, its all the sports groups. Georgie Anderson said she is against lights. Why not a golf course? Rosie Norman of Prairie Valley Drive said put a 500 foot buffer. What about a golf course? Bryan Blanco of Badger Court said he lived next to a golf course and didn’t like it. There is a lot of swearing in the morning. He wants to see more plans. We don’t need as many ballfields. There should be more open space. Rosie Norman of Prairie Valley Drive asked what date is the grant due and does this plan have to be completed by the grant date? N. Anderson stated yes, but we don’t have to go for the grant. Eric Ginn of Beaver Court asked what grant? N. Anderson stated it is an OSLAD grant. Part of the process is we bring this to a Public Hearing. We will keep you appraised as the process goes along.
Adjournment: Supervisor Anderson adjourned the Public Hearing at 9:10 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
Richard Johansen
Clerk