Cook County Forest Preserve District Board of Commissioners Meeting
October 17, 2023            

Board Action:

• New proposed CCFP budget to be $189 million over last year’s budget for a 4% increase
• Based on the property tax referendum that passed the CCFP received approximately $41 million dollars over the past year
• Funds were used to restore trails, acquire more land and broaden outreach to communities of color

Plans for 2024 include:

• Increased security with greater law enforcement presence and additional volunteer training
• Increased focus on programming in Spanish and introducing Polish language programming
• Restoration of 400 acres of woodlands and floodplains in the south suburbs
• Making the CCFP a more equitable place to work
• Deepen partnerships with Indigenous American communities
• Hiring an additional 58 employees for a total of over 720, primarily fulltime
• Consideration of adding a bike rental program and opportunities for local small businesses to have concession stands
• Finally, to contribute $12.4 million toward pension payments unlike previous years when there was usually a shortage for pensions

Watch for in the future:

• There are currently 35 public programs scheduled throughout the CCFP between now and November 13
• Public hearing on CCFP budget proposal on Thursday, October 26 at 10a in the Board Room at 118 N Clark
• Vote on final budget set for November

Observer: Deborah Halpern

Forest Preserve District of Cook County (FPDCC) Board Meeting
at Sagawau Environmental Learning Center
May 23, 2023

A tribute to Shelley Spencer was on the agenda.  In 2015 she produced “Chicago’s True Nature” an Emmy award-winning documentary on the Forest Preserves of Cook County (FPDCC).  
https://fpdcc.com/chicagos-true-nature-forest-preserves-cook-county/
She has been on the FPDCC’s Conservation and Policy Council taking part in the Council’s Racial Equity, Diversity and Inclusion committee.

The Friends of Northbrook Forest Preserve was organized in 1998 and received recognition for their volunteer work in Somme Woods, Somme Prairie Nature Preserve, and Somme Prairie Grove Nature Preserve in northeast Cook County.  The groups “hands on” restoration includes brush control, prescribed burns, chainsaw safety, and invasive species control.  Over decades this group has contributed thousands of work hours to restoring the health and biodiversity of the preserves.

Commissioner Dennis Deer was reappointed to the Board of Directors of NeighborSpace, an affiliate partner of the Forest Preserve along with the City of Chicago and the Chicago Park District.  NeighborSpace is a nonprofit urban land trust in Chicago that supports gardens with dedicated community groups.  NeighborSpace has acquired vacant lots and provides basic insurance, access to water, protection of land from development, links to resources, and technical assistance so community groups can focus on gardening.

A brownfield is a property that is underutilized or vacant that may have environmental issues that prevent redevelopment.  The Cook County Dept of Environment and Sustainability will provide American Rescue Plan Act funds up to $1.5 million to the preserves in Brownfield Program demolition, environmental assessment and environmental remediation services for an estimated 65 structures.  The plan is to increase green space for outdoor recreation.  

Illegal dumping of garbage such as construction debris, tires, hazardous waste, household appliances, electronics, landscape waste on forest preserve land, waters, beaches or down storm sewers is an ongoing pollution problem when perpetrators won’t use legitimate waste disposal and FPDCC has to bear the cleanup costs.    It is hard to monitor 70,000 acres for this “fly dumping” as a lot of dumping happens at night.  Three agenda items were referred to the Finance Committee that proposed to raise the uppermost fine to $750 from $500 for each offense.  Violators caught will be held liable for the cost of legal waste disposal as well as the cost to replace or repair the property damage from the illegal dumping.

Sagawau Environmental Learning Center is in Lemont IL and has 2.6 miles of walking trails which in the winter are groomed only for cross-country skiing.  Sagawau offers ski lessons and rents equipment.  Sagawau Canyon has the only natural exposure of bedrock in Cook County- guided walks can be scheduled.  The visitor center has many exhibits and its website lists many events and programs.

Observer - Michele Niccolai

Cook County Forest Preserve Commissioners Board Meeting 
January 24, 2023

Results of a 15 week customer service survey by the Forest Preserves had a 25% response rate.  Results indicated:

•  Dan Ryan Woods is rated #1 Forest Preserve
•  Walking in the woods increases respondents’ agreement with Forest Preserve initiatives
•  Vendors hired by the Forest Preserves delivered
•  African Americans rated Forest Preserve police higher than other groups

Board Action:

• #22-0551 - The Board unanimously approved a resolution calling for a twelve week paid parental leave policy financial impact analysis supported by Commissioner Bridget Degnen.   Comments included the position of the Forest Preserves as being family friendly and the need to recruit and retain qualified personnel. 
• #23-0109 - Forest Preserves will purchase 130 acres of land near Sweet Water Woods, Glenwood, in south suburban Cook County with grants from IDNR (Illinois Department of Natural Resources.  This land will be reforested and contribute to reduce flooding.

Public comments:

• Several requests were to move the coyote from River Trail Nature Center to a wildlife sanctuary in Colorado. Superintendent Arnold Randall responded that the Forest Preserves will be working on a new larger enclosure and the delay was due to finding a contractor. 

Observer:   Laura Davis 

Forest Preserve District (FPD) of Cook County Board Meeting
July 26, 2022

A long awaited report was shared today with the Cook County Forest Preserve Commissioners.  The coyote living at the River Trail Nature Center has been determined to be well cared for and healthy.  Recommendations suggested such as increasing the size of the enclosure,  creating a more natural environment and increasing enrichment opportunities will be pursued.  Many public speakers, including during this meeting, suggested moving the coyote to a Wildlife Sanctuary in Colorado.  The Wildlife Sanctuary responded to the Cook County Forest Preserve that they turn down as many animals every year as they take in. Furthermore, it would be very stressful to move this animal to the sanctuary.  The coyote will stay and live in an enhanced enclosure and continue to broaden the learning opportunities for the over 10,000 preserve visitors, field trip attendees and school children. The enclosure will have improved interpretation and messaging and a camera is planned to be installed.

Another topic of interest discussed was the amount of capital improvement ongoing in the Preserves.  The list included:
*    improvements to boat docks
*    repair of Nature Centers
*    meeting ADA access needs 
*    parking lot removals and restoration
*    repair of bike trails
*    culvert removal and repair
*    water filtration related to picnic areas
*    replacement of FP Police vehicles 
*    paving 

The Forest Preserves discussed expansion of the Conservation Corps which has worked to restore and conserve 400 acres so far.   Money from the federal infrastructure bill will allow the FPD to put in electric car charging stations. 

The Cook County Forest Preserves was awarded the “Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting Award” for the 14th year in a row.  “The Certificate of Achievement is the highest form of recognition in governmental accounting and financial reporting and represents a significant accomplishment by a local government. The award is given by the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) upon its review of the Forest Preserves’ Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR) for FY 2020.” 

Observer - Laura Davis                                          Meeting Length: 2 hours virtually on Facebook

Forest Preserve District (FPD) of Cook County Board Meeting 
June 14, 2022

Board Actions:

• Calendar of Events for June 14-July26, 2022 was received and filed. Supt. Randall noted that several commissioners have already held community events this summer at Forest Preserves in their districts – eg.Swallow Cliff Stair Walk with Com. Miller and a Swimming Derby at Busse Lake with Com. Morrisson.  Juneteenth celebration at Sand Ridge highlighted the connection to the forest preserve and the Underground RR in that area. See FPDCC.com for scheduled events (22-0264).
• CFO Hughes submitted Procurement and Disbursement Report for April, 2022  and the Corporate Fund Analysis of Revenue and Expenditure Report for Jan. 1 - April 30, 2022.  Mr Hughes reported that revenues for fees, permits, and camping are above last year’s (22-0271) (22-0272).
• Collective bargaining agreement for Salary Schedule, Wage Adjustments and Health Benefits of union employees was approved as amended (22-0118) and the agreement for non-union employees was approved (22-013).
• Trail Capital Planning and Guiding Principles Report was received and filed.  The goal of the report is to explain capital needs, opportunities, and limitations for FPD as it makes decisions on its trail systems (22-0248).
• $334,400.00 contract, over 3 yr, was approved for professional civil engineering services for bridge and structure inspection/design Districtwide. Prior inspection was 10 yr ago (22-0274).

Recognition:

• Tom Rohner (22-0282) was honored for his career as Director of Facilities and Fleet Development since 2019.  He also served as Ciovd-19 OSHA officer at a time of evolving guidelines and recommendations.   
• David H Kircher (22-0285) was recognized for his 37yr career as landscape architect with FPDCC, the last 20 of which he served as Chief Landscape Architect.  He was only the 5th Chief Landscape Architect in the history of the FPDCC.

Also observed:

• Several speakers addressed their concerns regarding the Animal Ambassador Program and the coyote currently in its care. Several others expressed concerns regarding the time being spent on these concerns. 
  
• Gen. Supt. Randall stated that the full report with recommendations on the FPD Animal Ambassador program is expected to be ready for presentation at the July Board meeting.  Best practices research and third-party assessments are part of their study. 
• Later in the meeting, Com. Daley thanked Gen. Supt. Randall and Pres. Preckwinkle for their serious, hard work.

Observer:  Carolyn Cosentino 

Cook County Forest Preserve District Board Meeting  
January 26, 2021

A successful rollout of a vaccine site has opened in the Tinley Park Convention Center.  The challenge is having enough vaccine to meet the demand. 

Public Comment:
Written public comment from Benjamin Cox, Friends of the Forest Preserve, requested that the board set up live video for public speakers, similar to other government units. Commissioners agreed to pursue this option. 

Board Meeting:

• File# 21-0012 - Honored the Forest Preserve of Cook County’s southeast plan for land acquisition and overall planning.  The plan won a Green Ribbon Award from Friends of the Chicago River.  In 2020, the plan won the Healthy and Active Community award from the American Planning Association.  Many organizations were involved including Conservation Fund, Entero Group and Metro Planning Council.  The plan is recognized as a unique and innovative way to identify and protect valuable open space and natural areas that are considered having ecological value. Much of the land is currently in agricultural use.  The plan identified key factors for consideration such as public health, flood mitigation and climate resiliency.  Local communities were involved and interviewed as to needs and wants they would like such as fishing or picnic areas for families. The overall plan criteria includes racial and health equity and future development.  
• File# 21-0106 - REDI (Racial Equity Diversity and Inclusion) Committee shared a report on hiring, training, operations, policy and procedures.  The committee was created after an incident in 2018 when a Forest Preserve patron was harassed by another patron on the basis of her race.  One of the committee’s goals is to strengthen a work culture that embraces diversity and is inclusive and welcoming to all employees and all people of Cook County. All staff goes through the training with the goal of operationalizing equity. It is described as bottom up and strengthening the organization from the inside out. Changes have also been made in Human Resources regarding hiring and communications, with the website being accessible in other languages. The committee will continue to offer yearly updates. 
• File# 21-0114 - Proposed Intergovernmental Agreement between the Forest Preserve District and Cook County Health and Hospital System to use district property in order to set up vaccine sights throughout Cook County. 
• The Forest Preserves are transitioning back to more live events. Group camp sites will be reopened, but limited to 25 campers.  Indoor room rentals will be limited to 25% capacity. 

Observed online by Laura Davis                                         Meeting length:    2 hours — 10am to 11:57am