At yesterday’s Board of Park Commissioners meeting, the following items were acted upon:

• The conditional use permit for a new public safety communication tower to be located at 6210 – 60^th Street, in Nash Park, was approved unanimously. This is for a 313-foot tall tower with a 3-foot lightning rod on top. Ray Arbet, public works director for Kenosha County, said that he is “being cautiously optimistic that the tower can be started before the snow flies.” William Anderson, a resident, voiced his concerns about the traffic. He said that he was not objecting to the tower, just the location of the tower in the park. Alderperson Anthony Kennedy asked that staff review Anderson’s concerns about the driveway.

• The proposed resolution to direct the Parks Division superintendent to provide plan options for a full-accessibility play area for children was also approved unanimously. Tammy Conforti was present, but did not give an update.
• The resolution to authorize staff to pursue grants for the Sport Fish Restoration Program was also approved unanimously. Two grants will be pursued: the Wisconsin Coastal Management Grant and the Sport Fishing Grant. They are due on November 5; therefore, they will be on the agenda of the next Common Council meeting on that day. Tonight, the commissioners were merely agreeing to the concept of applying for the grants. If there are any modifications, they will be discussed at the Parks meeting that will take place prior to the Common Council meeting on Monday.

Shelly Billingsley, the city’s director of engineering, stated that the department has begun its process of evaluating park division user fees for shelters, etc. They reviewed the last three years of activity, and were able to prepare a summary. New draft fees have been designated for residents vs. non-residents. These fees do not include the fees for athletics because these will be changed to reflect a different fee structure for profit vs. non-profit organizations.

Alderperson Anthony Kennedy said that this was a very informative document. Billingsley said that it was a team effort among the people in the department, plus a summer intern. Kennedy wanted to know if neighboring communities had been surveyed, and Billingsley said that they were. The fees for Waukegan and Racine were reviewed. Kenosha falls in the middle on some items, and lower on others. Park amenities were also compared.

Chairman Michael Orth asked that these fees be revisited in January along with all the other proposed fee changes. The proposed fee schedule was received and filed.

The informational item was the Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan (CORP) yearly summary, as proposed in 2013 to 2017. Billingsley distributed new summary sheets. Orth said that this is the document that Parks staff works off of. Resources are constantly being moved and changed. It was being provided for information.

Mike Lemens, the city’s public works director, made a few comments about the major northeaster storm that is coming up the East Coast, combining with Hurricane Sandy. “This is one of the worst storms ever,” he said. “It is affecting the Great Lakes with its high wave action, waves as high as 20 feet. Parks is prepared. They are opening up the emergency operations center tomorrow morning at 6 am. I’ll be there, and city crews are on watch. Kennedy Drive has already been closed down. We also expect that 51^st Street will be closed, along with the lighthouse. Maybe other streets as well. We’ll be ready to go at a moment’s notice,” said Lemens.

Jeff Warnock, parks superintendent, gave a progress update on the golf course. He said that the cart corral is down, and they are preparing the ice rink. The sledding hill is being prepared, along with the area for cross-country skiing. They are also ready to go.