HUNTLEY – The Huntley Park District hopes to follow-up with a 2011 resident survey by asking residents a final question: are they willing to pay for new athletic facilities?
It’s a question that will be asked if the park district board makes a motion to place a referendum on the March 18, 2014 general election primary ballot. Residents would then have the option of whether or not to go through with the referendum.
In 2011, a survey was mailed to 2000 randomly selected district households, asking questions regarding the park district and its facilities, including a list of potential new initiatives and the question of which ones residents would be most interested in.
With 413 surveys returned, the park district had a statistically sound 21 percent response rate. Responses indicated that residents most wanted an indoor swimming pool, followed by (in order) a mini-golf facility, an expansion of Stingray Bay, a new nature/environmental center, an indoor ice facility, spray pools in neighborhood parks, a new indoor sports facility, new open land, an outdoor performing arts space, preservation of the historic Sun Valley farm, and a new disc golf course.
The park board has chosen the indoor turf facility as its top potential project as it would theoretically serve the greatest number of residents. As opposed to a hardwood field house like that being planned for Huntley High School, the turf facility would provide playing fields for indoor soccer, lacrosse, softball, and other indoor sports.
An attached indoor facility for bocce ball, pickle ball, and other indoor games is being considered along with the turf facility.
Thom Palmer, executive director of the Huntley Park District, said the estimated cost for the turf/bocce facility is $9-10 million, based on the cost of comparable facilities in nearby communities.
The indoor swimming pool was decided against because the capital costs alone would have put the district near the limits of its bonding capacity, according to Palmer. Instead, the board is considering an outdoor competitive lap pool on the Stingray Bay campus. Such a pool could be used for competitions among local swimming leagues and the Sun City Stingrays. The estimated cost of the pool is $3-4 million.
The pool would be constructed where softball fields currently lie near Stingray Bay. The fields would need to be relocated, and Palmer said the village is considering a 40-acre parcel near the Centegra Huntley campus for a long-term lease. The cost of the land and relocation of the fields would be about $2 million, he said.
Palmer said that if the referendum passes, even with all proposed structures built, Huntley homeowners would not see a tax increase because the district would be restructuring its debt. The $9.35 million bond taken out to build the REC center and Stingray Bay is set to expire in 2015 and the $5.7 million bond for the purchase of Pinecrest Golf Club will retire by 2018. The plan would be to restructure those bonds to cover the costs of the new facilities.
According to a Sept. 11, 2013 debt review presentation by the park district, if voters approved a $10 million referendum, homeowners could expect a reduction of $75 per year for a $250,000 home. If they approved a $20 million referendum, homeowners would get a $35 reduction per year. If the referendum does not pass, Palmer said residents can expect a tax reduction of $125 per year.
Palmer said the plans are very much in the early stages and that the referendum will only move forward should residents vote yes on it, adding he looks forward to acting however the residents’ votes determine.
“The park board is simply asking the question and whatever the answer to the referendum is, they will act accordingly,” he said. “The money has not been spent yet; it’s the final question of the survey and the most important one: are you willing to fund it?”
The park district contacted several local residents involved in sports and athletics to start an independent committee for resident input on the project.
Ralph Chiappetta, president of Sun City’s Bocce Club, is one of the athletics-involved committee’s members. He believes that the point of not increasing taxes will be an important one for Sun City voters. He added that he’d like the club to be able to play year-round without having to travel to facilities outside of Huntley.
“It would be beneficial to all the residents in Huntley, from young people to old people,” he said.
