Parks & Environment Committee

Parks & Environment Committee - Mar 09 2026 Agenda Second Monday at 5:30 PM Council Chambers, 255 South Lincoln Ave. Page 1. Opening 1.1 ROLL CALL 1.2 APPROVAL OF MINUTES - February 9, 2026 2 260209PEMinutes.pdf Motion to approve the minutes of February 9, 2026 2. Items Requiring Council Action 3. Other Business 3.1 FY 27 Budget Presentation 6 FY 27 Budget Presentation - A review of the proposed budget for the Parks and Recreation Department and Cemetery. The budget discussion will include an overview of the large spend items. FY27 Budget Presentation.pdf Information 3.2 Staff Recreation and Maintenance reports for February 2026 13 Feb 2026 maint.docx Recreation Report February 2026.docx 4. Public Comments 5. Adjournment Website: www.ofallon.org Page 1 of 18  CITY OF O’FALLON Park & Environment Committee - DRAFT February 9, 2026 5:30 P.M O’Fallon City Hall Minutes of a regular meeting of the Parks & Environment Committee of the City of O’Fallon, held in the O’Fallon Council Chambers, 255 S. Lincoln, O’Fallon, Illinois February 9th, 2026. 1. Call to Order: 1.2 Roll Call: Members: X Vorce, Chair X Carney, Vice Chair X Fohne Hudson Newcomb X Stoffel Council: Blackburn, Campbell, Parchman, Rosenberg, Ford, Van Hook. Guests: Albrecht, Gerrish, C. Malare, V. Malare, Rosborg, Schaefer, Staff: Anderson, Brueggeman, Christensen, Costello, Dallner, Evans, Litteken, Wilson. Meeting called to order at 5:30PM. 1.3 Minutes: December 8th, 2025. Motion: Carney Second: Stoffel Discussion: N/A Approved: All 2. Items Requiring Council Approval 3. Other Business 3.1 Sports Park Economic Impact: A review of the Sports Park Rental activity for the 2025 season. Page 2 of 18  Teams that come to town for Sports Tournaments have an impact to our community. The City's Economic Impact Study determined that individuals who stay overnight for tournaments typically spend about $60 per day and $10 per day if they only visit O'Fallon for the day. This spending drives the local economy and generates income for the City. The following is the amount tournaments generated from January 1-December 31, 2025. Please note this total economic impact on the O'Fallon economy and not direct revenue to the City of O'Fallon. Economic Impact Report for Sports Park Tournaments: January to December 2025 2025 Total Impact: $9,250,000 2025 Major contributors were: Greater Midwest Baseball $1,732,000 USSSA Softball $2,310,000 Metro Alliance Soccer $790,080 Gateway Rush Soccer $860,000 St. Louis Scott Gallagher $1,500,000 2024 Major contributors were: Greater Midwest Baseball $1,760,000 USSSA Softball $2,410,000 Metro Alliance Soccer $880,000 Gateway Rush Soccer $960,000 St. Louis Scott Gallagher $1,300,000 3.2 Sports Park Construction Update Sports Park Construction Update: • Turf Soccer Fields 9 and 10 o Site has been graded and stabilized o Rock base has been installed o Sub surface drain tile has been installed o Back stop netting posts have been installed o Fence post installation is on going o Perimeter curbing is next, dependent on the weather, possibly the week of February 9th. • North Parking Lot: o Grading of the site has started o Grass soccer fields are almost to grade 3.3 Vine Street Market and Downtown District Planning Update A summary of the planning of the Vine Street Market and Events planned for summer 2026. As of Feb 4: • 116 vendor applications received Page 3 of 18  o Deadline to apply March 1 o 43 of the applications are from new vendors • 47 music applications received (higher than normal) o Deadline to apply February 15 • 8 food truck applications received o Deadline to apply March 1 o Also have several food vendors selling out of tents that applied to the regular vendor application, so we are looking at a higher number of options this year for food, which is great. Micro Markets schedule • o Feb 28 o March 14 o March 28 o April 11 o April 25 *Market application is due Feb 15 for anyone wanting to participate in Micro Markets since they begin sooner. Micro Markets are only open to returning vendors, as we will not hold our official vendor meetings until mid-late March. Important Market Dates • Feb 28 – Micro Markets begin • May 9 – opening day of regular season • May 16 – Strawberry Festival • July 18 – Peach Festival • August 8 – Watermelon Festival • October 17 – Last day of the regular season • November 21 – Thanksgiving Market • TBD on Home for the Holidays date/time Downtown District • Held first event of the year on Jan 31- Taste of the District o 54 participants. Originally had it capped at 40 (4 groups of 10) but were able to open it up to a few more spots. Talked to the restaurants participating in part 2 on April 25 and they have all agreed to host groups of 15, so the next one will be capped at 60. They already have 48 of those tickets sold. Upcoming Events: • St. Patrick’s Day Grub Crawl – March 15 • District Nights – June 4, July 9, and August 6 • District Frights – October 3 o This will be the 2nd year for this new version of the “Witches and Wizards Festival o Great attendance last year, food vendors sold out of food & alcohol, lots of positive feedback o Hoping to grow the vendor market this year now that last year was a success Page 4 of 18  • Halloween Hunt Pub Crawl – October 24 • Small Business Saturday – November 28 3.4 Staff Recreation and Maintenance reports for December 2025 and January 2026 Staff Recreation and Maintenance reports for December 2025 and January 2026. 4: Public Comments Stoffel wanted to clarify that Muyleart is not on the P & E Committee as there was slight confusion at the last meeting: Dallner: Yes, that is correct. Stoffel asked what the difference is between unique visitors and visits. Christensen: explained that we had 1.5 million visits, so that’s people coming to the park multiple times, but 370,000 different people came to the park, so every time I go to the park from the office that counts as a visit, so 1.5 million is the total number of visits adding up. Whereas unique visitors is for example if you bought your family of four to the park that would be four unique visitors. 5. Adjournment: 5:50 PM Motion: Fohne Second: Carney Approved: All PREPARED BY: P. Bates Next Possible Meeting: March 9th, 2026 Minute Sign off ____________________________________ Page 5 of 18  Agenda: 1.1 Pledge of Allegiance 1.2 Roll Call Chair Vorce Vice Chair Carney A. Hudson A. Fohne Strategic Plan Update: FY27 M. Stoffel Goal #2: Invigorate the Sense of Place and Community in O’Fallon C. Newcomb 1.3 Approval of Minutes Action Item #1: Create great places for residents and visitors to gather 2. Items Requiring Council Approval Year One (FY27): None • Develop and support new events at Community Park. • Pursue funding opportunities and partnerships to implement recommendations from the Family 3. Other Business Sports Park Feasibility Study. 3.1 Budget Presentation Goal #3: Support a High Quality of Life for Residents and Visitors 3.2 Staff Rec. & Maintenance Reports Action Item #1: Maintain and improve parks and park facilities Year One (FY27): 4. Public Comments • Determine future needs of the Cemetery. 5. Adjournment • Evaluate alcohol license for Parks facilities to provide revenue for parks improvements. • Determine best use of Regency Conference Center • Create support and partnerships that advance pollinator-supporting actions and sustainable practices in green spaces within parks and other targeted areas. • Add additional turf soccer fields to the Family Sports Park on fields 9 and 10 to meet current demand as well as grow for the 5-to-10-year period. Page 6 of 18  Agenda: 1.1 Pledge of Allegiance Action Item #2: Increase Opportunities for Walking and Biking 1.2 Roll Call Year One (FY27): Chair Vorce • Implement Bike Trail Master Plan • Develop plan and location for a mountain bike course Vice Chair Carney A. Hudson Action Item #4: Invest in infrastructure to support current and future development A. Fohne M. Stoffel Year One (FY27): • Implement Urban Forest Management Plan C. Newcomb 1.3 Approval of Minutes 2. Items Requiring Council Approval None 3. Other Business 3.1 Budget Presentation 3.2 Staff Rec. & Maintenance Reports 4. Public Comments 5. Adjournment Page 7 of 18  Agenda: 1.1 Pledge of Allegiance 1.2 Roll Call Chair Vorce Large Spend Highlights: Vice Chair Carney A. Hudson • Ford F-250 Truck x 2 $120,000 • Steel Green Sprayer $20,000 A. Fohne • Temporary Fencing for 9 & 10 $60,000 M. Stoffel • Baseball Shade Structures $25,000 • Christmas Tree addition in CP $10,000 C. Newcomb • Toro Multiforce Mower $19,000 1.3 Approval of Minutes • Toro Multiforce Attachments $10,500 • Tailgate Salt Spreader $7,000 2. Items Requiring Council Approval • Front Loader for Kubota $6,000 None • Pickleball Lights $59,000 • Cemetery Columbarium $37,000 3. Other Business • Hesse Park Upgrades $88,000 3.1 Budget Presentation 3.2 Staff Rec. & Maintenance Reports 4. Public Comments Urban Forestry Management plan Implementation: 5. Adjournment • One full time employee • $36,500 budget between Parks, Cemetery, Streets and Water Page 8 of 18  Agenda: 1.1 Pledge of Allegiance 1.2 Roll Call Chair Vorce Vice Chair Carney Overall Expense vs Rev. A. Hudson FY27: A. Fohne Expense: $6,541,625 M. Stoffel Revenue: $6,541,625 C. Newcomb 1.3 Approval of Minutes 1% increase over FY26 2. Items Requiring Council Approval None Overall Cemetery Expense 3. Other Business 3.1 Budget Presentation FY27: 3.2 Staff Rec. & Maintenance Reports Expense: $$246,255 4. Public Comments 5. Adjournment 8% increase over FY26 Due to the Purchase of the Columbarium's and Toro Multi-force mower Page 9 of 18  Agenda: 1.1 Pledge of Allegiance 1.2 Roll Call Chair Vorce Vice Chair Carney A. Hudson A. Fohne M. Stoffel C. Newcomb 1.3 Approval of Minutes 2. Items Requiring Council Approval None 3. Other Business 3.1 Budget Presentation 3.2 Staff Rec. & Maintenance Reports 4. Public Comments 5. Adjournment Page 10 of 18  Agenda: 1.1 Pledge of Allegiance 1.2 Roll Call Chair Vorce Vice Chair Carney A. Hudson A. Fohne M. Stoffel C. Newcomb 1.3 Approval of Minutes 2. Items Requiring Council Approval None 3. Other Business 3.1 Budget Presentation 3.2 Staff Rec. & Maintenance Reports 4. Public Comments 5. Adjournment Page 11 of 18  Agenda: 1.1 Pledge of Allegiance 1.2 Roll Call Chair Vorce Vice Chair Carney A. Hudson A. Fohne M. Stoffel C. Newcomb 1.3 Approval of Minutes 2. Items Requiring Council Approval None 3. Other Business 3.1 Budget Presentation 3.2 Staff Rec. & Maintenance Reports 4. Public Comments 5. Adjournment Page 12 of 18  Pg. 1/1 February 2026 Park Maintenance PERFORMANCE SUMMARY MUNICIPAL GROUNDS & CITY FORESTRY • Complete Grounds Maintenance (Turf & Landscaping): Park Maintenance Facility, City Hall, Fire House #2, 3 and 4, Public Safety Facility, Library, Veteran’s Monument, I64 Exit 14 and US 50 frontage (#69) and Downtown O’Fallon (Depot and Caboose)(#s 19 & 20). • Turf Maintenance: Community Garden, Public Safety Fields, Beherns Street Fields, Hartman Lane Bike Trail, Hesse Bike Trail, Porter Simmons Round- A-Bout (#16), Seven Hills Round-A-Bout (#17), First Street Common Area (#21), Oak St and Cherry Common Area( #22), Parking Lot at State and Lincoln (#23), State Street Round-A-Bout (#24), West State Street Common Area (#25), Canterbury (#26), West Carl St Railroad ROW (#27), Karl Dr. to Oak St Common Area (#28), State and Seven Hills Round-A-Bout (#29), and Exit 16 and Green Mount Rd (#60) • Savannah Hills Park –litter pickup • Contractual Mowing – 54 sites • Leave pickup and collection at all sites. • Weekly trash cycle maintenance at all Complete Grounds and Turf Maintenance Sites • Weekly landscape maintenance cycle maintained at all landscape maintenance sites. CEMETERY • Three Burials/ grave openings • Grounds maintenance performed including mulching all trees and beds • Pre-emergent applied to grounds and landscape beds • Gumball cleanups PARK MAINTENANCE Community Park, Hesse Park, Thoman Park, Ogles Creek Park, Savannah Hills, Rock Springs Park and O’Fallon Family Sports Park FACILITY MAINTENANCE • Temperature checks daily (all facilities) • Bathroom painting • Backstop replacements Sports Park and Blazier Field • Splash Pad bathrooms repainted POOL AND SPLASH PAD • Splash pad chemicals ordered • Pool closed for season in Oct. • Pool deck cleanup and water level reduced GROUNDS MAINTENANCE • The weekly custodial cycle in parks was continued. Litter, trash receptacles and bathrooms checked daily. • Seeding and repair multiple locations at Sports Park HORTICUTLURAL / ARBORICULTURAL • Litter and limbs cleanup • Gumball cleanups Community Park • ROW tree removals • Landscpe beds burned at Rock Springs, SP, Firehouse #4 Prepared By: City of O’Fallon Parks and Recreation Department Ryan L. Heimann Park Maintenance Superintendent 308 E 5th St City of O’Fallon Parks and Recreation Department O’Fallon, IL 62269 rheimann@ofallon.org 618-624-0139 www.ofallon.org Page 13 of 18  PARKS & ENVIRONMENT REPORT: FEBRUARY 2026 RECREATION DEPARTMENT PROFILE: STAFF: The Recreation Department for the City of O’Fallon Superintendent of Recreation: is responsible for providing a wide variety of Patrick Christensen recreational activities. The department has 7 full- pchristensen@ofallon.org time staff and employs over 220 part-time seasonal employees. We provide over 500 activities over the course of a year. Our activity highlights are Recreation Supervisors: swimming lessons at the Aquatic Center, 11 weeks Kirkwood Meyers of summer camp, youth sports including baseball, kmeyers@ofallon.org softball, basketball, soccer, lacrosse, and volleyball. We also oversee special events including the Mike Randall Sweetheart Dance, two fishing derbies, family mrandall@ofallon.org movie series, Touch-a-Truck, and the Fall Festival. CONTACT Sara Thomas-Concepcion PHONE: 618-624-0139 sthomas-concepcion@ofallon.org WEBSITE: www.ofallonparksandrec.com Special Events Manager: www.ofallonfamilysportspark.com www.ofallonstation.com Samantha Sorrick EMAIL: Parks@ofallon.org ssorrick@ofallon.org Patrick Christensen, Superintendent of Recreation: • Held another School Day Out Programs. o February 13th – 21 attendees • Began the process of hiring and onboarding our seasonal summer camp staff. o Applications are still being accepted, but interviews are being scheduled and spots are going fast. o We aim to hire between 80-90 counselors for the upcoming summer. • Started the process of designing new signage to be placed around Community Park and additional signs for the Family Sports Park. • Created weekly marketing emails, which advertise a variety of programs. Distributed to over 7,800 contacts. 1 Page 14 of 18  • Provided a monthly article to the O’Fallon Weekly about department activities and news related to our department. • Processed weekly refunds for rental deposits and other check refunds. • Processed refunds and reimbursements for the O’Fallon Garden Club. o Worked with the O’Fallon Gardner Club to help transition in a new treasurer. • Registered and plan to attend a Job Fair at UMSL to advertise and promote our season positions as well as the park and recreation field in general. • Coordinated a meeting with vendors to discuss the options for adding more shade structures at the Family Sports Park. • Worked with OTHS to begin the planning phase of creating a high school pickle ball league. • Met weekly with the department Director and Parks Superintendent to discuss ongoing projects, problems, or opportunities facing my division within the department. • Re-established our weekly meetings with the Parks Supervisors to discuss scheduling, field, and facility needs as we enter our busy season. • Attended the Southern Illinois Park and Recreation Association (SIPRA) meeting in Fairview Heights. o I currently serve as the chair of the scholarship committee. o I oversee the administration of three $1,000 scholarships that are awarded to individuals that work for member organizations. o Finalized the award recipients for the 2026 scholarships. Scholarships were awarded to individuals from O’Fallon, Roxana, and Wood River. • Participated in my first session of the Lead-In program led by Jessica Lotz, and the Chamber of Commerce. • Met with our new Umpire in Charge (UIC) for the upcoming Slow Pitch Softball season and began planning the upcoming leagues. • I joined our monthly meeting with Placer.AI to discuss ways to improve our efficiency using the platform. Kirkwood Meyers, Recreation Supervisor: Aquatic center • Updated lifeguard job descriptions. • Lifeguard course: o March 17- 12 enrolled o April 3- 5 enrolled O&S Soccer • Season starts March 9th • Located 42 coaches for PreK-6th grade soccer teams • 12 soccer fields setup (4 @Behrens field 5@ SP, 3 @ TS). • Games start 4/11 • Players registered this Spring o PreK/K: 108 o 1st/2nd Boys: 97 o 1st/2nd Girls: 68 o 3rd/4th Boys: 48 o 3rd/4th Girls: 62 2 Page 15 of 18  o 5th/6th Coed: 45 o 7th/8th Coed: 23 (Cancelled) • Building rosters using information transferred over from XplorRec into Team Sideline is still a challenge related to formatting one year post implementation. We are navigating through it. • Interviewed 4 perspective soccer referees. Misc • Mighty Ball Soccer set to start on 3/14 o 3 Year Olds: 72 o 4&5 Year Olds: 84 • Karate classes continue o 36 enrolled • Cheerleading o 8 registered • Attended monthly SIPRA Meeting in Fairview Heights • SIPRA Aquatics Chair o Held monthly meeting. Discussed conference wrap up and training updates. • Working on summer programs and adding them to registration system. • Working on brochure items. Mike Randall, Recreation Supervisor. • Winter basketball season is underway. Including Mighty Ball for 4-6 y/o’s, and 3rd grade through 8th grade basketball leagues.  354 participants. Up 11 from winter 2025.  Participation among girls is down. I could not run 5th'/6th grade girls’ basketball.  Season runs through Mid-March. • Beginning stages of Baseball/Softball season preparation. O & S leagues include Pre-K Coach Pitch up through 9th-12th grade baseball.  Confirming coaches, gathering availability.  Roster building  Practice schedule building  Job posting for umpires. • Brain Health Puzzle Solving  Linda Mitchell of the Metro East Literacy Project had 3 people for a weekly class where adults will learn to do various word and number puzzles. • Kindergym and Parent and Tot Tumbling  All 13 spots were filled for the two classes, held by Tawnya White. Kids ages 18 months through 5y/o learn balance, strength, tumbling, and basic gymnastic skills. • Spring Musical  Nicki Hansley and Danielle Schnable have 35 kids enrolled, and are preparing for their spring musical, 101 Dalmatians.  Final Performance on April 6th. Sara Thomas-Concepcion, Recreation Supervisor: 3 Page 16 of 18  • Programing: o The Adult Volleyball League is currently underway, hosted every Sunday evening at Katy Cavins. o Winter session has a total of 6 teams that are utilizing both courts at Katy Cavins. o Preparation for the adult softball leagues started. Including opening registration and umpire organization. League starts in April. • Mind & Body: o Yoga classes continue to be held every Monday evening and have shown steady growth in participation. • Family Sports Park Concessions Improvements o Finalized Sports Park Soccer Concession upgrades including: ▪ Expanded seating ▪ New electrical outlets with charging stations ▪ Installation of a TV ▪ New food service equipment ▪ Additional back-of-the-house outlets ▪ Menu enhancements • Facility Use & Rentals o Soccer Clubs resumed practice in the month, when the weather allowed for it. o Field rentals began for baseball and softball teams, when the weather allowed for it. o Began processing and inputting the SWIBL Baseball schedule in our system. • Administrative & Planning o Continued invoicing for soccer and baseball clubs. o Continued marketing of programs through social media platforms and city marquees to increase visibility and engagement. o Weekly meetings with our Sports Park Coordinator to ensure clear communications on expectations and preparation for our 2026 season. o Began hiring seasonal staff for the upcoming Sports Park season. Have held over 100 interviews for managers and concession workers so far. o In addition to hiring, training and retraining of the incoming seasonal staff began. Developed training plans to not only teach workers about the rules and expectations of the park but also create and develop a sense of teamwork and cohesion among the staff. Samantha Sorrick, Special Events Manager • Market planning: o Continued filling up The Vine schedule (where we host guests at the market) o Scheduled out more social media posts o Began listening to music from the musicians that applied (22 new out of 51) o Set up new documents for 2026 o Took notes on new vendors who applied o Hired two new market Saturday staff o Met with Chik-Fil-A about sponsorship ▪ Secured $6,000 for POP Club o Additional planning tasks • Held Sweetheart Dance on Feb 6 o 151 girls and 116 dads • Color Guard winter season continues with 24 participants 4 Page 17 of 18  5 Page 18 of 18