“It doesn’t take a majority to win, just a tireless minority that will keep starting brush fires in the mind and hearts of their fellow men.”

Samuel Adams

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Recreation Board Meeting Tuesday May 14

Meeting was very well attended with 4 aldermen present. Ald. Perez and Mueller from the Public Property committee and Ferrari and Radtke from the first and second respectfully.
Some of the highlights:
Board member Kempworth would like to look into making the baseball diamond at Sunset Park large enough to meet Little League requirements (girls) and that would mean adding more fencing and moving the scoreboard. The problem according to a neighbor might be parking for cars.

The tennis courts at Washington and Sunset are in very bad condition. The one at Sunset will be repaired without cost because the company made a mistake during the resurfacing last year. It is thought that the one at Washington would cost approximately 1500 and that will probably be an annual cost. I don't understand why we need this special surface when whatever we used for many years previously did not require special care and lasted for many years. Anyone have any info  on this issue? The cost to do all the courts last year was app. $40,000.

There was a discussion of the doggy park by several residents who use it on a regular basis. Complaints are that grass is not cut, garbage is not picked up in a timely fashion, parking is very bad. park does not work for both small and large dogs at the same time and there are no rules or times posted for usage.

Future of the park seems to be dependent upon whether the LP complex will have baseball diamonds or will teams use the diamonds at La Salle Rotary Park How many of the current diamonds will be utilized by the teams that currently play or practice there?

26 comments:

Anonymous said...

How about a dog park at baker lake? To accommodate dog owners that live in that area. There is more
than enough room.

Anonymous said...

11:26 Great idea. Attend the next rec board meeting.

Anonymous said...

We don't apparently take care of the one we have and we should add another one? Lots and lots of discussions and ideas thrown around at different meetings but no solutions and/or actions ever seem to materialize.

Anonymous said...

Peru should get a minor league baseball team. We can call it the Wanabees.

Anonymous said...

Why can't the Peru Band play at Baker Lake? We spent what - $15 grand fixing up the basement of City Hall so kids can shoot BB's in the dark and dank basement, why can't we spend $15 grand making a band pavilion at Baker Lake. Maybe even hold ice cream socicials on Sunday like they did years ago at Washington Park.

Anonymous said...

I think we should get a replica canal boat and put it in Baker lake. We can charge for rides and it can be pulled around the lake by dogs. People would come from miles around to ride on the boat and we could make so much money for Peru.

Anonymous said...

All of a sudden and overnight, the Park Board is a fully functional group of committed volunteers! Its nice to hear that the critics have left for new horizons.

Peru Town Forum said...

1:49 PM

I love your idea, I would like almost any idea that took our band concerts out of the Route 6 stinky noise path. The Maude Powell plaza is the worst place in this city to have band concerts but no one will listen. Perhaps they should be boycotted in order to get some results.
I do know that sometimes our city officials are deaf to new ideas and maybe they are tone deaf also.

Anonymous said...

@3:30-Lois- don't make me pee my pants! Funny "tone deaf.". Also known as selective hearing. Lol

Anonymous said...

Wonderful ideas but appears to be a lack of leadership to get ideas implemented. Even volunteerism seems to be frowned upon and questioned. We need to clean this town up and then move forward.

Anonymous said...

In order for volunteerism to get a foothold in Peru, the volunteers will need to cough up some payola.

Art said...

There is no question that if the original Veterans Park - City Park was cleaned up, updated and received a little TLC, it would be the best choice for a Band Concert. There is plenty of parking available if the 4 surrounding streets were shut down for traffic during the concert. This should not create any hardships as the city has been historically shutting streets down for block parties and 4th of July fireworks.
This park is well shaded from the mature trees, easy access for the senior high rise and is cooler to sit in because of the grass rather than concrete and lack of traffic and exhaust. The park has a flat surface which makes it easier to be move around in and to see the band. Families would also be encouraged to use blankets for all to sit on the ground and children have playground equipment accessible.
Band Concerts would not interfere with any other activities in the park, which is a huge plus.
This would also be a great park for farmers markets and flea markets. A past moving into the future and that will continue its worth to citizens of Peru.

Peru Town Forum said...

5:10 AM
I don't understand why you think the volunteers will need money or are you talking actually payola, as paying some people off. All plants will be purchased by the city, who will we need to pay off?

Anonymous said...

Tongue-in-cheek. "Some People" view volunteers as taking a job away from an employee or city contractor.

Anonymous said...

Lois old habits are hard to break. Peru's history is so full of illegalities that the first thoughts are "Who do I have to pay off to get this done". You have to be aware that certain practices would no longer be in existence if specific "people" were not paid off. Don't for one second believe that there aren't individuals saying this voluntarism isn't all its cracked up to be.

Anonymous said...

What is illegal? Who is getting paid off?

Anonymous said...

What is the "big deal"? If the job needs to be done why pay for it if you can get it done for free? Why ignore the job if those who are supposed to do it aren"t? Why do we have to make such a big issue out of everything minor little thing in this city?

Anonymous said...

Tongue-in-cheek and old habits you both know what you are speaking of. Depending on the height of the rung in the ladder the bigger %age you recieved from all city contracts. Small business mixed in with some home cookin can be awful lucrative, especially if you are at the top. $30,000+?

Anonymous said...

The big deal is that many municipal employees (NOT ALL) think that a volunteer is a threat to their well being. Same goes for a business that has contracts with the City. This is just a problem in general, not Peru problem. I think it was AFSCME in Peoria (maybe Springfield) that called out the inflatable rat on a group of people cleaning up the parks.
Also ask around and you will find out some interesting things about our own ice rink and the pool bath house.

Anonymous said...

I wonder if Vickrey helped Oglesby get their new grocery store.

Anonymous said...

There are going to be little kids cleaning up the parks. Is the rat going to be there to protest their volunteer efforts? Incredible!

Anonymous said...

IRS scandal in Washington. What a bunch of liars trying to cover up. Not working so good. Getting caught. Those involved in corruption hopefully will go to jail! Volunteering is a great way to bring a community together in a positive way.

Anonymous said...

Who ever said that the unions were going to stop any volunteer efforts? Nobody. Its just a few good people planting a few flowers. Its not taking over public works projects. Many of these efforts have been done in the past. The major difference is the amount of publicity that a few of these individuals want. Groups have been picking up garbage, planting flowers, little league, softball, park leaders for many years. Now we have photos and media release every time a candy wrapper is picked up in the street. Its public service looking more like self service.

Peru Town Forum said...

11:09 AM

That may be true but it now appears that Peru has fallen behind most other cities and it has taken someone who can generate some publicity to get the ball rolling once again. I applaud every individual who picks up a candy wrapper or a vodka bottle. I have done it and so have my friends but unless this is done on a very large scale, it will not be noticeable because there is so much litter and neglect in the city. I understand that along with Ald. Perez some of our new alderman are seeing what the older ones did not. Ald. Ferrari and his wife were planting flowers at the library a few days ago and I know that the Library Board members do this every year, kudos to them that the library grounds always look so professionally groomed.
Those that are working in a volunteer capacity welcome Ald. Ferrari and his wife to join the volunteer gardeners in making the rest of Peru as nice as the Peru Library.

Anonymous said...

I'm not being negative here, but is this the first time Alderman Ferrari has planted flowers?? And, how long has he been a alderman? A blue ribbon should be given to him for his volunteerism.

Peru Town Forum said...

12:56 PM

I am sure he was helping his wife who is a member of the Peru Library Board with the flower planting and he may have well been doing it for many years, I don't know. But due to his reticence about this blog and citizen involvement in the city, we will not hear from him.
Too many of the aldermen are too worried about the peer influence of the rest of the aldermen and what they think and do not step outside of that comfort zone. Ald. Perez and Sherry Mayszak are above that