DICKEY
GIBSON CITY — With design plans for a proposed new outdoor public swimming pool at Gibson City’s North Park still awaiting state approval, it will be no earlier than next spring when groundbreaking occurs, an engineer told a committee of the city council Thursday.
Fehr Graham engineer Matt Johnson, the city’s prime consultant on the pool project, told the council’s parks, buildings and technology committee that the plans had been submitted to the Illinois Department of Public Health four separate times — at a cost of $400 per submission — but each time were denied. Johnson said he was more confident that the most recent, fifth submission would be approved, though, as the reviewer of the plans has changed. Johnson said he expected a positive response from the reviewer within a week.
Once state approval is received, Fehr Graham would solicit sealed bids from contractors for the project over a 45-day period,
Johnson said, after which the bids received would be opened. If a bid is then accepted, the winning contractor would work with engineers on shop drawings as the contractor purchases materials. If a bid is affordable and revenue from the city’s additional 1% sales tax would cover the annual loan payments for the project, ground-breaking could occur as early as spring 2026, Johnson said.
Johnson said the city could keep the existing pool open while the new pool is built — as Mayor Dan Dickey has said he would prefer. The commi ttee’ s chairman, Sarah Sarantakos, said she felt that could be done if the cost of necessary mechanical repairs is reasonable.
It remains to be seen whether pool manager Randy Ferguson, who is most familiar with the pool’s operations, is willing to stay on the job for another season, though. Deputy City Clerk Jan Hall suggested the city have at least one more person trained and available to operate the pool regardless — and committee members agreed.
Alderman Susie Tongate commended the pool’s staff members for their promoting of the existing pool this year, noting they have made daily Facebook updates on weather or special events at the pool while inviting people to attend.
Discussion on parks
Also at the committee meeting, aldermen continued a discussion from earlier in the month about whether to buy and install digital locks at the restroom facilities at the city’s North and West parks to help curb vandalism and damage there while improving the monitoring of their use.
Local youth baseball league representative Kyle Salyards reminded the committee that the league would be willing to donate toward the purchase and was already gathering cost estimates that will be provided to Superintendent of Water, Streets and Alleys Tyler Martin. Sarantakos asked that the donation be made to the city, which would share the lock entry information with the league’s coaches.
Meanwhile, Martin said he was open to the idea of hiring someone for next season to open/close and clean the park restrooms, and he said that anyone interested could contact him.
The committee also further discussed the possibility of placing locks on the water and electric hookups at each of the eight spots for campers at the South Park. Martin said a better plan is still needed, though, for checking in campers, collecting the deposit for their shower key, and tracking the length of their stay. Committee members discussed possibly increasing the daily rental rate from $10 to $20 and requiring an additional $20 deposit for the key, refundable upon checkout.
In other park-related news, Salyards informed the committee that the youth baseball league had extra funds and would like the city’s permission to upgrade and relocate the dugouts at the West Park ball field. After committee members welcomed the offer, Salyards said he would submit plans and costs and discuss insurance with Sarantakos.
North Park concerns
Dean Kidd, president of the ACT Theater Company, said the local theater group had just completed its 25th year, with more than 80 children and many adults involved from June through the presentation of shows in mid-July in the North Park’s pavilion.
Kidd voiced concerns about the condition of the North Park’s restroom building and asked if the city would be willing to consider a complete renovation or, preferably, the teardown and replacement of the building. Kidd said the current building has “old linoleum flooring, rotten wood, substandard fixtures, is not easily cleaned and is old, gross and needs to be replaced.” Kidd suggested there instead be concrete floors and stainless fixtures.
While no set plan is in place for the restrooms, committee members indicated that the city’s budget does include funds for re-roofing the North Park’s pavilion and repairing its steel girders.
Johnson noted that the Illinois Department of Natural Resources annually offers grants of up to $600,000 for renovations and replacements in public parks. Grant applications are due by the end of September, and Johnson said his firm could submit applications each year on behalf of the city for a $5,000 fee — perhaps one for the new pool this year and another for restroom replacement next year. Sarantakos said the council would further consider whether to enlist Fehr Graham to apply for the grant during its Aug. 11 meeting.
Hall, meanwhile, reminded the committee that the city had already applied twice for the same grant but was denied both times. In response, Johnson said there may have been a lack of detailed information in those past applications, which may have resulted in the denials.
Also present Thursday was committee member Denis Fisher.
Committee member Laura Miller was absent.