NOTICE OF MEETING TUESDAY, APRIL 14, 2015

6:00 p.m.

Park District of Highland Park Board of Park Commissioners

West Ridge Center 636 Ridge Rd.

Highland Park, IL 60035

WORKSHOP MEETING AGENDA

I. CALL TO ORDER II. ROLL CALL III. ADDITIONS TO THE AGENDA IV. WEBSITE V. COMPENSATION STUDY RFP VI. POST ISSUANCE COMPLIANCE 2015 VII. REVIEW OF VOUCHERS VIII. OPEN TO PUBLIC TO ADDRESS BOARD IX. CLOSED SESSION PURSUANT TO THE FOLLOWING SECTIONS OF THE OPEN MEETINGS

ACT: Section 2(c)1 – the appointment, employment, compensation, discipline of the District including legal counsel for the District; Section 2(c)5 – the purchase or lease of real estate including discussion on whether a certain parcel of property should be acquired; Section 2(c)6 – the setting of a price for sale or lease of property owned by the District; Section 2(c)8 – security procedures and the use of personnel and equipment to respond to an actual, a threatened, or a reasonably potential danger to the safety of employees, students, staff, the public, or public property; Section 2(c) 11 – litigation against or on behalf of the District or where the District finds that an action is probable or imminent; Section 2(c) 21 – the discussion of minutes lawfully closed under the Act, whether for the purposes of approval of said minutes or for conducting the semi-annual review of the minutes as set forth in section 2.06 of the Act.; Section 2(c) 29 - for discussions between internal or external auditors and the Board. Possible action by the Board on items discussed in closed session.

X. ACTION FROM CLOSED SESSION IF ANY

XI. ADJOURNMENT

Persons with disabilities requiring reasonable accommodation to participate in this meeting should contact the Park District’s ADA Compliance Officer, Liza McElroy, at the Park District’s Administrative Office, 636 Ridge Road, Highland Park, IL Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. at least 48 hours prior to the meeting. Requests for a qualified ASL interpreter require five (5) working days advance notice. Telephone number 847-831-3810; fax number 847-831-0818.

MEMORANDUM

To: Board of Park Commissioners

From: Director Liz Gogola

Communications Coordinator Emily Biang

Date: April 10, 2015

Re: Park District Website

c: Executive Director McElroy

On April 22, 2015, the Park District of Highland Park will launch a new updated

version of the pdhp.org website. The current website is three years old and

showing its age. Board members will be given an overview of the new website

design and features at the April 14 Park Board workshop meeting.

The marketing team and park district staff have been working on the new

website development since July 2014. The staff is excited to get the updated

site launched and to share the new design with the Board in advance of the

launch date.

Background

The park district three-year agreement with the current pdhp.org website

hosting vendor was to expire in January 2015. Last summer, the Marketing

Department took the opportunity to audit the 3-year-old site, its performance,

and features. As part of the review, an independent web developer was asked

to conduct an audit of the site.

The current website audit included the following findings: The site is not searchable by modern search engine algorithms

It cannot automatically adjust itself for variable screen sizes (tablets, phones,

etc.)

The design is based on older narrow screen sizes and is not optimizing the site’s

real estate

The current content management system is proprietary and difficult for staff to

update. It also does not offer flexibility for adding photos, videos or many other

new features.

Based on these findings, the marketing team began researching and ultimate

development of a new modern version of the site. The research included

analysis of the current site’s analytic information (where do our customers go on

the site), multiple input sessions with staff, analysis of other popular websites, and

current website design best practices. At the same time, a month-to-month

agreement was negotiated with the current website vendor which began in

February 2015.

Once the research and analysis was completed, deliverables were provided to

a web designer and developer to implement. Cost of the website design -

$3,800 and development - $6,000. The current website vendor quote was

$21,000 for the same project. Once launched, the monthly website hosting fee

will be $35/mo compared to $200/mo with the current vendor. Costs for the

new website were included in the 2015 budget that was approved in

December.

The new website is designed with state-of-the-art features and tools to make it

easier for residents/customers to access the information they need most.

Clean modern design with a wider format to utilize the maximum width of newer

screen.

Crisp web-designed font designed to maximize readability.

Automatic adjustment to any screen size for an optimal viewing experience.

Refreshed content.

New intuitive navigation based on customer usage patterns and contemporary

website design best practices.

“Google Translate” feature to accommodate multiple languages.

ADA compliant and allows you to adjust font sizes for easier readability.

New map provides multiple ways for you to search our facilities no matter what

your familiarity is with the park district.

Find a Park/Facility by Activity page allows you to click on an activity icon or

groups of icons for fun quick access to activity locations around the district.

Each page offers options to print or share the information with others via your

email or social media connections.

Event pages give you the ability to add an event directly to your personal

electronic calendar and connects you to Google maps to route directions to the

event’s location.

Facility, Athletics and Summer Camp sections include: Dynamic elements and

event feeds specific to the facility/programming area and “easy to use”

horizontal navigation.

Each page offers options to print or share the information with others via your

email or social media connections.

Site architecture is built on WordPress content management system (CMS) – this

system has been on the market for over 10 years and runs approx. 25% of the

Internet. It is consistently rated as a top CMS. WordPress is an open platform

system that allows new updates and feature plug-ins. The system is intuitively

designed to be user friendly.

MEMORANDUM To: Board of Park Commissioners

From: Executive Director McElroy Human Resources Manager Brainerd Date: April 9, 2015 Re: COMPENSATION STUDY

One of the greatest assets of the Park District of Highland Park is its employees. It is important that fair and equitable compensation be provided to motivate, maintain, and attract quality staff from outside the organization. In order to achieve this, compensation needs to be equitable both internally for current and externally for all prospective employees. If the District compensates below the market rate, it may lose competent employees and fail to attract outstanding potential recruits.

Compensation also needs to be designed around the nature and scope of the job and not the person. Each job needs to be carefully evaluated to list necessary tasks and actions and identify skills and abilities required, along with comparisons to help determine its relative worth.

The Park District of Highland Park last conducted a Compensation and Benefits Study in 2010; the plan was approved in 2011. In compliance with the District’s Compensation Policy, the Park District must have the Compensation Plan reviewed every five years by a qualified third party consultant. The Park District of Highland Park sent out a Request for Proposals for a Compensation Program Analysis study. The goal is to ensure that the established salary and wage ranges are competitive with comparable Illinois Park and Recreation agencies and other public governmental institutions.

Scope of Services

To analyze the appropriateness of the current position grade classifications and the competitiveness of the salaries and ranges for all full-time positions.

To identify comparable positions in other government and not for profit organizations and present benchmark findings.

To examine the equity of pay among present full-time employees based on qualifications, experience and tenure.

To provide recommendations for consistent salary placement of employees who are newly hired from the outside or promoted.

To provide options for compensating employees who have reached the maximum in their salary range.

To prepare a plan based on pay for performance. PROPOSALS Three proposals were received from the following companies and their fees are shown as well.

GovHR USA $21,500

Organizational Research Forum ORF $76,190

Gallagher $54,000-$71,000

RECOMMENDATION After a comprehensive review of the proposals and a breakdown of services provided, staff

would recommend that GovHR USA be selected to conduct this study. While the other two firms have the experience, the cost of services provided both exceed the Park District budget of $45,000 for this study. GovHR USA, is a public sector management consulting firm specializing in executive recruitment and management consulting. All services are provided solely for public jurisdictions and not-for-profit entities. The type of study the Park District of Highland Park is considering is a large part of their business. The consultants assigned to this project have conducted many similar Classification and Compensation Studies for a wide variety of public sector agencies (park district, school district, county and numerous cities and villages). It should be noted that in 2013, Voorhees Associates changed its name to GovHR USA, LLC; and Voorhees Associates was the firm that conducted the study for the Park District in 2010. Staff would recommend that the proposal submitted by GovHR USA be reviewed by Ancel Glink and, subject to attorney review, be placed on the agenda for approval at the April 27, 2015 Board meeting at a cost not to exceed $21,500.

MEMORANDUM

____________________________________________

To: Board of Commissioners

From: Annette Curtis, Finance Director

C: Liza McElroy, Executive Director

Date: April 14, 2015

Re: Bond: Post-Issuance Tax Compliance Report ____________________________________________________________________________ Background/Analysis In conjunction with the Debt Certificates issued on June 28, 2012, the Bond Record-Keeping Policy was adopted by the board. Per the policy, the district agrees to keep and retain sufficient records to support the continued exclusion of interest paid on the Certificates (both 2012A and 2013) from federal income taxation. The post-issuance tax rules fall into two categories: use of proceeds and other requirements related to the private activity bond tests; and arbitrage yield restriction and rebate requirements. Annually, until the Debt Certificates mature plus 3 years, a review of all contracts and other records will be completed to determine whether each issue complies with the federal tax requirements. To facilitate the review, Chapman and Cutler has provided the district with a check list which provides a methodology for compliance. The attached report summarizes the findings for the reviews related to Debt Certificate 2012A and 2013. The District is currently in compliance with the applicable tax law requirements and no further action is necessary at this time.