The Winnetka Park District Board approved a nearly $24 million budget last Thursday despite concerns by some residents that nearly a third allocated for the Elder/Centennial Beach project could be used elsewhere.
Of the $23,943,837 budget, capital projects account for $9,584,972 with the majority of that money, $7,840,000, being held for the beach.
Residents voiced their concerns saying that with the ongoing lawsuit between the district and resident Robert Schriesheim
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and the unfinished land swap with southern neighbor Justin Ishbia, the Park District is moving forward without the full picture.“It makes no sense, no sense at all, for the Park District to move full speed ahead with engineering plans when it has no idea just what beachfront it will actually have to work with at Elder and Centennial,” Resident Marc Hecht said during the March 9 special board meeting.
Resident Judy Rauh said the money should be spent on projects the public can enjoy year round instead of on the beach that can only be fully enjoyed during warmer months.
Commissioner Colleen Root had a “crisis of conscience” about the budget, saying she believes it was created and fleshed out well but that with so many unknowns, she can’t get behind spending so much on the lakefront.
“We keep hearing from our public that they don’t want it. We hear time and time again, multiple residents coming in saying ‘we don’t want all of this,'” she said. “I too have a problem with $8 million being allocated to Elder at a time that we don’t know what we’re going to have. I really question why we need to have a huge stone breakwater out there at this point until we know how wide, how long, how big our beach is going to be.”
Root was the lone no vote against the budget with Board President Warren James not in attendance to vote.
Board Vice President Christina Codo said the budget’s purpose is to provide placeholders and the board is not obligated to spend the funds they allocate.
“This is a plan. This is forward looking,” she said. “Anything over $25,000 will have to come back before us, will be separately considered, will be specifically considered with additional detail which I think should give everyone in this room some comfort that we’re not willy-nilly writing the check today.”
Cook County Circuit Court Records show the lawsuit is set for a motion call on May 9 if not dismissed. The lawsuit argues that the land swap violates the public trust doctrine which says that land under the lake is held in a trust by the government for the people of Illinois.
The land swap, originally signed in October 2020, has been held up in negotiations with no deeds exchanging hands. Ishbia has since submitted permits for renovations on sections of beach along his property south of Centennial Park where he plans to build his own breakwater at the northern end of his property. If built, this could complicate the Park District’s plans for its own shorter breakwater at the southern end of Centennial Beach.