Aux Sable Springs park plan enters phase 2

The Village of Minooka board approved over $2 million in bids Tuesday night to begin phase two of the Aux Sable Springs Park project.

The updates to the park will include two fitness stations, an asphalt trail loop through the forest, ADA compliant playground equipment, new shelters, two new pickleball courts, backstop netting for the safety of spectators during baseball games, fencing, a new fourth baseball field, and tree removal.

“Most of the money is coming from the different funds with park donations and a grant for $600,000,” said Village Administrator Dan Duffy.

Minooka received a Open Space Land, Acquisition and Development Grant back in February that enabled these projects to move forward. The village is responsible to match the grant 50/50.

The bids were approved in several phases, with some parts of the project all fitting under one $1,440,456 bid. The rest were all separate alternative bids, with the Pickleball courts costing $100,916, the netting costing $233,500, the fencing costing $42,000, the baseball field costing $410,495, and the tree removal costing a total of $48,430.

Each bid passed unanimously, except for the baseball field. Trustee Terry Houchens was the lone no vote, so the bid still passed.

Houchens voted no because the additional baseball field would cost an extra $135,000, a number that’s already built into the listed price.

“When I added up the numbers based on a five-year contract, we’re paying them a penalty of $135,000 based because we have to mitigate a wetland as part of this field,” Houchens said. “So we have to reconstruct .75 acres or pay into the IDNR’s super fund. I don’t believe that tax payers should pay $135,000 in penalties simply for us to build the baseball field.”

Duffy said the baseball fields are used quite a bit, and Ryan Anderson, the Superintendent of Public Works, said the park was used over 200 times from April to June in 2024 alone.

Duffy also pointed out that the city has received donations that would more than cover the cost of putting in the fourth baseball field, and it wouldn’t cost the taxpayers any extra.

“There’s a lot of parts that need to be upgraded, painted, and fixed,” Duffy said. “Fortunately, we’re lucky to have that.”