Almost all communities contain parks and open space, but the vast majority are managed by a local park district. In Lincolnwood, the Parks and Recreation department is a village department and not a separate entity. Lincolnwood Centennial Park recently underwent a huge renovation which, among other things, included the creation of a nine-hole disc golf course, better known as Frisbee golf. GIS was consulted to create an overview map of the course, which would then be mounted on a sign at start of the course to give players an idea of the locations of each hole, the length between the start and finish of each hole, and any possible obstacles that may be encountered along the way, such as trees, bushes, or even cyclists or pedestrians using bike trails that crisscross parts of the course.

The Lake Forest Parks and Forestry Departments are in negotiations to outsource their cul-de-sac and right-of-way landscaping maintenance. Previously, city staff maintained these areas but a cost-benefit analysis determined that the budget would be more efficiently spent by contracting out the maintenance responsibilities. The city was looking to develop an effective method to display maintenance areas while also providing contractors a way to confidently and accurately bid on the project.

The Village of Mundelein received a grant that provided the money for 132 trees this Spring. The new plantings will replace Ash trees and other trees that were removed last summer. The Superintendent of Streets wanted an easier to provide planting location information to a contractor. He also wanted to track the progress of plantings to ensure no locations were missed.

Lincolnshire is a picturesque village in Lake County, well known for its mature trees, numerous parks, and attractively landscaped open spaces. One of the best ways to enjoy the scenery is to walk or bike around town using the wide local streets and recreational paths that connect them. To encourage non-motorized traffic in the Village, GIS was asked to update the hiking and biking trail map to highlight existing routes as well as key points of interest. In addition to showcasing area parks and retail shopping, visitors to Lincolnshire can also quickly identify free parking and public drinking fountain locations. Local schools are also marked so that parents can identify safe routes for their children to use.

The City of Lake Forest Park Recreation Department is considering installing a new football field and or new soccer fields at Deerpath Park. The flood way and flood plain for the Skokie River run through Deerpath Park. It was important that any new facilities were not placed in the flood plain. Another concern was how the new facilities would fit into the existing park.

Riverside, IL has earned the moniker “Village in the Forest” thanks to its planned design along the Des Plaines River with curvilinear streets, expansive parkways, and forested areas. The beautiful landscape that is Riverside does require maintenance, specifically tree trimming, in order to maintain tree integrity, appearance, and maximize safety. The Village’s Forestry personnel are using their Geographic Information System (GIS) to manage their tree inventory and plan trimming efforts. Tracking annual maintenance and their corresponding priority areas gives staff precise records of past activities. Mapping future efforts in the GIS allows staff to modify their plans if funding varies and continue to manage the areas in most need. Maps are generated and distributed when the time comes for the maintenance service company to do the work as well. This gives Village staff confidence there will be no misunderstandings of what trimming is expected and where.

Pedal the Parks is a special event put on by the Village of Lincolnwood with the assistance of corporate sponsors from around the area. This event aims at highlighting the importance of physical activity while show casing the Village’s park system. The Village’s Geographic Information System (GIS) played an important role in planning this event which includes both a short and long route making this a family friendly event. Multiple departments coordinated and planned the routes for the enjoyment and safety of the participants. The short route contains about 2.5 miles while the long route will take you 6.3 miles while visiting 10 different parks. The event is set for May 19, 2012 from 10am to 3pm.

Spring is in the air and that means it’s once again time to dust off the ole mower. Although, like many larger municipalities, Tinley Park has decided to ditch the mower, and the yearly maintenance and higher labor costs that come along with the mower. The Village will contract out mowing responsibilities to a private landscaping company. This allows the Village to save on equipment maintenance costs, fuel and labor by paying a company who specializes in landscaping, providing a cheaper overall cost to the Village.

To promote healthy living and the use of alternative travel, many local governments have started to design and implement projects related to cycling, such as bike route signage and dedicated bike lanes along local streets. To assist with promoting the projects they’ve worked on to the general public, the City of Des Plaines, IL asked the their Geographic Information Systems (GIS) department to create a series of mapping products that display a wide-range of features from the city’s bike network, including the existing route locations and planned improvements.

There are many different ways that a local municipality can engage their residents to take part in the community and contribute to the daily operations and occurrences. For example, there are citizen emergency response teams, volunteer crossing guards, volunteers for special events and many more.

A developing problem spread among many communities in the greater Chicago area is the rapid growth of the Emerald Ash Borer, which is an insect that adversely affects the health of ash trees. Oak Brook has recently began locating and tracking all ash trees in the village owned public parkways, and noting any trees that are currently affected by the outbreak. It is important to not only know which trees are infected, but also to know where all non-infected trees are located so that mitigation can begin immediately. The village has a plan to completely replace all ash trees within the next 10 years, beginning with the trees that are currently in the worse condition. It is important to track and maintain the ash trees because subdivisions with a high density of ash trees could face mass amounts of landscape change in a very short period of time, which could leave the esthetics of the subdivision less than pleasing.

In partnership with the Glenview Park District, the Village of Glenview is hosting two public events on the impact of the Emerald Ash Borer beetle. By offering these workshops, the Village hopes to help its residents learn more about how their local government is responding to this pest and what residents can do to help. These types of meetings encourage transparency in government operations and also foster a team-based approach to a problem that affects everyone.

Lake Forest will have access to the web version of MapOffice™ beginning June 1st. The month of May was spent preparing the base data needed to get MapOffice™ up and running, which involved loading previous GIS data into the GIS Consortium standardized database.

For a 7.5 mile stretch of Dundee Rd., from Milwaukee Ave. to Green Bay Rd., the only section without a bikeable sidewalk or path is a small section within Wheeling village limits from the Des Plaines River to the Interstate 294 overpass. Without a path or sidewalk, this section of Dundee Rd. can be dangerous for any biker who attempts to ride in the grass or on the street itself. The Village of Wheeling is looking to build a bike path to connect the two sections to help provide a safe passage for bicyclists.

The Village of Lincolnwood has been hard at work trying to secure grants that will help produce bicycle routes and paths throughout the Village. The grant, Job Access Reverse Commute (JARC), is administered through the Regional Transportation Authority. It is federally funded to help people of lower income travel to their places of employment. Providing assistance for this grant application has been the Village’s Geographic Information System (GIS). Throughout the process GIS has played an important part by providing maps and analysis. The Village is a member of the GIS Consortium (GISC) which is a Using the GIS Consortiums subscription to Business Analyst Online, the Village compiled necessary statistics for use in the grant. In addition to the statistics, locations of stoplights were mapped out to provide a list for use in field checks. Also, using GIS, the Village was able to verify that manhole covers and inlets along the proposed bike route corridors were of a certain type; openings were not large enough for a bicycle tire to become stuck.

Garbage collection is an essential service provided by municipal government that, in many communities, has become ingrained in the weekly routine of community residents. While collecting garbage seems like a straight forward process, often there are weeks or months of planning that are necessary to determine pickup locations for a given route that are efficient in both time and resources. Recently, the Village of Winnetka Public Works department decided to reallocate their garbage collection pickup locations to help maximize the efficiency of each truck driver’s route. To assist with this, the Village GIS department provided support during both the planning and implementation stages of the project.

The Village of Lincolnwood is not within a park district, but provides its residents with an in-house parks and recreation department. Over the years, Lincolnwood has refined and added services to offer residents with a wide array of programs. Programs include summer camps, adult softball leagues, a farmers market and much more. In order to provide service in the best possible way, Lincolnwood has applied for accreditation through the Illinois Association of Park Districts (IAPD). This is a voluntary evaluation which provides feedback to improve the delivery of services and programs. If, at the end of the audit, the Village proves it has met specific guidelines set by the IAPD, it will have earned the Distinguished Accreditation.

Over the past decade, communities throughout the mid-west have battled with invasive species. These Invasive species in our rivers and lakes have affected the way we use these natural resources. Likewise, our trees have become a focal point of disease and invasive species including the Emerald Ash Borer and Dutch Elm Disease. Because of this, it has become necessary to manage trees.

Information captured in a Geographic Information System (GIS) can be distributed in many different ways including, but not limited to, hard copy map prints, electronic image files, Google EarthTM and as an ArcReaderTM (PMF) project. Of these methods of distribution, ArcReaderTM has been found to work quite well in Elk Grove Village.

Using the village’s Geographic Information System (GIS), tabular data can be visualized and placed into geographically correct places. The Recreation Department, in conjunction with school districts 74 and 219, has created a free service for new residents who do not use English as their primary language to familiarize themselves with the community and its resources. This service includes a bus tour of important places in and around Lincolnwood.

The recent collection of planimetric data or improved features such as buildings, roadways, parking lots, driveways, etc. in Elk Grove Village has provided for some new analysis possibilities through its GIS (Geographic Information System). One of the evaluations conducted was the distance between primary building structures and also a count of the number of addresses that exist within each building structure.