One of the best ways to respond to the "do more with less"message sent to local governments from the last General Assembly session is to join forces with other units of local government who will also be trying to stretch limited tax dollars. If your district has a history of cooperation, it will be natural to expand these efforts, but if your district has not, it is never too late to begin. The financial facts of life have changed for most units of local government and most likely will continue to change with funds becoming scarcer. Intergovernmental cooperation offers the opportunity to retain services to the taxpayers at the same or lower costs.

The Glenview Park District has for many years worked cooperatively with the Village of Glenview and schools in order to make possible recycling of public buildings, coordinated park policing service, exchange use of specialized maintenance equipment, community celebrations, and many environmental projects. What has fostered these cooperative efforts? A key ingredient has been a shared philosophy of serving community residents through the most cost effective means. The key tool has been open and frequent communication with each agency of local government in order to view the big picture of cooperative efforts. Regular monthly luncheon meetings are held with the chief administrators of the Village, high school district, the three elementary school districts, the library and the Park District. The elected officials of all of these agencies hold a dinner each year to share plans and accomplishments. That dinner also opens face-to-face dialogue among elected officials and each agency that facilitates discussions if the need arises.

Recycling buildings

As a result of communicating ideas and future plans, three public buildings were recycled for a new and different public use. The Glenview School District closed an elementary school in the heart of town and immediately leased it to the Park District for $1 as a community center to continue to serve the people. The Park District pays all costs of building improvements and current operations including asbestos removal and boiler repair. This lease of a no longer needed school building fell into place naturally since the Park District has maintained all school grounds since 1951. In return, school buildings are used for after school and weekend recreation programs. This exchange of service is without any exchange of money.

The original 1927 Village Hall was centrally located at a parksite, architecturally charming and a community landmark. With the completion of a new Village Hall, the Village leased this buildingto the Park District for its headquarters at $1 per year for 99 years.

The previous Park District office building thus became vacant.The Park Board provided that office building to the United Way asa community service center and it now houses many small not-for-profit community organizations. The Park District makes no chargefor this building use, and the maintenance is provided by the tenants.

Within a period of three years, these three public buildings were recycled in use and the community benefited.

Police services

Although the Park District has a long standing tradition of having a small park police force to regulate the parks, this separation of police responsibilities from the Village Police Department was of increasing concern. Three problems associated with maintaining a separate Park District police department of park rangers are adequate professional training for a small police force, coordination with separate juvenile officers, and 24 hour-a-day patrol.

Discussions with the Village resulted in a joint resolution of the Village Board and the Park Board designating the Village police officers as the park rangers with all the authority to enforce Park District ordinances. The rationale that the citizen deserved the best in police protection permeated all discussions and the Village was in the position to offer a professional police service.

The Park District was able to direct the resources previously used for police costs to providing improved levels of park maintenance. The citizens were no longer confused about who polices what in the community and the potential liability that comes from having armed employees was removed.

Exchange of equipment

A day-to-day example of a cooperative program is that the park and golf course maintenance equipment and Village public works equipment is exchanged by a single phone call. This creates a pool of specialized equipment available to each governmental unit as requested, and if it can be spared. Field managers can easily make this loan of equipment work as long as the spirit and framework for cooperation has been established at the policy level by elected and appointed officials.

A result of each of these cooperative efforts is that the tax payer ultimately saves taxes and the community has improved services.

Planning, zoning and the environment

In the area of planning, zoning and the environment, there have been cooperative efforts that took years to accomplish. The Village has adopted a land dedication ordinance that has provided both new park land as well as thousands of dollars for park capital improvements. Our newest park has part rain water detention also built-in as a design element. This three-way effort among Village, Park District and developer provided multiple services to our tax payers at the lowest possible cost.

The Glenview Park District passed a referendum in the mid-1970s that allowed the purchase of what is now The Grove, an 82 acre nature preserve and National Historic Landmark. The problem of protecting this significant natural area resulted in the adoption of an environmentally significant zoning ordinance by the village.

The Grove is also used extensively by the schools following a curriculum developed jointly by park and schools staffs. Each child in Glenview visits The Grove once each school year and the per-student fee charged the school districts helps pay for The Grove education staff. Every new year is kicked-off in Glenview with a cooperative project that recycles Christmas trees. The Village picks up residents' trees which are then chipped by the Park District. The mulch is free to residents and used by the Park District, and a large amount of material has been diverted from fast-filling landfills.

Building permits

The Village has held to a consistent position that the Park District should control its own construction. However, there was also agreement that a building compliance authority was needed beyond the retained project architect. The solution was that the Park District passed its own Building Permit Ordinance which provided for the administration and designated codes for building construction. An architect was appointed by the Park District to serve as building director and to issue building permits for new district buildings and remodeling and to inspect the various phases of construction in progress. The Village now reviews plans if the Park District needs technical assistance, and plans are now being made to have the Village's building department perform the technical inspections on park building projects at no cost to the district.

Community celebrations

The July 4th celebration in Glenview is sponsored by the Park District, but would not achieve its annual success if it were not for intergovernmental cooperation. The day's events are orchestrated by a Park District sponsored commission with representatives of civic groups and a Village trustee. The funds are raised from private donations, a check-off spot on the Village water bills, and parking fees from the use of school parking lots. This cooperative effort iscertainly in keeping with the spirit of the day.

The future

Plans are in the early stages for the Park District to develop and administer the School District's traditional summer school except for the state-supported academic programs. Also in developmentis a joint summer brochure among the library, school and park districts. Those three agencies, plus a private, not-for-profit daycare agency, are working on leisure activities in school buildings from 7 a.m. until 6 p.m. throughout the school year.

It is not intended to leave the impression that every effort has been a success or isn't intensive in the use of staff and commissioner time. Some things that didn't work the first time around succeeded years later. Others did not work at all. Glenview's involvement with about 10 other local agencies in a regional planning effort provided a great development plan that was later ignored by neighboring villages. But we in Glenview remain convinced that the benefits are worth the extra effort. It is not known what the future holds for accomplishment, but discussion topics will include zoning, drainage and many environmental opportunities like energy efficient lighting projects, and shared underground storage tanks. Serving the seniors in our communities in a coordinated manner will continue to be important. One topic that all local governments should be discussing is how they are communicating to their taxpayers what services they are providing. Intergovernmental cooperation is one unique "service" story that should be featured.

About the Author
Judy Beck is a Glenview Park District Commissioner andserves on the Illinois Association of Park District's Board of Directors as a Vice-President. This article is an expansion on one authored by Richard Johns that appeared in the December 1987 issue of Illinois Parks & Recreation magazine