Districtwide - Grounds & Natural Resource Operations Assessment & Logistics Plan
Over the last 20 years the District has expanded its holdings, facilities, and land restoration on more than 26,000 acres of land which has stressed land management operations. Preserve use and visitation has increased as well, but most significantly in the last 2 – 3 years. Improving efficiency in land management operations is necessary to meet these challenges as the District continues to provide services at the level of quality expected from the public.
The approved 2019 master plan includes 15 listed initiatives that warrant further study before specific project recommendations can be made. One of these initiatives is the assessment of grounds and natural resource management facilities. Since 2007, various outside consultants and professional staff have concluded the facilities are undersized, aged, and inefficient for intended and desired operations, noncompliant with building, life safety and ADA codes, and in need of significant repairs and improvements.
May
2022
Status: In Progress
The presentation of the Operations Assessment and Logistic Plan findings occurred on May 24, 2022. It is anticipated that a contract for preliminary design will be brought forward for consideration later this summer after feedback is received from the findings and recommendations of the evaluation report.
Funding
This study as well as subsequent facility designs shall be funded by yearly appropriated construction and development funds. Approximately $550,000 has been currently budgeted to cover the operations assessment and logistics plan as well as preliminary design for the recommended facility.
The estimated potential cost of a new grounds and natural resource management facility is approximately $21,000,000 including all design, permitting and construction costs. Funding for the latter work shall be determined as more refined plans and cost estimates are developed.
A combination of yearly appropriated construction and development funds, capital improvement, repair and replacement funds, grants, energy efficiency rebates and potential debt issuance are all potential sources of revenue for the project.
Documents
Executive Summary 5-10-22 (PDF)
Additional Information
The Board approved a contract with Knight E/A, Inc. to conduct an operational assessment and develop a logistics plan with recommendations for grounds and natural resource management facilities. The assessment entailed a holistic review of existing and future operational and spatial needs, identification of efficiencies and deficiencies, and analysis of potential scenarios and costs. The goal of this project is to ensure district operations are functioning optimally in the right locations, with the right resources, and right facilities to the meet the needs and expectations of the public.
The report details the steps undertaken to objectively analyze key factors that impact how the district undertakes and delivers its’ services throughout the county. The project approach began globally across the county and was narrowed down from there based on key criteria. The analysis identified a 2.5-mile radius within the west-central part of the county to be ideal for optimal operations.
Criteria reviewed and analyzed included:
- Preserve use & visitor information/demand at key preserve locations
- Travel times and daily mobilization efforts; proximity to current resources and access to regional transportation networks
- Labor input to current resources
- Access to municipal utility resources
- Existing disturbed land availability throughout county
- Equipment security and employee safety
- Proximity to residential areas and traffic impacts
- Environmental impacts
- Financial impacts
a. Operational efficiency/down time
b. Life expectancy of tools and equipment
c. Energy efficiency opportunities
d. Facility/renovation costs
Ultimately five sites were evaluated between Danada, Herrick Lake, St. James Farm, Blackwell, and Warrenville Grove forest preserves. Sites at Danada, Herrick Lake, St. James Farm and Warrenville Grove had significant challenges in meeting criteria for optimal operations through either insufficient land availability, lack of available municipal utilities, increased environmental impacts, duplicating infrastructure unnecessarily, or proximity to neighbors.
After extensive review of possible options, analytics and analysis, the final recommendation was to maintain a centralized versus decentralized location.
Additionally, the recommended location is Blackwell. Again, this recommendation is based upon the key factors listed above in addition to a thorough crew workflow analysis, identification of where labor hours for maintenance and assets are concentrated, and evaluation of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and constraints of existing grounds and natural resource management sites throughout the District.
In summary, it makes the most logistical sense to keep crews and work functions consolidated at Blackwell due to the following:
- Its centralized location in the county allows for easy access to major thoroughfares
- Critical and necessary infrastructure is already in place and would not have to be duplicated elsewhere
- Close proximity to fleet management for maintenance and repair needs
- Opportunity to create a campus with shared resources/equipment between work groups
- Proximity to fuel island
- Proximity to facilities management building for needed maintenance
- Proximity to native plant nursery for needed bulk materials and landscape supply storage and access
- Operations already have an established presence in the area; impacts are known, adapted to and not proposed to increase
- No additional impacts to new preserves/neighborhoods with new or increased traffic/operations
- Blackwell Forest Preserve is one of the most frequented locations by the public, thereby necessitating more allocation of resources to this area
- Opportunity for phasing of new buildings/renovations due to size of already disturbed land owned and controlled by District while maintaining existing operations during construction of a new facility
- Removal of existing inefficient and dilapidated structures would improve aesthetics of the area while reducing existing long-term operating costs to the District.
The report details a 9-component analysis that was used to evaluate each structure and building to determine viability for possible re-use.
These included:
- Life Safety
- Accessibility
- Structure integrity
- MEP systems
- Fire protection
- Utilities
- Site circulation
- Site access
- Accessory storage
The report also details the evaluation of existing buildings into three main components: Deferred Maintenance (DM); Code Compliance (CC); and Accessibility Compliance (AC). The results of this extensive analysis include a mix of best and worst facility conditions.
The report identifies which structures should be demolished, which have 65% of their useful life remaining, and which have nearly 95% of their useful life remaining. Other factors impacting crew efficiencies/workflow were not factored in the physical assessment of each structure, but were considered in the final recommendation of what to do with each one.
Three options for redevelopment of the Blackwell campus were considered with a final recommendation for option A.3 which would allow for improved traffic circulation and workflow, adequate secured indoor/outdoor heated and unheated vehicle storage, indoor/outdoor equipment and supply storage, workshop space — including office, meeting, and restroom/locker rooms, and seed processing and greenhouse space. The project would need to be staged in multiple phases to allow for continued operations and multi-year funding.