Darien Officials Frustrated With Park District

DARIEN, IL – Darien officials on Monday expressed their frustration with the Darien Park District in its effort to move events such as Darien Fest into the parks.

They contended the district was placing unnecessary bureaucratic hurdles in the way of an agreement. At one point, a city official said he asked the district to deed over one of its parks to the city. He said the district's approach in some cases has been "silly."

In a statement, a top district official said her agency has cooperated with the city in bringing events to parks.

"The District has acted in good faith throughout the entire process and has cooperated with the City in order for Darien Fest to proceed," said Stephanie Gurgone, the district's executive director. "The Park District does not believe that our approach has been 'silly,' as we are discussing an event with real risks, and insurance requirements are important to protect the Darien taxpayers."

In 2020, the park district stopped letting the Darien Chamber of Commerce hold Darien Fest at Community Park. It resulted from a dispute over damage from the previous year's fest.

In December, Mayor Joseph Marchese announced Darien Fest would be held at the district's Westwood Park in August. It has been held in the Q Bar parking lot in recent years.

The hope is also to get the city's summer concert series and Oktober Fest to Westwood.

But the city and district have yet to reach an agreement.

"If I appear to be bothered by the whole process, I am," Marchese said at Monday's City Council meeting. "It's taken an inordinate amount of time to come up to an intergovernmental agreement that should have been very simple to agree upon."

The city's treasurer, Michael Coren, said it's resulted in substantial legal fees.

"These are coming out of our pocket, out of our tax dollars – money theoretically being wasted for no real reason," Coren said. "We need to come together as a community."

Alderwoman Mary Sullivan said the negotiations have taken an "exorbitant" amount of time and taxpayers should be able to enjoy events in the parks they pay for.

"I really hope that the fine-tuning can take place immediately, even though it should have taken place months ago on behalf of the Darien Park District," she said.

City Administrator Bryon Vana described some of the park district's hurdles as "silly." For example, he said, the district requires any local nonprofit group that wants to hold a raffle or run a bean bag tournament at an event to have a $3 million liability insurance policy.

"None of the local groups carry anything remotely close to that," Vana said.

Vana said he requested the district deed over Westwood Park to the city, but the district rejected that. He said it would simplify things if the city owned the park, allowing the district to continue its programs at Westwood.

In a statement to Patch, the district's Gurgone said the park board approved the license agreement March 11 and sent an initial agreement to Darien on March 20. Between March 11 and June 3, she said, the two entities have had numerous communications about the final terms, most of which involve insurance.

"These insurance requirements are necessary in order to protect all of the Darien taxpayers in the event of a lawsuit – a carnival or festival of any kind is a high-risk event with rides and outdoor weather-related elements, to name only a few areas of concern," Gurgone said. "The Park District and the City have largely the same taxpayers to protect in this regard."

The two entities met May 17 in person and agreed to insurance terms, with lawyers fine-tuning the language since then, she said.

Meanwhile, the district advertised the concerts and the fest in its seasonal brochure mailed to residents in late March.

Additionally, Gurgone said, the district has spent $90,000 at the park to prepare for the events, including wetland clearing, a controlled burn, parking lot repairs, removal of a sand volleyball court, and seal coating and painting the parking lot.

The coming events are on the park board's meeting agenda for Monday, she said.