ParkTalk Podcast: How It’s Made – Park Planning & Development Edition

Thursday, July 3, 2025

Episode Description:

Residents throughout Naperville witness renovations and improvements to their favorite neighborhood amenities. But how does the Park District get to that stage? For this episode of the ParkTalk Podcast, Naperville Park District Project Managers, Jessica Burgdorf and Peggy Motta, sit down to explain the District’s capital improvement process.

Quotes from the Episode:

What is considered a “capital project”?

There are a few specific criteria. The first being the monetary value: it has to cost at least $10,000 to be added to our capital plan. In a 10-year plan that is reviewed every year, project timelines can be shifted. It helps us get a picture of what we are going to be spending over the next 10 years. It also has to have a life cycle of 3-years. It can’t be temporary – it has to be a permanent asset we’re using our tax dollars to improve. – Jessica Burgdorf

Playgrounds typically have a 15-year life cycle, so every 15 years that playground will come up. But it’s not automatic. Our staff will evaluate different amenities in the park system and determine if it needs to be replaced. – Peggy Motta

Can you summarize the park improvement process?

It all comes about one year before improvements begin. We start with a letter sent to residents in the vicinity of the park, and with that letter we are requesting general feedback on the park. This helps us take into account what to budget for. – Jessica Burgdorf

When projects come up and we’ve evaluated them and determined they need to be renovated, then it comes downs to gathering community input, but we focus on the residents that are immediately adjacent to that amenity. It will impact their lives more than others. – Peggy Motta

How does the District engage with residents during the park improvement process?

It starts about a year in advance when we send out the letters to residents. Once we send out those notifications, the main thing I’m looking for as far as the feedback is what they like about the park now and what they don’t like. Once I get that feedback, I have a select list of vendors I work with and they create proposals for me. Once I have those proposals, I create a survey and anyone that has communicated their interest in helping with choosing the playground equipment will receive the survey. That ultimately helps us decide which equipment to select. Can’t get more direct involvement! – Jessica Burgdorf