At its June 21 meeting, the Village of Hinsdale Board of Trustees voted unanimously to approve an agreement that would remove 6,000 cubic yards of unsightly dirt left in piles at Veeck Park after the construction of a retention facility there while also granting area young people an opportunity to raise money to maintain the Veeck skate park.

Village President Tom Cauley said the village, its engineering partner Clark Dietz, and John Burns Construction Company struck a deal to each chip in at least $30,000 to cover the cost of Earth, Inc., removing the dirt. The removal cost is estimated to be between $90,000 and $108,000.

After the 6,000 cubic yards are removed, Cauley said, the piles could be re-evaluated.

“Any remaining dirt we hope we can spread around the facility,” Cauley said. “The goal here is bring back Veeck Park to the state it was before this project.”

Because of the rainy spring, the wet dirt can't be removed immediately. At an earlier meeting, trustee Laura LaPlaca said it would take until midsummer for the piles to dry out enough to be removed.

Veeck skate park

Another controversial Veeck Park item was on the agenda at the June 21 board of trustees meeting—the facility’s skate park.

The board unanimously approved a proposal from skate park patrons to establish a concession stand at Veeck during sporting events this summer through Aug. 31 to raise money for improvements to the skate park.

The board in March decided not to invest $7,500 marked for skate park improvements, instead diverting those funds to upgrading the Burns Field warming house.  

“The commitment that we made to the residents was that we wouldn’t approve the lease concession agreement unless we were comfortable using the net profits that were generated for maintenance of the skate park,” trustee Doug Geoga said on June 21.

Park and Recreation commissioner Scott Banke said the skate park supporters will follow all village instructions.

“The skate group is completely amendable to all provisions that are set forth and they look forward to the opportunity,” Banke said.