Litchfield City Council Meeting | Dec. 4, 2025

Article Summary: The City Council adopted an updated Parks and Recreation Master Plan required for state grant funding but first amended the document to remove an erroneous claim that the city owns land for a sports complex on Corvette Drive.

Parks Master Plan Key Points:

• Plan Adopted: The council approved the “City of Litchfield and Litchfield Park District Parks and Recreation Master Plan.”

• Correction Made: Alderperson Sara Zumwalt successfully motioned to remove all references stating the city owns a sports complex on Corvette Drive.

• Cooperation: The plan is a joint effort between the City and the Park District to align goals and secure IDNR grants.

The Litchfield City Council on Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025, approved a resolution adopting the updated Parks and Recreation Master Plan, but only after scrubbing language suggesting the city already owns a sports complex.

The agenda item originally called for the adoption of the plan as presented. However, Alderperson Sara Zumwalt raised an objection regarding the document’s accuracy.

“It is stated in several places within the paperwork that the city owns a sports complex on Corbett [Corvette] Drive and that the land was purchased in 2021,” Zumwalt said. “I don’t believe this should be approved without amending it to remove all wording that states the city owns a soccer or a sports complex.”

Mayor Jacob Fleming agreed with Zumwalt’s assessment. He explained that he had attended a Park District meeting the previous night and learned the language was a “backstory” remnant from a version of the plan originally approved in 2021.

“We do need to take that wording out,” Fleming said.

City Administrator Breann Vazquez recommended the council approve the plan with the specific amendment to remove the inaccuracies.

Zumwalt made a motion to approve the resolution with the exclusion of “a sports complex on Corvette Drive.” The motion was seconded by Alderperson Josh Hughes.

During the discussion, officials emphasized that removing the language did not mean they opposed the idea of a future complex or cooperation between the agencies. Hughes suggested the Park District and City should work toward a system where residents could use a single pass for both the Litchfield Pool and the Beach House.

“I think everybody here would love to see an actual sports complex in the future, just not that one inside [the plan],” Fleming said.

The council voted unanimously to approve the amended plan.