Litchfield Park District Advises C.E.F.S. of Rent Increase to $550

Litchfield Park District | October 7, 2026

Article Summary: The Litchfield Park District has told C.E.F.S. that rent under their Memorandum of Understanding will rise from $350 to $550 a month as the agreement comes up for renewal, and the organization is willing to pay the increase, Executive Director Steven C. Bryant reported Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026. A separate dispute over kitchen use at the Community Center will be taken up at the same meeting with a C.E.F.S. representative.

C.E.F.S. Agreement and Kitchen Use Key Points:

• Rent under the Memorandum of Understanding would rise from $350 to $550 per month; the minutes state rent has not been raised in several years.
• Bryant reported that C.E.F.S. is willing to pay the increase.
• Golden Circle Nutrition wants kitchen use denied to Community Center renters because of past renters’ misuse; the district has reimbursed from the lease deposit in every instance.
• President Jeff Heyen and Commissioner Sherry Bergschneider will represent the board at a meeting on both matters. No vote was taken.

LITCHFIELD — The Litchfield Park District Board of Commissioners on Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026, discussed a proposed rent increase and a disagreement over kitchen access as its Memorandum of Understanding with C.E.F.S. comes up for renewal.

Executive Director Steven C. Bryant reported under New Business that the Memorandum of Understanding with C.E.F.S. is up for renewal and that rent has not been raised in several years. Bryant advised C.E.F.S. of a rent increase from $350 to $550 per month — a rise of $200 a month — and the organization is willing to pay the increase, according to the minutes.

Neither the agenda nor the minutes expands the acronym C.E.F.S., names the representative the district dealt with, states what space the agreement covers, gives the term of the existing or renewed agreement, or says when the current Memorandum of Understanding expires.

Kitchen Use Raised in the Same Breath

Immediately before the renewal item, Bryant confirmed what the minutes describe as Golden Circle Nutrition’s desire to deny kitchen use to Community Center renters because of past renters’ misuse. In every instance, the minutes state, the district has reimbursed from the lease deposit.

The minutes introduce the C.E.F.S. item with the phrase “In connection with the above,” linking the two matters, but they do not state how Golden Circle Nutrition and C.E.F.S. relate to one another or to the Community Center kitchen. Nothing in either document establishes whether they are the same tenant, affiliated organizations, or separate parties.

After discussion, President Jeff Heyen suggested a meeting with the C.E.F.S. representative to discuss the kitchen use and the Memorandum of Understanding renewal. Bryant will set up the meeting, and Heyen and Commissioner Sherry Bergschneider will represent the board, the minutes record.

The agenda listed both matters as discussion items — “Discuss the kitchen use agreement with Golden Circle Nutrition” and “Discuss Memorandum of Understanding with C.E.F.S.” — and no motion or vote appears in the minutes on either.

Background

The Community Center is one of the district’s standing committee portfolios; Commissioner Katie Cross chairs it and reported no business at the October meeting. The kitchen question reached the board through staff rather than through that committee.

Commissioner Christopher Bates was absent from the Oct. 7 meeting. The board adjourned at 8:02 p.m. on a motion by Bergschneider seconded by Commissioner Brian Kulick; as with every motion in the record, the minutes state only that it carried.