Park Board Minutes 2007 06-14-07 United City of Yorkville
APFIDWED
Yorkville Parks and Recreation Department Board Meeting
Administration Office—Riverfront Building, 201 W. Hydraulic Street,
Yorkville, IL 60560
Thursday, June 14, 2007, 7pm
Call to Order:
The meeting was called to order at 7:05 by Chris Rollins.
Roll Call: Chris Rollins, Ken Koch, Van Truman, Debbie Horaz, and Kelly
Sedgewick (arrived at 7:30pm).
Introduction of Guests, City Officials and Staff:
No guests
Director of Parks and Recreation - David Mogle
Superintendent of Parks - Scott Sleezer
Park Planner - Laura Haake
Superintendent of Recreation - Sue Swithin
Public Comment:
None
Presentations:
None
Approval of Minutes:
Y. Wheaton Woods Town Meeting - May 24, 2006
David Mogle stated that the FE Wheaton Woods town meeting minutes are
one page and that it is actually complete. Chris Rollins asked if there are any
changes or corrections or additions. There being none, Chris Rollins
entertained a motion to approve the FE Wheaton Woods meeting minutes.
Motion approved unanimously on voice vote.
2. Minutes - Regular Park Board Meeting - May 24, 2007
On page 5 there is a correction where it says Mr. Petit was upset that trees
were bulldozed on property. It should read that Mr. Leslie was upset.
Van Truman brought up the beverage scoreboard for the Grand Reserve Park
and it's actually for the Steven G. Bridge Park. On page 7, four paragraphs
down it should read . . . . Scoreboards would be purchased for Steven G.
Bridge Memorial Park.
Laura Haake stated there should be a change on Page 6 under old business.
#1. Should be amended to read: The Raintree Park B OSLAD Grant
application should be completed by July 1st.
Haake noted that line #5 under old business on that same page should be
taken out completely.
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Chris Rollins asked if anyone would like to offer a motion to accept these
minutes of Thursday May 24th meeting as amended. Motion was made and
seconded for the Thursday May 24th meeting and all in favor. Minutes were
( approved unanimously on voice vote.
Bills Review:
Ken Koch brought up the electric bill on page two of the Invoices Due Detail
Board Report. David Mogle stated that there were two electric bills separated
by about a month. There is some question raised on the electricity being
used and what we are being billed for.
Scott Sleezer explained that there is a demand fee. It's a one-time fee that is
billed each month. He stated that once you turn the lights on you get
charged the demand fee. It's basically a charge they charge you just to have
the electricity.
Next Ken Koch raised a question on the $638.22 battery on page 14 under
Visa. Sue Swithin said that the battery is a back up for the server.
Chris Rollins asked if there were any further questions or concerns on the
cash analysis bills list. None was raised and a motion was made by Chris
Rollins and seconded by Debbie Horaz to approve the cash analysis bills list.
A roll call vote was taken and it passed unanimously: Rollins-yes; Koch-yes;
Truman-yes; Horaz-yes.
Old Business:
1. Beverage Contract
David Mogle gave the introduction on the beverage contract. He stated this is
the first time that the staff will be recommending a five year"exclusive"
contract with Pepsi at park concession stands. Pepsi will pay the Park and
Recreation Department $5000.
Sue Swithin negotiated with Pepsi and Coke. She got a better offer through
Pepsi. Swithin noted that now during school pop machines are not vending to
the kids during school hours thus Pepsi and Coke are not giving away a lot of
exclusives and scoreboards like they used to.
Sue Swithin states Pepsi gave us a better offer where they would give us
$5000 in exchange for an exclusive contract for five years of service for both
Beecher and Bridge Parks. We took away our fountain service and are selling
only bottled beverages. Swithin said we took away our fountain service
because they were expensive and we weren't making enough money to keep
them in use. Swithin also stated that Pepsi will be leasing to us coolers for
no cost. A large double door cooler and a single cooler in each concession
stand. We'll run this for five years and will review annually.
Sue Swithin's goal is to begin to work with various companies to see how
many and what kind of scoreboards we can purchase with that money.
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Swithin stated that there will be a machine at Bridge, Beecher and Riverfront
Park. She said we will be stocking the machines ourselves which saves us
money and allows us to continue to buy the product that we do now and just
( stock the machines outside and all that money goes back to us.
Chris Rollins brought up a concern on the Beverage Agreement on line #4. It
stated that customer grants to PEPSI the right of first refusal to serve as
official advertiser and promoter to the Customer. . . .
Rollins assumed that this means anything we want to advertise or promote
we would have to give them the first right of refusal to decide if they, PEPSI,
would want to be a promoter of. That's a broad plank in the agreement.
Chris Rollins also brought up line #8 of the agreement and states that it
means, to him, that anyone we have do anything on our premises whether
it's of a temporary nature, permanent, under contract or as an independent
they would all be under this umbrella where they would be required to use
Pepsi products. We would have to be the enforcer because we would have to
inform and require them to do that. Rollins felt this part of the agreement
seems very restrictive.
Rollins noted that we're not going to enforce our vendors to research Pepsi
and sell their product line and carry their stuff. We don't want Pepsi to have
the first right of refusal to advertise and promote every single City event.
Again Rollins felt that this is a contract that will work for us, but we just need
to make some changes.
Sue Swithin stated that the agreement only pertains to the Beecher and
Bridge concessions.
Chris Rollins also brought up a concern on line #14 that if we find ourselves
in breach of the contract Pepsi can just come and take their coolers. Chris
Rollins is afraid if we have a tiff with Pepsi they could just come immediately
and take their coolers and their equipment. He said that Pepsi having
immediate access to the facilities to take possession is a broad statement.
Rollins doesn't think any of these are reasons not to accept the agreement
but feels that some of the language needs to be softened or we need
exclusions or else this isn't going to work for us. For all practical purposes
Rollins said that we wouldn't be able to comply with this. Ken Koch felt that
on #14 there should be some kind of notice before they just come and take
their equipment, such as a 60 day notice.
Debbie Horaz brought up her concern on line #19 that it is redundant of line
#14. Chris Rollins believes that the last line of #19 should be taken out of
the contract. He says the first part of #19 is talking about transfer. Chris
Rollins said we'd abide by the first part of it regarding the transfers.
David Mogle stated that even though we need to go ahead with this contract
right away we will just include a list of exclusions and we can convey to them
that we can't comply with everything in the agreement. Mogle stated that
we need to have the changes by the 281h of June. Sue Swithin said that she'd
get it all cleaned up and emailed out.
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Chris Rollins entertained a motion to approve this beverage agreement
pending modifications of items #4, #8, #14 and striking last line of #19 as
( discussed. Motion was made by Rollins and seconded. All were approved
unanimously on voice vote.
2. Upcoming Park Open House and Dedication
David Mogle stated that there are new parks and playgrounds to be
dedicated and we would encourage City Council members to come out.
Mogle announced two parks are on the horizon.
The first Park Open House, Friday June 29th is at 6:00pm at RainTree. That's
the small dinosaur theme park. There will be a lot of activities going on
including a short program. David Mogle invited the ward alderman and the
mayor to attend. Mogle asked the Board if they would be available to come.
Ken Koch asked to receive emails on the open houses to serve as reminders.
David Mogle also announced that on Tuesday the 3rd of July we are
cooperating with YYBSA at Bridge Park. They're having their all-star games,
which is actually their end of season event, and we're going to include a park
dedication at that time. We've made contact with family members of Steven
Bridge, and some are going to be there. The event will take place at 6:00pm
so the alderman can participate prior to the City Council meeting.
Chris Rollins asked if there will be a dedication plaque going up in the park
and Scott Sleezer said that the park won't be completed but that the there
( will be a sign with the park name. However, the dedication sign will not be
ready by the 3rd . When it is ready it will go up near the playground. Scott
Sleezer also stated that when the dedication sign is complete that it will be
followed by another program so that family members unavailable on July 3rd
can attend.
David Mogle said that he would send emails regarding the dedications as
reminders for the Board to attend.
New Business:
1. Whispering Meadows Construction Bid Results
David Mogle started off by stating they opened four bids. He stated that the
low bid would be recommended or will be made pending written confirmation
that the developer will grade the site to our specifications. The alternative
would be that we would have to put more grading costs in the contract.
Scott Sleezer stated that L.J. Dodd was the low bidder for the Base Bid and
the Add Alternates. However, the BMX track Add Alt. came in extremely
high. The bulk of that was moving 12 thousand cubic yards of dirt. Sleezer
recommends L.J. Dodd for the Base Bid and for all the Add Alt with the
exception of the BMX course.
Sleezer noted that the way that we're going to get the BMX course built will
be to use a developer in town that is willing to move the dirt to the park
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location, but doesn't want to their name publicized. Sleezer said they agreed
to move the dirt to our location without any cost to us, and that will be a
huge savings. Sleezer thinks we could get this course built publicly for 30
thousand dollars using in house labor and renting some equipment and using
an excavation company to purchase the clay to cap the track ourselves.
Sleezer said these things are really built by the community and it can
become a reality. Sleezer also said that he would like to see the Board
approve this pending that we get written confirmation from the developer
that he is going to in fact move the dirt for us.
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Chris Rollins brought up the fact that the bid difference on the base bids are
actually 100 thousand dollars difference between L.J. Dodd and the MM
Burke company however the Add Alt bids are closely together. Rollins is
concerned that the contractors are not in an understanding of the actual bid.
Scott Sleezer noted that Laura Haake has worked extensively with L.J. Dodd
and they do great work. L.J. Dodd has been around the area for a long time
and they are in understanding of the bid.
Ken Koch brought up a concern that we are over budget on this and Laura
Haake said that we were actually under budget and explained the bid.
Mr. Koch asks if we are short on the Land Cash. David Mogle stated that he
has land cash obligation information on his computer. Mogle said keeping in
mind these are the numbers we talked about when we applied for the grant
all along so nothing has changed since we applied for the grant a year and a
half ago. Mogle also stated that there is over a million dollars in the budget
to fund both parks. Scott Sleezer noted that there should even be money left
over.
David Mogal says that there are two main difficulties in the Land Cash
Budget.
1. Because of the residential slow down the permits that were budgeted for
last fiscal year were off the mark.
2. The Hoover holding cost put strain on the land cash budget.
Chris Rollins requested that there be a land cash report be provided that way
we can all keep in mind where we stand in with the total
Rollins entertained a motion to accept the recommendation, pending a
confirmation that the developer will create the area as we ask them, to
award the contract to L.J. Dodd for the construction of Whispering Meadows
Park Development for the amount of $333,880.00. Motion approved
unanimously on voice vote.
2. Park Development Standards
Laura Haake offered up the attached packet of development standards.
Haake included the old and new Park Board development standards for the
Board reference. Haake went through and reformatted so it is easier to read
and reference. Haake wants everyone to look at it and have questions to
bring up at the next board meeting.
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Chris Rollins asked if there is any other new business. There being no new
business, Rollins asks that everyone be ready to discuss this further for the
July 26th board meeting and to E-mail Laura with questions and or concerns.
Reports:
1. Directors Report
A Trail May
David Mogle mentioned in his memo that Scott Sleezer and Laura Haake
have been working on updating our bike trail maps. He is going to take this
to the next COW meeting at their request so they know how we're coming
along on the bike trail issues.
Chris Rollins is pleased that we have many points of connection with those
regional trail plans as well as the existing local connections that we have
going.
Laura Haake explained how they have broken up the layout into four
quadrants and each section of the trail maps now can be viewed in detail.
Haake explains that this layout will help when it comes time to deal with the
developers. They will get a better feel for where we want our regional trails.
Haake is planning on setting up meetings with local municipalities so we can
actually merge our trail maps together.
Haake also explained the blue dashed lines on the plans show trails that have
already been agreed upon. She gives example on section 133: Fox Road to
east Highpoint Road. Green dashed lines are trails that require more
revisions.
Scott Sleezer explained that he and Haake have put into place a detailed
plan. They sat down and put together a plan for trails that could actually be
built, that were realistic. Sleezer says putting a trail down town leading to
Silver Springs is unlikely because of White Oak and those who have said no
you're not coming through our subdivision. They've also contacted Rail Net
and not yet heard back from them.
Ken Koch said you could go around the White Oak but Sleezer said that the
property around it is privately owned because he's checked into it. Sleezer
reiterates that the number one goal is to plan what is realistic and to allow
the plans to be easy enough to follow so that anyone could pick it up and
take a look at it if Laura or he were not there anymore. Currently this is a
work in progress and it will always be but these plans now are showing what
we'd like to do and we have to have something to show to the developers
now.
Debbie Horaz brought up a question regarding Westbury. Chris Rollins stated
that at the next board meeting we should talk about the status of Westbury
and what their remittances to the City are and what ultimately that may
mean. Then talk about strategies that may be beneficial. Rollins noted they
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owe the City a large sum of money and maybe depending on payment or
settlement we could use that towards park and recreational development
given the uses we've talked about given in the areas. Rollins also stated it's
best for David Mogle and the professional staff to get information on new
buildings such as the new Wal-Mart and the Water Park. Those could be set
backs for us when they start cutting. We should get the details on those
things and put in place a strategy.
Laura Haake asked that if anyone has any questions to please bring them
back to the next meeting and suggested that they draw on the big maps so
they can discuss trails and any concerns.
B Community Survey
David Mogle brought to the Board a report on the public surveys. Mogle said
he spoke to NIU Public Opinion Lab and they said that the phone survey
would be best because of the technology and that it is more economical and
accurate. However when we took it to the Council members there was some
apprehension from some members. Mogle said that he'd kick it back and he
talked to Bob Arde, the Director at the Lab, and he said they could actually
do mail surveys but they suggest a phone survey would be best.
The City Council wanted a representative from NIU Public Opinion Lab to
come out and Mogle has arranged that for the next COW meeting on the 19th
of June. Our dead line for having a survey done is September. Chris Rollins
stated that he hopes this will be finalized this next COW meeting.
C YMCA Letter
( David Mogle brought up the next item and that is the YMCA. Mogle stated
that he wrote the final letter and attached the comments that he ran through
the Park Board a few weeks ago and got a response back from Andrew
Bobbit, who is the Director, and he thanked Dave and the Park Board for
their consideration and wants to talk to Mayor Burd about it.
Chris Rollins thought the letter was well written and thorough. Rollins wants
the Council to know that this has been thoroughly discussed. He also wanted
Park Board members to be present at Council meetings. Ken Koch suggested
Park Board members talk to their alderman. Mogle stated that Jason Leslie is
real hopeful. Rollins said we need to let the Council know we have a budget
and we have some goals and we have a master planning process and states
that we can't let others critical needs become our critical needs.
D City Budget Report
David Mogle explained the attached report on the park and recreation budget
accounts. Mogle noted that the accounts highlighted were over budget for the
end of the fiscal year. Mogle said this report was provided to the Council on a
form for all departments to report on overages. Mogle explained that the
budget overages were not the whole story, that there were many accounts
that came in under budget and that the entire department ended the year
with a healthy surplus.
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Mogle had a detailed Revenue and Expense Report run, which he shared with
the Park Board printing out the bottom line.
j Chris Rollins thought that the report doesn't reflect an accurate overall report
of what's really going on in the budget. The second thing he emphasized
about it is the need of taking a look at the number of individual line items in
the budget, in particular groups, and ask how accurate are people at
projecting what their actual needs are for these particular items and if
they're not very accurately projected then that would be a tool to use in next
years budget to say we need to adjust our expenditures to something more
realistic so it doesn't appear that we are over spending. Rollins brought up
that the report shows that salary is over budget and that doesn't make sense
at all. Rollins said that this report has limited utility and whoever produces
these reports should also explain what the information means. David Mogle
said that Susan explained the report to Council and in a way that was pretty
supportive. Mogle stated she also brought out that these were revised budget
figures. Rollins explained that he doesn't want this information to be used
inappropriately at all.
E Hiding Spot Park
David Mogle brought an update on Hiding Spot Park. Mogle reminded the
Board that this is a community build that will happen on August 18th. This is
a great opportunity to partner with a nationally recognized firm, Game Time.
They are producing a new line of equipment intentionally because they feel
they can utilize this as a promotional build that they can use in their catalogs
and can unveil at the NRPA conference. They are willing to give Yorkville
thousands of dollars worth of equipment. The budget is about thirty thousand
dollars for equipment and they will donate much more. It is a music theme
and it has not yet been released to the public.
Laura Haake stated that they had put out for a RFP and asked manufacturers
for a music theme. One of the CEO's of Game Time really wants to make
music a little more realistic. He wants kids to actually to be able to play
music at the park. Haake showed the park diagram and stated that they
want to build so that there is ADA accessibility. On this playground design,
there are six-foot wide AD accessible ramps. Tom also brought musical
instrument prototypes and that can actually be played. Part of the
playground will be set up resembling a concert area. No one else has
equipment like this and he's really excited
Scott Sleezer said another idea of this park is to make our parks much more
inclusive than they have been. The idea of getting a child up on the
equipment in a wheel chair is an important one. Sleezer also brought up
what makes it is really unique to Game Time is that they are the only ones
doing these doublewide ramps. Music equipment is also designed to play
individually or as a group. There are so many good things about this park.
Sleezer noted there are going to be about two hundred people there when we
really only need about fifty to build it. Sleezer hopes that all the Board
members and Alderman could be there to participate as well. It's going to be
l the Saturday the 18th of August and will be built in one day.
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Recreation Report:
Golf Outing
( Sue Swithin summarized that the golf report numbers were lower than last
year due to slower development and possibly the focus on the recent
election. It was actually really enjoyable; they had a lot of compliments.
Swithin said that with all said and done Tim did a nice job of bringing in a
substantial net profit and this was his first year running the fundraiser.
Kelly Sedgewick said he had some complaints about the price of the outing.
He said for the money they should get a nice meal such as a steak dinner. He
noticed at some other golf outings one would pay $80 - $100 and get a nice
steak dinner. Swithin said she would look into that. She wants them to have
good food and feels the menu is due for a change anyway.
Next Swithin said that she got a call from a person on student council at the
high school to see if we could help at a fundraising event at the end of the
year for them. They wanted us to set up our out door movie and donate our
time and staff to have that for the students. Swithin said that they had that
put together in just a couple of days and all her staff and Scott's staff helped
out. It turned out to be a great event and said that she would help out again.
Summer Programs
Sue Swithin said she'll have an entire special events list put together and
emailed out so everyone will have reminders to attend the events.
( Parkers Playtime Pre-School
Sue Swithin said they had a great year again with a full enrollment of sixty.
Things are in the works for a second pre-school for thirty students down at
River Front and it's going up as we speak.
Fishing Grant
Sue Swithin noted that this is not a financial grant right now but a structural
grant where Joe Gatlin will be teaching kids, he'll teach it to instructors, and
then as we see the need the next time we do it we'll turn it into a budget
issue and hopefully get some grant money that way. Right now it's
instructional where he gets certification and he teaches a very nice
interesting fishing class.
Interns
Sue Swithin concluded with a report on the two interns that they hired. She
put out a posting for one and two kids needed a summer internship to get
graded to get a degree so she hired the both of them. They are on a stipend
of $140 a week. They are on top of everything, Swithin says! She is very
happy to evaluate them and give them a final grade.
Additional Business:
David Mogle will be out of the office tomorrow, Friday June 15th, and Monday
June 18th back in the office on Tuesday June 19tH
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r,
Adjournment:
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Chris Rollins entertained a motion for adjournment at 9:03 pm and
unanimously on voice vote board approves.
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Next meeting: June 28, 2007
Minutes Respectfully Submitted By:
Jamie Cheatham
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