Loading...
Park Board Minutes 2006 05-11-06 UNITED CITY OF YORKVILLE YORKVILLE PARKS &RECREATION DEPARTMENT BOARD MEETING Parks &c Recreation Administrative Offices Riverfrout Building Thursday,May 11,2006 MINUTES CALL TO ORDER: Meeting was called to order by Chris Rollins at 7:02 p.m. ROLL CALL: Chris Rollins, Ken Koch,Van Truman (left at 8:20), Tammy Smock, and Gary Golinski GUESTS/CITY OFFICIALS/STAFF: David Mogle,Director Sue Swithin, Superintendent of Recreation Vicki Morkert Mike Morkert PUBLIC COMMENTS: None PRESENTATION: None APPROVAL OF MINUTES: The minutes from the April 27,2006 Board meeting was approved on motion by Van Truman and seconded by Gary Golinski. The motion was unanimously approved. BILLS REVIEW: Cash.Analysis&Bills List Two items were added to the bills list—Blackberry Oaks Golf Course for 170 golfers in the amount of$9,340.86 and Ralph's Place for beverages, lunch;and dinner in the amount of$8,361.48. Next year Sue Switbin will bring this to the Board before the event to establish a"do not exceed amount." There were checks for$4,000 and$2,310.35 for six park signs. In the future Gary Golinski recommended putting the park names in the description. There was a check for$896.06 for a new wheelchair swing at Hiding Spot Park to replace the old one. The check for$2,803.00 was for computers on the asset replacement program. Two computers were added at the recreation office. i 1 Gary Golinski motioned to approve the bills list with the addition of the two checks to Blackberry Oaks Golf Course in the amount of$9,340.86 and to Ralph's Place in the amount of$8,361.48. The motion was seconded by Ken Koch, Roll call vote: Chris Rollins—Yes, Ken Koch—Yes,Van Truman—Yes,Tammy Smock—Yes, and Gary Golinski—Yes. The motion was unanimously approved. OLD BUSINESS: Regional Ball Diamond Landscaping Plan There was an individual next to the regional ball diamond wanting a stockade fence. To do this is very expensive, however. Instead, a landscaping plan was designed by our park planner to act as a buffer. The developer agreed to put in the landscaping at his cost as long as the cost is reasonable. It will cost approximately $5,000 for materials and another $5,000 for mulch and watering. The landscaping plan will be passed on to MPL Currently,the homeowner has a white rail fence around their pasture area. The added landscaping area should look very nicely and should detour people more to stay away' from that area. People may stand against a fence, but they usually do not stand in the middle of landscaping. Although the landscaping may be small when Planted,it will grow so that the view is blocked more. By the individual's request,the grass on the park side of her property will also not be cut. And for the safety of the horses,the park planner made sure that none of the landscaping was poisonous to horses. This plan will be shown to the individual. Old Post Office Rehabilitation and Use for Of The City owns. old post office and it has been vacated since the opening of the new one. It is 3,000 square feet of space. The mayor suggested having Parks and Recreation and the Building Department share this facility. David Mogle does feel that it is practical to have the staff altogether, rather than spread out through the City. He would like to approach this with interest. He would,however, like to have the whole building for Parks and Recreation only as it would help with program space too. It was suggested to make the building into one big room and use cubicles to divide it up because if the New Life Church became available to purchase it would be an ideal situation for program space. The Riverfront Building then could possibly be used by the Building Department. Chris Rollins indicated that if Parks and Recreation must share their space,then they would prefer to share it with community development or someone that would have synergy with them. However, community development works very closely with engineering so they would like to keep that department at City Hall. The expenses have not been settled yet. They have not figured in moving and the cost of cubicles. According to Sue Swithin, staff is receptive to the idea. It should be an easier move this time and they are already at capacity where they currently are. If they move, however, Sue Swithin would like to have a community room in the facility, which would make it very hard to share the facility. The new phone system would need to be moved over along with networking. And she also believes the windows need to be made larger, knocking out cinderblocks,in order for the facility not to feel like a dungeon. She would, though, still like to have the Riverfront Building for the Board meetings. 2 Tammy Smock wanted to note that the old post office is not a great location for children. The first reason being that it is right on the river and there is no barrier to keep the children from running into the water. Fencing can be put up on one side of the building to keep children away. The other side, however,is privately owned. There would not be parking on that side of the building then too. The second reason is that there is questionable housing on one side of the building. It is thought that there are people on the sex offenders list living there. Sex offenders are not allowed to live within a certain distance of schools, as established by law. Staff will need to check to see if this applies to all children' activities or only schools and what liability the City would have. The Board discussed the potential for the area. On that topic David Mogle suggested that the island in the river would make a fantastic park with a bridge to the island. The Board agreed that renovating the building should be done since they would need to renovate any building that they would move into. Chris Rollins suggested that they could possibly leverage a partnership with a developer that they may not want the land cash contribution. Instead,they can ask them to participate in the renovation of building. This would give them some funding to do more than just the minimum basics to it. It does not make a lot of sense to acquire a building like that without doing the windows, etc.,to make it useful long term for a variety of purposes. It will also be cheaper to do it with 2006 dollars rather than 2010 dollars. Unfortunately,they have not anticipated this type of expenditure. With the garage, it would be nice to someday have a number of facilities along the riverfront that would all be within walking distance of each other. A teen center is definitely needed in the City. Using the old post office will not conclude the idea of using the garage. Since we will not need rent paid on the current facility and Harold Oliver was going to help with the rent for five years,he may want to help Parks and Recreation renovate the old post office building. Forest Preserve District/City Land Use Agreement There was a suggestion several months ago to swap the 88 acres along Blackberry Creek, currently held by Corlands,with the forest preserve district in order to own the 60 plus acres at Hoover for program space for the City. According to our grant consultants, This could never be possible because of the funding mechanism that is purchasing that property. The City can only lease it. The 88 acres can be used as a match for an OSLAD grant as long as it has not been deeded to the City. Also, eight of the nine parks in Grand Reserve have not yet been deeded to the City. Those parcels not deeded to the City can be a match for a grant. It is possible that Parks and Recreation may be able to use some of this land as a match for the grant that is funding the renovation of Prairie Meadows Park. Chris Rollins is very interested in finding out the boundaries of what the agreement will be with the outdoor education center. There needs to be a defined relationship in place and understand what ownership means versus stewardship versus use and management. It was the understanding of the Board that the City would get use of the open space areas 3 there and that they would be able to program,use, and develop that space. It definitely needs to be settled if the forest preserve states that there is some restriction on the City doing this because of the ownership issue. The Board is under the assumption that they will be able to use their property at Hoover fully so they were doing less at other park places. The City is making a payment to the forest preserve,to contribute to the Corlands holding fee, and they need to know what they are buying with it. They are paying for the use of 60 plus acres but there is no written agreement stating this or of what limitations there may be. Although the forest preserve is willing to let the City make any changes to the concept plan,this may also mean that the forest preserve can also make any changes that they want too. Parks and Recreations needs to know what the lease constitutes. If they are using the citizen's money to make improvements there,the agreement must be a 99 year agreement without interruption. Theoretically,this was a good partnership because the county's business was passive recreation and the City's business is more active recreation. December 31, 2007 is when the Boy Scouts will vacate the area. The forest preserve is also talking with the Boy Scouts about a lease agreement after they vacate in 2007. After 2007 Parks and Recreation will need to push forward to make it useful. Development, time, and economic pressure out there are mounting. A plan must be put in place in order to even make the space useful. Parks and Recreation needs to emphasize that there needs to be more.definifion in the agreement and a sense of urgency..The Board would like to see the original agreement, which must be somewhere. David Mogle will continue to research this. Chris Rollins suggests that the City Attorney be involved in this. School district Liaison to Park Board It is official that Seth Schoonover,the athletic director,will be the School Board's liaison. David Dockstader will be the alternate. David Mogle will encourage Seth Schoonover to attend the next Board meeting. Golf Outing Gary Golinski wanted to share with the Board the wonderful job Sue Swithin and her staff did with the golf outing. It was a good time and well done. Catalog Chris Rollins also wanted to complement the catalog. It is nicely done. Tammy Smock suggested adding a card, as the Fox Valley Park District does,highlighting the accomplishments of Parks and Recreation for 2005-06. The public may not know about all that is available and what has been done. Sue Swithin suggested possibly doing two a year—the first one highlighting parks and the second one highlighting recreation. Gary Golinski thought that the Board's e-mail addresses should be added in the catalog or on the webpage. NEW BUSINESS: Town Square Vendor Request Mike and Vicki Morkert requested to be a vendor in Town Square for the summer. Their business name is Java Plus. They have a portable gourmet coffee machine that makes Lattes,Mochas, espresso, cappuccinos as well as hot chocolate and chi tea. They also 4 make fruit smoothie blasts and kids kremes. They would be a beverage/repackaged dessert vendor only. Before this request was granted, Sue Swithin wanted to confirm that any changes to the provided menu would be approved by her. She also wanted to confirm that they follow all health department issues, and that she receives a copy of their licensing. She informed them that they may need to be rotated around the park for the purpose of the turf wear and tear. She asked that they have a consistent time that they are there and to notify her if they want more or less time. She also informed them that there is a seasonal fee to be a vendor at the park. Sue will check on the availability of electricity as using the City's electricity would probably look better than them using a generator. Java Plus will be under a 10 foot by 10 foot white canopy tent that will be set up daily, Monday through Friday. The coffee will be on a cart with a couple of tables set up for the blenders, coffee, etc. Chris Rollins wanted to stress the importance of maintaining the appearance of the park as Town Square is a special park for Yorkville. Tammy Smock did want to make sure that everything Java Plus used was within the 10 foot by 10 foot tent and that there was consideration towards the Hahns,who have been setting up in the park for years. Vicki Morkert assured Tammy that everything that they use will be,within the.tent and that they think highly.of the Hahns. In.fact,they are not. ... , ... .._.... selling water and soda, as they usually do, since the Hahns sell it. Sue Swithin offered Java Plus to come during Music Under the Stars, which they will consider. Sue Switbin will also check to see if Java Plus could sell prepackaged chocolate chip cookies. Garbage cans are provided for the consumers, but Java Plus' garbage must be taken as they leave. Only one sign per vender is allowed in front of their operation. Signage within the tent and a banner attached to the tent is okay. The Board unanimously agreed to accept the application. Park Board Officers and Park Assignments Chris Rollins wanted to state that an important part of the job is making sure that the parks are well kept. The Board needs to be the eyes and ears for the park. Poor condition of the parks gives an overall impression on the community. Ken Koch nominated Chris Rollins for Board President. Tammy Smock seconded the nomination. Chris Rollins nominated Ken Koch for Board Vice President. Gary Golinski seconded the nomination. The Vice President will chair the meetings in the event the president cannot. Tammy Smock nominated Gary Golinski as Board Secretary. Chris Rollins seconded the nomination. The Board Secretary may need to get the minutes from other meetings,be the official minute taker in the event the minute taker cannot make it, and be the minute taker for executive sessions. Chris Rollins nominated Van Truman as the Board Treasurer. The Board Treasurer will act as liaison with the City Treasurer and as the point person on discussion of the budget. 5 The Board unanimously agreed to the elected slate of officers. Each Board member randomly received one planning area that was high density and one area that was low density. The park assignments are as follows: Ken Koch: Planning Areas 1 &4 Chris Rollins: Planning Areas 8, 10, & 6* (*Area 6 will go to the new Board member) Gary Golmski: Planning Areas 2 & 7 Tammy Smock: Planning Areas 11 & 5 Van Truman: Planning Areas 9 & 3 A list will be typed up indicating the parks in each planning area and which Board member has which parka IAPD Membership Yorkville can join the Illinois Association of Park Districts as long as the yearly dues of $557 are paid(this years cost is being prorated from June 1). Based on what all that the association has to offer, it would be worthwhile to join. This will put Yorkville in the directory to get networking opportunities and it will benefit the Board members. The benefits..of association.membership are.legal.services,,legislative.advocacy,.financial ,> management services,public visibility for our programs, and staff searching. They have lots of publications and videos and are very in touch with what is going on in the municipal parks and recreation industry. The Board unanimously agreed to join the IAPD. t YMCA/City Partnership The YMCA contacted the Mayor and a meeting was held with the YMCA Executive Director and the YMCA Board President because they wanted to inform the City that they plan to build an east YMCA on 4.4 acres of land from land donated by MPI. They were inquiring on the interest of the City having a partnership with them. One concern was if there would be duplication or conflict. David Mogle believes it is worth looking into seeing if there was-something that Parks and Recreation could cooperate with especially since Yorkville is facility poor. It would be an indoor facility across from a great outdoor facility that the City owns. Chris Rollins indicated that he is not opposed to something like this. The agreement,. though,would need to be very specific on what they plan to do with the YMCA and what they expect to get out of it. Because the YMCA is a very aggressive fundraiser, especially in the corporate realm,the corporate people sometimes get preferential use of the facility over the general public people. Parks and Recreation would need to make sure that the public get the full value. Soccer and basketball are two areas where there would be duplication. Sue Swithin indicated that Parks and Recreation and the YMCA still share programs, So where the YMCA is strong, Parks and Recreation lets them stay strong. Where Parks and Recreation excels,they will continue their program to excel. 6 The location of the new YMCA will be closer to Montgomery than to most Yorkville residents. The.concein is that there will be more Montgomery citizens than Yorkville citizens at our park, especially since Montgomery does not have much for recreation. If Yorkville does a program at the YMCA,there may be more non-residents taking advantage of the program. There would need to be some control through registration with a reduced fee or preferential scheduling time for Yorkville citizens in order to agree to do the program there. Tammy Smock wanted to caution that Parks and Recreation currently sits well respected in the community for what they offer in terms of services and her concern would be whether partnering with the YMCA could change the way the public perceives us. She feels that Parks and Recreation would only make the YMCA look better. The level of upkeep and maintenance would also need to be up to Parks and Recreation's standards. On a side note, David Mogle wanted to mention that he felt that the old Lions Club pool that was run by the YMCA before it closed would make a great city park. Granted,the pool would need to come out. The land overlooks the river and it would make a great place for tennis courts or a splash playground. It is something to consider since it is a prime piece of property. The dispute on the ownership of the property has yet to be resolved between the Lions Club and the YMCA so it was recommended to be cautious _. . . . ,on.this. . ,. REPORTS Angie Alwood was hired for the toddler/youth/teen/active adult day-to-day instructional classes. She comes with much experience. She will start on May 22, 2006 and will be invited to a Board meeting. The hiring of an athletic coordinator is taking a little longer than expected. The position should be hired out by next week before soccer season starts. Yorkville Congregational Church increased the cost for the rent by$100 more per month. It still is very reasonable to be using this facility. In fact,every year they seem to give Parks and Recreation more space. It is a good partnership. The Board gave their approval and it will be brought to the mayor. The recalled swings should come in any time now. The signs on the poles indicate that the swings should be back so people are starting to ask where the swings are. Staff will follow up on this. David Mogle spoke with the manufacturer and it was reiterated that they would come repainted. ADDITIONAL BUSINESS The town meeting will be at the fire department on Monday, May 15,2006 at 6:30PM. Public input is required when applying for an OSLAD grant. The Grand Reserve D Park will be done by the time school starts. There will be a naming contest for the children to name the park. They will try to coordinate this with Sylvia Torto who will be the principal at the school there. The winner will go to the City Council meeting and will be put in the newspaper. 7 Mr. Small received the letter regarding the concession stand and was satisfied. He did reiterate that he would like to see the parks done when the first house goes in. David Mogle asked to see a schedule when that would be before he commits to it. The concession stand was supposed to be completed last year and costs are escalating. David Mogle will get a report back to Gary Golinski regarding Greenbriar Pond by the next Board meeting. The striping of the t-ball fields has been a big help. There are some safety issues with the t-ball field being too close the Beecher 5 baseball field. Someone could get hit with a league ball coming off of that field. The t-ball fields will all be to the east side of the park. Some type of walkway will be marked to keep people away from the league ball games. A citizen wanted to relay their gratitude for Parks and Recreation that they were considering a tribute to volunteer firemen in a park. There were many brave and courageous people that need to be recognized. And they hoped that in this park there would be opportunity for multiple dedications as there are many families in Yorkville that have been part of the volunteer fire department. It will be a meaningful tribute to the community as a whole. ADJOURNMENT: The meeting adjourned at 9:55 p.m. following the motion by Ken Koch and seconded by Tanury Smock. The motion was unanimously approved. Minute Taker—Jeanne Arbet 8