Park Board Minutes 2006 06-08-06 F
UNITED CITY OF YORKVILLE
YORKVILLE PARKS &RECREATION DEPARTMENT BOARD MEETING
Parks &Recreation Administrative Office Riverfront Building
Thursday,June 8,2006
MINUTES
CALL TO ORDER:
Meeting was called to order by Chris Rollins at 7:00 p.m.
ROLL CALL:
Chris Rollins,Ken Koch,Van Truman (Arrived at 7:28 p.m.), Gary Golinski,Debbie
Horaz, and Seth Schoonover
The Board welcomes Debbie Horaz as the newly appointed Park Board member and Seth
Schoonover as the School Board liaison.
GUESTS/CITY OFFICIALS/STAFF:
David Mogle,Director
Scott Sleezer, Superintendent of Parks
Sue Swithin, Superintendent of Recreation
Laura Haake,Park Planner
Joe Gatlin,Recreation Coordinator
Angela Alwood,Recreation Coordinator
Lauren Free,Kendall County Record
Art Mayor (Arrived at 8:10 p.m.)
Dean Wolfer,Alderman (Arrived at•8:35 p.m.)
Sue Swithin introduced and the Board welcomed Joe Gatlin and Angela Alwood,the new
recreation coordinators that have started.
PUBLIC COMMENTS:
None
PRESENTATION:
None
APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
The minutes from the May 25, 2005 Town Meeting and the Park and Recreation Board
Meeting were approved on motion by Gary Golinski and seconded by Ken Koch. The
motion was unanimously approved.
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BILLS REVIEW:
Cash Analysis&Bills List
A stop payment on check#202704 to CEO Productions in the amount of$750.00 that
was issued on June 8,2006 was made due to the vendor misplacing the check.
Replacement check#202763 was reissued. This payment had been previously approved.
Dave Mogle will get Debbie Horaz and Seth Schoonover added to the signature sheets so,
when necessary,they can sign checks for Parks and Recreation. Seth Schoonover,the
School Board liaison,will be a full voting member of the Board which gives him all of
the responsibilities of the Board members.
The check for$2,480.82 is for a new ball field drag. This was a budgeted item from the
mid-year budget adjustment from capital expense.
Ken Koch motioned to approve the bills list. The motion was seconded by.Gary.
Golinski. Roll call vote: Chris Rollins—Yes, Ken Koch—Yes, Gary Golinski—Yes,
Debbie Horaz—Yes, Seth Schoonover—Yes. The motion was unanimously approved.
OLD BUSINESS:
Greenbriar Pond Maintenance
Scott Sleezer spoke with John Cortell of Marine Biochemists and explained the concerns
of the residents about Greenbriar Pond. John Cortell stated that overall the pond is in
fairly good shape. It has a depth of 13 feet. The pond algae were not overly high but the
algae will go up with the heat,which is from the nitrogen running off of the yards into the
storm water management and into the pond. John Cortell suggested four monthly
applications from June to September to help control the algae growth. Weed control will
probably not be needed but if it is needed, the$250 budgeted should cover the expense.
He indicated that some weeds are actually helpful. He does not recommend an aerator
which would cost approximately$12,000, would require maintenance, and would not
really do much for the algae or mosquitoes control.
Chris Rollins asked if the algae control could eventually be done in-house. Scott Sleezer
indicated that it would be a liability issue and it would need to be done by someone
licensed,in which no one in the City is right now. Although someone could get licensed
for this, for the investment it maybe best to use the expertise of the company. Someday
the City may get to the point were they can take over everything and hire a naturalist who
understands ponds and wetlands and can incorporate it into Park and Recreation's active
recreation areas. But for now, with the ongoing evaluations needed, it will be best to
contract the service to keep the pond in a healthy state.
Debbie Horaz has taken pond management classes from the University of Illinois and has
an understanding on how deep the ponds should be and some of the problems. She,too,
believes it would be best to use Marine Biochemists.
Parks and Recreation will do their best to cut from the anticipated expenditures to fit this
into their budget. But because this pond carne from a failed SSA and was not something
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Parks and Recreation budgeted for,Dave Mogle will let John Crois know about this so it
does not come as a surprise that there may be a possible midyear budget adjustment.
Although this is a situation beyond Parks and Recreation's control, it was noted that for
this reason Parks and Recreation has the policy that they do not take detention/retention
areas from new developments so they do not have to deal with this type of problem with
every subdivision that comes in. It was noted that anything that is planted or growing in
Yorkville, the Parks Department maintains. There are very few contractual services done
in Yorkville. Typically, the park staff gets the necessary training and education to carry
out the functions that need to be done.
A motion was made by Ken Koch to approve the expenditure of$1,916.00 with Marine
Biochemists for four monthly applications of algae control at the Greenbriar Pond. Gary
Golinski seconded the motion. Roll call vote: Chris Rollins—Yes, Ken Koch—Yes,
Gary Golinski—Yes,Debbie Horan Yes, Seth Schoonover—Yes. The motion was
unanimously approved.
Park/Public Works Administration & Operations Center Architectural
This is a standard thirty page architectural agreement. This will be brought back for the
next meeting so the Board has time to review it. Dave Mogle highlighted some areas that
the Board will need to focus on. They are as follows:
• The description of the project
• The basic services the architect is providing(Article 2)
• The fees (Article 11) Sente Rubel is proposing 8% although there is
room for negotiation. .
• The services during construction(Paragraph 2.6.5)
The construction delivery method–Pre-qualified general contractor or a
construction management firm
Dave Mogle will try to have the architect at the next meeting. Chris Rollins asked to find
out if there were a preference by the City on other City construction projects for either a
use of a general contractor versus a construction management firm. Dave Mogle has
worked with both and found they both have their pros and cons. He did note, though,that
construction management tends to get construction done faster because it eliminates some
of the middle men. It was noted that the library is using construction management.
Dave Mogle also wanted to note that there is a 9%inflation increase to build this building
taking the total to $5.2 million. When this information was shared with the Public Works
Committee, it was suggested,therefore,not to build this building too small,possibly
putting in the future 10,000 square foot building in now at today's prices since the cost
will go up each year. To do this it will cost$1.3 million more. Dave Mogle also shared
this information with the City Financial Department to see if it would be feasible to do. .
Putting up the additional building does not mean they would need to finish the inside of
building.
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Hoover Agreement Review
The agreement is for the transfer of ownership for the Hoover Outdoor Education Center
from the ownership and use of the Boy Scouts of America to the ownership and use of
the Forest Preserve District of Kendall County and the City of Yorkville. There have
been many questions by the Board regarding this agreement. To help answer these
questions Dave Mogle had found the four basic agreements for the Board to review. Two
of the agreements relate directly to the agreement with CorLands which includes the
main agreement and the first amendment to that lease. The other two agreements relate
to the use agreement with the Boy Scouts and the intergovernmental agreement between
the City and the Forest Preserve.
Chris Rollins questioned where Yorkville is in relation to the timetable in the agreements.
The Boy Scouts are now in a phase of preferential use but Yorkville should be able to use
it when the Boy Scouts are not. Chris Rollins is concerned on how it will impact
programs and budget. This information will need to be known for when Parks and
Recreation moves into discussions of the master plan. They will need to look closely at
the phase-in of use in order to coordinate the phase-in of budget to accommodate any
maintenance issues or uses that they may start to undertake. But Parks and Recreation
does not have the Boy Scouts' schedule. The agreement seems straightforward about the
timetable in terms of phasing out the Boy Scouts' ability to use the site. The phasing out
will be until December 2007. After that,the Boy Scouts will be just like any other group
that wanted to use the facility. At that time it would mean that both the Forest Preserve
( and Yorkville will have to give agreement to use the site. According to Jason of the
Forest Preserve, Parks and Recreation can begin using the facility,but the Boy Scouts
will have preferential usage.
The baseball field at Hoover has already been fixed up and is being used by the Yorkville
Reds, The team had gone through the Parks and Recreation staff to find a field to use and
the Hoover field was suggested. Scott Sleezer had indicated that this field was first
offered to YYBS and they did not want to use this field. The Yorkville Reds have
invested money into fixing up the field. Although he felt that this was a good idea and is
not against the Red for finding a facility to use, Chris Rollins felt that this should have
come before the Board for discussion so that they were aware of the agreement and the
team's expectations for the improvements. Also,before the County made any type of
agreement for active recreational use,they should have contacted Yorkville's Park and
Recreation. Chris Rollins felt that if the Board felt at liberty to fix up the baseball field,
Parks and Recreation might have been doing it instead of a private organization. If Parks
and Recreation had made the improvements, then they could have charged a private party
for the use of the field. Chris Rollins is also somewhat upset about the situation because
if they were at the point of the agreement where Parks and Recreation could begin to start
to make improvements and start to use the field,why weren't discussions initiated with
the Forest Preserve to talk about that and how they would proceed with it. He does not
feel that it is appropriate for the Reds to be using the field based on the language of the
intent of the agreement and based on the expectation that Parks and Recreation upholds
their financial end of the agreement. Dave Mogle will be meeting with Jason of the
Forest Preserve next week and he will find out about the agreement and the expectations
between the Reds and the Forest Preserve.
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Chris Rollins questioned if other governmental entities could be made a party to the
agreement because he had heard speculative plans to expand Silver Springs State Park.
Dave Mogle suggested organizing a series of workshops with a county board member to
start to plot a way through this to open a line of communication.
NEW BUSINESS:
Raintree Parks Preliminary Conceptual Plans
Laura Haake presented Parks A and B of Raintree Subdivision. Park A will have a
dinosaur theme and will be a tot lot for children ages 2 to 5. It may have such things as a
bouncing dinosaur, a triceratops climber, a smaller playground,two tot swings, and a
sandbox with buried fossils. There will be a seated wall around the sand area to help
keep sand in and for a sitting place for parents. There may be fossil prints in the
concrete,benches,picnic tables, and security lights. Park A is located near the club
house and a trail will connect it to Park B. The park is not next to the club house parking
lot because the grade is smoother where it is, making less site work necessary. This will
also make a distinction between the private club house and the public park. The park is
less than two acres and is being built with the land cash dollars coming in.
Chris Rollins was concerned about the traffic that will be on Parkside Lane. Although
this will be a fairly main thoroughfare, from the safety standpoint the park is situated
back far enough with good visibility and off of the curve to be safe.
l Park B will be for children ages 5 to 12 years old. It will have larger individual elements,
such as the web climber or climbing wall There will be a trail to connect one end of the
park to the other. By request of the school district there will be tennis courts. Because
this will be the first tennis courts owned by the City,there is a possibility of putting in a
future parking lot off of the driveway to the well site for parking for the tennis courts.,
Whether a parking lot is built there or not, at least it will not be a surprise to a
homeowner if one is built. This goes hand in hand with the lights on the tennis courts.
Chris Rollins also suggested having a spectator area around the tennis courts.
Chris Rollins indicated that if the parking lot near the tennis courts is not built,it will be a .
very far walk to get to the tennis courts from the planned parking lot, especially since the
field and track area that needs to be crossed will be fenced. The reason why the
additional parking lot cannot be built right away is because from a budget standpoint,
Parks and Recreation has a$250,000 budget for this park. The tennis courts alone will
cost$150,000 for two tennis courts. A path from the school to the park will be put in.
Chris Rollins' fear is that if people are put in a position to make such a long walk,they
will start parking in front of people's homes and cutting through people's yards in order
to not have to make this long walk. The people may not even know that they can park by
the school if the parking lot is not in site from the tennis courts. Dave Mogle suggested
having a jointly used parking lot with the maintenance building of the well site. Scott
Sleezer will talk with the School Board about the parking issue.
This will also be the site for the future middle school. Seth Schoonover's believes that
the football field and the track will be done at the same time. The football field will be
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used for youth football and for the varsity soccer. The soccer fields by the park will be
junior fields.
Chris Rollins suggested bringing the tennis courts closer to the school by shifting the
football field north and moving the tennis courts over. This would bring the tennis courts
directly adjacent to the parking. Also,by moving the tennis courts,Parks and Recreation
could build full sized soccer fields instead of junior fields. This would allow a varsity
field and a practice field. They will be able to rotate fields so it won't be so hard on the
turf. Also, all of the lighted things are in one area then and fewer homeowners will be
affected.
Scott Sleezer had indicated that at one point there was talk that the school would have
additional parking by the football field, so closer parking may be available to the tennis
courts. He will talk with the school Board about this and will also inform them of the
proposed suggestions.
A town meeting will be scheduled regarding the Raintree Parks once Parks and Schools,
have had time to discuss this and to come into an agreement.
Park B will have a castle theme. Although it is preliminary and budget still needs to be
worked out, the idea is to have a bridge to walk into and around the playground to give a
moat-like feel, to have caste-like equipment, flags on top of the shelter,possibly a giant
( chair to climb on, and a king and queen chair to sit on.
The intention is to build Park A first,but they wanted an idea what they would be doing
for Park B before they went to a town meeting so they can give the homeowners an idea
what was to come for the children aged 5— 12. Scott Sleezer indicated that it is very
important to look at land cash versus land so that we have enough cash to develop these
parks.
Grande Reserve Additional Hay'Acre Lot
At a Plan Council Meeting Jason from Pasquinelli Homes asked if the Park Board would
be interested in taking a small extra piece of property for the use of a trail head to build a
parking lot. It is a half acre lot off of Kennedy Road. Scott Sleezer feels that Public
Works would benefit more by having this lot because this lot is adjacent to a well site.
Public Works may want to build a small storage building there some day. It will be able
to be accessed off of his site on Bristol Ridge. From experience,Dave Mogle indicated
that a small parking lot close to residential areas have not worked out. People tend to
loiter,change their oil, and play their boom boxes there. Other suggestions for this lot
were to have this as a garden park or nursery. Although they will not build a parking lot
there,they will think of a creative way to use the lot.
REPORTS
Spring classes have just been finished and summer classes have just begun. Safety Town
is going on this week and Camp 911 is scheduled for one day next week. The preschool
program ended with its graduation. The preschool program is going very well with great
staff. Soccer is up and going and increasing in numbers. This year Recreation is trying
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in house soccer for 10-12 years olds and some local travel. There maybe an opportunity
for high school soccer in 2008-2009. Sue Swithin recommends having a soccer club in
the middle school to keep the continuity going for high school. The concession stand is
open and ruing. It is very busy and is going very well. The Golf Outing did extremely
well. Music Under the Stars starts on Friday and the Farmers Market starts on Saturday.
Next Friday will be the movie at Beecher.
After hearing about the Kendall County Forest Preserve wanting to establish a
foundation, Sue Swithin started thinking about the foundation established for the
Riverfront Park. She believes that there are still funds in the Riverfront Foundation. She
would like to see if the foundation can be continued and re-directed or changed. Dave
Mogle indicated that with the OSLAD grant,if we do not want to pay the fees from a
company like CorLands to hold the park,the foundation can hold the park and the parcels
can be used for a matching grant. This would save money to put into other parks by
using parcels that are not titled to the City. Mayor Prochaska mentioned that he is not
sure if the foundation is still open but knows that the not-for-profit Hometown Days has
not been disbanded yet and are intending on turning over everything to Parks and
Recreation.
The recalled swings have been repaired at all of the parks.
ADDITIONAL BUSINESS
A park naming request had come in as an aftermath of the tragedy at the dam as a way to
honor the two young men who heroically gave their lives to try to save another.
Unfortunately,it does not meet the park naming policy,but they would like to do
something to honor these men. They will take some time to collect all ideas expressed
and then determine what-would be the most fitting memorial. Some suggestions were
having a memorial on one of the islands, a memorial park(using trees,benches, and
paving stones), a river side plaque, a monument, a light that shines on the dam, a garden;
a bridge and a feature within one of the parks. The best idea may not have presented
itself yet and would like to consider what the families would like done. Dave Mogle will
draft a letter stating that although a park will not be named after these individuals, there
are many opportunities that have already been thought of to memorialize them and will
list a few of the suggestions and ask for their suggestions. He will indicate that time is
what they need at this point to find the most fitting memorial. Chris Rollins indicated
that Parks and Recreation is in a position where they need to address that there needs to
be a place in the community that everyone understands is reserved for memorials.
Mayor Art Prochaska has been contacted that the dam work will begin tomorrow. It has
been authorized for them to work on it through the weekend. Also,he received an e-mail
from a gentleman who belongs to a kayaking club about building rapids and pools. This
will be phase two of the dam work. Mayor Prochaska recommended to this gentleman
and others to get a voice down to Springfield to get funding to begin this phase. Mayor
Prochaska will be meeting with the department of commerce representative next week
and will be talking about the availability of funds for various projects,this one included.
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Dean Wolfer wanted to thank Scott Sleezer for handling the swings and to thank Sue
Swithin for the work on Camp 911.
ADJOURNMENT:
The meeting adjourned to executive session at 9:35 p.m. following the motion by Ken
Koch and seconded by Van Truman. The motion was unanimously approved.
The meeting reconvened from the Executive Session and adjourned at 10:08 p.m.
following motion by Ken Koch and seconded by Van Truman. The motion was
unanimously approved.
Minute Taker—Jeanne Arbet
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