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Park Board Minutes 2006 06-22-06 UNITED CITY OF YORKVILLE YORKVILLE PARKS & RECREATION DEPARTMENT BOARD MEETING Parks & Recreation Administrative Office Riverfront Building Thursday,June 22,2006 MINUTES CALL TO ORDER: Meeting was called to order by Ken Koch at 7:00 p.m. ROLL CALL: Ken Koch,Van Truman, Gary Golinski, and Debbie Horaz GUESTS/CITY OFFICIALS/STAFF: David Mogle,Director Scott Sleezer, Superintendent of Parks Laura Haake,Park Planner John Bomeman, Kendall County Record Jim Snyder,Harlem Irving Companies Nancianne Jensen Peter Jensen Patti Bernhard,Domemicth,Bretal, Cobro&West Phil Stuzdtart, SEC Planning John McGrath, R.A. Bright PUBLIC COMMENTS- Nancianne Jensen, the owner of the property next to the regional ball field on Galena Road and Kennedy, came to discuss her property. She believes that she has been lied to. When she first heard about the park to be built, she went to the initial Town Hall Meeting. She understood that . there would be several soccer fields and perhaps a ballpark. But instead of soccer fields,there are lighted baseball diamonds. A lighted field extends the length of time her privacy will be compromised from headlights of cars to cheering of fans. She was also told that nothing would be built within twenty-five feet of her property. A road,however,was built within those twenty- five feet. The dust from building the park has compromised her son's and her health along with inundating her house and her stored winter hay with dirt. The dust has caused coughing in her horses too. Although she was assured that the construction crew would water before working to cut down on the dust, with the drought this did not happen. Her property has also been violated and trespassed on. The contractors accidentally assumed that her fence line was her property line and mowed up to the fence line. But actually,her lot line extends six feet past her fence. She intentionally had very tall vegetation around her property for a buffer between the public and her horses,which the contractors removed. The park is not even open yet and people are already parking their cars next to her fence and beckoning her horses. Because of one of her horses' health, she monitors closely everything they eat. An apple or carrot from a park visitor could be deadly for this horse. Also,she can no longer freely and safely ride her horses. On one instance someone was flying a remote controlled airplane over her property which frightened the horse. The cheering crowds will have the same affect. She has been awakened at night from cars and parties in which she believes timed entry gates may solve this problem. She has been harassed by an individual who she believes is one of the contractors. This individual has been watching her and knowing her routine. The police have been notified of the instances. She is now afraid to go down to her barn in fear of this person and lives in constant fear. She believes that all of these problems are a direct result of the park. She believes that if Parks and Recreation is going to subject her to the public and all of its inherent dangers,then they should also be willing to protect her. Parks and Recreation had rejected her previous request to put up a stockade fence and she is asking them to reconsider to offer her protection from the public. Bushes will not keep people from sneaking up on her from the park, but instead provide hiding places for these types of people. The Jensen would like a 10-12 foot stockade fence (not chain-link)on the park property from Kennedy Road to Galena Road. If an agreement cannot be made, she will obtain legal council on this matter. Ken Koch indicated that technically,this park does not belong to Parks and Recreation. The park does not get accepted and handed over to the City until all of the work is done by the developer. It was recommended to have the police handle the harassment issue,which the Jensen have. Besides the money, aesthetics was the issue why the fence was declined. The Jensens' issue is for safety. Scott Sleezer indicated that at the original Town Hall Meeting about the park,they were not aware of the fact of the storm-water management. The land for the park had to be reduced to allow for the storm-water management. Because of this loss of acreage the park needed to be closer than the twenty-five feet from the property that was mentioned at the Town Hall Meeting in order for the park to still work. But they made as large of a buffer as they could. Scott Sleezer had also contacted the developer who contacted the contractor to replace the tall grass that was cut in error. The contractor will contact the Jensen about what to put back there. Scott Sleezer indicated that a gated entry would probably not solve their problem either because people tend to just go around the gates. It is really more of an enforcement issue. The developer would be the person to contact regarding the dust on their property and their workers. A decision regarding the fence could not be made this evening. The developer had offered to cover the cost of the landscaping but have not officially agreed to it yet. The Board has input but l it requires additional discussion. They will take all of the Jensens comments under advisement. Dave Mogle will contact the Jensen when a decision has been made. PRESENTATION: Kendall Marketplace The Cannonball Ridge Park of the Kendall Marketplace that will be developed on Route 34 and Cannonball Trail was changed to comply with the master plan for the park. The revised park is 4.4 acres and will not have storm water management nor retention area as originally planned. The bike trail will be between the existing single family homes in Kylyns Ridge and the single family homes of Kendall Marketplace. The thirty to forty foot wide land that Parks and Recreation currently owns will be sufficient for the bike trail. Usually they like to have the trail thirty-five feet off of the back of the houses but it probably won't be in this case. But this will be a local trail,not a main trail and the tree line will be retained on the southern end of the trail to make a nice buffer for the homeowners. Over time they can plant a tree line along the Kylyns Ridge side of the trail too. Although there will not be off-street parking at this park, there is street frontage on three sides of the park and because of its close proximity there may also be parking available at the police station that will be built. They are estimating the mass earth moving to begin in early September. Parks and Recreation will give Kendall Marketplace their specifications for grading the park so that it will only have to be done once. The Board was satisfied with the changes. Brighton Oaks 2 Patti Bernhard presented the concept plan of Brighton Oaks 2. It is a fairly small subdivision of 37.55 acres with 54 units off of Highpoint Road. This subdivision is the link to connect Hallmark Homes with MPI with The Yorkshire. This will give the City trail linkage all the way to Hoover Outdoor Education Center. The trail will be along the south side of the subdivision and will lead into the Yorkwood Estates park site. It will also lead to the tentative school site. Two-thirds of the development will be served within the half mile radius of the Yorkwood Estates park site. It would,therefore,make sense to take all land cash for this development. The trail will be in lieu of sidewalk. The land cash obligation is approximately 2 acres. This subdivision is a very valuable link. Westbury Village Westbury Village will be tabled until July 13. APPROVAL OF MINUTES:; Van Truman had missed the discussion regarding the Greenbriar Pond Maintenance at the May 25, 2006 meeting but wanted to note that Parks and Recreation needs to communicate well in advance the intentions in respect to the Greenbriar Pond so it is clear to people why it is the way it is. The Fox Valley Park District is getting a lot of attention in the newspaper regarding a similar situation and Van Truman wanted to make sure we avoid the same circumstance. The minutes from the May 25,2006 the Park and Recreation Board Meeting were approved on motion by Gary Golinski and seconded by Van Truman. The motion was unanimously approved. BILLS REVIEW: Cash Analysis & Bills List There was a check to Schoppe Design Associates in the amount of$21,652.67. Although Laura Haake,the park planner, is hired and has taken over a lot of the responsibilities that were previously given to Schoppe Design, it is not physically possible for Laura to build and design all of the parks. A consultant will still be needed, but Laura will save the City a lot of money alone by doing the site evaluations. The City previously paid Schoppe Design a lot of money just for brief evaluations,which can now be done by Laura. Van Truman motioned to approve the bills list. The motion was seconded by Debbie Horaz. Roll call vote: Ken Koch—Yes, Gary Golinski—Yes,Van Truman--Yes, and Debbie Horaz- Yes. The motion was unanimously approved. OLD BUSINESS: Park/public Works Administration & Operations Center Update and Architectural Agreement The discussion on the Park/Public Works Administration and Operations Center Architectural Agreement was tabled. Hoover Agreement=Reds Baseball Lease Agreement Dave Mogle provided the Board with the schedule of the Yorkville Reds. He also found out information regarding the insurance. The Yorkville Reds are insured and have named the Forest Preserve District as additionally insured. The Forest Preserve District believes that a similar arrangement has been made between the Reds and the Boy Scouts. Since the City does not have a written executed lease with the Forest Preserve, it may not have any liability at this time and may not need to be listed as an additionally insured. The main liability issues in regards to the Reds seems to be with the Forest Preserve and the Boy Scouts. However,we do have an intergovernmental agreement that talks about the intent of what will happen between the City and the Forest Preserve once there is a signed lease, so Dave Mogle will check with our insurance carrier and/or City attorney to see if the City has any exposure and should also be named as additionally insured. The lease agreement will not go into effect until after the Boy Scouts are done,which will be in December 2007. Everything in the intergovernmental agreement is contingent on a signed lease with the Forest Preserve District. Ken Koch believes that we should start working on this lease now, instead of waiting until 2007. Dave Mogle agrees that the Forest Preserve District and Parks and Recreation should begin to meet now to put together a framework. Some issues will need to be addressed. For example,Scott Sleezer pointed out that if with the agreement the City would have to mow 80 acres of grass,it will take sometime to gear up for taking this on. Dave Mogle will be meeting with Jason of the Forest Preserve next Tuesday. Dave will report to the Board on what was discussed at the meeting. Without rushing,it is important to get this in place relatively soon. Gary Golinski suggested having the City Attorney involved very early in the process. There will be_many things that will need to be defined, such as will cutting the grass be considered as an improvement or as maintenance. If people are going to be needed to take care of the land,then it will need to be in the budget. Once the lease is enacted Parks and Recreation will need to get funding to do some of the development which may take time. Meanwhile,there is a large grass area that will still be able to be used for special events. Therefore, Parks and Recreation needs to be ready now to v<_ start to put together a plan so that as soon as the agreement is signed events can be held out there. They can do such events as music events,kite flying,hot air balloons, and historical reenactment groups. NEW BUSINESS: BMX Track— Whispering Meadows Park There are two options for the BMX Track in the Whispering Meadows Park. One option is to have a full racing facility that would be a tournament grade facility sanctioned by the American Bicycle Association. The second option would be to build the facility as a drop-in practice facility. The staff is leaning towards option two because the park is in a residential area. Tournaments would cause lots of traffic, including trailers for the bikes besides the large crowd of spectators. There will also not be off-street parking for at least three years and with this type . of facility there would then also have to be a concession area, an area for vendors, and a building to store equipment. When having an ABA track, a person needs to bean ABA member to use it and there needs to be twenty races per year for five years to be sanctioned. The staff does not feel Parks and Recreation is set up to do all of this and that it would upset the neighbors. If they use it as a drop in track,then they can see what the interest is in the community and then could duplicate the track in an area that is more appropriate for tournaments and large crowds. They . could still be able to occasionally use the for local bike rallies and other programming through Recreation, and it will still be built to ABA standards. They may need to have a group use policy so people don't try to organize their own races. This facility will not be for motorized vehicles and will need to be enforced. Parks and Recreation would still like to nurture a relationship with the American Bicycle Association because they can give Parks and Recreation pointers on maintenance. A tournament style track could become a good revenue source,but it cannot be done adjacent to homes. A larger community park site of seventy to 100 acres site could accommodate this kind of activity and also have a pool, a band shell, a full basketball court, etc.,things that people do not like right in their neighborhood. REPORTS Scott Sleezer supplied the quarterly Park Report. He indicated that the Walter Payton Run went extremely well and will be scheduled for June 9, 2007 for next year.. There were 220 runners. There was a little confusion in the directions given by the Foundation corner workers between the 8K and the 5K but this should be worked out for next year. The Yorkville Police Department,the Citizens Police Academy, and Public Works all assisted in the run. Gary Golinski indicated that there are some growths in the mulch at Rice Park. Scott Sleezer indicated that this is a fungus and the conditions are right for this type of growth in mulch and when they take it out it just comes right back. But it is harmless to pets and people. The regional ball fields have had some fence people working there. The playground will be going in and the concession stand is moving forward. Hopefully the fields will be able to be used next spring. Sunflower Park and Greenbriar Park have some bird nests in the shelter and on the equipment. Scott Sleezer will have his people check them out. The Grand Reserve ballparks and the other ballparks are looking great. ADDITIONAL BUSINESS Board Retreat Date Confirmation The Board retreat will be for two nights on November 3 -4. Tammy Smock will not be able to attend but she encouraged the Board to go ahead with that date. Dave Mogle will see if she can make a part of the retreat but will supply her with all the information either way. Dave Mogle would like to lock in these dates. He has talked to two potential facilitators and should make a decision on this fairly soon. Sue Swithin is working on finding a facility for the meeting. Park Board Meeting Minute Taker There will be a new minute taker starting in August. She will come to one of the meeting in Judy for training. ADJOURNMENT: The meeting adjourned to executive session at 9:00 p.m. following the motion by Van Truman and seconded by Gary Golinski. The motion was unanimously approved. The meeting reconvened from the Executive Session and adjourned at 9:25 p.m. following motion by Debbie Horaz and seconded by Gary Golinski. The motion was unanimously approved. Minute Taker—Jeanne Arbet ,1