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Park Board Minutes 2006 08-10-06 i K UNITED CITY OF YORKVILLE YORKVILLE PARKS &RECREATION DEPARTMENT BOARD MEETING Parks &Recreation Administrative Office Riverfront Building Thursday,August 10,2006 MINUTES CALL TO ORDER: Meeting was called to order by Gary Golinski at 7:02 p.m. ROLL CALL: Gary Golinski,Debbie Horaz,Kelly Sedgwick,Van Truman GUESTS/CITY OFFICIALS/STAFF: David Mogle;Executive Director Scott Sleezer; Superintendent of Parks Sue Swithin, Superintendent of Recreation Laura Haake,Park Planner Adam Glinski,Motorcycle Event for Kendall County Food Pantry Jim Bock,Alderman Ward 3 Heather Gillers,Aurora Beacon John Borneman,Kendall County Record PUBLIC COMMENT: Adam Glinski presented the idea of a motorcycle ride to benefit the local Kendall County Food Pantry. On Sunday, September 24,2006,bikes could be reviewed in Yorkville's Town Square at noon. Around 2 p.m. the parade would start across the bridge,touring parts of Kendall County. A truck would travel with the parade collecting donations for the food pantry on the route and end at the Kendall County Food Pantry around 4:00 p.m. Mr. Glinski is asking for the Boards support. This could turn into an annual event. With permission,publicity would include newspapers,visiting different towns daily,visiting specific establishments, and talking to community members. He would guess 50 -100 participants. Donation bins would be in Town Square and perhaps at firehouses or other locations that would prevent heavy traffic troubles. The suggested parade route would be south on Route 71 to Newark,Millington,Millhurst, Sandwich, Plano,north on 47,27 head east to Montgomery,maybe touch part of Aurora on Route 30, south on Harvey Road to Plainfield,Minooka, Lisbon, up Townhouse Road into Newark,north to Route 71 , and on 47 to Van Emmons. Dave Mogle, Sue Swithin, and Adam Glinski talked on a conference call earlier and the idea was well received. From the city's standpoint,the event would involve the police department when a group of motorcyclists are in town and Glory Spies,the City's Community Relations. This event does not need the Board's approval,but wanted awareness for it. A permit is needed to use l Town Square Park and details would have to be worked out with Scott Sleezer,the Superintendent of Parks, regarding where the motorcycles would be parked for viewing. Parks and Rec would not want to own or take on the liability of the event this year and call it their event,but would like to cooperate with the planners. Van Truman advised that the starting time of 2:00 p.m. might need to be flexible with the number of participants possible and the weather on that day. Sue Swithin said the community calendar for Town Square Park at that time of year was quiet. The food pantry has already agreed to have its building open on September 25`h. Sue Swithin has offered to work with the group and help design publicity fliers. It was discussed that this type of event is weather-driven, so pre-registration fliers would not be necessary, but the entrance fee is canned goods. Adam Glinski will keep the Board informed by weekly updates. He is working on a safe route that will consist of about 95 miles and will take about 2 hours. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: The minutes from the July 27, 2006 Park and Recreation Board Meeting were approved on motion by Debbie Horaz and seconded by Van Truman. The motion was unanimously approved. BILLS REVIEW: Cash Analysis &Bills List The most updated list is included in the packet. Van Truman motioned to approve the cash analysis and bills list. The motion was seconded by Debbie Horaz. Roll call vote: Debbie Horaz-Yes,Kelly Sedgwick-Yes, Van Truman - Yes, and Gary Golinski -Yes. The motion was unanimously approved. OLD BUSINESS: Riverfront Park West Building Rehabilitation There are two estimates for the concrete floor work for the Recreation Building,Riverfront Park. These include G.M. Randa,Inc. for$8,500.00 and A.B.D. Tank&Pump Co. for$9,680.00. The two estimates for the remodeling of the existing restrooms for the Recreation Building, Riverfront Park are Belan Services for$5,600.00 and Ebenroth&Associates, Inc. for$6,195.00. The above work would include pouring cement, building the floor up three inches to be level with no pitch, finishing some plumbing work, and filling in an existing drain. The thickest concrete would be at six inches total. During inspection, there were no cracks detected. These would complete the repair projects for the building. Debbie Horaz motioned to accept the lower bid of G.M. Randa, Inc. of$8,500.00 for the concrete work and Belan Services for$5,600.00 to remodel the existing restroom. Kelly Sedgwick seconded the motion. Roll call vote: Debbie Horaz- Yes,Kelly Sedgwick-Yes, Van Truman - Yes, and Gary Golinski - Yes. The motion was unanimously approved. Westbury Village Follow Up I Greg Stevens from Lannert Construction provided a hand-out to the Board and Staff that was presented in the previous meeting. It pictured planned shelters,playgrounds, water recreation areas,the golf course, and park architecture. Since the last Westbury public hearing, Dave Mogle, Scott Sleezer, and Travis Miller,ether have had discussion regarding specific items for the annexation agreement. This two and a half hour meeting took place on August 9th. One of the prominent items discussed was the need for larger parks. The plan presented at the last Board meeting included 2 acre parks for 4 out of the 7 harks. The following are changes to the original park plans that were discussed at the August 9t meeting. The Board's input will be considered. The neighborhood parks A and B were originally 7 acres each. It was asked that Park A now be 10 acres and Park B be 4 acres. Park C was originally 5 acres and pie-shaped in the southern section, adjacent to the ComEd easement. The Board would take this,but wants the developer to obtain permission from ComEd for the city to utilize a minimum of 10 acres of the easement with no cost to the city. The annexation agreement states that if this does not happen within a year,the 5 acres would be taken,but no land cash credit would be given. The hope would then be that the 5 acres could perhaps be expanded with a new property sometime in the future. The added land of ComEd would be used for useable space such as soccer and other ball fields. Gary Golinski stated the need for a long- term contract with ComEd in writing for a minimum of 20 year use. The developers withdrew asking for 10% credit for this easement by the time of the Council Meeting during the public hearing. Neighborhood Park D would be 5 acres, if changed from the original 2 acres. Neighborhood Park H, originally 2 acres, would be 5 acres. Neighborhood Park I would stay at 2 acres. Neighborhood Park J, in the southern section, would change from 2 acres to 5 acres. Kelly Sedgwick was concerned with Park D being close to the golf course with golf balls near kids. The golf course plan should be reviewed and landscaping could create a safety barrier if needed. With the proposed changes, Parks and Recreation would have a net gain of 9 acres or with the addition of the ComEd easement, 19 acres or more. It has been the Park Board's practice to be cautious of accepting or giving credit for retention areas. Ocean Atlantic's plan includes boating and fishing in these ponds. Under certain circumstances the lakes could be beneficial to the city. One circumstance would be to link Parks H and I with a pedestrian walkway that would go underneath Westbury Boulevard. This would not be a large bridge. It would have a five foot walk or a six foot trail. Any time we can link two parks, it can create more recreational value for the area. Fishing piers would be attractive to the community and be the responsibility of the developer. If one of the clubhouses could be a boathouse, it could sell concessions,bait, and provide space for a meeting room for Park and Recreations activities. The boathouse would be operated by the Parks and Recreation Department. These circumstances would make the taking of the bodies of water more attractive, a credit might be considered. The credit might be given for the improvements (the boathouse, the pedestrian underpass, and the fishing piers), not the 8.8 acres. The credit figure may be about$650,000. This agreement would benefit the city and the development. Access is desired around the entire perimeter of the lakes and be no more than a 2% slope. Trails around the water are not needed. Naturalized planting was requested instead of grass because it is better for the environment,keeps the geese away, lowers the maintenance costs in the long run, and promotes better water quality. Part of the park development standards consists of the quality of the water and the depth. Verbiage should be put in the agreement to state that if the standards are not met, they will not be accepted. The cash-in-lieu of land would be almost$1.7 million. The added acreage would mean less cash. Dave Mogle states that it's Park and Ree's responsibility that in 10-15 years when the Westbury Development is built out, that ample open-space for recreational activities is provided. Scott Sleezer, Dave Mogle, and Travis Miller agree that the changes made are reasonable requests for the development with a projected 11,000 people. Gary Golinski verified that the land cash obligation was for 67 acres—36 for parks, 8.8 for water, and 1.75 for trails and the balance would be almost 1.7 million. It was recommended that 100% credit be given to the bicycle trail of 1.25 acres along the Rob Roy Creek. For the trail that is a little more north and east, it was asked for a trail in-lieu of a sidewalk and typically credit is not given for that. The sidewalk would go along Beecher Road the whole way, instead of the golf course. Other trails in-lieu of sidewalk are requested throughout the development. Tot lots will be built by the developers, and not the responsibility of the Parks and Recreation Department. The Parks and Recreation Department would ask that they be built with the same standards (ASTM, CPSC and ADA requirements)that the department uses. This is in the annexation agreement. Debbie Horaz suggested using boulders and rocks spread around the outskirts of the retention ponds to look nice. That could be asked in the design. Lannert has done this before. Boulders could be saved from the construction sites and used for fishing. Dave Mogle read the original annexation agreement draft of point G that stated that the developer "has the right and not the obligation at its own cost to construct improvements on park site property of time, quality, and location determined by the developer. Such improvements shall become the property of the Yorkville Park and Recreation Department."There was discomfort with this point. Point G was changed to "the City Parks Department will collaborate with the developer on the design of all parks and associated facilities. The City shall retain final authority regarding the design of individual parks,trails, and all associated facilities." Within the Westbury Village draft, Item E was deleted. Originally, it stated that if certain improvements were not made within 8 years, the land would revert back to the developer. This point would be deleted. The Developer has knowledge of the changes. Travis Miller talked with the developer's representative after the meeting about the given draft. At the previous Park Board meeting, it was discussed that the developer comes back in a month with an update. Final thoughts will be presented to the City Council Meeting on August 22nd,two days before the next Parks and Recreation meeting. Gary Golinski said he was more comfortable with the plans compared to after the last meeting, but would feel more comfortable if a special meeting was held. He would like the input of President, Chris Rollins and Vice President, Ken Koch. Through email a special meeting date will be decided so that Chris Rollins and Ken Koch are informed of the proposed changes. A discussion of the possibility of the developer rejecting the draft is possible too. The developer has not given the Board much time to consider the information, only three weeks after all the discussions with all of the other departments of the city. The developer's tight timeframe makes Dave Mogle and Gary Golinski uncomfortable. Gary Golinski suggested that the input from the special meeting of the Board be given as a memo to those in City Council before they vote on August 22nd. Alderman Bock said that Dave Mogle will be attending the City Council Meeting and Bock will pass on the information from the meeting to the other alderman, so a memo would not be needed. Alderman Jim Bock questions why the developers are driving the timelines. They should be flexible for the Board and the Board should have all the time they need. Alderman Bock suggested delaying the process if needed. Alderman Bock said that the plan can be deferred at the Council Meeting if the Board is still uncomfortable with the outcomes. Board Retreat Update The Park and Recreation Retreat will start on Friday,November P and at a minimum all day Saturday. Possibly Sunday would be added. Dave Mogle recommended Laurie Gibson as the retreat facilitator. Chris Rollins had submitted her name. Her credentials include being a former Vice President of Marketing and Planning for Kankakee Community College, a management consultant, and a strategic planner for corporations. She does not have a parks and recreation background, but that could be a positive. She would not impose her parks and recreation views upon the Board and be unbiased. She has done board retreats for the Chamber of Commerce and medical centers. In the next few weeks, Dave will meet with her and discuss her rate. Dave Mogle would anticipate the cost between$1500 and$2000. There would be a lot of preparatory work for her. Dave Mogle asked the Board to think about who should be present, already including all the Board, department assistants, Laura Haake, the mayor for portions of the weekend, or other individuals. The location would be off site to limit distractions. Sue Swithin reported that Starved Rock Lodge (Utica)has a conference room available. Holiday Inn Express in Oglesby has motel rooms available. Sue Swithin's memo consisted of locations, costs, and possible agenda times. Starved Rock has banquet menus in which box lunches and hors d'oeuvres and drinks could be ordered for the banquet room. Food and drink cannot be brought into the conference room by outside parties. Van Truman sees the advantages of the location of Starved Rock. The setting may promote people to think outside the box. Friday's meeting could be held at the hotel and Saturday's meetings could be located at Starved Rock. Sue Swithin will make calls and book reservations based on what is available and consult with Dave Mogle. Newer members, Debbie Horaz and Kelly Sedgwick think they can be at the all-expenses-paid retreat. Gary Golinski likes the locations. He questions if the meeting time is enough with such a lengthy agenda. The agenda would have to be prioritized. Friday could be stretched with a 5:30 p.m. start for those who could get there early. The 8:30a.m. start time can provide an early start to a full day. Kelly Sedgwick wondered if a hotel conference room could be used. Starved Rock's conference room provides the option to use screens for presentations and enjoying the park setting during breaks and meals is nice. If there was a conference room available in the hotel, after the meetings,people might socialize more instead of driving back to the lodging. Sue Swithin will call and inquire about conference accommodations at the Holiday Inn Express. NEW BUSINESS Raintree Park Construction Bid The playgroup equipment was approved for Raintree Park A at the July 27 Park Board meeting. The second part of the project is for Raintree Park A construction. J.E.M. Morris Construction, Inc. was the lowest bid of the four bids. Staff recommends awarding J.E.M. Morris Construction, Inc. the contract and issuing a change order for the concrete. The five foot concrete walkway will change from a thickened edge to a standard 5 inch edge. This would bring the amount down to $43,280.00. This change will keep the project at budget. J.E.M has been used before. The change order will make Raintree consistent with all parks. Kelly Sedgwick motioned to award the contract for construction at Raintree Park A to J.E.M. Morris Construction in the amount of$45,840.00 pending that J.E.M. is agreeable to the change order that would bring the cost down by$2560.00. Van Truman seconded the motion. Roll call vote: Debbie Horaz- Yes, Kelly Sedgwick-Yes, Van Truman-Yes, Gary Golinski-Yes. The motion was unanimously approved. Autumn Creek Park Conceptual Plan Autumn Creek Park,the old Hinsdale Nursery property, is almost 7 acres. The park will have a transportation theme with a playground, a shelter, signs, and other amenities. The transportation theme is very popular at Rice Park. Scott Sleezer met with Angie Alwood from the Recreation Department. Angie gave Scott criteria that would make the Autumn Creek Park usable to teach Safety Town and changes to the park were made according to the suggestions. The only change not made was adding a toilet. Portable ones could be brought in during the Safety Town classes. This is a 1 or 2 week period. The park is divided into two areas. One part has trees, landscaping,and designed for a picnic area with ADA accessibility. The second has a shelter with picnic tables. The age 2-5 playground would have a general store, ground level play events,play panels,maybe a small slide, and bouncers of a taxicab and an airplane. The 5-12 age playground would have a circular play unit which requires use of the upper body. The special element of this park could be a skate glide. This could be a training tool for skate boarding. i I West of the playground and picnic areas is the skate area with a concrete pad that would have a 6 inch concrete curb with stairs and a rail, 3 foot drop-in, and a skate table to skate off of and a grind rail. This will be open to skates and skateboards. Scott Sleezer said that 12-18 years complain that parks don't have things to do. Kids he talks to request the skate table and drop-ins. Gary Golinski made the point of placing the ornamental trees so the visibility for police officers would not be hindered when checking the park. A small sledding hill is in the design including a three to one slope one way, six to one in the back, five to one on the sides. It would be 8-10 feet high. Some trees would be added on the side by the road. Snow construction fence would be added. Maybe it could be slightly bermed and landscaped since fences can cause injury. The multipurpose open space will stay open for now and be grass. An elementary school might be close, so will wait for that plan to evolve. A 70 foot ball field would fit in the area with the correct(north/south) direction regarding the sun. Twelve inch signs will be used for the playground for kids on bikes. An ornamental light, parking area, parking meters, striped crosswalks, railroad crossing, and two working stop lights in the center are included. A switch can manually change the stop lights during Safety Town classes. The railroad crossing will have the correct signage, but not the arms and noise. The crossing would be 60 feet from the road of Autumn Creek Boulevard. Van Truman expressed concerned with the wet detention basin(owned by Homeowner's Association) close to the park. Naturalized plantings will be around it. The park will have evergreens in front of it. The water is shelved 10 feet so if one falls in, it should not be deep (2 feet). This is why the sledding hill was put on the opposite side for the water hazard. Next step would be to get the developer's approval for the annexation agreement because they did front fund this. Then it will be presented to City Council. The developer will construct the park for the city. The overall budget was $300,000. Dave Mogle and Scott Sleezer discussed less common trees to use such as Horse Chestnut, Sweet Gum, and Kentucky Coffee trees. Trees could be tagged. Locations would be considered such as no Black Walnut trees by playgrounds. Small groves of one kind of tree look nice. The playground structures have been allotted$50,000 (2-5 area for$11,000 and the larger area for$49,000). With installation the budget is $90,000. The shelter with concrete has the budget of$27,600. The landscaping budget is $15,000. The playground areas need to be dug 16 inches for mulch. That dirt will be used to build up other areas within the park. The site will be graded to the Parks and Recreation specs. The Board's consensus is to move forward with RFPs l REPORTS Recreation Report Sue Swithin reported that classes went well—Kiddie camps, Safety Town, Adventure Camps, soccer and tennis camps. Angie Alwood and Joe Gatland were hired in May and have done a great job. Surveys have been favorable. The fall catalog is now on line and will be mailed out soon. Laura Haake, Angie, and Kathy (from the Pre School program) went to an educational session on children's gardens. Angie will write down ways to incorporate this information into programming ideas such as gardening classes and how to incorporate gardens into parks. In the spring, a proposal with these ideas can be presented to the Board. Laura Haake said there was discussion on whether children's gardens should be like amusement parks with events or just gardening the plants. Debbie Horaz visited Cantigny Park recently and it has a beautiful children's garden with vegetables and flowers. She has a copy of their plant list and some pictures. There are two more music concerts for the summer. The Farmers Market consists of 20 vendors. The July movie rainout is moved to August 18th. There are some Hometown Days volunteer slots still void. Street banners with new logos will be displayed soon. Dave Mogle gives Sue Swithin and Scott Sleezer much credit for all they are doing for Hometown Days. Officer Pleckham's police dog, Jumbo, died. Sue Swithin said the Citizens Police Academy and the Police Department have a booth during Hometown Days. They will probably be advertising a fundraiser for a replacement dog. Scott Sleezer made the suggestion to the CPA to buy tables and garbage cans. These can be rented out for block parties for extra money. The items would be delivered, set up, and taken down. ADDITIONAL BUSINESS Dam Construction and Canoe/Kayak Bypass Scott Sleezer attended a meeting with IDNR Water Resources Division on July 27th about Phase 2 bypass plans. The funding is not secured,but it looks favorable. The plan is more extensive than the last. It starts with lower class rapids. Pool 2 has an adventurous route with various pools. It needs to be worked out how the dam construction is going to blend with the existing park. Within a year,the park needs to be redesigned and redeveloped so it doesn't look like it was just added. Along a natural planted basin, is a proposed path that can get wet. On average, once a year the water will go over the path. A concrete structure would allow blocks to be taken out to increase water for special events and then the blocks are returned in place. Between Pools 5 and 6 a golf course style bridge will be built. Eventually, the bridge could be changed to be more of a showpiece and the original bridge could be moved somewhere else. Once it is built,the city will be responsible for the maintenance of the bridge,the darn-bypass, and the fish ladder. Some of Scott Sleezer's maintenance staff will have to get some specialized training for this. Putting in the buoys is another obligation. The Fire Department does have training for cold water rescue. A part time fire fighter could do an in-service training Scott's staff. Debbie Horaz suggested flowers could dress up the bridge,but there are watering issues. After losing the existing boat launch,there is a plan that 300 feet to the east of the Parks and Recreation building a new boat ramp would be placed. The Army Corps of Engineer would be involved. It would be convenient if the ramp could be done with the dam construction. Projected costs and a conceptual drawing are needed to move forward. The state wants a web cam for construction. The city would provide the service and the state would provide the web cam. When the construction is done, the city would keep it. The cam could be linked from the City webpage so kayakers could check water conditions. The first and second pours were done on the fish ladder. By Labor Day,the construction should be moved to the second portion that is blocked off. Distinquished Agency Award Gary Golinski reminded the Board about the Distinguished Agency Award. It is a lengthy process of updating policies and procedures,but it could be included in the 2-3 year plan and be beneficial. Only 10% of park districts or agencies receive this award in Illinois. It takes the best of park district practices and establishes standards. A state certification is earned. The distinction is good for 6 years and then the department can recertify. This idea could be brought to the Board retreat. Dave Mogle will get more information. The Board members will have IAPD cards with their names are typed on them. ADJOURNMENT: The meeting adjourned to Executive Session at 9:30 p.m. following the motion by Van Truman and seconded by Debbie Horaz. The motion was unanimously approved. The meeting reconvened from Executive Session and adjourned at 9:44 p.m. following motion by Van Truman and seconded by Kelly Sedgwick. The motion was unanimously approved. Minute Taker—Eileen Lesak I