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Park Board Minutes 2006 08-24-06 UNITED CITY OF YORKVILLE YORKVILLE PARKS & RECREATION DEPARTMENT BOARD MEETING Parks & Recreation Administrative Office Riverfront Building Thursday,August 24,2006 MINUTES CALL TO ORDER: Meeting was called to order by Chris Rollins at 7:05 p.m. ROLL CALL: Chris Rollins, Ken Koch, Gary Golinski,Debbie Horaz, and Kelly Sedgwick GUESTS/CITY OFFICIALS/STAFF: David Mogle, Executive Director Sue Swithin, Superintendent of Recreation Laura Haake,Park Planner Dave Mogle explained that the Whispering Meadows Playground RVP results and recommendation would not be included in this meeting's agenda. A staff member is absent and Dave and Laura Haake met on Tuesday,August 22 regarding park equipment they liked. More time is needed to call other agencies that have the unique equipment. It will be on September 14th s agenda. Also the item of Hoover agreement meetings will be struck from the agenda. The Tuesday meeting with the Executive Director of Kendall County Forest Preserve regarding this matter did not happen. It will take place next Tuesday. The Board unanimously consented to strike these two items from the agenda. PUBLIC COMMENT: Public members were not present. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: The minutes from the August 10, 2006, Park and Recreation Board Meeting were approved on motion by Gary Golinski and seconded by Debbie Horaz. The motion was unanimously approved. BILLS REVIEW: Cash Analysis &Bills List For the Board's information, several checks from the general account were listed aloud by Chris Rollins. These received items include: $1200 for Senate—Rubel Bosman-Lee Architects LTD., $125 for Aaren Pest Control, $500 for Coffman Carpets (deposit for Riverfront Park West Building), $9,100 Gambrel Construction Mana INC. (demolition for Riverfront Park West Building), and$11,522.91 for JEM Morris Construction, INC.(Grand Reserve Park B). ( Gary Golinski and others complimented the Yorkville Hometown Days banners. The $2100 cost is slightly cheaper than past street banners purchased, and the banners will be used annually for the city celebration. The race track cost is for an event during Hometown Days. It includes a checkered tent with a race track and small cars that people can race at no cost. Three pairs of shoes for$371 went toward work boots for the maintenance department. Gary Golinski motioned to approve the cash analysis and bills list. The motion was seconded by Kelly Sedgwick. Roll call vote: Chris Rollins—Yes, Ken Koch—Yes, Gary Golinski—Yes, Debbie Horaz-Yes, and Kelly Sedgwick-Yes. The motion was unanimously approved. OLD BUSINESS: Board Member Park Assignments The original park assignments for the Board members from May 2006 were redistributed to allow new members to help monitor parks or conceptual -designed parks. Those changes are as follows. Debbie Horaz will check Riverfront Park instead of Chris Rollins. Kelly Sedgwick will be assigned to Van Emmen Ballfield instead of Chris Rollins. Chris Rollins has added Jaycee Park to his current areas to watch and Heartland Circle when it is completed. Cobb Park,Hiding Spot Park, and Sleezer Park are still under his responsibility. Gary Golinski will continue to monitor the Regional Ball Diamonds, Crawford Park, Rice Park,Hydraulic Park, and Hoover Park. Debbie Horaz will now monitor Price Park and Sunflower Park instead of Gary Golinski. Kelly Sedgwick will monitor Gilbert Park from Gary Golinski's original list. Kelly Sedgwick will also focus on two more parks; one being Whispering Meadows Park in which BMX tracks will be done by December 2007. The other is Cannonball Estates Park which will expand within the Kendall Marketplace. Van Truman's areas of Kiwanis Park, Fox Hill East and West, Beecher Park, and Town Square were not changed. Jaycee Park is maintained by the city, but is not owned by the city. Dave Mogle and Ralph Fister, from the Sanitary District, will meet next week. Chris Rollins provided background information on the Jaycee Park. Parks and Rec has maintained the area for about 15 years. When the topic of possible transfer of ownership was discussed, a reasonable assessment of the value of the property was requested. Part of the land could possibly be in a flood plain of the creek and part of it is steeply pitched. Halting the discussion of value was a sewer injector being planned, up the creek watershed area. There had been an appraisal done on the PNA Camp and it was very high. Someone from the Jaycees implied that their adjacent land should be at a similar value per acre. Mowing the grass, disposing of litter, and maintaining the roadway are examples of how the park has been cared for by the city: Dave Mogle added that if the Jaycee Park was owned by the city,then improvements could be made that cannot be at this time. Sue Swithin reminded the Board that when drainage was an issue,the Park Department with park and city funding, installed a pipe that drains to the creek. The Jaycee Park land is owned by the Sanitary District. NEW BUSINESS Letter of Credit for Grande Reserve Regional Ball Diamonds Chris Rollins read the memorandum from Dave Mogle. "Generally,this is a routine request to reduce a letter of credit based upon the completion of work within the City's expectations prior to acceptance. In this case, it is a letter of request requesting final acceptance of the earthwork and erosion control improvements in the Regional Park. The City's acceptance has been recommended to the City Council pending concurrence of the Park Board. Staff has consulted with the City Engineer and believes his findings are accurate and recommends that the Park Board give its concurrence." Usually these requests do not come to the Park Board, but because of the Regional Ball Park and other amenities, it was put into motion that it was pending until the Park Board concurs. This went to the City Council on Tuesday, August 22"a Debbie Horaz motioned to accept the request for reduction of the letter of credit for Grande Reserve Regional Ball Diamonds as per the city's recommendation. Ken Koch seconded the motion. The motion was unanimously approved. ADDITIONAL BUSINESS Board Retreat Lorrie Gibson will be the Facilitator for the Board Retreat. She is a Strategic Planner and Facilitator that owns her own consulting business. She is experienced and a highly energetic person. Dave Mogle will give Lorrie Gibson material relevant to the retreat (such as the comprehensive plan and the organizational chart). She will educate herself on the information and then meet with Dave Mogle in September. The Starved Rock Lodge Conference Room is reserved for the retreat. There was not a conference room at Holiday Inn Express to use. On November P, retreat participants can check into the motel before the meeting at Starved Rock or Sue Swithin will check everyone in and give keys out at Starved Rock following the evening meeting. Within the next couple weeks, a list of people (in addition to the Park Board and Staff)to be invited to the retreat needs to be finalized. Tim Evans, Sue Swithin's most veteran Recreation Supervisor, is a strong possibility. His presence would be beneficial to the planning sessions and for his growth. The liaisons would be invited and the mayor. Dave proposed that an invitation to all the aldermen could be extended. It was agreed that this should be done. Laura Haake, the park planner, could also contribute by attending the retreat. The Board Retreat agenda, pending the Park Board's input,will include updating the master plan and park and school relations. Lorrie Gibson will look over her given information and help set the agenda and determine how much material can be covered in 8-10 hours. By the next Parks and Rec meeting, Dave Mogle will have met with Ms. Gibson and have planned some items on the agenda. In the Department Head Staff meeting held on August 23rd, Bart Olson said that the Aldermanic Goal Setting Seminar,usually held in February, may be moved to November, December, or January. Last year the Park Board was not invited; only the aldermen attended. The aldermen are interested in integrating the goals from the Parks and Rec Board Retreat into their goals. Of the 12 or 16 goals that the aldermen have, 25% are park related. One of the primary Quality of Life Goals of the City Council is to establish a landmark event at the riverfrom which could be centered around the canoe shute. A second goal is to have a partnership with the performing arts. The Promenade of the Arts was mentioned. This is a Parks and Rec event that happens in June. A third goal is to develop a youth center with increased programming and perhaps facilities for teens. These goals can be incorporated into the Board Retreat plan. Other Quality of Life Goals from the Aldermen were 1) facilitating use of other public facilities 2)paving trail of Route 71 to Riverfront to Silversprings Park 3)tax exemptions for senior citizens and 4)tennis courts. Tennis courts are planned for Raintree B,the community park by the new high school, and in Bristol Bay Ridge. Chris Rollins stated that Northern Illinois University conducted community surveys for the Park Board on what the community wanted. Some of what came out of aldermanic goals in the past have not reflected what the community was requesting. Emphasis was put on recreational activities for senior citizens and arts and culture opportunities. These are worthy issues, but the surveys did not show these needs as top priorities. The surveys could lend reliable data to City Council colleagues. A recreation center and aquatic facility were very high on the survey of what the community wanted. The survey was done in a very controlled, confidential, and neutral fashion by the university. The last survey was done 4 years ago with a return rate of 65%-68%. It was distributed randomly to 1000 residents by water bills. Sue Swithin will copy the Board on the summary of the survey. She uses this survey as a tool for programming. This would be a beneficial resource for the retreat. With the changing and growing community, maybe the interval between surveys needs to change. Northern University's survey team was complimented on its vast experience of conducting the survey and its ability to craft a scientific survey which was well executed. It was an advantage that the information was not compiled by people of the community. The team had a strong level of professionalism. Ken Koch would like to see the ComEd relationship addressed at the retreat. This could help with the bike trails being added. ComEd has lots of community outreach programs and activity and open space preservation in other areas within the state. ComEd is promoting a big public relations campaign, because it will be increasing its prices. This would be a good time to tap its resources. Debbie Horaz brought up the lists of ComEd 1 ( properties for sale. Some areas of the state parks south of Joliet and along I55 were originally owned by ComEd and then deeded over to the state. Gary Golinski reminded the Board about pursuing the IAPD Award. Dave Mogle will get the IEPD manual. Sue Swithin stated that Staff analysis is needed— 1 to 5 year projection. The City of Administration asked for the staffing for all departments for the next 5 years. Maintenance Building Chris Rollins asked about the progress regarding the new park maintenance building that was to be built behind Menards. Dave Mogle informed the Board there maybe an opportunity to trade some land that would be appropriate for the city building By September,Dave Mogle will have more information about this topic. The mayor has been active in this process as well. One possible area is central, but further west than expected. It is on 34, west of town toward Plano. The maintenance facility is badly needed. Plans were ready and an architect was ready, but a year ago things halted. This spring, a piece of property that was looked at for three years,now borders residential areas. Residents are opposing this location. Smith Engineering purchased area next to the property planned for the maintenance building and then raised objections to the new building. This came up to the aldermen and mayor. Construction costs are mounting while an area is chosen. Within a year,there has been a 9%increase in cost. At some point, some direction to the mayor and City Council will be needed to finalize the location decision to prevent more rising costs. Debbie Horaz suggested looking for property in the Industrial Park on Route 47 behind the firehouse. Ken Koch said that a north and south facility will probably be needed in the future for growth. Dave Mogle said the plan is for Parks and Public Works to go together in a maintenance building. Then Public Works will break off and move south eventually. Chris Rollins mentioned the possibility of rehabbing or expanding the maintenance facility at Hoover. An existing building somewhere, is a possibility. Co-ed Softball League Diamond Sue Swithin informed the Board that before this meeting, she visited the co-ed softball games at Beecher Park. Six teams play on the three fields. At that time,three balls had landed in the yard of the Sanders. Their backyard is in left field of Field 1. Three more balls landed in the neighbor's yard at Field 2. Most of this subdivision is in an unincorporated part of town. The Sanders have written letters complaining about ball damage to their property. To minimize balls in yards,the ballfields have been reconfigured. A three homerun limit is in effect. The balls,bats, and level of play have all been adjusted to deter balls from leaving the diamond. As soon as the Regional Park is complete,this league will move l there. Sue Swithin was asking for suggestions on how to handle the issue of balls in the Sanders' backyard. It was suggested to notify the city attorney so he is informed of the issue. Sue said she can call Joe Gatlin and have him tell the umpires of the co-ed games to convey to the coaches the seriousness of keeping the balls in the fence. ADJOURNMENT: The meeting adjourned at 8:24 p.m. following the motion by Gary Golinski and seconded by Ken Koch. The motion was unanimously approved. Minute Taker—Eileen Lesak