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Park Board Minutes 2012 07-12-12 APPROVED 8/9/12 Yorkville Parks and Recreation Department City Hall 800 Game Farm Road July 12, 2012 at 6:00 p.m. Call to Order: Deb Horaz called the meeting to order at 6:17 p.m. Roll Call: Ken Koch – no; Deb Horaz – yes; Kelly Sedgwick – yes; Amy Cesich – no; Dan Lane – yes; Seaver Tarulis – yes; Mark Dilday – yes. Introduction of City Officials and Staff: Laura Schraw – Director of Parks and Recreation Tim Evans – Superintendent of Recreation Bart Olson – City Administrator Chris Funkhouser – Alderman Other Guests: Sue Walker Ron Walker Public Comment: None. Presentations: None. Approval of Minutes: The minutes from the June 14, 2012 minutes were approved. Motion made by Dan Lane and seconded by Seaver Tarulis. The minutes from the June 26, 2012 meeting were approved. Motion made by Seaver Tarulis and seconded by Dan Lane. Bill Review: The bills list was approved. Motion made by Kelly Sedgwick and seconded by Dan Lane. Old Business: Rec Center and Ad Hoc Committee Alternative Facility – Alderman Funkhouser stated at the Ad Hoc meeting the city has been meeting with the YMCA discussing a joint venture. After discussion on the joint venture, the committee decided to look into a 50/50 joint venture on a new facility. The committee discussed taking this to a referendum for a 4 million dollar referendum. The specifics will be worked out later, but it was positively moved forward for a referendum for a city council vote in two 1 weeks. Alderman Funkhouser said this was a change of direction from the discussions before. Alderman Funkhouser said there was also a discussion about putting a question on referendum asking if the city should purchase the existing Rec Center. There was concern it might confuse the public. Dan Lane asked if it was binding or non-binding. Alderman Funkhouser said the 4 million would be binding and the question on purchasing the Rec Center non-binding. Dan said that a bond would raise taxes and purchasing the Rec Center will not. Deb stated it was not a unanimous feeling in committee. Alderman Funkhouser said committee wanted to find out what the residents want. Alderman Funkhouser said the Park Board would like to do it without the YMCA, but that is even more taxes on the residents. Kelly said he would rather the city have its own building and just buy the Rec Center for 4 million. Laura showed the board a 2007 survey which showed different bond amounts and how much the property taxes would be. In the survey, the public said they wouldn't support anything over $10.00 and that was before things crashed. Laura said the majority of the people didn't support much of any increase. Bart said nationally open space and recreation referendums are generally successful. Dan asked how much the taxes would go up. Laura showed the committee a chart that showed the potential property tax increase. A $250,000 home would be around $51.00 per year. Bart pointed out this is based on a 5% interest rate. Deb Horaz said the board has looked at many different options. Deb said why go of a referendum when we have a self sustaining building. Bart said one of the reasons the committee discussed a referendum is a lot of people are concerned about the age of the building, repairs and people tend to be attracted to new things. Dan stated he uses the building every day and it is not falling apart and he is happy with it. Deb pointed out the location of the Rec Center is perfect. Deb said she foresees problems with a 50/50 split. Laura showed the committee a drawing an architecture firm did for the city before for a 5 million dollar cost. Laura said if the city is looking at a 4 million dollar bond, should the city go for 6 million and the city run the building itself. Kelly pointed out that 15 years is not old, yes a few repairs, but every 15 years the city is going to buy or build a new building. Bart said the committee pointed out the city pays 4 million for an 8 million dollar facility because it is a partnership. Bart stated that once the public decided if it is something they would support, then the details will be worked out with the YMCA on the partnership. Dan asked why does the city want to partner in anything. Bart stated the YMCA came to the city because they are going to open another facility in Yorkville and didn't want to compete with the city. The Board is not supportive of any partnership. Laura said she went through the summer catalog of the Rec Center and the YMCA to compare the two and handed the board copies of the comparison. The board discussed the point of a partnership would be to save the city money and it doesn't look like that is what will happen. Alderman Funkhouser stated with a partnership there would be three different locations, which can be used by all the members. Alderman Funkhouser said the reason why the YMCA came to the city is to eliminate the burden of government. Alderman Funkhouser said he would have liked to see the partnership joint venture management proposal contract reworked and not completely thrown out. The board discussed the fact that they have 2 turned the Rec Center around and run great programs, so why can't the city just keep things the same. The board discussed being leery of any kind of partnership and does not see how it would work. Dan Lane said if the board is just an advisory board to the council and the council doesn't listen, why is the board here. The board began discussion about having a park district put on the referendum. Mr. Walker asked the board if they feel anyone can run this center better than Tim. Mr. Walker said if the city chooses not to buy this building, his next move is to hire Tim Evans and his crew to make him more money than he made before. Mr. Walker stated no one wants to listen to the board because they think they know better. Mr. Walker said if the economy doesn't get better and things remain the same as they are now, there is going to a small deficit, but with no taxes and the rentals there will be a surplus. Mr. Walker stated the entire Parks and Recreation department is run out of the Rec Center. Mrs. Walker brought up the other buildings the city owns they used to pay for for their programs. Mr. Walker said when he talked to his attorney and went over the contract 16.14 in the event the city purchases or builds a recreation facility, the purchase of Club 47 will receive president over the other building. That might change the referendum. Bart said the city council direction will not be violating this section. The contract ends a year from now and the city is exploring options. Bart said the document is valid until the end of the lease. Laura said the park district question has been brought up a lot lately. The board said they would like to explore the option of creating a park district. The board feels that would eliminate a lot of the problems occurring and there would be their own budget. Alderman Funkhouser said when things come to city council it is as an advisory board and the park district option needs to go to the voters, but this still doesn't resolve the Rec Center issue. Deb said the entire board needs to go to council and speak up. Bart said the question on the referendum should be th fairly simple and the deadline to get this on the November ballot is August 16. Bart stated if the board wants to form a district and wants that on the ballot, it needs to be voted on tonight. Deb asked the board if they feel they want to go forward with creating a park district. The board agreed they do. The board discussed how to word things on the referendum and if the questions should be binding or non-binding. Kelly pointed out to inform the public on what the facts are, so they know how to vote. The board recommends a binding referendum on a park district, if not possible a non-binding referendum. The board recommends the city should not have any kind of partnership with the YMCA. The board thinks a non-binding referendum on a Rec Center purchase is a good idea. Kelly said the voters need to decide, it is their money, but the public needs to be educated on what the facts are. Alderman Funkhouser asked the board if they want to do a referendum to do a joint venture with the YMCA, or a referendum for a new facility just as the city. Tim said the board needs to make recommendations because these go to city council and the board needs to send a clear message on what the board wants. There was more discussion by the board on how to word the referendums. Deb asked if a new building goes through, what would the city do for programs in the meantime. Alderman Funkhouser said he would like the board to put in a recommendation on all of the issues before them tonight. The board recommends putting the park district question on the referendum. The board also recommends putting the purchase of the Rec Center on the ballot. The board does not want any partnership formed with the YMCA. 3 Laura said if the Rec Center is voted down by the public, does the Park Board have a recommendation to city council about programs and where things would held, what is the next step? Laura said the Park Board needs to let council know they don't want programs to be cut and the board wants things to continue. Kelly said the city can't continue the programs it has now cheaper moving into other facilities. Deb said the board has to go before council as a group and make sure council understands their position. Mr. Walker said he will not let a question go to referendum regarding the purchase of the Rec Center and will talk to his attorney. Bart said the board can go into executive session because of threat of litigation and close the meeting if the board would like. Mrs. Walker said things were supposed to go before council by April or May, so they would have an answer by June. Mrs. Walker said she feels it is unfair for council, Park Board or whomever to wait until November and there is still no decision Mrs. Walker said she doesn't understand what is going on. Mr. Walker said the board is letting what happened by the Ad Hoc Committee guide your decision. Mr. Walker thinks there will be more negative feedback from referendums than good. Mr. Walker said by November, we are down to eight months, then entering into the holidays. Mr. Walker said if there is a no vote, I would like the answer before the holidays and I might direct city council to give us an answer before September. Mr. Walker said city council thinks they can do anything they want and direction doesn't matter. Mr. Walker said we are more than happy to take the facility back it is a win win situation for us to take it back. Mr. Walker said the building is paid off and in better shape than four years ago. Mr. Walker said his attorney suggested not letting it go to referendum. Mrs. Walker said they are trying to get answers and no one will talk to them. Mrs. Walker said there is a lot of things stated that are not facts out in the public and it is always the negative. Mr. Walker said regardless of how the referendums go, we all know how the city council will vote and the Mayor will make some direction or another regardless of your recommendations. Deb proposed going into executive session. Suspend Regular Meeting to go Into Executive Session: The regular meeting was suspended to go into executive session at 7:44 p.m. Motion made by Seaver Tarulis and seconded by Dan Lane. Regular Meeting Called to Order: The regular meeting resumed at 7:58 p.m. Motion to resume regular meeting by Seaver Tarulis and seconded by Mark Dilday. Kelly asked if the city can sign the contract that is being worked on the way it is. Bart said yes the board can recommend to buy the Rec Center before the end of the year. Bart wrote more recommendations on the white board for the board to review. Bart said the board can vote on what is th written on the board. Laura said this will go to city council for the 24. Laura asked the board if there is anywhere the board doesn't want to look. Laura said industrial, commercial areas etc. The board said 4 they already looked at all those options. Tim said there needs to be a meeting on all of this. Tim said if the city is truly doing what is best for the city financially, this is not making sense to pay for other places. Dan said the city can't have programs if there is not a building. Bart said he doesn't think people on city council don't want recreation and programs. Bart said the meeting on Monday committee stated a new building or park district is a better option than buying the old Rec Center. Tim said if the city goes Park District, the city will not lower the tax base. Tim said taxes will go up because there will be more expenses. Deb said there are too many details that are not worked out. Tim asked has the school district contacted us since this last meeting. Bart stated no. The board said it will be the same things as far as sharing space. Tim said the school district would be a better option. Bart said on the referendum, he will word it as a partnership, but not a specific name. Kelly said if the city loses the Rec Center, the city needs to evaluate how much money there is and see what we can afford and then show the council what programs will have to be cut. Dan said the public has to be educated as to what they will lose, which will be a lot. Bart suggests to prepare different alternatives for different service levels. Tim said he is in agreement with the board. Tim said the Rec classes are all the same fee for all. The YMCA charges member fees and non-member fees. Tim said what happens if the Walkers stay open and run the facility and then the city builds two years later down the road. Tim said the Rec is a great location too. Tim said he is still trying to see how the city saves money by partnering with the YMCA. Tim said now the city is looking at spending 4 million dollars. Tim said this year the loss was $22,000, but the air conditioning had to be replaced. Tim said there seems to be many questions that need answered and where is the city saving money. Dan said a lot of people will change their feelings when they get the facts. Laura said another presentation should be done so that more people can see the black and white and put that before city council. New Business: Lightning detectors in parks – Laura said the Mayor mentioned lightning detectors for Bridge. Laura said there are a couple options and quotes to bring to city council. The quotes are several options for putting several different stations with remote signals. Laura said the best option found a station at Bridge with a remote at transmitter at Grande Reserve and Bristol Bay because there is where the soccer fields are. Laura e-mailed the school district to see about a shared cost. Laura said it is before the board to make sure the decision is okay with the board. Dan asked about adding more later. Laura said that is possible. Kelly asked about a portable unit. Laura said the difference is with portable units, they are activated when lightning hits. Kelly said some of them can tell you how far away the storm is from you. Kelly said it would be nice to have an extra portable one on hand for extra events. Laura said a base station at Raintree Park B and upgrade the current system to FM. Dan said he would like to continue to add these to all of the Yorkville parks. Land Cash appraisal – Laura said city council at the COW meeting tabled this item to wait to hear from Park Board. Laura said we can discuss this tonight and the board can ask for more information. 5 Deb said this is something that cannot be rushed. Dan asked why is the city reevaluating. Laura said the EDC wanted to reevaluate the land cash to spur development. Laura said the city hired an appraiser to look at it. Laura said if the city lowers a cost for anything, that developer can automatically adopt them in any of our annexation agreements. Laura said there is a fee lock. Dan asked if that will expire. Laura said it can. Laura said there is a spreadsheet that she will e-mail to the board. Laura said there are 12 developments that have an expired fee lock. Four that have increased to the current land cash value have only a few lots remaining. Laura stated the question is are you going to spur development if it is lowered. The impact the city council thinks they will get might not happen. The 12 developments that have that expired fee lock in the language they can renegotiate with the city. Laura stated the partial reduction with subsequent reevaluation would be the direction to go not a complete change. Laura said the Park Board has not made a formal recommendation to city council because this was not our recommendation in the first place. Deb said she doesn't think anything will be happening anyway. Laura said she doesn't think it will have much impact. The place that would impact the board is developments that owe cash to put in a park. Laura said the cost to build parks has not gone down. Laura said we could partially reduce it, but we want the money up front. Deb asked why can't developers put the park in at their own expense and they would see how expensive it is. There was a discussion about charging an impact fee to commercial development for parks. Deb said she doesn't think it should be changed she doesn't think it will change anything. The board agreed that they are not in favor of changing the land cash values. Motion was made to keep the land cash the same. Motion made by Seaver Tarulis and seconded by Mark Dilday. Reports: Director Report – None. Parks Report – None. Recreation Report – The board asked Tim about helping at Rib Fest and what time they should arrive to help. Additional Business: None. Adjournment: There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 8:47 p.m. Motion was made by Kelly Sedgwick and seconded by Dan Lane. Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Lisa Godwin 6