Human Resources Commission Packet 2011 04-20-11UNITED CITY OF YORKVILLE
HUMAN RESOURCES COMMISSION
COMMITTEE MEETING
0BAGENDA
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
6:30PM
New Location: Parks & Recreation Administration Office
201 W. Hydraulic
Call to Order:
Establish a Quorum:
Introduction of Guests:
Citizen Comments:
Approval of Minutes: November 17, 2010 and March 16, 2011
Mayor’s Report:
Staff Reports:
Committee Reports:
New Business:
Old Business:
1. Volunteer Fair – Discussion
2. Community Gardens – Discussion
Items for Next Meeting Agenda:
Additional Business:
Adjournment:
Page 1 of 3 DRAFT
UNITED CITY OF YORKVILLE
Human Resources Commission
Committee Meeting
City Hall Conference Room
Wednesday, November 17, 2010 6:30pm
Call to Order: Chairman Scott Gengler called the meet ing to order at 6:30pm.
Establish a Quorum:
Present:
Scott Gengler, Chairman
Amy Badouin
Judy Burks
No quorum established
City Officials Present:
Valerie Burd, Mayor
Glory Spies, Co mmunit y Relations Director
Anna Schwein
Introduction of Guests: Anna Schwein and Mayor Burd were recognized.
Citizen Comments: None
Approval of Minutes None
Mayor’s Report: None
Staff Reports: None
Committee Reports: None
Old Business (out of sequence)
1. Community Gardens Update
Anna Schwein said she hoped to start a communit y gardens project and that Yorkville
Congregational Church has also been talking about this topic. Mayor Burd said she and
the Oswego Mayor had spoken at one time to developers about allowing gardens on
vacant lots.
Ms. Schwein has discussed the idea with friends and so me of the points made were:
parameters, organic gardening, no pesticides, funding opportunit ies for tools, seeds, etc.
Mayor Burd said she had received a call last year from someone willing to donate plants.
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Other points discussed were:
1. Including schools, small children
2. Possibly sell produce at Farmers’ Market
3. Possible location for gardens—behind Rush Copley building, property by
Elmwood Cemetery
4. Plot size needed approximately 20’ x 30” or possibly have varying sizes
5. ChargePlano charges $25 with $5 for liabilit y insurance and $20 is refunded
after the gardener clears the plot in the fall.
6. Water sourcecould use water barrels or gray water
7. Possible fenceit was decided this would be left to the gardener. Walkways
between plots also suggested.
8. Glory suggested having a jo int meet ing wit h other interested groups such as the
Green Group. A jo int February meet ing will be held prior to making
announcements about the garden idea.
9. Mayor Burd noted that some parks are not yet developed and if the plots were in a
park, the Cit y insurance would cover the liabilit y issue. The Parks Department
would also have equipment to till and prepare the soil.
10.Suggestion that any proceeds be donated to Senior Services or to Food
Bank/Pantry.
11.Educational component very important since many people do not know about
gardening. Yorkville Garden Club or the extensio n service were suggested as
educational tools.
12.Vegetable vs. flower gardens was discussed and it was suggested that if not all
plots were filled, they could be used for flowers. It was noted that marigo lds are
natural barriers for some animals.
13.Also discussed were adequate parking and accessibilit y. Committee members
agreed they want this project to begin next Spring. Ms. Spies will put info in
Parks and Recreat ion catalog.
14.Plot marking was discussed.
After placing a phone call to a Parks Department emplo yee, Mayor Burd determined that
an 80acre park on the north side of the train tracks near Grande Reserve can be used.
Water would be available. A parks emplo yee will draft a map of the area
Mayor Burd and Ms. Spies said Home Depot is very generous about donating broken
bags of materials to the Cit y.
The Green Group, Congregational Church and the Green Co mmittee will be invited to the
HRC meeting on December 15 to discuss ideas. Scott volunteered to chair this meeting.
Anna will attend a Green Committee meet ing on December 20 th to share the gardening
idea.
Garden plot registration at the spring environmental event the Green Co mmittee
sponsors, was also suggested.
Page 3 of 3
New Business:
1. 2011 Human Resources Commission Meeting Dates
The committee discussed the meeting dates for 2011 and also about canceling eit her the
June, July or August meet ing. No firm decisio n was made.
Old Business:
2. Volunteer Community Appreciation Day
The Volunteer Appreciation Day will be held on February 16 at the Library at 6:30pm.
All no minees will be invited and given certificates. Child and teen vo lunteer nominees
are still needed. Music and refreshments will be provided.
4. Volunteer Networking Meeting (out of sequence)
The committee discussed a draft of a flier invit ing social service agencies to a meet ing.
The meet ing would address their challenges and needs in the current economy and how
the HRC could assist them. It was suggested to compile a list of potential vo lunteers for
various social service providers and send invitations to attend a meet ing. Glory will
email a list of the volunteers and agencies to commissio n members. The invitations will
be sent by December 13 th and will ask the invitees to respond by January 12 th .
In another matter, Anna shared an idea she heard called ‘Local Business Saturday”
whereby cit izens are encouraged to shop in their own communit ies on the Saturday after
Thanksgiving. This program is sponsored by American Express. Glory will send an
email blast.
3. Holiday Under the Stars Clothing Drive (out of sequence)
Collect ion boxes will be placed in five locations for clothing donations. Commissio n
members will check the sites and all collected items will be given to the Food Pantry.
The collections will end on December 13 th .
Additional Business:
Glory said the vo lunteer income tax assistance program is going well and a site
coordinator is secured, the Food Pantry and their computers will be used and there is an
orientation meet ing on December 2 nd . Training will be given to the volunteers and 8
hours of work per week will be requested.
Adjournment:
There was no further business and the meet ing was adjourned at 7:57pm.
Minutes respect fully submitted by
Marlys Young
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DRAFT
UNITED CITY OF YORKVILLE
Human Resources Commission
Committee Meeting
City Hall Conference Room
Wednesday, March 16, 2011 6:30pm
Call to Order: Chairman Scott Gengler called the meet ing to order at 6:30pm.
Establish a Quorum:
Present:
Scott Gengler, Chairman
Judy Burks
Anna Schwein
Jill Harker
Amy Badouin
Chairman Gengler said the committee had not had a recent meeting, but did host the
Volunteer Appreciation Event in February. Judy commented that the event was very
nicely done and the committee complimented Ms. Spies.
City Officials Present:
Glory Spies, Co mmunit y Relations Director
Joe Plocher, Alderman (arr. 6:55pm)
Introduction of Guests: None
Citizen Comments: None
Approval of Minutes: January 19, 2011
The minutes were approved on a motion by Amy and second by Judy wit h unanimous
vo ice vote approval.
Mayor’s Report: None
Staff Reports: None
Committee Reports: None
New Business:
1. Community Volunteer Appreciation Night – Recap
Committee members praised the firsttime event and commented on the good turnout and
professio nalism. It was noted that award recipients were highly invo lved and that choices
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were difficult. Scott commented that he discovered that the senior population needed
assistance.
Glory said that next year she would like to provide a pamphlet list ing the recipients and
their achievements. Jill suggested there should be an emcee fro m this committee with
increased committee participation next year. A Power Point presentation with no minee
photos was suggested by Anna to create excitement and provide validit y to the event.
She also suggested that all no minees be introduced prior to announcing the winner. The
event might be held in October with the Library being a possible location.
Other possible improvements for next year include: addit ional no minating categories to
include Youth Football League, basketball and baseball groups, food donations will be
acknowledged in the program, potted flowers for decoration.
2. Kendall Cares Clinic
This March 21st event is sponsored by the Plano Church Groups. Donation of clothing,
personal hygiene products and vo lunteerism are needed and this information will be put
on the website. Doctors and dent ists also provide services. This clinic could be used to
ident ify potential clients as well. Volunteer names should be sent to Glory.
3. Volunteer Fair
The event will connect volunteers with social service agencies. Possible vo lunteers could
include high school students, 4H or Scout groups. It was decided to hold the event on
November 3 from 6:308:00pm at the Library. Raffle items and refreshments were also
suggested.
Publicit y will be in the form of fliers distributed to churches, press releases, Yorkville
Patch and Cit y newsletter. Anna and Amy mo ved and seconded to move this item to Old
Business for further discussio n at the next meet ing. Voice vote approval.
4. Community Garden
The garden will be located north of the Home Depot and the Park District will run water
to the site. The Cit y liabilit y insurance will cover garden participants since the plots are
on Cit y property. There will be 48 garden plots with parking alo ng Cannonball Trail.
The committee is seeking a tiller and Alderman Plocher said he would contact Fred Davis
for prior plowing. Scott Sleezer will be asked to spray paint the perimeter. It is hoped
the plots will be ready by midMay.
Glory has secured an account number for deposit of checks and expenses. Applications
and checks should be sent to the Cit y and the plots will be assigned on a first come, first
served basis. Money collected will be used for supplies.
It was decided that the committee should ask if the Cit y Attorney wishes to review or
revise the application and it was also discussed who would mediate disputes. The
applicat ion and agreement will be posted on the website.
Hours of operation were discussed (dawn to dusk was suggested) and a “garden at your
own risk” and other rules (including no pets) should be posted.
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A contact person for comments, concerns, ideas and suggestions is needed. Anna will set
up an email address for this.
Photos of the plowing and groundbreaking were suggested. Groundbreaking will be held
April 2 at 2pm and the Mayor will be invited.
On a motion by Amy and second by Judy, this item will be moved to Old Business and
discussed at the next meet ing.
Additional Business:
Anna said her school class is do ing a communit y service project and wrote a grant
applicat ion. The class was awarded a $10,000 grant and the money will be used to
purchase laptops for children at Hesed House in Aurora.
Anna also said reading circles are being formed and one location will be at Headstart in
Yorkville in April. She asked for volunteers to read. The kickoff will be in March at
Hesed House and it will be broadcast.
Scott noted that a contact sheet list ing HRC members had been sent.
It was noted that after the Cit y elect ions, the Mayor will reappoint Commissio n members
at his/her discretion.
Adjournment:
There was no further business and the meet ing was adjourned at 7:44pm on a motion and
second by Amy and Judy, respect ively.
Minutes by
Marlys Young