1
2
3
4
 / 4
     
  • Metadata
  • Annotations
Entry Properties
Modified
 4/13/2013 10:38:18 AM
Created
 4/13/2013 10:38:14 AM
Path
 \Clerk's Office\Minutes\2000s\2005\Park Board\Park Board Minutes 2005 10-10-05
Template
No template assigned
Park Board Minutes 2005 10-10-05 i i UNITED CITY OF YORKVILLE YORKVILLE PARKS & RECREATION DEPARTMENT BOARD MEETING Parks & Recreation Administrative offices Riverfront Building Monday, October 10, 2005 I MINUTES i CALL TO ORDER: Meeting was called to order by Ken Koch at 7: 05 p.m. i ROLL CALL : Ken Koch, Heather Fiala, Richard Korinek, Alderman Paul James, and Tammy Smock GUESTS/CITY OFFICIALS/STAFF: Laura Brown, Park and' Recreation Director Becky Scheberl Scott Sleezer, Superintendent of Parks Tim Evans Sue Swithin, Superintendent of Recreation Tony Graff j Kathy Farren, Record Tony Medina Ryan S . Horner David Cathey Tony J. Houle Alderman Dean Wolfer Sandy Waclaw Jamie Jackson Joyce Barrett Mayor Art Prochaska Sharon Boyl Bart Olsen Peter Scodro PUBLIC COMMENTS : Members from the Fox Hill Homeowners Association carne to get an update regarding parking at the Fox Hill Park. There is a parking problem at the Fox Hill east park and we are looking at options on how to alleviate the parking issue. For the safety of the children, the Fox Hill Homeowners Association offered to donate their five stall parking lot with the thought that Parks and Recreation can increase the lot to eight stalls, making it a City owned public parking area. In exchange Parks and Recreation would need to build another parking lot at another location for the townhouses ' private use. Scott Sleezer would like to review the information they have just received and discuss it with Joe Wywrot to get more information before we move forward on this. This will be brought forward to the next meeting so that all options can be looked at before a decision is made and brought back to Public Works and/or City Council. APPROVAL OF MINUTES : Minutes from the September 26, 2005 board meeting were approved on motion by Heather Fiala and seconded by Tammy Smock. The motion was unanimously approved. BILLS REVIEW: Cash Analysis & Bills List There were two checks described for the polka party. Laura Brown wanted to clarify that the money was donations that the senior group received and was not expending Park and 1 I Recreation budget items . It was money that Park and Recreation was holding and providing a means to cut a check. The check for $9,638 .74 for Grand Reserve Regional Park was for design fees that we will be reimbursed for from Grand Reserve in land cash. Richard Korinek motioned to approve the bills list and was seconded by Heather Fiala. Roll call vote: Ken Koch—Yes, Heather Fiala Yes, Tammy Smock—Yes, and Richard Korinek—Yes. The motion was unanimously approved. OLD BUSINESS : Park Board Meeting Dates (Fiala) At the last meeting the Board explored the possibility of changing their meeting date from Mondays to Thursdays. The Board agreed to change the meeting date starting October 27, 2005 . They will notify the clerk' s office of this change and Alderman Paul James will mention it at tomorrow's City Council meeting. i NEW BUSINESS . Resignation of Executive Director/Transition Plan Laura Brown formally gave her notice of resignation. She provided the Park Board and Mayor Prochaska a transition plan outlining what needs to occur over the next several weeks. Also, included in that was a suggested hiring plan on moving forward. The normal formal hiring procedure should be followed, and the position should be advertised internally and externally. The Board discussed appointing Scott Sleezer and Sue Swithin as the interim Executive Directors until one is hired. They will provide the developers a point of contact, formulate the Park Board agenda, and have dialogue with the Mayor. j Scott Sleezer will handle the development issues and the grants. He will go to Springfield and give a presentation to the Department of Natural Resources. Sue Swithin will manage the recreation portion. Both of them will report to the Mayor. There were a few concerns that need to be watched. Figures received from Schoppe Designs really need to be watched=-Laura Brown was wonderful about catching charges that the City should not have to pay. Another concern is that that will be some situations where there will be a cross-over between parks and recreation, such as youth baseball. Laura Brown was asked to stay, even if just until someone was hired; but she responded that this is not what would be best for her at this point. Dean Wolfer apologized on behalf of City Council and wanted it to be known that Laura Brown has done a tremendous job and to thank her for all that she has done. She has made a great impression on the City. Tammy Smock was concerned that it may take some time to fill the City Administrator position and how it will affect the hiring of an Executive Director. Mayor Prochaska indicated that he felt that the positions were totally separate and it should not affect each other. He continued to say that he felt that Scott Sleezer and Sue Swithin would do fine jobs as interim Executive Directors and the City staff will help them out wherever necessary. Although he would like Laura Brown to reconsider, he does respect her decision and the professionalism that she has always shown. 2 In hiring a new Executive Director, the Board will need to decide their process of hiring. But it should be a little easier this time because they have a good job description, a good ordinance, and they are more knowledgeable than they were before. David Cathey voiced his remorse of Laura Brown leaving. Before Laura Brown was hired, the Board at that time had put in uncountable unpaid time away from their families j trying to hire someone and was very fortunate to get someone of Laura Brown' s caliber only for City Council to berate her. He expressed how unprofessional it was of City members to put down employees in the newspaper. And he feels cheated of all the volunteer time he put in for it to be wasted. Richard Korinek expressed that he, too, does not want to put in a lot of time in hiring a person only for the Mayor to say that there is a new ordinance with the City Administrator and things have changed. The Mayor stated, though, that an ordinance is required in order to hire a City Administrator, and he cannot hire anyone until an ordinance is created. Heather Fiala would like to wait to see what the ordinance will be before they try hiring someone. Laura Brown indicated that they can start advertising now on IPRA and NRPA for about 60 days and they wouldn't need to know the ordinance until the screening process. Scott Sleezer will attend the Council meetings that pertain to development issues and Sue Swithin will attend the meetings that pertain to recreation. They will know which meetings that they will need to attend because they will be asking Council to put the items on the agenda. Ken Koch recommended that the Board should start attending these meetings, too, to help them out. Tammy Smock is concerned that City Council will continue to pick on the Park Board. For example, the Park Board had put together a proposal to save the City $ 100,000 and the idea got shot down. She just does not want to keep loosing people and feels that it will be awkward explaining this situation to a person they are going to hire. Mayor Prochaska feels that the Board just needs to be up-front j and honest, and there will be a candidate out there that will be up for the challenge. i Heather Fiala motioned that both Scott Sleezer and Sue Swithin handle the Executive Director position in the interim. Scott Sleezer will handle the parks and continue what he is doing along with development and grants . And Sue Swithin will be in charge of recreation and will continue what she is currently doing. This will be a lateral, shared position. Richard Korinek seconded the motion. Roll call vote: Ken Koch—Yes, Richard Korinek—Yes, Heather Fiala—Yes, Tammy Smock—Yes. As a joint position, both Scott Sleezer and Sue Swithin should attend the meetings. REPORTS Park and Recreation Report Becky Scheberl provided the results from the Amazing Adventure Race. She posted pictures on the website as well as an evaluation. Overall, it was an exceptionally, well. run event. Tony Houle, who heads the playground division, and Ryan Horner, who works under Tony' s direction, have both successf ally become certified playground inspectors. It is a 3 i i _ test that is taken every three years and is a huge asset for the City. This makes them an expert which means they can testify. Their obligation is to check the inspection forms that we keep in the books for documentation. Sue Swithin wanted the Board to take note on page two of the Recreation Report of the facility agreements . She will keep them updated on the sites that they are using, the hours of use, and the cost. She wanted to make it clear that we do not just have office space at one facility. We will be using approximately eight to nine different sites for facilities within a calendar year. This will be a very tedious process to keep track of where the programs are, when they start, and what the setup and breakdown times of the programs will be. All agreements are moving forward regarding the Beecher Center. Laura Brown and Sue Swithin will work out a transition plan, and they will find out when they can start moving. Most of the programs will be able to transition through the winter program guide. They would like to get the office up and moving as quickly as possible so that we can be fully functional. No structural changes will need to be done, only wiring, telephone hook-ups, and computer hook-ups. Parkside will help with the actual move. A parks building has been cleared out to provide additional storage. The bulk of it will be by the Riverfront Building. Sue Swithin has just finished the preliminary interviewing for the 20-hour permanent special program coordinator that will take on special events, one day activities, and manage the concession stand. It will be finalized at the end of this week and that person will get started as soon as possible. ADDITIONAL BUSINESS I None i CORRESPONDENCE: Miscellaneous Correspondence Articles are in the packets to read. ADJOURNMENT: The meeting adjourned at 8 :21 p.m. following the motion by Heather Fiala and seconded by Richard Korinek. The motion was unanimously approved. Respectfully Submitted, i Jenne Arbet Minute Taker i I 4 I