Park Board Minutes 2005 06-27-05 i
APPOOVED
UNITED CITY OF YORKVILLE
YORKVIL,LE PARKS & RECREATION DEPARTMENT BOARD MEETING
Parks & Recreation Administrative offices Riverfront Building
Monday, June 27, 2005
MINUTES
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CALL TO ORDER:
Meeting was called to order by Ken Koch at 7 : 04 p.m.
ROLL CALL :
Heather Fiala, Tammy Smock, Van Truman, and Ken Koch
GUESTS/CITY OFFICIALS/STAFF:
Laura Brown, Park and Recreation Director
Scott Sleezer — Superintendent of Park
PUBLIC COMMENTS :
Allecia Vermillion, Beacon News
APPROVAL OF MINUTES :
Minutes were approved on motion by Heather Fiala and seconded by Tammy Smock.
The motion was unanimously approved.
BILLS REVIEW:
Cash Analysis and Bill List
Two computers were purchased — one for Barb and one for Kathi . The purchase of the
computers was in conjunction with a rotation of the old computers in order to create a
new work station for the part-time receptionist and the intern.
The Elan charge check that was signed was for the amount of the Parks and Recreation' s
charges only. The other charges that were on the bill will be charged to the city. The j
charges were itemized.
Van Truman motioned to approve the bills list and was seconded by Heather Fiala. The
motion was unanimously approved.
DEVELOPERS PRESENTATION:
None
OLD BUSINESS :
Senior Service Ad4oc Meeting " Update
There were no updates at this time.
Park Maintenance Facility — Pending Finance Director & Speer Financial attending
the July 11`h Meeting
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This will be brought forward to the next meeting when Finance Director Traci Pleckham
and Speer Financial will be attending.
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Discussion about future Pool Development or Recreation Community Center Funding
Options — Referendum when, how
Laura Brown provided information on Public/Private Partnerships as another option for
funding a pool, along with information on a referendum. She stated that a Public/Public
Partnership with possibly the County could also be an option. Another option suggested
was, instead of having the city own the pool, to focus on economic development to see if
they can pursue some type of water feature, whether it was a hotel or a commercial
opportunity. She suggests that all options should be explored so that in response to
public questions the Board can say they have looked into all the options and can support
why they feel their decision would be the best way to go.
In order to pursue a Public/Private Partnership a request for proposal can be made.
One concern about having a referendum is that senior citizens and people who have just
purchased their own pool would not vote for the referendum. Laura Brown stated that the
Board does not need to start with a direct referendum question. Instead, they can ask —
"Are you interested in a future referendum for X number of dollars to finance a pool?
Are you willing to support it? Are you willing to fund it? Will you approve a rate
increase or a dollar bond?" The funding can be handled in two different ways. The first
way is to ask for a specific dollar amount using bonds. With bonds debt must be paid off
before more money can be borrowed. The second way is to ask for a tax rate increase
which brings in new income which will continue to come in. With a bond, once it is paid
off their done. However, if there are operating fees that were unforeseen the extra
income would not be there. With a tax rate increase funds would still be coming in. The
tax rate increase can be for recreation but be used for the pool which opens up other
avenues or it can just be for the pool.
Speer Financial will be able to answer all funding questions at the next meeting.
Rice Park Update
Two of the five areas of the soil analysis indicated that it was used as a trash pit or burn
area. This goes down from 9 feet to 12 feet deep . City Engineer Joe Wywrot came up
with the options of (1 ) cleaning the whole area and repacking it with clay (very costly),
(2) auger down and pour nine foot footings (very costly), (3) auger down and put pylon
adjacent to the existing footings and attach to it, or (4) create spread footings to even the
load. Since the situation was not our fault or the fault of the developer, Laura Brown is
looking into seeing if the developer will share the cost. She is working with the installer
to find out the cost of doing a spread footing. The residents have been notified of the
situation. The spread footings could work forever or they could need to be replaced in
five years. This is a good immediate solution, but the only true solution is to remove the
equipment, clean it all out and repack it with clay and put it back, but by doing this by
code the playground would need all new legs and would come out very costly. A
playground' s life span is only 10- 12 years so it is worth taking a chance on the spread
footings. The labor will be the costly part.
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NEW BUSINESS .
City Council Action Items Relating to Park and Recreation
• Park Naming Application for Sunflower Park
• Gilbert Park Bid Results
• Christian Academy Agreement
Tammy Smock presented the above items at the Committee of a Whole meeting.
Nothing was raised regarding these issues. However, Tammy Smock informed the
Board that she learned from the meeting that next year there may be a parking issue at the
Fox Hill baseball and soccer fields. People will no longer be able to park on the street in
front of the homes.
Cannonball Ridge Park Bid Selection
The budgeted amount for the construction and installation of the park is $256,000. With
the OSLAD Grant support of $ 128,000 and the Developer' s cash contribution of
$ 199,274, (totaling $327,274) this leaves an approximate net profit of $71 ,274.
However, Laura Brown has some concerns with Schoppe Design and Associates ' cost
estimates. We rely on their cost estimates to direct us on what goes under as an alternate
so we come in on budget. Laura listed the two lowest bidders on the legal sheets along
with Schoppe' s estimates . Some of Schoppe' s estimates were extremely off from the
lowest bidders. For example, the Park Monument was off by approximately $20,000 and
the price per unit of the asphalt was off by at least $ 1 .24 per unit. The choices are to
either (1 ) accept the base bid that is $ 18,000 over budget knowing that $20,000 is being
paid over budget for a park monument or (2) throw it all out and re-bid which will cause
us to be four to five weeks behind on construction schedule. The only negotiating points
are with the alternates. So if we do not want to pay $20,000 over budget for a park
monument, a re-bid will be needed. The board unanimously approved to go to Council
with the bid from George ' s Landscaping. Scott Sleezer strongly felt that a re-bid was a
better way to go.
REPORTS
Park Development Report
New Vehicles
Scott Sleezer would like to move forward in purchasing two new vehicles. He is not sure
if the state bid purchase is still open for this vehicle, but he believes it is. The Public
Works Department will, however, share in the cost for the four wheel drive and the snow
plow.
Grilling
Scott Sleezer would also like to consider allowing grilling at the River Front Park.
People have been grilling there anyways and hot coals are being dumped where someone
could step on them or where they could do damage. Laura Brown stated that the park
ordinance could be changed but we should get some input from the fire district just so we
know. It was suggested that we install permanent grills along with a burn barrel for the
hot coals. This would control where the grilling will be done. Laura Brown will draft up
an ordinance recommendation for the Board' s review in order to proceed with City
Council.
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ADDITIONAL BUSINESS
Art in the Park was a huge success. The vendor feedback was very good and the
entertainment was well received. The only problem was the heat. In the future we will
reduce the time from 9 : 00 a.m.-5 : 00 p.m. to 10 : 00 a.m.-4 : 00 p.m. This will be a yearly
event for the last week in June.
Music Under the Stars was a huge turn out. The Assistant Police Academy had their
annual fundraiser and sold out of food. Scott Sleezer suggested that Parks should
consider having a fundraiser like that.
The movie, however, did not have as good of a turn out, probably because of the heat.
ADJOURNMENT :
The meeting adjourned after the executive session at 8 : 35 p.m. following the motion by
Heather Fiala and seconded by Van Truman.
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Respectfully Submitted,
Jeanne Arbet
Minute Taker
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