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Public Works Minutes 2005 08-22-05 Joint meeting with Park Board i I Page 1 of 5 Approved by the Park Board 11 /7/05 Approved by the Public Works Committee 2/6/06 UNITED CITY OF YORKVILLE YORKVILLE PARKS & RECREATION DEPARTMENT AND PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE JOINT MEETING City Hall Monday, August 22, 2005 — 6 :30 p.m. MINUTES CALL TO ORDER. Meeting was called to order by Joe Besco at 6 : 32 p .m. I PARKS & RECREATION BOARD AND PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE ATTENDANCE : Chris Rollins, Ken Koch, Van Truman, Heather Fiala (Arrived late), Tammy Smock, Richard Korinek, Alderman Joe Besco, Alderman Marry Munns, Alderman Dean Wolfer, and Alderman Paul James GUESTS/CITY OFFICIALS/STAFF: Laura Brown, Park and Recreation Director Scott Sleezer, Superintendent of Park Becky Scheberl, Parks and Recreation Barb Reisinger, Recreation Tim Evens, Parks and Recreation Eric Dhuse, Public Works Director Joe Wywrot, City Engineer Mayor Art Prochaska Valerie Burd, Alderwoman Wanda Ohare, Alderwoman John Bosman, SRBL Architects Dave Cathey, Former Board Member (6 : 45 p .m. — 7 : 15 p .m.) Lyle R. Rolfe, Record Allecia Vermilion, Beacon PARK DISTRICT DISCUSSION. Alderman Munns had indicated that over the years residents have expressed the idea of becoming a park district, especially with the continued growth, so that the public would have a little more say in how money is spent. So Alderman Munns wanted to see what has been discussed in the past and what would be best for the future. The Parks and Recreation Board and the Public Works Committee each gave their comments : 1 � i Page 2 of 5 I • A Park District may have more control over a Park Board in doing more of what the people want rather than having to recommend to the City Council to make the final decision. • It would cost the tax payers more money if we were to become a park district because we don't have the industrial and the commercial support with the tax base. • With a park district, the taxpayers will be able to vote in the board members and will be held accountable for their own budget separate from the city. Expenditures will, therefore, be approved by taxpayers a little more directly. • Although in the past it did not seem beneficial to become a park district, now, however, that may have changed when you consider the extension of the boundaries—school district boundaries or even county boundaries . • If the City Council and the Park Board agree that it is time to examine becoming a park district more closely, research and preparation needs to be done in order to seriously consider doing this and to present it to the voters. • Yorkville may not be at the point right now for a park district, but it may take a couple years to get the infrastructure in order before this can even happen anyways. We would need to decide on things such as transferring capital/assets that are currently in place and having a cooperative agreement. • To form a park district it would involve either a referendum or a ratifying referendum. Anything that would go outside of the city limits would require a referendum. • If Parks had to create their own levy, the amount that they would levy could be a substantial increase to the residents . But having a larger geographical area to spread the tax burden would help. • It would take approximately 2-3 years before the taxpayers would see a tax benefit from commercial development. Find out if there is a dollar amount per person to have in revenue so that when we go forward we would have the tax base in place so that the hit on the residents is not so bad. • If assets are turned over to a park district, the city' s bonding ability and the city' s j financing ability will be affected because those are no longer considered city assets . t • Staffing would need to be considered because there will be a redundancy because there will now be two groups . I It was suggested that a committee of residents, non-residents (since we may be going outside of the city limits), Park Board Members, and City Council Members should research this so everyone knows how this will affect them—the benefits and the impacts. Instead of looking at an ideal formula, we need to look at our own circumstances as a community. Laura Brown indicated that there are a lot of resources available—Illinois Associated Park Districts (IAPD) has Peter Murphy, their resident attorney, who can consult with them. Peter Murphy authored guides on how to form a park district. But it needs to be decided if this is the time that they want to pursue it. It will take a year or two to actually organize and be prepared. You can get all this information without committing. The information can be gathered just to make that decision. Laura Brown indicated that there are some very successful park districts as well as some very successful city recreation departments . One is not right or wrong. I 2 I Page 3 of 5 With the library addition the city is pretty close at their maximum amount. With a need for a police station, there was a question on how we will be able to extend that further for the park district. Mayor Prochaska answered that this is true but that number changes every year because our EAB grows every year with our growing community. Joe Besco would like to see more facts and have the professionals come in to talk with everyone before forming a committee . Before spending a lot of time on studying the issue, Mayor Prochaska mentioned that we should get some input from our residents and non-residents to see what kind of interest is out there. Valerie Burd also wants to make sure City Council is in favor of this before we poll the residents. Alderman Dean Wolfer suggested that the Park Board provide City Council with information on organizing a park district, the projected boundaries, how the assets will be divided over a three year period, and project the impact on the cost of the school boundary versus the city boundary. He said it would help if there could be an estimated cost. Laura Brown indicated that there is a rate that is established as a park district code which is one percent on your EAV for a park district. To levy under the municipal for city recreation and parks it is 10- 12% . It is drastically different. Currently, our levy for the city including the library was . 008 . If you levy the maximum, this could be a large increase. But Laura Brown indicated that you would have corporate and new growth dollars factored into that as well which would make it not quite as bad. Chris Rollins suggested contacting the non-residents who participate in our programs to survey or send a letter to them to see if they may be interested. A non-resident is paying higher fees for using the services so if they are comparing what they are paying as a non- resident verses what the may be taxed as a district, their picture may look different to Y Y p Y them than a city resident. Passive recreation verses active recreation has an impact on cost also . Wanda Ohara would like for the Park Board to make a recommendation for or against this before the City Council would vote . Parks will come up with some information and will bring this information to COW. Wanda Ohara would also like to know how we are going to work together with all the development coming in. We are now able to do this fairly smoothly because we are part of the city—how will this continue to work when you are a district. Laura Brown will call Sugar Grove to see how they did their transition. Park Board will start gathering the information and will have the information by the beginning of October. We need to confer with the public about this before this gets put on a ballot, even if it is just a question whether they are interested in it or not. Valerie Burd did not recommend that they rush into even a question on the ballot. She believes there needs to be some education of the public first. We need a citizens committee formed after this is approved and have them go out and promote it before a vote is made. PARKS MAINTENANCE FACILITY Laura Brown indicated that in the packet there was a memo to the Public Works Committee summarizing the space needs analysis and cost summary from Sentle Rubel for the construction of a parks maintenance facility for the proposed 7 acre park in the Prairie Meadows subdivision. Included were two funding options from Speer Financial and Traci Pleckham. In order to move forward, Parks and Recreations would need to 3 i i i Page 4 of 5 know if the park maintenance facility should encompass a portion of Public Works or all of Public Works—should it be a joint facility or an independent facility. The Public Works Committee does feel there is a great need for a Public Works facility. Alderman Marty Munns feels the key question is how they are going to fund it. Right now, Parks is in the planning process and wanted to know if Public Works had any facilities planning process in place for its needs . Currently, the company that does all the planning for the city' s facilities has a bubble plan for a Parks and a Public Works Building. Joe Besco suggested that in order to incorporate a large Parks and Public Works Building and possibly a community center to use a post framed building. Instead of going with a predetermined motion about the type of structure that should be built, Parks and Recreation hired Sentle Rubel to look at their space needs and had them design around that—their needs, their growth, the anticipated uses, and then Sentle Rubel proposed the most cost effective structure for them. Part of it may, however, be a type of a post frame building. Parks was moving forward to try to alleviate and identified a parcel of land that would be a good site for a maintenance facility. They went to Council to get permission to go out and hire . They currently have two funding options on how they can actually fund the build of this type. Before they proceed forward with any recommendations and/or bring it to Council for approval, they wanted to interact with Public Works and make sure that they have ironed out any duplications or to make sure this is a good use of their space and dollars. It was suggested to use the multipurpose room for programs . This multipurpose room is a public meeting room, board room, training room, break room, lunch room, as well as a conference room. They have asked John Bosnian of SRBL Architects to be frugal about what he ' s proposing but sense/space wise—something they can grow with. It was suggested that they make the facility to be an all in one building public works, parks, and even some additional space for a community center where it can be utilized for programs . John Bosnian explained, though, that there are complications that are associated with this idea that need to be looked at, such as how it affects staffing and the hours of operation especially in a situation where you have multiple type use. Although the city is planning a larger joint facility that will cap the total build out of the city, this will be a good interim for a number of years until the larger joint facility can be j built. Alderman Dean Wolfer is up for pursuing the plans presented by Parks . Alderman Marty Munns would like to have future maintenance costs on an annual basis. I There was a question by Mayor Prochaska about how the money for the payments of $200,000 is broken down. Laura Brown indicated that Kevin McCanna from Speer Financial said any of these would work or a combination of them. He can also extend it beyond 13 years to 20 years, or in 10 years you could pay it off or refinance or roll it over. 4 Page 5 of 5 The size of the facility is based around the Parks operations at the present time with a small amount for storage of Public Works vehicles . This was projected out for 10 years of the Park employees. If this were built today, the existing staff of both departments could fit. It does not allow for future growth because it is not how it was designed for 10 years of Public Works and 10 years Parks and Recreation. Joe would still like to go bigger for the growth, but it was explained to him that there is some size restraint on site . John Bosman can go back and figure the cost to redesign it to accommodate a little more future growth and a community center. It was noted that this, however, can be one location of many. And it somewhat makes sense to have a north and south facility because of the river crossing. i Alderman Dean Wolfer suggested that we bring it to COW for full Council ' s input to see if we should move forward. Alderman Marty Munns is okay with going forward with this but he would like to know the maintenance costs/operation costs. I ADJOURNMENT OF JOINT MEETING : The joint meeting adjourned at 7 .29 p.m. as Public Works continued on with their committee meeting. i Respectfully Submitted, Jeanne Arbet Minute Taker i i f i i i �I 5 ATTENDANCE Yorkville Parks & Recreation Department and Public Works Committee Joint Meeting Monday, August 22, 2005 Please Sian In GUESTS/CITY OFFICIALS/STAFF: Laura Brown, Parks and Recreation Director C i Becky Scheberl, Parks and Recreation I Scott Sleezer, Superintendent of Parks Barb Reisinger, Recreation Tim Evans, Parks and Recreation John Bosman, SRBL Architects i Joe Wywrot, City Engineer Mayor Art Prochaska I Valerie Burd, Alderwoman Wanda Ohare, Alderwoman Dave Cathey, Former Board Member (Arrived at 6 :45 p.m. and left at 7 : 15 p .m.) i Lyle R. Rolfe, Record Allecia Vermilion, Beacon Eric Dhuse, Public Works Director I PARK & RECREATION BOARD MEMBERS : PHeather Fiala Van Truman Ken Koch 56 Richard Korinek Chris Rollins Tammy Smock I PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE : 1 Alderman Joe Besco Alderman Marty Munns Alderman Dean Wolfer Alderman Paul James I I