Park Board Minutes 2013 03-14-13
APPROVED 4/11/13
Yorkville Parks and Recreation Department
City Hall
800 Game Farm Road
March 14, 2013 at 6:00 p.m.
Call to Order:
Deb Horaz called the meeting to order at 6:02 p.m.
Roll Call:
Deb Horaz – yes; Kelly Sedgwick – yes; Seaver Tarulis – yes; Mark Dilday – no; Amy
Cesich – no; Dan Lane – yes; Matt Konnecki – no.
Introduction of City Officals and Staff:
Laura Schraw – Interim Director of Parks and Recreation
Tim Evans – Superintendent of Recreation
Scott Sleezer – Superintendent of Parks
Ken Koch – Alderman
Jeff Weckbach – City Intern
Other Guests:
None.
Public Comment:
None.
Presentations:
None.
Approval of Minutes:
The minutes from the February 21, 2013 meeting were approved with one
correction. The name Yorkville Outdoor Recreation Center was changed to Yorkville Outdoor Center.
Motion made by Seaver Tarulis seconded by Kelly Sedgwick. The minutes from the February 28, 2013
were approved with one correction the word park to part. Motion made by Dan Lane seconded by
Seaver Tarulis.
Bill Review:
Dan Lane asked about a pistol and rod assembly service call. Scott said it was a repair for
the pool/spa at the Rec Center. Dan Lane asked about re-stake fee. Scott said the city had a surveyor
measure and find the corners on Clark Park to resolve some issues. Dan Lane asked about the infield
groomer. Scott said those are items the city purchased. The Bills list was approved. Motion made by
Kelly Sedgwick and seconded by Seaver Tarulis. Roll call: Deb – yes; Dan – yes; Seaver – yes; Kelly –
yes.
Park Board Budget Report January 2012and Park Board Budget Report January 2013 –
These
are for informational and comparison purchases. Tim stated that the REC Center is now running in a
deficit because of lack of memberships. Tim said the things still have to be run until we close, we are
doing things the best we can.
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Old Business:
Strategic Planning –
Laura Schraw said the board needs to decide on some dates for a strategic
planning meeting. The board discussed several dates and times that would be open to plan a meeting.
The board decided on May 23, 2013 to hold a strategic planning meeting. Laura said she will verify this
meeting time again at next months meeting.
Baseball Field Use Discussion -
Tim Evans said that getting all the groups in the field use went well.
Tim said one group now has an agreement with the school district with a field and another went in with
the Legion to build a field. Tim said he doesn't feel that we should give a discount to groups that are
spending money in other areas and on other fields.
Tim said this year everything is settled and people are happy. Tim just wanted to let the board know
what was happening and asked them how to handle this. Scott said one group that has been spending
significant money outside. Scott said YYBSA has kicked in previously to help do improvements on our
fields, but nothing to the degree to the money being spent now on other fields.
Scott said that at least $8,000 has been spent on Legion and the group that is partnering with the school
is building from scratch, which will cost more than that. Scott said that there is space in the city where
we could build more fields, so it is disappointing that the leagues don't come to us. Kelly said that the in
house leagues should have a discount, but if it is a travel league, no discounts.
Tim said there are groups that need a discount, or the league would fail. Tim said it needs to be in a
contract that if there is money spent, it comes to the city first. Tim said there has been donations from
local businesses, which if the city asks for that, we would not get that, but if we worked together, we
could make some great improvements.
Laura said their contracts do not pay for the entire costs of the fields. Dan pointed out that the city
loses money on the fields every year. Mayor Golinski said that if they have all this money to spend, then
the city will raise the rates. The rates have not been raised in a few years. Deb asked if the parents are
aware that they are supporting a private entity and not their own city.
Tim said probably not. Tim said the bigger issue is that new fields are not a bad thing, but the city has
no access to them. Tim asked them if we could use their fields for adult softball and the response was
what is the benefit for us. Tim said we will we give discounts and work with them, but it needs to go
both ways. Deb said we are paying city staff to run these fields.
Tim said he wants to give the discounts to those that need it and not hurt them. Kelly said he agrees and
that is why we need to make some rules for who receives discounts. Dan asked why did these leagues
do this. Tim said then they have their own field and don't have to work with us as much. Tim said that
we need a new contract to address these issues.
Mayor Golinski said that the city is using residents tax dollars and subsidizing the organization and they
charge enough to invest money and then invest outside the city. Laura said if we change the rates, we
have to let them know by August. Deb asked if we could run our own baseball/softball league in-house
through Parks and Recreation. Tim said we could look into it.
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Deb said then residents could decide if they want to play with our league or the other leagues. Tim said
that would give a big advantage for field use. Tim said there is time to decide what direction we want to
take for next year. The board agreed they are not happy about it and they will look at how to handle the
situation.
The board discussed the best way to go about addressing the issue and to make sure that it doesn't affect
the kids in a negative way. Tim said starting an in-house league would be a good way to handle it. The
Mayor said it would cost less and run more efficiently. The board discussed just keeping it strictly in-
house and not travel.
Laura said that a contract can be drafted with these things included. The Mayor said if the teams want a
discount, they spend money with the city, if they don't, no discount.
New Business:
Mower Trade In –
Scott said he said this purchase has been budgeted, but the trade in has been valued
at more than $500.00, so it needs approval by city council. Scott said it is a 10 year old mower and it is
time to get a new one. Scott said this one will be a diesel and the city can now have a site to fuel diesel.
A motion was made to approve the trade in of 2003 mower at $1250.00 and purchase a new mower for
a total cost of $10,485.00. Motion was made by Kelly Sedgwick and seconded by Seaver Tarulis. Roll
call vote – Deb -yes; Kelly – yes; Seaver – yes; Dan – yes.
Reports:
Director Report –
Canoecopia was a great trip and there were a lot of visitors. Tim said that in the
future more people should got to highlight our kayak chute. Laura said ours is the only one that is free.
Mayor said it would be good to upgrade it to a class 3, when they tear it up again soon.
Recreation Report –
Tim said basketball is over and it was a good year with a few minor issues with
people being so competitive. Tim said it has been overall a great year. Youth soccer kicks off soon.
Kelly said he feels more time needs to be spent on fundamentals and then a few games at the end. Tim
said we can look at some different ideas. The Easter event is set for next week. A Tax Dodge Run
th
coming up and the city is involved with the 4 of July.
Parks Report –
The city wants to keep Clark Park. We are in the process of cleaning it up and we had
a professional survey for property lines. Scott said Laura and he met with the adjacent property owner
to address a few concerns. Scott said the city is cleaning it up a bit. Scott said eventually we would like
to have a foot bridge there. Laura said the neighbor to the park has their driveway off of the property.
Scott said they had concerns with what the plans for the future are and he said we calmed their fears.
The meeting went well.
Scott said some of his employees attended a meeting regarding turf and grass issues to get some ideas
on helping get the lawn strong again. Scott said he had a great conversation with the Athletic Director
of the schools and it is becoming a better partnership. Scott said they are working well with us for
soccer this spring. Scott said the schools are working well letting us use the space more. Scott said his
guys are preparing to get ready for baseball.
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Scott said he would like to get a digital sign put up in town square to advertise all the city events. Scott
said it is about $15,000. Scott said the city could charge other people to use the sign to advertise. He
said it would be on the north corner. Tim said it would be used for so many things. The board liked that
idea.
Additional Business:
None.
Adjournment:
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 7:25 p.m. Motion made
by Kelly Sedgwickseconded by Dan Lane .
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