Park Board Minutes 2013 09-26-13
APPROVED 10/10/13
Yorkville Parks and Recreation Department
City Hall
800 Game Farm Road
September 26, 2013 at 6:00 p.m.
Call to Order: Kelly Sedgwick called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m.
Roll Call: Deb Horaz – yes; Kelly Sedgwick – yes; Seaver Tarulis – no; Mark Dilday – no; Amy Cesich
– yes; Dan Lane – yes; Matt Konecki – yes.
Introduction of City Official and Staff:
Laura Schraw – Director of Parks and Recreation
Tim Evans – Superintendent of Recreation
Scott Sleezer – Superintendent of Parks
Joel Friders – Alderman
Bart Olson – City Administrator
Gary Golinski – Mayor
Ken Koch – Alderman
Other Guests:
Robyn Sutcliff – Foxy’s Ice Cream
Ed Kurtz – YYBSA
Tony Scott – Kendall County Record
Public Comment: None.
Presentation: None.
Approval of Minutes: The minutes from the July 30, 2013 minutes were approved. Motion to approve
the minutes was made by Amy Cesich and seconded by Deb Horaz.
Bills Review:
August 8, 2013 – There were no questions.
August 22, 2013 – These bills were not included in the packet.
September 12, 2013 – There were no questions.
September 26, 2013 – There were no questions.
July 2012 Budget Report – Informational purpose; July 2013 – No questions.
August 2012 Budget Report – Informational purpose; August 2013 - No questions.
New Business: ( items out of order)
Rent Reduction – Bart stated East Hydraulic Road is closed. The access to Robyn’s business was greatly
reduced, which caused a reduction in her income. Robyn is requesting a rent waiver. Bart said he
reviewed it and he believes it is a fair request. The city has done this in the past for Geneva Kayak.
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Bart said when he reviewed Robyn’s claim he felt the request is proportional, but he wanted to bring it
to Park Board for approval because she is a former elected official, so people did not think it was a favor.
Bart said this request is reasonable. Amy asked what the waiver time was for Geneva Kayak. Bart said
three months a total of $750.00.
Amy asked about the 5% paid to the city and Bart said that will continue and her rent has always been
paid on time. Robyn said she will try to save money through the summer to pay rent in the winter, but
this has been a big reduction in business when they closed the road. Robyn stated she did not have
another day over a thousand dollars since. Amy asked about her last year numbers compared to this
year. Robyn said she has not done all her accounting yet, but she is down $8,500 from last year.
Robyn said this would really make a big difference for her. Deb said she feels bad for all the businesses
dealing with the construction. Kelly asked how the figures were calculated for rent reduction. Bart said
it represents 9 months even of rent. Robyn said she will try to say open Sundays and see how that goes
during construction.
Kelly asked if the coffee shop comes in and asks for the same thing, what would their request be. Bart
said he will look at that if it happens. Dan asked if she would need a waiver in the future. Robyn said no
it is only because of construction. Bart said for both parties the lease is up in June 2015 and it is a short
time frame for commercial property rentals and then at that point, she can come to the city and pull
out.
Robyn said she does have customers, but not much other traffic and it is a horrible experience dealing
with that construction. Matt said he agrees with this waiver. Roll call vote to approve a rent waiver to
White Water Ice Cream in the amount of $1800.00: Deb Horaz – present; Kelly Sedgwick – yes; Amy
Cesich – yes; Matt Konecki – yes; Dan Lane – yes.
Old Business:
2014 Baseball Agreements – Laura said she attached the one agreement showing the mark ups with
Park Board recommendations and a copy of each groups agreement is attached. Laura said all the
language is the same for all organizations. Mayor Golinski said the dates need to be changed to 2014
from 2013.
Laura asked if the board looked through the red line copy and had any questions. Laura said the
attorneys comments are included the red line. Mayor Golinski asked why the dates for money due
changed. Tim said a lot of times the schedules are not complete by beginning of March. Tim said then
the city will have time to calculate all the schedules and get the checks back to the city. Mayor Golinski
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asked about July 15 date and if the city can get the fees earlier than July. Tim said again scheduling is
the reasoning.
Tim said that something that needs addressed in the future is fall ball. Tim said in the past few years
there were a couple games and this year there have been many more games in fall ball. Tim said this
agreement will cover the entire year, but we will have to look at when payments will be due for fall. Tim
said the city doesn’t have kids in the fall to staff the concessions. Tim said he sees the fall ball getting to
be a big thing with a lot of games. The dates are all good the city just needs to add fall ball.
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Kelly asked if fall ball needs to be addressed now. Scott said that can be done later. Ed said they had as
many games in the fall last year as this year. Tim said a schedule was not submitted like this for the
previous year. Laura asked if there was any other changes or can these agreements be approved. Laura
said she will add the word schedule after fall ball. Deb asked about concession stands for fall and if they
will be open or not. Scott said the city can work that out as we go.
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Ed said that YYBSA is still doing registration on August 15, so it will be difficult to get the schedules to
the city by then. Ed said that he can book all the fields ahead, but he will not have a schedule by August
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15. Tim said the date can be pushed back a bit. Ed said the games start the last week of August and
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the schedule is a few days before that. Scott asked if the 21 would work. Ed said he will for sure book
the fields by then.
Tim said we can adjust things as we go and make sure that the city has supplies and be ready to go.
Laura said approve it with the dates change. Kelly said motion to approve the contracts for YYBSA,
Sparks, Reds and Yorkville Travel Sports with corrections to the dates to 2014. Motion made by Dan
Lane and seconded by Amy Cesich. Roll Call Vote: Deb – yes; Kelly – yes; Amy – yes; Dan – yes; Matt –
yes.
Park Naming Request – In the last meeting, Scott said the naming request was discussed and the board
discussed naming a baseball field after Ken Miller instead of a park. Scott spoke to the family and they
liked that idea and asked if they could pick the field and make it Fox Hill East since Ken played there.
Scott said in the past the city makes a bronze plaque with a name and something about the person. The
family asked if they could do a bigger plaque with a picture if they helped pay for it.
Scott said he did not see a problem with it. Scott said a face to go with the story is a nice thing to do.
Scott said he would bring it to the park board and the city would spend up to the point we normally do
and they could cover the other part. Mayor said it might be nice to do a first pitch next year at the first
game and have the family be there and throw the first pitch.
Kelly said he thinks it is a good idea. The board discussed the name as Ken Miller Baseball Field at Fox
Hill East. Scott said he will let the family know the board agreed and the family will be very happy.
Motion to name the baseball field after Ken Miller and add a plaque. Motion made by Deb and
seconded by Amy.
New Business:
Prize Wheel – Tim said a former employee about six years ago donated a prize wheel for the
department to use. The person got another job at another park district and she asked if she could have
the prize wheel back. Kelly said when you donate something, it is not yours to take back. Dan asked
how much is it to buy one. Tim said he is not sure. Tim said it is just to set a precedence for the future if
others donate things, we have to give them back.
Dan said just give it to her. Dan said it is a little thing and he thinks they should give it to her. Mayor
Golinski said this should not even be on the agenda for the night it is a waste of time. Laura said if staff
makes the call, then an elected official questions it there could be a problem.
The board discussed if the city should keep it or give the wheel back. The board agreed 3-2 to keep the
wheel.
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4 of July Celebration – Tim said the city played a big role in the 4 of July celebration this year and if
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the city did not it would not have happened for several reasons. Tim said the 4 went well, but it took a
lot of his time. For next year, people would like it to happen the same way.
Tim said there is a balance of $6,000 for next year so we are about $10,000 to $12,000 short. Tim said it
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might be nice to combine Hometown Days and July 4 for the community and it will be financially
viable. Tim said it would be a break even no matter what happens.
Dan asked if it would be 2 days instead of 4. Kelly said it could be a Friday, Saturday or Sunday around
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the 4. Tim said these are all options to discuss. Tim said most people want the parade and fireworks
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on July 4. Tim said if it is combined it would be July 3 for an opening with a band begin all day on the
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3 if we want. Tim said it would be a carnival and band that would pay for fireworks. Saturday could
still be a parade and pancake breakfast with beanbag tournaments, car shows and things all day.
The board discussed different options. Tim said the band could be at night until 9p.m. with fireworks at
9:30 p.m. Fireworks would have to be moved, which has already been discussed. Kelly asked if the
same type of fireworks can be done at Beecher. Tim said those are discussions that we will have to
have. Scott said the company could look it over and see what is doable and what is not.
Joel asked about the rides continuing after fireworks. Tim said that is something to discuss. Kelly said
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fireworks could be on the 3 and then have the festival on the 4. Tim said from a city standpoint, we
won’t be on the hook for thousands if we are rained out. Tim said sponsors would be better for one big
event and Scott said the volunteers to.
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Ken asked about the 4 being in the middle of the week. The board discussed that all can be worked
out. Tim said the staff is downsized and two events are becoming more difficult and just doing one it
would be a better event for the community. Mayor Golinski said from the staff angle the city doesn’t
have the staff and the school district doesn’t like Hometown Days then.
Amy asked if we would still call it Hometown Days. The board discussed it. Dan asked if there is any
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downside to this. Tim said staff, park board, and city council discussed it so I can talk to the July 4
committee. Tim said people don’t like change and sometimes that is hard. Tim said if the city is not
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involved the 4 of July won’t happen.
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Tim said he wants to keep the 4 going for this community, but the direction the city is going it won’t
happen. Tim said combining these two events will make it happen. Amy said the city is going to either
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combine them or do one or the other. Deb said yes, the 4 of July won’t pay for itself.
Amy said from a staffing standpoint two events is difficult and she said she doesn’t see any down side to
combining and the board agreed. Kelly said some people don’t like change and Dan said prepare for a
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push back. Mayor Golinski said he wants the fireworks on the 4. This item will now go to city council.
The board is in agreement to combine the two events into one.
Reports:
Director’s Report – Laura said thank you and she enjoyed her last 7 ½ years in the city. Bart said there
will be an executive session regarding this tonight. Kelly thanked her for all her service.
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Recreation Report – Tim said the big news if the Athletic Coordinator position is filled by Tyler Nelson.
Tim said town square has the digital board up and running. Dan said it is very impressive and well done.
Kelly asked if the city is still working on getting the other sign for another location. Scott said he will
reach out to him and look at it end of year.
Tim said he will work on a policy for advertising on the board for birthdays or events and bring it to the
board. Scott said people are going to start asking. Amy said it should be city stuff only. Scott said we
can make a policy and discuss it another day. Laura said groups may want to advertise when they are
having tryouts or sign up and they can donate something.
The board asked about repairing the board if it was to be damaged. Scott said working with AT&T was
not a good experience.
Parks Report – Scott said the Clark Park parking is moving along and he has met with paving companies
this week and a trail section is going to be paved too. New sidewalks are a nice improvement. Scott said
currently they are working on installing a new ball field and hopefully it will be up and operating by
spring.
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On October 12 the sod will be laid for the new field and the light poles will be painted black down by
Riverfront. If there are enough volunteers, we will tear out the concrete and put brick down with bricks
that were donated by Home Depot at the ARC Building.
Bart said that Oswego got a grant for a boat launch, which will promote wherever we decide to have our
point. It is a metal sign with the same language along the Fox River. Apparently, the city was included in
this one of the communities did the work on it. Laura said there are signs on the bridges that say water
trail.
Kelly said that he has some complaints about the concession stands at Bridge. He said he knows that
the end of the season is coming, but can we do something about that. Tim said there is a $350 limit to
buy food and drink and we are not supposed to go to the stores we are supposed to buy directly from
them and we can’t have stuff go bad.
Kelly said that is what I figured it is end of the year and the city cannot sit on it all winter. Tim said as
per contract we are not supposed to go and purchase things. Deb asked if there is something else that
could be purchased at the stores to use. Tim said no just the Pepsi per contract. The fall goes through
October and Tim said not much is made during softball so it becomes cost prohibitive.
Mayor Golinski said the parking lot timers on lights at Bridge need adjusted. Scott said he will adjust
them. Dan said about three weeks ago the Kelly Miller Circus came to Yorkville and he always is trying
to find ways to make money for the city. Dan said there was a night that fell through and he spoke to
the manager of the circus and it has been a great circus and it is affordable with clowns and animals etc.
Dan said he found out the day before they were coming so Scott, Matt and Gary came with their
families.
Dan would like to consider the city bringing this 2 hour show to Yorkville. Amy said that she does not
like the circus because of a personal belief on how they treat the animals. Dan said the United Center is
very expensive and this would be a good thing for families it is not a cost to Yorkville try it this year. Dan
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said other cities have done this all over Chicagoland in September. Dan said it is for the children. Dan
asked the board to please consider this idea.
Dan said it is neat to see elephants and zebras and watch them laugh and the happiness in the kids’
faces. Dan said it will not require the city to anything. Dan said he will help out in making this happen.
Suspend Regular Session Meeting for Executive Session: Motion to go into executive session for
personnel. Motion made by Deb Horaz seconded by Dan Lane at 7:42 p.m.
Regular Meeting called to order: Motion to call regular meeting to order made by Dan Lane and
seconded by Deb Horaz. Regular meeting called to order at 7:58 p.m.
Additional Business: None.
Adjournment: There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 7:59 p.m. Motion was
made by Deb Horaz and seconded by Amy Cesich.
Minutes Respectfully Submitted by:
Lisa Godwin
Minute Taker
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