Park Board Minutes 2014 10-16-14Page 1 of 5
Yorkville Parks and Recreation Department
ARC Building
201 W. Hydraulic Avenue
6:30 p.m.
October 16, 2014
Call to Order: Deb Horaz called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m.
Roll Call: Deb Horaz ‐ yes; Kelly Sedgwick – yes; Seaver Tarulis – no; Mark Dilday – yes; Amy
Cesich – yes (late); Dan Lane – yes; Matt Konecki – yes.
Introduction of City Official and Staff:
Tim Evans – Director of Parks and Recreation
Scott Sleezer – Superintendent of Parks
Tyler Nelson – Athletic Coordinator
Shay Remus – Superintendent of Recreation
Ken Koch ‐ Alderman
Other Guests: Robyn – Foxy’s Ice Cream
Public Comment: None.
Presentation: None.
Approval of Minutes: The minutes from the September 18, 2014 were approved. Motion to approve
the minutes made by Mark Dilday and seconded by Kelly Sedgwick.
Bills Review:
October 16, 2014 – No questions.
Budget Report August 2013 – Informational purposes.
Budget Report August 2014 – Informational purposes.
Old Business:
131 E. Hydraulic Street Unit C Request for Proposal – Tim said this is not a lease and has been passed
by park board and city council, so we can move forward to get a tenant in the building. Tim said this is
to get a request for proposal (RFP) out to the community. Tim said there were some minor changes in
the form from last time.
Tim said alcohol was put into the document and they still need approval from the Mayor, but it has
already been approved and won’t come back to park board. Deb asked about what kind of liquor would
be sold. Deb said the board needs to know what restrictions will be on alcohol. Deb said she doesn’t
want alcohol signs in the window. Scott said this would still have to go before city council. The board
discussed what kind of liquor should be allowed.
APPROVED 12/18/14
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Scott said that is no different than any other businesses in Yorkville. Deb said she would like to change
the wording from “shall” to “may” in the document. Tim said the intent was to have the park board sign
off on it and so the board doesn’t have to approve it every time. The board discussed different wording
and phrasing in the document and what things need park board approval.
Deb asked about the rent and if the board wants to raise the rent from $250.00. Dan doesn’t like the
5%. He thinks the board should raise the rent and not do the 5%. Deb asked for a recommendation for
rent amount. Scott said the 5% helps the businesses if they are doing well, they pay more if they are
struggling, they can pay less. The board discussed how much rent should be.
Tim said his concern is the entire point is to have successful businesses downtown. Matt said he thinks
it is a fair rent for the purpose of getting people to get to the businesses. Matt said to keep rent fair and
see if the business becomes successful. The board discussed what classes or businesses would do well in
the space.
Tim said park board passed getting a business in there and it was passed by city council. Tim said the
only issue now is the taxes that Eric from River City Roasters owes. Tim said the city is paid in full. Deb
asked if there is an issue with a new renter if Eric doesn’t pay his taxes. Tim said no, it goes to the
person, not the building.
Tim said the proposals still have to be approved. Tim said this is to get the RFP to the community to get
things moving because things take time. It will be the end of January before RFP’s are back and there is
a time frame to work with.
Kelly said can we give an option of $250 and 5% or $500 flat. Tim said anything can be in the contract if
that is what board wants to do. Robyn from Foxy’s Ice Cream discussed the amounts she paid and what
the 5% earns for the city. The board discussed the rent amounts and the 5% the pros and cons. Amy
said there will not be taxes for the business to pay like before.
Kelly said it might be good to give the renter the option of what they would like. Deb liked that idea.
Dan thinks the choice is a good idea. Tim said he will find out if that is an option to put in the contract.
The board discussed how big the space is and if there will be public access to restrooms. The board
discussed a way to provide a restroom at the downtown park. Scott said building restrooms is a large
expense.
Deb asked about future maintenance to the building and if that should be considered before making an
amount for rent. Tim said no that is something being looked at. The board discussed leaving the rent at
$250.00. Deb said she thinks the rent is not fair for the size, since it is a larger building than the others.
Tim said there are other factors like maintaining a public bathroom and heating/cooling it.
Matt said the point of this is to get people to come downtown to enjoy the park and it should be as easy
as possible for a business to make it work. Amy said $350.00 is not that much and to raise it $100.00.
Dan said if he owned it, he would have to be open for the bathrooms during open hours and the city can
use the conference room anytime they want. That is something to take into account. Dan said that
business would be a service for the city. Robyn said it is giving his business exposure though. The board
discussed the size of the building and how much bigger it is than Foxy’s. Kelly said the businesses are
not being charged by the square foot then. Kelly said $100.00 a month more would not be much.
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The board discussed what price to charge for the building per month. Tim said he will find out of it is
legal to give the business the choice. Tim said right now it is a RFP. Ken asked if Tim has already given
the people a number that were looking into it. Tim said yes. The board doesn’t think that $50.00 will be
a big deal. Tim said he believes that most of the people would like the percentage, since there is a
gamble for this space anyway.
The board decided on $300.00 per month and 5% or $600.00 per month flat. Tim said to make sure the
city has formal agreement when it comes to bills that are shared between businesses. Tim said the city
wants to make sure there is a formal agreement between those businesses.
Tim said that any damage caused by the businesses, they are responsible for and the deposit was also
raised to $1500.00. Tim asked the board if the changes the board discussed can be made and move to
city council. The board agreed to have changes they made tonight go straight to city council. Motion to
approve the lease with the changes from “shall” to “may” for liquor, special events have directors
approval and the fee $300.00 and 5% or $600.00 flat. Kelly Sedgwick made the motion and Dan Lane
seconded. Deb Horaz – no; Kelly Sedgwick ‐ yes; Dan Lane ‐ yes; Amy Cesich ‐ yes; Mark Dilday ‐ yes;
Matt Konecki – yes.
New Business:
Geneva Kayak Early Termination Request – Tim said he met with them and talked about doing
something similar that the city did with River City Roasters. Amy asked if he still had to pay taxes. Tim
said yes. Tim said the security deposit would be part of the termination and the date would be
November 30, 2014.
Tim said the $5000.00 would cover the $3000.00 in rent and $1000.00 would cover the 5% and the city
charged River City Roasters $1000.00 to leave and that would be the same for Geneva. Tim said if this is
approved, Geneva will be caught up with the city. Deb said she doesn’t want to let him out of the lease
until his taxes are paid. Tim said there is not a tax bill yet, it is billed next year. Deb said the county will
go after him later.
Tim said this is a good situation for the city and it gives the city an opportunity to get another tenant in
there. Motion to terminate Geneva Kayak lease early. Motion made by Amy Cesich seconded by Matt
Konecki. Deb Horaz – yes; Kelly Sedgwick – yes; Amy Cesich – yes; Mark Dilday – yes; Dan Lane – yes;
Matt Konecki – yes.
Hometown Days – Tim said we wanted to bring to the board changes for next year. Tim suggested a 3
day Hometown Days instead of 4. Tim suggested to move the headliner bands to 2 on Saturday and 2
on Sunday, which is a trend other communities are doing. Tim said city council approved $25,000.00 to
book a national act. Dan asked how much the city made this year. Tim said between $5,000‐$6,000.
Tim said if we get a national act, we will have to raise the entrance fees. Dan said he doesn’t think that
is a good idea. The board discussed where to hold the event and if the city could use Riverfront. Scott
said there is not any space down there. Ken asked how many people attended this year. Scott said
probably 3,000.
Tim said the last couple years the weather has hurt us and DeKalb moving their festival this year hurt us
too because they used the same bands. The board discussed booking 2 bands on the same day and
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changing the festival from 4 days to 3 days. Tim said we also thought about moving it the weekend
before Labor Day. The board discussed moving the festival a week earlier. Tim said he is not sure if city
council will go for this. Tim said next year DeKalb is doing the same weekend again. Deb said she likes
that idea, so there is not competition.
Ken said Tim needs to come to city council and tell them the reasons for the change. Tim said the
weekend before there will not be a football game and more people are in town. We just thought it
would be smart to try it and see what happens if we moved it. The board discussed having it the holiday
weekend and the pros and cons. Tim said he will talk to city council members and get their opinion.
The board discussed Hometown Days and the different brand of beers, where bands, tents, and the
carnival were located and what layout works better.
Reports:
Recreation Report – Tim said Bridge Park second shelter will start next week. Tim said money was put
in by city council to do improvements at Bridge Park. Tim said we put an RFP for netting that will be put
in at backstops and would like to get it in this year. The board agreed with the RFP moving forward for
netting.
Cannonball had a fence put up by an Eagle Scout for their project. Tim said city council passed the
Bristol 65 professional service agreement. The winter catalog is being worked on now. Amy asked when
the new softball agreement will be done. Tim said 2nd Tuesday meeting in November. Soccer ends on
Saturday it was a good season.
Park Report – The big day of service had several things done in Kendall County. It went really well and
previous projects were done well. The library was edged and mulched and the site at Grande Reserve B
they got 2/3 done and ran out of time, so staff finished it the Monday after. This project was very
technical and that is why it didn’t finish.
Scott said the staff has been pouring sidewalk and it is done, they have been landscaping and putting
grass seed down. The equipment is up and mulch is there. Scott said by next week we should be done.
Sports fields are ready. Staff has been trimming and cleaning up things. Scott said next ball field rehab
will begin to be ready for next spring.
Scott said the Riverfront changes to fishing pier was approved by Army Core. Scott said staff will begin
design with EEI for spring install and we are moving forward with some items at Bristol 65. Deb asked
about grindings Scott said he will try to get some of that with our in town road improvements. Deb said
a lot of people have asked about when the skate park is opening. Kids are excited about it.
The board discussed hiring out a special company to build the skate park for quality. Scott said it will
last forever. The board asked about Riverfront Park and when it will be put up. Scott said spring would
be a good time to build.
The board discussed looking at different themes, colors and what they would like to see at Riverfront.
Matt said with a new park going in and businesses going in, can staff make sure that the grounds are
kept up better. Scott said it is a struggle, even if we had 2 more fulltime people, we have too many
acres and parks for our staff. Scott said our staff works very hard and we do the best we can.
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Matt said that downtown needs to look good for the community. Scott said the parents want the
neighborhood parks to be kept up just as much as Riverfront. Scott said there is 24 playgrounds in
Yorkville. Matt said when there are events, Riverfront is cleaned up, but normally it is not kept up very
well. Deb said the city needs to put some money into some of these issues. Kelly said time and money
are two things the city doesn’t have.
Matt said he just wants this on his record, so people know that the board is talking about this and it is
important. Scott said every time there is another park built, we do not get more staff, and we have more
work load. Matt said maybe we should not increase our workload, so that the city can keep up and not
spread ourselves too thin.
The board discussed having an ice rink the pros and cons.
Additional Business: None.
Adjournment: There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 7:42 p.m. Motion was
made by Kelly Sedgwick and seconded by Mark Dilday.
Minutes Respectfully Submitted by:
Lisa Godwin
Minute Taker