Park Board Minutes 2015 07-09-15Page 1 of 5
Yorkville Parks and Recreation Department
Park Board Meeting
ARC Building
201 W. Hydraulic Avenue
6:30 p.m.
July 9, 2015
Call to Order: Amy Cesich called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m.
Roll Call: Deb Horaz ‐ yes; Mark Dilday – no; Amy Cesich – yes; Dan Lane – yes; Matt Konecki –
yes; Gene Wilberg – yes.
Introduction of City Official and Staff:
Tim Evans – Director of Parks and Recreation
Scott Sleezer – Superintendent of Parks
Shay Remus – Superintendent of Recreation
Ken Koch ‐ Alderman
Other Guests: None.
Public Comment: None.
Presentation: None.
Approval of Minutes: The minutes from the May 19, 2015 meeting were approved. Motion by Dan
Lane and seconded by Matt Konecki. Minutes approved.
Bills Review:
Bills List – June 11, 2015 – Informational. Tim said there is a Commitment to Excellence that the city
staff attended for training. Tim said it was a great community training with other towns so staff could
see how other communities run things. Tim said he does not think that they need to attend the
conference every year, but maybe every other year. Shay said some were more informational than
others, but there was always something to take from each class. It was management staff that was in
attendance.
The board discussed different bills and amounts and what they were for and what things are in the Park
Board Budget. Tim said his goal is to have the entire catalog covered by sponsors. Tim said the youth
sports leagues are exploding because the city is going into areas that we have not serviced before.
July 9, 2015 – Informational.
Budget Report – April 2014 – Informational.
April 2015‐ Informational.
May 2014 – Informational.
May 2015 – Informational.
APPROVED 9/10/15
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Old Business: None.
New Business:
Riverfront Park – Amy said at the last meeting the board talked about creating a foundation or fund for
Riverfront Park. Scott said he met with Kathy Jones, who used to be an alderman. She was part of the
original Riverfront Foundation to build the park to where you see now. There is $15,000 that they are
willing to put in toward the playground and she wants to make sure that this money goes to the
playground. She wants the money given to the city after the playground is purchased.
Scott said after that the foundation will be dissolved. Scott said the other officers have passed away and
Kathy met with the bank and it will not be an issue because the money is going to the City of Yorkville.
Scott said that the city can begin to fundraise and let the community know the city has $15,000 toward
the park and build on it.
Amy said it is the number one question that she gets on a regular basis when Riverfront Park is going in.
Scott said even if the equipment was ordered this year, it will not be put in this year. Tim said the city is
hopeful that our city grants will be reinstated. Amy said she heard it is at the bottom of the list to
reinstate.
Tim said there was some miscommunication with our representative and we need to submit ASAP a one
year extension for the grant. Tim said he will get the board the memo and get it straight to city council
and it is just a letter and paperwork, which will be on the city council packet. Tim said the city will have
to reach out to businesses like Wrigley to get donations for the park. Scott said he has a good lead on a
person that would give a large chunk to get the park started.
Smoking Policy in Parks – Tim said this is a follow up to the high school presentation. Tim wanted to get
the boards feeling on this. Tim said the staff would prefer a ban in all parks or no parks. Scott said it will
have to be every park or people are not going to know which parks. Amy asked what areas of the parks
are no smoking.
Scott said the entire park would be included. Scott said Town Square parking would not be included
because it is in the roadway, but Riverfront parking is part of the park. The board discussed boundaries
of the no smoking policy and how to enforce it. Scott said at special events smoking will have to be
permitted, like at Hometown Days, just like the alcohol is allowed at those events.
Amy likes the idea of all parks having the smoking ban. The board agreed that all parks should have the
smoking ban. The board discussed having signs and where to place them. The board asked about the
budget and if these signs will be able to be purchased. Scott said yes. Tim said word of mouth is usually
the best method.
The board discussed the ban and protecting the children from the smoking. Tim pointed out there is an
alcohol ban in the city parks too. The board would like to have Tim bring this topic back to the board to
decide the final rules on the smoking ban.
Yorkville Youth Tackle Football Field Usage Agreement – Tim said this is the same agreement as last
year. YYTF will be at Rotary Park again this year. Scott said the city fertilized the grass to strengthen the
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field and it has been growing very well. Motion to approve the YYTF Field usage agreement by Matt
Konecki and seconded by Deb Horaz. Motion approved.
Parks Maintenance Weeds and Grass – Tim said this was discussed at a different committee. Tim
explained to them how the city maintains weeds. It was discussed at the Public Works Committee. Ken
said the concern was the ball fields were getting more attention than the parks. Ken told Public Works
Committee that is not true.
Ken said in the past the city was asked to cut back on weed control. Scott said a for a few years the city
did not spray at all. Now the city has True Green spray the fields. Scott said the city does fertilize the
ball fields because of all the foot traffic. Scott said part of the issue the city has is the budget starts in
May and it is a large expense ($10,000) for one application and they are the cheapest company to do it.
Scott said by the time we get the budget approved, he can’t have them spray until June because they
are booked up.
Scott said early May would be a better time than June, but that is how things work out right now. Deb
asked about using the carry over to handle the weeds. Scott said early May spraying would make a big
difference. Ken said the park that was complaining was Fox Hill. Ken said the city is down to four guys
with ball fields and the rain, staff had a difficult time handling all of this work. The city used to have
eight guys.
Ken said the new medians going in will have grass in there and parks staff will have to maintain those
too. Ken said he tried to explain the demands and the limits the city has. Things have to be maintained
and things have to be developed when the developers say things are ready there are deadlines. Scott
said they will have six employees soon. Tim said the parks are still minus one and so is recreation. Scott
said the city council keeps voting to put in grass and the parks have to maintain it. The board agrees it is
a staffing issue.
The board agreed that Parks are doing the best they can with the budget they have. Matt said the
reality is there is more maintenance done on the ball fields than at the parks. Ken said that is public
opinion. Scott said it is divided up geographically and it is all done equally. Scott said it would be great
to be able to spray earlier in the spring it would help a lot with the complaints.
Riverfront Park and Bristol Bay 65 Grant Status Update – Tim said the big thing is as of right now
nothing has changed with the state. Tim said there is a fee each year to hold the land at Bristol Bay 65.
Tim said that had to be extended another year because the park will not be finished. Tim said he hopes
by September or October the city will know what is going to happen.
Reports:
Recreation ‐ Shay said camps have started. Registration is going on for the preschools and they are
full, which is a great sign. Shay said Ready Set Go is taking registration and in August that will fill up.
Camps are going great with Safety Town and the kids loved it with a lot of High School volunteering.
Horse riding and piano lessons are full.
All‐star sports is going on at Beecher. Summer basketball league was awesome. The parents were very
complimentary. Youth soccer ended in May and soccer keeps growing and we have 300 kids registered
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for the fall. There might be 60 kids more than last year. Summer special events have been great. Cruise
nights have been amazing and a huge success.
The farmers market part of that has been going well. The music night was cold and raining, but
hopefully August will be better. The Bristol Bay Park open house and movie night was a huge success
with over 200 people. Scott said there will be one in Sunflower too.
Parks – Scott said they have done some significant repairs in Fox Hill and they met with some parents
there and installed things to make things work for everyone. Scott said they found a repair ahead at
Rotary before it broke. Dan asked about vandalism. Scott said the city gets some periodically. Scott
said people have taken bolts out and tried to burn things. Scott said that is why they physically inspect
the parks.
Scott said the seasonal person goes out to pick up trash and visually check the parks. Scott said he
found a needle at one of the parks and the staff talks about how to handle them and dispose of them
correctly and we take them to the police to test them. They poured some concrete for some portable
toilets and are working on Bridge Park.
Scott said he is getting information together to bid out some equipment that is needed and will save
man power hours. Scott said the grass and weeds have been horrendous this year. Scott said the
seasonal help is great this year. Dan said he drives around and said things in Yorkville look good. Dan
said to go to other communities and look and then people will appreciate it more.
Tim said Ribs on the River is next weekend and he would love to have more help with that. Tim said he
met with the Railroad Company and all events have to be 15 feet away from the railroad for safety. Tim
said the city is working with the school district for an agreement. Tim said he will bring it to the board
when that is completed. Tim said there have not been any issues with the school district there is a great
relationship.
Additional Business: Deb asked how the new businesses are going. Tim said things are going well.
Some are still doing renovations.
Amy said Kelly has stepped down and Seaver is gone and there is another position open and we need to
reorganize things. Tim said there is someone that has contacted the mayor about the position. Tim said
that should be able to happen right away. Amy asked where the new logo is available. Tim said
Stephens has it available.
Matt asked about the Yak Shack and said that the sign is not very visible. Tim said he will talk to them
about that. Ken said he wished there could be signs on Route 47 to show there are businesses back
there. Scott said there have been some electrical issues down there which has affected some things.
Ken asked about July 4th vendors for food and why there were not very many. Tim said a couple did not
show up. Ken asked if any businesses wanted to participate. Tim said he was not in charge of food. Ken
said make sure that people know that was not Tim’s responsibility to run the food vendors. Tim said in
the future there will have to be a major discussion on how July 4th will be run. It has been volunteer run.
Tim said there were people bailing at the last minute.
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Ken said it will have to be decided if it is a community event or a city event. Tim said if New Life Church
bailed that will be a huge problem. Tim said they have 70 inflatables that have to be manned. Tim said
the issue is how to ask staff to work three major holidays. Amy said the community needs to be
involved and their business out to man a tent.
Tim said he thinks that Hometown Days should be moved to the July 4th weekend. That is a way to save
this and staff would be on board with it. Tim said a lot of the community comes out to the 4th and staff
would support it. Ken said in September the first EDC meeting bring it up and get the ball rolling
because it takes a year of planning. Ken said there is a new city website up and running. He encouraged
the board to look at it.
Adjournment: There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 8:10 p.m. Motion was
made by Matt Konecki. Meeting adjourned.
Minutes Respectfully Submitted by:
Lisa Godwin
Minute Taker