Park Board Minutes 2016 03-10-16Page 1 of 4
APPROVED 4/14/16
Yorkville Parks and Recreation Department
Park Board Meeting
Thursday, March 10, 2016
ARC Building – 201 W. Hydraulic Ave.
6:30 p.m.
Call to Order: Deb Horaz called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m.
Roll Call: Deb Horaz ‐ yes; Mark Dilday – yes; Amy Cesich – no; Dan Lane – yes; Matt Konecki –
yes; Gene Wilberg – yes; Sash Dumanovic ‐ yes.
Introduction of City Official and Staff:
Tim Evans – Director of Parks and Recreation
Scott Sleezer – Superintendent of Parks
Shay Remus – Superintendent of Recreation
Joel Frieders – Alderman
Other Guests: None.
Public Comment: None.
Presentation: None.
Approval of Minutes: The minutes from the February 11, 2016 meeting were approved. Motion by Dan
Lane seconded by Mark Dilday. Minutes approved.
Bills Review:
Bills List – March 10, 2016 – Informational purposes.
Budget Report – January 2016 – Informational purposes.
Old Business:
Board Member Attendance Discussion – Tim said this topic is up for general discussion. Tim said that
the attendance has become a lot better recently. Tim said there are two members up for renewal soon.
Tim said he and Deb will make the recommendations. Tim said that the board cannot make a formal
policy, but we can make suggestions.
Tim said that Deb wants to make sure that people are coming on a regular basis. Tim said the last few
months things have been going really well. Deb said at one time she would come to meetings and she
would have to go home because of no quorum.
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Dan said that they are an advisory board and are doing the best they can and the board is doing well.
Dan said he feels that everyone on the board would let someone know if they cannot fulfil the
responsibility. Dan said that he thinks that the new people are doing really well for the last few months
and are dedicated.
Deb said that there cannot be a policy, but if someone misses two meetings in a row and doesn’t notify
someone, that is an infraction. Deb said that we need to tell people what is required and have them
sign something. Dan said he thinks that we keep looking forward and not look at the past. Dan said that
things are going fine and the board doesn’t need any rules.
Deb said that maybe it should be a city wide policy so that people are dedicated. Dan said why would
you commit and not follow through. Gene said if someone doesn’t attend for a few months, then the
president talks to the mayor if there is an issue.
Deb said the board has to recommend to the mayor that someone is not doing their duty. Deb said that
showing up without a quorum is a waste of everyone’s time. Tim said that in the future think about
how our board is working together and what things have changed and how the board can work together
and what goals we want to accomplish.
Tim said that Joel is really speaking up for the park board at city council. Matt asked if there was a job
description for park board. Tim said there is not and that is something that the board can work on. Tim
wants to help the board become more effective and get the goals accomplished and talk about how we
can we reach out to city council and alderman.
Tim said that the board has a bigger voice than they think – you are residents. Tim said that the board
wants to work with the city council and the Riverfront Park is a great example of working together. Tim
said that everyone seems to be working well together. Tim said that if the board members come to
meetings, he will introduce them.
Tim said that he will talk to Bart and see if the city can get a job description for the park board members.
Tim said that he appreciates the park board and the city discusses what the board says. Tim said that
city council takes it seriously too.
New Business: ( out of order)
Grande Reserve Park A Improvement Bids – Scott said that they had a short discussion with our EEI rep.
Scott said as long as the specifications are being met there is not a problem. Tim said if there is an issue
it will fall on EEI. Deb said that businessman make mistakes in bidding. Tim said that the city will follow
up and we need to move forward with this because of the grant.
Tim said he spoke to Brad at EEI and he said it was fine. Tim said that Brad caught it and called the
company. Scott said that the company will be held to the standard and if it is their mistake, it is their
mistake. Deb said all bids were in the same ballpark except for this one. Scott said most of those
numbers are huge. Motion to accept the bid from Semper Fi Land Services for $59,549.00. Motion
made by Matt Konecki and seconded by Dan Lane. Motion approved unanimously.
Riverfront Park Playground Proposal – Tim said last year when the grant was suspended the city
wanted to make a backup plan to finish the park and get the playground in. Tim said that the city is
doing well on the revenue side and the city sat down to look at how much money the city has to finish
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this. The Riverfront Foundation will pledge the $15,000 they have in their account. The playground
manufacturer is $81,815.
The budget has already been done for this year and Tim said looking at the numbers now there is
$70,000 to purchase the playground with. Looking over the budget, things look good. Tim said the city
has money, so the city decided to do it now since the money is there. Matt asked is there anything that
can mess up the funding from the state. Tim said yes we are more concerned about the future budget
and the city council can make whatever decision they want. Tim thinks that the city council will want to
do this playground for downtown. Tim thinks the city council will be supportive of the playground.
Joel said the Riverfront was pulled by the state budget. Now is the time to jump on it because the
budget looks good for this year and next. Joel said the fact that the board is putting that much effort
into providing for the city is great. The other alderman are excited about this too.
Programming is up and growing, the parks are the only department that makes money and the timing is
perfect. Tim said the residents deserve it and have been asking for this for a long time. Tim said the
community will be very happy that the parks are doing this. There is a budget for next year for the
landscaping and the city will install it ourselves with volunteers.
Tim said that each year he wants the board to be working on a project that we can accomplish as a
board and give back to the community. Tim said if the grant gets reinstated, the city will be reimbursed.
Tim said that the city is following the grant outlines, so it could get reimbursed. Scott said there will be
wood chips and there will be a curb surrounding the playground.
Approval to purchase the approved playground proposal for the amount of $81,815.00 and send to city
council. The motion was unanimously approved. Motion passed.
Meeting Location – Tim said that the board needs to formally approve to move the meetings to the
Parks Maintenance Building. The board all agreed to move the meetings to 185 Wolfe Street. Motion to
approve Mark Dilday and seconded by Sash Dumanovic.
Reports:
Recreation – Shay said they are taking enrollments for programs and it is going well. Basketball ended
last weekend for 1st‐4th grade and there will be tournaments this weekend 5th‐8th. Spring soccer is up to
330 and securing our final team soon, which begins in April. Shay said that they are splitting the Pre‐k
and kindergarten kids for soccer.
Shay said they Bunny Breakfast has a wait list and so the city is looking at doing the egg hunt for $5.00
per family. Catalog is up to 22 ads at this point and we are finalizing some things. Shay said last year
she had 17 and she has secured $10,000, which is more than $2,000 over last summer. Shay said she is
$200 a way from hitting budget.
Parks – Scott said that they have been working on several playgrounds replacing things like stairs.
Soccer and Baseball and going so we are trying to get ahead of baseball. Dan asked about help. Scott
said they are taking applications for another week. Scott said he would like to have someone for eight
months. Scott said they are getting things ready for spring and it will be busy being short on staff, but
we are up to the task.
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Additional Business:
Canoeacopia is this weekend, Scott, Shay and Tim are going and will be there for the weekend. Tim said
it is a kayak canoe festival in Wisconsin. It is a great opportunity to highlight our whitewater
course. We have a booth and handouts and a video to show.
The Little Free Library was a great turnout. Gene said it was a great event and it was a very nice job.
Tim said he wanted to discuss the sports dome. They contacted us about the Bristol Bay 65 land
and need 15 acres. Tim said they are interested in purchasing some land. Tim said it was going
to be a dome, but it will be an indoor sports facility. They like that location. Tim said the city
would be in favor of this it is a great location.
Tim said this is very early in the process. She could do a 20 year lease or the city can sell her the land
and we have to do an RFP, then anyone can submit a proposal and the city will make a decision
on which one to accept. Tim said that as long as we are willing to do the amenities that are in
the grant they are fine with having this included. It would be right off of Galena.
Tim said the positive would be a sports building and there would be a parking lot in and the residents
could use it for our park and we would get money out of this for something else we need to do.
Tim wanted to let the board know because it will become public soon. Tim said he will keep the
board updated on this.
Adjournment: There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 7:45 p.m. Motion by
Matt Konecki. Meeting adjourned.
Minutes Respectfully Submitted by:
Lisa Godwin
Minute Taker