Park Board Minutes 2016 10-13-16APPROVED 12/8/16
Yorkville Parks and Recreation Department
Park Board Meeting
Thursday, October 13, 2016
6:30 p.m.
Parks Maintenance Building
185 Wolf Street, Yorkville, IL
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 – yes; Dan Lane – yes; Gene Wilberg –
yes; Sash Dumanovic ‐ no.
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
Joel Frieders – Alderman
Other Guests: None.
Public Comment: None.
Approval of Minutes: Approval of August 11, 2016 minutes unanimously approved.
Bills Review:
Bill List – September 8, 2016 – Informational purposes.
October 13, 2016 – Informational purposes.
Budget Report – July 2016 ‐ Informational purposes.
Budget Report – August 2016 – Informational purposes.
Old Business: None.
New Business:
New Recreation Program Space Facility Drawings – Tim said this is part of selling the 15 acres on the
south side of Bristol Bay park to look into expanding recreation facilities. We had a contractor do some
drawings for the city, which is in your packet. One of the proposals is at Beecher Park behind the library.
The drawing shows where the building would sit.
The board asked about the location. Tim said the location is good because of good parking, fields and a
playground. It will not interfere with YYBSA and the city can expand east along the football field, if it is
successful. Tim stated it is not a huge building 50x60 one large room with bathrooms and storage, very
simple and straight forward.
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The board discussed what materials will be used for roof, floors and siding and how much it will cost.
Scott said around $300,000. Tim said there are also plans and pictures included for a $600,000 building.
Deb would like both put before the board. Tim said that the $300,000 is affordable.
The board asked about what programming will be able to make money right away. Tim does not want
to overpromise. Tim said the goal is the first year or two is to break even. Tim said the bigger the city
goes, the more the city can offer. This building for $300,000 will be mostly fitness programs, camps and
kids under 12 programs. Example: open gym basketball, which is very profitable and the location is
great across from the high school.
The board looked over the drawings and discussed different options and the look of the building. Ken
asked if this will be used as a studio. Shay said the city can make it as versatile as possible, and it could
be used for a lot of different activities. Shay said the city has a lot of ideas – just no extra space.
Tim said in the beginning, this building will be used for city programming only, but the city can re‐
evaluate that in the future. The board discussed the size of the basketball court and how large to make
the building. Scott told the board that this building is expandable and it can be added to in the future.
Deb asked about the future design and how it would be added to, so it will look nice. The board
discussed leaving room for baseball and making all of these things work in the future. Scott said if it was
added to, it would be a larger version of the existing building. Dan asked if this will pass. Ken said city
council has not seen it.
Gene said the city needs facilities and he said to build what you need and not what you want, but he
thinks it could be a bit bigger – he said Tim is conservative with budgeting and he can figure out how the
city can pay for this in five years with the city profit and maybe go a little bit bigger.
Tim said this will require another full time employee to run programing at that location to help expand
programming. Tim said he wanted to get questions from the board tonight and come back to the
November meeting to make sure that everything in place before it goes to city council. The city
administrator has an option that he wants to propose which is to take the 50x60 and add onto Beecher
and then the city gets bigger room at Beecher. Tim said all the city has to pay is $250,000‐$300,000 to
have all of that space, but there are issues with conflicts in the future.
The one 50x60 would only be for the city. Tim said he is concerned about establishing our own identity
– with our own sign. From the city council point of view, it kills two birds with one stone to help repair
Beecher. Bart Olson would like some drawings for the Beecher idea. The board discussed the history of
Beecher Center.
The board discussed what to name the building. Dan likes the idea of being separate from senior
services. Tim said that the city would get a bigger space with the same amount of money, he said he is
not a big fan of it either and having to take on more help for the seniors. The board discussed designing
the building for expansion.
The library is letting the city use some of their old space once a week, but the city has nowhere else to
go for programs at this point. Shay said this is a start and hopefully the city can keep adding on in the
future. Scott said that the city can do some of the work themselves and not have to ask the city for any
funds.
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Tim said if it is the bigger building, the general fund would have to support that. Dan asked if the city
would go for that. Tim said he is not sure, he will know more after the October 29th meeting. Tim said
he doesn’t want to get into a bad situation like the REC Center and analyzing it all every month. Tim said
he would rather start small and add onto it knowing that the city can sustain it.
Dan said people in the community are not staying here for programs ‐ they are going elsewhere and the
city needs to do these things. Amy said starting small is a good idea because budget constraints are big
right now. Dan said people will not move here because there are no programs and nothing going on.
Deb said it is a selling point. Dan said spend a little and it will come back. Tim said he is trying to be
realistic.
Scott said this building is expandable, so the city can grow. Tim said this will come back in November
and he will have a better feel for what city council thinks at that time. Tim said this will not cost the city
anything, the parks and recreation can do this all on our own. Tim will have more details in the
November meeting. Shay said that in the future the city can look into rentals ‐ that is toward the
bottom of the list, but it can be looked at.
Dan asked if the city will get a building for sure. Tim said he cannot guarantee anything. Tim said he will
propose something and make a recommendation at the next city council meeting and city council will
want to have some meetings to discuss it. Tim said he wants to present something that parks and
recreation pays for, so that makes it more difficult for them to say no.
Dan said he would not understand why they would say no. Yorkville does not have a park district. Amy
said they will look at future expense like electric bills etc. Tim said city council knows what this money
was meant to be used for. Amy said there was talk about that money not going to parks and recreation.
Tim said there was a discussion to put it into Bristol Bay Park because of the grant being suspended, but
the grant has been reinstated.
Reports:
Recreation – Shay said that overall the summer is wrapping up from special event season and it was a
great summer the weather was good for most events and it reflects in the budget. Fall Fest weather did
not work for us as well, but it was down pouring and people still came out to do pumpkins in the rain.
That is a great event – just need to hit the right weekend. The pumpkin pull was terrible weather, but
people stayed and participated anyway.
Tim said the city sold 100 more pumpkins this year than last year and that is an event that will continue
to grow. Shay said the city is preparing for the holiday event at Circle Center working with the PTO to
put that on. Shay said the numbers for Ready Set Go/ preschool are up and going incredible. Soccer was
up again slightly by 20 kids. Every season increases.
Mens softball has 12 teams that are participating, which is four more than last fall, so the city is seeing
an increase again. Tyler has worked extremely hard to keep up with the trends of other cities. Yorkville
only had to cancel one night and other communities have had a lot of cancelations and are looking
elsewhere so hopefully, Yorkville will capitalize on that into next year.
Basketball is down in one division all others are where we were last year. The city will use 5 schools
every Saturday and at least 4 during the weekdays. Winter/Spring catalog should be out beginning of
December.
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Parks – Scott said the city jackhammered a chunk of concrete at Kiwanis Park and repoured it so it is
ADA compliant for the wheelchair ramp. The guys have been busy laying out fields for YYTF and in‐
house soccer. The city is trying to add resurfacing to the parks that are low.
There are two new employees Glen and Judd in the turf division. They are great employees learning
their routes and helping take care of weeds and pruning to beautify the parks. The stone wall at
Riverfront Park is in ‐ that is the talent we have on our staff. It turned out well. Scott said there is an
Eagle Scout project at Riverfront Park, which created a sitting area with a couple benches. In June or
July, the Chicago Whitewater Association donated three trees, so that will be a nice feature.
Scott said things are catching up a bit, which is helpful and has been nice to see. Tim said as far as
Riverfront Park, it is in a holding pattern right now as inspection is still continuing. There is a minor
problem where there is a petroleum smell – contamination in the soil. Scott said there are many rumors
as to why, but they do not know. Amy said could someone have been dumping there or a line leaking.
Scott said it has always been a place to park to enjoy Riverfront Park. Tim said the city doesn’t know.
The environmental consultants are working with the city to determine the extent of the problem. Then
deciding with city council on how to resolve this problem. Tim said when you dig, the smell is
overwhelming. Tim said it will have to be solved. Dan asked if the playground will not be able to be put
in. Tim said he cannot answer that.
Deb said no one can answer that right now. Tim said the city needs to see the results of the study first.
Tim said the city will work on Bristol Bay. Everything at Riverfront is on hold at this time. The board
wanted to know if the testing is being done locally. Tim said there are different options and right now
the city is determining where the problems are and what the extent of the problem is.
Ken said that it seems more serious than originally thought. Tim said it is a bigger problem and if it’s
going to the river all the dirt has to be moved and go to a special place and re‐do the dirt. The board
wants to know how the smell got there. Tim said there is not an answer for that at this time. The
problem has to be solved no matter what. Tim said he will continue to do studies ‐ the decisions will be
over our heads and go to the mayor and city council.
Amy asked what is the city telling the residents. Tim said the city is doing studies and then we can
report it. More studies are being conducted at this time. Scott said he has heard rumors, but he doesn’t
want to say anything because it might not be accurate. Tim said he is forwarding the emails to the board
as soon as he receives them with any new information.
Tim said there was an offer on the caboose for $5,000. Tim is taking it to city council – the buyer wants
until May 31st to move it. The board is in favor of selling it.
Additional Business: None.
Adjournment: There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 7:40 p.m. Motion by
Amy Cesich and seconded by Gene Wilberg. Meeting adjourned.
Minutes Respectfully Submitted by:
Lisa Godwin
Minute Taker