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AD HOC Senior Facility 2005 03-14-05 Page 1 of 4 APPROVED 4/4/05 SENIOR FACILITY AD-HOC COMMITTEE Monday,March 14,2005 3:30 P.M. City Conference Room Present Mayor Art Prochaska Alderwoman Rose Spears Rita Murphy Laura Brown, Executive Director Park and Recreation Madonna Bialek Lloyd Johnson, Kendall County Food Pantry Rosie Battista, St. Joseph Cabinetry Kay Hatcher,Kendall County Joan Parker, Salvation Army Joanne Behrens, Salvation Army Bette Schrenholtz, Senior Services Association Lynn Dubajic,Yorkville Economic Development Corporation Identa Austin, Senior Services Association Cecelia Sanders, Salvation Army Cheryl Johnson,Kendall County Health Department Linzie Coffey,Coldwell Banker The meeting was called to order at 3:35 1. Minutes for Approval/Correction: February 28,2005 The minutes were approved. 2. Review of the Discussion and Directions None 3. Short Term Needs and Solutions • Site Locations The building kitty comer from the fire house is available. It has offices in the front and a large open area in the back. It had some parking near the building. It will cost$1 per square foot per month. It is about 12,000 square feet total. The 900 square foot opening could be finished however it was needed. It was a factory,with factory floors and ceilings, and the heating is inadequate. It would take some money to renovate it to be usable. There is another building that may be coming available soon. The owner does not want to be identified yet. The parking is at a premium here also. The building we use does need to have enough parking for all the people who will be using it. It should have more parking than the Beecher center has now. The parking at Countryside is adequate. There should be a drop off area near the door for the people who have a hard time walking. Page 2 of 4 If the space chosen does not have enough room for all the programs, such as the Food Pantry, where can they go on short notice? The spaces being used now are 6,000 square feet at Countryside. Beecher has 8,000 usable square feet. The building kitty corner from the Fire Dept. is 12,000 square feet. The Food Pantry is using 2,300 square feet,and is cramped into that space. 6,000 would be very spacious for the Food Pantry. Cross Lutheran has been interested in taking the clothing to distribute to the people who need it at their building. If the clothing was at a separate facility it would be available more often to people. The Food Pantry is open only twice a week. Since this is a Kendall County Senior Provider center,does it have to be located in Yorkville? The answer was that it would be preferred to be centrally located. There are a lot of clients in the Oswego and Montgomery, but there are also a lot of clients in Yorkville and Bristol Township. The church across from Lynwood Subdivision on Rt. 34 is available. It is on 2.89 acres. It would be able to have an addition added to it. It is selling for 1.5 million dollars. There is a private entity that is interested in purchasing it and leasing it to a community. In private hands,the center would be at the mercy of a private owner,like has been at Countryside. Plano and Oswego will eventually want their own centers. Ideally there would be county staff present at all the centers. Recreation could be moved out of the Beecher center to be able to fit the senior center there. A lot of money was put into the senior center from the Illinois First Project. We want to get as much money as we can back to renovate and decorate a new space. The Recreation department can use some of the spaces at the churches the city has become partners with for their programs and renovate the building at the riverfront into offices for the office people. Beecher can be used as a community center and a senior center,but not as a recreation center also. Mr. Beecher's philosophy needs to be followed in the use of his building. He gave his money to have the building built and give the building to the city of Yorkville. The Beecher Building could be a short term or long tern answer for the senior center. The kitchen equipment from countryside would have to be stored until a long term solution is determined. There is an option to have a township tax referendum to raise money to build a building for a senior center. It would have to be a dual township referendum. The space used for the senior center needs to be the same or better than what is currently being used now. Beecher needs to be renovated to be adequate for the usage needs of the senior center. It would be hard for the city to help support the programs in multiple spaces. If it was consolidated in one area it would be easier to give whatever help the city could provide. Mr. Heaney is not interested is selling his property at this time. His property is not out of the question though. It is believed it has a NFR(No Further Remediation Required) It would have to be investigated though. Page 3 of 4 More storage space is needed for the different programs,but not necessarily any more space for activity programs. That is why it would be good to have both the senior center and the community center in the same space. The activity room at the senior center is a nice open room. The Austin room at Beecher is not quite as large,but it is open also. Beecher also has another big room separate from the activity room so they don't have to give up any space for other things. The Perkins room is approximately 4,500 square feet. The building South of Unified supply is a large building,but is already leased. The property next to it could possibly be built on. It is hard to find open space in Yorkville and every time the city has tried to buy open space in Yorkville, but developers step in and the price goes through the roof. The Health Department has community services and community benefits has been having a high demand for food from people who are unable to get to the food pantry when it is open. They have started stocking food in their community services stockroom. They have also found a need for furniture. Also transportation is a need. The center needs to be located in a way people could access it without transportation. Harold has had several ideas but has not given us a proposal yet. Beecher is still an option,as long as it is still as nice as what they already have. Possibly Beecher could be expanded. The fust meeting the question was addressed where should the senior center be located? In a parklike setting? In a commercial setting with other commercial entities nearby?Near senior housing? Could the food pantry move into Beecher? Then there would be no community room for parties and such. To have the food pantry there Beecher would have to be added onto. A deadline for the proposal from Mr. Oliver was set at April 4th. A new industrial center is being developed on Rt 47. A site is still available that is 9,500— 10,000 square feet. It will be about a half a million dollars. Also Plattville Elementary school may be coming available. It is on 2.6 acres. Plattville is not centrally located, and is outside the Yorkville planning area. 4. Long Term Needs and Directions • Community Survey regarding community center versus senior only facility • Private and public service providers who can be partners Cross Lutheran has a 25 acre parcel to the north off Galena road, on Mill road. They would like to develop it into a community center and church. It is in the hub of the population center. Also New Life Church is looking at building a new church and possibly vacating the old church. It is on a 5 acre site off of Cannonball. It is approximately 12,000 square feet. It has a huge worship hall and kitchen, preschool room and teen room that is almost like a gym. • Potential donors or financial backers for the development or construction of a new building Senior services has to be sensitive to the fact that they are a county senior center with county money. As things get very visible Oswego and Plano may not understand why the county is meeting with the city of Yorkville. • site locations • other members to invite 5. Additional Business 6. Set next meeting date. The next meeting will be April 4' , 2005 at 4 pm. The meeting was adjourned at 5:00 pm. Minutes submitted by Laura Leppert.