Loading...
ADHOC City Council & Park Board Minutes 2002 02-07-021 UNITED CITY OF YORKVILLE SPECIAL JOINT ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE AND PARK BOARD MEETINGApPRovEDTHURSDAY,FEBRUARY 7,2002 6:30 P.M. Q-13.0 N In Attendance: Administration Committee: Alderwoman Rose Spears(Chairperson) Alderwoman Valerie Burd Alderman Paul James Alderman Marty Munns(arrived 8:10) Park Board: Ken Koch Chris Rollins Lisa Scherer David Cathey Guests: Mayor Art Prochaska(approximately at 7:15 P.M.) Sue Swithin, Superintendent of Recreation Purpose: Review&Discussion of Duties,Responsibilities and Ordinances of Park&Recreation Board Meeting called to order at 6:45 P.M. Alderwoman Spears noted that the Park Board had not submitted any questions for City Attorney Dan Kramer. Mr. Rollins stated that they didn't have any. Mr. Rollins thanked Alderwoman Spears for establishing a need for the meeting and Mayor Prochaska for recognizing the importance of clearly defined duties and responsibilities for all city branches of city government. He asked the Park Board to introduce themselves and give their background: Lisa Scherer-five year resident-Board member for 2 /z years. She is a Special Ed teacher trained to work with the visually impaired and mentally handicapped. She also interprets for the hearing impaired. She is originally from DeKalb and wanted to live in a farming community. Her concern is to make sure there is recreation for children because she has seen other city experiencing growth and forget they are made up of families with kids. Dave Cathey- 10 year resident. He is employed by Fermi Lab in Occupational Safety and Health. He also has a small consulting business in Yorkville. He got involved with the Board under the former mayor. He is originally from Wisconsin and admires open space and trails. He has three children and he got involved do there would be things for them to do. Ken Koch-three year resident. Employed eighteen years with the Fermi Lab. He has two children. He wanted to get involved in politics. Bill Wedge-Mr. Rollins indicated that Mr. Wedge is vacationing so unable to attend. He is retired after a long career in the Armed Services and with Nabisco. Chris Rollins- 10 years resident I Board member for six years. He came to the Park Board as the liaison between the Board and the School Board. He has two children. Mr.Rollins stated that the Park Board represents a 2 Cross-section of the city as they all live in different sections of the city. He stated that he feels that this is the best board the city has ever had. He said the Park Board purpose was and quoted City Ordinance 2001-28(see attached)"to deal in all respects with personnel,programs, and budgeting necessary to operate the City Park and Recreation Departments." He indicated that all the Board members take their service seriously and all are members of the National Recreation and Parks Association. Most have attended seminars and meetings to expand their knowledge of issues that pertain to the development of parks and recreation. They now hold a second meeting each month to accommodate developers and for park planning. He stated that the Board believes there are three areas that need special attention to insure the successful fulfillment of the Board's responsibilities: Jurisdiction-they feel that under State statute that when a community establishes a Park and Recreation Board that Board has and Mr. Rollins quoted the State statute"the power to establish,conduct and maintain"a recreation system for the municipality. The Board believes it is inconsistent with state statue and the city's ordinances for city officials and employees to participate in negotiations or discussion regarding any aspect of Parks and Recreation without the participation or consent of the Park Board. Budget-The state statute and city ordinance state that the Park and Recreation Board has responsibility for its budget. The Board understands the necessity of the City Council to approve its expenditures however they feel that any change that needs to be made to their budget should not be done without consultation,knowledge or consent of the Board. He feels this is supported by state statute because the city applies a Recreation Levy against the citizens and these funds are earmarked for recreation expenditure, which is governed by the Board. Personnel-The state statute and city ordinance support the personnel responsibilities of the Board. The Board feels it is in their jurisdiction to request postings of open positions to seek internal candidates,conduct searches for external candidates and to develop and conduct a hiring process as long as it is consistent with city policy and applicable employment laws. Alderwoman Spears noted that these are items that Attorney Kramer needs to review and he was unable to attend. Mr. Rollins stated that he understood this. He went on to state that the Board believes it is not obligated to accept newly created positions or employees under its budget without discussion or consent of the Board. He reiterated that these three areas are the greatest concern of the Board. Without resolution the Board cannot function or meet their legal obligations. Alderwoman Burd questioned a statement in the ordinance regarding a monthly report from the Board and/or its director being submitted to the City Council. She indicated that she has never seen this. She stated that she has seen their meeting minutes and Mr. Rollins indicated that this functions as their report. Sue Swithin stated that she includes a report from the Recreation Department along with the Park Board's minutes. Alderwoman Burd asked if Ms. Swithin or a member of the Park Board could come to City Council meetings with a report. Ms. Swithin indicated that this is why there is a City Council liaison,Alderman James. Alderwoman Burd stated that she was unaware of how upset the Park Board was and somehow communications between the Council and Board are not functioning. Mr. Koch agreed there is a lack of communication. He indicated that they have sent ideas to the Council for evaluation and they seem to disappear. Alderwoman Burd stated that certain things might not appear to be as important to the liaison as they are do to the Board. Ms. Scherer agreed with this possibility. Mr. Rollins stated that Alderman James,as the liaison,does not have editorial responsibilities,he is to report what happened. If this isn't occurring,the liaison isn't serving the Board well. 3 Alderwoman Burd stated that Alderman James is serving the City Council so he reports what he kinks is important to the Council. Alderman James stated that this problem isn't justoccurringwithhimasliaisonbuthasbeenhappeningforyears. Ms. Scherer stated that Mayor Prochaska said at the last Park Board meeting that there has always been a conflict between the Park Board and the City Council and she questioned why this persists. Alderwoman Burd explained that the Director of Public Works,Police Chief,etc. attend City Council meeting and make a report to the Council. Mr. Cathey stated that the Director of Parks and Recreation would be the person to do this when they are hired but maybe something needs to be done in the interim. Alderwoman Spears asked the Board where they stand with the hiring of the Director. Mr. Rollins stated that the position has not been posted yet but not from lack of the Board submitting it to the City Administrator. He stated that this is one of the Board's issues. According to state statute and ordinance,they have the right to hire people. The position was in the budget and approved by the City Council. He stated that they have been trying for several months to get the city administration to post the position internally. They are ready to start interviewing. Dave Cathey stated that the Board has submitted their interviewing questions to four outside sources who are involved with recreation/park programs for their input. Their input is due back by Monday, February 11,2002 and he will take it to the Board that evening. Alderwoman Burd asked if according to statue does this have to be reviewed by an attorney and Mr. Rollins stated no but they have done this with other positions. Alderwoman Spears wanted the Board to be aware that a labor attorney reviews all city postings and job descriptions. Mayor Prochaska stated that he related to the Park Board that the labor attorney recommended,in an effort to expedite hiring,that the interview questions be done before the position is posted. He also stated that the labor attorney makes sure that the questions meet Equal Employment Opportunity(EEO)requirements. Members of the Board did not recollect this. Mr. Rollins explained how the Board intended to search for candidates by using park/recreation trade publications advertisements,which are usually published monthly. They will have to submit an ad and wait for the response. He felt the labor attorney's recommendation regarding the questions being ready before advertising was not good advice. Mr. Rollins stated that the Board had a long time before conducting interviews and they are responsible for their own hiring process according to statute and ordinance. Mayor Prochaska and Alderwoman Spears disagreed with this. The group discussed the development of interview questions and the labor attorney's recommendation that the candidates cannot be asked different questions. Also,the questions have to be asked the same way and by the same person for each candidate. Alderwoman Burd expressed her opinion that the Council is the body to make a decision not the attorneys. The Council should use its judgement based on the attorney's advice. Mayor Prochaska commented that he is bothered by the idea that one group is not working or doesn't want to work with the other. He hoped everyone would work on cooperation. He stated that in the nine years he has been on the Council he has been hearing the same arguments. He felt there are two boards trying to run the same process and the City Council has to decide if they want a Park District who will be a separate entity or a Park Board that makes recommendations to the Council. Mr. Rollins stated that he didn't disagree with this but went over the Board's three issues,which were discussed before the Mayor arrived. He discussed that there are rules governed by state statutes and it does not have provisions for a board that recommends. There shouldn't be any b 4 confusion as to who governs the function of parks and recreation according to state statute. They are following the statute and the city ordinances and they feel they are in control of these functions. He stated that if they are not and it is the opinion of the City that it no longer wishes to be served by a Board it dissolve it. He stated that the Board does not want to be in limbo;they want to be in control or they do not want to serve. He indicated that a Park District would be great but it will take a lot of work before this happens and in the meantime parks and recreation has to be govern somehow. Mr. Cathey stated that there are three issues that the Park Board considers important and now the discussion has turned to the Council and the Park Board not working together. He felt that the issue still stands-where does the position of Director of Parks&Recreation stand. Will it get posted? He stated that they were told they would get a Superintendent of Parks but this position was removed and given to Public Works. The position's salary is being paid from the Parks budget. Mayor Prochaska explained that as a small town, Yorkville did not have a separate department for Parks. Public Works is split into four areas,Parks, Street&Alleys,Water and Sewer. The salaries of the people who work for Parks come out of that budget. Ms. Scherer stated that she believes this but they have repeatedly asked for the number of hours that this person works and they never received the information. Mayor Prochaska stated that with the change in personnel this year it has now been set up to show a breakdown of cost and hours. Mr. Cathey indicated that they have concerns with the City Administrator and his explanations for things such as why the position wasn't posted and why funds for salaries are being taken out of their budget. Alderwoman Burd said that the City Administrator and Mayor discuss how best to use city fmds and they follow through with out consulting the Park Board. She stated that she understood what the Board was saying about arbitrary decisions being made without input. The Mayor stated that the intentions are not to stop things from happening but they are trying to get things to fall in line. The budget and the effects of the economy were discussed. Mr. Rollins understood that budgets would need to be adjusted due to the fall in revenue but he felt that whoever is responsible for the adjustments needed to discuss them with the Board. Mayor Prochaska took responsibility for the matter being taken to the Board. Alderwoman Burd stated that the Board should not have been told"about the adjustment but consulted about them before they were done. Mayor Prochaska stated that this is not how the process works. He explained that all the department heads met to go over the budget. They were aware of the decreases. Mr. Rollins stated that the department head is not responsible for the budget the Park Board is. Ms. Swithin stated she and the Director of Public Works, Eric Dhuse, had a great deal of involvement in the budget. However,changes were made in the later revisions that she was not aware of and thus not shared with the Board. Ms. Swithin commented that in the past she has been Park Board President. She has been Superintendent of Recreation for six years and attended every meeting in that time. She stated that there have always been controversies however more so now than ever. She felt that this is the most educated and working Board she has worked with in six years. The issues she has concerns with are new development, Land Cash,the swimming pool and personnel. She expressed her opinion that the Board's services were not consistently being used. She stated that she answers to the Board because they develop her goals and objectives every year. She indicated that if she was a volunteer person and felt her recommendation was not being taken seriously and appreciated, she would ask herself why bother? As a staff person, it is hard to go to a Board when they have an attitude that no one cares about their suggestions. She recommended 5 that the process be worked on by developing goals and guidelines and establishing Council criteria regarding what is expected from the Board. She commented that if it is the goal to work towards forming a Park District the Board should be allowed to grow and work harder because they will be the ones wanting to be voted onto Park District Board. Alderwoman Spears stated that the main purpose of this meeting is to see how everyone can work together in an effort to resolve the issues the Park Board has. Mr. Rollins stated that everyone is interested in expediency and sometimes this doesn't fall into the rules. The Board is trying to meet their responsibilities. Ms. Scherer commented that they do not expect the City Council to accept every recommendation that they make but they would like some respect and to be taken seriously. She felt that their opinions are not heard and they are given in the best interest of the city. Mayor Prochaska explained that recommendations from the Park Board are sent to a committee meeting and discussed several times before they are passed on to the Committee of the Whole for further discussion and then finally to a City Council meeting for a vote. He felt that the Council does take their recommendations seriously. The discussion turned to the outdoor swimming pool. He stated that he was asked by the YMCA and Chairman of the Lyons Club to meet to discuss the pool. He explained following this meeting,he was at the very next Park Board meeting to discuss this. Mr. Rollins pointed out a headline in a local newspaper stating"Yorkville Pulls Outdoor Pool Plug". He stated that this decision was made without the Park Board recommendation and even though he knows the mayor's involvement was genuine,he expected this issue to come before the Board. He pointed out that$15,000.00 of the Park and Recreation budget has been used toward the pool and they had a right to be involved in this issue. Mayor Prochaska stated that he did not make a deal with the YMCA and/or the Lyons Club. He was told that it would take$300,000.00 to make the pool usable this year and he stated that he needed to take this information to the Park Board because they were the group to work with. He also stated that if someone asks to meet with him,he shouldn't have to call the Council or the Board for approval to have a meeting. Mr.Rollins stated that when meetings turn to discussions of Park and Recreation issues,that according to ordinance and stated statute they are the responsible party for governing. Sue Swithin stated that the Park Board had presentations from pool ferns a few years ago. She thought a representative from the Board was still involved in the issue. Mr. Rollins stated that the Board asked Mr. Roberts from the YMCA to explain how they planned to use the$15,000.00 from the Parks budget. They asked him specifically to include them in any information regarding the pool and he has avoided contact with them. The subject was discussed further and it was suggested that the Park Board have a representative attend the February 15, 2002 meeting with the mayor,the Lyons Club and the YMCA. Ms. Scherer also stated that there is also an issue with developers. They meet with developers to discuss future parks and then they do not hear about the parks until everything is a done deal. Mayor Prochaska stated that developers go before the Plan Commission with their project concept plan. Before a developer brings a preliminary plat to the Plan Commission,the Commission is going to look for a recommendation from the Park Board. There was further discussion regarding job posting. Mr. Cathey stated that the Director of Parks and Recreation would probably report to the City Administrator,Tony Graff. With this in mind, the Board tried to meet with him to go over the interview questions but he hasn't returned their phone calls. He questioned why Mr. Graff was not at this meeting and Alderwoman Spears indicated she had asked him not to attend. Mr. Cathey indicated that on February 18, 2002 their interview questions will be fmalized and on February 19,2002 the questions will be given to Mayor Prochaska to send on to the labor attorney. Mr. Rollins stated that the City Administrator 6 offered help with the hiring process so they submitted the posting to him. The first time they submitted the posting to him the issue of internal and external posting came up. When asked if there was a written policy regarding this they were told there wasn't any. The second time they tried to post the job,they were advised that the City Council was changing the internal/external posting policy. They submitted the posting after this change and have not received a response. The mayor reminded everyone that the City Administrator is new to this position. Since his taking the position the council has found that many policies have to be clarified. Alderwoman Spears asked to return to the discussion of personnel and hours. The Parks Department is concerned with people being paid out of their budget and they do not have control over these individuals. The Park Board has asked for a work log and Mayor Prochaska indicated that Mr. Dhuse is working on this but again,he is new to the position. Alderwoman Spears stated that for budget purposes this type of information should be kept for all departments and the mayor stated that he has given this directive to all the department heads. Mr. Rollins indicated that if the Board doesn't receive this information from Mr. Dhuse they will not approve the budget. Also, he stated that there is a levy in the community for recreation and those funds should not be in the general fund because they are earmarked for the parks. It was concluded that Attorney Kramer's input was needed on the levy issue. The steps for the posting of the director's position were clarified. The interview questions would be given to the mayor;he would give them to the labor attorney for review;if the attorney approves the questions the job would be posted. If the attorney has concerns about the questions, Mayor Prochaska would call Mr. Rollins to discuss the concerns. Mr. Cathey asked if the mayor wanted anyone else to review the questions and it was determined that Mr. Graff would be given them simultaneously with the attorney. There was further discussion regarding the position of Director of Parks and Recreation;the City Council working together with the Park Board as the community grows;the need for a policy regarding posting;and the Land Cash fund. It was suggested that another workshop be held to identify the specific areas causing the friction between the Park Board and the City Council such as job posting,budget and jurisdiction. Attorney Kramer would need to be present. The group tentatively decided to meet on February 27,2002 at 7:00 P.M.pending Attorney Kramer's schedule. It was decided that Mr. Rollins and Mr. Koch would attend the February 15,2002 meeting regarding the pool. Mayor Prochaska indicated that he would inform them of the time and place. Meeting was adjourned at 8:50 P.M. Minutes respectfully submitted by Jackie Milschewski, City Clerk