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Park Board Minutes 2011 12-08-11 (Town Meeting) APPROVED 2/9/12 UNITED CITY OF YORKVILLE PARKS AND RECREATION DEPARTMENT TOWN HALL MEETING Thursday, December 8, 2011 6:30 p.m. REC Center 202 E. Countryside Parkway Yorkville, IL 60560on Call to Order: The meeting was called to order at 6:34 by Ken Koch. Ken Koch - here; Deb Horaz - here; Vicki Coveny - here; Seaver Taurlis - here; Kelly Sedgwick - here; Amy Cesich - here. Introductions: Laura Schraw - Director of Parks; Scott Sleezer -Director of Parks; Tim Evans - Director of Recreation; Gary Golinski - Mayor; George Gilson - Alderman; Rose Spears - Alderman;o Chris Funkhouser - Alderman; Carlo Colismo - Alderman; Bart Olson - City Administrator; City Finance Director - Bill Powell. History of Parks and Recreation Department - Laura Schraw presented a power point presentation on the history of Parks and Recreation to those in attendance. 1977 the park commission and the human resource commission created a community center committee to help advise the city council. 1979 - Beecher was constructed 1988 - The Rec board was created by city council and this was to oversee park and recreation for Yorkville. 2002 - The administration offices were moved to Riverfront Building and created a director position and reorganized it to a supervisor of parks and recreation. 2004 - They were moved to the Kramer Building on South Bridge Street. Many places were used for programming different churches and schools. 2005 - Staff was increased to 18 employees. 2006 - Preschool Building was created in the former public works building. 2007 - Former post office was purchased by the city and given to recreation department to be used as administration offices. In November a study was conducted in the community to see what community wanted from Parks and Rec. The top five were: 1. Paved Bike Trails, 2. Outdoor Pool, 3. Facility for Fitness and Wellness, 4., Indoor Pool, 5. Recreation Center with Gym and as a note 8 was a teen center. 2008 - Club 47 was leased by the REC Department and the name changed to REC Center and it meets three of the top five needs of community. 2009 - We lost one staff member 2010 - We reduced three staff 2011 - Our Recreation manager was promoted to Superintendent of Recreation. Where we are at now in 2011 all rec staff offices were moved to REC Center and the preschool was moved to the REC Center. The other buildings are being leased out to businesses until June 2013. Tim Evans showed a presentation of the rent/lease numbers. He stated that we paid $15,000 per year in rents and using Parkview Schools for $15,000. He stated that the preschool was at Yorkville Congregational Church, which was $5,400 per year for a total of $38,400 per year. No utilities were paid by the Recreation at the time. Tim stated the current lease is $18,500 per month, which is $220,000 per year. Last year we had a $60,000 - $70,000 deficit. By having the REC Center, we added a pool and a nice gym. Tim stated that he expected the deficit to be $30,000 to $40,000 for this year. Tim stated there are two budgets an 80 budget and a 79 budget. For this fiscal year, we have seen an increase in $45,000 by combining our offices. He stated the numbers have been very strong this year. Membership continues to increase. The 79 Budget is for classes, which has increased because of combining out of the REC Center and increased our rentals. Tim stated that we have over 249 classes and programs now with the REC Center. He stated that over 30 employees are Yorkville residents. Tim stated that the agreement with the REC Center ends in June 2013. Tim said we will be here until June 30, 2013. Tim showed the information for your Mayor and Alderman if people want to contact them. Public Questions/Comments: Connie Spears stated that earlier today she went over the figures with Tim and she said it looks like a lot of deficit, but in the Park District there is a profit. She asked Tim to please explain the two budgets again for the people because it seems like fuzzy math. Tim pulled up the presentation again to show and he said that he knows it is confusing. There are two budgets a 79 budget for programs and then the 80 just for the REC. Tim said this is the first year we have combined out of one facility and we have seen an increase because of that and our deficit is smaller, he said it is all how you look at things. Connie asked if the REC Center is actually operating with a profit. Tim said he doesn't want to say that. It is overall, you could say that, but not necessarily true. It depends on how you look at the numbers. Connie said it is either a profit or a deficit. Tim said it is running at a deficit, but we have two budgets. She stated as a taxpayer, she doesn't want a deficit. She asked if budgets can be combined. A citizen asked can the REC Center stand alone by itself. Tim said he doesn't want to speak for city council. He said it depends on how you look at it. Laura Schraw said as it stands, it is negative. Laura said the lease agreement is up for vote next week. Laura said if we purchase the building, it could be different. Laura said buying it is up to our elected officials. Ken Koch stated if we buy the building $60,000 in taxes goes away. Ken said the rent is $18,500 per month, but if we purchased that is towards owning and Kelly said there is rents from the other buildings they own. Bart stated the total on rent would be $45,000 in revenue. A citizen asked about maintenance figures. He stated the building is pretty old. He stated it could be costly for upkeep on this building. Laura said in our budget each year maintenance is budgeted. If we owned it, we would budget it. A citizen asked what the purchase price is and wouldn't it be considerably less than five years ago? He asked if there was an appraisal. Laura stated the purchase price was 4 million and she stated there was an appraisal done and we can't discuss the results because they are in negotiating. A citizen asked where the 4 million would come from to purchase the building. Bart Olson stated that a purchase agreement can be similar to a lease for principle and interest for 20 years. He stated it doesn't mean that the city would have to pay money up front. Bonds are an option. A citizen stated we should buy the building or get rid of it. He stated we cannot afford it. A citizen said according to the 2011 numbers staff was reduced why expenses went down only 20,000. She said all things are now in REC facility, if we don't have the REC how much will it cost to house other places to keep them running. Bart said only one employee was paid out of REC Center budget. The citizen said that going from one to the other is confusing and gives a misperception A citizen asked why can't the budgets in written form be out there for the citizens so they can look at them. Bart said it is 30 pages between different departments. Bart said we can go through budget if would like. He said they do that every week at the city council meetings and all are welcome to attend. Ken said there are two separate budgets because city council required to keep the REC Center separate. A citizen said Tim is doing a great job with managing the REC. She said it is fuzzy math. A citizen said he feels that the city needs to cooperate with the school district to use facilities to benefit all and cut costs. Ken said he agrees, but we haven't heard about any plans. Kelly said in the past, we have not had good cooperation with the schools. The citizen said there is a new superintendent now and he might be more willing to work together. A citizen stated that young families need these programs and she doesn't want to have to see the REC cut programs because we don't have space. Laura said as staff that is also one of their concerns. A citizen asked what is the percentage of those in community that actual use this center. Tim said we have 1,467 members. Others that just come in and are guests to play basketball or sign up for programs. Tim said around 1,200 are Yorkville residents. A citizen asked about raising the membership fees and then those that come and use it pay for it. Tim said he wants to increase membership and eliminate costs first. A citizen asked about other facilities. There is a YMCA, Curves and Anytime Fitness and a few others. Ken said those other facilities are more limited on what they offer. A citizen said that in 2008 we had no idea what was going to happen to the growth in this community. She said the decision to do the REC Center looked good, but it wasn't. A citizen stated that she believes that the will of the people is that we have a facility like this. She said maybe our governing body needs to make changes to make this work. Laura said to e-mail or call your alderman, they are making the decision. A citizen stated that she has been coming to this building since it was built to use the pool and she said there are a great many seniors that come every week. She said she would hate to see it close and she said her tax bill is not the greatest and she doesn't want higher taxes. She said the contract could have been better at this the time. Laura said taxes will not jump because we decide to keep the building. A citizen said that we need a park district that levies its own taxes. Then we can go for grants to park districts. A citizen said we want the building but we need to negotiate a better deal. Laura said that a park district would be more taxes. A citizen said that the school district is more friendly than the past, but we will still get last priority on what programs the REC runs. He said people look for these things when they move to areas. Kelly stated that if we don't have good schools and programs people will not want to move here. If people don't want to move here, then businesses won't come here. A citizen asked about building a new building. Ken stated that it would cost a lot more than 4 million dollars. A citizen said she loves the programs that Yorkville offers. She said that she loves having one place to come for programs. She said she doesn't think it should be separate budgets. She said we can't go backwards. Amy Cesich said we decided last week to have this community meeting. We wanted to get the information out to you. She stated that you need to go to the city council meetings whether you are for or against it. Amy asked Bart to pull up the statistics from the presentation. She said we had 120 and we now have 249 programs in one building. She said ask yourself does this enrich your lives. She said we will lose a lot of our programs if we don't have this building. Amy said decide what is important to you for our community. She said there are things we pay for to enrich our lives in our community that don't make a profit. A citizen stated we are not talking about making a profit, we are talking about breaking even. A citizen said when he looks at the county tax bill over half goes to the school system and we are not voting for more. He said some of the school budget needs to be cut and put toward helping this for seniors. He feels that if he doesn't have a child in school he shouldn't pay taxes for it. Amy said that one of the questions she got when she first moved here was is there a REC Center. She said we sent them to the YMCA or Oswego. Amy said the option to buy is the only option and she said let the alderman know that is what you want. Amy said it will cost us money to let it go. A citizen said that she looks to the future and selling her home someday and people want things like a REC Center. A citizen said that no one said we don't want the REC Center, but how are we going to keep it and negotiate a better deal. Concluding Remarks: Laura said that the alderman e-mails are online and the front desk can get them for you. She said that next week in city council they are discussing the purchase of the building. Amy said please go to voice what you want for your community. The city council is deciding on renewing the lease or not. Amy said they need to know what residents want whether that is for it or not. Amy said that there are not other buildings in the community that have what we need for a reasonable cost. Ken said we would have to spend money to rehab to make it usable and then we are renting again. Ken Koch adjourned the meeting at 7:50 p.m. Motion by Kelly Sedgwick and seconded by Deb Horaz. Minutes Respectfully Submitted by: Lisa Godwin Minute Taker