Park Board Minutes 2012 01-19-12
APPROVED 2/9/12
Yorkville Parks and Recreation Department
River City Roasters
131 W. Hydraulic
Yorkville, IL 60560
January 19, 2012
Call to Order
: Ken Koch called the meeting to order at 7:02 p.m.
Roll Call:
Ken Koch - yes; Debbie Horaz - no; Kelly Sedgwick - yes; Amy Cesich - yes; Vickie Coveny
- no; Mark Dilday - yes; Seaver Tarulis - no.
Introduction of City Officials and Staff:
Laura Schraw - Director of Parks and Recreation
Scott Sleezer - Superintendent of Parks
Tim Evans - Superintendent of Recreation
Others Present:
Alderman Chris Funkhouser
Public Comment:
There were no public comments.
Presentations
: None.
Approval of Minutes
: The minutes from the December 8, 2011 meeting were not there for review.
The minutes will be brought to next meeting for approval.
Bill Review:
Ken asked about playground damage. Scott said there is always different repairs for parks. Deb asked
if Scott will be going to conference this year. Scott said yes. Ken asked for a motion to approve the
bills list. Kelly made a motion and Amy seconded. Ken Koch - yes; Deb Horaz - yes; Kelly Sedgwick -
yes; Amy Cesich - yes; Mark Dilday - yes.
November and December Budget Report - This was an informational item.
Old Business:
BBQ Event
- Laura said she and Chris Funkhouser met and spoke about future dates for the BBQ
event. Laura said Geneva Kayak is willing to do the event with us. The date scheduled for the event
will be July 14th. Chris Funkhouser said he thinks this will be a great opportunity to work together for
this event. Laura said the title will have both events in it.
Laura said they discussed what things staff would take care of and what insurance was needed for the
event. Chris said he is looking for approval to move this event forward so that he can get things going
as far as getting volunteers etc. Laura said she is coming up with a name like Ribs on the Rapids. Deb
asked if this is going to be an annual event. Chris said that is what they are hoping. Chris said the
sooner the event is approved the better to begin advertising.
Ken asked about staff helping and the compensation for the staff. Scott said he doesn't think they will
need that many staff there to help and it is all worked out. Chris stated they want to have as many
volunteers as possible to minimize staff help.
Laura said Geneva Kayak will hopefully offer free rides down the shoot and the eating area will be in a
separate area and there will be plenty of room. Laura said the purpose of combining with Geneva Kayak
is to draw more people to this event.
Ken said the board recommends the BBQ event to move forward and plans begin. Deb Horaz made a
motion and Kelly Sedgwick seconded.
Vendor in the Park Policy -
Laura said this item went to city council and it was not approved. Laura
said the board needs to revise the policy and take it back to city council again. Laura said city council
wants the permits other than at Riverfront to remain at $200.00.
Deb Horaz asked what was the reasoning behind not approving it. Kelly said they feel it is too high and
Kelly said where else can you go and run a business that cheap. Chris Funkhouser said the comments in
city council were $500.00 is too high. Chris Funkhouser stated at Riverfront the council agreed to
increase the fees, but in other parks the council did not want the fees raised that much.
Laura said the fees have been the same since 1998. Deb Horaz said that town square is a prime location.
Kelly Sedgwick said there is no overhead and $200.00 per year to run a business isn't much. Chris
Funkhouser said the council doesn't want tor raise the fees too much to keep people from wanting to
vend at all.
Laura asked the board how they want to structure the fees. There was a discussion on how much to
raise the fees at at which parks.
Amy Cesich said she would like to go back with another number and see what the council says. Laura
said it is worth a try. The board discussed giving council two different documents to look at so that it
doesn't keep coming back to board for review or changes.
Scott said town square will lose the parking in front of town square park when the construction of 47
begins. Scott said that will effect the hot dog vendor and his business. Scott said they might consider
moving farmers market during that time.
Laura said for town square the board could raise the fee a little bit, for other parks the board could keep
the other parks the same. Laura suggested all the parks together be one fee. Laura said she will take the
following back to council: Town Square $300 non- profit, $400 profit; Riverfront Park $500 non-profit
$700 profit any other park $200 non-profit $300 profit. Then all other parks on this list would be $700
non-profit $1000 profit.
Laura said there were no other changes in the policy other than the fee changes. Ken asked for a motion
to send that recommendation to council. Deb Horaz made the motion and Mark Dilday seconded. Ken
Koch - yes; Deb Horaz - yes; Amy Cesich - yes; Kelly Sedgwick - yes; Mark Dilday - yes.
New Business:
Tips & Taps
- Laura stated this is a program to allow the city to get the lights for Raintree B at a better
price. Laura said the manufacturer offers the products at a lower price through this vendor. It doesn't
cost anything to join. Laura said the city doesn't have to do the bid process either. Scott said it
eliminates a couple markups and saves the city money.
There was a discussion about lighting and what the best options are and how we can use this program to
save money and time. Ken asked for a motion for staff to go ahead with Tips and Taps program. Amy
Cesich made motion and Kelly Sedgwick seconded. Ken Koch - yes; Deb Horaz - yes; Kelly Sedgwick -
yes; Amy Cesich - yes; Mark Dilday - yes.
Monitor Productions
- Tim Evans said the company helps up reach out to the customers were have
coming into the REC Center. This is a free service. They make money on the ads that run on the
program. Tim said we have one T.V. up at the front entrance and our programs and information runs on
the T.V. Tim said it is a great way to highlight our smaller programs for those who come into the REC
Center.
Tim said there will be four different 32" T.V.'s. Tim said the contract will be up when the lease of the
REC Center is up. The board thinks it is a great idea. One will be in weight room, one in workout area,
one in the pool waiting area. There is already one behind the front desk. Tim said it has already been
effective. Tim said for example, the Cooking for Kids class only had 3 to 4 kids and now we already
have 10 kids registered.
Tim said that Shay had 10 people sign up for an all-star football class and she never gets that many
people signed up. Tim said this works. Tim said the REC Center has the right to say no to different ads
if we don't feel they are appropriate.
2012 Baseball Agreements
- Ken said there are four agreements. Laura said it is the same change for
all agreements. Laura said all the changes need to be approved by the Park Board.
Deb Horaz asked about field availability. Scott said the past couple years things have worked out well
because people are working well together and calling between each other and working out who can use
the fields when.
Ken asked for a motion to approve the baseball agreements for 2012. Motion was made by Mark
Dilday and seconded by Deb Horaz.
Reports:
Director's Report
- Laura said that on the 17th the city got the $400,000 from Prairie Meadows. Laura
said she received other estimates from Dennis at Fox Valley Trading for several different kids of shirts.
Laura said to look them over and decide which shirts the board wants. Laura said she will work with
Dennis on coming up with a logo. The board agreed to go ahead and work with Fox Valley Trading
because the prices are better.
Parks Report
- Scott said the staff is working in the woods now keeping things clear. Scott said that he
and Tim are working on Hometown Days. Scott said in December the city changed three large units at
the REC Center, which will help with some of the leaks and it is a huge improvement. Scott said he is
helping on marking the Emerald Ash Borer removals.
Recreation Report
- Tim said basketball started and except for a couple minor issues with the schools,
things are going well registration is up this year. REC Center has 76 new members. Tim said the REC
budget in the last report only had a $25,000 in the deficit, so if things continue at this pace, it will be
close to breaking even.
There was a discussion about the cooperation with Parks and REC and the schools for programs. The
schools move things last minute and they were not open a couple different times where practices had to
be canceled. Tim said the communication is much better now than is years past. Tim said there is going
to be conflicts from time to time.
Additional Business:
There was discussion on the schools building a field house and partnering with
the city to use some of the space there. Laura said there would be a specific place for Parks and REC.
Ken said he doesn't see how there would be enough room for all of these activities. Laura said the city
would have offices there and run programs there and she said it could work, if we had enough money to
do it.
Deb Horaz said a lot of towns do this. The board said they feel that the school would use the space and
not allow the parks to use it when wanted. Laura said if we partner, it is the city building too and we
would have keys and offices. Laura said there are a lot of things to work out, but she asked the board to
not completely rule it out.
Laura said this idea works in a lot of communities. Amy Cesich said the residents and tax payers need to
understand keeping the REC Center is the best option. Laura said it would cost us more because we
wouldn't have the membership revenue. Laura said if we partner with the school, the city will be
spending more money.
Deb Horaz said the purpose of the AD Hoc meeting was to discuss alternatives. Deb said as we
discussed different options, it didn't sound very good. Tim said the REC Center is in a really good
position almost breaking even. Ken said this committee helps sell the REC Center. There was
discussion that if council doesn't vote for purchasing the REC Center, they are doing the community a
disservice.
Kelly said the city will see the cheapest option is purchasing the REC Center. Tim said that a lot of the
residents don't have any idea of what is going on with the REC Center. Tim said the REC Center caters
to families and other facilities do not. Amy said the facility is meant to benefit the community and not to
make money.
Adjournment:
Motion to adjourn made by Deb Horaz and seconded by Kelly Sedgwick. The meeting
was adjourned at 8:45 p.m. Next meeting February 9, 2012 at 7:00 p.m.
*Items needing Board approval or recommendation.
Minutes Respectfully Submitted by:
Lisa Godwin
Minute Taker