Park Board Minutes 2009 07-23-09 Yorkville Parks & Recreation Department
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Administration Office 201
W. Hydraulic St Yorkville, IL 60560 6305534357
Park Board Meeting Agenda
Parks and Recreation Administration Office
7:00 p.m.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Call to Order: Ken Koch called the meeting to order at 7:20 p.m.
Roll Call: Ken Koch -Yes, Debbie Horaz-Yes, Kelly Sedgwick—Yes and Vickie Coveny-Yes
Introduction of Guests. City Officials and Staff:
Interim Director of Parks and Recreation—Bart Olson
Superintendent of Recreation—Sue Swithin
Superintendent of Parks—Scott Sleezer
Park Designer—Laura Haake
Senior City Planner, Stephanie Boettcher
Resident, Mariann Manthei
Public Comment:
None
Presentations:
Integrated Transportation Plan
Stephanie Boettcher gave an overview of the integrated transportation plan. Boettcher said that the
grant was awarded by [DOT to the City by the Illinois Tomorrow Corridor Planning Program. The
grant was for alternative transportation. The intent of the plan was to improve pedestrian and bicycle
accessibility throughout the City.
Boettcher said the City hired the SEC Group to help with the project. She said that they took a
survey from the residents to find out what they did on trails and where they would want them to lead
to. She said that they then, established a task force committee that Scott Sleezer and Laura Haake
attended on behalf of the Board four times a year, along with residents. The major focuses of the
discussions were mainly on trial locations, alignments and priorities.
Boettcher said that two public workshop meetings were also held; one focused on the trail network
with attendees given the opportunity to draw their ideal trail plan and the other focused on how the
trail network connected into the downtown and what amenities could be added to the downtown to
make it more pedestrian friendly.
Boettcher stated the packet given to the Board was a combination of all that work and wanted the
Board to highlight any questions they had.
Scott Sleezer said that one thing that was really talked about was the resident's wish lists. They
wanted a plan to move forward because people really want to see trails.
Laura Haake noted good things came out of the meetings and they received good insight on what
types of trails people wanted,where bridges should be, etc. She said they focused on areas as a
whole and it would help them when they did a master plan update.
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Ken Koch said the plan looked good and felt it would lead them in the right direction. Koch however
wanted to know how they were going to fund the trails. Boettcher went over funding strategies on
page 68. She said that SEC had given them a list of funding sources for the trails. Koch felt that they
might have to go to referendum as a funding source as well and felt it would be good to know how
much community support there would be perhaps for a referendum. Boettcher pointed out page 71
talked about funding for the projects.
Haake noted that it took approximately five to six years for each trail to be fully developed and said
that the Transportation Plan talked about the time it took for these trials to come to fruition.
Vickie Coveny said that she would like to see trails connect to Oswego, Plano or other long
distances and not just downtown. Boettcher agreed and that was part of what residents wanted as
well. She noted that there were two types of users out there and they were working to
accommodate them both.
Coveny also said she would like to see trails at retirement homes. She felt it allowed the elderly to
get out and take a walk and that was important to them.
Deb Horaz felt that getting trails into down town and across the river should be their main priorities.
Coveny brought up her concern over the snow in the winter and wanted to know where they would
plow the snow especially on the trails that ran along the roads.
Haake said another draft revision would be coming out and asked the Board to go through the
transportation plan and come up with more questions and concerns.
Koch said that Integrated Transportation Plan would be presented at the August 25th City Council
meeting.
Approval of Minutes:
Park Board—July 9, 2009*
Sue Swithin wanted to note on page six under the Recreation Report, first sentence should read: A
letter was sent out to certain members at the REC Center regarding their membership fees going up
upon renewal and not all members.
Swithin also wanted the first paragraph under List of Programs to be offered in the fall of 2009 to
read: The list of programs passed out was for the fall of 2009 and each quarter she [Sue] intends on
getting a list of class offerings out and those class offerings would change quarter to quarter.
Ken Koch asked for a motion to approve the July 91' Park Board Minutes per amendments made by
Swithin. Kelly Sedgwick made the motion and Vickie Coveny seconded the motion. The motion was
unanimously approved by voice vote.
Bills Review:
Cash Analysis & Bill List*
Vickie Coveny asked about the events at Hometown Days. She asked if next year they could
approve the fees in advance for the bands. Sue Swithin felt that she should be allowed the discretion
in doing that with the budget and the event as she does with all her programs. Swithin said with
every special event they gamble with sponsors; said that they were looking very good at getting that
$10,000 to $15,000 profit mark for this years Hometown Days. She said that they analyze these fees
well every year. She noted that they do charge to get into the festival and they are taking on the two
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beer tents this year and felt good about that money coming in. Swithin also noted that they get non-
profit rates with the bands and that they were very good rates. Kelly Sedgwick also noted the bands
bring in their own crowds as well.
Ken Koch asked for a motion to approve the cash analysis and bills list. Deb Horaz made the motion
and Vickie Coveny seconded the motion. The motion was approved by roll call: Ken Koch -Yes,
Debbie Horaz-Yes, Kelly Sedgwick—Yes and Vickie Coveny-Yes
Old Business:
Park Naming Policy
Bart Olson said this was the final cleaned up policy that was in the packet. He asked for a
recommendation to move on to the City Council. Ken Koch asked for a motion to move onto the City
Council for Tuesday July 28th meeting. Deb Horaz made the motion and Kelly Sedgwick seconded
the motion. The motion was unanimously approved by voice vote.
New Business:
Part-time employee hours*
Bart Olson said this is item would need authorization from the Board. Olson outlined his memo in the
packet and went over the scenario that led to the part-time employees going over 1000 hours thus
having to enroll them in IMRF.
Olson noted there had been some timing issues with this and the result is that there are two
employees that have worked over 1000 already this year and they are going to have to be enrolled
in IMRF regardless and that put them in violation of the employee manual. He said that there were
some part-time employees now who were about to go over 1000 hours so they were going to have
to cut back their hours.
Olson said he felt it was unacceptable to lay off these part-time employees who were nearing 1000
hours off because they immediately lose good part-time employees and he explained there would
still be no net change because they would have to hire someone else to supervise the front desk or
run a class. He said his point was that in the end it really was not going to change because they
could not budget for IMRF, however, he noted that they found the money but they would have to cut
another line item to allow these people to get IMRF authorization and continue them to staff.
Olson explained why he thought he got too close to the budget. He pointed out on page two of his
memo where the increased expenses would be met through the cuts: REC Center Budget and
Operating Budget.
Sue Swithin said that part-time employees who had worked more than 1000 hours were an
oversight. She said that when she came up with her business plan she came up with a list of
positioning and hours, noting that names had not been associated with the positions at that time,
and they should have been approved through this procedure when the business plan was approved.
She said that the positions were all listed with potential hours all with different part-time hours. She
said this should not be strange to her board and had been presented back when the business plan
was presented.
Swithin said she assumed that the hours were approved by a former employee and they were
budgeted for. She said her budget requirements were to provide, to staff, presented hours within the
business plan. She said the business plan was put together a year and a half ago and after that
when it got to IMRF, social security, and any other budget issue numbers she did not see those
numbers and assumed they were being taken care of. Sleezer said that to reiterate what Swithin
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was saying was that when they did their budget they believed some of this was being taken care of
at a higher level when it had not been.
Swithin said that she was now getting payroll hours monthly from Rachel.
The Board felt that they should hire more part-time employees or else they would have the same
problem next year. Olson said if we enroll them this year it would be budgeted for next year. Swithin
also explained why having more part-time employees would not be efficient and would hinder the
REC Center operations and its programs.
Ken Koch asked for a motion,to take the recommended budget cuts, to pay for the IMRF enrollment
for the part-time employees who have worked over 1000 hours to the City Council as follows:The
money would come from the Parks and Recreation department budget in the amount of$1,445 and
REC Center budget would be cut in the amount of$4,066. Kelly Sedgwick made the motion and a
roll call vote was taken: Ken Koch—Yes; Deb Horaz— Present; Kelly Sedgwick—Yes; and Vickie
Coveny; Present.
Riverfront Park concept plan*
Bart Olson stated that in the concept plans from the last meeting there was a potential brown-field in
the proposed Riverfront Park area and they wanted to do a brown-field study. He said it was not
budgeted but they were going to recommend that they use tiff funds for this because the funds were
there and they were available for their use.
Olson noted that tiff dollars could also go towards the development of Riverfront Park as well. He felt
that if they had a concept plan to go off of and formulated a budget they would have a very good
chance of getting tiff funds to use for funding the development.
Laura Haake said it was still a concept plan and it would be changing as they went along and
wanted the board's opinions on the three plans. Haake said they could also wait for the study of the
possible brown-field because they may have to change the plan that they choose.
After board discussion they said they liked the trail along the road and they would like to see the
playground next to the shelter. They also liked the plan with Hydraulic Street taken out and Kelly
Sedgwick said it made the park look larger.
Laura said she hoped they would one day get a new shelter.
ComEd trail lease*
Bart Olson outlined his memo in the packet about the ComEd trail lease.
Laura Haake explained what ComEd would do if they sold the property that the new owners would
be notified that we had a lease. Haake said the chances are slim to none that they would sell the
property.
Ken Koch asked for a motion to take the ComEd Trail Lease to City Council. Deb Horaz made the
motion and Kelly Sedgwick seconded the motion. The motion was unanimously approved by voice
vote.
CorLands agreement extension*
Bart Olson said this was the same agreement they had approved previously. He noted that this was
an extension to the City's lease-donation agreement with Corl-ands. He said it was budgeted for and
the only real question was if they could get the money budgeted for the next extension.
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Ken Koch asked for a motion to recommend approval of the agreement extension. Deb Horaz made
the motion and Vickie Coveny seconded the motion.The motion was unanimously approved by
voice vote.
Park development standards, section 8 bicycle trail standards*
Laura Haake said that she met with Glenn Tredinnick,the SEC Engineer and he had made several
recommendations to update and strengthen our standards. Haake noted the changes were
highlighted in the packet.
Haake also noted that the Yorkville Green Committee reviewed the park development standards and
felt that it was acceptable to green standards and practices however they had one recommendation.
The recommendation was to reduce the entire park entrance width from 100 feet of sodded area to
50 feet of sodded area due to the high traffic by bike and foot.
Haake said this would go to the EDC and then onto the City Council. Ken Koch asked for a motion to
take the revised Park Development Standards to City Council. Deb Horaz made the motion and
Vickie Coveny seconded the motion. The motion was unanimously approved by voice vote.
Railroad crossings in downtown—discussion
Laura Haake gave an update on where they were with the road crossings. She said she had a copy
of the application and each time they applied it would cost$2800 and with the application they would
have to include cad drawings, mile markers, and approximate location of what they wanted to
improve. She said it was not out of their realm of possibilities to apply; it was just narrowing down on
what to apply for. Haake said that they had to determine what would make an acceptable crossing
with the rail road and she felt that the more solid information that they had the approved or in
progress with the Riverfront Park would look better.
Stephanie Boettcher said she had talked with the Illinois Railway and Illinois Commerce Commission
and she said that they were supportive and willing to work with the city. She said they come into play
if crossing comes into play with the right away trail along the railroad and one that would cross into
Riverfront Park. She also noted that the more information they get the ICC or Railway that would
support the need for a crossing the better. All discussions had been positive which she felt was a
good thing.
Kelly Sedgwick asked about the application fee and wanted to know if the fee included more than
one design on the application. Haake said that there were no specifics but felt they should start small
and get the downtown, for example,figured out. She said there were no preliminary drawings for the
railroad crossing. Haake said they could not cross the river without crossing the railroad.
Olson recommends that the $2800 comes from the City budget. Ken Koch said they did not budget
for the application fees but they could in the next budget.
Boat launch—grant application
Laura Haake noted that the deadline for the grant application was September 1 st. She noted that it
was 100% Reimbursable and she is looking for recommendation to pursue the grant application for
funding the motorized boat launch.
Ken Koch asked for a motion to take the request for a boat launch to City Council to go forward with
the boat launch application. Vickie Coveny made the motion and Kelly Sedgwick seconded the
motion. The motion was approved by voice vote.
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Reports:
Director's Report
1. Bart Olson said the staff was in the process of securing sponsorships for Hometown Days.
2. Meeting with IDNR— notes are verbatim. Please read.
Parks Report
1. Scott Sleezer touched on the recycling project that they started in late June. He said that
they were possibly going to expand that project into Hometown Days.
Recreation Report
1. Bart Olson reported on the maintenance issue they had at the REC Center with the
$5000 HVAC unit that had to be replaced. He said that Ron Walker said he would pay for
the unit; however, add the cost onto the purchase price of the building at the end of the
lease. Vickie Coveny stated that a letter should be written that says we understand that
he wants to add that to the purchase price but that did not mean we were going to offer
the purchase price. Sue said that they should pull the language off the agreement and
add that verbiage.
Additional Business:
None
Executive Session:
None
Adjournment:
Ken Koch asked for a motion to adjourn the meeting at 10:30. Deb Horaz made the motion and Kelly
Sedgwick seconded the motion. The motion was unanimously approve by voice vote.
Next meeting: Thursday, August 13, 2009
*Items needing Board approval or recommendation
Minutes Respectfully Submitted By:
Jamie Cheatham
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