Park Board Minutes 2012 02-23-12
APPROVED 3/8/12
Yorkville Parks and Recreation Department
City Hall
800 Game Farm Road
February 23, 2012 at 7:00 p.m.
Call to Order:
Ken Koch called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.
Roll Call:
Ken Koch - yes; Debbie Horaz - yes; Kelly Sedgwick - yes; Amy Cesich - yes; Vickie Coveny
- yes; Mark Dilday - yes; Seaver Tarulis - yes.
Introduction of City Officials and Staff:
Laura Schraw - Director of Parks and Recreation
Scott Sleezer - Superintendent of Parks
Tim Evans - Superintendent of Recreation
Chris Funkhouser - Alderman
Other Guests:
Boyd Ingemunson
Public Comment:
Mr. Ingemunson came before the board to further discuss the deferral of the park fee
for a festival he is planning to hold in downtown Yorkville. His comments are included below under
New Business, Waiver of Fee Request.
Presentations:
There were no presentations.
Approval of Minutes:
The minutes from the February 9, 2012 meeting were approved motion made by
Seaver Tarulis and seconded by Deb Horaz.
Bill Review:
Vickie Coveny had a couple questions on bills lists about apparel, soaps, lotion and
referees. Tim Evans explained the costs. Motion to approve Bills List made by Amy Cesich and
seconded by Kelly Sedgwick.
January Budget Report:
Laura Schraw stated this is the usual budget for January 2011 and January
2012 for the board to compare. The board discussed and reviewed these reports.
Old Business:
Waiver of Park Fee*
: Laura Schraw stated staff discussed things that needed to be done, dumpsters,
electric, staff, security etc. She said a list was made and Mr. Ingemunson agreed it looked good and if
board agrees it will be attached to the fee waiver request. Laura said she talked to Bart Olson and he
said the $1,300 from the amusement tax can be used for the fee.
Ken Koch asked if the city is collecting a tax, is it going to be an issue as to where the money goes. He
stated he doesn't want to make a decision, if these tax dollars are not supposed to be used for this
purpose. Chris Funkhouser said he believes the amusement tax goes into the general fund and it is
appropriated into different accounts, but he said he doesn't want to speak for the council, and he said he
would want to check with Bart Olson.
Vickie Coveny said she doesn't agree with waiving or deferring the fee. The Board discussed the list of
items and how the money for the fee would be collected. The Board discussed the midnight cut off and
Ken Koch wanted to discuss this with the Alderman in that ward to see what the feeling of the citizens in
the area would be about this.
Vickie Coveny stated she is concerned about the traffic with the construction on Route 47, parking and
noise. She stated there is always problems with parking when there are festivals. Scott Sleezer said
people will find places to park when we have any of our festivals like Hometown Days and there are
options. Deb Horaz asked about a shuttle bus from another location. Scott said that is a possibility.
Scott said this is not 1,000 people all at once, it is over the entire weekend.
Boyd stated he thought about talking to a couple of the schools in the area to use their parking. Scott
said think about how this will bring business to the downtown. Boyd said Cobblestone will be running a
food vending area and his intent is to integrate the businesses in the area, which is the entire point.
Vickie Coveny said this year, with construction on Route 47, it is not the year for this.
Laura Schraw said the advantage of this application is Boyd is willing to work with the community and
it can be a learning experience and at some point, the city is going to have to try this. Tim Evans said
the city has Chamber night and it worked well. Scott stated the road will not be torn up yet, the utility
work has to be done first.
Ken said if the board was to vote for this agreement, there are things that staff will have to take care of.
Deb asked if the board has authority to say anything about this tax without city council approval. Laura
said Bart is the budget officer and city council doesn't have to vote where the funds go. Boyd said he
talked to Carlo Colosimo and he didn't have a problem with the parks getting the money. Deb Horaz
wants the alderman's input on this.
The Board discussed the money coming out of the amusement tax and if the fee should be deferred or
waived at all and how to go about collecting the money for the parks. Chris Funkhouser said the park
rental is for those that do not generate funds. It is basically a security deposit for any clean up etc. so the
city makes sure it will be taken care of. The amusement tax is a separate issue, so the city can recapture
revenue for events that are financially self sustaining. Alderman Funkhouser stated he believes this is an
amusement tax issue that is why this is a deferment of the fee.
The board said therefore there will not be a park rental fee and it is waived and the city will pay this fee
out of the tax. Amy Cesich said she doesn't have a problem with that as long as the Mayor and City
Council are okay with that. Ken Koch said there is are lot more details in the list now and the Board
needs to decide if it is okay with the fee coming out of the amusement tax. Vickie Coveny said she
doesn't agree because a policy is a policy.
Boyd said wanted to hold this in Yorkville. He stated that even if there are construction things going on,
there will be lanes open. He said this is going to be held on a weekend and this could potentially help
the businesses in Yorkville and property owners in Yorkville and the positives outweigh the negatives.
He stated he is trying to generate private economic growth for the City of Yorkville.
Alderman Funkhouser said the Park Board is sponsoring Ribs on the River in this same location two
weeks prior to this event. Alderman Funkhouser said he is hoping for 750 to 1000 people to attend this
event. The Board discussed the list and went over each item and decided what items they are okay with
and the ones that they are not.
Laura stated if the issue is waiving the fee then the city can find a different way to word this and rebate
the amusement tax or something like that. Laura said if we have to change the wording to get this done,
we will do what we have to. Seaver Tarulis said we should not waive our fees. The board agreed
because they agree we have to stick to policy or it will cause problems in the future.
There was discussion on logistics, traffic, helping the businesses in the area, and if these kinds of events
should be held downtown. Scott stated these events are for the greater good of Yorkville. Laura said
for the next meeting the board needs to discuss what changes need to be made, so we have things
decided. The board discussed how the amusement tax should be used. Laura stated that Boyd agreed
to have a credit card on file with the city.
Scott stated one thing the park board should be doing is providing entertainment the community. He
stated it provides something that is Park and REC related. The board agreed, but they are trying to
make sure they are fair on the fees. Laura asked the board to vote fee by fee, and on each individual
item on the list. The board went through each item on the list to make their decisions. Laura stated she
will bring this back to the next meeting on March 8, 2012 for a vote.
New Business:
Scholarship Policy:
Tim Evans stated after a meeting a few months ago when the board discussed the
special needs kids, he thought the REC Center could do something for financial needs situations. Tim
stated he thinks we could add one or two kids in each of our programs that have financial hardships
without having to transfer money from the scholarship program. He explained that way, the REC could
then keep that scholarship money for special needs kids. These would need approval from Tim Evans or
Laura Schraw.
Tim stated then REC could work with special needs children and financial needs better and work with
our programs better. Ken Koch asked if there was a financial cap. Tim stated yes the application has
not been changed. Tim said he is trying to make money more available to special needs kids and work
with the financial hardship situations. There is a $500.00 cap per family.
Motion was made to approve the Scholarship Policy. Motion made by Vickie Coveny and seconded by
Mark Dilday. This item was approved by the board.
Playground Replacement Planning:
There was a replacement schedule included in the packet for
discussion. Scott said he knows that it is a lot of money over the next few years. Scott said when parks
get too old, it is hard to find replacement parts so every 18 years the city looks at replacing them. This
list shows the costs of replacement of each park in Yorkville. Scott said the next three to five years will
be tight, but things should improve and the city should have money to do some of this work.
Scott said this has to be money from general fund or other means. Deb asked can the board recommend
the rental money goes toward the park equipment. Scott said yes, but in the next few years, we have
too much to pay for like trucks beyond replacement date. Scott said this is why as a group as the city
budgets, it is discussed and the city is keeping their eye on these park replacements.
There was discussion about lack of money at this time to replace parks. The board discussed
possibilities on how to raise money for these parks. Scott said playgrounds are something we can get
grants for. He said that is a help, not a guarantee.
Raintree Park B Asphalt Paving Award:
Laura said the city received bids for the paving. Laura said
that is only for asphalt. Laura said they got back six bids and the lowest bid is $15,108.25. Scott said
the references were good and they have done municipality work before. Vickie Coveny asked why we
didn't use the local companies to keep our dollars in our own county. Laura stated the city has to take
the lowest bidder because they are a public body. A roll call vote was made to approve the bid and the
board approved the bid. A motion was made by Kelly Sedgwick and seconded by Mark Dilday.
2012 Budget Discussion:
Laura said to attend the meeting and let the board's feelings be heard. The
board discussed what is going to be included in the budget this year. Laura asked the board members to
bring a copy of the budget to the next meeting and Bart Olson will be there to answer their questions.
Laura said if they have questions, please e-mail ahead of time, so they can have an answer ready.
Adhoc Committee for Recreation Facility Alternatives Report:
Laura stated she is asking that the
board rank the choices on the board so that Alderman Funkhouser can include this in his
recommendation. The board reviewed the item included in their packet. The board stated that choice A
is the only logical decision. Alderman Funkhouser said he is giving his final recommendation to the
committee this week. The board agreed their recommendation is choice A.
Reports:
Director's Report - Laura said dollar amounts are listed for the Riverfront Rentals. She stated Creative
Kearnals does owe more money, which they are going to give the city.
Laura said the union contract will be on the city council agenda next Tuesday. It is online to review.
Rec Report - None.
Park Report - Scott said the maintenance summaries are included in the packet. Scott said it is a good
program to help track where our guys are and where they are working and how much each person is
maintaining, mowing, taking care of fields etc. Scott said it is a good gage for the future as to how
much time it takes to maintain parks.
Additional Business:
Kelly Sedgwick said he is getting a lot of complaints about softball this season. He stated there is one
more game added this season and it is $50.00 more per person. Tim said he thought they added two
more games it went from 11 to 13. Tim said there will also be more tournament games. Tim stated he
will check with Shay on the number of games. Kelly stated he doesn't want to see people go to other
cities.
Scott said this year we have more tournaments than ever at $1,100.00 per tournament. Tim said we can
lower prices, but the city won't make as much money. Kelly said the other thing people would like are
more double-headers. Tim stated that he will look into that. Tim said last year we ran into a problem
with a time crunch with the lighting. Laura said the city will get all the information he needs to let those
people know how their money is being spent. Tim said he can get a breakdown for him of how money is
being spent.
Adjournment:
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 9:14 p.m.
*Items needed for Board approval or recommendation.
Minutes Respectfully Submitted by:
Lisa Godwin
Minute Taker