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Home My WebLink About04_28_15 PandR Adv Bd minutesJ ` ELGIN THE CITY IN THE SUBURBS - Mayor David J. Kaptain City Council Richard Dunne Terry Gavin Rosamaria Martinez Tish S. Powell John Prigge Carol Rauschenberger Toby Shaw F. John Steffen Parks and Recreation Advisory Board Meeting Minutes April 28, 2015 City Manager 6:00 p.m. Sean R. Stegall Paries and Recreation Department Staff Conference Room, Administration Office, Second Level The Centre of Elgin, 100 Symphony Way, Elgin, IL 60120 Present: Tom Armstrong, Marino Lamantia, Eric Larson, Carl Missele Absent: Anthony Armato, Karyn Garcia, Kristin Rowe Staff: Randy Reopelle, Maria Cumpata, Verdelle Corn I. Call to Order: Tom Armstrong called the meeting to order at 6:02 p.m. IL Minutes of the February 24, 2015: MOTION: Carl Missele moved to approve the February 24 minutes. Eric Larson seconded. Motion carried unanimously. III. Citizens Forum (items not on the agenda): None. IV. Youth Leadership Academy Request for Smoke Free Parks: Joseph Madrid, a freshman at Elgin High School and member of the Youth Leadership Academy (YLA) recapped the YLA's project regarding smoking in parks. The group proposes adopting an ordinance to ban all tobacco products at all parks and recreation property except for the golf courses. The definition of tobacco products includes snuff, chewing tobacco, cigarettes, cigars, and e -cigarettes. Randy Reopelle asked if other communities or park districts have banned smoking in parks. Joseph believes Hanover Park and St. Charles are working on something and that most of the other parks around us either already have banned smoking or are working on it. Maria Cumpata inquired what kind of enforcement YLA envisions as the parks are not a contained space and not one or two entrance/exits points. YLA recommends no smoking signage in the parks and a fine of $25.00 for a first offense. Eric Larson inquired how tickets would be issued and who would issue the tickets. Tom Armstrong noted 150 Dexter Court, Elgin, IL 60120 847-431-6100 www.cityofelgin.org that the parks have 'park rules' signage pasted. And, like many other types of rules, they are complaint -driven enforcement. Further discussion included: Would Festival Park be an exception as the park is used for ,special events and by the Riverboat. A smoking ban in public places has already hurt the casino revenues. Suggestion: when applying for a permit to use Festival Park for an event, can we include application for an exception to allow smoking at the event (Festival Park events only). Look into if there are benefits of smoking areas vs. a complete ban. Suggested YLA search website for what other communities in Illinois have enacted for no smoking in parks. There are 1,000 communities in the United States listed when'googling' no smoking in parks and 32 in Illinois (municipalities include Buffalo Grove, Chicago, Gurnee, Hawthorne Woods, Highland Park, Hoffman Estates, Northbrook, Palatine, Vernon Hills are some of the 32, most have park districts). Suggested the board members utilize the National Recreation and Park Association's open forum discussions to find out what other Parks and Rec Departments and Park Districts are doing and why. It was noted that there would be push back from the Sports Complex's leagues and tournaments. Adult leagues may be the exception at the Complex. It may be that we put butt containers all over. Another suggestion is to designate areas where smoking would be allowed during the adult leagues. Randy thanked Joseph and noted staff would keep working on the initiative. V. Youth Sports Grant Requests: Maria Cumpata passed out a memo summarizing the proposed allocation breakdown. She suggested that next year, sports groups be required to submit quotes with their requests and present in October. Recommendations for the board's consideration follows: Elgin ]National Little League— located at Summit Street and "iawatha Drive ADA compliance paving 2,000 Repair of backstop and gates 3,100 Total 5,100 American Legion - located in Wing Park Scoreboard repairs (upgrade to wireless) 1,600 Total 1,600 Elgin Classic Little League — located in Wing Park Scoreboard replacement 6,500 Storm damage repairs to girls dugout roof, irrigation system, and electrical system 2,000 Total 8,500 Trout Park Baseball — located in Trout Park (south of 1-90, west of Route 25) Right field line fence replacement 6,000 Bullpen turf/mounds 2,800 Total 81800 Elgin Youth Football and Cheer — located in Drake Park (Hastings Street and Cookane Avenue). ADA improvements to concession stand 1.500 Concession furnace repair 400 Portable lights (2 sets) 10,000 Total 11,900 VI. Elgin BMX Riders Association - located in the Elgin Sports Complex Electrical upgrades $ 8,800 Track upgrades $ 1,850 Concessions upgrades $ 3,450 Total $ 14,100 Total presented for consideration: $ 50,000 MOTION: Carl Missele motioned to accept the youth sports grant allocations as presented and recommend that the City Council approve them. Eric Larson seconded. Motion carried unanimously. Park and Rec Board Member Terms: At May's board meeting the election of chairperson will be on the agenda. VII. Miscellaneous: a. Gifford Park Association (GPA) Request: GPA submitted a request for the board to approve fees to be waived for their organization's Lords Park Pavilion rental on Friday, April 24, to host their annual pot luck dinner. GPA members host and man a water station for the participants of the annual Fox Trot. MOTION: Carl Missele motioned the board approve the waiver of fees for GPA's April 24th Pavilion rental. Eric Larson seconded. Motion unanimously approved. b. National Parks and Rec Month (July): Tom Armstrong noted that each year we submit wording to city hall for a proclamation to honor National Parks and Recreation month. This year we should also consider doing more to recognize the month. c. Other: Tom Armstrong suggested each board member choose a park to highlight in the Parks and Rec blog. Highlight and explain why the park is your favorite park. An outline for favorite park blog could be provided. Board members would pick a park to write about. Maria Cumpata will send out the department's blog schedule of topics. Board members can select anytime on the schedule. Staff just signed up for dates and the board can take select a date that works for them. Randy Reopeile communicated that Cindy Corrigan, Parks and Rec's Volunteer Coordinator, has a group interested in adopting a park. He is meeting with her to discuss them possibly holding a party in the park. Eric Larson reported that the NorthEast Neighborhood Assocation's survey on Sherman Hospital's old parking lot (south side of Slade Avenue) received 190 responses. Approximately 100 neighbors in the area attended the meeting. Analysis will be presented to the Parks and Rec Advisory Board at a future meeting. In the meantime, Sherman took the property off the market. Douglas Park and Trillium Park: Torn noted that National Neighbor Works Week is June 6-14. Discussion regarding ribbon cutting ceremonies for Elgin parks: Trillium tentatively at noon and could serve hot dogs. Douglas Park could then 150 Dexter Court, Elgin, IL 60120 847-931-6100 www.cityofelgin.org be at mid-morning and could serve coffee and donuts. Randy will discuss with Mayor. Tom noted that May is Heritage Month and Bicycle Month. VII. Adjournment: MOTION: Carl Missele motioned to adjourn the meeting at 7:39 p.m. Eric Larson seconded. Motion carried unanimously. Respectfully u`brnitted, j d - Verdelle Corn, Recording Secretary Approved: