Kankakee Times

Kankakee Valley Park District Board of Commissioners met May 8.

Here is the minutes provided by the Board:

The Committee Meeting was called to order at 5:05 pm by President Hollis. Those present for roll call were Commissioner A. Hollis, D. Tucker, M. Mullady, B. Spriggs, and D. Skelly. Others present: Dayna Heitz, Executive Director; Rick Collins, Superintendent of Buildings & Grounds; Melissa Woodard, Superintendent of Recreation; Angie Tousignant, General Manager of Ice Valley; Ariana Padilla, Facility Manager, Attorney John Coghlan arrived at 5:06pm

Communications

Old Business:

n/a

New Business:

Splash Valley & Pad-

Dayna Heitz: Commissioner Skelly and Tucker attended the walk through. They came up with some ideas. Can‘t provide a budget until we know what the mechanics are. Need to have the lines tested at the lazy river for underground leaks. Have to do a start up of the zero depth area. That would help determine the budget. The splash pad also has issues. There are 2 pumps that are down and pump 4 lines have a leak. One is underground and the company can use cameras and sounds and can pinpoint the leak. Could do that and test splash valley. Less expensive to have them done at the same time. Then have another company come out and test zero depth. Would be approximately $2500 for testing but that would be for both locations. Once that’s completed and all repairs done will need to call the state and fill out paperwork to be permitted. Had been running previous years without it. Laws changed in 2012 requiring splash pads to have state operating permitting. Commissioner Hollis asked how soon can we get some of this done? Director Heitz said he can’t come until closer to Memorial Day. Commissioner Tucker asked is he the only one that can do it? Yes. Commissioner Tucker asked what the timeline is for letting the public know how much it will cost? Director Heitz thinks about a month. Commissioner Tucker asked if there was a written plan yet for splash valey? Director Heitz said we won’t have a plan until we see how the mechanics work. Once everything is tested, then they will know what to add in. Commissioner Skelly thinks the $2500 is worth the money. Need to figure that out first. Walking the lazy river was eye opening. There are cracks throughout the entire thing. Commissioner Spriggs asked if this was a one time test? If it sits for an amount of time, it could have to have another one but not looking to let it sit that long. We already have people asking when Splash Pad will be open. Would definitely be after June 1 but can’t give an actual date. If we do open, how do you want that run? Manned or non-manned? It’s costly to have a staff person work it. Director Heitz said you could still charge without staffing the pad. Commissioner Mullady asked about the bathroom issues in the report? Would need a bathroom closer which would be more expense. Would be good to get the splash pad up and running if we are going to have splash valley closed again. Commissioner Hollis asked how much the pumps would cost? Not sure, would need to look into that.

Camp Ground-

Dayna Heitz: Back and forth on what to do with the camp ground. We do have people calling who want to camp there. There is clean up and electrical to do. Talked about revenue from other years but can’t find anything for expense. $3500 last year and $3400 the year before for revenue. We don’t have any staff to be a host. We did receive a call from the host from prior years to see if we wanted her to come back. Rick said there are some outlets that aren’t working. Few wires not buried. Lots of branches. Commissioner Mullady asked about the wires. Just buried without piping. Commissioner Skelly said if you get a host, rent free, they can oversee and collect fees and can call for emergency services. Reservations would most likely be made through the front desk. Tent and rv spots of 28. No showers there. Would add a porta potty. There is a dump station for people. Commissioner Spriggs asked about the shack at the bottom of the quarry. Could we get it to the campground? Commissioner Skelly said we have talked about a shower house and bathroom. The campground is there why not do it. $15 Rv $8 for tent. Nice for local people to not have to go too far. Commissioner Spriggs said there would need to be rules for the host. Ariana said the host from last year home schooled her kids so they did their nature portion out there. She was good about communicating with us about if they had alcohol, violated quiet hours. Commissioner Skelly said it’s a service to the community.

Audit FY 16-

Draft of the 16 audit. Asked for the ford edge lease to be added. No other changes will be made. Commissioner Skelly asked if this should be our last bad audit? Director Heitz said it would be the last late audit. Still trying to gather old receipts prior to when she started. John said this is an audit that passed. It’s not like FY 13-14 with a failing audit. This audit is like a “C” and it passed. All our audits are done and they are passing. We are well on our way to financial responsibility. Commissioner Hollis said this is the last time we would be late on an audit. This was the biggest problem that we incurred the fines. How much money in fines have we paid? The 2014 audit has incurred Close to $16,000. We have not been billed by the state yet only received the fee notice. 2016 audit would not have as big of fines because it went through so quickly. Commissioner Skelly said where we were 3 years ago financially, we didn’t’ even know.

Then to have it come out as bad as it is. The ship isn’t completely turned around but we are getting better. Commissioner Tucker asked if this is what Alex has been working on. Yes and good job. At the board meeting we will ask for acceptance. Not approving it because it’s already passed. Then will take it to the county for filing and upload to the comptroller’s website.

Rental Policies-

Director Heitz said we are looking at more on the rental policies. Originally had some concerns but think we need to do some more research before we talk about it. Commissioner Spriggs said we need to research first but there are a few issues that would need to be addressed. Do we still rent pavilions? Yes. He also asked if with the non-profit fees, you get what’s in the building. If they have an excess or not enough of what they need for tables and chairs? The tables and chairs for each location are done by the capacity. If they move tables and chairs we wouldn’t have them bring more than what capacity is. It must be prearranged though. Would get charged if we move them. Not many people ask for extras.

Department Reports:

Building & Grounds-

Rick Collins: Ice Valley is still requiring monitoring. Had a hiccup with the chiller last week. It was filling up with oil. Dual Temp came out and drained it, reset it and it’s back to normal. Mentioned in the past, the temp panel for our unit, they no longer make it and no replacement parts. It doesn’t read accurate temp right now. Commissioner Skelly asked if any ice time was lost with the chiller issue? No. Did have to purchase more oil and added new oil. Commissioner Hollis asked how much the temp panel was. About $2200. If it did break, would not be able to buy the same one. Would rather us be proactive, not just reactive.

All rentals going well. Set ups tear down. Installed an alarm on a door at Rec Center. People were letting their friends in. Sump pump in Civic needed to be reset. There was some water in the basement and once it got reset the water went down. It’s not battery operated. Commissioner Spriggs said that the problem with the water is when they crowned it, it went the wrong way. It’s been going on a long time. Crown it the other way and the water would have somewhere to go.

Keeping up with the mowing and the garbage. Should receive the new mowers tomorrow. The meter company came out and everything is good.

Commissioner Mullady asked about structure of the sea walls? It’s in bad shape. Director Heitz said down under it’s deteriorating. Commissioner Hollis talked about a grant that’s available through the state. Up to $35,000. Until the budget gets passed, wouldn’t have anything. He will send a copy to Dayna. Commissioner Skelly said the sidewalk goes out and it’s eroded under. One idea might be to get with army corp of engines. The ground almost needs to be torn up and backfilled and regressed. Dave will check on the National Guard Engineering Company to see if they need a project.

Commissioner Spriggs asked about doing a survey of how the pavilions are holding up? Picnic tables and benches? Do they need to be repaired or painted. Rick said the one at the Civic will be removed. Director Heitz said all signs and tables need to be painted. And the pavilions in the parks. There are lots of trees that need to be cut down but haven’t had time to pull the guys from the mowing.

We received the golf carts and they are being used.

Recreation-

Melissa Woodard:

Finished up the spring softball tournament schedule. Playoff games start this week. Have had several rain outs that we are trying to get made up. Summer league deadline is May 15th. Continue to communicate with umpires and teams regarding scheduling.

MMA event is May 13th. Will do the shopping in house and if anyone wants to volunteer.

Been able to do some work on the website. Taken down old information and will start to add new.

Got a quote from Rainbow Farms for the certified playground mulch. They were able to tell us what parks got mulch last year.

Ice Valley-

Angie Tousignant: The Daily Journal came last weekend to do an article. Ben Eager came Sunday for a meet and great. He will be back the end of the session for Little Blackhawks.

The Ice Show is coming up this weekend. 3 performances. Last year we only had 2 shows. Dry run yesterday and dress rehearsal Wednesday.

Sent out a blast to parks and camps about coming in this summer.

Commissioner Mullady had a question about adult hockey and the time. Angie said it’s at 8:30. Same day and about the same time.

Facility-

Ariana Padilla: Have had lots of rentals and club volleyball. Sold 52 boat slips and selling parking permits as well.

Director Heitz talked about the open gym profit loss. When we close we wait the full hour when we don’t meet the minimum.

Administrative/Finance-

Dayna Heitz: Centrue Money Market amount is down because we made the move to operating. That account is up.

Commissioner Hollis said Dayna has expressed some concern about who we bank with? She said she’s concerned because of the fees we pay. Have we talked to them to see if there are any breaks they can give us? Would like to talk to them and send a RFP to see some different area banks. Haven’t had time yet.

Once we have the next audit in, would like to apply for the BMO Harris state purchasing card endorsed by IAPD. It’s a reward card. They do require a lot but it’s worth a shot, won’t’ be in the next month though. Commissioner Skelly would want to see the comparables.

Executive Director-

Dayna Heitz: Big things right now is the contracts. Reading the audit and they talk about the contracts that have expired. She talked about the Riverside agreement. Can’t find the 20 year old agreement.

Director Heitz talked about Alpiner and the dugouts that are crumbling. Going to put a steel plate to cover the hole. The organization there did do the cement ramp. They would like us to do cement stairs and concession stand work.

Dayna will be out of the office Friday, Saturday, and Sunday will not be here. Daughter is graduating.

Commissioners Forum:

Commissioner Hollis wanted to thank staff for assistance in the Mayors celebration. Getting a lot of compliments from people who had never been to the Rec Center. Our relationship with the city has been strained. With the new administration we started off on the right foot and moving forward hope to have a working relationship. Can all work together to get some things done. Also, with the maintenance in the parks, lots coming up. If we need some volunteers for some of that stuff, there are quite a few football players that need some hours. Had people from the community that also need hours.

Commissioner Spriggs: Lowes has a program that comes in and they landscape it. Do everything. Maybe some places at the Civic? Any objections to that location? What do we have to do? After you talked to them, contact Dayna.

Shed at Quarry people are staying down there. Can we close it up?

Luke Shephard would like to know if we have an extra set of bleachers for next weekend. Rick will check to see if we have one.

Commissioner Skelly: Cliff Cross works for City economic development. He writes grants. He has seen a lot of stuff for us. He would do it on the side with cost coming from the grant. Definitely need to tap into grant writing. Asked him to contact Dayna.

Washington Park: fence isn’t up around the park. It’s a sore sight. If it’s supposed to be closed, let’s get it closed off. Dayna said we need to get manpower to dig out around the playground, then will get the barrier laid, and mulch.

Would like to have a planning meeting to see what our priorities are, 5 year plan. Gives Dayna and the board a vision about where we are going to spend our money. Director Heitz said it shows we are proactive not reactive.

Where is the dive equipment? Can we sell it? It doesn’t stay good for long. Declare it surplus and get it gone. Commissioner Mullady said we used to have a surplus sale. Did it at the Rec Center.

Commissioner Skelly: Had brought up stuff about executive session doing an evaluation for Dayna. Will do the evaluation. President Hollis has the evaluation. Can send copies to everyone or drop off copies. Then can go into executive session at board meeting. Do it yourself, will discuss in executive session.

Executive Session:

n/a

Adjourn Meeting:

A motion to adjourn the meeting was made at 6:35pm by Commissioner Tucker, seconded by Commissioner Mullady. Upon voice vote, all ayes, motion carried.

Official Reports:

1. Buildings & Grounds

2. Recreation

3. Ice Valley

4. Finance

5. Executive Director

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