Kankakee Times

Kankakee Valley Park District Board of Commissioners Committee met February 12.

Here is the minutes provided by the Committee:

The Committee Meeting was called to order at 5:07pm by President Hollis. Those present for roll call were Commissioner A. Hollis, D. Skelly, D. Tucker, M. Mullady, B. Spriggs. Others present: Dayna Heitz, Executive Director; Melissa Woodard, Superintendent of Recreation, Rick Collins, Superintendent of Buildings & Grounds. Attorney John Coghlan arrived at 5:13 pm.

Public Present: n/a

Communications:

Written: Staci Wilken with the KCCVB did a press release regarding the NSA award.

Public Comment: n/a

Old Business

New Business:

Department Reports-

Rick Collins: Continue to maintain buildings for rentals. Monitor compressors and Zamboni at Ice Valley. Handling the snow as best as possible. Installed basketball nets at Washington. Had an issue with a rim at the Rec Center so a company come in to repair it. Had a sprinkler head pop at Splash Valley. There was a drain in the floor so the water wasn’t standing. ServePro came out and dried everything up at Pioneer. PDRMA came out and looked at Pioneer and we will be working with local companies to repair Pioneer Building. Had to repair glass at Ice Valley. Commissioner Spriggs asked if the work at Pioneer would need to go out to bid? Would it be over $20,000? Director Heitz said the company is picked by our adjustors, we have no choice on the contractor. A lady ran into our light pole and brick wall at the south entrance of Bird Park. Her insurance will cover the work. Commissioner Tucker asked if those incidents will affect us? Yes. Commissioner Skelly asked if the alarm should go off at Splash Valley? Mike said there was no signal. Commissioner Skelly stated Mike said the alarm was silenced and not reset. Did we check with the fire department about the sprinklers? Do we have to have them? Yes, talked to Mike at the Fire Department.

Melissa Woodard: Coed volleyball is still going on. Leotis Davenport is starting a tumbling class in February. We have some new flyers for these classes and they are up on the website and Facebook. Adult softball will begin in April. Been working with Abdullah from our auditing firm. We plan to be current with reconciling at the March meeting. W-2’s and 1099’s were mailed at the end of January. Credit card charges are entered into Quickbooks and reconciled. Worked with Puter Pros to transfer our emails to Google. The addresses will stay the same it’s just the difference in how they are accessed. This will also give us more control and not have to call our IT company each time we have an issue. We are in the process of prepping to move our servers from Sugar Grove to Bird Park. This will cut down costs too.

Angie Tousignant: Direct any questions to Dayna or Angie directly.

Dayna Heitz: The Regatta info we don’t have yet. John put together a disposal ordinance. The parties involved are looking to dissolve and splitting the proceeds. Would like to sell the docks. Park District will place the ad and accept the closed bids. Attorney Cainkar has been working with Knutte & Associates regarding the fund balance adjustments. The current financials are looking good. We do hope to have new financial reporting to you in March. It will be straight forward and have some new reports. It will have fund balances included and budgetary, monthly and year to date. We closed on the bond successfully. Still need to talk to the Health Department about the River Road Sports Complex regarding the septic. There is a city ordinance that we are subject to regarding the septic. Lutheran School is looking to use the fields right across the street and become a sponsor group. The pole has been ordered through Outsen for the Bird Park incident. It is $3,600. There will be some brick work that needs to be done. PSI has been chosen by the adjustor to start the work at Pioneer Park Building. They think the work will be done so the building can be used for the election. They had already secured another location so may not need to use it. We did change the locks at the Civic and Protection Associates did return the key to Splash Valley. Commissioner Spriggs asked how much it was to rekey it? Around $70. Director Heitz talked about the issue at the Civic. After it was locked the lights would be turned on or toys would be out and heat would be turned up. Commissioner Spriggs said that is the most insecure building we have. Commissioner Hollis asked Rick to look into checking all the doors at all locations. Check the doors at the Civic to make them more secure. Commissioner Spriggs said he has always had a key. Commissioner Hollis explained the letter from the State’s Attorney saying we can’t have any special privileges. When you were our volunteer guy, we appreciated it. But now people would say you are getting a special thing. That’s covering you.

Director Heitz included the affiliate and sponsor group agreement. The changes have been redlined. This agreement matches what the District is doing and what the organizations are doing. The community groups don’t pay for the fields or usage. Commissioner Tucker said he suggested last year maybe have a dialog with the groups. Director Heitz wants to take the agreement and make it match what is currently being done. They do provide insurance. If they want to use a building, they pay the 501c3 rate. Not all groups have the 501c3 status. Commissioner Spriggs said now people know they won’t be asked for the payment. Trinity has been using diamond 4 at Butterfield for a few years. They would do in kind work. Director Heitz wanted to make it accurate for what is happening. Would like to send this out to the organizations. Will not have a meeting to go over something they have been doing for several years. Commissioner Tucker said if there is an opportunity to have dialog, have it. Hopefully it can be a better experience. Commissioner Tucker said if you tell people they can keep their $300, they will be fine with it. Commissioner Skelly said he doesn’t understand the agreement. He thinks everyone has a different deal. Commissioner Hollis thinks building relationships with our community is good.

We did have a good supervisory staff meeting. Angie is taking on some additional work by doing flyers.

Commissioner Hollis asked if we looked into partnering on an intern with the local colleges. Melissa and Director Heitz will do interviews for a Rec Intern that will learn under Angie and Melissa.

Capital Projects: what are your top 3 projects? Commissioner Skelly said the heat work at the Civic. Every playground in the District get the mulch. Improve what we do have. Painting, replacing benches, etc. Every park needs attention. Do something at River Road Park with the bathrooms. Commissioner Hollis said roof at the Civic.

Commissioners Forum:

Commissioner Hollis: We had discussed about board training. Seeing that we don’t have the money to go to conference, wanted to do periodically bring things to the meeting to discuss. So we can keep our skills refreshed. If there is something you all want to bring up, let me know.

Executive Session:

A motion to go into executive session for the purpose of Litigation 5 ILCS 120/2(11) was made at 6:15pm by Commissioner Tucker, seconded by Commissioner Hollis. Upon voice vote, all ayes, motion carried.

Public Meeting opened at 6:50pm by Commissioner Skelly, Seconded by Commissioner Mullady. Upon Roll Call, Commissioners present: Commissioner Hollis, Mullady, Skelly, Spriggs, Tucker. Staff Present: Director Heitz, Superintendent of Recreation Woodard, Superintendent of Building/Grounds Collins, and Attorney Coghlan.

Commissioner Hollis said we can have our one on one conversations but there are things we need to talk about on record. That way if there are questions and someone asks, we can answer it. It’s about perception. They see some trucks at someone’s house, the perception is bad. We know where Dayna’s heart was. The people in the public won’t. Commissioner Spriggs asked why we have a part time guy working but we haven’t recalled the other full-time unions. Director Heitz said the part time staff member is recreation and works at the Rec Center. We have pulled him a couple times. When it snows, we do call the union guys. Mike is helping out with snow because the union guys have said no to coming in and helping us. We have it documented. Commissioner Spriggs asked if Director Heitz has an issue with him calling Eric Gray. If it’s to tell him what to do yes, if for personal, no. Commissioner Tucker said Dayna is the decision maker. We meet twice a month but things happen every day. Trying to figure out a way to keep a connection going, since everything reflects on the board. If we are going to be responsible, we need to have some input. Commissioner Spriggs said when you give that kind of input, you are accused of being a micromanager. He’s not trying to tell anyone their job but the board members have a right. Commissioner Hollis said we need to call protocol. Call Dayna on everything. Dayna is the boss. Commissioner Spriggs said he was told not to talk to the day to day employees but could call the department heads. Commissioner Hollis said no. That can be seen as micromanaging. That’s Dayna’s job. Dayna is the person the board employs. If she isn’t available, then could go to department heads. Commissioner Mullady gave an example, if you run into him, that’s different than calling the department head over the boss. Commissioner Spriggs said he doesn’t want to get in trouble for micromanaging. Commissioner Hollis said just follow protocol. Commissioner Spriggs said one person can’t handle it all. Director Heitz said are you just letting us know about an issue or are you demanding. Commissioner Spriggs said just letting you know. Commissioner Hollis said protocol is to call Dayna. If something isn’t getting done, it’s on her. Your heart is in the right place but you are now a Commissioner. You aren’t a volunteer anymore. So now, there is protocol. Commissioner Spriggs said he will do it. He just feels like she doesn’t have time for all this extra stuff. Commissioner Hollis said if you call her and she doesn’t answer, she always calls back. Commissioner Spriggs agreed. Then Rick can be your next call. Follow protocol and always start with her. Commissioner Spriggs said Dayna is always busy.

Adjourn Meeting:

A motion to adjourn the meeting was made at 7:05pm by Commissioner Spriggs, seconded by Commissioner Skelly. Upon voice vote, all ayes, motion carried.

Official Reports:

1. R. Collins

2. M. Woodard

3. A. Tousignant

4. D. Heitz

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/kvpd/Minutes/2018/02-12-18+-+Committee+Meeting.pdf