The village of Elburn Committee of the Whole met Oct. 17 to discuss the creation of the parks committee.
Here is the meeting's agenda, as provided by the committee:.
1. Call to order - Mayor Anderson called the meeting to order at 7:43 PM.
2. Roll call - A roll call vote ensued.
3. Public comment - None
4. Discuss Economic Development Committee - Committee members Pat Leech, Bill Brauer, Ryan Easter, Cece Roche and Annette Theobald were present. Leech stated the committee was formed three years ago. A lot has been learned and some positive things were accomplished. Moving forward, the committee would like to transition from a public EDC to a private EDC. The members feel they will be nimbler and able to interact with business community leaders and the Chamber of Commerce at will and at a faster pace. Leech continued the EDC would be an entity for not only current members but others as well. If involvement is needed from the village, the EDC would come to the village board in a public forum. Leech said there have been great ideas and energy the EDC could not act on because of rules and regulations governing a public entity. The current EDC is still excited and wants to move forward. Village admin Nevenhoven volunteered to represent the village of Elburn at meetings. Continued open dialogue between the village and the EDC is desired. Leech said the chamber has not been made aware as of yet. Discussion ensued if repeal of the ordinance establishing the EDC should happen immediately of if there should be a transition. Nevenhoven will put together a repeal ordinance for further discussion.
5. Discuss Elburn station parks agreement Shodeen and Blackberry Township - Shodeen representative, Dave Patzelt, was present to address the September 14, 2016 letter (see attached) from Blackberry township.
#1 - Parzelt said he is open on this and said it could be on a park by park basis or could include everything in the township. Regarding funding, it is the desire to hire a park planner using grant funds. The first grants available are in February and funds obtained must be used within the fiscal year. If no funding is obtained, the plan will be bumped to another year. As far as managing the funds, Patzelt prefers the Village of Elburn to manage but is open for suggestions.
#2 - Ownership of parks in the PUD would be the village of Elburn and the affiliated SSA (funded by taxpayers) will supply funds for maintenance of the parks. IF the township is included, ownership will be 1/3 village, 1/3 Blackberry Townshop and 1/3 Shoden. The property is currently owned by Shodeen or an entity of Shodeen.
#3 - The PUD references the partnership of Shodeen and the Village of Elburn. It is not certain what the village is planning with establishment of a park committee and will up to the village board as to how the parks committee will be involved.
#4 - Blackberry Township Trustee Jim Michels clarified this item refers to accidents, injuries, etc. and an insurance policy to cover same. Patzelt stated if the village owns the property, the village of Elburn would hold the policy and Shodeen and Blackberry Township would be additional insureds. It would be a tri-party agreement and each party will pay 1/3 of the cost. Groups that use the property would be required to have their own insurance for events. Michels inquired about regional parks vs. neighborhood parks (tot lots, etc.) Patzelt said Shodeen is open on this if the township only wants to participate in larger/ regional parks.
#5 - Patzelt said plans are conceptual at this time and would be dependent on the targeted age (high schoolers vs. kindergartners) and the sport (soccer, lacrosse, etc.) Shodeen would like to leave this up to the park planner. Grants are considered on a point system and based on proposed amenities in the parks. Shodeen would rely on the park planner(s) to put together a proposal and present to the grant committee. All grants applied for in Mill Creek were successful.
#6 - With a partnership, if there are no grant funds, the partnership would decide what they want to jointly fund.
#7 - Patzelt said this would be up to the park planner, amenities, etc.
#8 - Patzelt said legal cost would be a reasonably small dollar amount and would be an intergovernmental agreement between the three parties. Each entity would have their own legal representation and one attorney would represent the partnership.
#9 - The SSA is formed by the village board and includes parks. Discussion ensued if participating sports groups would perform maintenance. Attorney Britz said it depends. Typically, fields are leased to an organization for a nominal fee and it is their responsibility to keep the fields up to their standards. Britz said SSA funding is reviewed annually when the village tax levy is determined. Discussion ensued of the potential of residents not wanting to pay for parks being used by non-"residents." Mayor Anderson stated the village does not typically incur any expense - it is mostly the sports organization that covers.
#10 - Patzelt said Blackberry Township would not have a seat on the SSA board but could serve on a subcommittee of the SSA. Attorney Britz stated there is no SSA board, it is governed by the village board but there could be an intergovernmental agreement.
#11 - Patzelt said this is a partnership decision and is typically a first come first served. The sports organization has rights to the field(s) for the entire season. If another is interested in using the fields, they would contact the sports organization for scheduling.
#12 - Patzelt said it depends on what the partnership decides and how many groups are interested.
#13 - Patzelt said yes. Attorney Britz added if there is an intergovernmental agreement.
#14 - Patzelt said yes.
$15 - Patzelt said breaking ground for the first neighborhood is planned for spring 2017.
#16 - Patzelt said it is a public document and is willing to share it. There are shared agreements on some of the Mill Creek parks between Batavia and Geneva townships.
Patzelt said the more entities involved, the more points awarded for a grant. Grants are from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources - it is not known if grants will be offered or not. Michels and Veldhuzen said they will update the Blackberry Township supervisor with the results of this meeting and would like someone from the Elburn village board to be present. Patzelt said will be glad to attend the meeting as well to answer questions.
6. Discuss creation of a park committee - Mayor Anderson reported there are seven volunteers to serve on the park committee including two from the village board and the other five from all quadrants in the village. Two proposed ordinances somewhat mirroring the establishment of the economic development committee are in this evening's packet. Operational issues for parks would not be a responsibility of the committee and it should be stressed this is a park committee, not a park district. As proposed, the park committee would be a village entity. Discussion was held if the committee should be a nonprofit similar to friends of the library and team up with other groups vs. a unit of government. Similar to the Economic Development Committee, some board members thought the group should be established by the village and perhaps spinoff and become a nonprofit in the future. The vision of a parks committee would be to brainstorm and advocate use of land to meet the needs of the community (community gardens, dog parks, etc.). There was discussion of a similar process in Geneva that brought different taxing bodies together to achieve goals. An inventory is needed as is a vision, concept and strategy. A strategy of parks and recreation, including demographics, funding, inventory, prioritizing and a timeframe would also be helpful. The committee would not have authority to spend dollars - the village board would authorize funding. Having a committee with a view of the entire community will help with better planning for the village overall (connecting trails, etc.).
Village board members would be ex-officio members of the committee. The desire is for residents to be the main body and perhaps include someone from outside the village who has an interest. Perhaps the village board members would not be voting members.
Trustee Grabarek though the current village planning commission should do the initial inventory. Rather than create a new unit, the planning commission could complete the preliminary work and conduct a charrette type gathering in order to obtain input from the community. Trustee Walter does not know if the planning commission would have the same enthusiasm as the volunteers. It was stated the planning commission already does planning commission, zoning board and tree board making this a fourth job - heel it is a good time for a parks committee. Trustee Walter said the village has never taken forward steps for this type of initiative and we have an opportunity. If we take this step now and keep within the Village's budget, it is a baby step.
Trustee Ken Anderson suggested tweaking the first four paragraphs of proposed ordinance one - it seems to be pretty comprehensive. Mayor Anderson asked the board to consider the first four paragraphs of proposed ordinance one. Nevenhoven will email the documents to the board to review and provide feedback.
7. Discuss village participation in the Christmas Stroll - Dr. David Foss was present representing the Chamber of Commerce. Foss highlighted some of the festivities and decorations planned for the event and would like to partner with the village. Plandscape would like to put up garland and would like the village's help to take down current banners and put up the garland. Nevenhoven stated haging of banners is contracted out-he will check with the vendor if they would be able to help. The stroll will be on November 26 from 4-8 pm. Discussion ensued if Village hall should be open during the stroll since the boy scouts will be in the parking lot serving s'mores. Perhaps the police department or CERT volunteers can help with street crossing on Route 47.
8. Discuss towing ordinance - Per previous discussion, Chief Sikora stated the ordinance has been revised to be competitive with other communities-Elburn's fees are lower than other communities. Tow companies' annual registration fee will be eliminated. In turn, tow companies will provide free towing for Village of Elburn vehicles within 10 miles of the village. A motion to place towing ordinance on the next consent agenda was made by Trustee Walter and seconded by Trustee Gualdoni. The motion carried by unanimous voice vote.
9. Discuss 2016 Tax Levy Timetable - Finance director elder provided the time table for the levy. EAV will be approximately 10% and the levy will likely stay at $824K, same as last 6 years. This will be on the next board agenda for further discussion.
10. Other business - none
11. Adjourn - Trustee Gualdoni moved to adjourn the meeting at 9:39 p.m. The motion was seconded by Trustee Walter and passed by a unanimous voice vote.
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