Park Commission

Minutes of a Regular Parks & Recreation Commission Meeting July 6, 2021 A regular meeting of the Blue Springs Parks Commission was held on Tuesday, July 6, 2021 at the Fieldhouse. The Chairman called the meeting to order. Jon Burke -- Present Parks Dept. Staff: Dennis Dovel Kathy Richardson – Present Parks Dept. Staff: Justin Stuart Keith Hannaman -- Present Parks Dept. Staff: Mary Herrington Maureen Johnson – Present Parks Dept. Staff: Derek Mayden Megan Johnson – Absent Parks Dett. Staff: Kaitlyn Kelpe Dena Duhon – Present City Council Liaison: Susan Culpepper --Present Richard Mitchem – Present Gabriel Mejia – Absent Ken Horrell - Present A motion was made by Ken Horrell and seconded by Dena Duhon to accept the Consent Agenda. It passed unanimously. Visitors/Correspondence: None Program/Activity Spotlight: Kaitlyn Kelpe presented on Red, White and Blue Springs as well as upcoming summer Fitness Special Events. Red, White and Blue Springs was a huge hit, even with being at a new location. Blue Springs South High School proved to be a great spot for this event. In addition to fireworks and live music by Loose Change, we welcomed seven food trucks and other vendors. Light ‘em Up and a face painting booth were hit amongst families who were in attendance. We have received very positive feedback on the event as a whole including a great firework display and good vendors. Areas of improvement include more accessible entrances/exits, changing up the food truck layout and having more family activities on-site. Kaitlyn also spoke about On the Trail to Fitness and Dri-Tri, both of which are new Fitness Programs. On the Trail to Fitness will be led by a Group Fitness Instructor and participants will meet at Ward Park once a week to take part in a group workout. Ken suggested holding this class during a different season as the summer presents warm and humid temperatures. Kaitlyn agreed that Fall might be a good option, but she chose an early start time in hopes of avoiding much of the heat. During Dri-Tri participants will participate in three fitness activities, all on dry land, at the Fieldhouse. Our hope is to continue this event yearly until the aquatics center opens so we can then offer a true triathlon. Finances: Dennis presented on financials. Staff Reports: Staff reviewed their reports. Parks and Recreation Commission Chairman’s Report: None City Council Liaison Report: None Old Business: Dennis presented an update for the Park Sales Tax. He stated that all 2021 projects have been competed and we are starting to bid our 2022 projects which is full of paving throughout our park system. Our goal is to have all contracts complete and ready for the October 4, 2021 City Council meeting so Council can approve the contracts and work can begin on October 5th. RFP’s for the aquatics center Construction Manager (CM) have been advertised. The CM will assist with construction document development and the overall construction of the aquatics center. We hope to select a CM and have the contract ready to go to Council on the October 4, 2021 meeting, along with the contract for SFS Architecture, so construction can begin on October 5th. As discussed at the June meeting, we have uploaded the Park Sales Tax project timeline on our website, Park and Recreation Facebook page as well as the City page. We also plan on placing signs at construction sites that outline what project is taking place and a timeline. 1 Dennis explained that we continue to experience vandalism in our parks, specifically Young, Ward, Keystone and Hidden Valley. He emphasized that we are not the only community experiencing this as all other Kansas City metro park departments are in the same boat. We are working on installing cameras at Young Park and hope to be able to install more cameras in other parks soon. New Business: We will be holding an Inclusive Play Workshop on August 28th. During this workshop Occupational Therapist, Ingrid Kanics, and Inclusive Play Specialist, Jill Moore, will discuss inclusive play trends and how our new playground designs are incorporating inclusive play. We are also looking for community feedback on what they would like to see incorporated into our playground designs. Miscellaneous: Dennis asked for one commissioner to sit on the interview panel for the Construction Manager for the aquatic center. Ken Horrell agreed to take on this role. As there was no further business, a motion for adjournment was made by Dena Duhon and seconded by Richard Mitchem. 2