Parks & Recreation Advisory Commission

Bristol Tennessee Parks & Recreation Advisory Board Meeting July 9, 2015 6:00pm Present: Susie Chandler Sherry Willinger Cade Owenby Randy Frye Erin Hyde David Akard Absent: Jason Booher Karen Combs Chris Connally Robby Johnson Staff: Terry Napier April Norris I. Call to Order – The meeting was called to order by Erin Hyde at 6:05pm II. Approval of May 14, 2015 Minutes – Erin Hyde made the motion to approve the minutes. Randy Frye seconded the motion. Motion carried. III. Introduction of New Commissioners- Cade Owenby was introduced as the Parks Commissions student representative. Robby Johnson was not present to introduce. IV. Old Business A. Central Tennis Court Project Progress- Terry advised that the project is moving along. There has been $740,000 in funds raised to complete the project. Ground breaking on the project could occur as early as Monday, July 13, 2015. Bobby Godsey will be constructing the adjacent building at a donated cost to be named the Bob Helton building. B. SCP Splash Pad- This project is set to begin in the spring. The City is currently waiting for The Junior League to sign the contract in which they donate $100,000 to the project. There will be a Shelter with bathrooms built near the Splash Pad and there is a Civic group interested in sponsoring the building. C. Nature Center Addition- The meeting with the architect was held about 8 years ago when the plans and bids were sent out. This is now outdated and has to be re-worked to include the new building code changes. Once this has been completed it could be possible to start construction in fall of 2015. The funds needed were included in a bond that has already been issued and is being paid back using the revenue generated by the entry fee to Steele Creek Park. D. Avoca Park Naming Rights- The Park will be named Friendship Park and is being sponsored by Mitch Walters. We have received the first payment of $5,000. The signage is complete and there will possibly be a press conference held next week to announce the renaming. E. Prohibiting non-registered organized teams, groups, leagues from using City fields/facilities without pre-registration and payment of user fees- This topic was tabled until further review of the user fees have been determined. V. New Business A. Review of user fees- Randy Frye suggests that we tie the cost of the user fee to the actual cost to use the facility. For example, soccer would not use the fields the same as the baseball leagues would so the fee would be different for the two. Terry advised that even though the fields are not used the same the maintenance of the soccer fields are more expensive than the baseball fields but the lighting bill is much more expensive at  the baseball fields. Susi Chandler suggests that the fees be uniform. David Akard suggests that the commission give the current fee structure time to actually see the cause and effect. He advised that rules need to be adjusted to cover all aspects. Terry advised of the huge cost to maintain the fields and that it is not likely that council will raise taxes to offset these cost and the parks crew are already suffering due to a lack of funding. Randy Frye suggests that Parks and recreation allow the leagues to be responsible for some of the day to day maintenance of the fields. Terry advised that when this has been allowed in the past it ended up costing the city more money. Terry advised that he will work on a starting point for updating the current rules and enforcing registration for all organized sports teams. VI. Board Comments: Cade Owenby suggest that one way for the baseball leagues to cut cost is by possibly purchasing cheaper jerseys. Susi Chandler advised that the trail around the lake going up the hill at Steele Creek Park is rutted out. If it can be fixed when? Terry advised that he will look into it. Sherry Willinger thanked Terry for the Nature Center expansion. VII. Next Meeting: September 10, 2015 VIII. Adjourned: Meeting adjourned at 7:25pm ________________________ Terry Napier, Director