Parks & Recreation Advisory Commission

Bristol Tennessee Parks & Recreation Advisory Board Meeting March 10, 2016 6:00pm Present: Susie Chandler David Akard Chris Connally Karen Combs Erin Yates Sherry Willinger Randy Frye Absent: Jason Booher Robby Johnson Cade Ownby Staff: Terry Napier April Norris I. Call to Order – The meeting was called to order by Erin Yates at 6:01pm II. Approval of January 14, 2016 Minutes – Susie Chandler made the motion to approve the minutes. Karen Combs seconded the motion. All in favor, motion passes. III. Commission Election A. Chairman-Susie Chandler made a motion to nominate David Akard as Chairman, Chris Connally seconded the motion. Randy Frye made a motion the close the nominations and Susi Chandler seconded the motion. All were in favor in the election of David Akard as Chairman of the Bristol Tennessee Parks & Recreation Advisory Board. IV. Old Business A. SCP Splash Pad- Junior League of Bristol is very close to meeting the $100,000 contribution. The contract has been awarded and engineers are waiting on a formal plan. The estimated opening date will be sometime mid-summer. B. Nature Center Addition- The addition is 5,100 sqft which is double the existing nature center size. It is currently out for bid and the city has banked $800,000 currently for the completion. C. Avoca Fees- Avoca has made their first payment towards their past due fees. D. Aquatics needs Study- Twelve company’s submitted bids and those were narrowed down to four but the cost to do the study is about $70,000. E. Bike Lanes- Pricing for bike lanes is approximately $40,000. This proposed project is on hold until the expert has returned findings from the Trails and Greenways study. F. Proposed funding/Naming Rights for parks/facilities- All three suggestions were taken to city council and all were approved; Rotary Centennial Pavilion (Splash Pad shelter) , Graye Viers Championship Court (Ida S. Jones Tennis Complex Court #1) and Geri Goodpasture Plaza (music park at Shelby and 8th St.). G. Tennis programming/Bart- Bart Kennedy a USTA Tennis Instructor has been approached about a seasonal programmer position. He will also be on contract to provide tennis lessons through the city. V. New Business A. Ida Stone Jones Community Tennis Center/First Serve Celebration – The courts are complete and benches have been placed. Bleachers are on their way and the building is under roof and will take approximately 30 days to complete. The First Serve Celebration will be held on Monday March 14th at 3:15pm. There will be a presentation and recognition ceremony followed by a tennis match between THS and VHS. B. Steele Creek Park improvements/summer event planning- Crews have finished with the erosion control project which make the Amphitheater more spacious for events.  Parks and Recreation staff is currently working on scheduling family type events such as concerts and movies in the park for the summer. C. BAGYS Softball Program- Parks and Recreation took over this program approximately ten years ago. Communication has been taking place for a couple of year now about merging the Bristol TN Little League girls’ softball program and the BAGYS program. The BAGYS program didn’t have a good number of girls register to play for the spring 2016 season and so it was thought best to merge the programs to provide the Bristol area girls with a good playing environment. D. Human Foosball- Parks and Recreation has purchased a Human Foosball Inflatable which will be used at several events throughout the city. E. Anderson Park Improvements- Currently Anderson Street Park does not have ample power, lighting or restrooms. During the 2017 FY Terry will be looking to add decorative street lamps to solve the lighting issue and potentially giving the park a complete overhaul to encourage more events at the park. VI. Board Comments: Chris Connally ask about the pricing of the SCP passes, Terry advised that the price would remain $50 per year. Chris also advised that the scoreboard at Western several nights and that kids were singing loudly over the PA system last week. Randy Frye commented on how good the fields look at Western. He also appreciates the trust that the city has placed in BTLL in merging the two softball programs. Karen combs added that she was a part of the 1981 girls softball team so it mean a lot to her that everyone is working together to provide the girls with a great playing experience. Sherry Willinger advised that the Friends of Steele Creek Park in the process of raising $150,000 to decorate/furnish the new addition to the Nature Center. They are in the process of creating a focus group and looking for donors. Terry advised that it will be quite costly to decorate/furnish the Nature Center. He shared that the Nature Center has acquired a bear that is currently at the taxidermist and other items are being collected to furnish/decorate the expansion. Steele Creek Park in the 4th largest Municipal Park in the state. Susie Chandler asked about the Coyotes in the park area. Terry advised there is quite a few. Trail cams were placed to see if there was an issue inside the park and there were very few spotted. Terry also advised that the trees that were down on the East Ridge Trail were chopped. Susie also spoke about the conditions of the Greenway Trial in a particular area of the trail there is broken glass, widow framing and guttering littering the trail. She sent Terry a picture of the debris. David Akard made the suggestion that the May meeting be moved to Steele Creek Park. Terry advised that the commission is always welcome to take tours. VII. Next Meeting: May 12, 2016 VIII. Adjourned: Karen Combs made the motion to adjourn the meeting and Randy Frye seconds the motion. Meeting adjourned at 6:52 pm. ________________________ Terry Napier, Director