Parks & Recreation Advisory Board

Burlington Parks & Recreation Advisory Board MEETING AGENDA Tuesday, 04/12/2022, 6:00PM Virtual Zoom Meeting Dial in: 1-253-215-8782 Log in: https://tinyurl.com/4eabydjm Meeting ID: 840 7314 1879 Passcode: 225384 CALL TO ORDER Darla Chafe APPROVAL OF MINUTES (03/08/2022) Darla Chafe OPEN COMMENT Darla Chafe OLD BUSINESS Darla Chafe 1. Dog Park Project Update Jim Rabenstein 2. SRP Irrigation Jim Rabenstein 3. RCO Grant Christi Kinney, Sarah Ward NEW BUSINESS Darla Chafe 4. Rec Report Christi Kinney 5. Parks Report Jim Rabenstein ADJOURN Darla Chafe Next Scheduled Meeting: Tuesday, May 10, 2022 at 6:00PM ENCLOSURES: : 03/08/2022 Board Meeting Minutes 04/12/2022 Parks and Recreation Advisory Board Agenda Packet - Page 1 of 5 This page left intentionally blank 04/12/2022 Parks and Recreation Advisory Board Agenda Packet - Page 2 of 5  CITY OF BURLINGTON PARKS & RECREATION ADVISORY BOARD Tuesday, 03/08/2022 Meeting Minutes (The board meeting is conducted via Zoom due to COVID restrictions) Representatives in Attendance Board Members: Marylynn Baker, Bill Black, Darla Chafe, Rob Norman, and Elizabeth Turman-Bryant City Council Members: James Stavig and Jamie Weiss City Staff: City Administrator Greg Young, Recreation Coordinator Christi Kinney, Parks Supervisor Jim Rabenstein and Parks & Rec Admin Specialist Shelley Johnstone, MEETING CALLED TO ORDER by Chairperson Darla Chafe at 6:03PM. MINUTES: A motion to approve the minutes of the 02/08/2022 meeting as read is made by Marylynn Baker/Bill Black. All are in favor; motion is carried. OPEN COMMENT Murals in Downtown Burlington. In response to Darla Chafe’s follow up question regarding the addition of painted murals in the downtown corridor, Greg Young responds that while murals do not fit within the scope of the Complete Streets grant, City Council could still be approached with a request for funding either in full or in part. The idea of painted murals was first raised by Elizabeth Turman-Bryant as a means to not only beautify the downtown corridor, but to also discourage ongoing problems with graffiti. Parks & Recreation Building. Darla Chafe asks about the status of renovation plans for the Parks & Rec building. Greg Young responds that the idea of a true Community Center was raised at City Council’s recent retreat. It was evident that moving forward with a plan for renovation will begin with identifying the services that should be provided at the Center. Public outreach and surveys will be key. Darla says she would like to meet with Christi Kinney to discuss present day needs for recreation programs and how best to proceed. OLD BUSINESS Dog Park Project Update. Greg Young reports that he and Jim Rabenstein met with other city staff recently to map out logistics for the project. Crew will start by marking locations for the restroom building and shelter which will both serve as anchors for the project’s layout. Shrubs will be ordered to mirror the hedgerow along the park’s southern border and a surveyor will be brought in to stake the location for fencing. Public Works will obtain quotes for the fence itself and will also get utility hookups in motion. Jim Rabenstein says public outreach is next which will include going door to door in the immediate vicinity of the park and also a neighborhood meeting. Greg adds that he can foresee reaching out to pet-oriented businesses to see if there is any interest in sponsoring some of the park amenities. Jamie Weiss asks if there are any environmental concerns with the dog park’s near proximity to the slough. Greg responds that the park’s layout includes an ample buffer to help mitigate the concern. He adds that making sure supplies are easy at hand for owners to pick up after their pets’ leavings will also be important. 04/12/2022 Parks and Recreation Advisory Board Agenda Packet - Page 3 of 5  Alpha Park Improvement Plans. Greg Young says that he has nothing new to report unfortunately. He is still trading phone messages with BNSF. He will continue to try to connect with them to determine under what conditions the City could move forward with improvements of some kind at Alpha Park. RCO Grant. Christi Kinney reports that progress is being made on preparing the grant request for an ADA inclusive playground and restroom building at Rotary Park. She has pulled together a focus group to help define the most beneficial features for Burlington’s inclusive playground. The group includes representatives from the ATTIC and SPARC advocacy groups. She has also found support from the Skagit County Parent to Parent Facebook group. Interim Parks & Rec director, Sarah Ward will return from maternity leave in early April and will take the lead finishing the grant application process. In response to a question raised by James Stavig, Christi says the grant value could be up to $1,000,000. The grant award would typically require a 50% match, however she received word that Rotary Park would qualify for a lower match requirement of 30% only. NEW BUSINESS Rec Report. Highlights:  Christi Kinney is excited to share that the Rec Specialist vacancy has now been filled by JP Kunze, a graduate of Indiana University who has a major in Recreation Therapy, a minor in Youth Development, and who is also proficient in Spanish. Christi believes his experience with people with disabilities will be a great resource in developing programs for that underserved population. JP will likely begin in late March after he gets settled from his move from Indiana.  The recent Daddy & Daughter Skate Night at Skagit Skate was a tremendous success from all aspects. Donations from Avenue Catering, Burlington Soroptimist, Les Schwab Tire Center, and Piazza Construction all contributed to the night’s success. A similar “Mom & Me” event will be hosted in May.  Spring/Summer programming will bring the return of some familiar programs including Duck Decoy Carving classes and Skyhawks Sports Camps. A new program Christi will partner with Skagit Audubon Society to host is a Bird Watching Walk. Spring/Summer program registration will open on March 23. Plans are still moving forward for Boys & Girls Club of Skagit to host a Summer Breeze youth program at Maiben Park which was made possible by a SEEK grant award from Washington Recreation & Parks Association.  The 5th & 6th grade basketball program run by B-E School District in the past will now be run by the City. Christi explains funding for the basketball program was lost several years ago, but has continued on through the support of volunteers and the YMCA. She says it is a small league with only 7 or 8 teams.  A long needed interlocal agreement with B-E School District is nearing its completion. The agreement will outline the partnership between the district and the City for the shared use of their combined facilities.  Jim Rabenstein and Christi met with members of Skagit Island Volleyball Academy to talk about junior and adult leagues that the City could run at Rotary Park’s sand volleyball courts. They also talked about potential grants that could enhance the 4 sand courts which could in turn lead to interest from national tournament organizers. The group plans to host a beach volleyball tourney during the Berry Dairy Days festival weekend. Christi adds that she is still hoping to 04/12/2022 Parks and Recreation Advisory Board Agenda Packet - Page 4 of 5  garner $5000 in sponsorships for the Berry Dairy Days fireworks show. The 2022 budget for the fireworks was cut to $10,000. Parks Report. Jim Rabenstein reports on recent happenings within parks:  Park entry signs are finally on their way to Burlington after nearly a year experiencing material shortages and shipping delays. The initial 7 signs ordered should arrive within a week or two. The Jack & Helen Doyle Memorial Park (now Dog Park) sign will be the first erected.  Playfields reopened for use on March 1. League and tournament reservations are in full swing; soccer and lacrosse have begun their spring games and little league has begun practices. Chuckanut Bay Rugby will launch the tournament season with their youth league’s jamboree this Saturday, March 12. A unique activity taking place this week is by a production company, Hand Crank Films, filming a commercial at the playfields which involves a youth soccer match.  Parks crew have been readying the ballfields for little league games which will start later in April. Baseball dirt is on order from Idaho. Shipment is delayed due to the protracted periods of freeze experienced during the winter months which interrupted production of the specially formulated sports dirt mix.  225lbs of grass seed was spread onto the areas of the playfields damaged during the flood and subsequent winter freezes. The turf is beginning to recover, but Jim is uncertain if it will recover quickly enough to accommodate typical field use throughout the season.  Maiben restrooms have been reopened now that damage caused by the winter freezes and also vandalism has been repaired.  The Parks crew continues to haul in dirt to the Whitmarsh Practice Field and Disc Golf Course area to fill in areas abraded by November’s floods. Volunteers from Team Corps will be on hand this Saturday the 12th to assist with the hand work.  The crew assisted in repairing Whitmarsh’s roadway underneath the railroad trestle that had been damaged during November’s floods and had been closed since that time.  The usual rhythm of preparing for spring activities keeps the crew’s task list full. Mowing, pea patch readying, and an unfortunate but normal uptick in funeral services are typical. Jamie Weiss asks if the use of permeable surfaces has been considered for the park projects discussed. Jim says that they do hope to include that option in the conversations about improvements to the roadways & parking at Skagit River Park and the Tjeerdsma Boat Launch especially. Parks & Rec Board Appointment. Greg Young reports that the appointment of Edie Edmundson to the Parks & Recreation Advisory Board is an item on council’s March 10 agenda. The appointment of Edie would fill the board’s last vacancy. Edie’s wealth of knowledge about the Burlington community and her many years as a city councilor will serve the advisory board well. NEXT MEETING: April 12, 2022 at 6:00PM via Zoom. ADJOURNMENT: Chairperson Darla Chafe adjourns the board meeting at 7:41PM. Minutes transcribed by Shelley Johnstone, Parks & Recreation Secretary 04/12/2022 Parks and Recreation Advisory Board Agenda Packet - Page 5 of 5