Parks & Recreation Advisory Board

Burlington Parks & Recreation Advisory Board MEETING AGENDA Tuesday, 10/10/2023, 6:00PM Meeting Location: Burlington Parks & Rec Building, 900 E. Fairhaven Avenue Use NORTH ENTRANCE off Fairhaven Avenue Via Zoom: https://tinyurl.com/yf2swckh or 1-253-205-0468 Meeting ID: 864 1801 2624 Passcode: 236764 Agenda Item Presenter Time Allotted Action CALL TO ORDER Marylynn Baker  Approval of Minutes (09/12/23) Marylynn Baker 6:00-6:05PM Motion UNFINISHED BUSINESS  Update on SOQs/Projects Marv Pulst 6:05-6:20PM Information  Maiben Park  Rotary Park STAFF REPORTS  Recreation Report Sarah Ward 6:20-6:30PM Information OPEN COMMENT Marylynn Baker 6:30-6:40PM ADJOURNMENT Marylynn Baker 6:40PM Next Scheduled Meeting: Tuesday, November 14, 2023 6:00PM ENCLOSURES: : 09/12/23 Meeting Minutes 10/10/2023 Parks and Recreation Advisory Board Agenda Packet - Page 1 of 7 (This page left intentionally blank) 10/10/2023 Parks and Recreation Advisory Board Agenda Packet - Page 2 of 7  CITY OF BURLINGTON PARKS & RECREATION ADVISORY BOARD Tuesday, 09/12/2023 Meeting Minutes (The board meeting is conducted in-person and via Zoom) Representatives in Attendance Board Members: Marylynn Baker, Jennifer Eddleman, Karly Gruendle, and Orlando Macias City Councilors: Anna Chotzen, James Stavig, and Jamie Weiss City Staff: Rec Specialist Kati Klerekoper, Public Works Director Marv Pulst, Parks Supervisor Jim Rabenstein, Library & Rec Director Sarah Ward, and Shelley Johnstone, Admin Specialist MEETING CALLED TO ORDER by Vice Chair Marylynn Baker at 6:00PM ROLL CALL – Elizabeth Turman-Bryant. To formally recognize her leave of absence, Jennifer Eddleman/Karly Gruendle make a motion to excuse fellow board member Elizabeth Turman-Bryant’s absence from the September, October, November, and December 2023 board meetings. All in favor, motion is carried. MINUTES Motion is made by Jennifer Eddleman/Orlando Macias to approve the August 8, 2023 meeting minutes as presented. All are in favor; motion is carried. UNFINISHED BUSINESS Boerner Park Survey Results. Sarah Ward shares spreadsheets with board members which reflect the results of the online, print, and pop-up event surveys. The total number of completed surveys appear to be 62-65 which she feels is a good return for the breadth of audience canvassed. Sarah says she particularly enjoyed the pop-up event as it allowed a chance to understand how Boerner Park is currently used and what a vision of its future might look like. In terms of new amenities, the top requests were for (1) basketball courts, (2) covered pavilion/shelter, (3) walking track/path, and (4) better playground. Jim Rabenstein says he was not surprised by most of the results and can easily see these top requests as additions to the park. He is curious about the walking path request though, since Boerner is a park with a small footprint. Orlando Macias explains that one response he received during the pop-up event indicated that parents who drop their children at the park to play could use the walking path around the perimeter to stroll during the playtime. Jim feels that the top requests are all doable and that a substantial amount of the work can likely be performed by city staff. Marylynn Baker comments that she was surprised there was no mention of fencing along the park’s border with Norris Street. Anna Chotzen suggests follow-up with respondents to update them on results. Sarah says the proposed 2024-2029 CIP has earmarked $50,000 (2024) and $100,000 (2025) to begin the improvements at Boerner Park. More info to come as feasibility and timeline discussions ensue. NEW BUSINESS STAFF REPORTS Recreation Report. Sarah Ward reports that summer programming has gone incredibly well and that Rec staff are now seguing into fall programming. Fall soccer registration has wrapped up with approximately 450 participants, which is an all-time high for the Burlington league. It is a labor intensive program, but 10/10/2023 Parks and Recreation Advisory Board Agenda Packet - Page 3 of 7  Sarah feels staff has done an excellent job of managing it. Games began last Saturday, September 9 and will run each Saturday through October 28. Planning for B’Town Fall Fest is in full gear. This free family event will take place on September 29 & October 1. A corn-hole tournament, Pumpkin Slingshots, PupKin 5k Run/Walk, Spiderman and Ariel are a few of the festival’s free special features. Veterans Day planning is also underway. The event will take place on Saturday, November 11 and, in partnership with the American Legion, Burlington Chamber of Commerce, & Veterans Day committee, will include parade, free breakfast/lunch for veterans, and a military display. Registration is open for 5th/6th Grade Boys Basketball with games beginning the first week of October. Parks Report. Jim Rabenstein shares that September brings with it a shift for the maintenance crew’s focus. Keeping up with grass mowing picks up again and, unfortunately, this also tends to be the time of year when much of the equipment used to keep up with maintenance in the busier spring/summer months needs extra attention. Turf maintenance at Skagit River Park playfields is underway which includes a regiment of aerating, top-dressing, dragging, fertilizing and over-seeding. Jim says this maintenance program which was first implemented in 2017 has proven to be a winner and has yielded dramatic results. He adds that Lodging Tax Grant funding has played a major role in supporting the turf maintenance program. The Parks crew will also offer field prep support for fall leagues and tournaments as well as with B’Town Fall Fest setup. Jim says he was very pleased with Parks’ seasonal summer hires. All 3 were exceptionally hard workers, eager to learn and to do a good job. Circling back to the comment about Lodging Tax Grant funding, James Stavig mentions that he feels it would be beneficial to get word out about the grant opportunity to the city’s frequent tournament event organizers in the interest of promoting out of town visitors to Burlington. Jamie Weiss offers kudos to Jim and his crew; their turf maintenance efforts at the playfield complex were evident during his visit last weekend. Jamie asks about the summer sand volleyball tournaments that were anticipated at Rotary Park. Jim replies that Rec staff found that they did not have the capacity to run the summer events, so enlisted Aaron Young to run the tournaments independently, a community member well versed on the subject. Jim adds that he has new standards/posts and sand for the volleyball courts and plans to have them installed early fall. OPEN COMMENT Skagit Heritage Books. Sarah Ward shares a book recently donated to the library that she felt would spark the board’s interest. The book offers copies of photographs of the groundbreaking at one of Burlington’s first city parks dating back to 1906. It is believed the photos reflect the start of Maiben Park, once known as Burlington Park. ADJOURNMENT: Vice Chair Marylynn Baker adjourns the board meeting at 6:45PM. NEXT MEETING: October 10, 2023 at 6:00PM. Minutes transcribed by Shelley Johnstone, BPR Admin Specialist 10/10/2023 Parks and Recreation Advisory Board Agenda Packet - Page 4 of 7 10/10/2023 Parks and Recreation Advisory Board Agenda Packet - Page 5 of 7 10/10/2023 Parks and Recreation Advisory Board Agenda Packet - Page 6 of 7 10/10/2023 Parks and Recreation Advisory Board Agenda Packet - Page 7 of 7