Parks & Recreation Advisory Board

Burlington Parks & Recreation Advisory Board MEETING AGENDA Tuesday, 3/12/2024 | 6:00PM Meeting Location: Burlington Parks & Recreation Zoom Login: 900 E. Fairhaven Avenue https://tinyurl.com/mr23k7ab North Entrance (off Fairhaven Avenue) ID: 822 6181 3901 Passcode: 376131 Via ID: Passcode: AGENDA ITEM PRESENTER TIME ALLOTTED ACTION CALL TO ORDER Marylynn Baker • Approval of Minutes Marylynn Baker 6:00-6:05PM Motion (02/13/2024) UNFINISHED BUSINESS • Maiben Park Update Sarah Ward 6:05-6:30PM Information • RCO Inclusive Playground Marv Pulst 6:30-6:35PM Information NEW BUSINESS • Jason Boerner Park Update Sarah Ward 6:35-6:40PM Information STAFF REPORTS • Parks Report Travis Schwetz 6:40-6:45PM Information • Recreation Report Christi Kinney 6:45-6:50PM Information OPEN COMMENT Marylynn Baker 6:50-7:00PM ADJOURNMENT Marylynn Baker 7:00PM Next Scheduled Meeting: Tuesday, 04/09/2024 | 6:00PM ENCLOSURES: : 02/13/2024 Meeting Minutes FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS: April – May 2024 • Recreation – The Art & Science of Recreation • Policy Review – Donations & Memorials • Recreation – Current Offerings • Recreation – Evaluation Tool 03/12/2024 Parks and Recreation Advisory Board Agenda Packet - Page 1 of 5 (This page left intentionally blank) 03/12/2024 Parks and Recreation Advisory Board Agenda Packet - Page 2 of 5  CITY OF BURLINGTON PARKS & RECREATION ADVISORY BOARD Tuesday, 02/13/2024 Meeting Minutes (The board meeting is conducted in-person and via Zoom) Attendees: Board Members: Marylynn Baker, Jennifer Eddleman, Karly Gruendle, Orlando Macias, Chadd Tripp City Councilors: James Stavig, Elizabeth Turman-Bryant, and Jamie Weiss City Staff: Recreation Coordinator Christi Kinney, Recreation Specialist Kati Klerekoper, Parks Crew Member Josh Lott, Public Works Director Marv Pulst, Facilities and Streets Supervisor Travis Schwetz, Library and Recreation Director Sarah Ward MEETING CALLED TO ORDER: by Vice Chairperson Marylynn Baker at 6:01PM MINUTES: Karly Gruendle/Jennifer Eddleman make a motion to approve the minutes from the 1/9/2024 meeting as written. All in favor, motion carried. UNFINISHED BUSINESS: Sarah Ward discusses that Rotary Park playground is on track and an order has been made for equipment, including the tile surfacing for the park; we are in the final phases of permitting. Marv Pulst states that from a construction standpoint, the conceptual plan has been drawn, and a more detailed plan will now be put together to go out to bid for necessary items including the concrete work that is required to receive the playground surfacing. NEW BUSINESS: Marv Pulst discusses the Maiben Park Conceptual Plan. He states that there is quite a bit more work that needs to be done before we can define next steps. Elizabeth Turman-Bryant put together a packet to look through to get an idea about what next steps might be in a more definitive way. Elizabeth presents that a mockup design has been made for Maiben Park and was presented to council. Currently, we’re at a decision point where we need to figure out the following: 1. Apply for funding via another RCO Grant, etc. With this option, MxM would apply for the grants. 2. Phase the project using the existing $1M that we have and supplement with additional grant funding. 3. The Council asks the voters for a bond. Before selecting one of the options, we need to have public input. How much does the community want to pay? Which definite features would the park have? Once we have that information, we can get a more realistic view of the design. This could be done via charrette, where the public is invited to come and speak about the existing design, in addition to an online survey. Jamie Weiss said that information from the consultant shows that if we use RCO funding, the timeline of the project would be pushed out. Marv and Sarah talk about the nature of the grants that we would be applying for – depending on the category of grant, we may be eligible. Christi Kinney talks about a few different options for current RCO Grants including specifics for refurbishing parks, athletic fields, boat launches, etc.. Marv said that there is an RCO Grant Seminar tomorrow (2/14) that 03/12/2024 Parks and Recreation Advisory Board Agenda Packet - Page 3 of 5 he would like to attend to review current grant opportunities. He states that the council has been put at an unfair advantage to make a decision thus far, and they need more information to be able to make a wise choice. James Stavig says that he was expecting to get the dollar amounts associated with the concept plans that were presented. He believed that the consultant that was hired would have provided information on placement of specific elements (that were already decided on) in addition to the costs of each element, not an entirely new concept plan. Jamie Weiss confirms that MxM provided concepts, and ideas. What we don’t have is an engineering design for the park. Next steps would be a 30% design, which gives the minimum amount required to pursue RCO. If we were to choose a different route, we would still need engineering designs. Marv believes that it is essential to contract with MxM to help clarify what the cost will be. In terms of prioritizing, we do need to know the cost estimate amounts. We also need to know about phasing, and what we can do within the budget that we have. If we need to eliminate an element, it needs to be outlined. He clarifies that if you are going to bring a project to the 30% design level, you need to be certain that it is the design that the community wants; at this point in the process, it is too soon to do that. We do not have proper input from the community regarding the design we would want to seek based on cost. He believes that the charrette is a good idea that will provide clarity for the Council and the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board to make better decisions regarding next steps. James Stavig is afraid that we’re going to miss an opportunity for grant funding for Maiben Park. Marv believes this does not put us at a disadvantage, because the grant specifications need to be very clear upon submission. He recommends not rushing into the grant process. James says we should try to go after the park that we picked and doesn’t want to miss out on funding opportunities. Marv clarifies that we cannot change the scope of work during the grant process; it must be funded as initially written. Jamie states that it seems like we have plenty of time to put the design elements together and complete the RCO requests. MxM, as the expert in this area likely would have only recommended certain grants to us if they thought we would be successful. Sarah states that the grant that we would be applying for has a deadline in June 2024. Marv agrees that by June, we would know what we would want to go after regarding design elements and cost, allowing us to be very strategic in the grant writing process. Elizabeth continues the conversation asking, “Do we put all of our eggs in the grant basket?” recognizing that grants can be uncertain. Jennifer Edleman suggests that maybe we organize sponsorship efforts to fund elements of the park, raising additional funds to support the project. Sarah acknowledges sponsorship is a good way to increase funding for the project, while also recognizing that it will take additional staff time to organize that effort. Elizabeth states that we possibly look into a both/and approach to funding, including MxM seeking RCO funding and other options. Jamie adds that once we get the cost estimate from MxM we can make further decisions regarding funding, recognizing that bathrooms are a number one priority for Maiben Park. Marylynn Baker asks about status on the Portland Loo, and Marv plans to arrange a trip to Everett soon to work on loo investigation, and whether or not we should purchase the Portland Loo or a product from alternate company. He recognizes that it needs immediate attention. STAFF REPORTS: Parks Report: Travis Schwetz, the Streets Department and Facilities Supervisor states that he’s been able to step in and help with parks maintenance since Jim’s retirement while the department evaluates next steps and a plan to move forward. Since he’s been leading in this role, he has worked with the Parks Crew to identify areas that the department hasn’t had the time or resources to do; including identifying ideals for each park. The Parks Crew brought an extensive list that shows areas of need in our City parks. The list was over 100 items long. Additionally, he had the Crew identify a list of things that absolutely MUST get done immediately. The Maiben Park restrooms are an absolute MUST as identified by the Crew. A ballpark figure to fix the sinks, remove some cinder block walls, replace the doors, etc. in the existing park bathrooms would be about $20K. Additionally, the Rotary Park baseball fields need attention. Additional needs were identified where the Crew complete all the work required for specified projects. Travis states that regarding building new parks and doing 03/12/2024 Parks and Recreation Advisory Board Agenda Packet - Page 4 of 5 new things, we really need to consider how we are going to maintain new areas. Enhancing the areas is fantastic, but maintenance needs must be addressed. Marv thanks Travis for stepping into the Parks Supervisor role on an interim basis and looks forward to refining the job description to address the needed qualifications for the next person in the Parks Supervisor role. Once that process is complete, and hopefully very soon, that job will be posted so that anyone who is interested and qualified will be able to go through the interview and selection process and fill the position permanently. Travis thanks Parks Crew member Josh Lott for putting together the necessary reports for Parks that were discussed at the meeting tonight. Recreation Report: Kati Klerekoper reported that the most recent community event Daddy Daughter Skate Night was a huge success, selling out with 250 registrations and 20+ on the waitlist for this community event. Elizabeth asked if the event covered its costs, and Christi Kinney mentioned that it does indeed, and the department tries to keep costs super affordable for community members, aiming for 30% cost recovery. She also mentioned that Community Event Sponsorship efforts and volunteers help keep costs low. Kati continues to discuss work the department is doing including planning for the upcoming Mom and Me Skate Date on Sunday, May 5. Work is in progress getting vendors lined up for various summer festivals including the Friday Night Kick-Off to Berry Dairy Days, the Berry Dairy Days Lawnmower Races, and B’town Fall Fest. Regarding sports, Girl’s 5th and 6th Grade Basketball is in full swing, and the department is getting ready to reach out to sponsors for the B-EYS Fall Soccer Program. Next, 2024 Community Event Sponsorship is currently being promoted. Local service clubs, businesses, and organizations are welcome to join in sponsoring an event. OPEN COMMENT: Jamie asks Sarah about the possibility of a Parks Foundation for future funding sources for the department. Sarah informs the group that she and Christi intend to work on that this year and mentions that the library has a Foundation, in addition to Friends of the Library group, both functioning as funding arms. ADJOURNMENT: Vice-Chairperson Marylynn Baker adjourns the board meeting at 7:15pm. NEXT MEETING: Tuesday, 03/12/2024 at 6:00pm Minutes transcribed by Kati Klerekoper, Burlington Parks and Recreation, Recreation Specialist 03/12/2024 Parks and Recreation Advisory Board Agenda Packet - Page 5 of 5