Parks, Recreation & Tourism Advisory Board

CHESAPEAKE PARKS, RECREATION AND TOURISM ADVISORY BOARD Meeting Minutes August 4, 2022 This meeting of the Parks, Recreation and Tourism Advisory Board was held on August 4, 2022, at the Western Branch Community Center. Chair Leedom called the meeting to order at 6:35 p.m. ANNOUNCEMENTS Chair Leedom introduced Terrence McDuffie, the new Youth Liaison board member. Mr. McDuffie is a rising senior at Indian River High School. ROLL CALL Ms. Fuqua took the roll. Attendance reflected a quorum with 10 voting members present and 6 absent. Members Present: James Brown, Donna Cannatella (non-voting ex-officio/CCC, Jean Carideo (non-voting ex-officio/GBBWHF), Kevin Cole (non-voting ex-officio/CPS), Paula Faivre, Jean Holt, Phil Johnson, Annette Kelley (Vice Chair), Bob Leedom (Chair), Patti McCambridge, Terrence McDuffie (non-voting Youth Liaison), Richard Pippin, Michael Williams, and Jessica Woodyard Members Absent: Christine Arrasate, Catina Bondhill, Bryan Carey, Susan Dixon, Lindy Huber, Chris Lowie (non-voting ex-officio/GDSNWR), and Neta Stephens Staff Present: Mike Barber, Monica Christiansen, Thurman Diamond, Shawn Hopson, and Cori Fuqua MINUTES: A motion was made by Mr. Pippin and seconded by Ms. McCambridge to approve the June 2, 2022 minutes as presented. The minutes were unanimously approved by the board. HEARING OF CITIZENS: 2022-2023 Athletic Rules and Department Policy Review Chair Leedom welcomed the citizens attending the meeting. Chair Leedom and Mr. Barber explained the process for speakers as well as board/department consideration of requested changes. 1. Marino P. Terrell: Football and Basketball coach (Deep Creek) a. Need more basketball practices. During the season, if there is a game during the week, there usually isn’t a practice. Would like at least two practices per week in addition to a game to be able to teach skills. 2. Demonta Quailes – 16U Volleyball Coach (Western Branch) a. Had to leave for practice but he emailed his suggestions to department staff. 3. Van Carson – Soccer Coach (Great Bridge)  a. One of the new rule changes this year is that we are no longer able to carry teams over from Spring to Fall and would like to see that change back to what it was. It’s very difficult starting from scratch every season. b. Also new this year, all fans/parents must sit on one side of the field and both team’s coaches/players on the other side – would like to see this change back to each team and their fans/parents on opposite sides. As it stands now, coaches can only coach from the sideline on half of the field and don’t have access to the other half because the other coach and team is there. 4. John Walsh – Soccer Coach (Great Bridge) a. Agrees with Van Carson on #3-a. above. b. Field size changes – for 13U, the field size increased (from 100x60 to 110x70) and it’s too big for some of our smaller 11- and 12-year-old players. Would like to go back to the smaller field for that age group. 5. Brandee Gorby – Soccer Coach (Deep Creek) a. Parents should be able to request a specific coach. b. 10U changes last year were not good (field size was too small, size of roster should be at least 9 players, not 7). c. Suggest that there should be coaches’ incentives (or registration discount) at least for their own kids to play. d. Also agrees with #3-b. above and would like it to change back. 6. Kevyn Tucker – Soccer Coach (Western Branch) a. Field sizes for 8U and 10U are too small. It’s okay if a field is larger, you run more but if it’s too small, it’s a different game. Also, can’t teach the game on a field that doesn’t have goal or penalty boxes. b. Agrees with team continuity so players on Spring team should be able to play on same Fall team. c. Doesn’t care where fans and parents sit on the field, like that they are away from him, but coaches need to be allowed to coach from the entire sideline. 7. Luke Shabro – Soccer Coach, currently U8 & U13 a. U6 should be increased to 5-v-5 with roster size increase up to 7 or 9 and have a goalkeeper. Field size is fine. b. U8 needs to be at least 7-v-7 and should be throw-in only, and a somewhat bigger field, with a roster size up to 12. c. U10 should be at least 9-v-9 and may need roster to go up to 16. d. Parents should be able to request specific teams/coaches. Many kids couldn’t play because parent couldn’t get them there for whatever reason. Especially for U6 and U8 where there is no draft. And agree with continuity for keeping kids on same team. Maybe consider coaching style surveys and players questionnaire so they could be matched up on teams. 2  e. Would like to see tournaments for both seasons at least for U10 and up. f. For U6 and U8, is a coach still allowed to be behind the goalie? That was very helpful so hope that is still the case. g. Would like to see some control over the rosters given back to the coaches and feedback solicited before making major rule changes. HEARING OF CITIZENS: General Markiella Moore – Ms. Moore saw an article on the Virginia Outdoors Foundation website about the Newton Neck property and had a couple of questions. It mentioned that the city is in the process of blazing pedestrian trails. Is that correct? Mr. Barber said that won’t start until after public meetings have taken place and a parking plan has been established. There are already some existing trails there and a few volunteer groups have gone in and performed some clean up, but no new trails have been blazed. The park will not officially open until after we have met with citizens and established a parking plan and a master plan. Some public access may be available later this year though. Ms. Moore then asked if a coastal resiliency study had been performed on the property. Mr. Barber said some lower-level studies were done in order to acquire the property but nothing on a higher level. Ms. Moore said she would be interested in seeing them. REPORTS: a. Ex-Officio Reports: • Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge – None. • Chesapeake Conference Center – Ms. Cannatella gave the following updates: o The Princess Ball is coming back in February! Tickets will go on sale later this year. Events coming up this month are the Tidewater Job Fair, Kid Expo, Norfolk Naval Shipyard Job Fair, Chesapeake Men for Progress Scholarship Awards Banquet, the Sheriff’s Senior Support Seminar, Vintage Trixie Curiosity Fair, and the American Grappling Federation. For details, check the website. • Chesapeake Public Schools – Mr. Cole gave the following updates: o Starting with the 2023-2024 school year, middle schools will be adding girls’ and boys’ soccer and baseball programs • Great Bridge Battlefield & Waterways History Museum – Ms. Carideo gave the following updates: o The Southside Artist Association show is taking place this month at the museum and the Battle is the theme. For more information, show dates and times, please visit the website, b. Tourism Report – For the latest information, refer to the Department Report. Mr. Barber added that the grant program (rebate incentive program) has been working out very well and put us in position for a huge event in the fall of 2023. c. Parks and Recreation Reports – Also refer to the Department Report and Park Project Updates. 3  • Recreation – Mr. Diamond referred to a wonderful picture in the Therapeutics section of the Department Report (pg. 15) of a child who is blind sitting on one of our grounds mowers. The child’s mother relayed that her son was fascinated with large mowers, so Melody Beck in Therapeutics arranged for grounds staff to bring one to a community center and he was able to sit on it, feel it, and hear it running. He loved it so much that all he wants to do is go back to the center and get on the mower and it’s all he talks about! Therapeutics also has a acquired a new Sensory Cart that offers different calming and manipulative play items. • Events & Misc. – Ms. Christiansen gave the following update: o Rangers – They now have tablets they take out in the field with them so they can log their daily tasks and interactions. A report has been handed out to board members so you can see the patrol logs for the months of June and July 2022 showing incidents, parks visited, and work orders completed. This report will continue to evolve. • Grounds – None. d. Director Updates: • Mr. Barber gave the following updates: o Historic Village Public Meeting - Had a public town meeting recently at the Public Safety Operational Center with the architect for the Dismal Swamp Historic Village and over 60 people attended in person with another 20 or so online. The purpose was to share the concept and get some feedback and ideas from the public. Overall people have been very engaged with this project. We also picked up several great leads on some artifacts that might be out there for acquisition. o City Comp and Pay Plan for Employees has been fully implemented and think that it’s a great step forward to be able to retain employees longer and to attract prospective employees. o Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) ▪ Pool – We received $9M in funding from the state and $3M in federal funds to initiate the development of a public swimming facility. It will be an indoor pool at the Cuffee Community Center. We are hiring an architect to do a feasibility study so decisions can be made on size, usage, program options, etc. and we hope that will be completed by the end of the year to include public input. o Dog Parks have been a topic of recent citizen interest and it has become somewhat divisive. There are some patrons who want to bring toys, water bowls and other items like pools to the dog parks and leave them there. Others are not happy about that because of the potential of spreading diseases, breeding mosquitos, etc. and they don’t want their dogs getting wet and muddy. We’ve always had a “no pool” rule though. It’s become such an issue that we’ve had to enforce it by posting signage to the effect of “If you bring it in, take it with you when you leave.” Some people were still upset so we decided to compromise and install 4  a basket where toys could be left and signage that says something like “Use at your own risk. Items are not cleaned and sanitized.” UNFINISHED BUSINESS: • Park & Trail Re-Naming (Oak Grove Lake Park and Trail) – waiting for additional information so this is tabled until September. NEW BUSINESS: • Kelleher Challenge Course Sign/Naming Request – Mr. Barber said that around six months ago we installed an exercise course with a small track around it at Cornland Park with grant funding acquired by the Fire Department. The Fire Department uses it for training but it’s also open and available for public access. We received a formal request to name the course for a member of their department that passed away from ALS and they are asking for the board’s support and recommendation to Council for the naming. We will send the letter we received from Chief Elliott to the board with the minutes so it can be addressed with any discussion and hopefully voted on at the September meeting. • 2023-2024 Athletic Rules Board Committee – Paula will chair the committee and Jean Holt, James Brown, and Chair Bob Leedom will sit on the committee. The committee chair will schedule a meeting with athletics staff to review the public requests for rule changes and then present their recommendations to the board in September or October. Once the board votes on the committee’s recommendations, they will go to Mr. Barber for final review and ruling, and then posted to the public. HEARING OF BOARD MEMBERS: • Ms. Kelley said she is so happy to be able to say the word “pool” now! She asked about recycling and if the department was housing it or in charge of it? Mr. Barber said that no, our department is not in charge of it (it is Public Works) but recycling dumpster centers are currently being housed in two parks – Deep Creek and City Park. The one at City Park may be relocated to another park (maybe Greenbrier Sports Park) since it’s not working smoothly where it is at City Park. If citizens have questions, they should be directed to 382-CITY (382-2489). Ms. Kelley said that the Celebrate Freedom concert event was fantastic as was the event at Lakeside Park. But there didn’t seem to be enough trash cans for the number of attendees that were there at Celebrate Freedom. Mr. Hopson and Mr. Barber said the trash was emptied constantly and they didn’t fill to overflow until the very end when people were leaving, and all were emptied by midnight. Next question was are the rec centers going to be open later in the fall? Mr. Barber and Mr. Diamond said that in the fall they are open until 8pm, and maybe 9pm certain nights during programs such as volleyball and basketball seasons. It will also depend on staffing levels, and it may be different at different centers depending on activities at each. She then asked what is happening at the Bryant Farms Park with all the equipment? Mr. Barber said that Dominion Power has been doing a lot of work in there and while they were there, they noticed there was a basketball court and playground under their easement (that have been there since the 1990s) and told us they had to be removed. After discussion, they said the playground could stay but the basketball court 5  had to be removed because they were getting arcing to their poles from the concrete pad. The neighborhood wanted pickleball courts installed but that wouldn’t be permitted either. Ms. Kelley said that a few years ago, the board was able to get embroidered logo shirts which they paid for themselves and asked whether current board members would be interested in ordering some? Hers is too large now and she would like to get a smaller size. Mr. Barber said that we could get some information together and present to the board to see if there was any interest. • Ms. Holt said there has been quite a bit of chatter on NextDoor about the pool and pickleball. Mr. Diamond said that every center now has pickleball and there are multiple outdoor court options. • Ms. Faivre asked if there was an overall map to show where the parks are. Staff responded that at the bottom of the Parks and Trails main page, there is a link to Park Finder which will shows where all our parks in Chesapeake are located. Mr. Hopson also mentioned there is a site called Meetways where you can find the halfway point between two locations. • Mr. Williams said that Tidewater Winds was delighted to be a part of Celebrate Freedom event this year. He suggested a few future enhancements for the stage area such as a green room, dressing rooms, restrooms, etc. Do any of the parks have wifi service? Mr. Barber said not yet but there is a pilot program to install wifi service on the waterways at Battlefield Park and Battlefield Park South, hopefully by October, to be able to serve the marine traffic there. The regional ring program for wifi would benefit and include parks when fully completed and implemented. • Mr. Johnson wanted to say thank you for the Historic Village, and welcome to Terrence McDuffie. Grant Holloway will be the speaker at the Chesapeake Sports Club meeting in October on the 10th and we’re really looking forward to that. He is so exciting to watch and listen to! ADJOURNMENT: The meeting was adjourned at 8:20 p.m. NEXT MEETING: The next meeting will be on Thursday, September 1, 2022, at the River Crest Community Center, 1001 River Walk Parkway, at 6:30 p.m. Minutes submitted by Cori Fuqua, Secretary 6