Parks, Recreation & Tourism Advisory Board

CHESAPEAKE PARKS, RECREATION AND TOURISM ADVISORY BOARD Meeting Notes October 6, 2022 This meeting of the Parks, Recreation and Tourism Advisory Board was held on October 6, 2022, at the Deep Creek Community Center. Chair Leedom called the meeting to order at 6:41 p.m. ANNOUNCEMENTS None. ROLL CALL Ms. Fuqua took the roll. Attendance did not reflect a quorum with only 7 voting members present. 9 were absent. Members Present: Donna Cannatella (non-voting ex-officio/CCC, Jean Carideo (non-voting ex- officio/GBBWHF), Kevin Cole (non-voting ex-officio/CPS), Susan Dixon, Jean Holt, Phil Johnson, Annette Kelley (Vice Chair), Bob Leedom (Chair), Chris Lowie (non-voting ex-officio/GDSNWR), Patti McCambridge, and Richard Pippin Members Absent: Christine Arrasate, Catina Bondhill, James Brown, Bryan Carey, Paula Faivre, Lindy Huber, Terrence McDuffie (non-voting Youth Liaison), Neta Stephens, Michael Williams, and Jessica Woodyard Staff Present: Mike Barber, Monica Christiansen, Thurman Diamond, Kim Murden, Tiffany Whitten, TJ Rogers, and Cori Fuqua MINUTES: A quorum was not present to approve the September minutes, so board approval is tabled until the next meeting when a quorum is present. HEARING OF CITIZENS: Marciela Moore – Attending for observation only, no comments. SPECIAL STAFF PRESENTATION: THERAPEUTICS Tiffany Whitten, Chief Ranger, and TJ Rogers, Ranger II, gave an overview presentation on the department’s Rangers and their duties and responsibilities. REPORTS: a. Ex-Officio Reports: • Chesapeake Public Schools – Mr. Cole said that CPS is hiring custodial staff, bus drivers and school nutrition (lunch servers) staff if you know anyone that would be interested. Part time or full time. There was also a brief discussion on the shortage of sports officials. Many of them left during Covid and didn’t come back. Hopefully it will eventually improve. • Chesapeake Conference Center – Ms. Cannatella gave a preview of events coming up in October. Enjoy a stress-free Thanksgiving! Starting at $190 you can order pre-  cooked Thanksgiving dinner that feeds a family of 6, or you can increase to 12 or 18 servings. Order forms are on the website under “Attend An Event.” Princess Ball tickets go on sale October 31st – the Ball is February 5, 2023. An HVAC pre- construction meeting was held. When all equipment and supplies are on site, the Conference Center will close for 4-6 months, and construction will begin. The admin offices will stay open. • Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge – Mr. Lowie reported that the GDSNWR Friends group is having a membership drive with oyster roast and ghost walk in Suffolk on Desert Road on October 30th from 4-7 p.m. • Great Bridge Battlefield & Waterways History Museum – Ms. Carideo went to the Hampton Road Chamber of Commerce luncheon and Mike Barber’s name was mentioned relative to the plans for a pool. It was one of the few bright lights in the State of the Region report! The other was how well hotels are doing. The Colonial Ghost Walk will be on October 22nd. There are 3 times to choose from and tickets are $15 each. James Madison will be visiting the Museum on November 19th. Tickets are $30 each and seats are limited. b. Tourism Report – o Restaurant week is coming up October 14th-21st. If you go to the website, you can see the participating restaurants and menus. o Virginia Tourism just released the 2021 Annual Traveler Spending data. The state of Virginia is at 87% overall recovery for pre-pandemic spending. 80 of 133 of Virginia’s localities have fully recovered and many grew even further. Food and beverage spending has recovered to 92%. Transportation (air travel) is at 78%, lodging at 87%, recreation is at 94%, and retail is at 90%. Chesapeake recovered quickly and is currently ahead of pre-pandemic expenditures by almost $30M. o Mr. Johnson said that he heard that a new Off the Hook restaurant will be opening next year. Also reminded everyone that “Go Chesapeake” will be hosting receptions for the boating tourists at the Atlantic Yacht Basin every Tuesday and Friday from 4-7 p.m. in October. c. Parks and Recreation Reports – Also refer to the Department Report and Park Project Updates. o Recreation – Mr. Diamond gave the following updates: o The gym floor at Camelot was replaced and it’s beautiful. A photo of it is on the cover of the Department Report. o Therapeutics held another water sports day at Oak Grove Lake Park. o And … check out the clean, shiny floor here at Deep Creek Community Center! o Events & Misc. – Ms. Christiansen gave the following updates: o Events in September – AutumnFest and Arbor Day had to be cancelled last weekend due to the weather. We will be rescheduling the Arbor Day ceremony event, but not AutumnFest. Since the hay bales were already ordered, we went 2  ahead and set up the maze today at the Arboretum and the public can enjoy it for the next few weeks. The Chesapeake American Indian Festival is back and will be held at Chesapeake City Park on October 22-23. It is free and there will be craft vendors and food vendors. Deck the Hall setup will begin in the next couple of weeks and will open on Thanksgiving evening. More to come later. o Rangers – The September report was handed out to board members showing incidents, parks visited, and work orders completed. d. Director Updates: • Mr. Barber gave the following updates: o Pool – The kick-off meeting was held this past Tuesday with the architect and City staff. The next step will be a feasibility study to look at programming and how it can be configured and programmed at the Cuffee Center. Schools will also be represented so their needs can be considered. A main point of emphasis will be learn-to-swim programs for underserved communities as that was highlighted in the grant funding that was awarded for the project. o Public Safety Training Center at Heritage Park – The kick-off meeting was held last week with the architects and City staff and a citizen stakeholders meeting, mainly with regards to desired equestrian activities in the park, will be held on October 24 at Great Bridge Community Center. If you know of anyone should be on the stakeholder’s invitation list, especially those with equestrian interests, please send their contact information to Mr. Barber or Ms. Christiansen. o Additional land at the City Hall complex will be dedicated and accepted as park property. Everything south of Albemarle will become part of Bells Mill Park, and everything north from Cedar Rd. to Albemarle will become Municipal Center Park. The Eileen Olds Park will remain as is and still encompass the square in the middle of the municipal center where the clock tower will be going. PRT already maintains these properties so having them all under our property purview will allow for more consistency and flexibility for governance, enforcement, and community usage. o The storm that blew through here last weekend was not as bad as it could have been, but we still had some damage from trees down and some trees that always seem to land on fences. Most of it has been cleaned up already and the remainder should be completed by end of next week. o Battlefield Park South - The updated and enhance lease with the Army Corps was finally completed and we will continue to improve that property. o Battlefield Museum parcel and signage – We’re still working with the state on the conservation easement and finalizing signage approval. It’s moving slowly but moving. UNFINISHED BUSINESS: • 2023-2024 Athletic Rules Board Committee – The committee’s recommendations to be presented to the board by Chair Faivre is tabled until the November meeting. 3  • Kelleher Challenge Course Sign/Naming Request – The request is going before City Council on October 25. NEW BUSINESS: • None. HEARING OF BOARD MEMBERS: • Mr. Leedom attended the citizens/users group meeting regarding Indian River Park a few weeks ago. There were many citizen groups represented, department staff were available for questions, and he thought the meeting was very well done. • Ms. Dixon attended both Symphony Under the Stars and the 9-11 Ceremony and they were excellent. • Ms. Kelley asked if there were any updates on the Historic Village. Mr. Barber said that the consultant and City staff are meeting with various stakeholder groups and so far, things have gone very well. We’re getting close to having conceptual programming and plans set. After that, infrastructure planning and design can begin. We are ambitiously hoping to have the Superintendent’s House and the Cornland School finished and open in the first half of 2024 and a majority of the rest by the end of 2024. • Mr. Pippin’s Kiwanis Club had its 95th birthday celebration and banquet last week at the Conference Center and everything was great! Are there any plans for electrical upgrades at City Park? Mr. Barber said that if it’s about updating for Jubilee, a Jubilee subcommittee meeting should probably take place to discuss specifics. • Mr. Johnson said the Chesapeake Sports Club has a “Save the Date” at the Conference Center for Thursday, March 9, 2023 – Johnny Bench will be the main speaker! He also wanted to thank Kevin Kaul for all that he’s done in facilitating some of the cleanups at different parks. ADJOURNMENT: The meeting was adjourned at 8:02 p.m. NEXT MEETING: The next meeting will be on Thursday, November 3, 2022, at the Camelot Community Center, 948 King Arthur Drive, at 6:30 p.m. Notes submitted by Cori Fuqua, Secretary 4