Parks, Recreation & Tourism Advisory Board

CHESAPEAKE PARKS, RECREATION AND TOURISM ADVISORY BOARD Meeting Minutes March 2, 2023 This meeting of the Parks, Recreation and Tourism Advisory Board was held on March 2, 2023, at the Public Safety Operations Center. Chair Leedom called the meeting to order at 6:35 p.m. ANNOUNCEMENTS None. ROLL CALL Ms. Jordan took the roll. Attendance reflected a quorum with 10 voting members present, 7 were absent. Members Present: Donna Cannatella (non-voting ex-officio/CCC, Bryan Carey, Jean Carideo (non-voting ex-officio/GBBWHF), Kevin Cole (non-voting ex-officio/CPS), Susan Dixon, Paula Faivre, Deloras Freeman, Phil Johnson, Annette Kelley (Vice Chair), Bob Leedom (Chair), Chris Lowie (non-voting ex- officio/GDSNWR), Patti McCambridge, Casey Shackleford, and Susan Starkey Members Absent: Christine Arrasate, Catina Bondhill, James Brown, Terrence McDuffie (non- voting Youth Liaison), Richard Pippin, Neta Stephens, Michael Williams, and Jessica Woodyard City Staff Present: Mike Barber, Monica Christiansen, Thurman Diamond, Kim Murden, Shawn Hopson and Lynn Jordan MINUTES: A motion was made by Mr. Johnson and seconded by Vice Chair Kelley to approve the February 2, 2023, minutes as presented. The minutes were unanimously approved by the board. HEARING OF CITIZENS: None. SPECIAL PRESENTATION: Landscaping Ms. Lauren Ragsac, Landscape Designer, gave a PowerPoint presentation and overview of landscaping design and plant planning for the department. REPORTS: a. Ex-Officio Reports: • Great Bridge Battlefield & Waterways History Museum – Ms. Carideo gave the following updates: o We just had Dr. Cassandra Newby-Alexander as a speaker. She was wonderful. All seats were full and there were a lot of new faces.  o Also at the end of March, we have another speaker scheduled in our speaker series: Darcy Tucker who will be speaking on Revolutionary Women. She is a docent trainer for Colonial Williamsburg. In June we’ll welcome Sheila Arnold who will be doing a program on the Underground Railroad. o At the end of March, we will have a number of school groups totaling around 500 students visiting on different days. It’s really wonderful to watch the docents with the kids. • Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge – Mr. Lowie gave the following updates: o Registration opened yesterday for the annual Birding Festival which is coming up April 28-29. Guided bird walks, guided nature walks, bus tours, exhibitors, food trucks, etc. Register here. • Chesapeake Public Schools – Mr. Cole gave the following updates: o Schools just finished up their winter season and had several team and individual championships: wrestling, gymnastics, swimming and diving, and indoor track. Oscar Smith High School is hosting the quarter final state basketball game tomorrow night. • Chesapeake Conference Center – Ms. Cannatella gave the following updates: o There are several events coming up in March. Catholic High School has their 2023 Auction this Saturday, the CEIC Environmental Awards Luncheon is on the 8th, the Sports Club Jamboree is on the 9th (Johnny Bench is the speaker), and the Chesapeake State of the City is on the 29th. Check out the calendar of events on our website for a full listing. Many more events coming up in April. b. Tourism Report – Ms. Murden gave the following updates: • Staff sales travel is still ramping back up. • Hotel occupancy still remains strong for Chesapeake. • Please refer to the Tourism section in the Department Report for additional updates. • Vice Chair Kelley asked if any of the hotels was offering free parking for tourists going on cruises. Ms. Murden said not that she’s aware of. They’re currently doing well and don’t need to offer that incentive at this time, but that could change down the road. c. Parks and Recreation Reports – For more information, refer to the Department Report and Park Project Updates. • Recreation & Environmental Services – Mr. Diamond gave the following updates: o Still struggling with staffing in the community centers and for after school programs. • Events & Misc. – Ms. Christiansen gave the following updates: o Horse Appreciation Day at the Dismal Swamp Canal Trail – Sunday, March 26th from 10am-4pm. Signage will be posted in advance to alert trail users. 2  o EGGspedition is coming up the first two Saturdays in April (April 1st and April 8th) starting at 9am at multiple parks around the City each day. Locations for the day will be posted on our website at 9am on each of those Saturdays. o We are working on a living master spreadsheet with all events listed and we can hand it out to board members at the next meeting. We are also planning on bringing back the park tours. More information and schedule for those to come. • Grounds Services – Mr. Hopson gave the following updates: o Still have some positions to fill but overall doing okay. o Getting fields ready for spring sports. If you have a chance, check out the Paramont field. We’re about 90% completed and just finishing up a few punch list items. o Mowing has started already due to the warmer weather we just had. o Staff is still completing winter projects like painting, cleaning and power washing, and will be transitioning over to regular duties and projects. Also preparing for events to begin. Spring is here! o Mr. Barber added that the ditches in the front of Deep Creek Park were cleaned out. It really opened up the park and it looks so much better. d. Director Updates: Mr. Barber gave the following updates: • Proposed budget – the City Manager will be releasing his proposed budget to the City Council on March 28th and we are very optimistic for PRT. • Historic Village at the Dismal Swamp – We are anticipating being able to open parts of it up by next summer with the remaining parts opening by end of 2024/early 2025. If approved in the budget, we will be hiring staff for village operations and grounds including another park ranger. • Blue Heron Landing Park – The City made a few adjustments to the current CIP mid- year and one of those was to help fund this park. Although small in size, this is a very complicated park but important for water access for residents in the area. This project was put out for bid twice and the “lowest” bid has been accepted. Once the paperwork is signed, groundbreaking should happen in the next couple of months. • Newton Neck Park – Park rules signs have been installed but still waiting for the entrance sign. The conceptual plans have been completed for the parking area and it’s now going through the permitting process. In the meantime, parking is available in the cul-de-sac on Bainbridge Point Road. Once all park signage is up, the park can technically be opened which should be in a week or two. • Youth Athletics – Basketball semi-finals are taking place tonight and then the championship games will be played on Saturday at the Cuffee Center. Hats off to community center staff, our athletics staff and volunteers because they did a tremendous job with officiating since we had around 70 games every Saturday and no contracted officials. 3  • CEIC Environmental Awards Luncheon – As Ms. Cannatella mentioned, the CEIC Awards Luncheon is coming up next week and it’s a nice event where community members, groups and businesses are recognized with awards for their contribution in keeping Chesapeake clean and green environmentally and aesthetically. • Black History Month – We featured several nice events in February including two completely full bus tours of the historical African American Trail and two open houses at the Cornland School, which was showcased before it starts the renovation process. Last Friday night there was also an event at Now You’re Cooking, with recipes inspired from maroon Communities. Ms. McCambridge attended and said that Jessica Cosmas gave a nice history presentation and then the food was prepared by Chef Dee. It was a very nice time and wonderful to be able to hear attendee’s stories about their families and history of their cooking. • Indian River Park – We’re back to having some serious problems at Indian River Park with different user groups not getting along. Some of the structures out there that were put in by users were half destroyed, some sabotaged with rebar put in and sticking out, and there were some alleged injuries. Private user cameras captured video of some people doing the damage and it was turned over to the police, so there may be legal charges down the road. We have tried to be reasonable but things are getting out of hand and will have to change. There will be people that will be very unhappy and we might have to deal with possible retaliation. It will be a long process. Ms. Faivre asked about putting cameras in and Mr. Barber said that putting cameras in parks and on trails can be challenging due to foliage blockage much of the year but we do have them in some locations especially where there has been a history of issues. UNFINISHED BUSINESS: • Review of Bylaws and SOPs – Mr. Pippin, Mr. Johnson, and Chair Leedom met and reviewed the Bylaws and SOPs. They recommended a few changes and would like the board to review them. The current documents as well as the recommended changes will be sent out to the board so they can be discussed and hopefully voted on at the April meeting. NEW BUSINESS: • None. HEARING OF BOARD MEMBERS: • Mr. Barber said Ms. Christiansen will be speaking at a Sports Club meeting in April to talk about her awesome Super Bowl experiences. More information to come. • Chair Leedom attended the Princess Ball and said it was wonderful. There was a lot going on from picture taking stations to singing and dancing. • Vice Chair Kelley asked if the shelter rental prices were going up and Mr. Barber said no. She said that someone she knew called to rent a shelter and was told that prices were going up so they could not rent one. Mr. Barber said that shelter rentals begin on December 1st for the next calendar year and we would not change prices in the middle of a year. She then said that the state of Georgia has these really cool all-terrain 4  wheelchairs that can be reserved. Is there a grant or something that we could get that would allow the City to get some? Mr. Barber said that our Therapeutics staff could look into it. Mr. Diamond said the ATV wheelchairs were highlighted in a recent NRPA magazine. The department has also been fortunate to be able to improve accessibility in a number of locations with the addition of new sidewalks and those efforts will continue. Also, she and Ms. Dixon went to one of the Cornland School open houses and she wondered if that would be accessible after renovation. Mr. Barber said yes, access would be from the back door. Mr. Hopson said they were also looking into replacing some of the park shelter tables with new accessible tables. • Mr. Johnson wanted to compliment Mr. Cole and school system. The Sports Club will recognize the top male and female athletes and the coach of the year at the Jamboree in a few weeks. The student athletes that schools are developing now are truly amazing. • Ms. McCambridge went to all of the historic activities in February so read all about them in the Department Report. Come to the Conference Center for the Chesapeake Forum on April 5th from 7-10pm to see Kwame Alexander! He’s absolutely fantastic and entertaining. Ticket information. ADJOURNMENT: The meeting was adjourned at 8:15 p.m. NEXT MEETING: The next meeting will be on Thursday, April 6, 2023, at the Indian River Community Center, 2250 Old Greenbrier Road, at 6:30 p.m. Minutes submitted by Cori Fuqua, Secretary 5