Parks, Recreation & Tourism Advisory Board

CHESAPEAKE PARKS, RECREATION AND TOURISM ADVISORY BOARD Meeting Minutes November 2, 2023 This meeting of the Parks, Recreation and Tourism Advisory Board was held on November 2, 2023, at the Rokeby Center. Chair Leedom called the meeting to order at 6:33 p.m. ANNOUNCEMENTS Chair Leedom said that Ms. Cannatella is not here tonight because she is managing the first event after the reopening of the Conference Center, and around 1,100 people are expected to be in attendance of this private event. ROLL CALL Ms. Fuqua called the roll. Attendance reflected a quorum with 12 voting members present, 5 absent. Members Present: 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, Richard Pippin, Susan Starkey, Neta Stephens, Michael Williams, and Jessica Woodyard Members Absent: Christine Arrasate, Donna Cannatella (non-voting ex-officio/CCC, Catina Bondhill, James Brown, Bryan Carey, Monte Jenkins (non-voting Youth Liaison), and Casey Shackleford City Staff Present: Mike Barber, Monica Christiansen, Thurman Diamond, Kim Murden and Cori Fuqua MINUTES: Mr. Pippin asked that a correction be made to the October minutes to refer to the donor of the $2,000 check to the Youth Scholarship Fund as Chesapeake Jubilee Inc. instead of the Jubilee Foundation. A motion was made by Ms. McCambridge to approve the October 5, 2023, minutes as amended, and it was seconded by Vice Chair Kelley. The minutes as amended were unanimously approved by the board. HEARING OF CITIZENS: None. SPECIAL PRESENTATION: Thurman Diamond, Recreation Superintendent, gave an overview presentation on Youth Programs. REPORTS: a. Ex-Officio Reports: • Chesapeake Public Schools – Mr. Cole said that most of the fall season is finishing up with the new addition of middle school sports. Football will be finished in the next two weeks. • Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge – Mr. Lowie reported that things have been busy at the refuge with lots of visitors now that the weather has cooled down. Next year (2024) is the 50th anniversary of the Refuge so they’re planning a year-long marketing and outreach campaign and hopefully can partner with other events for the anniversary recognition. Mr. Barber added that there will be a grand opening of the Cornland School at the Historic Village nearby in the spring as well. • Great Bridge Battlefield & Waterways Historic Foundation – Ms. Carideo announced that Dr. Daniel Sayers, a professor, and historical anthropologist that specializes in the archeological history of Dismal Swamp maroon communities from the 1600s-1800s, is speaking at the museum on November 11th from 7-8 p.m. at the museum. Tickets are on sale for $30 each. • Chesapeake Conference Center – The first event after reopening is today! To see upcoming events, visit the events calendar. b. Parks and Recreation Reports • Tourism o Ms. Murden passed around a couple of Christmas ornaments to look at including the new one for this year which has an agricultural/farm theme. They will be on sale for $15 each in the Visitor Center. If you would like one, don’t wait as they sell out every year. She also gave everyone a red Peake Holiday bag. These will be handed out at the Holiday Craft Show and will have a flyer inside that will promote holiday tourism in Chesapeake. o Restaurant Week was very successful with 34 restaurant participants and positive feedback for traffic. Our Restaurant Week website landing page had 61,000 hits! o In the month of October, staff did a Visitor Center takeover in Bracey, Virginia which is off of I-85 just over the border from North Carolina. It was a regional collaborative effort. Staff did a demo day there on the 1st and 31st. There were 10,400 people that came through the Visitor Center during the month of October with lots of positive feedback and engagement. • Recreation – Mr. Diamond o After-school programs are doing well. Their numbers are pretty strong this year with an average of 25 participants at each center except for one that averages around 10. o Leisure programs are growing, and we’ll be combining some programs with childcare for a Parent’s Night Out being planned for November at the Indian River Community Center from 6-8 p.m. 2  o In the next Department Report, you will see some great before and after pictures of floors that housekeeping has been cleaning with a new floor scrubber. o On November 14th at 6:30 p.m. our instructional theater class is doing a performance in the Camelot Community Center gym called “A Kid’s Life” and it’s a really big deal so please come out and see this free performance! • Events – Ms. Christiansen relayed the following event updates: o On Thursday, November 9th, is the groundbreaking ceremony for the Cornland School and Historical Village from 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. o Friday, November 10th, is the Veteran’s Day Memorial Service at 11:00 a.m. in front of City Hall. o Deck the Hall preparation at the Municipal Center has begun. There are already some lights up, but we’ll kick into high gear after the Veteran’s Day Ceremony. Deck the Hall goes live on Thanksgiving evening. o We have looked at options to add pickleball courts with removable nets within the current court footprints on the two courts at Great Bridge High School. A pickleball court will be installed on each side of the tennis net on two tennis courts which will allow four pickleball courts total. We’ll be ordering portable pickleball nets for the courts. That will still leave 6 tennis-only courts. By providing the lined pickleball courts and proper nets, it will be important that pickleball patrons do not draw or tape off lines and adjust the nets on the tennis-only courts. This is in the works now and should be available very soon. d. Director Updates: Mr. Barber gave the following updates: • Football and soccer seasons are wrapping up. The playoffs are next weekend. • On October 24th, Therapeutic program participants went to City Council, led the Pledge of Allegiance, and did a great job. • The Groundbreaking Ceremony at the Cornland School/Historic Village is next Thursday from 11 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. at the Cornland School. Work on the first phase of the Historic Village has already begun and work is scheduled to be completed within 210 days which would hopefully bring us to late spring of 2024. We are on schedule. • PRT submitted our Capital Improvement Budget last week. Next the City Manager’s budget review team will review it, we’ll go back and defend it (in December), they’ll make recommendations and then the City Manager will make his final recommendations to the City Council for further consideration. We already have a 5- year plan, and it is officially funded each year for year 1 by City Council. Some of the things that are new in our CIP request: we have 26 prioritized projects, and projects like the Historical Village and the pool are already fully funded and approved. For the 2025 CIP, we included the Urban Forestry and Tree Canopy Plan that did not get funded last year. It continues to be one of the priorities that City Council discusses, so we put that back in. Until we get some true numbers with the City’s tree inventory, we can’t do an effective full Urban Forestry Plan. We’ve been making a conscious effort to 3  replace trees that have been lost due to disease or other reasons with at least a 1-1 (or 1-2 in most cases) replacement if we can. Our second priority is the replacement of the City Park Fun Forest Playground. It’s our most heavily used playground and hopefully we will get funding for that. For 2026 and later, we put in for design work and Phase II and III of the multi-purpose room/auditorium at the Museum, Phase II and III of Jolliff Landing Park, and Phase II at both Deep Creek Park, and Centerville Park. We’ve done a good job with athletic field lighting, and we have not given up on a stadium or a performing arts venue. As far as the performing arts venue is concerned, we should be getting the consultant’s report soon and will share that after it’s presented to City Council. • Our Operating Budget is due the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. It will be a challenge because we are working with a 97% target and might have to make some hard decisions based on priorities. • Please go see the Conference Center when you get a chance. It really looks good with its new facelift. More work to come! • Mr. Barber went with three staff members to the NRPA (National Recreation and Parks Association) national conference in Dallas in October. Lifeguard staffing at aquatics facilities was a hot topic. A lot of pools nationwide are having to close portions of their pools or reduce availability due to their inability to staff them with fully trained, competent lifeguards. • Youth Basketball Officials – We did not receive a single bid from anyone for basketball officiating. We have over 1,000 kids registered and will find a way to make it happen. • For more information, refer to the Department Report and Park Project Updates. UNFINISHED BUSINESS: • Athletic Rules – The Rules Committee presented their recommendations to the board. Ms. Faivre reviewed them verbally during the meeting and there were no questions. A motion was made by Vice Chair Kelley and seconded by Ms. Stephens that the recommendations made by the committee be accepted as presented. The motion passed unanimously. All items have been, or will be, addressed by Mr. Barber and any rule changes will be posted in the Community Centers for public review and feedback, if any, for 30 days. A big thank you to the committee for volunteering! It is much appreciated. • Officer Elections – Ms. Woodyard from the nominating committee reported that they did not make as much progress as they had hoped and would like more time if possible. Chair Leedom asked if it could be completed within the next week and then forward it to Mr. Barber, Ms. Fuqua, and Chair Leedom. Ms. Woodward said she would do that. That way, any necessary ballots can be prepared by Ms. Fuqua to bring to the December meeting for the election. NEW BUSINESS: 4  • None. HEARING OF BOARD MEMBERS: • Ms. Faivre mentioned that she was part of the women’s division of the Hampton Roads Chamber, and they hosted the candidate forum a few weeks ago. If you’re interested in learning more about the Chesapeake candidates, Google the Chesapeake Candidate Forum. It’s on YouTube. • Ms. Woodyard attended the Arboretum Tree Festival and received a flyer on the Fireside Chat so they drove out to NWRP that night and couldn’t find it even after asking a security guard. Ms. Christiansen said that we need to make sure and post directional signage. • Mr. Williams said that Tidewater Winds has a holiday concert called Winter Winds coming up on December 4th at the Sandler Center for Performing Arts. He has a limited number of complimentary tickets so if you’d like to go, please let him know. Would love to see you there. There is a VIP reception and silent auction before the performance. If you would like to donate something to the silent auction, 100% of the funds go to support their reading and music education program. On November 8th, over 2,000 Chesapeake students are coming to experience Pinocchio with Tidewater Winds, and we’re really excited about all that we have happening. • Chair Leedom brought up the Battle of Great Bridge reenactment on Saturday and Sunday, December 2nd and 3rd, at Battlefield Park South. If you haven’t been, it’s very realistic. Then afterwards, visit the Museum! Ms. Carideo added that at the Museum, there are lectures and exhibits so it’s a great event overall. • Ms. Dixon said that the Chesapeake Community Chorus is singing The Messiah on Friday, November 17th at 7:00 p.m. at Great Bridge Methodist Church. Free concert. They’re still taking singers if anyone is interested. • Mr. Barber added that this is Ms. Christiansen’s last meeting. She’ll be working remotely for a little while. We’re having a little farewell party tomorrow at the River Crest Community Center from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and Mr. Johnson will be presenting a homemade clock to her. Refreshments will be served so please join us if you can. ADJOURNMENT: The meeting was adjourned at 7:50 p.m. NEXT MEETING: The next meeting will be on Thursday, December 7, 2023, at the Dr. Clarence V. Cuffee Community Center, 2019 Windy Road. Minutes submitted by Cori Fuqua, Secretary 5