Coralville Civil Service

Coralville Parks and Recreation Commission Meeting Minutes May 20, 2013 Call to Order Commission Chairperson Fred Fevold called the meeting to order at 7:27 p.m. after group gathered and walked the Community Garden site. Present were Commission Members Eve Casserly, Laurie Goodrich, Marti Mount, David Thayer, and Fevold, Council Member Jill Dodds, and Director of Parks and Recreation, Sherri Proud. Citizen Comments None Approval of Minutes Commission Member Mount made the motion to approve the meeting minutes from April 15, 2013 with the correction of spelling of Sedgwick and moving a paragraph down under Council Report that was out of place. Commission Member Casserly made a motion to approve, Thayer seconded the motion; unanimous approval. th Director’s Report – Proud shared concern that this may be a difficult summer for the Aquatic Center. The 12 Avenue bridge will be closed June 10 – June 25 and again July 29 – August 2 for decking repair. This has the potential for those families to choose to go to the North Liberty Pool instead of having to take a longer detour th th th around. 12 Avenue will be closed again from 5 Street to 7 Street for repairs beginning July 8. There are more options for accessing the pool with this closure so it should not have as big of an impact. The carnival with th the 4 of July festivities will be in residence an extra two days this year, going from a five day stay to a seven day stay in the Aquatic Center parking lot. Council Report Council Member Dodds that the large rain on April 17 has neighboring residents of the Youth Sports Park worried about water run off. One resident had water running into his windows. Preliminary information has several issues at hand. For the resident who had water running into his basement, his builder put windows six feet below where they are allowed on the home. Another factor is that the builder/builders in the area graded into the drainage swale, filling it and not keeping the integrity of the slope to move the water properly away from the properties. Staff is working with builder and residents on the issue and a remedy. Commission Comments Commission Chairperson Fred Fevold No additional comments. Commission Member Thayer Commission Member Thayer inquired as to when connections will be made for those areas that have missing links in the trails or sidewalks and are across City property. Proud shared that in the current year budget, the City has set aside $6,000 for making these connections and that in some cases, it probably won’t stretch far enough. The priority is to make the connections on the years that the sidewalk repairs are done in that section of town. Proud has also posed the question in planning of why when a lot is necessary in a neighborhood for a utility purpose, why the developer is not responsible for building this sidewalk. Proud will continue to inquire about what can be done to write this into a City development requirement. Commission Member Thayer also inquired as to why the theater has no marquee. Proud shared that the current City rules will not allow for a marquee that is electronic and a changeable letter marquee was not considered because of its lack of aesthetics with the building and the staff time intensiveness to change letters. Commission Member Thayer also inquired as to whether we should be doing some programming for people with disabilities. Proud shared that we did try a program that did not run but usually take the approach of integration into existing activities. She will have staff reconsider. Commission Member Eve Casserly Commission Member Casserly inquired as to whether more advertising could be done to promote Divots. Proud shared the current marketing efforts and that despite promotions to get groups in, it is still remains very dependent on good weather for higher attendance numbers.  Casserly suggested reaching out to more groups to take advantage of using the facility. Proud will inquire at the next Food & Beverage meeting if the Marriott has done any of their reach out promotions to area groups in the past couple of months. Commission Member Laurie Goodrich Commission Member Goodrich encouraged members to participate in the Coralville Comprehensive Plan as patrons and facilitators. Commission Member Marti Mount Commission Member Mount inquired as to why there are so many trails closed. Proud reviewed what projects have necessitated closing trails and why. The group toured the Community Gardens and the Iowa River Gazebo and new trail along the flood mitigation improvements. Adjournment Commission Member Goodrich moved to adjourn at 8:50 p.m.; Commission Member Mount seconded the motion; unanimous approval.