Coralville Civil Service

City of Coralville Parks & Recreation Commission Meeting July 15, 2024 Staff: Sherri Proud Location: Coralville Rec Center Guests: None Item 1: Meeting to order at 7:06 PM Roll Call Present: Tawil, Gissendanner, Graham, Councilmember Vogelzang Item 2: Citizen Comments No citizens present, but Jenn Coleman, City’s Communication Specialist, shared that the City received several comments of gratitude that the City recognized Pride Week and worked with Iowa City Pride for hosting a couple of events in Coralville. Item 3: Discussion of West Land Use Park Master Plan Discussed details and logistics of West Land Use Park. Discussion led by Proud paired with a review of plan sets prepared by Confluence. Talked about access as well as features of lawn space for activity, nature center, area for goat management near barn, potential for school groups with bus parking, deck overlooking woodlands, nature playscape. Project funding has not been acquired yet. This master plan has a lot of potential for different sources of funding such as storm water management, eco restoration, DNR, Resource Enhancement and Protection grant, etc. The investment in good mapping has been a key to success for grant receipt in the past. Master plan group discussed not having this building be a rentable facility; the intent is education and nature conservation. At 120 acres this would be our largest park next to Brown Deer Golf Club (174 acres). Tawil served on this master planning committee. Commission voted to approve West Land Use Park Master Plan and have it move forward to City Council for approval at the August 13 Council Meeting. Motion: Graham Second: Gissendanner Item 4: Approval of Minutes Commission voted to approve May 2024 meeting minutes. Motion: Graham Second: Gissendanner Item 5: Discussion of Rec Center and Indoor Pool Master Plan Sought a great deal of community input to inform the planning process. Over 60 people were invited to give individual input on the Community Visioning team; surveyed community members; surveyed schools as well as school swim programs, and held two open houses for community feedback. Discuss and talk through of renderings from Neumann Monson Architects led by Proud. Plans reflect two build options. One is a new 2-story building that sits east of the current Rec Center. Would include both leisure and competition swim centers. There would be a viewing area over the competition pool. Walking track (3-lane) around the 3 gyms. Fitness studios. Exercise equipment on the 2nd floor. Check-in desk & lounge space on 1st floor. 3 gymnasiums with individual stairs so you’re not having to walk through anyone’s game in progress. Turf room that can be batting cages/wrestling mats/kids play area (good for birthday parties, tot time, etc.). Belay climbing wall. Community space room (programming; e-sports lounge; etc.). Changing rooms off of pool in addition to larger locker rooms. Wet classroom off of pool (uses could include pool birthday parties; lifeguarding classes; scuba; etc.). Lots of outdoor potential $50- 55M total estimate for new build. Second option is a renovation of and addition to the existing Rec Center structure. $52.-56.2M total estimate for renovation & addition plan. All of the amenities that were discussed above would be worked into the renovation but may not be all together. For example, three gyms would be provided but it would be one gym in one location and two in another location. The track would be around the two new gymnasiums. Gissendanner commented that he was happy to see input from community meetings brought into these master plans. Commission voted to approve moving the master plans forward to City Council. Staff is proposing to have City Council adopt the master plans as the considerations we’re moving forward with at the August 13 Council Meeting. Motion: Gissendanner Second: Graham Item 6: City Council Report Councilmember Vogelzang extended thanks to everyone involved with Coralville 4th Fest. Clear Creek Greenbelt benches plan looked great. Council approved moving forward with West Village development. Things are going well at Council. In the process of screening applicants for new police chief. There will be an opportunity in early August for the community to meet and greet candidates. Item 6: Director Report Parks & Rec got multiple grants to order benches from Canvus which recycles old wind turbines and create large (6-8ft) benches. These benches can be painted akin to the Herky on Parade. Proud reported about $13k fundraising left to go for the artist funding. Upcycle Throwdown was a success. Eight teams worked Thursday through Sunday with auction. Dwell and Muir Family donated prizes to be raffled off. All money went to Houses into Homes and Parks & Rec Youth Scholarships. The awareness opportunity was huge to promote the need for scholarships (anywhere from $11-$13K Parks & Rec needs incoming). Staff are looking forward to continuing this event into the future. For the Clear Creek Stream Mitigation Bank, PCI has finished up Reach 3 and Becky’s Creek and has moved over to Reach 1. Altmaier Family Park has now reopened. Becky’s Creek has some work that Hardscapes Solution can’t finish until it dries out so the Coralville Flow Trails remain closed until this work has been completed. Clear Creek Mitigation is working the way it’s supposed to; with all of the rain/flash floods there was some worry, but it’s been successful to date. 5th Street Social is coming up on Saturday August, 10th! Aiming for 6K people to attend. Proud riding RAGBRAI next week. Item 7: Commission Comments Graham - Reiterated attendance, volunteering, and community representation is important for all Commission members. Gissendanner - Participated in 4th Fest with his employer, Riverside Casino and it was fantastic to see the community come out in support. Is looking forward to the 5th Street Social. Tawil - Hope the Upcyle Throwdown continues. Tawil’s son attends Parks & Rec summer camp and she’s been so impressed by how well organized it is! Item 8: Adjourn Meeting adjourned at 8:28pm. Note: Bylaws don’t have a meeting in August unless there’s something we need to discuss. Next meeting dates are: ● September 16 (Likely start earlier time for a tour) ● October 21 ● November 18 ● December 16