Parks and Recreation Commission

Parks & Recreation Commission Tuesday, October 3, 2024 Cornelius Town Hall 5:30 – 7 p.m. www.cornelius.org/pr MINUTES 1) Call to Order Chair Kolkhorst called the meeting to order at 5:43 p.m. 2) Determination of Quorum A quorum was reached with seven commissioners in attendance. Commissioners present: Carla Eustache, Trey Fouche, Jill Rotunda, Jon Show, Chair Chris Kolkhorst, Robert Reed, Andrew Heywood (via phone), and Town Commissioner Todd Sansbury Commissioners absent: Jana Ritter and Travis Dancy Staff present: Director Troy Fitzsimmons, Assistant Director Adam Abernathy, and Executive Assistant Karen Ulmer 3) Public Appearances – Citizen Concerns/Comments None 4) Approval of Minutes (September) a) September 2024 Draft Minutes Commissioner Fouche made a motion to approve the minutes from the September 5, 2024, meeting as written. Commissioner Show seconded, and the motion passed unanimously. 5) Director’s Report a) September 2024 Director’s Report Director Fitzsimmons shared a presentation highlighting items from his September 2024 report. 6) Parks & Recreation Commissioner Recommendations & Reports a) Items to be placed on record b) Commissioner Reports 1) Commissioner Carla Eustache • She attended the Cornelius Festival of Cultures and liked that there were more vendors and a different setup. She worked at the Park Bonds education tent there. • She attended the All American Dog Show and worked at the Park Bonds education tent there. • She attended a Strategic Planning and Long-Range Finance committee meeting to discuss the FY26 CIP projects. 2) Vice-Chair Trey Fouche • He stopped by the public meeting for the new playground at Legion Park, and it was good to see that a lot of people were walking in, so nearby residents. He really appreciates that staff listened to the community and adjusted the project plans based on that input. • He works in the parks and rec field, and his territory includes western NC which was so heavily impacted by Hurricane Helene. One takeaway has been that stormwater projects work well when they are done well. We need to be mindful of this as we work on our projects. 3) Commissioner Jill Rotunda • She attended the 9/11 Remembrance Ceremony with her daughters. It was good, though they missed the speaker who had been there regularly at past ceremonies. • She attended a 2nd Friday Street Festival, which is always fun.  4) Commissioner Jon Show • He attended the All American Dog Show. The events that we put on are at such a higher degree of quality than they were 3-5 years ago. They look and feel like they are being put on by a professional organization. • He asked about damaged areas of the synthetic turf field at Bailey Road Park. Assistant Director Abernathy said we are working on it with our provider, but it has been difficult. 5) Chair Chris Kolkhorst • He attended a Strategic Planning and Long-Range Finance committee meeting to discuss the FY26 CIP projects. • He worked at the Park Bonds tent at the Tawba Walk. They talked to a bunch of people. It seemed that about 90% of it was educating people who didn’t know about the bonds, 6-7% was talking to people who just wanted to chat, and the remaining 3-4% was people definitely planning to vote no. • He worked at the Park Bonds tent at the All American Dog Show. He felt the volume was lower but it seemed that they made contact with a higher percentage of the attendees because of where the tent was located. There was a higher percentage of Cornelius residents, also. • He joined Director Fitzsimmons and Mayor Washam for a radio interview regarding the park bonds on WSIC. 6) Commissioner Robert Reed • He worked at the Park Bonds tent at the Cornelius Festival of Cultures, attending that event for the first time; there were so many people there from out of town. He said there were only one or two people who did not want to hear what we had to say. • The Lake Norman Chamber’s Annual Business Expo is Tuesday, October 8, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. at the Huntersville Recreation Center. Director Fitzsimmons said we will be there to educate on bonds. • He is glad to see there may be martial arts camps added to our offerings next summer. 7) Commissioner Andrew Heywood • He worked at the Park Bonds tent at the Cornelius Festival of Cultures. There was a reasonably good turnout, and he agreed with others’ sentiments about reactions to the park bonds. Spreading awareness is important. • He also worked at the Park Bonds tent at the Tawba Walk. He really enjoyed the event itself, though his family missed seeing the petting zoo there as in past versions of the event. He experienced the same reactions as others have mentioned from the public regarding the bonds. 8) Commissioner Jana Ritter – Absent 9) Commissioner Travis Dancy – Absent c) Town Commissioner Report – Commissioner Todd Sansbury • Last year’s financial cycle did not raise taxes and yet the Town is projected to add about $3 million to our budget. That result may bode well for the bonds. 7) Old Business a) 2024 Park Bonds Referendum: Educational Campaign Update Director Fitzsimmons shared a presentation highlighting the status of our park bonds education efforts. b) Parks & Recreation Commission Goals & Committees No additional reports 8) New Business a) FY26 CIP Presentation Director Fitzsimmons said we are bringing a preliminary draft of the Capital Improvements Plan (CIP) this evening, and then will solicit feedback for a final draft at the November meeting. Assistant Director Abernathy shared a presentation detailing the suggested projects and capital expenditures, and highlighting those items suggested for FY26. Items that are highlighted in green are for the current fiscal year, and those highlighted in dark blue are new to the CIP. Commissioner Fouche added that the Strategic Planning and Long-Range Finance committee met recently to review this draft plan and agreed to move it forward to the full commission. 9) Adjournment Chair Kolkhorst adjourned the meeting at 7:14 p.m. Next PRC Meeting – Thursday, November 7, 2024 Future PRC Meetings – Thursdays: December 5, 2024, and January 2 and February 6, 2025 Next Town Board Meetings – Mondays, October 7 and 21, 2024