Parks & Recreation

PARKS & RECREATION Lower Level Council Chambers Wednesday, October 11, 2023 6:00 PM MINUTES ROLL CALL Meeting called to order by Megan Scherrman at 6:00 P.M. PRESENT Jason Lang, Jon Scherbring, Megan Scherrman, Matt Monahan, Nathan Huebner, Sarah Goldsmith, Casey Frye ABSENT None APPROVAL OF AGENDA Scherrman asked for review and approval of the agenda. Motion made by Monahan, seconded by Goldsmith. Voting Yea: Lang, Scherbring, Scherrman, Monahan, Huebner, Goldsmith, Frye Motion Carried AGENDA ITEMS 1. Approve Meeting Minutes - September 13, 2023 Scherrman asked for comments or changes and there were none. Motion made by Monahan, seconded by Scherbring. Voting Yea: Lang, Scherbring, Scherrman, Monahan, Huebner, Goldsmith, Frye Motion carried 2. Receive & File Director's Report - September 2023 Scherrman asked for comments or changes and there were none. Motion made by Goldsmith, seconded by Lang. Voting Yea: Lang, Scherbring, Scherrman, Monahan, Huebner, Goldsmith, Frye Motion Carried 3. T-ball for 2024 Huehnergarth verified with the commission that we do not want any children that are 3 years old playing in the t-ball league. All were in agreement with this statement. The child must be 4 years old by May 1st. The commission also agreed that they do not want to add BlastBall as a sport. 340 1st Avenue East, Dyersville, Iowa 52040 • Phone: 563-875-7724 • Fax: 563-875-8238 www.cityofdyersville.com  They would like to coach pitch 3 pitches and then place the ball on the tee if the child is receptive to this. If the child only wants to hit off the tee, that is okay, too. Huehnergarth will rewrite the rules over the winter to include these ideas. The commission voted on this change for the next season. Voting Yea: Lang, Scherbring, Scherrman, Monahan, Huebner, Goldsmith, Frye Motion Carried 4. Soccer Huehnergarth wants to do a survey on Survey Monkey to get feedback from parents on how they thought the soccer season went and suggestions on ways to improve our program. We had 917 kids enrolled in the program this year, which was an increase in kids from last year. We lost a few kids that were in Saturday flag football at Western Dubuque. If we start a flag football league for 1st and 2nd that would play on Mondays, this would allow the kids to play both sports. We did have a comment that Guttenberg kept their girls off the field and only played with the boys, which got rather rough. We may want to implement a rule that a certain amount of girls have to be on the field at all times, since it is considered a Co-Ed league. Huehnergarth thought the scoring was fairly even amongst the teams. Huehnergarth had minimal issues this year. He thought the program ran rather smoothly. They were short a few times on referees for the 1st and 2nd grade teams. We could possibly have a refereeing clinic in February to get more young kids to referee to alleviate this problem. Most parents/coaches liked the way the brackets were set up. 5. Flag Football The last game for flag football is Monday. Huehnergarth has refereed 3 of the 5 games and has seen a lot of improvement in the kids. Huehnergarth likes that kids who don't want to play tackle football can enjoy the sport. We were originally in a league with nearby cities, including Cascade, Anamosa and Monticello; however, the coaches decided to play only town teams. We ended up having 4 teams allowing them to play each team twice. Goldsmith thought it was great! The kids really enjoyed playing against their friends and they didn't have to travel out of town. If we keep the games on Mondays, we may pull some kids from other towns who want to play both soccer and flag football. Huehnergarth would like to add 1st and 2nd grade flag football as well. It was decided not to add 5th and 6th grade teams because they usually go to tackle football at that age. Next year they plan to play Dyersville teams only. An even number of teams would be beneficial. Goldsmith requested that the coaches get a playbook and are directed to where the equipment will be located. This may encourage more parents to be coaches. They need some direction. Scherrman recommended running a mini-camp the first night of practices similar to what Western Dubuque does. They have 8 stations with 8 separate practice drills. Each team goes to each station together to learn the new skills. We may also need to increase the cost on this sport. The NFL shirts alone are $30 each, plus other expenses are involved. 340 1st Avenue East, Dyersville, Iowa 52040 • Phone: 563-875-7724 • Fax: 563-875-8238 www.cityofdyersville.com  6. Commission Member Comments Scherrman asked if there was a way to change the entering and exiting of the Westside parking, possibly having an Exit only and Enter only driveway due to the congestion down at Westside on soccer Saturdays. Huehnergarth informed the commission that a Boy Scout is going to install a Bocce Court for his Eagle Scout project down at Candy Cane Park. This will be dug near the pickle ball courts and will be 70 ft long. It was questioned about renting out balls for the Bocce court, Gaga Pit and Basketball court. It was decided that if balls are left there to be used, they would disappear quickly. You will need to bring your own. Huehnergarth is applying for a grant through Alliant Energy to obtain trees for our parks. He is hoping to obtain 24 trees so if you have an area that you would like to see a tree, please let him know. 7. Set Next Meeting Date for Wednesday, December 13, 2023 at 6:00 P.M. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 6:52 P.M. on a motion made by Goldsmith, seconded by Scherbring. Voting Yea: Lang, Scherbring, Scherrman, Monahan, Huebner, Goldsmith, Frye Motion Carried ____________________________________ October 11, 2023 Sandy Oberbroeckling Date 340 1st Avenue East, Dyersville, Iowa 52040 • Phone: 563-875-7724 • Fax: 563-875-8238 www.cityofdyersville.com