Recreation Commission

FREDERICKSBURG RECREATION COMMISSION Minutes of March 19, 2015 The March meeting of the Fredericksburg Recreation Commission was held on Thursday, March 19, 2015 at Maury Commons. The meeting was called to order at approximately 7:02 p.m. Present: Commissioners Dr. Marcus Tepaske, Dr. George Foster, Dr. John Gordon III, Ken Kroko, Gary Olsen and Sharon Null. Absent: James Bailey, Dr. Timothy Duffy and Susan Tyler. Also in attendance: Dr. Robert Antozzi, Tiffany Capehart and Patricia Sparks. I. Approval of Minutes: The minutes of February 19, 2015 were unanimously approved. II. Public Comment: None III. Communications from the Director: The Commissioners reviewed the following reports: Financial Report – February 2015 Sports Report – March 2015 Leisure/Special Events Report – March/April 2015 IV. Noteworthy Dates: The Commissioners reviewed upcoming programs and trips. V. Old Business: A. Pathways – Dr. Antozzi stated that there are not any new updates. The estimated completion date of the VCR trail is April 2015. B. Riverfront Park – Dr. Antozzi stated that The Riverfront Task Force had received four requests for proposals. Interviews are scheduled for early April 2015. C. Park Signs – Tiffany Capehart presented the Commissioners with suggestions regarding the process of developing a Parks and Recreation logo. Last month, the Commissioners agreed to continue developing a park logo for the City’s parks. The Commissioners received an email from Tiffany earlier this month referencing an article about developing a logo from a marketing perspective. The article suggested that the logo be established first before creating the sign. Once the logo is established, then it may be incorporated into the sign. The Commissioners agreed to have Tiffany Capehart develop a proposal and a timeline for moving forward on this project. 1  Tiffany expressed the need to find a common theme from everyone. She also requested feedback from the Commissioners and Parks and Recreation programmers/staff on their thoughts and suggestions concerning the logo. Tiffany suggested conceptualizing what Parks and Recreation is and what we offer to the community today in order to develop the theme to incorporate into the logo. Commissioner Kroko stated that this is a huge process and that we should slow down. We have a new director coming on board and he will want to be part of this decision. Dr. Antozzi stated that this is not a simple process and it will take some time to compile the data and determine a common theme. He also stated that there are two possibilities as far as hiring a new director. Coming from director’s standpoint, if the City hires someone internally, the new director will “hit the ground running”. If the City hires externally, the decision would be of much larger magnitude and would require considerable input from staff and Commissioners. Commissioner Tepaske stated that a final decision, regarding the logo, would not be made until the new director has been hired and had time to be acclimated to the position. Dr. Antozzi suggested that Tiffany draft a proposal establishing a process and include a timeline of September 2015 for developing a Parks and Recreation logo. The Commissioners agreed with Tiffany, and recommended narrowing the logo options to three choices by September 2015. This timeframe will also allow the new director a couple of months to become accustomed to the position. D. Bridge at Alum Spring Park – Commissioner Tepaske stated that he sent a letter to the City Manager, urging City Council to place the Alum Spring Bridge project on the FY 2016 CIP as a “high priority” item. City Council has begun working on the FY 2016 Budget. E. Recreation Commission Volunteer Awards Sub-Committee – Commissioner Foster has reviewed the award categories and is in agreement with Commission Gordon to reduce the number of levels of awards. Commissioner Foster asked exactly what is driving our volunteers in terms of being recognized. Is it getting an award, receiving a towel, a tote or just simply getting together and having dinner and socializing? Commissioner Foster recommended sending out a survey to our volunteers to see what they prefer. Commissioner Foster suggested that we recognize all individuals and/or organizations that have reached the $1,000 tier at the same time, and have their picture taken as a group. Commissioner Gordon stated that stretching out the categories would be more efficient. The Recreation Commission Volunteer Awards discussion will be a topic at the Commission/Staff retreat, which will be held later this year. Tiffany Capehart stated that staff agrees that there is a need for change. Staff members have discussed having something a little more casual at Old Mill Park to recognize and award volunteers. 2 VI. New Business: None VII. Commission Concerns and Topics: Commissioner Olsen thanked everyone for the new tennis signs at Memorial Park and noted that the signs are very nice. Commissioner Olsen asked about the usage of the baseball fields at Snowden Ballpark. Both fields have been destroyed due to the widening of Fall Hill Avenue. Dr. Antozzi stated once the construction is complete, only one field will be available to use. Parks and Recreation will be utilizing the Cal Ripken, Sr. complex. The management contract was updated and signed for the next 15 years. Parks and Recreation is now the owner of the entire complex and is able to use and schedule our programs for any of the facilities. The City is paying $10,000 per year to Mr. Lynch of the Fredericksburg Area Youth Development Organization to maintain the facility. At this time, there are two fields available for play. However, there is a third field that is not yet developed. Mr. Lynch is hoping to construct the third field with Astroturf. Commissioner Gordon thanked Tiffany for the tour of the Parks and Recreation facility. He noticed during his tour that the AARP provided tax aide to seniors but the tax aide personnel had to have mobile hot spots for their laptops due to the lack of Wi-Fi internet in the community center. Wendy Stone has been working with IT to solve this problem. Another meeting is scheduled for early April with IT and Mark Whitley to continue discussing this issue. Dr. Gordon stated Wi-Fi availability is necessary. The meeting adjourned at 8:15 p.m. ________________________ ______________ Dr. Robert K. Antozzi Date Next Regular Meeting April 16, 2015 7:00 p.m. at Maury Commons, Suite 111. 3