Parks & Recreation Board

200 South Hamilton Road City of Gahanna Gahanna, Ohio 43230 Meeting Minutes Parks & Recreation Board Donna Simmons, Chair Chrissy Kaminski, Vice Chair Kevin McGinn, Secretary Sue Horn Eric Miller Jan Ross Ken Shepherd Nichols Butler, Clerk Wednesday, October 12, 2022 7:00 PM Gahanna Senior Center 480 Rocky Fork Blvd. A. CALL MEETING TO ORDER Kaminski, Vice Chair called the October 12, 2022 meeting to order at 7:00pm. The agenda was published on October 7, 2022 B. ROLL CALL Present: 5 - Eric Miller, Kevin McGinn, Chrissy Kaminski, Jan Ross and Ken Shepherd Absent: 1 - Donna Simmons C. APPROVAL OF MINUTES 2022-0295 P&R Board Minutes 09.14.2022 A motion was made by Ross, seconded by Miller, that the Minutes be Approved. The motion carried by the following vote: Yes: 5- Miller, McGinn, Kaminski, Ross and Shepherd Absent: 1- Simmons D. ADDITIONS OR CORRECTIONS TO THE AGENDA Butler requested removal of the Board On Boarding from new business due to the absence of Donna Simmons who wished to speak on it. E. HEARING OF VISITORS Sue Horn, Gahanna Jefferson School Board Member, introduced herself. Sue stated that she was in attendance to see how the Parks and Recreation board operates. Butler states that Horn is anticipated to take the board vacancy of school board appointee that was previously filled by City of Gahanna Page 1 Parks & Recreation Board Meeting Minutes October 12, 2022 Scott Lofton. F. OLD BUSINESS Master Plan Update Ferrell states that the staff had the opportunity to meet with Leon Younger from PROS consulting, and the steering community for the master plan. The first meeting was a summary of the survey results from the statistically valid paper survey that was mailed to residents. The meeting was mostly informational. Ferrell states that the next step will be that PROS consulting will give us their recommendations for handling some of the challenges presented. G. NEW BUSINESS Aquatics 2022 Recap Chris Simmons, Recreation Supervisor of Aquatics, reviewed the 2022 summer aquatics season handouts (attached). Shepherd asked how often swim teams rented and how the fees are structured. Simmons states that the largest rental was the Greater Columbus Swim Team Ohio which rented 5 days a week, 2 times a day. Simmons explained the rental fee is per lane per hour, however it varies for distance of 50 meters vs 25 meters per hour plus an additional $14.00 per hour for a lifeguard fee. Kaminski asked why there was a drop in attendance at Hunters Ridge pool. Ferrell states that it varies each year but believes that with the addition of the splash pad at Gahanna Swimming Pool, there was an increase in membership attendance to the Gahanna Swimming Pool. Miller asked how many days the pools were open this summer. Simmons states that the pools were open 80 days out of the 10 weeks. Mcginn asked if, after the incidents at the pool this summer, if there was a drop in attendance. Simmons states that yes, after the new rules were in place, non-Gahanna resident visits dropped to nearly nothing as non-residents were only able to attend with a member of the pools. Kaminski asked if the rules helped with the problems the staff were seeing. Simmons states that yes as members who previously were upset by the problems were reaching out to say that they had noticed a change, and expressing appreciation. Simmons reviewed the rule changes for the facility that went into effect in City of Gahanna Page 2 Parks & Recreation Board Meeting Minutes October 12, 2022 July of 2022 only allowing non- residents with a member, and only Gahanna residents 16 years and older were able to come without an adult 18 years and over. Residents and Non-Residents were able to purchase a pool membership. Simmons states that for 2023 the rules will be amended. Every person who enters the pools must have a completed profile in RecTrac, the registration software used by the department, with completed liability waiver, and photo in the system, allowing for easy identification. Pool members aged 13 and under, needs to be accompanied by an adult. Non-residents of Gahanna must be 16 years and older, with a member, to enter without an adult 18 years and over, and they must have a completed profile in RecTrac. If the non-resident is 15 years and under, they must be accompanied by a member 18 years and older. Ferrell states that for 2023 membership sales the department is encouraging in person registration for memberships so that photos can be taken of each member at the time of registration. The department will offer evening registration hours at the senior center to allow for those that work to come in the off hours to take their photos and register pre-season. Simmons stated for 2023 the plan is to have the splash pad open May 1, 2023 thru October 2023 pending weather. 2022-0292 2022 Aquatics Summary 2023 Budget Ferrell reviewed the attached operational budget requests for 2023. Ferrell states that this doesn’t include any of the staffing. Ross asked why the 2022 actual revenue is only a four percent increase, but the 2023 expenses are increasing 54 percent. Ferrell states that revenues are set to be conservative and realistic sine the revenue operations are heavily impacted by weather. The expenditures are planned for a full staff and uninterrupted operation. Ferrell states that the department does set goals for partnerships and sponsorships as well. Most of the community events are free to the public so alternative funding is necessary to sustain. The goal for 2022 was $40,000 and are exceeding that with over $50,000 secured. Sheppard asked if staff at the pools are paid on rainy days. Ferrell stated that staff are paid if they are required to be on site. In most cases, poor weather will result in sending staff home. Ross asked if there were any major changes to the 2023 staffing budget. Ferrell stated that the department is requesting for an Arbor Supervisor position to be created. The current model with one Forestry Foreman is not adequate for the need. The Foreman is a working Foreman and is responsible for field City of Gahanna Page 3 Parks & Recreation Board Meeting Minutes October 12, 2022 management, reviewing hazard trees, reviewing development plans, returning community calls and requests, horticulture management and so on. Miller asked why there was such a change in professional development budget. Ferrell states that there was a change in how professional development money is disbursed and it is primarily handled by human resources now, so the funds are held in their budget. 2022-0296 P&R Draft 2023 Budget Board Onboarding Manual tabled until next meeting on November 9, 2022 H. CORRESPONDENCE AND ACTIONS I. DIRECTOR'S REPORT Ferrell states the department went to bid for the Woodside Green Park parking lot replacement project for a second time and received no bids. Ferrell states that during the first round of bids, all the bids were over 50 percent higher than the engineers estimate. That project will now be incorporated into the service departments asphalt maintenance program which should help get the project completed. Ferrell stated that there was significant water loss from the splash pad this summer at the error of the contractor. The contractor was able to repair by the addition of drainage on the outer edge where the water loss was occurring. This did not affect or negatively impact the current play elements. This remedy comes at the cost of the contractor. 2022-0290 Directors Report 10.12.2022 J. COMMITTEE REPORTS i. Bicycle & Trail Advisory Committee (BTAC)- None ii. Gahanna Active Senior Advisory Committee (GASAC)- None iii. Natural Resources Advisory Committee (NRAC)- None K. POLL MEMBERS FOR COMMENT City of Gahanna Page 4 Parks & Recreation Board Meeting Minutes October 12, 2022 i. Gahanna Parks & Recreation Foundation Miller states that the Hops and Vines event was successful. And they had a great turn out for the event. ii. School District Update Sue Horn from the school board, states that the school district has hired around 100 new staff this year. Horn states that the official groundbreaking for the new stadium will be on November 20, 2022 at 4:30 p.m. iii. Veteran's Advisory Committee- None L. ADJOURNMENT City of Gahanna Page 5