Parks & Recreation Advisory Board

Parks, Recreation & Leisure Services Advisory Board Meeting Tuesday, June 11, 2024 | 5:00 p.m. | 5th floor City Hall, Canty Conference Room Members: Michelle Griffin, Chair Dr. June Javier, Vice Chair Dr. Irina A. Gorbunova-Ford Katherine G. Dermanis DeRocke Croom Jennifer R. Parker Remi Travis B. Wright Steven L. Raudman Thomas Alston Jr. Opening Business  Welcome, Introduction and Call to Order Attendees: Dr. June Javier, Jennifer Parker, Michelle Griffin, DeRocke Croom Jr., Remi Travis Wright, David McCauley, Nicole Dennis, Alison Eubank, Andrew Gibler Absent: Katherine Dermanis, Steven Raudman, Dr. Irina A. Gorbunova-Ford, Thomas Alston Jr. Director McCauley called the meeting to order at 5:01pm, welcomed the attendees, and advised that a quorum was present.  Approval of May 7, 2024 minutes Director McCauley gave the board members an opportunity to review the minutes from May 7th. Jen made a motion to accept the May minutes as written. Michelle seconded the motion and the minutes were unanimously approved. New Business Hampton BMX Brief Director McCauley introduced Andrew Gibler as the new president of Hampton BMX. Andrew shared that his goal is to explain why Hampton BMX is a vital part of the community as well as the Hampton Parks & Recreation department. He also shared his reasoning as in to why Hampton BMX deserves a place in the Master Plan Update, have an opportunity to grow the Parks, Recreation & Leisure Services 22 Lincoln Street | Hampton, Virginia 23669 program/sports, and increase Hampton’s involvement with the action sports of the BMX community. Hampton BMX is a non-profit organization that is set up at Gosnold Hope Park. They operate and maintain everything regarding the track. They support anywhere from 2-3 events per week in the summer with the Summer Racing League. There are two races and one practice every week. Instructors and coaches are involved in the events and clinics. The youngest rider is 2 years old while the oldest rider is 74 years old. Hampton BMX has maintained as a non-profit since 1979. Currently, there is difficulty finding additional volunteers to help maintain the track effectively and to grow the track into something that is more sustainable, more maintainable, and better for the community. Hampton BMX is in hopes to be part of the Master Plan Update in the capacity of two options such as: • Stay at Gosnold Hope Park and grow the track to the next size with the help of the city potentially looking into grants, sources, or be part of the budget. • Propose a new facility Meeting Rhythm Discussion (Summer Months) Director McCauley began discussion regarding meeting rhythm during the summer months. The proposal to the board is to suspend the meetings scheduled for July and August. Meetings would reconvene in September. A motion was made and seconded to accept the proposal for the next meeting to reconvene on September 10th. Another proposal was made to change the meeting time to 5:30pm. A motion was made and seconded to accept the new meeting start time to 5:30pm. All was in favor. Review Program Proposal Applications Director McCauley introduced Community Center Manager, Nicole Dennis, to discuss program proposals. The organization titled “Through the eyes of color” answered questions that were brought up by the board during the May meeting. However, the organization decided not to move forward with HPRLS. Nicole proceeded with introducing three new program proposals that she will be sharing with the board. The first program titled “RoboFun Hampton” by the Malons Project is a robotic program aimed to promote creativity over criminality. It would be an 8-week program on Saturday’s and their location of interest is North Phoebus Community Center (NPCC). Senior Recreation Professional at NPCC, Larry Vaughn, provided additional insight. He shared that although it is a wonderful program, Saturdays are the least busy at NPCC. Larry would like to speak with the organizer to see if any days during the week would be a better option to hold a larger audience for the program. Larry is open to the program on Saturdays, if it only caters to the children that are Parks, Recreation & Leisure Services 22 Lincoln Street | Hampton, Virginia 23669 already enrolled. A motion was made and seconded to approve the program proposal. All was in favor. The second program proposal is a community resource back to school organized by Senator Locke’s office. They would like to utilize the outdoor track at Northampton Community Center as well as the Virginia Conference Room. Nicole and the board have additional questions pertaining to the program. The third program proposal is the “Stop the Violence Celebrity Softball Extravaganza Outreach”. The organization is interested in holding the program at NPCC for a five-day event. Nicole and the board have additional questions pertaining to the program. Themed Meeting-Master Plan Update Director McCauley introduced Parks Planner, Alison Eubank, to present the Master Plan Update. Alison began the presentation by stating that the Parks Master Plan was adopted in 1997. Updates to the plan began in 2019 which would include an overall five-year update comparing 2019 data with 2024 data. Some of the priorities of the Master Plan Update include the following: • Creating Amazing Spaces • Connectivity • Parks Planning • Communication/Marketing • Addressing Deferred Maintenance A statistically valid survey was completed that represents the community where great feedback was received. The number one request was the enhanced maintenance of parks and facilities. Currently, feedback is being received about Buckroe Beach Playground in terms of replacing the 21-year-old facility. Additional feedback that was received were: • Improved communication about offerings • More lighting • More safety programs • More community events • More hobby/interest programs • Outdoor recreation programs • Enhanced maintenance/amenities • Adventure Parks Parks, Recreation & Leisure Services 22 Lincoln Street | Hampton, Virginia 23669 Overall, the community wants family friendly activities and promote outdoor recreation. Another major component is to ensure that everyone can have access to these programs. Alison also touched on the topic of FY25 where Council approves 2-3 million dollars every year to be used for improvements. This year, money has been allocated to the Senior Center for improvements as well as playgrounds and community centers. Department Update Director McCauley shared the following department updates: • Airris Madden is the new Recreation Administrator • CJ Gajan is the Parks Administrator • Ryan Gregory is the new Special Events Supervisor • Sunny Deming is the Resource Development Manager • Kaylynn Stephens is the new Marketing Outreach Coordinator. Adjourn: Michelle Griffin made a motion to adjourn the meeting. The meeting was adjourned at 6:26p.m. Next Meeting: Tuesday, September 10, 2024 @ 5:30 p.m. 5th Floor City Hall, Canty Conference Room Parks, Recreation & Leisure Services 22 Lincoln Street | Hampton, Virginia 23669