Board of Park Commissioners

City of Hobart Board of Park Commissioners Minutes Meeting of February 10, 2014 Call to Order: Mr. Ehrhardt called the meeting to order at 6:04pm, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. The following Commissioners were present: Mrs. Sills, Mrs. Liss, and Mr. Ehrhardt. Also present were the Council Representative Mr. Maggio, Park Superintendent Mr. Mitchell, and Park Board Secretary Julie Mandon. The School Board Representative Mr. Rogers and Mr. Mendoza were absent. Approval of Agenda: Mrs. Sills made a motion to approve the agenda as presented, seconded by Mrs. Liss. All aye, motion carried. (3-0) Approval of Minutes: Mrs. Sills motions to approve the minutes from January as presented, seconded by Mrs. Liss. All aye, motion carried. (3-0) Approval of Register of Claims: Mr. Mitchell adds that he has two large bills that were not on the claims list that he would like to explain. The first one was from FJM Auto for $904.06 to fix the 4wheel drive on his truck, which is also one of the plow trucks. The second bill is for improvements to the bobcat equipment including a snow plow, windows, door, and a heater. Mr. Mitchell explains that this is simply an estimate from Ronson Equipment and we have not purchased it yet, just waiting to have it approved. Mrs. Sills made a motion to accept the register of claims for January as presented, seconded by Mrs. Liss. All aye, motion carried. (3-0) Correspondence: None Superintendent’s Report: Mr. Mitchell reported that the parks employees were still busy doing snow clean up. He stated that they did at least 75 hours of overtime snow removal from this big storm and they did a great job. The employees are working hard on cleaning up the large piles of snow in between storms. Mr. Mitchell stated that there will be spring improvements to Robinson Lake and also to Veterans Park electricity. The Hobart Pool season passes are now available with the pool opening June 7th. Mr. Mitchell explained that the 10x10 Community Garden plots are now for sale at $25 a space, and they will be ready for planting May 5th. The office is currently getting the Summer Market organized, which will begin June 5th with 5 Movies in the Park beginning June 13th. Mr. Mitchell explained that the Parks Department will now take over the Thursday night concerts in the bandshell as well. There is a new event that will be occurring on September 20th called Brews and Blues Fest which will be a brew festival with entertainment at Festival Park. Mr. Mitchell discussed the opportunity to acquire 2 new 2014 Dodge trucks through a lease to own program that other departments in the city are also taking advantage of. This would consist of paying $22,634 for each truck but spreading that out over a 4 year time period. Mr. Mitchell stated that the budget can handle these new trucks and will still allow the Parks Department to upgrade some of the older trucks with used ones in the spring. This opportunity needs the Park Board’s approval to go on with the lease to own program. Mr. Ehrhardt questions what other upgrades the new trucks will need for plowing and Mr. Mitchell explained that he will have to purchase new racks for the new trucks but the current plow blades will be interchangeable on all trucks. Mr. Mitchell stated that he never thought he would see the Parks Department acquiring new vehicles and it is a very exciting thing. Mr. Ehrhardt states that this sounds like an outstanding deal. Mrs. Sills motions to give permission to go ahead with the lease to buy program and Mrs. Liss seconds. Motion carries, all aye. (3-0) Plan Commission Report: None - Mr. Mendoza was absent. Council Report: Mr. Maggio stated that he appreciates the snow removal effort by the park department and the city. Mrs. Sills questioned who is responsible for the snow removal in front of downtown businesses. Mr. Mitchell stated that the businesses are responsible for their own frontage and Parks Department is responsible for the common areas and crosswalks. School Board Report: None - Mr. Rogers was absent. Old Business: None New Business: Hobart Jaycees representatives Tiffany Nobles and Bill Petri were present to discuss their upcoming events. Tiffany Nobles stated that the Mud Volleyball Tournament was scheduled for August 2nd & August 3rd this year. This is their 6th year and they went from 20 teams to up around 73 teams last year. All proceeds are donated to children’s organizations. Mrs. Liss asked if there were any complaints or problems last year and Tiffany Nobles said that there were not but there was an issue the year before with weather and a very muddy parking lot. Mr. Mitchell stated that the issues have been addressed and they have plans in place for anything that comes up. Tiffany Nobles next stated that the Jaycees are looking to move their festival from the Strack’s parking lot to the Rugby Field this year. They are trying to make it more family oriented with a possible carnival. They are also looking to shorten the festival dates to only 4 days from June 26th – June 29th. Mr. Ehrhardt questions if parking will be an issue and Mr. Mitchell said that it should not be, they actually have more room in the Rugby field than in Strack’s parking lot with the way they are setting up. Mr. Ehrhardt also requests that Jaycees present a copy of insurance as soon as possible to Mr. Mitchell and he can pass it along to the board at next month’s meeting. Mrs. Sills motions to approve the dates and events. Mrs. Liss seconds, motion carries all aye. (3-0) Announcements: None Adjournment: Mrs. Sills made a motion to adjourn, seconded by Mrs. Liss. All aye, motion carried. (3-0) The meeting adjourned at 6:50pm. ________________________________________ ________________________________________ ________________________________________ ________________________________________