Board of Park Commissioners

Board of Park Commissioners Meeting Minutes of March 8, 2021 Call to Order: Mrs. Galka called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. followed by the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance. Roll Call: Commissioners in attendance: Mrs. Galka, Mr. Kara, and Mr. Weinman. Common Council Representative Mr. Huddlestun. School Board Representative Mrs. Hillan. Also present: Park Board Secretary Ms. Montes, and Park Director Mrs. Goodpaster. Absent: Mrs. Sills Approval of Agenda: Motion by Mr. Weinman, seconded by Mr. Kara to approve the agenda as presented. All aye, motion carried. (3-0) Approval of Minutes: Motion by Mr. Kara, seconded by Mr. Weinman to accept the minutes as presented. All aye, motion carried. (3-0) Approval of Register of Claims: Mrs. Goodpaster stated that we got the pressure washer and it is already being used due to some graffiti. She also mentioned that a convection oven was purchased for the food truck at the pool. Motion by Mr. Kara, seconded by Mr. Weinman to accept the register of claims as amended. All aye, motion carried. (3-0) Approval of Bond Claims: Mrs. Goodpaster explained that the invoice for BF&S is for the engineering services performed at the Hobart Pool property. The invoice for Imboden Construction Company is for the rest of the building for the Hobart Pool improvements and retainage. We are just waiting on the lockers to come in; they are in back order due to covid-19. Mrs. Goodpaster stated that the invoice for Champion Recreation Services is the final payment for the installation of the playgrounds. She noted that we had a few minor issues due to the cold and heavy snow we had this year; however Champion Recreation Services came back to do some fixes and are doing a walk through at all the parks to make sure all playgrounds are good to go. Motion by Mr. Kara, seconded by Mr. Weinman to approve the bond proceeds claims list. All aye, motion carried. (3-0) Correspondence: Nothing to report under correspondence Director Report: Mrs. Goodpaster reported that the food trailer was picked up and is now being worked on for small upgrades to get it to where it needs to be. She also reported that we are looking into getting the POS system; it’s the apple square system. This POS system is designed to help with built-in tools for advanced inventory management, sales, and staffing. Mrs. Goodpaster stated that Parks is looking to expand on the City website and we are looking to add our calendar. The current website for the City is Civic Plus. There is a portion that is called Civic Rec. in which it leads to Park Departments. This would help us to expand our options and does all on-line booking for all different rentals as well being able to take payments on-line. Mrs. Goodpaster mentioned that the Park Department is hiring for the season. Applications can be picked up at Parks Department or on-line and must be sixteen years of age. Parks is hiring for concession stand, life guards, landscape maintenance, general maintenance, and watering. Mrs. Goodpaster provided the board with spreadsheets of the Hobart Pool stats from 2017-2019. It is very detailed and it shows all facts which are obtained from analyzing all information expressed in numbers. It also shows what kind of weather of the day we had and what time we closed if closed early. In a good season the Pool is utilize 170 days out the year and capacity is 521. However, people come and go throughout the day and at different times so we never been over capacity. Mrs. Goodpaster also mentioned that the bids went out for the Pool Phase 2 resolution. The bid went out via stormwater board and Walsh Kelly was the only bidder for $338,493.56. There was an in house staff meeting and everyone agreed that they wanted more time to put the final numbers into the resolution. With that said, Mrs. Goodpaster is asking the board to hold a special meeting via zoom and Mrs. Galka can sign off if everyone agrees to the resolution. Park Board agreed to follow up with the special meeting March 24 via zoom @ 9:00 am. Mrs. Goodpaster held a discussion in regards to the slash pad. She informed the board that there have been multiple issues with the splash pad from the time she came in as the Director till now and that the splash pad never fully operated as it should. At the end of last season the vault had issues and small fixes were made to get it up and running for the season. However, the volt this year is giving us more problems. Mrs. Goodpaster provided pictures to the board showing all the troubles to the splash pad along with a $293,000 quote for a solution to the entire splash pad. She stated that we finically do not have that kind of money to fix the splash pad at the moment. Mrs. Goodpaster announced that splash pad will not be open this season but is working with City attorney to come up with a solution to the problem. However, we do have people excited to rent out the pool, and will be hosting the teenage parties once again. Also the pool hours have changed this year. We will open for longer hours; Mondays and Tuesdays will close at 8pm, and Wednesdays through Sunday will close at 6 pm but will open it up to private rentals. Plan Commission Report: Mrs. Galka reported that the Hawk subdivision off of 61st Avenue did get pulmonary final approval, so the first day should start at any time. Common Council Report: Mr. Huddlestun reported that City Hall will reopen to the public in the middle of March and looking forward for things to keep moving along. School Board Report: Mrs. Hillan reported that the School Board complimented the Parks Department for an outstanding job for beautifying the City and looking forward to the spring flowers. The School City also purchased a large property directly south of the Hobart High School. She stated that the purchase was made for future generations and just preparing for growth. Mrs. Hillan also stated that the kids came back to in person school and numbers are increasing at each school and are moving towards being better. Old Business: Nothing to report under old business. New Business: Victor, the Hobart Pop Warner president, approached the board and asked permission to host the mud volleyball this year for July 10th & 11th. There was a layout of the event provided to the board and Mrs. Goodpaster mentioned that there were no problems last year and were easy to work with. All forms, payment and insurance will be turned in to Parks prior to event. Motion by Mr. Kara, seconded by Mr. Weinman to approve the Hobart Pop Warner to host their Mud Volleyball at Hillman Park July 10th and 11th. All aye, motion carried. (3-0) Mrs. Goodpaster stated that at the last meeting the Master Plan was completed and was sent to the board for review in house and would like to set it for public hearing on April 12 for the following meeting. It will go on the City website; hard copies will be at the Parks Department and Clerks Treasure office for viewing. There was a small discussion of the old plan and new plan. Mrs. Goodpaster stated that this plan expired this year. It was something that she took as she came in as the new Parks Director. The goal was to get this master plan completed because it is time to do the next one. The new master plan will be contracted out and she will be working with the City planner to get it all under one plan for the City. We are in 2021 and we need the 2022 to come out before 2022 and get it to the public meetings and plan for the future. Mrs. Goodpaster anticipates 2022 plan will be done before the end of the year. Motion by Mr. Weinman, seconded by Mr. Kara to hold a public hearing regarding the master for April 12 at the regular Park Board meeting. All aye, motion carried. (3-0) Announcements: Ericka McCauley and Darlene Wilfong, addressed the board with their concerns in regards to the bike trail. They shared their concerns from the soil and environmental perspective. A discussion was held in regards to concerns, invasive plants, and habitat/resource conservation. She expressed that these soils are susceptible to erosion if disturbed or overlying vegetation is removed and that HEL soils are excessively susceptible to sheet, rill and gully erosion and have the potential to deposit large amount of sediment into surrounding wetland and water resources. They questioned if the soil study have been done that was requested back in July, has the Park Board been aware that the area is in high erodible land, and why has nothing been done to keep people off the trail? The board didn’t anticipate this type of discussion, so Mrs. Galka asked this discussion to be added to the agenda for the following Park Board meeting so that the staff had the opportunity to do the research needed and come back with answers and have further discussion. Bob Allen a member from the Friends and Robinson Lake addressed the board and thanked Park Board for the new Park Director. They are very happy to work together with Mrs. Goodpaster and are looking forward in making Robinson Lake better. Mrs. Goodpaster mentioned that they reached out to her and discussed plans on where Lake of Robinson wanted to be and the things they want to do to make it happen. They are working on getting a gaming license so they can do more active fundraising which she believes is a great idea. They are both on the same page on what they both anticipate to see Robinson Lake become. Adjournment: Motion to adjourn by Mr. Weinman, seconded by Mr. Kara. All aye, motion carried. 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