Board of Park Commissioners

Board of Park Commissioners Meeting Minutes of October 10, 2022 Call to Order: Mr. Kara called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. followed by the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance. The meeting was held with open to the public and a call-in number for remote public participation. Roll Call: Commissioners in attendance: Mrs. Galka, Mr. Kara, and Mr. Such: Also present: Park Board Secretary Ms. Montes, and Park Director Mrs. Goodpaster. Council Representative Mr. Huddlestun, School Board Representative Mrs. Hillan. Absent: Commissioner Ms. Grabczak Approval of Agenda: Motion by Mr. Kara, seconded by Mr. Such to approve the agenda as presented. All aye, motion carried. (3-0) Approval of Minutes: Motion by Mr. Kara, seconded by Mr. Such to accept the minutes as presented. All aye, motion carried. (3-0) Approval of Register of Claims: There was a question in regards to the Midwestern Electric, LLC. Mrs. Goodpaster stated that the pool needed outside lights for safety reasons. Motion by Mr. Such, second by Mr. Kara to accept the register of claims. All aye, motion carried. (3-0) Correspondence: Nothing Director Report: Mrs. Goodpaster explained that we are still finalizing the layout of the playground. She mentioned that during the conference Julie, Nikki and herself visited a lot of the playgrounds in the area and after experiencing first hand one of the playground structure, she immediately made notes to redesign a few things to best fit our playground structure for safety reasons. The bathroom bid was awarded to Holladay Construction October 5th. We are getting all of contracts in order and then we will get the notice to proceed. Mrs. Goodpaster also added that we have to put a site plan application in for both of the projects for the playground and the bathroom. The application is completed; however she just needs an approval by the board so that she is able to sign the application. Motion by Mr. Such and Seconded by Mr. Kara to allowed Mrs. Goodpaster to sign the application for the bathrooms and playground. All aye, motion carried. (3-0) Lakota is updating our master plan and they plan on being here on our November meeting to give us an update. They are a little bit behind on their original outline and we are looking to get the final plan no later than April. There was a small discussion on having to do another community outreach so that we can get more responses from the community. Canoe Mobile will be out at Jerry Pavese Park this week and the following week teaching the elementary schools all about environmental learning and canoeing. Mrs. Goodpaster announced we partner up with CommuniTree to help increase the green canopy in NW Indiana with planting under 15 trees along the Hobart Bike Path. The event will take place Saturday, October 15th at 9:00am-12:00pm at the Hobart City Ball Park. We will continue to partner up with CommuniTree every year.  The Parks has partnered up with NIRPC and we were able to get funding to install another way finding sign for the bike trail at City Ball Park and a smaller sign showing Hobart downtown. We have also received funding to get a trial counter on the trail. We haven’t received any information yet but will be informing the board with the information once she gets it. Plan Commission Report: Mrs. Galka mentioned to have Mrs. Goodpaster sign off on the paper work for the projects coming up. Mrs. Galka also mentioned that at the plan commission meeting they discussed the dumpster project, playground at the pool and also the festival park bathrooms because the sites plans will be coming to the plan commission and it was determine that it wasn’t necessary to hold a public meeting for those plans. The plans will just be presented to the commission. Common Council Report: Mr. Huddlestun stated that they went through the budget process from 2023 and has been approved. He also mentioned that they are still dealing with the mall issue and haven’t received a final ruling on it. School Board Report: Mrs. Hillan announced that school also passed the 2023 school budget. It is the month of principles and they are recognizing principles and Hobart has some of the finest principles around. They are also recognizing school bus drivers. Bus drivers deal with all the kids and make sure kids are safe and that is a hard job. Mrs. Hillan also mentioned that the school board did have the opportunity to attend the Indiana Association of Public School Superintendents down in Indianapolis last weekend and it was a great experience and very powerful convention. They focused on safety and the importance of keeping the kids safe were ever they are. Old Business: Nothing under Old Business New Business: Dumpster Enclosure Agreement: Mrs. Goodpaster stated that there are three different approvals need for the dumpster enclosure since it does sit on parks property. The dumpster enclosure is behind the old tower and also serviced the old Villa del Sol restaurant and the new Tavern restaurant on the lake. There was a small discussion on all the details of the dumpster enclosure and everyone is on board with the changes and how much better it will look. Three approvals for the dumpster enclosure: 1. Motion by Mrs. Galka, seconded by Kara to approve the RDC to construct a new brick refuse enclosure on park property in place of existing dilapidated wood enclosure and granting permission for staff of the RDC to apply for site plan approval from the Plan Commission for the enclosure. All aye, motion carried (3-0) 2. Motion by Mrs. Galka, seconded by Mr. Kara to approve the license agreement between the City of Hobart, Park Board, Bow, RDC & JR & T Properties, Inc. All aye, motion carried (3-0) 3. Motion by Mrs. Galka, seconded by Mr. Such to approve the license agreement between the City of Hobart, Park Board, Bow, RDC & JR & T Properties, Inc. All aye, motion carried (3-0) Announcements: Erika McCauley 717 Memory Ln. Hobart, In. 46342 came forward to the board and brought to our attention that a new neighbor has created a trail. She stated that the bird sanctuary has been protected by Virginia Curtis many years ago and is part of the master plan. Ericka McCauley would like for Park Department to close the trail that was created and address people not to create any new trails and respect the signage. Mrs. Goodpaster is going to get more information on who is creating the trail and consult with them. Darlene Wilfong 7887 Memory Ln. Hobart, In. 46342 came forward to the boarded and volunteered her time and work to decorate the downtown Hobart City. Mrs. Wilfong wants to see decorations more Martha Stewart or Hallmark looking during the holidays. Mrs. Goodpaster stated that we had had a lot of compliments and people come from different city to take pictures of our displays. Mrs. Goodpaster stated that we cannot make everyone happy and we try our very best to make different themes every year and think outside the box. Adjournment: Motion to adjourn by Mr. Kara, seconded by Mr. Such. All aye, motion carried. (3-0) ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________