Board of Park Commissioners

Board of Park Commissioners Meeting Minutes October 9, 2023 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 open to the public and a call-in number for remote public participation. Roll Call: Commissioners in attendance: Ms. Grabczak, Mr. Kara, and Mr. Such. Also present: Park Board Secretary Ms. Montes and Park Director Mrs. Goodpaster. Absent commissioner Mrs. Galka, Council Representative Mr. Huddlestun and School Board Representative Mrs. Hillan Approval of Agenda: Motion by Mr. Such, seconded by Ms. Grabczak to approve the agenda as presented. All aye, motion carried. (3-0) Approval of Minutes: Motion by Ms. Grabczak, seconded by Mr. Such to accept the October 9, 2023 minutes as presented. All aye, motion carried. (3-0) Approval of Register of Claims: There was a discussion on the invoice for the swing bench on the lakefront. Mrs. Goodpaster explained that it was a swing bench that needed to be fixed and had to match the other benches. Like everything else everything went up in price but in the future we will be looking around for different options. An invoice for a Candlelight Carriage ride deposit of $400 was added to the claims list. Motion by Mr. Such, seconded by Ms. Grabczak to approve the add-on of the $400-dollar Candlelight Carriage ride. All aye, motion carried. (3-0) A motion by Ms. Grabczak, seconded by Mr. Such to approve the register of claims as presented. All aye, motion carried. (3-0) Correspondence: Nothing under correspondence Director Report: Mrs. Goodpaster reported all of our pieces for the new destination park are up and will be installed before the rain comes. Depending on rain, it will start to come together in the next few weeks. The bathrooms are closing up and getting all the finishing touches done. We are hoping to have the bathrooms open for our Halloween event. We will be hosting the senior breakfast again on October 17th. This is something we host twice a year and we enjoy doing. The Halloween event is on October 28th. Staging for the golf cart parade will take place at Brickie Bowl at 2:30 and finish at Festival Park where we will have pumpkins in the park from 3-5 pm. There will be a kid's costume contest, pet costume contest, candy, music, a couple of food vendors, and bounce houses for the kids. The holiday event is coming up right after Thanksgiving. We are moving the location of the tree lighting this year to Festival Park. The downtown location is just too congested and we want to be able to add more things to the holiday event and bring back pictures with Santa, carriage rides, and a couple of vendors.  There was a small discussion on ideas for the downtown in the future. We would love to be able to coordinate with businesses downtown and figure out a way that the State will also allow us to close Main Street since part of downtown is a state highway. Despite that, the big picture for the downtown is to have a taste of Hobart or something to that matter and find unique ways to utilize our lake more. However, we are all in agreement that this is something that Parks cannot take alone, this would require teamwork and effort from businesses itself. Plan Commission Report: Nothing under the Plan Commission Report Common Council Report: Nothing under Common Council School Board Report: Nothing under the School Board Report Old Business: Nothing under old business New Business: Nothing under new business Announcements: There was a small discussion on the appropriation reports. Deb Longer came forward and explained how the budget works for our department. Mrs. Longer expressed that at the end of the year, money is moved around because the budget is based on an estimate. However, the money has to go through an ordinance process with the council and it won't show till a couple of weeks. She also expressed that the budget is an estimate but she does actuals. Mrs. Longer also explained the breakdown of the funds as to where they go in and where they come out of. On our register of claims, we will be adding another item, and the board will know where the money is being pulled from. Mrs. Longer expressed that if there are any more questions or concerns please reach out to her at any time. She will be glad to answer any questions or concerns. Zeta Allen announced that Friends of Robinson are willing to donate the money to buy more life rings around Robinson Lake. They also want to do another kayak raffle and donate the money to the parks department. Adjournment: Motion to adjourn by Mr. Such, seconded by Ms. Grabczak. All aye, motion carried. (3-0) ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________