Parks & Recreation Commission

PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION MEETING SEPTEMBER 9, 2019 ACTIVITY CENTER 12:00 Noon Members in Attendance: B. Combo, J. Freeman, P. Lloyd, K. Hope, C. Horsley, J. Forbes, W. Johnson, P. Holm, M. Hill, R. Campbell Members Not In Attendance: B. Lee, T. Hersh, C. White, J. Hammon, J. LoBuono, D. Radford CALL TO ORDER – B. COMBO B. Combo called the meeting to order at 12:05. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Minutes were tabled as there was not a quorum. DIRECTOR’S REPORT – P. HOLM P. Holm reported on the following:  P. Holm advised that we would be hearing from several user group spokespersons regarding their Parks and Recreation needs going forward. USER GROUP/PUBLIC COMMENTS  Nate Ralston with the Idaho Falls Lacrosse Club introduced himself. He discussed their needs to maintain and secure fields. They need to secure some fields at any location. They currently do not have any permanent locations and thus are unable to grow their sport. They would be willing to partner with the city to help maintain the turf by planting seeds, painting lines, etc. They currently have two clubs for Idaho Falls and Hillcrest. They currently use three fields at Taylorview and a couple fields at Eagle rock, but have had a tenuous relationship with the school district. They would be thrilled if they could have four permanent fields for their spring and fall seasons.  Marvin Jackman, Vice President of the Idaho Falls Youth Hockey Association introduced himself. He discussed the downfall of only having one sheet of ice. He advised it is impacting adult hockey, youth hockey, figure skating, and the Parks & Recreation Departments ability to schedule public skate times. It is also impacting the ability to grow the sport. They are having to use the ice at irregular hours; i.e., at 5:30 A.M. and  after 10:00 P.M. at night. They stressed the need to keep kids busy with sports, yet not having enough ice negatively affects their ability to host tournaments and camps.  Cody Nolan, President of the adult hockey league introduced himself. He advised that having only one sheet of ice limits their ability to schedule tournaments. He also stated their registration is limited because many people are unable to attend their practice times which are scheduled after ten o’clock at night due to the busy arena schedule. He discussed how Bozeman, Montana was able to raise funds over a four year period to fund a second sheet of ice. He also talked about the need for showers in the locker rooms, better internet at the arena, and the need to have somewhere to store their equipment.  Rogue Stierle with Idaho Select Baseball introduced himself. He discussed the need for more fields with lights and 60/90 fields with lights. They struggle for fields as they are competing with adult softball. All of the fields in town are usually booked, and he said we have the worst maintained fields in the state. He advised their league has an average of 1700 participants aged 8 years to 14 years. They have two seasons a year and use thirty fields around town per night. Their group is willing to participate in raising funds. Ideally, Idaho Falls should have a twenty acre quad complex.  Kyler Hope, host of several annual adult softball tournaments discussed how Idaho Falls only has eight softball fields, and because of this, tournament size is impacted as there is not enough fields to host all the teams who would like to play. They also use Bonneville and Iona fields, but still have to turn teams away.  Chris Horsley, representative for the Cal Ripken league, discussed how the City of Idaho Falls took over this league last year. They had approximately five hundred participants this last season. Lighted fields are much needed. A sports complex in one location would be ideal from an organizational standpoint.  Laurie Griffel with the Idaho Falls Adult Tennis League introduced herself. She advised that the league is growing yearly (They had 1100 league registrations this year), but they are struggling with the lack of tennis courts. The Tautphaus and Skyline courts are unusable for tournament events at this time because of court surface cracks. There are not enough courts in Idaho Falls to host area tournaments. She suggested we maintain our current locations and look for grants to build more courts.  Christine Dustin, head coach of the Voltage swim team and Skyline swim team, introduced herself. She discussed the aquatic center not being user friendly for tournaments. Idaho Falls is unable to host area tournaments due to the structure of our facility and lack of lanes or deck space. She said we need to build a pool that will satisfy all the user groups in town. A pool with two bodies of water and a minimum of eight lanes, more deck space and a need for aquatic “fun” areas like a splash pad, lazy river, pool for tots, etc. The maintenance problems at our current facility are abundant. There is concern that the school teams and clubs are not allowed adequate practice time due to the lack of time available at the overly scheduled pool.  Rhonda Newman, manager of the Aquatic Center introduced herself. She discussed the importance of children learning how to swim, and she pointed out water hazards in our area such as the canals and the river. She advised how we desperately need more space, more lanes, a second body of water, and a splash pad. The aquatic center situation at this time is critical. A flyer was passed around showing photos of the many maintenance problems and deterioration at the facility. The air quality, water temperature situation, corrosion, rusting, and a host of other problems are alarming.  Jimmy Hancock with the adult flag football league introduced himself. His league currently plays at Tautphaus Park in the field next to the ice arena. Lighting there is a problem. They also need new field goal posts. They have 150 participants for their spring and fall leagues. They are unable to use the area school fields because the school district charges too much.  Debbie Wilson, the president of a non-profit organization Staarc Corporation, introduced herself. Their organization is looking to work with the City of Idaho Falls to build a multi-generational community center. She explained how her group operates and their hopes to partner with the city to look at different ways a facility could be developed.  Jeff Forbes representing Idaho Falls Community Pathways discussed that we need to focus on completing the ten projects for the Connecting Our Community Plan. He reminded the board of the large percentage of citizens who completed the survey last spring supported more trails and pathways. The next project is the Idaho Canal project. PJ advised funding will be available for the construction of this project. The Heritage Park pathway project and the University pathway project were also discussed. Meeting adjourned at 2:20 p.m. Next meeting will be held October 7, 2019. Recorded by: Tracy Sessions, Clerk, Parks & Recreation