Parks & Recreation Commission

PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION MEETING OCTOBER 7, 2019 ACTIVITY CENTER 12:00 Noon Members in Attendance: B. Combo, J. Forbes, J. Hammon, T. Hersh, M. Hill, K. Hope, B. Lee P. Lloyd, J. LoBuono, C. White, R. Campbell, D. Pennock Members Not In Attendance: W. Johnson, D. Radford, P. Holm CALL TO ORDER – B. COMBO B. Combo called the meeting to order at 12:03. APPROVAL OF MINUTES C. White motioned to approve the July 1st minutes as well as the September 9th minutes. K. Hope seconded. Motion carried. DIRECTOR’S REPORT – (Reported by R. Campbell) R. Campbell reported on the following:  E-Scooters are now running on the river walk. An ordinance for e-scooters is in the works to address safety, speed, etc. This ordinance is expected to go to council in November. There are also plans for signage on the river walk to address safety measures riders should take.  Parks winterizing is under way. It is a two month process.  Heritage Park update. They are still working on design. The October deadline was not met concerning bids. Public works is working on some documents and hopefully it will go to bid in February. He addressed the dirt shortage, and that City Council approved the Pennock property land acquisition.  The Parks Comprehensive Plan. Neelay is ready to review the survey results and will start working on bench mark studies, etc. USER GROUPS Geri Rackow - Christian Co-ed Softball League (via e-mail to the Commissioners)   Their needs have been adequately met. The only they request, would be a permanent restroom near the dugouts or at the very least a porta potty at that location during the entire softball season. Jim Bernard – Ida Racing Association  Jim discussed their plan to donate ten percent of the purse money to Sandy Downs. They intend to raise purse amounts which will be funded by revenue made from the off track betting facility in Boise.  They are looking to do some events here in Idaho Falls which have been successful in Boise.  He believes all the needs at Sandy Downs will be addressed in the Sandy Downs Mater Plan. He thinks that RV hookups and improvement in that regard would be very beneficial.  He advised that Ida Racing can contribute both manually and financially to help with updates in the future.  He also stated that lights on the track would be helpful for the racing schedule during the evenings. Brock Ashbocker & Travis Walker – Snake River Stock Car Association  They handed out a list of improvements that the Stock Car Association has done and funded with their club. The list included numerous improvements that took many volunteer hours, materials, and equipment for the betterment of the park.  Their needs include the following: More help from Parks & Recreation on trash removal, lawn mowing, etc. They request we update the bathrooms which are old metal toilets with no lids. They need more weed control and dust control. Having a well installed would solve the water problem and provide enough access to be able to control the dust all together.  Their evens can bring in 200 to 500 people, but the facilities are not adequate.  Bill Combo recommended that we put Noise Park on the January agenda and recommends we have some solutions by then to address some of these issues. Dustin Pancheri – Motocross  Dustin advised the Commission of his history and dealings with the motocross track at Noise Park. There is not an official organized club at this time, but there are a lot of riders using the track. He offered to volunteer his time to help guide the City on the management of the track and ways to improve safety.  Their needs are dust control (more water) and better bathroom facilities.   It was suggested by some of the commissioners that the motocross community form an organized club to advocate for the track. Elena Manwaring – President of the Idaho Falls Figure Skating Club  She discussed the overcrowding of the ice arena and the desperate need for a second sheet of ice. Particularly a year round sheet of ice. The many user groups in figure skating and hockey are limiting their access to the ice. As a consequence, many Idaho Falls residents are having to drive to Sun Valley or Utah a couple of times a week to get ice time. Tom Hersh – Idaho Falls Golf Community  Tom discussed the irrigation system emergency at Pinecrest and soon at Sand Creek Golf Course. He advised that the golf superintendents are daily battling the failing system and spending fifty hours a week on water line issues. The worry being, that if the Pinecrest irrigation system fails, it will cause a catastrophic financial set-back for the City. Brandon Lee – BYSL  BYSL is the largest soccer group in the community. Their needs are met for outdoor fields but as other user groups continue to grow, their field needs will grow. He expressed the need for lit fields especially for the fall season. There are currently only two lit fields.  He advised that ideally there should be an agreement between the user groups, school districts, and Parks and Recreation to fund a lit turf field that could be used for several user groups including BYSL. The board discussed all the needs and lack of funds to address any of them. Each Commissioner voiced ideas on how the board should move forward to raise funds like building partnerships, raise current prices, etc. It was agreed that the first step will be for the Commissioners to prioritize the many needs to present to the Council. It was also agreed upon to have a phone meeting with Pro’s Consulting and the Commissioners on how other comparable cities have raised funds for facilities. Meeting adjourned at 1:50 p.m. Next meeting will be held November 4, 2019.  Recorded by: Tracy Sessions, Clerk, Parks & Recreation