Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee

City of Marco Island Florida 51 Bald Eagle Drive Marco Island, Florida cityofmarcoisland.com Meeting Minutes - Final Tuesday, November 21, 2023 3:30 PM Community Room Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee Chair: Allyson Richards Vice-Chair: Dolores Siegel Members: Adrian Conner, Lisa Hogan, Doug Kelly, Carlos Portu, David Shagott, City Staff: Daniel Smith, Samantha Malloy, Miguel Carballo, Martha Montgomery, Jill Cartaya Parks and Recreation Advisory Meeting Minutes - Final November 21, 2023 Committee (1) CALL TO ORDER Chair Richards called the meeting to order at 3:30 pm. (2) ROLL CALL Present: 6- Member Conner, Member Kelly, Member Portu, Member Shagott, Vice-Chair Siegel and Chair Richards Absent: 1- Member Hogan (Note: Vice-Chair Siegel participated remotely via telephone and was present at Roll Call) ALSO PRESENT Mike McNees, City Manager Daniel Smith, Director of Community Affairs Samantha Malloy, Manager, Parks, Culture and Recreation Martha Montgomery, Fleets and Facilities Supervisor Heather Reid, Fleets and Facilities Coordinator (3) PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Led by Chair Richards. (4) APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA Chair Richards requested to approve the Agenda. MOTION by Member Portu, seconded by Member Kelly to Approve the Agenda. MOTION CARRIED BY THE FOLLOWING VOICE VOTE: Yes: 5- Member Conner, Member Kelly, Member Portu, Member Shagott and Chair Richards (5) APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES Chair Richards requested to approve the October 17, 2023, Workshop, Minutes. MOTION by Member Shagott to Approve the October 17, 2023, PRAC, Minutes seconded by Member Portu. MOTION CARRIES BY THE FOLLOWING VOICE VOTE: Yes: 5- Member Conner, Member Kelly, Member Portu, Member Shagott and Chair Richards ID 23-3261 PRAC Draft Meeting Minutes for October 17, 2023 (6) OLD BUSINESS Vietnam Sculpture Chair Richards mentioned that Parks and Recreation has received some feedback via emails City of Marco Island Florida Page 1 Parks and Recreation Advisory Meeting Minutes - Final November 21, 2023 Committee and community input. Samantha Malloy, Manager, Parks, Culture and Recreation stated that Parks and Recreation has received some questions regarding the guns in the sculpture, the size of the statue, the look of the soldiers, and location. Parks and Recreation received a lot of support for the idea of a Vietnam Statue. The Community would like more input regarding the statue’s look, size, and location. Lee Rubenstein, Commander of the American Legion, Post 404 on Marco Island, brought two additional Vietnam Vets, Bill Duncan, Navy and Joe Varano, US Army to help with the presentation and any questions. Mr. Rubenstein gave an updated presentation. The change of location was due to the size of the statue. The dimensions of the statue will be 11ft at the base and 10ft tall. The statue will be sitting on a 2-3ft cement base covered with granite, giving it a total of 14ft in height. The design goal of the statue is to be as authentic as possible. Mr. Rubenstein is looking for approval of this project to be able to present it to the Council during their January 2024 meeting. Chair Richards asked why the statue wasn’t included in the original drawings of Veterans Community Park. Mr. Rubenstein replied the statue was in the original plans but never made it to the final drawings. Mike McNees, City Manager, didn’t think anyone in the community would object the idea of a Vietnam Statue/Memorial. There are three questions that need to be answered: How much, What and Where. How much has already been discussed. Where, a new design/drawing of the new location with the statue on it, would be suggested to evaluate if the new location is fitting. What, the community would like to have a more artistic aspirational design. Mr. McNees suggests having more community input. Mr. Bill Duncan, Navy Vietnam Vet, conveyed his feelings regarding the design and meaning of the statue. Member Portu recommended that the community should have an actual imagery of the statue to get feedback on “where and what”. Season is upon us, and this would be a good time to get that feedback. Chair Richards suggested getting an actual imagery of the statue in its new location so that the community can get a better idea of what it will look like and then submit it to the local media and social media. Chair Richards asked Parks and Recreation when a good time would be to start getting feedback from the community. Ms. Malloy suggested starting in January and going through March. Daniel Smith, Director of Community Affairs mentioned at the January PRAC Meeting, the Master Park Plan will be discussed, and this would be a good opportunity to get community feedback. Mr. Rubenstein will bring an actual imagery of the statue at Veterans Community Park to the next PRAC Meeting in December. City of Marco Island Florida Page 2 Parks and Recreation Advisory Meeting Minutes - Final November 21, 2023 Committee Member Portu suggested putting the Vietnam Sculpture/Statue to vote at the February PRAC Meeting after receiving community feedback. Chair Richards recommended to put the Vietnam Sculpture/Statue to vote at the March PRAC Meeting to get enough community feedback. Mr. Smith is concerned about the new location due to any retention areas, storm waters and utility areas. Pickleball conversion for Courts 7 and 8 Member Kelly articulated his concerns regarding the renovations of the Racquet Center Pickleball Courts due to safety concerns with the court sizes. Mr. Kelly met with Chairman Folley and the Co-Founders of the US Open Pickleball Championship, spoke with other pickleball members, reviewed the 2023 USA Pickleball Official Rule Book, and taking in account the limited space, the design of the courts should be re-evaluated to meet Pickleball Court standards. To help with Phase 2 of the expansion, we will be applying for a TDC Grant. If the courts are not conducive to tournaments, TDC may not award the grant. Chair Richards questioned why this idea was not proposed in the beginning. Brent Guillot, RLA, Vice President of Landscape Architecture, Agnoli, Barber and Brundage, Inc joined the PRAC Meeting via Zoom. Mr. Guillot stated that there are 9 existing tennis courts at the site and their dimensions are 60ft x 120ft. Six of the courts will be pickleball courts and when converting from tennis courts to pickleball courts, the play area is 20ft x 44ft and 5ft on the sides and 8 ft on each end. The original plan was to convert to 24 usable pickleball courts. The renovations cannot be built outside of the existing storm water and utilities. Member Kelly is recommending changing the design and eliminating four pickleball courts to make 20 instead of 24. Chair Richards asked would changing the design from 24 courts to 20 be accepted by the community. Member Portu questioned can 20 courts fit. Mr. Guillot stated that is something his firm can look at. By doing a quick crunching of the numbers, to fit four courts 264 linear ft is needed with no access between the courts, as in the original design, and only 260 linear ft is available. Just to accommodate phase 1, only four courts, 4 ft of space would need to found and that is being used for storm water. There are utilities on each side of the central sidewalk and that needs to be maintained for central access. Member Kelly asked if these quick calculations were for the length or width. Mr. Guillot replied this is for the length. Member Kelly inquired about the width. Mr. Guillot stated, there are lights, sidewalks, need to maintain ADA access, and the courts are being raised from their current elevation due to the sidewalk being too low. A buffer is needed. A study can be done with the new design. City of Marco Island Florida Page 3 Parks and Recreation Advisory Meeting Minutes - Final November 21, 2023 Committee Samantha Malloy, Manager, Parks, Culture and Recreation, asked if there would be an additional cost for this new study. Funds were already approved for the original design. No approvals have been made for any additional costs. Member Conner asked can the Engineer present a quick rendition of the new design. Daniel Smith, Director of Community Affairs mentioned that a professional design can only be accepted. The original design has already been approved. Member Portu suggested that Member Kelly, Mr. Guillot and Mr. Smith have a conversation. (7) NEW BUSINESS 2024 PRAC Meeting Schedule ID 23-3262 2024 PRAC Schedule Chair Richards requested an approval for the 2024 PRAC Meeting Schedule. All members approved. Pool table repair and maintenance at Mackle Park Member Kelly mentioned that the pool tables at Mackle Park are in terrible condition. All tables require recovering, bolts missing, cue sticks need repair, two cue balls are incorrect in size and met with Facilities and Facilities. (8) STAFF COMMUNICATIONS ID 23-3263 November/December Staff Report Chairs Richards asked if there were any questions regarding the Staff Report. (9) PUBLIC COMMENT Mr. Lamotte, S. Heathwood Drive, expressed his concern regarding the safety of the pickleball courts. Peter Prodanov, Pickleball Instructor at the Racquet Center, communicated his concern regarding the safety of the pickleball courts, the material used for the courts and shade structures for the courts. (10) NEXT MEETING: CONFIRMATION & ATTENDANCE Next PRAC Meeting to December 12, 2023 at 3:30 pm. Chair Richards confirms attendance for the December 12th, 2023, PRAC Meeting. (11) PROPOSED AGENDA TOPICS FOR NEXT MEETING Vietnam Sculpture Pickleball Courts Pool table repair and maintenance at Mackle Park City of Marco Island Florida Page 4 Parks and Recreation Advisory Meeting Minutes - Final November 21, 2023 Committee (12) OTHER COMMITTEE COMMUNICATIONS None. (13) ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 4:57 pm. City of Marco Island Florida Page 5