Parks Commission

Parks Commission Meeting Minutes April, 18, 2013 Commissioners Present: Cara Robechek, Emily Boedecker, Aaron Brondyke, Kip Roberts, Lyn Munno Staff Present: Geoff Beyer Meeting Called to Order: 7:33pm 1. International Volunteers for Peace. Geoff announced that the River Rock School will host the International Volunteers for Peace for three weeks in July. It should work very well since the volunteers will spend part of the time working on Blanchard Park, which is so close to the school. Cheryl King Fisher asked if the International volunteers will have the opportunity to see sights in this part of Vermont. Geoff said that he always made sure that the volunteers had an opportunity do fun things including going to swimming holes, hiking, and visiting Morse Farm and Ben and Jerrys. Cheryl King Fisher suggested that she might look into whether some community members could chip in to take them to Circus Smirkus. 2. Approval of Minutes. Cara mentioned that the City Council requested that we put last names in the minutes, so she will change that in the March Minutes. Lyn Munno motioned to approve the March Parks Commission minutes. Emily Boedecker seconded the motion and all approved. 3. Dog Waste Working Group. Lyn Munno gave a summary of the Dog Waste Working Group. The group met April 10th. She reported that the group discussed that there is too much dog waste in the park, and that some of the major concerns are water quality, health concerns and nuisance for children and adults using the park. Lyn mentioned that the group feels strongly that we need some kind of waste disposal system in the park and that the group is researching different bags, waste bins and composters. The group is looking into the cost of these as well as trash removal and will also recommend funding mechanisms to pay for this. The group recognizes that the majority of funding will need to come from the dog walking community. Cheryl King fisher asked whether there are some areas of the park that kids use most, so that we can focus cleaning up those areas. Lyn said the kids explore much of the park, but that the area around the old and new shelters and above the frog pond are most intensively used by the elementary school classes. A member of the public, Ben Huffman, mentioned that people are using the park as a dog bathroom. He feels that people are just driving their dogs up to the park so they can go to the bathroom. The Dog Waste Group will meet again May 1st at 6:00pm at the Community Center. 4. Dog Policy Working Group. Geoff and Kip reported that they just chose a group and they will let folks know if they are in the group in the next couple of days. They tried to form a balanced group. They will hold their first meeting by the next Parks Commission meeting. 5. Cliff Street Property. Ben Huffman reported that their surveyor will put the pin in the cliff street property boundary in early May. 6. Park Caretaker Position. There are four members of the hiring committee: Aaron Brondyke, Geoff Beyer, Cara Robechek and Kip Roberts. They reported that we have received approximately 20 applicants for the Park Caretaker job. Geoff mentioned that they had selected the top 6 based on resumes and were going to call references to select the top 3 or 4 to interview. Lyn and Emily expressed concern about calling references to make the selection before ever talking with the applicants. After discussion, the Commission decided that Geoff would at least do a screening call with all six before inviting the top 3 or 4 candidates for an interview. Interviews are scheduled for May 2nd. The hiring committee will have to make some decisions about who to hire and possible house renovations prior to the next Parks Commission meeting. 7. Proposed Hubbard Park Bike Trail. The Parks Commission will schedule a walk with Brad Watson from the Montpelier Area Mountain Bike Association (MAMBA) in May to walk the proposed Hubbard Park bike trail. Cara Robechek stated that she is concerned about possible conflicts on trails between bikes and other users. Emily Boedecker said that while we would have to be careful we can’t say that one user group can’t use the trails just because the other group of users is already there. Aaron mentioned that he had serious concerns with the proposal to put in a mountain bike trail at North Branch Park but thinks they did an excellent job with bridges and trail construction there. A member of the public, Danis Regal, wondered who would pay for the trails and Kip Roberts responded that MAMBA has a budget to pay for it or to raise grants. Geoff mentioned that there is grant money through the Vermont Rec and Trail Program. John Akielaszek asked that the Parks Commission post a map of the proposed trail so that other members of the public could walk the proposed trails. 8. Emily Boedecker brought up that the corporate cup is on May 16th, the next scheduled parks commission meeting. The Parks Commission agreed to move the May Parks Commission meeting from May 16th to May 23rd to avoid conflicts. Cara will reserve the room and warn the meeting. 9. Blanchard Park: Geoff Beyer reported that they will focus on vegetative management at the top and on the trail down to Wilder Street. They won’t work on the trail down to police station. Geoff will apply for a VYCC enhancement grant for next year. Geoff hopes to put in rustic playground features. Cara Robechek mentioned that the Children’s House preschool might also be interested in use of the park. Cara also asked about posting the boundaries. Geoff said he would look into that and contacting the abutting land owners. 10. Budget: Geoff Beyer will send around budgets and update the Commission in May. Discussed how the commission will budget for changes that need to be made to the house. If the Parks Commission needs to use special funds, then the Commission will need to go to the City Council. Geoff will ask Bill Fraser about this. The bathroom needs fixing and there are serious insulation needs, particularly downstairs. 11. Park Staff Updates: Geoff Beyer announced that he just found out that the Parks Department can have a summer (two month) Americorps position. He will need to hire by June. Two Department of labor trainees just finished up and 1 department of labor trainee is still left. Geoff just put in a grant for another crew of 6 to 8 youths from the Department of Labor for the summer. In total, he will have 40 to 45 people in motion in the parks this summer. Geoff will also need to hire the fall Americorp and VISTA members by June. 12. Visioning: Cara Robechek brought up that she would like the Parks Commission to engage in visioning; she is not interested in relooking at our vision statement wording, but rather proactively looking at whether we are serving all members of the community. The group had some discussion on how to go about this. Realize that don’t have the time to look at this right now, but that the Commission will look into best way of going about this in the fall. In the meantime, Geoff will pass along the visioning document and original will and deed creating the park, and the commissioners can think through how to approach this in the fall Meeting Adjourned: 9:05.