Health, Recreation & Events Committee

TOWN OF MOUNT PLEASANT, SOUTH CAROLINA RECREATION COMMITTEE Monday, December 4, 2017 Municipal Complex, Committee Meeting Room, 3rd Floor 100 Ann Edwards Lane Mount Pleasant, SC 29464 Minutes Members Present: Gary Santos, Chair; Tom O’Rourke, G. M. Whitley Staff Present: Eric DeMoura, Steve Gergick Mr. Santos called the meeting to order at 8:30 a.m. 1. Approval of Minutes from the October 2, 2017 meeting Mr. O’Rourke made a motion to approve the October 2, 2017 minutes. Ms. Whitley seconded the motion. All were in favor. 2. Public Comments Mr. Will Haynie, 316 Mallard Court, Mount Pleasant was recognized and said this was a great Recreation Committee. Ms. Mary Kennerty, 1457 Appling Drive, Mount Pleasant was recognized. She said she was a pickle ball organizer and had spoken with Councilman Owens about how the sport was progressing. She said Mr. Gergick and the Recreation Department were on task with what was planned for pickle ball areas. She said it was a leisure sport that, so many people can get involved in it. She said they had 4,000 individual uses of the Mount Pleasant Recreation facilities in a year for pickle ball and believes it will double. She said some of the facilities need repair and that space is limited. She said there is a need for four courts in the 29464 area as that is where most of the players are and asked that they consider that. 3. Employee years of service recognition  Recreation Committee December 4, 2017 Page 2 of 9 Mr. Gergick said Ms. Karen Washington was to be recognized but she was not able to be there. Mr. O’Rourke asked what she her job was. Mr. Gergick said she was a Front Desk Clerk at the Jones Center and had been there for ten years, knows people by name, and does a great job. Mr. Santos agreed and said that every time he visits the Jones Center or calls there Ms. Washington is very pleasant and nice as is all the staff. 4. Request to direct staff to develop the idea of placing pickle ball courts and spillover parking over the retention ponds at the Senior Center Mr. Santos said he had been speaking about pickle ball with Councilman Jim Owens. Mr. Jim Owens said they are looking forward to great things in the future with the Recreation Committee. He said Ms. Kennerty had touched on several issues with regard to pickle ball. He said that pickle ball is an up and coming sport for the young at heart. Mr. Owens shared an information sheet with the Committee on the dimensions of pickle ball courts and the underground detention. He said they currently have some dry ponds at the Senior Center. He said they would like staff to determine if the ponds could be filled by using underground detention and building on top for spillover parking and for pickle ball courts. He said it will take time and he thought staff would give some information at the retreat in January with the numbers and cost and they could finalize what could be completed at the Senior Center. He said it is a great way to have one or two pickle ball courts at the Senior Center to incorporate seniors to improve their quality of life. He said this was an important aspect not only the pickle ball courts and quality of life but also some spillover parking which is needed there. He said in speaking with Mr. Gergick he has offered some courts at Whipple Road and offered some assistance at the Miriam Brown. Mr. Owens said he would request that the Committee entertain getting staff to determine the cost and whether it is feasible to promote pickle ball and the spillover parking at the Senior Center.  Recreation Committee December 4, 2017 Page 3 of 9 Mr. Gergick said Mike McCormick and Associates was the design team for the Senior Center previously and had spoken with them as they are familiar with the area. He said for $3,500 McCormick and Associates could task someone to determine the cost for such a project to evaluate its feasibility and if it is something the Committee wants to pursue. He said they had also talked about Whipple Road where courts could possibly be constructed. He said Mount Pleasant Recreation Department (MPRD) has provided four courts at the Miriam Brown Community Center and that MPRD would coordinate with those using the courts to get a key for them to use restroom facilities in the building. Mr. Gergick said they do have eight courts at Park West. He said they are planning to put lines down for three indoor courts at the Jones Center. Mr. O’Rourke asked about anyone being misplaced that are currently using some of the facilities with some of the planned retrofits. Mr. Gergick answered in the negative. He said they had been using the courts at Miriam Brown for two years as they generally play in the morning hours. He said it had not been a problem with the tennis courts at Park West. He said at Whipple Road they would like to see the feasibility of putting in stand-alone courts and not retrofitting tennis courts. Mr. O’Rourke asked how often the baseball field was used at Whipple Road. Mr. Gergick answered that it was used very often. He said they have a plan for future expansion of the tennis center once they can replace the baseball field with a field at Carolina Park when it is completed. Mr. O’Rourke said pickle ball has exploded and will continue to do so. He said the only thing that will stop it from expanding is the number of facilities to play on. He said he was not against it but felt Mike McCormick and Associates will come back with a high price. He said he wondered if they are being short sighted in putting two courts in one place instead of looking at pickle ball’s expansion over the next 10-15 years and geographically space things throughout the community that will not have to be shared. He said Ms. Kennerty mentioned that pickle ball does not  Recreation Committee December 4, 2017 Page 4 of 9 make any revenue, but he said it could. He said that it cannot with just two courts and no parking. He said when they choose to use money to pay for something they should think about how they are going to sustain it financially. He said he had been to a lot of places that have it and it is growing. He said pickle ball participants are similar to soccer participants as they will travel. He said seniors traveling for play contribute monetarily. He said, he is the Chair of the Finance Committee, and it is important when they appropriate money that they do it within a system that will bring it to budget, prioritize all capital needs, and then make that decision. He said he is not against this, but it needs to go through the process of the budget. Mr. Santos said he wanted to make sure they are not going to put pickle ball courts on top of the ones at Whipple Road because of all the seniors that play tennis there. Mr. Gergick said that MPRD’s support of pickle ball will also include expanding into pickle ball programming and not just the facilities that they provide. He said they have a tournament they are scheduling for the spring and having it has an adult sport as they do with softball and basketball. He said pickle ball is primarily seen as an activity for seniors, but children play as well. Mr. Gergick said it was part of the Rifle Range project on the Master Plan. Mr. DeMoura said it is a capital project as such it would considered by Council at the annual retreat in January. He said on a positive recommendation of the Committee they could proceed at the staff level and produce the information sufficient enough for them to consider it. Mr. O’Rourke said he hoped at the retreat they can speak on many capital needs for Recreation because there are other users in the community that think they are underserved in field usage also. He said that the discussion at the retreat could be Recreation capital needs as opposed to only pickle ball needs. Ms. Whitley moved to request to direct staff to develop the idea of placing pickle ball courts and spillover parking over the retention ponds at the Senior Center. Mr. O’Rourke seconded the motion. All were in favor.  Recreation Committee December 4, 2017 Page 5 of 9 Mr. Santos said this item should be placed on the annual retreat agenda. Mr. O’Rourke asked if the motion meant they were hiring Michael McCormick as an extension of his previous contracts. Mr. Gergick said it would not be extension of it, they would have to bid it out, or get justification for sole source. Mr. DeMoura said he had prior information on the facility. Mr. O’Rourke asked if that would come the Recreation budget. Mr. DeMoura answered in the affirmative. He said it was operational budget money to support the development of the project. Mr. O’Rourke said he was glad they were doing it because they are going to want the number when they start talking. 5. Discussion on the status of the Dog Park at Park West Recreation Complex Mr. Bob Brimmer, 2380 Parsonage Woods Lane, Mount Pleasant was recognized. He said he asked for this to be put on the agenda as there was a lot of constituent inquiries. He said there have been three areas of Town considered as dog parks. He said one was located at the County Park on Long Point Road at Palmetto Islands, one on Rifle Range near the Waterworks facility and one in the Park West area. He said the Park West facility had been closed for a year and a half primarily because of some water quality issues. He said people had been asking if the facility was going to reopen and if so, when and if not if they could do something else. He said he was asking for a status of that facility and if it is not going to reopen to perhaps have some conversation with the county parks. He said he had spoken to the Chairman at Charleston County Parks and Recreation Commission (CCPRC) about the possibility of a temporary facility at the Laurel Hill County Park which is next to the Park West facility for people to bring their dogs to. He wondered if there could be collaboration with the County Parks to put a facility in the north part of Town. Mr. Santos said they had years ago talked about putting a dog park at the Waterfront Park under the overpass by the bridge. He said he would like  Recreation Committee December 4, 2017 Page 6 of 9 to include that area since people go to the park and bring their dogs. He said if it was underneath it would be a minimal money with a fence and a water area. He said he thought they previously had approval, but it was shelved. He said a lot of people use Edwards Park and Alhambra Hall as dog parks, but they are not. He said if they had another park at that end of Town people could use it. Mr. Brimmer said they do have parking available at Park West is the entrance to the Laurel Hill Park so they would not have to create a new parking area. He said he was concerned as there had been an uptick in the number of people because that facility had been closed they are using the athletic fields at Park West to let their dogs run. He said he did not think that was how the Town wanted to use the fields. He said a temporary facility in that part of Town would be a great amenity. Mr. Santos said he said he has seen people let their dogs run on the fields even when the park was open. Mr. O’Rourke said he felt two governmental entities should not be doing the same thing as it was similar to double taxing the citizens. He thinks it is a Charleston County Parks responsibility and does not believe they have met the need here. He said it was not that difficult. He said if the Town’s Mayor could go to a Charleston County Parks and Recreation meeting and pressure them to do something about this it will be easier than the Town believes. He said Laurel Hill is very historic site, but they know where facilities could be. He said there is a great need for Charleston County Parks to be looking at how they are going to solve the citizens concern with this issue without the Town using their money. Mr. Brimmer said he had spoken to the Director at CCPRC in July or August and asked them to consider it. He said their response at that time was that it was not a part of their plans, but they would consider it. He said he had not received a response back yet. He said he thought that the Town would have more say as a Council as opposed to an individual. Ms. Whitley asked about the status of the existing dog park and when it could reopen.  Recreation Committee December 4, 2017 Page 7 of 9 Mr. Gergick said the status is that there was work done there to try to improve the water quality for animals to be swimming in there. He said on the bank of the pond they added some plant life and prevented some of the erosion. He said there were improvements, but they did not result in enough to open the area for swimming. He said, at this time, there is no plan of being able to reopen. Mr. DeMoura said it was never designed to be a dog park. He said it was designed to be a detention pond. He said that afterward the decision was made to retrofit it for a dog park. He said steps were taken to try to improve the water quality and they are learning they are probably not going to get the water quality that is needed to make it a safe dog park. He said that looking at other locations is best as he did not believe this one would open any time soon. Mr. Santos asked if anything was needed from the Committee. Mr. DeMoura said regarding the idea about Waterfront Park, he said that is currently under design and Council did choose a list of elements to include in the design which has money attached and the dog park at the time was not one. He said if the Committee was serious about a dog park at that location they would need Council to weigh in and they would need to perform a change order with the designer. He said they would need some guidance. Mr. Santos said when they had talked about it previously it did not seem like a lot money as they were putting a fence up with an area for water. He asked if staff could go back and pull that information and come back to them at the next Recreation Committee meeting with that. Mr. O’Rourke said there is little expense to put up a fence but what will happen is 200 dogs are going to come and they are going to want the fence expanded and need more parking. He said then it will be a Waterfront Park that is a dog park. He said it is either a Waterfront Park for people or it is a dog park.  Recreation Committee December 4, 2017 Page 8 of 9 Mr. Santos said the place they were talking about having it is across the street from the park. He said it is where the dirt parking lot is. He said it is far away from Waterfront Park. Mr. DeMoura said they could bring this back next month as it was a good time for review of what that phase looks like. He said the conceptual design is complete. He said it would be best to look at the design again as there are pedestrian pathways, activity areas for children, and not designed for having dogs in that area. He said when staff brings this back next month, the Committee can see what it looks like, and then decide on whether they would ask Council to perform an alteration and include it. Mr. Santos and the Committee agreed. 6. Program/projects update Mr. Gergick said that programs were going very well. He said youth athletics are up from last year and adult athletics are slightly down in softball. He said there are several upcoming special events with the upcoming Friday with Santa’s Christmas Party at the Darby Building and on December 19 at Park West. He said on December 8 there is a Holiday movie, Elf, on the field at Moultrie Middle School as a kick off the weekend of the Christmas Parade and Holiday Market and Craft Fair. Mr. Gergick said they are excited about Christmas Parade as it is always a wonderful event. He said it will be different with the changes due to construction and there has been a lot of support from all the departments putting it on. He said there will be a Visit with Santa and a puppet show at the Darby Building on December 15. He also said the Recreation Department’s JV All Star football team has been doing very well. They have played in several levels of competition. He said they beat Orangeburg 34-0 in the district semifinals, they beat North Charleston 26-8 in the district championship, and won over Dillon 25-0 this past weekend and now they are going to the State championship which is at Battery Creek High School on December 9 vs. Rock Hill or Mauldin. Mr. Brimmer asked about follow up action on the dog park.  Recreation Committee December 4, 2017 Page 9 of 9 Mr. DeMoura said the Town, if the Mayor is agreeable, would contact CCPRC to look at possible locations in Town with preference towards Laurel Hill County Park. Mr. Kevin Cunnane, 3032 River Vista Way, Mount Pleasant was recognized. He said he noticed on the Town’s website of the seven of Town’s holiday events scheduled there are six of them are being held in this end of Town. He said in the optics he thought it was time to extend out further. He said people had brought it to his attention and if there was Town support in the north end of Town for next year would be a good move. 7. Adjourn There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 9:03 a.m. Respectfully submitted, Karen Bedenbaugh, 12/4/17