Norman Forward Senior Center Ad Hoc Advisory Group Meeting

Norman Forward Senior Center Ad Hoc Advisory Group March 6, 2019 The Norman Forward Senior Center Ad Hoc Advisory Group of the City of Norman, Cleveland County, State of Oklahoma, met in the Multi-Purpose Room on the 6th day of March, 2019 at 4:05 p.m. and notice and agenda of the meeting were posted at 201 West Gray Street, 24 hours prior to the beginning of the meeting. ITEM 1, being: CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL Present: Chairperson Hobson and Members Bonner, Jewell, and Terry Absent: Member Knudson Others Present: Richard Bailey, Ellen Frank, Roger Gallagher, Melissa Gill, Kamala Jolly Stewart, and Jeremy Wance Staff Present: Jud Foster, Director of Parks and Recreation, Jason Olsen, Recreation Superintendent, Sandi Lasseter, Senior Center Supervisor, and Karla Sitton, Administrative Technician IV ITEM 2, being: REVIEW OF MINUTES FROM JANUARY 31, 2019 MEETING Member Jewell made the motion seconded by Member Terry to approve the minutes. The vote was taken with the following results: YEAH: Chairperson Hobson and Members Bonner, Jewell, and Terry NAY: None ITEM 3, being: UPDATE SENIOR CENTER VISIONING SESSION Mr. Jud Foster, Director of Parks and Recreation, distributed flyers for the Senior Center Visioning Session (SCVS) scheduled on March 15th, from 10 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Moore Norman Technology Center. He highlighted the agenda as follows: 10:00 – 10:15 a.m. Welcome and Opening Remarks from Mayor Lynne Miller 10:15 – Noon Educational Showcase of new Senior Facilities and Trends from Jill Jackson- Ledford, Ledford Planning and Consulting Noon – 1:00 p.m. Lunch Provided 1:00 – 1:45 p.m. Discussion of OKC MAPS 3 Senior Wellness Center Project from Cecilia J. Robinson-Woods, MAPS 3 Center Health and Wellness Subcommittee 1:45 – 2:30 p.m. Discussion on Center Operations Models from Claire Dowers-Nichols, Executive Director Healthy Living OKC 2:30 – 4:00 p.m. Senior Programming and Audience Input Session from Jill Jackson-Ledford 4:00 p.m. Closing Remarks from Mayor Lynne Miller Mr. Foster said Staff has been an extensively promoting the SCVS by placing ad in The Norman Transcript, having information on two Facebook pages, as well as the City of Norman webpage, placing the event on the Norman Senior Association webpage, sending out press releases, and taking NF Senior Citizen Ad Hoc March 6, 2019 flyers to are Senior Residential Living Centers and the Norman Senior Center. Mr. Foster said the SCVS will be the first of many meetings and Staff will be recording the event and replay on YouTube. Mr. Foster said Julie Knudsen is not at today’s meeting; however, she indicated to Staff that she has sent information to a number of churches in the Norman area. He also said Dave Boeck has made contact with AARP and they agreed to send bags to the SCVS for stuffing pertinent information and pass out to those in attendance. Chairman Hobson asked who would be paying for the lunch and whether AARP would be giving any funds to the SCVS. Mr. Foster said he did not know if AARP was planning on giving any monetary funding; however, the City was planning on paying for the luncheon. Mr. Foster said YMCA representatives as well as the Cleveland County Commissioners, and representatives for Norman Public School have been invited. He said Jack McMahan was recently hired as the City of Norman ADA Technician, and was also invited to attend the SCVS. Mr. Foster said Mr. McMahan will have a lot of valuable input regarding ADA and the future Senior Center. Member Jewell said there has been a little confusion in the community about the Senior Visioning Session because some thought it had to do with doctors performing eye vision tests. Mr. Foster said Staff has already made some changes to the flyers and information to reflect it will be a Senior Center conference and not an eye vision screening. Member Bonner asked who will make the final decision about where the Senior Center will be constructed and Mr. Foster said City Council will determine the location. She felt the northbase area for all three facilities (Senior Center, Indoor Aquatic Facility, and Multi-Purpose Facility) was the logical location. Mr. Foster said he cannot speak for Council, but felt that is not what they heard at the February 21, 2019 Council meeting and Member Bonner agreed. He said the Joint Study Session included discussion regarding a proposal to locate the Multi-Generational Recreation Complex in the University North Park Increment District versus constructing the three facilities at northbase. Mr. Foster said some in attendance were opposed to demolishing the Optimist Gym in order to construct the facilities due to historic reasons as well as health, financial and disrupting the sports programming already in place. He said others in attendance did not want a Senior Center located next to the other two facilities and voiced their concerns. Member Hobson felt senior citizens did not mind being in the same location as the Indoor Aquatic Facilities and Multi-Sport Facility; however, not if all were to be located at University North Park Increment District. She said the traffic and congestion were definitely issues for those opposed to that location. Mr. Roger Gallagher, concerned citizen, felt it would be a positive idea to build a Senior Center at Andrews Park because the City already owns the land, there would be less traffic, and it is in central Norman and that is what the senior citizens have always wanted. He said another idea is that the Optimist Building could be remodeled rather than tearing it down and Ms. Melissa Gill, concerned citizen, said the asbestos would need to be addressed regardless of remodel or demolishing. Mr. Foster said Andrews Park as a senior center option was ruled out due to the change in floodplain maps as well as the new James Garner intersection that has recently been completed. He said floodplain map revisions are approximately a year-long process and can cost up to $1 million. He said there was significant pushback if more open green space was taken from Andrews Park to construct a new building and parking lot for a Senior Center. Ms. Ellen Frank, concerned citizen, said one main issue is transportation and asked whether Cleveland Area Rapid Transit (CART) would provide transportation to a new Senior Center. Mr. Foster said transportation is definitely a concern and will need to be part of discussions. Member Terry said the Norman Forward Ad Hoc Committees have not been formed yet for the Indoor Aquatic Facility or the Multi-Purpose Center and Mr. Foster said that is correct. Mr. Foster said those committees will be formed once a location for the facilities is determined and a design team is hired. NF Senior Citizen Ad Hoc March 6, 2019 Member Jewell asked whether the land just west of the new Central Library is being considered for the new Senior Center location and Mr. Jud said the City would need to purchase that particular land and demolish the houses/housing. Member Hobson said doing so would require condemning the houses and moving people out of their homes. Ms. Kamala Jolly Stewart, concerned citizen, requested more clarification of how the discussions regarding a Senior Citizen center got to this point. She said she knew at one point there was discussions involving the old central library being remodeled to house a Senior Center, then constructing a stand-along Senior Center, and now constructing three new facilities to include a Senior Center, Indoor Aquatic Center, and Multi-Purpose Center. Mr. Foster said there initially was a conceptual plan showing what a Senior Center could look like if the existing central library building were to be remodeled; however, Council moved away from that plan because the senior citizens did not want it. He said a site study was done with the new Central Library Plan to determine whether a new Senior Center and additional parking could be constructed and that was quickly ruled out due to condemning and demolishing homes as well as not having enough land for parking. Mr. Foster said recently the land at northbase has become available and discussions began regarding locating all three facilities at the northbase area. Mr. Richard Bailey, Ward 3 Council Candidate, said the idea of having all three facilities at the same location at northbase is somewhat new and the other Senior Center options had many disadvantages. Mr. Foster said discussions of constructing a new Senior Center at Reaves Park was also an option and when Constitution expands to the south more acres will be gained. The City owns this land as well as the old Reaves Building which could be torn down to construct a new Senior Center. Mr. Foster felt improvements to widen Jenkins Avenue will help with traffic as well. Member Hobson asked whether Staff knew if the new Senior Center will be constructed at northbase and Mr. Foster said at this point he is not sure. She said while this Committee cannot control the location of the new Senior Center, she felt the Committee can focus on what is envisioned for the new Senior Center. The Committee discussed and requested Staff speak to Jill Jackson-Ledford, facilitator for the SCVS scheduled March 15th, and request her to plan some time at the end of the conference to take questions and or comments about the location options in order to gain input. ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ITEM 4, being: MISCELLANEOUS None. ________________________________________________________________________________________ ITEM 5, being: ADJOURNMENT Member Jewell made the motion seconded by Member Bonner to adjourn. The vote was taken with the following results: YEAH: Chairperson Hobson and Members Bonner, Jewell, and Terry NAY: None Passed and approved this ____________of ________________________ 2019 Gale Hobson, Chairperson