Parks and Recreation Board

222 West Main Street City of Pensacola Pensacola, FL 32502 Meeting Minutes 3 - Final Parks and Recreation Board Thursday, October 15, 2020 8:00 AM City Council Chambers Members of the public may attend the meeting in person; however, there will be limited seating capacity. Consistent with CDC guidelines, attendees will be required to sit at least 6 feet apart and to wear face coverings that cover their nose and mouth. Call To Order Roll Call The Board was one member shy of a quorum. The presentations will continue, but anything requiring a vote will wait until either a quorum is present or it will be postponed until the next monthly meeting (November 19, 2020). Present 4- Chairperson Rand Hicks, David Del Gallo, Alejandra Escobar-Ryan, and Jarah Jacquay Absent 5- Vice Chair Maranda Sword, Antonio Bruni, Gabriela Garza, Leah Harrison, and Michael Wolf Approval of Minutes Due to lack of quorum, approval is postponed until next month. Chairperson Hicks read the statement to the public regarding the time delay between what is happening in the meeting, and when it is seen on the livestream. 1. Minutes for the Meeting of September 24, 2020 Attachments: Sept 24, 2020 Minutes Parks and Recreation Board Unapproved Soccer Presentation The approval of these minutes was postponed due to lack of quorum. City of Pensacola Page 1 Parks and Recreation Board Meeting Minutes 3 - Final October 15, 2020 Director's Report Director Cooper brought the following updates: - Hurricane Sally recovery is progressing. Coordinator Dowdell is working with Superintendent Kimball on a feature for the webpage which shows which parks are open and which are closed. All of them remain closed until they display as open on the website. - Next month Mark Jackson, the City's Sustainability Coordinator, will be bringing a presentation on the value of trees and their impact on parks to home property values. - The pre-construction meeting with the contractor for the Hitzman Park project is today. The same contractor that is doing the round-a-bout for Public Works will be the same one doing the improvements for Parks and Recreation. - There was some minor damage to the Bayview Resource Center. That is being corrected. - Superintendent Carmody is working on a new round of playground purchases. The oldest ones and those that are possibly unsafe will be replaced first. There is grant funding available for these playgrounds that will be used to help with the cost. - The Resource centers are open for the most part. The [Bayview] Senior Center is not, although they are doing some outside programming. - The Hunter Pool design is coming along, hopefully it can be shared in the next month or two. Director Cooper heard from members Bruni and Harrison, and neither will be joining the meeting this month. Member Jacquay asked if there is any signage to notify the public whether or not a park is open or closed? Director Cooper mentioned that all of the severely damaged parks along the waterfront have barricades and signage that they are closed. The website will be updated daily. Social media is constantly updated, press releases distributed, etc. letting the public know that the parks are closed. Staff Reports City of Pensacola Page 2 Parks and Recreation Board Meeting Minutes 3 - Final October 15, 2020 3. Marketing Presentation Coordinator Dowdell brought the following presentation: - Her responsibility is to be sure everyone is informed and engaged in what is going on in Parks and Recreation as well as coordinating sponsors. The partnerships can be done with either in-kind or cash donations. - 2020 has brought some challenges, beginning with a lot of events in early March that were not able to be held. Some large events had to be cancelled, and facilities were closed. In September, due to Hurricane Sally, the parks were closed, as well as the centers that had just reopened. - Part of her responsibilities include working with Kaycee Lagarde, the City's Public Information Officer, making sure that everything aligns with what the City puts out, is legal, and is in the best interest of the citizens. - In an effort to keep the citizens engaged and informed, Parks and Recreation launched the Virtual Recreation Center. The Center served as the hub. It served as the main source of information for COVID-19 updates, regulations, and press releases. It was noted that parks and recreation was essential to the citizen's well-being. - The Center also served as a hub for virtual programming. Bayview Senior Center had over 55,000 minutes of programs. The citizens were allowed to view or join via Facebook Live. Other centers and sponsors participated as well. The Virtual Recreation Center was featured in the fall Florida Recreation and Parks Association journal. - Last year there were 550 followers on Instagram. There has been an 83% increase in followers on Instagram this year. Osceola Golf Course has shown exponential growth since October 2019. - The presentation was completed with some pictures at different events throughout the year. Member Escobar-Ryan asked if citizens use social media to get information. Coordinator Dowdell mentioned that there is a standard 48 hour time frame when all questions are answered, although the staff has been more than willing to answer very quickly after the message is received, so the citizens do not have to wait long for an answer. Member Del Gallo asked Director Cooper about tree replenishment funds that the Mayor allocated to Council members, have the funds been used? There was a plan put in place to handle how the funds would be spent. Four Council members had submitted plans, and Superintendent Kimball was in the process of getting the right trees when Hurricane Sally arrived. Trees were to be planted in early October. Director Cooper, with the aid of Sustainability Coordinator Jackson hopes to establish a plan to reforest and improve the tree canopy that was lost during the storm, hopefully using funds from the Tree Fund. City of Pensacola Page 3 Parks and Recreation Board Meeting Minutes 3 - Final October 15, 2020 Member Jacquay has been researching ways of funding municipal tree funding. He mentioned that perhaps some trees could be planted on Right of Ways, technically it is public property, but the citizens would maintain the trees. He also suggested different sources of funding such as FDA, FEMA, and FDEP. Director Cooper suggested sharing some of these ideas with Coordinator Jackson as well as the Environmental Advisory Board. Chair person Hicks also recommended other resources for helping to create a tree replanting program. Member Escobar-Ryan mentioned that she has been approached by citizens that want to help with Miranda Square. Mr. Miranda was an historical figure from Venezuela. The group would like to clean it and keep it clean. Director Cooper mentioned that there are a couple of ways the citizens can help, either meet with Coordinator Pipes, or adopt the park through Keep Pensacola Beautiful. Capital Improvements Project Update - David Forte Capital Improvements Project Manager Forte was to bring an update on the SUN Trail project at the September 24 Board meeting, but he was unable to attend. He brought an update of capital improvements that he is in charge of. Although some of the projects are roadway projects, they incorporate bicycle and pedestrian access. Member Jacquay asked about the City's traffic calming policy. Manager Forte mentioned that the policy is currently being revised to benefit all users of roadways. The revised draft allows more roadways that can be subject to traffic calming measures. Funding for the project could come from the State, but any other funding would also help. New Business City of Pensacola Page 4 Parks and Recreation Board Meeting Minutes 3 - Final October 15, 2020 4. SUN Trail Update - David Forte Attachments: Statewide FDOT SUN Trail Map Regional FDOT SUN Trail Map SUN (Shared Use Nonmotorized) Trail - He brought this presentation to the CNAPP and Bike Pensacola Advocacy Groups. Member Jacquay is a member of both groups, and Chairperson Hicks is the president of CNAPP. The Florida SUN Trail program provides $25 million per year to provide improvements on their approved network map. In Escambia County, Highway 98 and 90 (not including Scenic Highway) are on the approved map. A request has been submitted to include Scenic Highway to connect the two highways. In order to be added, it will need a letter of support, possibly from the Parks and Recreation Board, but due to lack of quorum, he will request it at another time. There are two requests for Scenic Highway, one for the actual roadway, and one that is detached along the waterfront/railway. Chairperson Hicks and member Jacquay both agreed that this is a very good project that they would endorse, and encourage citizens to weigh in and get community consensus. Old Business 5. Board Members and Neighborhood Associations Chairperson Hicks mentioned that Board members are still attending Neighborhood Association meetings, and the Neighborhood Associations are very happy to have them. 6. Park Visitations (None) Open Forum Adjournment The City of Pensacola adheres to the Americans with Disabilities Act and will make reasonable accommodations for access to City services, programs and activities. Please call 435-1606 (or TDD 435-1666) for further information. Request must be made at least 48 hours in advance of the event in order to allow the City time to provide the requested services. City of Pensacola Page 5