Parks and Recreation Board

222 West Main Street City of Pensacola Pensacola, FL 32502 Meeting Minutes 3 - Final Parks and Recreation Board Thursday, February 18, 2021 8:00 AM Hagler-Mason Conference Room Members of the public may NOT attend the meeting in person, as City Hall is closed to the public until further notice. Members of the public may participate via live stream and/or phone cityofpensacola.com/428/Live-Meeting-Video. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at 8:03. Chairperson Hicks read how the public may participate in the board meeting. ROLL CALL Present 6- Chairperson Rand Hicks, Vice Chair Maranda Sword, Antonio Bruni, David Del Gallo, Gabriela Garza, and Michael Wolf Absent 3- Alejandra Escobar-Ryan, Leah Harrison, and Jarah Jacquay APPROVAL OF MINUTES 1. MINUTES FOR THE PARKS AND RECREATION BOARD - JANUARY 21, 2021 Attachments: January 21, 2021 Minutes - Draft Approved Yes: 6- Chairperson Hicks, Vice Chair Sword, Bruni, Del Gallo, Garza, and Wolf Absent: 3- Escobar-Ryan, Harrison, and Jacquay NEW BUSINESS 2. PARK AMENITY DEDICATION - TERRY KELLEN Attachments: Park Amenity Dedication Form Letter of Request Rebecca (Becky) Siegel was the person who made the request, she was called during the meeting for her input. Terry Kellen has made a tremendous impact on women's tennis in the greater-Pensacola area. Ms. Siegel would like a clay court named in her honor, she feels the current management should say which court. Approved City of Pensacola Page 1 Parks and Recreation Board Meeting Minutes 3 - Final February 18, 2021 Yes: 6- Chairperson Hicks, Vice Chair Sword, Bruni, Del Gallo, Garza, and Wolf Absent: 3- Escobar-Ryan, Harrison, and Jacquay 3. PARK AMENITY DEDICATION - JOHN OLIVER Attachments: Park Amenity Dedication Form John Oliver Dedication Letter James Oliver, John's brother, was to speak on the family's behalf, but could not be reached for comment. Postponed DIRECTOR'S REPORT Director Cooper brought the following report: * There are several ribbon cuttings coming - Miraflores roof, Springdale, Durant and EPH Lions parks all have new playgrounds. * Thanked everyone for coming to Bayview ribbon cuttings for the new Bayview Resource Center, as well as the re-opening of the Bayview Senior Center which was closed due to renovations. * Currently there are four projects underway - 1) Hitzman is coming along, the contractor has asked for a slight extension; 2) He is meeting with the neighborhood for the Kiwanis Park project; 3) The Legion Field splash pad is the last thing that will be installed on that project. Director Cooper interjected that Legion Field is the first park to have solar lighting installed; 4) The Julian Olsen monument is complete, and the location for the bust has been selected. We are waiting for the base of the monument to be installed. * Director Cooper mentioned that there are a lot of projects in the works -- The pool house at Hunter Pool will be razed. redesigned, and rebuilt. We will be erecting a pole barn at Osceola Golf Course to house the mowers and maintenance equipment. We are currently working on the final plans for the renovation of the 18 hard courts at Roger Scott Tennis Center. We have some plans to renovate the EPH Clubhouse facility. The Magee Field project is moving forward, he believes it is out for bid. As part of the Hollice Williams Park renovations, the skatepark is getting a lot of feedback. * We have a little bit of work to do on the Bill Gregory concessions and restroom building. * He hopes to bring the Hunter Pool design to the Board next month. The building will not be ready in time for this swim season. We will use the same setup like we had last year for this swim season. * There are some projects in the design phase at Exchange Park. * Fricker Resource Center is due for a renovation. He and staff have completed a walk-through to determine the scope of the project. * We have several playgrounds waiting to be installed - Long Hollow, Vickrey Center, Woodcliff, Operto Square, Estramadura, and Catalonia City of Pensacola Page 2 Parks and Recreation Board Meeting Minutes 3 - Final February 18, 2021 parks. We anticipate having these all installed by end of spring, early summer. Director Cooper mentioned that he has met with all of the new Council members and reviewed several parks with each of them to get their concerns. He has also met with the East Hill Neighborhood Association to discuss any issues they have. He does not mind meeting with other associations as well. He continued, the tree refurbish project is underway. We are replanting trees lost due to Hurricane Sally, and making plans for planting more next planting season. Currently we are working with Geosyntec to develop a plan to put the right tree in the right location. STAFF REPORTS 4. RESOURCE CENTER PRESENTATION - TONYA VADEN Superintendent Vaden mentioned that it's been almost a year since the Resource Centers had to be closed due to COVID-19, we closed on March 16 of 2020. We initially reopened on June 15 and started summer camp. All of our centers were used for distributing food and supplies to those who had need. To date we have handed out 40,000 youth meals and 20,000 senior meals this year. The Resource Centers also served as a location for mask distribution. We handed out over 22,000 masks. We still have some available if someone would like to pick some up. She really praised her team and mentioned that they have done a great job serving the community and changing the way they were able to offer programs during the pandemic. Woodland Heights was recognized by FRPA (Florida Recreation and Parks Association) for their programming during the pandemic. In March, Bayview Senior Center developed a great Facebook following. They have included videos, Jenga, Age of Grace (exercise videos), Exercise with John, etc. The centers also served as distribution points for tarps, MRE's, etc. after Hurricane Sally. The supplies ran out within 15 minutes. She thanked the sponsor's for their donations. In August FRPA announced Bayview Senior Center as one of 19 award winners in their Designer Showcase Awards for the recent renovations. The GOAT farm continues to win local and national awards in Cross Country, including winning All-American status. In January, Bayview Senior Center and Bayview Resource Centers were reopened. They welcome back Matt Garvin. Matt used to work at the City of Pensacola Page 3 Parks and Recreation Board Meeting Minutes 3 - Final February 18, 2021 Fricker Center, but then quit to pursue another position. One thing that he really wanted to do was the Community Soup Program. On January 29, 138 cans of soup were collected/distributed to Manna, in support of their Super Bowl event. Sanders Beach is currently undergoing renovations, with an anticipated opening date of March 11. Hurricane Sally damaged the ballroom floor. Due to the pandemic, the size of groups is limited, so they decided now would be a good time to make a few improvements while they are closed due to COVID. Youth basketball is scheduled to begin March 12, depending on COVID statistics. Teams are practicing with social distance in the gyms. There will be an upcoming summer camp promotion. Summer camp will be reduced from eleven weeks to nine weeks this year. (More information about summer camp will be available as of March 1.) The 3-2-1 Countdown to Summer promo will offer discounts for registering early, registering multiple weeks, and registering multiple children. The promotional flyers will be included in the bags that will be handed out at the drive-thru Easter event in April at the Community Maritime Park. The Easter event will not be hindered by the damages at the CMP due to Hurricane Sally. Director Cooper mentioned that we are working with FEMA on reimbursement for our waterfront properties. 5. FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH PRESENTATION - MARIE MOTT Attachments: Presentation Ms. Mott is the Administrator of Escambia County Health Department. She brought an update of the COVID vaccine. Due to extreme weather conditions, they had a hard time getting the vaccine into Escambia County. They are hoping for more next week, but supply is limited and demand is high. The hospitals, Woodlands Medical Center, and Community Health NWFL, have been helpful distributing the vaccine. She mentioned that hepatitis A is on the rise. It is a vaccine preventable disease. They are primarily seeing it in homeless, drug addicts, etc. It is transferrable by body fluids and fecal oral route. The best way to prevent the disease is to get vaccinated and wash your hands. Hand sanitizer does not work. She mentioned how parks contribute to general overall health. The Department of Health has released an article on how interacting with nature can make people more active, more relaxed, increase concentration, decrease the risk of heart disease, and increase the production of Vitamin D. Even something like adding a plant to a room can reduce stress and City of Pensacola Page 4 Parks and Recreation Board Meeting Minutes 3 - Final February 18, 2021 anxiety. The presence of green space promotes better emotional well-being, even enjoying it as little as 20 min's per day improves emotional well-being. Escambia County's current Community Health Assessment and Improvement Plan will focus on diabetes, behavioral health, and child/parent health. Discussion followed. OLD BUSINESS 6. Park Visitation Assignments Assistant Thorsen emailed a list from Chairperson Hicks to the Board members with some of the parks assigned. Due to lack of quorum at this point in the meeting, no action could take place, but discussion was permitted. Chairperson Hicks mentioned that the term of several members was expiring on March 31, and he was not sure who has expressed interest to be reappointed. He did ask for the members to please select one park to visit per month, and fill out either of the park questionnaires and email them to Assistant Thorsen or Director Cooper. If there is an issue, please report it to Director Cooper, if it is something major, please bring it to the next Board meeting. He encouraged the Board members to seek input from either the City Council member whose district the park is in, as well as neighborhood associations, and residents. Chairperson Hicks mentioned that City Council is about to release their Complete Streets initiative, so any discussion regarding the Bicycle Advisory Committee will be postponed until after it has been released. There was some discussion about summer camp. Officer Bell asked if there were any issues with parks that needed PPD's attention. None of the Board members present raised any concerns. OPEN FORUM ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 9:27. City of Pensacola Page 5 Parks and Recreation Board Meeting Minutes 3 - Final February 18, 2021 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 6