Parks and Recreation Advisory Board (Formerly Parks, Rec and Senior Services)

City of Royal Oak Recreation Department 1600 North Campbell Road Royal Oak, MI 48067 248-246-.3180 Minutes Parks, Recreation and Senior Services Advisory Board Thursday May 3, 2018 at 7:00p.m. City Hall Commission Chambers 211 South Williams St. Room 315 Royal Oak, MI 48067 Meeting called to Order 7:00pm. Members Present: Tim Ciechorski, Maya Harris, Kaila Huehner, Jeffrey Plachta, Paul Kanan, CamilleThompson, Mike Ripinski, Mark Ryan, Jill Robinson, Commissioner Macey Also Present: John Fedele, Superintendent of Recreation, Greg Rassel, Director of Rec. & Public Service I. Approval of Minutes: March 8, 2018 – Motion by Mark Ryan, seconded by Tim to approve February minutes. Motion passed unanimously. II. City Commission Comments: Commissioner Macey discussed most members of the Senior Task Force have been appointed. Awaiting a Commission representative to be assigned. Mentions, parking lot in front of City Hall will be closed on May 7th. III. Public Comment: - Stephanie Cantos: Comments that Elks Park needs work and begs to work on basketball courts first as they are heavenly used whenever the weather is favorable. Would suggest re-doing the parking lot over the tennis courts as well. IV. Business: - Greg Rassel had requested to switch topic “B” Whittier Park Naming Request, to be moved in front of item “A” Normandy Oaks Presentation 50% CD to Park Commission- Approved. a. Whittier Park Naming Request: Amy and Chris Inman, Royal Oak Resident for 4 years, experienced a tragic death to their newly born daughter, Gracelyn. Whittier Park was her favorite place to be and have request approval for a memorial at Whittier Park.  Plans include two additional swing sets, two spring toy cars, one police car and one firetruck, in honor of the courageous and compassionate first responders that helped respond and their support of Gracelyn’s passing, with a reflection garden that will include a rain garden with a bolder plaque in memory of Gracelyn. Plan to have a ribbon cutting ceremony on August 26th, which would have been Gracelyn’s 2nd birthday.  Mike state that the board needs to give approval of adding naming rights/signage to the Parks and Recreation Department to move forward. It is a significant donation Motion to approve memorial of park passed unanimously. b. Normandy Oaks Presentation 50% CD to Park Commission: Greg Rassel states 50% completion and getting into details of cost of park now. The cost was $3.3 million to build, and some decisions had to be made to get back to budget of $3 million. Going into project there was going to be phases. We wanted to do 80% of the park at 100% quality and took the long view and lifespan approach versus expanding the park at lesser quality. Alternates will be presented when project goes out to bid. In the next week(s) Robertson Brothers will be moving excess dirt from their housing projects to shape the sled hill, and berm. Introduces Bob Ford, LAP + Creative and Steve Sutton from Nowak and Fraus. - Bob Ford: Introduces Steve Sutton and Jake Hamilton from Nowak and Fraus and Angie Monroe from Vortex. - Bob Ford: Shows master plan of Normandy Oaks as review, goes over entry points to park and explains the reason behind the entry points shown is to keep traffic at low as possible. Explains blue ponds on map are the existing retention ponds. The intent is to capture water and retain it into the ground for plant roots.  Jeff asks if there is standing water in retention ponds as of today?  Mentions about a rat infestation and how they thrive when having shelter, food and water.  Mike states that there were always ponds on the golf course and they drain quick. - Bob Ford: Budget is $3 million. Create perimeter paths around park with distance markers. Western area is intended to be paved and ADA accessible. Big path will be aggregate surfaces and ADA accessible. Explains the southern area of plan will be mowed natural areas.  Jeff asks how natural will the southern areas be?   Bob responds the passive area will have mowed pathways and the surrounding areas will grow naturally. They have located every tree on site and quality of trees in the passive area. - Bob Ford: Sledding hill is 15 ft. high. Can go higher but is limited by pre- existing trees, soccer field and utilities. Sled hill is located where in winter it will collect and retain great amounts of snow. During the summer, the hill will be used as a resistance training/exercise area.  Jeff asks if there will be a pathway on the hill?  Bob responds that there will be a path but will not be ADA compliant, it is not designed to be ADA compliant. The hill is at a 1 to 3 angle so can’t be ADA.  Bob mentions, not everything has to be ADA compliant but 95% is ADA compliant  Jeff asks if 15 ft is high enough to have “speed” for sledding  Bob responds it is not steep enough to be “fast”  Kaila ask if there are any areas to sustain wildlife?  Bob responds that there is encouragement to put in bat houses, butterfly garden, bird houses in park to encourage public education on species.  Mike states that the nature society is very involved and may be interested in helping. - Bob Ford: There are 3 primary core areas  Splash Pad  Playground  Pavilion Southwest corner of plan will be maintenance shed, incorporate loop drive with 3 areas of access in park and have bio swells with a sign saying, “the bio swells are working for you.” The Main playground will be broken into 2 phases: 1st phase large rope play area. 2nd phase has a potential “DNA” climber- will need a donor. Artificial grass/turf will cover around the playground area. Shelter off to the north will be the small pavilion and there’s a pavilion off to the south will be larger.  Mike asks if there will be any restrooms in pavilion?  Bob responds, there will be bathrooms in the back of the large pavilion. Splash pad area Angie with Vortex: Talks about 3 zones: Toddler zone, family area and the teen bay which features a big iconic super splash feature, massive dump bucket, everyone wants and is most used feature in splash pads.  Put tables and other amenities in splash pad area. The water management system is recirculating system which has a dome and can be locked. A hose bid will be attached off to the side as well for maintenance crew. Activator button will be installed. Can set days and times when pad is in operation and activator button will only be used if button is pushed. Will run for six to eight minutes. Angie goes over different features in splash pad: Ground Sprays, Rainbow Feature, Super Splash, water cannons (2), silhouette spray.  Mike asks what is the surface of the splash pad?  Angie responds that it is a broom finish concrete, there won’t be any color to the concrete.  Jeff asks if this was the proper pump for area?  Angie responds that it is more expensive at first, but it is better in the long run.  Mike asks if there is a control for the activator button?  Angie responds that you can control the activator button from offsite with an app or on site.  Mike asks what the seasonal maintenance? Is it labor extensive?  Angie responds that setup and shutdown is simple. It is like an irrigation system.  Jill asks what is the lifestyle of system?  Angie responds that she has other systems that have lasted for 20 years and if they are maintained properly they will last.  Kaila asks if there is something that regulates the temperature of the water during hot summer days when water is sitting in system for long period of time.  Angie responds that there is no water being held in the system if it is not being used. If it is not “on” then there is no water running through. Playground - Bob Ford talks about the playground and how it is more of a rope playground feature broken into two phases. Phase 1 will have a Neptune climber, a 12 ft. tall tube slide and will have artificial grass around area. Phase 2 will have a DNA climber; all rope structures are see through for clear visibility. Phase 1 and 2 will serve more as a playground for 5 – 12-year old’s.  Jill asks what the dimensions for the playground is?   Bob responds 40 ft diameter, phase 1 is half that and the DNA climber can be as tall as pocket book.  Mike asks what is the surface of the playground?  Bob responds that the surface is shawgrass (presents two samples to the board). Phase 1 will cost $200,000 and Phase 2 will cost $199,000 Pavilion/Restroom Building - Bob Ford: Capacity will be 75 to 100 people and have ADA compliant restrooms. It will have a metal roof for longevity, include glass block band around pavilion restroom for natural lights as well as lights in the restrooms.  Matt asks if this pavilion is year-round?  Bob responds that it will be closed during the winter and it is open from dusk to dawn during season.  Jill ask if there are any lights in the pavilion itself?  Bob responds that there are 3 lights along the line of the roof  Mike states that the drawings are exciting and amazing. The pavilions are income producers for the city. Ask do we charge for them?  Greg states that the rental charge goes into the Recreation Budget  Jeff asks if the rentals for the pavilion are for residents only?  Greg states that they are for everyone  Tim asks if there are any weather shelter for this pavilion?  Bob states that this shelter will be the only place for shelter during bad weather. Can open doors to maintenance “closet” if needed for short period Parking lot (West) - Bob Ford: We will extend parking lot all the way to end.  Mike ask that the initial drawings only had 1/3 of spaces to what is show now?  Bob responds that the parking lot has been extended to create more parking spaces.  Jill asks how many spaces?  Bob states there will be 210 paces  Mark ask if there are retention basins in the parking lot?  Bob responds that because of the bio swells, water will run off and drain into them  Jeff asks where does the water in parking lot go first?   Bob responds that the water will go to the bio swells first, polish the water then goes into retention if there is an overflow.  Camille ask is there is any emergency lighting?  Bob responds that there is no lighting in the lot since the operation hours of the park is from dusk till dawn. Cost Analysis - Bob Ford: $3,249,000 million is the cost, we are cutting the bridge going into Elks Park, the rest will be picked up in line items of the budget. There is a healthy contingency because you use them. As project winds down, money can flow into other areas if budget allows.  Mark asks for clarification on what the description is on the 3rd column of budget sheet.  Steve responds that those are units of measure  Mike asks what bridge from Elks Park to preserve area?  Greg states that it was in the initial project and had to sequence items out, by getting rid of bridge, reduce the cost of preserve area, make it a more natural area, to present to commission in June to have a cost close to budget.  Jill ask what pathways between active and passive zone?  Greg states that there will be trails throughout the park, but preserve will have mowed paths.  Jill asks if we can make it into 3 phases instead of 2?  Mike wants a discussion with Greg and John to talk about clubs around city that could help with funding from service clubs.  Greg states that the purpose of tonight is to brief on what we’ve done since dirt has been moving.  Mike commemorates Commissioner Gibbs and thanks her for being in attendance.  Commissioner Gibbs states she wants own copy of the PowerPoint presentation, wants an e-mailed version. Thinks there are items in plan now that weren’t in initial plan, like grills.  Greg states that it is essential when putting in a park, it will be the first thing people will look for.  Mike states that this is not the final version  Greg states that it is 50% completion to bring attention to the board and to see the schedule and remainder of plan.  Jill asks what the schedule for Elks Park is?  Mike states that Elks Park will rely on grant money.  Greg states that cannot get grant money for location of where the park is.  Tim asks without bridge, can it put Elks Park back in grant mode?  Greg responds that we will see where it goes overtime and re-evaluate  Bob states volunteer services to present to clubs around area.  Mike mentions when club meetings are held  Maya asks for slide; do you climb up the Neptune to get to the slide?  Bob responds that you literally must climb to get to the slide. Notion to review and finalize: Motioned by Tim Ciechorski, Second by Mark Ryan, unanimously approved. V. Items not on the Agenda: - Mike states that all members on the board should receive the “Senior Times” publication and encourages people to look through it. - Jill asks if the kickoff meeting for Downtown Advisory Board was held on 3/26?  Tim states that it was already held and not much of the public showed up. - Jill states that Tim and Mark are on Downtown Task Force - Tim asks for summary of WIFI at the Senior Center  John responds by the end of the calendar year. VI. Upcoming Events a. Royal Oak in Bloom: May 13 - Mike states that is moved to 6th street parking lot, closer to Oakland Community College by the railroad crossing. Parking will be spread out. It is a great opportunity to buy plants and vegetables. b. Memorial Day Parade - Mike states that is it a great parade that honors veterans and those who gave the ultimate sacrifice. Next Meeting: Thursday, June 7, 2018 at 7:00p.m. Motion by Mark Ryan, seconded by Jeff Plachta to adjourn at 8:25 p.m. Motion passed unanimously. Respectfully Submitted, Approved, John Fedele Paul Kanan John Fedele, Superintendent of Recreation Paul Kanan, Secretary