Parks and Recreation Meeting

Parks, Recreation and Community Services Commission Meeting Minutes Date of meeting: March 22, 2023 Call to order: 6:04 PM Meeting Location: Virtual Teams Meeting I. Roll Call • Commissioner Sheldon Zatkin - Present • Commissioner Jeff Allen - Present • Commissioner Jeff Ahern - Present • Chairperson Diane Huckins - Absent • Vice-Chair Erin Thomas - Present • Commissioner Michelle Ahern - Present • Commissioner Gina Anderson – Absent • II. Call To The Public • None III. Business • Park Naming o Parcel 30 naming o Freeport McMoran and FCX are being developed current owners have partnered with Tohono O’odham – which needs a name o 8.1 acres of pollinator gardens, native seeded flower beds. o 2.5 acres of gathering space, open areas, ramadas, shade structure o 9000 lineal feet of trail systems o Accessible through the town hall complex and through La Villita • Devin o Do you have any questions about the park before we go into the naming? • Thomas o Who will be responsible for the maintenance of the park? Costs? • Dylan o Yes, free is funding construction. They are handing over the park 99% done; some parking surfaces may be needed. They will be giving us a 600k check for maintenance. • Devin o We are ready to inherit this park into our operational budgets; this isn’t a traditional green space park so the maintenance will be significantly less. o They are also funding the festivities for the park opening. • Thomas o We will have the 600k, and there are no other foreseeable costs? • Devin o We are comfortable inheriting this park and working through our operation budgets and have taken the park and staff requests for maintaining this and other parks we own. • Zatkin o Is there any historical significance to the Tohono O’odham nation at all? • Dylan o It absolutely is. This is a native space to the Tohono O’odham • Zatkins o Any other historical significance to other groups? • Devin o We did our due diligence and so did Freeport. The most historical is being Tohono O’odham land, then Anamax FMI – Amax Anaconda. We took both of those considerations in the naming process. The mines asked us to learn more about the Tohono O’odham nation names. • Devin o We will be taking a vote. • Zatking o Do you think Tohono O’odham would want to do something else there in the future? • Devin o We have had several meetings; I think they are involved in the level they feel comfortable with. • Devin – see slide with names o The public voted on social media from 03/7-3/16. The top three are • Man in the Maze • Coppermine • Mountain View a. Happy Trails b. River Trails o We are looking for the top 5. All these names will go to Council. We will include the voting and the Commission’s recommended name. We hope to get it to the Council meeting on April 10, 2023, for the adoption of the park name. o Anticipating a ribbon-cutting ceremony in late May or early June. This information will be sent to you. o Any questions on how we will be voting tonight? • Thomas o Ribbon cutting – Will Tohono O’odham and Freeport be there? • Dylan o All strategic partners including the public will be able to attend. • Devin  o Voting outline o 3 steps • Quick discussion – top 3 a. The top two will go into a second round of voting. Commissioners will get one vote. b. Recommended name • We will need a motion for that recommended name for adoption on the 04/10/23 Council meeting. • Do you want to change the voting method? • Zatkin o That sounds fine. • Thomas o As chair Diane Huckins is not here. Would you like me to lead the potential adoption of the name? • Devin o Yes, you will. • Allen o I like the name Happy Trails Park. Remover Coppermine that’s my opinion. • Zatkin o Is there significance to Man in the Maze? Yes, there is. • Devin o Not sure of specifics but there is a story of the Man in the Maze. • Thomas o I like that it has a Tohono O’odhman background, and I would like to pay homage to the land. My vote is Man in the Maze. • Devin o All names will be translatable as we go into the next step. • Ahern J o I didn’t think this meeting was going to be this long. I need to leave the meeting. My vote is Happy Trails. • Allen o We are still doing the voting • Thomas o So, we agreed to remove Coppermine. • Ahern M o I like Happy Trails. • Thomas o Is it ok that we didn’t vote on the top 3? • Devin o Yes, that is ok. • Thomas o Can I put forth the recommendation to council • Devin  o We will present – we are not showing what the public voted, share the three you voted on. What we need is the three you decided • Man in The Maze • Mountain View • Happy Trails o From here we do not need a second round a voting. o Will there be a roll call for each of us wants? • Thomas o I am going to put forth a vote for man in the maze. • Thomas o I make a motion for man in the maze. • Allen o Happy trails • Zatkins o Man in the Maze • Ahern M o Happy Trails • Ahern J o Happy Trails • Thomas o I motion for Happy trails to be the recommended top name. • Ahern M o I second. • Dylan o We will need a vote. All in favor. • Thomas o As far as putting a vote through for happy trails • Zatkin No • Ahern M Yes • Allen Yes • Devin o Before we adjourn. Your recommendation to Council will be happy trails, but remember that the ultimate choice will be at Council’s discretion. We will provide the Council with the recommended commission name Happy Trails we will also present the top 3 of the commission and then the top 5 from our social media campaign. • Allen o I thought we were voting for two and then voting for one. We will need further discussion. I may change my vote. • Devin o We can continue with 2 and 2 tie. If it is a tie, vice chair Thomas will be the tiebreaker. o Do you want to entertain the 2 voting.  • Allen o Yes, I would. • Dylan o Just a reminder there will be interpreted language at the park displaying what the name means. • Thomas o As far as discussion, Man in the Maze has much history and is culturally significant. Educational Park. o Tohono O’odham has graciously donated this park to us, and it is important that we honor the Tohono O’odham nation. • Zatkin o I thought it was a cool name but wasn’t sure of its significance until further research. They did donate the money and the land. • Ahern M o There will be many flowers; it will be a happy place. I understand the historical significance. But the happy trails name also has a good vibe or energy. • Devin o At this time Chris will do a roll call. You have two choices Man in the Maze and Happy Trails. I believe if there a tie, it will be Vice Chair Thomas will be the deciding factor. • Chris o Zatkin Man in The Maze o Allen M Man in The Maze o Ahern M Happy Trails o Thomas Man in The Maze • Thomas o I make a motion to have Man in the Maze the name of the park. • Dylan o We need a yay or nay vote. • Chris o Zatkin Yay o Allen Yay o Ahern M Yay o Thomas Yay • Devin o I appreciate your patience. Thank you for working with us. Again, we will take all these names to Council in a formatted fashion. • Thomas o Is there any other business we need to discuss. • No IV. Adjournment Adjourned at 6:50 PM