Parks, Recreation & Forestry Advisory Board

Parks, Recreation, & Forestry Advisory Board – MINUTES Thursday, February 17th, 2022, Council Chambers 7:30 A.M. The meeting was held in the Council Chambers and is available on Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/-hNgmKP1ffB-fysFJq3- rKjQTXg3xDDh9rrIj5ZEdmZYlykfz1k1TiLHFTwv4Yu9.Fk5zq0kyHs29ZvVG?startTime=164 5108205000 CALL TO ORDER: 7:30 A.M. ROLL CALL: In attendance were Caldwell, Coburn, Dardis, Holden, Neilson, Reth, Weigel. P & R Director Ehnes, SRAC Facility Superintendent Rauterkus, Parks Maintenance Superintendent McDonald, City Administrator McFarland, City Attorney McDonald, Administrative Assistant Heiting. Absent Running, Griffith, Clark. DECLARATION OF ANY POTENTIAL CONFLICTS OF INTEREST: No conflicts of interest were declared. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Caldwell proposed to move the skate park discussion after Items from Visitors. Caldwell moved, Weigel seconded, and all voted to amend the agenda. Weigel moved, Caldwell seconded, and all voted to approve the agenda as amended. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Neilson moved, Reth seconded, and all voted to approve the minutes of the January 20th,2022 meeting. PUBLIC COMMENT: Public comment was opened at 7:35 A.M., with no public comments received. ITEMS FROM VISITORS (Policy Note: Visitors are limited to 5 minutes of presentation followed by questions)  Approve the request to apply for an AARP grant on behalf of the city. o Peggy Holmquist and Janet Briggs presented information on the proposed AARP community grant. Janet explained the purpose of the grant is to enhance and improve the transportation and mobility for pedestrians, making the community a more desirable place to live. To have success with this grant, community engagement, as well as volunteer work is needed. o Neilson questioned what the responsibility would be for the city. Ehnes explained that the city would be the municipal organization that is responsible for applying for the Next Meeting – March 17th, 2022, 7:30 A.M. Council Chambers  Parks, Recreation, & Forestry Advisory Board – MINUTES Thursday, February 17th, 2022, Council Chambers 7:30 A.M. grant, therefore they will be the ones receiving the funds and distributing them appropriately. o The grant application is due March 22nd, 2022, and the project must be completed by the end of November 2022. o Dardis questioned the value of the grant. Janet Briggs explained that at this time she believed the value was 10,000.00. If there were not enough funds to complete the project, there is an opportunity to apply for another AARP grant the following year. o Weigel expressed that she appreciated the signage, as it would remind the motorist of the crosswalk laws. Caldwell commented that Spearfish has a long history of ensuring pedestrian accessibility and providing safe walking paths for all. o Neilson motioned, Weigel seconded, and all voted to approve the AARP Grant. o Neilson questioned the rec path that is in process near Hillsview. He expressed concern with the crossing at Hillsview and McGuigan. Ehnes stated that through the engineering and design process, certain standards have to be met. The crossing was put at the intersection because it is a four-way intersection and a controlled intersection making the crossing safer.  Taylor Lage will present on the next stage of the mural project at the Rec Center. o Taylor continued the discussion on a “YOU MATTER” mural. This mural will be in collaboration with Northern Hills Training Center. There will be approximately 600 canvases that make up this mural. The mural will be located on the west wall. The mural is part of the continual collaboration that was previously approved. The mural is scheduled to be complete in early April.  Discuss options and possible locations for the skate park. o Perry Jewett- Expressed concern about the removal of the current skate park. Perry served on the Northern Hills Skate Association which was involved in getting the current skate park developed 23 years ago. Perry expressed that skate parks can be seen as a piece of art for the community as well as giving something back to the youth. o Kody Kline (resident)- Discussed how vital it would be to have a skate park that has the culture of Spearfish incorporated. He suggested that it would look like the future skate park that is going to be built in Lead. Kody expressed that he would also like to see lights with sensors to be placed within the new skate park due to the high usage after daylight hours. o Carlton Baird- Expressed that the skate park is very important to him as well as others that don’t fit into other sports or have financial stability. A skate park is a platform for Next Meeting – March 17th, 2022, 7:30 A.M. Council Chambers  Parks, Recreation, & Forestry Advisory Board – MINUTES Thursday, February 17th, 2022, Council Chambers 7:30 A.M. the youth and building a state-of-the-art skate park provides the opportunity to invest in the future of children within the community. o Jim Haeder (resident)- Discussed the possibility of locations for the new skate park, suggestions include the southwest corner of the rec center property, west of Jorgensen Park across from the bridge area, south of Mountain View Elementary, between Elgin and Grant St., within Lions Park along the road of 3rd St. north-end green space of the city park. All these locations are City-owned. o Joe Vandenberg- Expressed that skateboarding has been a big part of his life and discussed how important a skate park is in a lot of children's lives, skateboarding can go unnoticed due to it being an underground and individual sport. Joe expressed that skateboarding is a form of art and an opportunity to express themselves, therefore would like to see something unique, novel, and permanent regarding the new park. o Kevin Jasper (resident)-Expressed he is currently a BMX rider that utilizes the current skate park. Kevin was involved in the development of the skills park, as well as he is involved with Black Hills Trails. Due to being a multi-use organization, Kevin would like to work together with the city, as well as the skate group to help where they can. He understands that a new, bigger, and better park would take time but encouraged the city to look and continue the vision of putting a skate park deep into the community. o Ehnes discussed that we have until fall for removal. Ehnes expressed that this is the start of the process to come together with a plan, permanent or temporary. Discussion ensued on what the city is currently doing with the current skate park and the possibility of a new location. o Caldwell questioned the square footage of the current skate park. Ehnes stated the current skate park is approximately 4,800 square feet. o Director of Public Safety, Pat Rotert, explained to the board that he was part of the current skate park establishment. Rotert explained that the current skate park was in discussion for approximately four years before being developed. Rotert encouraged the park board, the city, and the community to take the time to determine the location, as well as the design of the park. Rotert said he feels like the skate park has been extremely beneficial to the community. When speaking about location and providing law enforcement with a line of sight, Rotert expressed that this is a concern for any public infrastructure and that the intent is not to target the skateboard group. o Dardis discussed the scoring on the master plan, he believes that it scored low due to already having a skate park available, if the master plan was to be re-evaluated Next Meeting – March 17th, 2022, 7:30 A.M. Council Chambers  Parks, Recreation, & Forestry Advisory Board – MINUTES Thursday, February 17th, 2022, Council Chambers 7:30 A.M. without the skate park, he believes that it would hold a higher score. Reviewing possible locations, the terrain could be incorporated into the design. o Ehnes discussed that due to budget constraints, funding a new skate park at this time has its challenges. Current city budgets and capital plans have funding allocated to other projects. In addition, the grant opportunities for a new skate park would compete with grant opportunities that have already been dedicated to previously planned projects. OLD BUSINESS Board Items  Question and Answer session on February staff update. o Caldwell questioned the turf removal at the softball fields located at the Black Hills Energy Complex. She was concerned that the turf project would make the field non- compliant. Ehnes expressed that the turf would not be laid back down, the infield will be converted to an all diamond-dry infield. Therefore, the field will continue to be at regulation and be much safer for play. Rec & Aquatic Center  Change Waterpark and Rec Center hours during the dates of May 28th to September 5th, 2022. o Rauterkus explained that a discussion was held with the Rec Center subcommittee to consider changing the Rec Center hours seasonally. The subcommittee supported a recommendation to change Waterpark and Rec Center hours. o Weigel expressed concern with closing the pool at 6:00 P.M. She expressed concern for working families not being able to utilize the pool during the week. Rauterkaus understood the concern but looking at the data, the 6:00 P.M.-7:00 P.M. was the least utilized time frame. o Dardis clarified that due to the staffing crisis the hours of operation were reduced, if the Rec Center is fully staffed, the hours of operation would return to normal hours. o Neilson motioned, Reth seconded, and all voted to approve the recommendation from the sub-committee with the understanding that if fully staffed it would be modified. NEW BUSINESS Board Items  Approve the Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs). Next Meeting – March 17th, 2022, 7:30 A.M. Council Chambers  Parks, Recreation, & Forestry Advisory Board – MINUTES Thursday, February 17th, 2022, Council Chambers 7:30 A.M. o Ehnes discussed how the MOU process. MOUs are maintenance agreements and have legal ramifications. This helps identify who is responsible for the maintenance of the fields. o Ehnes discussed that there have been numerous meetings regarding the upkeep of the fields with all the associations. Historically, the city has taken care of all the maintenance of the sports fields, due to the abundance of mowing that is required, that was all that was getting done. Therefore, the fields are in rough condition and there have been no substantial improvements made. By Implementing the proposed MOUs, the associations will be responsible for the mowing and the care during their season and the city will be responsible for other maintenance such as aerating, fertilizing, top dressing, and spraying. o Caldwell motioned, Neilson seconded, and all voted to approve the list of MOUs presented. FYI ITEMS  24-Hour member update. o 22- Adult 12 months paid in full o 19- Adult 3 months paid in full o 25 -Employee o 23- Adult recurring membership ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 9:03 A.M. Next Meeting – March 17th, 2022, 7:30 A.M. Council Chambers