Parks, Recreation & Forestry Advisory Board

Parks, Recreation, & Forestry Advisory Board – AGENDA Thursday, August 17th, 2023, City Council Chambers 7:30 A.M. City Spearfish is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting. Topic: Parks, Recreation, & Forestry Advisory Board Time: Aug 17, 2023, 07:30 AM Mountain Time (US and Canada) Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85711186317 Meeting ID: 857 1118 6317 One tap mobile +16694449171,,85711186317# US +16699009128,,85711186317# US (San Jose) Dial by your location • +1 669 444 9171 US • +1 669 900 9128 US (San Jose) • +1 719 359 4580 US • +1 253 205 0468 US • +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma) • +1 346 248 7799 US (Houston) • +1 309 205 3325 US • +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago) • +1 360 209 5623 US • +1 386 347 5053 US • +1 507 473 4847 US • +1 564 217 2000 US • +1 646 558 8656 US (New York) • +1 646 931 3860 US • +1 689 278 1000 US • +1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC) • +1 305 224 1968 US Meeting ID: 857 1118 6317 Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kQWIYOKC0 Next Meeting – September 21st, 2023, 7:30 A.M. Council Chambers  Parks, Recreation, & Forestry Advisory Board – AGENDA Thursday, August 17th, 2023, City Council Chambers 7:30 A.M. CALL TO ORDER ROLL CALL DECLARATION OF ANY POTENTIAL CONFLICTS OF INTEREST APPROVAL OF AGENDA APPROVAL OF MINUTES PUBLIC COMMENT OLD BUSINESS Board Items • Question and answer session on the August staff update. NEW BUSINESS Board Items • Adjourn to Sky Ridge for Sportsplex Tour. UPCOMING DISCUSSIONS • Pay-to-Play System • Lookout Mountain Grazing • 2024 Fee Changes (picnic shelters, water park fees) FYI ITEMS • Dog Days scheduled for September 5th. • Pickleball tournament at City Park on September 23rd and 24th. • Disc Golf tournament at City’s disc golf course on September 10th. • Skate Nights return on October 6th. ADJOURNMENT Next Meeting – September 21st, 2023, 7:30 A.M. Council Chambers  Parks, Recreation, & Forestry Advisory Board – MINUTES Thursday, July 20th, 2023, City Council Chambers 7:30 A.M. The meeting was held in the Council Chamber and is available at: https://vimeo.com/848733125?share=copy CALL TO ORDER 7:34 A.M. ROLL CALL In attendance were Caldwell, Coburn, Dardis, Neilson, Reth, Running, Winterstein, and Clark. Also in attendance were P & R Director Ehnes, SRAC Facility Superintendent Rauterkus, City Administrator McFarland, and Front Desk and Concession Coordinator Heiting. Present on Zoom, Griffith, Parks Maintenance Superintendent McDonald, and City Attorney McDonald. Absent: Weigel DECLARATION OF ANY POTENTIAL CONFLICTS OF INTEREST Dardis declared a conflict of interest with Black Hills Rapids MOU. Griffith declared a conflict of interest with both the BHSU MOU and the Black Hills Rapids MOU, Caldwell will be appointed chair of the board for the BH Rapids MOU and Dardis will be appointed chair for the BHSU MOU. Neilson questioned if Dardis and Griffith can answer questions regarding the soccer MOUs. Attorney McDonald stated that the only way Griffith and Dardis can comment would be as a member of the public. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Caldwell moved, Reth, seconded, and all voted to approve the agenda. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Dardis moved, Coburn, seconded, and all approved the minutes of the April 20, 2023, meeting. PUBLIC COMMENT Public comment was opened at 7:39 A.M., with no public comments received. OLD BUSINESS Board Items • Question and answer session on the July staff update. o Ehnes discussed the progress of the Rocketship renovation. The Rocketship slides have been removed from the main structure and have been taken to the designated welding location for repairs. The City Council recently approved additional funding for better turf surfacing under the structures that meets ADA requirements as well as appropriate fall protection. o Caldwell questioned the cost breakdown regarding the renovation of the Rocketship. Ehnes stated that a lot of the donations have been in-kind donations. Ehnes stated Next Meeting – August 17th, 2023, 7:30 A.M. Council Chambers  Parks, Recreation, & Forestry Advisory Board – MINUTES Thursday, July 20th, 2023, City Council Chambers 7:30 A.M. that it is unknown how much money has been received from the fundraising. The city has budgeted $350,000 to purchase new playground equipment that will replace the old playground structure as well as add additional equipment. An additional $110,000 was approved by the City Council for the Forever Lawn surfacing. o Griffith questioned the impact of the bandshell due to not receiving the Wellmark grant. Ehnes stated that Spread the Tunes has raised approximately $115,000.00 to help fund the project. Funds for the project have been requested in the 2024 budget and staff will continue to apply for another grant this fall. o Neilson questioned if the cross-country meets will be relocated due to the Evans Park renovation. Ehnes stated that a meeting was held on Tuesday with the school district at the location to discuss if it would be safe for all participants. Due to the heavy construction, the cross-country meet was determined to temporarily relocate to Jorgenson Park. o Griffith questioned the daily check-ins for the Rec Center. Rauterkus stated that the check-ins have been fewer this year due to weather closures. o Running questioned the city’s weed control contract and what is included in that contract. Ehnes stated that the contract is designed to spray the areas that are only identified in the bid documents and the contractor has until July 15th to complete the initial spraying. If there are continued weed problems the contractor will return to spot-treat the problem areas as well as certified city staff will help to resolve those areas of concern. o Running also questioned Rauterkus about the weeds and clover in the rec center lawn, the cleanliness and safety of the waterpark stairs, and cleaning of the lounge chairs. Rauterkus said that the stairs are cleaned at the beginning of each year along with the lounge chairs and then cleaned as needed. NEW BUSINESS Director Items • Recommend approval of an MOU with the Black Hills Rapids for the use of the Teener baseball field. o Dardis motioned, Coburn seconded, and all voted to approve Caldwell as the chair of the board for this item. o Ehnes discussed field space that would be available to allow Black Hills Rapids the opportunity to practice in Spearfish. Ehnes stated that due to the baseball team not utilizing the Teener field this fall, and a lack of available soccer fields due to Sky Ridge Next Meeting – August 17th, 2023, 7:30 A.M. Council Chambers  Parks, Recreation, & Forestry Advisory Board – MINUTES Thursday, July 20th, 2023, City Council Chambers 7:30 A.M. Complex not being available yet, the Teener field would be the only available option at this time. o Neilson questioned how many Spearfish athletes would be affected by combined organizations. Griffith stated that he is the head coach for the Spearfish girls’ varsity soccer program and is helping assist with the Black Hills Rapids program. The Black Hills Rapids program would allow athletes who have the desire to advance in the sport the opportunity to do so in Spearfish. Griffith stated that they have been traveling to Rapid City to train during the off-season to be more competitive at the high school level. o Neilson questioned if adding this program would grow and take players from the local organizations. Griffith stated that he does not believe that the program is going to grow to the point it causes any disruption in the multi-sport athletes or the local Spearfish soccer association. o Coburn moved, and Reth seconded to recommend approval of the MOU with the BH Rapids for use of the Teener field with Coburn, Caldwell, Running, and Reth, voting yes, Weinstein and Neilson voting no. Dardis and Griffith abstained due to a conflict of interest. Motion carried; a recommendation will be forwarded to the council on August 7th, 2023. • Recommend approval of an MOU with the Black Hills State University for the use of the soccer field at the Black Hills Energy Complex. o Clark moved, Winterstein seconded, and all voted to approve Dardis as the chair of the board for this item. o Ehnes discussed that the current Ronnie Theisz soccer field no longer meets the requirements due to BHSU Women's Soccer joining the NCAA. Due to the required space needed, the only space that is large enough is the Black Hills Energy soccer field. If approved, the MOU agreement discussed would be a two-year agreement. o Dardis questioned how the lines would be painted since the high school would be playing east/west and due to the space needed, BHSU would be playing North/South. Ehnes stated that the lines would have to be double-striped with the high school using white and BHSU using yellow. o Caldwell commented on how incredible it is for high school-aged athletes to have the opportunity to be able to go to watch soccer be played at a higher level. o Coburn moved; Neilson seconded, and all voted to recommend approval of the MOU with Black Hills State University for the use of the BH Energy Soccer Field. Griffith Next Meeting – August 17th, 2023, 7:30 A.M. Council Chambers  Parks, Recreation, & Forestry Advisory Board – MINUTES Thursday, July 20th, 2023, City Council Chambers 7:30 A.M. abstained due to a conflict of interest. Motion carried; a recommendation will be forwarded to the council on August 7th, 2023. FYI ITEMS • August advisory board meeting will meet at the council chambers and adjourn at Sky Ridge. ADJOURNMENT Neilson moved, Coburn, seconded, and all voted to adjourn at 8:31 A.M. Next Meeting – August 17th, 2023, 7:30 A.M. Council Chambers  AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY Board Items-Old Business DEPARTMENT: ___________________________________________________________ REQUEST: Question and answer session on the August staff update. JUSTIFICATION: (attach any additional justification and/or documentation) This is our standing Q & A session for board members to have their questions answered regarding the monthly staff update and any other questions they may have for the staff. N/A FUNDING:___________________________________________________________ RECOMMENDATION: N/A ________________________________________________________ MEETING DATE PRFAB:_________________________ 8/17/23 Deadline: Friday 12:00 PM prior to board meeting, send electronically to the SRAC Admin Assistant.  August Park, Rec, and Forestry Advisory Board Update Director Update: Exit 8 Rec Path Expansion: Phases 2 and 3 of the rec path expansion project are slowly moving forward. The DOT reviewed the plans and found a couple of issues that they were concerned about and sent them back to our consultant for changes. It is looking more like this project will take place in the spring of 2024 and hopefully be complete by the fall of 2024. Sports Complex The sports complex is moving along quite well. The turf that was seeded last fall is coming in very well. The turf that was seeded this spring still has some time to go before it is considered established. The contractor is fertilizing every two weeks and the rain this summer has been a big help in getting the grass established. I am confident that there will be organizations playing out there in the fall of 2023 and possibly even spring if we continue to have a cool and wet summer and fall. Phase 2 is going well. The third restroom is nearly complete. The playground was installed and the pad for the picnic shelter was poured. The City Council approved the change order for the path from gravel to concrete at the last meeting. Staff will give the board a tour at this month's board meeting. Skate Park The City Council unanimously approved the board’s recommendation to design one for the skate park. Staff submitted our grant application to the grant coordinator for the South Dakota Game, Fish, and Parks. The coordinator informed me that a concerned citizen reached out to him and sent him a large packet of information showing his dissent for the project. I submitted a large packet of all the minutes along with a letter from Mayor Senden. We hope that this packet shows that the city was open and transparent during the whole process. Unfortunately, this may hurt our chances of receiving a grant for the skate park. The next steps will be to enter into a design agreement with the ARC to design construction plans in 2024 while at the same time applying for more grants. The fundraising group will begin working this summer/fall on raising additional funds for the project. Evans Park The start of the renovation has been slow. So far, the contractor has removed the slide and excavated around the base of the slide. Staff met with the renovation team to discuss the grading of the site and have come up with a plan to ensure that water doesn’t accumulate in the playground areas. The new equipment RFP was sent out on March 1st and staff received three proposals by the March 31st deadline. The City Council followed the board and technical review committee’s  August Park, Rec, and Forestry Advisory Board Update recommendation of awarding the new playground to My Turn Playsystems. The contract and notice of award were signed and sent out to them. The playground was ordered earlier this summer and it will take 12-16 weeks to manufacture and be delivered. Delivery and installation are scheduled for the second week in September and will be completed by the deadline of October 31st. The City Council approved the request to change from wood fiber to turf. This will make accessibility much better and be far less maintenance. Spearfish Community Foundation Project The first five portable AEDs have arrived and were used for the first time at the Pine Island Gravel Odyssey bike race. The community foundation has successfully raised $128,000 so far and has enough money to complete phase 1. Eleven towers are scheduled to be installed this week. Electricity will then need to be hooked up. The AEDs should be operational in September. Bandshell Unfortunately, we did not receive the Wellmark Foundation grant for the bandshell project. There were over 100 entries and only 14 were picked to be funded. The plan is to have the design finished by this fall and bid the project this winter to receive a good price. Construction would start in the spring of 2024 with completion by mid to late summer. Staff continues to meet with Williams and Associates for project updates. The plan is to have the full construction plans finished by October and either bid the project this fall or use a construction manager at risk for the construction. Staff have requested funds in the 2024 budget to complete this project. MOUs Both MOUs that came to the PRF Board in July were approved by City Council at the last meeting. BHSU women’s soccer will now play their games at the energy complex and BH Rapids will be practicing on the Teener outfield. Pay-to-Play I was asked by the City Administrator to prepare and present a presentation on pay-to-play to the City Council at the August 16th Study Session. The associations are also invited to that meeting to discuss the impacts of charging them for the use of field space. The staff recommendation to the City Council is to create a task force made up of staff, PRF board members, and association members to create a new fee structure for the use of city facilities. Staff will bring up this topic at the September PRF board meeting for consideration.  August Park, Rec, and Forestry Advisory Board Update Grants To date, staff have applied for four grants (Wellmark Foundation for the Bandshell, RTP grant for solar lighting along the rec path, the LWCF grant for the skate park, and the Spearfish Community Foundation for the AEDs.) We recently received a letter stating that we received $158,757 towards installing more solar lights on the rec path. This phase will include City Park, Rotary Park, Log Cabin area, and Salem Park. This project will take place in 2024 pending budget approval. Parks Maintenance Superintendent Update 1. Festival in the Park a. Another successful Festival was held in July thanks in part to city staff from Public Safety, Public Works, and Parks 2. Evans Park playground demo and site prep a. Demo of the old playground and site prep has begun b. Install of the new playground is set for the first part of September c. Concrete will be poured for a new ADA accessibility pad to the new playground area and the sidewalk near the restrooms that had to be removed to fix a broken water line will be replaced at that time as well 3. Spartan Park bleacher replacement and pads a. New bleachers have been ordered to replace the bleachers around the football field and concrete bleacher pads will be poured in the next couple of weeks b. This project was budgeted in 2023 Capital Improvements 4. Community Food Forest fence a. The fence has been installed and work has begun on building a custom gate b. This project was funded through a grant from the SDDANR 5. St. Johnswort a. St. Johnswort is listed as a noxious weed and can become a problem during wet, cool years b. There were several areas across the city where the populations exploded, forcing us to contract with Tru Green for chemical control applications in late July 6. Rad Route to School a. The Creekside Connector trail, from the north end of Canyon Street to Creekside Elementary, is still mowed in and is available for use b. Volunteers have expressed an interest in doing some dirt work on the trial to make it easier for users to navigate – permission was given to the volunteers by Parks staff 7. Professional development a. 3 members of the Forestry District attended an all-day chainsaw safety and tree felling workshop at Custer State Park hosted by SDPRA  August Park, Rec, and Forestry Advisory Board Update 8. Pickleball practice pad a. Parks staff met with the president of the pickleball club to discuss the installation of a 12’x10’ slab of concrete on the southeast corner outside of the pickleball courts to be used for a practice pad b. Boards will be installed so that players practicing can hit off the board c. The pickleball club will supply all necessary materials and Parks staff will help with site prep d. No completion date has been set at this time 9. Bee City USA a. The Bee City USA committee has its first meeting scheduled for 8/17/23 Rec Center Facility Superintendent Update Indoor Memberships: • Our membership on 8-9-23 was 2,362. This is a decrease of 26 members since the last report and an increase of 304 from one year ago. • We have 252 24-hour memberships. This number is not included in the above number since you must have an active regular membership to be eligible for the 24-hour membership. This is a decrease of 8 since the last report. o On the same date in 2022, we had 221 24-hour memberships. • 464 members use 1 of the 5 insurance reimbursement programs we belong to. This is an increase of 12 since the last report. Indoor Day Passes: • Between July 12th and August 9th, we sold 317 adult day passes, 309 youth day passes, and 13 walking day passes. Averaging 22 per day, this is a decrease of .5 per day since the last report. o During the same period last year, we averaged 24.5 passes per day. • Year to date we have sold 2,522 adult day passes. 219 more than last year. 235 walking day passes, 157 less than last year. 3,346 youth day passes 484 less than last year. in total, we have sold 6,103-day passes which is 422 fewer day passes this year than last year. Membership Scans: • Between July 12th and August 9th, we had 13,827 scans averaging 477 per day. This is 70 more per day than the last report. This number does also include waterpark memberships. • Year to date we have had 78,696 membership scans averaging 358 scans a day. Point of Sale: • January 1st through July 12th point of sale has done $375,817.52 in sales. This is an increase of $4,080.42 compared to the same time last year. • Since the last report, we have had $147,036.75 in sales. o This is an increase of $25,816.41 since the last report.  August Park, Rec, and Forestry Advisory Board Update o This is a decrease of $7,228.61 compared to last year. • Our best-selling concessions item this period was Nachos with 1,076 sold. This is an average of 40 per day. Waterpark: • The half-price waterpark membership sale ended on May 1st. We sold 1,514 memberships. We have sold 82 full-price memberships since the ½ price sale ended. • Between July 12th and August 9th, we sold 9,220-day passes. Averaging 318 per day. This is an increase of 110.5 per day since the last report. • Swim lessons are over for the season. Staffing: o We currently have an open full-time Customer Service Assistant position. We have interviews scheduled and are hoping to have the new employee starting in early September. Programming: • Leagues: o Our next league will be youth football this fall. Registration is open. We are offering flag football for grades 1-6. We changed to a 7 on 7 format instead of 11 on 11. There are currently 54 participants registered. We might need to divide two of the age groups into two teams due to the large number of participants. o We will be starting 5 on 5 adult basketball on September 26th. Registration is open. • Holiday Market: o The Holiday Craft Fair Market is scheduled for December 9th. We already have 28 vendors booked for the event. We limit it to 83 booths. • Summer Rec o The schedule for Summer Rec is May 30th-August 18th. o There is a full-day ($25) and half-day ($15) option. o Wednesdays are field trip days. o There are currently 174 people registered. We can have up to 40 participants each day. o All the field trips are full. o We have an overall registration that does not have a max. Participants also register for each day that they will be participating. Portable AED’s • We have received 5 portable AEDs from the Community Foundation. They also provided us with 5 bleeding control kits that can be checked out with the AED for special events. • There will be a tower that houses an AED available at the Rec Center in the next month or two. This will be accessible to the public 24-7.  August Park, Rec, and Forestry Advisory Board Update Fitness: • Construction on the new walls for the weight room is complete. • All the new flooring has been installed. • The new turf was installed in early July. • Our fitness classes continue to be close to full. • We will be adding back some classes this fall including, but not limited to Cycling, and HIIT.