Star Parks, Arts & Beautification Committee Meeting

City of Star Parks, Art & Beautification Committee (PABC) Monday, October 16, 2023, 6:34 PM 10769 W State St, Star, ID 83669 @ Star City Hall 1A.1. Roll Call PRESENT: Chair Gerri McCorkle, Vice Chair Chris Cox, Council Member Jennifer Salmonsen, Rod McClure, Vicki O’Keefe, Claudia Sanders, Sue Speer ABSENT: Staff Liaison Ryan Field, Arlene Nelson VISITOR: Mary Marlow, Star mayoral candidate Michele Miles 2A. Approval of Prior Meeting Minutes Jennifer noted that the former staff liaison prepared PABC meeting minutes when she was assigned to the committee. When the staff liaison position changed in June, her job responsibilities did too. Jennifer and Gerri requested copies of the prior, unapproved PABC meeting minutes prior to tonight’s meeting so that PABC could catch up on approving them. Rod made a motion to approve the 2/6/23, 3/20/23, 5/1/23, and 9/25/23 minutes with proposed changes, Chris seconded. The vote was unanimous. Jennifer said the 4/17/23 draft minutes indicated she made a motion to revise the PAB mission statement. She presented language for the committee’s consideration, but it is believed that a committee member made the motion. The 5/15/23 minutes were previously approved with recommended changes on 8/14/23, but the approved changes were not reflected in the draft PABC received for tonight’s meeting. Sue will follow up with the City Clerk/Treasurer’s office to provide changes to the 2/6/23, 3/20/23, 5/1/23, 5/15/23, and 9/25/23 minutes as appropriate and inquire about who might have made the motion to revise PABC’s mission statement on 4/17/23. The 4/17/23 meeting minutes will need to be voted on later. Visitor Presentation Landscape Designer and Certified Arborist Mary Marlow provided the attached information about community vegetable garden plots. She encouraged PABC to consider introducing community vegetable garden plots into city parks or suggesting they be established in HOA common areas. Sue said she discussed community gardens with Master Gardener Jerry Gage at PABC’s January workshop last year, and he mentioned some challenges with community gardens. He could be a helpful resource regarding pros and cons if PABC pursues this idea. It is believed Jerry was involved in Star’s previous community garden project. SS Page 1  City of Star Parks, Art & Beautification Committee (PABC) Monday, October 16, 2023, 6:34 PM 10769 W State St, Star, ID 83669 @ Star City Hall Jennifer mentioned the city code includes a list of possible amenities developers can offer when creating new subdivisions. Developers have the freedom to choose which amenities they include from this non-exclusive list. She said the city code may be updated soon, and adding community vegetable gardens to the amenities list could be an idea that council could consider. Mary also provided the attached information about “re-wilding” parks. She said allowing even small plots of land to return to their natural state increases the likelihood of creating pollinator habitat and would save maintenance resources. Mary recommended including either community vegetable garden plots or re-wilding areas in unusually shaped spaces, possibly such as Westpointe Park. 3. Member Reports 3A. City Council Liaison Update – Jennifer Salmonsen Jennifer said a check will be provided to Hand & Paw at tomorrow’s council meeting for the share of the Waggin’ Tails dog brick profits that PABC previously approved as a donation to them. 3B. Committee Member Reports and Action Items 3BA. Art by the River (ABTR) Wrap-Up – Vicki O’Keefe Vicki said an artist paid for two booth spaces at Art by the River. The artist’s check was returned to her due to a miscommunication about the City’s address. In the meantime, ABTR occurred, and the artist said she did not sell any art at the show. She asked Vicki whether she still needed to pay rent or whether she could receive a discount. PABC discussed the situation, and it was decided the rent amount should remain as originally stated. Vicki mentioned there were 2 pounds of coffee and coffee cups PABC purchased for ABTR that should be available to use for Make Star Shine. Items have been moved around at the Riverhouse, and it needs to be confirmed whether these items can be located. 3BB. Holiday Lighting Contest Details Jennifer researched other holiday lighting contests and suggested new categories for 1) Minimalist, 2) White Lights, 3) Inflatables, 4) The Reason for the Season (Nativity), and 5) The Griswolds for the 2023 contest. She added a to do list of the tasks needed to complete the project in PAB’s Google Drive. Claudia offered to assist with this project. Registration will open 11/27 and the application deadline will be 12/8. Judging will occur on 12/16 and winners will be notified the week of 12/18. SS Page 2  City of Star Parks, Art & Beautification Committee (PABC) Monday, October 16, 2023, 6:34 PM 10769 W State St, Star, ID 83669 @ Star City Hall The 2023-2024 budget for this project is currently set at $600. As mentioned last month, Ryan will contact ACHD to see if PABC might be able to borrow a van for the judging. It was discussed that PABC should determine the cost of the van, estimate the cost of the winner’s yard signs, and then work backwards to determine how much each prize award will be. PABC may also choose to have an action item at a future meeting to purchase a banner to advertise the event along State Street. 3BC. Traffic Box Art Program Update – Sue Speer Sue said she was notified city staff mailed consolation letters in September to the artists who were not selected in the recent art contest. She has not heard whether city staff have obtained signed licensing agreements from the artists who were selected, which would be the next step before the vendor could move forward with installation. Jennifer said she would follow up with Ryan to ask about the status of the licensing agreements. Sue contacted Mary Allington from the library and inquired about the status of their Arts Idaho grant application to wrap the library’s book drop box with art. Mary said they were unsuccessful last quarter, but she intended to re-apply. The next deadline is December 4th. Sue said Arts Idaho will only reimburse organizations for prospective projects, so she recommended that the book drop box art wrap be deferred pending the outcome of their new grant application. 3BD. Budget Update Jennifer received PABC revenue and expense reports from the City Clerk/Treasurer’s office. She recommended that a few committee members have a project group meeting to review the reports in more detail, and then present the information to the rest of the committee. Due to travel schedules, this meeting may occur in late November. $1,099.92 was included in PABC’s expense report for installation hardware of the safety life rings. Sue noted that although the safety life rings were a PABC project, it was her understanding that the city offered to pay for the installation hardware and therefore PABC did not obtain a price quote for the installation hardware and did not vote on its purchase. Chris said Mayor Chadwick recommended he attempt to have the hardware donated, but that if a donation was not possible that the mayor had funding available from another source. Jennifer recommended that the pending committee handbook address situations when purchases are made without pre-approval. 3BE. Make Star Shine Day Discussion and Committee Approval of Refreshment Purchase for the Event in 2023-2024 Budget (ACTION ITEM) – Sue Speer Sue said she has received 7 completed resident applications to date. She spoke with the administrator at the 2 Countrytime retirement homes today. They requested assistance and SS Page 3  City of Star Parks, Art & Beautification Committee (PABC) Monday, October 16, 2023, 6:34 PM 10769 W State St, Star, ID 83669 @ Star City Hall intended to provide completed applications soon. Sue noted that no applications were received until very late October last year, so applicant interest appears to be several weeks ahead of schedule. Outreach to volunteer groups seems to be going well too, but registration on Sign-Up Genius has not been as strong yet because the team leaders are still determining the size of their teams. Jennifer offered to contact the Chamber of Commerce and City Council to ask them about volunteering. The 2023-2024 budget for this project is currently set at $500. Although the exact number of volunteers is yet to be determined, approximately 150 volunteers participated in last year’s event, and it is believed that this year’s event could be as large. Claudia made a motion to spend up to $350 for volunteer refreshments, Rod seconded, and the vote was unanimous. 3BF. Discussion of Potential Purchase of American Flag, State Flag, Poles, Bases, and Flag Box (ACTION ITEM) Gerri said members of the Java Brigade, the City’s community for Veterans who meet at the Riverhouse monthly, requested that PABC purchase US and Idaho flags, poles, and a flag box for the Riverhouse. Gerri suggested these items could be worthy uses of PABC’s share of the profits from the Veterans banner project. As noted in a previous meeting, PABC planned to spend its share of the Veterans banner profits on a project that would support or honor Veterans in Star. Although it is possible that amounts could continue to change due to future transactions, PABC’s 50% share of the Veterans banner profits currently stands at $1,000 through 9/30/23. Gerri believes there is a local flag vendor in Meridian. Voting on the purchase of these items was deferred until PABC could obtain a price quote for the requested items. 3G. Committee Calendar Discussion (ACTION ITEM) PABC set the following meeting dates for the upcoming calendar year: 1/13/24 Workshop, 2/26/24, 3/18/24, 4/15/24, 5/20/24, 6/24/24, 7/15/24, 8/19/24, 9/16/24, 10/21/24, 11/18/24, and 12/16/24. Sue made a motion to approve these meeting dates, Rod seconded, and the vote was unanimous. 4. Recommendations to City Council None. Miscellaneous Discussion Gerri mentioned the historical committee’s oral history project and recommended PABC view it if they have not already. SS Page 4  City of Star Parks, Art & Beautification Committee (PABC) Monday, October 16, 2023, 6:34 PM 10769 W State St, Star, ID 83669 @ Star City Hall Rod said he will obtain signed safety ring acceptance confirmations from HOAs who participate in the program (blank form attached). The city attorney has not provided feedback on the language of the confirmations yet, but it was discussed that the form will primarily be used to track the location of the rings and that further inquiries of the city attorney are not necessary. Five life rings have been installed to date, with another five requested at Star River Ranch and between seven and eight requested at Heron River. Claudia said she submitted the last required grant report for the Sea Tow life vest program. All the life vests have been accounted for (i.e., there were no losses due to theft this summer). PABC discussed the schedule for switching the banners along State Street, and it was decided to request the Veterans banners hang until Veterans Day (11/11) and then be replaced with the winter banners shortly thereafter. 5. Adjournment at 8:54 PM. The next meeting will be 11/20/23 at 6:30 PM at Star City Hall. _/s/____________________________ Sue Speer, Secretary SS Page 5