Sykesville Parks & Recreation (SPARC)

Town of Sykesville Dear 7547 Main Street, Sykesville, MD 21784 Town House p: 410.795.8959 f: 410.795.3818 Stacy Link, Mayor townofsykesville.org Joseph Cosentini, Town Manager Craig Weaver, Town Treasurer Kerry G. Kavaloski, Town Clerk OFFICIAL MINUTES OF AUGUST 22, 2024 REGULAR PARKS AND RECREATION The Sykesville Parks and Recreation (SPARC) meeting was held on Thursday, August 22, 2024. Commissioner Ries called the meeting to order at 7:01 P.M. in the Town House Conference Room. PRESENT: Commissioners Alex Ries, Chris Sevick, Nick Sheets, Billy Shifflet, and Eric Valenstein. Council Member Elizabeth Guroff. ABSENT: Commissioner Dan Gilbert. STAFF: Joe Cosentini, Town Manager MINUTES: • May 23, 2024 meeting minutes • June 27, 2024 meeting summary (no quorum) • July 25, 2024 meeting summary (no quorum) MOTION: Commissioner Ries motioned to approve the May 23, 2024, meeting minutes and the June 27 and July 25, 2024, meeting summaries. Commissioner Valenstein seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously. BUSINESS: • September Movie The new DVD player is working well. The repaired popcorn machine is working well. Commissioner Sevick thanked Public Works for vacuuming it out. She also announced that she has two new volunteers, and the snack shack is fully stocked and ready. There was discussion about the sound system and the volume level during the August movie. The volume level may need to be readjusted during the ads and the movie. A new sound system will be discussed prior to next season. Commissioner Sevick will handle putting out the signs before the movie. She will be in attendance at the movie and has volunteers for the snack shack. There was discussion about switching the food donation from Carroll County Food Sunday to Hope Rising, which accepts more household and personal  care items as well. Commissioner Sevick will ask for a list of acceptable items and will send Commissioner Ries the website for Hope Rising. MOTION: Commissioner Sevick motioned to switch the donations from Carroll County Food Sunday to Hope Rising starting in 2025. Commissioner Sheets seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously. Commissioner Sevick asked for thank you cards with the new SPARC logo to be ordered from VistaPrint, as she just ran out of the cards with the previous logo. There was discussion about boosting Facebook posts for the next few events. Town Clerk Kerry Kavaloski has access to the SPARC Facebook page and will boost the Movies and Concerts in the Park posts. • Music in the Park Update Commissioner Sheets gave a quick update on the Music in the Park events. Two bands have mailed in their contracts. Mr. Cosentini will ensure a check is ready for their concert dates. Commissioner Sevick has volunteers for the snack shack for the concert dates. Commissioner Sheets will put signs out on September 7 and September 28, and Commissioner Ries will put signs out on October 5. • Fall Cleanup Commissioner Sevick has several volunteers for the cleanup and has sent the event information to the high school, as service hours are available. Commissioner Ries would like litter picked up, benches scrubbed, pavilions cleaned out (including items that may be stapled or taped to the wood). Commissioner Sevick asked if flowers could be planted around the sign and in any flower pots. • Emails o Commissioner Sheets announced that he received an email that the zipline is broken in Millard Cooper Park. Mr. Cosentini will ask Public Works to replace the bumper on the zipline. o He also announced that he received an email from someone interested in debuting their homemade movie at Movies in the Park and brought up the idea of a local film festival. There was discussion about showing short films before the feature film. SPARC expressed interest in seeing the film before the next season. TOWN UPDATES: • The bridges in Millard Cooper Park cannot be refurbished, as they are not up to code. It is likely that the bridges will be removed and something up to code will be put in their place, however, the grant that the Town received for the  refurbishment will not be able to be used for the replacement. Staff is looking into options for the bridges. • The grant for the refurbishment of the bridges has been reallocated to improvements along Cooper Drive, including the parking area. Mr. Cosentini explained that the Town is working to limit the large vehicles on Cooper Drive, particularly once the improvements are done. • There are two more weeks of the splash pad. It is closed after Labor Day. • An employee will be hired specifically for parks. Mr. Cosentini is still tweaking the job description, but they will be hired prior to next season. • Mr. Cosentini announced that the work on Springfield Avenue is getting closer to completion. • Commissioner Shifflet asked if bricks in the Centennial Fountain Park could still be purchased and dedicated. Mr. Cosentini explained that there is a current streetscaping project for the Baldwin Drive area, and the bricks could be dedicated. Information about that will be posted regarding the bricks after the streetscaping project. • There was a discussion about ways to inform people about cleaning up their trash in the parks, including a PSA video starring Sparky the Squirrel and possibly free drinks from the snack shack if people turn in an amount of trash. ADJOURN: There being no further business to come before SPARC, Commissioner Ries motioned, and Commissioner Sevick seconded to adjourn the meeting at 7:38 P.M. The motion carried unanimously. Respectfully submitted Town Clerk Kerry Kavaloski