Parks and Recreation Commission

PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES MEETING DATE: February 24, 2021 LOCATION: Virtual Zoom Meeting CALLED TO ORDER: 6:38 p.m. MEETING ADJOURNED: 7:40 p.m. NEXT MEETING: March 24, 2021 ROLL CALL NAME PRESENT ABSENT David Addison, School Board Liaison X Tracey Downing X Ben Eckler-Chair X Dana Gilgrist X DR Tammy Hoyt X Kate Krieger X Lindsey Michaud X Peg Pedersen X Vacant X Sarah Richardson, Council Liaison X Scott Davis, Staff Liaison X APPROVAL OF MINUTES Pedersen moved to approve the minutes. Hoyt seconded. Minutes were approved by voice vote with no dissent, abstention. Intro of new members STAFF REPORTS-presented by Scott Davis PARKS St. Louis County this week approved the plan to reopen playgrounds. We plan on officially reopening those on March 1. Larson Park restrooms are now heated and open for use in the winter. We are hoping for the right weather conditions on Friday to have a prairie burn in Lockwood Park. We burned part of that prairie two years ago. Weather was uncooperative last year. We have a cool program coming up this Saturday. It is a Winter Tree Identification walking tour of Larson Park. 10 am, free, but you must pre-register. RECREATION In the last three weeks County has loosened some of COVID-19 restrictions that effect our facilities and programming. Very soon we will be moving some of the cardio equipment out of the gymnasium and back into the fitness center. We will be hanging sneeze barrios between some of that equipment. By moving them back into the fitness center, patrons will be able to watch TV again while doing their cardio. Also, we will be able to use the gymnasium for basketball and volleyball again. We are hoping to open our concessions early next month. We have been renovating that space and getting all the permits and staffing to run that service in-house. As of today, we are planning on opening the Aquatic Center this summer. That could change as we get closer to May, if COVID-19 conditions worsen or if St. Louis County Public Health puts more restrictive guidelines DR in place than the ones in place at the end of the 2020 season. The City Council also approved non-resident daily admission for the Aquatic Center starting this season. We are in discussion with the County and the Lions on Community Days events this summer. County does not sound very optimistic about summer mass gatherings. We would need a permit from County approving our COVID-19 mitigation plan for this type of special event. As of today, we are still planning on having some form of Community Days events. We are not going to continue the Miss Webster pageant. We will post more info, as we get closer to the date. Richardson asked about the Skate Park. Davis said that the department was in discussions with a group that has been raising funds for a renovation. A full renovation would be $200,000+ and is not currently in our 5- year Capital Improvement Plan. There may be some opportunities for smaller improvements soon, but a full- scale renovation would be several years down the road if the City were to fund it or apply for a Muni Park Grant for the renovation. Michaud asked about how pool admission would work. Davis responded that it is the hope to just allow normal admissions. It will be dependent on St. Louis County guidelines and participant usage. We may have to schedule sessions that would need to be preregistered for, much like what we currently do in the ice rink. Eckler asked about how Covid-19 has affected revenues and operations. Davis responded that the revenue has been significantly impacted. We are still not seeing many fitness class participants. Gilgrist asked about how the department advertises programs. Davis said there are several channels including publication of paper brochure twice per year, that is also available digitally on the City’s website, 2 full page ads in the Webster Kirkwood Times in between the brochure prints, Facebook post, digital marque, and flyers posted at facilities and sent to some schools/ELC to send home with students. COUNCIL REPORTS-presented by Sarah Richardson Golf carts have been approved for use on City streets under certain conditions. The redevelopment project in Old Webster is still being studied by the City. At this time the City has not voted to approve or disapprove of the project. There is an Internet Use tax on April ballot. This tax would be collected on online purchases from out of state vendors. It would level the playing field for local and brick and mortar businesses. Council is still discussing where/how the revenue would be used if the ballot measure is approved by residents. OLD BUSINESS Discussion of future meeting’s frequency, days and times. Addison moved for meetings to be held at 7:00 p.m. on the 4th Wednesday of every month, and that the by-laws be amended as such. Hoyt seconded. Voice vote was unanimous. NEW BUSINESS Election of Secretary: Krieger volunteered for the position. Addison moved for Krieger to be appointed the Secretary. Pedersen seconded. Voice vote was unanimous. By-Law Review: Davis asked if everyone had received and review the bylaws. He pointed out Article IV: PURPOSE OF THE COMMISSION and Article V: DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE DR COMMISSION. Commissioners discussed various topics of interest for Commissioners such as: secret shoppers at our parks and facilities, Marshalls in the parade, volunteer at events such as Dog Egg Hunt, Season Ending Pool Party, Daddy Daughter Dance, research solar options for park restrooms facilities, be part of master planning of new pool design, and coordinating park clean up days with various other community groups. SET NEXT MEETING The next regular meeting scheduled for 7 pm. Wednesday, March 24, 2021. ADJOURNED Pedersen moved for adjournment. Michaud seconded. Meeting adjourned at 7:40 p.m.