Parks and Recreation Commission

PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES MEETING DATE: April 27, 2021 LOCATION: Recreation Complex CALLED TO ORDER: 7:07 p.m. MEETING ADJOURNED: 7:48 p.m. NEXT MEETING: May 25, 2022, 7pm ROLL CALL NAME PRESENT ABSENT David Addison, School Board Liaison X Josh Bowlin X Tracy Downing X Ben Eckler-Chair X DR Dana Gilgrist X Mike Johnson X Kate Krieger X Lindsey Michaud X vacant Sarah Richardson, Council Liaison X Scott Davis, Staff Liaison X APPROVAL OF MINUTES Eckler moved to approve the minutes. Downing seconded. Minutes were approved by voice vote with no dissent, abstention. VISITOR COMMENTS None OLD BUSINESS Davis: We are a go for Pre-parade 5k. Still working on the final race course layout. PD is on board and we’re working on timing and route together. We will likely need 5-10 volunteers on race day. 3-5 at the check-in site and the beginning of the race by the library 8:30-9:45. 3-5 on the race course along Colebrook (to slow cars/marshal the race) or in the Rec Complex and Hixon parking lots. The rest of the route will be handled by the masons and the PD. 9:45am start time at the library, run the parade route, finish line is still in flux (full 5k or funrun 5-miler?). Registration online, sponsorships need to come in quickly, t-shirt designs. To do: sponsorships, t-shirt design, ads for the t-shirts, etc. Downing: how will we market it? Davis: we’ve got a sponsorship package ready to go; I can send it tomorrow. Registration will be up and running next week and then we can circulate the info – “blast it out,” 300 -person maximum. I’d prefer to have runners the first year as opposed to a fun walk with strollers and pets and such that can slow down the parade. Krieger: How do we ensure they’re runners? Davis: advertise it as a race. If it goes smoothly maybe we can expand it next years and more. Downing: I can do Total Access, and up and down Old Orchard. I’m sure Frisco would want to help. Michaud: Weber’s, too Davis: I don’t recommend a hard sell because webster’s businesses get hit for every single thing Downing: inquiry about tiers of sponsorship Davis: presenting sponsors are $5k, gold $2500, silver $1k, community days patron at $50 and up. Michaud: where do the lesser donators get their names advertised? David: a sign board the day of race, or on the city’s website. Michaud: is the carnival at the same place? David: yup. Most everything (parade, fireworks, etc.) on the 4th except the kids pet parade on Friday, July 1st. DR NEW BUSINESS No new business. COUNCIL REPORTS-presented by Sarah Richardson We had an election recently! Back to business and budgeting over the next few weeks. Balancing Act is up only through tomorrow night. Interesting way to see what goes into the decisions and what has to be cut. A great way to get involved. Prop U and Prop W did pass: use tax passed and a charter review commission will be formed, revamping how we take applications for boards and commissions – somewhat out of date, etc. Fine, but needs tightening. With new council and new mayor responsibilities are shifting. This may be Sarah’s last meeting with the commission. Downing: do you anticipate redoing the application process as a newly created process or? Sarah: well, it’s brand new. We’ve been reviewing the board commission set-ups – some don’t meet regularly – this is an effort to formalize the process and update it. Seems important to do this before we form this important commission, albeit temporary. STAFF REPORTS-presented by Scott Davis PARKS & RECREATION New City website went live today. It has a lot of the same info, but in a more thoughtful and aesthetically appealing layout. Easier to navigate. Still a work in progress, it’ll be in progress over the next week or so. Balance Act. Please take 10 minutes to do this assignment. It will really help City Hall and Council as they work through the budget process over the next 8 weeks. Brief explanation of how the tool works. Lots of projects happening with the start of spring. All the annuals are arriving this week, park staff will spend the next week or two getting everything in pots for the business districts and getting some others in the ground around city buildings. Still waiting on a warm up for the courts at Ivory Crockett. We did install the new computer automated locking doors on the restrooms at IC – same as one in Blackburn and a few Larsen. Dana: remind how it was before that? Locked all the time? Davis: Open all the time! Hopefully this will help with vandalism and the like. Michaud: will this go to all bathrooms in parks? Davis: no, just the ones mentioned. New garage door installed on the Zamboni room. $8k and not budgeted for, but it was also 23 years old. Pool lap lanes were painted today, more patching and repair work happening in there over the next couple weeks. Michaud: any repairs to the main pool? David: yes. Patching the larger areas now. Eckler: when does the pool survey go live? Davis: Soon. The masterplaning process will start in the next few weeks. New treadmills were delivered last week. Replaced 8 units. 5 of the older units went to police and fire departments. All other cardio equipment is in next year’s budget to replace. All ball fields are up and running. DR We have an opening for a second shift custodian. Typical work day is T-S 2:30 to 11 pm. If you know anyone looking for a second shift job, let them know. It’s a hard shift to fill. Richardson: how is staffing going for the summer? David: hiring furiously for pool and summer camp and front desk. We still need park seasonal staff. Michaud: do you advertise that? Davis: city’s website, Indeed, Facebook, job fairs. Downing: random question: when are we repaving the parking lot? Another one: kids doing 360s in the Blackburn parking lots when kids were around. There’s video on her phone. Maybe speedbumps would be deterrent? Davis: if there’s a license plate I’d be happy to pass it along to the PD. The parking lot was redone in Spring 2020. In another 3 years it’ll get a chip seal. They can also spot patch things if necessary. Richardson: Are you talking the Hickson lot? Downing: yeah Davis: that’s not ours to repair. It belongs to the city. Eckler: I feel like I heard a few weeks ago that the superintendent was asking for money to fix that and other things. Davis: I feel like that was part of the Hickson renovation. Maybe it is to come? Eckler: is the budget still on track? Any concerns? David: still concerns. We submitted the budget and we’ll present on May 3rd and then again the 10th and then the 3 weeks following – all budgeting. Council has a lot of work to do on the budget. Systemically there’a a lot going on. We’ll be okay for the next year or so. Down the road 5-6 years, we need some questions answered now to know we’ll be ok then. I’ve cut quite a bit out of our budget for approval. Now we get down to the nitty gritty of what the people of Webster want and how to fulfill those needs. Michaud: I have a few questions. iS The playground at Blackburn going to be redone? Davis: yes. We received a grant for it for a few thousands of dollars. It’s a big-ticket project that got put on hold because of COVID. Eckler: does the grant match what we put up 50/50? Davis: not exactly. The city was going to put up $100k and the grant $200k, but now everything has increased in cost, and we need to figure out how to get in there and do it. As for the expanded fitness studio: same deal. We had $600k earmarked for it, but again, now everything is so much more expensive. Both projects are out for another round of bids. I hope we can get those approved. The money comes out of the Parks sales tax fund. I’ve moved a lot out of the general fun to the Parks fund Michaud: the water feature is on Southwest and it’s clogging. Y’all probably do clear it out once a week and it just floods the patio. Davis: they do work on it a lot. I’m less concerned about the clogging, but rather the kids rigging it so that tit stays on all the time. Michaud: it’s the only water feature in Webster so it gets used a lot during the summer. Michaud: are we still secret shipping the parks? Davis: go for it. Shoot me an email and we can get someone out there immediately Downing: should we talk about not overlapping for sponsorships? Michaud: We can text Gilgrist: how about a. Google doc? Richardson: Be sure to hit up Digital Strike. She also has a contact there. Michaud: I have a cousin that prints t-shirts. I can inquire about the cost? Downing: can we create the Google doc or do you have to? DR Davis: lemme think. Michaud: if it’s just the 3 of us we can email each other and it’s not breaking sunshine law David Addison report The next school distract meeting, the bond issue will come up and we’re going to the voters looking for money – partly to fix the parking lot. It’s a mess. Richardson: I didn’t mean to besmirch you Addison: I’m in a car, going off video and muting myself. Sorry I’m late. SET NEXT MEETING The next regular meeting scheduled for 7 pm. Wednesday, May 25. Eckler moved, Michaud seconded. No oppositions. ADJOURNED Eckler moved to adjourn, Downing seconded. Approved by voice vote with no dissent, abstention. Meeting adjourned at 7:48 p.m.