Equestrian Preserve Committee

Village of Wellington 12300 Forest Hill Blvd Wellington, FL 33414 Action Summary Wednesday, December 4, 2019 6:30 PM Village Hall - 1E/1F Equestrian Preserve Committee Jane Cleveland, Chair Glen Fleischer, Vice Chair Carlos Arellano Robert Bushey Dr. Rachel Eidelman Dr. Kristy Lund Annabelle Garrett Equestrian Preserve Committee Action Summary December 4, 2019 I. CALL TO ORDER Chair Cleveland called the meeting to order at 6:32 pm. Jane Cleveland, Glen Fleischer, Robert Bushey, and Carlos Arellano were present. Dr. Kristy Lund arrived late. Dr. Rachel Eidelman was absent. Annabelle Garrett requested to attend by call-in. Staff present: Michael O'Dell and Ryan Harding. II. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE III. REMARKS BY COMMITTEE CHAIR Ms. Cleveland notified the committee that Ms. Garrett would like to attend by calling-in to the meeting. Mr. Fleischer made a motion to approve the call-in, and Mr. Bushey seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously (4-0). Dr. Eidelman was absent and Dr. Lund arrived late. IV. ADDITIONS/DELETIONS/REORDERING OF AGENDA There were no changes to the agenda. V. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Mr. Fleischer made a motion to approve the October and November 2019 minutes. Mr. Bushey seconded the motion and it passed unanimously (4-0). Dr. Eidelman was absent and Dr. Lund arrived late. EPC-197 Approval of October 2nd, 2019 EPC Minutes EPC-198 Approval of November 6th, 2019 EPC Minutes VI. WORKSHOP Indira Persaud and Linda Wirtz from Palm Beach County Parks and Recreation attended the workshop to provide information on the Jim Brandon Equestrian Center (JBEC). JBEC is located on 111 acres on the southern part of Okeeheelee Park. They have been operating as an equestrian facility for around 14 years. The main show area has five show rings, a covered arena, two permanent barns with 128 stalls, and three tent pads to accomodate the larger events. The main show area is available for rental. Their open riding area has two rings, wash racks, and barrel racing events, all of which are free and open to the public. Village of Wellington Page 1 Equestrian Preserve Committee Action Summary December 4, 2019 The third component of JBEC is a nine-mile equestrian trail system. It also includes hiking and biking trails, and canoe and kayak availability and a boat ramp. JBEC tracks the number of events they have annually. They do not take into account event days. Events can last anywhere from one day to four days. They have had a peak of 82 events in a year. Last year they had around 50 events. Ms. Wirtz feels most of the activity is from local riders or from equestrians who are already here for the season. One of the main goals for JBEC is to accomodate all levels and riding opportunities. They provide opportunities for pleasure and western events, which supplements Wellington's three main disciplines of dressage, hunter/jumper, and polo. Recently, JBEC hosted the World Dressage Masters, and they will be hosting the Gold Star Clinic for the third time this year. Ms. Wirtz mentioned the high cost of hotel rooms as something JBEC contends with. Ms. Garrett agreed that the cost and lack of hotel rooms in the area has been an issue for other events. The committee continued their discussion on the best to way to monitor the polo industry. The committee agreed to continue using the USPA sanctioned tournaments as a gauge for polo in the region. They recognize this will not capture all polo events, but it will provide a baseline that can be used for year-over-year comparisons. Additionally, the committee recommended tracking polo fields historically and how they have come or gone overtime. Mr. Fleischer recommended that once we have settled on and collected regional data to use for a basis, we should compare it to national data. VII. STAFF COMMENTS There were no staff comments. VIII. BOARD COMMENTS Ms. Cleveland notified the committee that the next scheduled meeting would be on January 1st. Because it is a holiday, and there are no items currently scheduled for January, Ms. Cleveland asked the committee about cancelling the January meeting. The committee agreed Village of Wellington Page 2 Equestrian Preserve Committee Action Summary December 4, 2019 unanimously to cancel the January meeting. Unless an application is submitted for the January meeting, the next EPC meeting will be on February 5, 2020. IX. PUBLIC COMMENTS There were no public comments. X. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 8:04 pm. NOTICE Village of Wellington Page 3