Park and Recreation Committee

Village of Weston, Wisconsin MEETING MINUTES OF THE PARK & RECREATION COMMITTEE MEETING Monday, January 22, 2018, at 4:30 p.m. AGENDA ITEMS. 1. Meeting called to order by Chairman Zeyghami @ 4:30 P.M. 2. Roll Call by Recording Secretary: Jessica Falkowski Member Present Zeyghami, Hooshang YES Clark, Katrina YES Esker, Roger YES Lewitzke, Lindsey YES Porlier, Mark YES Village Staff in attendance: Shawn Osterbrink, Jessica Falkowski, Daniel Guild, Keith Donner, Michael Wodalski, Jennifer Higgins, Roman Maguire, Renee Hodell and Trustee Loren White. 3. Approval of minutes from previous meeting: November 27, 2017 *M/S/P Esker/Lewitzke: to approve the November 27, 2017 minutes. Yes Vote: 5 No Vote: 0 Abstain: 0 Not Voting: 0 Result: PASS Zeyghami, Hooshang YES Clark, Katrina YES Esker, Roger YES Lewitzke, Lindsey YES Porlier, Mark YES 4. Public Comments. Jennifer Higgins at 6502 Quentin St Weston, WI 54476 commented that she supports the Sports Complex project because she has children that are actively involved in sports. Higgins commented that it would be nice to have a centralized area to hold tournaments at one location and not travel from one location to the next for a game and that the Sports Complex will draw families from out of the area and increase tourism in our area. Renee Hodell at 1803 Jelinek Ave Weston, WI 54476 commented that she supports the Sports Complex project because she has had children that were actively involved in sports. Hodell commented on her positive experiences her family has had at other Sports Complexes and the tourism it brought to the communities they were located in. Committee Member Lewitzke commented that she is concerned about having enough man power to run the concessions, attracting and hosting enough teams and tournaments to support this complex. Village of Weston Park & Recreation Meeting Minutes for January 22, 2018 Page 1 of 7 Trustee Porlier asked if having a Sports Complex will take time off the clock and consolidate burn out from traveling to play and maintaining fields at different locations? Roman Maguire at 4512 Twin Pines Ln Weston, WI 54476 commented that he supports the Sports Complex project. Roman is on the D.C. Everest Youth Baseball Board and they serve over 500 kids in the community in their tee-ball - 14U program. Roman commented that Weston has 8 fields and there are 5 other fields located in 3 different neighboring communities that serve this program making it hard to host tournaments. He stated that having the Sports Complex will eliminate travel, easier to maintain fields, and will be a central gathering place for families in the community. D.C. Everest Youth Baseball currently runs a concession stand and maintains fields between games with the help of volunteers for tournaments and games at Kennedy Park. David Langbehn at 1623 Spring St Schofield, WI 54476 serves as the President of the D.C. Everest Youth Baseball Organization and head baseball coach for D.C.Everest High School. David commented that he supports the Sports Complex project because it will be easier to organize and host tournaments because of its centralized location within the state and having all the games at one location. David commented that the D.C.Everest Youth Baseball Organization has made donations in the past to help with field maintenance and will continue to do so in the future. Langbehn suggested to the committee to look at the overall layout of the plan to see if it’s user friendly to all users who come to the facility. Trustee Porlier asked what makes a complex user friendly, i.e. parking? Langbehn responded that enough parking, layout/position of fields and access to identify field location to play are a few things to consider when designing and a layout plan for the Sports Complex. Lewitzke asked Lanbehn locations of where his teams play tournaments? Langbehn responded that they travel to Depere, Pulaski, Bayport, Stevens Point, Eau Claire, Dodgeville, Madison, and Janesville to play tournaments. Lewitzke asked Langbehn if he thought the southern teams in the state will travel here to play? Langbehn responded with a quote from Field of Dreams “if they build it, they will come” and that usually a team will come play in your tournament if you played at their tournament. Osterbrink and Porlier also commented that if you have a great facility people will come. Michael Wodalski at 5202 Isaiah St Weston, WI 54476 commented that he supports the Sports Complex project. Wodalski commented on having young children that will one day participate in sports and the positive experiences he had with his family and teammates playing at tournaments at other Sports Complexes out of the area. Wodalski commented on the competitive nature that it brought out in the players by playing other teams from different areas and how the Sports Complex could strengthen the D.C.Everest Youth Baseball Organization. Village of Weston Park & Recreation Meeting Minutes for January 22, 2018 Page 2 of 7 EDUCATIONAL PRESENTATIONS & REPORTS 5. Committee Role & Responsibilities Presentation – Daniel Guild Guild presented the roles and responsibilities of the Park & Recreation Committee. 6. Budget Presentation – Daniel Guild Guild presented the 2018 budget to the Park & Recreation Committee. 7. Budget Adjustment – transfers from CIP fund to Aquatic Center Fund Presentation – Shawn Osterbrink Osterbrink explained that the Aquatic Center always had a maintenance budget of $30,000 per year. That money was reduced and the current budget shows only $5,000 for the 2018 maintenance budget at the Aquatic Center. Osterbrink stated that there was $30,000 placed in the CIP budget to replace the pool heater this year that could be re-allocated to the maintenance budget for 2018. Osterbrink proposes that we don’t replace the heater this year and adjust the budget by transferring the $30,000 from the CIP fund to the maintenance budget. 8. Aquatic Center Locker Room Policy Presentation – Daniel Guild 9. Guild presented and explained the incident that happened at the pool last year along with the recommendation and policy from Attorney Yde.Eau Claire River – County J launch update Presentation – Daniel Guild Guild gave an update on the canoe/kayak launch at County J. Guild stated the Village received the award of $35,000 from the County and the Village closed on the property that was donated from Darrel Will. Guild also stated that he and Shawn will be working on grants that are due by May 1st. Trustee White mentioned that Will family would like the park to be named Silver Creek in memory of their family farm. 10. Everest Youth Baseball Requests Report– Shawn Osterbrink Osterbrink presented that Everest Youth Baseball asked for upgrades at Robinwood and Machamueller baseball fields. The upgrades they suggested were dugout roofs at Machmueller, dugout enclosures and roofs at Robinwood, and additional infield material at both locations. 11. Fishing Regulations for Mashuda/Prohaska Park Presentation – Shawn Osterbrink Osterbrink gave an update on options for fishing regulations on the Mashuda and Prohaska ponds. Osterbrink presented 3 options that the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources offered. The first option is to complete the necessary paperwork for the ponds to be designated as Urban Waters. The next option would be to open the ponds for fishing utilizing current state regulations. The final option would be to submit the necessary paperwork to request a rule change at the 2019 Conservation Hearings with special regulations to go into effect in 2020 if Village of Weston Park & Recreation Meeting Minutes for January 22, 2018 Page 3 of 7  approved. Osterbrink also stated that zoning will also have to be changed if we go ahead with the regulations. 12. Urban Forestry Management Plan Report – Shawn Osterbrink Osterbrink stated that we included a copy of the plan for your review. The drafting of the plan is a part of the 2017 Urban Forestry Grant the Village received. 13. Sports Complex Presentation – Daniel Guild Guild gave a presentation where the project is at conceptually and what work needs to be done to move the project forward. Guild stated the purpose of this project is to provide more recreational facilities and services to our residents. The Sports Complex will bring value to the village and benefit the tax payers, residents, and community at large. Room Tax dollars is an option to use to help fund this project, estimated cost is 10 million dollars. The Village authorized the release of an RFP to engineering firms last fall to provide professional landscape architectural and engineering design services for this project. The RFP project is currently on hold due to concerns of some officials. Guild stated that the project could be broken into phases to spread out the costs. Trustee Zeyghami advised that a feasibility study be conducted first to address questions and concerns. Zeyghami would like to see the following be addressed in the feasibility study: concept and design, environmental issues, is this the best site in village and accessibility, how are we going to finance it, how many people needed to operate the complex, maintenance, parking, and condition of Weston Ave. Wodalski mentioned that Weston Ave needs to be updated and is in the street plans to been redone. Clark commented that she is concerned about neighboring businesses, parking and safety concerns. Higgins stated that neighboring businesses were aware of the possibility of a sports complex. Trustee Porlier is concerned about semi’s and trucks going to and leaving from businesses and if there will be playground equipment for younger children. The feasibility study will help answer and address the concerns that the trustees and committee members have. Lewitzke agrees with the feasibility study being completed. 14. Town of Weston request regarding parkland dedication fees. Daniel Guild & Shawn Osterbrink Guild and Osterbrink stated that the Town of Weston has $3,000 that they would like to put towards a piece of play equipment at Machmueller Park. The Village has no additional money to put towards a play structure and offered other ideas to the Town such as Aquatic Center maintenance, Eau Claire River Project, or dugout roofs at the baseball field at Machmueller. As of now the Town only wants to give the money to new play equipment at the park. POLICY ISSUES - DISCUSSIONS/RECOMMENDATIONS 15. Endorsement of Sports Complex Discussion and recommendations were part of the presentation. 16. Recommendation re policy for Aquatic Center locker rooms Village of Weston Park & Recreation Meeting Minutes for January 22, 2018 Page 4 of 7  Discussion and recommendations were part of the presentation. 17. Recommendation re policy for Fishing Regulations Discussion of not doing anything and leaving things the way the currently are with additional signage of ‘No Fishing.’ RESOLUTIONS/ORDINANCES 18. 2018-004 re: Sports Complex *M/S/P Esker/Clark: to recommend moving forward with the Sports Complex project by conducting a feasibility study. Yes Vote: 5 No Vote: 0 Abstain: 0 Not Voting: 0 Result: PASS Zeyghami, Hooshang YES Clark, Katrina YES Esker, Roger YES Lewitzke, Lindsey YES Porlier, Mark YES 19. 2018-005 re: Locker Room Policy *M/S/P Esker/Lewitzke: to recommend adoption of the Locker Room Policy for the Aquatic Center. Yes Vote: 5 No Vote: 0 Abstain: 0 Not Voting: 0 Result: PASS Zeyghami, Hooshang YES Clark, Katrina YES Esker, Roger YES Lewitzke, Lindsey YES Porlier, Mark YES 20. 2018-006 re: Fishing Regulations *M/S/P Esker/Clark: to recommend the Mashuda/Prohaska Ponds to stay closed to the public. Yes Vote: 4 No Vote: 0 Abstain: 0 Not Voting: 0 Result: PASS Zeyghami, Hooshang YES Clark, Katrina YES Esker, Roger YES Lewitzke, Lindsey YES Porlier, Mark YES Village of Weston Park & Recreation Meeting Minutes for January 22, 2018 Page 5 of 7 ACKNOWLEDGE TRANSMITTAL OF DOCUMENTS BY EMAIL 21. RFP for Sports Complex Daniel stated that he will be sending them by email. 22. Eau Claire River Blockage Report Guild reported that there were complaints from recreators of tree blockages on the Eau Claire River. The Village used grant money from Marathon County to hire a contractor that cleared 15 blockages from County J to Yellowbanks Park. FUTURE ITEMS 23. Next meeting date(s): Monday, February 26th, 2018 @ 4:30 p.m. 24. Topics for future meetings. a. Facilities User Agreements. b. Friends groups for Dog park, Skate Park, and Eau Claire River. c. Memorial Policy. 25. Remarks from Staff a. Chronic Nuisance/Noxious Weed policy. b. Schofield Ave landscaping Plan. Osterbrink commented that the Schofield Ave Landscaping plan is out for rebid. 26. Remarks from Committee Members. Zeyghami asked how the lights are working at the Dog Park? Osterbrink feels that they are working like they should. They are solar lights so on cloudy days they don’t charge as well and light does not last as long in the evening. On sunny days the lights last much longer into the evening. Currently we still have only the 4 lights installed and have not purchased the additional 16. Osterbrink has not received much feedback from the public regarding the lights. Osterbrink mentioned that the fence for the dog park has been taken out of the budget for 2018. 27. Announcements. a. Contact Information. Osterbrink thanked the committee for updating their contact information. Village of Weston Park & Recreation Meeting Minutes for January 22, 2018 Page 6 of 7  b. Save the date: Business PM at Patron on 3/20. c. Save the date: 2nd Annual Leadership & Service Awards on 4/17 28. Adjournment. Chairman Zeyghami adjourned the meeting was at 7:15 p.m. Jessica Falkowski, Recording Secretary Village of Weston Park & Recreation Meeting Minutes for January 22, 2018 Page 7 of 7