Park and Recreation Committee

Village of Weston, Wisconsin MEETING MINUTES OF THE PARK & RECREATION COMMITTEE MEETING Monday, September 24, 2018, 4:30 p.m. AGENDA ITEMS 1. Meeting called to order by Chairman Xiong @ 4:30 P.M. 2. Roll Call by Recording Secretary: Jessica Falkowski Member Present Xiong, Yee Leng YES Clark, Katrina YES Esker, Roger YES Lewitzke, Lindsey NO Sparks, Wally YES Village Staff in attendance: Osterbrink, Falkowski (Clerk), Mroczenski, Wodalski and Donner. White and Maguire in audience. 3. Approval of minutes from previous meeting: June 25, 2018 *M/S/P Esker/Clark: to approve the June 25, 2018 minutes. Yes Vote: 4 No Vote: 0 Abstain: 0 Not Voting: 1 Result: PASS Member Vote Xiong, Yee Leng YES Clark, Katrina YES Esker, Roger YES Lewitzke, Lindsey -- Sparks, Wally YES 4. Public Comments. Natt Zuleger from Friends of Everest Baseball and a village resident came to show his support for the sports complex. Zuleger commented that Friends of Everest Baseball is a booster club for the Everest High School teams, the Junior and Senior Legion Programs. The club helps to provide uniforms, field needs, and they run concessions. Zuleger stated that the sports complex will help families who have multiple kids in the sport be at one central place for weekly games and help the community by keeping young families in the area. Zuleger asked what the committee and board need from him and Osterbrink replied, “support.” Coming to a meeting, writing a letter, contacting committee and board members stating the reasons why you feel this is needed. For example, information on enrollment numbers, number of tournaments you attend, how far you travel, weekend expenses, and Village of Weston Park & Recreation Meeting Minutes for September 24, 2018  showing a level of commitment. Wodalski commented to Zuleger about fundraising or getting the word out there. Roman Maguire, president of D.C. Everest Youth Baseball, commented that his organization serves just under 500 kids in the community from age 6 thru 14 and has 350 parent volunteers that are involved in the organization. This past summer D.C. Everest Youth Baseball successfully hosted the state tournament for the 10U Cal Ripken Division of the Babe Ruth League at Kennedy Park. He also stated that as an organization they are struggling with providing proper size fields for the 11-12-year old age group. Their organization would either like to work on modifying current fields for the 11-12-year old age group or help fund new fields at the sports complex. Maguire stated that their fundraising committee is willing to partner with the village if it is decided to build a sports complex. Maguire states that a sports complex will also bring people and families together by providing a central place for them to gather. Clark mentioned that she would like to see other people from the community, parents and kids to come to a meeting and show their support for the sports complex. Clark would like to see more information and numbers from other associations that could potentially use the complex. Clark states that can relate to having multiple kids in a sport and having conflicts with kids being at different locations at the same date and time. Clark supports the idea of a sports complex and having a centralized area for all the teams. Clark mentioned that the sports complex would be better located off the highway versus the proposed location in the industrial park. Maguire stated that the village is open to other locations and the facility is more important than the location. EDUCATIONAL PRESENTATIONS & REPORTS 5. Aquatic Center Annual Report Osterbrink stated that the annual report prepared by Mroczenski includes information from Book King Software Program on pass sales and daily entrance numbers. Mroczenski explained that the August budget status report shows that there is a $50,000 surplus but final expenses from utilities and payroll have not been included. Xiong asked if attendance has increased this year compared to past years and Mroczenski responded yes, largely due to the dry and warm weather. Mroczenski reported that the August budget status showed $135,000 in pass sales. Osterbrink added that there was a steady attendance throughout the season. Osterbrink reported that the original date scheduled for teen night was cancelled due to bad weather and rescheduled. This year approximately 250 people attended the event versus 450 in 2017. The lower attendance may be due to rescheduling the event. Osterbrink feels that more adult staffing needs to be added to the event because 250 was difficult for staff to Village of Weston Park & Recreation Meeting Minutes for September 24, 2018  handle. Having an Everest Metro Police Officer present helped diffuse situations. Osterbrink mentioned the new prices of $4 for nonseason pass holders and $2 season pass holders should have covered the expenses of the DJ and advertising. It was a great event for the teens to get together with friends that they haven’t seen all summer. Clark asked why City of Wausau cancelled the Dog Day Event at the Splash Pad. Osterbrink stated that was due to someone interpreting the Health Code differently than they had in the past. POLICY ISSUES – DISCUSSIONS/RECOMMENDATIONS. 6. Cost Estimate for Tree Pruning Osterbrink explained the Urban Forestry Management Plan and part of that plan is a tree pruning schedule. The committee asked staff in May to get cost estimates from outside contractors to prune boulevard and median trees. Tree Fella Company gave the village a cost estimate on diameter per tree. Falkowski took information from the tree inventory and put together an estimate cost for pruning. It will cost an average of $10,000 per year to have an outside contractor to prune the trees. The committee discussed with staff to contact and work with neighboring communities. No action was taken 7. Tree Removal from Eau Claire River Osterbrink discussed that he received multiple calls this year on trees in the Eau Claire River and individuals asking if the village is going to remove them. Staff and committee members discussed removing trees if they are determined a threat to public infrastructure but don’t feel a policy needs to be drafted to address the issue. No action was taken 8. Sports Complex Feasibility Study Proposals Sparks discussed that the sports complex is a great amenity but with increased proposed budget items the village should concentrate on needs versus wants. Sparks would like the village to maintain existing services. Sparks commented that the village should wait to conduct a feasibility study until we are financially ready to build a sports complex so, the study will not be outdated. Wodalski stated that a Resolution was passed by the Village Board in February 2018 to proceed with a feasibility study for the sports complex. The purpose of the feasibility study is to go through the economic projections and understand how the facility would be run, built, Village of Weston Park & Recreation Meeting Minutes for September 24, 2018  and funded. Xiong is in support of conducting an economic analysis before a decision is made to move forward with the sports complex. Wodalski and Osterbrink mentioned that the $39,000 for the study would be funded from room tax dollars which was agreed upon at the August 2018 Tourism Commission meeting. *M/S/P Clark/Esker: to recommend approval of moving forward with the Sports Complex Feasibility Study Yes Vote: 3 No Vote: 1 Abstain: 0 Not Voting: 1 Result: PASS Member Vote Xiong, Yee Leng YES Clark, Katrina YES Esker, Roger YES Lewitzke, Lindsey -- Sparks, Wally NO FUTURE ITEMS 9. Meeting date(s) for 2018: All at 4:30 p.m. a. October 22nd b. November 26th 10. Topics for future meetings. a. Nuisance Ordinance b. Noxious Weed Ordinance c. Tree Ordinance d. Urban Forestry Management Plan e. Aquatic Center Tour 11. Remarks from Staff Osterbrink mentioned the car accident on Schofield Ave in front of Target that damaged a street light, signal light, sign post, two planters, and three decorative bollards. Osterbrink has not seen the police report yet to gather more information. Mroczenski thanked the committee for their continued support of the Aquatic Center. Village of Weston Park & Recreation Meeting Minutes for September 24, 2018 12. Remarks from Committee Members. 13. Announcements. None 14. Adjournment. Chairman Xiong adjourned the meeting at 6:15 p.m. Jessica Falkowski, Recording Secretary Village of Weston Park & Recreation Meeting Minutes for September 24, 2018