Park Board

To: Park Board Members From: Maria Butts, Parks and Recreation Director Subject: Park Board Meeting Meeting Date: Tuesday, September 14, 2021 @ 6 pm Location: Whitefish City Hall, 418 East 2nd Street, Whitefish Agenda A. Call to Order B. Approval of the September 14, 2021 Agenda C. Approval of the June 8, 2021 Minutes D. Public Comments (This time is set aside for the public to comment on items that are either on the agenda, but not a public hearing or on items not on the agenda. City officials do not respond during these comments but may respond or follow-up later on the agenda or at another time. The Park Board Chair has the option of limiting such communications to three minutes depending on the number of citizens who want to comment and the length of the meeting agenda.) E. Committee Reports a. Bicycle/Pedestrian Committee – Jim b. Tree Advisory Committee – Terri c. WSFF Board – Ron/Frank d. WAG Board – Ray F. Presentations a. Request from Whitefish Skatepark Association to fundraise for and build an expansion to the Dave Olseth Skatepark G. Public Hearings H. Old Business I. New Business J. Other Items K. Items from Parks and Recreation Department a. Administrative Report b. Recreation Coordinator Report c. Maintenance Report d. Community Services Coordinator Report L. Correspondences M. Items from the Park Board N. Adjourn Distribution List Ron Brunk, President Maria Butts, Director of Parks and Recreation Department Jim DeHerrera, Vice President Jennie Bradford, Parks and Recreation Office Manager Frank Sweeney, City Council Rep. Dana Smith, City Manager Terri Dunn, Park Board Member Ray Boksich, Park Board Member Carrie O’Reilly, Park Board Member Melissa Hartman, Park Board Member  Park Board Meeting Minutes June 8, 2021 Park Board Members Present: Ray Boksich, Jim DeHerrera, Carrielynn O’Reilly, Ron Brunk, Frank Sweeney, Melissa Hartman Park Board Members Absent: Terri Dunn Guests: Greg Harms City Staff Present: Maria Butts and Jennie Bradford A. Call to Order: 6:00pm B. Approval of the June 8, 2021, Agenda: Amendment of the agenda to add swearing in new Park Board member Melissa Hartman. Member Boksich moved to accept the amended agenda. Vice President DeHerrera seconded. All ayes. C. Approval of the May 11, 2021, Meeting Minutes: Member Boksich moved to accept the minutes as presented. Member Sweeney seconded. All ayes. D. Public Comment: None. E. Melissa Hartman sworn in as a member of the Park Board. Member Hartman signed the oath. All ayes. F. Committee Reports a) Bicycle/Pedestrian Committee: Vice President DeHerrera reported the committee met 6/7/2021. He reported most of the meeting was John Phelps going over a draft position paper to document the Bike Ped recommendation to bring the Riverbend bike path forward to City Council and the Park Board. They would like the project to move forward. Voerman/Trailview bike path should be done by the end of the month. DeHerrera asked if the underpass is complete. Director Butts reported it is close, but there are a few tasks yet to be completed, such as electrical. b) Tree Advisory Committee: There was not a meeting last month. c) WFSS Board: President Brunk reported he missed the last meeting, and the next meeting is tomorrow (6/9/2021). He reported the schedule is full this summer, and there are a few mechanical issues to resolve. d) WAG Board: Member Boksich reported there was a broken water pipe and a valve that was not working, resulting in the water fountain being inoperative, but these are now fixed. Member Sweeney asked if the board received any feedback on the dog park being closed for a month. Member Boksich commented it had a positive impact on the park, provided staff time to do tasks that needed to be done, and grass an opportunity to regrow in bare patches. G. Presentations: Request from Whitefish Sports Facility Foundation to increase fees for public skate. Whitefish Sports Facilities Foundation General Manager Greg Harms requested the option for fees to be increased during periods of high demand. Specifically, Mr. Harms is requesting the option to have public skate sessions increase from $7 to $10 and rental skates increase from $3 to $5. He reports this new fee schedule would be comparable with other regional averages and assist in covering expenses. Member Sweeney asked what type of survey was used to assess other regional rates. Mr. Harms reports he contacted rink managers throughout the state and region, and the consensus is rates will be increasing. Member Sweeney asked if consideration had been given to increase the user group ice rental rate. Mr. Harms responded the rate has been $145/hr for the past few years, and it will gradually increase over time. Director Butts confirmed there would be a clearly defined fee schedule that would inform the public of the rates for each session. Mr. Harms responded the increased fees would only be applied to peak dates and hours from approximately Thanksgiving through February. Mr. Harms reports communication of increased rates will be posted in October, using a banner as well as social media. Member Boksich inquired as to how the facility handles those wanting to skate who cannot afford to do so. Mr. Harms reports the occasional person has approached him, and he has allowed them to skate without charge. Member Sweeney mentioned the Wave has a scholarship program and recommended Mr. Harms take this to his board to consider. Mr. Harms replied they do offer scholarships to user group programs, such as learn to skate and beginner hockey. Member Sweeney made a motion to approve the request to increase public skate rates and recommend it to City Council. Seconded by Vice President DeHerrera. All ayes. H. Public Hearings: None. I. Old Business: None. J. New Business: a. Consideration to move City Beach from a Tier 2 park to a Tier 1 park. Director Butts reports in 2016 a fee schedule was developed to categorize our parks, and as City Beach had aging restrooms and there was little demand for special events at the beach, it was categorized a tier 2. Director Butts states since then, the restrooms have been renovated, we now have seasonal concessionaires offering more amenities, and we are experiencing increased demand to use the beach for events. As such, Director Butts requested the Park Board recategorize City Beach from a Tier 2 to a Tier 1 park. Vice President DeHerrera asked if this change applied strictly to special events and not a gazebo rental, and Director Butts confirmed it did. Member Boksich asked if Kay Beller should also be moved up in the tier categorization given it is the  only park in Tier 3. Director Butts mentioned Kay Beller does not have a restroom or water fountain and cannot recall any requests for special event use at that location. Member Sweeney motioned to approve moving City Beach to a Tier 1. Seconded by Member O’Reilly. All Ayes. Member Sweeney added that in general our park fees are low and requested Director Butts to create a revised rate structure. President Brunk added that rates could be incrementally increased over the next few years. b. Consideration to require commercial launch permit license for commercial use of Whitefish River from public parks. Director Butts shared an inquiry she received from an individual wanting to launch kayaks from Riverside Park into the Whitefish River for the purpose of guided tours. Currently, the City of Whitefish has a Commercial Boat Launch Permit program for businesses wanting to launch boats into the Whitefish Lake from the City Beach boat launch. Director Butts asked if the Park Board would like a commercial permitting process for launches from other parks as well. Following discussion, Member Sweeney made a motion to deny further commercial launch permits at this time, with a recommendation to revisit this later. Member Hartman seconded. K. Other Items: None. L. Items from the Parks and Recreation Department a) Administrative Report – Director Butts asked the Park Board if adding an exclusive use fee to special events is an item they would like added to a future agenda. Director Butts explained exclusive use would be an event that renders a park inaccessible or unusable by the public. Member Sweeney proposed the exclusive use fee be added to the refined park fee schedule. b) Recreation Coordinator Report – No comment. c) Maintenance Report – No comment. d) Community Services Report – No comment. M. Correspondence: None. N. Items from the Park Board Member Boksich inquired as to the status on the letters for Depot Park. Director Butts shared we have been unsuccessful reconnecting with the company in Missoula, so we have reached out to AcuTech, who will create new letters. O. Adjourn Member Sweeney made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Seconded by Member O’Reilly No opposition. Meeting adjourned at 7:48pm Dave Olseth Memorial Skatepark Expansion Proposal Whitefish Montana  Role Descriptions • Whitefish Skatepark Association is an active non-profit 501c3 that will be doing all of the fundraising for the park expansion. Just as they did in the previous phase, the group will be performing public design meetings to gather input for the design elements and obstacles. Today we area looking for approval from the parks board committee to move forward with the park expansion of phase 2 for the skatepark. • The committee will be working with Dreamland Skateparks on the design process while the funds are being raised for the construction. They will be the designers and builders of the project just as we performed the phase 1 of the park. Teamwork making the Dream work! • Whitefish Skatepark Association President- Matt Holloway Vice - Ryan Brown Secretary - Leland McNamara • Member- Pam Robinson • Dreamland Skateparks “Skatepark Design/ Builder” Danyel Scott & Mark Scott Šˆ® ‰£Œƒƒ.! Šƒ® ®  Goals & Objectives • Beginner area- Park is currently known for it’s flawless transition areas and bowls. The new proposed phase 2 area will allow for a street course that will offer new innovative street elements and a beginner area. • Inclusivity - “All park users” (Skateboarders, scooters and bikes) can safely ride without collision and with a clear vision and layout of the obstacles and park elements. The current park was not design/built with the intent for multi- use. The intent of the park expansion is to open up the park and give a designated space for all park participants to ride safely and in co-existence. • Community Input - A large part of success and fundraising is to work closely with the community. Through a series of public design meetings and fundraisers we will create positive and productive community support and input. The community is already welcoming the idea of a perfect addition to the already world-class skatepark. The park gets an extreme amount of use and the new addition to the skatepark will allow for all levels of use and riders. Park Board Administrative Report September 2021 To: Park Board From: Maria Butts, Director of Parks, Recreation and Community Services Armory Park Master Plan I recently received preliminary cost estimates from RPA and Bruce Boody for the next phase of the Armory Park Master Plan. The estimate came in twice the amount of available funding. We have identified several reasons for this (difference in construction costs over the past three years, tasks that could/should be pushed to following phase, etc). We will meet again this month to review updated cost estimates that are more in line with the current budget appropriations. The consultants will come to the board for plan review in October. Crestwood Encroachment The property owner still need to have the property boundaries staked to ensure all improvements have been removed from public property. They have contacted Sands Surveying and stated they were on the calendar for August. I have not heard back from them and will be following up to make sure the final steps are complete. Cloud 9 Encroachment A newly constructed home in the Cloud 9 subdivision on Dakota Avenue has constructed a fence within the City’s easement. This easement was obtained when the Cloud 9 parkland was dedicated to the City as a means of access to the park off of Dakota. The Code Enforcement Officer and Building Official have been in contact with the property owner, and we will continue to follow up on this encroachment. Armory Park Pump Track FAMB has been working on the construction of the pump track. They have redesigned the first phase of the track and have added additional sections to the west. Ron and I met a FAMB representative on site to discuss the new layout and landscaping requirements. We had a very positive meeting and agree on the desired outcome. They will continue to work on the pump track and landscaping over the next few months. As they progress, I will keep you up to date. WAG Shed The shed design was approved by the Arch Review Committee. WAG is developing plans to move forward with this project. Depot Park Sign The letters are almost complete and will be installed by Acutech within the next few weeks. Riverbend Condo Bike Path The Bike/Ped Committee did not meet in July, as the report from the committee is not yet complete. The next meeting is September 13th. We anticipate the report will be complete by then, and the committee will be able to review and provide a recommendation to move forward at that time. It is likely that the Bike/Ped Committee will come to the Park Board in October to request support for their recommendation on how to address the Riverbend Condo bike path. Commercial Use in Parks We continue to see requests for and violations of commercial use in parks. Staff is putting together a proposed mechanism for managing these requests, and we will bring it before the board in October. Park Sign Master Plan Carla and I are meeting weekly to map out the locations of signs in each park. P.O. Box 158 ∙ Whitefish, MT 59937 ∙ (406) 863-2470 ∙ (406) 863-2409 Whitefish Parks and Recreation Recreation Coordinator Report To: Park Board Members From: Liz Records, Recreation Coordinator Date: Sept 1, 2021 Summer Programs I am pleased to say we have successfully wrapped up all our summer programs. I am beyond proud of our staff, the kids, and parents for their patience, positivity, and vigilance this summer to keep everyone safe and healthy. Our enrollment numbers were strong, and I heard from many parents who were grateful for the additional program options we provided this year. Youth Flag Football Flag football is about to begin and will run September 13-October 6 on Mondays and Wednesdays at Grouse Mountain. Volunteer to Ski Program Our Volunteer to ski group is finishing up their exit essays, and then they will come in to accept their hard-earned ski passes. The kids did a great job with the projects this summer, and we hope to see some familiar faces at our Friday Night Ski Program this winter. Before/After School Program The Before and After School programs have started. Before School is being held at Muldown in the morning while After School is at the Armory. We are utilizing our shuttle bus to transport the kiddos to the Armory in the afternoon. We are already seeing a significant increase in enrollment numbers compared to last year, which we are very happy about!  PO Box 158 • Whitefish, MT 59937 • (406) 863-2400 • Fax (406) 863-2419 To: Park Board From: Carla Belski Date: September 2021 Subject: Community Services Report City Beach/AIS Program: • Decontamination Station Hours will be reduced to weekends in September. Decontaminations will be available by appointment other days of the week. • The railing at the concession stand has been deemed unsafe and the deck has been closed. Staff will be meeting with a structural engineer to evaluate the deck, railing, and 1st story roof. Bike Ped: • Bike/ped committee members are finalizing a report on the Riverbend trail. This report will be distributed the week of September 6th to give everyone plenty of time to review and comment before the September 13 bike/ped meeting. The September 13th meeting will be dedicated to the Riverbend Trail project. Volunteers: • The food bank has been given maps of city trees that can be gleaned as well as apple pickers. They are going to try and match volunteers with trees so that volunteers can monitor fruit for ripeness as well as pick up any fallen fruit throughout the season. Whitefish Trail: • The DNRC expects the salvage operations at Spencer will be delayed until spring 2022. • Upper trail construction contract was awarded to Terra Flow and the contract has been drafted. Work is expected to begin the first week of September and finish by mid-late October. • Lower trail construction contract was awarded to Montana Made Trails. Work is expected to start in late September and continue until it is stopped by snowfall. If work isn’t completed this fall it will continue into spring 2022. • Trailhead construction is planned for fall after the plans are reviewed and approved by the USFS. September 2021 To: Park Board Members From: Steve Bullemer, Parks Foreman Re: Maintenance Update 1. Parks: - mowing - Hand sanitizer stations in playgrounds - Service request - Irrigation repair - New picnic table to sky park bridge 2. Facilities: - Path mowing and Maintenance - Graffiti removal 3. Urban forestry - Pruned all trees west of the Post Office. - Pruned all trees along Arielle Way - Removed a hazardous tree along Rocksund Bike Path - Stump grinded removal trees in the Lakes & Hidden Meadows Subdivisions - Flower basket maintenance - Landscape bed maintenance - Responded to all Service Requests - Philip & Mike attended a Tree Worker class in Helena for two days  Whitefish Dog Park Board of Directors Meeting Minutes Meeting: June 29, 2021 5:30 pm A. Call to Order 5:45 pm B. Roll Call: Ray Boksich, Ross Fletcher, Kristi Barham, Regan Peschel, April Storr, Melanie Boat, Ryan Norris, Holly Stevenson. C. Welcome to New Members: Ray introduce Ryan, Holly and April to the Board. Ray announced that Karl, Tanya and Riley resigned D. Consent Agenda: Approval of April and May, meeting minutes, Treasurers Report (amended to make the entire amount from the Day of Giving and Unity restricted), motion made by Regan, seconded by Ross to approve: Vote: 9-0 yes E. Old Business: • Board confirmed that Joni Aronson and Kris Barnum will be the fund advisors for the Great Fish Community Challenge. Motion made by Tom and seconded by Melanie. Board approved 9-0 • Ross and Ray discussed the status of the Shed and Landscaping. Still trying to obtain city approval. We are revisiting Shed design and we need to have the new design ready by July 9. Will present again at next architectural review meeting. • Ross went over the entry landscaping concepts for the drainage issues • Great Fish Challenge. Ray and Melanie went over the information from the June 29th kick off from the foundation. Melanie explained the rules and dates for the the challenge. • Ray announced that we won $250 from the Whitefish Community Foundation for being the first nonprofit to submit a complete and accurate application. • Melanie asked Regan to announce on social media that we were accepted into the Challenge and Ray added to announce that we received the incentive bonus from the Whitefish Community Foundation F. New Business • Executive - Due to Karl’s resignation, we will need to assign a new secretary. This will be solidified at the next board meeting. Ray and Melanie are handling the minutes for this meeting.  • Finance - Tom said we had $651.02 available from the Whitefish Community Foundation available if we wanted to put the money in the general fund. A motion was put forward to move the money to the general fund by Regan and seconded by Kristi. The board approved 9-0. April suggested we move to paperless banking with our First Interstate account to save $2/month. Tom stated that they have attempted to do that in the past but were told we didn’t have the right kind of account to do that. April is going to look into it • Projects - Ray talked about needing to solidify the new walking path locations. It will most likely be done in 3 phases. He asked for volunteers to go out to the park to review locations. Implementation will likely be in three phases. Regan, Melanie, Ross, Holly and Ray volunteered to go out at 3 pm on Wednesday to look at locations • Maintenance- Nothing new other than we need to fix clasps on the gates. • Communications - Regan asked new board members to send pictures when they are at the park and send them to her. Regan will make announcements about the Whitefish Community Foundation • Events/Fund Raising - Melanie sent the Great Fish rules out to all board members. She will send an email with all the key dates and will meet with the team at a TBD date to work on fund raising ideas. • Nominations - Ray announced that Bill Vetter would like to join the board. Most board members are familiar with Bill as he is active at the park. Regan made the motion to accept Bill to the board and Holly seconded. • Other - New board members were asked to volunteer on committees. Holly is on the Project committee, Ryan volunteered for Communications and Fund Raising, and April is on Finance and Nominations G. Adjourn Motion was made by Regan, seconded by Holly and approved 9-0  Whitefish Dog Park Board of Directors Meeting Minutes Meeting: July 26, 2021 5:30 pm A. Call to Order 5:40pm B. Roll Call • Ray Boksich, Tom Hughes, Bill Vetter, Hannah Wilson, Ross Fletcher, April Storr, Holly Stevenson, Regan Peschel, Melanie Boat, Ryan Norris C. Welcome to New Members: • Ray introduced Bill Vetter and Bill gave a quick introduction of himself D. Consent Agenda: • Consent agenda approved and there were no questions on it. Regan motioned to approve, April seconded it and passed by all. E. Old Business: • Construction: Ray gave an update of the shed and kiosk. Kiosk is currently approved but shed has been stuck in several rounds of reviews with the permit/architect committee. Ray/Joni/Melanie gave a detailed update on the rounds of meetings they’ve had trying to get the design approved. Ultimately, City of Whitefish would like to see a design as close to the current pavilion as  possible but with an addition of a protective barrier along the bottom to protect it from dog’s urinating. The committee is set for round three meeting with the city and has updating plan, drawings, and building idea. F. Community Challenge: • Melanie gave an update on the progress of the Community Challenge thus far. Ryan created 4 designs for our branding around the event and showed them to the group. The group discussed which one they liked and ultimately landed on a hybrid of two and he will go back and try to create the final one. Joni updated the group on how best to use the marketing materials (hang the posters in as many prominent places/businesses around town). There was a question about the G. Melanie presented ideas/funding requirements for the 2021 Whitefish Community Challenge. Budget was broken into two pieces: • Traditional Events (Tent at Dog Park, Community Celebration (Depot Park Event)) o Budget $1100 • Potential collaborative event with Whitefish Legacy Partners (High Donor Event @ Unleashed Winery) o Budget $1000  • Joni motioned/Melanie second motion to approve $2100 budget for 2021 Whitefish Community Challenge. Board vote 7-0 to approve Tom indicated that the $2100 budget would required directing ~$400 funds originally loosely marked as restricted to moved in the operating budget. No disagreement was noted from the board. H. South Park Path Location • Ray presented revised plan for single path connecting park entrance near dog washing station connecting to path close to west side entrance to the pond. New plan informally accepted by board. Ross asked to obtain bids to get work completed. I. Endowment Funds Interest Allocations • Tom shared that the Dog Park endowment account earned, in the past year $611 interest. Tom suggested that the $611 be allocated to the Park's Maintenance/Equipment Fund. No disagreement was noted from the board. J. Board Secretary • Bill accepted the role of Board Secretary K. Rocks  • Ryan discussed a potential source of rocks that can be used in association with the shed/kiosk projects. Positive interested was expressed by the Board. Ryan will investigate further. L. Adjournment • The meeting was adjourn at 7:15