Park & Recreation Board Meeting

Parks and Recreation Board Minutes Wednesday, September 20, 2023 – 5:30 pm Cravath Lakefront Room 312 W. Whitewater Street Whitewater, WI 53190 Hybrid Meeting 1. Call to Order and Roll Call Kathleen Flemming, Stephanie Hicks, Mike Kilar, Megan Matthews, Steve Ryan, David Stone, Deb Weberpal Absent: Dan Fuller, Ben Prather Korie Oberlie, Staff: Jennifer French, Michelle Dujardin, Hunter Karnitz, Brad Marquardt Guests: Sherri Stanek, Neil Hicks 2. Approval of Minutes a. Stone: Change the Location to Middle School not the High School. A repeat sentence will be taken off of item 7B. Motioned by David Stone. Seconded by Stephanie Hicks. Ayes: Kathleen Flemming, Stephanie Hicks, Mike Kilar, Megan Matthews, Steve Ryan, David Stone, Deb Weberpal Absent: Dan Fuller, Ben Prather Korie Oberlie, 3. Hearing of Citizen Comments 4. Staff Reports a. Director’s Report: i. Dujardin: * Run for Trey is coming up October 8. You can either register in person or online. *The aquatic center was used the other week for Walworth County diver certifications. It is also swim meet season so we are getting more exposure that way. 10 passes have been returned from the Discover Whitewater Series run/walk. *Cat tails are approved and will start being removed in October starting at Cravath. * Stone requested that we show pictures for Trippe as well as Cravath  b. Event Programs: i. Dujardin: * Afterschool program started on the first day of school, Nelson bus is helping bus kids from Lakeview over to Washington school. * September 7th was the last concert of the series. Will be trying different end times due to it getting dark earlier. c. Sports and Aquatic Programs: i. Karnitz: * Youth basketball registration just opened. Starts end of October ends in December. This is for grades K-3. * Flag football has begun, Saturday September 23 will be the 3rd week of games. Two 2nd and 3rd grade teams and once 4th and 5th grade. * August 25-27 was cleaning weekend at the aquatic center. Grates by the slide were painted they even pressure washed the deep end. D. Senior Programs: i. French: * Seniors in the Park started fitness drumming. They meet once a week for an hour to beat to the rhythm and get their heartrate going. Urban Forestry Commission Updates There is a link on the banner to donate money for a memorial for the territorial oak. Swift night out August 28th had 10 people in attendance and roughly 450-500 swifts were seen. Watch the Swifts fly around. j. Pedestrian and Bicycle Updates No update k. Considerations 7a. Discussion and possible action regarding Starin Park Underground Detention Basin  Brad Marquardt presented on the topic: o Looking to place in an underground detention basin at Starin Park. This will hep remove Total Suspended Solids and Phosphorus from the stormwater  before entering waterbodies. Stran Associates put together a plan required by the DNR to help reduce the run off. What they proposed in 2017 can be seen in item 2. This is just an option of where it could be put. This basin has to be at least 400 feet from the nearest local well. In the basin there will be 42 in pipe for the water to go through and a 12 in discharge pipe that will send the clean water to the lake. At this time Marquardt is looking for an agreement to start this process and discuss possible other locations to place this basin. Shery Stanik: likes what this is going to do however is concerned that the trees that are in proposed location will not be able to survive relocation and will not have enough room to grow again on top of basin. Ryan: will this infringe on the playground or future playground? Marquardt: Can work around existing playground and will be underground so other playground options are not a problem. Kilar: Kachel ball field is a possibility if it is far enough away from a well that might be the best spot since that field always floods. Ryan: suggested one of the parking lots so we are not disturbing the grass, trees, or park area. Approved to move forward in getting funding and looking for the best spot possible. 7b. Geese control update  Application period is closed. We had 10 hunting permits on Trippe and 5 on Cravath for early season. Ryan: do they report how many they get? Dujardin: no one reports it to us French: we would have a better idea next year when they apply again. 7c. Lakes Meeting Follow up From August 26  City Manager, Michelle Dujardin, and two council members will be taking a tour of the lakes via boat to have an idea of what it looks like on the water. The city is looking into the pros and cons of using chemicals.  Michelle and the City Manager will be meeting with a Hydrologist to look at the lakes. This Hydrologist has worked with Whitewater and Eric in the Past.  Possibly do a winter burn if it gets cold enough to get rid of some vegetation.  Looking at education the community on becoming a lakes district. There will be 2 classes offered, and looking on how to get it to stream somewhere at the city for those who don’t have a computer. 7d. Cravath Lakefront Flower Bed Discussion   Brought up at City Council to have the flower beds at Cravath park weeded. Guys from the city got out there and weeded the beds.  Neil Hicks: request for more attention be taken on those beds. Perhaps asking those who sponsored the tulips to help maintain them. Also requested for hanging baskets in town again.  Dujardin: Will look into it and see how they can get them better maintained 7e. Discussion and Approval of Immanuel church group as a partner Organization for use of Starin Park Community Building.  Immanuel church is looking to use the Starin Park Community building from 2:30-6:30 every Sunday. Looking to get the partner rate for those rentals. Weberpal: That would take up a lot of rental opportunity Ryan: What stops other groups from wanting to do the same thing?  Motion made by Stephanie Hicks to deny the group rate and allow them to rent at the standard price that they are paying now. Seconded by Mike Kilar. Ayes: Ayes: Kathleen Flemming, Stephanie Hicks, Mike Kilar, Megan Matthews, Steve Ryan, David Stone, Deb Weberpal Absent: Dan Fuller, Ben Prather Korie Oberlie, k. Adjournment Motioned by Stephanie Hicks to adjourn at 6:56pm. Second by Deb Weberpal. Ayes: Kathleen Flemming, Stephanie Hicks, Mike Kilar, Megan Matthews, Steve Ryan, David Stone, Deb Weberpal Absent: Dan Fuller, Ben Prather Korie Oberlie, Next scheduled meeting: Wednesday September 20, 2023 Respectfully Submitted, Jennifer French Jennifer French