Board of Park Commissioners

BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS REGULAR MEETING MINUTES City Hall, 11th Floor Park Conference Room 455 N. Main May 12, 2014 3pm Present: Bryan Frye, Hoyt Hillman, Cindy Claycomb, Ron Allen, Chris Highfill, Steve Hieger Absent: Tom Roth Also Present: Doug Kupper, Director of Park and Recreation, Elizabeth Harlenske, City Assistant Attorney, Christina Butler, Clerk, Karen Holmes, Troy Hendricks, Jan Haberly, Paul Cater, Sally Buch, Eric Cale, Jack Kellogg, Dean Bradley, Clark Bastian, Robert Rasdon, and Kevin Miller, Citizens. The meeting was called to order at approximately 3:00pm. Frye noted that this is the last meeting for Kupper who had taken a new position as Director of the Oklahoma City Park and Recreation Department. PUBLIC AGENDA Robert Rasdon (224 N. Minnesota, Wichita, KS) stated he would like to discuss the Fido 5K and ways to raise money for dog parks in Wichita. He noted there are approximately 80 people who attend the 31st and Meridian dog park who want to raise funds for shade structures and water pools for the dogs at the park. There is none of that right now at the park. He was curious to find out what they can and cannot do to raise money. He also had heard that the dog park is on a landfill. Kupper stated that many of the parks are on landfills including the other two dog parks. He stated they welcome partnerships and asked him to leave his contact information with the front desk receptionist. He stated they can donate funds for a specific cause through the City of Wichita or they could also donate through the Wichita Parks Foundation. He stated the Department can take in-kind donations of construction materials as well. He would put Mr. Rasdon in contact with David McGuire, Park Maintenance Superintendent, so they can discuss what can be accomplished. They would require engineered drawings for the area to do footings for the shade structures. Frye stated the Board is interested in partnerships. REGULAR AGENDA Item 1A: Approval of March 10, 2014 Minutes Motion by Claycomb, second by Hieger, IT WAS UNANIMOUSLY VOTED to approve, sign and file the minutes of the March 10, 2014, Board of Park Commissioners Regular Meeting (6-0). BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS MEETING May 12, 2014 Page 1 of 8 Item 1B: Approval of April 14, 2014 Minutes Motion by Hillman, second by Allen, IT WAS UNANIMOUSLY VOTED to approve, sign and file the minutes of the April 14, 2014, Board of Park Commissioners Regular Meeting (6-0). Item 2A: Election of Officers for Board of Park Commissioners Frye noted that the Nominating Committee of Roth and Claycomb had been appointed at last month’s meeting. He stated this is usually done in September, but they did not have a full Board in place. Claycomb announced that the slate for officers was: President - Frye, 1st Vice President – Claycomb and 2nd Vice President – Hieger. She noted that everyone has agreed to serve if elected. Motion by Claycomb, second by Hillman, IT WAS UNANIMOUSLY VOTED to elect the slate of officers as presented: President - Frye, 1st Vice President – Claycomb and 2nd Vice President – Hieger (6-0). Frye noted they will be in place until September when it will be time for new elections. Item 2B: Lord’s Diner Hilltop Recreation Center Request Holmes introduced Jan Haberly as the Lord’s Diner representative. Haberly stated the Lord’s Diner has been at the Central and Broadway location for 12 years and they just served their 2,000,000 customer. She updated the Board on the progress of the first Lord’s Diner food truck serving at the Evergreen Recreation Center. She noted that they use biodegradable food clamshells for the food. They start serving at 4pm in order to catch the kids after school. Of those served at the Evergreen Recreation Center, 55% are children. She noted that the financing comes from the community and each meal costs approximately $2.25. They would like to have another food truck at Hilltop and want to partner with the recreation center and Friendship Park. They would like to park another food truck at Hilltop and use the facility for patrons to eat. Kupper stated they need to work with them to staff the building for patrons to enter the center because we currently do not staff the building. However, he supports this request. Frye asked if it would be from Monday through Friday. Haberly responded yes. And they estimate they will serve approximately 400 nightly which is similar to Evergreen’s numbers. Frye asked if the center is currently used. Kupper responded that Headstart uses it. Allen asked where it was located. Frye responded Harry and Oliver area. Claycomb asked about clean up. Haberly responded that they will have staff to help with cleanup. BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS MEETING May 12, 2014 Page 2 of 8 Frye asked if there was public comment and there was none. He thanked the Lord’s Diner for expanding and stated that he wants to continue to support this. Motion by Frye, second by Hillman, IT WAS UNANIMOUSLY VOTED TO work out an agreement for Hilltop and proceed with the Lord’s Diner partnership (6-0). Item 2C: Westar Proposal for Dr. Glen Dey Park and K-96 Lake (Information only) Frye gave a brief history of Dr. Glen Dey Park. He noted that it was formerly Grove Park and was renamed in honor of Dr. Dey who was a former Board member and worked on the PROS plan. The park is located at 27th Street and Hillside. Kupper stated that Westar will probably come to the Board in June. There is a 10’ easement now. They need to improve the level of service of the lines and federal law requires them to have wide enough easements to cover the swing of the lines between the poles. He thinks it will be a 25’ arc. They are requesting to re-route a line through the Koch property and to the east of Hillside (Chisholm Creek Greenway). He is recommending to them to go back to the engineers to see if they can use the set of poles north of Hillside and cut west through the K-96 Lake property and Animal Control property. This would facilitate them abandoning Dr. Dey Park and they could be beyond the playground. They would still have the high power lines through the middle of the park. There will be maps and drawings when they come to the Board in June. He simply wanted to let the Board know what he had recommended. Frye asked if Philbrick is aware of the recommendation. Kupper responded yes. Hillman asked if this goes before the MAPC. Kupper responded that since there is already an easement there, it will not have to go to the MAPC. Frye asked if there was any public comment and there was none. He thanked Kupper for bringing it to the Board’s attention. Item 3A: Heritage Square Park and The Wichita Historical Museum Association Harlenske stated that she had been in communication with Cale and there were a few items pointed out regarding the agreement. Kupper asked if the approval of the lease has to go to City Council. Harlenske responded that it does not have to go to City Council because it is owned by the Park Board. The Park Board just needs to vote on it. The Museum would like a five (5) year lease, but there is no legal reason why it has to be a five (5) year lease. Cale (204 S. Main) introduced himself as the Director of the Museum. He stated that the Board of Trustees and funders wanted to have five (5) years to demonstrate the ability to properly manage and administer the park. They will need one year to make the improvements and implement the programs and they would like time to demonstrate the ability to do so. They also requested that if they put a collection item on exhibit it would not be attached as park property. Harlenske stated the building is leased through Cultural Arts and Arts funding. Those funds were just re- BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS MEETING May 12, 2014 Page 3 of 8 done and leases were taken to City Council. She elected to keep the leases separate so as not to muddy up the agreement. She noted that they desire to have alcohol consumed on the property for events. The Law Department is reviewing the alcohol code and it will go to City Council sometime this summer. It can be adopted into the agreement as well if it is the desire of the Board that alcohol consumption be allowed for events. The lease cannot negate the state statute. Frye asked if there was any public comment and there was none. Kupper asked Allen if he had a conversation with Councilwoman Lavonta Williams regarding this. Allen responded he had not. Claycomb stated she had talked to her Councilperson. Motion by Frye, second by Claycomb, IT WAS UNANIMOUSLY VOTED TO approve the lease agreement as per negotiations with a five (5) year term (6-0). Frye thanked the Museum Board and sponsors for bringing the idea to the Park Board. Item 3B: CIP Review Kupper stated that the City does a 10-year Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) and 6% of the total CIP is for the Park Department. The last approved CIP was in 2009 and the current one is for 2011-2020. By the time a project is bid and gets implemented, it usually takes about two (2) years. The tennis courts and basketball courts were re-surfaced with post retention concrete. The Aquatics request was at a bare minimum because the Aquatics Master Plan had not yet been implemented and the study on the aquatics system had not been completed. Hieger asked how the funds are used and if the maintenance of the pools is taken from the CIP money. Kupper responded that he does not like to use CIP funding for maintenance, but they do not have the funds for maintenance. He stated the Planeview money will be put back in the next CIP. Hillman asked about the $200,000 a year for walking paths. Kupper stated they are unfunded projects and he had given direction to staff that they need to pull these projects back up for the next CIP. Hieger asked if there are project definition sheets for each of the unfunded projects. Kupper responded yes. He noted that they may want to consider putting a dome at the tennis center instead of the current bubble. They would like lighting and a grandstand for the Southlakes championship field creating a top-of-the-line field. The Watson train was in the 2011 CIP unfunded projects for $190,000. They had also asked for $1.5 million for new parks in the downtown park system. Frye asked if the last CIP was approved in 2010. Kupper responded yes for 2011-2020. He noted that the first two years are funded and the rest of the eight are reviewed. He had directed staff to look at the unfunded projects for the potential review. He suggested the Board review the projects that have not been initiated and see if they still make sense. He BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS MEETING May 12, 2014 Page 4 of 8 suggested they may need to initiate more funding for the Brooks/Kingsbury project (Crystal Prairie Lake). This might be the time since it looks like the budget will be a little better. Frye stated he had waited six years for Buffalo Park. He stated that the Park Board’s job should be to continue to speak to the side of the equation for CIP funding for the properties managed by them. He suggested that the Board members take a look at the unfunded projects and offer new ideas. Kupper noted that Park City, Goddard and Maize will be implementing funds for aquatics centers. Hieger asked if cut sheets were available. Kupper responded yes and he will get those to the Board electronically. Frye added that if the sales tax is approved, they have to decide where the money will be spent and stressed the importance of talking to the City Council members about these projects. Item 4A: Recreation Update (Karen Holmes/Matt Martinez/Brian Hill) Brian Hill and Matt Martinez introduced themselves as the Co-Chairs for the Bunny Blast & Egg Hunt Easter event this year that was held at Watson Park. There were approximately 2,500 in attendance for the event. They discussed the $1520 revenue generated by charging $5 per carload to enter the park. This was the first time a fee was associated with the event. The event had a cost recovery of 52%. Frye asked about the parking situation. Hill stated it was busy, but not as busy as the Play Day Event. There was a little traffic backup on McLean Boulevard. Frye stated this was a good opportunity to see how they can plan for these types of events and charge for them. Item 4B: Golf Update (Troy Hendricks) Kupper introduced Hendricks as the Golf Division Manager. Hendricks stated that for March rounds were up 22% for the year and 24% for the month. He stated the City numbers were much higher than the PGA numbers. For the month of April rounds were up 21% for the year and revenue was up 15%. He stated that the net income is still negative, but 41% better than last year. He stated that staff is doing a better job. He had attended a district advisory board meeting last week and received a compliment from the District III members. Hendricks noted that at the Golf Advisory Committee (GAC) Meeting there was discussion about the opportunity to use private golf carts on the golf courses. He stated there are some legal issues because there is an ordinance stating that you cannot drive golf carts on sidewalks, yet citizens still do. If it is allowed, it would be from 119th Street to 151st Street from Maple to Kellogg. This was presented to the GAC and they did not have any issues with it. He thought it needed to come before the Park Board because it would be a policy change. Kupper stated that these people have direct access to the golf course. They do not have to drive on City streets or sidewalks to do this. BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS MEETING May 12, 2014 Page 5 of 8 Hendricks stated that some golf carts can be licensed to be street legal. Frye stated that the GAC thinks this is a nice customer service for those who live in the area and might get them to play more rounds. Hendricks added that they will still have to pay a cart fee and register the cart. Hieger asked if they will have to sign an indemnification. Hendricks stated they have not gone that far yet. Claycomb asked how they arrived at the number to pay for the golf cart. Hendricks stated they would still have to pay half price on the cart fee, but the rider will have to pay the regular cart fee. Frye stated they are still collecting a cart fee. Claycomb stated it was a great idea, but wondered if $200 is enough. Harlenske stated that if they pass an ordinance allowing carts on the street it would be on 30mph speed limits or lower. Hieger stated he would support it. Claycomb asked if it needs to go through Legal. Harlenske stated they need an indemnity clause. Frye asked if they sign a waiver now. Hendricks responded yes they do. Motion by Frye, second by Claycomb, IT WAS UNANIMOUSLY VOTED TO ask staff to work with Legal to draft a proper form allowing private golf carts on the courses (6-0). Frye asked if there were any new staff changes. Hendricks stated not yet. He has been at Auburn Hills about three days a week. Kupper stated they will appoint an Interim Golf Professional at Auburn Hills for now. Frye asked what the next step will be at Clapp. Hendricks responded they are scheduling public meetings. He added they should have the GAC meet and discuss updating the presentation. They are looking at creating a learning facility with an indoor area with three (3) bays for inclement weather where you can still practice against an electronic screen. Frye stated they want to put options out to the community for Clapp. BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS MEETING May 12, 2014 Page 6 of 8 Hendricks stated that in 1990 Clapp was the number two golf course, but by 2013, rounds had dropped 54%. The major thing affecting this number is the neighborhood is getting older and losing the core players. Many golfers no longer live near their work place and they commute in from the suburbs. Frye stated that the discussion should include what options for improvements and funding are available. Hendricks noted that if they sell the corner it will affect four holes. The learning facility could have a 150’ building with sun shades with lighting and bays to hit golf balls. There would be a multipurpose room, possibly an arcade and a room for storage of equipment. They could introduce programs through the schools. It would still be an 18 hole, par 64 course. The cost would be $2.5-3 million. It is currently a par 70 course. Hieger stated that he liked the idea of a player development course. Frye stated this will give it life and gives it revenue for potential wedding options. Kupper stated it could be a slippery slope. The golf enterprise would be a sustaining enterprise if it did not have to pay debt on Auburn Hills. Clapp does need improvement. The question becomes “Do we have to give up real estate to accommodate this?” He stated “If that’s what we need to do, that’s what we need to do.” Hendricks stated that in 2010 they paid off all other bond issues excluding Auburn Hills. Hillman stated that he likes the concept of improving Clapp. The corner will have the most commercial interest and demand, more so than further south on Oliver. Kupper stated they may need to look at other parcels of land. They have 109 acres at south Clifton, 55 acres at 33rd South and Rock and 140 acres at the county line and Pawnee. Maybe they could get $3 million for other parcels of land which could prevent them from losing prime use of park land in the golf course. He questioned if changing the golf course will make it sustainable. Hieger asked what the asset value is. Kupper responded he was not sure. He suggested looking at undeveloped parcels and see if they can get $3 million. Frye stated he did not want to leverage future parcels for a golf system that should survive on its own. He suggested doing an RFP to see how much they can get and build accordingly or not do anything. Hendricks stated there are no public driving ranges on the east side of town. Hieger stated if there is a nice driving range it could be great. Highfill asked how much of that would be stolen from the other courses to make it work. Kupper stated they did not know. BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS MEETING May 12, 2014 Page 7 of 8 Hillman added that it would be easy to buy a house on the corner to allow for drainage of this and turn it into a pond for immediate return and a water source. Kupper noted that was an excellent point. They cannot store it on the course, but it could be worth pursuing. Frye invited the Board to the farewell open house for Doug at Botanica on May 22 at 3pm. Frye noted that Botanica’s event center is looking fantastic and is booking up quickly. The ground breaking for the Chinese Garden is scheduled for May 28. Botanica will also receive the carousel from Joyland which was donated. They are fundraising for a facility to house it. Kupper stated he will recommend to Hendricks to appoint a Park Board member to serve as a stake holder to the adaptive challenge for Auburn Hills. They cannot invite citizens to get hit by golf balls. They have to figure out who would be the proper stakeholders with the neighborhood, golf players, and Park Board members. Item 4C: Updates from Director and President Kupper stated the Board will probably have three requests for cell towers at the June meeting. They will come from Verizon & Westar. Claycomb requested that the City Manager or a representative be present to discuss the search plan for a new Park Director at the next Board meeting. Kupper stated that Human Resources spoke to him and they will do a national search. Claycomb asked how the Board will be involved. Frye stated that the City Manager said the Board will have input. Item 5: Adjourn There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 5:25pm. ______________________________________ Bryan Frye, President _____________________________________ Christina Butler, Clerk BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS MEETING May 12, 2014 Page 8 of 8