Board of Park Commissioners

BOARD OF PARK.COMMISSIONERS REGULAR MEETING AGENDA City Hall, 11th Floor Park Conference Room 4S5 N. Main Wichita, KS 67202 July 13, 2015 3pm Present: Cindy Claycomb, Chris.Highfill, Hoyt Hillman, Ron Allen, Troy Palmer, Tori Deatherage Absent: Patty Vizzini, Elizabeth Harlenske Also Present: Troy Houtman (Director of Park and Recreation), Michelle Haun (Clerk), Lee Ann Sack, Warren Mccoskey, David McGuire, Stacey Hamm, Shana Appelhanz, Theresa Wells-Sjogren (Staff), Bradley Crisp (Wichita Fire Department), Lonny Wright, Kathy Dittmer, Sharon Feary, Joel Escarpita, Suzanne Finn (Citizens) Claycomb called the meeting to order at 3:01pm PUBLIC AGENDA None. REGULAR AGENDA Item 1: Approval of Minutes Motion by Palmer, second by Hillman, IT WAS UNANIMOUSLY VOTED to approve, sign and file the minutes of June 8, 2015, Board of Park Commissioners Regular meeting. (5-0, Deatherage not present for vote) Item 2A: Form selection committee for PB president (Troy Houtman) Houtman stated that the board needs to form a selection committee to vote on a new president as soon as next month and asked if anyone would like to be on the committee. Highfill stated that he .would. Hillman stated that he would. Deatherage stated that she would. Houtman stated that he will schedule a meeting for nextweek. Claycomb asked if the board will be able to have elections at the next meeting. BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS MEETING July.13, 2015 Page 1 of & Houtman responded yes, that.it will be,on the agenda. Item 2B: Ice Rink - Equipment and infrastructure replacement (Troy Houtman) Houtman stated that the budget will be finalized tomorrow. We have $50 million to spend over 10 years. Some is for Crystal Prairie Lake, some for the Aquatics Master Plan and the rest is for infrastructure repairs and upgrades. The Ice Center has $100k budgeted for every other year. At this time the mechanical system is close to failure. Houtman is planning to move some CIP funds from future years to present. A vote is not needed, but he wanted to inform the board of the intention to move around funds. Allen asked what kind of equipment is needing to be replaced. Houtman responded that we need to change from an ammonia to a glycol cooling system. The compressors are going bad.and the cooling_tower outside is over 16 years old. The total cost will be close to $200k. Hillman asked if there have been improvements in technology and ifthis will include new piping underneath. Houtman responded that we will be able to leave _the current piping in place and that a new computer system was already added this summer. Deatherage asked ifGenenis has anything to do with this. Houtman stated thatthey are our contractor, but we are responsible for the major infrastructure. Item 2C: Park Property encroachment policy (David McGuire/Warren McCoskey/LeeAnn Sack) Houtman stated that encroachment is on the list of items that need to be worked on. McGuire introduced himself as Park Maintenance Supervisor and staff, Warren Mccoskey and LeeAnn Sack. To become accredited we.need to have an encroachment policy in place. There is:not currently an encroachment policy in the.City ordinances. Eventually this will require City Council consideration. The biggest challenge will be handling the older encroachments. Many encroachments are in violation of the ordinance that states you cannot use park property for personal'gain. Mccoskey stated thatthe use offire breaks is a safety issue. He introduced Fire Marshal Brad Crisp. Crisp stated that he has been working with forestry to keep the parks and fire breaks.cleaned up. The Wichita Fire Department is an urban fire department, not a wildland fire department. They have concerns about the fire break encroachments as well. McGuire stated that we need to have fire breaks around all of our parks for added protection. We have rewritten the vague encroachment policy and will be taking itto Legal for review. Mccoskey stated thatthere are different types of encroachment. Hard encroachments that impede access for firefighting equipment, such as a wood cutting operation or garage, and soft encroachments, such as a shrub or garden. BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS MEETING July 13, 2015 Page 2 of 6 Claycomb asked if the .national accreditation requires easements and right of ways to be covered, or only park land. Houtman stated that it just requires a policy to.be in place. It.is not specific. Different communities address the issue in different ways. McGuire stated the action steps they have taken so far include creating an inventory of encroachments, reviewing current ordinances, proposing changes, establishing a policy and procedure, establishing a code enforcement partnership with WPD, WFD and MABCD. Once the Park Board ok's the project, we will need City Council's approval. This process will require education through community engagement and some aspects may. require legal action. Houtman stated that we have reviewed.what other municipalities are doing as well. Mccoskey stated that our current ordinance states that citizens cannot have personal property on park land, butit does not offer ways to remedy violations. Sack.explained that they have drafted an ordinance and a department policy based on that ordinance along with a Minor Park Encroachment Application. Palmer asked.if any letters have been sent out regarding encroachmentviolations. McGuire responded, yes. There was a violation near a.railroad right of way. We were not prepared and had issues since we did not have any recourse. We also found out that we did not have any decision to make in that right of way. Houtman stated there.was some·push back that had to go through City Council and upper administration. lt_takesa lot of administrative work to put a new procedure in place and we are going to take all the necessary steps to·get it approved. Claycomb asked if we should review this information and give direction to staff in August. Houtman responded yes, please bring feedback to the-next meeting. Council and City Manager are looking for options. Allen asked wllat some of the other municipalities are saying about their encroachment policies. Mccoskey stated that they _talked to several municipalities and they were all over the board. McGuire stated that we will find one that is similar to what we wantto do and see how it is working. Claycomb stated we also need find out how they manage it on an ongoing basis. Sack stated that we are already seeing these issues every time we mow. Item 2D: Wichita Parks Foundation - Kansas Wildlife Exhibit Renovations (Stacey Hamm/Jim Mason) Hamm introduced Jim Mason to do the presentation. Sharon Fearey and Kathy Dittmer are heading the Friends of the Wildlife Exhibit sub-committee. BOARD OF PARK'cOMMISSIONERS MEETING July 13, 2015 Page 3 of 6 Mason stated that they .received $100k to improve the Wildlife Exhibit. It was decided that the bobcat structure, the beaver's den entrance and the artificial stump for skunk should be improved for approximately $20k. In order to make these improvements, the animals will. need to be temporarily reloca.ted. The Sedgwick County Zoo wiU be able to accommodate us. The next item will be to add video surveillance cameras. Decker electric provided a quote of $11,400. Current.monitoring is paid by the City. Another item will be redoing the wire mesh netting around the outside. This will require extensive steel work. Replacing the netting may run up to $14k with staff doing the work. Additional steelwork needed could possibly costover $50k. Motion by Highfill, second by Allen, IT WAS UNANIMOUSLY VOTED to move forward with the proposal as stated (6-0). Item ZE: Army of Artists - Evergreen Park Project !Joel Escarpital Houtman stated thatthe Army of Artists completed a project thatshould have been presented to the board previously, butthey were not aware of the process, so they are here to share what they have done. Susie Finn with Young Professionals of Wichita at 350 W Douglas. Joel Escarpita representing the Army of Artists at 1507 N Bellick St. Finn stated that this is the seventh year the YPW has done an enhanced community project. The past two years included an art project that they .worked on with the Army of Artists. This year's project was at Evergreen Park. The art design was approved by Councilwoman Miller. The project was completely funded by sponsors. There were 113 volunteers and 9 homes that were worked on. Escarpita stated that the ICT Army of Artists is part of The Seed House, a non-profit organization, and works with the community to facilitate public art projects. They focus mainly on·the area from 13th Street to 25th Street and from Arkansas to Hillside. They have completed three murals, working with South High and Marshal Middle School students. The North End Urban Arts Festival was the first festival they have had. There are currently three murals in the works. The Evergreen mural and sculpture represent where we started and where we are now. The inspiration was the Kansas landscape. The lifespan of the sculpture is approximately five years. Houtman asked what kind of feedback they received from onlookers that day at the pool. Escarpita stated Channer12 came by to see their work and lot ofthe people attending the free day at the pool stopped by. Houtman asked how they chose the location and ifthey would do other park locations. Finn stated that Evergreen was part of the neighborhood that was selected. They try to choose neighborhoods with parks in them for the community celebration. Houtman stated that we would welcome having more of our parks considered for more art projects. Allen asked how they get the supplies. Finn stated sponsors contributed around $1700- $1900. She asked if there is anything they need to do BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS MEETING July 13, 2015 Page4 of.6 differently next year to avoid breaking any rules. Houtman responded if they want to do any projects on park property to notify the park office and we can help them follow proper procedures. Item 3: Continuation of Prior Business None. Item 4A: Recreation Update (Alan Taber) Houtman stated that there is not a formal presentation by staff for this month. Wells stated that attendance numbers are continually going up although May was down some due to the rain. Great Plains Nature Center took a huge jump from last year from 6,000 to 10,000 this year. Item 4B: Golf Update CTroy Hendricks) Appelhanz stated that for June, year to date rounds are up 6% and revenue is.up 8%, over 2014. This can be contributed to regular green fees being up and discounted green fees not being used as much. Four of five courses have an increase in rounds. Auburn Hills has had a slight decline due. to flooding. So far the Early Bird special has generated 301 rounds. Houtman stated that next month we will share a report showing the measured outcomes from the 2013 Business Plan. ! Item 4C: Golf Advisory Committee Update (Troy Hendricks) Appelhanz.stated that there was low attendance at the last meeting and nothing was decided. The next meeting will be at Sim. Item 4D: Wichita Parks Foundation Update (Chris Highfill) Highfill stated that they started working on ICTrees scholarships. The Poker Tournament fundraiser is coming up in August at Botanica. Slide the City was a big success. Claycomb stated that it was the best fireworks display we've had. Houtman stated that most of the fireworks were shot from the barge. Slide the City went well overall. We are considering a different, less expensive activity next year. Item 4E: OJ Watson Park Committee Update (Hoyt Hillman) Hillman stated that September 12th is the Southside Appreciation Day. September 19th is the fishing tournament. They are seeking more sponsors. Houtman stated that he is developingthe_action plan for CIP funds. Brian Hill.is making a list of idea_s to spend the money on. We will bring that next month. Item 4F: Aquatics Committee Update (Tori DeatherageI Houtman stated that we still have a survey on Activate Wichita. We have received 15 so far. There is a meeting Wednesday night at Edgemoor pool. Once the pools close we will move forward with the aquatics master plan. BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS MEETING July 13, 2015 Page 5 of 6 Item 4G: President Claycomb stated that there is nothing to update. She asked about some spraying she noticed on the river, if that was something different than what has been done in the past. Houtman stated that they are trying to be more proactive in controlling the weeds. Item 4H: Director Houtman stated that there will be some information coming out about Cadillac Lake.near north Maize. we:are preparing to sign an agreement with a developer that will be donating some land to us as a wetland passive park. This will probably be hitting the media in.the next couple weeks. This will add about 40 acres to our park system. There will be trails and eventually restaurants and a hotel. Allen asked·where this is locate.d. Houtman stated that it is behind the hardware store in Maize. It will cost us around $13k - $14k. Stormwater will be paying about $1S0k, but it will increase their storm water capabilities. Harlenske stated that we have been working to amend the alcohol code. The existing ordinance allows open containers in downtown parks during licensed community event will stay in place. Harlenske noticed that parks were never put in the ordinance as exempt. She will.be doing that in August. Heritage Park will also be added to the exempt list, letting a lessee dowhat they want while they are leasing property from us. Hillman asked if we need to vote on this. Harlenske stated that it is not on the agenda. This is just addressing the downtown parks, at this time. Claycomb stated that we will take this as information atthis time. Houtman stated that we will put it on the agenda for 10th . Harlenske stated that during the first reading she will relay there was support, but that no official vote was taken. Houtman stated that we are still working on river ordinances. He also welcomed any feedback from the board members about anything seen or heard about pools, parks and centers in their areas. Item 5: Adjourn There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at approximately 4:_51 pm. Michelle Haun, Clerk BOA.RD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS MEETING July·l3, 2015 PaBe 6 of 6