Board of Park Commissioners

BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS REGULAR MEETING AGENDA City Hall, 11th Floor Park Conference Room 455 N. Main Wichita, KS 67202 October 12, 2015 3pm Present: Tori Deatherage, Ron Allen, Cindy Claycomb, Patty Vizzini Absent: Troy Palmer, Hoyt Hillman,.Chris Highfill Also present: Troy Houtman (Director of Park and Recreation), Elizabeth Harlenske (City Assistant Attorney), Michelle Haun (Clerk), Stacey Hamm, Warren Mccoskey, Shana Appelhanz, Brian Hill, Alan Taber, Daniel.Sack (Staff) Deatherage called the meeting to order at 3:03pm. PUBLIC AGENDA None. REGULAR AGENDA Item 1: Approval of Minutes Deatherage stated that a change should be made to Mr. Duncan's statement on page two to clarify that the whole statement was made by Mr; Duncan. IT WAS UNANIMOUSLY VOTED to approve, sign and file the minutes of September 14, 2015, Board of Park Commissioners Regular meeting, with amendments as noted. (4-0) Item 2A: Air Capital Park Bike Playground area (Tim Babcock) nm Babcock (601 McKinley Ave, Joplin, MO) stated that he is the bike park development manager for Progressive Bike Ramps; He stated that Air Capital Park has a nice bike path in place. He suggested installing a bike skills playground for younger and beginner riders along with a skills practice area and a more challenging skills path for more skilled riders. The bike park would be visible from the roadway. They would use natural items from the area such as wood and concrete slabs. Their goal is to create a sustainable park. Houtman.asked if there is anything Aaron Santry would like to add. Santry stated that the trail opened in 2012. This trail will not need any trail bed work. It will be great for the west side.. It would become a destination park, great for younger riders. Claycomb asked what materials are used on the ramps. Babcock·stated they are steel frames with a 10 year warranty and cedar planks that are weather and BOA.RD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS MEETING October 12, 2015 Page 1 of 5 pest.resistant. There are no fasteners on the surface. A portion of the path will be burned in by bikes. Allen asked where the park is located. Santry stated that it is Air Capital Memorial Park located north of Pawnee Prairie. Houtman stated that this is not currently a funded project. He stated that kids enjoyed the pump track that Babcock provided for the 4th of July. Vizzini asked if it would be good for skateboarders. Babcock stated that it would. Santry stated that pump tracks require a lot of maintenance, especially when they are made of dirt. Progressive Bike Ramps is planning on adding one thatis concrete, reducing a lot of maintenance. Item ZB: Bicycle Wayfinding (Scott Wadle) Wadle stated that there is a steering committee working on the bicycle wayfinding system in Wichita. The purpose of the bicycle master plan is to increase bicycling, improve safety and promote the culture of bicycling as a viable and acceptable. means of transportation. Within the bicycle masterplan there is a recommendation to install a bicycle wayfinding system. The City applied for a KS Health Foundation grant and received $100k, half of which will go toward the wayfinding system. New signage is being developed to alleviate confusion. The wayfinding plan will help with a uniform look and directional assistance. There will be an on-street and off-street style. Federal funding will only be provided if signage is compliant with MUTC. There are questions about whether or not to use the Keeper of the Plains symbol or the Wichita flag on the signage. Wadle asked the board members which design appealed the most to them. Deatherage stated that flag is nice. Claycomb stated that she agrees. Allen stated that he prefers the Greater Wichita signage. Claycomb asked if the third design is not chosen how the City would integrate the signage. Wadle stated that it would happen overtime as old signage is replaced. Two members voted for the flag and two voted for the Greater Wichita design; two members voted for the green and white colors and one voted for blue and red. Claycomb opted not to vote on the color choices as she felt it would be dependent on which shape was chosen; three members voted for the trapezoidal shape and one voted for rectangles. Item 3A: Park Property Encroachment Policy Update (David McGuire) Mccoskey introduced Jeff Vanzandt, Law Department. Vanzandt stated that currently park staff can write a ticket for encroachment. He would recommend initially writing tickets only on locations that have been surveyed. If a complaint is taken'to court it could easily be thrown out. There is no.guarantee that the person will remove the encroachment, or pay the fine. Also, any money paid for a fine would goto the general fund, not tothe park fund. BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS MEETING October 12, 2015 Page 2 of s Abatements can be costly and can take up to a couple years. Also, licensure for minor encroachments. Defining minor encroachments and determining how much to charge can be difficult. It may take a considerable amount of time to clear some of the encroachments that have been there a while. Harlenske suggested adding the verbiage "each day is a new violation." Vanzandt also suggested adding a "fine up to x amount'' since a judge can lower the amount. Claycomb asked how we implement it so that it will work. Mccoskey stated that Naperville looked at it as a revenue opportunity and Johnson County saw success with police enforcement. He stated th.at defense against encroachments is part of CAPRA requirements. Houtman stated that the City Manager would like to allow for soft encroachments. Vanzandt stated that agreements can be written to allow soft encroachments until the transfer of property. Allen stated that he is concerned over how to handle hard versus soft encroachments. Claycomb asked about property surveys. Houtman stated that we would need to survey when a situation comes up. Mccoskey stated that the physical survey rods will be required. Vanzandt stated that they are working on defining minor encroachments. Anything in a fire break should be a zero tolerance. Houtman stated that we have already presented a draft ordinance. He stated that Mccoskey and Sack will finish the draft ordinance and bring it to the park board next month for a vote. Vizzini asked if there is a time limit for how long you.have before you lose your rightto argue it. Vanzandt stated thatthere is no adverse possession against a governmental entity. Item 38: OJ Watson Master Plan (Brian Hill) Hill stated that the master plan is basically a guide for how to spend the CIP money. April is the target date for getting a new train. Houtman stated that the recommendation was made to council for the new train and it was approved. Deatherage asked ifthere were any changes since the last meeting. Hill responded that there were none. Motion by Claycomb, second by Allen, IT WAS UNANIMOUSLY VOTED to endorse taking the OJ Watson Master Plan to Council. (4-0) BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS MEETING October 12, 2015 Page 3 of.5 Item 3C: Sponsorship Signs (Stacey Hamm) Hamm stated that the new signage would replace our park signs both indoors and outdoors and be used for branding. We are paying more for extra graffiti coating. An entrance pylon is 22', looking for the price to include lighting. There are various signs for amenities, directional signs; signs for minLgolf at OJ Watson, signs for the gate at the Tennis Center and different options for the ballfields and scoreboards. Options can change based on the sponsor's wishes. There are also more customizable options. We will take this to the' design council on the October.21". Vizzini asked about the possibility of reflection on the metal from car lights or sunlight. Houtman stated that we will check into that. Taber asked if the signs would also be for other organizations like senior services and libraries, will we add them to our signs or will they need to pay f or it. Houtman.stated that we will work with those entities to add uniformity to the signage. Motion by Vizzini, second by Claycomb, ITWAS UNANIMOUSLY VOTED to support selling the sponsorship signs. (4-0) Item 4A: Recreation Update (Greg Olmer/Alan Taber) Olmer stated that there will be a meeting next week about the aquatics master plan and reviewing the surveys. Athletics are doing well. They have been consistent with last year. Football is doing very well and has increased participation this year. Participation in classes at the centers is a little slow right now. There will be a meeting with Misty Bruckner from WSU next week. We would like to start updating the PROS plan. Recently a City ordinance was passed about biking at night. We will start distributing LED bike lights for free at all the centers. Taber stated that Halloween in the Park at Edgemoor will be October 23•• from 6-9pm. It is a free event with 3000-5000 attendees expected. Item 48: Golf Update {Troy Hendricks) Appelhahz stated that September rounds were the third best ofthe last five years and the best revenue for September forthe last five years as well. Despite 46 days of rain between April and July, rounds are still up 2%. The golfwichita mobile app was launched October l". There were 323 downloads on launch day. It isthe second best launch day Gallus Golf has ever had. They have asked to partner with us to create a documentary on how to launch an app. The golf business plan will be.presented to council in November. Customer appreciation is this month at all of the courses. Item 4C: Golf Advisory Committee Update (Troy Hendricks) Houtman stated that the Golf Advisory Committee is supportive of the business plan. Item 4D: Wichita Parks Foundation Update (Chris Highfill) No update at this time. Item 4E: OJ Watson Park Committee Update (Hoyt Hillman) Houtman stated that we will be able to use the OJ Watson master plan as a guide over the next few years for prioritizing our projects. BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS MEETING October 12�·2015 Page4 of 5 Item 4F: Aquatics QJmmlttee Update (Tori Deatherage) Houtman.stated �t there were close to 700 responses to our online survey. We will bring the recommendations back·ln December, or January. lb!m ·4G; President No update at_this time. lll!m 4H: Director Ho.utman stated that the PROS pian was·adopted In 200a He is looking at updatilli! the existing plan and bring it back to the Park Board fc;>r review. The League 42 ballfield at McAdams Park project has been initiated . The bids for•euffalo Park came in high. The-extra money from CIP was voted on and passed. Worklngon a presentatto,i-for council regarding water rights waiver for Crystal Prairie Lake. Will start working on the conceptual plans_fo_r Cadl_llac ·Ll!lle in janUllry. Next month we wili talk about the Kansas flag replacing the confederate flag. The flag that was removed has been returned to the Sons ofCo11federate.Soldiers. What we are loolung for is whether or not the Kansas flag is the appropriate flag to replace it. Please communicate with your council members. Recently council members let us know that they were not aware that.we-moved forward with the Westar project. A citizen asked If there is a park planned for Cadillac Lake, Houtman responded that there is, it will be a passive wetlands park. Item 5: Adloum . There being no further- busiiless,. the meeting was adjourned at approximately 4:50 pm. �� -MlcheUe Haun, Clerk • • BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS MErnNG • � 12; :iois Pages.is