Board of Park Commissioners

BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS RETREAT MEETING MINUTES Friday. January 06. 2017 �•r•v·coF 1:30- 5:30 P.M. OfI csu:,1 t'A 455 N Main, 11th Floor City Hall, Park & Recreation Conference Room Members Present: Cindy Claycomb, Hoyt Hillman, Troy Palmer, Chris Clark, Tori Deatherage, Ron Allen Members Absent: Chris Highfill City Staff: Troy Houtman (Director, Park & Recreation), Penny Garding (Clerk), David McGuire, Greg Dimer, Larry Hoetmer, Matt Townsend, Troy Hendricks Item Descrij!tion I Call to Order: Cindy Claycomb, President, called the meeting to order at approximately 1:30 p.m. 1 Approve Previous Meeting Minutes Recommended Action: Approve, sign and file minutes.of the December 12, 2016, Board of Park Commissioners Regular Meeting. Motion by Clark, second by Palmer, IT WAS UNANIMOUSLY VOTED to approve, sign and file the minutes of the December 12, 2016 Board of Park Commissioners Regular Meetings (6-0). Golf Committee Member Approval Golf Committee District II Representative - Clark nominated Max Lazzo. Houtman inquired about if he is a former employee and ifhe left in good standing. No vote is needed for appointees. Park Board Member just makes the appointment and advises the Board. After additional discussion a new appointee will be sought. District I College Hill Park Bike Path Signs Houtman stated. there is an ordinance that does not allow bicycle riding in the park on some of the small sidewalks for safety reasons. Staff received complaints and went out to put signs back up. An ordinance change would.be required to allow bicycles. Signs went up and have.since been vandalized (stolen) again. -Deatherage asked if the signs could be painted on the sidewalks. Houtman responded they would not want that either even though there is no enforcement. It is a good suggestion. The requirement for a joint use bicycle and pedestrian walk is 10', BOARD-OF PARK COMMISSIONERS R"rTREAT MEETING January 6, 2017 Page 1 of 7 2 Aquatics Master Plan (Troy Houtman) Houtman stated the Mayor, the City Manager and he met with YMCA executives to ensure the YMCA has the capacity to take on extra swimmers, lessons and swim teams. The YMCA feels they have the capability to do that. Two items came up .in the discussion. The first question is would we be able to provide vouchers? We want to look at.that since we are closing pools over a series of five years. First to close is McAdams; second is Boston. These areas would be test areas for providing vouchers for the YMCA pool for the year between pool closure and splash pad opening. Park Department Aquatics would have the·expense. Council is still undecided, but they seem to be favoring closing seven pools and adding 10-11 splash pads. The YMCA would, on a.limited trial basis, provide transportation to and from the neighborhoods. Houtman is working on the Memorandum Of Understanding to take to Council. Claycomb inquired if any board members have talked withtheir council members. Palmer has ·talked with CM Frye and he is in favor of closing seven pools'and adding splash pads. Deatherage indicated CM Blubaugh is in favor of the same. Hillman stated CM Clendenin is in favor of five pools and'five splash pads. Clark has not talked with CM Meitzner. Allen has not talked with CM Williams. Claycomb indicated CM Miller is willing to discuss any options, wants to make sure equal money spent at Minisa in comparison to the other areas. Houtman acknowledged the concerns at Minisa and stated they are looking at CIP dollars outside of aquatics to make improvements there. The possibility of adding a boat ramp there did not get support. Claycomb thinks that may be due to lack of understanding. Houtman will work to get the MOU completed next week and make sure Council is agreeable and work with the YMCA to get it signed. He is.hoping in February we can go back to Council and approve the Aquatics Master Plan. If construction is to begin in 2018, design needs to .begin now. Doing all of the design at one time would be a huge money saver. During fail and winter of 2017 we would be designing all the pools and splash pads in all the neighborhoods and would need a lot of community engagement and involvement. The Park Board could be a big help during this phase as we are working with each district. Allen inquired about closing pools and the subsequent location of splash pads in relation to the·closed pool. Houtman responded that is one of the items we need to figure out. McAdams is a good example, is that really a good location for a splash pad, back in the corner where it is hot visible. One of the advantages to putting the splash pad in the same location as the pool is that the utilities are already there. Claycomb inquired about going to DABs and .neighborhoods and will that be during the design phase. Houtman responded all design will be.done in 2017 and we will go to the neighborhoods at that time. Then when it's time for construction to begin we can take it out for bid. BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS RETREAT MEETING January 6, 2017 Page 2·af 7 3 Golf Advisory Committee Bylaws (Hoyt Hillman/Troy Hendricks) Hillman stated the Golf Advisory Committee looked at what the Park Board uses and came up with.a simplified version. The differences include no term limits for committee members, meet every six weeks with one combined meeting with the Park Board per year. The Committee is asking-the Park Board to approve the GAC Bylaws. Houtman added the current Committee is very active and knowledgeable. They do not necessarily want to change Committee membership when there is a change in the seat on the Park Board. They serve.at the pleasure of the appointed Park Board representative. Claycomb would like to add explicit language at the end of the Organization section that states "the Committee memberserves at the pleasure of their appointed Park Board member." Clark inquired about the past reasoning that the President of the GACbe_the Park Board representative. Claycomb responded there is no specific reasoning other than that person reports back, but they don't necessarily have to be President. Houtman stated if we want to let them have the autonomy to appoint their own President that would have to be very explicit in the bylaws and have a majority vote from the appointed board. It is agreed that it would be good to let them chose their President. Claycomb asked for a discussion regarding term limits. Should they follow the Park Board appointer? She added CM Frye does not feel there should be term limits because they are an advisory board. Deatherage asked for a list of GAC members. Houtman will get a current list to everyone. Hendricks provided updates from the golf cart RFP meeting. Proposals are due to Purchasing on January 20. Questions need to be emailed to Hendricks no later than January 17. We are looking at purchasing approximately 232 carts, trading in 202. We are keeping anything 2009 and newer that is gas and the electrics that were purchased for MacDonald in 2013. Claycomb brought the discussion back to bylaws. We have two changes: Committee members serve at the pleasure of the Park Board and the President is elected. Deatherage inquired about adding that the appointee should stay in regular communication with their Park Board member. Claycomb stated under Duties we will add "appointee should stay in regular contact with their Park Board appointer." Motion by Hillman, second by Deatherage, IT WAS UNANIMOUSLY VOTED to approve the Golf Advisory Committee Bylaws with the three changes (6-0). BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS RETREAT MEETING January 6, 2017 Page 3 of 7  Claycomb requested Hillman express a thank you to the GAC for their work on developingthe bylaws. Houtman & Hoetmer left meeting@ 2:15 4 Roles, Responsibilities and Expectations for Park Board Members (Cindy Claycomb) Claycomb asked to brainstorm what we think our roles, responsibilities and expectations are. It was recommended the Park Department provide an orientation for incoming Park Board members. Items to include in Orientation: • PROS plan, what is it and how is it used? • Park Department Org Chart. Director, his direct reports and second level. Include pictures and contact information. • Facility list by District. • Partnership list. Identify areas for additional community engagement. • Policy and decision making flow chart. • What properties are Park Board or City Owned? • Budget process and allocation of funds (Operations and CIP). • Past meeting minutes (6 months) and highlights of key issues. Park Board responsibilities are policy making, advocacy, and direction setting, we do not tell Park staff how to do their jobs. Deatherage inquired how .the orientation would be presented to .new members. Would.it be in person, electronic or a combination? Townsend has a Park Department PowerPoint that is used as an overview for City Council orientation that could also be included. Garding will put together binders.for Park Board members and going forward for new members. 10 Minute Break 2:50 - 3:00 Goal Review Claycomb lead a review·of 2015 goals and discussion on goals going forward. Do we need to set goals orjust support the Park Department goals? Allen asked for an explanation of the PROS Pla11. McGuire responded itis essentially a master plan the department works towards. It creates a guideline for use when asking for funding. Now we need a strategic plan that brings .it to another level that we can .put short term goals into. Deatherage stated itmakes sense that the.Park Board Goals would be how we would assist the Park Department achieve their goals. Clark left meeting@ 3:15 BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS RETREAT MEETING January 6, 2017 Page4 of7 McGuire provided each board member an updated copy of the Pa.rk Department's Facility Manual. He pointed out key parts of the manual including a list of important phone numbers, an alphabetical listing of all parks, parks by District and a brief description of each park which includes amenities. In the next update, we will try to include ifit is City of Wichita or Board of Park Commissioners property. At the end of the manual is a spreadsheet that lists parks and amenities. Zero Based Budget Overview - Evelyn Turner Evelyn Turner, Park Department Accounting Manager, provided a handout outlining the zero-based budget process being implemented this year. This is the first year in recent years the Park Department has not been asked to cut budget. The City Manager is revamping the whole budget process using zero-based budgeting. Zero-based budgeting is starting with a blank slate ani designing a. budget from scratch. We get the opportunity to look at our processes and services and decide should we be doing this, is it necessary, could we be doing things differently, etc. During Phase I, staff has done a lot of background work. Focus is on doing what the community or a citizen would want, not what an employee wants. The overall focus from the City Manager is keeping Wichita safe, growing Wichita's economy, building dependable infrastructure, living well, and Wichita - a well-run city (internal support services). Then values were added. Staff chose the core values of stewardship, family, and engagement as trust values, and equity, professionalism and innovation as service values. As staff is going through these steps, money is not looked at. Key performance measures are chosen that tie to why are we doing an activity and why it is important. Claycomb inquired about the concept of zero-based budgeting starting at "0", is that for everything or is there a base. Turner responded it is a true "0". Park identified products, programs and services and how they fit ihto the goals and values. Once the City Manager approves our process, then we move to Phase II and begin to consider dollars. Houtman rejoined meeting @ 3:50 Claycomb advised Houtman on items covered. Allen left meeting @ 4:00. BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS RETREAT MEETING January 6, 2017 Page 5 of 7 5 Review of 2016 Park Department Accomplishments and 2017 Park Department Goals (Troy Houtman) Claycomb stated the Park Board would rather know what the Park Department Goals are and how the board can support them. Houtman suggested there are things the Park Board could and should do that the Department cannot. That would be things that are political in nature, community exposure and education. The department goals are more operational. What would be helpful is the Park Board advocating at political functions for more resources for the Park Department, partnerships and dealing with environmental concerns. Review 2015 Goals document Claycomb suggested reviewing the list of former Park Board goals. The following changes to the goals were discussed: Goal #1- Review and update the PROS plan could now be changed to implementation. lB State of Our Parks updates at DABs has not been accomplished. Moving lAto 1, then under that add advocate more park land and adoption of the Aquatics MasterPlan. Keep lC as Continue to build relationships and engage citizen advocacy groups. Keep ID. Goal #2 - The only subcommittee working right now is GAC. Houtman suggested collapsing Goal #2 and Goal #4 together. Goal#3 - 3A keep as is. Make 3B broader to encompass environmental awareness. 3C We have the sponsorship policy in place, we just need to execute it better. Goal #4-4C is accomplished and needsto be removed. Goal #5. - SA River ordinance has been adopted on the Big Arkansas, still need Little Arkansas ordinance. SB is still active.. SC remove. Goals will be finalized at Monday's regular meeting. Deatherage inquired about GAC bylaws. Under Amendment to Bylaws it states "the Committee may by a 2/3 majority vote to amend these bylaws." Houtman suggested changing it to read "the Park Board may by a ,2fi majority vote amend these bylaws." Motion by Deatherage, second by Hillman, IT WAS UNANIMOUSLY VOTED to add the change to the Golf Advisory Committee Bylaws (4-0). There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at approximately 4:32 p.m. BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS RETREAT MEETING January 6, 2017 Page 6of 7 The next regularly scheduled meeting will be held on Monday, January 9, 2017. 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