Board of Park Commissioners

Board of Park Commissioners Regular Meeting Agenda Monday, January 9, 2017 3:00 - 5:00 P .M. 455 N Main E;tTV - o F City Hall, 11th Floor Park Conference Room W'I CHllR Wichita, Kansas 67202 Members Present: Ron Allen, Cindy Claycomb, Chris Highfill, Hoyt Hillman, Troy Palmer Members Absent: Chris Clark, Tori Deatherage City Staff: Troy Houtman (Director, Park & Recreation), Elizabeth Harlenske (Assistant.City Attorney), Penny Garding (Clerk), Troy Hendricks, Greg Olmer, Warren Mccoskey, David McGuire, Larry Hoetmer, Paul Gunzelman, Gary Janzen Guests: Rob Snyder Item Descri11tion Call to Order: Cindy Claycomb, President, called the meeting to order at approximately 3:02 p.m. Public Comments: There were no comments from the public. Announcement: Park Board member Chris Clark has appointed Tom West to the Golf Advisory Committee for District.2. 1A No Mow Zones (Warren Mccoskey) Mccoskey presented the Park Department's current no mow properties and other potential sites that could be converted.. No-mow is a concept in practice by several upscale neighborhoods in town. Houtman added a clarification on no mow, it does not mean it is never mowed, it is actually mowed once or twice per year to keep out invasive species. There are benefits as a biological filter for stormwater and defense·against erosion. An unintended benefit is that geese tend to not cross these areas. There is some cost reduction in contract mowing and fuel consumption. Some people do find them to be attractive. Challenges include the City ordinance does not allow private citizens to not mow their property and then they complain when the City does not mow its properties. The biggest complaint is that snakes and rats are prevalent. The most vocal group is the group that view them as. unmaintained property. Mowing has.returned to some of the no mow zones because ofthese complaints; however, one season of mowing would not eliminate the native grass and wildflowers that were established. If the Board re-establishes no mow areas, one consideration would need to be the wildflowers' sensitivity to weed control BOARD Of PARK COMMISSIONERS REGULAR MEETING January 9, 2017 Page 1 ofS  herbicides. We would have to ensure an equitable application of no mow zones across all council districts. Public education would need to be ensured. If we are going to designate areas, it would be needed to be taken to City Council for approval. Hillman inquired if we instituted just along the river, wha.t the cost savings would be. McGuire responded it is not broken down by site at this time. McGuire responded when we started we were able to create $82k in savings. Claycomb inquired if we had a model of what the education program would look like. Houtman responded we do not atthis time. Signage would be one option, but not ideal. Utilizing social media would be one. of the things we would use that would not cost a lot of money. Houtman will bring a packet with specific properties to February's meeting and if supported will take to Council. 2A Budget Review (Troy Houtman) Houtman stated the budget is still very much a draft. Turner gave a great overview at the Retreat, and therefore, no additional information for today. Hillman inquired if the zero based budget applies to golf courses as well. Houtman responded they will still be an enterprise fund but the. philo'sophy still applies. Wednesday is our Peer Review with a couple other departments and then on Friday he will present to the City Manager for a final draft. 2B Land Acquisition (Greg Ferris) Ferris shared information, thoughts and a proposal for the .river bank at 13th Street and Bitting. Mr. Rob Snyder recently purchased land in this area and has the houses under contract. There is a sliver of property, about 15,000.sq. ft., that the Park Board owris. Snyder is proposing to put a senior living complex along the river on the property. He would like to purchase that strip of property at $1/foot. Today they are just looking for interest, no contract or commitment. Hillman inquired about structure soundness because of the soil composition. Snyder responded the architects and engineers would look into that. Hillman also asked if the funds would go to City or to the Park Department. Ferris responded itis Park Board owned land. Allen inquired about specific length of the property. Ferris responded it is 15,000 sq. ft. It is currently utilized with a walking path that they would relocate. Houtman stated he and Hoetmer have walked this area. The agreement could be drafted to putthe proceeds back.to the Park Department, The following need to be considered: relocation and restoration of the walking.path; the appearance of a fence between the new senior living center and the path; and the appearance of the drainage system. This project is doable and could enhance the park property and the neighborhood. Hillman stated in this area a lot of the deeds BOARD OF·PARK COMMISSIONERS REGULAR MEETING Janu·arv 9, 2017 Page 2 of.5  claim property to the center of the river. Hoetmer and Ferris stated these particular properties do not. Harlenske stated she has no concerns. Ferris will provide a formal proposal along with more information and drawings. 2C 2017 Bike Enhancement Projects (Gary Janzen/Paul Gunzelman) Janzen stated he made a presentation to Council on the future of bike facility enhancements. He will be going to Bike and Ped Advisory Board later today. Gunzelman presented the project listfrom the Wichita Bicycle Master Plan. In March 2016 the Bike and Ped Advisory Board presented this project list as their priority. The list is part of the current CIP. The .Redbud Path from K-96 to 159th, along with several others, is programmed for this year. As part of a long range transportation plan for 2040, we submitted some projects to be considered. The Redbud Path from K 96 to 159th was selected to receive federal funding. We are 0 pushing that in the CIP to 2019 to match that funding. Gunzelman added they are focusing on Redbud path and hiring a consultant to design that and also have the environmental study going from Woodlawn to 159th . There are no plans or funding for construction yet. Janzen added we have some challenges on this portion. We will explore many options and will be getting community input. There are some restrictions at the moment that will have to be considered. The design will help us identify what we can do and the associated costs. 3 Recreation Update (Greg Olmer) Olmer stated Kids Konnection was held at Edgemoor (166), Orchard (122) and Linwood (294) Recreation Centers over six days of holiday break. We hold these camps at locations that are licensed. Other centers were given clearance from VM Williams to host some free programming. There was good attendance at Boston, Woodard, Evergreen and McAdams. Day camps average cost is about $18/day. GPNC reported 2016 attendance up about 10%. Watson is also up at 223,354, even with the train down for a while. The entire Recreation Division in 2015 had a little over 900,000 people, in 2016 we hit l.lM. Final revenue numbers will be available next month. 4 Golf Update (Troy Hendricks) Hendricks stated rounds are down for the year by 5%. Auburn Hills is down1% Tex Consolveris down 7%, LW Clapp is down 14% and MacDonald is down 9%. Sim rounds were even. Final revenue and expenditures numbers will be. available later this week. December was down in rounds, due to the extreme cold weather. 2008 was the rainiest year since 1951. 2016 was the second. BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS REGULAR MEETING January 9;2017 Page 3 ofS  Palmer inquired what the numbers would .look like if Clapp was not included. Hendricks responded we have not done that. Hendricks will bring Profit & Loss Statements f or courses to the next GAC meeting. lfwe break down each course, can we pull expenses and overhead by course? Hendricks can do that and include labor costs as well. Hendricks shared several thoughts on how to bring players back to Clapp. We have posted the Pro position, but will not fill the Assistant Pro. Claycomb inquired if this is something the GAC would like to take a look at and try some things, Houtman responded they are continually looking at it, but it is concerning. We are continuing to explore options. But there will come a point in time when decisions will need to be made. 5 Golf Advisory Committee Update (Hoyt Hillman) No meeting to share. Next meeting 1/22. 6 Wichita Parks Foundation Update (Troy Houtman) No Update. 7 OJ Watson Park Committee Update. (Greg Olmer) Olmer stated several CIP projects were initiated. Currently slated as the first project will be adding additional trees along the south and east side. Forestry will be staking next week. We are also looking to add permanent, aesthetically pleasing trash fixtures at identified locations. Other projects in the future include additional shelter buildings. End of year revenue was up, concessions and attendance were up. We are continuing to look for other things to.bring people to the park. 8 Aquatics Committee Update (Tori Deatherage) No updates 9 President's Update (Cindy Claycomb) Claycomb announced Highfill's resignation from the board and thanked him for his service. 2017 Park Board Goals with recommended changes developed at the January 2017 Retreat and Houtman's additional Goal #5 were finalized. Motion by Hillman, second by·Allen, IT WAS UNANIMOUSLY VOTED to approve the Park Board 2017 Goals (5-0). 10 Director's Update (Troy Houtman) Houtman stated the Park Department has a lot going on, including Crystal Prairie Lake Park, PrachtWetlands, dog parks, trails, N aftzger, Stryker, Lawrence Dumont Stadium, Aquatics Master Plan. The good news is last-year's Forestry Maintenance Center project will be finished in a couple weeks. He will plan a tour and maybe hold a meeting there. Harlenske shared an article from the Daily Municipal News. A potential open meeting violation by the Johnson County Park Board is under investigation bythe Kansas Attorney General. Just as a reminder, serial phone calls can't be done for BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS REGULAR.MEETING January 9, 2017 Page4of 5  the purpose of coming to a binding decision. She will update the board on the AG's ruling. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at approximately 4:33 p.m. The next regularly scheduled meeting will be held on Monday, February 13, 2017. Cindy Claycomb, President BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS REGULAR MEETING January 9, 2017 Pages of S