Board of Park Commissioners

Board of Park Commissioners Regular Meeting Minutes Monday, July 9, 2018 3:00- 5:00 P.M. 455 N Main City Hall 11th Floor ji:,i'i'• OP Park & Recreation Conference Room Wichita, Kansas 67202 WlCH I TA Members Present: Troy Palmer, Hoyt Hillman, Bill Ramsey, Alejo Cabral, Tori Deatherage, Eddie Fahnestock Members Absent: Ty Tabing City Staff: Troy Houtman (Director, Park & Recreation), Penny Garding (Clerk), Elizabeth Harlenske ·(Assistant City Attorney), David McGuire, Reggie Davidson, Troy Hendricks, Angeia Buckner, Larry Hoetmer, Stacey Hamm Guest: Krista.Da.hUnger, Lonnie Wright, Sabrina Lozada-Cabbage Item Descri11tion can to Order Troy Palmer, President, . called the meeting to order at approximately 3:00 p.m. Announcements There were no Announcements. Public Comments Lonnie Wright -You might consider letting each board member introduce . themselves and give a brief description of what they do. It would give a more family feel ar:id understanding to the people in the audience. It was:a wide open meeting. Instead .of cutting people off; you allow people to speak, that was a benefit. He hardly ever sees that, usually it is real strict. Want to recognize .Ramsey's great skill in crafting motions of compromise. Daniel Householder-A New Board of Director of the Wichita Audubon Society, and has been encouraged to come monitor activities. The Wichita Audubon Society uses two or three of the city parks for bird watching. Also interested in trying to be careful as they chose ways of changing the parks and upgrading the parks that when at all possible we take consideration of things that.are friendiy to the birds. There are a number of birds that come through and use our parks at least for three or four weeks a year in transit. Palmer asked Hoetmer when we do parks, do we consider that? Hoetmerresponded the Nature Center probably does some stuff and Pracht Wetlands is a good example. They did an inventory of a lot of the species that been in that park. Houtman added it all depends on the design, location, size and those type of things. Naftzger is really small in nature so we were not able to incorporate anything regarding concerns with wildlife. As we start building newer parks that is a big concern. When we do changes and additions we try to ensure we are aware·and BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS REGULAR MEITING July 9. 2018 Palelof 7  knowledgeable of the wildlife;jncluding the birds. We depend on the Audubon Society and other nature groups within the organization to help us with that. Hillman stated while we appreciate the range of wildlifethat,comes through, we also have a lot of Canada geese that are overdue to move on. Any suggestions on that would be appreciated. 1 Approve Minutes Recommended Action: Approve, sign and file minutes of the Jurie 11, 2018, Board of Park Commissioners Special Meeting. Motion by Ramsey, second by Cabral, IT WAS UNANIMOUSL'f VOTED to approve, sign and file the minutes of the June 11, 2018 Board of Park Commissioners Regular Meeting (6-0). 2A KNPS Annual\11/ildflower Weekend (Krista Dahlinger) Krista Dahlinger, 503 E Mulvane, Mui.vane - Wichita Area Coordinator, Kansas Native Plant Society. Every year the Society meets in some part ofthe state to explore. The Society has about 750 members in Kansas, Missouri and Ok,lahoma. Shewrote an article a couple years ago on the wildlife habitat areas in Wichita. She has explored places on lunch hours, taken people on wildflower walks, she does volunteer gardening in the parking lot garden at the GPNC. Those plants, if you don't know, three seasons of the plants the seedling, the blooming, when it is blooming you know to leave it alone, do you hack it back in the.fall? She was asked to do the.gardening there because she would know what to look for. Particularly Interested in the subset of native plants in Wichita parks. In 2018 the annual meeting, the'.full 50 members and anybody that is not a member but wants to come, is invited to·come to Wichita, We generally have about 100 people come to these meetings. Mostly wewanno look at native plants and culture.and history. They wants to promote what Wichita has. Because it is the 40th anniversary of Kansas Native Plant Society we will have an historical look back by Dwight Platt. She wants to put together a flier that would have the Kansas Native Plant Society logo on the front and on the back a list of all the unique city parks, bike paths, bike rental, museums; art galleries, unique companies, etc. that you would want to come backto'Wichita to do. She wants to print 150 for attendees and extras. She is'asking for GIS assistance to help·her extract a map that has all the city parks and bike trails, so peopiewho are·really into nature can come and access the parks on the bike trails 'and stop and support the local businesses and have .a great time. Houtman responded with a.suggestion to work with Visit Wichita. Dahlinger stated she has and they have bags and maps. Houtman added for GIS needs we have overlays.of different types of things. You can work with David McGuire for help gettingthe things you want,on the map. Dahjjnger added the date of the event is September 7-9. Houtman offered additional help and help with speakers, etc. Hillman thanked her for being a great prornoter forthe city of Wichita. Wright inquired if there is really a park.within 2 miles of everyone. Dahlinger responded that is the goal. Ramsey stated there are about 140 parks. 2B McAdams Park Water- Fire Hydrant (Hoetmer) f Hoetmer stated they are requesting a waterline. easementto install ire hydrant at League 42 to comply with the Wichita Fire Del)artment's requirements for fire protection. We will be bringing the water line in off of-Wabash. We need the Park Board to sign off on the water line, Hillman asked if this is.for new restrooms orjust for fire protection. Hoetmer responded Yes, three years ago we installed the first ball BOARD OF'PARK COMMISSIONERS REGULAR-MEETING July 9, 2018 Page 2 of 1  field. The second year we developed restrooms that are located adjacent to the sidewalk. We just completed the last phase which was ball field improvements for two field, batting cages, backstops and other practice field improvements. This is the very last amount of dollars available through CIP. We set the funding aside so could get the fire hydrant in there. Houtman added we have increased the amount of usage in that space and maximized the parking lot. If we do what League 42 wants, that would mean.one more additional field. There would be a huge demand to have that fire coverage. It will take care of what is-there now, but also the anticipation of another field. Hoetmer stated the closest hydrant on along 17th street. We are pretty far out of compliance. It is not only about the ballfields, but the rec center. Ramsey asked how wide'is the easement. Hoetmer responded it is 15 feet. Ramsey motioned, Deatherage second IT WAS UNANIMOUSLY VOTED to approve an easement for the placement of a fire hydrant in McAdams Park. (6-0) 3A Naftzger Park Update (Houtman) Houtman stated.the fence is up and dirt moving. There have been a couple of hiccups, the moving of the gazebo, bids came in way more expensive than expected at $80,000. We could probably build a brand new one for that. We.are looking at other options, maybe some support from Botanica to move it there. The worst case scenario, we will save a portion, probably the cupola. If we end up not moving it and still have funds;we may build new one at OJ Watson and putthe old cupola on top of that, for some historical reference. It is an older gazebo so it is a slat roof. It is not bolted together so we would have cut it, move it and weld it again at the new location, with very precise cuts and welds. It would require a moving company to move it in the middle of the night because it is so wide. We would have to close streets to do that. The good news is we are moving forward with final designs. We are looking at upgrades to the stage so We can have more events. We met with several of the experts· ih the city that put on performances, including Wichita Festivals, trying to get feedback on what kind of power requirements we have. We got really good feedback. Ramsey asked if the gazebo already down. Houtman responded no. Everything around it has been taken care of. Wright stated on the anti�Naftzger Park website, itis saying we only saved four trees, but we adding trees, correct? Houtman responded that is correct. At the Stryker Soccer complex we.spaded five mature, large trees and saved them to go into Naftzger Park. 4 Recreation Update (Davidson) Davidson provided June Recreation Highlights. At Evergreen Recreation Center youth were. introduced to A Taste of Mexico cooking class. Eleven kids signed up for the class, which produced $297 in revenue. Summer Activity Camp-June average daily attendance was 102 participants. Activities include swimming, crafts, gym games, special presentations and field trips. At Linwood Recreation Center19 Summer of Discovery campers participated in reducedfee swim lessons. June 28 marked the 20th birthday of SOD on site - Barry the Bison joined in the party. Approximately $250 of Shocker merchandise was donated to Linwood for use as camp prizes. Donated items include Shocker t-shirts and youth jerseys, mini basketballs, basketball posters and wristbands. BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS REGULAR MEETING July 9, 2018 Page 3 of7  At Lynette Woodard Recreation Center they are creating new programs on site. The new adulttrampoline class was a big hit. They are now booking for July and have a waitlist. Special Events OJ Watson Park: Barry's Truck & Equipment Expo - 6/9/lB Down Town: Kids Fest - 6/809/18 Upcoming Events: Shocker Neighborhood SK Buckner stated we have our first Shocker Neighborhood SK on July 28. It is a partnership with WSU, Shocker Neighborhood Coalition and Kansas Health Foundation through a grant. ,Started the first week of June and people are able to come on Tuesdays and Thursdays to walk or jog. Meet at WSU Go Create Center either at 8:00 a.m. or 8:00 p.m. for preparation to start that event. W� keep a tally o participation and if you participate in the 8 week program, your event fee is waived. Each week of participation they get Shocker Swag. On the first morning there were 65 people and the first night there were 72. This has helped bring people in to our classes at both Woodard and McAdams. The coordinator is an instructor at McAdams: Denise Colborn. The money that is.generated will fund next year's race. Davidson stated we are working to raise awareness pf.our programs. Houtman stated Buckner has been inducted into the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame. She was an all star basketbal_l_ player at WSU. Becky Tuttle, who helps_us with health and 0 wellness activities won a national award thrqugh NRPA. She will receive the award in September in Indianapolis. Fahnestock asked Buckner about the grant. Buckner responded they have been working with the Kansas Health Foundation for the last three yearsthrough a grant. This.is a combination of all the work together to put this on. We are notspending any Park & Recreation money forthis. s Golf Update (Hendricks) Hendricks stated they closed_ month about noon today. RoundsJoryearto date are down 8% acrossthe golf system. Revenue is down 7%. Expenditures are actually down 19% for the year. Net income shows 212% over 2017. You need to look at what has not been paid, internal services. June rounds up by almos! 1,000 rounds, revenue is almost identical to last year for the month of June. We need more golfers outplaying. Palmer asked if we had seen an increased in golfers at Clapp. Hendricks responded rounds were up,at Clapp in June. Wright asked about not includingfunds transfer or internal services. In the report that shows only last year golf was in a deficit, those previous ye_ars that shows no deficit, did that not included those fund transfers either? Hendricks responded they were included. Houtman.stated on·e thing to note is when we are at our peak we are averaging about 40,000-50,000 rounds per-golf course. Last year we were.at 19,000 rounds at BO.ARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS REGULAR MEETING July 9, 2018 Page 4 of7  Clapp. So far this year in June they are at7,800. To make a huge.impact we need to double the amount of golfers. 6 GolfAdvisory Committee Update (Hillman/ Houtman) Hillman asked if the annual rates that were presented earlier and voted on, if those had been taken to Finance and Council. Houtman responded not yet, our first step is to get over the hurdle regarding Clapp. The City Manager has scheduled to make the presentation of closing Clapp within the Budget presentation scheduled for August 14. We want to get through that before we start making any changes and adjustments. After that it would be wise to start bringing that subject up again. 7 Wichita Parks Foundation Update (Houtman) Red, White & BOOM went well. We had a bigger crowd than last year. We had 11 food trucks, they all did very well. There were people up and down river, in the stadium afterthe game. Around 8,000-10,000 people. Really great feedback. For Dinner in the Park we.sold about 110 tickets, which raised about $600-700 for scholarships. It was great exposure. Deatherage asked how often do you plan on doing this, Houtman.responded probably spring, summer and fall. The plan is to rotate to different parks in city. Fahnestock asked how it was promoted. Houtman responded we relied on social media, board memberpromotions. 8 Pawnee Prairie Park Update (Hoetmer) Hoetmer stated we presented this project update to Councilmember Blubaugh a week ago. To date we have completed the butterfly garden. The equestrian parking with a separate exit point has been. completed. There are also some watering stations. We have acquired all the benches and picnic tables<and ready to be installed as soon as the pads are readV to go. The poles bases and the conduit is in, so we are just waiting on lights to arrive for the west parking lot. The drinking fountains will be in later. Hillman asked if they make a drinking fountain for horses. Houtman responded the equestrian folks bring their own troughs. Horses don'.t like to.drink out of other horses troughs. The west playground will be.installed next month, We have accepted bids to do three low water crossings. We've had some issues with the main lowwater crossing in the center of the map. We will be taking this crossing out and installing new design with and open channel. The bridge to the far left of the map is the wooden bridge.that extends frorri the east parking lot off Tyler to the nature center. We will take it out and rebuild it in-house to save dollars. There are two bridge features up north. One is for fire protection access and the other is a low water crossing that connects up to the Prairie Sunset Trail. We have permits to.start the work on the two low water crossings immediately. We are. still waiting for the permit on the low water crossing.on the south by Pawnee. We. have also completed some repairs on the existing sidewalks. We are finishing plans for the new bike path. That will be a gravel/crushed concrete pathway. As part of.that bike path system we will be redoing part of the parking lot. There will be a staging area for bicyclists that will allow the bike path to go through the parking lot. Hillman asked if routes have been posted with mileage information. Houtman responded you don't know where the start and end points are. The thought is if the signs are spaced at a quarter or half mile apart, they can figure it out. Hoetmer BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS REGULAR MEETING July 9, 2018 Page 5 of7  added most of the signage will be directed more towards safety, We are working on a safety signage system. The park has·been gridded and that information will be included on the kiosk. The signs shown on the right of the display have been ordered. They will be in a number of places throughout the park. The far left image is a kiosk similar to what will be used. 9 OJ Watson Park Committee Update•(Houtman) Houtman stated they just had the.train repaired. We've put up fencing around the miniature golf course. On Tuesday nights, all 16 sand volieybafl courts all full. We are trying to get designs·on the four season shelter. We took it to Coundl and.received approval, using two years of funding back to back. We ar.e budgeting $600,000- $700,000. The shelter will bl! used for rentals, weddings, parties and other activities. 10 Aquatics Master Plan Update (Houtman) Houtman stated he went to Council 3 weeks ago with the question of placement of the 4th pool in District I at Edgemoor or McAdams. No decision was made. Since then Council has asked for more information. We Will try again in two or three weeks, giving them the information they·requested. Hillman asked if.this affects the closing of any of the pools. Houtman responded it could. There will be no changes this season. Which pools get.closed in the future or how. those get closed is another discussion. Palmer heard there might be a.regroup of pools, to talk about pools. And not doing au-the neighborhood pools but do one big pool. .Houtman responded he has provided feedback on that. Palmer asked at what pointwould,that come back to th_e Park Board. Houtman.responded Council wiUhave to make that decision, _that is part of the information he has !Jro"'.ided them. Wright asked if he heard correctly, the possibility of a large Olympic sized pool is still being considered. Houtman responded that is not what was described. They are asking for options of different ideas of what could be placed there. The thought was could there be one large pool tomeetthe.needs of the whole city. They asked staff to provide feedback on that'information. We did our research and compared it other communities.that have those types.of pools and gave a pro forma as well as construction costs and those types of things. Not sure if will be considered. 11 President's Update (Palmer) Palmer thanked board members for their time on Friday. 12 Director's Update (Houtman) Houtman stated it's been a difficult past three weeks on many levels. There are a lot of things going on. we·•are looking forward to gettingto'the end of slimmer. This is our busiest time·of year. Really proud of his staff: He shared with his staff this morning,.he keeps•hearing out in community people are willing to pay extra for amenities. He is seein'g more interest in our parks and programs, .not just with th_e city but w_ith the Y and other folks involved with. quality o life issues. Sooner or later that pendulum will swing the other direction. The question and the demand iswny can't We have the amehities'that other communities have. Other communities subsidize other activities. Trying to hold the department BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS REGULAR MEmNG July 9, 2018 .Page6of7  together, it is getting smaller every year. Not just status quo, we are losing resources. Palmer stated it is interesting that you heard people say they would pay more money for amenities. But just think if we raised fees or whatever, they are the same people that are the first in line saying it is already expensive, we shouldn't be paying this much money. That's what we have to get over as a community. As soon as we realize it is going to cost us money to do things. We pay convenience fees for everything else. Ramsey added while they were sitting there last Friday he did some calculations and if we were to just raise rates to cover LW Clapp it was $12 per round that it would have to go up. That means rounds would then go down because not as many people would play. Houtman added the bottom line is there are just not enough golfers. He started that meeting saying when we had four golf courses we peaked at 200,000 rounds of golf. Then we went to five golf courses, you would think we would go up to 250,000-275,000, we went down to 150,000. We just need another 125,000 to get back to where we should be. We add 5,000 or 10,000 rounds that is not nearly enough. If you are a tire store and not making enough, you close one of your stores. Ramsey added Commissioner Howell brought up a good point that the County subsidizes $10 per attendee for the Zoo, $17 per attendee for Exploration Place. Parks are an important part of the city and quality of life. They are important to the people and important to the retention of our residents. Houtman added there were some good points made regarding if we keep losing these amenities or if they become too expensive for people to use, then they go someplace else. To attract quality people, quality jobs, education and all that, you need to have quality amenities as well. That pendulum will swing back the other direction. Ramsey added that community, the City, the Park Department all have a incredible opportunity in front of them with 96 acres of green space to potentially create something amazing out there. Houtman added that is the key, where can we get the grants, the funding, the support and the partnership to provide the resources to make that the central park you talked about. What is it going to be? Splash pads with playgrounds and disc golf and walking trails? Adjourn There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at approximately 4:11 p.m. The next regularly scheduled meeting will be held on Monday, August 13, 2018. BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS REGULAR MEETING July 9, 2018 Page 7 of 7