Board of Park Commissioners

Board of Park Commissioners w � Regular Meeting Minutes Monday, January 13, 2020 3:00- 5:00 P.M. i::::::::::, CITY OF 455 N Main WICHITA Park & Recreation Conference Room - 11th Floor Wichita, Kansas 67202 Members Present: Bill Ramsey, Eddie Fahnestock, Hoyt Hillman, Alejo Cabral, Troy Palmer, Tori Deatherage (3:05), Ty Tabing {3:06) City Staff: Penny Garding {Clerk), Troy Houtman (Director, Park & Recreation), Reggie Davidson, Troy Hendricks, Jessica Jones Absent: Elizabeth Harlenske {Assistant City Attorney) Guests: Dale Goter, Kurt Yowell Item Descri11tion Call to Order Eddie Fahnestock, President, called the meeting to order at approximately 3:03 p.m. Announcements - There were no Announcements. Public Comments - There were no Public Comments. 1 Approve Minutes Recommended Action: Approve, sign and file minutes of the December 9, 2019, Board of Park Commissioners Regular Meeting. 5-0 Motion by Palmer, second by Hillman, IT WAS UNANIMOUSLY VOTED to approve, sign and file the minutes of the December 9, 2019, Board of Park Commissioners Regular Meeting (5-0). 2 Riverfront Legacy Master Plan {Troy Houtman/Jeff Fluhr) Houtman stated there is not a presentation today, this is a standing item on the agenda. There are some things rolling out tomorrow. It is just a collaboration of some of the things we've already looked at. If now until two or three weeks from now, you have any input or interest you can pass that through Park & Recreation Department or you can share with members of the committee. Hillman stated we are going to have to move the Koch boat. It would be a chance to create another specialty park event location somewhere along the river. Houtman stated there is an open palate to do a lot of different things. The Boathouse is eventually going to change or move. Where we put that or maybe it comes back a different way, are all things to think about. The yacht is cool but some people still question why it is there and what's it about. Fahnestock stated it is important the Park Board and staff have our voice heard. There are going to be some big elements of that master planning process that incorporate parks. Houtman added in most scenarios we are going to see more park space and how that interacts with the rest of area. BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS REGULAR MEETING January 13, 2020 Page 1 of 12 3A Subcommittee - Golf Advisory Committee Houtman stated last time we met we talked about what would be the role and how the Park Board can use it more. What are the topics you want to see addressed? We had members of the Golf Advisory Committee that didn't participate much anymore, so how could we have that committee be more useful, is it going to change? What do you want to do? We've addressed a lot of the long term questions, going back to the GAC helping create the pass system, customer service and coming up with marketing ideas. Operations are improving. We-are getting more exposure than we have had before. The closing Clapp was difficult on a lot of levels. Since then we are seeing some changes and improvements on our golf fund. We have not had a lot of feedback from golfers regarding missing Clapp. The Master Plan is moving forward. Interviews were last week on changing to a park. We are about ready to select a firm to do the Master Plan. We just need some direction. Fahnestock stated at the last meeting we were tasked to find a new vision or mission for the GAC. Open for discussion on what you think the GAC vision should be moving forward so we can work towards a target goal. Hillman state he was lucky to have quality golfers involved when he was on the GAC. It was difficult when some did not show up or participate. The current charter suggests that we each pick someone that is an active participant so that whoever is in charge will be able to draw from the experience of the people playing. Our goal or mission is to get the best quality golf and attract more people and generate more business. That is on our backs the way it was formed before. It should stay that way, they are going to provide us the best quality input if we find some active golfers. Palmer inquired isn't that what Houtman's staff does. Houtman responded we are day to day operations, financial information, but if there is a particular topic that you feel should be addressed, we talked about the GAC being part of that. That is something we have always used as a sounding board, giving feedback, and giving suggestions. They are purely advisory. Palmer stated he thought we agreed that if the topic or time came up, at that point we would look to address. Ramsey added he thought we had already had this discussion and said that we were going to put forth a recommendation to have it disbanded and then we would assemble a committee from time to time to handle issues as we saw them come up. Hillman asked if we submitted that already. Ramsey stated he is not sure why we are having that discussion again. Hillman responded it went before the City Council and they ignored it. It was brought up to City Council and they deferred it. Houtman stated individually it did. It did not go to Council as an item on the Council Agenda. He does not feel it would have been supported. He thinks Council is looking at what can be done to use the GAC, whether it is the same members now or different, it is up to you, you are the ones that select the committee members. What topic, if any, do you need feedback on, or use as a sounding board. In the past we used the GAC to help decide about customer service, some financial aspects as a sounding board, they helped create the pass. They actually drove how the pass was created. A lot of it was their directions and suggestions. Ramsey asked if we have their current mission. Hillman responded it is in the Charter of the. Ramsey asked if we have it in front of us somewhere. We have read it before. Palmer asked what it was established for in the first place. He stated it was originally established when we were talking about closing Clapp 12 years ago. Ramsey stated they kind of started going past that. Goter read the mission. Cabral inquired the concern was that they were not active and were not serving the need. Hillman responded some of them were not active. Cabral added some were not active and the need for it was not there the way it was previously. Deatherage asked if they were initially put together for a specific issue. Palmer responded yes, to close Clapp 12 years ago. Ramsey stated their mission up front does not BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS REGULAR MEETING January 13, 2020 Page 2 of 12 seem to match the duties that are listed. Hillman stated they were looking at the entire golf system, making recommendations to every golf course. Ramsey stated he heard the mission was customer service, quality and maintenance of the courses, and rate review. When you look at the duties they are completely different than the mission. Those things should be aligned. Those three things are probably alright for a mission. We need to make the duties align with that mission. Fahnestock stated we just need to ask a different question to maybe elicit a different response. To have more meaningful conversations. The more conversations he has the more clear this picture becomes. Should we start talking about is golf important to the city in terms of quality of place, quality of life and will the City subsidize it in some way? If they will what does that look like. Does it start with eliminating the debt or the note? If they aren't willing to do that, which they could easily come back to us and say golf was rated last on our poll last year, do we look at privatization at that point. We need to ask a different question to get a different response or answer. Ramsey stated he brought those exact points up when we had the discussion about MacDonald. We denied the RFP. He said the City needs to stand up and decide whether they are going to support golf or not. If they are, how do we do this moving forward? That is not a decision we get to make here. Tabing stated as we go into the peak season, are we asking the GAC to offer their assessment of the whole system or do we want to hone in on operations, or marketing, or the current price of a season passes? Do we have a to-do list for them or is it give us your assessment of the whole system at this point in time. Ramsey expressed agreement. Is there some kind of to-do list? First, meeting every six weeks is probably one reason we get some of the conversations we do out of the GAC. There is nothing to talk about in six weeks. Maybe twice a year they get together and do an evaluation and there is check list they each go through to give us what is going on at the courses and these are our recommendations to right the ship. Cabral asked if we survey golfers on a regular basis. Houtman responded yes. Cabral asked if in the survey we are asking about the quality of the golf, the customer service, all of the things that fall in line with the mission of the committee. Is it necessary for us to have them continuing to meet on a regular basis if we are already gathering that information? Houtman stated it is a good sounding board to find out whether data is moving the right way. If that is what they were created to do, then we need to give them the tools to make it happen. One of the frustrations is creating and developing the committee, who is on the committee, who has the right expertise. The committee members said they didn't know who their appointee was on the Board. Hillman responded there were lots of people that knew who they were, but some did not. Houtman stated that connection of giving them direction was not there. Half of the issue is who is on the committee and who is active and having that connection with the Park Board. Then, as Alejo was alluding to, what do you want them to do? In the past we have worked with them as a sounding board regarding does the data we collected match what they are hearing in the community? They have an unbiased opinion which is useful. Goter stated he is an appointee to the GAC. We have never met. To hear there has never been an interest in meeting, he would love the opportunity to bring some of the perspectives they have developed over the last couple years. Regarding surveying golfers, he does not notice any particular mechanism that gauges the opinions of golfers right now, other than anecdotal information. There are some significant fiscal issues they would like to bring up. Palmer asked Goter who appointed him. Goter responded Hillman. Goter stated they have not met since June. Fahnestock stated in terms of "we've never met" that is what we are trying to get to now. A couple meetings ago we decided they would meet on a case by case basis. The beginning of the year, a new decade, that is what we are trying to figure out, what is our new mission. In terms of never meeting and not wanting to meet, that is what we are trying to figure out right now. What do we do to get golfers' BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS REGULAR MEETING January 13, 2020 Page 3 of 12 feedback? Do we send out a letter saying fill this out and get a free round, how does that work. Hendricks responded every time you pay your greens fees at the golf courses you get, on your receipt, there is a survey link, starting in April and finishing in October. It is a survey regarding the conditions of the golf courses, how the customer service is. There is also an area for comments. Depending on the comments that come in, we will review those with staff at the course and take care of those at that time. Fahnestock asked, on average, how many responses do you receive. Hendricks responded in a month's time we will get between 100-150. Houtman stated we have sent out surveys, if you fill it out you get a discount on your round. We've also used secret shoppers that are actual golfer, not staff that would go and secret shop and give us feedback. We take a lot of feedback from Facebook and other social media that tell us about conditions of the golf course and we go and address those. There are a lot of different forms that we get feedback on. Fahnestock added we get up to 600 golfers over the course of a summer telling us that the fairway is dying on #10 or there is not enough sand on the green side bunker on #3. There is only so much of that you can take. It doesn't elicit a meeting of seven or eight people to discuss that anymore. Houtman responded we get feedback. Geter stated with the new membership plan, when you check in you do not get receipt. The opportunity is not there for people who are taking advantage of the plan. Hendricks responded the staff should be providing everybody with a receipt. Geter stated he plays 200 times a year, when you go in they say "Hello, we've checked you in, good to go", it is not happening for him. It is not a good way to tap into those who are the most frequent golfers. Houtman responded we get a lot of frequent golfers giving feedback through social media. Deatherage asked if that feedback was being sent anywhere. Who is reviewing it other than the staff person running the social media account? Houtman responded staff reviews and addresses it. In the past we have provided to the GAC some of the feedback and how it was addressed. And the same thing with the GAC, they have brought their concerns and we show them the financials, some of the maintenance, or improvements we have done to customer service. It is not just giving feedback, but also, how do we address those concerns and what were the outcomes. It is important to show what we have done to change or improve. Geter stated one other element is the actual financial performance. It's concerning that MacDonald Park in 2018 showed a $167,000 profit and in 2019 was $80,000 in the hole. Don't know what happened, 2018 is the time you went through the RFP process and even despite that it showed a profit. Something has happened at MacDonald. That's the kind of issue we would like to think a GAC would bring to the table and get better interaction with staff on how the system is functioning. That is missing right now. Houtman added we have done those reports and brought them to Park Board as well. Fahnestock asked Houtman if some sort of check list or to do list is needed for the committee. Or do we need to get the right people in the room and start a conversation. Houtman responded it is important to give the GAC some kind of direction, and to address some of the concerns the Board might have. It is important to have some standing set points, check off those and then open it up for other issues that need addressed. You are in control of who is on the board. That is critical and how you want them to address issues. As staff, we found when you leave it open, it is difficult to get anything accomplished. If there are specific issues to be addressed, then they can focus on those and accomplish some things. If we just have an open agenda we are going around in circles. Ramsey stated what you are saying is true to a point. Ramsey asked Palmer who he appointed to the GAC. Palmer responded he had no idea, they were already on there. Ramsey asked who appointed them. Palmer responded he assumed it was Frye. Ramsey asked BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS REGULAR MEETING January 13, 2020 Page 4 of 12 Deatherage who she appointed to the GAC. Deatherage responded they were already on there. Ramsey asked who appointed them. Deatherage responded whoever was before her. Ramsey stated it was Blubaugh. It is Cory Rainwater, who said, he doesn't report to her, Blubaugh appointed him. That is the problem. He is not going to tell Greg Ferris to get out of the way when the Mayor put him there. It is a problem and a difficult situation to be in, the people who are there were not put there by us. Houtman stated the mission says the Park Board has the authority. Ramsey understands that. Houtman added Hillman took advantage of that and appointed his vacancy. Ramsey added when someone stepped down. Houtman added not all of them, but most of the people on the committee are not interested in being on committee any longer. He has not heard from them. Deatherage asked why we voted to pass this on to Council to dissolve it if it never went to Council. Ramsey responded it would not pass Council is what they said. Deatherage stated so what was the point of us talking about it then. Ramsey responded that was our recommendation. It would be in the same position if Council had rejected it. Goter stated the reason it came before the Council is when he presented to Council regarding the budget issue and made note of the fact that he had been appointed and the Park Board, in a previous meeting, had voted to recommend the disbanding of it. He added Councilmember Clendenin then asked the City Manager to clarify if the GAC was being disbanded, noting Council was responsible for the creation of the GAC, and not the Park Board. The Manager stated he would look into it and then it went away. The recommendation has never gone to the Council. Houtman responded it has gone to Council. Goter stated it is not on Council Agenda. Ramsey stated it has never gone in front of Council. Goter stated the way a Council would deal with a Park Board recommendation is from the Bench. Houtman responded not necessarily. They take recommendations from each of their appointees and from the City Manager. Goter stated for them to act it would have to be from the Bench. Houtman responded yes. Goter added you were asking them to act. Houtman responded we did not ask them to act because it never went to the Bench. Goter asked what the recommendation was. Houtman responded the recommendation from this group was voted to disband. Fahnestock clarified we took it on a case by case basis. It was call upon when we found a need. Deatherage stated now we are talking about approaching it from the reverse direction and creating needs for them to continue going. Ramsey stated refining their mission to give them a purpose. Deatherage added or we can call on them when we have a reason. Ramsey agreed, but if the Council isn't going to.... Deatherage stated then the Council can put it on their retreat to come up with some things they would like the GAC to work on. Tabing stated their purpose could be as broad as reducing expenses, increasing revenue and enhancing the customer experience. Ramsey stated that is what their mission is. Which is fine, but meeting every six weeks gives you a lot of fluff. You can't talk about that every single six weeks. Maybe if they met once a quarter or twice a year and we gave them a list: this is the feedback, please review it and what do you guys think and we can come up with some things to address certain issues. Or, for the last six months what do you see we need to make changes to. Deatherage asked if we have thought about letting them meet and talk about this among themselves as far as frequency of meetings, topics they want to expand on and cover and then coming back to us saying here are the things we want to focus on and how often we want to meet. Fahnestock stated the amount of times since he has set on the committee everyone has not been there at the same time. He did not even know someone was on the committee until it was brought up a few weeks ago. There are three or four people that have stopped coming to meetings because it is 1) too politically charged; or 2) they just don't want to be there anymore because it is the same stuff every single month. BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS REGULAR MEETING January 13, 2020 Page 5 of 12 Deatherage stated so between now and our next Park Board meeting we each reach out to our appointee and ask if they are interested/not interested, find a replacement if not; or if we are not interested in keeping them, find a replacement. Then once we have those spots filled, let them meet and decide amongst themselves what they would like their mission to be and how often they want to meet. Then bring that information to us and we could add additional items if needed. Cabral stated he likes the idea of reaching out to them, but if somebody asks me to join a committee and say and then figure out what you are going to do in it, I'm going to say no. This is because part of us being in this role is providing the leadership to say here are things we expect from you. If they have been meeting and people have stopped showing up and they are talking about popcorn, it is up to us now to say "every six months you will meet and review the feedback and come up with solutions." That way we can approach other constituents in our districts and say there is this committee that exists and here is what they do, and would you like to be a part of it. We need to refine their mission and give them a purpose. Ramsey stated he is in-between the two. Their mission, as defined, is perfect. We need to redefine their duties. This is what we need from you whenever you meet and make it crystal clear so when they meet those are the things they are doing. The meeting becomes valuable, they are talking about repainting the bathroom. He agrees with both, we need to have that defined for them, then let them come back to us and say "to meet the mission this is what we would like to see." Let them say this is what we need from you so we can help you do this. That way we know what they need, everybody is clear on the expectations. Fahnestock stated this brings us back to the conversation starter that needs to happen. The duty or mission is should we subsidize, does the City care about golf enough, quality of life, quality of place to subsidize. If it is not, we need to look at privatization. Deatherage asked if that is the whole point of this conversation. Fahnestock responded it is a conversation starter, we get them together and they can come up with the list of duties or tasks that they want to accomplish. Goter stated the ad hoc committee meets once a month. They talk In depth about the operations of the golf system and things they think might need to be addressed. They have no place to go with it because they are not recognized in any fashion. The GAC is made up of folks who are not part of the social golf group. The ad hoc committee is made up of the president of the McAdams golf group, president of the women's golf group, an officer in the men's golf association, representing a very active golf group who are very familiar with the operation. Your point about privatization or subsidy is not sufficient, there is another question. Are we operating in a fashion that could be done better? He has spent time looking at Lincoln, Nebraska and Tulsa, Oklahoma. It is eye opening. We don't have information to make a substantive decision about the future of our golf system the way we are going right now. That is all we are trying to get the point where the discussion gets to that point. Fahnestock stated that is why he is looking forward to having Goter on the GAC. Goter added it would be good to have others who have a similar level... the agenda for the GAC is largely driven by staff. They show up, staff has an agenda, the members, other than Schodorf and Ferris on occasion, Renard certainly tried to on the Clapp thing. Most of them are not really there to initiate discussions. Houtman stated he disagrees because it was the GAC that brought up the pass system and made other suggestions that we have implemented. Although after a while, the Clapp discussion went round and round because we had the data, fact, all the financial information and shared it over and over again. Some of the other suggestions and ideas were brought to staff, and they went out and got the data behind it, the implementation plan, shared that with the GAC. The golf pass is a great idea but it wasn't driven from staff, it was 100% from the GAC. Goter added primarily from two members. Palmer stated going forward what do you want to look at. He likes Deatherage's suggestion. BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS REGULAR MEETING January 13, 2020 Page 6 of 12  Ramsey motioned that the discussion be closed to public comment. Palmer stated we just need to move forward with the ... By next meeting Deatherage suggested that we meet with our current or future committee member and find out if they are interested in being on the committee. At the next Park Board meeting we will decide on what their ... Fahnestock asked if that is a motion. Palmer responded it is a motion. Fahnestock seconded as a substitute motion to Ramsey's since it is still on the table. Ramsey asked to have the substitute motion repeated. Deatherage stated to have a decision made by next Park Board meeting of who will be your representative on the GAC. Deatherage added while you are talking to them ask for their feedback on a couple main topics they think would be important for the Advisory Committee to work on over the next year. Fahnestock added if they are not interested, come up with a few people that you think would be suited. If you don't have anyone, call Houtman or himself. Deatherage added if they are not interested still ask them what topics should they be or should they have been focusing on. Unanimous vote on the substitute motion. Motion by Palmer, second by Fahnestock, IT WAS UNANIMOUSLY VOTED to have a decision made by next Park Board meeting of who will be your representative on the GAC. Ramsey stated his motion does not need a vote now. 4 Continuation of Prior Business There was no prior business discussed. 5 Recreation Update (Reggie Davidson) Davidson stated a little over a year ago the City Manager had a vision of combining our current program guide with City Arts and the Library; as well as having a system where they can be a one-stop shop for all City programs for the community to register. We have three things in place, RecTrac is our internal portion of the system where staff inputs information, WebTrac is what the community sees, and Evolve is the new guide that will encompass the entities listed. The groups involved in the new Evolve program guide are City Arts, the Library, Park & Recreation, Cowtown, and the Police department. All of our programs that we offer will be listed that the community can view and register online through Web Trac. All of the activities offered through all of the listed departments will be included in Evolve, which will come out quarterly. Police is included as part of the community education portion. They were challenged before where they would do regional training and classes and there was no way to pay in advance. Now they have the option to go online to make those register and make those payments in advance. The customer benefits include there is one location to register for all City programs with one user name and password. They can also explore all the programs available through the City through one point of access. The three components include RecTrac is the portion where the City staff goes in and is the back end to WebTrac, where all the programs are entered for WebTrac where the community actually sees them. Evolve, is the magazine, starting live in February. We will have all programs encompassed in one catalog, all together, where you can view and register. There are icons that show which department the class is through. The 2020 timeline was shared. Evolve will come out quarterly with the first issue will be online February 6 and in print on February 17. RecTrac will go live on February 10. Each BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS REGULAR MEfTING January 13, 2020 Page 7 of 12  quarter 30,000 guides will be printed. They will be available in all listed departments as well as local restaurants and Wal-Marts. The external website, when available, will be available at Wichita.gov/evolve. Davidson and Jones demonstrated the new website. Cabral left the meeting at 3:52 p.m. The site will also contain an Event Calendar that includes all programs in the system for CityArts, Park & Recreation, and Library. It is searchable by location, type of event, or by month. You have one place to access all the information. Tabing stated you included Cowtown, why not other city-owned facilities like the Indian Center. Botanica and the Art Museum have so many programs they would take over this. Davidson said that would probably happen in the future. These are the ones that have the majority of the programming similar to what we offer now. We will get eventually get to the point where you can do online ticket purchases for events at Cowtown and Century II. Houtman stated on of the distinctions about Botanica is that they operate their own budget and finances. They create their own programming. They want to have a little different brand. We couldn't make that connection here but a big part is because of the finances. They are a 501(c)3. They operate their own operations. The search function allows searches by type of program, sub-category, location, or if you want to find what programs are offered for a certain age range. Davidson stated they are in the process of going through our internal staff training. Our roll out date is February 10, when it goes Live to the community to begin online registration. Classes will start in March. The new Evolve Program Guide will be out to the community on February 17. Deatherage stated it looks like Vermont Systems is the parent company. How much do they charge to put together a website like this? Davidson responded the entire system we purchased was $94,000. We also have ongoing support provided at a cost of $2,500 per month. The previous system was at the same cost but with a lot less capability. 6 Golf Update (Troy Hendricks) Hendricks stated the notes from the Superintendents and Golf Professionals are in their packets. The Rounds Report is incomplete because we have not closed the month or year end. That will take place later this week. He is only able to provide Rounds. Year-to-date we are up 3% in rounds at the four golf courses, compared to those four courses a year ago. Looking back to the end of May Auburn Hills is down 17% in rounds; they finished year down 1%. Tex Consolver was down 6%; they finished the year up 4%. MacDonald was down 10%; they finished the year up 1%. Sim was down 9%; they end up 7% up for the year. We made up once the weather turned around. The month of December we were up in rounds 23% over last year. Every month we are going to start looking at fees. We took August through December membership fees which roughly totaled $119,000. Then we calculated the number of membership rounds played at each of the golf courses. Then we did Journal Vouchers to BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS REGULAR MEETING January 13, 2020 Page 8 of 12 transfer that money into the revenue pots for those golf courses. Of that $119,000 Auburn Hills is getting a little over $29,000, Tex Consolver is getting $31,000, Sim is getting $36,000 and MacDonald is getting $21,000, based off the percentage of rounds played. At the end of January, we will do the same thing. We will calculate how many rounds were played by members at each facility and take what the fees were reflected in January and move that into the golf courses so their financials will be more reflective of what their actual revenue is. After the first five months we have 70 adult memberships sold; 37 couples; 19 juniors; 280 seniors; and 40 young adults for a total of 446 memberships sold. We continue with furloughs through the end of February. Our Golf Guide is about a month behind because the City Manager's Office ran into issues getting to it so they kicked back to us to do. We will be starting on that next week. If you go to our website you can look and see the Hook A Kid On Golf on there for Spring Break in March. Three of the sessions are already sold out. Spring classes for lessons at the golf courses are all listed on line, so we are starting to see some of those. Palmer asked how different are the numbers of the people that had discounted passes to the new membership. Did they all transfer to the new membership? Hendricks responded actually couples is more. By the time we get to August next year we will be close to the same number of passes. Hendricks stated we anticipate opening the driving range at the First Tee facility at MacDonald Golf Course about mid-May. Once the Bermuda starts to green up we are planning on getting that open. First Tee is in the process of ... Conco is doing the building for them. They have their own concrete company, Pearson was going to do the parking lot but they are behind so Conco is taking over parking lot too. Plans have been submitted to MABCD for approval. They should be able to start on the parking lot in the next few weeks. They are doing concrete rather than asphalt, that way they can start now. If it was asphalt they could not start until April to put that down. They are hoping to start on the building the first of April or May. Ramsey stated it looks like Sim had an exciting month, a lot of vandalism things going on. Hendricks responded this year, in the 7 years he's been here, this is the first time there has been any issues with vandalism at Sim. This year we have had about $12,000-$15,000 worth of vandalism. They are not the only ones. We also had over at Tex Consolver our City vehicle get stripped one night, sitting in the parking lot. Clapp for the first 3-4 years he was here they got hit every weekend, they pumped all the gas out of the underground fuel tanks. Auburn Hills has vandalism all the time because it sits in a neighborhood and the private carts of the homeowners become the kids' play toys. During one of the furlough weeks on the Neighborhood App is pictures of kids with their go-carts riding them on the course. Ramsey asked about the deal with the Fire Department where they came through and left ruts and things like that. Is that damage that we repair, who pays for that? Hendricks responded depending on the type of damage it is, we will end up repairing it. We will fill it in and re-seed those areas. Ramsey asked if that comes out of the Park Budget. Hendricks responded yes. Palmer stated it is not that often. Houtman stated those are item we don't budget for. Hendricks stated we had an incident at Sim earlier this year. The Fire Department had to break the lock on the gate at the #3 tee box. They had to go in with an ambulance to take care of a person that was walking their dog, stumbled and broke their leg. They had to open it up to get them out. He got the phone call to have BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS REGULAR MEETING January 13, 2020 Page 9 of 12 someone come out and re-secure the property. Davidson added they just got hit with graffiti at Evergreen on the new mural. We still have the same thing with over $35,000 worth of copper theft at the tennis center, with additional costs because we have to leave the lights on through the night to prevent copper being stolen. Houtman stated the next big one that is coming up is catalytic converters. If it is a bigger vehicle it is easy to roll right under it, but they also have larger catalytic converters that are worth more money. We are seeing that happening, not just with our fleet, but a lot of other fleets in the city. Hendricks added they installed cameras at Sim. Some of the pictures the superintendent sent in show at 9:30-10:00 at night and amongst the tractors, the camera went off showing three guys. When the flash went off it caught their attention. They steal batteries out of tractors. They just cut the cables and take them so we have to replace cables and batteries. A lot of that is ongoing. Ramsey added then all those repairs come out of the Enterprise Fund. Hendricks responded yes. Houtman added especially unexpected repairs, whether they are irrigation, sewer, and other kinds of infrastructure. Or they come in and bust a window or door. Deatherage asked if there should be some sort of unexpected expenses allotment in the budget. Palmer stated we don't have any money to put in. Ramsey asked if there is insurance. Palmer stated the City is self-insured. Ramsey responded the City is, but since the Enterprise Fund operates differently is that different. Houtman stated at one time we used to have contingency funds. All those funds are now dedicated to particular line items, just to stay within budget. Hendricks stated vandalism at Sim this past year has become a lot more than at the other golf courses, hopefully it is a fluke and will settle down. Fahnestock inquired if they anticipate any partnerships with the development north of Sim. Houtman responded yes, not necessarily with Golf but with Park in general. They are going to help extend and improve hike/bike trail, as well as about a quarter acre of park area that is going to have, this year, really basic stuff. We have met with them several times, including tal_king about the vegetation. Ta bing stated he has heard they are looking to change their development a little. The tower with the duplexes around it, they are doing away with the plan we saw. It is going to be a for rent scenario and it is now a for sale scenario. Houtman added they did a presentation here. Tabing added since then he has heard they changed it up a little. Houtman added they gave us $10,000 to go towards it. It is sitting in an account just for that particular park space. He thinks they will add some money to that as well. Fahnestock stated no matter what it is, it might be a good opportunity to reach out to them and see if they would like to partner in some way. Goter stated Mr. Palmer asked about renewal of senior passes, what they were. In 2018 there were 820 senior passes that raised close to $400,000. It is important, at this point, under the new strategy that Mark Manning explained to folk, that lot of cheap golf would be offset by an increase in revenue from cart rentals and concessions. He asked him how many rounds, bottom line, it's a lot of money. The question that needs to be asked is how are we tracking the success of the new pass system with regard to that ancillary income from carts and concessions. That is what makes it work. Rounds are great, but for the strategy to work they have to be renting more carts and buying more hotdogs. The test of that will be when all those 820 expire. That is the kind of think a Golf Advisory Committee might take on and track the success of that to make sure we are not getting in a hurry. Fahnestock stated we have that, the dollars per round that they were spending, around $24-$26. Hendricks responded by not having the financials for the month and year closed out we do not have that information for the month of December yet. We provided it at the last Park Board meeting. Goter added one last thing to show the popularity of golf, Divot, BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS REGULAR MEETING January 13, 2020 Page 10 of 12  the little dog at Sim that was attacked by coyotes. The group he plays with started a GoFundMe page and raised $4,000 to pay vet bills for Divot. 7 Wichita Parks Foundation Update (Troy Houtman) Houtman stated they are starting to plan for the Fourth of July. Plates for Parks is now in the "C" series which means they are now over 2,000 plates sold. We are looking at about $80,000 in the bank to go toward capital projects. We are going to put together a matrix with all of the proposed ideas of where we can put some improvements and come up with a solid answer so we can say we looked at all projects. 8 OJ Watson Park Committee Update (Troy Houtman) Houtman stated the Four-Season shelter ran into a foundation issue. That area used to be underwater. The footings needed to be reinforced. That has slowed us down a bit. We may have to value engineer the building a little bit to make it happen. 9 Aquatics Master Plan Update (Troy Houtman) Houtman stated the bids came in over budget. Since then we have value engineered and extended the timeline and timeframe of the construction. Hopefully we can get it out to rebid before the end of the month. He had a meeting today with Councilmember Claycomb and Councilmember Frye had a briefing today. As soon as we get all the councilmembers on board, we don't have to out to Council we can go out to rebid and hopefully within the next 2-3 weeks get the bids back. Once we get them back, and hopefully they will be under budget, we can take that to Council. We are expecting to operate four pools this summer. Aley is one we were planning to do construction and work on, that will stay open until the end of the summer. We will then have all hands on deck to do to the work with the remaining projects. 10 President's Update (Eddie Fahnestock) None 11 Director's Update (Troy Houtman) Houtman stated our State Conference is at the beginning of February in Topeka. We are getting four awards. We had interviews last week on Clapp. We had four presentations. We narrowed down to one, but not able to share yet. It was a tough competition. We hope to get a contract done in the next 2-3 weeks. That contract will have to go to Council. He should be able to share next month. We will then have 8-10 months to do the process of the master plan and get the community involvement as well. He is going to be developing the CIP for next year, 2021. He will put our first idea out to start with $SM each year for three consecutive years. He can do a lot with $5 million dollars, but it is not going to be the $400 million we saw in Tulsa or the $100 million that we see in Oklahoma City. Tabing added he was part of the selection committee to choose the design team. Several of the teams talked about philanthropy and bringing in additional funds to augment what the City brings to the table. He hopes they can bring that funding source to bear. Houtman added Plates for Parks can maybe be a part as well. He has met with Wichita Littlest Heroes and they want to do an all-ages all-ability playground at Clapp that will be 10 times better than the one we have Sedgwick County. What the other municipalities have found were millions of dollars of donations, not $10,000-$20,000. Naftzger is coming along. The ribbon cutting is probably going to be middle of March. We will miss some events he wanted it activated for. We are talking about how we are going to do programming. We are finalizing the contract with Wave. We had based everything BOARD OF PARK COMMlSSIONERS REGULAR MEETING January 13, 2020 Page 11 of 12  on gross revenue and Finance wanted to see it on net profit. The Philosophy still the same. Deatherage asked if we know what other businesses are going in that area. Houtman responded there is a hair stylists and a dog groomer right across from the dog run. They are working hard to find tenants. Ramsey added they only have a couple spaces left. Fahnestock stated they are looking for the perfect tenant. They have had a lot of offers. Houtman stated starting with the next meeting, the meetings will be recorded and placed on YouTube. Some of the discussions about addressing questions and people have concerns and are confused so the suggestion was to record theses and refer people to it so they can hear it for themselves and make their own determinations on what was said. Adjourn There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at approximately 4:29 p.m. The next regularly scheduled meeting will be held on Monday, February 10, 2020. {-,1-:::-r--- Eddie Fahnestock, President BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS REGULAR MEmNG January 13, 2020 Page 12 of 12