Board of Park Commissioners

Board of Park Commissioners Regular Meeting Minutes Monday, May 11, 2020 3:00 � 5:00 P.M. 455 N Main CITY OF City Hall - YouTube & Microsoft Teams WICHITA Wichita, Kansas 67202 https://youtu.be/SSYs 4Lv0NY?t=3 Members.Present: Hoyt Hii°lman, Eddie Fahnestock, Tori Deatherage, Ty"Tabing, Alejo Cabral, Dale Goter :(approx. 3:53 pm) City Staff: Troy. Houtman (Director, Park & Recreation), Elizabeth Harlenske (Assistant City Attorney), Penny GardingJGle!k),.�eggie·Davidson, Troy Hendricks, Gentry Thiesen, David McGuire Absent: Troy" Palmer . . ,· . .. - .• item. . Descrili:tion . . .• - - --� Call°to Order Eddie Fahnestock, President, called the meeting to order at approximately 3:00 p.m. Jamie Buster, Deputy City Clerk administered the Oath of Office to board members for the new term: Fahnestock, Deatherage, Tabing, Hjllman, Cabral Announcements - There were no Announcements. Public Comments - There were no Public Comments. 1 Approve Minutes Recommended Action: Approve, sign and file minutes of the March 9, 2020, Board of Park Commissioners Regular Meeting. Motion by Hillman, second by Deatherage, IT WAS UNANIMOUSLY VOTED to approve, sign and file the minutes ·of,the March 9, 2020, Board of Park Commissioners Regular Meeting (5-0). Fahnestock welcomed Dale Goter to the board as a new member. Fahnestock thanked Bil_l Ramsey for his service to the board. 2 Riverfront Legacy Master Plan Houtman sJ_ated there is no update for the Riverfront Legacy Master Plan today. 3A Budget Impacts from COVID-19 Houtman stated.he,met-with the City Manager and we are looking at, for the whole city, close to a $10M budget deficit. The target we were asked· to look after is about 5% of our annual budget in the General Fund. Our General Fund is about $18M so our target is about $900,000. He put together some items and issues of what our salary savings could be, what could be contract savings, whatcould be operational savings. He has not received approval back from the City Manager. Some general ideas of what the savings could be include from Forestry the tree trimming and tree removal contract is about $250,000; we are not going to engage that. The other ite� is tree planting which is about $175,000. That puts us at almost $425,000, almost half way there. We also have.three or four retirements that we won't fill the positions; that give us about $100,000 in savings. That:leaves ab·out $400,000 to find. Trying to do things very evenly between parks and recreation. Golf is an enterprise fund; that.is a different discussion. The goal BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS REGULAR MEETING Mei'( 11; 2020 Page i Qf9  f 1,\/asto QOt lay off any staff. Some of the other departrr1ents may be.laying of staff because.they don't liave the contract services we.have. The,number-one·goal was to make sure we;keep,staff f ani ihat,ensureswe keep recreation ,c_enters ope11,?�1Nell, Some ideas:onJhe:recreatloll_"side, one'is noi open,swimrTling po<Jls and splash pads this•summer. The operational expenses for f splash,pads"is aboutSso;ooo-$75,000. Swimmirig'pools coulc be about$400,000. Swimming pools are being,-looked•at during the reopening st�ges, there are,a lot ofquestions about,i:his;all across•the country;what is safe,,how d_o we mak_e s_lJre,we do,sociaLdistancing,in.swimmirig pools how do we have social distancing at splash pads, hoWao we control all of.thatanifenforce.ruTes There is exposure to staff; most of our. staff'in those areas; especially arswimming pools, are.in the teenage realm. Do we want to put the111 at ris�? There are all of these questionswe need to answer. That was one of the proposals along with other operationalitems where we would be reducing·a lot of seasonal staff that work at recreation centers aswell as savings from not spending on commodities and supplies. Th�t.co_ul_d b_e cJose to $400,000_, The_ City Manager will be reviewing with Council soon. Hopefully if all works ouhve can still operate close to 100% if we are looking at closing swimming pools for the·sum·mer; or if we go the other option of laying • • off some,seasonalcstaff and not purchasing some,cor11modiiies. Hillman-asked if.the Forestry staff is still providing tree trimming even with the loss ofthe contract for trees? Houtman responded that is the idea, w.e would nofbe,laying off any·Forestry sfaff, _By reducing the contract for tree trimming,.wewould have,a.decreased amour'lt,of.service r leVeL Our-.staff,would still be abletotake care ofeme g·encie·s, proactive trimming, and,a'lso·tree pianting: activities: Tabing•inquired about an.estimate ofopening,swimming·pools, whatis'the earliest 'date that is being:recommended? Houtman.respohded:we are-loo�ihg atwhat the Governor is talking about, towards the end of J_une. There are ro d_ates b_e_cause it is dependent on different statistics. It would be a very short season if we ao bperi,this summer. Fahnestock'asked what are some of the biggest factors when a dec_ision lfiie th/sis made. Are you.worried about touchpoints at the swimming pools? vVh_en re_acli_ng !he re9pening plan, he.sees parks open, golf courses open, Are you worried about-touch pointfin•the f pools, the children running'afound; what went into this decision? Houtman respondei a iot:of ithas to·do the unknowns .. When-are we going to open, what will be the capacity? lfthere__is a capacity of only 90, ho1N will w_eJllanage that and make.it equitable f or everyone, Those are.some ofthe·big questions, sanitizing and cleaning, protecting-our staff? Do·we have'.to:sanitiie:every two hours? Part ofthe.plah we suggestedwould be to close every tw_o·ho_urs a�cfbring;in"anoiher session, All acros_sthe cou_n_try there are _a lot of groups-not opening, Manhattan,iscnotgoihgto-have any summer-progfams·,at all, His goalarid idea.isthat it's more ifnportantto·haite summer camps, There are going .to.be(a lot'of people going back toworkand oe�d.rneir,�i�flO be_!a�en care·:of. 'We need. greaf programs thai-operaie:in a·safe manner: He doesn:t,want,to•cut-and dose.recreation,centers. Thatwas part.·of the decision as'well. .Fahnestock,stated°':what concerns him is when•we get into the hot months, crime typically rises,- H_av_ewE!,coUab9ratetlwith cKief,�a_rrisay.ar]d go!:tlis insighton,the,closure of pools and if thaf could be affected? Houtman.responded h·e talked:with severaloh1is staff members,and.that is.where'the sumfner.camps'areOprobatily higher on'the list _than swimming pools: We were al�o goi11g)o.�31\/e se_veral popls closed for co_nstruction, Once we get to Phase 3 and definitely Phase 4 we can,opeh splash pads. 'They·a·re pretty inexpensive h to operate and there is no staff there. T ere is stlil going to be requirements for social distancing, will_people do that on iheir own. Fahnestock asked about golf and what is our idea or plan for any charitable-or corporate outings or scramble tournaments at our golf_ c_ourses:. Pl!r pla_n·is'to open-all four of the courses in next couple weeks. Do we have a pipeline of'tofpofate:outihgs br charitable·events that we will host BOA�D OF PARK_ COMMISSIONERS REGU�R MEETING May 11, 2020 Page 2 of 9  there? Houtman responded as of now we have let those folks know we would not be providing those services this year. Going to social distancing, these things have a shotgun start so everyone gathers together then goes out. There is an expectation of gathering for food before and after. Since we are lengthening tee times we are having fewer tee times at each of the courses throughout the rest of the summer. We want to make sure everyone has a chance to play golf so we have been looking at delaying those throughout the rest of the summer. Tabing stated you mentioned the budget cuts and operating account. What about the CIP projects? Also those also being cut ba·ck? Houtman responded this year we are very fortunate. Our fiscal year follows the calendar year. He pushed hard to get our projects going. We got the Aquatics Master Plan and all but two going. OJ Watson is still moving forward, a couple side projects, trails and playgrounds got funded. However, the next two years, we put capital dollars for 2021 and 2022, those dollars got pushed back two years. Clapp is an example, we asked for $SM for 3 years for a total of $15M. Right now we are looking atthose probably being pushed back two years. That goes along with a lot of other projects we were looking at implementing. 3B 'Re-Opening Plans Houtman asked a general quest_i9n regarding support of the_.ideas and philosophy of not laying anyone off, the idea of.keeping.recreation centers going, and prioritizing summer camps. Are those philosophies that you support? Tabing expressed support. The cost per day to operate the pool system is $6,667 for sixty days potentially of swimming. In this climate that seems beyond our reach, in his opinion. Hillman stated support. Fahnestock stated everyone is on the same page and this is a very fluid situation. There is not necessarily a right answer and if there is it could change in a week. He looked at the reopening plan over the past week and would like to hear more. Houtman stated things are changing, we are getting so much feedback and information from a lot of different people, the CDC, our county health department, the Governor's office. We use a lot of different resources and went through the Kansas Recreation and Parks Association to get information as well. He has been on a weekly meeting with the top 50 in population cities across the country. Also on a call from Kansas, and another with the National Council of Mayors. The County's decision has a huge impact on how we are doing things. All these things have been researched, it is not a small group making the decisions. Also getting Input from others within the organization including the City Manager, Assistant CityManager, spending time with the Police and Fire Departments. Houtman gave a presentation on the Park and Recreation Reopening Summary. Deatherage asked so we wouldn't look at doing Summer of Discovery until July 1. Houtman responded yes, that is going to be part of the issue. Again one of the big questions is a lot of the folks that run the camps are teenagers. We wantto make sure they are trained well and we have all the PPE for them. One of the challenges is making sure we take those extra precautions. Tabing inquired about assembly of people. What are you thinking in terms of like when you can have a concert at Naftzger Park? Is there a timeline for something like that? Houtman responded it is not related to dates but more related to phases and what phase we are in. Once we are in Phase 2 the cap is 30; Phase 3 is 90. When we are in Phase 3 and want to do something at Naftzger Park, that cap is where we are going to program about 90. Maybe it is a movie that we cap at 70 because we know other people will be coming in. When we are in Phase 2 and we want to do something at an athletic field that is going.to be a cap of 30. As the Governor helps us BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS REGULAR MEETING" May 11, 20�0 Page 3 of9  get'through these:phaseswe·can,always be a-little:bit:more re·strictiile. You\,vill.see in the plan we-are laggir\g•aboi.Jt a .week to week a·nd a half. Houtman stated this.is more operational, he does•not,nece·ssarily.need a vote,.but wciuld.like·to •get some kind of confidence. We've i:tid tons of. researcli·anci'iooked,atthis from every•angle, trying to make sure we stil provide services, The last thing he wants to do is n_ot provide se_rvices or become a situation- where we are an • - afterthought - . - on the quality.of,life in Wichita. We need to stay irifront of this and getthe exposure'we need. If:you are in support of it, let him know. Motion by Hillman, second by Fahnestock, IT WAS lJNANIMOUSLY VOTED to support Houtman's Re-Opening Park & Recreation Plari (5-0). 3C Naming of McAdams Swimming Pool Houtman stated he has had di_scussio�� �ith Councilllle_m_ber Johnson and others that have been involved with the Aquatics Master. Plan. Looking back at history an·d how important some of the items are.at McAdams Park. Mr. MacAfee designed the swimming pool as well as the baseball field, and a few other things as well. 11\/e_ wan.Mo pay homage.and honor the history of the park and the designer so it was a suggestion.to the pool being.named after Mr. McAfee .. He ju·st wants to introduce the idea'. We'can vote:at·next meeting. :Mr. McAfee does:not know this, butthis will be public record and he:might find ou·t abouti( This is·a,surprise to him. It has not gone to him directly. 4 Contiriuation of l'rior:Business There was no Prior Business discussed, 5 Recreation Update (Reggie.Davidson) Houtman shared how flexible and cre·ative our staff.is. While all of our p'rogrammingowent away, we still did ihings on-line. Davidson stated one ofthe'things·we.tr'ahsitioned to was'offering some programs online. We set up some online activities, workouts and:leagues that we offer. We did e-gaming, partnering with a company that allowed us.to set up tournaments the community could register for. We were alile to.secure a six.month memb�rshi-� -a�ci ca·n �ffer-as many tournaments as we want. We also did things around som� of tbe P.rograms w_e will phase back in as part of the reopen plan. We did some basic skills· around fobtball,and kayaking, virtual tours of some cif our facilities, golf drills, and fitness and dance classes. We did a virtual pet show and a virtual fishing tournament where individuals submitted and tagged photos into different categori_es. We are working on our.Evolve.summer guide. This will be electronic only,duringthis tim·e· frame. We:hope to have it oufby the:end of Qext week, ,Summer camps will begin:online registration, 6ur centers.are g��ring"u.pfo-stJ,,rt pha_seq c,pening;o'! May.26. Houtman stated, he has met ,with the Mayor regarding•exp�nding ollr e-sporis:curriculum. We are'looking·at·how to add·more venue�·anifmore OP.portunitiesfor e,sports. Goterjoined the meeting·at approx: 3:50 p.m. 6 Golf Update (Troy.Hendricks) Hendricks stated he'finally got the rounds anlfinancials for January. Rounds were up 16%, revenu_e was u,p ti¾. Expe_n_dituresand encumbrances were down 23%. Net income was better by 45%. Net I°ssfor.Jinuary was $66,000 vs. $121,000 in 2019. BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS REGULAR MEETING May 1i, io20 Page 4 of9 February 2020 rounds were up about 98%, revenue was up 116%, and expenditures and encumbrances were down 3%. YTD numbers at the end of February: Rounds were up 53%, Revenue up 59% and expenses and encumbrances were down 13%. Net income improved 53%, down $125,000 vs. $262,000. Prior to closures rounds in_ March were up 14% over 2019 month end. Expenditures and encumbrances were down 18%. Net income improvement for March was a 19% improvement. YTD end of March rounds were up 25%, revenue was an increase of 7% and expenditures were and net income was an improvement of 21%. Rounds at Sim are up 34% (report shows down). End of March net income was -$240,000 compared to -$351,000 in March 2019. Memberships in March were 494, as of May 1 we have 687 members. Even though we've been closed and then with two courses open, we continue to see an increase in members joining. For the first 17 days open in April Auburn Hills booked 1,713 rounds, about 75% book rate of what they had capable to book. 1,347 rounds played and of that 57% were membership rounds. MacDonald booked 1,616 rounds, 72% of the potential players they could have had. 1,286 rounds played. Of those, S5% were membership rounds. We are seeing between booking and paying there is a 27% no show rate. 27% of those booking tee times are not showing up or showing up with less players than tee times booked. That has a negative impact on how we operate the golf courses. During that 17 day period we averaged 57% of our capacity MacDonald and 59% at Auburn Hills. Goter asked who makes the decision on what courses are opened and which ones are closed . . Hendricks responded it wa_s a staff decision between Hendricks, Houtman and the City Manager. Goter added a lot of people have been emailing councilmembers, the Mayor and they are not sure those are getting through to the right people to communicate their concerns. Of the two courses that were opened, why were Auburn Hills and MacDonald picked and not Sim, given the fact you were not going to allow riders. Auburn Hills is the hardest course to walk and MacDonald is in the worst shape of any of the courses in the system. Why was not Sim or Tex Consolver considered? Hendricks respond when the decision was made to reopen the golf courses, Sim had just aerified greens, Tex Consolver had not aerified greens yet. MacDonald aerified their greens first and had already healed. Auburn Hills had already aerified theirs and so we opened those two because they were done and would not be inconveniencing players. We also then opened a golf course on the east side of town and the west to meet the needs on both sides rather than being in the center and west of town. Goter added that is strange Auburn was barely aerified a week when we started playing. A lot of have been asking about cart rentals. It has been confusing. In the plan that was just announced it said you would start renting on May 4. Mr. Houtman is on Facebook Live with Councilmember Frye and said carts would be rented on May 18. Meanwhile they started renting them this Saturday. The communication to the golfers has been somewhat less than ideal. Hendricks responded last Thursday Mr. Houtman asked us to go ahead and start letting carts out on the weekend. Part of the reason it was done without notifying anyone was so we could get our staff back into the cleaning process and get accustomed to what they were going to need to _be doing to provide quality cart that would be safe for everyone to use. We felt a soft introduction back would be the best way to go. Goter stated many of the surrounding co_urses are all providing some level of concession service. What is the reason not to allow the concessions or retail sales? Hendricks responded we started BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS REGULAR MEETING May 11, 2020 Pa·ge S Of 9 concession sales, food and beverage wise,on Saturday:at both of the two·opencourses. We are allowing hotdogs·and prep�ckagec{food al_ong �i1h _l:,ottled so_das other beverages that are prepackaged. We are allowing the:golf·pros tci sell gcilf.,balls, tees, and,gloves.because those are things that can be bought withciut,trying on. ltis a nurnber'days before you .know you are contagious,with this virus, if you com_ -- . e. and_ handl_e merchand_ise,in t_lle golf shop and_ you·are - - cont_agious and don't know it,'then you are,spreadingthat on products that sorneone,else rnight come.in right'afteryou and totich,:then:the'(are•susceptible·of catching this: That is,tt\ecreason for limiting the amount of.stuff u;·ey are:selifng, Goter.stated in the Phase ·2 itsay's,courses will;be open but cups will,be removed from':the greens. Hendricks ;responded they,arenot go.ing to be removed. Goter added what wm playing conditi_ons be like. Hendricks respo_n_ded;more than likely they will be,_similar to what.we have. We have orderei:l inserts that go i1'i"withJhe little hook oh the top.that iVOU can·slide it.up and the ball will pop out. You can·stlii hole·out and.not have to reach in to-getthe:ball out, you hook your putter on it, pull itup and the b_all CO!Ties out: lt.is·similar t'o tile practice putting-green but you don't have to touch it with yourhand. G6ter as_ked'what was spent on that. Hendricks responded.$10 each. Goter statei:l that seemed odd, the ball comes out of the hole, you are going to pick up it up anyway, don't know wtiat you gain, Hendricks responded what.you gain is you are not touching the flag stick that everyone else who has played ih front of you has touched. Goter stafed he carries sanitizer and wipe clown every flag. Hendricks·stated.not every· golfer does _that: Goter·added thatwould be-something to consider to ensure ou� safety; rather than some of these oth_er somewhat esoteric solutions. Sanitizing and social distancing are the mitigation things that:work: At MacDonald the cups above green. Hendricks responded that.was one of the suggestions on how. tq_"do'it, was to.have the cups raised so the ball roll_s up to it, tou_ches the cup and.is consid_ered holed. At Auburn Hill, Ron Mosher chose to put some.noodles in cups which does:basically the•sarnething: G_oter asked if any of the fedei:_al ri:igney wou_ld be avail�ble.to ease the financial distress of the golfsystem. 'Houtman responi:led;th'ere is.ao:lo.tof.research thatwe are·working·on trying to find be out how those federaldciilars-v.tfli corne:back:to:the"city. They a�e ailgoing to funneled through the county: There is,g<JLQg•}o,!).e.sor11e;pri_orities·plJt in_JJlace. Since golf'is supposed to be enterprise they .will probably,be,or\e ofthefast-on,the.priority list Goter stated he looked_ in the minutes oflastyear·and_ t_here was never a discussion,ofthe.budget by the Park Board. Given,its charge,.that,it,is responsible,.to'advise,the.co·imcil oii budgetahd financial issuesfor,the'Park,'Deparrm·ent·and thatthe:.Go.lf Division was singled out by·Mark Manning in his fourth quarter report of aU,ttie;$7SOM dollars in:the budget th_at:isthe ooe thjng he mentioned, we're in deep distress. Is there a plan to deal with the deficit-that is.projected? He assumed that"April, we'r� $100,000 in the:hole bud.get, assume.we are $200,000,$300,000 in the hole now? HoutrTlan -- responded .·- - those,a_r_e good.questions.. That•is,someihing we.are working - on with the budget office, coming,upwith.solutions, Hen·dricks has come up with,sev'eral ideas on cutting exjl'enses, which mighthave'an impacfon services. Goter asked if there· will be a process for the Park.Eloard,to e_ngageJn, .a budget discussion. Fahnestock responded:that is something we can talk about, not.today. He wants to give staff time to•corne up·with·something and take a look at it in:a month·or two. Houtman stated last year Mr_. Manning came o� two occasions,to addre�s.t_h_e;Par_k �oard wi_th se_veral b,udget concerns and issues. lthas'been discussed ata Park'B6ard meeting. Goter requested, if possible, a subcomrnittee ora Park Board meeting thatis'dedicated to lookihg at.financial issues that are leaving the Golf Division in quite a bit of distress. It is _b�yondj�st-th� staff's input right now. The Golf Ad Hoc group had a meeting with Greg Ferris, his ippoiiitee to the Golf,Advisory Committee haite:questions about our model and whether we are:going to be able to:right the ship without significant strategic changes. He is BOARD OF PARK COMM155IONERS REGULAR MEETING M�y.11, 2020 Page 6 of 9 interested in participating in that discussion. Fahnestock responded he is supportive and we can take a look at it. He has had multiple discussions with both Houtman and Hendricks and a lot of the Park Board members as well. Yes, we need to continue that discussion. Goter stated he is not sure why the Park Board signed off on the budget last year with a $100,000 projected deficit. They also carried o.ver the $300,000 Council dumped in to balance the 2019 budget. That is carried forward to 2021 and that number gets up to a half-million dollars now and that doesn't count what has been lostin April and May because we didn't operate at full strength. There is a big decision for someone.for.2021 on whether we have golf at all because the money is not there, the budget is in great distress city-wide. Golf is an enterprise fund that can generate income under the right circumstances,.that i_s a discussion that-would be useful to have. Fahnestock responded it woula be a useful discussion, however we are in the midst of a global pandemic, and he wants to make sure our priorities are straight. Moving forward, he would be willing to start or continue the.discussion. Goter stated he hopes the pandemic is not used as an excuse not to look at fundamental issues that have been there long before the pandemic. That's a. responsibility we have to engage regardless. Fahnestock responded it is not an excuse, we need to make sure our priorities are straight. Fahnestock asked Hendricks, the other two closed courses, Sim and Tex, do we staff working on them? Will the by ready for the reopening in terms of playability? Hendricks responded they brought back full time staff at the end of County's stay at home mandate, the end of April. Our superintendents were the only one working at the time. We brought other people back at this time. As of today we have brought back their seasonal staff, so they can provide better service getting things mowed out and ready to go at the golf courses. They have been working and the courses are in good shape. Fahnestock added this pandemic has opened up some people's afternoons and we've seen it over the course of April. He wants to make sure when these courses are ready and.open that they·are in good condition and players get·a good product. Hendricks stated we are not going to have the benches out, no ball washers, just so there are less touchpoints for people to touch and have to sanitize. Goter stated he walked Sim couple times in the last week,.it is in tremendous shape, why couldn't it open now? Houtman responded there are a-couple things we are looking at staffing-wise, budget issues, as well as safety of our staff and golfers. We are on the conservative side making sure everyone is safe. Goter stated social distancing is a strategy, it seems to make sense to not pack everyone in on one course. Houtman responded it not our decision but management. He also shared that Hendricks pointed out so many people were not following through with their tee times and not showing up. Actually the capacity of.the golf courses were less than 60%. He would not say they were packed. The tee sheets at times looked like they were, but a lot of people didn't show up for their tee times. Goter stated he did not get an answer on the April revenue, how didwe come out the end of April compared to last year. Houtman responded we will find out in a couple weeks, a lot of the financial folks are on furlough, not just in this department but other departments as well. Deatherage asked about the. 27% no show rate. Not knowing what the capabilities with the app are, have we considered making people pay up front or pay some kind of deposit for their tee time? Houtman responded we may want to talk about going forward if we get the group back together. We have discussed it in length a lot in the past. There has always been a hesitance regarding using a credit card for a deposit. There has also been other things that have.changed. Now that we have our pass system and it doesn't require you to pay anything up front, a lot of these are pass holders and they think of us more like a country club, that they can call in and come and go as they please. Those are slots we lose money on, that we could have probably sold to someone else. Don't have an answer right now, but there are a lot of creative ideas. We BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS REGULAR MEmNG Ma'{ 11; 2_02_0 Page 7 �f 9  could probably talk,to our golfers and.differehtfoll<s:·acfossthe country that are knowledgeable about this'ahd share with our stakeholders to come;u_p.,1.vith a better:answer so we.can ensure we don't lose-revenue on those lost slots. Deathe�age added if there was so.me way to getsome skin in the game for people booking, playing it.safe,.then,ncithave the courtesy to callahead to make changes. Houtman added he has•seeri where.thet·do that on purpose so there is extra space and more time, itis not uncomn,on, Hendricks,siated in the past, when we·first i.mplemented the,new system ana 'the mobile appwe did require a credit card number each time they booked a tee time. One thing when We.went,to'the new point of sale system, our policy did not allo.w us to store credit card numbers. What'happened.V{as,,every time you booked a tee time online,or through th.e app, y9_u \N.O!J!d have·to put,yo_ur credit card in for every.tee time. People didn't-like that so the Golf, Advisory.Committee iioted to do a·way with'that polky: Goter asked'if the no show. rate is partially. a·ffetted by weather. Houtman responded that could .be the situation .but we analyzedit;and fotJnd_:a. l_ot of'it-tiappen_ed•during peak times. Hendricks stated we see a lot of it with groups that areithe morriing,tee:times, they are booking four players and showing .up with•justtwo. The golf pro·s;cari prohabiy.give f you:the•names,of those who do it regularly. They book a te.e time.for four; sbow·!JP,:.wfh t\No �.nd. their ��sw_er is theyjust called and.said they were not going.to make·it. When,we.opened,Auburn Hillsdri 2001, we required:a f credit card to.guaantee your fciurispots'fcir:yolir tee time, If.showed up with'less than:,thatand we•didn't.have:any Walk-ons to fill.in, then you p_aig'fpr those;spots thatweren'tused,:,regardless of whether they were there or ngt: We were able,cut>downthe numbernf now•shows•and had 97-98% of.tee times·forfour. players showed (ip\vithfour, players. Sincewe changed,the;policy, now it is easy for them to not have tQ sear_ch·to get their o_ther players, Deatherage asked if there is a way to-re-implement something like,ttiat during peak/busy times. Houtman responded there are a lot of things we can do, it fakes a deeper discussion with stakeholders and operators. We don't want to make it more complicated, lt'ls greatthatwe have identified the problem, we need to take the next_steps to work.together fo fi[!d'the·right answers. Deatherage asked does the app allow you to cancel a tee time or'do you have to call in to cancel or move something. Hendricks.responded you·can canceLtee-tirnesthrough the mobile app. When you get your confirmation email it tells on t_here how !CJ,cha_nge yqur tee tiIlle. We,qo"get a lot of people email Gcilf Wichita to cancel tee time. We do have through the,mobile·app;you.can pay through mobile aJ)p, it goes through-a.different merc�ant:services than wl'lat we use through th� City, The problem is our discount percent�g� \11/o_u_laJrom'-2!2% up to almost 3o/o.. Right no1N,1Ne pay about $65;000 in credit card fees, prior,fo.2012.we wer'e.. ricit paying any. That is.goingto,start being·passed off to·us from Finance, If wefmac!e ev,erybody pay through the,mobile app,that would,go from.$65;060 up to closer te>'.$8,0,Q00,$85;000. Deatherage·stated making itrnore complicated is the last thing·we waritto do. 'But hopefully we can get that number dowri a little. 7 Wichita·Parks.Foundatioil Update,'('rroy Houtmarii Houtman stated.they had gooi:{n1!!eting last,wee�i Tl'ley are co111ing up with'ideas 011fow to spend Plates For Parks dollars, 'They,have,about'$100;ooo at,erid of this quarter: Getting excited. to use on',something to snow case what'.the'dollars are foiahd we-use',them. They are going.to do a retreat nextmonth and focus;n,ore,011. l.he.ir 111ission; st!ategies.a�d from therewe wiU'have a better,idea of how they wantto,spend that money., Hoping by fall.to have idea.where to spend f some·monefarid theh can start oovintdirt on· a:new project. The July.4 eventwill probably cancelled,of.afleast postponed. We•are working with theWind Surge on this and they are probably not going to hive:� seasorL That has not been confirmed yet. We are hoping to. maybe do. a contingency and postpone the everit and do some celebration. There.are ideas of doing a celebration with the Riverfesffolk's a·nd.the·1so1.h_ No one has confirmed canceling and no· confirmation on doing something. We are still in limbo. BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS REGULAR MEETING - -- - s • ·,.;.,ay_11, 2020 Pages of9  Fahnestock asked if the Wind Surge season is predicated on what minor league and major league baseball decide to do. Houtman responded he understands that, major league is going to take the precedence. You can't have minor league going on and not have a major league. It has to go the other way from top to bottom. It is really difficult to meet all of the standards at the larger cities and stadiums. Even at that there will be a lot of complications and difficulties in making all the arrangements and logistics for minor league teams to go; and the triple-A and double-A as well. We've not seen anything official, there no official information that has gone out yet. 8 OJ Watson Park Committee Update (Troy Houtman) Houtman stated we were able to initiate some of our capital projects this year. One of them is OJ Watson. We had a lot of complications regarding the four season shelter. It is about a $900,000 building for events, parties, meetings, and probably some weddings. It is located on the west side of the park. We did some soil borings and at that location it used to be lake so there is a lot of unstable dirt. We were able to go deeper and put in deeper piers which cost more money, but we want to make sure the building is sound. That project is moving forward. We are looking at utilities starting to move in. We have to let the foundation cure 90-120 days. We hope to have construction done by spring. Fahnestock asked if it went out to a rebid. Houtman responded it did not go to a rebid, it just needed some extra engineering. 9 Aquatics Master P.lan Update (Troy Houtman) Houtman stated we went to Council and got the green light to begin construction. We should start to see dirt moving by the end of May and beginning of June. We are getting ready to start doing Phase 2. We will get the specifications for that and hope to bid that by end of summer. 10 President's Update (Edcfie Fahnestock) None 11 Director's Update Houtman stated with two thirds of staff on furlough, we are bringing stuff back, making sure employees are safe. It has been a very difficult past two months. They are learning a lot of things about how things work in the Health Department and what they think is safe. Our staff is back as of today and we starting to look at ways to have great summer. The staff that was on board did a great job. Goter asked on the presentation on Phase 1 it says dog parks will be open. The one in his neighborhood is still locked up, is there a schedule for the dog parks to open. Houtman responded that is actually in phase two. What he provided was the first draft and things have changed as we went through and worked with some of the other departments and looked at some of the things the Health Department wanted. In the presentation today it should have been in Phase 2 when dog parks open. Goter inquired if there will be a budget discussion at the next meeting. Fahnestock responded he needs to talk with Houtman about. At least a high level discussion could be had. Adjourn There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at approximately 4:29 p.m. The next regularty scheduled meeting will be held on Monday, June 8, 2020. /s/ Eddie Fahnestock Eddie Fahnestock, President BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS REGUlAR MEETING �yll,2020 Page9of9