Board of Park Commissioners

Board of Park Commissioners Regular Meeting Minutes Monday, September 14, 2020 CITY OF 3:00- 5:00 P.M. WICHITA https: //youtu. be/EC NI jC n b 13 Y Members Present: Eddie Fahnestock, Ty Tabing, Alejo Cabral, Dale Geter, Troy Palmer, Hoyt Hillman, Tori Deatherage City Staff: Troy Houtman (Director, Park & Recreation), Elizabeth Harlenske (Assistant City Attorney), Penny Garding (Clerk), Reggie Davidson, Troy Hendricks, Gentry Thiesen, Emma Li-Wormington, David McGuire, Brian Hill Item Descri11tiori Call to Order Eddie Fahnestock, President, called the meeting to order at approximately 3:04 p.m. Announcements - There were no Announcements Public Comments - There was no Public Comment 1 Approve Minutes Recommended Action: Approve, sign and file minutes of the August 10, 2020, Board of Park Commissioners Regular Meeting. Motion by Fahnestock, second by Cabral, IT WAS UNANIMOUSLY VOTED to approve, sign and file the minutes of the August 10, 2020, Board of Park Commissioners Regular Meeting (7-0). 2 New Items for Consideration -There were no New Items for discussion. 3A Dog Parks - Gentry Thiesen Thiesen stated we recently updated the Dog Park Master Plan. A map showing existing dog park locations was displayed. The things we have learned about managing dog parks include the importance of the amount of shade, turf maintenance, available water, rules and restrictions, and oversight and enforcement. The majority of oversight and enforcement falls to the Police Department and Animal Control. A city the size of Wichita should have about 10-12 dog park, while we only have 5 now. We have found additional potential sites throughout the city. The planning process includes scoping out potential sites, determining the best location, acreage, parking, etc. Other factors include utilities and ADA access. A map showing some potential locations was displayed. Potential site analysis was shared with board members to review. Five sites were identified in Riverside Park. Dog parks are funded through Capital Improvement funding. It has been included in recent years in capital improvement budgeting processes, it has not been a priority. We are able to fund them through potential partnerships like Together Wichita (Harrison Dog Park). There is a need identified in the 2008 PROS. We have five dog parks constructed. We gather information regarding users, wear and tear, strengths and deficiencies to help plan future processes. In the 2016 PROS we identified the need for more dog parks. We are exploring partnerships and considering future CIP funding. BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS REGUlAR MEETING September 14, 2020 Page 1 of 10 Fahnestock inquired if this has been shared with City Council. Houtman responded we have not done a formal presentation to Council. We have meet with several councilmembers on a case by case basis and shared this information with them. Hillman stated regarding the dog park on the sand bar, within the tidal flow at Sim it would not be appropriate. They do not like to have anything built down in those areas. Houtman responded that is right, that would be a non-fenced area. It would be more of an off leash area. We are investigating and talking to the proper people. No one has decided we are going to do that yet, we are just looking for options. Tabing asked for education on the process. There were four dog parks under consideration in Riverside. You are doing due diligence on each of those sites and you will come back with a recommendation or should he circle back with his City Council member, what is the suggestion. Houtman responded there was a meeting with Vice Mayor Claycomb about two months ago with some of the citizens from that district. They were very interested in adding a dog park. They researched and put together some background to share with VM Claycomb and the citizens. More than anything, the budget is the biggest concern. If we don't have the money it won't ever happen. Right now we do not have funding for dog parks, we would have to rely on a third­ party to provide funding. Goter stated he is not familiar with the Sim Park location, what is that location? Houtman responded it is west of Botanica. There is an open field area that is used for other open space activities. We saw it as a potential, no decisions have been made yet. Goter confirmed it is the area below the 8th hole, used to be an informal driving range. Houtman responded that is correct. Goter stated he is curious what the process for public input is. What is the opportunity for the public to share their concerns? Houtman responded in regards to specific dog parks we don't have any funding. We are not actively looking at adding any dog parks. If there is any interest, ideas of funding or a third-party that wants to fund it, we would sit down and share it with the Park Board so you can talk with your constituents. We would share with councilmember from that district so they can share with constituents. We would add it to our online surveys and share with the public in that way. As we get to a final design we would sit with the public and add in some things or a theme to reflect the neighborhood. Goter stated he sees Facebook pages that users have created. Is it possible for the City to create a dog park Facebook page where people could log their interest? Houtman responded we could do that on our regular Facebook page, we don't need to create a special one. Goter asked what would be the problem of having a separate, dedicate page for dog parks. We have Golf Wichita which is great. We have similar things in other areas. He senses there are people that want to weigh in but don't know how. Houtman stated with Golf Wichita that is more specific to the business enterprise. In this situation we are gathering information and surveys. We do that quite often on our Facebook page. If we put out so many Facebook pages people lose interest and it becomes difficult to manage. Goter expressed disagreement and added there is a tremendous interest in dog parks. Why would we not maximize our opportunity to get public input? Houtman agrees there is a strong interest, which is why we were able to do the one over at Harrison Park. That is why we created this master plan, looking at different opportunities. Goter inquired if there is a database of interested parties that have communicated about dog parks? Houtman responded he does not have a database, but he does have a list of several people that have come talked to us, sharing information with councilmembers who have a lot of input and BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS REGULAR MEETING September 14, 2020 Page 2 of 10 connections in their communities. Goter stated he hopes there is a greater effort to organize and make possible the input of the public and to categorize and catalog it. Issues regarding seating and shade were discovered through the process. Hutchinson has the "Shangri-La" of dog parks with lots of names of donors on the wall. We don't have that organized effort to rally the supporters to gain the funding. Houtman responded the dog park at Harrison Park does have shade. We worked with a volunteer group, Together Wichita, who helped with fundraising. We have made a lot of efforts on those things you are talking about. Goter stated he would like to see more visibility. He asked about the three dog parks at Meridian. There is the small dog park, the large dog park and then the one in the middle. The one in the middle has been closed for over a year. Why is that not opened up in the rotation. Houtman responded we have three areas for the rotation. One is for it to recover. We are trying to meet the needs of the public. Having the rotation gives the opportunity for the grass to recover. McGuire added there was a plan in place to do the drainage repair that was needed in the large dog park in February. Due to COVID that plan was interrupted. We decided to leave the dog park open and let the middle part rejuvenate as much as possible. The plan is to go back to that large dog park this fall/winter and try to fix the drainage. At that point it will be closed for a year because the Bermuda will take an amount of time to establish itself. Then we will be down to the small dog park and the middle size dog park. Cabral asked what the average cost is to establish a new dog park. Houtman responded it depends on the size, amenities, the demand, etc. At Harrison Park we spent about $100,000 on that and also added additional dollars to the parking lot. But the parking lot was also used for the rest of the park as well. It was a nice situation where we were able to do two things for the price of one. On average, for a nice dog park, it is about $100,000. Hillman stated the Humane Society and some of the other contacts already have a Facebook page. A lot of people are tied in with them. If you posted your information on the City Facebook page but also shared the ideas for dog parks and opportunities to invest in those other areas you would probably get the coverage you needed and might not need a new one. Houtman responded we worked closely with them, they helped us with the design. We also work with a couple of the dog rescues in town. There are a lot of people out there that provide their input. We don't necessarily limit it to that. When we get closer to being able to accomplish the goal we will reach out a lot more to get ideas regarding theme, design and amenities. Fahnestock inquired what are the ideal funding mechanisms since we don't have much funding for dog parks. What is the ideal ratio between public and private? Houtman responded he is always wanting to do a fundraising activity. That could be something put on by a third-party. As of right now he does not have any capital dollars to go to this. That might change in the future as we look changing things around in the next couple years. When we have money left over these are things we look at and propose. He does not have a strong ratio either way, it is just a matter of finding the funding. Fahnestock asked if a case has been made to the City Manager or City Council about funding; or do we have a strategy moving forward if we have not. Houtman responded, every year this is something we pitch regarding all of our capital needs. This year, with COVID a lot of these projects have been pushed out two or three years. What makes a big difference is when there is a third-party involved that will provide some fundraising or have a donation. That is how we were able to get the one at Harrison Park done. We provided the parking lot, the drainage, utilities. Then Together Wichita did all the glamorous stuff. It works out well. They did some fundraising, worked with veterinarians. BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS REGULAR MEETING September 14, 2020 Page 3 of 10  Goter stated recent discussion about funding of the animal shelter and the funding to pay for people to drop dogs off just shows the intense interest in the dog-loving public. If you are going to Council with something it would be great to have that documented. This is a priority for the public. It is undervalued by this entity right now and the more you can document that the better place you will be when you go to council. Houtman stated agreement. It is a huge priority, we get that interest a lot. 3B Cypress Park -Troy Houtman Houtman stated Cabral had asked for some background on what is happening at Cypress Park. Right now there is nothing happening regarding the new police station that had been scheduled to go there. There has been some ideas regarding a new location for that. Nothing has been· decided. It hasn't been finalized that Cypress Park would be the place for a new police station, nor has another location been finalized. There is going to be some good research. The Police Department, Police Chief and others he has spoken to are looking at another location. As of right now, the project is on hold and more than likely will not happen at that park. But, it has not been ruled out for sure yet. Hillman inquired if that site is not going to be used will we get the land back that we traded with the Police Department. Houtman responded that has not been finalized yet and yes, if that is the case we would get that land back. But, Chief has not made a decision where he is going to put his substation yet. Cabral expressed thanks for the update. If there is anything he or the Park Board can do to help with the engagement. There was a lot of public engagement that drew some of the pushback. He is happy to do what is needed to help mitigate the challenges. Houtman added if the topic continues to move forward at Cypress Park we will have to re-engage with the Park Board. We are just waiting on direction from the Police Department on what they want to do. 3C MOU - Memorial Bench - Grandparents Park McGuire stated about 10 years ago AARP came to the Park Department and donated funding to buy a piece of equipment that was installed at Grandparents Park. The idea was to have intergenerational people exercising and playing at the park. Carl Brewer was the mayor at that time and helped initiate that with AARP and we got a nice improvement at the park. When Mayor Brewer passed away AARP reached out to us again wanting to know if they could purchase a bench and put a plaque. We have a memorial bench program that for $2,000 you can put a bench in, with a plaque and we will maintain it for 10 years. He and Harlenske talked about it and decided since it is a donation it would be good to present it to the Park Board, have you accept the donation and then we will send the MOU back to AARP for signatures and they will cut the check for the bench. Houtman stated we wanted to get the Board's support as we move forward with the MOU. Hillman motioned that we set up a memorial bench to honor Past Mayor Brewer and accept the grant money from AARP. Tab Motion by Hillman, second by Ta bing, IT WAS UNANIMOUSLY VOTED to set up a memorial bench to honor Past Mayor Brewer and accept the grant money from AARP (7-0). 3D Golf Advisory Committee Attendance Fahnestock stated we need to talk about a couple members of the Golf Advisory Committee attendance requirements. Houtman stated almost a month ago we sent letters to these two individuals explaining to them they have an opportunity to reply to us if they were interested in continuing to say on the board. They could ask for more clarification. One member gave us a verbal response they were not interested in coming back. The other gentleman we did not hear anything back from. It is up you to decide what to do, but as far as staff, it seems pretty clear these two individuals are not interested in continuing to serve on the GAC. It is our suggestion that BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS REGULAR MEETING September 14, 2020 Page 4 of 10 today we vote to relieve them of their Golf Advisory Committee duties. Also, the district the\ represent select new members. Maybe not today, but a discussion of who it could be and bring those folks back next month so we can get them on the GAC. Fahnestock stated these members fall under Tabing and Cabral and asked for a motion. Cabral inquired if his representative had contacted Houtman, he had attempted even before the letter was sent. Houtman responded we did not receive any feedback. Cabral made a motion to accept staff recommendation to remove the two Golf Advisory Committee members and appoint new members, Fahnestock seconded the motion. Fahnestock called for a vote. Geter stated we had discussed the possibility of expanding the Golf Advisory Committee would it make sense to settle that before going to the appointment process for the two that are missing. Is that still on the table? Fahnestock responded he believes it is still on the table but we need to get someone in there for those districts by next month. Houtman responded the relieving of these two has nothing to do with expanding. Moving forward and getting that done would help us move forward. He has shared the idea with the City Manager and he shared with some of the councilmembers and the feedback we got was not very positive. The City Manager has asked not to move forward with the idea of expanding. It is up to you and how you feel about it. The City Manager visits with all the councilmembers on a regular basis and what he got back is there is not strong interest in making that change. Geter stated he does not know if it is going to be brought forward today but there has been the announcement of the possible change of organization and governance of our golf courses. It seems like the magnitude of that decision demands a strong public input. A broader GAC would serve a valuable role in representing the public's interest as that moves forward. He would like to think it would be brought to a GAC for review as part of the process otherwise there is no reason to have a Golf Advisory Committee. This is the number one golf issue that has come forward in the last 10 years. He supports the idea of expanding the committee and bringing in more voices and more review so we have a good end process. He would make a substitute motion that we submit a recommendation from the Park Board to the Council to expand the GAC in anticipation of this major decision coming forward. Cabral responded he would caution doing this and that we follow Houtman's recommendation and get these two seats filled and then... Goter stated let's get a second before we discuss it. Fahnestock stated the substitute motion from Mr. Geter fails for lack of a second. He does want to discuss this though. Cabral continued he just wanted to caution on expanding the GAC if we have had challenges in the past not necessarily holding them accountable but making sure they are doing what they said wanted to get done. It is better to have the right people at the table than have too many. Maybe we just haven't had the right people in the past. He would challenge us to get the right people at the table first and get them moving in the right direction before we grow and bring more people along. Fahnestock expressed agreement. He wants to get these two on the committee before we make a recommendation to the City Council to expand the GAC. He agrees with Geter this is a huge decision that we should have the right people at the table but also agrees with Cabral when there are too many people in the kitchen it is tough to get things done. He wants to see these two positions filled before making a formal recommendation to Council of expanding the GAC. Geter stated he will support that motion but would urge the members of the Park Board to pay more attention to the people you appoint. This went unnoticed for some time. Fahnestock called for a vote on the original motion. Motion by Cabral, second by Fahnestock, IT WAS UNANIMOUSLY VOTED to accept staff recommendation to remove the two Golf Advisory Committee members and appoint new members (7-0). BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS REGULAR MEETING September 14, 2020 Page 5 of 10 Fahnestock asked Cabral and Tabing if they had been in conversation with anyone in their districts that may fit this role on the Golf Advisory Committee. Cabral stated he has had dialog with Councilmember Johnson but before a decision is made, he would get with CM Johnson to make sure that is the direction he is wanting to go as well. Tabing stated he anticipates getting with Councilmember Claycomb in the next several days and can get a recommendation in the next couple weeks, before our next Park Board meeting. Cabral added he will have a recommendation in the next couple weeks as well. Fahnestock stated there is Golf Advisory Committee meeting tomorrow. It is imperative to come up with representatives for your districts prior to next month's meeting. Geter asked Houtman where does the GAC fit in the process. Houtman responded his expectation is that the GAC would be a part of this. The only information he has is that The First Tee has been doing some research and investigating the option to see if that is something they want to do. To see if it is sustainable for them. From that point it would have to be decided if they want to move forward or not. At that point in time those open discussions you are talking about would be beneficial so that everyone can be up to date on all the information and that there is transparency. That is something the City Manager wanted to do. That is why we put out the press release a couple weeks ago, there had already been some rumors. It leaked out so we wanted to make sure everyone was informed so there are no surprises. It is one step at a time. One of the big things that is going to have to happen is, not only Golf Advisory Committee, but also the Park Board would have to have some discussions and be involved. Geter stated he is a little concerned the GAC wasn't brought in earlier. If there is a role for the Golf Advisory Committee and if the Park Board lives up to is obligations in the budget as described it seems like we should have been in the discussion earlier. Houtman stated he agreed, staff was only brought in to this a couple weeks ago and are going with what has been presented to us. We will pass what we know on to staff and on to Park Board. Geter asked if there has been any timeline set. Houtman responded no one has given him any timeline or deadline. The last information·he received was that First Tee was going to be doing some financial research. We provided them with a ton of documents including rounds, expenses, overhead, and staff. They are visiting some of the golf courses. He found out afterward that they had visited some of the golf courses. As he gets information he will pass it on. Recreation Update (Reggie Davidson) Davidson shared updates August activities. Boston Recreation Center - some of the playground equipment including the new zip line has been completed. Some of the area youth football programs area still utilizing the space for practice even though the season has been postponed to the spring. We finished up our summer camp programs there. Some of the Youth Tech courses were cancelled but we were able to add some additional for the winter timeframe. Linwood Recreation Center - was one of the voting sites and had over 403 voters to vote in the Primary Election. We work closely with the elementary schools and learning centers in the area that use our site as an Emergency Evacuation Site when there are things taking place in the community. We expanded that relationship and had them come on site to look at the area. We discussed some of the safety measures we have in place now. In addition to that we had a cleaning company we worked with through Public Works that did the cleaning and sanitizing during camp and summer facility usage. We had a good experience with them ensuring the buildings were clean. We received a lot of good feedback from users. BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS REGULAR MEETING September 14, 2020 Page 6 of 10  Ralph Wulz Riverside Tennis Center-we previously mentioned moving forward with the master plan to do an expansion. We were able to get that started. As part of that we were able to get some funding from the Maureen Connolly Brinker (MCB) Tennis Foundation. They gave a $403,000 grant to help with the expansion. We are meeting weekly on site to discuss plans moving forward looking at what needs to be done and timelines to be prepared for having the facility up and functioning in the spring. With the school delay we were able to expand and offer some additional programming. We offered some junior classes in July and August. We also worked with our summer camps that were extended through the end of August to be able to get those young people some exposure to tennis with onsite programming at those locations. We also added in some new co-ed single and group classes in the evenings. We had 38 players that generated some additional revenue for us. Lynette Woodard Recreation Center - COVID restrictions limited some of our program but they have expanded some of their rentals for facility use. They now have five of the seven nights rented out now. They have already met their rental goals for the entire year, even under the current COVID restrictions. With the number of people coming in and out they did some deep cleaning. Drive-Boo Trick or Treat - hosted at Watson Park. Normally we would have our fall festivals at each of the recreation centers, but with current COVID restrictions we moved it all to Watson and made it a drive through experience where we will have vendors come out to hand out candy and try to incorporate some lighting features. Everyone will be dressed in costumes. Hillman asked if Davidson was the one who coordinated the Keepers in the various parks. Davidson responded it was McGuire and his team that did that. McGuire stated Tessa Brungardt and Bret Russell worked to go around and put the statues in place. Hillman stated he understands there is one missing. McGuire responded the one in Planeview was ripped off the base over the weekend. Hillman asked if it was going to be replaced. McGuire responded they are working with the artist to redo the artwork on it and will probably look for a different location that maybe has more traffic and not so isolated. Houtman added the locations were determined by the councilmembers, the artist and Together Wichita. We worked with them at the beginning of this to find locations but hopefully we can find a better location so if and when we put this one back in it won't get damaged. Emma Li-Wormington stated the grant is amazing as far as the dollar amount goes but we do have to get this passed through Council. Davidson responded we have already presented this to Council and they approved it to accept the funds. 5 Golf Update (Troy Hendricks) Hendricks stated August rounds were up about 7,000 over August 2019. That averages about 56 players per day at each of the golf courses. Currently ytd rounds at the four courses are up 1% over 2019 based on a four course system. That is with two courses being closed for three weeks and two closed for seven. MacDonald is up 17%, Auburn Hills is up 15%, Sim is down 8% and Tex Consolver is down 12%, which we would anticipate as many rounds as they were down when they finally opened Memorial Weekend. Revenue is down a little bit from the same time period, down $175,000 compared to last year. But expenses and encumbrances are also down 15%, $383,000 during the same time period. Net income is $206,000 better than it was this time last year. Memberships are still selling strong, we are up another 100 memberships to 1,141 at the beginning of September. 151 adult BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS REGUlAR MEETING September 14, 2020 Page 7 of 10 memberships, 105 couples, 74 juniors, 162 young adults and seniors are at 649. Looking at revenue in comparison to last year we are up almost $200,000 for the month of August. That is the best August we have had in the last 5-6 years. Greens fees were up 43% at all courses, after factoring in membership fees and transferring those monies to the golf courses. Prior to that Sim was up almost $2,700 in greens fees, Auburn Hills was up almost $8,000, Tex Consolver up about $7,750 and MacDonald was leading the way up almost $20,500 in green fee revenue. Concession sales at the golf courses continues to show an increase. They were up 28% for the month for the whole system. MacDonald led the way with an 86% increase, followed by Tex Consolver being up 32%, Sim up 14% and Auburn Hills up 9%. Cart rentals continue to be strong, they were up 51% for the Golf Division for the month, with MacDonald up 83%, Tex Consolver up 48%, Auburn Hills up 47% and Sim up 35%. Driving ranges at Auburn Hills is up 107% over last year, Tex Consolver up 101%, factoring in the new range at MacDonald up 100%, we were up 174% in range revenue from $12,000 to $33,000 in revenue. Mr. Goter had asked about our Equipment Replacement Fund. Emma sent a report to both he and Mr. Goter on where we stand on that. As of the middle of August we had $155,000 in our equipment replacement fund. Prior to 2018 we did not have this fund. The Budget Office would put together money that was budgeted for equipment and money that was for golf carts. The difference was if we did not have the revenue and income we were unable to make those purchases. Since we started this fund, that money is specifically set aside to buy equipment for maintenance. This year we are in the process of purchasing a large-area rough mower for Auburn Hills. It is a used piece of equipment (500 hours). The cost will be about $30,000, the unit new would sell for about $57,000. The large grinder at Auburn Hills that is used by all the golf courses is computerized and the motherboard went out last spring. We are replacing that at a cost of $47,000. In November, with approximately 1,100 memberships we will be putting approximately $42,000 back into the replacement fund. Then we will be looking at replacing some additional large-area mowers for the courses at that time. Goter stated the report showed an income for 2020 of a modest amount of $38,000. The members that pay the $37 fee annually, that is all collected in November correct. Hendricks stated yes. Goter asked what will the infusion of money be. Hendricks responded about $42,000. Based on the 1,141 members we currently have it would be $44,499. Goter stated the question is do we end up taking in less money under the new membership plan than we did in 2018 2019. Hendricks responded we will know at year end. It will probably be a little less, but it is more than prior to this fund being started. Prior to 2018 we did not have it. Goter stated what he is trying to do is compare how we are doing with the new membership plan to the previous model. Did the equipment fund take a hit at the expense of the new membership plan? Hendricks responded it will probably take a little hit, if you take that $44,000 to that $38,000 that would be about $82,000 with four more months of the year to go. Goter added you don't get any more money after November, you've got all the money for the year. Hendricks responded you still have those who are paying regular greens fees. Goter stated that is a modest number. He is suggesting consideration going forward, that equipment fund, when you do the balance sheet, did the membership work. Goter stated on the membership it looks like, currently with the 1,000+ members, on an annualized basis, is a greater amount than you took in on the previous system. Hendricks responded yes. Goter asked how much that is. Hendricks responded he does not have that, he did not know the question was coming up. Goter responded in 2018 you showed a $630,000 income from memberships. It looks like it is about $900,000 from the current system. Goter stated he knows are numbers are up, we started out $500,000 in the hole, we are having a record year, and yet we are not close to balancing the budget. What scenario was in place for that budget in 2020, we were projecting a $200,000 deficit to start and now we are looking at $500,000 because of COVID, but we are having a record BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS REGUlAR MEETING September 14, 2020 Page 8 of 10  year? Under what scenario do we ever balance our budget if we can't balance it when we are having a record turnout? Hendricks responded when you look at our net position on the rounds report and compare that to last year at this same time we are $200,000 better. We have reduced our expenditures by almost $400,000 so far this year compared to last year at the end of August. Between those two that is about a $500,000 improvement over where we were at a year ago at the end of August. Goter responded so there is no longer a $500,000 deficit as described two months ago. Hendricks responded that would be for the Budget Analyst, he gave us a scenario close to the end of August on where we stood at the end of July. He will run all the numbers again and give the numbers to Mr. Houtman pertaining to Recreation and Golf soon. The numbers he is seeing which come out of the same stuff he is looking at, we are in good shape compared to last year. Goter asked if that means there will be no furloughs. Hendricks responded that is not his decision. Goter stated you keep deflecting this to Finance. How can you not know whether you are going to furlough people given the fact you have all the numbers and you put the budget together? Houtman stated in the future if you have specific questions please let us know what those are and we would be happy to email you the information. We have done this in the past. If you have special questions regarding the budget, we can provide that to you. Things change month to month and in regards to what it will be looking like at the end of the year. We will work with the City Manager and the Finance Department, they provide suggestions on where we need to go according to what they are looking at regarding the final numbers. We don't want to furlough anybody. But we do have that as an option. That is something that is budgeted in and expected to happen. He is hoping we can continue doing well with all of our revenues and high outcomes at the golf courses so we can avoid that, but if we don't meet our revenue projections we have to furlough. Goter stated he understands the concern about not having the questions in advance. But, you are in charge, he would think you have the big picture numbers in front of you every day. This is your job to understand where you are financially and how you can end this year in the black and not layoff or furlough people. You are acting like this is something the Finance Department decides and not you. You brought us a $500,000 deficit two months ago and now it's gone. Houtman responded those are some of the numbers we get from our Finance Department. Things change, they improve, they get worse, we have to flexible with all that. Hillman asked if it is possible in the next year or year after to raise the prices of the annual membership price another $5 or $10. Hendricks responded it was raised 2% on the first of July which is what we told everyone would be done on an annual basis so we wouldn't have to go back to Council every year to ask for fee increases. Council approved the 2%. Goter stated there is a Golf Advisory Committee tomorrow these questions will come back up. He hopes in the interim you can get those numbers. Hendricks responded he will get with Budget tomorrow to see what they can come up with. 6 Wichita Parks Foundation Update (Troy Houtman) Houtman stated the Parks Foundation did not have a meeting this past month. He has nothing new to report. He was excited to see Plates for Parks in the middle of the "D"s. That means we have sold over 3,500 plates. 7 OJ Watson Park Committee Update (Troy Houtman) Brian Hill stated they are currently working on the all season shelter. It had to be relocated to a different location to come down on the price. The building has been reengineered to maximize the meeting space. It is coming along well. We hope to have finalized drawings in the next week or so and get that back out to bid. It's been rough not being able to rent BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS REGULAR MEETING September 14, 2020 Page 9 of 10  shelters or have events but we still have the rides going. We had to shut down the pony rides because we can't have staff handling people's children because of COVID restrictions. We are excited kayaking has gone off this year. We have rented over 370% more this time that we did last year. The rentals on the river were very successful. We ended our season on that on Labor Day weekend, but have been back the last two weekends. We participate in the Paddle Palooza event yesterday where we gave out kayak rentals for free. It was a very successful event, we are looking forward to partnering with them again in the future. Houtman added OJ Watson has done a very good job of adding new programs. The volleyball out there was so successful there was a concern they were bringing in too many people. Davidson added our concession revenue at this point has already exceeded what we did the whole year last year. 8 Aquatics Master Plan Update (Troy Houtman) Brian Hill stated shared a PowerPoint presentation with the Board. Phase 1 projects are under construction at this time. All projects are proceeding and we are looking that they will be completed in time for us to be open for the 2021 season. The designs of the new splash pads were displayed along with current construction pictures. Pool designs and changes were displayed as well as some of the construction photos as well. All Phase 1 projects are on schedule and we don't see any reason they won't be ready for the 2021 season. Phase 2 when to Design Council today and was approved. Concepts for Linwood Pool to turn into a splash pad was displayed. Harvest Pool is getting some extensive changes and upgrades. Minisa Pool design was shared as well. We did get one bid in on this project that came in a little over $6 Million but still about $100,000 under our estimate. This allows us to accept all the add alternates for this project, which all involve extra shade. 9 President's Update (Eddie Fahnestock) No update. 10 Director's Update (Troy Houtman) Houtman stated we are still moving forward with the Clapp Master Plan doing a lot of public engagement and getting a lot of feedback. He's been working with designers and they are coming up with some final concepts. We are scheduled to bring those next month. We are still working on the Chester I Lewis design as well. Since COVID we've had a couple situations where we've cancelled events or had to change dates and times. We're learning how to manage and work with COVID better. We are going to start trying a few events at Naftzger Park. We had a great, successful discussion with the Symphony last week. They can't play indoor at their location so they came and talked to us about playing in our parks. Nothing is finalized yet but we're excited about them coming and playing in some of our parks, probably just a brass quintet. We are adapting and adjusting to COVID. Adjourn There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at approximately 4:36 p.m. The next regularly scheduled meeting will be a virtual meeting held on Monday, October 12, 2020. Isl Tori Deatherage Tori Deatherage, 2°' Vice President BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS REGUtAR MEETING September 14, 2020 Page 10 of 10