Zionsville Board of Park and Recreation

SUMMARY MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE ZIONSVILLE PARK AND RECREATION BOARD January 12, 2011 The Zionsville Board of Park and Recreation met Wednesday, January 12, 2011 at 7:00 PM. Ellen Butz, Steve Mueller, Scott Bruns, Phil Howard, and Neil Clements were present. Roger Burrus, Board Counsel and Matt Dickey, Superintendent were also present. Beginning of Year Actions Roger Burrus conducted the board elections for President. Neil Clements nominated Ellen Butz for President. While seconds are apparently not necessary for officers, Phil Howard seconded. The vote was unanimous. Ellen Butz continued the nominations for Vice President. Neil Clements nominated Phil Howard for Vice President and the vote was unanimous. Ellen Butz nominated Scott Bruns for Secretary and the vote was unanimous. Phil Howard nominated that Superintendent Matt Dickey be appointed Assistant Secretary. Scott Bruns seconded and the vote was unanimous. The Second Wednesday of each month at 7PM was confirmed as the regular monthly parks board meeting. Steve Mueller stated the Public Communications Advisory Subcommittee membership would remain the same with the exception of one person dropping off. Scott Bruns Recreation subcommittee has two new members, Larry Shiller and Tim Fretz There are no membership changes to Ellen Butz’s Facilities Advisory Subcommittee, or to Phil Howard’s Land Resources Advisory Subcommittee. Roger Burrus presented a proposal for legal services for 2011. This proposal includes a small hourly increase, as this has not changed since 2002. The proposed amounts are $8,000/year retainer with $200/hour for items not covered under the retainer. Phil Howard asked if the hourly rate is a typical one for attorney services. Roger stated it is somewhat less than other rates currently approved for these types of legal services. Phil Howard made a motion to accept the new 2011 proposal for legal services. Steve Mueller seconded. The vote was unanimous. Minutes Scott Bruns made a motion to approve the December 2010 regular board minutes as presented. Steve Mueller seconded and the motion passed unanimously. 1 Public Comments/Presentations Mr. Mike Maguire, golf course superintendent, gave a brief annual report of the 2010 golf season. Almost 14,000 rounds of 9 holes and 700 rounds 18 hole rounds were played during the last year. There are 2 fee structures—regular and a separate one for seniors/junior golfers. Mr. Maguire stated that 59% of rates are regular fees; 40% are paid by seniors and juniors. Mr. Maguire was asked about the irrigation system. Mike stated the system is a priority item for the course. The current system is the original one, and requires more maintenance, repair, and manpower to run. Currently the roughs are not irrigated, but the greens and tees are. This past year, some of the fairways needed to be reseeded due to flooding but should be fine to begin the 2011 season. When asked if the nearly 15,000 rounds of golf played represent capacity for the course, Mr. Maguire noted that number doesn’t represent the folks who walk in, or the coupons that were redeemed for free play. So actual rounds were somewnat higher than the !5,000 figure. He feels the course could probably sustain more players. Mr. Maguire thanked his staff for their dedication and professionalism. He also noted nearly all employees would like to return in 2011. The one or two potential exceptions represent college students who may be moving on to different opportunities. Roger Burrus noted the Board has not yet signed a 2011 Agreement with Mr. Maguire for managing the golf course. That item will be on the February board meeting agenda. Mr. Chad Pittman gave a presentation for the Pathways Committee. Mr. Pittman noted the committee has been working diligently on a public education component to the pathways plan. This project includes a user-friendly map. Mr. Pittman stated this map would be useful to trail users and as a tourism piece to help promote what the Town’s trails have to offer. Mr. Pittman showed an example map from another community and gave a cost estimate (provided by Dana Bracken with MediaSauce) for this map was about $1,000. A discussion ensued about the types of folks who would use this map. Local residents, people who are looking to move to Zionsville, and the Chamber of Commerce/local businesses would perhaps all benefit from having such a map on hand. Board members spent a few minutes discussing the general applications for this type of graphic map and how it could also be used to show all of the park sites as well as other public assets (shopping, schools, Lion’s Park, etc.). Ellen Butz stated her concern that the parks board does not pay for more than it should, so maybe not everything should be shown on the parks map. Phil Howard made a motion to approve up to $1,000 to help support this project. Scott Burns seconded and the motion passed unanimously. Candace Ulmer spoke briefly about logos. She recommended the Parks Board write a letter to the Town Council stating they want to keep the Z and maple leaf logo for parks. 2 Steve Mueller noted the nature center and golf course have a separate logo as well. Candace suggested adding those to the letter. Ellen noted she was directed to move forward with the new logo, so the Board has taken action to do so. Ms. Butz asked if any board members have an issue with the new logo. She also stated her dislike of having different logos for parks, nature center, and golf course. She understands the Town's stated position to the parks regarding being cohesive both within the department and with all departments and with the Town Council. Steve Mueller stated his concern the park brand will be lost by not keeping the Z and leaf motif. When asked as to the current implementation of the new Town logo within the parks department efforts. Matt Dickey stated the Mulberry park interpretative signs (installed) and rail trail overpasses (acquired) all have the new logo. There are also new business cards that have been distributed. The contractor provided memento's for the dedications last fall at Turkey Foot Park and Elm Street Green Information/cost for new uniforms have been solicited, but no order has been placed yet. Phil Howard specifically asked if the nature center's logo was to change. Ellen stated that based on what she had been told by the Town Manager, her belief is that all departments would eventually change to the new, approved Town of Zionsville logo. Roger noted the Chamber is already using the new town logo on their publications and pointed that out as an example of cohesive nature of one logo. Phil stated his thought the Park Board/Department should embrace the new logo. Steve Mueller made a motion to ask the Town Council to allow the parks board to retain the Z and maple leaf logo. The motion failed due to lack of a second. Staff Reports The reports from the Superintendent of Parks & Recreation, the Assistant Superintendent for Maintenance Services, and the Naturalist were all part of the Park Board packet and available for review. Matt Dickey highlighted the Indiana Park and Recreation Association conference and dates (January 19-21). Two staff members will be attending a playground safety course at the beginning of that same week. Mr. Dickey also noted he had spoken with Therese Burkhard and discussed a possible membership with the National Association of Interpretation. She had responded positively and had expressed an interest so that membership will be sent off. Mr. Dickey reported Z’GreenFest has a new breath of life through a partnership with the library. Therese Burkhard and library staff have met, and the festival will be hosted on library property in 2011, with library staff assistance. Traditionally, the park board has donated funds to this effort in addition to their (and park staff's) presence and assistance the day of the event, but there will be no request for assistance so those moneys could be used for the Recreational Grant. Mr. Dickey noted the proposed Planned Unit Development proposal appearing before the plan commission January 18th. He distributed some information regarding the proposal, 3 including a notice of public hearing and a concept map of the proposed site. Mr. Dickey will confirm the meeting date and send an email to board members. Mr. Burrus stated the park board would usually receive formal notice of projects that potentially affect any park site. He plans to attend the plan commission meeting and can report back to the Board with any pertinent details. Ellen Butz asked about a fundraiser the Friends of Zion Nature Center will be hosting. Kim Donovan is chairing this event to be held in March. The event is to raise money for a touch screen display unit for the center. Therese Burkhard recently reported in a park staff meeting that Indianapolis's Eagle Creek unit cost $17,000, so this would be a wonderful donation. Mr. Burrus also wanted to inform the Board he has been working on various property acquisitions and closing out project construction. New Business None Old Business: Strategic Advisory Committee Reports: Land Resources – Phil Howard. His committee needs to replace two members on this subcommittee. They are working on a project that he hopes to be able to bring forward at an upcoming Executive Session, perhaps in early February. Funding – Neal Clements. Neal reported that he had been considering potential grant applications for the Recreational Trails Program grant. The Turkey Foot - Holiday Road trail connection might be a good possibility for funding. After consulting with DNR, adding a canoe launch might make the project more of a priority with the State for funding (thereby scoring more points). Steve asked for a preliminary proposal to be brought to the Board for discussion prior to the May 1st submission deadline. Steve also asked if public meetings were required as part of the grant application process. Matt Dickey said that he would be very surprised if it were not a requirement. Ellen Butz mentioned that has been a practice on several recent projects in any case. Public Communications – Steve Mueller. This committee has published information regarding the new Recreation Grants program. Hopefully the advertisements will elicit some interest. The submission deadline is March 1st to the Recreation committee. So far there have been three (3) requests for application packets. Steve attended a meeting with MediaSauce in December regarding the parks website. He complimented the consultants on their efforts so far. Mr. Mueller also noted the Nature Center had a good year in 2010, with increased attendance, programming, and media attention. Recreation –Scott Bruns. Scott reported he now has a full committee and plans to have the first meeting at the end of January and to determine the focus of this committee. He knows the first task will be to review the Recreational Grant requests and to bring recommendations to the Board. He also had a request with Zionsville Sports to clarify field/park usage as it relates to the overall agreement. Facilities Planning – Ellen Butz. No report. Ellen did mention she attended the recent ZSA board meeting and asked that body clarify their wants and their willingness to partner with the parks board. As a result, two ZSA members have asked to join the 4 Recreation Advisory Subcommittee of the parks board. Roger asked if their (ZSAs) requests could be considered on a more permanent (as opposed to seasonal) basis. Other Board Related Items Claims Phil Howard made a motion to approve the claims. Steve Mueller seconded and passage was unanimous. Steve Mueller made a motion to adjourn. Phil Howard seconded and passage was unanimous. The meeting was then adjourned at 8:38 PM. ______________________________ ____________________________ Scott Bruns, Secretary Ellen Butz, President 5