Zionsville Board of Park and Recreation

Summary Minutes of the Meeting of the Zionsville Park and Recreation Board July 13, 2011 The Zionsville Board of Park and Recreation met Wednesday, July 13, 2011 at 7:00 PM. Ellen Butz, Scott Bruns, Phil Howard, and Neil Clements were present. Matt Dickey, Superintendent, and Roger Burrus, Park Board Attorney were also present. Minutes Phil Howard made a motion to approve the June 8, 2011 regular board meeting minutes as presented. Scott Bruns seconded and the motion passed unanimously. Public Comments/Presentations None 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. Mr. Dickey spoke regarding a request to install a memorial brick in the gazebo area at Lincoln Park. As this has not been done in some time, a bit of research will need to be done to determine an appropriate cost. It was discussed as to whether the Rotary should be notified as the first large push for this was part of a fund-raiser they had done. It was felt that since this was not a large effort, we should charge the same that had been and just provide the memorial brick-service to the citizenry. Mr. Dickey reported on a request from Boone County REMC to trim the roadside material at 875 E where it comes close to the rail-trail. Hopefully this will improve the sight lines as users come from the trail. Mr. Dickey laid a bit of groundwork with the REMC, noting IPL had recently donated money to install a prairie area in one of the parks. But REMC did not appear particularly disposed towards native plantings at this time. There were no specific comments from board members, although it was emphasized during discussion the importance of carefully marking where the trimming work will be done for the safety of trail users. Mr. Dickey related the power company had been instructed to close off both ends of the trail at a sufficient distance (based upon whatever size of their equipment) to prevent flying debris from causing safety issues. Matt has also requested a three-week lead time from the REMC so that the Communications Advisory Committee could get a notice in the paper. Mr. Dickey noted he continues to communicate with Max Mouser with BLN on constructing the Laurel Ave connection to the Rail Trail along with the associated area improvements. As the Park Board discussed at the previous meeting, the project has now been folded into the Town’s repaving efforts for this year. It is anticipated those projects will go to bid in early August. BLN provided an Engineer's Construction estimate for the whole project— the parks’ portion is well within what the amount the Board has previously earmarked at their 10/30/10 strategic planning meeting). 1 Ellen asked about meeting prevailing wage requirements. Matt stated the Town's entire paving project would likely be, when taken as a whole, large enough to qualify for a prevailing wage requirement, but is still within the approved budget (and BLN took that into account when preparing their estimate).. Mr. Dickey noted that Maplelawn's efforts to achieve Historic/National Register status with the DNR/Federals government is proceeding apace. As the Board had been told when Maplelawn presented the concept back in May 2010, and as further confirmed in a recent phone call initiated by the State Division of Historic Preservation, National or State Register listing should not impact any park activities at Mulberry Fields. Roger mentioned he made the previously requested changes to the athletic field use policy and that now needs approval. Phil Howard asked if having ZSA as a priority group makes sense in light of ZYFL’s request to also use the fields. Scott noted changes could be made to the agreement next year, but is comfortable voting on the policy this evening. Phil also noted about the misuse clause—is the user also obligated to make repairs to the field? Mr. Burrus noted there is a provision for compliance with any/all park board requirements—repair costs could be added to that Item #14. Phil Howard made a motion to approve the use policy, amending Item 14 to include cost to repair damage to the field being the responsibility of the User. Scott Bruns seconded and passage was unanimous. Mr. Burrus discussed the $15,000 donation agreement with IPL to install prairie at Starkey Park. The agreement letter includes signature lines Phil Howard made a motion to approve agreement with IPL to accept the $15,000 donation to install native plantings in their easement at Starkey Park and authorize park board president to sign. Scott Bruns seconded and the motion passes unanimously. Roger stated he continues to work on summarizing the park rules. This item is anticipated to be ready for the August meeting. New Business Matt Dickey reported on the potential for public access from Manchester Square to the Rail Trail. Residents of this development appear to be willing to pay for the access point and maintain it. Town council members had previously stated the access needs to be ADA accessible. There might also need to be a bridge or boardwalk installed near the bottom of the access point for purposes of protecting drainage (instead of a culvert). No parking is planned for this area. 2 Ellen asked how much of the new construction would be on private property vs. Park property. Matt responded about three-fourths of the total impacted area would be on public property, within the right-of-way. Ellen noted her concerns regarding maintenance and the number of access points. Matt stated there are other parties that may be interested in having access as well. John Nicholson, a resident of Manchester Square, was on hand to note board member concerns and will take the maintenance and design questions to the HOA board. As this was originally part of the development, the HOA appears to be willing to pay for installation, agree to covering all of the ongoing and long term maintenance (including snow removal if they so desire) and pledge to keep the access open to the general public. Roger Burrus commented that the Park Board should approve the design and construction, since it will be built on park property. Documenting the agreement will be important. There was general consensus from the Board to move forward. Based upon the conditions enumerated during discussion. Ellen Butz brought forward a conceptual agreement with Zionsville Youth Football League for increased use of Mulberry Fields. She stated she is looking only for general agreement to move forward at this time; formal approval isn’t necessary right now. Zionsville Sports Association should not lose field use as a result of this other partnership. Ellen and Scott both noted ZYFL’s desire to have a concession stand and to have a “home base” of operations. There was general Board consensus to further explore moving forward with this agreement. Ellen and Scott will continue to talk with ZYFL to work out a potential formal agreement for later Board approval. Details such as signage, amount of use, and maintenance will be explored further as a part of this discussion. Scott Bruns made a motion to move forward on discussions with ZYFL. Phil Howard seconded and the motion passed unanimously. Matt Dickey stated the need to discuss capital issues for potential inclusion in the 2012 Park Board budget request to Town Council. Ellen noted there is already scheduled a budget meeting for August 6 at 8AM, in the fireplace room. Matt noted the Council meeting closely follows the Park Board meeting and he needs to have some preliminary information for the Town Manager. Matt stated department heads were directed the budget will need to be “lean” again this year and since there is a tight timeline, he wanted to offer tonight as an opportunity to talk about capital items. The Park Board and Park Staff then moved into a discussion of possible capital budget items for potential consideration prior to the Park Board's Budget session on August 6th. Items mentioned as potentials included a new truck the 2000 Dodge Dakota used for 3 plowing and year round maintenance work (with 60,000 miles on it). The thought would be to keep it around as a back-up vehicle for heavier snow falls as currently this is the only plow-capable truck we have that fits on the trails. Also discussed was the potential for a small sun shelter, with perhaps two tables under it, on a concrete pad for the Laurel Ave Rail-Trail area. It was mentioned in the discussion that $25,000-$30,000 might be a good budgetary number towards acquisition and installation of such a feature with a table or two. Additional Mr. Dickey brought the question of the Starkey Road (Rail-Trail) Bridge for discussion to the Board and their consideration as to if they wanted to consider budgetary impacts of work there. During discussion, Board members related that the last time that this was discussed (sometime prior to 2009) it was identified this is really a Town-wide issue affecting several departments... Street's and Stormwater (because of the roadway), Parks (because of the Rail-Trail over the bridge) and possibly even Sanitation (since changes to the bridge may require increased land to implement). It was related that it was said at the time several years ago that this is a Town Council issue since they will need to assess what should be done, at what fiscal impact ,and target the funds to do so, either from within their own budget, or by placing those funds in the appropriate departments funding categories. Old Business: Noel Fliss and Rod Reid, representatives with RLR, presented ongoing work in developing a Wayfinding/Safety scheme for park signage. RLR presented various options to the leadership committee and what was being shown at this Park Board meeting is a further synthesis of that earlier presentation and later, additional input from the Fire Department. Noel described park identification signage and location signage. He recommends using unique colors on each trail wayfinding sign, for easy visibility and recognition. The signs should also be reflective for optimum safety and will use a distinct font for enhanced readability. There is a three-letter acronym suggested for each distinct park trail. It was recommended that emergency and rules signage should always be red and no other sign type will have red background to help prevent the potential for confusion. RLR’s strategy was to use the longest trail lengths they could, to reduce the number of signs and reduce user confusion. He suggested separating the Zionsville Rail Trail into segments for increased understanding by the park users. Under that scenario the Nancy Burton and David Brown trails, having long been separately named subsets of one contiguous Rail Trail, should now be identified as the "David Brown" Corridor of the Zionsville Rail-Trail (and so on). This is similar to what other communities have done in the state and across the nation (such as the cultural Trail in Indianapolis). Similarly the trail along the Eagle Creek waterway should be "corridor-ized" as needed. So potentially there would be the "Starkey Corridor" or the "Starkey Park Corridor" of the Eagle Creek Trail and so on as that trail develops across the length of the community. Neil described the various sign types as: 4  Type 10 is a large double-sided park identification sign Type 20 is a single-sided rules sign Type 30 is a double-sided directory sign Type 35 is a smaller park sign used along trail Type 37 is a small directional sign could be double-sided if necessary. To highlight other, close destinations (like Town Hall or Carter Station) Type 40 is a trail ID sign Type 50 is for emergency only signage Type 60 is comprised of three basic types (which might be consolidated) for a variety of uses, such as etiquette. Type 65 and 75 are smaller signs to be used for showing prohibitions and multi- use etiquette. Neil further described Starkey Park trails in detail, showing how the sign scheme would work overall. There was some discussion on where (which end) exactly to start the naming scheme for each trail and the overall number of signs which are likely to result from using RLR’s proposal of separate sign posts for each sign type. Of course, there is always the ability to modify the proposal and to make adjustments based on actual use in the park. It was suggested to sign the Rail Trail using mileage markers instead of segments. The ultimate number of trail signs will need to be determined in the field. There was also brief discussion regarding using shapes on the signage. It was also suggested in then the meeting that the original 8 inch by 21 inch chevron might be plenty large and perhaps the size could be shrunk to something more like 6 inches by 18 inches. Phil Howard made a motion to accept RLR’s proposal as the Starkey Nature Park and Zionsville Rail Trail sign package. Scott Bruns seconded and the motion passed unanimously. Roger Burrus spoke about obtaining approval on renaming parts of the Rail Trail. The first part is David Brown and the second is part of the Nancy Burton segment and he has already received approval of the usage of "Corridor" from the David Brown camp. Mr. Burrus also mentioned the Farm Heritage Trail concept being approved by the County Commissioners all the way from Lebanon to County Road 875 (approximately 9 miles). Neal Clements asked about agreeing to having names for these new corridors and how to tie those into the new naming and signage strategy just approved. It was mentioned that the Rail Trail and the Corridor naming concept had come about as a part of the wayfinding and safety signage strategy process. Ellen introduced the request from Zionsville Lions Club to again use Creekside Park for the Fall Festival fireworks. She reminded the Board that Park Board member Steve Mueller (who was unable to be present for this Board meeting) was expressly against allowing fireworks-launching from Creekside and wanted the launching from Elm Street Green and had sent an earlier email to Park Board members enumerating his reasoning. Also citizens, George and Nancy Tikijan, had additionally included recent written 5 comments to the board in the same vein. Scott Bruns asked if there were issues in the past using the Park. Phil Howard answered that, no, to his knowledge, there have been no adverse affects/issues. Phil went on to work from prepared notes to address a few of the written comments made by Steve Mueller and Nancy and George Tikijan regarding occasional fireworks- launching from Creekside. Regarding fireworks launching, the DNR's control and enforcement of the conservation easement for the property, potential for the existence of Indiana Bat habitat. etc: Phil stated that the question of this proposal/issue has been thoroughly researched with the DNR Division in charge of the easement, and that entity has no problem with having fireworks occur on the conservation easement at Creekside Park on a once a year basis. Phil has related that he has previously discussed this with those in Dow who were involved with originally gifting the property and that they did not feel this easement was to be this restrictive. He further mentioned that the grant related plans for Creekside Park had that area identified for a prairie and that the trees that are now present in this particular portion are not appropriate for a prairie usage. He noted the Board has approved this request in the past (at least as early as 2008 and again in 2010). Also the Town's Fire Marshall has several times approved the Creekside site as a safe and appropriate launching point as has the State's firework launching permit-process. Phil reminded the Board that the Fire Department also closely monitors conditions right up to the launch date and will stop a launch if they deem conditions inappropriate. But Phil went on to state the Lions Club Sub-committee had recently re- met and that the Lions were changing their request and would this year prefer to use Elm Street Green instead. Matt added that he had very early on this year discussed both locations with the Town's Fire Marshall, and was told either location would be acceptable to the Marshall and the Fire Department. Mr. Dickey noted Elm Street Green is closer to more residents, which will please some folks and not others. He also noted Elm Street Green could eventually have more prairie area, trees, and wildlife than Creekside and that may cause some who took various positions about Creekside at this point to change their thoughts in some manner. Scott Bruns made a motion to approve Elm Street Green for the Zionsville Lions Club Fall Festival fireworks, with Creekside being the alternate location in the event Elm Street Green for some reason will not work (as just one potential, if the State for some reason denies this year's new location on the fireworks launching permit ). Neal Clements seconded and the motion passed unanimously. Mr. Howard will communicate this back to the appropriate Lions Club Committee. Ellen also introduced the action item on paving the Laurel Street connection. As noted previously in the Superintendent’s Report, this has been added to the Town’s bid estimate for overall paving and has come in within projected budget numbers the Board approved at their 10/30/10 strategic/capital planning meeting for all three phases of this paving project. This would be a unit-cost project, not a fixed-cost one. Phil and Ellen both noted the Board had requested three separate estimates for all three phases: Laurel Street segment, the rail trail segment, and the parking lot connection, and this particular estimate does not break those out. However, since the costs did come back so favorably under the earmarked amount, the Board should go ahead and approve this tonight. 6 Scott Bruns made a motion to approve all three phases of the Laurel Avenue trail bidding as part of the Town’s 2011 resurfacing contract, contingent on the Park Board’s final design and construction approval and authorization to proceed, for the park project portions. Phil Howard seconded and the motion passed unanimously. Citizen Advisory Committee Reports: Land Resources – Phil Howard. The fourth Wednesday of each month has been established as the regular meeting date. Committee members have been reviewing established parks and what they offer. They’ve also been reviewing what land is available for sale and how parcels might meet park department needs. He will come back with a report at a later date. Another item being worked on is creating a land purchase policy. Phil will bring those ideas to the Board for review in the coming months. Finance/ Funding – Neal Clements. No report this month. Communications – Steve Mueller. No report this month. Recreation –Scott Bruns. His committee met and continues to explore recreational opportunities. The rest of this year will be looking toward 2012 and getting a variety of activities scheduled. Facilities– Ellen Butz. This committee hasn’t met. Ellen continues to work with Matt on arrangements for the charrette on the 11th. She reminded Board members to RSVP for the charrette, and stated the most important part will be the final presentation at 7PM so members could just attend that part if they could not make any other portion. Other Board Related Items None Claims Neal Clements made a motion to approve the claims. Scott Bruns seconded and the motion passed unanimously. The meeting was then adjourned, with a motion made by Phil Howard and seconded by Scott Bruns at ~9:25 PM. ______________________________ ____________________________ Scott Bruns, Secretary Ellen Butz, President 7