Zionsville Board of Park and Recreation

Summary Minutes of the Meeting of the Zionsville Park and Recreation Board April 25, 2012 The Zionsville Board of Park and Recreation met Wednesday, April 25, 2012 at 7:00 PM. Phil Howard, Steven Mueller, Steve Bullington, Manda Clevenger, and Neil Clements were present. Matt Dickey, Superintendent, and Roger Burrus, Park Board Attorney were also present. Phil Howard took the opportunity to thank folks for their work so far in the first quarter of 2012 with the tree grant/plantings, bike rodeo, youth sports, garlic mustard eradication days, new golf carts, pathways, and just in general what a fabulous job everyone is doing. Minutes Steve Bullington made a motion to approve the March 14, 2012 regular board meeting minutes and the April 11, 2012 special board meeting (claims only) minutes as presented. Neal Clements seconded and the motion passed unanimously. Public Comments/Presentations New Business Mr. Roger Oberweiser gave an update on Zionsville Youth Football. He distributed a handout for Board members. He noted the teams have played several years Jennings Field and also at Mulberry Fields in the past and would like to return to regular play at Mulberry. He noted there are a number of proposed changes they would like to make to Mulberry Fields to accommodate play. ZYF would like to add an 85-stall parking area to the school site with paved/boardwalk walkway connections to the park. Currently, there can be 300-400 players and cheerleaders on a single day during weekend play trying to get into and out of the site. Mr. Oberweiser showed a drawing of the park with proposed new facilities (concession building, etc.). The next step is to contract with a professional site designer to create an updated master plan for the new development. They would like to get a 15-year agreement with the Park Board for ZYFL use of Mulberry Fields Park. Phil Howard commented he had forwarded the proposed agreement to Roger Burrus and other board members for their input. He suggested an interim one-year agreement might be appropriate term until all details are clarified. Phil asked if board members had questions at this time. Phil Howard asked about the concession building structure and architecture. Mr. Oberweiser noted the proposed building would be similar in materials and outside look to the existing one. He went on to say it is planned to have restrooms and a small storage room in addition to the food capacity. Steve Bullington asked about a parking agreement with the school board. Mr. Oberweiser said ZYFL will be paying for the parking lot addition and pathway connections, and that the school had indicated this would not be an issue. 1 Roger Burrus asked if ZYFL is working with Ratio Architects, as they are the consultants who designed the existing park and might have some information pertaining to design and engineering that could be helpful. Mr. Dickey noted the Board does have as-builts of the park that might also have helpful infrastructure information once the design process actually gets underway. Mr. Oberweiser indicated the total project costs are estimated to be about $400,000 to $500,000 dollars. ZYFL will be seeking a variety of methods to pay the costs including obtaining a loan, phasing the project elements, and perhaps partnering with the Board for additional funding options. ZYFL mentioned the possibility of the Park's Board cosigning the loan. When pressed, the Park Board Attorney thought that such ability would be unlikely, but indicated he would check into it further. Neal Clements asked for a bit of background on Zionsville Youth Football League. Mr. Oberweiser noted they are a 501(c)3 organization and have been around since the 1970s. They conduct a few fundraisers during the year but most of their funds come from player fees. They serve 300-400 football players and cheerleaders from 3rd –5th grade annually. It is their belief that these facility improvements should accommodate double the amount of players in the future, but such needs to be confirmed with professional park designers. ZYFL would request their teams get priority playing time on the fields. A preliminary schedule could be provided to the Board in May, with a final schedule in July. Saturdays and some evenings during the week are typical game times. Mr. Oberweiser stated that ZYFL will keep their coaches from practicing on the fields to preserve the field integrity. Steve Mueller raised his concern that other groups, both informal and formal not be excluded from access to the park and fields. Steve Mueller also asked about the affiliation of ZYFL with ZSA. Mr. Oberweiser indicated they are part of the overall ZSA organization. ZYFL has been in contact with ZSA regarding Football’s desire for an exclusive agreement during football season at Mulberry Fields. Mr. Mueller also noted his concern with the financial arrangements, as well as some of the physical aspects of the proposed site design. Mr. Dickey asked if ZYFL would be willing to share the scope of their design agreement with the Park Board. Mr. Oberweiser agreed. Mr. Clements asked for some clarification of their funding plan. Mr. Oberweiser indicated the majority of funds would come from their own capital funds campaign. Mr. Bullington asked if there is a legal precedent for the Park Board to issue bonds for this type of project and to have an outside agency to repay those bonds. Mr. Burrus responded in the negative and stated an opinion that such would likely not be allowable. Mr. Howard noted at this time there has been a written list of concerns given to ZYFL for their response. A detailed discussion of this item can occur at the committee level. 2 Having stated a desire to allow Football for use yet this year out at Mulberry Fields, Steve Bullington then made a motion that the Board approval a one-year interim agreement with ZYFL and authorized the Board president to sign the agreement once drafted. Neal Clements seconded and the motion passed unanimously. 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 began his report by informing the Board that there has been a terrific start to the golf season. He noted the course took in $18,000 in gross operating profit for the month of March. He also noted the first 4 days of this season exceeded the first 4 weeks of last year's. He attributed this to not only the cooperative weather, but also a bit to the revised fee structure. Mr. Dickey also reported on a recent Eagle Scout project planting trees in Turkey Foot Park using some money from a USFW grant. There were enough folks available to plant the trees, that they got done early on each day and helped with the scheduled garlic mustard pull as well, getting another twenty-five 35-gal bags for removal. Matt reported the Laurel Street project is nearly complete, with traffic bollards and road markings reported by the contractor as going in this week. Garden plots are ready a month early this year. There are twelve plots still available. The Elm Street Green plots are still waiting on soil and amendments. Those could be ready within a week or two if the contractor moves on it. Invasive species removal is ongoing at Elm Street as well. There remains some concern with the prairie area on the hill. Roger Burrus added that there has been quite a bit of problem in some areas with this contractor and there is little to be done since even holding the over $20,000 remaining in under the contract seems to be of little incentive. Mr. Dickey noted that the wayfinding signage has been installed at Starkey Park. Mr. Dickey continued his report with news about construction documentation at the new park located at 400S and 875E. Additional survey work is being prepared. Discovery of some drainage issues caused by incorrect design and site work done in the past on the nearby subdivision land adjoining the park property has necessitated this extra surveying. Roger Burrus began his report with an update on the Family Farms of Indiana land donate and acceptable uses. He noted there was some information that did not show up on the title search regarding the potential land donation and previous owner agreements. Mr. Burrus reminded the Board that the basic agreement states the land will be used for a natural park and the path could not be closer than twenty feet to the creek. He did follow up with last month’s discussion regarding a small parking lot and noted there should be no issue with that. 3 Mr. Burrus distributed the use agreement and closing documents and asked for the Board to approve Resolution 2012-1 and authorize the Superintendent or President to sign the agreement. Neal Clements made a motion to approve Resolution 2012-1 and also authorizing the Board President to sign the final agreement. Steve Mueller seconded and the motion passed unanimously. Roger reported he has prepared a revised set of policies regarding land resources and has received solicited comments, with Matt and Manda providing thoughts so far. He will get those changes to Phil Howard for review by the Land Resources committee. Mr. Burrus also noted mandatory rule changes for ADA regarding service animals and mobility devices other than wheelchairs. He noted there are several other nuances and new or supplemented facilities will need to comply with the new rules; park department partners will also need to consider these. Phil noted the land resources committee is still working on a sports fields usage component in their land resources policy. New Business Conducted earlier in the agenda (shifted to under Public Presentations/Comments) Old Business Steve Bullington noted there were three Recreation Grant applications. Jason Nutter presented the committee’s recommendations for the Board. Maplelawn Farmstead made a request for cooking hardware and food and supplies for their summer camp program. The committee is recommending they receive $300 for cooking utensils but recommended not funding the supplies. Zionsville Baseball Club also made a request, but in part because the money would have been going to fields in Whitestown, not Zionsville, the committee recommends they not receive funding. Finally, Zionsville Lions Club requested funding this year but as they were awarded money last year, they are ineligible for additional funds in 2012. Mr. Nutter made a further recommendation to reopen the grant application submittal period to solicit more requests. It was noted that, since there is still money to potentially distribute, more requests could come to the Board at a later time. Mr. Mueller made a motion to approve funding $300 for Maple Lawn Farmstead. Neal Clements seconded and the motion passed unanimously. Mr. Mueller will also re-advertise the grant program on the park department website. The next Recreation Committee meeting will be mid-May. Mr. Howard next called for possible action regarding park system rules. Mr. Roger Burrus previously distributed a revised copy of the park rules. Mr. Burrus explained some minor changes made since the draft document was crafted. He clarified the smoking provision and equestrian use and ensured that was correct in the document. When specifically questioned stated that we could not enforce a ban on smoking in the parks. 4 There being no further discussion or changes proposed, Steve Bullington made a motion to approve the Park System Rules and hours as presented. Manda Clevenger seconded and the motion passed unanimously. Citizen Advisory Committee Reports Land Resources – Phil Howard. There was no meeting in March. At the May meeting will review the land resource committee notes and will have a report for the board ready in June. Finance/ Funding – Neal Clements. This committee will be researching grant opportunities in upcoming meetings. Communications – Steve Mueller. Mr. Mueller noted the committee has not met recently, but there are two projects currently being worked on. First is naming the new park. Mr. Mueller would like to wait until after the May Primary Elections to tackle this. Mr. Mueller also noted that since the park rules have been approved, the committee has completed its initial work program. He anticipates they will meet and formulate a new list. Mr. Mueller also took the opportunity to note attendance at the recent Z'GreenFest was 501, and the Friends of Zion Nature Center was pleased to have had another successful event. Phil Howard asked if the Friends would be holding the event next year since they had strongly considered dropping it last year. Steve M replied that he was only one member of Friends but for his part he thought the should have it again in 2013. Recreation –Steve Bullington. Mr. Bullington noted he is still looking for at least two more members to add some diversity to the committee. Mr. Bullington announced the second annual Bike Rodeo and Family Fun Ride is scheduled for Elm Street Green on May 19th at 10 AM. Nebo Ridge bicycle shop has been included as a sponsor. He is working on advertising the event and hopes for another good turnout. Finally, Mr. Bullington noted the committee will be working on partnering with other organizations to conduct a variety of programming the rest of the year. He hopes to have some recommendations to make in July. Facilities– Manda Clevenger. Ms. Clevenger requested the addition of Amy Lacy to the committee membership. Ms. Lacy was added by unanimous voice vote. Ms. Clevenger stated a committee meeting is planned for May. Mr. Howard noted he has worked with Amy in the past and thinks she will be a valuable addition to the group. .Mr Howard further requested Ms. Lacy’s contact information be forwarded to the Park Department to add to the members information. Other Board Related Items Phil announced that Matt has been working on some ideas for the master plan update that needs to be completed this year. Mr. Dickey distributed some information for the Board and explained the various types of master plan approaches the Board could pursue for this update. A more in-depth discussion is proposed for a Board Retreat. Mr. Dickey proposed a schedule for completion by the end of December for submittal to the State in January for their comments and eventual approval in April. The actual timing of the document completion will depend upon the type of plan desired as well as the amount and kind of public input. A Park Board Retreat was scheduled for 1 to 5 PM on May 19th, after the Bike Rodeo, to begin the discussion in earnest. 5 A walk through Eagle Creek was also scheduled for May 9th, at 5:30PM before the monthly Park Board meeting, to look at the potential trail route and challenges. Mr. Dickey stated he received an email request from Maplelawn Farmstead to determine whether they can sell an existing grain bin located on the east side of the property, and to keep the proceeds from the sale. Because the Park Board owns the land, they may have to initiate the sale and distribute any proceeds. Mr. Howard asked if parks is able sell the bin and give the funds to Maplelawn. Mr. Burrus will research the question and update the Board at the next regular monthly meeting. Claims There were no claims for this meeting (they had been handled in the April 11th meeting). The meeting was then adjourned with a motion made by Steve Bullington and seconded by Neal Clements at ~9:00 PM. ______________________________ ____________________________ Steve Bullington, Secretary Phil Howard, President 6