Zionsville Board of Park and Recreation

Summary Minutes of the Meeting of the Zionsville Park and Recreation Board May 13, 2015 The Zionsville Board of Park and Recreation met Wednesday, May 13, 2015 at 7:02 PM. at their advertised town hall location. Steve Bullington, Manda Clevenger, George Abel, and Dorothy Hitchins were present. Phil Howard was unable to attend. Also present were Matt Dickey, Superintendent and Roger Burrus, Board Attorney. Minutes Ms. Hitchins made a motion to approve the previous month’s regular board meeting minutes as presented. Ms. Clevenger seconded and the motion passed unanimously. Public Comments/Presentations None Identified Staff Reports The reports from the Superintendent of Parks & Recreation, the Park Naturalist, and the Assistant Superintendent for Maintenance Services were part of the Park Board packet and available for review. Mr. Dickey began a few verbal highlights by noting the planting and plotting program was very well attended again this year. Mindy Murdock had revived the program after its one year hiatus. The Family and Fun Ride had 35 attendees. This was the 5th year for this event. And to date, the Zionsville Bike Challenge has 60 sign-ups so far, with 25% being new to the Bike Challenge program. It starts May 18th and runs through June 28th. Mr. Bullington spoke briefly about a new (small) source of money from the Community Foundation. This is in the form of an expendable fund portion from the interest of an endowment. The amount can vary each year based on a variety of factors but this year’s amount was $975. In years past, this has gone directly to the Chamber of Commerce and to help support the concerts in Lincoln Park. Since the Chamber is no longer involved in our joint program, the Parks Board is the next logical recipient and Parks was specifically mentioned in the original giving guidelines as the second choice for funding recipients. Consequently, the Town, via the Park Department, should be receiving some funding each year. When asked, Mr. Dickey noted that last year’s sound system upgrade and the previous year’s use of Park funds to buy all new chairs would have certainly been appropriate targets for this supplemental funding. Mr. Dickey was asked to explore some costs for possible further electronic equipment. Roger Burrus mentioned he would pass on additional information from a sound-system expert with whom he has contact. Mr. Dickey mentioned he would also ask the Town IT person, since Sound dynamics is not in the traditional knowledge range of a Park Superintendent. All Board members agreed that in general, capital purchases that support the concerts and also hopefully have at least some value to all park goers in addition to supporting the concert series would be a wise use of such funds. 1 Mr. Dickey continued his report by announcing that Zionsville would be receiving grant moneys for trail planning purposes. The amount would be around $19,000. The Board has previously earmarked $25,000 for this plan. This is a pleasant surprise, as the initial rating by the State, the State had only funded two projects and we missed out by just one or two of that. Mr. Burrus began his report with an update on the Eagle Creek Trail. It appears the stables have rough graded their portion of the trail extension’s land so Parks can begin to assess the routing. It is believed the stables still need to build a new fence line to which we would attach their (required) secondary fence line. In further news; regarding the LARE grant project, Starkey bank stabilization permits are all in process. Mr. Burrus and Mr. Able met on the splash park repairs and potential recoup from responsible parties. There is still some research to be done. Ms. Mindy Murdock was present and briefly reported on summer camps. There will be six (6) weeklong sessions and a one (1) day camp. Some camp sessions are being offered at a lower cost than in previous years. The single day camps have proven to be quite popular and filled up within first weekend. Another popular one is a new pre-school camp. Fees collected for the camp programs totals $6,500 in fees, with 145 registrants. Additionally, Mindy reported on the new Tails on the Trails event. This is a new program designed to get people and their dogs out to explore the trail system. There are “wag bags” and prizes available for those completing the entire trail system over the six-week program. Superintendent Dickey complimented Mindy’s efforts in general and in particular credited her with the new idea for this program Mindy continued with an announcement of Turtle Day slated for next Saturday, the Great Sunflower Project, and an end-of-year campfire on May 30. Ms. Hitchins congratulated Mindy on her completion of the Boone County Leadership program and Matt announced her upcoming 1-year anniversary with Zionsville Parks. New Business Mr. Dickey began by discussing requests he occasionally receives from for-profit businesses wanting to use the parks for their own business income purposes – for example, fitness lessons. This is a nation-wide issue and many park systems are working to curtail such use. In any case, this may be something for which the Park Board may want to consider establishing policies. Mr. Bullington asked board members to review the information Matt distributed and be ready over the next few months to discuss in further details. Any changes may well be incorporated for Jan 2016 so as not to change course in the middle of the year 2 Old Business Mindy spoke about working with the Cope Partnership on the Children’s Bicentennial Park effort. The overall committee has been working on the curriculum, with hopes it will be finalized by the end of next year. Independent of the Cope partnership, the Indiana Bicentennial Commission has an opportunity to apply for recognition apart from the Cope Partnership. This would allow Zionsville to be advertised on the Indians State Commission’s website and utilize “official” logos, press releases, etc. in their own media efforts. This could help elevate Zionsville’s name recognition in a wider state arena. Ms. Hitchins made a motion to participate in the program. Mr. Abel seconded and the motion passed unanimously. Citizen Advisory Committee Reports Land Resources – Phil Howard. No report Finance/ Funding – Dorothy Hitchins. The committee has been discussing various best practices for fund raising with seasoned fundraisers. They are putting together a report for the Board. Communications –Manda Clevenger. Bike Challenge press releases have been sent out to various media outlets. Recreation –Steve Bullington. Steve recognized Nebo Ridge Bicycles for their continued support of the Family Fun Ride. He continued his report with announcement of the first of the weekly Bicycle Challenge group bike rides next Wednesday. Facilities–George Abel. The committee continues to conduct various park assessments. The next meeting is scheduled for the first week in June. Other Board Related Items Mindy spoke about a potential Yellow Dog Project. Dogs wearing yellow ribbons are those needing special considerations or additional “space”. This is a way to let others know your dog is shy, or recently had surgery, or is in service dog training or otherwise shouldn’t be approached by other folks or dogs. It was specifically noted this is not to let people out of their dog training and ownership responsibilities. If one’s dog is poorly trained or unsafe towards other dogs or people; Yellow Dog Project is not the panacea. This general information will be placed in the newsletter an on flyers to help get the word out and educate the public. Claims Ms. Clevenger made a motion to approve the claims as submitted. Mr. Abel seconded and the motion passed unanimously. The meeting was then adjourned with a motion made by Ms. Clevenger and seconded by Ms. Hitchins at 8:15PM. The next regular Park Board meeting is scheduled for June 10, 2015 at 7PM, at the Town Hall’s Beverly Harves Room. ______________________________ ____________________________ Manda Clevenger, Secretary Steve Bullington, President 3