Zionsville Board of Park and Recreation

Summary Minutes of the Meeting of the Zionsville Park and Recreation Board July 8, 2015 The Zionsville Board of Park and Recreation met Wednesday, July 8, 2015 at 7:02 PM. The meeting took place at the town hall meeting room. Steve Bullington, Phil Howard, Manda Clevenger, George Abel, and Dorothy Hitchins were present. Also present were Matt Dickey, Superintendent and Roger Burrus, Park Board attorney. Mr. Bullington welcomed two new members to the Board – Mr. Jeff Edmondson and Mr. Tim Casady. Both new members made brief introductory statements. Mr. Edmondson will be serving until the end of 2015, at which point the slot becomes a one year term appointed by the Mayor (at which point Mr. Edmondson would be eligible for reappointment and the partial term in 2015 does not count against his term limit quotient) and Mr. Casady will fill the remainder of Mr. Howard’s term, ending in 2017. And the partial term in fulfilled for Mr. Howard 2015 does not count against Mr. Casady’s term limit quotient (as identified early in Mr. Howard’s tenure on the Board as President)). Minutes Mr. Howard made a motion to approve the June 2015 regular board meeting minutes as presented. Ms. Clevenger seconded and the motion passed unanimously. Public Comments/Presentations Mr. Matt Dickey introduced Ms. Bonnie Black, who is a new part-time office support person for the Parks Department. He mentioned Bonnie had a “trial by fire” as her initial week included introductions to the preparation of board packets, claims, and payroll. 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 his verbal update by highlighting a poor month at the golf course – the worst June at the course (although balanced by the best May also this year). This was all weather related of course due to the rains. June had 6 days of full closures due to wet conditions and 10 more days that were so wet for part of the day that our receipts were in the $500’s or less. Mr. Dickey also reported on the 2nd Annual Zionsville Bike Challenge. Zionsville won again this year. There was just over 50% more participation this year, so the program has proved popular. 33,497 miles were logged by 128 total riders. There will be a follow-up survey conducted to ensure this program continues to be successful. Ms. Clevenger noted that Matt won the individual category for the most miles ridden during the six-week challenge period. Thank you letters will be sent to both the DowAgrocyclists and Zionsville Tri-Team. Mr. Howard noted that both Matt and the Dow team were crucial to the success of the program this year. Mr. Bullington asked about the bike and pedestrian grant from the State Department of Health. Mr. Dickey explained that the Parks Board needs to get under contract with the Health Department’s contractor and that Mr. Burrus will need to review that prior to signatures. The project has a year to complete the funded project. $18,500 will be paid by the State Department of Health (as a reimbursable). Mr. Bullington asked for an update from the Nature Center programming. Mr. Dickey reported that the primary focus these last two months have been summer camps, which are currently running, although due to the amount of rain, camp has been inside this particular week, which posed a few minor scheduling issues. Mr. Howard inquired about the lease securing the Nature Center location. Matt will be attending a meeting with school administration and town council on this topic and can report back at an upcoming Board meeting. Ms. Clevenger asked about the Tails on the Trails program. Matt noted that 89 dogs and their persons registered to participatate. Mr. Burrus began his report; welcoming Messers. Edmondson and Casady to the Board. Mr. Burrus noted he met with Matt to discuss the Legion of Blues request (ASCAP music licensing) to be discussed later this evening. Much of his time has been spent on issues with the golf course, Rail Trail extension, and the splash park claim. Mr. Burrus reported he would be out of town July 17th – 25th, riding a bicycle across IA. New Business Mr. Dickey updated the Board on a recent request received from a local music agent who would like to use the Park Board’s ASCAP license for copyrighted cover songs played at the local Legion as a fund raiser for Honor Flights. Included in Matt’s information was the request from Mr. McLaughlin and initial commentary from Mr. Burrus. Mr. Burrus reported that, during his research on this subject, he discovered that persons using copyrighted music without permission could be subject to a $10,000 fine plus court costs. Therefore, the Park Board has been paying annually for the necessary permissions. Other facilities having live music would pay for this same service. Speaking on this particular request, Mr. Burrus would expect the Legion to have its own license. Since the license runs with the venue, the license and permissions the Park Board has aren’t really transferable to the Legion or anyone else. Mr. Howard suggested a letter be sent to Mr. McLaughlin stating the Board’s decision not to participate and why. The other members concurred. Mr. Dickey will send the letter with legal explanation. Mr. Dickey next spoke on the 2016 Budget. He gave a bit of background on the process and the Perry Township Reorganization process and how the two relate. Mr. Dickey noted some of the challenges inherent in beginning the budgeting process early and how some of the unknowns impact that. Matt reported on the direction given Department Heads by the Town Leadership to submit across the board 2.5% pay raises, and to try to “flat line” other departmental needs as long as that didn’t result in sacrificing too much. Matt and Mr. Bullington discussed a draft budget with the Board that includes increases in capital and for maintenance staff (this department hasn’t had additional maintenance employees on the manning table since 2006, despite adding greater than 60% more park acreage in that time). This has negatively impacted the efficiency and effectiveness of some of the maintenances services for the various park sites. Therefore the proposed budget shows a new Maintenance Tech position. A small amount of additional moneys were earmarked in part- time personnel as an intern for The Park Naturalist and Environmental Education programming. Also there was a modest increase in Nature Center contract services reflecting the actual costs of maintaining that site going up over the last several years. Mr. Dickey noted another larger increase in capital line items. This is to assist filling some Park & Recreation Impact Fee Deficits that have been identified since 2011. Having these deficiencies impacts how park impact fee moneys may be spent (or not spent) to fill the gaps. What it means for Zionsville is these deficiencies must be brought up to a sufficient level prior to utilizing impact fee dollars for associated capital items. Mr. Dickey completed his report by generally describing the remaining budget line items, including some specific proposed park and trail projects. This is a draft budget request submitted to the Town Council form the Park Board, as per State and local law. Ms. Clevenger inquired about the age range for the proposed play structure. Mr. Dickey reported there are two groups – 3 to 6 and a separate area for children 6 to 11. Mr. Casady asked about the amount in fees collected by the park system. And as a part of the answer there was general discussion on park impact fees and the general levy. Mr. Howard complimented the work put into the budget, and made a motion to approve the general 2016 budget submission to the Town Council. Ms. Hitchins seconded and the motion passed unanimously. Mr. Dickey then spoke on the golf course budget (a separate proposal), whose operation to date has been funded completely through the golfing revenues collected. The budget always includes a course manager, but currently all course personnel are part-time and paid from those specific line-items so the manager item effectively is just a place holder. The majority of the golf course budget is earmarked for course irrigation improvements and future golf cart replacements (fleet replacement roughly targeted for 2022-2025. Mr. Howard made a motion to approve the golf course budget proposal for submission. Mr. Abel seconded and the motion passed unanimously.  Old Business None Citizen Advisory Committee Reports Land Resources – Phil Howard. No report. Neither the land resources nor pathways committee met, but Mr. Howard did note the walk friendly community application has been submitted. Mr. Howard also mentioned a board replacement to the pathways committee will be necessary. Finance/Funding – Dorothy Hitchins. No report. Communications –Manda Clevenger. No report. Recreation –Steve Bullington. Steve mentioned that there have been no recreation fund grant applications received for consideration this month. Facilities–George Abel. The next committee meeting is July 15th. Other Board Related Items Mr. Dickey thanked board members for their quiet support of his efforts to qualify for and ride the 2015 Paris-Brest-Paris event. He will be gone from August 11th through the 29th to participate in this event and add a bit of vacation time on the end (“So he can spend time with his lovely wife in Europe!”) Claims Mr. Howard made a motion to approve the claims as submitted. Mr. Abel seconded and the motion passed unanimously. Special Presentation Mr. Bullington made a special announcement and presentation to Phil Howard for his years of dedicated service to the Park Board, Lion’s Club, and the citizens of Zionsville. Mr. Bullington presented a Resolution in Mr. Howard’s honor. The Resolution was approved unanimously by consensus. Mr. Howard thanked everyone for coming together as a group and making Zionsville parks the best. He especially appreciated the individual Park Board members’ ongoing contributions as well as that of Superintendent Dickey and his Park Team. He acknowledged how much he has enjoyed his time on the Board. The meeting was then adjourned with a motion made by Mr. Howard and seconded by Ms. Clevenger at 8:30PM. The next regular Park Board meeting is scheduled for August 12, 2015 at 7PM, at the Town Hall’s Beverly Harves Room. ______________________________ ____________________________ Manda Clevenger, Secretary Steve Bullington, President