Zionsville Board of Park and Recreation

Summary Minutes of the Meeting of the Zionsville Park and Recreation Board August 12, 2015 The Zionsville Board of Park and Recreation met Wednesday, August 12, 2015 at 7:05 PM. The meeting took place at the town hall meeting room. Steve Bullington, Manda Clevenger, George Abel, John Wollenburg, and Jeff Edmondson were present. Also present was Roger Burrus, Park Board attorney. Not present were Phil Howard and Tim Casady. Mr. Bullington welcomed a new member to the Board – Mr. John Wollenburg. Mr. Wollenburg made a brief introductory statement. Mr. Bullington presented Dorothy Hitchins with a resolution recognizing her many contributions as a board member. She has served on the Park Board from 2013 through mid-2015, serving as chair of the Finance and Funding Committee and other capacities. Unfortunately, Dorothy had to leave the Park Board due to increased responsibilities with her new job. The Board extends its thanks to Dorothy for her service and commitment to the citizens of the Town of Zionsville. Mr. Abel made a motion to approve the resolution and Ms. Clevenger seconded and the resolution was approved unanimously. Dorothy publically expressed her thanks and wished the new board members the best. Minutes Mr. Abel made a motion to approve the August 2015 regular board meeting minutes as presented. Ms. Clevenger seconded and the motion passed unanimously. Public Comments/Presentations 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. Mindy Murdock presented a semi-annual report on the Nature Center. Mindy gave a brief update on the activities at the center for the past few months. There were 1,300 participants in July, 600 of those were at the library’s end-of-summer carnival, scheduled just before school starts. Zionsville Nature Center had a booth at this event with information available about the Park Department center. They also, brought along some of their educational animals. The Current in Zionsville has been to several of these programs and taken pictures. Our Nature Center had 153 kids register for camps this summer. There were a variety of camp offerings for kids from 4-14; from one-day camps to week-long camps with an overnight. The vast majority of participants were Zionsville residents. Expenses were lower this year due to past overstocking on the Nature Center supplies and Mindy based the curriculum on what they already had in stock. Mindy typically sends out surveys on programs to help with improvements for the following year, so we expect next year to be even better. 1 Mr. Bullington praised Mindy on the Nature Center budget and for bringing the day camp program in at a profit. He also asked what she would do differently next year. Mindy would like to add two more preschool camps next year; they were a big hit this year. Additionally the one-day camps seemed to work better with everyone’s schedule. Teen camps were low in enrollment; next year they will probably change the teen camps to a one day or an overnight camp. The board asked about promotional efforts. There are 500 reached through the park e-newsletter, plus word of mouth, website, and Facebook. The Times Sentinel also published a camp spread this year which included information about the Nature Center summer activities. Mr. Bullington asked for an update on the Bicentennial Project. Mindy explained that they had received as a part of the Bicentennial Nature Center Network, a $100 grant to cover the cost of attending a summit at Dunes State Park for the Environmental Education Conference. She and others will be reviewing curriculum at the conference. Mr. Burrus began his report announcing that we received the grant agreement from the Bike Pedestrian Master Plan. The grant is not to exceed $18,500 and will basically reimburse the department for a portion of the fees for a consultant to help the parks department and the town with a master plan for biking and pedestrian pathways. Typically, such grants are reimbursed funds, paid after the fact and based upon a defined percentage of a local match being also involved (often 50% local, 50% grant reimbursement). He has reviewed this for legal ramifications and discussed this with Superintendent Dickey. Mr. Burrus requested that the Board approve this agreement and authorize its execution. Board president, Mr. Bullington, requested the board think about it for a bit and they would return to it later in the meeting. Mr. Burrus talked about the process with the Town Council and the School Board on a swap of Jennings Field for ten acres of land by the new baseball fields off of county road 875 East. That deal did close and we now have documents confirming that it has been completed. Mr. Bullington asked whose name is on the title of said land and if we have a drawing of the location of said land. The Town of Zionsville is on the title and Mr. Burrus said there may be a map from some survey information done earlier. Mr. Bullington shared from the department report that we had the company Custer Electric, who assists with the sports field lighting, come to Mulberry Fields Park. Kite Day is a fundraiser for the Zionsville Boys & Girls Club and is organized by a Zionsville business owner. At this event, another kite got caught in one of the sports field lights. This is the second time this has happened. Both times, the kite was left for 5 months in the forlorn hope the string would part. Unfortunately, come football season, we have to contract a special bucket truck (because of the height) and have a sports lighting technician remove the kite and inspect for short-circuits or other damages. Each time the cost of the kite removal has been in the $400-$500 range, which the event organizer tells us is more than what the fundraiser makes per year. Steve thought maybe we need to request the event organizer utilize a different park or site. Roger Burrus - Zionsville Golf Course has had lot of work done on the fairways due to flooding. Also, work was done cleaning an upstairs room of the Pro Shop that could eventually be used as a staff break room, or for additional upstairs storage. 2 New Business As the board had had some time to consider the points from the earlier presentations, Mr. Bullington opened the floor to a motion to approve the project agreement with the Bike Pedestrian Master Plan Grant to be signed by the superintendent or the president, contingent on Superintendent Dickey reviewing the agreement. Manda recused herself from voting due to being employed at the granting entity. George approved and Jeff Edmondson seconded. 4 votes yes, with the recusal from Manda Clevenger. Mr. Bullington related that during the Fall Festival, we traditionally have a booth in the commercial services tent. The cost of the booth is $150. Steve asked for a motion to pre- approve this payment of $150 to the Lions Club for the booth during the Fall Festival. Jeff Edmondson approved and John Wollenburg seconded that motion. Steve passed around a sign-up sheet for the Fall Festival to each board member asking them to help the Park staff man the booth for that weekend. President Bullington introduced Steve Christian with SJCA Engineer & Surveyors concerning the Starkey Road Bridge inspection. Mr. Christian presented to the Board his findings and recommendations on the bridge construction alternatives. Mr. Christian related the bridge is structurally sound; the main concern is cosmetic deterioration, with the cracking of the concrete facia. This raises the potential for fragments of surfacing to delaminate and fall on the roadway below. With the data the bridge engineering firm accumulated, they came up with 3 primary options with 2 secondary alternatives for two of these major options. The 1st option was to patch up the structure, but that wasn’t recommended due to the cost of this option being higher than the INDOT approved cost-benefit ratio. Life span for this option is 10-15 years. Secondary alternative to the first option (1a) was to fiber wrap the structure, which would double service life to 25 years, but would cost $45,000 more. They would remove deteriorated concrete surfacing, patch it, and get a smooth service. Then they would laminate fiber-wrap against the concrete, which gives it further strength, more service life, and will hold the outer facia concrete in place more securely. The 2nd major option would be a complete super structure replacement, basically remove and reconstruct the existing abutments and putting a new 40-foot long pedestrian bridge across the top. This could, if so desired, increase the vertical clearance above Starkey Avenue. The cost for this is $190,000 locally funded and $230,000 if certain federal grant programs are involved. Mr. Christian explained why there are two costs. Basically for a federally funded project there are more requirements, but that they typically reimburse 80% of the total project cost. The life span for this option is 30 years. The second alternate to option 2 (2a) is essentially the same except for fiber-wrapping the abutments. For this alternative you end up with substantially increased costs ($310,000) for not much of an increased service life (40 years), and as such it, doesn’t make sense economically. The 3rd option is complete replacement with a service life of 60 years and would have the least amount of near-future maintenance costs. Under this route, they would take the whole structure out. The cost of this option is $300,000 locally funded and $360,000 if federally grant funded. 3 The Board asked about construction time for superstructure only reconstruction (Option 2). Construction time would be 2-3 months. The trail would be closed, but the road wouldn’t have to be closed all the time. Construction time for total replacement would be 2-3 months also. The road would not be closed for a high percentage of time in either option. Mr. Christian recommended Options 1a and 2 as the most cost effective solutions compared to total replacement and he suggested those for further consideration by the town. Manda Clevenger asked if this would raise the bridge at all. Mr. Christian said that option 2 could, if such was the town’s wish, raise the bridge at least 3 feet. Old Business None Citizen Advisory Committee Reports Steve asked the new board members to consider the description of the below advisory committees and to think about taking on a leadership role. Also, next month the Park Board will need to make an appointment to the Town Council Pathways Committee. Land Resources – Finance/Funding – Communications – Recreation – Steve Bullington mentioned Creekfest at Elm Street Green. Several volunteers have signed up. Mindy Murdock explained some of the details about Creekfest. This is an expanded version of our 3-year cooperative effort with the Street & Storm Water Department Facilities– Other Board Related Items Claims Mr. Bullington requested a motion to approve the claims as submitted. Mr. Abel made that motion and Jeff Edmondson seconded. The motion passed unanimously. The meeting was then adjourned with a motion made by Mr. Edmondson and seconded by Mr. Wollenburg at 8:30PM. The next regular Park Board meeting is scheduled for September 9, 2015 at 7PM, at the Town Hall’s Beverly Harves Room. ______________________________ ____________________________ Manda Clevenger, Secretary Steve Bullington, President 4