Zionsville Board of Park and Recreation

Summary Minutes of the Meeting of the Zionsville Park and Recreation Board February 10, 2016 The Zionsville Board of Park and Recreation met Wednesday, February 10, 2016 at 7:02 PM. The meeting took place at the town hall meeting room. George Abel, Wayne Bivans, Manda Clevenger, Tim Casady, John Wollenburg, and Jeff Edmondson were present. Also present were Matt Dickey, Park Department Superintendent, Mindy Murdock, Naturalist, and Roger Burrus, Park Board Attorney. Minutes Jeff Edmondson made a motion to approve the January 13, 2015 regular board meeting minutes as presented. Wayne Bivans seconded and the motion passed unanimously. Public Comments/Presentations Jane Smith was present with her husband Jeff to discuss a fence that abuts her back yard to the 8th tee of the golf course. The Smiths would like to have the fence removed or replaced. Orlin Coleman, maintenance manager of the golf course, expressed his concerns for security with taking down the fence. He stated there have been several incidences of people not picking up after their dogs, people golfing after hours, and kids doing damage to the greens. The Park Board wanted to know the background on improvements to the 8th tee area. Mr. Coleman explained that they still need to seed the area, and there is a 30 foot section of fence that needs to be replaced. The major improvements have already been done. Those included a stump removal, rerouting the cart path to eliminate the old steps which were a safety concern and certainly not ADA compliant. Attorney Burrus informed the Smiths that they do not own the fence and cannot remove it due to the laws of Adverse Possession and the law of Fence Boundaries. Park Board President, George Abel asked if the Smiths would be willing to work with the Parks Department to build a fence. Superintendent Dickey explained that Jeff & Jane Smith haven’t stated what type of fence they wanted and the golf course management has strong feelings about taking down the fence. Attorney Burrus asked Mrs. Smith if she would provide the Park Board with a copy of the survey that she had done so that they could clarify the boundary lines and solicit the Smiths view on what kind of fence that they would like. Jane Smith stated that she would give that to Superintendent Dickey. The Park Board directed Superintendent Dickey, President Abel, Attorney Burrus and the management of the golf course try and work out solution with the Smiths. Staff Reports None were given at this time. New Business Brad Johnson was present at the board meeting to discuss the Creekside Corporate Park project. Mr. Johnson is the president of the Zionsville Redevelopment Commission (RDC) and is currently heading up the Creekside Corporate Park project. This project is a 66 acre site located north of Lids, north of 106th street. Out of the 66 acres, 44 would be used for lots and road. That would leave 18 acres to which Mr. Johnson would like to discuss tonight about transferring that land to the Parks Department. The 18 acres would also include a pocket park. Pointing out the development concept that each Park Board member was given at the meeting, Mr. Johnson stated that they would like to transfer common area A & B to the Parks Department. After explaining the design of the park, Mr. Johnson asked if there were any questions. Superintendent Dickey asked Mr. Johnson to explain the possibility of a tenant fee. He explained that the tenant fee as in any retail park or office park, always have fees that are paid just like a neighborhood association to maintain common areas. The RDC is trying to work through whether or not they can assess a dollar amount to the lot owners that would go toward maintaining the trails. There were questions about security, lighting along the trails, restrictions, and signage. Mr. Johnson explained that they were not providing security; lighting would be along the road not the trails. Restrictions and signage could be provided by the Park Department if we so choose. This project is scheduled to begin construction by mid-June and the completion of this project is estimated to be in October. Signing over the transfer of the 18 acres to the Parks Department would be at the end of the year. President Abel stated that as a Park Board, we would need to look at the property, asking Superintendent Matt Dickey to advise us on the cost of maintenance and then ask Attorney Roger Burrus about the legality of the fee situation; if a tax or fee from the office could be an option (the attorneys for the RDC are working on this). Mr. Dickey will work on clarity of numbers and get that to the board. Paul McCoy with ZHS Rugby Club and Scott Abbott with Zionsville LaCrosse were present at the Park Board Meeting to discuss structuring a contract for use of Mulberry for their perspective sports use that is similar to the current ZYFL agreement. Attorney Burrus will draw up a contract for each team. Tim Casady made a motion to authorize Superintendent Dickey with council from Attorney Burrus, to execute agreements similar to ZYFL for the ZHS Rugby Club and Zionsville LaCrosse teams where they have agreed to their scheduling and authorize Mr. Dickey or the board president to sign. Jeff Edmondson seconded that motion and it passed unanimously. Old Business President George Abel read a resolution honoring past board President Steve Bullington for his service to the Park Board and to the community. The resolution will be kept in the records and will be given to Mr. Bullington. Jeff Edmondson made a motion to adopt the resolution. Manda Clevenger seconded that motion and it was passed unanimously. Other Board Related Items Mr. Dickey updated the board on the Nature Center Hybrid building north of Heritage Trail Park. He, Mindy Murdock, and George Abel are meeting at the current Nature Center to discuss programming needs with the center, architectural design and the costs with that. Superintendent Dickey also wanted to update the Park Board on the Community Wide Pedestrian and Bicycle Trail Planning grant process so far. The low turnout for the stakeholder meetings was disappointing. An approximate total of 58 people attended the public meeting. The online survey was used by over 600 people and the WiKi Maps component has been used by 580. The 2016 LARE Grant submission, we should hear if we are accepted sometime in May or June. Citizen Advisory Committees No reports given Claims Jeff Edmondson made a motion to approve the claims as submitted. Tim Casady seconded and the motion was passed unanimously. The meeting was then adjourned with a motion made by Park Board Member Manda Clevenger, Jeff Edmondson seconded at ~9:00PM. The next regular Park Board meeting is scheduled for March 9, 2016 at 7PM, at the Town Hall’s Beverly Harves Room. _______________________________ ____________________________________ Manda Clevenger, Secretary George Abel, President