Zionsville Board of Park and Recreation

Summary Minutes of the Meeting of the Zionsville Park and Recreation Board May 11, 2016 The Zionsville Board of Parks and Recreation met Wednesday, May 11, 2016 at 7:00 PM. The meeting took place at the Town Hall’s Beverly Harves meeting room. George Abel, Wayne Bevans, Tim Casady, John Wollenburg, Jeff Edmondson, and Manda Clevenger were present. Also present Matt Dickey, Park Department Superintendent, and Roger Burrus, Park Board Attorney. Minutes Wayne Bevans made a motion to approve the April 13, 2016 regular board meeting minutes as presented. Tim Casady seconded and the motion passed unanimously. Public Comments/Presentations None given. Staff Reports Superintendent Matt Dickey informed the Board that he has been working on this year’s Creekfest. Creekfest will be on Saturday, August 27. For those that are new to the Board, Mr. Dickey explained that at this event, sections of the stream are cleaned up and there is an educational festival held at Elm Street Green. Each year at Creekfest, a section of the stream is cleaned up and this year the section that they will be working on is up from Creekside Park down to 96th Street. Mr. Dickey, Gavin Merriman, & Mindy Murdock kayaked down the creek earlier and they are working on getting permission from adjacent property owners, looking for places to get bodies to the water and being able to get trash out of the water. There aren’t a lot of spots available because of the bank being so steep. As Mr. Dickey, Gavin, & Mindy explored the stream, they noticed the severe erosion in several areas of the bank, especially at the Canterbury Stables location. Pictures were provided by Superintendent Dickey for each Board member. The pictures show the stream in 2009 to be about 60 feet wide, and after several subsequent years, in 2016 the stream is approximately 131 feet wide. If we had built the Eagle Creek Trail in 2009, it would now be more than 30 feet out in water. The last picture that Mr. Dickey provided for the Board shows Elm Street Green Park, where the trail was originally designed to be, at 100 feet off the edge of stream. Now, according to this photo, the trail is within 85 feet off the edge of stream bank. The Parks Department still has the right to put a trail within 30 feet of the edge of stream, but Attorney Burrus and Superintendent Dickey wonder how smart that would be considering the situation with the rapid progression of the eroding bank. Mr. Dickey said he thought that the Board should be informed of this. Mr. Dickey let the Park Board that he spoke at the ZWIN (Zionsville Women in Network) monthly (May) meeting. He did a general parks PowerPoint presentation, talking about the Zionsville Nature Center and various things that were going on with the Parks. Another item that Superintendent Dickey thought the Board should be aware of is the new position of town public information officer, how this would be used for the whole town and would bring press releases and website notices concerning the whole town. Each department would have to line item budget $10,000, so the cost is shared by all departments. The line item would not be added to their budgets, the funds would need to be found within their present budgets. Park Board Attorney Roger Burrus updated the Board on the new Nature Center agreement he has received and reviewed. He was presented with an easement agreement from the Boone County REMC. This is a standard form agreement and Mr. Burrus thought the Park Board could go ahead and make a motion to authorize either the President or the Superintendent to sign the agreement. John Wollenburg made that motion and Manda Clevenger seconded. The motion was passed unanimously. Mr. Burrus informed the Park Board of a tax bill of $35 with the Friends of Boone County Trails that he paid and will include in his bill. He explained that the FOBCT are holding a piece of property for the Parks Department just northwest of Heritage Trail Park where the Parks received 1.3 acres of former rail trail and asked the FOBCT to hold this for the Parks Department so that they could potentially use the land as the Parks Department matching contribution on a grant application. Attorney Burrus said that anytime the Parks Department takes property it is automatically exempted from tax because it is the Town of Zionsville, but the FOBCT is a non-profit corporation, so any time they take title to property they must file for a tax exemption on that said property. And in this case, because the Parks asked FOBCT to hold the property for them, the Parks Department will file that exemption and pay that year of taxes. Another item to discuss is the Friends of Zion Nature Center and the follow-up meeting Attorney Burrus had with them to talk about ways they could help the Parks Department with the new Nature Center and about having a Park Board member serve on their board. Park Board member John Wollenburg volunteered to take that position. Mr. Burrus said that it’s up to the FZNC to appoint Mr. Wollenburg to their board, but we welcome the opportunity to work more closely with FZNC. New Business Mr. Dickey, Parks Naturalist Mindy Murdock, and Attorney Burrus have been discussing the possible change of the Zion Nature Center’s name to “Zionsville Nature Center”. This is due to possible copyright issues with Zion National Park, plus the fact that the new nature center will not be next to Zion Nature Sanctuary. They wanted the Park Board to be informed and to start thinking about the name change. Citizen Advisory Committees No reports given. Claims John Wollenburg made a motion to approve the claims as submitted. Jeff Edmondson seconded and the motion was passed unanimously. The meeting was then adjourned with a motion made by Park Board Member Jeff Edmondson, Wayne Bevans seconded and the meeting was adjourned at ~7:45PM. The next regular Park Board meeting is scheduled for June 8, 2016 at 7PM, at the Town Hall’s Beverly Harves Room. _______________________________ ____________________________________ Manda Clevenger, Secretary George Abel, President