Zionsville Board of Park and Recreation

Summary Minutes of the Meeting of the Zionsville Park and Recreation Board July 12, 2017 The Zionsville Board of Park and Recreation met Wed., July 12, 2017 at 7:00 PM. The meeting took place at the town hall meeting room. George Abel, Wayne Bivans, John Wollenburg, Tim Casady, & Manda Clevenger were present. Also present were Park Department Superintendent, Matt Dickey, & Park Board Attorney, Roger Burrus. Agenda/Meeting Tim Casady made a motion to approve the June 14, 2017 regular board meeting minutes with minor changes as mentioned. John Wollenburg seconded and the motion passed unanimously. . Public Presentation/Comments Manda Clevenger announced her resignation from the Park Board; her last Park Board meeting will be next month, August 9th. Manda and her husband are moving to Whitestown which will be out of the Zionsville town limits. Manda Clevenger was placed on the Park Board in 2012 and said she has enjoyed being a part of the board and considers it a great honor. The Park Board and staff unanimously expressed it had been a great pleasure working with Manda Clevenger. Staff Reports Superintendent Matt Dickey and Allen Shaffer, Assistant Superintendent for the Park Maintenance have been conducting a series of interviews for the Park Maintenance position opening and will soon be offering the job to someone. Park Board Attorney Roger Burrus gave the Park Board a follow up of the Sheetz Cemetery and the Butz Family. He has met with the family and is attempting to develop an agreement that will be a winning situation all around. Superintendent Dickey pointed out to the Board and Mr. Burrus that as part of this negotiation there needs to be clarity developed as to the 16 unused plots “titles” with the Butz family. Other Board Related Items Superintendent Dickey asked Golf Course Manager, Scott Barson to update the Park Board on the golf season so far this year. Each Board member was presented with documents showing the revenue/expenses of the golf course to date. Mr. Barson said that unfortunately the golf course had to be closed for 12 days in May and 2 days in June due to rain/standing water. Mr. Barson reports that the good news is that the increase in the base fees has not deterred the golfers from playing. Mr. Barson informed the Park Board that net revenues are right on track with last year (2016 had been alittle lower than normal). Mr. Dickey explained that in May revenue for the golf course broke even and recovered some in net for the month of June. Last year replacing the culvert and fixing the mower were pretty big expenses that reduced the net for the year. He explained that the golf course needs to clear at least 40K in profit per year to cover the earmarks in the near future for new carts and the later-projected new irrigation system. Mr. Dickey told the Park Board that the Park Staff has been very pleased with Scott Barson and Steve Robinson. New Business Mr. Dickey updated the Park Board on nonprofit usage level of Park managed facilities; particularly as it might pertain to the for-profit group, Run2Race and their request to hold their 2018 half-marathon utilizing portions of Park Board-managed properties. The part of the Park that they would be using is Carter Station and then they would be crossing the Rail Trail. After discussion, the Board indicated they had some additional questions for the Run2Race event that they would like Mr. Dickey to discuss with the event organizer before giving total approval. Also on the agenda tonight, Superintendent Dickey would like to start discussing the 2018 Park Board budget process and he provided supplemental paperwork for each member. He went on to explain that in this environment when the Parks is not through with the Master Plan and someof the other potentials in other departments that are beyond our influence, Mr. Dickey suggested that it may not be a good idea to make a lot of big changes in our budget overall. Mr. Dickey pointed out several line items that he thinks are somewhat a change from previous years. In the Non Reverting Capital Fund 2018 the Parks is asking for ~$300,000 which is planned to include purchase/install on various deficiencies found in the amount of certain, specific recreation components as required by State Law to correct the Town's Park Impact Fee component deficit (just one legal requirement before the impact fees can be more freely spent). Many of these could completely be in OWP. These deficiencies were found to need $794,565 to correct in 2010. By State Law, Impact Fees may NOT be used to correct initial deficiencies and that budgets have not been sufficiently increased since then to correct. Features/projects within Overley-Worman Park are just one way/location to address many of these requirements. Another line item the Department needs to increase is the Non Natives/Invasives. The Overley- Wormen Park is a big site of invasives and the Parks will need to be ready for that. Also, the System Signage line item is increased for new signage for the Parks. This could be used for new stone work signs or for replacing the current wood signs with the new metal signs. The Parks Department has a 1982 tractor with a side mower, which was inherited from the Town’s Street Department, this needs to be replaced. In the Cemetery Care line item; fencing is needed in some of the cemeteries. The insurance line item has a requested increase so that the Parks does not go in the negative as they have in the past two years when the Town pulls the money. Mr. Dickey told the Park Board that putting LED lights in that building has decreased the utility costs in the Parks Department building and he thought that the lights in the overall system should be changed to LED. Duke Energy and Boone REMC have rebate programs. Mr. Dickey asked the Park Board if this $20,000 is something they would want to add to the budget. After discussion the Park Board decided to add this to the 2018 budget to capture similar savings. Estimates show this initial investment would be recouped in 3-5 years. Superintendent Dickey asked for the Park Board’s consideration on the "Major Course Improvement" line-item; a new request in 2018 for the golf course budget. He explained that the golf course does need improvements on their cart paths; Mr. Barson, the golf manager has suggested forgoing two years of the irrigation earmark totaling $50,000 to cover this. Mr. Dickey explained his idea of a new line-item number that would not have a past budgeting history. This is because it would be a new major capital improvement. ZGC has been generally covering its operational expenses and still saving funds for eventual major irrigation system overhaul & for replacement and for the cart fleet replacement at the end of 10-12 years (projected in ~2022). $50K is requested as additional budget funds direct from the Town; the estimate for each of the next 4-5 years in order to repair/replace/construct cart paths. Mr. Dickey asked the Board if this is a request that they could agree to, the Park Board agreed to add this to the budget request for the golf course. A motion was made by Tim Casady to move that the Park Board approve the suggested increases to the Parks budget that have been discussed and with the authority and direction for Superintendent Matt Dickey and Park Board President George Abel to reduce those items if need be. Jeff Edmondson seconded the motion and this was passed unanimously. Old Business Mr. Dickey informed the Park Board that we did not get the Recreational Trail Program (RTP) grant. He explained that there were 3 times as many applicants as grant funds. These projects were ranked from 19-29 points and funding was available for 3 applicants at the full $200,000 and one partial. The funding point was between 29-27 points. The Parks asked for 27 points and awarded 26 lacking one point from getting accepted. But Mr. Dickey thought we had a good chance next May if we could a). possibly extend some trail on down along Zionsville Road, if the Town doesn’t do it themselves or b). extend the trail north ahead of Heritage Trail and south on the other end; south of the power station. This would give us additional points. Updates on Park Board’s Citizen Advisory Committees - None Identified Other Board Related Items - None Identified Claims Jeff Edmondson made a motion to approve the claims as submitted. John Wollenburg seconded and the motion was passed unanimously. Adjournment The meeting was then adjourned with a motion made by Park Board Member Wayne Bivans, Tim Casady seconded at ~9:15PM. The next regular Park Board meeting is scheduled for August 9, 2017 at 7PM, at the Town Hall’s Beverly Harves Room. _______________________________ ____________________________________ Manda Clevenger, Secretary George Abel, President