Zionsville Board of Park and Recreation

Summary Minutes of the Meeting of the Zionsville Park and Recreation Board September 13, 2017 The Zionsville Board of Park and Recreation met Wed., September 13, 2017 at 7:00 PM. The meeting took place at the Town Hall meeting room. George Abel, Steve Bullington, John Wollenburg, & Jeff Edmondson were present. Not present was Tim Casady and Wayne Bivans. Also present … Park Department Superintendent, Matt Dickey & Board Attorney, Roger Burrus. Agenda/Meeting John Wollenburg made a motion to approve the August 9, 2017 regular board meeting minutes with minor changes as mentioned. Steve Bullington seconded. The motion passed unanimously. . Public Presentation/Comments Superintendent Dickey reminded the Park Board that they need to appoint a secretary now that Ms. Clevenger has moved out of the community. Steve Bullington suggested Tim Casady for the job of secretary. The Park Board accepted and approved this unanimously. Staff Reports Superintendent Matt Dickey handed out to each Board Member a report on the golf course. He explained that this form shows expenses and revenue, which helps the golf course staff know exactly what revenues total. This also shows the yearly savings for the eventual new golf carts ($15,000 per year) and for the longer-term capital irrigation project ($25,000 per year). Mr. Dickey asked the Park Board to look on the back of their form to see a spreadsheet with the comparison of previous years with this year. Mr. Dickey pointed out that expenses are down this year. The Park Board discussed ways to bring in more golfers to the course. Mr. Dickey updated the Park Board on the Grant situation. The one grant (RTP) we missed by one point but we will reapply for that grant next year. The other application is still a possibility. We have made the State’s initial cut and should find out on the Federal approval in early 2018. Also on the agenda is a report to the Park Board about the Town budget meeting, Mr. Dickey stated that some of the most noteworthy items to point out was the $50,000 more in the Golf budget to be used to work on the cart paths. Also, Mr. Dickey said that the Mayor will be increasing the Park Boards golfing budget request by $400,000 for irrigation on the golf course. The Parks are being told by the supplier that the stairs for Starkey Park are still under fabrication. The install cost is being researched by our Maintenance Supervisor. One quote indicates the railing that was damaged by a van is would cost $14,000 to repair. Other quotes are in process. Park Board Attorney, Roger Burrus, presented the Park Board with a resolution recognizing Manda Clevenger for her service as a Park Board Member. Park Board President George Abel read the resolution. John Wollenburg approved with Jeff Edmondson seconding and the Park Board approved of the said resolution unanimously. Mr. Burrus informed the Park Board that he is continuing his work on the Sheetz Cemetery situation. He was able to find some old files with documents that may help with this. The Vonteera project is getting ready to donate their second piece of land with ~12 acres and those future donated sections of land to go into an entity holding non-profit (Friends of Boone County Trails). Mr. Burrus said that a motion needed to be made for this to go forward. Jeff Edmondson made a motion to authorize upon receipt of title from CalAtlantic to Friends of Boone County Trails, Inc. and to authorize the Park Board President and/or the Parks Superintendent to sign. Steve Bullington seconded the motion and this was approved unanimously. Other Board Related Items One item that Mr. Dickey wanted to discuss with the Park Board came up last night and that is the event organizers of a sprint triathlon that will be using our Parks. They would like to use a trail at the north of Turkey Foot for an aid station. They asked to use a lawn mower to haul water, table, and cups to this spot. Mr. Dickey stated that the problem with the area the organizers are using is not Park property, and also that there is a Town Ordinance that states motorized vehicles are not allowed on the Parks’ trails. The Park Board & Dept. have no ability to gain say the Town Council Ordinance. The owner of this property is looking to sell/develop this land and this plan for an aid station would not be good for the Town at their proposed locals. Mr. Dickey however, has suggested to the organizers to move the aid station back into the Park and to use a Parks vehicle with a paid Parks staff to haul the water and supplies to the aid station since Parks’ vehicles are allowed in the Parks. Superintendent Dickey talked about the upcoming LARE Project. The last time the cost totaled $160,000 to which the Parks eventually received $100,000 back. The estimates related to the actual project right now are $140.000 plus $20,000 for construction access protection. The Parks would eventually get the $100,000 back. The Park Board by consensus approved the use of moneys eventually totaling $185,000 to $200,000 (including engineering fees) with the understanding that the State will eventually be refunding $100,000. One last item Mr. Dickey had on the agenda was the upcoming 5 Year Master Plan. He passed out a survey for the Park Board to fill out and rate the progress of last time’s Master Plan. They can email this back to him sometime next week. Meetings for the next 5 year Master Plan will now be scheduled now that the new Town Hall building is finished. One of the items that will be scheduled is a public input survey online. After the public input will be the stakeholders meeting which will take into account the public’s questions/opinions from that online survey. Mr. Dickey hopes that by the next Park Board meeting, he will have the survey questions available. New Business Jeff Edmondson was asked by a Pathway Committee member to discuss with the Park Board a possible idea for our Rail trail. This member visited Traverse City, Michigan and liked the way they used one of their trails as an educational tool by using the solar system. The Park Board did discuss this and Superintendent Dickey informed the Board that he asked our Naturalist, Mindy Murdock her opinions on this. Ms. Murdok’s note indicated she was not in favor of us taking on the project … pointing out that this is really more appropriate for a planetarium or natural history museum. The Board agreed this may be something to consider in the future … but not right now due to the large expense to do the Solar System display properly and too other big expenses that need to take priority. Old Business - None Identified Updates on Park Board’s Citizen Advisory Committees - None Identified Claims John Wollenburg made a motion to approve the claims as submitted. Jeff Edmondson seconded and the motion was passed unanimously. In Other Business - None Identified Adjournment The meeting was then adjourned with a motion made by Park Board Member Jeff Edmondson, Steve Bullington seconded & the vote was unanimous at ~8:48PM. The next regular Park Board meeting is scheduled for October 11, 2017 at 7PM, at the new Zionsville Town Hall’s Council Chambers (Room 105). _______________________________ ____________________________________ Tim Casady, Secretary George Abel, President