Zionsville Board of Park and Recreation

Summary Minutes of the Meeting of the Zionsville Park and Recreation Board May 6, 2019 The Zionsville Board of Park and Recreation met Monday May 6, 2019 at 8:30AM. The meeting took place at the Zionsville Town Hall’s Council Chambers (Room 105). Tim Casady, Jeff Edmondson, & John Wollenburg were present. Also present was Park Department Superintendent, Matt Dickey and Park Board Attorney, Roger Burrus. Not present was Wayne Bivans. Agenda/Meeting Tim Casady made a motion to approve the April 10, 2019 regular board meeting minutes with a minor date correction. John Wollenburg seconded. The motion passed unanimously. Public Presentation/Comments Superintendent Matt Dickey explained that a presentation was planned as originally stated on the agenda but plans did change and he informed the Park Board of the recent events. The Waste Treatment Plant is planning their sewer connection up north. This will be a temporary line (possibly several years) 12 inch 4 span, to connect the Holiday Farms project. Mr. Dickey was originally told in a Department Head meeting that this would be going up Turkey Foot Road. At that time, Mr. Dickey was told that the Waste Treatment Plant would be boring under the stream. As plans developed, it turned out that that was not what the plan is currently. Now the plans are to go through the bulk of Turkey Foot Park either down south in the earthen trail section and come up along parallel to the stream but not cross the stream. Then either possible route a) go up the remnant of Turkey Foot Road easement north of the pedestrian bridge or b)as another option, long or under the paved trail. Barry Cook asked the consultants to present this to the Park Board, as to which they were planning on doing. Mr. Dickey asked if they wished a tour of Turkey Foot; as it seemed the engineers were only using aerial photos and/or topography for their plan. After looking at the area, the south part of the plan was dropped based on the engineers’ recommendation. Mr. Dickey suggested that if the paved trail route was implemented, the sewer line go alongside the trail. If they ever had to open it up for repairs and if there are going to be manhole covers this area could be cleared beside the trail, it would be better to have alongside the trail than under it. He noted as per most park paved trails in the State, it was originally designed to take pickup trucks. The Waste Treatment Plant Department Head, Barry Cook asked Mr. Dickey if there was anything that could be done different while this was being constructed. Mr. Dickey stated that a thicker trail going down after this is done would be fine and maybe replace the 4 bollards on the bridge with newer orange ones that we use now. Based on their visit to the Park, Mr. Cook and his engineers decided that there were too many challenges with Turkey Foot Road/Park and are leaning on coming in on Willow Road now. While this routing in via northern willow Road via the Engineers & Mr. Cook’s assessment of the proper way to go, Mr. Dickey also asked if Mr. Cook’s engineers would still present at the upcoming Park Board meeting just in case plans change. Staff Reports Superintendent Matt Dickey informed the Park Board that ZYFL (Zionsville Youth Football League) have said they are not be using Mulberry Fields for their 2019 season. The Park Board spends ~$12- 15,000 on irrigation, mowing, & other items related to that sports turf, and didn’t think $2,500 was asking too much for a core aeration & a weekend feed. Mr. Dickey did say that Zionsville Rugby is still committed and has said they will do their agronomic treatment. Another item Mr. Dickey wanted to inform the Park Board about is that the Park Board President & Mr. Dickey made a presentation to a landowner on the west side of the rail trail extension about two weeks ago. Mr. Dickey received a phone call from that landowner and was told that she is 85-90% sure that this parcel will be donated to the Parks in honor of her parents. The landowner scheduled a meeting with family to discuss this further and would let Mr. Dickey know the result of that meeting. As of today, Mr. Dickey has not heard back from the landowner. An update on hiring an Assistant Superintendent for the Maintenance Service, Mr. Dickey is interviewing someone at 4 today. Mr. Dickey reminded the Park Board that the Mayor informed him to hire someone that can manage a full time team and that can handle project management and not to settle for less just to fill a slot in-the-field. The Parks is currently down to two maintenance men due to one being on workman’s comp. Park Board Attorney, Roger Burrus informed the Park Board that he did get in writing permission from the Holiday family to lease and farm the section at the Holiday Farms. Mr. Burrus relayed back to the farmer that was interested in farming the Holiday property and he decided not to participate. Mr. Burrus and Mr. Dickey called local farmers and proposals are due by the end of today. Mr. Burrus is working with the Vonterra developer on the final phase which is now in two sections. Mr. Dickey and Mr. Burrus discussed this with Vonterra and were told that they were moving as quickly as possible. The easiest way to donate would be after they plate that section. Mr. Dickey would like to have construction documentation started before the end of the year, as the entire grant completion deadline is June 2021, or there could be a chance of losing the $200,000 grant monies. Superintendent Dickey did tell the Park Board that the fabricator of the original set of stairs at Starkey Park will not build the second stairs with the existing “extra” treads. They would apparently like us to throw away their mistakenly treads rather than save money and use them for the second stairway. Mr. Dickey is exploring using other fabricators who would be willing to not waste the new treads. They have found 1-2 firms and the engineers that might be willing to use the current treads and fabricate risers to work with those “extra” treads. New Business Mr. Dickey needed to relay for the Park Board’s action on another For-Profit event utilizing taxpayer funded facility. This event is with Run-2-Race and is a 5 & Dime race on Saturday, November 23, 2019. Tim Casady made a motion to approve this for-profit event; Zionsville 5 & Dime Race on 11/23/19. John Wollenburg seconded the motion and this motion was passed unanimously. Mr. Dickey also informed the Park Board of a minor item with the Howard Cemetery. The Howard Cemetery is located in Perry Township west of Indianapolis Road on 750 South; the cemetery next to the one room schoolhouse. This property was replated and title was transferred to the Parks. The Howard Cemetery has a flag pole which was had been reinforced in the past before the Parks got involved. A secondary pole strap has broken due to the winds. Mr. Dickey heard from someone at the Howard School that they would like to install a flag pole at the school. After discussing this, Mr. Dickey suggested that the Howard School bill the Parks for up to the repair amount for that damaged flag pole, but for a flag pole located closer to the school rather than out in the middle of a cemetery. The Howard School met last Thursday and were ok with that concept. Mr. Dickey asked the Park Board if this was acceptable. A motion was then made by Tim Casady to allow Superintendent Dickey to proceed with the Parks paying for up to the amount of the flag pole at Howard School for the Howard Cemetery. The motion was seconded by John Wollenburg and did pass unanimously. Old Business Mr. Dickey informed the Park Board that Zionsville was not chosen for the Next Level Trails Grant (NLT) Round-1 Funding. The DNR informed participates that they will be scheduling a phone debriefing. President Jeff Edmondson suggested that another Board member/s be present for the debriefing; since the second/third rounds will be out of his presidency. The Deputy Mayor would like to submit some questions also for the debriefing. Other Board Related Items - None Identified Claims George Abel 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 Tim Casady, seconded by George Abel & the vote was unanimous at ~9:35AM. The next regular Park Board meeting is scheduled for June 12, 2019 at 7PM, at the Zionsville Town Hall’s Council Chambers (Room 105). ___________________________________ ____________________________________ John Wollenburg, Secretary Jeff Edmondson, President