Zionsville Board of Park and Recreation

Zionsville Board of Parks & Recreation Meeting Minutes For Wednesday, April 13, 2022 At 7:00 P.M. EST ONSITE MEETING 1100 West Oak Street In Attendance: John Stehr, President, Jill Pack, Vice President, John Wollenberg, Tim Casady, John Salewicz, Sarah Moore, Kris Barksdale Staff attending: Superintendent, Jarod Logsdon, Tom Whitsitt, Attorney, John Emery – IT OPENING Call to Order/Roll Call Stehr Okay. We are going to go ahead and get started here. This is the regular meeting of the Zionsville Board of Parks and Recreation for Wednesday, April 13, 2022 and before we take the roll call I’d like to recognize we have a new Board member with us tonight, Kris Barksdale. Kris was approved unanimously by the School Board to replace Erin Bidwell who resigned last month. So, uh, Kris, why don’t you just take a minute here and introduce yourself. Barksdale Okay. I am – I’ve lived in Zionsville for 15 years. I am a teacher in the schools. I teach English as a second language. Um, and let’s see – I was asked to talk about the parks a little bit. I am an avid trail walker in Zionsville, and I am interested in being on the Board just because I think there is a lot of really good stuff happening. I’m interested in both the parks and the rec side of what Zionsville’s doing along with the conservation efforts. Um, so that’s kind of what drew me. And I want to thank the School Board for appointing me and the opportunity to play a role in, uh, shaping what our rec program might look like in Zionsville for the future. Stehr Great. Thank you Kris. Page 1 of 41 Barksdale Glad to be here. Stehr All right. That being said let’s take roll call. Jill Pack? Pack Here. Stehr John Wollenberg? Wollenberg Here. Stehr Tim Casady? Casady Here. Stehr John Salewicz? Salewicz Here. Stehr Sarah Moore? Moore Here. Stehr Kris Barksdale? Barksdale Here. Approval of the March 9, 2022 Minutes Stehr Alrighty. We are going to go ahead and get started here. The first item on the agenda, uh, is the approval and discussion of the March 9th minutes. Um, does anybody have any comments on the minutes? Any corrections? Stehr Do I have motion to app – Casady I move they be approved as submitted. Stehr Tim Casady moves that they be approved as submitted. Anybody have a second? Salewicz I sec – Pack Sec – go ahead. Salewicz I second. Page 2 of 41 Stehr John Salewicz seconds. Let’s take a quick vote. Sarah Moore or I am, sorry – uh, Jill Pack? Pack Aye. Stehr John Wollenberg? Wollenberg Aye. Stehr Tim Casady? Casady Aye. Stehr John Salewicz? Salewicz Aye. Stehr Sarah Moore? Moore Aye. Stehr Kris Barksdale? Barksdale Abstain. Introduction to Friends of Overley-Worman Park Stehr All right. Thank you. So we have 6 in favor and one abstention. All right. We are going to continue with the agenda now. The next item is the, um, Overley-Worman Park – the Friends of Overley-Worman Park. Uh, as you all know, work continues there with an expected opening now in May and, happy to tell you tonight that we have some neighbors, uh, from the adjacent Vonterra neighborhood that have formed a group to support the park and help its ongoing operations, um, and we are going to hear from them now. We have Jacob Bradley and Ryan Cambridge from the Friends of Overley-Worman Park to tell us what they have in mind. Gentlemen. Bradley Thanks John. Do you need our addresses for the record? Stehr Sure. Bradley 5834 Muscadine Way. I’m also the President of the Vonterra Homeowners’ Association. Stehr Okay. Ryan. Page 3 of 41 Cambridge Uh, 10330 Arilla Circle, uh, in Vonterra also and I’m on the HOA Board but luckily not the president. He was the only person that voted against his appointment. So – Stehr Well you are here now and that’s important. So – Bradley Right. Cambridge Um, well, I mean we are – thank you for taking a couple minutes to, um, to chat with us tonight. Really, we hope tonight is more of just an introduction of what, um, we think can be a great long-term relationship. Um, a little – we can give a little bit of background on each of us but, as we start, you know, both of us are – have been in the neighborhood. We were both phase one folks in Vonterra so we’ve had the pleasure of watching Overley-Worman develop over the last handful of years and don’t tell anybody but the pleasure of playing back there before it was developed also. So we’re very excited to see the progress, um, and very excited about the opportunities that that park will provide. Not just to our neighborhood but, uh, to the Town as a whole. Um, so again, my name is Ryan Cambridge. My background, uh, I am a landscape architect but my area of speciality, if you can call it that over the last 15 years or so, has been in park planning and park design. So, um, I have worked for companies from Florida all the way up to back to Indianapolis which is where we’re from originally. Um, and, you know, it has really been a passion of mine, uh, and of that one of the things that, um, I’ve been an advocate for with a lot of my clients, uh, which are other municipal organizations or municipal governments is the need to have these really well functioning and active Friends groups and a park foundation within every park system. So, um, as we formed, uh, the Friends of Overley- Worman Park which it’s hard to believe that it’s been two years, I mean, um, pretty much before they even broke ground back there we wanted to get that in place so that we knew from day one that we’d be available to help, uh, and around and are very excited now and encouraged, you know, that there’s also a Town-wide park foundation. So, we look forward to, uh, finding opportunities to partner with them, uh, in the future. Um, and when, when I look at that – you know, I think that, um, you know, the purpose of the Friends of Overley-Worman Park in my mind is really just to find any way that we can help Jarod and his team, um, with that park, uh, centered around, you know, raising awareness, uh, organizing volunteer efforts, raising funds for specific capital projects that, uh, Jarod and his team might deem needed over time. Um, as we all know, parks are sort of living and breathing things that have all been changed with time and we want to be there to help facilitate that. Uh, it also helps that my lot literally backs up on the park so – I think we chatted when constructed started. I was like I could be full-time, 24-hour-a-day construction administration from my bedroom, so – um, but anyway, we’re, we’re just Page 4 of 41  really here to, um, to donate our time and effort and, and speak on behalf of the whole Vonterra neighborhood in the sense that, um, you know, we’re all very excited about the park, uh, and very appreciative of the efforts that the Town has been putting in. Um, and then maybe one step beyond that – we do not see this and don’t want this to be an organization that is limited to any one specific neighborhood. This, we envision this as being a traditional Friends group. Anybody that is a fan of the park or wants to support or donate time or resources to make the park as great as it can as, as far as we’re concerned are welcome, um, and we look forward to working with the Town and Jarod to help in any way we can. Bradley And we have had a few people reach out already expressing interest so, we are going to build that group. Um, I think our plan for this year is just to get our name out there, let people know who we are, really build up our membership and probably organize some sort of a workday in the summer or early fall something like that and make sure the park is nice and clean. Um, and I am an attorney in Town here. I work at a practice at the firm called Quarles & Brady, um, mainly business to business disputes that involve the courts but, uh, in my free time I like to I would say jog on the trails. I do not think you can call what I do running but, um, I really enjoy it. Cambridge He is being modest. He runs like 50 miles at a time so – and that is not an exaggeration. Stehr Well that is great to hear. We have high hopes for Overley-Worman Park that it’s going to be well used by people in Town here and not just by people in your neighborhood and I just want to say that I think it’s great that you have organized this group on your own and that you’re stepping up and taking this role and, uh, we would be more than happy to work with you as we go forward here and, and make that park as good as it can be for everybody in Zionsville and also for your neighborhood and we want to be good neighbors too. So, so thank you so much and I will open it up to anybody else if anybody has any questions or comments that they’d like to direct toward these gentlemen. Casady My only comment is the key will be using the park first and foremost so from that you and we will learn a lot, I’m sure. Cambridge Oh yeah. Yep. Yeah, as I would tell my parks clients from the design side, uh, the ribbon cutting is just day one, right? You know, these parks have all been changed with trends over time and with people as they come and go. So, I think having a functional Friends group, um, that is also a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, which we have that designation, um, so we are able to raise money and keep funds specifically for projects like this that helps Page 5 of 41  provide sort of a thread of continuity, uh, amongst time as things kind of change and we’ll be there to help. Stehr As a landscape architect, do you uh, feel good about the plans there and how it is all coming together? Cambridge I do, I do actually. So when we bought the house – when we closed on our – well when we picked our lot it was back in 2017 and my background in, in landscape architecture is more on the planning side than it is on like the plant selection and the detailed side and so, of course, I was researching land uses and adjacent owners and seeing what plans were going on for what and that’s when I came across the plan, uh, for Overley-Worman and I’m very familiar with Rundell Ernstberger and Tricia and, uh, all the folks there, um, they’re a very well respected firm, I know them personally and that helped me a lot. Because I am like all right you, you know – I know it’ll happen and it’ll be good and we’re, we’re very excited about it. Stehr Great! Moore Well I just want to say thank you as somebody who, um, in my regular job must try to rally people around our projects it’s really amazing to have you guys come to us and be excited and, you know, already trying to help this project. So that is wonderful and thank you. Salewicz How do you plan on getting the word out to the community other than just your park – your neighborhood? Excuse me. Cambridge That is a good question. I think we’re, um, need to get – we’re at the point now where we, we kind of rushed early on to get everything pulled together, to get the 501(c)(3) designation, get our website launched, all that and then we kind of pressed pause as Jarod and his team were trudging through the construction process and we’re at a regrouping phase now where, um, as we think about the park – people being more aware of the park that are obviously outside of our neighborhood, um, that, you know, we felt like to do it properly we probably needed the park open so that there was that, that awareness of the park itself and that we want to find ways over the coming months to activate the park, whether that’s through as Jarod – or Jake said, a, a clean-up day, uh, you know, or I don’t know – I think TBD – but through probably different events at the park and we also envision being present at other community events where we’ll get our word out about the organization and opportunities that folks have either to contribute financially or just in time. Bradley And Jarod’s helping us as well. We are going to have a photo shoot at the park opening and actually specifically reference the Friends group. Um, we do have a website posted and Jarod’s made a few other introductions Page 6 of 41  for us to some of the Foundation folks. So we’ll keep working networks and – Cambridge Yep. Bradley And making sure people find out about us. Cambridge Absolutely. Stehr Yeah, your website looks great and what, what is the address for that? Cambridge Oh boy – FriendsofOWP.com? Bradley I think it’s FriendsofOWP, yeah. Stehr FriendsofOWP.com? Cambridge Yep. Stehr Okay. Great. Well, I hope a lot of people will go to it. A lot of people that see this meeting tonight will, will go to it and check it out. I think it’s, it’s well put together and, uh, obviously you guys have thought this out and have a good approach. Pack Do you have other social media presence? Moore On Facebook. Cambridge Um, we don’t, right? As OWP? Um, again, we’ve kind of been in a holding pattern waiting for the park to open but I see all of those things as being critical ultimately to getting the word out. Pack Sure. Cambridge I’m not a proponent of any single method but sort of carpet bombing, all that you can, right? Any channels that are available. So, um, I would say tuned for that. Right, for right now since the website is up and active it does need a little bit of updating but it is functional and live. Um, that’s probably the easiest source of information if you want to direct folks there if they ask for, you know, opportunities to volunteer or contacts for things like that. Obviously, Jarod is first and foremost but that’s a place that they could get information about our group specifically. Salewicz OWPFriends – Moore There is a Facebook page. Page 7 of 41 Cambridge We do have a Facebook page. Bradley We do have a Facebook page. Cambridge I’m recalling we created – because we don’t really post things as you probably see but we created that before we got the, the website launched. Moore Okay. Cambridge So we envision probably having a continuity of all the social media platforms at some point in the near future. Moore When I searched for your name that is the first one that came up. So – Cambridge Yeah. Salewicz And it’s OWPFriends.org. Bradley Oh. Cambridge OWPFriends.org. Bradley Man, I feel like – Cambridge We probably should have written that down. Salewicz Okay – I just want to make sure it is out there. Cambridge That was so long ago that we did that. Stehr Appreciate the advance planning and, uh, Jacob, you have my number? Bradley I do. Stehr Share it with, uh, Ryan if you want to and, uh, Jarod you have his number and, you know, I promise that we will be a, an open door for any ideas or anything that you want to bring to us that can improve the park or help the neighborhood down there. Cambridge Well, and let us keep that a two-way street, too. If you all discover things that man, we could really use help with this or we’re having a challenge with this and we need to raise some funds for that, you know, let us know and we’ll, we’ll rally the troops to the degree that we’re able. Stehr Great. All right. Anybody else? All right gentlemen, thank you so much. Page 8 of 41 Cambridge Thank you. Stehr Sure do appreciate it. Cambridge Absolutely. Pathways Committee Update Stehr We will see you down there for the ribbon cutting in the park. All right, the next item on the agenda is the Pathways Committee Update and, um, in the past years here we have had a regular report from the Pathways Committee, but we have kind of gotten away from that a bit and, uh, last year Sarah Moore volunteered to be our liaison to the Pathways Committee. She is walking out the door right now, but we are going to get her to come back, um, and she’s going to give us regular updates on what the Pathways Committee is doing and how we can work with them better on matters of common interest. Um, so we will get her back here in just a second and get her to take the podium and give us that update. Her timing in walking out the door was not great, but she’ll be right back. Logsdon I will mention one more thing about the, uh, Friends of Overley-Worman group, um, so the community when they planned out the park picked two activities that have a very vigilant, caring group of stakeholders and that’s frisbee golf and mountain biking. So, I can very easily see the Friends group serving as the notification center in addition to the Town for letting those, uh, members that use those, uh, facilities know whether the trails are closed because of weather, whether there is a hole that’s out or other, uh, cautions like that as the park gets weathered. So – Stehr Yeah, it seems like the neighborhood is activated. When, when we had the idea of maybe putting another dog park there they were certainly activated, and – Logsdon Absolutely. Stehr No came at us, uh, with their opinions on that rather quickly. So it’s good to see that the people are engaged. Logsdon Yep. Stehr Engagement’s always good. All right, Sarah, Pathways Committee report. Moore All right. Sorry about that. Um, well basically the Pathways Committee we met in, in March and during that meeting a couple of the things that we talked about one – are that we wanted to revise the, uh, trail study that had Page 9 of 41  been done last, I believe, in 2016, um, so we are looking at ways to do that. The trouble is that the Pathways Committee does not actually have a budget so, um, we were trying to find ways to get that done. We think that would be valuable as we’re going all this other planning around parks and the community. So that was one of the bigger things that we’ve been working on. We are also trying to find a way to help, um, with different events. I know that we’ve been contacted about helping with the GreenFest and so we are going to – I know we are going to have people volunteer for that and help out with, I think, um, we’ve been asked about the bicycle parking and trying to find ways to get people to bike to, uh, GreenFest and then possibly Overley-Worman when that opens up so we’re just looking for ways that we can help and be a part of what’s going on with trails in the community. And then this month we did not have a meeting, but we will meet again next month. Stehr Okay. Um, my plan is to have Sarah report to us about the Pathways Committee every other month and on the opposing months, uh, we’re going to get a report from Jill on the Parks Foundation. She is our liaison to the Parks Foundation. So next week, or next month, excuse me, we’ll hear from Jill on the Parks Foundation as well. All right, next item on the agenda is Public Presentations or Comments. Do we have anybody that would like to offer some comments to us now? It appears that we don’t. Anybody online John? Emery No. Staff Reports Stehr Nope? Okay. All right, then we’ll move right into Staff Reports and we begin with our Superintendent, Jarod Logsdon. Logsdon Thank you John. Uh, just a couple of things to highlight from the report. I want to, uh, extend a, an extra thank you, um, and hand to the Department of Public Works for their quick work out at Heritage Trail Park. Within the last month they’ve formed up and poured a brand new, uh, concrete pad right next to the, uh, community gardens. So this pad will not only serve as an accessible route to get to raised garden beds which will be provided as an Eagle Scout project later this year but also that pad will host our future hoop house where we’ll have gardening programming out of. So, just another kudos to our Department of Public Works for their assistance on that. Um, I wanted to give an update on the golf course as well. So, as you know, it, uh, most certainly rains in spring in Indiana. So, uh, we made a lot of progress last fall and were able to collaborate with Duke Energy and work together side by side. We have some irrigation repairs that we’re hoping to also get done before we open up, uh, the season this year but ultimately, um, we got caught by the weather in the Page 10 of 41  winter and the project, uh, needs about 10 more working days to finish up. So, being in a flood plain – the golf course is extremely soggy, much longer than our yards and other areas around Town. So, we are, we’re truly watching the weather every week and exploring every opportunity we can to get the crews back out there to finish up that work, so we’ve discussed, um, adding 2-foot-wide stone shoulders to some of the worst areas that are the soggiest. That will not only extend the life of our paths and fortify those, um, for the future but also allow the axels to drive over the pathways without destroying the work they are trying to lay down. So, we are waiting on some numbers from that, and we might present that here in the next couple of days. Um, beyond that, the forecast looks outstanding for the next eight days so we are really hoping over the weekend the course will dry out and we can see the crews back out there next week. Um – Stehr And we have, our, our contractor is paying attention, right? There’s reason to believe that they are checking on a regular basis and they’re ready to get in as soon as they can? Logsdon Absolutely. Um, Charlie – he is, uh, the lead, uh, person out on site and he has been visiting the site weekly. Uh, we met with him last week to discuss our options outside of just waiting on Mother Nature to allow us to get out there, so – uh, we are being vigilant and the, the moment it’s appropriate to go back out, uh, they will be there. Stehr And I think it should be said too that while obviously there is a lot of interest in getting the golf course open again – it doesn’t make any sense to open it before it’s ready, uh, because you could do more damage to the course then, you know, better to get it right before it opens to the public. Casady Is, is that right? Is there, is there – would a viable plan be, be to open it, uh, and, uh, temporarily secure paths? Logsdon We have explored that but, you know, um, I think opening for a short term as we know it is going to begin to dry out later in April and then into May, I think it’s more advantageous just to continue to work on some of the other projects we are – like the clubhouse being painted and the irrigation as I mentioned – and get those tidied in as the cart paths are following shortly behind. So, truly, just about 10 more days of work that we need to squeeze in and then we can button things up and get it back open to the public. Wollenberg Is that 10 more dry days or if we have rain on, on day six does that start the clock again? Page 11 of 41 Logsdon I think, you know, with, with the peak dryness, you know, I, I imagine they’re going to watch the forecast as they’re working. They get to the lowest areas that are most impacted by water and back their way out, um, so that they can take advantage of drier weather – you know, a single rain event is not going to saturate the entire course unless we’re talking about 2˝ of rain which could happen and has happened this year. So, um, it’s truly just, uh, depends on the weather, unfortunately. Uh, one more update, um, Monday, I was before Town Council requesting an additional appropriation for the Five-Year Master Plan, uh, so that we can begin that process and get that document before you and Town Council for adoption at the end of the year. Uh, that discussion was continued until Monday so I’m hoping, uh, at that point we’ll be able to make a, an approval of that expenditure and begin that process with REA. So I just wanted to provide a short update on that. And that is all from the Superintendent Report. Stehr Okay. Thanks. Uh, next we are going to hear from the Director of Maintenance Services, Greg. Dickenson Good evening, everyone. So, I’m just gonna highlight a few of our accomplishments for the month. Um, as you see up on the picture there that is a, uh, our new nursery out at Heritage Trail Park, which is a partnership with, um, Zionsville Cub Scout Pack 358 and that project was led by our new Natural Resource Tech, Mallory, and assisted by our Park and Rec team so they accomplished that in one evening. So we’ll be able to utilize that in the future for future plantings. I think in about two years we’ll be able to start slashing some of those trees out of there and, uh, transplanting them into our parks and then eventually let some of them mature and get bigger and put them in more of our high, higher, uh, use areas and stuff as they mature. And those are all sycamore trees and, uh, red oaks currently. But as we, as they grow and we transplant and post them out, we will be able to sub in other species eventually and we also are partnering with, uh, the Cub Scout group to – losing my train of thought – partnering to help maintain the nursery as it goes along. So they’re not just planting them and walking away – they’re going to help with, uh, maintaining the nursery with weeding and, uh, pruning and watering and such as we go through the year, so – outside of that, our other big projects we’re getting our, uh, um, community gardens ready for planting this season so the team has been out laying them out and getting them staked out and making sure they’re all cleaned and set and ready for the, uh, for all the groups to come out and – that have rented plots this year in Star Gardening. Stehr So how are we doing on plot rentals? Are we close to 100%? Dickenson I think we are – I think maybe we are – Page 12 of 41 Stehr We are? Good, good. Dickenson Filled up so, yeah, we’re 100%. So – Stehr Great. Dickenson And some of them have already been out there working on it so I can see that they are starting to get ready to plant. So other than that, that’s about all I have if anybody has any questions about the report for this month. Stehr Well we are, uh, implementing the electronic, uh, maintenance accountability system. How is that going so far? Dickenson It is going well. So we’re in the buildout phase for that right now so then importing data to the company and their techs have helped me build out the different procedures and stuff so when we build work orders we can pull it from them and plug and play and just start actually building out some of the, print out the maintenance work orders and then I think we’re hoping to, uh, we’ve done some training with the staff on it this week, online training with, with the work order system and getting them signed up and, and registered into it so we’re going to start gently rolling it out next week with some of the preventative maintenance work orders and then some of the reactive ones as they come and hopefully by, by the next board meeting I think we’ll hopefully have it fully implemented but we’ll still be building out of other long-term work orders as we go and preventative the ones that are seasonal we’ll build those out as we go. And so it’ll be – it’ll take some while to get all the bugs worked out of it but I think in a month we should be switched over fully using that. So, I think it is going to be good. Stehr Great. All right. Anybody have any questions for Greg? Casady Quick one – on Starkey Park how has it, uh, faired with the floods of three or four weeks ago? I saw you had to take out some danger trees – are the trails holding up? Uh, number one – Dickenson For the most part – we do have an issue on trail 4 with a – it is a recurring issue that we’ve been looking at and we have to figure out a long-term solution of where a culvert’s plugging up and kind of eroding onto the trail system. So, I mean, we had been cleaning it out and we are kind of – that’s kind of gotten behind a little bit because of the rain it just keeps filling up so quick. So, um, that is one thing that needed repaired. The other trails are, for the most part, faring well. So, but – just been doing a lot of cleanups with that even on our paved trails and sediment stuff coming up and trying to keep them safe. But – Page 13 of 41 Casady Ready to open the staircase? Dickenson Yeah, we’re getting there. So I was out there the other day and the grass is establishing pretty good. It’s starting to grow out with the warmer weather. So, I think we’ll be ready to go. Stehr All right. Thank you Greg. Dickenson Yeah. All right. Stehr All right. Next we have our Director of Recreation Services, Mindy Murdock. Murdock Good evening, everyone. So, uh, March brought us 21 programs that we did through the, uh, Nature Center and recreation. Uh, and just a few highlights that happened in the month, um, we opened our camp registration on March 14th at noon, um, still using the OpenGov system. As of today, we only have – we still have one spot open, um, so if anyone knows of anybody with a, uh, 4- to 5-year-old we have one spot in our July Backyard Explorers camp. Other than that, all of the other camp spots are filled. So, to give you an idea, this year we have 16 camps from ages 2 all the way up to 12, uh, so there will be 300 and – well if we get the 1 – 321 campers. So we did have a few camps that, uh, we ended up having 21 kids instead of 20 just because I hate separating out siblings so, you know – if one spot was open and a family with two we allowed that one additional child in. So, um, in addition to that, the, uh, StoryWalk at Elm Street Green did reopen this month, um, so there is a book there that will run through March and April and then those will change out with the library monthly all the way through the end of October, um, so if haven’t gone out and explored that one – uh, we also are just revving up for the start of all of our large events, um, so as Sarah had said next week we have CreekFest here at Town Hall, um, on Saturday the 23rd from 9 to noon. We’ve got a full lineup of presentations actually here in Town Hall as well as exhibitors out, will be out in the parking lot, um, but in addition to that, we also, um, are currently accepting artist illustrations for our future Zionsville butterfly trail which will be a series of eight wings throughout the, the Town, um, so we’ve gotten quite a number of submissions, so I’m happy to say we’ll have to sit and pick and choose, um, versus just hey we got eight, here’s eight. Um, so we have had quite a number of submissions and that goes to the end of this week for them to turn those in, um, and then just putting, you know, final details on things like, um, Life of Lincoln and Barns & Brews. So, if anyone has any questions – Stehr I just want to make sure I heard – did you say that the, the summer camps are full already? Page 14 of 41 Murdock Summer camps are full except for one spot. Stehr Wow. That’s great. Murdock Yeah. Stehr It’s going to be a good summer. Murdock It’s going to be a great summer. Stehr Does anybody have any questions for Mindy? Comments? No? All right Mindy, thank you. Murdock Thanks. Stehr You have probably noticed that, uh, Amy is not in her usual spot tonight. She is about 30,000 feet over the Atlantic Ocean right now, I think, and her partner, Tom Whitsitt is taking her spot tonight so he’s going to give us the Parks Attorney report. Tom. Whitsitt Yes, I will. Amy was kind enough, um, while she was away to give me, uh, an outline of what her report would be. The first item is, uh, Everstream which she has contacted and that’s the company that’s seeking an easement under the Rail Trail north of Mulberry to install a fiberoptic cable and, uh, they’ve been requested to provide a status report and a legal description for the proposed easement area and once that’s completed, uh, then they will provide us with final documents for consideration and I’m sure that Amy will cover that with you next month. The second, uh, point is that she said she’s worked with Jarod on some items related to the drainage project, um, on property that’s partially owned by the Zionsville United Methodist Church. Uh, they will, uh, or the Town will need to have a construction and permanent easement from the church and, um, apparently Jarod has had a productive and positive meeting with them but that still needs further work and updates as they provide it. Then, um, she reports that she and Jarod have worked through some suggested revisions to several contracts. One of those is the agreement with Cardno who will be conducting the Eagle Creek engineering design services in connection with the LARE grant and that agreement apparently has been executed. Then she says that Jarod and she have finalized some items related to the Mulberry Fields Use Agreements and made some minor modifications to the insurance language in the agreement to better reflect current insurance industry practice and typical coverage for sports organizations. Uh, and that was reviewed with the Town’s insurance agent. Then she’s reviewed and made some modifications to the WinterFest Sponsorship Agreement which is now in final form, and we’ll use for all sponsors for next season’s Page 15 of 41  WinterFest sponsors. Also related to WinterFest, she says that she and Mindy have discussed and modified the WinterFest Food Truck Vendor Agreement which is now also in final form and ready to be used for next season’s WinterFest food truck vendors. Then she says that she’s reviewed the agreements for the MyRec program that Mindy presented at last month’s meeting. Um, apparently they’re the authorized credit card processor and she’s made several suggested revisions to that agreement and is running into some challenges from them, uh, because they don’t want to make modifications to their agreement, uh, and these are some things that she will discuss with the Town’s insurance carrier and will provide additional information and an update when she works through that with the agent. Then the last thing that really wasn’t on her report but I know it’s an issue, um, because I’ve reviewed various, uh, email correspondence between Amy and John and some others is this, uh, real estate that was acquired from Richard Fosnight and he’s supposed to be vacating like by tomorrow and I don’t know if you have any current information with regard to that but apparently if he’s – I mean and I have reviewed the Real Estate Acquisition Agreement and the terms with regard to his departure which were included in the warranty deed and he was initially supposed to be out, I think, by February 28th and he was granted an extension, I think, to the end of March and he’s – and I don’t know whether he’s out yet or not. I don’t know if you know? Logsdon I know there has been progress on one of the properties, um, with, uh, another week or so and they should be out of there with all their possessions. The other property, uh, we’re still having some challenges about the exact timeline, uh, for when they will be moving out. Whitsitt Okay, well the – the other one was, what was their name? Logsdon Yep. Whitsitt Yeah. So they’re taken care of pretty much? Logsdon That’s the one that – yeah they will be out in the next week or so. Whitsitt Okay. So I guess it’s a question of, um, what the status is with the Fosnight and whether or not some legal action may be required to get them out. Logsdon Yeah and I believe Amy was able to get them on the phone, um, from overseas and, uh, made contact and they were a little discouraged with the timeline whether that would be feasible to get out of the house and relocate so there will likely be additional conversations to, to get that wrapped up. We are approaching our hard deadline of beginning to start Page 16 of 41  the trailhead project so, uh, we did offer, you know, an extension which has passed, um, so we’ll have those harder conversations if necessary. Stehr I, I anticipate bringing that up with her, uh, later this week when I see her. We need to, we need to move forward on that. We cannot let this linger too much longer. We have a deadline that we must meet and a construction project that needs to begin and, you know, we need to get moving on that. I think we’ve been patient. I think we have been – Casady Do we still have a special meeting scheduled for next Thursday night? Stehr We do. We do. Casady For consideration of possible bids? Stehr Yes. For the northern expansion and some other projects. Casady For project Stehr Yeah. The trailhead. Casady The trail. Logsdon Yes. Stehr Yeah and we’ll talk about that later. I have that in the plan. Okay, thank you Tom. Anybody have any questions for Tom? [No response] Whitsitt Thank you. New Business Party in the Park Special Event Application Stehr All right. Thank you. All right now on to New Business and, uh, for that we’ll turn to Jarod. Logsdon All right. Uh, the first up is the Party in the Park Special Event Application, and I will turn this over to our Director of Recreation Services to explain what this year’s party is going to look like. Murdock All right. So as you can tell, we’re trying to add some new programs and events into the park system and one of the things we wanted to do is actually have for the last day of school have a party at Mulberry Fields. Um, so we are going to be having activities there, um, the parks – hopefully, the parks outreach vehicle will be up and running at that time. Page 17 of 41  We already have the library and the bookmobile will be onsite, um, we have some live music, uh, from, uh, a high school band actually presenting for us but one additional thing that we wanted to add to that was the option for food trucks, um, so that families could really – they could go right after school and spend most of the afternoon there that they weren’t having to rush home to try to grab a snack or even grab dinner. Um, so I did reach out and Fundae’s and Chick-fil-A are both interested. They both were at WinterFest and did very well, uh, we do have the, the food truck vendor. We would just need to get approval from the Park Board to allow them there because they would be selling onsite. So – Stehr So, would you like a resolution on that and a vote on that tonight? Murdock Yes, would like so that we can, um, go ahead and contact them and then also get that information to the Health Department. Stehr Okay. Does anybody have any questions about that? Casady Sounds great. This is an application from the Parks Department to the Town under their Special Event Application process? Murdock Right and this would be a one-time special event, um, like I said, we have the food truck vendor so they will have that application that they filled out similar to WinterFest, they will provide us with insurance as well, as well as the copy for their permit. So – Casady This – we would be requiring – Murdock But they would be selling – Casady Of a private party – Murdock Yes. Casady Submitting such a special event application – Murdock Uh huh. Casady Here happens to be sort of ourselves. Stehr Right. Casady So I move that we approve – Stehr Well hold on, hold on a second – Page 18 of 41 Casady Oh. Sorry. Stehr Do, do we – is this revenue neutral or is this something that, that will generate some revenue for us? Murdock So it would be – no. They – we were not asking any money from them, so – Stehr Okay. Murdock It’s just we’re asking their time so that families would come and stay longer. Stehr Okay. Murdock So – Stehr Is there – Murdock We are getting, we’re getting the marketing off of them being there providing a service to us. Stehr Do we have expenses involved in this? Murdock No. Stehr So if there’s electricity use or anything that, that’s not – Murdock All the – they would be self-sufficient. So, yeah. Stehr Okay. They will have generators or whatever and – Murdock Yes. Stehr Okay. Okay. All right. Anybody else? Wollenberg Is it limited to just those two vendors? Murdock Yes. They are the only two we asked for. Yeah, because we will be closing the circle and so with the, the bookmobile, the creek stomper which is the new outreach vehicle and then the food trucks that circle will be pretty much booked. It will be full. Stehr All right. Anybody have, uh, would like to make a motion that we approve? Page 19 of 41 Casady I move that we permit the Parks Department via Mindy or Jarod to engage, uh, uh, to any food trucks that they deem, uh, uh, feasible and, uh, and appropriate for the event called Party in the Park. Stehr All right. We have a resolution from Tim Casady. Do we have a second? Wollenberg Second. Stehr John Wollenberg seconds. Let’s take a vote. Jill Pack? Pack Aye. Stehr John Wollenberg? Wollenberg Aye. Stehr John Salewicz? Salewicz Aye. Stehr Sarah Moore? Moore Aye. Stehr Kris Barksdale? Barksdale Aye. Stehr Tim Casady? Casady Aye. Stehr I say aye as well making it a unanimous vote. Thank you Mindy. Murdock Thank you. Winterfest 2022 Stehr All right now WinterFest 2022. Jarod. Logsdon So we had such a great time at WinterFest last year we want to do it again. With over 5,000 skaters on the ice, we are looking into the, uh, feedback we received from the community and building the event out even further this year. So, in 2022 we are looking to enter into another contract with Ice America for not only the ice rink rental but also the operations Page 20 of 41  management of the event. So we are looking at a date of December 9th through January 2nd and this year the rink will be bigger as, uh, requested by popular, uh, polling, uh, so it will be approximately 98 feet x 50 feet. So, um, with the new layout, we are planning on putting the ice rink on top of the pickleball courts, uh, during the month of December and utilizing that flat surface, um, to build out the event. What we learned last year is, uh, Mulberry Fields is pretty low and likes to gather mud so our primary objective is to build the event out of the mud so the ice rink will be on this new, uh, graded surface that will provide a flat, uh, level space for that and then we will re-utilize the platforms from last year to, uh, host seating as well as a lace-up area on those platforms rather than in the mud or on the pavement that damages the ice skates, so – truly learning from, uh, our first year’s successes and, um, we’ll also locate the ticket booth closer to the ice rink and that will allow not only for, you know, ease of access but also we can reduce our costs on the Ice America staffing because they’ll have that closer proximity to the rink and the ticket booth so, an opportunity for additional cost savings within the quote for 2022 operations. So this year, uh, for those, uh, ice rink rental and the operation services, the grand total for the 2022 WinterFest Ice America contract is $237,818, um, and that is approximately $30,000 more than last year but that is due to, um, trucking costs that went up as well as the larger ice rink. So we are looking to continue our campaign for sponsorships throughout the year. Happy to report we have already secured $11,000 at this point so we are doing much, uh, better much earlier in the year on that aspect and we look forward to building out this event. So I’m happy to answer any questions. Stehr We have the same sponsors as last year? Logsdon So far, yes. Uh, three returning sponsors, um, that is Century 21 Scheetz as our title sponsor, um, the Boone County CVB as our rink sponsor and the Parks Foundation as a community sponsor for that as well. So, um, our recreation coordinator, Wendy, is fantastic at, uh, meeting and greeting and she loves to expand the mission and is not afraid to ask for money doing it, so – Stehr Are we going to ask our sponsors to, uh, be more generous in their donations this year or are we sticking with the same fee schedule? Logsdon Um, the title sponsorship was increased $2,000 to better capture a little bit of those costs that we experienced. Um, the rink sponsor also went up $500 but truly we wanted to have a, a level where organizations of any size could, could sponsor so $1,000 for the community sponsor level, um, $3,000 for the rink and then $7,000 for title. Page 21 of 41 Stehr So our expenses are going to be a little bit more, uh, this year – what, what leads us to believe that we’re going to capture that increase and, and perhaps do better – what’d we have a 47% recovery last year? Um – Logsdon 53 when it was all said and done. Stehr 53, okay. Are, are we going to, uh, is there reason to believe that we’re going to recover more of our expenses this year and why, why is that? Logsdon So truly as an outdoor event there are factors that we are unable to control and I would say a large portion of some of our, uh, loss in revenue was ultimately the weather last year. So, on opening day, um, we had over 300 people visit the reindeer but then staying, sticking around in 20 degree weather with rain – you know, freezing rain, is not ideal for skating. So, that’s a rough ribbon cutting for the opening day that we had to delay a day as well. So, um, with a larger rink we do know that at our peak hours on the weekends we were having a wait and having to turn some people away so that’ll alleviate that issue so during our peak we’ll still be able to have an enjoyable ice experience. We’re increasing our hours during the weeks leading up to, um, school letting out so that other communities with younger children or even our own homeschooled community and, uh, those residents that just want to go during the daytime that don’t have the restrictions of maybe work or school can enjoy the ice rink prior. Um, in addition, we’re looking at new advertising techniques so we will be exploring, uh, radio advertisements as well as the foundation we built last year reaching over 19,000 people with our advertising. So, we’re truly hoping this is a snowball that will continue to roll and gain more and more attention in the surrounding area. Wollenberg Jarod, I’ve got some questions on some line items. Logsdon Absolutely. *** I don’t know if his microphone is not working properly or if he’s just not talking in it **** Wollenberg Can I, uh – bear with me here as I _______ 51:59 through. Um, on __________ 52:05, um, those are those blue ______ so two questions – 1) I guess it’s a statement not a question. I did hear a lot of folks say that they thought that they were priced high. Logsdon Yes. Wollenberg So, seeing the rental ______ 52:22 I now know why they’re priced that way so my question is can we either a) eliminate some because I don’t know that I saw __________ 52:33 20 on the ice at once, um, to eliminate some of our costs and/or offer sponsors so that somebody could take the Kroger skate ___ 52:46 or the Akard TruValue skate ___ and see if we can Page 22 of 41  offset the cost with maybe limiting that number that or could we buy them for $4,000 and reuse them? Logsdon So that is what we are beginning to do. Those are great suggestions. Thank you very much. Um, uh, sorry I want to write that down quick. Um, so with a larger rink, you know, there is the capacity of having more out on the ice, but we also did hear in the survey data that sometimes there was too many on the ice for our smaller rink. So I think that’s appropriate to explore and maybe reduce that number a little bit. Absolutely. Wollenberg Um, okay, so my next one – so I’m having a little bit of trouble understanding the rink installation and then the production fee and then the shipping that rink – it looks like we’re talking a lot about that’s maybe the same thing – am I? Tell me, tell me how to break that out because I am looking at installation supervisors which we’re providing the labor it says so what are we paying for – Logsdon So last year, uh, Ice America a team that did not actually run the operations came onsite and assisted with installation throughout so while our crews did assist during the regular workday, those, those members were working throughout the night sometimes driving to other areas and repairing the rink that was delivered, uh, should it need any attention. So, that is a professional skill that we just do not have yet in our operations so, uh, that is a contracted, uh, service within the quote. Wollenberg Okay. So is, so where it says 2 and 2 is that two individuals – Logsdon Yes, yep. Wollenberg At $3,500 for two days? Logsdon If it, if it’s the quantity – I’d have to look at the, the scope again. Wollenberg It says number and then charge – so, or is it 2 weeks – how, how long did the install take? I do not – Logsdon I think the install was, um, was right around 9 days – Wollenberg Okay. Logsdon So, I would, uh, have to look back at our hotel accommodations because we also provide those, um – but there were multiple Ice America employees coming from around the country to assist with that install and off load – Wollenberg Okay. Page 23 of 41 Logsdon Um, and then our, our crews most certainly helped as well with the labor. Wollenberg Okay. So that answers for the installation providers. And then travel/legal/admin/production for like that production fee $15,000. It looks like a lot of just – here’s $15,000, let’s call it a production fee. Logsdon Yeah so that actually includes the, uh, creation of signage for the event specific to Ice America at Zionsville as well as the utilization of their point of sale service, uh for the ice rink rentals. And then, uh, the staffing and scheduling of all that. And, again, that’s a contracted service as a package that we choose for operations, so, you know, it is – my ambition is to eventually remove that from these quotes an our team – we’ll, we’ll have seasonal hires that we train in-house – Wollenberg Yeah. Logsdon Based on standards of operating ice rinks and, uh, minimize that impact for contracted services. Moore You think there would be a hotel say in town that might like a sponsorship of the event in exchange for giving you the rooms and saving that $4,500? Logsdon Absolutely. Not only are we, uh, going to have that conversation with nearby hotels but, um, also our title sponsor, Century 21 Scheetz, has a couple of, uh, rentals in the area – Moore Ahh – there we go. Logsdon That they’re – they want to explore that. Wollenberg Because there’s more housing costs down for operations as well. Logsdon Yeah and those are contingent on if they’re not able to hire local which last year they were able to. Wollenberg Okay. Yeah, so let me ask – so, so jumping down then to set up fee – are we paying that again for like installation – is that then it’s also billed in the setup fee? Logsdon I think the installation of the rink and then the setup of operations are two separate things. Um, so, as I mentioned, when they do the regional hiring it avoids that cost with the hotels but all the staff are trained, um, you know, day one employees. Page 24 of 41 Wollenberg Okay. So staff hiring and training, okay. Then general manager fee. So this payroll says gross payroll plus 50%. Logsdon Yeah. That is the, uh, the cost of last year’s operation as well. It was 1.5 of the actual wage. Wollenberg So, we are paying the payroll and then we’re paying then 50% to pay that payroll? Logsdon Yes, yeah. Wollenberg What would you do differently there? Logsdon When we, uh, have the capacity to have seasonal hires and train, I would love for Zionsville Parks to be the face to greet our WinterFest employees and then also on the ice. Wollenberg What is the – what is the expertise that they bring? Cause I mean – I guess there is the maintenance to the rink but I’m trying to understand – the check-in procedure did not look so detailed that it could kind of take that for this price – Logsdon Yeah. Wollenberg Take that inhouse. Logsdon You know, that is completely fair. Uh, with the new MyRec software we could explore building WinterFest into that and then staffing the ticket booth on our own and saving the maintenance side for their operations solely. Wollenberg Yeah. Okay. Um – Stehr We would not be ready to do that this year though, huh? Logsdon There would be a couple of moving parts that I can, uh, look at and have conversations with – Stehr Okay. Logsdon We had a, a great, um, hiring last year for just, you know, uh, program support throughout the WinterFest event. We were able to hire some of our seasonal, um, camp naturalists as well as some of our golf course employees looking to, uh, work during the month of December so that worked out perfectly with some of our seasonal hires and I think we could most certainly train them, uh, for ticket sales and operations on that side. Page 25 of 41 Wollenberg Yeah cause it is – you know not to maintain the Zamboni and what not – Logsdon Right. Wollenberg The ice but more just the check-in process was what size skate type of thing so if you can be familiar with that software I wonder if that’s something we could, um, we could attack and then the internet that’s assuming 10,000 skaters? Is that just they put that in there and then we keep track? Logsdon That was just a blanket coverage policy based on 10,000 skaters, yep. Wollenberg Oh, okay. So it’s not retroactive for do you add 5,000? Logsdon No. Yeah, it is to cover the event and the liability associated with that. The policy they take out. Wollenberg Is there another, uh, is there a threshold that may be lower than that? Logsdon Since we were at half of that last year and with the bigger rink and second year – Wollenberg You would rather keep it there? Logsdon I think I’d feel more comfortable leaving it there. But I really do like your, uh, other suggestions. I think those are valuable to explore to lower this cost. Wollenberg Okay. I think that is all I had. Casady Big picture what you expect the total out-of-pocket expense to be for WinterFest and what is, uh, the prospect for covering all of those expenses? And if we cannot cover those expenses, uh, is – have we, should we budget for that or how would we pay for that? Logsdon Yep. So, um – sorry can we go back to the first question? What is the “all in”? Casady Yeah. Other out-of-pocket expenses on top of Ice America’s $237 – what else is there? Logsdon From first year’s operations we learned, you know, there is the rental of the forklift for loading in, loading out as well as the storage crate, uh, for the ticket booth throughout the month. So, um, I am pretty sure looking at last year it would be about another $30,000 to this so we are looking at Page 26 of 41  just under $270. Last year’s operation was closer to $290 so we were able to cut some costs and, again, um, there was additional cost savings last year from our original quote of $207 and this year we anticipate a little bit more with the smaller footprint from the ticket booth to the skating rink and if we are able to implement some of John’s suggestions for the staffing. Um, as far as, uh, funding that – we do have $150,000 allocated from the Fund 211 so $104,000 from WinterFest went into that last year as well as our shelter reservations and programs throughout the year creating that sustainable fund. So $150 of that, uh, is budgeted for WinterFest and then the remainder will come out of our, um, General Fund allocation. Casady So, I mean, we can borrow from that Fund what’s the expected range of revenues for WinterFest? Logsdon Uh, the expected range with added hours, you know, it truly weather dependent but our last year averages were low end $128 up to just under $300,000 so with additional hours and hopefully better weather, uh, you know, we could see closer to that $160 as our minimum and going up from there. So we base that around 50% use throughout the month knowing that there’s peaks and valleys. Uh, we are also looking at shortening the hours during the week from 9:30 to 9, uh, because at the end of the night there’s just one or two skaters max throughout the week so, um, trying to tighten up our schedule to lower some of those staffing costs as well. But this is an event that does take a village, so we are aggressively pursuing, uh, sponsorships to continue to offset costs. Casady And the event is great and there is a spirit and, you know, that can’t be quantified in terms of dollars but I, I still don’t see – I mean, do we need to be budgeting for this, uh, in our 101 Fund? Logsdon Yeah. So I think as we, you know, we see how year two does and then we actually set up a line item for WinterFest in the General Fund to subsidize part of the event. But based on our allocations of this year, you know, I am, I’m comfortable we can cover the 85% from this year and then the last 15% is paid January of next year, um, which we’ll have, uh, the ability to pay that out of 2023. Stehr I would say too that we also must think about this as a long-term investment too, you know, and not get too caught up in what our prospects are for this year but think of a long-term – Logsdon Ultimately, you know, if this is a good size for Zionsville, this ice rink, we can look at, you know, investing and purchasing the rink so then our only rental would be the, the chiller, you know, if we have adequate space to store the ice rink. Each season we maybe rink the chiller and then a manager from Ice America to oversee those operations until we are Page 27 of 41  confident and comfortable of those, uh, chilling and ice rink operations as well. So – Stehr Yeah. Logsdon It is an investment that we hope to continue to, uh, turn profit towards. Stehr Okay. You need a resolution from us to accept this bid from Ice America? Logsdon Yeah, uh, with your approval to work with Amy Nooning and her counsel to refine the agreement and get it executed. Stehr Would anyone like to make that resolution? Wollenberg Is the – Jarod, is the operations, um, have you selected those already or is that based not local – is that, or those kind of to be determined numbers? Logsdon So, so part of all those administrative costs within that lower operations quote is the recruitment as well so we did not recruit Ice America or do interview or employees last year, uh, that was all housed by the Ice America team. They recruited, interviewed, and then ultimately trained. Wollenberg The general manager fee was that – did you do a lot once they were taking care of any issues or was that – Logsdon They were, uh, completely in operation of the ice rink and the point of sales system so it, it was really hands off for our staff. We focused on the, uh, the 45 programs that we offered throughout the month and, uh, also offered additional customer services throughout the event. Stehr You know, I think we also need to point out that we did gather a fair amount of, uh, information through registrations and things like that, you know, which is, which has a value too. You know, hard to quantify that value but, you know, we were able to call information from people that came out, so – Logsdon And, and ultimately, you know, we are creating these memories in Zionsville. We are not outsourcing family gatherings and, and special events and memories. We’re able to host those in town through the support of the community and as well as the attendees of the event so, there is a certain quantification I would say to establishing that, that, uh, that reputation and those memories for Zionsville. That is ultimately our mission. Page 28 of 41 Stehr Yeah. I am going to go ahead and make that resolution then that we, um, uh, continue down this road with Ice America subject to legal review and, uh, we have to get approval from the Town Council too? Logsdon Uh, this is already appropriated. So – Stehr Okay. All right, so then I will make the resolution that we continue down this road with Ice America subject to legal review and, uh, continue with our planning for WinterFest 2022. Does anybody have a second? Pack I will second. Stehr Jill Pack seconds. Let’s take a vote. Jill Pack? Pack Aye. Stehr John Wollenberg? Wollenberg Nay. Stehr Tim Casady? Casady Aye. Stehr John Salewicz? Salewicz Aye. Stehr Sarah Moore? Moore Aye. Stehr Kris Barksdale? Barksdale Aye. Big-4 Rail Trail Public Art Stehr And I saw aye as well. So the vote is 6 to 1 in favor. All right Jarod, the Big 4 Rail Trail Art Project. Logsdon All right. Uh, to coincide with the expansions of the north and south as well as the widening, uh, Zionsville is fortunate to be the recipient of a Boone County Community Foundation Grant, um, for art installations along our Rail Trail so, you know, part of our mission this year was to, uh, incorporate cultural events and, uh, art into our park system to invite a Page 29 of 41  new user out. So, upon hearing this, the, uh, Foundation who has previously sponsored murals in other towns in the community jumped on that opportunity and, uh, offered to cover the cost and the project management associated with a mural project along our Rail Trail. So ultimately, we are providing the canvas and the Foundation, and their selected consultant are going to handle the rest. So, very, very fortunate in that. They are also sponsoring an art installation in Thorntown so kind of the beginning and the end of the Boone County segment of the Big 4 Rail Trail and will host art installations that are specific to those communities. So, uh, within our, uh, system there are three proposed concepts for installations. So this is the beginning of the Oak Street tunnel. I apologize if the scan is not great. I do have the physical, uh, drawings which show a little bit more detail if you’d like to see that afterwards. So as dahlia city, uh, the, the group wanted to highlight that, that history and, uh, that unique aspect of Zionsville so each tunnel will also have a plaque that describes the inspiration behind the mural, um, and who it was sponsored by and what year so – each mural will also have an anti-graffiti coating to the outside so ultimately these blank canvases that have, uh, been the home to a couple of graffiti will now be covered and then if they are to be vandalized that would easily be removed. So moving on north on the Rail Trail as you exit Oak Street and continue north, as you pass under the Bloor Street, uh, bridge we are going to highlight the pollinators, um, and their role in, in our environment. So the original concept is for honeybees so in speaking with the consultants, we are going to change that to native pollinators and, uh, within the plaque we’ll explore their importance in the community. Um, continuing north, and this is my personal favorite, entering the, the Mulberry Fields tunnel you will enter inside of a log which will host living organisms as you walk down our longest tunnel. So within the tunnel there are renderings and drawings of animals as well as fungus and, uh, algae to really highlight, you know, that unique habitat that does absolutely serve a role in our community and in our parklands. So, again, just, uh, embracing an opportunity to invite a new user to our trail system that might not otherwise jump on a recreation trail for their fitness. Casady Just to clarify – these are depictions of living organisms? Logsdon Yes. That is a great point. Yes. Moore I thought we were going to have some fungi? Stehr Well fungus is a living organism so – Logsdon That is right. Um, so these, uh, three projects upon your approval will, uh, begin as early as May. The artists will close half of the tunnels after our maintenance team pressure washes them and will begin working on those Page 30 of 41  in tandem with the expansion going on in the north. We were hoping to sync the two projects, but this grant is only good for 2022 so we needed to jump on the opportunity. So residents will still be able to pass and actually, you know, ask a couple of questions and, uh, see the progress of these murals as they go up over the summer. Wollenberg Who is doing the artwork? Logsdon The artwork is going to be completed by Chris Blice and Jon Edwards. They have, uh, performed several murals throughout, uh, the Indianapolis Metro including the one at the Fort Benjamin, uh, kind of a community there. Um, this is kind of their swan song so they are going to step away from mural art that they’ve been doing for the past decades and, uh retreat to a, uh, homestead out in the country and, um, he did inform him that after learning about the honeybees versus native pollinators he will not be having honeybees but, uh, encourage the native pollinators in his backyard. Moore Well that kind of brings up a thought that I had when I first saw this is that it leads from dahlias to the native pollinators, but dahlias aren’t native and they don’t necessarily always help the pollinators. Have you thought about a way to make that make more sense? I don’t know? Mix some natives in there with the dahlias? I know we’re the dahlia city but – Logsdon Yeah, that – Moore Some of these, they ones with all the petals, they can’t really get to at all. Logsdon That is a good point. So we, um, originally in this concept, uh, my terrible idea is, you know, I was thinking of kind of what I’d heard about the history of Zionsville, um, Abe Lincoln and the railroad and highlighting those but truly, you know, almost every community embraces that. They actually have a railcar, um, in Independence, uh, that just went up as a mural so to, to find something unique to Zionsville – there is a deep history of the, the dahlias in our town, um, but I think it’s worthwhile to explore making sure it is known that there are native plants and flowers within that community as well. Moore Yeah. I mean even if they just mix a few in and there’s – Logsdon Yeah. Moore Like a – you said there is going to be education about pollinators – maybe if there was something like that. Logsdon Absolutely. Page 31 of 41 Stehr The one thing that was important to me as we embarked on this was that it is not controversial like the traffic signal box down on Main Street, you know – Moore Yeah. Stehr Kind of controversial so – I’m glad you found the controversy there with the non-native dahlias. Moore I know and I saw some nods out there so I’m not the only one. Salewicz There are more than dahlias in there if you look at it closely – there’s, there’s – Moore I think they’re just different kinds of dahlias. Salewicz There is daisies and there’s, other things in there so – Moore Because some of these that are daisies could just be a different kind of dahlia because there’s a variety of dahlias. Salewicz True. Moore That one looks like a coneflower but I’m not – Salewicz Yeah. It looks like a coneflower Logsdon We will be sure to sneak those in and, uh, make sure they are referenced in the plaque. Casady What are the names of the muralists again? Chris – Logsdon This is, uh, Chris Blice and Jon Edwards of Blice & Edwards. Casady Blyce? B-L-Y-C-E? Logsdon B-L-I-C-E, I believe. So, again, this is a, uh, completely free opportunity to the Town of Zionsville. This is completely funded through the Community Foundation and, uh, it just requires our coordination for setting up barricades and preparing the surfaces for the artists to arrive. Stehr I like the sound of that. And, you know, you talked about the railroad theme. Lebanon has kind of embraced the railroad, railroad theme so this will be something unique to Zionsville and it’s colorful and it’s nice and I think – I don’t know – Page 32 of 41 Stehr I really like the way it’s turned out. I think it looks great. Moore They are, they are beautiful. Stehr All right. Does anybody want to make a resolution? Salewicz I will make a motion to the, um, artwork on the Rail Trail. Stehr Do we have a second? Barksdale I second. Stehr Was that Sarah? Oh it was Kris? Great. Okay. Kris Barksdale seconds. Let’s take a quick vote. Jill Pack? Pack Aye. Stehr John Wollenberg? Wollenberg Aye. Stehr Tim Casady? Casady Aye. Stehr John Salewicz? Salewicz Aye. Stehr Sarah Moore? Moore Aye. Stehr Kris Barksdale? Barksdale Aye. Memorial Donation Stehr I say aye as well. So we have unanimous agreement on that. All right the next thing Jarod – Memorial Donation. Logsdon Um, I have one more thing to slide in there as well, um, so as, as a part of that very large grant from the Community Foundation, they are also going to be placing half-mile and mile markers throughout the parks, uh, Page 33 of 41  throughout the trail – the Big 4 Trail throughout the county of Boone County. So, 28 miles of mile markers, um, if you look at the display on the screen, they’ll look very similar to the signage out at Starkey Park so these signs will be utilized for safety and, uh, corresponding with, um, emergency services when you need to identify where you are on the trail and where services are needed. So, uh, Starkey Park was set up with the sheriff and has been utilized by Zionsville for years and, uh, we’re going to take that theme and carry that throughout the Rail Trail so, um, Zionsville will be green for the, uh, high school, um, Whitestown blue, Lebanon goldish/yellow and, uh, going up through the county each community will have their unique color but the uniform B4 Trail and then the mile marker. So, again, this is a completely sponsored, uh, project from the Boone County Community Foundation and which includes not only the signs but also the installation. So our only obligation would be to coordinate with them for those placements. Casady Is the trailhead, uh, mile 0? Logsdon I really tried for that – they are putting it at the county line so, uh, the trailhead is somewhere between 0.3 and 0.5. So if you truly want to do all 28 miles you have to go down Zionsville Road and then start. Uh, but we have been in discussion with Colfax and they will continue our, um, mileage count so from 28 miles in the county it’ll become 28.5 in, uh, Clinton County. Stehr And so we have already passed this as part of our resolution? Do we need to make a resolution? Logsdon We can make a separate one for this just to have it in the record. Stehr Okay. Anybody? Pack I will make a motion to approve the mile makers. Stehr Okay. Jill makes the motion. Anybody have a second? Moore I’ll second. Stehr Sarah Moore seconds. Uh, this does by acclamation. Everybody in favor say aye. All Aye. Stehr Anybody opposed? [No response] Page 34 of 41  All right – passes unanimously. Thank you Jarod. Logsdon Thank you. Moving on to our Memorial Donation program. Still highly successful and we feel very proud to offer this to the community to not only memorialize their loved ones but also provide amenities in our park system. So we are placing our original bench, uh, collected over 2021, uh, the seven applications that were, unfortunately, delayed because of supply chain, uh, issues we finally have those in and we will be placing those throughout the month. Uh, tonight we have our first golf course memorial donation. So there is the request for a tree to be placed between, uh, holes 8 and 9 and working with Mike out at the golf course and Greg we have found a good location that will allow the tree to prosper while not impacting gameplay at all. So we’ll pick an appropriate tree for that site and, uh, memorialize that individual’s loved one. So happy to answer any questions or, uh, receive a motion to approve that memorial donation. Stehr Does anybody have a motion to approve? Wollenberg I will make a motion to approve the memorial donation of the tree to the golf course. Stehr John Wollenberg makes the motion. Do we have a second? Pack Second. Stehr Jill Pack seconds. I think we can do this by acclamation too. All in favor say aye. All Aye. Stehr All opposed. [No response] Dog Park Membership Update All right. Let the record show that was unanimous. All right now moving on to the Dog Park Jarod. Logsdon So with a full year of operations under our belt, uh, we are happy to say the dog park is, uh, welcoming over 500 residents currently to appreciate the park and enjoy it with their canine companions. So what we’ve also noticed is that not everyone is on the same schedule. So, in fact, uh, there are many periods throughout the day where the dog park is completely bare of any canines, um, it just so happens even with nice weather we’re only experiencing about 40 people a day at our peak last summer on the most gorgeous days so we feel confident that we can open this up to the, Page 35 of 41  the outside of the community and those neighbors near Whitestown that are close to this park but are not truly Zionsville residents could also have an opportunity to enjoy this investment in our community. So they would, uh, register and have to be required to have the same vaccinations and records, uh, on file and would pay a non-resident fee of $120 for the year which is, um, $50 more than our resident rate of $75 is the resident rate. Um, so with your approval I would like to, uh, begin to open up a limited number of application spots for non-Zionsville residents to the dog park. So our first, um, observation window will be 100, uh, places, um, and at that point we’ll continue to monitor and close that, um, offering should we start to see increased activity throughout the day. Casady So I take it there is no waiting list anymore for Zionsville residents or anyone else? Logsdon Yep. Yep. So we are receiving about two to three applications a month, uh, which are easily processed and then they get to enjoy the, uh, golf course – the, the dog park. So, a really small amount. There was a mad rush at the beginning of registration and then we saw another upting – up, upswing as we opened registration from that initial 300 but now the trend has been just truly, you know, residents that get a new dog or, um, want to check out the dog park. So it is extremely limited at this point. Barksdale Is, is that, uh, an annual fee? Logsdon Yes, uh – Barksdale So are we at the point where people will start renewing? Logsdon Yes, um – Barksdale Do we know how that’s looking? Logsdon So, uh, that is tricky. So we are only seeing about 60%, uh, renew from our first year and that might be because it’s January and they want to save a couple of months – I completely understand that, um – Moore It has been too wet to have the dog play – Barksdale Yeah. Logsdon There is mud. We cannot, we can’t beat that, um, but also, you know, the challenges with OpenGov we are experiencing – we’re not sure that the email notifications are going out, um, even though they say they’re sent. Moore I got two. Page 36 of 41 Logsdon Okay. That’s good to hear. Uh, there should three prompts before the actual expiration of your, uh, membership. So that is good to hear. Moore Yeah. Logsdon So whether it is just, you know, it was a, it was something to explore and then it’s not the right time or truly just waiting a couple of months, um, to have a friend at the dog park in the summer. Not sure. Stehr Well it totally seems we have the capacity there at least anecdotally we have the capacity and you are telling me that the, uh, data fairs that out that we have – Logsdon Absolutely. Stehr Room at the dog park to bring in – I think – I do not see any reason why we shouldn’t. Uh, the more dogs the better, right? So, anybody have a – want to make a motion? Wollenberg I will make the motion that we open registration for the dog park to those individuals or families outside of Zionsville. Stehr John Wollenberg makes the motion. Do we have a second? I’ll second it. And, uh, we will take a vote by acclamation. All in favor say aye. All Aye. Stehr All opposed. [No response] Old Business Rail Trail Southern Extension & Overley Worman Park Okay. Passes unanimously. Thank you, Jarod. Now on to Old Business. You are going to tell us the good news about the bridge being in place over Starkey Road, right? Logsdon The good news about the bridge over Starkey Road is we have a bridge over Starkey Road. Stehr Yeah. Salewicz Yeah. Page 37 of 41 Logsdon Last Friday the bridge was delivered and raised and set. So from here the contractor will, uh, form the mud walls and backfill the bridge as well as pour the deck. So we are anticipating an opening of Starkey Road – Starkey Avenue Road, um, on April 22. So, uh, coming up on the following Friday. So that is weather dependent. Today we probably lost a little ground but the forecast moving forward looks extremely sunny, so we are hoping to get that road back open. We appreciate the community’s patience as this project was delayed due to an unforeseen utility relocation, but we are happy to be back on schedule and we will get the road back open and then open up the trail, uh, in the middle of next month. Casady Is it opened once we pave it – is that the, key thing? Logsdon That – yeah. Casady In terms of opening – no, no plans to open it as gravel or mud? Logsdon Right – as mud at this point. Stehr And that should be, uh, a fairly quick turnaround – the, you know, the road bed up there, Tim, was – Casady Yeah. Stehr Laid out by the railroad 150 years ago and it is still good, right? So they can use that – Logsdon Right. Casady It looks in great shape. Logsdon Yeah. Casady So it’s – it should be, it should roll pretty easily – Logsdon That is right. Casady With that asphalt machinery. Logsdon Yep. Pavement – pavers only move so fast, but they have a very easy course going down to the Vonterra subdivision. Stehr And if you have not been over there to see it – it’s really amazing. It, it changes everything having that bridge there as opposed to the one that was there before. It looks nice. So, I think people are going to appreciate it Page 38 of 41  when they can start using it. All right – and is there more on the southern extension? Logsdon Um, everything else is on track and we look forward to opening the southern expansion at the same time as Overley-Worman which we’ll discuss next. So, Overley-Worman Park an update – the, uh, contractor continues to make progress out at the site putting the finishing touches. Ultimately the largest, uh, task left is the B4 station and the asphalt paving. So Overley-Worman, you know, a large portion of that does flood seasonally so there are some mud challenges, but we have extended the, uh, time to completion into May and the contractor felt more than confident that they can complete the project within that time window. So we are looking at hosting a ribbon cutting for Overley-Worman Park on May 20th at 9 a.m. so we will meet at the new pedestrian bridge from the Rail Trail down into the park and have a ribbon cutting ceremony then. Casady Has the bridge been, uh, has the surface of the bridge been paved already or is that happening at the same time as the Starkey Park where the Starkey Road gets paved? Logsdon The, the bridges are concrete. Casady Yeah, yeah, yeah. Logsdon But the, uh, the asphalt paving will be simultaneous. Yep. Casady No I know but – is the concrete – the concrete on the surface of the – Logsdon Yes. Casady Pedestrian bridges both – well, Overley-Worman pedestrian bridge and it will be soon on the Starkey Avenue pedestrian bridge? Logsdon Yeah, I, uh, Tricia was out there today – I, they were supposed to pour it Monday which was favorable weather so they might have accomplished that. No, nope – just kidding. Uh, but that is still, uh, planned. Any other questions related to the southern extension or the Overley-Worman Park? All right. That is all the updates I have. Stehr Okay. All right. Any Other Board Related Items that anyone has to bring up? All right and with that we will move on to claims. Has everyone had a chance to look over the claims and are there any questions or comments about those? Moore Nope. Page 39 of 41 Claims Stehr All right. Can, uh, would someone like to make a motion to approve the claims as presented? Casady I move we approve claims as presented. Wollenberg Second. Stehr Tim Casady makes a move – or makes the motion. John Wollenberg seconds it. And we’ll take a quick vote. Uh, Jill Pack? Pack Aye. Stehr John Wollenberg? Wollenberg Aye. Stehr Tim Casady? Casady Aye. Stehr John Salewicz? Salewicz Aye. Stehr Sarah Moore? Moore Aye. Stehr Kris Barksdale? Barksdale Aye. Stehr I say aye as well making that unanimous. All right, I want to remind everyone to sign the paperwork before you leave please. We’re really almost up to date, we’re so close and if, uh, we get a little bit of cooperation we will be up to date after tonight. So that’s important and also, uh, a reminder we have a special meeting set for Thursday, April 21st at 7:00. We all looked at our schedules last time and agreed that that was a good time for a meeting. It’s important we have a quorum there so if anybody can’t make it, please get in touch with me and let me know. We have to make sure we have, uh, enough people here to take a vote on the bids for the project. So, uh, thank you very much for that. Thank you for your attendance tonight and, uh, with that do we have a motion to adjourn? Page 40 of 41 Adjournment Salewicz I’ll make a motion to adjourn. Stehr John Salewicz makes the motion. Do we have a second? Moore I’ll second. Stehr Sarah? Moore Yep. Stehr Is that you? Sarah Moore makes the second and we’re going to take an acclamation vote on that. All in favor say aye. All Aye. Stehr All opposed. [No response] All right, that’s it. Thank you very much everybody. We’ll see you on the 21st right back here. _____________________________________ ________________________________ John Stehr, President John Wollenburg, Secretary Respectfully submitted, Bonnie Black Parks MAC Professional Page 41 of 41