Zionsville Board of Park and Recreation

Zionsville Board of Parks & Recreation Meeting Minutes For Wednesday, July 12, 2023 At 7:00 P.M. EST ONSITE MEETING 1100 West Oak Street In Attendance: John Stehr, President, Jill Pack, Vice President, John Salewicz, Secretary, Ryan Cambridge, Kris Barksdale, Kimberly Lane, Coralie Palmer Staff attending: Amy Nooning, Attorney OPENING Call to Order/Roll Call Stehr Let’s go ahead and begin. We’re calling to order the meeting of the Zionsville Board of Parks and Recreation for Wednesday, July 12th and the first thing we’re going to do is do the roll call. Jill Pack? Pack Here. Stehr John Salewicz? Salewicz Here. Stehr Ryan Cambridge? Cambridge Here. Stehr Kris Barksdale? Barksdale Here. Stehr Kimberly Moore? I’m sorry – Page 1 of 39 Lane Yeah, Sarah’s watching. Stehr Kimberly, are you here? Lane I’m here. Stehr Okay and Coralie Palmer. Palmer Here. Approval of the Minutes Stehr Okay, and we have all seven of us here tonight. That’s a good way to get started. All right, let’s go ahead and take a look at the minutes. Did everybody get a chance to look over the minutes from the previous meeting? Salewicz Yes sir. Pack Yes. Stehr Does anybody have any questions or comments? Salewicz No. Stehr Would anybody like to make a motion to approve the minutes from our meeting on June 14th? Cambridge So moved. Stehr Ryan Cambridge makes a motion. Do we have a second? Salewicz Second. Stehr John Salewicz seconds. All in favor say aye. All Aye. Stehr All opposed? [No response] Page 2 of 39  All right, let the record show that the minutes were approved unanimously. Public Presentations/Comments Next item on the agenda is the Public Presentations or Comments. I don’t see anybody in the room. Jonah, anybody online? IT No. Parks Foundation Update Stehr Okay, so we’ll go ahead and move on to the next item which is the Parks Foundation report from Jill Pack. Pack Okay, I’ll just make a brief update. The Park, the Zionsville Parks Foundation is currently in the hiring process for an Administrative Coordinator. It will be a part-time position for them but it’s to help them out with a lot of their administrative functions as things ramp up for them anticipating the, us purchasing the Carpenter Nature Preserve. Additionally, they received a grant of almost 650 milkweed plants from the Monarch Watch recently and with the help of the Zionsville Parks and Recreation Department and some of the Foundation Board members as well as the Arc of Greater Boone County, they’ve been working on planting those. Some were planted along the northern extension of the Rail Trail and also at Overley-Worman Park then they did some at Elm Street Green and I think they were going to add some at the golf course in the pollinator area. I will say that I helped out on the day at Overley-Worman. It was the hottest, most humid day in the world and the ground there is like cement. Cambridge That’s because it’s actually mostly cement. Salewicz Mostly cement. Pack I know. I mean we’d dig and it’d be like oh I got 45 rocks and like a tablespoon of clay or sand. It was – Stehr Yeah – Pack It was hard planting that day but that’s going to add pollinators throughout the park system for us. And then they also are one of several of the sub- Page 3 of 39  sponsors of the Butterfly Trail this year so that’s going on from June 1 through the end of August. Stehr Great. Pack And that’s what’s going on there. Stehr Okay. Anybody have any questions for Jill? Any thoughts? Maybe the rain will soften things up a little bit if it comes tonight. Pack I don’t think it’ll help Overley-Worman but – Staff Reports Stehr Okay. All right, next item on the agenda is our Staff Reports and we begin with our Superintendent, Jarod Logsdon. Jarod – Logsdon Thank you John. Just a couple of items I’d like to highlight from the Superintendent Report. As mentioned, the milkweed was planted throughout our park system and we again want to thank the Zionsville Parks Foundation for that opportunity. Last month you had the report from, from Rachel Felling on the pilot year of our Nature Connections program that was in Eagle Elementary. Rachel, myself and Kris Barksdale on the Park Board had an opportunity to meet with the schools and they were over-the-moon ecstatic with the results from the program and they do wish for it to extend to all elementaries and we had to reel them in just a little bit but we are looking at providing those, that Nature Connections program for both Eagle Elementary and Trailside next year. So, we are adjusting costs for that and looking forward to implementing that in two elementary schools here in Zionsville. We also, over the past month, had a private donation and I wanted to read a memo that I submitted to the donor who wishes to remain anonymous at this time as well as John. “Last December the Zionsville Parks and Recreation Department received a gift by an anonymous donor in the amount of $100,000. The donor wished for the funds to be utilized however we saw fit and the Department shared its desire to split the gift towards park improvements and funding 10 years of community programming. We are, once again, the fortunate recipients of this generous gift and wish to express our sincere Page 4 of 39  appreciation towards the donor and share how this donation will positively impact Zionsville for years to come. As a Parks and Recreation Department, it is our mission to enrich the community’s quality of life and quality of place. One of the most beloved aspects of our community is the abundance of parkland we proudly refer to Zionsville as a Town within a Park. With this generous gift we are prioritizing efforts that not only seek to enhance the wellness of our residents but also improve the well-being and health of our natural spaces and the species that inhabit them. A healthy community is an enriched community with ample opportunities for physical, mental and social wellness. The Department intends to earmark $50,000 towards initiatives that enrich the history, culture and expression of the arts in our park systems. Projects may include public art installations, historic event placards, music and art equipment in our play spaces and equipment to strengthen our community connections through events and programming. Because our health is directly tied to our environment, the Department will also allocate $5,000 a year for the next 10 years to help fund our growing Natural Resources Division. In 2022, the Zionsville Parks and Recreation Department created the Natural Resource Division within our Maintenance Department to prioritize the health of our greenspaces. Our Natural Resource Technician organizes volunteers to assist with invasive species removal, habitat restoration, tree plantings and care for our various habitats and plantings. This gift will see the next 10 years of habitat restoration and help Zionsville Parks reestablish wetlands, prairies and improve biodiversity along our trails, parks and waterways.” So, again, we want to thank that donor for this opportunity in this gift. Stehr And I might add too, the, the first part of that, the enhancing the historic character of our parks, this will help. We talked a few meetings ago about the, the historic plaques along the trail. This will hopefully speed up that process a bit too by, by funding some of those and our donor who at one point in their life was involved in education is happy to see those educational aspects being brought to bear. So, we’re fortunate that we have generous people in our community that are willing to donate to that level and, and I want to also mention that Jarod has, has been very creative in using it in a way that’s going to be lasting and, I mean not all at one shot but is going to last for half of a generation which is really, really very admirable too. So thank you – Page 5 of 39 Logsdon Thank you. Stehr For your approach to it. Logsdon And the final update from the Superintendent report is that it is Parks and Recreation Month. So, as you’re out on our trails and in our parks, if you see our staff out and about running programs or maintaining our trails, be sure to stop and, and thank them for all they do because they, this team really does come to, to work with a 110% every single day and we’re not able to accomplish what we do without that attitude so it’s, it’s a month to really celebrate our team so. Hope you all will. Thank you. Stehr Any questions for Jarod? Any thoughts? All right, thank you Jarod. Next up is Chris Flanagan our Director of Maintenance Services. And Chris had a lot of cleanup to do a week or so ago, huh? Flanagan Yeah, you’ll hear me say storm cleanup a few times this evening. Stehr Yeah. Flanagan Good evening. So, just to get started, we only had one instance of graffiti in June which is pretty nice. It only took up about one staff hours. Again, storm cleanup. We did repainting lot lines at American Legion trail crossing, Turkeyfoot Nature Sanctuary, Starkey Park and the Nancy Burton Trailhead. Just like when we did previously in May, we worked alongside Cornerstone Environmental, we did the sound testing in May. Just this June I went around with them and we established logout and tagout procedures for our water and electric systems throughout the park system. And we performed our low frequency playground inspections at our playgrounds through the park. I’ll do a little explanation of that. We do high frequency playground inspections. We do those twice a month – myself and Gordon, who is the other playground safety inspector, and then once a year we do the low frequency which is a little more involved. We’re going out with the tape measures, we’re going out with hardware, check every bolt and make sure they’re secure, check all the distances between all the, all the playground equipment and we’re doing pretty well. Alrighty, so, the Big 4 Rail Trail storm cleanup – we cleared multiple fallen trees and blew off the trail and we’re still doing some monitoring on that. I won’t say much more about working alongside Arc of Boone County. That has been covered. I will just mention that our Natural Resources team has entered that into their schedule when they go around watering plantings during the week. And our Natural Resources team Page 6 of 39 installed water bags on the trees along the northern Rail Trail expansion on 400. At Heritage Trail, we edged around pathways, repaired the doggy bag dispenser out there and one thing I forgot to mention in May, Zionsville’s own Mason Malmborg completed the installation of a hammock park up there at Heritage Park to earn his Eagle Scout. So, if you get an opportunity, take a hammock up there and relax for a little bit. All right, Lincoln Park storm cleanup, clearing fallen debris, we installed a new pump at the decorative fountain with a net around it to help keep debris from getting sucked into the pump. We did some tree trimming, namely a large branch on the northeast corner of the park which was coming down over the stop sign and then we continued to do spot spray herbicide and mechanical removal of that in the landscape beds and spraying the pathways. Creekside Nature – Again, storm cleanup, cleaning debris, blowing off trails, trimming back the trails and the site lines. Elm Street Green – Clearing out hardscape paths, pruning trees around the garden plots, repairing hose attachments at the garden plots and trimming the sumac in the upper and lower beds. Mulberry Fields – Again, storm cleanup on those hardscape paths. Coy did get the irrigation system up and running. We are very appreciative to them for the hard work they’ve put into that system. One of our days working alongside Arc of Boone County was filling in, seeding and strawing the ruts in the sports field. Also, Spears was out at the site to repair leaks in the splashpad system. We are having them out again tomorrow as well to finish up a few more in the system there. The locust trees got trimmed, pressure washed the shelters and edged around pathways. Starkey Park was namely storm cleanup and we’re going out there regularly the last couple of weeks just keeping our eyes and taking out some other trees that we think might be problems. Turkey Foot Nature Park – Again, storm cleanup. At the trail crossing we cleared the hardscape path, trimmed bushes and trees, additional to keeping up with weed and spot spraying and we pressure washed the path and the monuments there. Page 7 of 39  At the Nature Sanctuary – From the large storms we had, we did lose the tops of the large red oak and the large American Beech along the trail at the entrance. The fence was damaged. I’m thinking we will be able to salvage most of that fence, clean the posts up and we should be able to cannibalize some of the rails that didn’t get destroyed and then just get some new rails to replace that. And I do think we can leave the trunks of the trees where the tops fell off. I think they’ll be able to provide some good habitat, specifically the American Beech with the top open. I would hazard we’ll get some barred owls nesting in there at some point. Carter Station – Clearing hardscape path and trimmed back vegetation from the parking area. At Overley-Worman, again, clearing paths with storm cleanup, cleared some trees. We modified the mountain bike trail downhill entrance from the Rail Trail making it safer to slow riders down as they get into the park proper and it provides two ways for them to stay on the hard trail or make their way into the mountain bike trail proper where we did trimming out there for the mountain bike trail loop. Godbey was out to site to perform the backflow test to make sure that our water system is in compliance. We installed some safety signage along the hardscape pathways. Some lumber that was left behind by the contractors near the mountain bike area we picked that up and moved it into a storage area up at Carpenter. And that’s about it. Can I answer any questions? Barksdale Wow. Stehr Any questions or comments for Chris? Salewicz You’ve been busy. Flanagan Yeah. Stehr And so with all the storm – Flanagan Plenty more to do too. Stehr The pickleball courts are okay, right? Flanagan Thank goodness! Stehr Oh my goodness. Thank you. Okay, great. Page 8 of 39 Salewicz _______. 18:31 inaudible Stehr Thank you, Chris. Flanagan Thank you all. Stehr All right, the next item on the agenda is our Director of Recreation Services, Mindy Murdock. Murdock Good evening everyone. So June with the Parks programming we had, for the Nature Center we had 1,655 walk ins. So, not our biggest month but right up there. I will highlight that probably the biggest day is we actually had one day where we had – where is it – 212 drop ins to the Nature Center. So that day the Nature Center was hopping! If you remember, it’s just a little room so, thankfully, they all didn’t come at once but – we didn’t have any private programs in the month in June just because our entire month was set aside for summer camps as well as for Nature Play Days. We did do a lot though with the Creekstomper. So, the Creekstomper was out at eight different events from the library summer kickoff that started right at the beginning of June to Stories in the Park that was at Lions Park as well as to our Park and Plays including we were able to go to Royal Run. I actually had 53 that came to that Park and Play. We, unfortunately, had to cancel the Austin Oaks Park and Play because of the, the air quality that we all lived through so – but with those big events we actually brought in about 3,400 people that the Creekstomper got to hang out with and let people play so a lot of fun. A couple other things – of course, as Jill had mentioned, our Butterfly Trail is up and going. We’ve been seeing a lot of people, talking with a lot of people about that, making sure we’re handing out maps for that one. I think it’s gotten a little bit more of a draw. We did have a, a Current article that was written on, on the Butterfly Trail as well as if you guys didn’t watch the Fox 59 where I got to be on television. So that was a first for me so. And then on top of that, our Nature Play Days this year did very well. We had 15 different events. So, a huge thank you to the Hussey-Mayfield Memorial Public Library, the Zionsville Fire Department, SullivanMunce, the Boone County Solid Waste Management District and the Zionsville Farmer’s Market for all being co-hosts for those different events. So, all totaled we had a little over 3,000 participants for those 15 different free events that we had going on that month in June. So, unless you guys have any questions, that’s all I have. Stehr Does anybody have anything for Mindy? Page 9 of 39 Lane Just a comment – can you and I get together or you and some faction of the library staff? I think we need to, to streamline how the events are getting on the calendar. Because I know you guys have your own calendar and some things are on the library calendar as well for ___ inaudible 21:36 – Murdock Yes – Lane And I think it’s, it’s causing some confusion with patrons. Murdock Okay. Lane And I don’t – I want to make sure that people get to your events. Murdock Right. Lane So, I think just kind of not thinking like the professionals and it’s our calendar all the time and like the users might help clarify some of that. Murdock Okay, yeah. We can chat, sure. Lane Okay. Stehr Anybody else? I did follow your link to that Fox 59 interview. You acquitted yourself very well. You represented us well so – Murdock Thank you. Stehr Good job on that. Normally I don’t watch Fox 59 but – Murdock Well – Stehr I made an exception in your case. Murdock I mean, they were the only ones that contacted us so. Stehr Anything else for Mindy? No? Okay. All right, thank you Mindy. Next item on the agenda is our Golf Course Manager and as he’s making his way up here, Mike Wall, I, I just wanted to say that those yellow flags sure are visible from the road. Page 10 of 39 Wall Yeah. Stehr That’s a nice, nice little upgrade. Wall Yes. Well, you kinda took one of my bullet points so I don’t have to speak. So, yeah, I guess the air quality doesn’t affect golfers. They came out still in droves at the golf course. So, we didn’t hit the $100,000 mark this month, unfortunately, but we’re still getting close to $100,000. To date, we’re at right, we’re right at $310,000 for the year so we’re still targeting well over $500,000 for the year which would definitely be a record. Last month we sold another 12 passes for the month so we’re 116 for the year. I stood here, I don’t know, was it three years ago and I said we had zero student passes, well, we’re up to 68 for the year which is 59% of our passes so, between student passes and senior passes, 91% of our passes are those passes so that’s our clientele, that’s who we’re targeting – 91% of those passes. So, we’re getting those people out so. To date, we’re at 10,650 rounds for the year so, a lot of divots, a lot of play. First tee time for the day is 7 a.m., last one 7 p.m. and we’re pretty much 85% capacity, 90% capacity. On the weekends we’re full so I guess that air quality is not affecting golfers. The drainage project that we had in May we finally got a chance to test and it worked so we got some rain. The drainage is working so. As John alluded, we, we put some new flags out. We hadn’t put new flags out at the course so we some bright yellow flags, bright yellow flagsticks and golfers can see those much easier. With their laser range finders they’ll be able to get the distances better so we put those out. We’re going to get new tee markers out next week. Those are on order. But really the highlight are the push carts that we just got. I think the last push, the last, they were pull carts then were probably purchased during the Reagan Administration and then we just got new push carts which are, you push them rather than pull them and they’re just better for you and the St. Al’s league that’s Monday night all 12 of them were out and I don’t think we’ve ever had all 12 of our previously ever out. There might’ve been three out, four out but on Monday night all 12 are out so they’re definitely a hit so we got these green push carts out and people have thanked me for them and just love them so. Yeah, and actually some people have actually asked about purchasing them. We’ve already sold two push carts so. Yeah, so – Page 11 of 39  The greens mower it’s on, it’s slated to be here Friday but we all know, we all know how that works. If we get it here Friday I’ll be very happy but it’s definitely here in the next week or so but we’re going to get the greens mower and once we get that, we’ll be really happy so yeah, everything’s going well at the golf course so. Any questions? Yeah. Salewicz Good work. Stehr Good year. Wall All right. Stehr Yeah Wall Thanks. Stehr Thank you Mike. All right, next thing on the agenda is our Parks Attorney report from Amy Nooning. Nooning Sure, thank you. I’ve worked on reviewing a few contracts that Jarod will be bringing forward a little bit later and negotiating some terms to make sure that we have favorable terms. Jarod and I worked quite a bit on discussing the Park rules that you’ll see later and a Code of Conduct related to that and so we did quite a bit of research on that. And then I have an update on Overley-Worman as it relates to the contract termination but I know that’s on the agenda for later so I can hold off on that _____. inaudible 27:42 Stehr Okay. Any questions for Amy? No? Okay, good. New Business Shelter Reservation Special Use Permit All right, let’s move on then – New Business and the first item under New Business is Shelter Reservation Special Use Permit. Jarod – Logsdon All right, thank you John. So, our shelter reservation program allows for residents and non-residents to reserve the shelters at our parks for half a day for a nominal fee or they can rent them for the full day for a fee that is twice that. Within the policy for the shelter program, there is the line about Page 12 of 39  concessions, vendors and other amenities and caterers like that are not allowed unless approved by the Park Board. We have had such a request that does not trigger the Special Event Application as this is just really a shelter reservation and they wish to have Kona Ice onsite to provide that to their participants. So, I believe that this could be captured within the Special Permit Agreement that we have utilized in the past for these kind of exceptions. So I will open up the discussion for consideration of allowing outside vendors to essentially cater to shelter reservations and I think whatever our decision is tonight should be moving forward for all shelter reservations so, what, the request will always come before the Park Board but at least we’ll have a standing recommendation for how we handle these situations. So within that Special Permit Agreement, some of the terms assigned by the Special Permit event sponsor which would be the, the shelter reservation holder, Kona Ice must carry all applicable licenses, certifications and insurances and operate to all health code standards as a concession provider for the Charlesworth event. Kona Ice may not sell any items while on Park property. Kona Ice may only serve goods to participants of the event sponsor at no charge and the event sponsor will be held accountable for any damage to Park property as a result of the vendor’s operations. So happy to open the floor to any discussions of whether to allow outside vendors into our parks for our shelter reservations. Again, we, we anticipate this will be a small impact just immediately in the area of the shelter but surely the public will see the vendor in the park and wonder if they can also go up to it and, and receive Kona Ice products so something to consider. Stehr Anybody have any questions or comments or issues? Cambridge I don’t have an objection. It sounds pretty straightforward to me. Stehr Yeah. Would anyone like to make a resolution then? We need a resolution to approve this? Nooning A vote to approve. Stehr A vote to approve it? Nooning Yeah. Stehr Would anybody like to make a resolution? Page 13 of 39 Cambridge So moved. Stehr Or a motion. Ryan Cambridge has made a motion. Lane Second. Stehr And Kimberly Lane has, has made the second. Now let’s take a vote. Jill Pack? Pack Aye. Stehr John Salewicz? Salewicz Aye. Stehr Ryan Cambridge? Cambridge Aye. Stehr Kris Barksdale? Barksdale Aye. Stehr Kimberly Lane? Lane Aye. Stehr Coralie Palmer? Palmer Aye. Stehr And I say aye as well. All right, Special Use Permit passes. Memorial Bench Donation Next item – a Memorial Bench Donation. Logsdon Again, our Memorial Bench Program is assisting us with supplying places for rest and relaxation along our park system. This request would be for a new memorial bench next to the staircase and bridge of Overley-Worman Park overlooking that kind of scenic vista that we don’t have too many of here in Zionsville so, that would go right next to those stairs and provide the first kind of bench relief for anyone with mobility issues that started at Page 14 of 39  the trailhead or just needs a place to relax and take in the views so. With Park Board approval, we’ll move on that memorial bench purchase and installation. Cambridge I make a motion to approve. Stehr Okay, Ryan Cambridge makes a motion to approve. Do we have a second? Barksdale I second. Stehr Kris Barksdale seconds. All in favor say aye. All Aye. Stehr All opposed? [No response] All right, that passes unanimously. All right, we’re moving right through the agenda tonight. Next, Jarod, Monitoring Services of Overley-Worman. Logsdon I think the Mulberry Fields might be the next one. Do you have that? Mulberry Fields Field Reservation Stehr Not on my agenda but okay. Let’s go to Mulberry Fields. Logsdon All right, so we do have a field reservation, a second camp offering from Skyhawks. As you recall, earlier this year we were exploring a relationship with Skyhawks camp providers. They provide recreational opportunities and we agreed upon a 70/30 percent revenue split for any registrations. The summer programming did have one camp with participants so we’ll look forward to those revenues coming in for that and that was the flag football summer camp. So, the agreement before you this evening would be for multiple camps this fall beginning August 29th and carrying on through October 26th. Those camps include baseball and soccer for 4 to 9-year-olds and beginners golf for 5 to 9-year-olds. So those would take place at Mulberry Fields. It’d be a traditional field reservation. We’d also have Zionsville flag football out there but there’s plenty of space for both organizations to operate so. With your consideration for the approval of the agreement for sports field Page 15 of 39  reservations for Skyhawks fall programming from August 29th through October 26th. Salewicz I have a question – I’m a football coach through ZYFL and there was talk that other football practices, not just flag football, was going to be out there. Has that, has that been discussed with you? Logsdon No. Salewicz Okay. Logsdon So to date only flag football is pursuing that. Salewicz Okay, I, I was in a meeting and didn’t say much at that point but I was wondering if, if that had been discussed if it was, because there’s sometimes issues on trying to find space for all the – Logsdon Mm hmm. Salewicz All the, from K to 6 so – Logsdon Yeah. Salewicz I may make a statement to one of the Board members there that – Logsdon Yeah, we would still have two fields fully available to utilize so. Salewicz Okay. Stehr Anybody else? All right, do we need a motion to approve this contract? Pack I’d move to approve the sports field registration – Stehr Hold on a second. Mike has a – Logsdon How are they going to do golf? They use oversized balls and oversized – so it’s just really teaching that age how to swing. Stehr Okay. Jill Pack makes a motion to accept. Do we have a second? Salewicz I’ll second. Stehr John Salewicz seconds. Let’s take a vote. Jill Pack? Page 16 of 39 Pack Aye. Stehr John Salewicz? Salewicz Aye. Stehr Ryan Cambridge? Cambridge Aye. Stehr Kris Barksdale? Barksdale Aye. Stehr Kimberly Lane? Lane Aye. Stehr Coralie Palmer? Palmer Aye. Stehr And I say aye as well making it unanimous. All right, what do you have next on our agenda, Jarod? Logsdon It would be the Proposal for Monitoring Services. Stehr Great. Logsdon All right. Stehr Let’s talk about that. Proposal for Monitoring Services; Overley-Worman Park Logsdon So as a condition of our flood plain permits for both Overley-Worman Park and Starkey Park, we have recruited the professional services of Stantec for monitoring of those plantings and creating a report and issuing that to the DNR. So we are responsible for that report for the next three years for Overley-Worman and one final year for our Starkey plantings that took place along with the 2018 LARE project. So before you is the Page 17 of 39  consideration of two contracts – one for Starkey and one for Overley- Worman Park. The Starkey contract, the agreement language has been reviewed by Amy and it has passed the, the initial test so upon award of this agreement, they would begin taking inventories of the species that are still within those areas, creating that report and getting it issued to the DNR by end of year. So, for the monitoring report at Starkey Park, it would be $3,300 and for Overley-Worman Park, which we would be required to report for at minimum the next three years, they had monitoring prices for 2023 at $2,800 and that is because there is a little bit of additional field work they’ll do in that initial year which they’re also having to do for Starkey but then in the ’24 and ’25 years, it’ll be $2,500 each year. Stehr And what are we, what are we getting for our money? Logsdon An inventory of the species that are there, a report created and then submitted to DNR. Stehr Generated how often? Logsdon Annually. Stehr Annually? Okay. Cambridge And it’s, is it correct, Jarod, it’s, it’s a prerequisite to our existing agreements with them for those properties, right? Logsdon Yes – Cambridge We don’t have a choice but to – Logsdon Yeah. Cambridge Generate the report? Logsdon Yes. Cambridge Right. Logsdon Yep. Page 18 of 39 Cambridge And as part of that, do they go through and identify in areas like specific to Overley-Worman where there are reforestation efforts, what replacements may be required? Is that part of what they would do? Logsdon Yeah, so there’s a certain survivability as a part of that flood plain permit that have to, you have to achieve that percentage in order to kind of relinquish this responsibility so I, I, I do anticipate we will have a fourth year of monitoring for Starkey just because we’ve lost some over the past two years. Obviously, at Overley-Worman Park if anyone has traveled our trails, you’ll see quite a few of those young trees are really struggling this summer and probably not going to make it. That is unfortunate so the project did have maintenance included for the preservation of those trees throughout this first year but they also do come with a warranty. So, they were planted last fall so before this fall we’ll have an inventory of just how many need replaced before we kind of hand over that. I hate to see trees go but at least they will be replaced and then we can monitor moving forward. But, to answer your question, yes, within the report it’ll make a recommendation of how many and what species to replant. Cambridge Got it. Stehr So we can make one motion for both – for Starkey Park and Overley- Worman? Okay. Does anybody want, would anybody like to make the motion for monitoring? Salewicz I’ll make a motion to do the monitor, the monitoring. Stehr John Salewicz makes a motion. Do we have a second? Cambridge Second. Stehr Coralie raised her hand. We’re going to give that one to Coralie. And let’s take a vote. Jill Pack? Pack Aye. Stehr John Salewicz? Salewicz Aye. Stehr Ryan Cambridge? Cambridge Aye. Page 19 of 39 Stehr Kris Barksdale? Barksdale Aye. Stehr Kimberly Lane? Lane Aye. Stehr Coralie Palmer? Palmer Aye. Stehr And I’ll make it unanimous by saying aye. All right, anything else under New Business Jarod? IU Environmental Resilience Institute Agreement Logsdon I do have one we could add here – so, over the past month we have been discussing a project with the IU Climate Cohort Program. So as you know, we each summer for the past couple of years have had an IU intern. They’ve assisted with the Climate Action Plan that’s driven some of our Town initiatives over the past couple of years. They assisted us in previous years with other projects and this year they are helping us with a municipal composting site so kind of planning out what that’ll look like to help divert some of the leaves that are picked up by DPW in the fall. They have ample services to also provide grant writing opp, services to the Town and with your approval, the Parks Department would enter into an agreement with the IU Environmental Resilience Institute. That would take effect immediately and go through August 1st and we would partner together. They would conduct research, data polls and mapping, prepare document drafts and edit proposals and essentially develop the, the writing for a grant and the grant that we would like to go for would be the Next Level Trails Round 4 Grant and we are looking to incorporate two projects within that so, round 4 of Next Level is still providing ample funding to regional connections which we were awarded in round 2 with our Big 4 but they also allocated a portion of this year’s funding towards local projects that make connections in communities. So, we believe we have a great case for creating some additional pathways along Eagle Creek and in an effort to not only work towards our regional Eagle Creek Trail in the future but also make important connections today Page 20 of 39  for our residents. So, the two projects that we’d like to propose in the round 4 application would be the Elm Street and Lions Park connector trail that we’ve discussed working with the Lions Club to secure an easement to create that trail and also the Turkey Foot Holliday Nature Preserve trail. So that would connect Turkey Foot as you leave today has that paved trail that goes up to Holliday Farms and then to the historic red bridge and we would look to continue that up to Holliday Nature Preserve which is just a little bit more north. So, working with IU to create a grant application and then cross our fingers that we’re awarded at the end of the year. No money changes hands. This is a free service that they would like to offer us. It’s great experience for the students and it’s a huge benefit to our limited staffing team so, with your approval, we’d like to enter into the agreement with the Indiana University Environmental Resilience Institute for grant writing services. Salewicz And when you said August 1, is that 2024? Logsdon 2023. Salewicz So it’s only for – Logsdon One month turnaround. Salewicz Okay. Lane Wow. Logsdon Yep. Salewicz So we only got a, we have a month to get their services done for what you need? Logsdon Yep, yeah. So we will likely need to work as a Park Board with a special meeting or at least some dialogue to approve that application before we submit it. Salewicz When, when do you perceive that application needing to be submitted? Logsdon By August 1st. Salewicz Okay, all right, good. Logsdon Extremely tight windows. Page 21 of 39 Stehr Yeah. Cambridge Well, let’s get this going. Motion to approve this. Stehr And let’s emphasize that we’re talking about a lot of potential upside for no cost. Pack No cost. Stehr For zero cost. Salewicz Is there potential for more use from them? Logsdon Yes, they, they want more projects to partner on so, not only – Salewicz And this is just specifically for this project? Logsdon Yes. Salewicz Okay, gotcha. Okay. Logsdon Yep. Stehr And we have some questions from down here. Palmer We – Salewicz They were wanting to make a motion – Lane Making a motion to let them – Stehr Okay. Kimberly Lane makes a motion that we enter into this agreement. Do we have a second? Palmer Coralie seconds. Stehr Jill Pack? Pack Aye. Stehr John Salewicz? Page 22 of 39 Salewicz Aye. Stehr Ryan Cambridge? Cambridge Aye. Stehr Kris Barksdale? Barksdale Aye. Stehr Kimberly Lane? Lane Aye. Stehr Coralie Palmer? Palmer Aye. Stehr And I say aye as well. So lots of upside with no cost. That sounds great. Alrighty, anything else under New Business? Logsdon That’s all I got. Stehr All right. Logsdon I’ll stop _____ 42:40 inaudible again. Old Business Zionsville Parks and Recreation Park Rules Update Stehr Let’s move to Old Business then and the first item I have is the Rules Update. Logsdon Yeah, so, we kind of prefaced this last month and took no action just to open up the topic of updating the rules and after researching kind of what’s there today and what we’d like to add, it’s really not too much. So, it’s an update to the existing rules in so that we would like to add that no swimming in Zionsville parks unless it’s a swimming designated area and no horses in our parks or trails unless it’s a designated equestrian parking lot or trail. So, currently we have neither of either so. But, in the future should we be able to develop those facilities, they wouldn’t be outlawed by the rules. Page 23 of 39 Nooning Jarod, if I could add too – you also added nine prohibited behaviors that we – Logsdon Yes, so we discussed a Code of Conduct briefly at the last meeting as well and this is just outlining some behaviors that are, we feel are unacceptable for our park system. Whether those are non-violent threats or the escalation of violence in our parks and just, just noting that and internalizing those in the rules. So, as we look at opportunities and requirements for consequences and enforcement, we’ll have them included in the rules as well so. Happy to answer any questions related to the Code of Conduct or the rule update. Salewicz I guess one question as a former forest protection officer, who does the enforcements of this and how are they going about being decided and – Logsdon Yeah, so, part of that it’s, it’s the responsibility of park staff when they see these things and we are working on a framework for what triggers what response and we’ll have that internal training so, non-violent confrontations they could usually be deescalated with verbal judo but as you see other instances, it’s ultimately Zionsville Police Department that would respond to anything that’s elevated and incited and they are also enforcing rules as they’re out in the parks so, kind of a collaboration between the two. Stehr All right, even though there aren’t any significant changes, we haven’t looked at this in a number of years so it makes sense to do it. Right? Salewicz Yes. Stehr Do we have agreement on that? Pack Yes. Stehr Does anybody have, do we need a motion on that? Nooning This would be Resolution 2023-07 – Stehr Okay. Nooning That you would be approving to adopt these rules, restate and revise the Rules of Park Operations. Stehr Okay. Do we have a, a motion to accept Resolution 2023-03 – Page 24 of 39 Nooning 2023-07. Stehr 07. Nooning Yeah. Salewicz I’ll make a motion to approve Resolution 20, 2023-07. Stehr Thank you. John Salewicz makes a motion. Do we have a second? Lane Second. Stehr Kimberly Lane seconds. Let’s take a vote. Jill Pack? Pack Aye. Stehr John Salewicz? Salewicz Aye. Stehr Ryan Cambridge? Cambridge Aye. Stehr Kris Barksdale? Barksdale Aye. Stehr Kimberly Lane? Lane Aye. Stehr Coralie Palmer? Palmer Aye. Stehr And I say aye as well. Great. Nooning And I do have this for everybody to sign afterwards too for you. Page 25 of 39 Zionsville Parks and Recreation Naming Rights Policy Stehr All right, the next item that I have is the Naming Rights Policy. Logsdon That’s right. Thank you, John. So, as we also briefly touched on last meeting, we are becoming the recipient of more and more donations through our generous community as they see our park system growing they, too, want to be a part of that. So, I felt it precedent to develop a policy looking at national standards and discussing with other park systems to not only define what major gifts are, but also establish some guidelines for a naming right policy. So if residents or organizations wish to contribute significant financial or land donations, then they should have the opportunity to establish kind of their legacy on our park system if they’re truly adding to the legacy of that park system. So, the policy creates some definitions for naming rights and facilities and major gifts as well as establishes some guidelines for what triggers the naming for major donations and some of those guidelines the thresholds for considering naming rights for a park or recreation facility will include one or more of the following: Land for the majority of the park was deeded to the Board of Parks and Recreation or sold at a below market bargain value sale price; contribution of a minimum of 75% of the capital construction costs associated with developing a park or recreational facility and provisions of a minimum endowment for the continued maintenance and/or programming of a park or recreational facility. So, again, as these donations are accepted, establishing guidelines for naming rights and that not only extends to our future parks but also can be programs. So if a program is funded for an extendable amount of time, that program could have that name as well. Also, scholarship programs can be listed. There’s a series of regulations around this program, how, how names will be presented and should the named park facility or park not be in line with the character of our park system, we do have the opportunity to remove names or change names as needed and there are some protections within the policy that outlined that. And also it mentions working with the Zionsville Parks Foundation to develop that process so that donations that go through them earmarked for those items can be received by the Park Board and those naming rights secured in that process. So – Lane Are those, the termination of rights, naming rights, is that language also in the gift agreements that we’re signing with people so that they know when they sign that it could be revoked? If, if it wasn’t in, in keeping with the, the community? Page 26 of 39 Logsdon Yeah, yeah. So, we actually haven’t signed or developed that agreement just yet but the components of this policy would be incorporated into that absolutely and then probably beefed up further with Amy’s lawful eye. This is, this is slightly putting the horse before the cart. We know that Carpenter Nature Preserve is on the horizon and we’re beginning to get phone calls for donations to add amenities that we weren’t planning for on phase 1 as well as just exploring other opportunities in our parks so, just establishing the precedent before we really get rolling. Cambridge So we’ve got things to build. Lane Yeah, it’s not an easy process. I appreciate the work that you’re doing to put in on this and it’s, it is not knowing what the cart, the cart or the horse is a lot of times. So, no, this is great. Thank you. Stehr All right, do we, anybody have a motion to accept the Naming Rights Policy? Barksdale I’ll move to accept the Naming Rights Policy. Stehr Kris Barksdale makes a motion. Do we have a second? Pack Second. Stehr Jill Pack seconds. Let’s take a vote. Jill Pack? Pack Aye. Stehr John Salewicz? Salewicz Aye. Stehr Ryan Cambridge? Cambridge Aye. Stehr Kris Barksdale? Barksdale Aye. Stehr Kimberly Lane? Page 27 of 39 Lane Aye. Stehr And Coralie Palmer? Palmer Aye. Stehr All right, I say aye too making it unanimous. Thank you. 2023-2028 Zionsville Parks & Recreation 5-Year Master Plan Resolution The next item that I have on my agenda is the 5-Year Master Plan – Logsdon Yes. Stehr We’ve lived with this for a while and I hope that this will have a favorable result tonight. Does anybody have any – well, you want to say something first about the 5-Year Master Plan? Logsdon You were all here along for the ride so – over the past year we asked the community to let us know their thoughts, dreams and desires for our park system over the next five years. Some might call it aspirational but just to look at all the things that was accomplished over the past five years, nearly all of the items within the previous 5-Year Master Plan have been completed or there’s a pretty good reason why maybe they got pushed aside. So, creating this new document, this would be the first step in ratifying the Comprehensive Plan of the Town and officially adopting it first before the Park Board, then the Plan Commission and ultimately Town Council. Stehr And we’ve all lived with this for a while. I assume everybody’s had a chance to look through it and anybody have any questions, comments or concerns? Pack I think last month we were just waiting for the resolution number. Stehr Yes. Nooning That’s right. Stehr Well we have the resolution number – Pack So we have it now? Page 28 of 39 Nooning We’ve got it. Stehr And I’m going to make a motion that we accept Resolution 2023-06 – Salewicz Second. Stehr The 5-Year Master Plan. John Salewicz seconds. Jill Pack? Pack Aye. Stehr John Salewicz? Salewicz Aye. Stehr Ryan Cambridge? Cambridge Aye. Stehr Kris Barksdale? Barksdale Aye. Stehr Kimberly Lane? Lane Aye. Stehr Coralie Palmer? Palmer Aye. Stehr And I say aye as well. Great to get that approved. Makes me very happy. It should make us all happy. That’s a good thing. Salewicz Yes, very much so. Lane Now we got to do the – Stehr A lot of hard work went into that so – and I, I want to thank Jill for being part of that process. It was, it was a lot of work to, to get that done so good job. All right, next item – Page 29 of 39 Pack And Tricia who is not here – Stehr What’s that? Pack We should thank Tricia as well. Stehr Yes. Pack Who is not here. Overley-Worman Park Stehr Next item on the agenda – Overley-Worman. Jarod – Logsdon So, representatives of REA as well as myself continue to meet with HIS Construction out at Overley-Worman Park anticipating the project to be complete. We had a verbal understanding that all of that work would be completed by June 1st so, you can see that our meetings have backed up a couple of months. We are now in July and fully exploring our options with the remainder of the contract and I’ll hand it over to Amy for the latest. Nooning Sure, yes. So we have re-initiated the process to terminate that contract. The first part of that process was to get from Tricia, which I received, an updated certification with all the supporting documentation indicating that sufficient cause exists to terminate the contract. She provided that to us, to Jarod and me and John, I believe, and she included the punch list items that are not completed with her narrative of the timeline and all the meetings. She is currently compiling all of the e-mail exchanges that she’s had with the contractor. So, once I got that justification letter from her, I sent a letter to HIS on the 7th and that first letter was the notice of intent to terminate the contract. That starts the timeline for them. They have five business days after receipt of that letter for the surety. So the surety is the insurance company that is holding the performance bond for them. So I sent the notice to the contractor and the surety. The surety has five business days from receipt of that to request a conference with us. If they do, then we are required to hold a conference with the surety and the contractor. Otherwise, if they don’t require a conference then seven business days after they receive that letter, I’ll send another letter letting them know that the contract is officially terminated at that point. Tricia has indicated, and I don’t have the exact number, but we’re holding a substantial amount of money in retainage so our next steps are that Tricia is working on developing specifications to complete the project. So, Page 30 of 39  it’ll kind of be its own smaller project, you know, part of the Overley- Worman bigger project. Whatever is needed we’ll have to bid that out. I mean, that will likely be over $150,000 to complete it so that’s above our threshold. We’ll have to bid that out and receive those bids back. The surety, the way that this is designed is that if the cost to finish it exceeds the remaining balance of the contract that we have with the contractor, the surety will step in and cover that difference there. If the cost to complete it is less than the balance of the contract, unlikely, maybe but if it is, then the balance goes to the contractor. So, in theory and design those are all the steps. So, right now we’re just waiting for the response from the surety and from HIS, which we should get back next week and I’ll let you know. Stehr Okay and is this something that can wait until our next meeting to discuss further or is it going to be something we’re going to have to deal with as we go? Nooning Well, we don’t have to have any special meetings between now and the next meeting. Back in November the Board actually authorized that we begin this process. Stehr Right – Nooning When we did at the time. Stehr Right. Nooning So, we don’t need any further authorization. I mean, we’re just kind of going down the list pursuant to the items that we have to do under the, the performance bond and under the contract. There’s no additional meetings, I think, that are required of us at that point. Stehr Okay. Nooning But I will give you an update every month for sure on where we stand with this. Stehr Okay. Salewicz Are we holding like 20% or something? Logsdon 10, 10%. Salewicz 10%? Okay. Page 31 of 39 Nooning I think it’s a little under a half million, right? Logsdon Yep. Nooning That we have right now. Cambridge And with the, some of the items that were warrantied like plant material that was warrantied by the original contractor, how is that warranty handled? Are they still obligated to honor that warranty or do we just treat those items as losses within the, like the punch list items I suppose? Nooning Well, I think that they would still be obligated to honor those warranties but we’ll have to talk to Tricia about whether or not she’s been including that in her new scope because our, everything needs to be included at this point in the new scope because that’s what our total cost is going to be. So, even though they are responsible for that warranty – Cambridge Uh huh – Nooning That needs to be folded into – Cambridge Got it. Nooning The cost of the new contract. Cambridge I think that mostly just applies to plant material probably. Nooning Just the trees – Logsdon Umm – Cambridge In, in terms of performance warranty. Logsdon Yep, yes, yep. Probably the playground too but that’s done so it’ll be making sure those warranties transfer over to us still – Cambridge Right. Logsdon At termination. Stehr Anybody else? All right, so there’s nothing for us to do on that tonight and we can move on to the next item – Page 32 of 39 Logsdon All right. Stehr Which is the southern expansion? Logsdon I have, not, not too much to update on the southern expansion. That project is wrapped up. We had the final pay app that’ll be processed for next month’s claims register. So, officially closed out on the southern expansion. Rail Trail Northern Expansion & Widening Stehr And the northern expansion? Logsdon The northern expansion is going well. Significant completion on that. We are creating the punch list and anticipate a final walk through with DNR on the 21st of the month. As you’ll recall, the northern expansion was a part of the Next Level Program so it’s timely that we close out round 2 so we will be eligible for round 4. That’s working out great. Phase 1 also has now had straw and seed laid down so that is awaiting a punch list. We’ll walk through the trail with the contractor and make sure they are meeting specs along the way and the contractor has began work on Phase 2, so initial clearing of that corridor. Salewicz I do have a question because there’s some areas where they’re putting that new dirt down and the seed and such that obviously there is a lot of erosion possibilities. What’s the, do they have a, do they have maintenance involved in that or is that once they get it turned over to us and then if there’s washouts we have to take care of that? Logsdon Yeah, as the punch list is created if there’s any current ones, we’ll identify those but hopefully the seed with the rain that’s going to happen in the next couple of days it’ll start to germinate and take root and then we can mitigate a lot of those erosions. Salewicz There’s some pretty rough areas it looks like it could – Logsdon Yep, yeah. Salewicz I mean, I, I was always wondering how they’re going to handle that because, I mean, it just goes, drops straight down – Logsdon Yeah. Page 33 of 39 Salewicz And they gotta have that buffer area so I foresee some areas being, some issues for you guys and for us – Logsdon Yeah. Salewicz Going forward so. Logsdon Yeah and, and after the project is done, there’s not to say that riprap or some other treatment might not be needed if it’s – Salewicz Yeah. Logsdon Egregious but the spec does call for 90% coverage of the grass so if an area is washed out, they’ll have to reestablish that and re-seed at that time. Salewicz Okay. Logsdon So, some protections. Salewicz Mmm. Stehr All right, any other discussion? All right, Jarod, next item – Rail Trail Trailhead Logsdon The Rail Trail Trailhead. We do have one change order for your consideration. As you’ll recall, last winter we were presented with the opportunity to have an art installation that would be in the shape of an eagle and actually mobile and will adjust with the wind and slowly flap. Working to incorporate that art installation into the trailhead facility, there was the need for a footer that was substantial enough to accommodate the weight of that steel and aluminum structure. So, before you is a change order request for $8,865 for the concrete footer to be poured in the roundabout. So that is an 8-foot-deep footer. So, should something happen and we choose not to go forward with the art installation, we could always have a different one in the future or just a heavily reinforced flagpole. Salewicz So we had a, a big credit from changing the, the building so does this still, does this change order still keep us in the – Logsdon We would still have a credit but I would propose that we utilize the donation we mentioned tonight. Part of that initiative was to utilize that for Page 34 of 39  cultural and arts and celebrating those type of things in our park system so this seems like a novel opportunity for the small investment of $8,865 we could incorporate a public art installation that’s well over $30,000, $40,000. Stehr And I think, I think that’s in keeping with the spirit of what our, what our donor would like us to do with the donation too. Did you have a comment? Barksdale I was going to say the same thing. Stehr Oh you were? Oh, great. Barksdale Yeah. Stehr Great minds, right? Barksdale Yes. Stehr Okay. Any other questions about that or any, do we have to accept the change order to make that happen? Logsdon Yes, yes. Stehr Can we have a motion to accept the change order for the art installation at the Rail Trail Trailhead? Lane I make a motion. Stehr Kimberly Lane makes a motion. Do we have a second? Cambridge Second. Stehr Ryan Cambridge seconds. All right, let’s take a vote. Jill Pack? Pack Aye. Stehr John Salewicz? Salewicz Aye. Stehr Ryan Cambridge? Page 35 of 39 Cambridge Aye. Stehr Kris Barksdale? Barksdale Aye. Stehr Kimberly Lane? Lane Aye. Stehr Coralie Palmer? Palmer Aye. Stehr And I say aye as well. All right, terrific. Anything else, Jarod? Logsdon That’s all I have. Stehr Does anybody else have anything under Board Related Items? No? Okay. Claims Now let’s move to Claims and there were some questions earlier about claims. Has everybody been satisfied with the answers they’ve gotten to the claims? Salewicz Yes sir. Stehr Any questions anybody has about that? Pack I had, I had one question. I just gotta get it to switch its orientation for me. Oh, very good. Thank you. It’s hard to look at it on a computer. It was related to, let me find it now, some engineering services and it was just, it didn’t identify what park it was related to – payroll. It was somewhere around $2,000. Does that ring a bell with you at all? Logsdon I see a lot of invoices each month so, I’m trying to find that on the claims. Pack I know. Let’s just – see if I can find the – Logsdon Was the line item actually coded to engineering? Pack I think that’s what it said was – Page 36 of 39 Stehr Page, page 1? Pack Page 1? Stehr Beam, Longest & Neff? Pack Yes. I just didn’t know what park that went to? Logsdon Oh, so that was actually related to a legal description for a potential easement with the schools. Pack Okay. Logsdon So that would, is in relation to the potential Union Township donation we might receive – Pack Okay. Logsdon Contingent on that. Pack Very good. I just didn’t, I was trying to figure out where it was park related to so perfect. Thank you. Logsdon Of course. Stehr Any other questions about claims? So a motion to accept the claims? Salewicz I’ll make the motion to accept claims as presented. Stehr John Salewicz makes a motion. Do we have a second? Pack Second. Stehr Jill Pack seconds. Let’s take a vote. Jill Pack? Pack Aye. Stehr John Salewicz? Salewicz Aye. Stehr Ryan Cambridge? Page 37 of 39 Cambridge Aye. Stehr Kris Barksdale? Barksdale Aye. Stehr Kimberly Lane? Lane Aye. Stehr Coralie Palmer? Palmer Aye. Stehr And I say aye as well. All right, please remember we have some paperwork to sign before we leave. Is there anything else, Jarod, before we wrap it up here? Logsdon That is all. Thank you. Stehr We’re good to go? Okay. Next Board meeting is August 9th. Hope to see everybody there for that or here for that and do we have anybody who would like to make a motion to adjourn? Adjournment Salewicz I’ll make a motion to adjourn. Stehr John Salewicz makes the motion to adjourn. Do we have a second? Cambridge Second. Stehr Ryan Cambridge seconds. All in favor say aye. All Aye. Stehr All opposed? [No response] All right, that’s it. Thank you everybody. Page 38 of 39 _____________________________________ ________________________________ John Stehr, President John Salewicz, Secretary Respectfully submitted, Bonnie Black Parks MAC Professional – 8/9/2023 Page 39 of 39