Zionsville Board of Park and Recreation

Zionsville Board of Parks & Recreation Meeting Minutes For Wednesday, December 13, 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 All right, we’re going to go ahead and call this meeting to order. This is the regular meeting of the Zionsville Board of Parks and Recreation for Wednesday, December 13, 2023. Thank you all for coming tonight and we’re going to begin with the roll call. Let’s start with Vice President, Jill Pack? Pack Here. Stehr Secretary, John Salewicz? Salewicz Here. Stehr Ryan Cambridge? Cambridge Here. Stehr Kris Barksdale? Barksdale Here. Page 1 of 42 Stehr Kimberly Lane? Lane Here. Stehr Coralie Palmer? Palmer Here. Approval of the Minutes Stehr All seven of us are present and accounted for. That’s a, that’s a good thing. All right, the next item on the agenda is the November 8, 2023 minutes. Has everybody had a chance to take a look? Salewicz Yes sir. Stehr Any questions, comments, concerns? Do I have a motion to accept the minutes as presented? Salewicz I’ll make a motion to accept minutes as presented. Stehr John Salewicz makes a motion. Do we have a second? Lane Second. Stehr Kimberly Lane seconds. All in favor say aye. All Aye. Stehr All opposed? [No response] Let the record show the minutes are accepted by a vote of 7 to nothing. Public Presentations All right, the next item on the agenda is Public Presentations and Comments and I see we have someone in the audience tonight who would like to make a comment. Please, Becky, if you would, give us your name and address and we’ll give you five minutes, how about that? Page 2 of 42 Schumacher That’s perfect. Thank you very much. And I’ll say in advance I hope not to get into a coughing fit. I recovered from bronchitis but I have a lingering cough so I’ve got some water with me just in case. Stehr Okay, all right. Schumacher Yes, my name is Rebecca Schumacher. My husband is Pete Miller. Our residence is 10268 Durella. That’s D as in dog, U-R-E-L-L-A Circle. Our home is in the Vonterra community and our home is situated facing Overley-Worman Park, the parking lot, the picnic shelter area and the playground area. So I’m here this evening because we definitely wanted to publicly and be on record to extend our thanks and appreciation to you, Jarod. Jarod has been very quick to be responsive and collaborate with us to identify solutions regarding the view of the parking lot and incidents that have occurred in the park since we first moved in July of 2021 and we also want to thank John. John, thank you. Jill, thank you. The two of you have always been very quick to respond to our emails and extended yourself to also meet with us. So, thank you, all three of you very much for your support and your guidance. I also just want to offer a friendly suggestion to the Board for any future development of parks. We’d just highly recommend that parks not be developed in the back of a residential community because it does increase traffic and people within the residential community that otherwise would not be there. So, it increases a risk factor for those who are residents in the community. And my last point is not really a point, it’s a clarification I’m asking of the Board. We understand that the Board, the park is opened at dawn and sunrise and closes at sunset and dusk, correct? That’s correct. So, we discovered – I’ll reference different incidences that we’ve observed in the park which John and Jarod and Jill have been very responsive to give us guidance on, mostly times that we’ve called the police have been in relation to the developers of the park. We did call a few times the police with incidences that we were observing in the park, for example, fireworks that were set off during a very dry summer so it raised fire danger. Secondly, in September there were three cars parks overnight. We spotted those. We were concerned that perhaps those people were injured on the trail so we called the police. We have avoided and ignored kind of an uptick over the fall of people coming into the parking lot at night and at night I mean 9:00, 10:00, after 10:00 hanging out for as short as 10 minutes, up to 40 minutes, 45 Page 3 of 42  minutes. Sometimes they would get out of their car, roam around, hang out in the park, in the picnic shelters, play on the playground equipment, get back in their car and leave. Sometimes they would just sit in their car. One incidence in October, we didn’t call on this either, two motorcycles came up through the trail, hung out for a while, hung out in the, in the picnic shelter, left on the trails. So a week and a half later, this was in November, two cars pull in – it was a little after 10:00 – they parked in the lot, faced us, our home, with their lights on and at that point we said, you know, this is getting to the point it’s becoming more chronic. So, we don’t want this park to have the reputation that this is a place to go at night and hang out for whatever the reasons are. So we did call the police. The officer informed us that cars could be parked in the parking lot up until midnight and after 5 a.m. So, I’m asking the Board for some clarification because it seems to be in contradiction to what the rules are. So is this, I don’t know, is this a situation like Kroger or Walmart where the store closes and you can hang out in the parking lot or, or what? So, just asking for clarification about that. Stehr Thank you. Jarod, do you want to speak to that? I’m asking Jarod because I, I don’t the answer. Schumacher I, I mean we were quite surprised when the police officers – Stehr Yeah – Schumacher Said well, they’re allowed to be there because it’s not midnight yet and that’s when our response was well, we understood the park closes at, at sunset – Stehr Right. Schumacher At dusk, so people aren’t allowed in the park but a car is? So, that just doesn’t align, align itself. Stehr Okay. Logsdon I would suggest just a little bit more coordination with the Police Department. I would assume that given the Park Board authorizes the rules of the parkland that if the park were open dawn to dusk that would include the parking area. So that, enforcement of that at dusk and after would be based on that time and not any other Ordinances. So, I think this is just something I need to speak with with Chief Spears and just make sure all the responding units are on the same page. Page 4 of 42 Stehr Okay. Anybody have any thoughts on this or any, anything they want to say? Schumacher __________. 7:58 inaudible off microphone Stehr I’m sorry? Schumacher __________. 8:00 inaudible off microphone Stehr Yeah, I, I think you’ve been a, a great neighbor and it’s been great to work with you over these last couple years. So thank you for that and thank you for being positive and collaborative and, I mean we want, we want to be good neighbors too. We want the parks to be good for everybody so, so thank you. Schumacher ___________. 8:20 inaudible off microphone Stehr Yeah, okay. Schumacher ___________. 8:29 inaudible off microphone Stehr Yeah, well thank you. All right, we’re going to continue on down the agenda here. The next item is the Pathways Committee Update and Kris Barksdale was at the Pathways Committee meeting last night. Kris – Barksdale Yeah, so last night we invited John as the Mayor-elect to, to join us. The Pathways Committee, I think, has sort of struggled with its identity trying to figure out what exactly its purpose and its, what it is allowed to do or expected to do so, we just had a conversation with John and some ideas are that with this changeover of Administration we’re going to look at getting an Ordinance because there is not currently one for the Pathways Committee and that being created for the committee to like state a, a charter and some of the ideas we have and thoughts are that that committee would report directly to the Director of the DPW and we would prioritize pathways, work towards the bike and walk friendly community designations and report the first and fourth quarter to the Town Council of, of each year and then utilize and periodically update the Strategic Pathways Plan. So, we’re going to or they’re going to start working on that in the new year. Stehr And an important element of that too is to have one of the engineers from the DPW be the staff assigned to that committee to attend all the Page 5 of 42  committee meetings and act as an advisor to things that the Pathways Committee does. So, I hope we can get on a better track and I, I really appreciate your efforts the last couple of years now, right? Barksdale I’ve been on – Stehr That you’ve been our liaison? Barksdale Six months maybe? Stehr Oh, okay, well the last six months. Still, it’s been a, it’s been an effort. It’s an extra night and you’ve done a great job keeping us informed so thank you for that. Salewicz As a former member of that committee, that committee was definitely, it had issues and it’s great that you’re pushing forward with that so. Barksdale Yeah. Stehr Yeah. All right – Pack Can I take us one step back to Ms. Schumacher’s question? Stehr Sure, absolutely. Pack So I did pull up the rules and under number #13 it does say that no person shall park any motor vehicle or trailer on any park property including parking areas between 12 a.m. and 5 a.m. So perhaps the Board needs to address altering that rule so that kids – Stehr Yeah – Pack You can only park while the park is open. Stehr Right, okay. That’s something we should look at or that the Board should look at in the new year. Pack Yeah – Stehr I think that’s, yeah, that’s a good idea and probably be useful, it would be useful to have a discussion with the Police Chief – Logsdon Yeah – Page 6 of 42 Stehr On that in the meantime. Logsdon Absolutely. Staff Reports Stehr All right, before we go on to Staff Reports, I just want to make a quick mention here that we have been accredited by the National Wildlife Federation once again. Coralie has worked through this process for 24 years in a row now. Would you like to talk a little bit about what goes into this? Palmer Yes, John, thank you. So yes the Community Wildlife Habitat designation was first, first 24 years ago with a group that included Nancy Carpenter, Myrene Brown and Elizabeth Mueller who continued that for 22 years and then Myrene and I have continued it for the last couple of years and it’s, it’s a designation that it really, well, Indiana, Zionsville was the first in Indiana to get that and the second in the whole of the U.S. and we are one of the second longest, I think, maybe the longest continuous running one. It recognizes community-wide efforts and a lot of those have been provided by the Parks Department. Mindy Murdock worked with Myrene and I to get that and it recognizes community wildlife habitats, like individuals, community individual wildlife habitats, it recognizes education in the community to make the, to make wildlife-friendly spaces, sustainability efforts. A lot of Mindy’s parks education programs go towards that project by residents and Eagle Scouts so we try to ___ 12:47 all that information, put it into their database and get that certification so. Thank you to, thank you to Mindy and all of the Parks Department for making that possible. Stehr Well and thank you for your efforts on that too and I, I didn’t mean to put you on the, I did put you on the spot. Thank you for speaking about that. I appreciate that. Any comments about that or anything anybody wants to say about that? No? Okay, let’s move on then to staff reports. We begin with our Superintendent, Jarod Logsdon. Hello again, Jarod. Logsdon Thank you John, good evening Park Board. Just a couple of items to inform the community with from the Superintendent Report. Both myself and our Naturalist, Rachel, attended the Indiana Parks and Recreation Association Annual Conference this year in Fort Wayne. Tricia McClellan and I presented on the 5-Year Master Plan and how we had more of a robust strategy with that to make it more of a living, breathing, operational Page 7 of 42  document as well as the traditional Master Planning template and our, our own Rachel Felling discussed an exceptional example of partnerships with community schools and parks and recreation industries or organizations as she discussed the Nature Connections program that she piloted last year at Eagle Elementary. This year we’re looking to expand that into Trailside Elementary and the goal for the following year to be for all Zionsville Elementary third graders. So, a fantastic program not only getting kids out in nature but also satisfying several of their curriculum for their annual courses as a third grader so, just a fantastic program that she was able to highlight and bring to other communities. Staff will also be attending the Corn Belt sessions with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. This is a collaborative online effort gathering stakeholders from around Central Indiana to discuss the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to our ecological areas in central Indiana and how we can best position funding to make some of those resources more plentiful, more resilient and more endorsed. We also celebrated our Zionsville Road Trailhead opening on November 30th welcoming the community to our first year-round restroom facility in a park as well as two public art installations, both the mural from the Zionsville Parks Foundation as well as the sculpture that is in the roundabout from a private artist. And finally, we submitted the, some of the final paperwork for the Next Level Trails Round 2 grant that we received in 2021 so closing out that grant to make us eligible for future grant cycles with that program. So, we’ll discuss that a little bit more later this evening on the agenda. And that’s all from the Superintendent Report. Stehr Any questions or comments for Jarod? Okay, thank you Jarod. We’ll see you again in a few minutes but right now we’re going to go to our Director of Maintenance Services, Chris Flanagan, making his way to the microphone. Hello Chris – Flanagan Hello, good evening. Alrighty, so to get started for November we had no instances of graffiti logged reported so I believe that puts us at three months in a row which is pretty good. We spot checked and trimmed cemeteries prepping those for the winter. We winterized the lawnmowers as well as some other equipment and stored that at the Perkins property and we moved down the salt and ice melt to our main facility so we have that ready to go for the winter and we took the opportunity to take a few of our fleet vehicles in for regular maintenance. Page 8 of 42 On the Big 4 Rail Trail, we removed additional construction debris from along the Rail Trail as they finished and we’ve begun reinstalling dog waste bins and other infrastructure along the trail. Blew leaves and debris from the trail. We helped prep the trailhead for the grand opening on Zionsville Road. We did place some reflective markers along the trail. You’ll notice those are on manhole covers so if we do get a snow event we can be wary of those as we’re plowing and we collected and stored the tree water bags from the northern addition for the winter. At Carter Station, we did some additional brush chipping from some invasive removals that we had and we continued to maintain the Spring Knoll pin oaks and Carter Station plantings. At Heritage, we mowed and tilled over the garden plots as well as removed trash and debris from the compost areas, threw the trash away and took the compostable debris to Perkins for chipping up. We placed tree supports on the new dog park trees and we planted a pollinator garden in a roundabout circle. That was with 38 plugs that were donated by a resident of Zionsville including false aster, Joe-Pye weed and some coneflower. At Creekside, we did additional chipping of brush and debris from the weed wrangles. At Elm Street, we mowed and tilled over the garden plots just like Heritage – removed trash and debris from the compost areas, threw the trash away, chipped up the debris at Perkins and we removed and stored the walking story boards for the winter. At Mulberry, in the chase at the restroom we installed some pipe insulation in there to further help prevent those pipes from freezing and bursting. We did have to troubleshoot and do a small repair on the door latch to prevent people from getting into that while it’s shut down for the winter. We did hang some court label numbers on the pickleball courts and at the end of the month we removed and stored those nets for the winter. At Starkey Park, we blew leaves and debris from the switchbacks and just did general, made sure we kept the natural trails down there clear. At Turkey Foot, we did trim back vegetation and prep for the Thanksgiving race and also something I forgot to put in the report that we did do also is we replaced over a dozen deck boards for safety and we reinforced the joists underneath to make sure that those would be safe for the race and just in general. Page 9 of 42  Most of the rest of it is just blowing leaves and debris because it was, the month of November leaves are coming down and at Overley-Worman we did install the mountain bike trail rules and directional signage. And at the tennis court and tot lots we removed and stored those nets for the season. And that is the report for November. Stehr Any questions or comments for Chris? Barksdale Thank you. Stehr Thank you, Chris. Flanagan Thank you very much. Stehr I have a question about the tennis court and the tot lot. Amy – Nooning Yes? Salewicz Yeah, I was – Stehr We have voted to give that to the Lions Club. I understand the Lions Club has voted to accept it. When, when will that transfer take place? Nooning Well, Jarod and I were just talking about that earlier today. So since the Lions Club has accepted it, has voted to receive it, then we can do the deed and the Mayor can sign it so – Stehr Okay. Nooning That’s our next step. Stehr Is that going to happen by the end of the year? Nooning Yes, yep. Stehr Okay, great. Nooning We can do that, yeah. Stehr So maybe you’ve blown the leaves out of there for the last time so. All right. Page 10 of 42 Salewicz Give them, give them their nets back. Lane Yeah. Stehr Next on the agenda is the Director of Recreation Services, Mindy Murdock. Murdock All right, good evening. So the month of November, still busy. A little over 1,000 walk-ins to the Nature Center which is actually very good considering there were multiple days throughout the month of November with holidays, with voting and then with library staff training that the Nature Center was actually closed. So, it was not open the entire month but we still reached over 1,000. Just a few things to highlight – we did go out to Trailside Elementary twice in November, once for their Beast Feast to do some programming. It’s a program that was started at Union Elementary and then traveled to Trailside with the, the principal so that was well received. This is, I think, the second year that we’ve been there before that we were at Union quite a bit for that one. And then we were also called back to do their first ever STEM night that we were a part of as well. So it was some, some nice turnout, a lot of, to be able to talk to a lot of families, sharing a lot of information about Winterfest that was coming up. As far as programming goes, I wanted to highlight one since our neighbor is here. So we did have an owl prowl out at Overley-Worman Park so that is probably the one and only time when we kind of go outside of the dawn-dusk rules for our parks is when we’re doing any park program which is led by our staff. So, the, the owl prowl at Overley-Worman was one of them. I know this last week we did a luminary walk also at Overley-Worman Park. So they are there – Overley is actually a really good park to do evening programming in because it’s a nice easy access for people to park there and right where the shelter is right by the parking lot, it’s a good place to set up before you take people out into the woods so. But we, of course, are very careful with that one and I’ve been also sending those now to the Police Department so they’re aware of when we will actually be in some of our parks after hours so. We also had a very interesting program led by our Naturalist, Siera, with Battle of the Turkeys right before Thanksgiving. I actually got a couple emails and phone calls and things from people that did attend it and they thought it was kind of fun and interesting so something new. And then we also did our first ever Games with Grandparents at Town Hall so that was very well received and had a lot of grandparents asking if we were Page 11 of 42  planning on doing that again so I think we’ll try to look at doing it maybe every, every quarter or twice a year or so. Just one, other few things – since we wouldn’t be here if we weren’t highlighting some stuff going on with Winterfest so, we have our last luminary walk of the year at Creekside next Tuesday. If you haven’t made it out to one of them, I recommend you some on out from 6 to 8 and we also have this Saturday we have our Maker’s Market down on Brick Main Street. We’re partnering with the Chamber and so we are able to do it down there and we have over 45 different vendors. So, if you need some last-minute holiday gifts, if you didn’t buy all the T-shirts, you can come on down and do that. I did throw in there, just because I was not here last month because I was at the County Eclipse meeting. I threw back in information about the Creekstomper. So, just in case anyone had any questions or, or things of that one. So, we did roll out and finished up our year with our outreach with the Creekstomper the end of October. The last thing she was at was our Trick-or-Trees event. So, looking at all of the different events she was a part of, all of the private rentals, the birthday parties, we were a little over 7,500 people that we participated in. I did not include when she was in the Fall Festival parade just because I was not going to try to count those, those people that were there but you can see she did 10 park and plays over the, the summer, six visits to HOAs – some of those, unfortunately, did get cancelled because of air quality. We did some special events through the parks as well as some special community events with the Farmers Market, Touch a Truck at the library, National Night Out with the Police Department and then, of course, four private rentals. So, I also listed on there a lot of new additions that we were able to add to her this year thanks to some sponsorships and some donation money and then just, yeah, the big one is what’s next for next year? We’ll continue to add some new materials to her. We’re looking to expand our HOA offerings and other community events now that I do have our Rec Coordinator on staff and we will be adding a mobile Nature Center to our mix with the purchase of a van hopefully sometime in 2024. So, if you guys have any questions. Stehr Any comments or anything for Mindy? Salewicz Always doing a great job. Lane Yeah, thank you. Page 12 of 42 Barksdale Yes. Murdock I need a name for the van if you can come up with something just as cool as the Creekstomper. Stehr Yeah – Murdock So everything we’ve been trying – we’re like well, that’s a type of vehicle like the Trailblazer – Stehr Right – Murdock The Explorer, yeah. I was like, we need something that’s not an actual vehicle that would work with the Creekstomper so. Stehr Well I’m sure you’ll think of something great – Lane Yes. Stehr And I was going to say that it has been a great year. You’ve done such a great job with our recreational services this year, gotten so many people engaged and if I could reach I’d pat you on the back. I think it’s, I think you’ve done a great job – Murdock Thank you. Stehr And your staff has done a great job too. Murdock I gotta good staff, yep. Salewicz Fantastic staff. Murdock Thank you. Stehr Thank you, Mindy. Next up, a report on the golf course. I see Mike’s not in the room but Jarod I guess can talk a little bit about that. Logsdon Yeah. I’m prepared to give a couple highlights from Mike’s report. With the shortened month of November, the revenue was still at $16,254. There was 1,033 rounds still played in November and that brought us to a total for the year of 26,837 rounds of golf played. November 10th through 11th, the greens were aerated so this is a procedure for bringing some life and oxygenation into the greens and just give them a little bit more health for Page 13 of 42  the next following season. The carts have also been winterized and stored at their offsite location for the season so the golf course has closed up shop for the year. Stehr Okay. Salewicz It was a successful year. Logsdon Absolutely. Stehr All right. If there’s no further questions, we’ll move on. The next item on our agenda is our report from our Parks attorney, Amy Nooning. Amy – Nooning I don’t have anything apart from the items that are in New Business – Stehr Okay. Nooning So I can speak to them at that point. NEW BUSINESS Resolution to Adopt the 2024 ZPRD Fee Schedule Stehr We’ll just move on to New Business. I know you’re going to have a lot to say tonight and the first item under New Business – Jarod, are we going to go with the Fee Schedule? Logsdon Yes – Stehr Okay, the Resolution to adopt the 2024 Park and Recreation Department Fee Schedule. Logsdon So annually we establish the fees for our programs and services to the community, both for our residents and for any visiting patrons that might come from other communities. So the ideology behind that separation in cost is that the majority of these services utilize infrastructure that was paid for by Zionsville taxes so that fee is or that infrastructure is baked into the cost for those services and then there is a slight upcharge to non- residents as they visit and utilize our services so. The majority of these are staying the same. So our community garden price points will stay the same – $20 for a raised garden bed for a 10 x 10 plot or $25 for the 20 x 20 plot. Shelter reservations staying the same – $50 for a half day or $100 for the full for residents and $65 and $130 for Page 14 of 42 non-residents. Dog park memberships staying the same as well – that’s $75 for the year for a single dog, $50 per additional and a flat $120 for non-residents that utilize the dog park. New this year or proposed for next year, sorry – the single renting of a sports field. The 4-hour rate remains the same at $5 for local organizations and $10 for visiting organizations but after finally turning on the lights and a huge round of applause for Chris Flanagan for solving that 4-year mystery that we’ve been trying to crack for the past, since I’ve been here, so we did, were able to turn on the lights and we also received the electric bill from that so we proportionately prorated the light service. So if a field does wish to turn those on it will be $45 for the local team and $65 for a visiting team for that 4-hour session. Also new proposed for next year, we had several requests for organized events and tournaments at the pickleball courts, just placing a fee with that so as the public is inconvenienced with those closures, we can also recover some of that for the wear and tear that happens. So, proposing $5 an hour per court for that or $10 for non-resident groups and, again, using extreme excretion with that or discretion, sorry – realizing how hot of a commodity our pickleball courts are but also offering that opportunity to build community and have those groups utilize our courts. Moving down to Park Special Events – the majority of this staying the same, just having a fee not to exceed $75 an hour. So, if there’s an opportunity to have a rock wall pop up in one of our parks and the cost break would be $75 an hour then we could proceed with that program with approval from the Park Board. Winterfest rink reservation – we won’t have that for ’24 but just leaving that in the Ordinance as we move forward. Creekstomper events – new to this year we started having those for $150 an hour as well as Creekstomper birthdays $100 for residents and $125 for non-residents. Memorial program staying the same – $600 for a tree and $2,000 for a bench. That not only buys the equipment but also has a percentage that goes towards the replacement of that item should it be vandalized in that warranty period. School programs largely staying the same – $3 per student with a $50 minimum for our local schools and $4 per student with a $50 minimum for our neighboring schools. New this year I want to discuss – so we have the, the base rate for outreach programs that going to a facility and that is $50 a program but understanding that as we continue to grow we are trying to transition our recreation side of our parks system to be more self-sufficient and recover a little bit more of the actual cost that goes into programming so we proposed a fee for outreach events to neighboring communities as well for the next year. So, setting that limit at a 10-mile max distance to pop up Page 15 of 42  those programs for adjoining community members that want to see how exceptional our program is in their community and that only strengthens our brand as we’ve learned as we’ve taken surveys from previous programs. While we do primarily service the Zionsville populus, there are a number of neighboring communities from Westfield or West Clay that come over and participate in our programs. So, all opportunities to strengthen our brand and continue to provide exceptional recreational opportunities. Moving down, again, previously established rates for the Nature Center birthday party is $150 for 10 kids and $165 for non-resident parties and our sponsorships for the animals remaining the same as the 2023 rates as well. Moving down to the Zionsville Golf Course, for 2024 proposing the same rates for green fees and carts and relatively the same for the season passes, just a couple changes in the language surrounding those. So rather than having a couples pass, it is now just an adult pass that or additional family member that can be added to that. It’s the same rate, just changing up the language there. So, and, again, concession – no item at the Zionsville Golf Course is going to cost you $50.01 and we won’t purchase any merchandise that will be over the $500 limit but some of those clubs we do sell are pretty close to that so. That is all from the 2024 proposed Fee Schedule and I’m happy to answer any questions or comments. Salewicz I have one thing – with the pickleball I would suggest maybe adding $5 an hour per court. You know, you have per field for the, for the sports field but you mentioned per court and it’s not stated in here so – Logsdon It, it’s actually over to the left. I just highlighted it but you’re right. It’s not, it’s not where, I should change the formatting of that. Salewicz Yeah. Logsdon Yep. I, I have it over here. Salewicz Okay, gotcha. Okay, I missed it, yeah. Logsdon Nope, that’s on me. Salewicz Yeah, no worries. I just wanted to make sure that – Logsdon Yep. Page 16 of 42 Pack I have a question as well under the pickleball. Have we so far been monitoring usage on day of the week or time of day? Logsdon Yeah, so primarily it seems we have a morning group or two that occupy the courts during the, the morning hours. There seems to be a little bit of an afternoon loll and then we actually get some younger players in the summertime that are coming around 1 p.m.-ish, kind of in the heat of the day, ironically but – Cambridge It’s when, it’s when they wake up. Logsdon That’s fair. And then at evening we’re not monitoring that quite as closely because most of us are off but it does seem to be a pretty routine and practiced patrons that come out and – Pack I just, I didn’t know if we, if we see a lot of use on a weekend did we want to maybe increase a weekend rate slightly and have it less during the weekdays or just leave it as is but maybe lower during the weekdays or lower during certain times? Logsdon Uh huh – and, and, and true and it’s, and it’s truly only for those organized events – Pack Yeah – Logsdon Which just in our first year of operation I think we had two or three requests for the whole six months so those were pretty easy to accommodate, we just did it with the previous Mulberry Fields rental rate so just breaking out that for pickleball is kind of our goal that for the most part the community seems to come out in their, the culture of pickleball is to wait your turn and use the paddle system so it’s worked out pretty well. Pack Okay. Stehr No fist fights at the pickleball courts yet, right? Logsdon None so far. Stehr That’s good. Logsdon Not caught on camera. Page 17 of 42 Stehr That’s good. Well, one, one item that I have and Jarod and I have talked about this is the dog park and I would like to see us move to a model where we’re not charging for the dog park. I think the fees for the first several years have helped pay for the dog park and pay for the fence and some of the equipment that we have there. So, obviously, we’re not going to do that tonight but I think in future years I may ask the Park Board to consider removing that fee from the dog park. So, that, that’s something you can take up at a future time but I, I’d like to put that in the back of everybody’s mind that maybe it’s time to let it go. Pack Would, would you still, would you still require fobs and people to have documentation that their dogs have been properly vaccinated? Stehr Well, the, the way – and it seems to be the custom around here, right, to have, have it locked and charge people and, and check on the, the health of the dogs and all that, although in most other places that’s not the case. Dog parks are open to dogs and we’re assuming that people are going to take the liability on if they are not taking care of their animals the way they should and acting the way they should but I, I just think it’s something to consider. Maybe the answer is going to be no but I think it’s something to consider as a community asset to open up the dog park to – Pack I’m not adverse to the no fee, it’s, it’s more the making sure that the dogs have been property vaccinated mainly because you have people that won’t vaccinate their pets and those are the kind of the same people that won’t have insurance – Stehr Right – Pack And when your dog does something then the liability falls back on the Town. Stehr So you, you know, you take responsibility I guess if you go there. You know, you’re taking responsibility on yourself. I mean you, you’ve been at other places, right? I mean, and a lot of other places, most other places, there isn’t a fee for, an additional fee for the dog park. Logsdon Yeah, and a good analogy I, I could think of just off the top of my head is when you visit a park, whether there’s a lifeguard or if it’s a swim at your own risk, I think if we were to remove the fee, the fee recovers some of the cost associated with the monitoring, with the fob system, with the security. I, I think we would move away from that model if we removed the fee and have to update our language on our signage just stating that Page 18 of 42  risk is on the owner much more so. Not to say that that’s not a good model as well, you know, throughout the country I’ve been to dog parks where there’s no fee but then you also see the article of a parvo outbreak or something like that so it’s all just about understanding what risk we want to take as a community and then just moving forward with that model. Cambridge Yeah, I think, I think things to consider – I’ve worked on quite a few dog parks in different communities across the country and there’s just, there’s a lot of different models. It’s not necessarily right or wrong one way or the other per se, but when you look at the cost of an amenity you’re offering, I think, for example, if we went to a no-fee structure, I would be curious in, in that circumstance like would our insurance premiums for that amenity increase, right? Logsdon Uh huh – Cambridge Like I would want to look at the total either net gain or loss and, and maybe there’s a happy medium where we can find a way to make the fee as minimal as possible – Logsdon Uh huh – Cambridge So that it’s more accessible but I think, I think, in my case, looking sort of retrospectively almost all dog parks started out as free and then they, this fee structure emerged because of issues they encountered with management and associated with liability, vaccination and things like that and a lot, and a lot of times overuse. Stehr Yeah – Cambridge I don’t know that we would have that issue here given the size of the park and the size of the community but the, the fee structures emerge in response to challenges presented in managing those facilities so I think I would want to do a deeper dive and look at: A) What are our actual costs associated with c_____ 39:38, sort of best practices that are in place and is it commiserate with the fee that we’re charging, how does that fee compare to other sort of benchmark communities locally in the dog parks that they offer? Are there ways to reduce it and if we eliminate it then what’s our strategy for either absorbing that cost or changing sort of our policies of how we educate people about the facility they’re using. Logsdon Yeah. Page 19 of 42 Stehr Yeah, I didn’t, I wasn’t suggesting it was simple. There are a lot of factors to consider. I was just suggesting that maybe that’s something the Parks Board may want to consider next year but for, for now, we have it in our, in our fee document and our resolution or our, yeah, the resolution establishing the fees for next year so, I’d say we keep it for next year, keep the proposal as it is and then maybe think about it for 2025. If that’s – Salewicz Agreed upon? Stehr Agreeable to everybody? Cambridge Yeah, I think let’s look into it, let’s look at those – Logsdon Okay. Cambridge Numbers and data is power so. Stehr Okay, so with that in mind, do we have a resolution to accept the, the fee structure for next year? Cambridge So moved. Stehr Ryan Cambridge makes a resolution to keep the fee structure as stated for next year. Any second? Salewicz I’ll second. Stehr John Salewicz 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. Page 20 of 42 Stehr Kimberly Lane? Lane Aye. Stehr Coralie Palmer? Palmer Aye. Stehr And I say aye as well. It passes 7 to nothing. Thank you for the discussion. Jarod, thank you for putting that together. Declaration of Special Restriction: Next Level Trails All right, the next item on the agenda is Declaration of the Special Restriction for Next Level Trails and Amy, are you going to speak to this or are we going to start with Jarod? Nooning I can speak to this one, yeah. This may sound familiar because this is something that we did several years ago with regard to some of the parcels of the trail, but just to refresh your memory – since Next Level Trails grant funds were used to develop and expand the Rail Trail, the DNR requires that we put some restrictive language on each one of those parcels so that they are used in perpetuity for recreational and trail purposes. This is a deed restriction. It’s a restriction that will run with the land forever. So, we had previously done that on a few of the parcels. Jarod is working with the DNR to identify the remaining parcels that we need. We’re still getting some information – Logsdon Yep. Nooning Back from them on that so I would recommend, if you’re so inclined, to entertain a motion to authorize John to execute the documentation necessary to put this restriction on the remaining parcels that DNR tells us we need it on and just to remind you what this restriction language is – in the Declaration of Special Restriction which will be recorded it says: “The intent of the Next Level Trails program is to preserve and develop important recreational trail resources throughout the State of Indiana for the use and enjoyment the citizens of the state and others. Property developed under the Next Level Trails program will be used solely for recreational trail purposes in perpetuity.” So – Stehr So we’re essentially cleaning up the paperwork? Page 21 of 42 Nooning Yeah, we’re cleaning up paperwork on a few other parcels and there’s one parcel, one parcel that sort of wasn’t on our radar but the DNR kind of raised, which is the, what is it? NC – the north connector #1 we have like a nomenclature for each one of these little parcels and so DNR identified one that needed to be done. We have one that was on our radar that needs to be done and then there’s another parcel that’s owned by the school but we have a pathway easement on that. So, also you can add to your motion to authorize John and us to discuss with and negotiate with the school whatever is necessary in order for them to put the restriction on if that’s what DNR says is needed. Logsdon Yep. Nooning Yeah. Stehr Okay. All right, any questions? Lane Does all of this need to be done like before the transition with, in January with leadership or? Nooning Well, I think, I mean I think our goal is to get it all done by – Logsdon Yeah – Nooning The end of the year – Lane Okay. Nooning So the, the grant can be closed out. That was one of the questions to DNR if they need it all by the end of the year. We’re prepared to do it by the end of the year – Lane Okay. Nooning As soon as we identify with DNR what those legal descriptions are. Lane And it’s feasible still to get it done by the end of the year? Nooning Yes, oh yeah, definitely. Lane Okay. Page 22 of 42 Nooning Yes, I have a deed here tonight for John to sign and then we, when we identify the legal descriptions of those other parcels it’ll be just the same thing so – Lane All right. Nooning Yes, we can do that. If there is any delay like on receiving additional information from DNR, I mean we can carry this into next year too that’s not, that’s not a problem on our end as long as it’s not a problem with the DNR. Logsdon Right. Nooning Yeah. Stehr So we’re essentially saying we’re going to use this as a trail. That we’re not going to build condos – Nooning Correct, yes. Stehr Or whatever so. Nooning Right. Stehr Yeah, it’s – Cambridge And it was a known pre-condition of the grant fund program. Stehr Right. Nooning Yes. Cambridge Just like the Land Water Conservation funds and – Nooning Exactly. Pack So if the motion is to just allow the Board President to execute the documents – Nooning Yes – Pack It would be able to carry over until next year – Page 23 of 42 Nooning Yes. Pack Since we would have a new President? Nooning Yes. Salewicz I’ll make a motion to allow the Board President to execute the Declaration of Special Interest for the Next, Next whatever – Nooning Next Level Trails. Salewicz Next Level Trails grant in perpetuity. Stehr Okay, we have a motion. Do we have a second? Cambridge Hold on, I’m sorry – should we include your ability to negotiate with the School Board in that motion – Salewicz Yes and to – Cambridge Or do we need a separate motion? Nooning I, I would just include that. Salewicz Include that? Okay. Stehr Okay, are we good? Do we have a second? Palmer Raised hand. Cambridge Second. Stehr All right, well, Coralie raised her hand so we’ll go with Coralie. Let’s take a vote. Jill Pack? Pack Aye. Stehr John Salewicz? Salewicz Aye. Stehr Ryan Cambridge? Page 24 of 42 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. Thank you everybody. Carpenter Nature Preserve Maintenance Facility Lease All right, the next item on the agenda, Jarod, is the Carpenter Nature Preserve Maintenance Facility Lease. Logsdon As we discussed earlier in the year, moving forward with the design and development of the Carpenter Nature Preserve, there is an opportunity to lease out the maintenance facility that is onsite and just to have a, a, an organization utilize that building while we’re not utilizing that building. So, the first step in our process for that issued by state statute is to acquire two fair market rental appraisals. We have reached out to multiple organizations asking for proposals. I would still like to keep reaching out and grab a couple more price points just to make sure we’re getting the best deal for those leases – sorry, for those appraisals and ultimately any cost associated with those appraisals we would recover in the leasing process. So, we might upfront pay for these appraisals but we would work that into the lease so that we recover that as a park system. So with your consideration this evening, I would propose that we proceed with, after legal review from Amy, to authorize John to sign up to two fair market appraisal proposals not to exceed $4,500 at which point we’ll execute those and get those rolling and be that one step closer to leasing the maintenance facility. Cambridge What is included of the maintenance? Like, what would be included in the lease for that facility? Page 25 of 42 Logsdon The lease would be the square footage of the building, 20 feet around the perimeter and then access via the entrance drive. So, we would have the utilities paid for by the lessee as well as requiring insurance, I’m sure, for operations and then any costs associated with creating this lease. Salewicz It’s occupied with the small engine – Stehr Repair. Salewicz Repair company, right? Logsdon Yes, yeah currently there is a small engine repair that the park system utilizes regularly and they would have the same chance as everyone else to apply for that lease. Stehr And this only extends until the time that the park is open to the public so it’s for the next couple years. So do we have a motion to accept the lease as presented? Logsdon Umm – Barksdale Request for appraisals? Logsdon Accept authorization to execute two proposals – Stehr Thank you, okay. Logsdon For the fair market, for appraisals not to exceed $4,500. Cambridge I will make a motion that we authorize the Board President to accept two proposals for appraisals of property not to exceed $4,500. Barksdale Second. Stehr Okay, Ryan Cambridge makes a motion, Kris Barksdale seconds. Let’s take a vote. Jill Pack? Pack Aye. Stehr John Salewicz? Salewicz Aye. Page 26 of 42 Stehr Ryan Cambridge? Cambridge Aye. Stehr Kris Barksdale? Barksdale Aye. Stehr Kimberly Lane? Lane Aye. Stehr Coralie Palmer? Palmer Aye. Stehr And I will say aye as well making it unanimous. Thank you. All right, the next item, Jarod – DNR LARE Floodplain Permit Reforestation Change Order Starkey Park Logsdon All right, as a part of our 2018 LARE project which restored a 2, just under 300 linear feet of bank along Starkey Park, we did have the condition of our flood plain permit to continue monitoring for three years and at that time there had to be a 75% survival rate of that reforestation planting. We heard back from our consultant, which earlier in the year we recruited to write that report and issue it to DNR and we were around 42% of survivability of those trees so in order to remain compliant with our flood plain permit, we’ll need to reach that 75% at least so, the change order before you this evening is for the planting of 45 trees in that reforestation area. Because we were under that rate, we will have to monitor for a fourth year and should we have that survivability next year, we’ll be done reporting for that project with the DNR. Salewicz Do you know what the reasoning behind the non-survivability? Logsdon Just saplings being saplings. Salewicz I didn’t know if there was erosion that caused, you know, or any specific – Logsdon No, just the success rate of young trees. Page 27 of 42 Salewicz Yeah – Logsdon We did have some volunteer – some volunteer hackberry and other species that infiltrated the site and those did count in our favor so that was nice but, again, still under that 75%. Salewicz You know, 45 to 75 it seems like – Logsdon There was definitely a ____ 50:14 and with the warm summers and just being a young tree shaded out or other things – Cambridge I mean 3-gallon is a very small tree. Salewicz Yes. Logsdon Yeah, yeah. So, par for the course, unfortunately. Stehr All right, anymore discussion? Do we have a motion then to accept the change order for the trees in Starkey Park? Lane So moved. Stehr Kimberly Lane makes a motion. Do we have a second? Salewicz Second. Stehr John Salewicz makes a second. 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 28 of 42 Lane Aye. Stehr Coralie Palmer? Palmer Aye. Stehr And I make it unanimous as well. All right, next item, Jarod – Transcription Services. 2024 Transcription Services Logsdon All right, as a Park Board and Parks Department, we began transcription services in 2022 with a consultant. This was after we looked at the process we had in place which was staff re-watching Park Board meetings and typing up notes. This just streamlined that effort and provided a true manuscript for what was discussed and each Park Board meeting is a digitized format so it can be researched in the future when 50 years from now people are asking what were they thinking? We’ll be able to look back and know exactly. So, this proposal before you is for a continuation of transcription services into 2024. It is the same rate of 20 cents per line and that was the same rate as 2023 and 2022 so. This helps us a lot. It frees up some of Bonnie’s times, time as her responsibilities have expanded with the dog park and with the garden plot program and the MAC responsibilities. Stehr Any questions, comments? Salewicz Definitely an improvement so. Stehr Yeah, anybody want to make a motion? Pack I’ll make the motion to approve the new contract with VG Transcription. Stehr Okay, Jill Pack makes a motion. Do we have a second? Cambridge Second. Stehr Ryan Cambridge seconds. Jill Pack? Pack Aye. Page 29 of 42 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, anything else under New Business, Jarod? Logsdon No, I believe that’s it for New Business. OLD BUSINESS Parks Donation: Carpenter Nature Preserve Amphitheater Stehr Okay, then we will move on to Old Business and the number one item there is the Donation for the Carpenter Nature Preserve Amphitheater. Logsdon Thank you John. As we discussed previously, the Parks Foundation and an anonymous donor are working together to fill out some of the amenities that could be at Carpenter Nature Preserve so with our funding in place, we envisioned what phase one of construction would be and through this generous donation there is the opportunity to add an outdoor amphitheater day one when the park opens to be enjoyed by our programming and this amphitheater it’s not one that’s going to have large amplified music and rock concerts or Aerosmith or anyone coming in. It’s really just a, a place setting for gathering and having small programs with seating so. This donor has requested naming rights according to our Naming Rights Policy so at the completion of the amenity, we will display the name that’s agreed Page 30 of 42  upon between our organizations on that amenity and the community will begin to enjoy it. So working with Amy we were able to finalize a Memorandum of Understanding between the Parks Foundation, the donor and the Park Board and with your consideration and authorization, we can execute the MOU and accept and have the Parks Foundation accept funds on behalf of the amphitheater construction at which point when that amenity is constructed, we will receive reimbursement from the Parks Foundation. Cambridge Do we have any idea of the cost of that, the total construction cost of that amenity and how that compares to the donation amount? Logsdon It is a 100% match based on our construction estimate with the donation requested for this item. Stehr Anyone else? Salewicz This amphitheater will be more like you go to a scout camp – Logsdon Yep. Salewicz That type of? Cambridge Kind of like an open-air pavilion, right? Logsdon Yeah. Cambridge More than a stage? Logsdon And, and likely built into the earth and hillside underneath the Nature Center. Mindy has had exceptional success with gathering people around a campfire much like moths and lightning bugs so should we be able to have campfires at Carpenter Nature Preserve, we anticipate filling up that space pretty quickly so. Stehr Okay. Cambridge I make a motion to accept the MOU as presented. Stehr We have a motion to accept the MOU as presented. Do we have a second? Palmer I’ll second. Page 31 of 42 Stehr All right, Coralie Palmer 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. All right. Fright Nights Review Okay, next item Jarod – Fright Night. Logsdon Earlier this year we came to the Park Board with the idea to partner with Maplelawn Farmstead and offer a new haunted house opportunity in our community named Fright Nights. So, the goal was for this project to be a fundraiser for Maplelawn Farmstead with any proceeds after expenses and also just to provide recreational opportunities and community events for some of our harder to reach demographics, our teenagers and our young adults and families. So, the estimate for the first year of operations was quoted right around $8,000 and we were right in that ballpark. So were actually a little bit under. So the total expense, hard expenses for the event was $7,273.08 and the total revenue was $7,277. So, we had about a $3.92 difference between expenses and revenue brought in so, pretty close to breaking even for the Page 32 of 42  first year and we do anticipate around $2,000 to $3,000 of those expenses to drop off for subsequent years just because it was start-up costs for the set design and some of the items that were purchased by Maplelawn so definitely a pretty successful program. We would like to continue to explore this in the future and make it something that actually generates revenue for the non-profit Maplelawn Farmstead’s mission. So, just wanted to provide that analysis and happy to answer any questions. We had a pretty great turnout the first couple of weekends and quite a few troopers on Halloween night but, as you remember, it was pretty chilly on Halloween and we were just happy to have some people walking through the door. Stehr So that’s great. We’re not, we’re not looking for a, a motion to carry this on next year. This is just informational? Logsdon Just information at this point. Stehr Okay, yeah. Well, good job estimating the first-year expenses coming within – Lane I appreciate seeing this level of detail so thank you. Stehr Yeah. Logsdon Yep. Stehr Coming within $3.92 is pretty good so. Logsdon Pretty good for 910 tickets sold. Stehr That is pretty good, that is pretty good. Okay. Salewicz And coming in under budget too so. Cambridge Well and I think as the first year there’s, you know, you’re overcoming that sort of lack of awareness. You haven’t had the benefit of word of mouth and stuff, it can, it becoming a tradition or anything yet so hopefully that will continue on and maybe we’ll see some more days in the week in the future where that opens up because I know in some of the folks that I talked to that was part of the challenge, right? Fall is typically pretty busy for a lot of folks so when it’s only open a couple days a month then you’re either available or you’re not but gotta have the numbers to make more days work so we’ll see where we end up. Page 33 of 42 Logsdon Absolutely. Stehr Yep. Logsdon And, and I’ll offer a quote from one of our sixth graders that experienced it. They said it was the best night of their life. We will try to top that next year. Overley-Worman Park Stehr Okay, all right, any other comments about that? Questions? No? All right, let’s move on then to Overley-Worman Park. Logsdon I just wanted to provide the, an update. Tricia and I continue to meet with the contractor onsite. They have made significant progress on the punch list items that are outstanding in recent weeks. The majority of the concrete nodes which were surfaced with the material that made them slippery whenever there was the slightest bit of moisture in the air, the majority of those have been pulled and replaced and poured to spec and given the thumbs up so they have two more concrete nodes to complete, a little bit more grading and seeding around the site but they really are making a pretty honest effort of wrapping that project up now. So they are operating in good faith at this time. I just wanted to provide that update to the Board. We’ll remain vigilant with them and in communication and get that wrapped up just as quickly and responsibly as we can. Stehr And we do have the advantage of having our Board member, Ryan Cambridge, not only living there but having a great deal of expertise in the issues that we have had at the park and I think you walk there every day, right, with your dog? Cambridge Couple times, yeah. Stehr So you are, you are keeping an eye on things. Cambridge I’m sure I am not loved by them. Stehr That’s okay, you’re loved by us. Cambridge There you go. Stehr So, do you want to say anything about the work they’re doing? Page 34 of 42 Cambridge Yeah – Stehr Are you feeling comfortable? Cambridge I mean, I mean, I see what was clear in the meeting that we had with them a couple months ago was that it’s an entirely different crew. I maintain that park construction is not really their forte. I think it’s a little bit more bridge deck stuff but I do think they’re making a genuine effort to address some of the punch list items the way the specs and contract drawings indicate they should and I trust that you and Tricia are holding them accountable to that. I have no reason to believe otherwise based on what I’ve seen. I was really happy to see the nodes replaced because that was a Band-Aid on a Band-Aid on a Band-Aid so good to see that addressed. And, and as I’ve said, I, I am back there very frequently and am happy to check in on anything or report back as needed I’m just kind of at your disposal as relative, so let me know. Logsdon Thank you. Cambridge Yep. Stehr Okay, all right. Do you have anything else Jarod? OTHER BOARD RELATED ITEMS Certificates of Substantial Completion Logsdon Just a couple of other Board-related items. As our capital projects are winding down, one of the requirements of closing out the paperwork is to issue the substantial completion and provided to the Park Board were two Certificates of Substantial Completion – one for the pickleball courts which have been done for a minute as well as one for the Zionsville Road trailhead. So, both of those projects were with JBM Construction and as the year winds down and those final pay apps are ready to go out, we just want to close out everything. So with your authorization, I would request that the Park Board President sign those substantial completions back dated to the dates that those milestones were achieved knowing that Tricia and I have vetted the process so far and monitored the punch list for those projects and I would say they’re all but wrapped up except for this paperwork so. Stehr I, I would have one question about that and a couple of pickleball players have talked about a crack on the pickleball courts and I went over there Page 35 of 42  and looked at that. It didn’t seem like the crack was that big to me but maybe if the ball lands right on it it, it is a problem. Is that something that maybe Chris can speak to or maybe you can speak to it, Jarod. Is that something we should be worried about or, or Tricia even, Tricia McClellan from REA. McClellan As Ryan will agree, concrete cracks so the – Cambridge It’s really good at that. McClellan It is really good at that. So it is normal what we’re seeing out there. The proper reinforcement was in there. There’s nothing structurally wrong with it. The most important thing is just to stay on top of maintenance and resurfacing when and we’ll have an operations and maintenance manual to stay on top of that resurfacing as it’s prescribed so those cracks don’t get worse. I started a little informal study looking at all concrete tennis and pickleball courts that I see as I’m driving around to different projects and I haven’t found one yet that’s outdoors that doesn’t have cracks in it. Stehr So we shouldn’t be worried about that in other words? McClellan No. Stehr Okay, all right. Do we need a resolution on that or do we need to make a motion for that or? Logsdon Just a motion to authorize you to sign those two documents. Stehr Two, two Certificates of Substantial Completion. Logsdon Substantial completion, yep. Salewicz I’ll make a motion to, for the Board President to sign the Certificate of Completions of the pickleball court and the – Logsdon Zionsville trailhead. Salewicz Trailhead. Logsdon Yep. Stehr We have a motion. Do we have a second? Page 36 of 42 Cambridge Second. Stehr Ryan Cambridge seconds. Okay, let’s take a quick 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 All right and I’ll make it unanimous. So we’ll go ahead and sign those tonight. All right, anything else Jarod? Logsdon One other Board-related item – Stehr Okay. Logsdon So earlier this year the Board did authorize myself and John to discuss opportunities to invite, well, when groups request to come out to the Carpenter Nature Preserve whether that’s to hold a board meeting on behalf of the nature conservancy or our local sheriff to have a training opportunity, that we could authorize those special use permits. We have a slightly different one of, one in front of us now. It is with Butler University. For years they have been conducting studies to understand how wildlife interacts with urban areas and Wolf Run, formerly the golf course, was one of those sites as far back, well, actually, up until 2019. So that was one of their favorite sites to collect data and just understand the Page 37 of 42  populations and the species that are cohabitating with us in these urban areas. So the request came before us that we would partner with Butler University again and they would place one camera on the site to collect four months of data, quarterly one month throughout the 2024 year so this will be before it’s open to the public just to continue to collect that data. So, with your approval and authorization, we’ll move forward with our special use permit with Butler University to place that camera and they are more than happy to share that data and let us know what inhabitants are already out at Carpenter. I think we just place it at 2024 for right now and then as we’re getting closer to that park opening we can discuss as a Board and as a community whether we want a research camera on the site permanently. Stehr And this is no cost to us, no payment from them? Logsdon No cost, no payment, just access – Stehr Okay. Logsdon Yeah. Salewicz Do you need a motion for that as well? Logsdon Yeah, yeah, if I could. Lane So moved, please. Stehr Kimberly Lane makes a motion to place a camera by Butler University researchers at the Carpenter Nature Preserve. Do we have a second? Palmer Second. Stehr Coralie Palmer seconds. I think we can do this by acclamation right? All in favor say aye. All Aye. Stehr All opposed? [No response] Let the record show that passes 7 to nothing. Page 38 of 42 Logsdon Thank you Park Board. This information is actually done to the same methodology and provided on an international stage so there are communities around the world using this data as a base level for some of their research. So, pretty cool to have one of our parks be a part of that. Claims Stehr Okay. All right, the next item on the agenda is the claims and the claims were amended and sent separately so has everybody looked at the correct claims first of all? Barksdale Yes Salewicz Yes. Stehr And does anyone have any questions or comments about them? Salewicz No sir. Stehr Would anyone like to make a motion to accept the claims as presented? Cambridge So moved. Stehr Ryan Cambridge makes a motion to accept the claims as presented. Do we have a second? Pack Second. Stehr Jill Pack seconds. All in favor say aye. All Aye. Stehr All opposed? [No response] All right, that passes 7 to nothing. Well, before we adjourn here I, I just wanted to make a statement here and take a moment to thank everyone and let you know how much I’ve appreciated this journey the past few years. When we hired Jarod four years ago, we’ve talked about this a lot, he told me he had two jobs: Maintaining the parks as they are today and, and improving the parks today and also planning for future greenspace as the Town grows and I think he has handled both of those jobs exceedingly well the last few years Page 39 of 42  but I will say he hasn’t done it alone. Mindy has done a great job expanding our recreation programs exponentially really. Chris and his crew do a great job in the parks. They look great. The golf course gets better every year and our department gets great support from people like Tricia and Amy and really everybody here on the Parks Board. There is a reason that our parks are pretty much universally loved and I think it’s because of the care and commitment of so many of you to make sure that Zionsville has spaces that contribute to our mental health, our quality of life and sustainability. So, so thank you for all that you do and I, obviously, will be rolling off of the Parks Board next year, however, I will watching closely with great anticipation to see what you do next and see what comes next and, and, again, I, I just want to thank you for all you do and, and offer my help to any, any way that I can help in the coming years and obviously Cash and I will see you out there on the trails. We’re, we’re looking forward to it. So, with that in mind, do we have a, a motion to adjourn? Palmer Sorry, John, could I just say really quickly something? So I’m coming to the end of my, my term. I had a year-long term serving as a new appointee, appointment of Mayor Emily Styron and I’d like to thank her for giving me the opportunity to serve. I’m so grateful to have had the opportunity to serve with such a committed Board and with such a knowledgeable staff and I’d also like to thank both John and Jill for their leadership because how this Board is able to support the Parks Department so effectively is in very large part thanks to John and Jill’s professionalism and dedication. So I would like to congratulate you John with moving, moving to mayoral duties, to thank you for your leadership and I’d like to express the hope that there might be continuity of leadership next year if Jill Pack is able to continue to serve on this Board. So I’d like to thank you. Stehr Well, thank you. That’s very nice. Does anybody else have anything else they want to say before we adjourn? Cambridge No, I’ll, I’ll make a motion to adjourn with the caveat that I’m a firm believer and I think the data supports it that all great communities have great parks and you can’t have great parks without great leaders who champion them at the top level. So I’m excited to know that the Park Board President is becoming our Mayor and I look forward to the way that you think about parks and your dedication to our parks and greenspaces as it relates to our community holistically and the things that you listed in addition to all the fun stuff that we know we all do with them. So, I look Page 40 of 42  forward to that and wish you the best and with that make a motion to adjourn. Adjournment Stehr Well that’s very nice. Thank you and before we accept that motion, I recognize this is part of our brand and this is going to be a big part of what we do moving forward. So, thank you for saying that and I’ll take that as encouragement. Ah, do we have a second? Salewicz Second. Stehr John Salewicz seconds. All in favor say aye. All Aye. Stehr All opposed? [No response] All right, we have a lot of paperwork to sign before you leave and the next Parks Board meeting will be in this room on January 10th of 2024. So thank you everybody. _____________________________________ ________________________________ John Stehr, President John Salewicz, Secretary Respectfully submitted, Bonnie Black Parks MAC Professional – 1/10/2024 Page 41 of 42 Page 42 of 42