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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPRMinutes_2023_10_02Parks and Recreation Advisory Board Notes Monday, October 2, 2023 5:30 PM 1.Call to Order Chair Erika Saunders called meeting to order at 5:31 P.M. Board Members Present: Erika Saunders, Steve Berseth, Nathaniel Condelli, Cade Christianson, Erin Benz, Doug Smith, John Maynes and Jay Larsen. City of Brookings Employees Present: Parks, Recreation and Forestry Director Kristin Zimmerman and Assistant Parks, Recreation and Forestry Director Josh Bauman. 2.Approval of Agenda Motion to approve agenda by Doug Smith, Nathaniel 2nds, motion carried 3.Approval of Minutes Approval of August Minutes tabled. Motion to approve September Minutes made by Steve, Doug 2nds, motion carried _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ 4.Call to the Public Introduction of Erin Benz as the new SDSU Student Parks, Recreation and Forestry Board member. 5.Parks Master Plan Update – Progress Report October 2023 A draft document of the Parks Master Plan was presented to all board members. Kristin wanted to give everyone a copy of the plan to go over at their leisure and will always try to be as transparent as possible and will make sure to have this in meetings annually. Some of the points in the Parks Master Plan are ongoing and haven’t yet been touched on. The Parks Master Plan is typically a 10-year plan. Parks are constantly evolving and we are always making adjustments. Some dates are from 2021 and we need to go through notes to see what’s been done. We received the final plans for the 2 through 5-year playground and we are working through some final adjustments and pricings. Lions Park is finishing up this week and the lions are being filled with concrete. The family would like to keep their donations quiet but we will be doing a small thank you gathering that will include Park Board invitations. Staff is working on adding signage for the no mow areas and educating the public on the no mow areas as well. Parks Department met with a firm last week to develop a financial sustainability philosophy for the department. This firm will help us determine what we subsidize and at what levels. The firm will come in and meet with park board, parks department, user groups and city council to establish a philosophy that will be transparent and help educate the public as to why we charge fees. They will come up with a long-term sustainability plan. The parks department is looking at different companies, we will look at different proposals and see what each company has to offer and be able to do for us. They would use our Parks Master Plan and work from there. The cost could be around $10,000.00 but it would be worth it. Kristin will also be looking into the internal cost analysis that was done years ago. If she is able to find it, we will send it to park board members. She wants to remind everyone that just because some dates have come and gone on the master plan it doesn’t mean that there isn’t progress being made and that parks are always evolving. The Parks Master Plan will be released to the public by the end of the year. Kristin and Josh are open to receiving additional comments and would like to give the park board the opportunity to look over the parks master plan and bring any comments to the next park board meeting in November. 6.CIP Project Updates •Bandshell: Kristin and Josh have been meeting with developers every other week. They are researching and it does look like the bandshell was originally stucco, so there was no brick like we had previously thought. Architectural firm is reaching out to the state historical preservation office to see what direction we should go. Going with just the stucco front will reduce the cost due to the pin tucking of all the bricks. The cost was over $6.00 per brick, so that will be a substantial amount of savings. We should hear something regarding this in a couple of weeks. •Water sourcing: Water testing should be occurring and we should be getting results back in about 30 days. We tested for a general make-up of the water to make sure that we wouldn’t have to do any extra filtration or pumping that would add additional cost. Nothing is in writing with L.G. Everest. We technically don’t have funds committed to the project until January 1st so we shouldn’t go out to bid until after that. The firm that we Page 2 are working with regarding the design anticipates around 9 months for designing and getting the proper permits. We are looking at potentially September or October of 2024 start date. Kristin wants to remind everyone that the permit process can be significant and if the Federal Government shuts down it could put us behind. The budget goes for approval the 2nd meeting in November. The council would have to approve the bids and that is when Kristin would present to City Council. •Hillcrest Pickleball Courts: The contracts for the pickleball courts have been signed with the design firm. They will come back once they are done. We are still on track with construction to start in the spring. There will be 8 lit pickleball courts. They will be built in line with the US pickleball Standards. •Prairie Hills Trail: We were able to go with a single bid. This will be a 2-phase project. Phase1 will be the east portion that connects to Medary (500 feet) and will be done in September but due to the weather they may need to finish in spring. Phase 2 (1500 feet) will be the west section connecting to main and will be finished June of 2024. 7.Discussion and Possible Action: Park Board Rules, Bylaws and Policies •There was an attendance policy passed a few years ago. We usually try to share this once a year. The attendance policy asks that if you are unable to attend an in-person meeting, you can request to call in. If neither of those is an option, we would like you to let us know in advance by contacting Erika, Steve or the Parks Department office. If you miss 2 consecutive meetings without letting anyone know the park board can elect to vote to have you stay on the board or ask you to step down. Attendance of 50% will trigger as an automatic notification that you are removed from the board. •The city has a naming rights policy. The policy is coordinated through the Parks Board but there is a process with the city clerk’s office and then it has to be approved through City Council. Names have been brought to the park board in the past for approval, but it still has to go through the city’s policy and approved by the city council. Tee box signs are a part of the Golf management contract so they don’t get approved through City Council. •The Parks, Recreation and Forestry board is an advisory board. The board can make recommendations but can’t solicit funds for naming rights and then take them to City Council. If you want more information and details regarding the board, they can be found on the City of Brookings website. 8.2024 CIP and Operating Budget Review Parks Department provided the Parks, Recreation and Forestry Board with a copy of the 2024 CIP and Operating Budget. City Council went through the budget process and it will be formally approved for the year the 2nd meeting in November. The budget was presented as a whole. Jake did highlight the golf course improvement plan to the city council. Doug Smith and several members from Edgebrook were at the City Council meeting with the CIP and expressed their thanks to the City Council for supporting Edgebrook golf course and the need for the water sourcing. The CIP is for 10 years. This CIP will be the final proposal and will go to City Council in November. The operating Budget now has new line items for the Activity Center so we can better track the revenues and the cost going out of the 55+ and Activity Center. 9.General Recreation Program Discussion and Possible Action Kristin, suggested we look and see how we can optimize our pool schedule to offer more open swim. We do have to be conscious about staffing, staffing rates and if there is a need or not. In hearing from the public, it is hard for families to get to open swim during the week due to it ending at 7pm. We are looking at other things to add that could be beneficial. Possibly a toddler swim during open swim or lessons, so if you are 5 and under you are able to use the splash pad pool area and not have to be mixed in with the bigger kids. We need to collect some more information before making a recommendation but Kristin is willing to look into more ideas related to pool use. Parks Department would like to see the pool open longer during the season, but we need to understand that staff has their commitments as well, especially around the time that schools start back. There are some facilities that are open Page 3 on the weekends, so this is something we can look at doing when our life guards are available. We need to do more looking into possibilities. We would like to have more offerings for the public regarding our pool. 10. Adjournment Motion to adjourn made by John, Doug 2nds, motion carried.