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able to rent spaces for their canoes and we are going to have some programming to highlight that facility soon. The Rum Village Aerial Adventure Course will open this summer and construction is under way currently. The neighborhood is very excited about the improvements to the park and we are expecting to see a lot more traffic to Rum Village this year. In a few weeks the blueprint planning for extending the river trails or "Blue Ways" from Leaper Park to the Farmer's Market. Next Friday the City will say goodbye to the Ice Skating at Howard Park due to its aging equipment and we will unfortunately have a season where we no longer have an ice ring but will have a brand new one soon. Regarding Elbel, Mr. Perri reported the course is looking very good and this coming Friday they are hosting a grand "Re- Opening" which we are marketing very hard. There will be food specials and people can check out the totally renovated clubhouse which helped keep operations a little more efficient. Also, hole #15 will be finally opened as Green #15 was damaged last year beyond repair and it is finally back up to a quality standard. Someone who specializes in turf management from the USGA came out and looked at the courses. A private donor helped make that trip possible and they will look at both Elbel and Erskine. We are going to get some of the best for the consulting and many people have already contacted the department asking to help. The department has hired Orbis Environmental Consulting, who provided a lot of the work done already for the Special Advisory Committee. They will be holding a kickoff meeting in about two (2) weeks and how the public can help them, they will be looking for volunteers as well. Chairperson Randy Kelly asked how sales are doing at the course. Mr. Perri responded season pass sales are at an all -time high for the past five (5) years. Some people were excited to get a deal before the rates were put back to the 2015 levels. There are a few less leagues who did find other courses but we have more outings than we had scheduled last year at this time. Even though last year was chilly and pretty cloudy it was packed and all the carts were on the course. Councilmember Gavin Ferlic joined the meeting at 5:22 p.m. Councilmember Oliver Davis asked since the ice rink will be closed next season if there has been any talk with either the Ice Box or Notre Dame to help offer rates for residents to use those rinks during that season. Mr. Perri stated that is a great idea to do some type of partnership with Notre Dame or the Ice Box. They did have a meeting a few weeks ago with the hockey community and are already looking into those partnerships. Councilmember Oliver Davis questioned if the Elbel Committee can disband on their own because they were created by the Council. Chairperson Randy Kelly and Councilmember Jo M. Broden stated that it was written in the resolution that it was a forty-five (45) day Committee.