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HomeMy WebLinkAbout8 - August 15 2016 Park Board MinutesSOUTH BEND BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS REGULAR MEETING AUGUST 15, 2016 The Board of Park Commissioners of the Park District of the City of South Bend, Indiana met on Monday, August 15, 2016 at the O’Brien Administration & Recreation Center, 321 E. Walter St., South Bend, Indiana for its regular meeting. Notice of the date, time and place of the meeting were duly given as required by law. Park Board members present were as follows: Mr. Mark Neal, President Ms. Amiee Buccellato Ms. Amy Hill Park Board members absent were as follows: Mr. Dan Farrell Staff members present: Aaron Perri, Director of Parks; Susan O’Connor, Deputy Director; Eva Ennis, Operations Coordinator; Paula Garis, Special Events Supervisor; TJ Mannen, Director of Golf; Tammy Bennett, Concessions Manager; Michael Schmidt, Park Board Attorney; Amy Roush, Administrative Assistant Supervisor I. The meeting was called to order by Board President Mark Neal at 5:00 p.m. II. Approval of Minutes of the July 18, 2016 Regular Board Meeting Motion to approve the minutes of the regular board meeting held on July 18, 2016 by Amy Hill, supported by Aimee Buccellato, motion carried. III. Approval of the Consent Agenda Motion to approve the consent agenda by Aimee Buccellato, supported by Amy Hill, motion carried. IV. Interviewing of Interested Citizens Request for citizen input on items not listed on the August 16, 2016 Park Board Meeting agenda. There were no comments. V. Report by Organizations 1. Potawatomi Zoo Marcy Dean distributed copies of the Potawatomi Zoo economic impact study. Copies of the Economic Impact Study and Potawatomi Zoo Master Plan are available on the Potawatomi Zoo website and a link to the documents will be added to the Park and Recreation website. Marcy Dean also reported two leopard cubs, which are on the endangered species list, were born at the Potawatomi Zoo earlier this year. 2. Botanical Society of South Bend Jan Mucuilski shared that the green roof was installed at the Conservatory today. It was designed by Kil Architecture and funded by Greening the Bend. Parks Maintenance is assisting with adding electric and gas in the recently renovated growing house outside the conservatory. The Botanical Society continues to monitor the situation with Fire Station #9 location as it would have an impact on the Conservatory if relocated to Potawatomi Park. VI. Unfinished Business 1. Update on Elbel Special Advisory Committee Recommendations Aaron Perri gave an update on recommendations for Elbel. Staff has started to work on each of the recommendations put forth by the special advisory committee. Aaron Perri distributed a list of tasks completed that relate to the recommendations and reviewed the preliminary report from Orbis on the ecological resources at Elbel. The preliminary report is posted on the Parks and Recreation website. Other updates on the recommendations including a night sky study and the USGA Agronomy report can be found on the website under the news section. VII. New business 1. IUSB Softball Usage Agreement Aaron Perri reported that this usage agreement between IUSB and the City of South Bend will allow the IUSB softball team to use Veteran’s Memorial Park as their home field. The City of South Bend Parks Department will continue to own the park and field, but IUSB will use the facilities for 40 days during the year. IUSB will make $100,000 worth of improvements to the park in exchange for its use. The improvements will be subject to the City’s approval. The agreement is for 5 years. The fields will still be available to the public when not used by IUSB. Mark Neal asked when IUSB expects to begin making capital improvements to the field. John Martinez replied that some improvements could start now and should be finished for early spring before practices start. Aimee Buccellato asked if an issue could arise if IUSB decides not to use the park in the future and does not fully complete projects that were anticipated long term. John Martinez replied that any improvements that IUSB makes can be useful to the park even if IUSB leaves. Aaron Perri added that IUSB plans to have the bulk of the improvements completed by next year. Amy Hill moved to approve the IUSB Softball Usage Agreement, Aimee Buccellato seconded, motion carried. 2. Ecological Advocacy Committee (Resolution 0004-2016) Aaron Perri shared that the resolution to form the Ecological Advocacy Committee was introduced to Park Board and to the PARC Committee of the Common Council last month. The PARC Committee requested that the resolution state that the Ecological Advocacy Committee will provide updates to the PARC Committee as well as Park Board. That request was included in the newest version of the resolution. The Park Board will be looking for volunteers for this committee. The Ecological Advocacy Committee will work on a Natural Resources Management Plan and address the issue of Canada Geese among other topics regarding the cities natural resources. The Ecological Advocacy Committee is the first committee formed in response to Elbel Special Advisory Committee recommendations. The Parks Department plans to add more committees in the future. Amy Hill moved approval of Resolution 0004-2016 establishing the Ecological Advocacy Committee, Aimee Buccellato supported, motion carried. 3. Edge Adventure Aerial Park Update Susan O’Connor reported that Saturday, August 20 is the soft opening for Edge Adventure Aerial Park. Vince Grisham is the newly hired manager. Edge Adventure will present at the next Park Board meeting. VIII. Business by Director Aaron Perri Aaron Perri gave the following updates:  The Riverfront Parks and Trails Design Plan Community Forum is September 8. Smith Group JJR, the consultants hired to create the design plan, will be in South Bend to gather community input during the event. Smith Group JJR will also host stakeholder input sessions, pop up meetings in parks, community forums, work groups, surveying and charrettes.  The Parks Department has started doing Experience Audits at its facilities, which is a way for Parks staff to get a fresh set of eyes on its facilities to help create a better customer experience. During the audits, staff members visit a new facility and do a review of their experience there.  The cost recovery strategy was presented at last month’s meeting. Staff is looking at fee based programs to determine what the cost recovery is for each program. Staff will present the recommended fees for 2017 at the next meeting.  Aaron Perri attended a workshop in Portland on social equity and parks earlier this month, which is a topic South Bend Parks will explore more. No other questions or comments from the Board, meeting adjourned at 5:53 p.m.by President Mark Neal. Following the regular meeting, a special meeting was held to present the Golf Operations Review by JJ Keegan and Associates. The presentation was recorded and is available at http://sbpark.org/park-happenings/golf-operations-review/ . The next regular meeting will be held September 19, 2016 at 5:00 p.m. in the Boardroom of the O’Brien Administration Center. Respectfully Submitted, Eva Ennis Executive Secretary