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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSeptember 25 2017 MinutesSOUTH BEND BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS REGULAR MEETING SEPTEMBER 25, 2017 The Board of Park Commissioners of the City of South Bend, Indiana met on Monday, September 25, 2017 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. Aimee Buccellato Ms. Consuella Hopkins Park Board members absent were as follows: Mr. Dan Farrell Staff members present: Aaron Perri, Director of VPA; Eva Ennis, Operations Coordinator; Jackie Appleman, Experience Division Director; Danielle Campbell, Assistant City Attorney; Adam Miller, Development Director; Amy Roush, Volunteer Coordinator; John Martinez, Facilities and Grounds Director; Patrick Sherman, Project Manager I. The meeting was called to order by Board President Mark Neal at 4:30 p.m. II. Approval of Minutes Motion to approve the minutes of the August 21, 2017 regular Park Board meeting by Consuella Hopkins, supported by Aimee Buccellato, motion carried. III. Consent Agenda Approval: 1. Approval of the VPA Financial Statements for the month of August 2017 2. Use of Parks Requests – Returning Events b. Renaissance Festival | Pinhook Park | August 24-27, 2018 c. Jefferson Cross Country Meet | Potawatomi | 9/27/17 d. Cabin Days School Program | Leeper Park | 10/10/17-10/13/17 e. Domestic Violence Vigil | Seitz Park | 10/18/17 f. Hoosier Hikes | Seitz Park | 10/22/17 Motion to approve consent agenda items 1-2 by Consuella Hopkins, supported by Aimee Buccellato, motion carried. IV. Interviewing of Interested Citizens Conrad Damien, 718 Broadway. Commented that those living in low income neighborhoods often feel like we are left behind, but that is not the experience with VPA. Southeast Park hosted a neighborhood festival, and VPA was very helpful on that day. Mr. Damien thanked VPA for looking at his neighborhood and helping the residents understand that the City values their neighborhood. He shared that the neighborhood added a gallery of art at Southeast Park which VPA helped install. He also thanked Jackie Appleman, John Martinez and Mike Bueno for their help with the neighborhood festival. Joleen Campbell commented that fees were increased at the Fitness Center in 2017 and members are trying to understand what the extra funds are going towards. She asked for information about what improvements will happen because of the increase in fees. Edward Scott, 5733 pine view drive, commented that he has been a member for the O’Brien Fitness Center for 16 years. Last year there was an increase in price for membership, and he understood that there would be improvements coming. He added that quite a few members were lost because of price increase. IV. Unfinished Businesses 2018 Fee Changes Aaron Perri explained that the board discussed fee changes during the last board meeting. There will be no fee increases this year. The only change is consolidating categories to include one senior and military rate instead of two different resident and non-resident senior and military rates. Staff is requesting approval of the fee changes to be embedded in the budget which will go to Common Council for approval in October. Mark Neal asked for clarification on what happened last year regarding fee changes. Aaron Perri explained that VPA looked at all programs and evaluated which programs should be covering their costs, which led to some fee increases. Changes were made to get the cost model up to date, not necessarily to make certain improvements. Motion to approve the proposal for fitness fees for 2018 by Aimee Buccellato, supported by Consuella Hopkins, motion carried. V. New Business 1. My SB Parks & Trails - Mayor Pete Buttigieg stated that My SB Parks & Trails is not just a parks priority but an administrative priority. Issues in the city such as equity, public health, sustainability, and neighborhoods are all related to public spaces. Mayor Buttigieg added that it is a priority of the City to take on the entire My SB Parks and Trails initiative, especially the Parks Bond. 37 parks and 20 miles of trails are being touched by the My SB Parks and Trails initiative. These projects will bring our parks to the next level and this decade will be remembered as a time of growth and investment. My SB Parks and Trails is the most Ambitious parks initiative ever in the City of South Bend. Aaron Perri commented that these projects were defined by things the department heard from the community during input sessions and things that were incorporated in our City Comprehensive Plan and Parks Master Plan. He also reviewed the website and plans for O’Brien Fitness Center including plans to relocate locker rooms to first floor, create a single entrance, reclaim spaces for recreational use, and modernize the building. My SB Parks and Trails is roughly a $42 million plan with one third from outside funds, one third from the new park bond, and one third from TIF commitment. The Park Board is responsible for pursuing the Park Bond and the action in front of board is to discuss a declaratory resolution. Randy Rompola explained that the initial action as required by law to pursue Park Bond financing is to approve a declaratory resolution to hold a public hearing regarding the bond. The sum of the bonds being issued is $14,075,000. He reviewed the details of each series of the bond. The board will be presented with a confirming resolution after a public hearing at the October board meeting. Finally, the Park Bond will go to Common Council for approval on October 23. The declaratory resolution presented to the board states that the board concludes that these projects are at least worth considering and moving forward with a public hearing. Mark Neal opened for comments from the public. There were none. Mark Neal added that a normal public hearing will be held at the October 16th meeting. Consuella Hopkins moved to approve the Resolution 0006-2017, supported by Aimee Buccellato, motion carried. 2. Personal Services Agreement Aaron Perri explained that the Personal Services Agreement is a blanket agreement for the department to use with independent contractors throughout the year such as referees, coaches, and instructors. Legal has reviewed the agreement and approves of it. Motion to approve the personal services agreement by Aimee Buccellato, supported by Consuella Hopkins, motion carried. 3. Edge Adventure Aaron Perri explained that Edge Adventure has requested to extend the ground lease an additional 5 years for a total of 10 years. Steve Doniger, owner of Edge Adventure, reported on the 2017 season at Rum Village Aerial Park. The Aerial Adventure Park has served 5,600 guests in 2017. Steve Doniger explained that Edge Adventure would like to continue to grow and invest in the park so it is requesting an extension of the contract for an additional 5 years with no other changes to the initial contract except the contribution to the City is increasing in years 6010. Aimee Buccellato asked what the revenue sharing is in the first five years. Steve Doniger replied that it starts at 1% and stair steps up to 3-4%. Aimee Buccellato asked what the 2016 season started. Steve Doniger said that the park opened August 20. Consuella Hopkins asked whether the City shares in the expenses of the park. Steve Doniger replied that Edge Adventure covers 100% of expenses. Consuella Hopkins asked what the price point is for the ropes course. Steve Doniger replied that there are multiple options based on hours anywhere from $29-79. Edge Adventure also offers discounts for groups and coupons and offers scholarships to people who can’t afford full price. Mark Neal asked John Martinez if the Edge Adventure partnership has worked well with the work Facilities & Grounds Division does. John Martinez replied that they have worked very well together. Motion to approve amendment of ground lease as laid out in MOU and the attached ground lease by Aimee Buccellato, supported by Consuella Hopkins, motion carried. 4. Regional Cities Grant Sub-Recipient Agreement Aaron Perri explained that VPA was awarded a Regional Cities Grant for the Blue Ways project and is required to sign a sub-recipient agreement. Legal has reviewed the agreement and determined that it can be signed as an ordinary act of business, so Aaron Perri as the Executive Director of VPA will sign on behalf of the City. 5. Better Impact Adam Miller explained that Better Impact is a volunteer management system that can record volunteer instances and hours, provide updates to volunteers, profiles for volunteers, volunteer scheduling, and allow volunteers to RSVP for upcoming opportunities. Motion to approve the contract for Better Impact software by Aimee Buccellato, supported by Consuella Hopkins, motion carried. VI. Report by Director Aaron Perri Aaron Perri gave the following updates: - The Director’s Youth Scholarship Golf Outing was September 15. The outing raised $17,600 which is more than the previous year. - South Bend Cubs season was record breaking again. The Cubs has already dropped off their annual revenue share check which was 3% above last year. - The Charles Black Ground Breaking Ceremony was held on September 14 at 4:15 pm. - The Howard Park Ground Breaking Ceremony is scheduled for October 4 at 11:00 am. It will be followed by an open house from 11:00 am – 1:00 pm and 4:00 pm – 7:00 pm at Lodge. - VPA will announce the City’s second dog park location on October 11 at Rum Village - Studebaker National Museum has contract with City to operate out of the building and maintain Studebaker assets belonging to the City. The contract has been extended to another 5 years. - Members of VPA staff will be attending in the National Recreation and Parks Conference on September 25-28 in New Orleans. VII. Report by Director of Recreation – Jackie Appleman Jackie Appleman gave a summer recap of Experience Division activities. - VPA hosted 43 events with 8,000 people in attendance. - VPA hosted its first ever 21 and older outdoor movie event which was a huge success. - $25,000 in sponsorship funds was raised for summer events. - The development team has started to combine the Parks Foundation and Morris Entertainment Inc. into one VPA Foundation. - Marketing team created a new program guide format which is now the Spark Magazine. - Numerous VPA facilities and programs underwent a rebranding to match the overall VPA brand. - Current rebranding projects include Palais Royale and Morris Bistro. - The Experience Division is working on unveiling a new mascot, a lightning bug named SPARK. - The Experience Division is currently working on updating city motto. - Upcoming events include Fall Family Fun Fair, Tree Lighting, Mom-Son Dance, and Daddy-Daughter Dance. - Best Week Ever 2018 dates were announced for May 28-June 3. - VPA is planning the first ever pre-show events at the Morris. The first pre-show event will be before the December 1 show of Motown the Musical. No other questions or comments from the Board, meeting adjourned at 6:10 p.m.by President Mark Neal. The next regular meeting will be held October 16, 2017 at 5:00 p.m. in the Boardroom of the O’Brien Administration Center. Respectfully Submitted, Eva Ennis Executive Secretary