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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08-17-09 Minutes SBBPC OUTH END OARD OF ARK OMMISSIONERS RM EGULAR EETING A17,2009 UGUST The Board of Park Commissioners of the Park District of the City of South Bend, Indiana met on Monday the 17th of August 2009 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. Robert Henry, President Mr. Robert Goodrich, Vice President Dr. Thomas Kelly Mr. Garrett Mullins Park Board members absent were as follows: None Staff members present: Phil St. Clair, Superintendent; Bill Carleton, Betsy Harriman, Administrative Director; Fiscal Officer; Susan O’Connor, Recreation Director; Randy Nowacki, Director of Golf Operations; Terry DeRosa, Zoo Director; Richard Payton, Development Director; Mike Dyszkiewicz, Maintenance Superintendent; Matthew Moyers, Special Projects Manager; Paula Garis, Special Events Coordinator; Loretta Kollar, Recreation Programs Supervisor; Thomas Bodnar, Park Board Attorney I.The meeting was called to order by Board President Robert Henry at 4:04p.m. II.The first order of business was the interviewing of interested citizens. 1.There were no interested citizens wishing to address the Board. 2.Botanical Society- Ms. Martha Lewis a. Ms. Lewis reported that the Conservatory has been closed for a month for cleaning and hopes to reopen Labor Day. b. They are partnering with Dr. Schnabel a botanist at IUSB to work on the collection. A scissors lift was brought in to remove a large ficus that was over grown and pushing through the glass. c. Mr. Don Kiem of the Orchid Society is preparing the orchids to be placed in the Conservatory for storage over the winter rather than the growing houses. This will save heating expense. d. Volunteers have worked over 1,000 hours since April. They have cleaned, pruned, rearranged, adding signs and much more. e. They are landscaping the filter bed at Leeper Park for the odor abatement system working with Public Works. f. Weddings are scheduled for September. g. The Chamber of Commerce has worked to put the Conservatory on a packaged tour - - 1 - - route starting in September. h. A door was kicked in recently, but no other damage was found and nothing was missing. i. Individuals have approached her regarding donations, but they are concerned about the commitment of the city. She is working with the Common Council to secure funding for heating and other commitments. III.The next order of business was unfinished business. There was no unfinished business. IV.The next order of business was new business. 1. Requests for Use of Parks- Ms. Harriman requested the Board approve the following requests: a. August 29th - Seitz Park - Michael Jackson Tribute b. September 26th - Apostolic Temple - Southeast Park - Outreach Program c. September 26th - Muessel Park - Church Lady - Outreach Program d. August 22, 2009- Southeast Park - Southeast Side Reunion. th Mr. Rico Williams of 4 Avenue in Elkhart, Indiana, explained that he was requesting the use of Seitz Park for a tribute to Michael Jackson on August 29, 2009. Local artists will perform. It will be free to all and have a Michael Jackson impersonator. Several of the Jackson family have been invited. Because there is no alcohol being served, security is not required. It will be approximately three hours long. They aren’t sure how many people will attend. Mr. Goodrich made a motion to approve the request pending final approval of staff. Dr. Kelly seconded the motion and it was passed. Ms. Lee Coleman of the Southeast Side Reunion Committee requested the use of Southeast Park for Southeast Side Reunion. This is the tenth year for the reunion. Their hope is to bring positive attitudes to the southeast side. She noted that there were no problems in the past until last year, and that incident occurred after the program was over. The individual involved was not a member of the committee as reported. She is requesting the park from 12 pm to 4 pm. Insurance is being purchased. She estimated attendance at approximately 1,000. Ms. Harriman recommended approval. Dr. Kelly made a motion to approve the request pending final staff approval. Mr. Goodrich seconded the motion and it was passed. Ms. Harriman requested approval of the September 26 requests by the Apostolic Temple for Southeast Park and Muessel Parks. Mr. Mullins made a motion to approve the requests and Mr. Goodrich seconded the motion. The request was passed. - - 2 - - 2. Arborist License Renewals- The following license application was presented for approval by the Board: a. Wayne’s Tree Service Dr. Kelly made a motion to accept the renewals of the Arborist Licenses and Mr. Goodrich seconded the motion. It was passed 3. Request to Approve Easement in Potawatomi Park for Outdoor Performing Arts Center Mr. Goodrich made a motion to grant the easement for a power pole as proposed. Dr. Kelly seconded the motion and it was passed. 4. Request to Dispose of Copiers and Cash Registers- Bill Carleton Mr. Carleton requested the following items be declared obsolete and allow staff to dispose of them: 2- Copiers at Charles Black Center 4- Royal 425 CX Cash Registers 2 Tent Frames 2 Hot Dog Machines Dr. Kelly made a motion to approve the request. Mr. Goodrich seconded the motion and it was approved. 5. Request to Accept Donation of Laptop Computer- Bill Carleton Mr. Carleton requested approval of the donation of a laptop computer by Mr. Steve Orlowski. Mr. Orlowski is a Park Police officer and the computer will be used for Park Police reports. It will be fitted with South Bend Police software to coordinate reporting. Mr. Goodrich made a motion to accept the donation of the laptop computer from Mr. Orlowski. Mr. Mullins seconded the motion and it was passed. Mr. Goodrich thanked him on behalf of the Board. V.Approval of Minutes Mr. Mullins made a motion to approve the minutes of the regular Board meeting held on July 20, 2009. The motion was seconded by Dr. Kelly and approved. VI.Approval of Maintenance Vouchers A motion was made by Mr. Goodrich to approve maintenance vouchers for July 2009 totaling $964,504.30. It was seconded by Dr. Kelly. There being no further discussion, the motion was passed. VII.Business of Director St. Clair 1. Director St. Clair handed out reports that showed the difference between what was proposed before the Local Option Income Tax (LOIT) and after. In addition to the additional revenue from the LOIT, the budget surplus that was normally reserved for capital expenses has been used for the operating budget in 2010. It is hoped there will be additional capital dollars from funds outside the usual park funds, such as COIT or EDIT funds. - - 3 - - The LOIT revenue allowed us to budget 17 employees that were to be laid off had it not passed. Twelve employees will be laid off because of the cut in property taxes. Six were laid off this year due to cuts in 2009. The Ice Rink. Pools and East Race were to be closed prior to the passing of the LOIT. They have been put back into the budget. 2. A Technology and Website committee has been formed and met to determine how to make our website more user friendly and incorporate e-commerce in it. 3. He thanked the staff for the great time and conditions at the Superintendent’s Outing a couple of weeks ago. 4. Three major softball tournaments were held over eleven days at Belleville. The ASA Men’s Major tournament, Little League Softball Central States Regional, and an Indiana Men’s Class C Northern State Finals were held consecutively. 5. Mr. Matthew Moyers updated the Board on the progress of the master plan update. The Board will be asked to ratify the master plan at the September meeting. He will distribute a copy to the Board at least two weeks before the meeting. VIII.Comments by the Recreation Director 1. Ms. O’Connor reported that summer programs are finished. Pools closed on August 9. 2. The Kid’s Triathlon was held on July 25. 432 athletes participated. The weather was cooperative. 3. The Men’s Major softball tournament was held July 30. There were 17 teams from all over the country. 4. 260 backpacks were given away at Martin Luther King, Jr. Center, as well as over 200 haircuts were given by twelve barbers for the back to school. 5. The last East Race concert was held this past Sunday. There are two more concerts at the Potawatomi bandshell. 6. The grand opening of the Chris Wilson Outdoor Performing Arts Center will be September 25. This will replace the present bandshell on Potawatomi Park. 7. The Summer Playground Program had 33,686 lunches served. Attendance was 41,214. 8. This past Saturday the skate park competition was held. There were twenty-eight competitors and 150 spectators. Mr. Goodrich offered his compliments to the staff on the softball tournaments. He felt they were well organized and ran smoothly. IX.Comments by the Golf Operations Director 1. Mr. Nowacki reported that the Superintendent’s Outing had thirty-three teams participate. It was a great time for all. 2. New ads will be run in Full Moon advertising for three months. They cover southwest Michigan and Northern Indiana with a circulation of 105,000. 3. The new tee signs will be in August 25. 4. The cement work at Erskine will be delayed three weeks due to scheduling problems. - - 4 - - 5. Mr. Nowacki spoke with Mr. Rick Reid of Blackthorn. They discussed how to work together better. X.Comments by the Zoo Director 1. Mr. DeRosa informed the Board that the Zoo’s Education department was involved with the recent event at the East Race. 2. A goat was found by Animal Control, but it was not one of the Zoo’s. 3. A tree fell in the Camel yard over the weekend. Luckily, no one was near it when came down. 4. The leopards have been breeding and it is suspected she is now pregnant. 5. The USDA inspected the Zoo recently and a few minor issues were found. 6. The responses to the AZA were submitted by August 10. The primary review will be at the national AZA conference in September. XI.Comments by Maintenance Superintendent 1. Mr. Mike Dyszkiewicz informed the Board that graffiti has become a major problem lately in many parks. 2. Landscaping at Pinhook is finished. 3. We are pricing the tearing down the old Potawatomi band shell 4. Tennis and basketball courts are being repaired this week. 5. The Broadway Christian Church recently cleaned up Ravenna Park and it looks great. 6. The parking lot at LaSalle Park is in need of repaving. 7. The East Race season is over and went very well. 8. The playground equipment at Marshall Park has been installed. XII.Comments by the Development Director 1. Mr. Payton thanked all the sponsors of the Superintendent’s Outing. 2. He has been meeting with the recreation staff to determine new ways to market their programs and events. 3. The activity guide will be out at the end of the month and will be distributed to the schools and libraries. 4. An ad in the Notre Dame football program is being explored. 5. He met with Marci Dean of the Zoological Society and Culvers to explore how Culvers and the zoo can develop a relationship. 6. He met with the Convention and Visitor’s Bureau and Ray Comer to discuss the upcoming AAU basketball tournament in March. 7. The IUSB arts department is going to be doing a number of art activities with the centers. 8. The Parks Foundation will be sending out solicitations for members of the Foundation board to prospective members in the near future. - - 5 - - XIII.There being no more business to come before the Board the meeting adjourned at 5:20 p.m. The next regular meeting will be held September 21, 2009 at 4:00 p.m. in the Boardroom of the O’Brien Administration Center. Respectfully Submitted, William Carleton Executive Secretary - - 6 - -