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HomeMy WebLinkAboutJanuary 16 Park Board MinutesSOUTH BEND BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS REGULAR MEETING JANUARY 16, 2018 The Board of Park Commissioners of the City of South Bend, Indiana met on Monday, January 16, 2018 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; Clara McDaniels, Assistant City Attorney; Jeff Jarnecke, Deputy Director; Jackie Appleman, Experience Director; John Martinez, Facilities and Grounds Director; Patrick Sherman, Project Manager; Kim Williams, Finance Director I. Call to Order - President Mark Neal II. Approval of the minutes of the last regular meeting of the Board held on December 18, 2017. Motion to approve the minutes of December 18 by Consuella Hopkins, supported by Aimee Buccellato, motion carried. III. Consent Agenda Approval: Motion to approve the consent agenda by Aimee Buccellato, supported by Consuella Hopkins, motion carried. IV. Interviewing of Interested Citizens Mark Neal opened the floor to citizens interested in speaking on a matter not listed on the agenda. There were none. V. New Business 1. LOGAN Center Memorandum of Understanding Aaron Perri explained that VPA has an ongoing agreement with LOGAN Center to offer recreational resources to LOGAN. The MOU is a contract for services to pay $2,000 to support LOGAN recreation. This is a change from the previous agreement in which the City paid part of a position’s salary. The same contribution is being given to LOGAN but just changing the way that the funds are distributed. Motion to approve the MOU between VPA and LOGAN Center by Aimee Buccellato, supported by Consuella Hopkins, motion carried. 2. CAPRA (Commission for Accreditation of Park and Recreation Agencies) Update Aaron Perri explained that CAPRA reaccreditation expires in 2018. A CAPRA review team will visit in the summer of 2018 to review VPA policies and operations. Matthew Moyers, VPA Community & Standards Coordinator, will be visiting park board in the upcoming months to go over our CAPRA accreditation requirements and any policy approvals that need to take place before the review. In February, a packet of materials will be presented that need to be approved. Aaron Perri explained that CAPRA must be renewed every 5 years, but VPA requested an extension for one year because of our transition period from Parks and Recreation to Venues Parks & Arts. Mark Neal asked if the process highlighted things that VPA needs to improve or add to the department. Jackie Appleman replied that there are some new CAPRA standards that were not a part of the process last time that will need to be addressed, but a majority of the work is updating information from the previous year to match the VPA transition. 3. VPA Key Performance Indicators Aaron Perri explained that Jeff Jarnecke will be meeting with Park Board members one-on-one to review our KPI’s and determine what the board is interested in seeing reported. VPA staff will come back with a set of KPI’s that are relevant to our mission and things VPA and the board prioritizes. 4. Coal Line Trail Land Use – EAC Referral Aaron Perri explained that the City’s Engineering Department is requesting an official letter from VPA stating that the work that is happening will have a diminutive impact on our parks, specifically Muessel Grove Park. Aaron Perri recommended referring this packet to the Ecological Advocacy Committee to provide a set of recommendations to the Park Board. Coal Line Trail will use .22 acres of Muessel Grove Park for the development of a recreational trail. Consuella Hopkins – refer to the trail as phase I, but is that just for review. However, this is not the first phase from her understanding. john – will review and get back an answer. Consuella Hopkins - not even usable currently and is being used. Motion to recommend review of this proposal by the EAC so they can make a recommendation back to the Park Board by Aimee Buccellato, supported by Consuella Hopkins, motion carried. VI. Business by Executive Director Aaron Perri Aaron Perri provided the following updates: • Memo provided to the board with notes from the EAC January meeting. Steve Sass commented that committee members collectively agreed that it would be helpful to improve communication between the board and the EAC. • Introduced Kim Williams, the new VPA Finance Director • Experiential Recreation Vehicle is a mobile unit that will be highly programed to visit parks and other locations. VPA has officially contracted with a company, Spevco, to design and build. The cost will not exceed $600,000. The reason is twofold: to increase relevance of the parks and improve our geographic presence in the community and to provide an experience in parks that are underserved. Anticipated completion date is fall 2018. Board of Public Works is overseeing the RFP. It is a 22-week design, build process. • IPRA Conference at the end of January; VPA will receive two statewide awards: Inclusion Program of Excellence for My SB Parks & Trails, and BWE for creative event • Best Meeting Ever, the official Best Week Ever kick-off meeting is Friday, January 26 at 8:00 am. • Studebaker Fountain announced they have 100% funding. The restoration process takes an entire year. VPA will still work on the design plans for Leeper Park. • VPA is in the last steps of interviews for the Recreation Director and the new hire should be announced at the next meeting. Mark Neal asked about the progress of Howard Park and Charles Black Center and the 2018 calendar for construction. Aaron Perri replied that Charles Black Center is on budget and on schedule. It should be open by late September or early October. The City submitted paperwork regarding irrigating the soccer fields to the EPA. Mark Neal commented that programming in the schools has been very successful in building relationships from Charles Black Center. Aaron Perri shared that Howard Park is still in design phase, and the anticipated open date is still by spring 2019. Initial designs came in overbudget so we had to go back to design process. Aaron Perri also provided an update on the Seitz Park project noting that Notre Dame recently hired a contractor to start construction on March 1. It will be a 14-month construction process, completed by May 2019. To keep all projects on time and on budget, Lawson Fischer has been hired to help drive these major projects. No other questions or comments from the Board, meeting adjourned at 5:55 pm p.m.by President Mark Neal. The next regular meeting will be held February 19, 2018 at 5:00 p.m. in the Boardroom of the O’Brien Administration Center. Respectfully Submitted, Eva Ennis Executive Secretary