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HomeMy WebLinkAbout07-16-2012 Minutes SOUTH BEND BOARD OF PARK CONMUSSIONERS REGULAR MEETING JULY 16, 2012 The Board of Park Commissioners of the Park District of the City of South Bend, Indiana met on Monday July 16, 2012 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 Goodrich,Vice President Ms. Amy Hill Mr. Garrett Mullins Park Board members absent were as follows: Staff members present: Phil St. Clair, Superintendent; Bill Carleton,Fiscal Officer; Betsy Harriman, Administrative Director; Susan O'Connor,Recreation Director;Randy Nowacki,Director of Golf Operations; Richard Payton,Development Director;Mike Dyszkiewicz,Maintenance Superintendent; Loretta Kollar,Program Supervisor; Cynthia Taylor, Charles Black Center Supervisor; Garry Harrington,Rum Village Nature Center Supervisor; Cheryl Greene,Park Board Attorney I. The meeting was called to order by Board Vice President Robert Goodrich at 4:01 p.m. Director St. Clair reported that Board President Robert Henry passed away earlier this month. He said he was a long time board member and a friend to the Park Department and will be missed. The Mayor is looking for a replacement. 11. Election of Officers Ms. Hill made a motion to amend the current agenda to include the election of officers. Mr. Mullins seconded the motion and it was passed. Mr. Mullins made a motion to nominate Mr. Goodrich as president and Ms. Hill as vice president. Ms. Hill seconded the motion and the motion was passed. III. The first order of business was the interviewing of interested citizens. No citizens wished to address the Board. IV. Report By Organizations A.Potawatomi Zoological Society-Marcy Dean 1. Ms. Dean reported that the Member's Picnic will be held next weekend and they are expecting 1,500 to 2,000 members. 2. Media coverage continues,much of it concerning how the current heat affects the animals. 3. Attendance is down because of the heat. 4. Zoo Brew tickets will go on sale August 1. - - I - - 5. The annual visitor survey has started and the result so far has been good. 6. The Zoo Society's website will be updated before the opening in 2013. 7. Train ridership is 35,894 year to date. It is down from an average of approximately 40,000. Butterfly attendance is 4,300. B.Botanical Society-Andrew Schnabel 1. Dr. Schnabel reported that the Conservatory has closed at noon a few days because of the heat. 2. There is a magic show and ice cream social planned this week. 3. Fall events will be planned at an upcoming Botanical Society Board meeting. C. South Bend Silver Hawks No representative was present. Ms. Harriman reported that all the new seating on the first base side has been installed. Attendance has been very good. V. The next order of business was unfinished business. There was no unfinished business. V1. The next order of business was new business. 1. Request to Approve Arborist License Renewal a. 4 Seasons Tree Services,LLC b. C &H Tree Experts Ms. Greene reported that they met all the insurance requirements. Ms. Hill made a motion to approve the requests. Mr. Mullins seconded the motion and it was passed. 2. Requests for Use of Parks-Betsy Harriman Ms. Harriman requested the Board approve the following requests: a. Lakeside Reunion-LaSalle Park-August 4, 2012 b. YMCA Run/Walk-Riverwalk-August 28, 2012 c. Crop Walk-Howard Park- September 30, 2012 d. Hoosier Hikers-Howard Park- October 28, 2012 Ms. Harriman recommended approval of the events. All have been informed of the insurance requirements. All except b are returning events and she has worked with the YWCA on other previous events. Mr. Mullins made the motion to approve the above request and it was seconded by Ms. Hill. The motion was approved. 3. Opening of Quotes for Conservatory Landscaping and Irrigation-Mike Dyszkiewicz Mr. Bultinck of Lehman and Lehman, explained that a request for quotes was sent out for irrigation and landscaping at the Conservatory. Three contractors each were solicited for irrigation and landscaping quotes. A quote for landscaping was received from Fuerbringer Landscape Design, Inc. Dave Talboom Landscape and New Frontiers Landscaping did not submit quotes. HS Altman irrigation, Trademark Irrigation,LLC, and Wissco Irrigation, Inc submitted quotes for the irrigation project. The sealed quotes were opened and read aloud by Attorney Greene as follows: Landscaping- a. Fuerbringer Landscape Design-base- $20,590,Alt#1- $3,390,voluntary - - 2 - - alt- ($1,900) Irrigation- a. HS Altman Irrigation- $21,000, Cannot do work until September b. Wissco Irrigation- $16,780, 30 days completion from notice c. Trademark Irrigation- $18,700, 5 days completion from notice Ms. Hill made a motion to award the landscaping project to Fuerbringer and Wissco Irrigation, subject to funding availability. Mr. Mullins seconded the motion and it was passed. 4. Request to Approve Fee Increases- Susan O'Connor Ms. O'Connor requested the Board approve the fee increases she presented to the Board at the June meeting. Mr. Goodrich asked Ms. Cynthia Taylor, Charles Black Center Supervisor, if she received any feedback from patrons regarding the increase. She said that people she talked to felt the birthday rate increase was justified due to all that was provided in the package. Ms. Hill made a motion to approve the request as presented. Mr. Mullins seconded the motion and it was approved. VII. Approval of Maintenance Vouchers A motion was made by Mr. Mullins to approve maintenance vouchers for June 2012 totaling $1,095,270.49. It was seconded by Ms. Hill. There being no further discussion,the motion was passed. VIII. Business of Director St. Clair 1. Director St. Clair commented that the CAPRA accreditation team is on the premises going through the process. 2. A letter has been drafted requesting an appropriation of$750,000 for the Ice Rink project. It will go to the Council in July and the approval vote will be in August. 3. The Blues Fest had a good turnout. He thanked the staff for all their efforts. 4. He presented the Board with drafts of the 2013 budget for funds 201 and 203. He said this is subject to revision as the process goes on. He noted that the property tax level dropped $190,000 from 2012. Because of this revenue loss and increased mandated expenses,we may need to spend some of our cash reserve to have an adequate capital budget for 2013. He is also exploring a park bond to fund capital. Mr. Goodrich thanked Director St. Clair for the update. IX. Comments by the Golf Operations Director 1. Mr.Nowacki informed the Board about the repairs to the irrigation system at the Erskine Park Golf Course. The purchase order is back for the replacement of the motors and pumps. He is waiting for a break in the weather to start repairs. He has a backup plan to use fire trucks in the event of the remaining pump failing. 2. The heat has kept the greens superintendents busy making sure the courses stay in good shape. 3. The IDEM application for the master plan has been completed and submitted to Indianapolis. - - 3 - - 4. The new scorecards are now at the courses. 5. Five new golf cars at Elbel are not holding a charge. Professional Golf Car has been out to check on them. X. Comments by the Maintenance Superintendent 1. Mr. Mike Dyszkiewicz requested the Board's permission to hire Wightman-Petrie to design the specifications for the Howard Park Ice Rink project bids. Mr. Goodrich approved his request. Director St. Clair informed the Board that there may be a need to have a special meeting to award the bid for the Ice Rink. Mr. Mullins made a motion to hire Wightman-Petrie for professional services to design bid specifications for the Ice Rink repair project and to authorize staff to publish notice to bid upon receipt of those specifications. Ms. Hill seconded the notice and it was passed. 2. Thirty trees were cleared from streets and alleys after the last storm within seven hours. He commended the crews on their work. 3. A new splash pad is being installed at Potawatomi Park. 4. The Belleville Playground project is almost complete. XI. Comments by the Development Director 1. Mr. Payton reported on the Park Foundation Board Meeting. Recruitment of board members is ongoing. A number of potential candidates will be interviewed in the near future. 2. The Foundation Board will be involved the Superintendent's Golf Outing this year. They will be pursuing sponsorships,recruiting teams and will also participate. 3. The Foundation Board is helping with the Sunday Night Concert Series by MCing the concert. 4. The Active Youth Initiative had three new volunteers for the steering committee last month. 5. He thanks the staff for all the effort that has gone into the CAPRA accreditation. Mr. Goodrich recognized the contributions of Texas Roadhouse to the Department's events and wanted to make sure they were adequately recognized. Mr. Payton assured him that we were very appreciative of their efforts and have expressed this to them. XH. Comments by the Recreation Director 1. Ms. O'Connor reported that the last session of Learn to Swim started today. 155 have participated this summer. Forty of the participants have been from the Charles Black Center. 2. The hours of the pools have been extended due to the heat. On Wednesdays and Fridays the Potawatomi Pool will be open until 8 pm. Kennedy Water Playground will be open on Tuesdays and Thursdays until 7 pm. Attendance last week was 20-30 during the evening hours. 3. The Unites States Tennis Association will be holding a workshop at the Charles Black Center this Saturday from noon to 3 pm for youth tennis. - - 4 - - 4. The Kid's Triathlon will be held in two weeks. 160 participants have registered to date. There are challenges with securing volunteers this year since the Urban Adventure event is being held on the same day. 5. The Leeper Tennis Center hosted the Metro Singles and Doubles recently. 6. Playground lunches served for June were 9,372. 7. A youth softball tournament was held at Belleville and Sheridan fields. 8. The Elwood Splinters Blues Band played at the East Race Concert series this last weekend. 425 patrons attended. At the Potawatomi Concert series 130 attended. This weekend the Celtic Fest will be at the East Race and the Valley Aires will be at the Chris Wilson Pavilion. The Arts Everywhere Concert Series begins next weekend. 9. The track program is finishing in 10 days. III. There being no more business to come before the Board,the meeting adjourned at 5:19 p.m. The next regular meeting will be held August 20, 2012 at 4:00 p.m. in the Boardroom of the O'Brien Administration Center. Respectfully Submitted, William Carleton Executive Secretary - - 5 - -