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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMay 20 Park Board Meeting MinutesSouth Bend Board of Park Commissioners Regular Meeting  May 20, 2024  Due to an outage in audio recording during this meeting, there is a lapse in transcript translation, please be advised the recording of these minutes do not fully reflect the events in this meeting in its entirety. The Board of Park Commissioners of the City of South Bend, Indiana met on Monday, May 20, 2024, at Howard Park Event Center, 219 S. St. Louis Blvd and virtually on Microsoft Teams for its regular meeting.  Notice of the date, time and place of the meeting were duly given as required by law. The public was provided with a link to join the virtual meeting.   Park Board members present were as follows:  Mr. Mark Neal, President   Mr. Sam Centellas Ms. Consuella Hopkins Park Board members not present: Ms. Georgianne Walker VPA staff members present: Jordan Gathers, Interim Executive Director; Anastasia Smith-Davis, Executive Assistant; John Martinez, Chief of Park Operations; Amy Roush, Director of Development. Other city representatives present: Michael Schmidt, Assistant City Attorney; Canneth Lee, 1st District Councilmember; Troy Warner, 4th District Councilmember. Call to Order  Mark Neal called the meeting to order at 5:01 pm. Minutes of the Regular Board Meeting held on April 15, 2024. Motion to approve the meeting minutes of April 15, by Sam Centellas, supported by Consuella Hopkins, motion carried. Roll call vote 3-0. Consent Agenda Motion to approve the consent agenda of May 20, 2024, by Mark Neal, supported by Georgianne Walker, motion carried. Roll call vote 3-0. Outstanding Partner: South Bend Reentry Center Jordan Gathers gives background on how the Reentry Center and VPA became partners through Reentry offering trash pickup services, which eventually evolved into serving in different capacities at VPA events. A representative from the Reentry Center applauds the work and service of Greg Burns, who is one of the lead facilitators of the program. Interviewing of Interested Residents Andy Schnabel, EAC Chair and River Park resident thanks John Martinez for his services and assistance with the River Park planning. He goes on to mention that he will be touching on issues that were brought up previously at earlier meetings by Gary Harrington. The first issue mentioned concerns the alarming amounts of unhoused cats being dropped off in the Wetlands. The number of cats is increasing and efforts to find a solution with Meow Rescue are in the works. The second issue concerns stormwater runoff. Andy shares hopefully EAC and Public Works could work together to create a trash receptacle. The EAC recently did a trash pickup, collecting over 600 pounds of trash showing that trash receptacles are needed. Before the next resident speaks, Mark Neal takes a second to thank John Martinez for his efforts with the River Park planning. Sue C of South Bend was the next resident to share. Jene has had experience serving on the first Botanical Society board and states that there are some foundation items such as logo and other marketing materials that were not used that could be used to help the Conservatory. She also informs the Commissioners that Notre Dame has funds that could assist with the Conservatory. Use of Parks- New Events Amy Roush of VPA informs the Commissioners on the new events coming through on the Parks side and gives a brief description of each event. Motion to approve the New Events of May 20, 2024, by Sam Centellas, supported by Consuella Hopkins, motion carried. Roll call vote 3-0. New Business Block By Block- Service Contract Addendum- John Martinez Motion to approve Block By Block Contract by Consuella Hopkins, supported by Sam Centellas, motion carried. Roll-call vote 3-0. VPA Non-Alcoholic Beverage Approval. Motion to approve VPA Non-Alcoholic Beverage Approval by Sam Centellas, supported by Consuella Hopkins, motion carried. Roll-call vote 3-0. COSB RDC & VPA Agreement- Michael Schmidt Motion to approve COSB RDC & VPA Agreement by Sam Centellas, supported by Consuella Hopkins, motion carried. Roll-call vote 3-0. Reports by Organization: First Tee- Jenny Zimmerman Video and audio recording ended at the beginning of this segment. Jenny Zimmerman starts by thanking the Commissioners and VPA for the opportunity to share. She continues to update the Commissioners on the number of youths that have been in programming since 2019, which has tripled to date. First Tee has also seen overall attendance in all program participation increase every year since 2018. Jenny informs the group that First Tee is an all-season program, allowing players to condition themselves all year round. During the winter months, First Tee hosts programming and classes at local schools. Last year the organization experienced many highlights, one of which includes a 30-minute documentary being made on First Tee and will air on WHME-TV. Another highlight is First Tee was able to celebrate their first player being selected as a participant and attend the LPGA *USGA. They were also awarded the Game Changer Award (one of 19 in the nation). Jenny finishes her presentation by stating there is much more excitement to be expected and experienced next year. Report by Department- Golf by Jim Kubinski Jim Kubinski, Golf Marketing Manager gives honor to the recent Manager of Golf, Tony Stears. He mentions how Tony made huge contributions to the golf program and how he appreciates all Tony did for the team. He goes on to give a quick update on where golf is now. Coming from a couple large events, the golf courses are doing well. Jim reiterated that last year was the first million dollar earning year for golf, this year the reports show a 17% increase in attendance and participation on the courses. Jim shares Studebakers will be celebrating their 100-year anniversary next year in June 2025 and expects to have a golf outing planned. Business by Interim Executive Director Jordan Gathers Jordan begins by thanking all who are in attendance and continues with the following updates. He thanks Jenny from First Tee for the update and acknowledges the hard work that Tony Stearns put into the golf department. Excited to announce the Youth Scholarship Golf Outing this year will be held at Erskine this year Memorial Day parade National Kids to Park Day. Jordan celebrates the Special Events team for their efforts in planning the event Field Day at Paramount School- VPA teams joined together to engage with Paramount students during their end of the year field day Leeper Park Court Repairs- These projects repairs are taking priority The Thought Leadership Conference will be held at the Century Center Wednesday and Thursday. Thursday night Valerie Garrett, who served on President Obama’s administration will be featured as the evening guest speaker. Seitz Park- Has a lot of momentum moving in the coming weeks, very hopeful the project will be completed this year. Dream Center- In great shape, looking forward to the opening in February of next year. LaSalle Park- Improvements are still underway, completion expected soon. An update for a date for the ribbon cutting event will be given next meeting. Walker Field Connectivity Project Bids – Bids for Byers Softball are set to go out later this year. Kennedy Aquatic design work is underway. More updates to come. Morris- Raclin Murphy Encore Center will go out for bid next month. Four Winds Field- Renovations in full swing Jordan concludes his updates with highlighting James Steward, a long time VPA employee who was just recently recognized for his outstanding service in South Bend. He thanks James for the amazing job he’s done over the years. Adjournment No other questions or comments from the Park Commissioners, meeting adjourned at 6:20 pm by President Mark Neal.    The next scheduled meeting will be held Monday, June 17, 2024 at 5:00 p.m. at Howard Park Event Center and virtually. Respectfully Submitted,   Anastasia Smith-Davis