HomeMy WebLinkAboutMarch 17, 2025 Park Board MinutesSouth Bend Board of Park Commissioners
Regular Meeting
March 17, 2025
The Board of Park Commissioners of the City of South Bend, Indiana met on Monday, March 17, 2025, 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:
Ms. Consuella Hopkins, Vice President
Mr. Sam Centellas
Park Board members virtually present were as follows:
Mr. Mark Neal, President
VPA staff members present: Jordan Gathers, Interim Executive Director; Officer; Amy Roush, Chief of Development; John Martinez; Chief of Park Operations; Anastasia Smith-Davis, Executive
Assistant; Macey Hanna, Director of Recreation; Cody Risedorph, Director of Golf; Cynthia Taylor, Director of Community Initiatives; Dezha Moore, General Manager of Venues; Olivia
Sanchez, Special Events Manager; and Evelyn Mitchell, Superintendent III.
Other city representatives are present: Michael Schmidt, Assistant City Attorney
Call to Order
Mark Neal called the meeting to order at 5:21 pm.
Minutes of the Regular Board Meeting held on February 17, 2025.
Motion to approve the meeting minutes of February 17, by Sam Centellas, supported by Mark Neal, motion carried. Roll call vote 3-0.
Consent Agenda
Motion to approve the consent agenda of March 17, 2025, by Sam Centellas, supported by Mark Neal, motion carried. Roll call vote 3-0.
Interviewing of Interested Residents
No residents commented during this meeting.
Use of Parks- New Events
Michiana Grill Fest, Howard Park, August 16, 2025
Doyian Owobamirin of 1938 Sagamore Hill Drive introduces himself and begins a short presentation on the Michiana Grill Fest. After noticing this region lacks in Grill festivals, Doyian
decided to bring a family friendly grilling competition to South Bend. This festival will include a celebration of cultures, food, and music. Muli-Cultural grill masters will have the
choice to showcase their grill skills in front of selected judges and the community. Doyian states his expectation of attendance will be anywhere from 5,000-10,000 people.
Mark Neal asked a question pertaining to security measures due to the number of expected attendees.
Doyian confirms that through discussions with VPA’s team, they have covered the bases with security and insurance. They will also make sure there is presence by SBFD.
Sam Centellas follows up by asking who the planning group behind this event is.
Doyian answers the planning group is an organization called CNN, the Community Connect Network.
Motion to approve the Michiana Grill Fest, by Same Centellas , supported by Mark Neal, motion carried. Roll call vote 3-0.
New Business
Approval of Howard Park Closure April 11
Amy Roush, Chief of Development, presents VPA is bringing back Adult Recess with an Adult Egg Hunt on April 11th. The Special Events team is requesting the closure of the park from 2:30pm
so the eggs can be hidden. The park will re-open at 9:30pm. This event is a 21 and older, free event to the public with a $15 charge to do the egg hunt.
Motion to approve the closure of Howard Park on April 11, by Sam Centellas, supported by Mark Neal, motion carried. Roll call vote 3-0.
SmartRec Presentation by Macey Hanna
Macey Hanna, Director of Recreation, informs the group that VPA has been testing out a new software called SmartRec. Macey explained how the department used a software called Fly Book
but faced challenges with software as VPA continued to grow. She continued to share VPA’s leadership team and IT spent months testing different software types before coming to the
final decision to use SmartRec by Amelia. Macey celebrates the soft go live date (March 17) has gone well with a Community Programming event, PJ Fashionista being the first event to
go live on the new software. The official go live date is April 30th. She continues to share that there is a great transition between the old software and the new one. This new software
will allow VPA to set a standard with scholarships offered to the community.
Sam Centellas gives the team praise for being thorough and selecting the best software for customers (community).
Consuella Hopkins asked about the cost savings between the two software platforms.
Macey states Fly book did not have a set up fee but charged based on credit card processing while with SmartRec there is a set fee but lower percentage charge for credit card processing.
Mark Neal poses a question to Michael Schmidt if the changes in the scholarship amounts require any Board action.
Macey chimes in to share with Mark that the fees are being dramatically changed. Changes consistent of $1.00 increments more so due to how things are rounded so we eliminate change amounts.
Michael Schmidt comments that while kinks are still being worked out, this new software can be looked at as VPA becoming a retailer.
Department Report by Amy Roush
Amy Roush begins with a brief recap of 2024 with a glimpse of what is happening in 2025. She shares insight on the Marketing and Promotions team who handles VPA social media accounts
(Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube), this team takes what’s happening in VPA and connects it to our community through storytelling. They also are the ones who help develop any graphics
and branding for all VPA events and initiatives, while executing promotional campaigns to help increase awareness and participation of all events.
She goes on to give a recap of some of the larger events VPA has like Fusion Fest. Last year the festival saw the same number of attendees onsite, around 35,000. In 2024 the Fusion Fest
featured the very first drone show, which was repeated during the New Years Eve celebration at Howard Park.
She continued with speaking on community support and fundraising by sharing there are over 1500 alone through the Skate-it-Forward program, while awarding over $4,554 in support of youth
programming efforts. Also having received in 2024 a total number of donations and pledges of $4.76 million dollars and being awarded as a department in grants in the amount of $10.5
million dollars.
Amy briefly touched on volunteer engagements, informing the group that the department saw 11,372 hours of volunteer time given by over 2,843 volunteers and over 232 volunteer opportunities
throughout the year.
She concludes her presentation with a spill on the first annual MLK Dreamer’s Gala, the bike garage at Charles Black Center, the 160th COSB birthday, and events for the 4th of July.
Mark Neal questions if the South Bend Bike Garage has moved into the parking garage on the corner of Wayne and Main.
Amy confirmed their move.
Mark Neal introduces Jordan Gathers for the next section.
Business by Executive Director Jordan Gathers
Jordan Gathers thanks the Commissioners and all those attending the meeting. He also thanks Amy Roush for her leadership, dedication, and excellent service. He follows up with the following
updates:
Strong turn out for the steel signing at the Raclin Murphy Encore Center
Howard Parks ice skating season has ended but excited to know this was a record breaking season with over 30 thousand visitors over the season.
The department is undergoing a spring/summer program transition from winter.
Calendar updates include Mayor’s State of the City address on March 25 at IUSB, MLK Dream Center ribbon cutting with annual MLK walk on April 4, opening day at the Four Winds Field on
April 8, and the reschedule St. Patty’s Day parade on March 22.
Want to continue to build upon the exciting news on the Kennedy Park project. Currently finalizing the design, a public engagement session information will be coming out soon.
Daddy Daughter dance is 14 days away. This year’s theme is Trolls, will be a fun event. Looking forward to seeing the numbers compared to last year's event.
Consuella Hopkins poses a question concerning Kennedy Park
Jordan informs the Commissioners that VPA is currently finalizing design plans and is scheduling community input meetings.
IX. Adjournment
No other questions or comments from the Park Commissioners, meeting adjourned at 6:04 pm by President Mark Neal.
The next scheduled meeting will be held Monday, April 21, 2025, at 5:00 p.m. at Howard Park Event Center and virtually.
Respectfully Submitted,
Anastasia Smith-Davis