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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06-17-2013 Minutes SOUTH BEND BOARD OF PARK CONMUSSIONERS REGULAR MEETING JUNE 17, 2013 The Board of Park Commissioners of the Park District of the City of South Bend, Indiana met on Monday June 17, 2013 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,President Ms. Amy Hill,Vice President Mr. Garrett Mullins Mr. Bruce BonDurant Park Board members absent were as follows: Staff members present: Phil St. Clair,Director;Bill Carleton,Fiscal Officer;Betsy Harriman, Administrative Director; Susan O'Connor,Deputy Director;Randy Nowacki,Director of Golf Operations; Sharon Smith,Potawatomi Zoo Food and Gift Manager;Richard Payton,Development Director;Mike Dyszkiewicz,Maintenance Superintendent; Cheryl Greene,Park Board Attorney I. The meeting was called to order by Board President Robert Goodrich at 4:00 p.m. H. The first order of business was the interviewing of interested citizens. 1. Mr. Christopher Huff of 1831 College St. addressed the Board regarding the City Cemetery. He suggested that in conjunction with the Mayor's initiative to clear 1,000 houses in 1,000 days,that the land made vacant when houses around the cemetery are demolished be platted as additional cemetery plots and sold to supply a cash now for the facility for restoration. He suggested 34 houses around the cemetery that are in poor condition that could be used for this purpose. 2. Ms. Elisha Feasel of the Historic Preservation Committee gave an update of the cemetery records project. One thousand volunteer hours were used last year and 300 hours so far in 2013 have been clocked. They have been used to scan 20,000 index cards that contain information on all the burial sites in the City Cemetery and Bowman Cemetery. The data from these cards have been transferred to a searchable database. The City GIS department has been developing a overlay map to provide a data point for each burial location. This has been merged with the searchable database to provide the burial information as each location is highlighted on the map. This will be available on the internet and is modeled on the interactive map of Arlington Cemetery. Notre Dame's Architecture Library restored five fragile, one hundred year old oversized maps from the wall of the sexton's cottage and digitized them. The Notre Dame Conservation Lab restored the four one hundred year old leather bound ledger books and pages were scanned and digitized. She reported on the condition of the cemetery itself. A plan is being developed to upgrade the cemetery and make it more appealing as a tourist attraction. - - I - - M. Report By Organizations 1. Potawatomi Zoological Society-Marcy Dean a. Ms. Dean reported that the Butterfly exhibit has opened. b. The first Wine Tasting event was held on June 7. 43 0 patrons attended. She felt it was a success. c. Zoo Boo planning is underway. d. Accreditation planning is also underway. 2. South Bend Silver Hawks a. Mr. Peter Argueta,Assistant General Manager,reported that the Silver Hawks are in first place. b. The Ribs and Blues Fest will be held this weekend at the Stadium. Many youth tournaments are being planned. c. Attendance is up and they anticipate record numbers for the year. IV. The next order of business was unfinished business. There was no unfinished business. V. The next order of business was new business. 1. Arborist License Approval a. Dave Talboom Lawncare, Inc-New b. Leonard's Landscape &Tree-Renewal Ms. Hill made a motion to approve the arborist licenses. Mr. Mullins seconded the motion and it was passed. 2. Requests for Use of Parks-Betsy Harriman a. East Side Reunion-Coquillard Park-July 27, 2013 b. Car Show-Potawatomi Park-June 28, 2014 Ms. Harriman recommended that both requests be approved,but she will work with the car show people to secure an agreed upon location in the park. Mr. BonDurant made a motion to approve the requests as stated. Ms. Hill seconded the motion and it was approved. 3. Request to Ratify Agreement with the South Bend Community School Corporation Regarding an Intern Program-Director St. Clair Director St. Clair explained that this agreement covers the Park's use of special needs interns from the South Bend Community School Corporation. Mr. BonDurant made a motion to approve the agreement and Mr. Mullins seconded his motion. The agreement was approved. 4. Request to Approve Easement Along River Near East Race-John Engstrom Mr. Engstrom, assistant city engineer, explained that this easement is for two parcels of land near St. Louis Boulevard on either side of the river. Power poles will be relocated from near Howard Park to this area. Director St. Clair said he has reviewed the request and has no objection. Ms. Hill made a motion to approve the easement request. Mr. Mullins seconded the motion and it was passed. - - 2 - - VI. Approval of Minutes Ms. Hill made a motion to approve the minutes of the regular Board meeting held on May 20, 2013 as mailed. The motion was seconded by Mr. Mullins and approved. VII. Approval of Maintenance Vouchers A motion was made by Mr. Mullins to approve maintenance vouchers for May 2013 totaling $1,065,535.73. 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 gave an update on the EPA visit to LaSalle Park regarding the finding of arsenic levels in the ground. They have taken samples and will return with results soon with results and options for remediation if needed. 2. He reported that at the upcoming Council meeting two Park related items will be on the agenda. A change in the salary ordinance concerning the Zoo Director and Veterinarian has been submitted. The Mayor's position is to move forward with these salary requests in order to be in a position to be reaccredited next year. In the meantime,negotiations will be going on regarding the public/private partnership with the Zoological Society. The ordinance changing the present restriction on liquor sales at the golf courses will be also be considered. 3. He recently discussed the capital needs of the department with Council members. He discussed a park bond. We have received information that our 2014 property tax allocation will be reduced and that will impact our operating and capital budget for 2014. 4.Negotiations with the Teamsters will begin soon to negotiate the new contract that begins in 2014. 5. The Third Annual Blues and Ribs Fest will be held this Saturday at Coveleski Stadium. This is held to increase awareness of special needs programming and facilities, including the building of Miracle Park. IX. Comments by the Deputy Director 1. Ms. O'Connor informed the Board that the season is in full swing. The pools are open, but the weather has slowed some attendance. 2. The first Corporate Challenge at the East Race Waterway was held last Tuesday. 3. The Leeper Tennis Center had its second tournament of the year last weekend. 4. The school lunch program started last week and craft programs in the parks will start next week. 5. Junior Baseball began today. 6. The first Fun Run will be held tomorrow at Rum Village. 7.Nature Detectives have started at the Nature Center. 8. Junior Soccer will begin next week. 9. Bouncer rental has been in great demand. 10. The climbing wall has been at different locations with good participation. 11. Camp began today at the Charles Black Center. 12. Bids for the 2015 Softball national tournaments will be submitted soon. - -3 - - 13. Day camp at the King Center started last week and basketball camps start every week. 14. The King Center Softball Camp was held and had 350 participants over five days. 15. The new field at King Center is great. 16. St. Joseph County approached the O'Brien Fitness Center to be part of their employee wellness program. X. Comments by the Development Director 1. Mr. Payton commented that the Parks Foundation board will be involved with the Blues Festival interacting with sponsors. 2. Cards have been made for Parks Foundation board members to identify themselves at events. 3. He is discussing an opportunity with Whole Foods for a fund raising event. 4. Last month there were 15,349 visits to the Park's website. 5. Passport to Play programs are underway this summer as part of the Active Youth Initiative. 6. The Park Foundation will be speaking with a representative of the Valparaiso Park Department regarding starting an endowment program. X1. Comments by the Potawatomi Zoo Food and Gift Manager 1. Ms. Smith reported that a red panda has been born. 2. May attendance was down due to the cool weather. 3. Several zookeeper positions are vacant and hiring is underway. One has been hired and two are still to being interviewed. 4. The Susan G. Komen Family Walk at the zoo was held last weekend. 5. A surprise health department inspection of the concessions facility was held last week and we received a perfect score. She congratulated her staff for their great work. XH. Comments by Maintenance Superintendent 1. Mr. Mike Dyszkiewicz informed the Board that this month there have been 1,276 hours of mowing by full time employees and 376 hours by part time employees. 2. There have been 44 picnic tables severely vandalized in the parks of the 209 that were deployed in the parks for the lunch program. 3. Many volunteers have put in time with park projects. They include Holy Cross College,the University of Notre Dame Family Alumni Association, and the Keller Park Neighborhood Association. 4. A master plan is being put together for Kennedy Park. 5. Forestry has trimmed 23 trees in parks and 79 trees on the streets in the last two weeks. 15 trees were removed in parks and 16 were removed from streets. 6.New grills were installed in Kennedy and LaSalle Parks. 7. The Potawatomi Pool locker room renovations were completed. 8. Ball diamond lights are being replaced. 9. The East Race rafting is underway and has been running for the last two weeks. 10. The Street Department is working on sealing tennis court cracks. 11. Code Enforcement is working with us in identifying asbestos removals that may be - - 4 - - needed at the Ice Rink. XHI. Comments by the Golf Operations Director 1. Mr.Nowacki said that better weather has resulted in more play at the courses. 2. Father's Day weekend was very good. 3. Course conditions are great. He complimented the staff for the great conditions. 4. He thanked the Board for their support of the upcoming ordinance regarding liquor sales at the courses. 5. In the recent Reader's Choice Awards,Erskine Park was voted#2 golf course in the area. 6. He congratulated the course superintendents,Bernie Crothers and Dan Butler for each having forty years of experience in the golf division. 7. He commended the Elbel Concessions staff for a perfect inspection by the Health Department. 8. There will be a goose round up and relocation at Elbel Park on June 18. 9. The Erskine Park clubhouse has been experiencing plumbing back ups due to a lift station problem. The Street Department has been helping in diagnosing the problem. President Goodrich recognized on behalf of the Board,Mr. Paul McMinn,Assistant Recreation Director, for receiving the Higgins and Langley Memorial Award in Swiftwater Rescue "Founders Award" for his vision in 1993 to establish memorial awards in honor of Jeff Langley and Earl Higgins. The history of these awards parallel the history and growth of Swiftwater and flood rescue worldwide. The award was presented by the Higgins and Langley Awards Committee in cooperation with the National Association for Search&Rescue on May 31, 2013 in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. XIV. There being no more business to come before the Board the meeting adjourned at 5:18 p.m.by President Goodrich The next regular meeting will be held July 15, 2013 at 4:00 p.m. in the Boardroom of the O'Brien Administration Center. Respectfully Submitted, William Carleton Executive Secretary - - 5 - -