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HomeMy WebLinkAbout07-15-2013 Minutes SOUTH BEND BOARD OF PARK CONMUSSIONERS REGULAR MEETING JULY 15, 2013 The Board of Park Commissioners of the Park District of the City of South Bend, Indiana met on Monday July 15,2013 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: None Staff members present: Phil St. Clair,Director of Parks; Bill Carleton,Fiscal Officer; Betsy Harriman,Administrative Director; Susan O'Connor,Deputy Director of Parks; Randy Nowacki, Director of Golf Operations; Laura Arriaga, Interim Zoo Director; Sharon Smith,Potawatomi Zoo Concessions Manager; Richard Payton,Development Director; Mike Dyszkiewicz,Maintenance Superintendent; Cheryl Greene,Park Board Attorney L The meeting was called to order by Board President Robert Goodrich at 4:01 p.m. IL The first order of business was the interviewing of interested citizens. 1. Mr. Paul Borowski 3217 Cabot Dr. South Bend, IN, addressed the Board concerning what he perceives to be a safety concern at Seitz Park during the concerts. He feels that the unloading of rafts from trucks takes place too close to the seating area. He also inquired why an area of Tarkington Park is not being cut. Director St. Clair replied that he would look into his concerns. He said he would discuss options at the East Race and look into the reason for not mowing at Tarkington Park. President Goodrich said he would look into the issues raised. 2. Mr. Mark Harvey came to the Board to request permission to have a hot chili eating contest. Mr. Goodrich asked him to confer with Ms. Harriman regarding the requirements for his event. L Report By Organizations 1. Potawatomi Zoological Society-Marcy Dean a. The annual member's picnic is this weekend. 1,500- 2,000 members are expected. She thanked the Zoo staff for their help with the event. b. An interview with WNDU was held this morning concerning the enrichment tree. c. Zoo Brew tickets go on sale August 1. d. The number of train riders is up for the year. Butterfly exhibit attendance remains steady. - - 1 - - Quail have hatched in the exhibit. President Goodrich asked if the exhibit would be closed after this year. Ms. Dean replied that this would be examined after closing for the season. 2. South Bend Silver Hawks-Mr. Joe Hart,President a. Mr. Hart reported that attendance is up 25% for the year. He thought they would surpass 200,000 early in August and the 5,000,000 fan would also attend in August. b. They have had nine sellouts this year, compared to seven all of last year. IL The next order of business was unfinished business. 1. Opening of Quotes for Court Repairs-Mike Dyszkiewicz Mr. Dyszkiewicz presented sealed quotes from Amt Asphalt. Invitations to quote were sent Rieth&Riley and Walsh&Kelly,but they declined to participate. Ms. Greene reported that Amt's quote package met all the legal requirements. The total was $45,745 for option#1 and $83,895 for option#2. Option#1 was for crack repair only and option#2 was for coloring the courts at Kennedy and Coquillard also. Mr. Dyszkiewicz recommended that option#I be approved. Mr. BonDurant made a motion to approve option#1 for $45,745. Ms. Hill seconded the motion and it was approved. III. The next order of business was new business. 1. Request for Use of Parks-Betsy Harriman a. Greater Holy Temple Church-Fun Fair- Coquillard Park-August 10,2013 b. Greater Holy Temple Church-Walk a Then-Memorial Park to Viewing Park- August 17,2013 c . Tree of Life Anglican Fellowship—Kids' Outreach Program—Helmen Mini Park—July 22-26,2013 d. YMCA Walk/Run—August 25,2013 Riverwalk—Northside Blvd. To Howard Park e. Robert Miller's Veteran Center—Veteran's Stand Down—Coveleski/Western Avenue Green Space—October 10,2013 I. South Gate Church-Hello Belleville Outreach Ministry-Belleville Park- July 20,2013 g. Monroe Circle Community Center- Son City Kid's Carnival- Cove Parking Lot- July 21,2013 h. North Point Vineyard Church- Children's Program—Potawatomi Park-August 3,2013 Ms. Harriman asked to include the following event- i. Friends of the St. Joe River- Canoe/Kayak Race-Memorial Park- September 28, 2013 She recommended approval of all events. Ms. Hill made a motion to approve the events. Mr. BonDurant seconded the motion and it was passed. 2. Request to Approve Zoological Society Carousel Project-Marcy Dean, James Martindale Mr. James Martindale,President of the Zoological Society,made a presentation regarding the construction of a carousel inside the entrance area of the Zoo. He introduced Ms. Cindy Miller and Mr. Dave Nufer as board members of the society. - - 2 - - The project would entail the renovation of the area to include the carousel as well as the relocation of the red panda exhibit, construction of additional restrooms, and a handicap accessible ramp. Ms. Dean distributed renderings of the project. She explained the origin of the project and an overall view of it. A bidding process has taken place and Ancon Construction was chosen as the contractor. Mr. BonDurant asked if there would be an additional fee to ride the carousel and where the revenues would go. Mr. Martindale said there would be an additional fee and it would be retained by the Zoological Society. Ms. Dean said it would be treated as the train revenue currently is. Director St. Clair said that the proposal shows three phases and he asked if there was a breakdown of cost and timeline for each phase. A representative from Ancon Construction said that had not been done yet. Phase 1 would be moving the red panda exhibit,phase 2 would be restroom area, and phase 3 would be the carousel. Director St. Clair said the department would like to see the cost, construction documents and timeline because it is on City property prior to making a decision. IV. Approval of Minutes Ms. Hill made a motion to approve the minutes of the regular Board meeting held on June 15, 2013 as mailed. The motion was seconded by Mr. BonDurant and approved. V. Approval of Maintenance Vouchers A motion was made by Mr. Mullins to approve maintenance vouchers for June 2013 totaling $1,059,324.25. It was seconded by Ms. Hill. There being no further discussion,the motion was passed. VI. Business of Director St. Clair 1. Director St. Clair distributed a listing of calls received through the 311 Call Center. 496 calls have been received and 486 have been responded to and closed. Of the remaining 10, nine are related to trees. 2. He also gave the Board a summary of the surveys done year to date for Parks programs and facilities. 2,569 have been done this year and the yearly average has been 4.72 out of five. For June the average was 4.82. He thanked the staff for these great results. 3. A meeting will be held this Friday to investigate the Public/Private Partnership that has been offered by the Zoological Society. 4. The zoo veterinarian position has been approved and will be posted on various websites soon. 5. Negotiations for the next Teamsters' contract are underway. The contract begins January 1,2014. 6. The biggest challenge for the 2014 budget will be the decrease in property taxes of approximately $400,000. This in addition to the mandated increases in a number of areas will make this a difficult budget to put together. A capital budget is going to be difficult to propose based on how the operating budget is coming together. 7. A meeting with the Common Council will be this week regarding the City Cemetery. He reported that despite reports in the media,maintenance of the cemeteries has been ongoing and regular. - - 3 - - 8. The Blues and Ribs Festival was held in June. He thanked all the staff that helped put this event together. The turnout was not what was hoped for,but the performances were outstanding and they were very happy with the venue and staff. 9. A joint board meeting of the South Bend, St. Joseph County and Mishawaka will take place here on July 30. It will be a round table discussion of mutual opportunities and challenges. 10. The Men's Major National Championship softball tournament will be held next weekend at the Belleville Softball Complex. These are the elite softball teams in the country. 11. Despite their best efforts and intentions,the crack sealing experiment by the Street Department on the tennis courts at Walker Field was not successful. 12. He is looking at locations downtown as a place to build Miracle Park. 13. This weekend is the 30`s anniversary of the opening of the East Race Waterway. A ceremony will be held on Saturday. VII. Comments by the Deputy Director 1. Ms. O'Connor commented on attendance figures for the summer programs. There were 1,312 at the Blues Fest, 302 registered for the Kid's Triathlon, at the past weekend east Race Concert 300 attended, at the Potawatomi Concert 250 attended, and 101 have signed up for the Junior Tennis Metro Tournament. 2. The 30`s East Race Ceremony will be held this Saturday. 3. The Men's E class softball tournament will be held this weekend, followed the next weekend by the Men's Major tournament. 4. The Adult Metro Tennis Tournament will be held at Leeper Park July 26-28. 5. The final Fun Run for the year will be held at Rum Village Park on July 23. 6. The 2014 fee schedule will be sent out for approval at the August meeting. VIII. Comments by the Development Director 1. Mr. Payton reported that Foundation Board members were in attendance at the Kid's Tri. They were also helping with the Blues Fest and announce at the Potawatomi Park Concert Series. 2. The Superintendent's Golf Outing will be held August 2. The major sponsors will be Jimmy John's, Texas Roadhouse, Gibson Insurance and Sports Image Apparel. 3. Many pictures are being posted to Facebook. 4. He invited the board members to workshops that are being hosted for the Active Youth Initiative. 5. Whole Foods is putting on a"Beer U" event that will benefit the Park Foundation tomorrow night. It will be a beer and brats night with several breweries participating. 6. A direct mail appeal will be sent out to addresses around Potawatomi Park to benefit the concert series. IX. Comments by the Interim Zoo Director 1. Ms. Arriaga reported that the zookeepers have a Christmas in July event to benefit the animal enrichment program. Donations are pouring in. 2. Attendance is down for June due to the hot weather. 3. The staff was vaccinated today. 4. The veterinarian position was advertised on the Association of Zoo Veterinarians website. - - 4 - - It will also be on the Association of Zoos and Aquariums site. 5. Upgrades are underway to get ready for the AZA reaccreditation next year. 6. An enrichment making day was held by the keepers. Two keepers attended a workshop in Omaha and returned with ideas for making things that the animals can use to keep busy and stimulated. 7. Keeper positions are being filled. One new keeper started today. X. Comments by Golf Operations Director 1. Mr. Nowacki reported that the Common Council approved the request to sell liquor at the courses. Vendor applications are being made and it is hoped to begin sales soon. 2. 237 geese were rounded up and transported off Elbel to Angola, Indiana. 3. There have been plumbing problems at Erskine with an old lift station outside the clubhouse. Replacement of the pump is underway as well as replacement of some of the piping- 4. He will bring any rate increases to the Board later in the year. 5. The Senior Metro was June 29 at Erskine and June 30 at Elbel and had 44 players. 6. The Women's Metro was held July 8 at Elbel and Erskine on July 9 with 32 players. 7. The Men's Metro was played at Elbel on July 20 and 21 and Erskine at on July 27. 44 golfers will participate. XI. Comments by the Maintenance Superintendent 1. Mr. Mike Dyszkiewicz informed the Board that mowing is behind schedule due to weather and personnel shortage. 2. The crews are caught up on storm damage on city streets. There are some areas in the parks that need to be picked up. Seventy-six locations on city streets were cleaned of storm damage over the last two weeks. They are back logged on their regular duties with 1,015 trees in parks to be trimmed, 36 trees on streets that need to be removed due to disease and 155 trees to be removed in parks. 3. Two new basketball goals have been installed at Kennedy and Keller Parks. 4. He is working with the Mayor's office to obtain the services of six interns to do a survey of our facilities to assess them against Americans with Disabilities Act standards and identify problem areas. XIL There being no more business to come before the Board the meeting adjourned at 5:32 p.m. by President Goodrich The next regular meeting will be held August 19, 2013 at 4:00 p.m. in the Boardroom of the O'Brien Administration Center. Respectfully Submitted, William Carleton Executive Secretary - - 5 - -