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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-21-2014 Minutes SOUTH BEND BOARD OF PARK CONMUSSIONERS REGULAR MEETING APRii 21, 2014 The Board of Park Commissioners of the Park District of the City of South Bend, Indiana met on Monday April 21,2014 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,Director of Finance; Randy Nowacki,Director of Golf Operations; Mark Bradley,Marketing Director; Paula Garis, Special Events Supervisor; Cynthia Fish,Assistant Special Events Supervisor; Cheryl Greene,Park Board Attorney L The meeting was called to order by Board President Robert Goodrich at 4:00 p.m. IL The first order of business was the interviewing of interested citizens. 1. First Tee of Michiana-Phil Potter, Gavin Ferlic Mr. Phil Potter of the Indiana Golf Association and Mr. Gavin Ferlic presented a proposal to the Board to adopt the First Tee program for the Studebaker Golf Course. He stated that the organization has been in talks with the golf staff and have come to an agreement regarding the use of the course. They would like to use the tee on hole #I and the putting and chipping green for the program for eight hours a week for eight weeks. The intent is to utilize times that are usually slow periods. They would compensate the course $45/hour for this time. They hope to begin the program in June. Ms. Greene suggested that a written agreement be brought back to the Board at the May meeting along with a certificate of insurance. She also asked that it be presented as a pilot program with a term of one year. Mr. Potter distributed a copy of their business pro forma to the Board. They will return in May with an agreement for the Board. President Goodrich thanked them for their presentation. III. Report By Organizations 1. Potawatomi Zoological Society-Marcy Dean a. Ms. Dean reported that the public/private partnership transition is going well. There was a major water leak in the Australian yard due to the harsh winter. b. The reaccreditation application has been mailed to the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. - - I - - Repairs are underway. The accreditation team will be coming in June. c. The new red panda exhibit will be finished and open to the public by the end of the month. d. Fund raising for the carousel project is underway. e. Two leadership positions have been filled. They are Director of Business Operations and Director of Development and Marketing. I. The Zoo opened on March 28. g. Inspections for the train, concessions, and the U. S. Department of Agriculture were performed and passed. h. The master plan company has been chosen. Four proposals were received. The bid will be signed soon and the master plan should be done by the end of the year. It will begin in May. Director St. Clair congratulated her on how her staff is doing and discussed the options for the parking lot addition. 2. South Bend Silver Hawks a. Mr. Joe Hart,President of the Silver Hawks,reported that the season is underway and attendance is up 10%this year so far. b. Renovations are done. Additional TVs are in place and the new sound system is in place. The new Stanley Coveleski statue was installed. He said it turned out very well. c. Country Fest tickets went on sale last week and a thousand have been sold so far. IV. The next order of business was unfinished business. 1. Director St. Clair introduced Ms. Paula Garis to the Board. She will be taking over Betsy Harriman's responsibilities concerning the use of parks by outside groups. Betsy will be retiring at the end of May. 2. Mr. Moyers gave the Board the most recent copy of the survey results that were done as part of the master plan process. Issues analysis is being done from the information that was gathered. A strategic plan will be developed from this. V. The next order of business was new business. 1. Request for Use of Parks-Paula Garis/Marcia Qualls a. Radio Sabor Latino—Children's Fair—Rum Village April 20 b. Work One Youth Walk—Howard Park—May 8`" c. Lakeside Reunion—LaSalle Park—August 1-3 d. Revival—LaSalle Park—New Kingdom Ministry—August 9`s e. Angel of Hope Ride—Pinhook Park—August 10 I. Suicide Prevention Walk—Howard Park—June 19, 2014 g. Seitz& Sounds- Seitz Park h. Sunburst Marathon-Howard Park-May 31, 2014 Ms. Cathy and Don Dietz of the Seitz and Sounds event at Seitz Park explained the format for this year and how it is organized. There is a question as to if this qualifies as a"concert" that requires approval by the Indiana Department of Homeland Security. It was not included in the listing that the Park Department submitted for approval. Because it is sponsored by a separate group,DHS required they would need to do the application. President Goodrich made a recommendation that the Board take their request to waive the fees for the use of the park and stage under advisement and discuss with staff before making a recommendation. - - 2 - - Mr. BonDurant made a motion to approve the request to use the park and facilities contingent on receiving the permit from Homeland Security. Mr. Mullins seconded the motion and it was passed. The question of whether to waive the fees for the performances was put under advisement,to be decided by the next meeting. Attorney Greene raised an issue regarding whether the organization had non-profit status, since they currently have LLC status. Ms. Molly Sullivan requested permission to use Howard Park for a portion of the Sunburst Marathon course. Mr. BonDurant made a motion to approve the request to use Howard Park for the Sunburst Marathon course on May 31,2014. Ms. Hill seconded the motion and it was passed. Ms. Hill made a motion to approve requests a through f on the agenda. Mr. Mullins seconded the motion and it was passed. 2. Request to Approve Fiddler's Hearth Concessions at Events-Paula Garis a. Celtic Showcase - Seitz Park- July 20, 2014 b. ArtsEverywhere Concert Series- Chris Wilson Pavilion,Potawatomi Park- Saturdays July 26-August 23. 2014 c. Michiana Celtic Festival-Howard Park-August 31,2014 Ms. Garis said that these were returning events and all requirements had been met. She recommended approval. Ms. Hill made a motion to approve the request for Fiddler's Hearth to hold the above events. Mr. BonDurant seconded the motion and it was passed. 3. Request to Approve Arborist License Applications a. Quality Turf Management-New b. Doug's Mishawaka Tree Service, Inc.-Renewal c. KC Tree, Inc.-Renewal d. MAAC Property Services-Renewal e. The Cutting Edge-Renewal Attorney Greene stated that all met the legal requirements for approval. Mr. BonDurant made a motion to approve the above arborist licenses. The motion was seconded by Mr. Mullins and approved. VI. Approval of Minutes Ms. Hill made a motion to approve the minutes of the regular Board meeting held on March 17, 2014 as mailed. The motion was seconded by Mr. BonDurant and approved. VII. Approval of Maintenance Vouchers A motion was made by Mr. Mullins to approve maintenance vouchers for March 2014 totaling$813,455.49. It was seconded by Ms. Hill. There being no further discussion,the motion was passed. VIII. Business by Director St. Clair - - 3 - - 1. Director St. Clair distributed a copy of the 2013 annual report for the Parks Department to the Board members. He thanked Mr. Bradley for putting it together. He gave the members a synopsis of the highlights. 2. He explained that several years ago the department did a land swap in Voorde Park. A section of land on one end of the park was sold to Hoosier Tank for their expansion. A section on the other end of the park was given to parks from District 11 Little League with the understanding that it might be used for a special needs little league diamond or diamonds there or elsewhere. To date we haven't been able to do this because of the difficulties in obtaining the land to build"Miracle Park". He felt that they are becoming disappointed with the inability to do this and wanted to show good faith by donating $3,000 to the Challenger Little League from the proceeds of the past Blues and Ribs concerts. He has been working with Attorney Greene to make the payment. She said that there is no underlying agreement in place to allow the payment. She is putting together a purchase agreement for the land that would include the payment. Mr. BonDurant made a motion to approve the payment of$3,000 to District 11 Little League for the purchase of the land adjacent to Voorde Park subject to the contract stating that. Ms. Hill seconded the motion and it was passed. 3. Director St. Clair remarked that recently the Maintenance Department participated in Rebuilding Together and Communiversity Day in various parks in conjunction with Notre Dame. He thanked all involved. 4. He commented on recent violence that was linked to various parks in news reports. The actual violence was not in the parks. He wanted to reassure the Board that Park Police are patrolling the parks and that they are keeping an eye on activity in the parks that may be suspicious. IX. Comments by the Golf Operations Director 1. Mr. Nowacki reported to the Board that dogs and dog walking in the golf courses has become a problem. It is mostly a problem at Elbel. People are walking or running dogs on the course during play. He is concerned that the dogs and owners could be injured. Attorney Greene was going to look into what penalties could be levied based on the ordinance. 2. He requested permission to levy a $5/person service charge if food and beverages are brought in from an outside vendor or source. Golf staff would still need to be present to serve the food or beverages and this would offset the loss of revenue from not buying food and beverage through the concessions. Mr. BonDurant made a motion to approve the outing charge for outside food and beverage for both Erskine and Elbel. Ms. Hill seconded the motion and it was passed. President Goodrich expressed his objections to the charge, stating it would discourage outings from coming to our courses. 3. He informed the Board that aerifying will take place at the end of April and beginning of May. 4. Three greens at Erskine are in danger of needing to replace half of them due to the - - 4 - - extreme weather and snow this winter. It is hoped that with intensive treatment they can be brought back. X. Comments by the Marketing Director 1. Mr. Bradley reported the Parks Foundation met last week. 2. Passport to Play will be held next week at the Healthworks Museum. 3. The lineup for the Country Fest was announced last week. There has been a lot of media coverage for the concert. 4. Planning for the Superintendent's Outing in August has begun. XI. There being no more business to come before the Board the meeting adjourned at 5:55 p.m. by President Goodrich The next regular meeting will be held at 4:00 p.m. in the Boardroom of the O'Brien Administration Center. Respectfully Submitted, William Carleton Executive Secretary - - 5 - -