Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout05-19-2014 Minutes SOUTH BEND BOARD OF PARK CONMUSSIONERS REGULAR MEETING MAY 19, 2014 The Board of Park Commissioners of the Park District of the City of South Bend, Indiana met on Monday May 19,2014 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. Bruce BonDurant Park Board members absent were as follows: Mr. Garrett Mullins Staff members present: Phil St. Clair,Director of Parks; Bill Carleton,Director of Financial Services; Susan O'Connor,Deputy Director; Randy Nowacki,Director of Golf Operations; Mike Dyszkiewicz,Maintenance Superintendent; Mark Bradley,Marketing Director; Paula Garis, Special Events Supervisor; Matthew Moyers, Special Projects Manager; Cheryl Greene,Park Board Attorney L The meeting was called to order by Board President Robert Goodrich at 4:02 p.m. H. The first order of business was the interviewing of interested citizens. There was no one wishing to address the Board that was not on the agenda. III. Report By Organizations 1. Botanical Society of South Bend- a. Ms. Heidi Grey of the Botanical Society introduced the new president,Ms. Katie Lee. b. She reported that rentals are doing well. c. Urban Adventure will be at the Conservatory on July 26. d. An art show was at the Conservatory from March 28 to April 25. An opening reception was well attended. e. The note cards are being updated. f. A century plant is near flowering. A press release will be sent out when it occurs. g. An award for the Conservatory's historic preservation commercial was received. h. A commercial for Great Lakes Heating and Cooling was recently shot at the Conservatory. IV. The next order of business was unfinished business. 1. First Tee Agreement-Randy Nowacki, Cheryl Greene a. Ms. Greene presented an agreement with the First Tee to the Board for consideration. Mr. Phil Potter thanked the Board and explained that the initial sign up will take place next Saturday. - - I - - Ms. Greene reported that everything was in order and she had received their statement of liability. Mr. BonDurant made a motion to approve the agreement between the Park Department and the First Tee. Ms. Hill seconded the motion and it was passed. 2. Seitz and Sounds-Paula Garis Mr. Dave Dietz reported that an application had been approved by the Secretary of State to form a nonprofit corporation for Seitz and Sounds. He is waiting for an Employee Identification Number to be able to file a stage application with the Homeland Security Department. He is requesting that the fees be waived for the event through the summer. Ms. Garis reported that Park staff met and due to the costs incurred for the event,they felt that one half of the fee would be waived for a total of$100 per four hours. Director St. Clair felt that the fee is needed to offset the cost and impact on our budget. President Goodrich voiced a concern about setting a precedent for all groups that wish to use our facilities. He felt this was a good compromise. Mr. David Matthews spoke in favor of waiving the fee because of the public service that this concert series does by attracting people, especially millenials,to these events. He suggested the Park Department partner with the Seitz and Sounds group to put these concerts on under the Park banner. President Goodrich made a motion to reduce the fees to $100 per four hours for a twelve week period. Mr. BonDurant seconded the motion and it was passed. 3. Opening of Quotes for Court Repairs-Mike Dyszkiewicz Mr. Dyszkiewicz reported that three vendors were solicited for sealed quotes to repair tennis courts,basketball courts and parking lots in different parks. The vendors are Rieth-Riley, Walsh&Kelly, and Arm Asphalt. There is a $40,000 budget for this project. Only Arm Asphalt responded. The quote was opened and read aloud. a. Boehm Tennis Courts- opt 1. $6,900- fill and recolor over 1,380 It of cracks. opt 2. $34,640- fill and recolor using a fabric repair system. b. Boehm Basketball Courts (2)- $4,125- fill and repair 825 It of cracks. c. Boehm North Parking Lot- $4,400-Replace asphalt in three areas. d. O'Brien Parking Lot Repair- $9,000 e. Belleville Basketball Courts (2)- opt 1.-$4,000 fill and recolor 1,150 It of cracks. opt 2.- $18,400- fill and recolor cracks,reline and resurface the courts. Mr. Dyszkiewicz made a request to take the quotes under advisement and return later in the meeting to make a recommendation. Mr. BonDurant made a motion to refer the quotes to staff and come back later in the meeting with recommendations. Ms. Hill seconded the motion and it was passed. V. The next order of business was new business 1. Request for Use of Parks-Paula Garis a. Soul in the Park—various Parks - Laura Yahya - - 2 - - Mussel Grove Park—June 14 Coquillard Park—June 28 LaSalle Park—July 12 Southeast Neighborhood Park—July 26 Kennedy Park—Aug 9 Martin Luther King, Jr Park—Aug 23 Seventh date option at either Mr. BonDurant made a motion to approve the request for Soul in the Park. Ms. Hill seconded the motion and it was passed. 2. Request to Approve Arborist Licenses There were no arborist licenses submitted for approval. 3. Request to Approve Agreement with Challenger Little League-Director St. Clair Director St. withdrew his request due to difficulties putting together an agreement. Mr. BonDurant made a motion to give authority to Director St. Clair and Ms. Greene to work out the details of the agreement. Ms. Hill seconded the motion and it was passed. 4. Request to Approve Contract with GPS Industries for Maintenance on GPS units on Golf Carts-Randy Nowacki Mr. Nowacki requested approval of the contract with GPS Industries to supply maintenance on the GPS units on the golf cars at the courses. Mr. BonDurant made a motion to approve the contract with GPS Industries. 5. Request to Approve authorization for Entry for Boathouse Survey- Cheryl Greene Ms. Greene explained to the Board that an MOU was signed with Notre Dame to construct a new boathouse along the river in Viewing Park. This will authorize them to enter the property to begin site work. Mr. BonDurant made a motion to approve the access agreement to allow Notre Dame access to the boathouse site. Ms. Hill seconded the motion and it was passed. VL Approval of Minutes Ms. Hill made a motion to approve the minutes of the regular Board meeting held on April 21, 2014 as mailed. The motion was seconded by Mr. BonDurant and approved. VII. Approval of Maintenance Vouchers A motion was made by Ms. Hill to approve maintenance vouchers for April 2014 totaling $811,192.21. It was seconded by Mr. BonDurant. There being no further discussion,the motion was passed. VIII. Business by Director St. Clair 1. President St. Clair reported on the surveys that were taken for various programs. The golf surveys listed Elbel and Erskine at 3.38 and 3.78 respectively, on a five point scale for April. He felt these were good results for early in the season. The recreation programming survey was a 4.63 average for the year. 705 surveys have been - -3 - - taken. 2. Additional funding has been requested by the Council for youth programming. Staff has presented a plan to the Administration and it was received well. The plan was given to the Board. At Charles Black Center,they will focus on 5-12 year olds,while MLK Center will devote their time to teens. A summer job program and life skill mentoring is also part of the program. The cost will be approximately $100,000 and be the funds will be from the general fund. This is a program that Mr. Scott has been advocating for in the past and we are excited to have the chance to implement it. 3. The role of the Park Police will be changing soon. They will be disarmed and they will become Park Rangers. Most duties will be the same. 4. The Park Foundation will be hiring a part time position to oversee fund raising. The Park Department will fund ''/z of the salary for the first year. 5. He has met with the Street Department concerning the parking lot at Potawatomi Zoo. The proposed cost is slightly over $100,000. No timeline has been set for the work. 6. Director St. Clair has been meeting with architectural students at Notre Dame. They have been doing concept designs for the East Bank and Howard Park area that are interesting. A couple ideas are under consideration. The engineering students are offering ideas on Leeper Park and other parks. He commended all for their efforts. 7. As part of the master plan,we are utilizing City Voice. This solicits the public's input through use of a telephone number to call to offer opinions on specific park locations and offer ideas on how to improve them. 8. Mr. Chris Chockley of JPR gave an update on the master plan progress. All comments that were brought up during the public meetings are being evaluated and categorized. They will be prioritized for the report. Many comments were the same through all the districts. During the first week of June they will be meeting with staff and stakeholders to develop a vision for the master plan document. IX. Comments by the Deputy Director of Parks 1. Ms. O'Connor reported that the summer season is underway. 2. An invitation to the retirees' reception was given to the members. It will be held on Friday May 30. 3. She is excited about the youth initiative. It is good that Mr. Scott's vision is being used to impact the lives of the youth. 4. A number of dates were given for the opening of facilities for the summer. 5. The softball league has 181 teams registered. X. Comments by the Golf Operations Director 1. Mr. Nowacki commented that the weather in the last week wasn't good for golf. 2. He met with the South Side District Golf Club last week about running a disc golf tournament at Studebaker Golf Course in the off season. 3. There are 16 outing scheduled to date. 4. The greens at Erskine that had snow damage are coming along well. The staff has been - - 4 - - giving them TLC. 5. Aerifying has been done at all courses. 6. The central air conditioning unit at Elbel was replaced by Park Maintenance over the winter saving $3,000. 7. The greens superintendent at Erskine,Mr. Bernie Crothers,will be retiring after 41 years. XI. Comments by Maintenance Superintendent 1. Mr. Mike Dyszkiewicz informed the Board that he reviewed the court repairs and chose to do several with a cost of$28,425. Mr. BonDurant made a motion to award court and parking lot repairs to Arm Asphalt in the amount of$28,425. Ms. Hill seconded the motion and it was passed. 2. Park staff are behind on mowing because of the amount of rain we have received recently. 3. The Kelly Park project in partnership with WSBT and Notre Dame will include new playground equipment, a new basketball court, and a new pavilion. Funding is still being sought for the complete project. Park staff have removed the old equipment, etc. 4. The East Race opens June 7. 5. City Voice signs are going up soon at each park location. 6. The Notre Dame engineering student offered some good ideas. 7. The Ice Rink will need a lot of repair work done in able to open on schedule this year. 8. This weekend at the East Race, a head gate cable came off the spool. A crane will be needed to get the cable back on. XIL Comments by the Marketing Director 1. Mr. Bradley reported that the Parks Foundation meeting was held last Wednesday. 2. Two Passport to Play events have occurred since last month. They were held at the Kid's Work Museum and Rum Village and were well attended. 3. The Prescription to Play program started this week. 4. A press conference will be held to start the City Voice program next Tuesday at LaSalle Park. 5. Promotions continue for the Country Fest. Sponsorships are going well. Ticket sales are near 2,000 at this point. XIIL There being no more business to come before the Board the meeting adjourned at 5:50 p.m. by President Goodrich The next regular meeting will be held June 16, 2014 at 4:00 p.m. in the Boardroom of the O'Brien Administration Center. - - 5 - - Respectfully Submitted, William Carleton Executive Secretary - 6 -