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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-20-09 Minutes SBBPC OUTH END OARD OF ARK OMMISSIONERS RM EGULAR EETING A20,2009 PRIL The Board of Park Commissioners of the Park District of the City of South Bend, Indiana met on th Monday the 20 of April 2009 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 Henry, President Mr. Robert Goodrich, Vice President Dr. Thomas Kelly Mr. Garrett Mullins Park Board members absent were as follows: None Staff members present: Phil St. Clair, Superintendent; Bill Carleton, Betsy Harriman, Administrative Director; Fiscal Officer; Susan O’Connor, Recreation Director; Randy Nowacki, Director of Golf Operations; Terry DeRosa, Zoo Director; Richard Payton, Development Director; Mike Dyszkiewicz, Maintenance Superintendent; Paula Garis, Events Supervisor; Thomas Bodnar, Park Board Attorney I.The meeting was called to order by Board President Robert Henry at 4:02 p.m. II.The first order of business was the interviewing of interested citizens. 1.There were no interested citizens wishing to address the Board. 2.South Bend Baseball Club, LLC- No representative was present. 3.South Bend Botanical Society- Martha Lewis Ms. Lewis reported that a priorities list has been created for their takeover of the day to day operations of the Conservatory. The facility will be closed tomorrow and they will work to get it ready to open for River Park Days. It will be open on a limited basis after that. A professor at Ivy Tech has offered to do DNA analysis of the plants in the conservatory to positively identify them. They will then do signs for them. 4.Potawatomi Outdoor Performance Center Presentation- South Bend Rotary Club Mr. Mark Leblang of the South Bend Rotary Club made a presentation to the Board regarding the building of a new Potawatomi Park Band shell. The Community Foundation and Arts Everywhere set up a grant to replace the existing band shell. Other foundations that are administered through Wells Fargo and the Wilson family have come on board to fund the project. The project is estimated at a little over $400,000 and $400,000 has been - - 1 - - secured. It will be situated facing north and the stage area will be enlarged to enhance the acoustics and accommodate larger musical and theatrical groups. The project is out for bid and bids will be opened on Friday. It is hoped that it will be st ready by September 1. III.The next order of business was unfinished business. 1.Request to Ratify South Bend Botanical Society Agreement Mr. Goodrich made a motion to ratify the agreement with the Botanical Society of South Bend. Dr. Kelly seconded the motion and it was passed. IV.The next order of business was new business. 1. Arborist License Renewals- The following license applications were presented for approval by the Board: Tony Cruz & Son Tree Service a.Michiana Arbor Supply Dr. Kelly made a motion to accept the renewals of the Arborist Licenses and Mr. Mullins seconded the motion. It was passed 2. Requests for Use of Parks- Ms. Harriman requested the Board approve the following requests: a.Eco Fest- Organic wine sampling b.Potawatomi Zoo- Zoo Brew- 10/24/09 c.Howard Park- Howl-O-Ween- 9/12/09 d.East Race/Seitz Park- Urban Adventure- 7/18/09 e.Howard Park- Crop Walk- 9/27/09 f.Seitz Park- Celtic Fest- 7/19/09 She stated that Downtown South Bend’s request had been approved at an earlier meeting, but because they had subsequently added wine tasting, she felt the Board should be aware and approve the change. Mr. Mullins made the motion to approve the above request and it was seconded by Mr. Goodrich. The motion was approved. Ms. Marcie Dean of the Zoological Society requested the Board approve a request to hold “Zoo Brew” at the Zoo September 12. Samplings of various brewers’ beers would be held inside the Zoo grounds. They will supply the needed permits. Mr. Goodrich made a motion to approve the request. It was seconded by Dr. Kelly and passed. Ms. Paula Garis requested that Fiddler’s Hearth be allowed to sell beer at the Celtic Fest at the East Race Concert Series. Mr. Goodrich made a motion to approve the request. It was seconded by Mr. Mullins and passed. Ms. Harriman requested that the Board approve the request for Howl-o-Ween and the Crop - - 2 - - Walk. Dr. Kelly made a motion to approve the requests. Mr. Goodrich seconded the motion. Ms. Harriman requested that the Urban Adventure request be tabled. V.Approval of Minutes Mr. Goodrich made a motion to approve the minutes of the regular Board meeting held on March 16, 2009 as mailed. The motion was seconded by Mr. Mullins and approved. VI.Approval of Maintenance Vouchers A motion was made by Dr. Kelly to approve maintenance vouchers for March 2009 totaling $807,023.93. It was seconded by Mr. Mullins. There being no further discussion, the motion was passed. VII.Business of Director St. Clair 1. 2009 budget reductions are taking effect. 2. Currently, there is no 2009 capital budget for Fund 201. He is hopeful that a small budget will be passed some time this summer. 3. For 2010, staff is anticipating a 25-35% reduction in budget. He hopes there will be additional funding to offset that reduction. 4. Mr. Phil Custard, City Purchasing Director, attended our staff meeting last week and suggested he do some job shadowing to see if he could help make the purchasing process easier. 5. Director St. Clair thanked Councilwoman Puzello for heading a group of Notre Dame students that cleaned at Kelly and Fredrickson parks. VIII.Comments by the Recreation Director 1. Ms. O'Connor reported that the Ice Rink attendance up from last year when the rink was shut down for repairs. 2. Softball leagues are starting this weekend. 191 teams are registered. 3. Supervisors are getting ready for the summer season. Registrations are slow until the deadlines. IX.Comments by the Golf Operations Director 1. Mr. Nowacki reported that all the courses are open. 2.The new GPS system is installed on all the carts and all cart batteries have been replaced. He thanked John Carlin at Elbel for all his effort in getting the batteries installed. 3.Capital projects are underway. The parking lot wall at Erskine is awaiting quotes. Landscaping at Erskine and Elbel around the clubhouses is being done. Cart paths at Erskine are being quoted. Bowman Creek at Studebaker is being cleaned and the banks - - 3 - - are being lined with rip rap to prevent erosion. 4.Southgate Community Church sent thirty volunteers and they did landscaping projects at Erskine and Studebaker. He thanked them for their efforts. 5.Aerifying will be done April 27 and 28 at Erskine and May 4 and 5 at Elbel. Studebaker will be done May 11. st 6.The Junior Golf and Junior Tour sign up is May 1. 7.Demo Day at Elbel will be May 3 from 11 am to 3 pm. X.Comments by the Zoo Director 1. Director DeRosa informed the Board that the good weather has been good for attendance with 2,500 to 3,000 per day. 2.The transition with the Greenhouse is going smoothly and rapidly. 3.The River Park Neighborhood Association helped clean up around the greenhouse the previous Sunday. 4.The Australian bridge has been delivered and will be installed. 5.AZA protocols are being reviewed for accreditation. XI.Comments by Maintenance Superintendent 1. Mr. Mike Dyszkiewicz informed the Board that parks are being opened. Water is being turned on and restrooms are being reopened. 2.Leaf pick up and mowing are underway. 3.The northeast neighborhood cleanup in several parks was done recently. 4.Removal of tennis courts will begin soon. He contacted the Council members by mail and has heard of no objections, so he intends to go forward. Dr. Kelly made a motion to authorize the Maintenance Department to make removals of the tennis courts as was presented. Mr. Mullins seconded the motion and it was passed. Director St. Clair added that the Department is not advocating the playing of tennis, but there are a large number of courts that are not used and are in disrepair. Mr. Dyszkiewicz stated that not all courts will be removed from any one site. 5. The Maintenance Division has a large group of volunteers assisting with the “Rebuilding Together” program this weekend. XII.Comments by the Development Director 1.Mr. Payton commented on several media highlights over the past month. 2.The website will be upgraded to a new format soon. 3.The master plan will be completed soon. 4.A staff retreat was held to concentrate on fundraising and foundation development. 5.The Superintendent’s Golf Outing has WRBR as a media sponsor. CJ’s Pub will be providing the food. - - 4 - - 6.Several promotions are being planned with the Silver Hawks. 7.He met with the School Superintendent regarding opportunities for stimulus revenues. 8.The WNDU Michiana Guide reported that we receive 33,000 hits on their website per month and are the number one entity on their site. Ms. Harriman requested that the Urban Adventure request be tabled to the next meeting. XIII.There being no more business to come before the Board the meeting adjourned at 5:02 p.m. The next regular meeting will be held June 15, 2009 at 4:00 p.m. in the Boardroom of the O’Brien Administration Center. Respectfully Submitted, William Carleton Executive Secretary - - 5 - -