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CITY OF SOUTH BEND I OFFICE OF THE CLERK <br /> Committeemember Regina Williams-Preston asked, What is going on with the Jefferson <br /> Boulevard park created by the Edmonsons? <br /> Mr. Perri replied, They've contacted us a couple of times. It is a private project we helped them <br /> get mulch. <br /> Committeemember Williams-Preston stated, Thank you for that. <br /> Committee Chair White then paused the presentation and opened the floor to questions from <br /> Council Members. <br /> Committeemember Voorde stated, This isn't a question as much as it is a comment. My personal <br /> opinion is to please not allow any more carved trees like you see in Potawatomi and please find a <br /> place for that guy's boulder. Where ever it is. <br /> Mr. Perri replied, We are working on it. <br /> Mr. Perri went on, So you will see a lot of work in 2019 on all of those capital projects. The mobile <br /> experience vehicle will be here late this ye. This (referencing a slide in the presentation) is the <br /> final rendering. This is a way to enhance neighborhood parks. It is two (2) sided. This is a way to <br /> activate neighborhood parks that don't have major amenities already in them. We know we can't <br /> have something like this in every park, so we thought to have a mobile one (1). Ice skating will <br /> resume at Howard Park in late 2019. So the budget reflects some of those staff coming back online. <br /> There are no full-time staff but we are talking about rink guards and cashiers. We don't anticipate <br /> any fee increases. We will continue this ye our deferred maintenance projects. We are <br /> committing $250,000 a year from our operating budget to a lot of those things. We are going to <br /> work on shifting from site-specific programing to a need-based programing. We don't have to do <br /> things in only one (1) part of the City. We are really focusing on partnerships. We don't have to <br /> be the experts on everything. <br /> He continued, Our Park Health Score is something our Facilities and Grounds team is working on. <br /> It helps us understand how healthy the parks are. Things like the lights working, the grass being <br /> mowed, graffiti and such. The final highlight I wanted to make sure we have time to talk about <br /> here,today, is the new fifteen(15)year partnership that we will be engaging with the Potawatomi <br /> Zoological Society (PZS). The first (1St) public-private partnership agreement is set to expire at <br /> the end of this year on December 31St, 2018. So late last year, two (2)members of our Park Board <br /> started working with the PZS to start thinking about what a new agreement would look like. The <br /> Zoo came to the table with their capital plan that I think the Council has seen. We hope this new <br /> agreement will help tackle some of those things. We went back and forth on negotiations and we <br /> came up with a plan that will help make a better zoo for the community while also reducing the <br /> City's obligation to the zoo over the course of time. <br /> Marcy Dean, Executive Director of the Potawatomi Zoo with offices located at 500 South <br /> Greenlawn Avenue, stated, So Aaron asked me to come speak toni t in regards to what our 2019 <br /> Capital Plan looks like with the numbers that were negotiated in the new public-private partnership <br /> agreement. Just like Aaron said, we did have a really successful negotiation period. We came up <br /> with a fifteen(15)year plan. So as many of you may remember,we negotiated our first(1St)public- <br /> private partnership agreement back in 2013 and I'm pleased to say we've had a very successful <br /> EXCELLENCE ( ACCOUNTABILITY I INNOVATION I INCLUSION I EMPOWERMENT <br /> 455 County-City Building I 227W Jefferson Bvld I South Bend,Indiana 466011 p 574.235.9221 If 574.235.9173 TTD574.235.55671www.southbendin.gov <br /> 14 <br />