CHESAPEAKE PARKS AND RECREATION ADVISORY BOARD. Meeting Minutes. September 7, 2017

Transcription

1 CHESAPEAKE PARKS AND RECREATION ADVISORY BOARD Meeting Minutes September 7, 2017 Chairman Boyd called the meeting of the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board to order at 6:10pm at the Parks, Recreation and Tourism administrative office, and then led the Invocation and Pledge of Allegiance. Members Present: Members Absent: Staff Present: Chairman Chris Boyd, Kurt Clemente, Kevin Cole (non-voting exofficio/cps), Berkley Gibbs, Jean Holt, Lindy Huber, Jeff Jones, Michael Kos, Winston Odom, Tim Stephens and Dale Theimann Vice Chairman Tabitha Abnet, Paula Faivre, Damien Reyesvalles (non-voting Youth Liaison), Michael Scott, Mark Shackleford, and Geral Stukes Mike Barber, Monica Christiansen, Ray Wharton, Malcolm Johnson and Cori Fuqua ROLL CALL: Ms. Fuqua called roll and the above attendance roster reflected a quorum present with 10 voting members. 5 members were absent. MINUTES: Approval of Meeting Minutes: Mr. Thiemann made a motion to approve the August 3 rd minutes as submitted. Ms. Holt seconded the motion. The minutes were unanimously approved by the board. HEARING OF CITIZENS: No citizens were present. ACTIVITY REPORTS: Seniors no reports. Therapeutics no reports. Athletics no reports. Community Centers no reports.

2 Parks Board Cleanup at Dismal Swamp Canal Trail: Chairman Boyd thanked everyone that came out for the board cleanup day at the Dismal Swamp Canal Trail and said that Ms. Abnet s daughter was a real trooper! Suggestions for next year include wearing the yellow vests for better visibility when walking next to the road and maybe splitting into two groups that could start at both ends and finish up meeting in the middle. City Council no reports. Events/Other/Misc. Symphony at City Park/Hump Days at Waterways Park: Mr. Theimann attended and said it was great. He was very surprised that traffic getting out wasn t bad at all and he was home in 15 minutes. And the Hump Days is great too, the food trucks are jammed! It s very well attended. Symphony at City Park: Mr. Gibbs said Josh did a great job and the park looked good. Has there been any thought about opening the back gate out to Kempsville Road for cars to exit during the large events? Mr. Barber said that it probably should have been open for Celebrate Freedom on July 3rd but there was a miscommunication about the keys to the gate lock. The police are the ones who usually make the call on whether or not to open the gate. Mr. Gibbs said that the biggest issue with traffic and getting the cars out of the park onto Greenbrier is the pedestrians walking everywhere and crossing the street so the cars can t move. Back to School Event: Mr. Jones asked whether there was any feedback on the Back to School event that his church sponsored at City Park. Mr. Barber and Ms. Christiansen responded that they hadn t heard anything and there was no negative feedback which was good! Alcohol at Hump Days: Mr. Kos asked if there was any thought to selling alcohol at Hump Days and said that it would probably generate a lot of revenue. Mr. Barber said that alcohol can only be sold if the event is sponsored by a nonprofit organization, not the city, and only a certain parks. The Rolling on the River food truck roundup event series (on the 2 nd and 4 th Thursdays at Elizabeth River Park) will be selling alcohol at the last event of the year. The city co-sponsors the series with the South Norfolk Civic League but will step away from co-sponsoring that last event because of the sale of alcohol. At Battlefield Park, Army Corps regulations do not permit sales of alcohol. Alcohol sales will be permitted at the new Courtyard Park at City Hall. 2

3 UNFINISHED BUSINESS: Proposed Athletic Rules: The proposed athletic rule changes were posted for public review and there was no feedback or comments received from the public. Ms. Holt asked about the verbiage for rule 6.5.F. Teams may scrimmage against teams in their age category and gender What if a girl wanted to play on a boys team? Mr. Barber said that wouldn t be a problem. But if we ever had a girl s league and a boy s league, that s where that wording would come into play. There were no further questions or discussion from the board. Mr. Odom made a motion to approve the proposed rule changes as a whole and as recommended by the Rules Committee and the motion was seconded by Mr. Kos. After a vote, they were unanimously accepted and approved by the board as proposed and written. RECREATION REPORT Ms. Christiansen Ms. Christiansen reported on the following events and programs: Ghost Train: Come out and enjoy it as a spectator, or join in as a volunteer. There are a number of opportunities to get involved. Movie & More: Angry Birds - this month on the 19 th at Elizabeth River Park. Family Fun Day: Saturday the 23 rd at Northwest River Park. Senior Pig Pickin : Friday the 15 th at City Park. Park Tours: Three tour dates will be scheduled: late September, October and November. Two tours during the week and one on a Saturday to accommodate different schedules. 9/11 Ceremony of Remembrance: Mr. Barber added a reminder about the 9/11 event which will take place on Monday, September 11 th at City Park starting at 8:30am. PARK GROUNDS AND MUNICIPAL SERVICES REPORT Mr. Wharton Mr. Wharton had the following updates: Park Grounds and Municipal Services: All staff in his division are considered Alpha personnel which means that during declared emergencies and disasters, they would work alongside Public Works and Public Utilities to clear roads, deal with municipal building flooding, etc. In the case of pending storms, they also work in advance to prepare. On a regular basis though, staff is continuously busy mowing and preparing for special events at parks and weekend tournaments at athletic fields. Boy Scout Volunteer Project: Grounds staff will be working with Troop 259 and the Police Department at the Western Branch precinct this Saturday to clear out 3

4 a lot of growth and underbrush and plant some crepe myrtle trees with nice brickwalled retaining planters as well as the installation of two benches. Lake Sculpture at Lakeside Park: The new sculpture (which looks exactly like the old one) is ready to be installed but unfortunately weighs about 800 lbs. so we re trying to figure out if the concrete slab that is out there in the middle of the lake can handle the weight before scheduling the installation. The old one was much lighter New Master Electrician Hired: Having an electrician on staff has a positive impact on reducing the need for contractors which saves money. Another benefit is more immediate response time. There is always plenty of electrical work that needs to be done at City Park, Northwest River Park and in other areas. DIRECTOR S REPORT Mr. Barber Mr. Barber reported on the following: Budget: In budget mode now. Still doing 3-year budgeting but also now doing performance management budget development which means we have to come up with measureable performance-based and efficiency criteria and goals. City Council Retreat: A two day council retreat is planned next week, October 14 th and 15 th, and we will be making a presentation and talking about some exciting things such as the possibility of a joint-use stadium facility with schools and other proposals. Hopefully after the retreat we may get an idea of whether council is ready to take the plunge on some of the new, bigger items or if people want to continue in the fix and/or renovate mode. Lynn Jordan - Promotion: Lynn has been promoted to the position of Public Information Coordinator for the department. Congratulations to Lynn! Assistant Director Position: The city has approved the advertisement and hiring of an Assistant Director for Parks, Recreation and Tourism for the first time ever. Most cities of our size have two and some even have three. The position will be posted today and will be up for a few weeks. NEW BUSINESS: Pool: Dr. Odom asked if Chesapeake was really the only city in the Hampton Roads area without a public pool either indoor or outdoor. Virginia Beach and Hampton have six each, Suffolk and Portsmouth have two each. He said it s an issue of kids having the opportunity to learn how to swim and that drowning deaths in Chesapeake do occur among young children. He knows that a pool is one of the facilities that the department is pushing and hopes that if it the decision is made to build one, it would be accessible to those disadvantaged kids that don t have access to YMCA memberships, community pools or backyard 4

5 pools. Mr. Barber said that in the packet being sent out, there are a few options: 1) a regular outdoor pool open seasonally in the summer, 2) an indoor/outdoor pool with waterpark, and 3) an indoor competitive pool that could be used for teaching as well as in conjunction with schools. Along with these options, there is cost and operation information. There has been discussion about subsidized programs to community pools but the problem is availability is very tight. ADVISORY BOARD MEMBER & GUEST COMMENTS: Mr. Gibbs asked about the possibility of installing pavers or concrete pads where the food trucks set up at City Park. Mr. Barber said it s being looked into but there isn t a timetable at this time. Ms. Holt commented on reserving the fields at Centerville and Deep Creek for ODU and even though it is a little bit of a hike for the ODU teams, the benefit is that they will be lined and the players won t have to do it! Thank you Ray and staff! Ms. Huber is excited about the possible plans for Deep Creek but is still extremely frustrated about the extremely poor condition of the baseball field parking lot and back road at the high school. Mr. Cole said he would check with Ms. Stutz. Chairman Boyd thanked everyone that came out and attended the board cleanup at the Dismal Swamp Canal Trail. Mr. Jones announced that this would be his last meeting and he will be submitting his letter of resignation. He and his wife are moving to Texas to take care of elderly parents. Mr. Clemente commented that he was surprised that there was so little trash along the Dismal Swamp Canal Trail during the cleanup. Even though a lot of trash was picked up, it was as much as he expected. ADJOURNMENT: The meeting was adjourned at 7:10 p.m. NEXT MEETING: The next meeting will be on Thursday, October 5, at the Parks, Recreation and Tourism administration offices. Note: The September, October, November and December meetings will be held at the Parks, Recreation and Tourism administration offices at 1224 Progressive Drive, Chesapeake, VA Minutes submitted by: Cori Fuqua, Secretary 5