RECREATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE CITY OF AURORA September 15, 2014 The Recreation Advisory Committee of the City of Aurora, Ohio, met on Monday, September 15, at City Hall Council Chambers, for the purpose of holding a regular meeting. Mr. called the meeting to order at 6:30p.m. ROLL CALL Present: Pete Conces- Chairman Nina DeWitt Al Sobodosh Vice-Chairman James Vaca Andy Vidmar Scott Weber was on speaker phone Absent: Mike DeMay Also Present: James Kraus Parks and Recreation Director Madeleine Marazzi - Recording Secretary Mr. Vaca moved to approve the minutes of the June 2, 2014 minutes. Mr. Vidmar seconded and the motion was passed, 5 0 with a voice vote. Abstain, Mr. Conces CITIZEN S COMMENTS: Ms. Deb Conti, 234 South Chillicothe Rd. Had questions on Field #4. Will there be enough time to time to get the field done in time for the 2015 baseball season, will the parking lot impact the time line of being finished because they are adjoining to one another. She also wanted to know if the budget allowed for the clearing of the parking lot in the winter time along with the sidewalks. Ms. Conti also asked about the fence at Kiwanis Moore playground, it was coming down and she was concerned about safety. Mr. Kraus stated we take care of the sidewalk by the Kiwanis Moore Park and in front of the Fire Department, and we also plow Kiwanis Moore Park parking lot. Mr. Kraus stated in response to field #4 being done, the baseball season will start approximately in April of 2015 weather permitting. If the parking lot is delayed for some reason it should not impact the field to much. Mr. Kraus stated the fence was already on the list to be repaired.
Page 2. DIRECTOR S REPORT & PROJECT UPSATES: Mr. Kraus highlighted a few things from his report. (see attached) He stated the Arborist (Ben Askren) reports to him now so his information will be included in the future. Mr. Kraus stated he has done a lot from June until now including pruning trees in the Commemorative Garden to the city area wide. He has also done a lot of response work with citizens. A tree walk signage has been installed for 19 trees along the paths of Moebius Nature Center and some at Sunny Lake Park. Parks: Mr. Kraus stated a new playground structure was installed at the Liz Strahan Park. Extra hose reels were installed at the community gardens, installed a split rail fence around the Police Station back parking lot to curtail public parking. Started to clear the fairways at Sunny Lake for Disc Golf Course. Community Events: Mr. Kraus stated there were approximately 300 participants in this year s Fishing Derby. We also received a $500 grant from the Ohio Wildlife Division that we purchased bait to give to the participants, and received bonus coupons from Dick s Sporting Goods and Wendy s. The Youth Track Meet had over 103 participants from ages 2 12 and 68 participants at the Go Skateboard Day event and partnered with Martin Skate and Snow. Mr. Kraus stated we had 6 summer concerts with 5 being sponsored and good weather for 5 concerts. The 4th of July race had over 500 participants with the Cleveland Clinic sponsoring all 3 of the races for $1250. There were 14 city vehicles at the event for the children to explore, with the weather holding out for part of the day. The car show was rained out and had to be held on the rain date. Discussions have been held on perhaps holding it in August for weather reasons. Community Education: Mr. Kraus stated summer camp enrollment was strong with 115 children participating in dance, art, sewing and tech camps. We were able to have babysitting classes again with 21 participants over 2 classes. Registrations for fall 2014 have been steady with 21 new classes offered. Sports: Mr. Kraus stated he is using a new company called Quick Scores.Com to help with the scheduling and standings being posted on the internet and hope to use it for other sports programs. Summer camps went well with very few problems. There were 43 participants in the British Challenger Soccer camp, 86 participants with Wald Oden Tennis Camps, and 136 participants with Skyhawks. Flag Football and Fall Soccer is underway with programs ending in October. Senior: Mr. Kraus stated there were 252 events, trips or programs scheduled including bingo, arthritis foundation chair exercise, yoga, tai chi, canasta, poker, bridge, walking video, water color class, dulcimer class, knitting class, podiatrist visits, blood pressure clinic, massage,
Page 3. manicure and pedicures, chair volleyball, golf, hearing screening, book club, lunch and a movie, lunch on the patio, visits to area senior facilities, in house theme lunches, lunch and learns, ROMEOS (retired Old Men Eating Out) and birthday pot luck. See report for number of participants. Mr. Vaca was concerned about the candy throwing at the 4 th of July parade. It is very dangerous with the children running in the street and would like more safety measures taken. He also stated changing Truck Day to be out of the Premium Outlets area and on city or school property, since there is no benefit from having it at the outlets. Mr. Vaca commended Colleen Martin and staff for a job well done with the Car Show especially with the weather problems they had to deal with. Ms. DeWitt asked about the American Elm tree that was trimmed on the corner of Bissell and West Pioneer. Mr. Kraus stated if it s in the right of way the City will take care of it. She also stated she liked the format of the Directors report with the numbers of participants in the different programs not in paragraph form. Mr. Vaca stated the Tree Fund Ordinance is being discussed in the Tree Commission Committee and has been sent to the next stage. Mr. Kraus stated he brought it to the Mayor and is now being reviewed. Varsity Softball field and Field 4: Mr. Kraus stated landscape trees will be planted as a screen in the left field area and the electric has been installed. The dirt from field #3 has been removed for use on field #4. Most of the grading is done on #4 and backstop will be installed next week. He is currently talking to some companies about the concrete for the dugouts and the last step will be the grass sod/ seed. Ms. DeWitt asked about the lighting for the path to the business. Mr. Kraus stated there will be a meeting about the lighting of the parking lot and path the next day with the Mayor. Mr. Vaca asked if the fencing from field #3 will be reused for field #4. Mr. Kraus stated that some of the new fence that was installed last year can be reused. Mr. Weber stated there was concerned in the past about people crossing the street (Rt.43) from parking in the proposed parking lot, was there anything settled about a cross walk being painted for this. Mr. Kraus stated at this time nothing has been planned except using the existing crosswalk. There has been some talk about posting signs stating caution fall balls and park at your own risk. Mr. Conces stated the city might be putting themselves in a situation by stating there is a potential risk.
Page 4. Discussion was held on other ball fields not having signs at other fields, and due to parking being used for business the people parking there might not realize there is potential for foul balls. Sunny Lake Park construction drawings: Mr. Kraus stated the bids were received and Hummel Construction was recommended to do the three projects including the concession restroom building, the new parking lot and the remodeled renovated boathouse which consists of removal of the existing restrooms, construction of new restrooms and cosmetic work on the siding. If Council approves it on the third reading, we will wait until after the Fall Festival and it could start as early as the next Monday. The bid was to have the project completed in May of 2015. Aurora Country Club: Mr. Kraus stated the roof bid as been accepted on one of the maintenance buildings and the contractor will hopefully start next week. The company that is doing the restoration work has started some work, one being some invasive species spraying, but the overall design is in process. There is a plan for a boardwalk to be installed by the old hole #14 & #15 where a bridge was taken out but to keep the continuity of the path the boardwalk will be helpful. The plan is being reviewed by the Building Dept. Disc Golf Course: Mr. Kraus stated a track hoe mulcher was rented to clear some invasive species at the wet lands and was also used to clear some of the paths for the disc golf course at the point of SLP. Our hope is to rent that piece of equipment again in the next couple of weeks. After that the work will be continuing by hand until it is done. The baskets have been ordered and have arrived. Liz Strahan Park playground equipment: Mr. Kraus stated two new pieces of equipment were installed at the playground. Mr. Vaca stated the girl scouts and Valley Christian School children came and cleaned up the park prior to the installation, and they did a wonderful job. Spring Hill Park: Mr. Kraus stated in order for it to be open to the public we need conditional zoning which is on the second reading at Council. There are 154 acres on this property, 10 acres are under one set of restrictions and the rest are under another set of restrictions. The EPA controls the bigger portion and requires any construction and any trails to be approved by them. We are in the process of putting a portfolio together of the trail locations and what they will made of such as grass, dirt, wood chips. A landscape architect was out last week marking the property so we would have a map to show where the trails would be. Once Council approves it, the property will be opened up to the public but any future trails will have to be approved first by the EPA. The ten acres closer to the house are not controlled by the EPA and will provide parking for the public. We have to construct a new entry drive due to their being a hill which will cause a visibility problem.
Page 5. Mr. Kraus stated administration is discussing relocating the deed building and options for the house itself. Once we are opened to the public there will be signage to keep out of the house area for now. GoApe Adventure Course: Mr. Kraus stated unfortunately he has not had contact with the company in a few months. He has emailed and phoned them repeatedly and have not received anything back. He has also reached out to another company out of Canada that said they would stop by the next time they were out in the area. Mr. Conces asked what some of the obstacles that were talked about when they were in contact. Mr. Kraus stated restrooms would be needed which did not seem to be a big concern with them. He will keep trying to contact them to see if they are still interested. OLD BUSINESS: 4-Wheel course & Paintball: Mr. Kraus stated there was a company that he came across that designs dirt bike courses if that is what we want or just a trail. Because of the restrictions on a lot of the property the City owns we would have to discuss where to put it. There was discussion on maybe finding a contact that we could partner with on using their property for both 4 wheel or paintball. Discussion was held if paintball was still a popular thing to do and perhaps to take it off the agenda in the future. Field Charges for practices vs. games: Mr. Kraus stated currently we charge non- resident teams for games because that is where we spend our labor and supplies. We don t charge for practice field use. We have talked about charging a different fee for different fields i.e. the varsity baseball field. He will be doing some research of other cities to see what they charge. There are few cities that the varsity fields are on city fields and not high school. Discussion was held on using the fields for practice which includes the wear and tear on the field and if we should charge for non-resident practice or the possibility of adding the fee to the play charge. Mr. Weber stated he would have a presentation of a new idea at the next meeting. UPCOMING PROGRAMS & SERVICES: 2015 budget: Mr. Kraus stated the budget process is starting and if the Committee has any ideas or thoughts they may have to please contact him which includes capital improvements.
Page 6. MISCELANEOUS: Mr. Conces stated he was walking at SLP and was concerned about the North side gate being open. There were cars parked along the path where people walk which made it for a possible safety issue. He wanted to know why the gate had been left open. Mr. Kraus stated he would check into this incident. We do open the gate if someone that has rented the pavilion and needs to get someone or things to the pavilion. There is a trail counter on the trails and a lot of people park at the North end, as much as 130 cars a day, on a weekend if there is a reservation we have much more and there is not enough parking which might be potential for a capital improvements. Mr. Conces stated now that the Portage Parks has passed the levy he wanted to make sure the Portage connectivity to the trails in Aurora is not forgotten since it was a platform used in the elections. He felt something should be done within the next 5 years. Mr. Kraus stated discussions have been started with several committees, one in Mantua, a revitalization committee on making sure the trails they have connect and one meeting with Chris Craycroft the Portage County Parks Director who is getting all the resources together. ADJOURNMENT: Ms. DeWitt moved to adjourn: Mr. Vaca seconded and the meeting adjourned at 8:45pm Mr. Conces Chairman Madeleine Marazzi Recording Secretary