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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01-25-2021 PR MinutesPARKS AND RECREATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING JANUARY 25, 2021 Call to Order -- Chairperson Webster called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. Pledge of Allegiance was recited by all. 111. Roll Call Present Mr. Renzi Ms. Webster Mr. Agudelo Ms. White Mr. Danise Ms. Drumheller (a) Mr. Mauro (a) (Zoom) Also Present Mr. Brian Benton, Leisure Services Director Ms. Barbara Brooke -Reese, MIS Manager Ms. Janet Graham, Technical Writer (Zoom) IV. Meeting Chair Makes Announcements Chairperson Webster announced that Mr. Danise was moved from an alternate member to a regular member by City Council on November 18, 2020. Ms. Drumheller was chosen by City Council to serve on the Committee as an alternate member at the January 13th, 2021 City Council meeting. Ms. Webster welcomed Ms. Drumheller to the Committee. V. Aaenda Modifications -- None VI. Aooroval of Minutes Chairperson Webster asked if everyone had read over the Minutes from September 21, 2020. All indicated they had. She asked if anyone had any changes or corrections. Hearing none, Ms. Webster called for a motion to approve the Minutes from September 21, 2020 as presented. A motion approving the Minutes as presented was made by Mr. Renzi, seconded by Mr. Denise, and approved unanimously via voice vote. VI I. Unfinished Business PARKS AND RECREATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE PAGE 2 MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING OF JANUARY 25, 2021 A. Finalize Revised Adopt -A -Park Member Allocations Mr. Benton called the Committee's attention to the agenda packet attachment on which there is a list of the parks which shows that there are a couple parks that are not allocated. He reviewed that a couple of these parks were allocated to Mr. Sims, who has resigned from the Committee. He also staled that Mr. Renzi had offered to take care of Riverview Park after Mr. Sims resigned. Mr. Benton asked for members to volunteer to cover the parks that remain unallocated so that this list can be finalized going through the 20-21 year. He added that he brings this matter up to the Committee once a year so that anyone who wishes to change their designated parks can do so. Ms. Webster stated the only parks that are not now covered by someone on the Committee are the Dog Park, Filbert Park, and Periwinkle Park. Ms. Webster explained to Ms. Drumheller how this process works and asked her if she would take those three parks as her responsibility. Ms. Drumheller stated she would. Vill. Public Inout There being no one in chambers and no one on Zoom who wished to speak, Chairperson Webster moved to the next item on the agenda. IX. New Business A. Review and Consider 2021 Committee Meeting Calendar Mr. Benton stated that in the agenda packet for this evening's meeting is the proposed 20-21 meeting calendar and asked if anyone had any changes they wished to make. Hearing none, Mr. Danise made a motion to adopt the schedule as proposed, which was seconded by Mr. Agudelo. The motion was approved unanimously via voice vote. X. Staff Matters A. Current Project(s) Update Mr. Benton updated the current projects as follows and asked that Committee members pose questions or comments as he covers each project. • Barber Street Dugouts — There has been somewhat of a delay on these dugouts as far as obtaining supplies, staffing, the COVID-19 issues, and some Injuries, all of which have caused delays. This work Is being done as an In-house project. PARKS AND RECREATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE PAGE 3 MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING OF JANUARY 25, 2021 Currently, all four dugouts have been completed on fields 1 and 2. The only thing left to do on those fields is the fencing. That purchase order was approved today, so the fencing is to be picked up this week, and the fencing on fields 1 and 2 will be installed as little league gets started in the coming weeks. On field 3, he anticipates that the poles will be installed on the two dugouts on this field within the next week. The concrete will then be put down, and then it is just a matter of building the structure. The fencing has already been purchased for those dugouts, so that Is included in this order, and he hopes to have those installed before the little league games begin. That gives the City four to six weeks to get those two dugouts completed. On field 4 there was a timing issue where there was no way to have field 4 completed prior to the spring season starting. Thus, he made the decision to hold off on removal of those dugouts so there is at least a structure there. This summer those two will be the last two that get replaced. That will occur once little league season is complete, as during the summer there is no baseball being played there. He added that the size of the dugouts has been increased, which is a good thing as we continue to cope with the COVID-19 virus. Park Signage Project — This project has finally started. Signs have been installed at Easy Street Park, the Pickleball Complex, the Main Street boat ramp, George Street Park, Yacht Club, Barber Street Sports Complex (the baseball portion), and Bryant Court Park. The contractor is in town this week, and they will begin working to install signs at Hardee Park, Filbert Street Park, Bark Park, Periwinkle Park, and Garden Club Park. Those should all be installed by the end of this week. He explained that there are still some parks around the City that will not be completed yet, but going through this year they are being built and will be installed as they are built. Ms. Webster asked regarding the signage. She stated on US 1 coming south there is now an Indian River County sign, also one on County Road 512. Mr. Benton stated those signs were installed by the County. He stated the City will be replacing its gateway signs this year. That gateway signage will be erected on County Road 512 eastbound at the Publix Plaza and southbound on US 1 north of the Walmart Plaza. The northbound US 1 entrance sign that is near the NAPA Auto Parts store was hit and removed. There will be signage installed there as well. Ms. Webster inquired whether the "old grouch" verbiage will be included on the new signs. Mr. Benton stated he thinks that City Council approved that wording. He added that the two gateway signs northbound and southbound on Indian River Drive will also be installed this week. Ms. White inquired whether there is anything planned for the signage at Riverview PARKS AND RECREATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE PAGE 4 MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING OF JANUARY 25, 2021 Park, the large brown signs that are there. Mr. Benton slated the park identification signage at Riverview Park is now being discussed by City staff. He opined that a new sign design is probably going to be presented to this Committee first, and then it will go to City Council. The plan is to request an electronic marquee sign. He stated he gets many complaints that the signage that is present on US 1 cannot be read as it is erected now by motorists passing by. That sign will be replaced. The large brown sign that is on the southwest corner of Riverview Park is being discussed by staff and the sign company to develop some acknowledgement signs. He stated one problem with that is that there is a lot of verbiage that would have to be put on the sign. When grants are received, the signage must include the complete details on the grant. Ms. White suggested that two signs be installed, one smaller that has the verbiage that is necessary. Mr. Benton agreed. Mr. Denise asked why some of the new signs are smaller than the ones they replaced. He gave the example of the Yacht Club sign. Mr. Benton addressed that by explaining that the previous sign was parallel to the road. When someone drives by, there is no way they can read it. A lot of the City's signs were that way. In order to put a sign up that is perpendicular to the road, the signs had to be reduced, because a larger sign, since it is perpendicular to the road, impedes vision of traffic for people pulling out or in. He added that a sign study was done, and the City's new signs meet the Manual for Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) standards. Water Fountain Replacements -- This is a new item. Mr. Benton reviewed that when the budget was discussed, there was nothing discussed about this. However, due to COVID-19 and being able to utilize the CARES fund dollars, the City had to spend these dollars by December 31s1. One of the items that he identified for the City's parks on which to use these funds was to replace the drinking water fountains in many of the City parks by going to more of a touchless system. All of the fountains that are being replaced will be replaced by a drinking - water fountain and a bottler -filler station. The sites that he has identified for replacement are Main Street boat ramp, which has already been done, Hardee Park, Yacht Club, Riverview Park splash pad, Friendship Park, Riverview Park along the waterfront walkway. Bark Park is going to get new fountains as well. Ms. Webster asked if new fountains are scheduled for the baseball field. Mr. Benton stated that in staffs preliminary look at this matter, they were looking at areas within the CRA where the City could use its CARES Act fund dollars. However, since then staff has gotten clarification that the City can use the entire PARKS AND RECREATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE PAGE 5 MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING OF JANUARY 25, 2021 CARES Act funds for the new fountains. There are presently two water fountains at Friendship Park, and it was not thought that two fountains were necessary there. So there could be one of those fountains moved to the Barber Street baseball fields. Ms. Webster also inquired regarding the football field. Mr. Benton stated there is not one currently there. He explained that it will have to be done a little later, as there will have to be plumbing and some sidewalk work done. There will be somewhat of a different design on that one. It will probably be strictly a bottle - filler station instead of having a water fountain and a bottle filler. That is because of how it will have to be set up in that area. Ms. White asked what is at the pickleball court. Mr. Benton stated there is a standard stainless steel push water fountain that came on the exterior of that building. It is a brand new water fountain, and it is somewhat difficult to justify replacing it. She stated that for the parks that have a lot of physical activity, the water -filling type is very important. Mr. Benton stated that all of the ones that are being replaced will have the water -filling stations as well. Thor Guard Lightning System -- Mr. Benton reviewed that this was originally approved in December. However, in working with the vendor the price quote that was first approval by City Council was for a unit that has been in production for approximately 15 years. That system is somewhat outdated. Since then, in discussions with the owners of the company, the owners of the company gave the City a substantial discount on the brand new system that came out. So there was a change order approved at the January 13th, 2021 City Council meeting to install a Thor Guard TG-360 unit. The other unit that was discussed was solely a prediction unit. The new system that was decided upon predicts lightning, but it also detects it. It also includes a weather station, it will give heat warnings whenever the humidity level reaches a certain level, and it will be online, so people can access It on the City's website at any time. If lightning is being registered at Barber Street, it is pretty much accurate throughout the entire City. That whole system should be set up within the next month prior to the spring sports season starting. Once it is set up, he will see that staff sends out the links to all the Committee members, to the Sebastian tennis club, little league football, any soccer organizations, and signage will also be posted at the Barber Street complex. Ms. White inquired as to the cost of the system. Mr. Benton estimated the cost of the entire unit installation as well as the first year of online usage at approximately $29,000.00. At Barber Street, there had to be installed a main unit and a satellite unit. The horns at Barber Street were tested and, if the wind were blowing from a certain direction, you would not hear from one side of the complex to the other PARKS AND RECREATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE PAGE 6 MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING OF JANUARY 25, 2021 side. With this system, the goal is to alert everyone within the complex. So there will be a satellite location. The main location will be at the football complex, where the computer will be set up as well as the system that actually reads the charge in the atmosphere and detects and predicts the lightning. The satellite location will be at the baseball fields. The satellite location will include a ham and a strobe light, and there will still be the ham and the strobe light at the football field as well. When it initially activates, the ham will sound. if someone arrives after that, they will not hear a horn. So everyone needs to be trained to look up at the light. If the light is blinking, it is activated, and that means the system is activated. All that information will be sent out to everyone involved. Ms. Webster asked if that would be on a timer so that the horn is not sounding in the middle of the night. Mr. Benton said it would. It will be set up so that the system is deactivated at a certain time at night and reactivated at a certain time in the morning. Ms. White asked if the system alerts for hurricanes. Mr. Benton stated he will check on that. He opined that this is shic0y for lightning. Ms. While asked about the fund that the money for this system comes out of. Mr. Benton said this was not funded through the Recreation Impact Fee money. This came from Discretionary Sales Tax as well as the Leisure Services General Fund. Ms. White asked if this is something the City might want to look at for the Schumann Drive tennis park and the pickleball courts. Mr. Benton said it will come down to a cost factor. The software package for keeping the Barber Street complex unit online will cost approximately $1,500.00 a year. That way, it can be seen from smart phones or computers. The stand-alone unit without having the remote package is still going to run around $24,000.00 to $25,000.00. That can be discussed at budget time. Ms. White asked if the golf course has something like that. Mr. Benton said the City is looking to get a price estimate from the company for the golf course. If there were a unit for the golf course, pickleball would be covered under that unit. Yacht Club Seawall — This is an item that has not been discussed previously. Mr. Benton stated there are issues currently with water intrusion through the seawall, and the ground behind the seawall is beginning to erode. There have been a couple areas on the southeast comer that have had to be closed off with barricades and caution tape due to the erosion underneath the sidewalk. The plan is to get a design -build cost estimate. Staff will gel qualifications back from the design -build firms and choose someone so we can begin to move forward with replacing the entire seawall at the Yacht Club. He will keep everyone updated on PARKS AND RECREATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE PAGE 7 MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING OF JANUARY 25, 2021 that project • Main Street Boat Ramp — There was money budgeted to start replacing garbage cans, etc. there. They were replaced with a product called Barco, which is a recyclable plastic product. Previously there were metal garbage cans which do not stand up well to the salt air. Also, quite a few picnic tables are being replaced with the Barco picnic tables. They are currently at the pickleball courts and the dog park already. • Dog Park -- One of the items that has come up recently and has already been budgeted for is to replace some sod there. On the large dog area there is a really large area that is nothing but dirt. Mr. Benton gets a lot of feedback from the daily users there who do not want to have the park shut down to replace sod. They want us to just leave it open. Currently there is nothing but dirt in some areas. He wanted to notify the Committee members that this project will be coming this spring, and that area will be shut down for three to four weeks approximately to replace sod in order to ensure enough growth so that it does not become something that has to be replaced again next year. Ms. White asked if the sod is Bahia sod. Mr. Benton stated it is Bahia. She asked why the grass has been dying there. Mr. Benton staled that area was redone shortly before he started for the City. He cannot speak to how long it was closed then, but the sod never look. He staled that it is going to be a large area where the sod is going to be put down, and it has to have time to get established. He wanted the Committee members to be aware because there will be complaints about the park being shut down. • Playgrounds -- The Yacht Club seawall project has taken precedence over the playgrounds because of the seawall condition. His hope is to get the playground RFP out sometime in early March. There has been discussion regarding some Committee members assisting with the selection of the playground units, and he will include some of the Committee members in that. It will then be brought back to this Committee and then on to City Council for approval. XI. Board or Committee Member Matters Ms. White asked regarding the pickleball courts as to the tokens for the lighting, etc. Mr. Benton said he does not have the numbers at this meeting. He can state that since the time change it has been pretty consistent with Tuesday and Thursday nights being used and at least two banks of lights out of the four. Since December it has gotten to be about PARKS AND RECREATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE PAGE 8 MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING OF JANUARY 25, 2021 four nights out of the week and sometimes even a fifth night that the lights are used. He usually pulls the camera up to see how many lights were used. He has not had any complaints recently on the cost, but people are using them if they want to play at night. Mr. Danise addressed the matter of dogs on the docks. With the dog park being closed temporarily, he suggested getting signage at the docks staling that no dogs are to be on the docks. He suggested that if the people have to move out of the dog park, they will be down at the dock area. Ms. Webster asked if dogs are allowed on the docks. Mr. Denise stated there is a sign on one of the docks stating that no dogs are allowed, but not on the other. Mr. Benton stated that specifically the sign Mr. Denise is referring to is the north pier at the twin piers across from the splash pad on the river side. There is a large grass area there. The south pier sign never gets touched. The north pier sign he has had replaced three times. He stated he is going to check to see if it has been removed again. It was replaced in approximately late Novemberleady December. If it is removed again, there will be a camera installed to find out who is removing it. The issue with dogs on the pier is that there is nowhere for people to go. If someone is out on the pier and someone else brings a dog out there, there is nowhere for that other person to go besides jumping in the water. That is the reason dogs are not allowed on the piers —it is simply a safely factor for residents. Ms. Webster asked if boats can be parked there. Mr. Benton slated boats can be parked at the south pier, but the City does not allow dogs on any of its docks. Mr. Agudelo addressed a matter at Kildare Park, that being that the walking bridge has a few divots in it that could present a safety hazard in the future. They are not enormous presently, but there are significant divots that he noticed. He also had a question regarding baseball field 1. He noted that the grass looks great. He noted also that apparently the same treatment was done to the infield on field 4, but the rest of the field obviously did not get that. He was wondering about that. Mr. Benton stated that what was done on field 1 and the infields this year is that they were overseeded with rye. During the colder months the Bermuda turf, which is the turf that we want to maintain on the athletic fields, goes dormant once it gets cold. This year for the first time he instructed his staff to do a pilot program to see how the rye takes and see what the results are. So all of field 1 was done, the infield on field 2, and the infield on field 4. Overseeding with rye and fertilizing with organic fertilizer was the only treatment done. When the weather warms up, the rye grass will die, and the Bermuda will take back over. Having that rye grass there reduces the amount of chemicals that have to be used. Mr. Renzi addressed a situation at Riverview Park. He staled he walks his dog over there about three times a week. It is a great park. The thing he brought up is that he has noticed a lot of vagrants in there, and at times a few of them are acting out. He has seen them sleeping there and drinking there. He suggested that maybe a police presence PARKS AND RECREATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE PAGE 9 MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING OF JANUARY 25, 2021 could help. Mr. Benton slated he will bring that to the attention of the Police Department. As long as they are using the park as a park patron, not breaking rules, they are allowed to be there. The moment they start to break the rules or cause a scene, etc., you can immediately call the police non -emergency number, and they will send an officer over. If it is a dangerous situation, call 911. Ms. Webster asked if it is the same people there all the time. Mr. Renzi said it is three or four that he sees quite a bit there. Once in a while they have some friends. Ms. Webster reminded everyone that Sebastian Little League is registering right now. The shrimp fast is going on March 19, 20, and 21. XII. Items for the Next Aaenda and Date: February 22, 2021 XIII. Adiourn There being no further business, Mr. Renzi made a motion to adjourn. Mr. Agudelo seconded the motion. The motion was approved unanimously via voice vole, and the meeting was adjourned at 6:50 p.m. By:�— i1[N1IA V d Date: J--JOr4l / I Joann Webster, Chairperson Jg