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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06-28-2021 PR MinutesPARKS AND RECREATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING JUNE 28, 2021 Call to Order — Chairperson Webster called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. Il. Pledae of Alleaiance was recited by all. III. Roll Call Present Ms. White (Zoom) Mr. Renzi Ms. Webster Ms. Drumheller (a) Mr. Denise Mr. Mauro (a) Not Present Mr. Agudelo -- Excused Also Present Mr. Brian Benton, Leisure Services Director Mr. Joseph Perez, AV Technical Assistant Ms. Janet Graham, Technical Writer (Zoom) IV. Meetina Chair Makes Announcements — None Aaenda Modifications -- None VI. Aooroval of Minutes Ms. Webster asked if there were any changes or additions to the Minutes of April 26, 2021 as presented. Hearing none, she called for a motion. A motion approving the Minutes of April 26, 2021 as presented was made by Ms. Drumheller, seconded by Mr. Denise, and approved unanimously via voice vote. VII. Unfinished Business A. Updates on the Discussion of Garden Club Park Improvements Mr. Benton provided an update stating that, based on the Committee's previous meetings, there have been numerous discussions regarding this park and the improvements within the park. The latest news is that staff completed the purchase of the new fountain PARKS AND RECREATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE PAGE 2 MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING OF JUNE 28, 2021 using the Recreation Impact Fee funds, Park Improvement Account, that is allocated to this Committee each fiscal year. The total cost of the fountain was $5,946.00. That also included lights for nighttime illumination of the fountain. This fountain has a much larger coverage than the previous one, which will increase the aeration within the water and hopefully assist with some of the natural weed control within that pond. Also, the Roads Department assisted with the installation of new millings for half of the parking lot and the existing walking trail. That project was completed last week. The decision was made to only do half of the parking lot because the traffic that is seen there is just a few cars at a time. The goal was to keep some of the parking area natural and retain the pervious drainage that occurs with the grassy setting. If in the future the walking trail is completed as has been discussed, paving the entire parking lot in the future can be looked at. There has been a purchase order and an agreement entered into with a surveyor to complete the survey of the property. This will assist City staff in knowing the exact location of the boundaries in order to know whether there needs to be some fill added to the pond to give us the area for the walking trail to be completed all the way around the back side of the park. It also will allow us to know where some wooden split -rail fencing or something like that will be needed. If there is a trail installed to the back side of the park, something will be needed so that park visitors know where the park property ends and private property begins. At that time, there will need to be fencing Installed back there as well in order to keep the public off private property. Mr. Benton said Meridian Surveying is doing the survey work. Ms. Drumheller commented that the park looks great at night. She thinks the improvements are great, and City staff did a good job. Ms. White asked if the survey would be completed by the next Committee meeting. Mr. Benton staled he is anticipating receiving something back within the next two weeks. So he hopes he will have something to show this Committee then as far as the survey goes in order to know where exactly the boundary markers are. Ms. White inquired where the money will come from In the next year or two for projects done on this park. Mr. Benton said the large expenses for this project are completion of the walking trail and the wood fencing that will be needed and any improvements that are needed as far as bringing in fill and land clearing. There will be $20,000.00 for park improvements next fiscal year, so those funds will be available in order to start this project. That will be up to the desire of the Committee. Ms. While also Inquired about the funds for what has been done already. Mr. Benton stated that the $5.946.00 that was used for the fountain came specifically out of this zone, as it is a neighborhood park, not a community park. It came strictly out of the one zone. For clarification, in meeting with the Finance Director, Mr. Benton had misspoken and said we had $5,000.00 for each zone, which equaled S20,000.00. We PARKS AND RECREATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE PAGE 3 MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING OF JUNE 28, 2021 can take more than $5,000.00 out of a zone. We just cannot exceed the $20,000.00 that is budgeted. He will update this information at the next meeting where budgeting and capital improvement projects are discussed. Ms. White suggested that the new members be provided with a map that shows what parks are within the different zones, and that the money in those zones is to be used for the parks in those neighborhoods. Vill. Public Input There being no one in chambers who wished to speak and no one on Zoom who wished to be heard, Ms. Webster moved to the next item on the agenda. IX. New Business — None X. Staff Matters A. Current Project(s) Update Mr. Benton reviewed the current projects as follows: Observation Deck -- This project has been completed. He asked the Committee members to lake a look at it. It is the smaller dock that was just recently worked on and improvements made. Other work needed in that area is that the roofs over all of the informational kiosks need to be replaced. They will be replaced in the coming weeks to a month. Other than that, the project is complete. Dog Park Sod Resurfacing Project -- This project is complete as of today. The large - dog area was closed down for three weeks in order to complete this project. Staff and he inspected the park this morning, and for the most part the sod has taken really well and has grown better than what was expected. So staff was able to open the park back up this morning to residents, which was right on schedule. The public appeared to be happy with how the closing was handled. The large dogs were allowed to use the small -dog area on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. The small dogs were allowed in their area on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays. The public were thankful for the work, and he has received no negative feedback. Also during this down time the large -dog water fountain was replaced that included a bottle -filling station as well. The white fencing that surrounds the park was pressure cleaned as well as the shade structure during the closure. He added that he has asked staff to raise the height of the mowers to mow it at about 4Y2 inches. Typically it is somewhere between the 3- to 3-1/2-inch range. That should allow the new sod to flourish and take hold. PARKS AND RECREATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE PAGE 4 MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING OF JUNE 28, 2021 Yacht Club Seawall Project -- The final design documents should be available sometime this week. Once staff has those and they are approved, it will be sent off for permitting. Permitting is going to take about six to eight weeks. Hopefully, construction can be started once the final permits are obtained for that project. Installation of Bike Racks — The City has purchased 16 new Barco bike racks made from recycled plastic. They will be installed throughout the City. Two of them are already installed at Fishermen's Landing and two at Riverview Park. The rest of them will be installed throughout the parks to try to get at least one bike rack in each of the parks throughout the coming months. Barber Street Baseball Fields — Sometime in the next month or so those fields will be closed down. Staff will try to stagger it a little bit in order to maintain one of them open. It is the typical annual maintenance done this time of year when Little League has completed their season, which they have. Staff will go in and strip some sod out specifically around the pitchers' mounds that have worn areas and also where the outside lip of the infield starts to build up. Staff will remove that sod and replace it with new sod. When we put the new sod down, we will need to give it a couple weeks to take hold without people going in and damaging it. He will send out an email once he has further information on when those closures are going to happen. New Park Signage -- There were five new park signs installed this past month: Fishermen's Landing, Friendship Park, Schumann Drive Park, Slormwater Treatment Facility, and Blossom Street Park. The sign project is being continued, and the goal is to have the gateway signs installed within the next month or so. They are the signs that are on County Road 512, US 1 north and south, Barber Street and US 1, Schumann Drive and US 1, and also 66' Avenue. Staff also did get approval for the electronic marquees from City Council. Those are being worked on, and it will probably be sometime later this summer before those are installed. Mr. Benton called for questions/comments from the Committee members. Mr. Danise referred to the electronic signs. He asked if the new sign at Riverview Park is going to be in the same place that the present sign is. Mr. Benton stated it will be generally in the same area. The exact location will be decided upon once staff goes to do the installation. Mr. Denise stated there are three trees there now that he suggested may block the view. Mr. Benton said staff will take a look at that. The goal of getting it as close to the intersection as possible is so that people at the stoplight who are heading southbound will be able to read it. If we go much further to the south with it. they will already be increasing their speed which is going to cut down on their being able to see it. That will all be taken into account by staff. PARKS AND RECREATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE PAGE 5 MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING OF JUNE 28, 2021 XI. Board or Committee Member Matters Mr. Mauro referred to the small -dog area in the Dog Park. He asked how often the grass is cut in there. Mr. Benton stated the grass is mowed once a week. Mr. Mauro commented on Blossom Street Park. It is missing a section of chain -link fence in the back. Mr. Benton said that playground is currently shut down due to safety concerns. It is one that is being replaced. Whenever that playground is replaced, the fencing will be replaced at the same time. Mr. Benton reminded everyone that the Freedom Festival will take place this Saturday, July 3rd. It is not on July 0 this year. The parade will start at 8:30 a.m. at Davis Street on Indian River Drive. It will proceed south along Indian River Drive all the way to Riverview Park. The park event will run from 10:00 a.m. until the fireworks begin. This year the fireworks are slated to begin at 9:00 p.m. Obviously, weather may alter the time one way or another. Another change this year is the location of the fireworks. The fireworks will not be shot off from the island, which has typically happened in the past. They are going to be shot off from the north Twin Pier at Riverview Park. The City is suggesting that people not sit too close in that Twin Pier grassy area. There will be an area fenced off which is the typical fallout zone that is required. Unfortunately, US Fish and Wildlife currently will not allow the City to shoot off from the island anymore. The City is working with them currently, and hopefully in future years that may change. Mr. Danise asked if the fireworks are going to be shot off from a water vessel. Mr. Benton said staff looked into renting a barge, which was going to more than double the price of the fireworks display. The fireworks company has surveyed the area, and they feel comfortable shooting off from the north pier. Mr. Danise provided a handout for Committee members. He suggested it ought to be considered that in the future people in the community be recognized for their work and contributions to the community. He commented that there are several people who do a lot of work in the City for different sports etc., and it would not cost much from the budget to recognize these people. He stated that it has been his experience that communities that have such a program are more active, and they get more people involved. It was the consensus of Committee members that this is a good suggestion. Ms. White suggested that, if this suggestion goes forward, maybe Mr. Danise could be the point person for nominations, and it could be done once or twice a year for recognition of these people. Ms. Drumheller asked that this be put on the agenda for next month's meeting. Mr. Benton said he would do that. Mr. Mauro also suggested going beyond this committee to include all the agencies within the City -- like a Certificate -of -Appreciation sort of program to recognize people who volunteer for the City. PARKS AND RECREATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE PAGE 6 MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING OF JUNE 28, 2021 Ms. Webster commented that she was at the splash pad recently, and there were some wasps present. She also said that she was told that recently there were lots of fire ants. The person who told Ms. Webster this called the City, and the situation was taken care of within a week. Ms. Webster also referred to the gate at the baseball field. She recalled that Mr. Benton referred to it as a post so that vehicles could not get through that gate. Mr. Benton said that there was discussion about installing a removable Bollard post that could be locked and then opened when someone needed to drive to the concession stand, etc. That has not been done yet, but it is planned. Mr. Renzi stated that at the Pickleball Complex the Flushing control in the men's bathroom needs to be repaired. Mr. Benton said he would have someone look at that. XII. Items for the Next Acenda and Date: July 26.2021 A. Fiscal year 2022 Capital Improvement Projects related to the use of recreation impact fees. He will include a zone map as was requested earlier. He will also have some details on the fund accounts for the recreation Impact zones so that Committee members know how much is in each zone and how much total we have. B. Discussion on the item regarding recognizing community members for what they have done for the community. C. Selection of a new Chairperson and Vice -Chairperson for the next year. XIII. Adioumment There being no further business, Chairperson Webster called for a motion. Motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Mr. Denise, seconded by Mr. Mauro, and approved unanimously via voice vole at 6:35 p.m. By: ��—_. Date: anne Webster, Chairperson I jg Aj