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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-25-2022 PR MinutesPARKS AND RECREATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING APRIL 25, 2022 I. Call to Order — Chairperson Webster called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. if. Pledae of Alieaiance was recited by all. III. Roll Call Present Mr. Mauro Ms. Drumheller (Zoom) Mr. Danise Ms. While Mr. Renzi Ms. Webster Not Present Mr. Agudelo — Unexcused Also Present Mr. Brian Benton, Leisure Services Director Mr. Joseph Perez, AV Technical Assistant Ms. Janet Graham, Technical Writer IV. Meetina Chair Makes Announcements Ms. Webster announced that Ms. Drumheller (a) is attending this evening via Zoom. V. Aaenda Modifications Mr. Benton stated that under No. X, Staff Matters, Item B was skipped. So it should read Item A and Item B, not Item A and Item C. VI. Aaaroval of Minutes — Meeting Minutes from February 28, 2022 Ms. Webster asked if all the Committee members have had a chance to review the Minutes from February 28, 2022. All indicated they had. Ms. Webster called for a motion. A motion approving the Minutes of February 28, 2022 as presented was made by Mr. Denise, seconded by Mr. Renzi, and approved unanimously via voice vote. VII. Unfinished Business PARKS AND RECREATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE PAGE 2 MINUTES OFREGULAR MEETING OF APRIL 25, 2022 Mr. Benton reviewed that in the Committee's packets there is a copy of the Parks and Recreation Volunteer -of -the -Year nomination form. He staled staff used the feedback from the February meeting and made some adjustments to the draft copy. The copy that is before the Committee members tonight, it is hoped, addresses all the concerns that were discussed in February. What is needed now from a staff level is approval of this draft and a discussion regarding when we will be ready to move forward on this program from the Committee's standpoint. Staff recommends going forward with the program to end later in the year so that there can be something ready for the Christmas parade as opposed to July 41h. Mr. Benton called for questions/comments from the Committee members. Ms. While asked for an explanation, and she read the item aloud. Regarding City employees, she asked whether this would pertain to people who are employed through the baseball team, etc. who do more than what they are paid to do. Mr. Benton gave an example of a City employee who works at the baseball fields all day, and his job is to maintain the baseball fields by gelling them ready for play. Going above and beyond his employment would be his involvement with the Little League and how far he goes after hours on a voluntary basis. He is not going to be paid for those hours; it is completely voluntary. The same thing goes for the football program or any of the non -profits or charitable organizations in the City. He added that, if the City were to have a contractual agreement with someone to maintain a park or other facility. What they are doing on a daily basis and being paid for would not be eligible for this program unless it is being done outside of their regular paid hours. Ms. White also asked if there is an age restriction. Mr. Benton said no, not at this time. She asked if this proposal has to go before City Council. Mr. Benton said staff will make sure that Council is aware of it before it goes forward. Ms. White also suggested having a plaque created for the winnegs). Ms. White also asked if there could be a float of some sort for the award recipient to ride on in the Christmas Parade. Ms. Webster suggested a golf cart. Mr. Mauro asked if this program is limited to residents of the City. Mr. Benton staled it is not limited to residents of Sebastian. However, the volunteerism has to be beneficial to the City of Sebastian and its residents. That is in accordance with the discussion that was had by the Committee at its last meeting. Mr. Denise slated he is in favor of announcing the winner of the first award later in the year so that the program and the winner can be displayed at the Christmas parade. He is in favor of not having too many restrictions regarding who is eligible for the award so that there can be a number of nominees. Mr. Renzi asked how the applications will be distributed and where they will be distributed PARKS AND RECREATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE PAGE 3 MINUTES OFREGULAR MEETING OF APRIL 25, 2022 Mr. Benton said that the staff plan is to get it out to all of the City's non -profits and charitable organizations that staff knows of within the City. It will be on the City's website and also on Facebook. Once staff gets the word out on this program to all the committees and also at all the events such as the Clambake, Fine Arts and Music Festival, etc., word will spread, and he hopes to gel plenty of nominations. Ms. Webster asked for clarification as to when the first award will be made. Mr. Benton said staff prefers that it will be at the Christmas Parade. Ms. Webster asked what the deadline would be for nominations. Mr. Benton suggested six or eight weeks prior to the Christmas Parade in order to be able to adequately review the nominations, and it will have to come to this committee for final approval. There will need to be a committee, and he suggested one member of this committee and a couple staff members, and members of some of the organizations in the City. He would suggest no more than five or six to comprise the committee. Staff can put that group together. Ms. Webster also suggested asking one of the restaurants in the City to donate a gift card. Ms. Drumheller supports the form as presented. She also is in favor of presenting the first award at Christmas time so that staff has a little more time to discuss the logistics of the program. Mr. Benton recognized Ron Paul of the Leisure Services Department for his hard work on this project. Ms. Webster also recognized Mr. Danise for his suggestion of creating the award. Ms. Webster called for a motion. A motion approving the form as presented was made by Mr. Danise, seconded by Ms. White, and approved unanimously via voice vole. Vill. Public Input -- None IX. New Business -- None X. Staff Matters A. Current Projects Update Playgrounds in General — have been a challenge. Mr. Benton slated he and his staff have dealt with numerous delays, whether they have been receiving the materials, contractors coming to do the installation and not having all the materials, or whether it is not being able to get the materials from the playground manufacturers. A lot of the PARKS AND RECREATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE PAGE 4 MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING OF APRIL 25, 2022 problems from the manufacturers and contractors are being blamed on COVID as well as the supply chain issues. George Street in Particular -- installation is still ongoing. The structure is installed, and the playground company has given staff the written ok to allow the public to use it. Thus, it is open to the public currently. However, we are awaiting a replacement part, one of the rails, which is just an aesthetic issue. It is nothing structural. When that comes In, that will finalize that playground. Staff has also met on site and designed the location for the concrete pathway that will improve the ADA accessibility at George Street. The concrete is about six weeks out. Once the company has the concrete ready to go, the concrete sidewalkjoining the sidewalk around the park to the playground will be installed. Blossom Playground -- is currently scheduled as of this date for installation the week of May 16' . That project is one that has been on and off with the installation company. Finally, it's back on for May 16'h. Staff has already begun to plan out the ADA parking spot and the sidewalk accessibility for that playground. That is already scheduled for approximately four weeks after the installation of the playground equipment. Baseball Dugout Construction Project -- has been completed. All eight dugouts have now been replaced for the baseball fields. So those fields are set and ready to go. Yacht Club Seawall Project -- has been completed. Staff is currently soliciting for cost estimates to install artificial turf and a fence along the southern border of that property at the Yacht Club. Those are two additional projects that grew out of the seawall project. The artificial turf will be installed on the eastern and northern sides of the Yacht Club. The irrigation was not reinstalled, as there was an issue with the salt overspray from heavy winds causing waves to hit the seawall, which kills the grass. We were not able to maintain grass there. It was a problem before the seawall was replaced. Currently, there is mulch there, and that Is working well. However, staff is looking to put some artificial turf there going forward. Mr. Benton called for questionslcomments from the Committee members. Mr. Denise referred to the work being done around the lake on Barber Street. He asked if the neighbors are happy with that work. Mr. Benton said that is Garden Club Park, and that is a project where staff is working along with the Stormwater Department. A lot of invasive vegetation was cleared from around the pond. That has cleared it so that we can improve the drainage inlets from the north and south sides of that pond. That will help with stormwater relief when we get heavy rains. The inlet on the north side of the PARKS AND RECREATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE PAGE 5 MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING OF APRIL 25, 2022 pond was completely overgrown, so it was cleared completely, so that there is now an Intel from the north side. A pipe was just recently installed at the outlet from the south side. This project should be complete within the next week or so. Mr. Denise said the park looks great. Mr. Renzi asked what happened to the metal sculptures along Indian River Drive. Mr. Benton said that those have nothing to do with the City, as they were on private property. He stated that the property is up for sale, and the property owner relocated the sculptures that were there. Ms. Webster asked if the restroom that is near that property belongs to the City. Mr. Benton said that is the City's. B. Upcoming Events at Riverview Park Mr. Benton outlined the coming events: 1. May 6 from 5:30 to 8:00 p.m. is the Chamber of Commerce Concert in the Park. 2. May 14 from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. is the Sebastian Craft Club In Riverview Park. XI. Board or Committee Member Matters Mr. Denise reviewed that there were two gentlemen present at the last meeting talking about sailboat and kayak launching. He asked if there has been more thought given to that matter. Mr. Benton said that following that meeting staff had quite a few discussions. Staff went down and visited the site. Shortly after that meeting there was an issue with someone driving a vehicle in there that struck one of the electrical pedestals alongside where the barriers were installed. City staff installed two new ones since the Committee's last meeting to prevent people from having access. He said there are two major concerns with that location: (1) The pedestrian access. There are a lot of walkers who walk along that sidewalk on a daily basis all throughout the day. (2) It's a natural area on the beachfront there, and if it were to be opened up for the sailboats to launch there, there would be an issue with enforcement of anyone else who would like to launch their boats there —whether it is a motorized boat, a kayak where they want to back their truck in there, or jet skis. Those are the two situations that are preventing staff from wanting to use that location. He has concerns for pedestrians going through that area, and also there is no way to enforce who can launch and when they can launch. Staff has made the recommendation that we not go forward with that location. Mr. Denise described that this morning when he was down at the area where the piers are there was someone out on the observation deck pier with a dog. He pointed out that PARKS AND RECREATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE PAGE 6 MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING OF APRIL 25, 2022 there is no sign there regarding no pets being allowed. It was pointed out to Mr. Denise by someone from the public that there are signs disallowing pets on the other two piers. They questioned why pets are allowed on the pier with the observation deck. He had no answer for them. Mr. Benton said that there has been a problem with signs being taken or destroyed in that area. He will look into this matter. Ms. White said she went to the pickleball courts recently. She asked if there is much usage at night at the pickleball courts. Mr. Benton said he will gel a report from the last year that sets forth when the lights are being used. He reviewed that the lights were installed sometime in 2021. Staff has already had to purchase additional tokens because tokens were bought and not turned in. Ms. White asked if the replacement signs at all the parks have been provided. Mr. Benton said no, there are still some that need to be replaced, and he listed them. They are scheduled to be installed next week, all except for the US1 gateway sign. The budget is already set for those. The signs are already built, but there was an issue with concrete as well, which caused a slight delay. They are now scheduled for the first week in May. Ms. White brought up the matter of benches along the sidewalk area at the riverfront. She said there is really no place to sit except by where the twin piers are. Mr. Denise said he is down there almost every day, and he does not remember seeing people who wished to use the benches. Ms. White said Easy Street Park is looking great. Ms. Drumheller said she thinks there are plenty of benches available along the riverfront. She also walks down there several times a week, and she never sees all the benches filled. She mentioned that the Garden Club of Sebastian has had two meetings, which were posted on their Facebook page, at the Park on Barber Street for plant exchanges. There is a lot more activity going on there, and people like using the gazebo. She added that Periwinkle Park seems to have more activity lately, but she has yet to run into anybody at Filbert Park ever. She opined the job that is being done at Riverview Park is amazing. It is always so clean and so well maintained, and she thinks the Parks and Recreation Department deserves a lot of accolades. Mr. Benton asked Ms. Drumheller if, the next time she is aware of a meeting of the Garden Club at Garden Club Park, she would notify him so that he can attend. She said she would be glad to provide that information. Mr. Benton added that he has spoken with a woman who would like to do a butterfly garden PARKS AND RECREATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE PAGE 7 MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING OF APRIL 25. 2022 at Garden Club Park, so staff will probably be working to advance that and a couple of other projects there as well. Ms. Drumheller said that, even if there is not a next meeting listed anywhere, she will get Mr. Benton the contact information for the Garden Club member who is administering the Facebook page. Ms. Webster brought up the flags that are flying at Riverview Park. That is a project of the Exchange Club, and every flag represents a child who was killed through child abuse and/or neglect. Ms. Webster slated that she worked the Shrimp Fast, and she said that the City employees did a great job. She did add that every year the ladies' room is an issue. She suggested that supplies be left so that the people working the event could go in there and take care of it. Mr. Benton slated that there are City staff on site, and they can get in the area that is between the restrooms. There are supplies in there. The City has a cleaning company that comes in, but typically the majority of City staff who are working those events are males, and they have a hard time gelling into the women's restroom. Ms. Webster said she would be happy to go in there and clean it up. Mr. Renzi suggested an assigned paid attendant in the restroom for the amount of time the event is on would be the solution to that. XII. Items for the Next Aoenda and Date: -- May 23, 2022 XIII. Adjournment There being no further business, Ms. Webster adjourned the meeting at 6:35 p.m. By: /l JoAnn Webster, Chairperson rks and Recreation Committee jg Date: