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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-22-2024 PR MinutesPARKS AND RECREATION COMMITTEE MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING APRIL 22, 2024 Call to Order -- Chairperson Drumheller called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. II. Pledge of Alleqiance was recited by all. III. Roll Call Present Ms. Drumheller Mr. Danise Ms. Webster Not Present Mr. Renzi -- Absent Ms. White Mr. Allen (alternate) Mr. Mauro Also Present Richard Blankenship, Parks & Recreation Director Joseph Perez, AV Technical Assistant Janet Graham, Technical Writer IV. Announcements and Agenda Modifications -- None V. ADDroval of Minutes -- Meeting Minutes from March 25, 2024 Ms. Drumheller stated there is a modification on the first page where it lists Mr. Renzi as both present and absent, and it should read that Mr. Renzi was present. After discussion, it was the consensus that the date of the Creative Playground should be left as is on the Minutes as presented. There being no other changes, Ms. Drumheller called for a Motion. A motion approving the Minutes of March 25, 2024 as presented was made by Mr. Allen, seconded by Ms. White, and approved unanimously via voice vote. VI. Public Input James Rocco, 2001 East Lakeview Drive, Sebastian -- He addressed the parking area south of Mulligans. He understands that you need a permit to cut the trees down to six feet tall. He asked if the permit has been applied for and, if not, why not. He is concerned about people not being able to see the water when they park there. Mr. Blankenship stated that the City has not applied for the permit because there is no desire to remove the mangroves. There was discussion between Mr. Blankenship, who explained why the mangroves cannot be cut down, and Mr. Rocco. Mr. Blankenship offered to send Mr. Rocco information from Fish and Wildlife which does a very good job PARKS AND RECREATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE PAGE 2 MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING APRIL 22, 2024 of explaining mangroves and their importance and how trimming is really not healthy for them. Ms. Drumheller suggested to Mr. Rocco that there are approximately four other places where one can sit in the car and see the river with no obstruction. She described those other areas. She suggested that Mr. Rocco may want to send an email to the City or attend a City Council meeting and see how much support he would get there. Ms. Drumheller added that the feeling in the Committee after discussion in prior meetings is we have a lot of information between Natural Resources and the City and the City Manager saying how difficult that would be to keep up, and the cost is almost prohibitive. Ms. White asked if there are any other trees in there that could be taken out. Mr. Blankenship said there are three different varieties of mangroves and some sea grapes, which are also protected. If there is anything in there that is not protected, the City takes it out. Ms. White suggested Mr. Rocco read the regulations covering the protected species. Ms. Webster stated that the mangroves help the environment/river, which is very important. Mr. Rocco is not asking to remove them, because they are still going to be six feet high. VII. Unfinished Business A. Projects Update i. Creative Playground Mr. Blankenship thanked those who attended the ribbon cutting. It was a fantastic event. He suggested there were 150 to 200 children there that day. The park is now getting much more use. Ms. White asked regarding the area behind the playground, which would be Tulip, where the back fence is, if there is an opening there. Mr. Blankenship said there is a gate, but it is not kept open. The public has to come through the parking lot area. Ms. White said it was a very nice event, and she thanked the City. Mr. Blankenship reviewed that this project came in on schedule with no issues. Ms. Drumheller said that Mr. VanMeir needs recognition. She walks/rides in that area all the time, and she said Mr. VanMeir is there every single day. A. Committee Member Park Update PARKS AND RECREATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE PAGE 3 MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING APRIL 22, 2024 Ms. Webster said she walked around Hardee Park, and it was really well maintained. She mentioned that there is a large alligator there. Mr. Danise said he enjoys the parks immensely, and he is proud of the City and complimented the staff for the upkeep. He stated that the City has a good workforce, and that is why the parks look so good. Mr. Mauro said the two boat ramps are in fine shape. Pickleball continues to be very popular, as was in the Press Journal recently. There were grades given on all the pickleball courts in the three -county area. Sebastian had some good pros, and there was one con, and that was that it is busy, which it continues to be. Ms. White said Easy Street is used continuously, and it is nice to see all the people and dogs, etc. when she goes there. She mentioned seeing an article that showed Easy Street Park Lake, and it had two kids standing in the water, and you can see in the distance the island, which had two trees on it. She said people commented on it, saying that they remember when that was the case. She stated the park is in very good shape. She added that she has noticed the old maps are on platforms. She asked what is going to be done with them. Mr. Blankenship suggested that the only option is for the City to take them out and figure out what we are going to replace them with, if anything. Ms. White described what was on these maps. She asked if the maps need to be replaced while keeping the posts. Mr. Blankenship said yes. Ms. White said she might have a copy of the template for the map showing all the parks, and she will see if she can find it. Ms. White said she went to Community Development to find out if there is anything going on with the greenspace where the old motel was. She found out that the City did have it up for sale, but there was no interest in it. She would like to save that space as greenspace. Ms. Drumheller recommended that that should go to City Council. That is not within the purview of the Park Advisory Committee. Mr. Danise said his recollection is that this property has been talked about in the past. Ms. Drumheller said that a decision has been held up because of some permitting and some erosion of that space. She also said that what Ms. White is talking about is the property across the road where the old motel was located, and that is not a park project. Ms. White asked if it could be a greenspace that we would like to have as part of our park system. Mr. Allen said he agreed with Ms. Drumheller. If it goes to Council and Council decides to do something like that, eventually it would come back to this Committee for a design, etc. PARKS AND RECREATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE PAGE 4 MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING APRIL 22, 2024 Ms. Drumheller explained that the focus of this Committee is to make recommendations about existing park space. City Council would need to first have an allocation that they are going to agree that that is a park space. Then the build -out etc. would be discussion under this Committee. That is what she understands the process would be. It is not something that we should be discussing at this meeting, because that is something that the City put up for sale. It does not come under our purview. Mr. Danise did not agree. He does not think this Committee is that limited as to what its duties are. He does not think it would be unreasonable to make a recommendation to the City as to what this Committee thinks should be done with that parcel. Ms. Webster stated that in the past this Committee has been asked to look for properties. She thinks it would be appropriate to ask City Council to consider this. Mr. Blankenship stated that he does not know enough of the history of the property to guide this Committee one way or the other. He feels that this matter is a bit above what this Committee is charged with. Ms. Drumheller suggested having in the Minutes that the Committee members feel that extending across the street to the property where the motel was located would also be a great greenspace and for the City to just consider that. This was the consensus of the members. A motion recommending to City Council to consider conserving the motel site on the west side of Indian River Drive as a greenspace and potentially utilize it as a park in the future was made by Ms. Drumheller, seconded by Ms. Webster, and approved unanimously via voice vote. Mr. Allen said that Historic Park looks fantastic. As to Bryant Court, he would like to hear some updates. Mr. Blankenship said his understanding is that the playground has been repaired. Mr. Allen said his understanding is that it has been wrapped up in anticipation of the repair. He asked if it has been repaired since the last meeting. Mr. Blankenship said he believes it has been. Mr. Allen said he would love to hear a full list of updates whenever possible. Regarding Schumann Lake Park on Kildare Drive, it is a park with two names. It also on Google Maps does not show as a greenspace. He would like to have the digital presence of that park updated. Mr. Blankenship said that on the City's website, on the Parks page, is brand new interactive map. It has the City's parks, the County's parks, so you can click on Kildare, and it will come and show you more accurate graphic information. Mr. Allen said everybody uses Google Maps, and he added that someone from the City can go online on Google and say they want to post a correction. It only takes a couple of minutes to have all that updated. PARKS AND RECREATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE PAGE 5 MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING APRIL 22, 2024 Ms. Drumheller said that her three parks are in good shape, and there are no problems with any of them. B. Upcoming Events at Riverview Park Mr. Blankenship stated he wanted to keep Earth Day on the agenda just to recognize all the effort that went into that event and what a successful event it was. It was the Natural Resources Board that produced that event. Ms. Drumheller added that Earth Day was fabulous. She opined that every year it gets better and better and gets more support. She congratulated the Natural Resources Board for the success of this event. Mr. Blankenship mentioned the Arbor Day planting at Tulip Pond Park. There will be a Concert in the Park on Friday night, and Ms. Snow is bringing her Garden Festival on Saturday and Sunday to the park. C. Volunteer of the Year Draft and Final Review Mr. Blankenship stated that at the last meeting the Committee pretty much accepted the form. He just wanted to talk about the process tonight. He has a few questions that he would like to address. There was extended discussion with many suggestions among the Committee members and Mr. Blankenship regarding the Volunteer of the Year program. JIII=►"T 0.11MPI - , A. Park Memorial Program Mr. Blankenship stated he does not plan to do anything on this program tonight, but he wanted to get the information to the Committee members so they can start reviewing it. At the next meeting there can be detailed discussion. Ms. White had some questions which Mr. Blankenship addressed. B. Riverview Park Public Planning Update May 14, 2024, 3 p.m. or 6 p.m. Council Chambers Mr. Blankenship stated that all the Committee members will be getting an invitation. It is the kickoff for planning for Riverview Park. He stated there are several grants to fund this. This will be the public process kickoff; now the public is involved. There will be at least two or three of these public meetings, and hopefully by the end of the summer we PARKS AND RECREATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE PAGE 6 MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING APRIL 22, 2024 will come out with a consensus on what type of upgrades, renovations, and changes we may make at both Riverview and Twin Piers. C. May Meeting Date Change to May 20, 2024 at 6 p.m. Mr. Blankenship stated that, since May 27'h is Memorial Day, May 20'h will be the meeting d ate. IX. Items for Next Aqenda Ms. Drumheller asked if anyone has other items that they wish to put on the agenda for the May meeting. She added that members can email Mr. Blankenship with any agenda items they would like to see at the next meeting. X. Ad'lourn There being no further business, Ms. Drumheller adjourned the meeting at 6:46 p.m. By: vc*A Date: �� f Ms. Drumheller, Chairperson