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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2-23-2026 PR Agenda 1225 MAIN STREET, SEBASTIAN, FLORIDA 32958 CITY OF SEBASTIAN PARKS & RECREATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE AGENDA MONDAY, February 23, 2026 6:00 PM 1) CALL TO ORDER 2) PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE 3) ROLL CALL 4) ANNOUNCEMENTS AND AGENDA MODIFICATIONS: Modifications and additions require unanimous vote of members. Deletions do not apply. 5) APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Item A: Meeting Minutes from January 26, 2026 6) PUBLIC INPUT 7) UNFINISHED BUSINESS: Item A: Current Project(s) Update a. Riverview Park Planning a. Concept review and selection- Concept C (update on Council choice) b. Work order issued to begin Phase One design b. Main St. boat ramp- Awarded FBIP grant for construction a. Bid package under development. c. Swing and Bench Park- received permit and grant for construction a. Bid package under development d. Urban Forestry Grant Awards a. Filbert Street Park exotic removal and native replanting-Complete b. Tree Canopy Survey-filed work complete awaiting final report. e. Hurricane Harbor a. Design concepts i. Review renderings-Two story concept selected ii. Demo Item B: Committee Member Park Updates Item C: Upcoming Events at Riverview Park a. Star Party February 21, 2026 6pm-8pm Twin Piers area b. Concert in the Park February 27, 2026 530pm c. Sebastian River Art Club March 7. 2026 10 am d. Concert in the park March 13, 2026 6 pm e. Sebastian Craft Club March 14, 2026 10 am f. Shrimp fest March 21 and 22, 2026 11 am g. Concert in the park March 27, 2026 h. Highwaymen Art Festival March 28, 2026 9am 8) NEW BUSINESS: a. Kildare Park tree and table b. FCT Grant Sembler property c. Hardee Park Playground 9) ITEMS FOR THE NEXT AGENDA AND DATE: March 23,2026 10) ADJOURN ANY PERSON WHO DECIDES TO APPEAL ANY DECISION MADE WITH RESPECT TO ANY MATTER CONSIDERED AT THIS MEETING (OR HEARING) WILL NEED A RECORD OF THE PROCEEDINGS AND MAY NEED TO ENSURE THAT A VERBATIM RECORD OF THE PROCEEDINGS IS MADE, WHICH RECORD INCLUDES THE TESTIMONY AND EVIDENCE UPON WHICH THE APPEAL IS TO BE HEARD. (286.0105 F.S.) IN COMPLIANCE WITH THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT (ADA), ANYONE WHO NEEDS A SPECIAL ACCOMMODATION FOR THIS MEETING SHOULD CONTACT THE CITY’S ADA COORDINATOR AT 589-5330 AT LEAST 48 HOURS IN ADVANCE OF THIS MEETING. HOWEVER, THE PUBLIC IS ADVISED TO CHECK THE CITY WEBSITE FOR UP-TO- DATE INFORMATION ON ANY CHANGES TO THE MANNER IN WHICH THE MEETING WILL BE HELD AND THE LOCATION. PARKS AND RECREATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING JANUARY 26, 2026 I. Call to Order -- Chairperson Drumheller called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. II. Pledge of Allegiance was recited by all. III. Roll Call: Present: Mr. Moore (a) Ms. Drumheller Ms. Sheldon Mr. Halleran Mr. Mauro Ms. McLellan (a) Not Present: Ms. Webster -- Excused IV. Announcements and Agenda Modifications: Ms. Drumheller stated she wanted to add two items to New Business. Number 8-A would be the introduction of Kayla McLellan as the committee’s new alternate member, and 8- B would be a relook at the park assignments, since we have to change that around a bit. Mr. Blankenship stated that in the agenda packet is a list of 2026 meetings, and he just wanted to point out that it is attached to the packet. Ms. Drumheller suggested adding that item as 8-C under New Business. V. Approval of Minutes: A. Meeting Minutes from November 17, 2025 Everyone having indicated they had reviewed the Minutes of November 17, 2025, Ms. Drumheller called for a Motion. A motion was made approving the Minutes of November 17, 2025 as presented was made by Ms. Sheldon, seconded by Mr. Halleran, and approved unanimously via voice vote. VI. Public Input: None VII. Unfinished Business: A. Current Project(s) Update PARKS AND RECREATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE PAGE 2 MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING JANUARY 26, 2026 1. Riverview Park Planning a. Concept review and selection -- Concept C (update on Council choice) Mr. Blankenship stated that many of the Committee members were able to attend the Council meeting a few weeks ago where Council selected Concept C, which is not closing Harrison Street. Then on January 7th, 2026 we were able to have our first planning kickoff meeting for Phase 1. So Phase 1 planning is underway. We have the FIND grant that we have until mid-September to get a plan for Phase 1 and get permits for Phase 1. He explained that Phase 1 starts basically at the ditch at the south end of the old field parking and goes up through the playground and the splash pad. Those are the items that we will be working in the next several months, and we will hopefully have a final design and permitting for Phase 1 so that we can apply for more construction f unding. We do have the Land-to-Water Conservation Grant. We have executed it, and we are just waiting for it to come back from the State. That is the $1.5 million with a $1.5 million match. Assuming we receive that agreement here shortly, then we will have the conversation about next steps. Ms. Drumheller asked when in the next months does staff anticipate having another public meeting. Mr. Blankenship said he estimates that will be before school is out. 2. Main Street Boat Ramp -- Awarded FBIP grant for construction 3. Swing and Bench Park -- Received permit and grant for construction Mr. Blankenship said he is going to lump items 2 and 3 together He stated that staff has permits and designs for both of those projects. Because they abut each other, staff is now going to begin looking at them as one construction project. The bid package is being put together now, and hopefully we will be able to go out for bid in the next 90 days. He thinks they have enough funding to do both projects. He stated that there is very healthy sea grass established around the boat ramp, which is going to be a bit of a challenge for us to dredge as much as we would like. The strategy is to do what we were permitted for and then try to amend the permit as we go and see if we can get a little bit further. Some dredging would be better than no dredging and, of course, the shoreline over at Swing and Bench continues to deteriorate, so we need to get that done. Ms. Drumheller asked if staff has worked on a conceptual look at equipment for the Swing and Bench Park. Mr. Blankenship said staff has. He stated the options range greatly, and staff has discussed the Noble Winds, which is the refurbished or reconditioned wind turbine blades that are made into park furniture. They have swings, picnic tables, and PARKS AND RECREATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE PAGE 3 MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING JANUARY 26, 2026 regular benches. These are all made out of decommissioned turbines, but they are not cheap. They are unique looking, and that could be an art project. The prices go down from there, and staff will bring to the committee members some options and get your input on the extent of where we want to go. The upland part of the Swing and Bench Park is landscaping and sidewalk design, and then installing the swings and benches that we have. He stated that the City can do that internally. 4. Urban Forestry Grant Awards a. Filbert Street Park exotic removal and native replanting -- Complete b. Tree Canopy Survey Awarded Mr. Blankenship stated that the Filbert Street work is complete. He encouraged the committee members to go out there and look at it. They are small plants, but they are four to five feet. We took out over 700 cubic yards of exotic plant material. The grant required that we put in 28 trees, and we were able to put in 56, so it turned out to be a nice project. Staff is in the process of closing that out now. Mr. Halleran said he did go over to Filbert Street Park. He saw where the new plantings were, and then there were a couple of trails that went to the left, and he noticed that there are a lot more exotics or invasive species that could be removed. He was wondering if that is a possibility. Mr. Blankenship said staff will continue to try to get funding to remove them. This grant was only $15,000.00 to do what removal we could and the planting. So we were limited in the distance we could go or the amount of invasives we could remove. It was not done mechanically; it was done by hand. We made that decision because we were at the point where the pepper trees were beginning to bear the berries, and we did not want to leave all that seed material behind. So, they dug out the roots of the trunks and removed everything that was cut and took it to the landfill. It was a lot of work. Mr. Blankenship stated that the canopy survey kicks off February 2nd. This should not take more than 60 days to do and complete, and then we can bring to this committee the entirety of the survey. If we are doing all parks plus the City campus, we think we have the budget to expand that to maybe some medium surveys and possibly even rights -of- way. But we will definitely get all the parks and this campus done in that survey. 5. Hurricane Harbor a. Design concepts ii. Review renderings -- Two-story concept selected iii. Demo PARKS AND RECREATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE PAGE 4 MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING JANUARY 26, 2026 Mr. Blankenship stated there was a brief discussion about that today, and we really need to push that along to get somebody on board to help us with public workshops. As the committee has provided its recommendation or its idea on the two-story concept, we will now take that and bring it to the public and bring it to Council and get further input so that we can go to formal design. Ms. Drumheller asked what the timeline is for that. Mr. Blankenship said it will be in the spring—March/April. B. Committee Member Park Updates Mr. Halleran stated he has three parks: Bryant, George Street, and Stormwater. Bryant park is looking very nice. The new playground equipment looks great. The astroturf looks good also. He does not see any problem with that. George street is also well kept. He did not see any issues with playground equipment. He mentioned that those are the two parks that he had asked if we could put “No Parking” signs up. There is better compliance with Bryant Park, not so with George Street. If you go to George Steet, you will see the amount of soil erosion that has happened because of the continued parking if you are looking from Barber Street to the left. He was wondering if there can be something more done. Mr. Blankenship will remind the Police Department, as this is an enforcement issue. Mr. Halleran said the last park that he has is Stormwater Park. He said it is such a beautiful park. The trails are very well maintained. Mr. Blankenship announced that the Natural Resources Board is having their air potato roundup there on February 14th. Mr. Mauro stated he has four parks, and they are all in fine shape. Mr. Moore said regarding Riverview Park, he intended to go during the art show, and he got his dates mixed up. He has not been by there over the last month or two. Ms. Sheldon said she has two parks, Kildare and Barber Street. Kildare is looking great. She sees that it is being used. Barber Street is still bustling. She checked out the bathrooms and both water fountains. They are both looking great. She did not see any new graffiti. Everything is looking great -- the landscaping has grown in beautifully. Ms. Drumheller said she went to Kildare. She thinks that park has a lot of potential. She asked if there is any way we could put a picnic table on the forward side of the bridge going over to the little island where folks might be able to stop and relax . That is a great place for kids. She suggested that might be one of the discretionary uses of some of our funding. Ms. Sheldon said there has been discussion about some tree planting or some type of shade as well in that area. Ms. Drumheller suggested that that might come out of the project for the tree canopy. Maybe if we wait for that project to begin, we might be able to use some of our discretionary funds to give a little start for that park. PARKS AND RECREATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE PAGE 5 MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING JANUARY 26, 2026 Ms. Drumheller said Garden Street Park has all the planting for the butterfly garden, and there are a lot of weeds there. She asked if there is anything scheduled for that park. Mr. Blankenship said there is nothing scheduled presently, but we can easily address that. Ms. Drumheller said there is a lot that needs to be done there. In Filbert Park, she likes the way they planted the trees. She added that there are some huge turtle mounds out there. As to Periwinkle Park, she stated that it is popular for lunch people use now. She also stated that the City does a great job cleaning up everything there. C. Upcoming Events at Riverview Park 1. Star Party January 31, 2026 -- 6 pm to 8 pm -- Twin Piers area Mr. Blankenship said that last year when we had this event, it was very popular. The Treasure Coast Astronomical Society brings out some powerful telescopes. We set them up at Twin Piers, and they guided folks through looking at the areas that they were looking at. 2. Four Chaplains Ceremony -- February 3, 2026 This event is at the Veterans Memorial on Tuesday, February 3, 2026 at 11 a.m. 3. Sebastian River Art Show -- February 7, 2026 at 8 a.m. 4. Concert In the Park -- February 13, 2026 at 5:30 p.m. 5. Craft Club of Sebastian -- February 14, 2026 at 8 a.m. 6. Star Party -- February 21, 2026, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. -- Twin Piers Area 7. Concert in the Park -- February 27, 2026 at 5:30 p.m. Mr. Halleran wanted to know what type of music is at these concerts. Ms. Drumheller said she thinks they vary it. She has seen different musical groups there. She added that these concerts are very well attended. VIII. New Business A. Ms. Drumheller announced that there is a new alternate committee member, Kayla McClellan. She asked Ms. McClellan to tell the committee a little bit about her background. Ms. McClellan said she has been a Sebastian resident for 30 years. She is a mortgage underwriter at a local credit union. Her husband is a teacher, and they have two boys. Ms. Drumheller welcomed her to the Committee. PARKS AND RECREATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE PAGE 6 MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING JANUARY 26, 2026 B. Park Assignments Ms. Drumheller suggested that Ms. McClellan take the Easy Street Park, the Historical Park, which is on Schumann Drive and US1. There is not a lot there, and she does not see much use of that park. Ms. McLellan said she would assume the Dog Park, even though she does not have a dog. Ms. Drumheller explained what is involved with the committee members monitoring the parks. Mr. Mauro stated that he spoke with Mr. Halleran about swapping Stormwater Park and Pickleball Courts, as he is not playing pickleball anymore . After discussion, Ms. Drumheller said Mr. Mauro will have Stormwater as one of his parks, and Mr. Halleran will assume the pickleball courts. C. Meeting Calendar for 2026 Ms. Drumheller said there is a list of meeting dates for 2026 contained in this evening’s agenda packet. She pointed out that the meeting in May is canceled, and the meeting in October is canceled because of early voting. Mr. Blankenship stated that the meeting in July is moved to July 13th so we can take advantage of getting the CIP before this committee before it goes to City Council. Ms. Drumheller said that we will see in April if we need to have a May meeting. Mr. Blankenship said, if need be, we can always set a special meeting for that time. IX. Items for the Next Agenda and Date: February 23, 2026 X. Adjourn There being no further business, Ms. Drumheller called for a motion to adjourn. A motion to adjourn was made by Mr. Halleran, seconded by Mr. Moore, and approved unanimously via voice vote. The meeting was adjourned at 6:28 p.m. By:_____________________________________ Date:______________________ Vicki Drumheller, Chairperson jg