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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014 09 PRB MinutesWUP Parks and Recreation Board MINUTES SEPTEMBER 3 , 201 4 6:30PM REC CENTER – CONFERENCE ROOM TYPE OF MEETING Monthly Meeting CHAIR Melissa Pifko ACTING SECRETARY David DeAnda ATTENDEES Don Armstrong, Kevin Boyle, David DeAnda , Melissa Pifko, Susan Reeves , Moya Varner , Burt Ballanfant, Tracy Larson T im O’Conn o r (Staff) Dick Yehle (City Council) VISITORS Michelle Moore (West University resident) Mark Prescott (Friends) Aurora Picture Show: Camilo Gonzalez, Sarah Stauder and Mary Maga s men I. Call to Order: The mee ting was called to order at 6:3 5 pm by the chair Melissa Pifko . II. Approval of June 2014 Meeting Minutes : Motion to approve minutes made by Susan Reeves, seconded by Moya Varner . Motion approved. III. Aurora Picture Show presentation : Aurora Picture Show employees gave a presentation and screen ed several short films . Purpose of attending meeting was to discuss potential screenings for West U movie night at one of our parks. Aurora Picture Show is a nonprofit media arts center that presents artist made non -commercial films to the public. They are located close to West University (on Bartlett). In addition to screening films they also have an education component. Discussed the film camps that they offer. Scr eened a short film that had the involvement of several West U children (ages: nine). Tim suggested that we could have a screening event at Colonial park in conjunction with the group. Tim stated that having a camp at one of our facilities would b e impractical however felt that they c ould be a good potential partner. Aurora proposed to underwrite the first screening event with the City providing at least one employee and advertising for the event. Board expressed an interest in exploring a p otential joint event with the Aurora so long as it was a family friendly event. Melissa suggested that we involve the Program committee in such planning. IV. Friends Overview : Amanda McGee unable to attend. Overview given by Mark Prescott . Fathers and Flashlight is sold out once again and is scheduled for the last weekend in September. Friend’s Board did not meet during the summer but will resume their meeting s in September. Park Lover Ball is scheduled for February 7, 2015 at the Omni Hotel. T he event co -chairs are Michele and Charles Still; Adrienne and William Vanderbloemen; and Christi and John Young. V. Board Member U pdates and Committees : Colonial Park: Don, no issues other than the grass but mentioned that is was looking better. Tim discussed the fact that the new turf that was installed came in with army worm eggs. Luckily such pests only attac k ed the blades not the root so it appears that they have been eradicated. Parks and Recreation Board Minutes page 2 Weir Park: Moya and Melissa: looks good . Huffington : Susan : no issues . Whit Johnson: Burt : looks fine. Friend’s Park : D avid : no issues Colonial and Pool : Tracy had a question about when camps are at the pool. Usually when camps are there, there were approximately 50 campers. Stated that pool is extre mely chaotic and it makes it difficult to go to the pool in the morning. Sometimes adding a tennis camp also increased the chaos. Tracy questioned the validity of the swim test. Tim stated that the camps in question are all West U sanctioned camps. Tim did state they tried to post the times when camps are there and tried to schedule the camps during non peak times. Tim stated that 370 kids can be safely accommodated at the pool . Tim stated that busiest times are at 4pm . Tracy had brought this issue to Tim and he stated that they need to balance the needs of all the groups. H e stated that his department is not discounting concerns but are looking at options to improve the situation for next year. Tim was conc erned with camp counselors that are not attentive and ignore the complaints of parents. Will work to address scheduling issues and supervision. Tim suggested that if issues come up in the future, concerns should be expressed to manager on duty at cam p so that such person can address with counselors. Pool concessions : Brought up in last meeting that Prince ’s was not being responsive. Improvement was shown over the summer but there were still occasional issues with hours and quality suffered whe n ma nager was not present. Prince’s is reevaluating menu and it may increase costs. Parks and Recreation looking at other options. Prince ’s committed to coming back however Tim stated that healthier options are probably needed and Prince ’s would ne ed to have specific hours with a stated menu. Summer Meetings : Burt suggested that there seems to lot s of activit i es going on during the summer and recommended that we consider having a summer meeting. Fee Schedule Committee : Kevin said he met with c h air of Senior Board to discuss fees . Hopes to have a subcommittee meeting prior to next board meeting Program Committee : Melissa stated that she plans to schedule next meeting with Brittany . VI. Staff and City Council Updates: Council Update : Dick stated that they are looking at the budget. Likely that we have some compensation issues with staff that will require higher than normal raises. Discussed Citizen Academy for residents who want to learn about city operations. Also stated that c ommercial code is being reviewed for revision. Issues that will be addressed include pa rking, setback noise, etc as it pertains to business development. Staff Update : Tim stated that we just came off the one week closure of the Recreation Center . Floor s were all resurfaced and all w alls were painted. Stated that next year ’s shut down may be longer due to fact that pool will need to be replastered. Hopefully rest of facility can be open prior to pool being finished Tim stated that M aster Plan m ee ting should restart later this month. October to have citizen focus groups and hopefully submit to City Council by March 2015 Parks and Recreation Board Minutes page 3 VI. Citizen’s Comments: Michelle Moore who is on the Senior Board c ame to discuss the concept of micro parks for West U nive rs i ty . Micro parks a re sometimes as small as parking spots but she suggested having pocket park s (at least the size of a lot). Suggested that we used the $2 million that has already been allocated to purchase 4 lot s to develop pocket parks. Gave a short presentation and presented her ideas to the B oard. Ms. Moore stated such parks could address some of the suggestion presented in the resident survey. Melissa stated that such should be presented to Master Planning committee. VII . New Business: Tim discussed Jon’s dedication ceremony. Melissa suggested that we keep Jon position open until next term in his honor. Dedication ceremony will be on Saturday at the Rec reation Center at 10:30 for tree and marker that will honor him. Tim stated that Jon ’s widow is ecstatic. They have over 20 family members that are attending Ceremony start s at 10:30. Will last for 15 minutes with light lunch to follow. Anticipating approximately 40 people (family, parks board, and city council). Park Tour: Discussed having it during fall. To firm up date at next meeting VIII . Adjournment: M otion by Kevin with second by Burt to adjourn meeting. Motion passed and m eeting adjourned at approximately 8 :14 pm . T he next meeting will be scheduled for October 1 , 201 4 @ 6:3 0 pm .