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HomeMy WebLinkAbout~Master - Ames Park and Recreation Commission Meeting 09/20/2018AMES PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES DATE: September 20, 2018 COMMISSION PRESENT: Sarah Cady, Ed Moran, Jeremy Bristow, Eve Lederhouse ABSENT: Sarah Litwiller, Kelsey Culbertson STAFF: Keith Abraham, Kellee Omlid, Joshua Thompson CALL TO ORDER: 4:03 PM APPROVAL OF MINUTES Moved by Bristow with second by Cady to approve the August, 2018 meeting minutes. No discussion. No opposition. Motion Approved PUBLIC FORUM No Public Forum DIRECTOR’S REPORT 1. Commission Action Form: Agreement with Iowa Wild and Wells Fargo to Provide an Outdoor Ice Rink Thompson shared history of outdoor ice skating in Ames. Bristow thinks this is a great deal. Moran asked Thompson about maintenance and storage of the rink. Thompson informed Moran that once the rink is set up, the flooding and resurfacing will be done by park maintenance staff and storage would not be an issue. Lederhouse asked Thompson if there is conflict or competition with the Ames/ISU Ice arena. Thompson said it would not be an issue. Abraham believes that this will only enhance ice skating in Ames as public skate time at the Ames/ISU Ice Arena is so limited. This donation will give people additional opportunities to skate. Staff recommends Alternative # 1 to recommend the City Council approve the agreement and accept the outdoor ice rink donation from the Iowa Wild and Wells Fargo. Moved by Cady with second by Bristow to approve Alternative #1. No discussion. No opposition. Motion Approved 2. Commission Action Form: Ames Cyclone Aquatics Club Request to Utilize Furman Aquatic Center for 2018 Swim Meet Omlid reported the meet was a success and the event gets easier each year. ACAC provided parking attendants and they did a good job, however parking was still a problem. The only other problem was unauthorized and unpaid use of the remaining basins by meet participants and spectators. Staff recommends Alternative #1 renting the 50 meter basin of the Furman Aquatic Center at $425 per day on June 7, 8, and 9, 2019 to ACAC for a youth swim meet, allowing ACAC to utilize the Lazy River for warm-ups and cool-downs when FAC is not open for normal operations and have ACAC reimburse the City for the lifeguards. Reserving the proposed dates and related times to ACAC to host a swim meet at the Furman Aquatic Center in 2020. A determination of the date (awarded by ISI) would be based upon the City’s evaluation of the 2019 meet with a decision being made at the September 2019 Commission meeting. Cady asked if staff had any ideas on how to assess the user fee to people who are attending the meet and using the other amenities. Omild explained that staff would be happy to sell these individuals a daily admission. Bristow asked about a discounted rate or team buy in. Omlid informed him that there are some teams that pay for use of the other amenities for their swimmers. ACAC did not know if they could charge a flat fee up front to pay for the additional swimmers. Cady asked if additional signs would help. Omlid informed the Commission that signs were put up. Abraham also reminded the Commission that we do want to have swimming options available in the other two basins for citizens during the meet. Moved by Bristow with second by Cady to approve Alternative #1. Discussion: Noted by Lederhouse that the agenda listed the meet as 2018 instead of 2019. Lederhouse abstained. No opposition. Motion Approved 3. Commission Action Form: Brookside Restroom Thompson went over the history of the structure, which was damaged by fire earlier this year. Thompson included floor plans for repairing or replacing this facility and funding sources in his presentation. Available funding for this project is $180,000. The most economical choice is Alternative #1; traditional male/female restrooms on each side and a gender neutral/family restroom in the middle. Cady asked if the gender neutral restroom would have a changing table. Thompson told her it would be both a family restroom and ADA compliant. Lederhouse thinks Alternative #1 would be a great compromise. She asked about additional funding sources to make the restrooms more family/gender neutral for the long term plan. Abraham stated that there could potentially be savings in other projects, but it is never certain until a project is finished. He also informed the Commission that they could decide to delay the project and look for additional funds. Another option could be to amend the alternative recommending Alternative #1, stating that if additional funds become available the preferred option is Alternative #2. Cady asked if they could recommend Alternative #2 to the City Council. Abraham stated that he would not be at the meeting; however Thompson and Omlid can take that recommendation to the Council. Bristow would rather have the four separate gender neutral restrooms but he does understand the constraints of the budget. He would rather have Alternative #2, but he is okay with Alternative #1. Cady thinks it really comes down to the Council’s priorities. She stated that the Commission can decide to recommend Alternative #2 and if the Council does not want to spend contingency dollars on this project, Alternative #1 would be great as well. Lederhouse does not want to be short-sighted and Band-Aid something that in five or ten years will need to be renovated again. Moved by Lederhouse with second by Bristow to direct Staff to recommend Alternative #2 to the City Council, knowing that budget may be a constraint and recognizing Alternative #1 is a viable an alternative. No discussion. No opposition. Motion Approved. 4. Discussion: Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) Abraham went over the process for putting together the CIP and how the funds are allocated. Abraham went through the plan with the Commission and emphasized the items that are considered to be immediate needs. He also shared with the Commission the results of the public meeting held September 13, 2018. Commission Member Comments: Cady pointed out the large amount of major decisions regarding bridges and restrooms. She was happy to have received so much public feedback. Cady also appreciated how the disc golf group thought about how to adjust and still meet the needs of the users. She liked how they addressed some of the major things that need to be done but are also looking at more disc golf opportunities for future play. Cady asked and Abraham explained how funds for trails work between Public Works and Parks and Recreation and how jobs are prioritized between parks and streets. Cady would like to see replacement paths widened to ten feet. Moran commented that many of the items the public have asked for are attached to the Healthy Life Center project plans. Lederhouse feels that the Staff and the Commission need to take care of what we already have and that there are no bad ideas on the list. Ames is already a dynamic community and we can’t let the things we have crumble underneath us. Maintenance issues are not new or exciting stuff but we need to take care of what was already here. Moran asked about the lighting at the tennis courts at the Ukena Family Tennis Complex. Abraham stated that the lights are owned by the City and could be moved. We could call the manufacturer or an electrical contractor to find out the cost to move them. Moran asked if there was still conduit at Brookside. Abraham said that had all been taken out. Lori Biederman (1239 Orchard Drive) Biederman recalled that several years ago there had been a big neighborhood meeting about redoing the tennis courts and lights. She stated that she remembered there was a particular person who was very pro lights and that the neighbors on that street were against the lights. Abraham said that he recalled the neighborhood meetings regarding that area of Brookside Park at the time the horseshoe courts were moved. There was a proposed small parking lot off of 6th Street and redeveloping that area. The park neighbors were clear that they did not want more activities held there. The person who has been requesting lights was told to have any other people who agreed with adding lights in that area to contact Abraham. Abraham said he has had no other request for lights. Abraham also stated that there would be public meetings before anything as big as installing lighting would be considered. Cady asked about timers or programming of the lights. Abraham said they could be put on a timer so that they would shut off automatically and not come on in the park after hours. 5. Project Update 1. Healthy Life Center Thursday, November 29, there will be a joint meeting with all the entities involved. All of the commissioners are invited. Attendees will hear from all the philanthropic chairs regarding fundraising amounts at this point in the project. 2. Correspondence All correspondence was shared as part of the CIP packet. MONTHLY REPORT Staff has been working with ISU to monitor the mosquito population. Staff will continue to spray parks until the mosquito population diminishes this fall. The public can still purchase tickets for the Porter Union concert and the Sleepy Hollow performance in the Ames City Auditorium. COMMISSION MEMBER COMMENTS Eve Lederhouse would like to applaud the Ames Police Department and their partners in light of the horrendous event that took place. She appreciates how Staff and this Commission take safety into consideration when making decisions. Abraham agreed that the Ames Police did a great job. Abraham informed the Commission that there is a park rule regarding no camping in the parks and the city has an ordinance closing the parks 10:30 PM. Abraham informed the Commission that if park maintenance staff see a camp, or a member of the public calls one in, we address it right away. Staff went out to the area where this individual was living and cleared out the camp today. The department is looking at a plan to check these areas on a regular basis and clear out underbrush for better visibility. We also need to look at how we, as a community, can help those individuals as well. ADJOURNMENT Moved by Cady to adjourn. The meeting concluded at 5.52 PM. Next Meeting: - Thursday, October 18, at 4:00 PM