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HomeMy WebLinkAbout~Master - Ames Park and Recreation Commission Meeting 01/16/2014AMES PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES DATE: Thursday, January 16, 2014 COMMISSION PRESENT: Alisa Frandsen, Melissa Rowan, Leo Milleman, Vikki Feilmeyer, and Ed Moran ABSENT: Julie Johnston, Jason Schaben, STAFF: Keith Abraham, Joshua Thompson, and Kellee Omlid CALL TO ORDER: 4:01 PM APPROVAL OF MINUTES Motion by Milleman, seconded by Feilmeyer to approve the December 19, 2013 meeting minutes. No discussion, Motion Approved PUBLIC FORUM No Comments DIRECTOR’S REPORT Capital Improvement Plan, Overview of the projects and discussion. Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) for FY 14/15 to 18/19 (hard copies distributed to Commission members) Milleman asked, “What happens when there are cost savings, is it a use it or lose it attitude?” Abraham replied, “The Capital Improvement Plan is funded by local option sales tax, and though it is a 5 year plan, City Council will only approve year one. If there are cost savings with a project, those dollars may be used to fund other projects if additional money is needed. City Council authorization may be necessary and they can do one of two things, appropriate the funds or tell us to prioritize the projects we already have. Any excess funds would go the CIP fund balance. Parks System: In regards to the proposed Carr Park shelter Feilmeyer, “W hat is the average cost to erect a shelter?” Abraham, “A 20 x 32 shelter similar to the other shelters can be done for around twelve thousand ff we put it up ourselves. We could be looking at twenty to thirty thousand depending on what needs to be done at the site.” In regards to the resurfacing of the south trail at Ada Hayden Frandsen, “What time of year would you expect to do that and how long will it be out of service?” Abraham, “Until late fall or maybe early spring of 2015.” Frandsen, “How long will it would be out of service?” Abraham, “W e have not had that conversation.” Frandsen, “Would you be able to keep the north loop open to people even though it has overlap.” Abraham, “Yes.” Abraham reminded the commission that the Ames/ISU Ice Arena has a Capital Fund which is funded by the City and University each infusing $20,000 per year. In regards to the Ice Arena: Rowan, “Down the road would the additional sheet of ice be added to the CIP?” Abraham, “It depends on what the building is going to look like. Generally, it would be too much money to come out of this fund. A capital expense like this may have to be done through donations or some other source.” Milleman, “Tell me about the indoor lighting, is it routine to change it or are we changing it for some other reason?” Abraham, “The main driver is energy efficiency. We will be changing the lighting over the ice and throughout the facility.” In regards to new surface being applied to the tennis courts. Feilmeyer, “Is it expensive to do?” Abraham, “Yes, but it is expected have cost savings in the long run.” In regards to Moore Memorial Park Bridge Rowan, “W ould it be a part of the bike trails.” Abraham, “Yes it would be a multi-use trail. We would have conversation with the University to connect it to trails along Ontario Avenue once the bridge is constructed.” Frandsen, “I just want to clarify that the money is available July 1, 2014 for the 14/15 fiscal year.” Rowan, “All the dollars that we are committing here, do we already know that we have this much, or are there still decisions that will have to be made?” Abraham, “The 14/15 projects are going to be funded. The City Council will approve them at the January 28 meeting.” Motion: Moved by Rowan, Second my Milleman to approve the CIP and recommend that the council approve it. Discussion: None. Motion Approved Operating Budget for FY 14/15 (power point presentation at meeting) Keith Abraham gave a brief overview of the Operating Budget. Feilmeyer, “Do we make it easy for people to volunteer? Do we have a list of projects and estimated time and skills needed that we can make available to these various groups?” Abraham, “No that is a good idea. We can do that and put it on the website.” Milleman, “What about Neighborhood Associations, are they official or they just kind of an area, are they registered with the city?” Abraham, “There is a neighborhood association newsletter. If a neighborhood wants to register they can do so with the city clerk.” Abraham continued, “Old Town Neighborhood Association just did improvements to Old Town Park with a neighborhood grant. Parks and Recreation put in some funds and the neighborhood provided labor. In regards to the Ames/ISU Ice Arena. Feilmeyer, “Is there a reason this year that the expenses are over revenue this year? My memory is as long as I’ve been here, I don’t remember that happening. Is there something unique about this year?” Abraham, “No, one of the things is we have not raised fees in four years because the fund balance has been doing very well. Over the last couple of years we have had expenses over revenue. In this current year we will have revenue over expenses, but the reason for that is because Metro Ice in Des Moines was shut down and we picked up a camp and some ice rentals. That really helped this year. No action needed. No additional comments or questions. Fees and Charges for FY 14/15 Abraham reported that about 35% of programs are seeing an increase of $1 to $2. He also reminded the commission that the dog park and aquatic fees have been approved already. Homewood will see a slight increase in fees and a restructure of cart fees. Ames ISU/Ice Arena is not changing daily admission fees. Frandsen, “I have a question about the on ice logo. Is that going down to make it more attractive to someone?” Abraham, “Yes.” Rowan, “Do we actively seek advertisers?” (At the Ice Arena) Abraham, “We let the user groups sell the advertising. They pay us a fee, for example, they may sell it for $2000 and pay us $400. Milleman moved to approve the proposed fee schedule for 14/15. Which will take effect with the March brochure? Rowan, Second. Discussion: None. Motion Approved Reaction to joint meeting with City Council on January 14, 2014 The City Council approved the use of the Winekor bequest to offset the cost of building a new indoor aquatic center and asked the commission to move forward with the project. Milleman, “We need to include a session for public input.” Abraham, “We will put together a plan and hire a consultant. Then we will go out to the public and ask for their input. What features do they want to see, a walking track, a community room? Where would they like it located? What is the public willing to pay? After gathering this information the consultant will then come back with conceptual drawings.” Feilmeyer, “The most common comments from the newspaper were concern for the scope of the project. The purpose of all the meetings and input sessions is the scope of the project. That is a concern of this commission as well so I am glad we are addressing it.” Feilmeyer continued, “Municipal Pool had been in this community for almost 50 years and has given a lot of opportunity to the citizens of Ames. “ Milleman, “What is the timeline for public input, will it happen soon?” Abraham, “Please be patient. We will come back in the February meeting with a timeline.” Feilmeyer, “We will make sure to get this out broadly to everyone.” Abraham, “We will educate and inform the public and then the voters will decide.” Rowan, “Will we have to go to a RFP process to pick a consultant”?” Abraham, “We want it to be a competitive process from the beginning as we would probably want to stick with them through the entire project.” MONTHLY REPORT Thompson, “We are meeting with DNR and Animal Control to work on the beaver problem at College Creek at Daley Park.” Omlid, “Lifeguard Training was held with 5 participants. We are opening the summer positions now for Furman Aquatic Center. The positions will be posted online for shift leaders, lifeguards and admissions/concessions and lifeguard training classes are available this spring.” Abraham, “Lifeguards at Furman Aquatic Center need to be at least 16. Guards at Municipal Pool and Brookside Wading pool can be 15.” Feilmeyer “Is there any possibility for forgiveness of the fees for that training to keep guards.” Abraham, “We posed the question to the shift leaders what would we need to do differently to stay fully staffed through Labor Day, and they came up with 35 ways to help with staffing. That is one thing that was on that list. Feilmeyer, “That’s good to hear.” It’s one of those things that the responsibility that the lifeguards need to have, they really need to be on top of their game. Lifeguards have to have a passion for the water and a passion for helping people. “We will be looking at that component.” COMMISSION MEMBER COMMENTS ADJOURNMENT Moved by Milleman, Second by Rowan to Adjourn at 5:25PM Next Meeting: February 20 at 4:00 PM