Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout~Master - Ames Park and Recreation Commission Meeting 10/17/2013AMES PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES DATE: Thursday, October 17, 2013 COMMISSION PRESENT: Alisa Frandsen, Melissa Rowan, Julie Johnston, Leo Milleman and Ed Moran ABSENT: Jason Schaben, Vikki Feilmeyer, STAFF: Keith Abraham, Joshua Thompson CALL TO ORDER: 4:00 PM APPROVAL OF MINUTES Moved by Milleman, seconded by Rowan to approve the September 19, 2013 meeting minutes. Motion Approved PUBLIC FORUM No Comments DEVELOPMENT OF THE CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN Abraham gave an overview of what the process looks like. Projects are typically $15,000 or more. Commission members will meet with the City Manager and the City Manager will present it to the City Council. The Council only approves the first year of a five year plan. The Parks and Recreation staff and Commission members will look at the needs and condition of existing structures as well as listen to what people have to say, gather all that information, prioritize and make decisions. Public Input on the CIP Kim Hanna, Executive Director of the Campus Town Action Association, 115 Welch Ave Suite 201 CAA Campus Town Improvements for City Lot X and Campus Town Court. The CAA would like to see more green space. Lot X in the 2500 Block of Lincoln Way would make a great park. This space for the urban park is currently underutilized parking. Jerry Chase, 1707 Northwestern Ave Would like to make a proposal to acquire the land west of the Boys and Girls Club for a park. Would request that the owner be approached to donate the land but if not, purchase this land and turn into a park that would serve over 50 apartment buildings in the area. Angie Dewaard, 2705 Burr Oak Circle Would like to propose that we establish a children’s memorial as a new park or establish a place in an existing park for this memorial. Cari Hauge, Executive Director of the Main Street Cultural District, no address given Would like to discuss potential of redevelopment of Tom Evans Plaza. The way that it is laid out is not ideal for the gatherings that are taking place there. It is time to work together to redevelop this area. Want some sort of stage and outdoor seating. People do use the tables and eat lunch there but does not work for the other events. Erv Klaas, 1405 Grand Ave, President of Friends of Ada Hayden Heritage Park Main objective for the Friends Group is to assist the city and help in maintaining this park. One of the projects that they hope to accomplish is some interpretative signs with text and photos as how the wetlands work and the wildlife. The group would pay for the signs and would present them for approval. Mr. Klaas would like to see the department hire a staff person that has experience in natural land management. This person could also monitor water quality as the monitoring discontinued in 2006 due to lack of funding. The Friends Group feels that the Parks Department needs to take more responsibility for the water quality as there has been heavy recreational use of the park and this person could take care of not only the park but other areas as well. Mr. Klaas is also involved with Prairie Rivers Resource Conservation and Development. This group that is looking to establish more community garden space in the city and they have a development grant from Wellmark for this purpose. The Ada Hayden Friends Group also would like to see the north facing slope on the south lake returned to a natural savanna area. There would need some tree removal to reestablish the native area. Would like to see some boundary markers in place to determine where private property starts so that they don’t accidentally get onto private land. E-mail Comments Please find attached comments regarding the CIP that were received through e-mail. DIRECTOR’S REPORT Keith gave an overview of User Feedback for the 2013 Summer Aquatic Season, including how many surveys were sent (1,400) how many were opened (701) and how many were completed (274 or 19%). He went over the statistics and answers on the survey. Melissa Rowan stated “The open rate is quite impressive for an e- communication”. Keith stated that the department also gets feedback throughout the season from guards, admissions and concessions staff and Facebook as well as the survey. Based on the feedback, do you want to do anything different with the hours of operation? Julie Johnston stated that we should stay the course. “It is a lot like farming, you go with the weather and we complain about the weather and it changes plans and I think you go with what we can staff. I can only imagine the staffing issues at the end of the summer everybody is going back to school-everybody’s going back to something”. Abraham “It was not fun.” Alisa Frandsen noted that the first full week of school was very hot, like in the upper 90’s and that we had not seen that and that was when she noticed some frustration on Facebook and amongst the patrons. “Maybe we thought we were clear, but be clearer in our publications and when we get the information to those that buy the passes - understand that starting at a certain date there will be some adjustments these are the places you can find the adjusted hours. Rowan, “Do most pools in the area close as soon as school starts? Are we pretty much the only one to stay open?” Johnston added “What do Nevada or Boone do?” Rowan “That is what I am wondering.” Abraham, “We do get people from other communities and they are grateful.” Abraham gave a list of pool closings around the area. Most close or go to weekend only. Many large communities with multiple pools close all but one. a. Fees for 2014: Aquatic Center and Dog Park Motion by Milleman, second by Johnston to accept the fees for the Dog Park and Summer Season Passes as proposed by staff. Motion Approved MONTHLY REPORT Alisa Frandsen stated that Homewood is holding steady so that is good. COMMISSION MEMBER COMMENTS Milleman “I would like to see an outline of your staff and who is who.” “It would be neat to have all the staff on it. How many seasonal are at each location/position as well as staff.” Rowan “I was at the City Hall gym watching volleyball and it was mentioned to me that the scoreboards need to be worked on.” Joshua Thompson, “New scoreboards going up on Monday or Tuesday.” Abraham listed many improvements are going on at the Community Center and South River Valley. . ADJOURNMENT Moved by Rowan with second by Milleman to adjourn. The meeting concluded at 5:25 PM. Next Meeting: Thursday, November 21 at 4:00 PM