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HomeMy WebLinkAboutJuly 22nd, 2013 Jeffersonville Parks Authority Monday, July 22, 2013 The Jeffersonville Parks Authority met in regular session in Room 101, City Hall, Jeffersonville, IN on July 22, 2013 at 7:OOpm. Members present: Mike Smith, Zach Payne, Connie Sellers, Lisa Gill, Board President Ed Zastawny, Nathan Samuel. Absent: Bryan Glover, Dennis Julius, Matt Owen. Also Present: Board Attorney Scott Lewis, Parks Director Paul Northam, Matt Gullo with Kovert Hawkins and Paul Duckworth with CCSA. Mr. Northam requested adding Jacobi, Toombs and Lanz - Marina Discussion to the agenda under Old Business and Mr. Northam made a request to remove Sandy Knott from the agenda under Director's Report because she was unable to make the meeting. Member Samuel made a motion to APPROVE the agenda with the changes, with Member Gill seconding, PASSING on a vote of 6 -0. Member Samuel made a motion to APPROVE the minutes from June 24, 2013 with Member Smith seconding, PASSING on a vote of 6 -0. Member Samuel made a motion to APPROVE the Parks Claims in the amount of $28,360.82 with Member Sellers seconding, PASSING on a vote of 6 -0. A. OLD BUSINESS 1. Jacobi, Toombs, Lanz — Marina Discussion: Jorge Lanz and Josh Darby came before the board to give an update on the marina project. Mr. Darby explained that improvements will be made to the existing marina by removing all the docks and replacing them with stationary wooden docks. The existing access road will be rebuilt and raised about two feet which will greatly reduce the frequency of flooding on the road. An eighteen foot parking area will be built allowing two parking spaces per slip. Mr. Darby stated that they are looking at installing an underground electric and water service from Riverside Drive to the docks creating a utility pole every two slips. A master meter will be up at the top of the bank and they will pay a fee based on the size of their boat. Mr. Darby explained that a twenty -foot wide floating pier will extend about 200 feet from the shore line out into the river to help deflect debris and also act as a fishing pier for the public to use. Mr. Lanz explained that they are working with Shauna Graf to extend the Greenway and make the marina accessible to the citizens of Jeffersonville. Mr. Lanz stated that the Mayor is anxious to get the marina under construction, but the permit application that was submitted to the Corps dictates the entire schedule. Mr. Lanz stated that they combined the request to move the floating stage with this permit application at the request of the Corps. Member Sellers asked if an economic study had been done on the marina and expressed concern that the $2.2 million may not be enough due to unforeseen contingencies. Member Smith stated that Redevelopment has said that they will put in $50,000 to $150,000 a year to maintain the marina. B. NEW BUSINESS 1. Destination One Wrestling: Mr. Northam presented to the board a request he received to allow professional wrestling once a month in the Nachand Fieldhouse. Mr. Northam stated that he is not in support of this event taking place at the Fieldhouse and has numerous concerns such as how to protect the flooring. Member Gill stated that the board needed to protect the Fieldhouse and she was not in support of it. Member Smith expressed concern about parking issues and noise the event would bring to the residential neighborhood. After discussion, the board members were not in support of approving Destination One Wrestling at the Fieldhouse. 2. Smokin' on the River Report: Special Events Planner Sara Schutz came before the board to provide the financial report for this year's Smokin' on the River BBQ Festival. Ms. Schutz stated total expenses for this year's festival was $60,588. Fundraising brought in $4,025 and if in -kind sponsorships are included, the total would be $9,025. Revenue totaled $22,578 with total out - of- pocket expenses at $33,985. In 2012, the total out -if- pocket expenses were $34,626. Entry fees for roughly 60 teams totaled $10,952. Ms. Schutz stated that this year's attendance was by far the best in the five years since the city started hosting the festival due in part to the weather. President Zastawny questioned the board as to whether or not they were comfortable losing $34,000 on the event. Ms. Schutz stated that fundraising is something that needs to be looked at in order to keep events free to the public. Member Sellers stated that there's going to come a point where we're going to have to do something to start bringing in money to cover these expenses. Ms. Schutz stated that she was approached at this year's event with news that a potential sponsor may be willing to pay $25,000 toward the event and she will be meeting with them in October. President Zastawny asked if there were any positives and negatives to report and Ms. Schutz stated that Sysco donated $3,000 worth of ribs which turned into a $5,000 sponsorship and the tasting tent brought in extra revenue this year. Member Smith stated the only problem he was aware of was three complaints he received about people tripping over water lines that were in the street. Member Smith suggested next year using plastic ramps in which to run those utilities. Mr. Northam stated that he is working on getting quotes to have water placed on the river side of Riverside Drive and hopes to have those quotes at next month's Parks Authority meeting to share with the board. 3. Anchors Aweigh Update: Mr. Northam presented an update on the Anchors Aweigh program at the RiverStage. Mr. Northam stated that the program runs 21 weeks. Each instructor is paid $50 per class (instructors were paid $100 in 2012) for a total of $5,250. Ms. Schutz stated that average attendance at Monday's Jazzercise brings in 60 -75 participants, Tuesday's Zumba 75 -85, Wednesday's Turbo Kick 40, Thursday's Boot Camp 30 and Saturday morning's Yoga 15 -30. Mr. Northam explained that they pay an hourly helper $7.50 an hour for two hours a night for the 21 weeks to run the sound, help the instructors, take care of the ramp and dean the area which totals approximately $1,500. Total cost for the program is $6,750 which comes out of the Gaming Fund. Mr. Northam stated that the t- shirts that are given to the participants were paid out of the Mayor's budget. Member Smith questioned the liability insurance covering the program and Mr. Northam stated that Ms. Landrum and Ms. Calabro in the Human Resources Department assured him that the city's liability insurance covers the program. President Zastawny explained to the board that the time to decide whether or not to continue the program next year is now. Member Gill asked how much was paid in advertising the program. Ms. Schutz stated that a lot of money was paid for advertising last year, but this year advertising was cut out and they used the website, social media and word -of -mouth and are still seeing great crowds. Ms. Schutz stated that the people that attend absolutely love it and they think that's its awesome that our city is offering this free to the public. Member Sellers stated that we are going to have to start getting into the mind -set that not everything is going to be free. Ms. Schutz made the suggestion to get sponsorships to pay for the program and Member Sellers stated that there are already so many city events that require sponsorships. Member Payne stated that he agrees with Member Sellers' suggestion of charging patrons a small fee for the program. President Zastawny advised that they don't have to make a decision today, but it is something that needs to be decided on in the future. C. DIRECTORS REPORT Matt Gullo — Woehrle Athletic Complex Update: Mr. Gullo stated that construction at Woehrle Field is going well and AML wants to be completely done by November or December. AML has started clearing trees, moving earth, rock removal and demolishing the buildings that were on the property. Mr. Gullo asked the board's decision on the paint colors of site furnishings at the complex and the board decided to stay with the Parks standard colors of green and cream. Mr. Gullo stated that he is going to speak to Ricky Romans and the CCYFL's Board of Directors to get their input on lines for the turf field. The board discussed about how many lines should be placed on the field and the different ways to do it. Mr. Northam suggested possibly making the grass a different color green every five yards. Mr. Gullo stated that once he speaks to the CCYFL, he will bring the information back to the board for approval. Mr. Gullo stated that there are two neighbors near the complex that have property line issues. One neighbor has 6 or 7 feet of fencing on CCSA property and another neighbor has three shrubs and an invisible fence for her pet on CCSA property. Mr. Duckworth stated that he spoke to each of the neighbors about removal. There was discussion about who should move the fencing and the shrubs — CCSA, the city, or the home owners. Mr. Lewis stated that he doesn't represent CCSA, but he would suggest trying to get the property owners to remove these things themselves. The board decided that the home owners should be notified immediately by certified mail in order to not hold up the progress of the project. Mr. Duckworth stated that there is a cost to the city if there is a delay. Mr. Gullo asked Mr. Northam about removing the goals that are still on the property and Mr. Northam stated that they will start taking them down tomorrow. Mr. Gullo informed the board that rock removal is going to be more difficult than they had anticipated. A large machine called a "ripper" had to be brought in at a cost of $3,000 a day to break the bedrock layer. Mr. Gullo requested approval of a change order of $125,000 — not to exceed this amount - to cover cost of rock removal. Mr. Gullo stated that there is $150,000 in the contingency fund but he is requesting only $125,000 of that. Mr. Gullo explained that until they start removing rock for the storm sewer lines, they won't know for sure how much it is going to cost. Mr. Gullo explained that the design team is going forward redesigning the storm sewers to help save money and other credits will come forth by raising the lateral lines and relocating the transformer to a better location reducing some of the electric poles. Mr. Gullo stated that the cost of utilities was overestimated so there will be an extra $15,000 - $20,000 that can go toward rock removal. Member Gill made the motion to APPROVE using the contingency fund not to exceed $125,000 for rock removal, with Member Samuel seconding, PASSING on a vote of 6 -0. Mr. Gullo requested approval allowing Mr. Northam to approve change orders on behalf of the Parks Authority not to exceed an amount that the board is comfortable with. Mr. Gullo explained that this will keep things moving forward between board meetings. Member Gill requested the board stay informed of these expenditures when they occur and Mr. Gullo stated that he would notify everyone by email. Member Gill made a motion to allow Paul Northam to approve change orders not to exceed $20,000, with Member Sellers seconding, PASSING on a vote of 6 -0. 1. Paul Northam — Report: Mr. Northam stated that he enjoys all the programs that the Parks Department puts together such as the skating rink, the RiverStage, the Easter egg hunt and Halloween Downtown, but the city is not making any money off of these events. Mr. Northam advised that we need to stop the bleeding and find a way to do it. Mr. Northam suggests that he create a report on every event Parks has, how much money is put into it and how much money they're losing, then they can discuss where to save money and which ones to charge. President Zastawny stated that with school starting about three weeks earlier the pool season will be shorter. Mr. Northam stated that the pool will be open on weekends, but they don't know what kind of attendance they will have. Mr. Northam stated that Jeffersonville is hosting the State baseball tournament for 10 -year old boys and they had a pool /pizza party for them at the Aquatic Center and everyone had positive comments about the facility. Mr. Northam explained that the Aquatic Center will be used less and less due to the school schedule. Member Samuel asked if Mr. Northam could reach out to senior citizens who may be interested in using the pool when kids are not there. D. REPORTS AND COMMENTS 1. Public Comments None 2. Parks Authority Member Comments: Member Smith: None Member Payne: None Member Sellers: None Member Gill: asked Mr. Northam for an update on the surveillance in Vissing Park that has been down for the last two or three weeks. Mr. Northam stated that he is meeting with Chris from Security Pros tomorrow to have him look into it. Member Gill also asked Mr. Northam about the status of the weeds at the marina. Mr. Northam stated that the Parks maintenance crew will be cutting down some of the weeds, but Americorp is coming into town next week and they are looking for projects to do so he thought it would be a nice project for them to clean up. Member Smith stated that part of the hill belongs to Flood Control and suggested Mr. Northam get in touch with them first. Member Gill asked Mr. Northam to let Security Pros know that they need to give the city a refund /credit for the period that the monitor was not working. Member Samuel: None President Zastawny: noticed that the Little League has Jeff /GRC on their ball caps and is wondering what the GRC stood for. Mr. Northam stated that it represents George Rogers Clark and gave a brief history of how the two leagues in the city merged. President Zastawny suggested changing the name to Jeff Little League and dropping GRC so that the league is recognized as being from Jeffersonville. Mr. Northam stated that not every little league is named after their city, but agrees that it should be named Jeff Little League and he will bring it up to the Little League board. E. ADJOURNMENT Member Samuel made a motion to ADJOURN at 8:35pm, with Member Gill seconding, PASSING on a vote of 6 -0. r Parks Authority Preside