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HomeMy WebLinkAboutParks Commission minutes - 04-12-17.docx Yakima Parks and Recreation Commission Meeting Minutes for April 12, 2017 Commissioners Present: Chairman Rod Bryant, Jo Miles, Roger Lewis, Matt Tweedy, Rosana Bravo, Josette Gonzales, Stacy Hackenmueller and Dulce Gutierréz, Yakima City Council Liaison Absent and Excused: Vice Chairman Paul Williams, Tom Hinman Staff present: Ken Wilkinson, Parks & Recreation Manager, Brett Sheffield, Chief Engineer, Joseph Calhoun, Planning Manager and Jenise Sanders, Administrative Secretary for Parks & Recreation Others Present: Joe Willis, Executive Director for YPAL, Ross Widener, Environmental Assessment Consultant Call to Order Welcoming everyone in the audience and viewers watching on YPAC, Chairman Rod Bryant called the nd meeting to order at 5:31 p.m. at City Hall in the Council Chambers, 129 North 2 Street, Yakima, Washington. Approval of the Meeting Minutes of March 8, 2017. It was Moved by Jo Miles, Seconded by Josette Gonzales, to approve the Minutes as written from the March 8, 2017 Parks and Recreation Commission Meeting. The motion carried unanimously. YPAL Soccer Program at Miller Park Proposal Ken stated that he received a call from Joe Willis, the new Executive Director of YPAL at the Washington Fruit Community Center. He told Ken he had an idea for some programming in Miller Park and wanted to know what he thought about it. Ken advised that he told Joe that was a great idea and after some discussion, Ken suggested that Joe present his ideas to Park Commission for their input and permission to move forward with them. Ken introduced Joe Willis, Executive Director of the YPAL program. Joe handed out a flyer on Futsal. Joe informed the commissioners that YPAL is an afterschool program and now that it is a family center, they are trying to do programs geared toward not only youth but the entire family. Joe stated that he has been at the center since November and now that the snow is melting he is getting a better feel for what is happening at Miller Park. He reported there have been some issues with people in the park that really shouldn’t be there. He advised that part of the discussion at the Miller Park Study Session that was held a couple of weeks prior was how to take the park back from those doing inappropriate things and make it more of a community park again. One of the ideas was a sport called Futsal. He stated that Miller Park is on the east side and there aren’t a lot of places for neighborhood kids to play soccer around there. Joe advised that YPAL sponsors two soccer teams with the help of Councilwoman Dulce and other partners. He stated they practice at Miller Park, but the grass area is quite bumpy, which makes it difficult to play soccer. He advised of the craze that has been around the last couple of years, called Futsal or street soccer. It is great for places that do not have large grass areas. He stated that Miller has 4 basketball courts and from what he has seen they are not heavily used. He stated his hope was that they be allowed to hold a community event maybe once or twice a year and using the basketball court as the Futsal court. It would be a 3v3 or 4v4 and would give the kids a little bit more opportunity to touch the ball and learn the skills with the help of mentors and coaches. Joe stated that he is looking to get permission to use the basketball courts for something other than basketball. He advised that they are not looking to take over the courts just share them. He also advised that he has been in contact with SOZO sports and they would be interested in hosting the championship game. They discussed bussing the kids out there for that. He stated they are looking at getting donations for balls and jerseys and possibly making it a large community event like Hot Shots. Jo Miles asked is both basketball and Futsal could be played at the same time on the courts. Joe stated that they would be looking at playing four games of Futsal at one time so that would take all of the courts. He stated that they would be able to give the public plenty of notice advising that the courts would not be available for basketball at certain times. Ken advised that we have converted the tennis courts at MLK Jr. Park to mini soccer or court soccer and it has been very popular. Ken stated that we already have a partnership with YPAL, they are funded in part by the City and the building they operate out of is owned by the City. Ken stated that having them run the program and us providing the facility is a great partnership. When they are there running the program, it will displace the public or casual park user so that is why Ken wanted this to be brought to Park Commission for their input and approval. Ken stated we would enter into a use of facilities agreement for use at certain times and even though there would be no charge there is a formal relationship established between the organizations. Ken advised there are some other basketball courts in the area that could be used by the public. Rod Bryant stated since the swimming pool closed this is the first organized sport that has been done at Miller Park. Ken stated there have been a couple of basketball tournaments since then, but that is correct, no formal, ongoing leagues or events. Rod asked if there can be four games going on at once. Joe stated that is correct and anybody can play, youth or adult. Matt asked what the length of the season is. Joe stated that he is still in the early stages of planning so that has not been decided. Matt stated that he thinks this is a great idea and we are always looking to get more activities in the parks. Roger Lewis commented that appropriate use of the parks tends to stifle the inappropriate use. Ken stated that we are at the point where we are looking for a formal motion from Park Commission to move forward with this or not. Rod stated that this would definitely benefit the youth in that neighborhood. Joe stated that Dulce has been a part of the initial meetings and might want to speak on behalf of the program. Dulce Gutierrez stated that she has been a big supporter of this program from the beginning and getting more activities at Miller Park. Roger Lewis moved that the Park Commission request that Ken Wilkinson proceed with the negotiations for the use of facilities agreement. Stacy Hackenmueller seconded the motion. Motion carried unanimously. Rod thanked Joe for coming and requested that he come back to report after it is up and running. Ken stated that Joe has already been working really hard to bring in new programs and ideas and we are very excited about that. RCO Conversion Environmental Assessment Presentation Ken stated that we have been talking about the conversion of the property at Chesterley Park for the YMCA for some time and as part of the process is an environmental assessment of the conversion property. Ken advised that Brett Sheffield, City of Yakima Chief Engineer and Ross Widener were present to speak on the environmental assessment. Brett showed the diagram of Chesterley Park and pointed out the designated area for the proposed YMCA project. He stated that area is 5.9 acres and it will effectively result in the loss of two soccer fields, leaving the remainder of four soccer fields for use. Matt Tweedy asked if it was both the aquatic center and the fitness facility. Brett confirmed that it is both. Brett stated that since the State Recreation and Conservation Office funds were used to construct Chesterley Park, it is necessary to do the environmental assessment for the conversion area. The conversion property is a 32 acre parcel that is adjacent to the SOZO soccer fields. Brett showed the aerial of the conversion property that is north of the SOZO property and south of the airport. Brett presented the drawing of the plans for the conversion property with the parking area, several picnic areas and a walking path. Brett commented that the picnic area in the center will be grass so if someone wanted to go out and play a pickup game of soccer they would be able to, it will be big enough. He said the walking path will pass through many natural settings along with signs. Brett advised that the construction and maintenance of the park will be done by SOZO and it will not cost the City any additional funds. He stated the City has entered into an agreement with SOZO for them to do that. Rod asked if this is already City owned property. Brett stated the City is in the process of purchasing it. He stated that for this to happen the City has to purchase the property. Brett advised that they are just calling it Replacement Park at this time. Matt asked if there was a different parcel that they were originally trying to do the conversion with, that was going to actually be a part of the SOZO complex. Brett confirmed that was correct. Matt asked if that expired or if they were not able to move it through quick enough. Brett presented the diagram of the SOZO property and pointed out the original property they wanted to use for the conversion and stated that it will not work with what SOZO wants to do with that area and that is why the City moved on to the new area. Matt asked why the original area wouldn’t work. Brett stated that they are talking about putting softball fields or baseball fields. He stated that property will still be owned by the City of Yakima so they are looking at getting some developers to put in some restaurants. Brett stated that SOZO will be putting in football fields in the area just to the north of that. Matt asked if the City will still own a part of the SOZO complex in addition to the new property. Brett said that is correct. Matt asked what part of the property will be owned by the City. Brett stated he is not exactly certain but he believes that the property is 120 acres and the City will still own 40 acres of that. Matt commented that he would think that SOZO would be busy maintaining their sports complex and wanted to know what their interest is in maintaining the park which has no benefit to them. Brett stated that families come for soccer tournaments and maybe while their child is not playing it can be a place for the rest of the family to play on the playground or eat a picnic lunch. Brett stated that they are willing to step up and by doing so will be saving the City lots of money. Stacy Hackenmueller commented that sports parks with play areas near them are a big draw for families. Discussion followed. Jo Miles asked about the parking and if a park user can park without pulling into the SOZO paid or restricted parking. Brett stated SOZO will have people checking to make sure that if they are there for the complex they are parking in the paid area. One of the things that RCO was concerned about was that people there just for the soccer games will be using all the public use free parking. SOZO has said they will have people out there watching and making them move to the paid parking area. Stacy confirmed that there will be a separate free parking lot. Rod asked where the free parking lot will be accessible from. Brett stated off of th 36 Ave. Matt stated that seems like an almost impossible feat to keep people from parking where they shouldn’t. Brett stated that is why they will have a person out there because that is where they make most of their money, parking. Matt asked if that is something they have to put in the RCO contractual agreement. Brett stated he does not know if that is in there contractually but it is to SOZO’s advantage to have people that come to their complex pay for parking. Jo stated that we just need to make sure that the people that have been parking for free at Chesterley are able to continue to park for free at the replacement property. Brett confirmed that is RCO’s concern also. Rod asked if there is anything above the picnic area or if that will remain undeveloped land. Brett stated that it will be grassy area. Matt asked if it will lawn type grass or wild grass. Brett advised it will be lawn type grass, green space. Brett stated that there is some space in there that is wetlands, natural areas, that will remain natural wetlands and there will be educational signage explaining that. Matt asked if this property is part of the Ahtanum Creek flood plain. Brett stated that he believe a portion of it is. Roger asked what the acreage is for the replacement property. Brett advised it is 32 acres. Stacy suggested a second playground closer to the bordering neighborhood. Brett stated that the drawing is in its early stage and doesn’t see why SOZO would have any problems making changes to this plan. Matt asked if there were any other glaring problems or major issues with the conversion and does this property meet all the ratio requirements. Brett stated it does meet the ratio requirements and that is why the environmental assessment was done. It discusses what is being lost at Chesterley Park and what is being gained at the new replacement park. Brett stated that both our RCO person and the National Park Service have reviewed it and so far, they have had very few comments about the draft they submitted and they have already addressed those comments. Now they have their final draft they are hoping to present and be available for public comment by the end of next week. Brett stated that the person we are working with at RCO has asked to review it one more time before it goes public. Jo asked what the price is to purchase the property. Brett stated that when the City entered into the agreement with SOZO, there was a set amount of $4,000,000 or $5,000,000 that the City was going to put toward the development. The City has given them $3.1 or $4.1 million and keep out the last $900,000 to pay for this replacement area. The actual appraisal of the property is $1,019,000, so for the City to purchase it, the YMCA is going to pay the remaining $119,000. Jo asked if the $900,000 is out of the original bond amount. Brett stated that is correct, that money is already in the bank. Jo asked if there is language that the replacement property needs to be in the general area of where the original soccer fields are. Brett stated that he believes that was covered in the environmental assessment. Brett introduced Ross Widener, Environmental Consultant, to address that. Ross stated that they submitted the draft; they had several concerns about moving neighborhoods. They found out that when they studied the data for Chesterley Park, over past history there were more than adequate resources at that park to address the needs of the soccer so the impact of moving the facility was negligible. Ross stated that was the conclusion of the assessment. Jo commented that since there are still four soccer fields, losing two was not that big of an impact. Ross stated that is correct, based on the data they received from the City. The use is more than accommodated by the four remaining soccer fields. Jo stated that the replacement park is six miles away from the current park. Ross stated that it is one of the concerns they had up front, changing neighborhoods and demographics. He advised there is a section on the report that talks about that. He stated that they reviewed 5-10 years of data and how much use was actually recorded; it all fits on the four remaining fields. He continued that doesn’t even account for what SOZO would drive away from Chesterley Park. Jo commented that statistically it works. Stacy asked about some information regarding the demographics and equity of the parks. Ross stated that since they determined there would be no impact to Chesterley Park, they are just viewing the replacement park as a benefit to a different community. They determined Chesterley has enough fields for the people that want to play soccer there. Losing the two fields is not an impact, so wherever the benefit goes, it does not harm the people that it was leaving. Ross stated that if there had been an impact to the people that use Chesterley, for instance; leaving four fields but needing five, this replacement property would not work because someone would have been adversely affected. Matt stated that it seems like a pretty good opportunity for 32 acres of property. Matt stated that Parks and Recreation does not have the budget to maintain this, so he wanted to know how long SOZO is committed to maintenance of the properties. Brett stated SOZO’s commitment is 40 years with an option for an additional 20 years after that. Stacy asked if that included all maintenance, like the replacement of playgrounds, repaving parking lots, and irrigation repairs. Brett stated he believes it does. Ross added that the assessment included the aspect of bringing the YMCA’s services to the neighborhood and the benefit of that. Brett displayed the drawings for the YMCA building. Matt confirmed that both the aquatic and the fitness facility are in the same building. Matt stated that he thought the project was staged, the pool first and then the fitness facility. Brett stated that it is all being done at the same time. There is an area that may be for future expansion. Matt asked what the grass area is beside the building. Ken stated that one of the concepts that had been discussed was a possible outdoor pool in a future expansion. Stacy asked if there were other locations or properties proposed for the YMCA facility. Brett stated that rdth there were a number of other properties that had been discussed; 53 Ave. & Nob Hill, Lions Park, 44 thrdth Ave. & Nob Hill and 16 Ave. by the freeway. Brett stated that 53 and 44 Ave. along Nob Hill were both private property and Lions Park is City owned, which would entail us removing the existing pool and replacing with a new facility. Matt asked about the timeline for the conversion process and where we are at with it. Brett stated that they are hoping to have the RCO process finished by the end of this year, December 31, 2017 and if that is the case, the YMCA aquatic center would begin construction in 2018. Brett stated that the replacement park area has to be created within four years after the City purchases the property. Rod questioned the year the replacement park would need to be completed. Brett stated that the City must own the property for it to be approved for conversion by RCO, so the City would have to purchase it this year, therefore it would need to be created by 2021. Brett advised that the City is in negiotations with Congdon, the owners of the property right now. Rod thanked Brett and Ross for providing some clarity to this issue. City of Yakima – Comprehensive Master Plan Presentation Ken advised that the City Planning Division has been working on their Comprehensive Master Plan at the same time that the Parks and Recreation Division have been working on theirs. Ken stated that Joseph Calhoun has worked in the Planning Division for a number of years and also spent a couple of days a week working in Parks for three years. He went to work for the Yakima Valley Conference of Governments for a little while and has now returned to work for the City Planning Division. Ken introduced Joseph Calhoun, Planning Manager to speak about the City of Yakima Comprehensive Plan. Joseph stated that he really enjoyed the time he spent working in Parks and learned a lot from Ken about leadership and management. Joseph stated that the City is in the process of updating the City’s 2040 Long Range Comprehensive Plan. This is a requirement of the Growth Management Act, that cities periodically update their twenty year plan. One of the requirements is to retain open space, enhance recreational opportunities, conserve fish and wildlife habitat, increase access to natural resource lands and water and develop parks and recreation facilities. Joseph stated that a portion of the overall long range plan includes the Parks and Recreation element. He advised this element has five components; a brief introduction where they talk about the mission of Parks and Recreation in Yakima. Joseph stated they highlight some conditions and trends where they take some broad acreage and trails numbers that Parks has, they do not go into depth like the 2017-2022 plan. It is more of a synopsis of the Parks and Recreation Comprehensive plan to promote consistency across both plans. Joseph stated that they talk about challenges and opportunities again highlighting the current park acreage and deficiencies based upon the NRPA standards and identified what the current deficiency in the acreage is in the Capital Facilities portion of the comprehensive plan. He stated they highlight the project list that has been developed as part of the 2017-2022 plan which will help to alleviate some of those deficiencies. Joseph stated that the goals and policies that are in this portion are straight out of the draft for the 2017-2022 plan and he realized that some the language has changed slightly. What he had done was extract the more long range portions from that part of the plan. Finally, there is in implementation section that talks about how this portion of the long range plan will be implemented, again talking about the capital facilities plan, the Parks and Recreation short term plan and also highlighting the bicycle master plan that dovetails in as well. Joseph advised that they are currently in th the comment period which ends May 16; ultimately a recommendation will be rendered by the City’s Planning commission which will be forwarded to City Council for a final review in June. He stated they are th required by state law to have plan updated by June 30. Joseph stated he will be working with Ken on any changes to the language so it will be the same as the short range plan. 2017-2022 Parks and Recreation Comprehensive Plan Update A. 2017 -2022 Capital Plan - Review Ken stated that they had been given the Capital needs list or wish list last month and wanted to bring it back after they had a chance to review it. Ken stated that we will continue to add things to the list even after the plan is completed. Jo asked if there is a list of 2017 capital projects. Ken stated that we are doing the playground at Cherry, new restroom at Gardner, new playground at Gardner, irrigation and canal improvements for Tahoma Cemetery. Matt asked if the restroom at Gardner is going to be in the same spot. Ken advised it is not, it will be closer to the road, closer to the parking and easier for the staff to access for cleaning. It will be where old playground is and the new playground will most likely go where the old restroom is. Ken stated that we are doing a new playground at Chesterley also, but that is through a donation from Southwest Rotary. Ken advised that we are in the process of doing the filtration system at Lions Pool and some concrete work that needs to be done at Lions Park. Ken stated that we are also doing the storage building at Kiwanis/Gateway. Matt confirmed that Ken said at the last meeting that he deferred on the parking lot at Elks and Gardner. Ken stated that is correct and they will remain on the list until we have funds available. Cherry Park Improvement Update Ken reported that we are in the process of replacing playground at Cherry Park. The current playground was over 20 years old. Ken advised that the post have been installed for the community build. He stated that the post are put in and set in concrete. The volunteers will then come and put the rest of the playground together. Park Maintenance will come back, grade and put in the border and mulch material so nd the kids don’t get hurt. The community build is scheduled for Saturday, April 22. The Together Church will have 50 volunteers helping put that together. Miller Park Study Session Recap Discussion Ken reported that some of the Park Commissioners were able to attend the Miller Park Study Session. Ken stated that he had shared some information about Miller Park to both this group and the Neighborhood and Community Building Committee last fall. He said he wanted to share the additional information that was given to City Council at the study session. Ken advised that they sat down as a staff and did some brainstorming about what can be done and this park and started to design that. Ken shared the PowerPoint presentation. One of the concepts was to incorporate the Washington Fruit Community Center into the park. He stated that he has put together some cost estimates for removing or replacing the basketball courts and/or installing mini soccer courts. The location for a picnic shelter is up for discussion. Ken stated that he would like to install new park signs in all of the parks; some of them do not currently have a sign at all. Concrete benches would be placed around the park. A new playground is in the planning. We do not currently have a donor but have talked to a couple of various groups. The playground there now was put in by one of the Rotary Clubs in 2001. A new restroom would be the same style as the ones being placed in other parks. Ken stated that we know from the survey that one of the most popular activities in the park is walking, so the plan would include a new walkway around the park. One thing that came from the study session is a decorative fence around the park. Ken advised that they did not discuss funding options with City Council, but he stated one way to accomplish these things is to chip away at them with donors, Parks Capital and go for grants. The RCO grants are 50/50 match so for the $500,000 project the City would need to come up with $250,000 as match. Matt asked if Ken has secured the $250,000 match. Ken stated no. Dulce Gutierrez addressed the CPTED, which is the site audit done by the Yakima Police Officers. She stated that this is factual and reinforces what most already suspected. She said it talks about the alleyway being a problem and that the community impact of Miller Park seems more negative than positive. She stated there was an emphasis on the need for better lighting. Jo commented that the park is lighted now. Ken confirmed that there 12 lights in the park and they are updating them to LED. He advised that 4 or 5 have already been updated. The fixtures alone are going to cost $3,000 to $4,000. The process started last fall and will complete this spring/summer. Jo commented that after the study session he went on a tour of the parks at night and found that Miller Park was totally lit up and he was able to see all the way across the park. He continued that it was in fact the only park in the city that has lights. Ken stated that they have also limbed up the trees which helps with visibility into the park for the Police Officers. Another thing that came from the study was encouraging the neighborhood to make the park their own again. Ken stated there will be the Viva la Musica concert series there again this summer. He said they are moving forward with the 6 week summer playground program. He stated they were able to secure a $4,000 donation and they are looking additional funds. They have a request in to Legends Casino for the remaining $8,000 to fund that program. Ken stated that they have also spoken with First Tee and they are interested in putting on an intro to golf program there. Jo stated that he thinks that the playground equipment should be moved up to the top of the list of improvements. After going to the different parks around the city, he said he believe the draw for a lot of the families is the playground equipment. Matt stated that for the cost he thinks the perimeter fence is the obvious choice to help with the transient issues. Dulce stated that access to the park and the alley are big issues. Dulce advised of the report stating the number of police calls at Miller Park is the highest at 602 and Kissel is second 276. Matt asked if there are any Capital Improvements on the list for Miller in 2017. Ken advised there are not. Matt asked if there were any last year. Ken advised that the lighting upgrade is ongoing. Ken stated that the picnic shelter is relatively new, the spray park has been up updated within the last few years, the old bathhouse was removed and the new performance area was installed in 2015. Matt commented there have been quite a few changes in the last few years. Ken said that all the parks need improvements and that is why he needs this group to help set those priorities. Ken commented that all of our parks have vandalism, graffiti and crime. Stacy stated that her priorities list would be the fence, walkways and then a restroom. Discussion followed. Ken stated that he has designed many parks and when designing them you have to take into account so many different factors. Discussion followed. Dulce asked them to rank three priorities; playground, fence and restroom. Matt asked what the budget is, as that would help determine his ranking. Dulce stated she would like an ideal list and say that money would not be a limitation. Matt stated he believes that the security or perception of security would be first on his list, so the fence. Josette Gonzales stated that he security issue is important to fix before putting in a new restroom or playground or even a walkway. Stacy stated that the perimeter fence would be first, then the playground and walkway at the same time and last the restroom. Discussion followed. Stacy asked if Washington Fruit has been involved in the planning process. Ken stated that one of the concepts was there are restrooms in the building that maybe the park users could utilize. That has been received by mixed comments. Washington Fruit has donated funds for the remodeling of the inside of the building. That is being done in 4 phases. Discussion followed. Dulce stated that what she is hearing is the perimeter fence is first, playground second and the restroom third. Discussion followed. Performance Areas in Parks Discussion – MLK Jr. Park & SE Community Park Ken advised that he also reports to the Neighborhood and Community Building Committee on a regular basis and sometimes things that get discussed at those meetings get sent to Parks and Recreation Commission. He stated that Councilwoman Avina Gutierrez had asked about more performance areas in Parks. Ken shared the presentation he did for MLK Jr. and SE Community Parks. One of the challenges is keeping the sound within the park. The further away the electricity the higher the cost will be. He shared the concepts of what the performance areas could look like. Ken advised that the list of costs is not set in stone, only estimates. Discussion followed. Dulce asked about the adjacent property to Cherry Park. Ken reported that it is still in process. Ken advised that is one of the other 2017 Capital Improvements priorities. Manager’s Report Ken reported that he has been talking with Seniors Inc. about them paying for the design and construction to improve the front entrance. They would like to remove the swing-out doors and replace them with sliders with a heater and fan. Ken advised that they are also buying 100 more nice new chairs for the center. Ken stated he is currently working on a presentation for an east side pool. He said he thinks there are 3 or 4 very critical components of this; location, design, and how do we pay for it. Ken advised that the th Study Session will be held May 30 at 10am. Ken stated that we will also be finishing up the Comprehensive Plan soon. Josette asked if he had examples of pools. Ken stated that he will show three different size pools at three different costs. Stacy stated that she would prefer that the city acquire more land, rather than take away current green space for a pool. Ken advised that there are many things that need to be considered. Matt asked about the property at the old Boise Cascade mill. Ken stated that he is not sure how much of that the City owns or is owned by a private party and may have some environmental issues. Discussion followed. Ken advised that they are in the process of interviewing for the Recreation Program Supervisor. Ken thanked Josette for being willing to serve on the interview panel. For the Good of the Order Jo Miles stated that their packet includes a document from a citizen, not staff. He advised it is simply a tool or idea to consider to possibly remedy the problem of tax payers not being able to access their parks. Matt asked if it have been vetted through legal. Ken and Jo stated it has not. Stacy stated she feels more positive reinforcement in the parks would be more effective. Jo stated that this was just a response to the complaints of people not being able to use their own parks. Stacy reported about the Blue Zones to help th with health and wellbeing. There will be a luncheon on May 8 from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm. There will also be a town hall event open to the public at the Seasons at 5:30 pm that evening. Rod asked how the opening at Fisher went. Ken stated he was out of town last week so he was not sure. Roger stated that he played and the course was in good condition. Matt thanked Ken and Jenise for the packet of information they provide for the meetings. Adjournment The next Parks and Recreation Commission meeting will be May 10, 2017. The meeting adjourned at 7:21 p.m.