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HomeMy WebLinkAboutParks Commission minutes - 05-13-15.docx Yakima Parks and Recreation Commission Meeting Minutes for May 13, 2015 Commissioners Present: Chairman Rod Bryant, Vice Chairman Sam Karr, Paul Williams, Jo Miles, Roger Lewis, Tom Hinman, Matt Tweedy and Maureen Adkison, Yakima City Council Liaison Absent and Excused: Morgan Pualani Staff present: Ken Wilkinson, Parks & Recreation Manager and Jenise Sanders, Administrative Secretary for Parks & Recreation Call to Order Welcoming everyone in the audience and viewers watching on YPAC, Chairman Rod Bryant called the nd meeting to order at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall in the Council Chambers, 129 North 2 Street, Yakima, Washington. Introduction of New Park Commissioner Rod Bryant welcomed new Park Commissioners Matt Tweedy and Roger Lewis. Ken Wilkinson welcomed Matt to his first meeting and asked him to give a little background information and why he chose to serve on Park Commission. Matt stated he is a long time resident of Yakima, went to school in Seattle and chose to return. He has a family, is a business owner and would like to give back to the community that has given him so much. Everyone welcomed Matt to the Parks and Recreation Commission. Approval of the Meeting Minutes of February 11, 2015. It was Moved by Roger Lewis, Seconded by Sam Karr, to approve the Minutes as written from the February 11, 2015 Parks and Recreation Commission Meeting. The motion carried unanimously. Approval of the Meeting Minutes of March 11, 2015. It was Moved by Tom Hinman, Seconded by Paul Williams, to approve the Minutes as written from the March 11, 2015 Parks and Recreation Commission Meeting. The motion carried unanimously. Yakima National Little League 2014 Annual Report Ken Wilkinson advised that Park Commissioner Paul Williams is also involved in leadership with the Yakima National Little League and will be presenting the 2014 Annual Report. Paul stated that the season runs from October 1 – September 30. He advised that report that is included in their packet is through the summer league of 2014. The financial information comes directly from the league’s treasurer. Paul gave an explanation of the registration numbers shown within the report. There were 253 registered for the Spring 2014 season. They had 3 T-ball teams, 5 Farm League teams, 5 Minors teams, 4 Majors teams, 2 Juniors teams and 1 Fast pitch team. The Fast pitch team is 8 – 12 year old girls and this was the first time rd that program has been run in quite some time. This was the 3 year running the Summer League which is a less formal, more fun program. There were three All-Star teams in 2014; 9-10 year old team, 11 year old team and a 12 year old team. Districts for All-Stars were held in West Valley. Paul advised that he coached the 11 year old All-Star team. Last year saw a significant change in the board and Paul advised he was not technically a board member but did help out behind the scenes. This year, 2015, he is an official board member as he was voted in as Equipment Manager / City Liaison. Registration numbers were basically the same from 2013 to 2014 except for an increase in Farm League, Juniors, and Fast pitch. They are already seeing a small increase in the numbers for 2015. This year the Majors teams have joined with Upper Valley – Naches. Paul advised there is a financial report through September 2014 attached. Registration income for last year was approximately $31,100 and $2,650 in sponsorships. The amount of sponsorships has increased for 2015. Sponsorships come from local businesses and parents sponsoring teams. Concession income was almost $19,000 due to the expansion of variety of products. Last year’s largest expense was field maintenance. He advised they have implemented new procedures to help decrease costs. There was not much fundraising done in 2014 due to the change in the board. He stated that they have already held a few fundraising events this year. Some of those funds raised will go towards helping those that want to play but may not be able to afford it. They are organizing a drive to collect gently used equipment that can be passed down. Planning for this season started much earlier than in previous years. Paul stated that one of the highlights for this season is that they painted the Crow’s Nest, which is the concession stand and storage area. The paint and time was donated by board members and donations from a couple of the local paint stores. A local pizza business is donating pizza two nights a week for them to sell in the concession stand. Paul advised that YNLL will be hosting Districts this year at Kiwanis. They are also working on improving and increasing the number of umpires and upgrading much of the equipment this year. Sam Karr asked if they will be using all of the fields at Kiwanis for Districts. Paul advised they will most likely be using just the newer fields. Sam asked what the refund player fees are that are listed on the financial report. Paul advised that is a cost of refunding a player his/her fee if they get injured early in the season or decide they do not want to play. Maureen thanked Paul and all the volunteers. She asked how they cover the financial loss that was reported in 2014. Paul advised there are reserves for that, but they hope to increase those in the future and want to do that without raising registration fees. He advised that the region for YNLL is not only Yakima, but includes kids from Union Gap and Lower Valley cities. Discussion followed regarding the cost of registration and price of equipment. Paul explained the season schedule including All City tournament and All Stars. Randall Park Improvement Project Update Ken updated the commissioners about Randall Park improvements. Things have slowed down a bit as we are still waiting to hear about the grant from RCO. He advised that the state is still working on the budget and we will not receive final word until that is completed. Ken reminded them that the grant is for $500,000 and we would need to match those funds. We did receive two anonymous donations totaling $150,000 and we have earmarked $50,000 from Parks Capital per year for the next three years. Ken stated he traveled to Portland to look at a pre-fab restroom since they are a different brand than the ones we currently have in some of our other parks. He found that the brand we currently have in our parks seem to be a more durable, less expensive choice. Southwest Rotary has completed their work on the wildlife viewing deck. They created the Rotary wheel using pavers. Jo Miles asked about the space in the middle of the deck. Ken stated that they put that in there in case we choose to install a light pole. Discussion followed. Jo asked about the fabric around the pond. Ken advised that we are working with Stormwater and AHBL on improving the water quality and stormwater detention facility. He stated that we went through and removed some of the Crack Willows along the edge and the old Sycamore that had been carved in for years. Ken explained the dangers of old and dangerous trees. He advised that we are working with Katrina Strathmann from Mid-Columbia Fisheries Enhancement Group on a replanting plan. The silt fence and wood chips are there to protect the water system by keeping silt or dirt from going into the pond which flows into Wide Hollow Creek. We are working with HLA to help us with the permitting process and the Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan. Ken thanked SW Rotary. Jo asked about the extra stones stacked up at the park. Ken advised they were extras left over from the project and they were given to us. We will be purchasing more and using them for the abutment for the bridge that Lions Club donated $25,000 towards. We will possibly look at doing that project in the Spring of 2016. Stormwater Division has applied for a grant through Dept. of Ecology to make improvements to the pond. Ken advised that the pond is extremely shallow and if something is not done it will turn into a swamp. The money that Stormwater invests in the pond can be used as match for our grant. Ken advised that we are working with Downtown Rotary’s current president Dr. John Adkison and incoming president Bob DiPietro on the project to replace the playground at Randall Park. Ken stated that new playgrounds are geared toward core strength building. This will be similar to the playgrounds at Franklin and Kiwanis Parks. The amount they will be donating for the playground will be at least $80,000 but could be up to $110,000. This will be a community build but we will pay to have the posts installed by a contractor. We are hoping to do this sometime in July. Matt asked if this is the same manufacturer as the playground at Franklin. Ken advised it is, Landscape Structures. Matt asked about the total cost for the playground. Ken advised the equipment, posts and shipping is $110,000 which Downtown Rotary is paying for. We will cover the cost for demo of the old playground, site prep, landscape fabric and wood chips. Discussion followed. Ken advised Sunrise Rotary is looking at building at least one picnic shelter and possibly two. Maureen asked if any of these shelters will be placed in the dog park. Ken advised that we did not receive the grant through Legends for that picnic shelter in the dog park so we will need to look into alternatives for purchasing that. Sam stated that he thought we had one that we could refurbish. Ken advised that we tried but were unable to make that work after taking it down. We will be tearing down the old house and the restroom. We are just waiting for a letter from Cultural Resources to make sure that it is not a historical site. This is necessary for us to proceed with this for the RCO grant application. We had to reroute the electrical for the irrigation pump. Ken thanked Knobels and PP&L. Jason Goeken with Park Maintenance was able to get the irrigation going. We already have a quote from the contractor to remove the buildings. Sam commended the service clubs for caring about the community parks. Manager’s Report Ken thanked the Streets Division for the work that was done at the Fisher Park Golf Course parking lot. Quintin does a great job with the course maintenance and Tami Andringa supervises the other staff. Discussion followed regarding the increase in attendance due to the parking lot. Ken advised we will be mailing our 2015 Summer Program Guide. We will be looking at selling advertising in the Fall Program Guide to help cover the cost of mailing them. Discussion followed regarding mailing versus inserting in the newspaper. Maureen asked about the cost for the back page. Ken advised we do not have the information and will be researching that. Ken thanked Roger Lewis, WV Kiwanis Club and the WV Key Club for doing clean up along Wide Hollow Creek. Laine Young with the DOE came to teach the volunteers how to clean the bank area. Park Maintenance was also there and removed 5 dump truck loads of brush and debris. Ken advised the Randall Dog Park Grand Opening and ribbon cutting ceremony was held. We will be planting trees and looking at a shade structure. Janice Arens, Senior Center Assistant retired in February and we have hired Erin Hull. Ken updated on the Work Study session for the Aquatics Center. We still do not have any information from RCO regarding the possible mitigation requirement and review. The Streets Division is currently replacing roads at the cemetery. Matt asked about the time frame for the review at Chesterley. Ken stated hopefully within the next few weeks. It is a committee that reviews that. There will not only be a review done by RCO but also one by the National Park Service because we receive Land and Water Conservation money. Discussion followed regarding the tremendous need for sports facilities in our community. Ken reminded the commissioners of the many contributing factors of why Chesterley was in the condition it was last year. Matt asked Ken what he anticipated the restrictions to be at Chesterley. Ken advised he is not sure. Discussion followed. Maureen asked if the new soccer complex goes in, will that count as replacement. Ken stated he does not know. He can’t say what the review panel will determine regarding all the different factors. Ken advised he did send some information to the state last week that they requested. For the Good of the Order Rod Bryant asked if we have a park tour scheduled soon. Ken advised we could possibly do that for our July meeting. We are getting ready to start the concerts and Movies in the Park. The movies will be at Chesterley this year. Maureen advised that the City Clean-Up will be this Saturday. Adjournment The next Parks and Recreation Commission meeting will be June 10, 2015. The meeting adjourned at 6:43 p.m.