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HomeMy WebLinkAboutParks Commission minutes - 12-10-14.docx Yakima Parks and Recreation Commission Meeting Minutes for December 10, 2014 Commissioners Present: Chairman Rod Bryant, Paul Williams, Jo Miles and Tom Hinman, Morgan Pualani, and Maureen Adkison, Yakima City Council Liaison Absent and Excused: Vice Chairman Sam Karr 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 nd Bryant called the meeting to order at 5:32 p.m. at City Hall in the Council Chambers, 129 North 2 Street, Yakima, Washington. Approval of the Meeting Minutes for November 12, 2014 It was Moved by Tom Hinman, Seconded by Paul Williams, to approve the Minutes as written from the November 12, 2014 Parks and Recreation Commission Meeting. The motion carried unanimously. Randall Park Improvement Committee Update Ken Wilkinson stated that he spoke with Doug Larin from Yakima Downtown Lions Club. Ken announced they will be partnering with us on the Randall Park Improvement project. They will be giving $25,000 and have also offered to provide some volunteer labor. Ken stated he appreciates all of our service clubs. Yakima Downtown Lions Club has earmarked their funds for a bridge going over to the nature area. The money they are donating should cover the hard costs. We would like to have the bridge strong enough to get a small tractor or truck across for maintenance. Currently we have to perform that maintenance by hand. We already have the design for the bridges and there is a company out of Spokane that makes precast bridges. We potentially have a donor willing to pay for the cost of setting the bridge. Jenise has been working on the SEPA along with help from the Planning Dept. The Stormwater division is working on a grant from the Dept. of Ecology to help with the pond renovation. The City has contracted AHBL, a firm from the west side to help with stormwater plans. They will be helping with the design and survey work. The pond can also serve as a retention area in a major storm event. They are talking about possibly designing an additional pond on the west side of the park to help with water retention. We will be meeting with SW Rotary next week to talk about the duck pond observation deck. We will need to take the water level down to allow them to do the work they need to do. We will try and let the public know ahead of time so people are not so alarmed. Rod Bryant commented that taking the water level down is the only way to start building the barrier for the deck. Ken advised there have been conversations with Dept. of Fish & Wildlife and Dept. of Ecology and they agreed that doing that in late March may not have such an adverse effect on the wildlife. It is the tentative time frame for taking the water level down to re-establish the south edge and possibly create a channel with the goal of increasing the quality of water and habitat for the wildlife. We are talking about the demolition of the old buildings and will probably need to use portable restrooms during construction. Demolition of the two buildings will need to be put out for bid after we get official word about the grant. Tom Hinman asked about keeping the building for storage. Ken stated both buildings need to be removed and hopes that maybe Habitat for Humanity will be able to come in and use some of what is in there. The work will hopefully be done in 2015 along with some of the asphalt work being done by the Streets Dept. Maureen Adkison suggested a bocce ball court being put in at Randall. Discussion followed. Rod suggested that Ken bring back the PowerPoint presentation to show during a future meeting. Randall Dog Park Project Update Ken stated that the fence for the Randall Dog Park is completed. The rules signs have been put up and the park is now open. The maintenance staff is working on a giant bone to place on the fence so everyone knows that this is the dog park. Ken thanked the committee for their work on the community’s second dog park. The other park is the Greenway Foundation’s and is located by the Humane Society at Sherman Park. Tom stated that it was a soft opening and is already being used by many. We are on track to add a shelter, picnic tables, benches and trees by spring. The water will be done once the weather gets a bit warmer. Ken stated that it is muddy right now but is a work in progress and have had lots of positive feedback. We are still looking for donations and Park Maintenance is doing a lot of the work. Ken referred to the memo about the tentative timeline for the ribbon cutting ceremony. Aquatics Advisory Committee Update Ken stated that the committee has met three times and will meet again next Wednesday night to continue to discuss the future of aquatics in our community. We have been making a priority list and establishing the minimum priorities and also a list of what we would want if we can. Hopefully we will be able to bring that list to share soon. The committee has spent a lot of time discussing location and the pros and cons of the site locations and should finish that up at the next meeting. Hope is to make a recommendation of the 3 best. The committee work should be done. Ken advised that he received an enterprise plan from USA swimming and will be sharing that with the committee. The key will be to know what to build to provide what we want. He had requested that they send someone from USA swimming for a site visit. They declined but can put us in touch with consultants. Rod thanked the committee. Jo Miles is a member of the committee and stated that it is a good cross section of the community working on targeting priorities. Discussion followed. Manager’s Report Ken stated that we will be working on cleaning up some of the language in the ordinance for the cemetery. Cynthia Martinez from City Legal, Ralph Pierson, Randy Murphy and Silvia Corona will be working on that. Traci Bennett and Ron Anderson will attend one of the next meetings and go over the Trips and Tours guide for 2015. We are already working on our Spring Program Guide. Ken thanked the commissioners. They are wonderful advocates and great support to Park Staff. Maureen asked about plans for the $750,000 that has been earmarked for Parks. Ken stated that we will just need to do maintenance and replacement equipment that has been put off for years due to budget cuts. Ken stated there is a long list of items. Playgrounds need to be updated at many of the parks, parking lot renovation at Fisher Park Golf Course, many picnic shelters need to be replaced and of course Randall Park Improvement Project. Maureen commented about the great partnerships we have with the service clubs and how wonderful the Yakima Rotary Food Bank turned out. During the years that cuts were made $400,000 was taken out of the Parks and Recreation General Fund which means people and supplies, maintenance. The community felt those cuts. Ken stated he truly appreciates the work done by the maintenance staff. Discussion followed. For the Good of the Order Ken stated that Paul has supplied the 2013 written report from YNLL. Paul advised that he is the 2014- 2015 Equipment Manager and City Liaison for YNLL. He said they presented the report in October with the numbers and highlights and now has the written report along with the financial report. They will be presenting the 2014 report in February or March. They have elected new officers for the upcoming year. They are working on fundraising and sponsorships and building up reserves. They have made some small improvements to Elks Park. Sign-ups will begin soon. Flyers will go out just after the first of the year. Region is not just Yakima but also much of the Lower Valley. Online sign-ups will be available the later part of January. Kimmels and Big 5 will have sign-ups in February. Try outs will be at the end of February and practice starts in March. Adjournment The next Parks and Recreation Commission meeting will be January 14, 2015. The meeting adjourned at 6:05 p.m.