Minutes; Park Board: October 2006

City of Evansville, Wisconsin
Park and Recreation Board Regular Monthly Meeting
Evansville City Hall Council Chambers
October 16, 2006

Draft Minutes

1. Call to Order at 6:00 PM and Roll Call: Chair Juergens, and Members Jacobson, Krueger, and Merritt present. Staff members Anderson and Hamacher present. Member Farnsworth excused. Member Sendelbach absent. Farnsworth arrived at about 7 pm.

2 Minutes of September 18, 2006 meeting approved on a voice vote.

3. The agenda for this meeting was approved, after recognizing that citizen appearances might be moved to later in the agenda, on a voice vote.

5. Development of a "2006 Park and Outdoor Recreation Plan". Juergens distributed a compilation of 5 board members' individual evaluations of possible projects for the plan and noted that two members had not completed their evaluations. He suggested that further work on this plan be postponed until the two missing evaluations were completed. Further work on this topic will be postponed until the November PRB meeting. Juergens will mail out the current draft of the plan to all board members.

6. Chair's report on actions of other city committees and Council. Council has approved the V-notching at the existing Lake Leota cam to de-water the sediment. The 2007 budget is heading to final approval. Juergens distributed several documents. One showed the current estimates of spending on the 2006 capital budget, with indications that some of the unspent money may be carried forward to 2007, as is current practice for capital budgets. A second was a summary of the proposed 2007 operating budget for Parks and Recreation, showing that staff salaries comprise about 75% of the net cost; total expenses are about $257K, total revenue is about $68K, net cost is about $189K, of which about $145K is salaries & benefits. The third document was a time-line exlanation for how funds for a dog-park were incorporated into the proposed 2007 5-year capital plan for 2008 through actions of the Public Works Committee and Council..

7. Updates on pending park projects:
a. Leota Park: Little progress on re-roofing the Boy Scout house. The skatepark resurfacing is complete, but the equipment has not been moved back into place, pending a decision by the PRB.
b. Franklin Park: Equipment is installed, and perhaps one more load of sand will be added to the area. New utility pole has been placed. Still waiting on SBC and cable company to move their services before old poles can be removed.
c. Countryside Park: slab is poured, and high school students are beginning work on the shelter/bathroom. It's a slow process because the students do not have a lot of time each day to work. Playground equipment installation is complete.
d. Westside Park; grass is growing on the newly seeded 4-acre site for the future soccer fields..

8. Aquatic Report: Rick Hamacher; pool director.
a. The pool director and board discussed forming a subcommittee of the board to decide on 2007 operation of the Park Store. Moved and seconded (Carlsen, Krueger) to do so. Passed unanimously on a voice vote. The chair asked for volunteers, and appointed Jacobsen, Merrit, himself and Hamacher to the subcommittee. This subcommittee will meet on 7 pm on Thurs. Oct. 26th at City Hall.
b. There was a discussion of how the subcommittee should proceed, whether to consider closing the park store for 2007 on a temporary basis and only selling snacks out of the pool office. It was decided that the park store will remain the sales venue for 2007, based on a Krueger/Carlsen motion.
c.. The director re-presented a proposal for fee increases for pool usage in 2007. This had been on the agenda for the September meeting as discussion only; even though it was passed then, it was not a legal passing, since no notice of a possible motion was on that agenda. It was moved and seconded (Merritt, Krueger) to approve the fee increases. The motion passed unanimously, and will be incorporated in the 2007 budget.
d. The director reported on vandalism and damage to the newly painted pool surface which occurred on October 3rd. The fence gate had been forced open, requiring a lot of force, and that the cost to repair the damage to the pool surface and concrete, if repaired by an outside contractor, would be expensive. He was going to try to make the repairs himself, to save the city money.

4. Citizen Appearances:
a. Bill Alt representing the Skate Club and four youth were now present. A free-wheeling discussion of problems in Lake Leota Park, suspected to be largely caused by skateboarders and bikers, was held among the citizens, members of the board and staff, and other citizens. The chair reported that Police Chief McElroy said that three arrests have been made in the aftermath of the vandalism at the pool, and more were expected. Those already arrested are expected to be dealt with in Juvenile court proceedings in early November. Hamacher said that he saw some 15-20 boarders in the pool on the day of the damage. Alt said that if there were that many people in the pool, he thought that the police department should be able to identify many more than three suspects and arrest them. He urged that those found guilty be made to pay restitution, a fine, and perform community service work. He also said that it didn't appear there was any way under current law to enforce the posted skate park rules. The youth in attendence pointed out that there are different groups of boarders and bikers, that not all boarders should be blamed for the damage caused by other groups. Jacobson and others pointed out that, if those in attendence knew anything about the identities of anyone responsible for any damage or vandalism, they must take the responsibility of reporting what they knew to the authorities. Juergens said it seemed that the Skate Club was moribund, and that people interested in having the park re-opened should re-organize the group. Anderson reported that there had been malicious damage to signs at the skate park, graffiti and trash problems. He said he was very disappointed in the actions of some people who used the park. It was noted that rules prohibit bikers using the skate park equipment, and that maybe those people are jealous and express their unhappiness by vandalism. (This prohibition is due to insurance concerns.) Alt urged more frequent patrols of the park by the police. Juergens suggested that the skate-park equipment not be replaced into the asphalt surface (it is sitting on grass nearby) until next Spring. It would only be replaced if it appears that substantial progress has been made in re-organizing a group of responsible youth who can demonstrate that they will care for the park. One of the kids present asked what would happen if no group formed, and it was suggested that the equipment could be sold to another municipality. Several board members stressed that the situation at the skate park was viewed as very serious and, if significant improvements could not be demonstrated, closing the facility was a strong possibility. Juergens said he would contact the police chief, the city attorney, school officials and staff at the Dean Community Center in an effort to bring together adults who could suggest ways of getting a handle on the situation. It was decided by consensus that the skate park will remain closed until further notice.

b. Bruce Polheber, a resident of Albany, appeared to request that he be allowed to trap muskrats in the part of Lake Leota north of the rail-road track crossing, for about a week starting November 4th. After some discussion, mostly centered around safety issues, it was moved and seconded (Krueger/Jacobson) that Polheber be allowed to proceed under two conditions: i; the Evansville City Attorney determines that this activity is legal in a City park, and ii; that Polheber report back to the PRB within two months on the results of his trapping. The motion passed unanimously on a voice vote.

9. Park Maintenance and Improvements report: Ray Anderson; maintenance supervisor.
a. Grass-mowing is just about done for the season, and he is working on leaf pick-up
b. The supervisor reported other vandalism in Leota park; a ticket booth was tipped over, B-B holes were found in the new lake information kiosk, and dents in the metal pool building.
c. Other items in his report were covered above in project updates.

10. Old business: The November 2006 meeting of the Park and Recreation Board is rescheduled to Tuesday November 28th at 6PM,

11. New Business: None.

12. There was a motion to adjourn at 7:40 PM.

Minutes drafted by Chair Juergens on October 22th, 2006 and sent to all board members and the city clerk for further distribution.