Minutes: Park Board: July 2007

City of Evansville, Wisconsin
Park and Recreation Board Regular Monthly Meeting
Evansville City Hall Council Chambers
Monday, July 16, 2007

MINUTES OF MEETING

1. The meeting was called to order at 6:00 PM; Members Farnsworth Juergens, Krueger, Merritt, Modaff and staff Anderson, Hamacher, and Wietecha present. Carlsen excused. Sendelbach absent.

2. Krueger moved, Farnsworth seconded to waive reading of June 2007 meeting and approve as printed. Passed unanimously.

3. There were no changes proposed to the agenda as printed.

4. Citizen appearances other than agenda items: Dori Weigel and Kathy Hermanson, representing a League of Their Own, discussed the finances of the operation and pointed out that, in the past, if they didn’t spend money allotted to them, it apparently was lost to them and went into the General Fund. The city’s contribution to ALOTO was cut by more than half in the 2007 budget. Wietecha raised the concern of the city’s insurance covering ALOTO’s activities. This entire issue needs more study and will be placed on the September 2007 agenda for discussion and resolution.

5: ECP July 4 Report. No formal report; however, it appears that the event was successful. Comments have been received concerning the excellent condition of Lake Leota Park during the 5-day event.

6. SOLE report: Randy Rinehart and Millie Frome reported that the draw-down permit for Lake Leota expired last April. They’ve been assured by DNR that an extension will be forthcoming. Wietecha was asked to look into this. SOLE has collected more than 150 signatures on a petition advocating restoration of the lake. A dredging permit would take about 6-8 months to be awarded after application. The chair asked SOLE how much money it could contribute to the lake restoration, and they replied, basically, as much as they’ve raised. They are beginning a fund-raising campaign. They have money in the bank, and received both donations and profits from their brat-booth at the July 4th celebration.

7. Skate Park:
a. Amy Eager reported through a phone call that the Tennis Camp held the week of June 18th near the skate park went well with absolutely no disturbances or distractions in the area.

b. Anderson reported that vandalism in the general lower park area has been higher than in the past, but can’t attribute it specifically to any person, group, or activity. In particular, one toilet was destroyed recently, and much graffiti has been found.

8. Chair’s report on items of interest concerning Council and other city Committees: Public Works committee recommended to Council that $65,000 be put in 2008 budget for engineering and permit work on Lake Leota. At their July meetings, Juergens made a presentation to Finance Committee and to Council about the history of lake restoration efforts, a synopsis of where we are now, and several options for moving forward. Copies of the presentation were distributed to PRB members. He reported to PRB that he had chosen not to carry forward the June motion at those meetings, but rather to give Finance and Council some food for thought. Motions will be brought to both Finance and Council at their August meetings.

9. Discussion of report from Dry Stone Conservancy: Report promised for this meeting has not been received. Juergens reported talking with the DSC project manager, Jane Wooley, just two hours before this meeting, and was assured it would be complete within a week. During Juergens’s discussion with Wooley, it was established that about 350 feet of creek wall are in need of immediate attention for safety reasons. Wooley affirmed that they had a one-week training workshop in their schedule for the week of October 15, should the city decide to go forward with restoration of the Allen Creek walls. Juergens requested that the PRB convene for a special meeting when the report arrives to decide on what course the PRB should take.

10. Updates on pending park projects: Ray Anderson and Fred Juergens

a. Lake Leota Park: The Boy Scout house will be re-roofed after the July 4th weekend celebrations. The cost of installing a fence with gate access between the tennis courts and the skate park will be $1700-2000, depending on condition of existing fence fabric. Anderson is concerned about vandalism and said he’d talked with police about more frequent patrols. He also suggested considering motion-activated lights and/or surveillance cameras in areas of the park.

b. Franklin Park; concerning the structure scheduled to be built there, the chair met with Rob Kostroun on July 12th. Though Kostroun has had the design drawings for at least three months, only at this time did he say he can’t build the structure from them and needs construction drawings. Getting them from the architect would cost about $1500. It seems that Kostroun isn’t really interested in working on this project. Juergens suggested postponing further discussion of this matter until the August PRB meeting.

c. Countryside Park; Construction of the shelter/bathroom is still incomplete,. Public Works staff will complete the carpentry work and clean-up, and the plumber will install sinks and toilets by July 24th. Paint striping of the basketball court is complete.

d. West Side Park: Grass is just about dormant due to lack of rain.

11, Aquatic Report: Ric Hamacher.
a. Solar Panel project: Complete and costs within budget.

b. Pool operations and pool store. Revenue for pool, including passes and lessons is on target, while revenue from pool store is still lagging. This is likely due to a reduced variety of items available.

c. Low-income pass issues: Julie Hermanson from AWARE will make a presentation to the August meeting of PRB so that we may decide which standards we should use in the future.

d. There is apparently a small leak in the old pool, which will be repaired at the end of the season.

12. Old Business:
a. Juergens presented a document containing financial data relating to the PRB, which is appended to these minutes. Members discussed the implications of this.

b. The motion contained in the agenda relative to the 2008 Capital Budget was abandoned.

13. New Business:
a. Dealing with Lake Leota: After much discussion of priorities, it was concluded that action to restore the lake must happen as soon as possible, even if it means postponing some other projects already planned for 2008. Farnsworth moved, Modaff seconded the following: The PRB requests that Council amend the 2007 Capital Budget to authorize the city engineer to do the necessary design engineering for a plan to restore Lake Leota to a viable lake in the year 2009, with the costs not to exceed $50,000. In compensation, the PRB will not request the customary general fund allocation of $50K in the 2008 Capital budget. Motion passed unanimously.

b. Modaff moved, Farnsworth seconded to recommend that City Council authorize City staff to apply to the Wisconsin DNR for a permit to dredge Lake Leota to a depth sufficient to maintain a viable lake for 50 years, beginning in 2009, and to pay the costs, once known, of the application by amending the 2007 Budget if necessary. Motion passed unanimously.

c. Farnsworth moved, Krueger seconded to allocate $55,000 in the 2008 Capital Budget from the “Fees in Lieu of Parkland Dedication” account to install playground equipment at Westside Park. Motion passed unanimously.

d. Farnsworth moved, Krueger seconded to allocate $10,000 in the 2008 Capital Budget from the “Fees in Lieu of Parkland Dedication” account to complete the solar panel installation at the swimming pool. Motion passed unanimously.

e. Modaff moved, Merritt seconded to allocate $90,000 in the 2008 Capital Budget from the “Fees in Lieu of Parkland Dedication” account to pave the road from 6th St and pave a parking lot in Westside Park. Motion passed unanimously.

f. Discussion of planning a new 5-year capital-spending plan was postponed to a future meeting.

g. A recent letter from the City Administrator to the owner of a parcel of land just outside the city, concerning its possible purchase for use as a dog park, was discussed briefly. Wietecha indicated that the asking price was well over the projected cost in the PRB 5-year plan. The consensus was that this is not a priority item for the city, given the other pressing Parks projects.

14. There being no other business, Krueger moved, Merritt seconded to adjourn the meeting at 7:55 pm. Motion passed unanimously.

Meeting minutes prepared by Chair Fred Juergens. These are not official until approved at the next regular PRB meeting, scheduled August 20, 2007.
Appendix:

Data for Discussion: Park Board Meeting July 16, 2007


2007 Park board Budget – $50,000
Solar Paneling at Pool $10,000 (Actual cost?)
Shelter/Equipment at Franklin Park $10,000 ($500 spent so far on concept
Drawing. Spend $1500 on construction drawings?

Leaves $8K for construction;
Almost certainly not enough.

Unallocated at beginning of year $30,000

Actions since beginning of year.
Pay for visit of Dry Stone Conservancy $ 4,500
from unallocated funds.

Remaining Unallocated 2007 Funds $25,500

DryStone Conservancy 5-day workshop
In October. 2 instructors & 12 students $10,000
Or 1 instructor/6 students $ 7,500

Put Franklin Park structure out for Bids, once Construction drawings are in hand, if approved? Pay for it out of unallocated 2007 funds remaining after DryStone workshop is paid for? We should still have about $15K in addition to the $8K mentioned above.



2008

We have about $104,000 in hand from Parkland Fees in Lieu of Land Dedication. In addition, we expect about $47,500 from Westfield Meadows, since construction has begun there. We may also get about $21K from Capstone Ridge, Phase 2, if they begin construction in the next year or so.

The Total Parkland fees available for 2008 is thus about $172K, enough to pay for the paving and playground at West Side Park.