Minutes: Park Board: May 2007

City of Evansville, Wisconsin
Park and Recreation Board Regular Monthly Meeting
Evansville City Hall Council Chambers
Monday, May 21, 2007

MINUTES OF MEETING

1. The meeting was called to order at 6:00 PM; Members Carlson, Farnsworth, Juergens, Krueger, Merritt (arrived at 6:03 pm) and staff Anderson, Hamacher present. Sendelbach absent.

2. Farnsworth moved, Krueger seconded to waive reading of minutes of April 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: Ethan Pierick presented a proposal for his Eagle Scout Leadership Service project, involving improvements to Wind Prairie park, such as repairs and replacement of benches and birdhouses, clearing of the parking lot, and trail renovation. Ray Anderson, as park maintenance supervisor, will provide oversight to the project. Farnsworth moved, Carlson seconded to approve the proposal. Passed unanimously.

Ayn Steinlein commented on Franklin Park, near her home. She reported that the park is getting much more use with the new playground equipment, and requested that some further landscaping materials be planted, both new plants and replacements for some of last year’s plantings that have died. The chair commended Ms. Steinlein for her volunteer work in maintaining the park’s plantings.

5. SOLE report: Gib Wiedenhoeft reported that members are working on “neatness” of the lake bed. The Corps of Engineers’ recent visit made clear that a “national interest” must be shown if the Corps is to fund any part of the lake restoration project. SOLE’s next meeting is May 23rd at the library.

6. Skate Park- McKenna Group report: No members of the group attended; however, the chair reported that he had had a phone conversation with Brandon Frank, who reported that the park had opened some 9 days previously. Over 75 people have memberships in the group. Anderson reported that there was little trash around the area.

7. Chair’s report on items of interest from Council: none.

8. The previously distributed proposal from Kentucky Dry Stone Conservancy to make a site visit to Allen Creek in Lake Leota Park was discussed. The purpose of the visit is to evaluate the condition of the creek walls in the park and recommend remediation of the damaged portions. The cost of the visit is estimated at $4500. Farnsworth moved, Merritt seconded, to invite two representatives of the KDSC to visit on June 1st and 2nd , and to pay the costs of the visit by allocating a maximum of $4500 from the as yet unallocated portion of the Park Board’s capital budget for 2007. The motion passed unanimously. Appropriate city staff and officials will meet with the KDSC members during their visit.

9. West Side Park: after some discussion, Ray Anderson said he would prepare an estimate of costs to build a road from 6th Street into the park and a parking lot within the park, and also costs for a playground in the park. The construction is anticipated to occur in 2008 in accord with the PRB’s 5-year plan.

10. Updates on pending park projects: Ray Anderson
a. Lake Leota Park: The Boy Scout house will be re-roofed after the July 4th weekend celebrations. 60 or so trees have been planted, including about 20 along the railroad tracks to screen the view from the pool. Juergens invited volunteers from PRB to clean up the 2nd St entrance to the park on May 26; it’s overgrown and needs weeding.
b. Franklin Park; little progress has been made on getting a cost estimate for building the Welcome Shelter at the park. Juergens will contact Rob Kostroun to move the process along.
c. Countryside Park; All concrete block has been laid; the roof trusses have arrived. Kostroun told Ray that construction will be done by the end of school on June 8th
d. West Side Park; the grass is growing well on the soccer field area seeded last fall. It has been mowed several times already.

11, Aquatic Report: Ric Hamacher.
a. Solar Panel project: Hamacher reports that 2nd phase of installation should be complete before the pool opens on June 2nd.
b. Staffing: this is a re-building year, but adequate new staff is in place and appropriate training will begin soon.
c. If water aerobics is to be taught, an additional instructor must be sought. Seniors are welcome at the pool for lap-swimming during the rest-period between the afternoon and evening sessions and during the evening session at the pool. Additional time/space for lap swimming may be allocated if there is sufficient demand.

12. Old Business:
a. The senior center garden club has not been formed yet.
b. Tree-planting in Lake Leota Park was already discussed, and Anderson reports that more planting will occur in 2008.

13. New Business:
a. Relative to the Little League program, Katzenmeyer informed the chair she could not attend. Hermansion did not appear either, so no discussion was held. This will be put on the agenda for a future meeting so that policy is in place well before the 2008 season.
b. Preliminary discussion of the 2008 Capital Budget. Juergens presented dollar figures which show that, including both the usual allocation from the city and hold-overs from previous years, plus parkland fees already received and those expected to be received later in 2007 from Westfield Meadows and Capstone Ridge, there should be sufficient funds to pay for the West Side Park projects planned for 2008. Some other projected 2008 projects may or may not be deferred as necessary. Details and priorities will be on the agenda for the June meeting, when cost estimates of West Side Park will be in hand.

14. There being no other business, Farnsworth moved, Krueger seconded to adjourn the meeting at 7:48 pm. Motion passed unanimously.

Meeting minutes prepared by Chair Fred Juergens. These are not official until approved at the next regular PRB meeting, scheduled for June 18, 2007.