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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10-11-21 Minutes ADVISORY PARK BOARD OCTOBER 11, 2021 Present: Amy Davis, Tony Dirth, Scott Greuel, Deborah Martin, Lester Millette, Lori Palmeri Excused: Lauren Bartelt, Devon Hudak, Becky Metz Absent: Koby Schellenger, Alternate Board Member; Joseph Stephenson, Alternate Board Member Other: Duane Canon from Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 437; Anne Schaefer, Marketing & Fund Development Coordinator Staff: Ray Maurer, Parks Director; Chad Dallman, Assistant Parks Director; Bill Sturm, Landscape Operations Manager; Jenny McCollian, Revenue Facilities Manager; Stacy James, Recording Secretary CALL TO ORDER & ROLL CALL Chair Davis called the meeting to order at 6:00 P.M. A quorum was determined to be present. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Motion by Davis for approval of the September 13, 2021 minutes. Seconded by Dirth. Motion carried 6-0. OLD BUSINESS 1) CONSIDER AND RECOMMEND APPROVAL OF A GULF WAR MEMORIAL MONUMENT AT SOUTH PARK WAR MEMORIAL AREA Mr. Maurer reminded the Board that this request is for an additional memorial in the South Park War Memorial Area and also shared the rending of the memorial for review. Mr. Maurer then introduced Mr. Canon with the Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 437. Mr. Canon gave a short history regarding the Gulf War and the War on Terrorism to clear up any questions the Board may have had regarding these wars. The location of the memorial was discussed; it will be placed in the flower bed in front of the existing memorials. Discussions were held regarding this being covered under the gifts and donations policy. Mr. Canon confirmed that Chapter 437 would be paying for the monument and donating it to the city. Mr. Maurer confirmed that it would be covered under the gifts and donations policy and if recommended by the Board would then move to Common Council for approval. ADVISORY PARK BOARD MINUTES PAGE TWO OCTOBER 11, 2021 Mr. Dirth questioned if the memorial would need to be changed if additional service members passed and Mr. Canon responded that names could be added if needed but the group is hoping there would be no additional losses of Oshkosh residents. A brief discussion was had regarding the wording on the monument and potential options for changing it. The Board agreed that it would be best to keep the wording that was initially presented by the veterans. Mr. Sturm added that staff has reviewed the site location with the group and feels that the location is appropriate and that the proposed monument will be a good fit with what is already at the location. This war memorial is a popular site for visitors especially during veteran holidays. Motion by Davis for approval of the Gulf War Memorial monument at South Park War Memorial Area as presented. Seconded by Palmeri. Motion carried 6-0. NEW BUSINESS 1) PRESENTATION OF PARKS DEPARTMENT 2020 IMPACT REPORT FROM ANNE SCHAEFER, MARKETING & FUND DEVELOPMENT COORDINATOR Mr. Maurer introduced Anne Schaefer, Marketing and Fund Development Coordinator for the Parks Department. She works for the Parks Department, Senior Center and also with Planning Division mainly with the neighborhood associations. This report is one that she has put together annually since 2017 and can be found on the Parks Department website. Ms. Schaefer states that even with a pandemic in 2020 the Parks Department rose to the occasion to adapt to the new normal and still provide services to the community. The Menominee Park Zoo remained open with limited visitors allowed in the facility and still saw a large number of visitors. The Covid-19 emergency also proved how important local parks are to the communities as they became a haven for families and saw a lot of use. Ms. Schaefer then reviewed her report with the Board highlighting the different successes the department saw including:  Menominee Park Zoo celebrating their 75th year with new animals, daily education for youth and attendance over 62,000 even with a shortened season.  The combination of Zooloween Boo and Touch-a-Truck into one event called Truck or Treat which was a very well attended Covid-safe, family friendly drive-thru event.  Progress on the Lakeshore Park four-season shelter and Riverwalk Trail expansion  Completion of multiple projects at park sites including; Oshkosh Community Playground, Bowen Street Fishing Pier improvements, Menominee Park Trail exercise equipment and boat launch kiosks.  Landscape Operations DNR grant for Sawyer Paine and Congress Fields Neighborhood Associations, work at South Park and the Community Playground, and annual work for pruning and terrace tree work.  Special Events saw a decline in number of events however the events that were held made adjustments to be able to hold event safely and successfully. ADVISORY PARK BOARD MINUTES PAGE THREE OCTOBER 11, 2021  Marketing on social media sites for the department saw a 12% increase.  Fund development was instrumental in getting the Bader Philanthropies Grant which helped pay for the Connect Thru Tech program at the Oshkosh Seniors Center. Discussions were then had about how to highlight certain achievements for the department in the future. It was agreed that the creation of this document can be used in various ways by the city to show the pride the community members have in the park assets. 2) PRESENTATION OF CITY OF OSHKOSH STREET TREE AND URBAN TREE CANOPY REPORT FROM BILL STURM, LANDSCAPE OPERATIONS MANAGER Mr. Sturm states that back in 2012/2013 he worked with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources along with surrounding communities to study the benefits of the urban tree canopy. He shared the city’s information with the group and they were able to put it into a program called “iTree” and create a report to show the monetary benefits of urban forestry including storm water reduction and air quality improvements. The purpose of these reports is to show the public that while money doesn’t grow on trees, they do have a monetary value to the community. The other part of this study included species diversity and these numbers are also currently different with the changes to species in the city. Mr. Sturm feels that the city is currently in a good situation with tree diversity and continues to add different species with grants that have been awarded recently. Species diversification helps when species specific diseases come through an area so that there isn’t an over-abundance of any one species that gets wiped out. Brad Spanbauer, 429A Lindee Street, Oshkosh, stated that he found the report interesting and asked if there is a plan to update it. If so, as the University of Wisconsin – Oshkosh Sustainability Director he would be interested in having the university involved as well. He has worked with the city to map out trees on the compass and would be willing to collaborate on an update to the report. Mr. Sturm responded that he has worked with Mr. Spanbauer in the past and views urban forestry as a community wide project and since UW-O is a large part of the community he agrees it would be good to work together if the report were updated. Mr. Sturm will continue to look into the opportunity to update the report with current information as well as the cost to do so. PARK DIRECTOR’S REPORT Mr. Maurer updated that he has met with the River East Neighborhood Association and Convention Center staff to review the proposed site for the gazebo at Riverside Park. Gazebo options were reviewed and the group made a unanimous decision regarding which design they wanted to move forward with. This rendering was shared with the Board. Both groups were happy that the project could move forward depending upon material availability. Concrete footings could be put into the ground this fall and the remainder of the gazebo could be installed in 2022. ADVISORY PARK BOARD MINUTES PAGE FOUR OCTOBER 11, 2021 Mr. Maurer informed the Board that the city has been working with community donors as well as the Oshkosh Area Community Foundation to move forward with the black bear exhibit at the Menominee Park Zoo. The Zoo Master Plan calls for the exhibit to be in the green space to the south of the elk exhibit. The exhibit plans include a new husbandry building that would be utilized for both the black bear as well as the foxes that were recently acquired by the zoo. Mr. Maurer also provided an update regarding the Rainbow Memorial Park trail. Asphalt was placed late last week and the contractor is currently working on site restoration. This trail will connect the Fox River Riverwalk along Lakeshore Park down to Oshkosh Avenue Bridge. Lastly, Mr. Maurer added that as part of the budget process staff is reviewing pool fees. Staffing at the pool has continued to prove difficult and the department is looking at a wage increase for seasonal staff to be more competitive. To help offset this, pool fees are being reviewed. ASSISTANT PARK DIRECTOR’S REPORT Mr. Dallman reports that the South Park tennis and pickle ball courts are completed and already being used. The site previously had three tennis courts and now has two tennis courts and four pickle ball courts. Seasonal shelter rentals ended for the year on October 10. Due to the warmer weather the splash pad at South Park was able to stay open longer into September than normal but has since been shut down and all facilities will be winterized and closed for the season. Unfortunately there was a lot of vandalism at the parks this summer. Using the security cameras at some of these locations has helped to lead to the identification of some vandals. He encourages the public that if they see something happening or damage that has been done to say something by reporting the vandalism so that the matter can be addressed by staff. Most recently vandalism has been reported primarily at South Park, however the Riverwalk, Boatworks and Red Arrow Park have also been vandalized recently. LANDSCAPE OPERATIONS MANAGER’S REPORT Mr. Sturm states that his staff is focusing on stump removal in terraces and getting them ready for re- planting in the spring. Work continues on the west side of Highway 41 to cut down EAB affected trees. Staff have removed approximately 200 trees thus far and will continue to work on it while weather conditions allow. Staff is also going to be installing memorial trees over the next couple of weeks. This has proven to be a popular program again in 2021. South Park plantings will take place this week with Menominee Park being the next location and then the miscellaneous parks where memorials have been requested. ADVISORY PARK BOARD MINUTES PAGE FIVE OCTOBER 11, 2021 REVENUE FACILITIES MANAGER’S REPORT Ms. McCollian reports that 2021 was an interesting and trying year but the public was just happy to see events return in some form. She noticed that many of the events had about half their usual attendance including Tuesday Night Concerts and Snooze at the Zoo. Touch-a-Truck was their most “normal” event as far as attendance. Zoo attendance numbers were back to normal in 2021. The zoo saw over 96,000 visitors. With the Zooloween event this upcoming weekend it is anticipated that the attendance will go over 100,000. There were a lot of good events and offerings at the zoo this summer with the Zoo Education Coordinator having an activity daily during the week. There were also Wildlife Wednesday events nearly every Wednesday from the end of May through the end of August. OTHER BUSINESS Mr. Maurer advises that the November Advisory Park Board meeting will be fully virtual. ADJOURNMENT Motion by Martin for adjournment; seconded by Palmeri. Motion carried 6-0. The meeting adjourned at 7:32 P.M Respectfully submitted, Stacy L. James Stacy L. James, Recording Secretary