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HomeMy WebLinkAboutJanuary 8, 2018 Minutes ADVISORY PARK BOARD JANUARY 8, 2018 Present: Amy Davis, Tony Dirth, Bill Gogolewski, Steve Herman, Todd Kaufmann, Bill Miller, Carrie Rule, Megan Schuessler Absent: Terry Wohler Other: David Shadick, Leadership Oshkosh Adjunct Board Member; Chris Bendrickson, 2751 Wyoming, Oshkosh, Oshkosh North Baseball; Dean Smith, Police Chief, Oshkosh Police Department; Lynnsey Erickson, Coalition Coordinator, re:TH!INK, 240 Algoma Blvd, Apt 21, Oshkosh; Nick Mastronardi, POLCO; Bryan Quandt, POLCO Staff: Ray Maurer, Parks Director; Chad Dallman, Assistant Parks Director; Bill Sturm, Landscape Operations Manager/Forester; Jenny McCollian, Revenue Facilities Manager; Stacy James, Recording Secretary CALL TO ORDER & ROLL CALL Vice Chair Davis called the meeting to order at 6:00 P.M. A quorum was determined to be present. Mr. Miller arrived at 6:08 p.m. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Motion by Schuessler for approval of the November 6, 2017 minutes. Seconded by Rule. Motion carried 7-0. Motion by Herman for approval of the November 13, 2017 minutes as amended (date and name correction). Seconded by Kaufman. Motion carried 7-0. CITIZEN STATEMENTS & PARK BUSINESS 1) DISCUSS CONSTRUCTION AND DONATION OF BATTING CAGE AT TEICHMILLER PARK Mr. Maurer advised the Board that Oshkosh North Baseball group and the Neighborhood Association are working on making some improvements to Teichmiller Park. The Neighborhood Association has worked to obtain a grant to be able to make upgrades to the field and the baseball group is offering to donate a batting cage to the location. He showed the Board the approximate location of the batting cage. The group would be donating approximately $7,000 toward the project for the preparation of the area and materials needed. Concrete work would be completed in house as well as the manual labor. He is asking the Board to approve the donation and invited Mr. Bendrickson to speak to the Board about the donation. ADVISORY PARK BOARD MINUTES PAGE TWO JANUARY 8, 2018 Mr. Bendrickson states that there is a need for this batting cage in the community to accommodate the various baseball groups. There was a user fee established in 2017 to make improvements to the various fields and his organization used that idea as a springboard for suggesting this donation. He also added that the group had obtained a donation of sports turf that they would be happy to install and remove on the concrete on an annual basis. Mr. Gogolewski confirmed that the addition of the batting cage would not affect the overall budget for the Parks Department. Mr. Maurer indicated that is correct. Motion by Herman to accept donation of batting cage at Teichmiller Park by Oshkosh North Baseball. Seconded by Schuessler. Motion carried 8-0. 2) RECOMMEND APPROVAL OF TOBACCO FREE PARKS ORDINANCE Mr. Maurer reminded the Board that this ordinance had come up for discussion at the November meeting. Since that time it was discussed with City staff that a better option for this request would be to set a park rule rather than a city ordinance. This would help to ease the burden on the police department for enforcement much like the rules that are in place for the new ice rink downtown, shelters and the pool. The rule could be established and signs could be made with the assistance of the Re:TH!NK group. He is recommending a one year trial period for the rule. As far as enforcement, as the Parks Director he or any of his designees would then be able to impose a park suspension for any violators. Implementing a park rule rather than an ordinance would also permit him to be able to waive the rule for special events that request it. Ms. Rule inquired of Chief Smith how his department feels about this approach. Chief Smith confirmed that his department prefers this approach over an ordinance that they would have to enforce. He states that there are higher priorities in the City for the police to manage. Ms. Erickson states that she supports any rule or change that makes the parks tobacco free in the City. Mr. Maurer clarified that at this time they are focusing on a “no smoking” rule rather than all tobacco because after discussions with the city attorney they have concerns about the inclusion of various tobacco products (electronic cigarettes) and the ability to enforce the rule. Mr. Miller encouraged the Parks Department to continue to work with the Re:TH!NK group to adjust the rule to meet all needs. Mr. Herman supported the approach stating that the rule will help to reduce litter in the parks from smoking and the group can continue to work on education for park patrons. Mrs. Schuessler inquired about the process for posting the notice. Mr. Maurer answered that they will work with the group for funding and creation of the signage for posting at various parks. Motion by Gogolewski to support Parks Director instituting no smoking policy in all City parks. Seconded by Miller. Motion carried 8-0. ADVISORY PARK BOARD MINUTES PAGE THREE JANUARY 8, 2018 3) DISCUSSION ON REMAINING ACREAGE AT LAKESHORE MUNICIPAL GOLF COURSE Mr. Maurer showed the Board the map which outlines the remaining property at the Lakeshore Municipal Golf Course site after a sale of the portion of the property to Oshkosh Corporation. There will remain just over 69 acres of land after the sale. He acknowledges that discussions on the remaining property is a sensitive subject in the community and as such the City is looking to work with a company called POLCO to garner public input on this topic as well as others in the City. He introduced Nick Mastronardi of POLCO to give the Board more information regarding his company. Mr. Mastronardi gave a brief overview of POLCO. His company wanted to improve communication between civic government and the community to get a better idea of what a majority of the community would like to see happen as opposed to the few people who continually appear at meetings to make their opinion known. The process that they use to garner public opinion is done in such a manner to ensure that they have the broader public input. Once a user has taken a survey, they are entered into a database and they will be notified in the future of other surveys that are available thus making it easier for the City to get public input. They are then able to put the information together in a way that is more usable by the City. They make the surveys available in different formats for users but they are still able to put all of the information together for review. Other communities have used their company and find that they get better participation for the surveys and more informed responses from the public. Mr. Maurer added that the City met with POLCO today to discuss a timeframe for the first survey. His department will need to know by March whether the public would like to entertain the idea of maintaining the site to be used as a 9 hole golf course in the future for maintenance reasons. As such they are looking at having the preliminary survey be available from January 19-Feruary 9. This way he can have responses before the February 12 Park Board meeting where they can have public input for citizens to verbally give their input. Mr. Miller inquired how the survey would be marketed to the community as well as whether this timeline was sufficient to do this correctly. Mr. Mastronardi stated that their company has a “play book” for getting notice out to different organizations in the community to spread the word regarding the survey. Mr. Maurer added that he felt the company was impressed with the different avenues that the City was able to come up with for spreading worked about the survey as well. Both Mr. Mastronardi and Mr. Maurer agreed that this timeline is sufficient to gather information given the different avenues to be able to spread awareness about the survey. Mr. Herman inquired about decisions that have already been made for parts of the park property. Mr. Maurer answered that there is a general consensus to extend the Fox River Corridor Riverwalk along the river and connect it to the WIOUWASH trail. Grant funding has already been applied for to help out with the cost of the extension of the trail. Remaining discussions on park use will have to be discussed once public input is received regarding keeping the area as a golf course or utilizing it as a community park. Mr. Gogolewski asked for clarification regarding different roads in the area as well as parking. Mr. Maurer advised that further discussions will be had once a Park Master plan is developed as well. ADVISORY PARK BOARD MINUTES PAGE FOUR JANUARY 8, 2018 Mr. Herman asked who will come up with the questions for the survey noting that they should be mindful of the length of the survey. Mr. Mastronardi agreed that there is a “sweet spot” for the amount of questions that are in a survey. Mr. Quandt, also from POLCO, stated that the questions wouldn’t be just about the golf course. They have a set of general questions that they ask in order to get a variety of respondents in the community to respond to their surveys. Mr. Maurer added that once they have these respondents in the database they can use demographic information to be able to appeal to different groups in the community in the future. Mr. Kaufman inquired about the wetlands delineation that was completed last year and how much of the remaining area is usable space. Mr. Maurer answered that it is currently a moving target regarding storm water management on the property until the building of the new headquarters is completed. There will be a 3-4 acre area that is utilized for storm water management that will have plantings in the area as well. There has also been discussion about utilizing the ponds presently along Rath Lane for future winter recreation such as ice skating ponds. Mr. Herman mentioned that the public will need to keep in mind that it will be a few years before the space will be fully developed. Mr. Dirth commented that he was surprised the discussion is being had regarding the golf course because he felt that many people had already stated their preference to utilize the space for other recreational purposes. Mr. Herman stated that he has had questions regarding refunds for Lakeshore Golf Course. Mr. Maurer answered that the patrons should contact the Parks Administrative Assistant to obtain their refunds. 4) RECOMMEND APPROVAL OF COMPREHENSIVE OUTDOOR RECREATION PLAN (CORP) Mr. Maurer thanked the Board for their assistance with getting this draft document put together. He states that there is one map that will need to be updated and then be provided to the Board members to replace the page they have in their book. This map shows that there is the potential for an additional park on the west side of town when the property is developed. Mr. Herman states that he feels this is an excellent document. He recommends that it be shared with City Planning to ensure that the two Boards are on the same page in the future with different projects. He feels it can also be shared with various organizations to facilitate groups working together to accomplish shared goals. Mr. Maurer confirmed that the Capital Improvement Projects for their department are decided on based upon the needs brought forth in this document and it will be shared with Planning and various organizations. Motion by Dirth to recommend CORP document to be considered and approved by Plan Commission and Common Council. Seconded by Rule. Motion carried 8-0. ADVISORY PARK BOARD MINUTES PAGE FIVE JANUARY 8, 2018 5) REVIEW AND RECOMMEND APPROVAL OF THE POLLOCK COMMUNITY WATER PARK AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE CITY OF OSHKOSH AND OSHKOSH AREA SCHOOL DISTRICT Mr. Maurer advised that this agreement is renewed every three years. The agreement states that the Recreation Department will provide the lifeguard services for the Pollock Community Water Park and then bills the City at the end of the season. There aren’t any changes to the document from the last agreement. The school board has reviewed and are recommending approval. Motion by Rule to recommend approval of the Pollock Community Water Park agreement between the City of Oshkosh and Oshkosh Area School District. Seconded by Gogolewski. Motion carried 8-0. 6) UPDATE ON CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN Mr. Maurer advised the Board that approximately $1.3 Million of projects were approved by the Common Council for the 2018 budget year. These projects are the same ones that the Board had reviewed and prioritized last year and submitted for approval. Staff will be meeting to schedule the projects and begin the bidding process to keep them moving forward. PARK DIRECTOR’S REPORT Mr. Maurer updated that the ice rink has been installed downtown and has been open for use since the week between Christmas and New Year’s. This is a project that the department has been working on for a couple of years. Sites were reviewed and donations were received to facilitate the Nice Rink being installed at Riverside Park downtown. Park staff installed the rink but it was all made possible with the help of the Parks Department, Oshkosh Convention and Visitor’s Bureau, Oshkosh Area Community Foundation and the Best Western and Convention Center. A ribbon cutting is scheduled for January 19 and a family friendly event is scheduled for February 11. He feels it will be a nice addition to the downtown area. Continued work will be completed with the installation of security cameras, outdoor lighting and speakers for music to be played. ASSISTANT PARK DIRECTOR’S REPORT Mr. Dallman states that there is a lot that his crew will be working on in 2018 as well as some 2017 projects that they are wrapping up. He reports that Teichmiller Park’s new restroom facility is progressing slowly due to some contractor problems and is over deadline at this point but they anticipate it will be completed before they open for the season. Work on the 24 Ave boat launch is also wrapping up with the th installation of benches and completing the concrete work. Work at the Menominee Park Zoo maintenance building is being completed as well as updates to the refrigeration system and HVAC. Lakefly Café will have new serving windows installed as well as HVAC updates to improve that facility. Lastly HVAC work at the Parks building is being finalized over the next couple of weeks. Boat launch funds will be utilized to install more new kiosks as well as electronic pay stations. ADVISORY PARK BOARD MINUTES PAGE SIX JANUARY 8, 2018 Mr. Dallman further reported that they are working on seasonal staffing adjustments for the 2018 season to hopefully avoid some of the staffing problems they have encountered in the past. The department recently hired a new Zoo Education Coordinator, a position that is fully funded by the Oshkosh Zoological Society. Staff continues to prepare for the upcoming 2018 season. Other updates are that the ice on Miller’s Bay has been cleared off for skating. Staff is wrapping up building updates at the Seniors Center, a project that was funded by donations to add more fitness space for users. Mr. Gogolewski inquired what will happen with the recently installed HVAC in the club house at the golf course. Mr. Dallman reported that they are repurposing some of the unit at the Seniors Center and other City buildings. LANDSCAPE OPERATIONS MANAGER’S REPORT Mr. Sturm reported that his crew has already begun working on the 2018 tree pruning schedule, updating the tree inventory and entering in information from the 2017 plantings. City budget has funded an upgrade to the cemetery information management system and they are currently working on data migration into the new program. Staff is working on upgrading pesticide applicator licensing and taking down the holiday decorations downtown. The weather has been cooperative for them to be able to get work done. REVENUE FACILITIES MANAGER’S REPORT Ms. McCollian reports that she is working on wrapping up 2017 information and completing reports regarding the many events. They had a great year with obtaining sponsorships and having successful events. She is already working on getting things in line for the 2018 season for sponsorships and lining up bands for the Tuesday night Verve concerts. They will be utilizing food trucks again at various events and she is looking for family friendly entertainment for the events as well. She continues to work on finding different ways to promote their events so that the community is aware of what is going on. March 24 is the first event of the year; Breakfast with the Bunny and Egg-citing Day at the Zoo. ADJOURNMENT Motion by Gogolewski for adjournment; seconded by Miller. Motion carried 8-0. The meeting adjourned at 7:20 P.M Respectfully submitted, Stacy L. James Stacy L. James, Recording Secretary