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P&R02-01-11Min MINUTES PARKS ANT RECREATION ADVISORY BOARD 175 WEST WARREN AVENUE LONGWOOD, FLORIDA February 1, 2011 COMMISSION CHAM I: ERS 7:00 PM Present: Abigail Shoemaker, Chair Lori Rice, Vice Chair Dave Putz, Member Nicole Bright, Member Shawn Anastasia, Member Anna Rivera- Laguer, Member Alex Trauger, Member Fran Meli, Leisure Services Director Patrice Murphy, Assistant to City Administrator Sarah M. Mires, Recording Secretary 1. Call to Order. Chair Shoemaker called the meeting to order. at 7:00 p.m. 2. Election of Officers. A. Chair Chair Shoemaker opened the floor for nominations of Chair. Member Putz nominated Lori Rice as Chair. Seconded by Member Anastasia. Vice Chair Rice nominated Abby Shoemaker as Chair. Seconded by Member Bright. Nomination for Lori Rice as Chair carried by a four -to -three (4 -3) roll call vote with Chair Shoemaker, Vice Chair Rice, and Member Bright voting nay. . Vice Chair Chair Rice opened the floor for nomination of Vice Chair. Member Bright nominated Abby Shoemaker as Vice Chair. Seconded by Member Putz and carried by a unanimous roll call vote. P &R 02 -01 -11/1 3. Approval of Minutes — November 4, 2010 Regular Meeting. Member Trauger moved to approve the minutes of November 4, 2010 as presented. Seconded by Member Bright and carried by a unanimous voice vote. 4. Public Participation. Amanda Sackett, 954 Lormann Circle, said she wanted to bring up the matter that the Parks were closed during the holidays. Ms. Meli said that matter had been resolved, and the Parks will now be open and the gates will be left open. Member Putz said he knows they were an Advisory Board and the matter was not brought up to the Board, Candyland Park was closed over Christmas and New Year's for a total of eight (8) days. He noted the gates were shut and locked. He said they could not access the tennis courts and the baseball fields, and someone had contacted him regarding the matter. He said he was not aware of this and doesn't think the City needs to close the Parks. Ms. Meli said the decision to close Candyland Park was a decision that was made based on double overtime. She said in hind - sight, they know that was the wrong decision and it will never happen again. Discussion ensued regarding the Parks being closed over the holidays and the Parks now being opened all the time with the restrooms being locked during the holidays. Discussion was held regarding the security of Candyland Park, and the Police Department patrolling the Park on a regular basis and the possibility of adding cameras to Candyland Park. Ms. Mirus said Commissioner Brian Sackett was present to make a presentation to the Board. Commissioner Sackett thanked everyone for allowing him to be in attendance at tonight's meeting. He said he wanted to recognize the Members of the Board for all that they do, and enjoyed the events they put on and said he appreciated them. He thanked them for their participation and presented a tile to all the Board Members. Chair Rice congratulated Member Bright on getting married and noted her last name changed from Badger to Bright. P &R 02 -01 -11/2 Commissioner Sackett noted he brought the players to Reiter Park who played cricket. 5. Old Business. A. Director of Leisure Service's Report. Ms. Meld said Christmas was great and noted they had a great crowd. She noted they went an hour later and it was too long. She said since they were not doing Santa Visits Longwood this year, they wanted to give plenty of time for Santa. She said next year, they would shorten the event back to the three (3) hours and would turn on the lights at the end of the event. She said it got switched and the lights were supposed to come on at 7:00 p.m. She stated they came on much earlier. She said it was something that was out of her control and stated some people came and they missed it, so they recreated the lighting of the Christmas tree. She said they did Movie in the Park and the City of Casselberry chose the same movie on the same night. She said they had quite a few people, and it was cold. She was pleased with the turnout. She said when Reiter Park was completed, they would like to have the movies there and would not have to plan the event around baseball and would have more of a regular schedule. She said they were doing a Movie in the Park on March 18 and it would be held at Candyland Park. She said this month, they began working on Summer Camp and were working toward becoming an accredited Leisure Services Department. She said they set their goal at five (5) years, but doesn't want it to take that long and were having to put policies and procedures in place. She stated they would be a really strong and sharp Department upon the completion of the accreditation process. She said it was a national accreditation and Florida has more agencies than any other state that was accredited. She noted Seminole County Leisure Services became accredited and it's the goal of all the cities in Seminole County to achieve accreditation and to be the best in the State. She reviewed the dates for Sumner Camp and said the Camp would be eight (8) weeks. She said they were going to start interviewing for staff in the next month, and would have early registration and outlined the payments for Summer Camp. She said last year, they were able to offer seven (7) scholarships for the entire Summer Camp that came through the County and said they've checked and doesn't think that money would be available again this year. She said Easter was in April and the event was going to be held at Reiter Park in conjunction with Magic 107.7 and Covenant Church. She said she had been promised the dirt would be spread and if it isn't, she does not know what they're going to do. She said they would like to be in a permanent partnership with them and it brings a lot of people to Longwood. P &R 02-01-11/3 • 6. New Business. A. Discussion regarding a $100,000 Application for a Land and Water Conservation Fund Grant to help finance improvements at Reiter Park (deadline for submission is February 15, 2011). Ms. Murphy said the Land and Water Conservation Fund Grant was a competitive grant that provides for the acquisition and development of land for public outdoor recreational use. She stated on December 20 the Commission approved to enter into an as needed contract for when the City has funds available to go after grant funding opportunities with RMPK Funding Inc. She said RMPK Funding Inc. has been assisting the City since that time in getting the information together to go after the Land and Water Conservation Fund Grant for Reiter Park. She said the maximum amount for this year was $200,000, and the City had $100,000 in the budget and was requesting a $100,000 match. She stated local governments were eligible to apply and said the funds were Federal money. She stated it was administered through the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. She continued to review the requirements and terms of the matching grant. Discussion was held regarding the $100,000 that was in this year's budget for Reiter Park, the cost of the grading for the dirt at Reiter Park, and the timeline for Reiter Park if the grant funds were received. Ms. Murphy and Ms. Meli then answered questions from the Members of the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board regarding the matching grant. Ms. Meli said the Master Plan for Reiter Park was put together from the input that was provided by the City Commission and the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board at a Work Session that was held in May 2010. She then reviewed and outlined the features in the Master Plan for Reiter Park. She stated they were going for the active component of the grant. Discussion ensued regarding the budget for Reiter Park. Vice Chair Shoemaker inquired as to what Ms. Meli needed from the Board. Ms. Meli stated they needed to explain to the Board the process for points. Ms. Murphy provided examples of projects that were funded last year with the grant money, and identified those projects as being located within other cities in Seminole County. Ms. Meli stated they did not need a consensus on this; they just needed the Board to be aware of the grant process. P &R 02 -01 -11/4 Ms. Murphy said they did not anticipate any obstacles and they would meet the February 15 deadline. She stated Ms. Meli or herself would keep the Board informed of what was going on. Member Anastasia inquired about Plan B for Reiter Park. Ms. Meli stated they did not have the numbers for Reiter Park and the City's Engineer had not been able to do that. She stated they could not do anything until the grant. Discussion was held regarding sponsorships for Reiter Park and the Board making their recommendations to the Commission on how they would like to seethe $100,000 spent if the grant does not go forward. Chair Rice said before the discussion of the grant corning -up, that was what they were planning to discuss tonight and noted they did not have the numbers tonight. She inquired if next month they would have the numbers. Ms. Meli responded in the negative. She said the grant had put everything on hold, and the new Public Works Facility was taking priority right now due to the short timeline and asked everyone to be patient. She said there were things that needed to be completed before structures went up and it would be phased out. She said as far as the Master Plan goes this was what they had, and said there were things that would be going on and provided examples. Discussion was held regarding the stormwater components for Reiter Park. Discussion ensued regarding sponsorships for Reiter Park and Ms. Meli noted sponsorships rightnow were difficult to acquire. Ms. Meli noted the grading of the dirt at Reiter Park would be completed before Easter and it would be sodded not seeded before the Easter event. Member Anastasia suggested putting together a strategic game plan for Reiter Park. He said he has lived here for thirty (30) years and has watched the Park go from nice to something that's there. He suggested looking into some of the local vendors to see if they would be willing to assist the City and said it would speak volumes if something was done. He said as it stands right now, they just keep corning in here, chasing their tales, and asking the same questions. He noted the Park draws people to Longwood and that brings money for the businesses within the City. He said he does not understand why the Commission does not see it as a priority. He said the Park will bring people to the City and has seen it in P &R 02 -01 -11/5 • Lake Mary and Sanford. He said he does not understand why it does not take precedence. Discussion was held regarding acquiring revenue numbers that was brought in from projects that were completed by surrounding cities and for Members to start attending future Commission meetings. Member Anastasia stated that he used to play in that Park and he used to work for the City. He said he always used to be in the Park and whenever he drives by it, it is an eyesore. He noted he works for another municipality and sees how things play out in government. He said sometimes you have to stand -up and say this was a priority. He stated unfortunately this was going to be a cost and if the City keeps putting it off, it will be more of a cost. Ms. Meli noted there was a return for their money here. She provided an example of an organization they could get revenue numbers from; and stated with the right events and the right look, businesses would be interested in locating here, and saw this as an economic development. Member Bright provided Uptown Altamonte as an example of economic development. Ms. Meli stated a retention pond turned into an event place. She said the Commission was interested in economic development and stated there were so many things up in the air City -wide, and with budgets. She said the desire of the Commission was to have a Park and they were committed to having a Park. Discussion ensued regarding the Members of the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board to attend the Commission meetings and how to communicate to the Commission with their ideas. Ms. Murphy said she personally feels that if they come together as a Board and the Board votes on it, then submits it to the Commission and one representative brings it forward to the Commission, it carries more weight than an individual Member of the Board coming before the Commission. Vice Chair Shoemaker said that was the conversation they had at the last meeting and was supposed to be doing that at tonight's meeting. She said that should be their goal for another meeting. Member Bright moved to place on the agenda for the next meeting, to bring all of their ideas and come to a consensus and rotate amongst the Members and to present their ideas to the Commission. Seconded by Vice Chair Shoemaker. P &R 02 -01 -11/6 Discussion was held regarding what information the Members of the Board needed to bring at their next meeting. Ms. Meli informed the Board of memorial benches, a tree bank, and rental of the facilities for Reiter Park. Motion carried by a unanimous voice vote. I:.. Discussion of Reiter Park Master Plan. This Item was deferred to the next Parks and Recreation Advisory Board meeting. 7. Adjournment. Chair Rice adjourned the meeting at 8:25 p.m. ,,62.:( Lori Rice, Chair ATTEST: Sarah M. Minis, MMC, MBA, Recording Secretary P&R 02 -01 -11/7 This Page Left Blank Intentionally. P &R 02 -01 -11/8