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P&R06-07-16MinRiSTORze LONGWOOD FLORIDA PARKS AND RECREATION ADVISORY BOARD REGULAR MEETING DATE: June 7, 2016 WITA I �IRIII]_jla_P LOCATION: Longwood Commission Chamber 175 West Warren Avenue Longwood, FL 32750 MINUTES Present: Lori Rice; Chair Dave Putz, Vice Chair Commissioner Ben Paris Commissioner Brian Sackett Judi Coad, Member James Vogel, Member Michelle Hendrix, Member Bruce Harnage, Member Morgan Epstein, Member Chris Capizzi, Leisure Services.Director Anthony Velardi, Leisure Services Intern Karen Behling, Recording Secretary 1. CALL TO ORDER. Chair Rice called the meeting to order at 7:00pm. 2. PUBLIC INPUT. None. 3. STAFF REPORT. Mr. Capizzi stated that the Vietnam Wall traveling memorial will be coming in at approximately 11:30 a.m.,-12:00 p.m. on June 8, escorted by a motorcade, and be set up: in Reiter Park. The opening ceremony will be on June 9 at 9:00 a.m. and last approximately three hours. The display will be open 24 hours. Pride Enterprises created brochures that will be available on the 9'' and there will be opening ceremonies on the 10"'-121h. The display will close on Sunday, June 12. Mr. Capizzi stated that the downtown Longwood Cruise -in Car Show will be held from 5-8 p.m. on June 11. The same gentleman who sponsored the -previous show is sponsoring this one and will be giving a free seminar with light refreshments. Mr. Capizzi stated that the Senior Matinee Movie on June 16 will be "The Finest Hour." Next week Leisure Services will be hosting the annual Father and Daughter Dance, which will be held from 7-9 p.m. at the Longwood Community Building. Wekiva Life will be taking pictures for its publication. Mr. Capizzi stated that the Reiter Park proposal, which outlines the scope of work needed to create construction plans to complete the park, was approved last night. The work will cost a little over $400,000 and eight companies are involved, including Pegasus Engineering and CPWG, as there are many different elements to the park. Dix.Hite + Partners will be heading up the project and serve as point of contact. Mr. Capizzi stated that summer swim days and summer camp are in full effect and summer camp numbers are up quite a bit from last year. Mr. Capizzi thanked Mr. Velardi for being an integral part of Leisure Services over the last ten months and making it more efficient, and recognized his contributions with a plaque honoring his outstanding dedication and service above and beyond the call of duty to the City of Longwood. Chair Rice and Member Coad also thanked Mr. Velardi for his service. Mr. Velardi thanked the Board and said he had learned a great deal during his time with them and that it had been life changing. Member Putz took photos. Chair Rice asked Mr. Capizzi if the approval of the Reiter Park proposal last night included a time frame or deadline for the engineer plans. Mr. Capizzi said he would get this information to the Board as soon as he was aware of it, that the involved companies were ready to start and that the City wanted to have the project completed by September 2017. Mr. Capizzi has given Dix.Hite details on all the grants for the project. Chair Rice also asked for a reminder of the times and dates for the Summer Swim program, which are Monday -Thursday from 9-2 and Saturday from 9-4 at a cost of $3.00 per person. Member Coad stated that she had met with the Finance Director last night and asked her again about whether there was any income from the annual Christmas Parade, and if expenses incurred by Parks and Recreation/ Leisure Services would be reimbursed. Ms. Snead had forgotten about this so Member Coad posed the question again to Mr. Capizzi, who said it would be his first priority next week. Member Coad also asked for the amount of the Cultural Facilities grant for completion of Reiter Park, which Mr. Capizzi said was $100,000, with an additional $200,000 provided by the City. Member Coad advised the Board that according to the City Manager the City would have to front the entire amount. Member Hendrix asked if construction on the Reiter Park would be phased so that visitors could still use parts of it while the project was underway. Mr. Capizzi said he would know this once he had a chance to go over the plans with Dix.Hite. Member Coad asked about the growth of mushrooms on the park's ball courts. Mr. Capizzi said they had been cut out. 4. ACTION ITEMS. A. APPROVE MINUTES FROM MAY 3, 2016 Member Jim Vogel motioned to approve minutes from May 3-, 2016, seconded by Member Harnage. Motion passed 7.0. B. BOARD MEMBER REPORTS Vice Chair Putz stated that the Senator and the park (Reiter Park) were both looking very well, but that a hose at Shadow Hill was broken. Mr. Capizzi said it would be fixed when the department loaded playground mulch, and that swing sets would be replaced. Chair Rice added to Vice Chair Putz's report that the playground equipment has been placed at Raven Avenue Park and today they were laying the forms for the sidewalk. The park is not open yet. Mr. Capizzi said that the mulch for this park should be delivered on June 9. Member Coad referred to a previous motion regarding installing a light at Candyland Park in the dark area near the pavilions and asked when that might take place. Mr. Capizzi said that should happen next month. Member Coad stated that Mr. Velardi had prepared a sponsorship letter for her and that she had some revisions to go over with him. The first letter will go out to all her sponsors from last year and then she will contact City business partners on other projects as well as her own. The Board has talked about keeping a running _list of who has donated to various projects so they don't continually contact the same people and to recognize who they are. Member Hendrix asked Mr. Capizzi if the drainage issue at the Dog Park had been. . resolved and he replied in the affirmative, saying a large drum had been inserted about six feet underground and that they had tested it by running the water fountain for several minutes. Mr. Capizzi said he had also talked with Richard Kornbluh about putting in spigots for the dog washing stations. Member Hendrix said that she would be contacting her list of last year's sponsors for Bark Fest, which is scheduled for October 15, and was looking for other sponsors. If Board members had suggestions for potential sponsors, she asked that they pass that information on to her. Member Hendrix has also begun posting on social media about the event. Member Hendrix said that she is collecting suggestions on local restaurants to talk to about the Food Festival and she would appreciate suggestions from the Board as well. Letters will probably not be sent out until closer to October and the status of Reiter Park construction will also be a factor in determining where the Festival will be held. Member Coad asked that copies of Member Hendrix's contact list for the Festival,be given to Board members to avoid duplicate calls and letters. Member Coad said that that the Longwood City Commissioners had discussed the Dog Park at their regular meeting the night before, and that they would like to see a user survey done on it. Mr. Capizzi said this would be done online via Survey Monkey. Member Hendrix said she has heard from park visitors that their dogs had more room to run than in other parks, which they were very happy about. Member Harnage said that he would be reaching out to potential sponsors for the Chili Cook -off. Mr. Capizzi said that he would go through the process with Member Harnage at the latter's convenience. Member Harnage said that he had noticed a need for new ball court nets at Reiter Park Chair Rice reminded the Board that the July meeting had been canceled. Chair Rice said that she had attended the Second Annual Sock Hop a couple of weeks previously and that it was a great success with about 70 dancers. A Luau Dance will be held on July 10. Chair Rice also attended the first Monthly Yard Sale and praised Mr. Velardi for his work on organizing it. Comments from attendees included a wish to have food and beverage vendors present. The next sale will be held on June 18 and CERT as well as a food vendor and Kona Ice, will be present. Chair Rice received a call a couple of weeks ago from representatives of the Historical Society regarding the fall Arts & Crafts Festival. The Society is working on making some changes to the Festival this year, including enlarging their scope and style of vendors and food court arrangement, and is seeking feedback on an offer to co -locate a Leisure Services event, such as the Chili Cook -off, with the Festival, perhaps utilizing the Community Building parking lot. Member Coad stated that she did not think the Chili Cook -off would be a good option, but she had no objection to combining the Festival with another Leisure Services - sponsored event. Mr. Capizzi agreed, since the Cook -off begins in the afternoon and the Arts & Crafts Festival starts in the morning. Mr. Capizzi thought the Farmers Market would be a perfect event to tie to the Festival instead. Members Hendrix and Putz also agreed that the Cook -off would not be a good option. Member Coad suggested including a children's event, since the majority of Festival attendees are usually women and children. Chair Rice extended her thanks to Commissioner Sackett and his team for signing up for a 12-6 a.m. security shift for the Vietnam Wall memorial display. Commissioner Paris volunteered for the 6-12 p.m. shift on June 9 and volunteers are needed from 12-6 p.m. on June 11. Commissioner Sackett also volunteered for an evening shift to watch the wall. Most of the needed positions are wall prompters/escorts. Member Epstein said she had heard rumors that Zanzibar Coffee House was considering starting its own weekend farmers market behind the shop, which could present possible conflicts or partnership opportunities. Mr. Capizzi said that because Boynton Lawn Care had previously inhabited the site, the ground is largely oil -stained and a lot of work would have to be done in preparation to hold a farmer's market there, but that local businessman Craig Lynch was going to approach Zanzibar about getting involved with the City's farmer's market, if he had not already done so. Member Epstein said she'd had a question about sanitation arrangements for vendors and visitors to the City's farmer's market. Mr. Capizzi said this had been discussed and the City didn't want to put a Port-O-Let on the site, partly due to cost issues, but another solution had not yet been decided on. Member Epstein asked Member Hendrix about tents at Bark Fest, most of which were animal -oriented last year, and if they could be expanded to draw in more visitors. Member Hendrix said she and Mr. Capizzi had discussed the number of tents that would fit and what they could do with them to increase attendance. Member Epstein asked about the cost structure of setting up a tent and Member Hendrix said either some level of sponsorship was required, or vendors could donate an item of at least $25 value. Member Hendrix said they would love to have a pet adoption agency set up at Bark Fest but had not yet found anyone interested. Member Epstein said she had reached out to an employee of Seminole County Animal Services and other possible options were the local greyhound rescue and the Sanford -Orlando Kennel Club. Member Epstein asked if any food vendors would be present at Bark Fest this year. Member Hendrix said the vendors she spoke to last year were only interested in events that promised a large turnout, so a better option would be to partner with a local business such as Colette's for something on a smaller scale. Member Epstein said that at the last Commission meeting, Commissioner Maingot had expressed concern about not having flags on the Heroes Monument for Memorial Day, but that they would be out on Veterans Day. Member Vogel said he was continuing to work on putting together guidelines for the German Fest. Chair Rice confirmed the next Board meeting will be on August 2. The Board's September meeting will be on August 30 and the October meeting will be held on September 20. November 1 will be a regularly scheduled meeting and the December meeting will be held on November 22. Member Coad asked about the tennis programs at Reiter Park. The instructor pay structure for one is 80/20, but since instructor Karen Westmark does not pay us, how is that validated? Mr. Capizzi said that Ms. Westmark only has a maximum of about ten students and charges them only $5 apiece, so she doesn't earn a great deal from them. She has also refused in the past to partner with the City and stated that if they instituted a pay program with her she would likely go somewhere else. Therefore, rather than denying children inexpensive lessons with her, the City let it go. The City's other instructors' certifications and qualifications are higher than Ms. Westmark's and their fees are a little higher. Mr. Capizzi told them they could hold lessons any week they wished, and they are currently teaching on the same day as Ms. Westmark, which they have no problem with, but that he had told Ms. Westmark if the programs expanded and the City needed to schedule them in her time slots as well, that would happen. Member Coad asked what the partnering instructors charged, and Chair Rice said it was $85 for six summer sessions. Member Coad said she understood that the other instructors offered more, but not how the City reconciled that someone was allowed to come on City property and use the tennis court without partnering with the City, while anyone else who uses City facilities does pay a fee. Mr. Capizzi said that the other instructors are aware of the situation and do not care, and that Ms. Westmark is the only vendor within the Leisure Services department with such an arrangement, or who would be allowed it. 5. ADJOURNMENT. Motion to adjourn by Member Putz seconded by Member Hendrix at 8:45pm Lori Rice, Chair �, + PP firPI Flo ,