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PR09-07-2021MinPARKS AND RECREATION ADVISORY BOARD LONGWOOD CITY COMMISSION CHAMBERS 175 WEST WARREN AVENUE LONGWOOD, FLORIDA MINUTES September 7, 2021 Present: David Putz, Chair Judi Coad, Member Lori Rice, Member Teresa Ray, Member Rachael Carroll, Member (departed at 6:59 p.m.) Larissa Morgan, Member (arrived at 6:32 p.m.) Chris Capizzi, Leisure Services Director Ryan Rinaldo, Recreation Coordinator Donna L. Alt -Bowes, Recording Secretary Absent: Amanda Sackett, Vice -Chair 1. CALL TO ORDER. Chair Putz called the meeting to order at 6:31 p.m. 2. PUBLIC INPUT. Acting City Manager, Clint Gioielli introduced the new Community and Media Relations Manager, Liane Cartagena to the Board Members and gave them an idea of what her role will be within the City of Longwood. 3. ACTION ITEMS. A. Approve Minutes from August 3, 2021 Member Rice moved to approve the minutes from August 3, 2021, as presented. Seconded by Member Coad and carried by a unanimous voice vote with Member Sackett absent. B. Banners Chair Putz began the banner discussion with the pictures provided in the Agenda Packet. Discussion ensued regarding which banners to purchase, the cost of the banners, and the cost of equipment to install the banners. P&R 09-07-2021/1 Member Coad made a motion to have the banner choices for the park presented by Member Rice within their budget. It will be a total of seven (7) new banners and one (1) set of arms to install. Seconded by Member Morgan and carried by a unanimous voice vote with Members Sackett and Carroll absent. Member Coad stated all of the aforementioned banners should fall under their budget. Mr. Capizzi replied they would. 4. BOARD MEMBER REPORTS Member Ray reported she has been out and about, has flyers out everywhere currently, and is still working on it. She is still working on some sponsors and has a couple of ideas for some cookers coming up. She states she's out there and she is trying. Mr. Capizzi mentioned staff has contacted several places that are not doing anything or are not in business anymore. Discussion ensued about sponsors and cookers for the Chili Cook -Off. Member Rice reported she was asked to provide the informational flyers and the agenda for Saturday's event. She hoped everyone could attend and urged them to share the information and let their neighbors know. National Night Out is October 5th and invitations were issued to past vendors and sponsors. Winn -Dixie will be sponsoring the food that Commissioners will prepare. She said she does not know if the Commissioners have received their invitations yet, and jested that the newest Commissioner will not be in town that night and couldn't be broken in this year with cooking hotdogs. Chair Putz said he has three (3) years of cooking. Member Rice stated she would like to thank another successful contact that staff was able to secure through the South Seminole Masons. They will be attending National Night Out and offering Child ID Kits free of charge for the families. This is something never done previously at National Night Out. It certainly correlates with the concept of National Night Out. She thanked Junior Warden, Mr. Murray Martin, as well as staff for working with the Bahia Shriners and Mr. Dan McCoy. Mr. Dan McCoy has arranged to bring a special guest, Sir Gus Jr., a dancing camel. Discussion ensued about the setup and vendor participation for National Night Out. Member Rice said the sunshade structure has not gone up yet. She is aware that the ribbon cutting is scheduled for September 18, 2021, which will coincide with the day the Longwood Market moves from Sunday to Saturday. She said she could not remember the time. Chair Putz stated it is scheduled for 9:00 a.m. P&R 09-07-2021/2 Member Rice said she asked staff when they thought they would advertise. She invited all Board Members to come out and participate in the ribbon -cutting ceremony. She felt it would be a nice gesture to extend an invitation to Dr. Matthew Knight of the Knight Dermatology Institute. Mr. Capizzi said he was going to remind them all to attend that evening as well as send an email invitation. He said they certainly want the Board there. He reiterated that the Commission is aware but they will send a formal email to let them know again. Member Rice asked if staff had thought about inviting Dr. Knight and asked that they make sure to do so. She stated she is aware staff has been busy over the last couple of weeks attending conferences and asked that they share a little bit about where they went, what they did, and the takeaway from the conferences during their staff report. Member Coad reported and said ice skating is booked for Celebrate the Season. She mentioned Mr. Capizzi is working on a train. Unfortunately, there will be no Santa's Workshop this year. She said staff met with Kay Milliner from Wonderland gifts. Ms. Milliner was not interested in doing the gift shop at the event because of staffing and inventory issues. Mr. Capizzi stated they did meet Kay Milliner at the new location. She expressed that while they did make a profit the previous year, this was because the employees had not been paid. She also expressed she is having material shortages, making obtaining products difficult. Mr. Capizzi said that Ms. Milliner seemed like she was a little stressed out when they brought it up to her and she was unable to commit. Attendance must be known in advance and therefore they could not wait. He stated they appreciate her situation but could tell after talking with her for a few minutes that she was not interested. Discussion ensued about Celebrate the Season. Member Coad asked about vendors for Celebrate the Season and said that she wants CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) as a vendor. She wants them to sell hotdogs at their normal fare. She said they have their popcorn machine and cotton candy machine which she would like to see at the event. Mr. Capizzi said they will be speaking with Battalion Chief Inman about all of the fall events. Member Coad stated they are on board with that. She asked about Santa's Breakfast and thanked Mrs. Alt -Bowes' again for her research regarding catering. She asked Mr. Rinaldo to explain what they had come up with. Mr. Rinaldo said last year a Santa's Breakfast did not take place, but the previous two (2) years were very successful and sold out within a week. He said unfortunately, Fred's Fresh Market who donated the food is no longer in business. Mrs. Alt -Bowes researched caterers finding Magic Occasions (which is a Longwood business and does many events at the Community Building) to have the cheapest quote at $10.00 per head. He mentioned they P&R 09-07-2021/3 are still actively searching for sponsors, but it is their goal to have the Santa's Breakfast cost a minimum of $10.00 per head to cover this cost. He stated staff's research for an average cost in this area found $10.00 per person to be standard. He stated it's a fantastic value considering the cost and food provided. He read the menu to the board and stated staff will be soliciting volunteers to serve the food. Mr. Capizzi elaborated by stating that staff would be serving and this would not be an open buffet. He said masks and gloves will be worn while portioning out the food in a sanitary manner. He said they are excited to be able to do it again. Member Coad said they supply an ornament that Santa gives out similarly to what is done at Celebrate the Season and they usually place crayons and coloring books or coloring sheets on the table to entertain the children beforehand. She said this is what will take place this year. Discussion ensued about finding a sponsor to minimize the $10.00 per individual cost. Mr. Capizzi stated he hopes with sponsorships the cost can be brought down. He proposed keeping the adults the same ticket cost and drastically dropping the children's. Member Coad asked the Board again to keep Celebrate the Seasons open too. She said she expects all of the Board Members to try and work for that. She stated it takes roughly sixty (60) to seventy (70) people to organize the event that night. She expressed this is why they need their volunteers. They will have Santa's letters again. She explained that Mrs. Alt - Bowes kindly makes those letters and they will need someone to sit with the children to write their letters and then mail them to Santa by way of our mailbox. She stated if any other ideas were had for the event to please let Mr. Capizzi know so that he can inform her and they will try to work it out. Member Rice asked if they are doing either fireworks or a laser light show. Member Coad said they did get two prices, but it had not been decided and that it would be up to the Board to make that decision based on cost. Mr. Rinaldo said funds are available in the event budget and both of the fireworks and lasers are priced similarly. He further explained they are between $5,000.00 to $5,500.00. He mentioned waiting on a couple more quotes, but that is the ballpark cost. He stated staff will need to know which direction the Board would like to go. Member Coad asked if the Board would like to see fireworks again or a laser light show. Discussion ensued about whether or not to do fireworks or a laser light show. Member Coad made a motion to have a laser light show as part of the Celebrate the Seasons package. Seconded by Member Rice and carried by a unanimous voice vote with Members Sackett and Carroll absent. P&R 09-07-2021/4 Chair Putz reported and said he was riding a bike again and he does it at least five (5) or six (6) times a week and Reiter Park is one of the locations he frequents. He said he is there pretty early, sometimes 7:00 a.m., and asked about sleeping in the park. He mentioned coming across this on occasion. He does not know what that is all about, but notes they are tired. He expressed he just does not want to see tents or somebody taking up residence in the park. Mr. Capizzi said we do have one (1) gentlemen named Thomas who naps at the park. He is an ex -speech writer. He said he bikes from Lake Mary and comes to Reiter almost every day. Chair Putz asked if that was the guy with the bike and the backpack. Mr. Capizzi replied yes and is not homeless. Member Rice said if he is not napping he is reading. Mr. Capizzi said that is correct. He said he is a nice guy and he wished he was not sleeping quite as much but feels he is not bothering anybody. He mentions if it got to a point where he was impeding an event or bothering people we could address the situation. He said he is a nice guy and agrees with wishing the gentleman would not take as many naps in the park. Chair Putz said there was one other person who was sleeping in the park. He said he does not know when she got there or when she left but he came twice and saw her in the park. Mr. Capizzi said Chief Dowda is very proactive and Officer Kim Feld is very good at coming out and speaking to transient people. He stated this is done for multiple parks where some indigents are occupying the park. He said he has seen her talk to people and relocate them. Unfortunately, there are times people must be trespassed from the park. Chair Putz said he ran into a young man fishing and he pulled out a four (4) pound, fourteen (14) inch bass from the pond. He was in some kind of fishing contest. He exclaimed he was in the fifteenth (15th) place out of one hundred (100) people. The young man was very excited. He asked about the bright green algae bloom in the pond and asked if there was any way to control that. He said he was aware we have the aerators. Mr. Capizzi said they have the aerators and Public Works has a spray program that covers city ponds. Discussion continued with the regard to the algae in the pond at Reiter Park and what can be done to remedy the situation. Chair Putz brought up the splash pad not being open at 10:00 am. P&R 09-07-2021/5 Mr. Rinaldo spoke to the part-time employees and how the gate must be open at 10:00 a.m. He stated we are making additional signs indicating how to operate the splash pad. He said the code requires a child lock on the door to the splash pad. The lock requires having to lift the locking mechanism up. Mr. Capizzi said to clarify, we are having a sign made for the button, not the door. Discussion ensued with regard to the sign for the splash pad, opening the splash pad on holidays (which fall on Mondays), when the splash will close for the season, and when it will re -open. Chair Putz said his other water issue was the misting rock and asked why it has been turned off. He said he goes by there and the backflow has been shut off. Mr. Capizzi notified him it is only turned on during special events. It is not kept on at all times. He said the backflows are shut off just in the event that people tamper with the mister motor. Discussion ensued with regard to the misting rock and when it is on and when it is off. Chair Putz mentioned he had a conversation with a guy working out on the equipment who said he loves Reiter Park. Member Morgan reported she was scheduled to meet with staff to discuss the event she would like to hold next year. She has been in contact with companies in the state of Florida that specialize in Hawaiian Culture. Many restaurants are struggling at this time and do not want to commit too early. There are many Hawaiian restaurants here in the state of Florida. She stated most are found in Jacksonville and not in the Central Florida area. She has been gathering information, but she needs a date for the event. She said this date will help move things along. S. STAFF REPORT Mr. Rinaldo said this Saturday they have a lovely event scheduled. This will be the 20th Anniversary of the September 11, 2001 tragedy at the monument. He said hopefully they will see many Board Members there. The itinerary will include a 21-gun salute, a flyover by the Sheriff's Office helicopter, and the ringing of the bell by the fire department. He stated the following Saturday the grand re -opening of the Farmer's Market will take place and is moving to Saturdays permanently. Since it is being moved to Saturdays, numerous large vendors are returning. This will include seafood, a couple of bakers, and a few new vendors as well. School of Rock will be hosting a free community concert that day in conjunction with the grand re -opening and the shade structure ribbon cutting. It will be a busy day. September 251h is the Food Truck Battle and Concert in the Park. This is another event that he is excited about since this is the first time they are moving the Food Truck Battle to Reiter and having it in conjunction with a concert. As previously mentioned, National Night Out will take place on October 5'. On October 23`' the Truck or Treat event in partnership P&R 09-07-2021/6 with Acme Comic Store will return. It will have a comic component to it with vendors and costume characters. He stated it is fun and those things set apart the Truck or Treat from others. He said Acme is working on the possibility of a Star Wars encampment in the back, similar to the pirate encampment at the Pirate Festival. They are still solidifying the details of that. The FFEA (Florida Festival and Events Association) conference he went to was about two (2) weeks ago down in Orlando. He said it was a symposium of all event planners from around the state, vendors, planners, and promoters. Every year he takes away something a little different. He mentioned one thing about our city is we have been very progressive with hosting our events. There are still a good number of cities that have a pause on their events and a good number of cities that are postponing their future events, because of the COVID situation. There were plenty of good connections with vendors that will allow us to receive deals here and there, which he found exciting. There were good entertainment vendors as well such as various bands. Mr. Capizzi stated he went to the FRPA conference last week for the Florida Recreation and Parks Association. He said he attended a class on soil and grasses which focused a lot on aerification like solid tine aerification and hollow tine aerification. He mentioned the timing was perfect as Reiter Park had been aerated that week. Discussion ensued about the aerification of turfgrass. Mr. Capizzi also took a course where he was able to meet the new IFIS Extension Coordinator. IFAS (University of Florida Institute of Food and Agriculture Services) is a program offered through the University of Florida. The University of Florida has agricultural extensions throughout every county in the state and they were fortunate enough to work with Hannah Wooten from the Ag Extension. She is actually with Orange County currently but was integral in helping diagnose the issue with the date palm trees at Reiter Park. He also met Morgan Pinkerton, who is the new IFAS representative for Seminole County. He stated he took her class on herbicides. Mr. Capizzi said they did get official paperwork back from the state regarding the FRDAP (Florida Recreation Development Assistance Program) grant for Small World and Candyland projects. The state will sign off on the grant agreements and then send the executed copies back to the city. After this, a certificate of commencement will be received and then the physical grant work can begin. He stated a month is an optimistic timeline due to difficulty getting those in construction out immediately. He stated Mrs. Alt -Bowes can attest to this as it took them a month and a half to have the gentleman repairing the small deck on the Community Building do so. He stated we have removed some of the dead trees from the cemetery and are going to replace those with new cedar trees. Member Coad asked for an update on the bike and skateboard park, the 131 Fund, and asked about the Memorial Fund money and whether those funds would roll over or shift back to the General Fund. P&R 09-07-2021/7 Mr. Capizzi said those funds will not be rolling over and said that he had spoken with the Finance Director to verify. Mr. Capizzi stated the only account line that they are allowed to shift funds from is the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board's Funds. He said he would have to get a more succinct description from the Finance Director to elaborate on why that is but can confirm the memorial fund does not rollover. Mr. Capizzi said they are speaking with Brian and Janet from WTDI next week about the fall festival at which point the contract will be completed and finalized. The kids' zone will be back this year which a lot of people will appreciate. A wine garden will be present as well. He stated they have a very similar situation as we did last year and are looking forward to the event. Member Coad asked about the skateboard and the bike park. Mr. Capizzi asked if she was just referring to the obstacles that we are putting in there. Member Coad said yes. Mr. Capizzi stated one (1) ramp was placed now. He mentioned it goes right up against one of the oak trees and it is a quarter pipe. He said they have a humongous ramp coming in the near future. It has been put together and will be added to the skate park in the next month or so. They have also placed two (2) construction barricades on the pad and cemented them down. They were delivered at no charge and a mason placed concrete at the bottom of said barriers to make it into a ramp. He's hoping to place a light in the skate park pad soon. This would be on the northern side of the park. They have re -aimed one of the sports lights and it seems to light up the pump track well. Eventually, they would like to phase out the modular equipment. He stated they have a welder shore things up each year, but the ultimate goal is to transition into concrete, which is expensive. He mentioned he is working with Chad DeGroot and in the future would like to allocate grant money towards cement obstacles. Member Coad inquired about the Dog Park and Candyland. She wanted to know how the bulletin boards are being managed and whether current activities are being posted. Mr. Capizzi explained the bulletin board is no longer locked and remains open for anyone that would like to post there. Member Coad asked if there was glass or doors on them. Mr. Capizzi stated there are doors but they open up. He said the locking mechanisms do not work. He further elaborated by stating this happens when the rain penetrates the locks. For this reason, the doors are kept in place, but anybody can place material on the board. P&R 09-07-2021/8 Member Coad said with all of our activities coming up she is am requesting informational material placed on the board. Mr. Capizzi said we can certainly get that over there. Mr. Rinaldo stated Mrs. Cartagena had given them all a flyer that had many of the fall events on it. He said they are getting ready to create another utility bill flyer that will be going out the first week of October. This flyer is currently in draft form but Mrs. Cartagena is assisting Mr. Rinaldo in creating the flyer for dispersal to utility bill recipients. Mr. Capizzi said we will disseminate the flyer once we have it. Member Rice said it would be nice to have that flyer posted at the dog park. She noted there is not a single city flyer left. There are no flyers at Candyland because there is no longer a message board; however, a whiteboard is on -premise and it would be nice to put up a National Night Out flyer. 6. ADJOURNMENT. Chair Putz moved to adjourn. Seconded by Member Coad and carried by a unanimous voice vote with Members Carroll and Sackett absent. Meeting adjourned at 8:28 p.m. Minutes approved by the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board: 11-2-2021 ATTEST: �j ".an Donna Alt -Bowes, Recording Secretary *&W4©k/ David Putz, Chair P&R 09-07-2021/9 This Page Left Blank Intentionally. P&R 09-07-2021/10