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PR01-04-2022Min PARKS AND RECREATION ADVISORY BOARD LONGWOOD CITY COMMISSION CHAMBERS 175 WEST WARREN AVENUE LONGWOOD, FLORIDA MINUTES January 4, 2022 Present: David Putz, Chair Amanda Sackett, Vice-Chair Judi Coad, Member Lori Rice, Member Larissa Morgan, Member Teresa Ray, Member Chris Capizzi, Leisure Services Director Ryan Rinaldo, Recreation Coordinator Donna L. Alt-Bowes, Recording Secretary Absent: Rachael Carroll, Member 1. CALL TO ORDER. Chair Putz called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. 2. ELECTION OF OFFICERS. A. Chair. Member Morgan nominated Lori Rice. Member Rice declined the nomination. Member Ray nominated Amanda Sackett. Member Sackett declined the nomination. Member Coad nominated David Putz. Member Putz accepted the nomination. Nomination carried by a unanimous voice vote with Member Carroll absent. B. Vice-Chair. Chair Putz nominated Amanda Sackett. Member Sackett accepted the nomination. Nomination carried by a unanimous voice vote with Member Carroll absent. 3. PUBLIC INPUT. None. 4. ACTION ITEMS. A. Approve Minutes from December 7, 2021 P&R 01-04-2022/1 Member Rice moved to approve the minutes from December 7, 2021, as presented. Seconded by Member Coad. Chair Putz asked to clarify the date of the Seafood Pirate Festival. He indicated that the minutes show it as March 26 and 27 but the Special Event List shows it as March 25 and 26. Mr. Capizzi clarified that the minutes are correct. Motion carried by a unanimous voice vote with Member Carroll absent. 5. BOARD MEMBER REPORTS. Vice-Chair Sackett reported she needed to set up an appointment with staff to go look at all of the parks and discuss the book project for Reiter Park. She said she enjoyed Celebrate the Season and there was a great turnout. She noticed there were not as many holiday songs as regular songs playing. She said that was fine and the crowd seemed pumped up but she expected more holiday music to be played. She commented on being disappointed with the lasers compared to previous shows at past Celebrate the Season events, but did enjoy having the lasers on throughout the event. Chair Putz asked if there was an issue with finding a supplier for the lasers. Mr. Rinaldo said they received three (3) quotes and the company that was used in the past was unavailable. The company used the very first time was expensive at$8,500.00 and this company was $6,000.00 Vice-Chair Sackett asked how much the fireworks cost. Mr. Rinaldo said it was about$1,000.00 per minute and would depend on the length of the show. Discussion ensued with regard to whether or not to continue with the laser show, fireworks, or something new in the future at Celebrate the Season. Chair Putz said the people that ran the Train were nice and they worked very hard but the train had some difficulties. Discussion ensued about the difficulty of getting in and out of the Train barrels and how this affected the length of the line for the rides. Mr. Rinaldo said they did receive pictures of the Train and did get the same one that was in the pictures. It looked bigger in the pictures. He said the Train we have used in the past was not running this year because of COVID and the other trains they received quotes on were extremely expensive because they are traveling a good distance. Discussion ensued concerning the train at Celebrate the Season. P&R 01-04-2022/2 Member Coad reported that she was a little taken back that the Train vendor was also selling items at the train and asked staff if a vendor fee was collected. She said she was not aware that they were going to be doing that and she thinks that conflicted with other things. She asked staff if they were aware they were going to be selling items. Mr. Rinaldo said yes it was part of a trade to lessen the cost of the train. Discussion ensued with regard to the Train vendor selling items and the train in general at Celebrate the Season. Member Coad thanked every Board Member for showing up and working so hard. She said it was a big project with a lot of people. She was pleased and thanked the Board Members again. It was a success and she thinks we had more people there than she can remember two (2) years ago. Discussion ensued about the Celebrate the Season ticket sales for the train and the ice rink, the games,the costumes, the synopsis, the budget, the entertainment, the laser show, and letters to Santa. Member Coad said Santa's Breakfast went well. The catering was wonderful and the food was good and she thanked staff for that. It looked like it went smooth,the kids had a good time, and there was not a lot to clean up. It was an easy profit maker and it was great for the community. She asked staff if there was anything they wanted to share since all three (3) of them were there working. Mr. Capizzi said he was impressed with the catering and he thought it went well. Last several years we had a great caterer in Fred's Market in Lake Mary. He was worried that the food would not measure up to years past, but it was indeed very good. Discussion ensued regarding Breakfast with Santa, the caterer, the sponsors, and the gift card for Santa. Member Coad made a motion for the Board to approve a gift card for the gentleman who played Santa Claus in the amount of$175.00 on behalf of them to show their gratitude for his services. Seconded by Vice-Chair Sackett and carried by a unanimous voice vote with Member Carroll absent. Member Rice asked about the discussion portion of that motion and asked if Member Coad clarified within the motion where the money was coming out of. Member Coad stated Mr. Capizzi said it would come out of the Parks and Recreation Board Fund and would include it in her motion. Member Coad amended her motion for the Board to approve a gift card in the amount of$175.00 to be paid out of the Parks and Recreation Department fund for the P&R 01-04-2022/3 gentleman playing Santa Claus for the parade, Santa's Breakfast, and Celebrate the Season. Seconded by Chair Putz and carried by a unanimous voice vote with Member Carroll absent. Member Coad asked about the contract for the lighting at Reiter Park and asked if it looked like it would be renewable maybe next year if anything has been said. Mr. Capizzi said it looks like we will probably go out to bid unless we find a company that we like and can piggyback from. Member Coad said the Board voted and approved to keep the lights up on the amphitheater at Reiter Park and asked if moving out of that contract will it affect that. Mr. Capizzi said no because the lights were bought so they will stay up. Member Coad confirmed that we have lights that will be left on the amphitheater and can be lit for evening events throughout the year. She asked if we ever got the lights working in the garland by the bathroom. This is the second year in a row that more than a third of them were out: Mr. Rinaldo said they were working for about a week. He said we got the broken strand fixed and then the outlet that powers it went out over the break. Discussion ensued with regard to the lights on the amphitheater at Reiter Park. Member Rice reported overall Celebrate the Season was a winning night. She said we were pretty lucky to have the Lyman High School Honor Society, as well as Lyman High School ROTC students, show up. There were over thirty (30) volunteers that showed up and we used nineteen (19) of them for games and fourteen (14) of them for costumes. The most popular costumes were Olaf and the Grinch, as always. This year we retired some costumes as well and she would like to replace more than one (1) costume and replace it in the mascot style. We have the Panda, Olaf, and a couple of other mascots and she thinks these types of costumes are nicer and also hide faces. She said we retired the Christmas Tree and the Gingerbread Man. Discussion ensued concerning the costumes for Celebrate the Season. Member Rice said she loved the games being in the new area of the parking lot and said that worked out well. She agrees and the numbers show that there did not seem to be as much excitement for the skating rink. She said maybe because we have done the skating rink for so many years and she knows this year that Lake Mary also did the skating rink at their event. Maybe there are just many other opportunities for skating. It's certainly nice to offer for those that do enjoy it, but it is a hefty fee and perhaps we could look into a replacement for the rink; something like a Ferris Wheel. She said there are a lot of adults that you will never see on that skating rink unless they are with the little ones, but a Ferris Wheel would be something both adults and children would enjoy. She said the line would P&R 01-04-2022/4 certainly be longer than we experienced with the ice skating. She said think about that, she is all for a Ferris Wheel. Vice-Chair Sackett said it could have been weather-related too because it was a little bit warmer that night so maybe they just were not in an ice-skating mood. Member Coad said you are right that Lake Mary did do an ice-skating rink. She said we charged $1.00 and Lake Mary charged $5.00 for everyone that wanted to'get on the skating rink. They raised the price much more to recoup the cost. Member Rice said it was not Lake Mary that was charging the money, it was theirtrails folks that put on the ice-skating rink and they used that as a fundraiser. Member Coad said she just knew their fee because she saw it posted. Member Rice said she also thought the band was good and the absence of Christmas music broke her heart. Discussion ensued about possibly nixing.a band and having DJ Dennis play Christmas music from his sound system the following year. Mr. Capizzi said he thinks it is a great option. He said he (Dennis) will do it and he knows what we want. He said, if we are going to do fireworks next year, it is going to be a little more expensive so he thinks we can have some savings and put it toward the fireworks. Discussion ensued about fireworks at Celebrate the Season. Mr. Capizzi said when Mr. Rinaldo goes to the Florida Festivals & Events Association (FFEA) conference in August,there will be more vendors this year, so if they do not want to have fireworks they can find a fun alternative. We can also put more money into a Ferris Wheel, a carnival element, or something along those lines and just nix the end-of-the-event fireworks/laser show. Discussion ensued concerning changing the Celebrate the Season event around in the future. Member Rice said that is her thoughts regarding the band, the ice-skating rink, and the fireworks. She said the stilt walker was amazing and very popular and she understands she came with the band and that was kind of an inclusive package deal. She does not know if staff has spoken with anyone from the Longwood PTA since the event, but that she did speak with them. The representatives from the PTA said they were selling lots and seemed to be pleased. Mr. Rinaldo said that was the feedback they received. He did a follow-up and she thanked us for the invite and asked us to keep them in mind for next year. P&R 01-04-2022/5 Member Rice commented on Mr. and Mrs. Claus needing a more dramatic entrance because Santa is a very special part of the event and that should be recognized. Chair Putz asked if that was her last note for this report. Member Rice said it was not. Member Morgan said that she had a report as well so that Chair Putz did not forget her. Member Rice said she appreciates getting the synopsis. She said she would kind of wish they had it prior to the meeting to give them time to review so that they could have their questions in order. She feels like when people start talking, the rest of us are reading what was just handed to them. She looks forward to receiving the Fall Festival synopsis. She did go to the Movie in the Park in December and that was an awesome night with an awesome crowd. She was there in attendance with the CERT team and they sold hotdogs, hamburgers, popcorn, candy, and sodas. It was good to see there was a full crowd for the event. We have a lot of things to look forward to this year within our parks. She does not know what some of the timelines are but maybe we can, at some point, with some of the park improvements, have a timeline. She referenced pickleball, the basketball courts, and Smallworld Park's new equipment. Shadow Hill is getting some new sails if they haven't already. She confirmed with Mr. Capizzi that some of the sails were going to be replaced at Shadow Hill Park. Mr. Capizzi stated that this would be done as part of the next FRDAP grant series. Discussion ensued with regard to the timeline for the improvements within the various parks and the trail improvements. Member Rice asked about the holiday banners and said that she is anxious to see the new banners up at Reiter Park. She hopes they have been provided a layout so that they go up correctly, match, and are not upside down. On Ronald Reagan Boulevard she was happy to see the holiday banners go up, but she thought they went down to Palmetto Avenue. We also have one set that is bi-color and she asked what happened with those. Mr. Rinaldo said that in the transition of last year and the banners coming up and down, half of the banners were missing. He said they did find the box of banners over in the shop at Candyland Park. They are in safekeeping for next year and when these get taken down we are going to put them all together so that next year they do go down to Palmetto Avenue. Member Rice said that concludes her report. Member Morgan reported about having the light show possibly starting earlier. She said she enjoyed the light show and she hopes we keep it. She suggested that if we do ornaments again, we just keep it as one ornament for boys and girls as there were several girls that became upset when they received different ornaments from the boys. P&R 01-04-2022/6 Member Coad said the catch with that is that we have to clean out what we have as far as prizes and giveaways go. Sometimes we have to put a combination out there to clear out inventory. Discussion continued with regard to the ornaments at Celebrate the Season. Member Morgan went to the Seven Foot Santa event put on by the Longwood Historic Society and said it went well and the pictures came out great. It operated very smoothly. She said the following Monday she spent an abundance of time at Candyland Park. She was present at the open house for Longwood Babe Ruth (LBR) which went well. She is now a part of the Longwood Babe Ruth Board as the VP of Girls' Softball. She said she is proud and excited and looking forward to helping generate the excitement again for LBR. Discussion ensued with regard to Longwood Babe Ruth, her role, and upcoming events. Member Morgan said she wanted to get with staff with regard to her Hawaiian event and get a flyer/save-the-date flyer out for the sponsors and vendors. Discussion ensued with regard to her event and getting a save-the-date flyer. Chair Putz said that was a wonderfully short report and it was full of information and he thanked Member Morgan. Member Ray had no report. Member Coad asked about the certificates for all of the sponsors for Celebrate the Season and Santa's Breakfast and if they have been notified about attending a commission meeting to receive their recognition. Mr. Capizzi said we are going to be doing the presentation at the next January meeting. Mr. Rinaldo has already notified everyone about the meeting. Chair Putz reported a lot of times, in the next room there is a Commission Meeting on the computer and sometimes the sound drifts into his office. He was listening to the meeting about the park and the paint job at Candyland Park, a purple paint job or something. He asked about a month before he went over there to look at it and everything looked wonderful. It was the first time he has spent a lot of time at Candyland and he noticed the sidewalks that were talked about earlier. Other than that, he said it is quite a younger crowd that spends time in that park. He saw all these guys on the bikes but he did not see any purple paint. Discussion ensued regarding the graffiti at Candyland Park and the diversity of the park. 6. STAFF REPORT. P&R 01-04-2022/7 Mr. Capizzi said the Downtown Longwood Cruise-In Car Show is this Saturday from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. The Senior Matinee is January 11th from 1:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. The movie title was unavailable. Mrs. Alt-Bowes has attracted a good crowd for those lately so it has been nice and we do have some of the snowbirds down now. The Movie in the Park is on January 21sY starting at 7:00 p.m. The Food Truck Battle and the Concert in the Park is on January 22nd from 4:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. at Reiter Park. The SMaSH Beer Festival is on January 29th from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. He said it is going to be quality beer and a lot of breweries coming to the park. He provided an updated Special Event List and he went over the upcoming events. Member Sackett asked if staff would be contacting local Boy Scout troops to see if they wanted to help out with the Flag Ceremony event. Mr. Capizzi said that is a great idea and he will bring that up. Heroes Strong does that through David Rubin and he would be more than happy to have him reach out to even more scouting groups. He said he usually does, but the more we can get there the better. Vice-Chair Sackett asked if the Food Truck Battle was going to be suggested to have smaller plates and smaller price points, so you can try more than one (1)truck. Mr. Rinaldo said yes, they strongly encourage two (2) to three (3) items under or at $5.00. Mr. Capizzi said there will be plenty of trucks and maybe not every truck will do it but there are going to be a bunch that does provide the less expensive items. We will certainly suggest it to them like we did last time. Member Coad said under the Food Truck Battle cross out Historic District and put in Reiter Park for your notes. She asked if we had scheduled anything for Easter yet. Mr. Rinaldo said we have spoken with LeeAnn and Pastor Jeff from the Church on State Road 434 and we are in the process of deciding if it is going to be downtown or at Reiter Park. They like downtown and how it worked last year with COVID. Member Coad asked if they wanted it to be smaller than what we get when it is out at the park. Mr. Rinaldo said when it is downtown it is more spread out. Member Coad confirmed that we were looking to do it and asked staff to provide the Board with a date. She asked if a date had been set for the Hawaiian event. Member Morgan said June 11th Mr. Capizzi said we did set the date for the Hawaiian event, but it is not on the list yet. P&R 01-04-2022/8 • Member Coad asked staff to get that on the list so they are all aware of it. She asked if it was only going to be for one (1) day. Member Morgan said yes. Mr. Capizzi said he thinks it will be well received. Chair Putz commented on the bluegrass Longwood used to have at the Community Building and how they recruited pickers from Kasha. Chair Putz said Ed Benoit, the chaplain of the Longwood Police Department passed away. He sent around the pamphlet from the wake. Mr. Capizzi said there was nothing to report on the 131 Fund. 7. ADJOURNMENT. Member Morgan moved to adjourn. Seconded by Member Coad and carried by a unanimous voice vote with Member Carroll absent. Meeting adjourned at 7:57 p.m. Minutes approved by the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board: 02-01-2022 David Putz, Chai ATTEST: Donna Alt-Bowes, Recording Secretary • P&R 01-04-2022/9 THIS PAGE LEFT BLANK INTENTIONALLY P&R 01-04-2022/10