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PR04-04-2023Min PARKS AND RECREATION ADVISORY BOARD LONGWOOD CITY COMMISSION CHAMBERS 175 WEST WARREN AVENUE LONGWOOD, FLORIDA MINUTES April 4, 2023 6:30 P.M. Present: Larissa Morgan, Chair Judi Coad, Vice-Chair David Putz, Member (left at 8:00 p.m.) Amanda Sackett, Member Lori Rice, Member Rhubson (Rub) Osmin, Member Chris Capizzi, Leisure Services Director Ryan Rinaldo, Recreation Manager Donna L. Alt-Bowes, Recording Secretary Absent: Rachael Carroll, Member 1. CALL TO ORDER. Chair Morgan called the meeting to order at 6:34 p.m. Member Osmin, a newly appointed Board Member, introduced himself. 2. PUBLIC INPUT. None. 3. ACTION ITEMS. A. Approve Minutes from March 7, 2023 Meeting Member Sackett moved to approve the minutes for March 7, 2023, as presented. Seconded by Vice-Chair Coad, and motion passed with 6 votes in favor and 1 member absent (Member Carroll). B. Memorial Banners Chair Morgan said that at the Board's last meeting, we discussed the Memorial Banners brought forward by Member Putz, and the Board decided to have it brought to the Commission for approval. She asked Mr. Capizzi for an update. Mr. Capizzi reported he brought the banner item to the Commission last evening. He presented what the Board had approved and asked the Commission for direction on allowing banners to be put up on the perimeter of the Community Building parking lot. The Commission did not support the banners in that area considering the Community Building has events, weddings, and celebrations. He reminded the Commission that if power lines are connected to a pole, Duke Energy will not allow banners to be installed P&R 04-04-2023/1 on those poles. He noted that the Commission thanked Member Putz for coming up with the idea and their direction was that they wanted to avoid allowing banners on the poles around the perimeter of the Community Building parking lot. Discussion ensued regarding the Memorial Banners, other possible locations, and the minimum number of banners to purchase for the particular program. It was the consensus of the Board to have Mr. Capizzi bring the Memorial Banners back to the Commission with the option of placing them in the parking lot at Reiter Park. C. Sponsorship Package Chair Morgan advised that it was discussed at the last meeting about having the sponsorship package brought back to the Board for review, and she turned it over to Mr. Capizzi for an update. Mr. Capizzi sent the package to the Board for review and received good suggestions, which have been included in the updated package. He mentioned that the colors had been changed to make information like numbers and writing more noticeable. He said quite a bit was added, and prices have increased for the events. He stated the Pirate Seafood Festival was not included because there is a possibility the word seafood may be removed from the event next year. After all, seafood is challenging to get. Once the sponsorship package is finalized, it will be sent out to Longwood businesses and available online. Vice-Chair Coad provided her feedback for BarkFest, Truck or Treat, Chili Cook-Off, Longwood Arts & Crafts Festival, Celebrate the Season, Juneteenth, Christmas Parade, Mother & Son and Father & Daughter Dances, Breakfast with Santa, Recurring Events, Donations, and 4th of July. Discussion ensued regarding the sponsorship package. Member Rice mentioned adding value to the sponsorships, especially for those at Reiter Park, the opportunity for the higher dollar sponsors to have five (5) minutes to introduce themselves and their business. Also discussed was to have the events listed in date order in the package and include the number of attendees at the various events. 4. BOARD MEMBER REPORTS. Member Putz reported that the banners had been discussed. He did not attend the Commission meeting last night and was unaware his idea was rejected. If he had been aware, he would have prepared his report differently about getting this project off the ground. Vice-Chair Coad reported she asked Mr. Rinaldo if they could set a date to visit the amusement park people in Altamonte Springs to see what else we can bring for Celebrate the Season. She said she was unhappy that we could have done better with the climbing pole and wanted to see what else was out there. She said she has been attending the events and can't wait for the Luau. P&R 04-04-2023/2 Member Osmin had no report. Vice-Chair Coad asked Member Osmin if he had received a list of the projects. Mr. Capizzi said Member Osmin met with Ms. Longo before Mr. Rinaldo and himself met with them. Member Osmin was provided all the necessary information that all Board Members receive before joining the Board. Mr. Capizzi said afterward that he spoke with Ms. Longo, and she had a great idea about meeting with each Board member before the first meeting. We met with Member Osmin after Ms. Longo's first meeting and provided Member Osmin with a list of potential projects. Mr. Rinaldo and Mr. Capizzi updated those, and we also highlighted the projects already taken on. Member Osmin was advised of the different projects that can have more than one person working on them. He also gave him a general overview of what the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board does and what he is supposed to do. He told him we were not expecting him to come up with dozens of things every time he came to a meeting. Ideas are appreciated just as much as action items. He went over the specific events that the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board helped out with and got a good overview of what we do. He thinks it is starting on a good foot with them being able to meet the new Board Member before the actual meeting. Member Osmin said he works with youth and is more interested in that area. He looked at the list and saw they have the Leisure Program for the youth, which he would be interested in. He mentioned being interested in summer camp. Mr. Capizzi responded that he could discuss anything from the meeting with the staff. Once they have a better idea of what Member Osmin wants to do, it can be presented to the Board. Member Sackett reported that it was a great car show this month. She was a little thrown off by the Pirate Seafood Festival that the one seafood vendor was not there, there were no frozen drinks, and the pirate ship was not there. She suggested that next year focus more on pirate based, get more pirate-themed things, and add a pirate bounce house or something along those lines. She said it was a good event, had a good turnout, and looked really nice, but when she looked at the vendors, it was a hodgepodge of vendor stuff. She said it just did not seem to be pirate seafood themed. It seemed almost like a battle of the food trucks type thing with some of the vendors. She asked to meet with Mr. Capizzi this week to talk about a couple of her ideas. She looked at the parks, and they looked good to her. Chair Morgan reported that the Walk for Autism is an official event and asked staff if they had gotten the forms back. Mr. Rinaldo responded that twenty-seven (27) vendors signed up to date as of this afternoon. Chair Morgan said this event is fully paid for through donations. We were able to get sponsors to cover it. She said we would have Mayor Morgan as our emcee. There will be storytime at 12:30 p.m., a specific choir that will sing the National Anthem, and they do P&R 04-04-2023/3 many events with autism on a national level. She said we would also have news coverage, and we have to get confirmation. She suggested printing out a list of vendors and activities for the patrons so people are not confused about what is offered. She said she wanted to let staff know that she approached Publix, and we are waiting to hear from them. They wanted to know how many people would be at this event. Discussion ensued regarding a tent for Leisure Services to hand out the noise-canceling headphones, a Police Car will be there for children to paint, and other character cars that will be attending the Autism Walk. Chair Morgan discussed the Longwood Luau and asked if everyone could continue to push both the Autism and Longwood Luau events on social media. She said the Longwood Luau is a beast on its own, and there is not much more we need to do. Mr. Capizzi said he knew that Member Sackett was interested in helping out with the Luau, so if she could do anything, she specifically asked to be a part of the Luau. He said Horsepower Ranch would be doing much of the heavy lifting, and we are very fortunate. Member Rice welcomed Member Osmin to the Board. She said the drought has been harsh, and the water bills run high, but she compliments the Reiter Park staff working hard to groom the landscaping. April is the month the butterfly garden gets re-established, and then we will have ongoing experienced maintenance for that area. That area is going to have mainly native and Florida-friendly plantings. She said that is good, and after they are established, they will not need that much water and can tolerate the heat. She thinks we can educate those who enjoy gardens by using garden markers to identify the plants so people know what they are and can carry that information with them. She wants to get with Juan to come up with something to present to the staff. She is looking forward to the follow-up on the 131 Fund during the staff report. She noted that Mrs. Alt-Bowes' and her team had the highest revenue on record in March and congratulated Mrs. Alt-Bowes for that. She said that soon there would be a light at Reiter Park playground. Mr. Capizzi responded it was installed today. Member Rice said that would be awesome for the winter events. She has seen a company we use that blows mulch at the playground and advised that the Candyland Sports Complex playground could use more mulch under the swings and the steps near the play structure. Mr. Capizzi responded that we replenish the mulch at certain times of the year. Discussion ensued about the Candyland Sports Complex playground mulch. Member Rice advised the Board that the agility equipment had been installed at the Dog Park and thanked the staff for making that happen. She said the Little Free Library at Candyland Sports Complex has a constant turnover of books and asked that if any fellow Board Members or staff have books they would like to add to, please feel free to do so or to give them to her and she will add them to the Free Little Library. She said they could be adult or kids' books. She said she went to the Pirate Seafood Festival on Sunday and spent P&R 04-04-2023/4 about three (3) hours there. There were many vendors, and some people were looking for additional seafood choices, and she was thrilled to take home a large jug of borscht. She explained to the Board what borscht is. She said that after five (5) years of talking about it, the Camp Out happened. She stopped by the Camp Out, and it was awesome. Discussion ensued concerning the Great American Camp Out. Member Rice said the drought is terrible. She said we have dead grass in this parking lot and she thinks that is what happened to the rose bushes. Mr. Capizzi responded that it was not dead, it would come back, but there was a valve problem. He went on to discuss problems they have had with dead grass in the past and ongoing issues being worked on. Member Rice stated the Commission voted to have a single gate installed at the Dog Park. 5. STAFF REPORT. Member Putz left the meeting at 8:00 p.m. Mr. Capizzi said the Commission approved a single gate in the Small Dog Park area that should go in within the next few weeks. He said the issue is trying to install the gate on a Wednesday when the park is closed rather than doing it when it is open. He went over the events happening in April. He provided an update on the 131 Fund and the two (2) options they could do. Either the events will be taken out and put back into the general fund under the 4800 line, or money from the general fund will be infused into the 131 Fund to support these events. He said Finance has yet to decide which one of those options they will do. We will have funded events so we can avoid the fund balance going down to negative amounts in the future. Mr. Capizzi reported that staff installed the light in the playground area for the park, and does have to adjust the top of it. He stated it has been increasingly hard to hire part-time help, and we suddenly received great candidates. He said they have two (2) new part-timers who are phenomenal and have been integral in keeping the landscaping clean, trimmed, and looking great. As soon as we get more pine straw over there, it will look even better. Juan, our butterfly guy, will soon transform the butterfly garden area. He has talked to him and is sure that he will speak with Member Rice at some point about the plaques, but we are looking to put a path through the garden as well. Discussion ensued about the butterfly garden. Mr. Capizzi attended a sustainable landscaping symposium today that Seminole County holds through IFAS. He discussed the importance of using native landscaping in the environment. It is really about native plants and how important it is to use these plants in our landscaping. He will remove the roses by the gazebo since the soil could be better. He will put some mulch in fresh soil and then decide what to install soon. P&R 04-04-2023/5 Member Rice asked if they would put in fresh roses because they are not native. Discussion ensued about the area by the gazebo, the work being done in the medians on State Road 434, and other areas that are being worked on or need to be tended to. Member Rice asked about the upcoming budget workshops and if they could discuss the proposed budget. Mr. Capizzi said he would be bringing that to the Board next month. Discussion ensued about to the proposed budget. Member Sackett asked about the noise levels at Reiter Park and if we were still getting complaints or if we had figured out the sound for the events at the park. Mr. Capizzi responded yes, they had taken decibel readings and explained the decibel reading they could take. Discussion ensued about the upcoming events they would be attending and measuring the noise levels at Reiter Park. Vice-Chair Coad asked staff to bring a list of items they would like to see in the budget that would be much more functional. She said a scissor lift is one of the things we have talked about for several years. She would like to see that brought forward when we look at the budget at the next meeting. She asked about the grant for the fountain in the park at the pond. Mr. Capizzi responded it is listed under the impact fees and not a grant. We will have a better idea of the funds available towards the year's end. Discussion ensued about the impact fees for the fountain at Reiter Park. Member Rice asked staff to bring to the Board what they have available to spend. Mr. Capizzi responded that he would talk about that at the next meeting. Member Rice said she would like to know what they can spend that they have fundraised this year and if anyone has any ideas. Chair Morgan advised the Board that the next meeting is May 2, 2023. 6. ADJOURNMENT. Member Rice moved to adjourn the meeting. Seconded by Member Coad, and motion passed with 5 votes in favor, and 2 member absent (Member Carroll and Member Putz). P&R 04-04-2023/6 Chair Morgan adjourned the meeting at 8:26 p.m. Minutes approved by the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board: 05-02-2023 7*161-1,44-t. Larissa Morgan, Chair ATT T: Y c(\.�`c\�\ Logo , e.�erKr P&R 04-04-2023/7 This Page Left Blank Intentionally. P&R 04-04-2023/8