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PR11-07-2024Min PARKS AND RECREATION ADVISORY BOARD LONGWOOD CITY COMMISSION CHAMBERS 175 WEST WARREN AVENUE LONGWOOD, FLORIDA MINUTES November 7, 2024 6:30 P.M. Present: Larissa Morgan, Chair Judi Coad, Vice-Chair Ardel Cheffer, Member Erin Keefe, Member William "Bill" Overbeek, Member David Putz, Member Amanda Sackett, Member (6:31 p.m.) Chris Capizzi, Leisure Services Director Ryan Rinaldo, Recreation Manager Donna Alt-Bowes, Recording Secretary 1. CALL TO ORDER. Chair Morgan called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. 2. PUBLIC INPUT. 3. ACTIONS ITEMS A. Approve Minutes from September 3, 2024 Meeting Vice-Chair Coad moved to approve the September 3, 2024, minutes. Seconded by Member Sackett and motion carried by a unanimous voice vote. 4. BOARD MEMBER REPORTS Member Putz reported and handed out documentation on Monarch Butterflies and Milkweed and discussed the different types of milkweed and the effects on the butterflies. Discussion ensued with regard to the Monarch Butterflies and Milkweed at Reiter Park. Member Keefe reported and said Dogtoberfest was a great event. She said attendance was over 3000 and said everyone did a great job. Discussion ensued with regard the Dogtoberfest, the vendors, and things that can be improved upon for next event. P&R 11-07-2024/1 Member Sackett reported and said she heard great things about Dogtoberfest but unfortunately, she was out of town for the event. She said she was disappointed and sad that the Halloween Dance did not happen. Discussion ensued with regard to the cancellation of the Halloween Dance, changing the date and maybe getting more publicity for this event and other events within the city. Member Sackett asked if the Christmas Light judging was going to take place this year and if so, she feels we should get that out sooner rather than later. Mr. Capizzi advised the Mrs. Cartagena is handling that and he believes she is planning to do that again. Member Sackett asked if the Commissioners were doing Christmas caroling type stuff. Mr. Capizzi said they are not going through us if they are doing it. Member Keefe advised the board that there are different types of marketing and explained them. She said she shared the information for the Dogtoberfest event on different pages every week to get the information out to more people. Chair Morgan reported and said National Night Out was a good event and thanked Member Overbeek for taking it over. She said she thinks we did not have a lot of people because there were not a lot of kids there but she thinks we still had a good turnout. She said Dogtoberfest was great and Member Keefe did a great job. She said Trunk or Treat was a great event as well. Member Overbeek reported and said National Night Out went well. He said that was his first experience and he learned a lot. He said he was at Dogtoberfest and said he got a rabies shot for his dog but that he was the only one on the list to do that. He asked if anyone knew if the vendor providing the shots received a lot of activity. Member Keefe said she did not ask them and asked staff to reach out to them but that she was not aware that they were giving shots. Discussion ensued with regard to the vendor giving the shots. Member Cheffer reported and said she was excited to be on the Board. She said she attended National Night Out which was as successful event and she attended the Halloween event and helped Mrs. Alt-Bowes out on the stage. She mentioned the idea of doing a family category for the costume contest next year. Vice-Chair Coad reported and offered congratulations to Member Keefe on the Dogtoberfest event. She said congratulations on another National Night Out and she P&R 11-07-2024/2 passed out the article from the Longwood Life Magazine on National Night Out. She talked about Truck or Treat and said it sounded like it was very successful. She asked about the event synopsis showing a net loss and asked if that included the amount we budgeted for or just the amount we took in. Mr. Capizzi said the synopsis shows the expenses and what was brought in. It does not include what was budgeted. Discussion ensued with regard to the event synopsis and the budgeted amounts. Vice-Chair Coad advised the Board that they are all asked to work at Celebrate the Season and Member Putz has already signed up. She passed around the list of where people are needed for the event so that board members could sign up. She advised that Member Sackett has claimed the Santa's Letters spot. Member Keefe asked, since she is new, for Vice-Chair Coad to explain what she is talking about. Vice-Chair Coad explained the event and what is involved with volunteers from the local high schools, ROTC, and the church. Discussion ensued with regard to Celebrate the Season, what is needed, what we already have, what areas need volunteers, the music being provided, and the rides. Vice-Chair Coad asked when the tickets for Breakfast with Santa would be going on sale and advised they will sell out quickly. Mr. Rinaldo said they will be available thirty(30) days prior to the event. Vice-Chair Coad explained to the Board what Breakfast with Santa includes and asked if anyone could come out that morning and help out, to please do so. Member Putz asked about using his car for the Board to ride in the parade. It was decided that two (2) members of the Board will ride in Member Putz' car for the parade, Member Keefe and Chair Morgan. Vice-Chair Coad asked Members Keefe and Overbeek if they were going to be available to help out at Celebrate the Season. Member Overbeek said that he was unsure as he may be out of town. Member Keefe said she was thinking about doing the games but was unsure how complicated the games were. P&R 11-07-2024/3 Discussion ensued with regard to the games at Celebrate the Season, and the entrance and exit for the kids to see Santa. Member Cheffer asked if she knew of some additional volunteers if they would be able to come to the event and help out. Vice-Chair Coad said yes. She asked if anyone knows of anyone that would like to be a sponsor for this event to contact Mr. Rinaldo. She asked staff to provide a sponsor packet to Members Keefe and Cheffer. She advised the Board that Longwood Babe Ruth would be providing reasonably priced meals at Celebrate the Season. Member Cheffer asked if the Rotary of Longwood was involved. Mr. Capizzi said they have not been in the past but that they are welcome to participate if they should so desire. Vice-Chair Coad said there was no flyer in the water bill for the Fall activities and asked if we missed doing it this year. Mr. Capizzi said he did not put a flyer in the water bill this year. Discussion ensued with regard to the flyer going in the water bill. Vice-Chair Coad said she noticed that Reiter Park was already decorated. Mr. Capizzi advised that the tree is up, the pole furnishings are on, the garland is up, and the perimeter lighting on the pavilions is up and it will look really nice. He said they have not been turned on yet. Vice-Chair Coad asked if the banners would be going up in the near future. Mr. Capizzi said they will be going up the week prior to the Arts and Crafts Festival in the park and on Ronald Reagan Boulevard. Vice-Chair Coad advised the Board that this Board sponsors the banners inside the park and the Christmas banners on Ronald Reagan and explained to the Board how the banners are arranged. She said we are fortunate to be able to piggyback and get the cost for the lighting at a reasonable price. Mr. Capizzi said it is a $30,000.00 contract with all the decorations in multiple locations and it includes two (2) 22' trees that are fully decorated. Discussion ensued with regard to the decorations, lighting and the locations of those items. P&R 11-07-2024/4 Vice-Chair Coad asked about the fountain at Reiter Park and if it had been adjusted yet. Mr. Capizzi said yes. Vice-Chair Coad advised the Board that we bought the fountains at Reiter Park and they look beautiful. 5. STAFF REPORT Mr. Capizzi said he just got an Instagram from a friend that Tony Hawke was at Candyland Sports Complex on our pump track. He advised the Board that Mr. Rinaldo had a good contact for soft washing and the bathroom building at Reiter Park looks terrific. He said the lighting needs to be repaired on the Reiter Park sign. He advised that the amphitheater and the shade structure were soft washed as well. We did sustain a little damage from the hurricane and the dog park, as always, took a hit. He said there was a large tree that fell which has been cleaned up and removed by our park staff and the fencing will be repaired hopefully by November 18, 2024. Discussion ensued with regard to the damage at the dog park. Mr. Capizzi said we will be getting a new shade fabric structure at Sandalwood Park that was damaged by the Hurricane. Discussion ensued with regard to the FRDAP grant that has been awarded to our department for Sandalwood Park. Mr. Capizzi said the Community Building is going to be undergoing a huge paint job within the next couple of weeks. He said it is going to be the same color but it is special type of paint that you can put on the vinyl without warping the vinyl. We put new pavers out front and new fans on the porch. The air conditioning units will be replaced, which will be a massive project. The Longwood Babe Ruth contract will be coming back up on November 18, 2024. It was two (2)years ago since the last contract was signed and everything is looking good at this point. He said there were some concerns within the Commission about LBR getting their taxes up to date, but that has been done and they are good to go. They have applied for reinstatement of their 501(c)3 which is not a requirement. It is more for them than it is for us. He said their registration numbers have been going up since COVID. There will be field renovations coming up in December. Staff will be spreading COMAND on the fields, which is what we used for the Reiter Park lawn that made it so green. The pickleball courts were resurfaced not too long ago and they are getting heavy use and everybody is happy about that. There were some lighting issues on the pickleball courts, but they have since been taken care of. Member Putz asked about the Armed Services and First Responder banners. P&R 11-07-2024/5 Mr. Rinaldo said we have been pushing that out with the help of Liane. Discussion ensued with regard to the Armed Services and First Responder banners at Candyland Sports Complex and whether or not they will be left up. Vice-Chair Coad asked about the blow ups for Celebrate and making sure they are all working. Member Keefe asked staff what they thought about Dogtoberfest. Mr. Capizzi said he thought it was a huge success and he appreciated Member Keefe's help with the event. He said he was really impressed with the crowd. That was the biggest crowd we have had for a dog event. Discussion ensued with regard to the Dogtoberfest event and what we will do to improve it going forward. Mr. Capizzi welcomed Member Cheffer and said we have partnered with Member Cheffer on several different things throughout the years. She is familiar with some of our events and what we do. We are very happy to have her on board. He said she has been heavily involved with Boy Scouts and has participated in many of our events over the years. Vice-Chair Coad asked about Fall Festival and if we were ready to rock and roll. Mr. Capizzi said we are good to go. He said there are a few little additions. The entertainment was scheduled and the wine area will be at the event again. We will also have a food truck company who is bringing multiple inflatables for the kids. Discussion ensued with regard to the Arts and Crafts Festival, the hours, and the location, the history of the Arts and Crafts Festival and how many vendors will be in attendance. Mr. Capizzi said the car show is this weekend. Christmas Dreams, who is sponsored by The Church on 434, is program that supports terminally ill children.They will be bringing their semi-trailer that has been converted to look like the North Pole with Santa. The organization travels all over to provide Christmas any time of year to terminally ill children who might not see their next Christmas. Mr. Capizzi said Sunday is the Heroes Strong Gold Carpet event at Reiter Park from 3 pm—6 pm. This event will recognize and thank all of the armed service veterans and first responders. He said the Senior Matinee is this month. Member Cheffer asked about the Chili Cook-Off and that she wanted to offer to take that event over. P&R 11-07-2024/6 Everyone thought that was a great idea and they would love for her to do that. Discussion ensued with regard to getting ready for the Chili Cook-Off which is in February. Mr. Capizzi went over the upcoming events for the rest of the year and the prospect of having a carnival next year. 6. ADJOURNMENT Vice-Chair Coad moved to adjourn the meeting. Seconded by Member Sackett. Motion carried by a unanimous voice vote. Chair Morgan adjourned the meeting at 8:09 p.m. Minutes approved by the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board: 12-03-2024 Larissa Morgan, Chair ATTEST: Donna Alt-Bowes, Recording Secretary P&R 11-07-2024/7 THIS PAGE LEFT BLANK INTENTIONALLY P&R 11-07-2024/8