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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - PRAB - 04-21-2011MEETING MINUTFS CITY OF MILTON PARKS AND RECREATION ADVISORY BOARD Thursday, April 214,201111:3o a.m. Executive Conference Room CALL TO ORDER Meeting was called to order by Chairman Mark Deed at -.1-:33 a.m. ROLL CALL Roll call was taken by Mark Reed. MEMBERS PRESENT Wallace Brittain Kath! Cook (arrived late) Lauren Jackson (arrived late) Mark Reed Sandy Sheley Scott Stachowski MEMBERS ABSENT Jack Flowers OTHERS PRESENT Clint Darnell, Bethany Bend Jr. Football Dennis Covington, Bethany Bend Jr. Football Cyndee Bonacci, Parks and Recreation Director Tom Gilliam, Recreation Program Coordinator Quorum was announced by Mark Reed. APPROVAL OF PAST MIND M Motion to approve minutes of the February 17th meeting was made by Scott Stachowski and seconded by Sandy Sheley. The vote was unanimous and motion carried. PUBLIC COMMENT Clint Darnell gave the Board a brief overview of the new Bethany Bend Jr. Football program. The program is for 6th -81h grades and is using the most recent district lines for registration. The program is incorporated and has been accepted by the Georgia Middle School Athletic Association (GMSAA). Because this is a start-up program, they are in the process of acquiring everything, including equipment and facilities, to support the program. Games for the fall season will be played at Alpharetta High School. Field space is needed for practice and the program would like to use Hopewell Middle School based on the proposal provide to the City of Milton. A copy of the program budget was provided to the Board. NEW AND UNFINISHED BUSINESS a) Mark welcomed new PRAB member Wallace Brittain. Wallace gave a brief overview of his background and interest in the board. He stated that he has lived in Milton for 32 years. He was impressed with how things were moving forward in the way of parks and recreation and had reached out to Cyndee last spring offering his assistance. He has a BS in Parks and Recreation from Clemson and an MS from UGA in Park Planning. He worked for the Military Corps of Engineers and spent 30 years will the National Park Service in the Recreation Conservation Division proving state technical assistance. He retired 5 years ago and greatly appreciates the opportunity to serve on the Board and be involved. Board members thanked him for his willingness to share his knowledge and expressed how grateful they were to have someone with his background joining the Board. b) Cyndee gave brief updates regarding new programs and partnerships. The agreement with ig for flag -football and soccer will continue into the fall season. They will also offer their assistance with some activities for the day camps. Camp registration is continuing. A school flyer will go out to the elementary schools next week. Also, fitness camps with CorePhysique are expanding and being modified for the summer. Everyone seems very pleased with Kolleen. Plans for the summer basketball league and camps through Up with Kids Sports are continuing but are contingent on having the IGAs back from Fulton County. Sam Hines is ready to begin advertising the program. The IGAs we executed in March by the City of Milton, but have not been executed by FCBOE. Cyndee stated that she cannot begin planning improvements and expending City funds until the IGAs are executed. She hopes this will happen in the next few days following a meeting with representatives yesterday. The delay seemed to be due to ongoing discussions by FCBDE regarding access to facilities when staff is not on site or scheduled. Lauren offered suggestions for access based on past experience with using school facilities. Cyndee also mentioned the proposal by Bethany Bend Jr. Football. She mentioned concerns about how the City would partner with them and about the flat fee offered to the City to cover the partnership for use and maintenance of the Hopewell Middle School field covered under the IGA. Currently the fee schedule includes a contribution of a io% minimum based on fees charged. Cyndee also updated the Board regarding ongoing discussions with the City of Alpharetta regarding North Park. Cyndee has requested financial and program data for review. Cyndee also mentioned the North Fulton Slow -Pitch Softball Survey that was released on April 18. The five cities are working together to determine if there is interest is a slow -pitch program. c) Sandy stated she had sent out the first draft of revisions for the Parks and Recreation Ordinances and only received feedback from Mark. She asked that everyone please look over them and send her their input. Cyndee also stated that the Special Events Section was being addressed as well by Community Development. Our entire chapter should be updated and current soon. d) Mark started the discussion around the current PRAB meeting time. He stated that last month we didn't have a quorum and a couple meetings last year did not have a quorum. Two additional meetings were cancelled because notice was given in advance of the meetings that a quorum would not be present. Scott mentioned that he struggling to try to make the meetings because of his new work schedule. He is primarily only available on Mondays. Kathi mentioned that she is only available for one hour during the work day. Discussion continued about alternative times to consider. Early morning and evening times were discussed while leaving the meeting date the same as the third Thursday of the month. Members agreed to bring additional thoughts to the next meeting for a decision. COMMITTEE REPORTS Kathi Cook left the meeting at 12:40 p.m. a) Finance — Mark brought up the Strategic Plan and expressed some confusion regarding how it impacted other plans specifically capital improvements. Cyndee encouraged members to 2 attend the public information meeting on Thursday, April 28 at 7 p.m. Attending the meeting should clear up any confusion and give members the opportunity to provide input. b) Partnerships — Mark asked both Clint Darnell and Dennis Covington to participate in the discussion regarding Bethany Send Jr. Football. Clint stated that 54 participants were currently registered and they can enroll up to go. Participation will be based on the final district map. Approximately 95% of those registered are Milton residents. There are two neighborhoods, Coventry and Gatewood, that are in Alpharetta. Cyndee stated concerns regarding the nature of a "feeder" or "advanced play" program and how it conflicts with general parks and recreation priorities. Based on previous discussions and agreements, there has been a focus on traditional recreation programs that are available to all citizens regardless of ability. Scott stated that all youth programs are recreational by his definition. Lauren asked if they would consider a model to add a recreation program in the future. Cyndee stated that is why discussions with Eagle Stix Lacrosse haven't had to address this issue. Their program includes recreation as well as advance play. Mark asked if they could fall under AYFA to meet that need. Clint stated that they could not. They are part of GMSAA. Sandy proposed making an exception since a recreational program is not currently available or provided by the City. She stated that she felt this argument could be made for any feeder team that exists before a recreational partner. Scott also asked if this could be included for other feeder groups as well. Cyndee brought up the proposed fee back to the City. Currently it is not in line with the adopted io% minimum. The timing for the partnership is also of concern since the IGAs have not yet been executed and field improvements will occur later in the summer than originally planned. This most likely means that the fields would not be playable by any group until September at the earliest. Jr. Football has proposed needing the fields as early as late July. The Board strongly suggested that Clint find another location since the City could not guarantee when the improvements would be completed or when the field would be ready for use. Lauren and Cyndee offered contacts and suggestions for other field locations. Lauren made a motion to work toward an exception for feeder team partners with a io% minimum fee to the City of Milton based on fees collected by the programs. Sandy seconded the motion. The Board vote was unanimous and motion carried. Those in attendance were thanked for their time. Cyndee briefly updated the Board on a few of the other partnerships underway or being considered. More discussion would be needed. c] Communications — No update CITY STAFF REPORTS AND COMMUNICATIONS Cyndee provided board members with a summary of various updates in writing prior to the meeting. Because of the length of the meeting, no additional updates were provided. OTHER BUSINESS None NEXT REGULAR MEETING DATE Thursday, May ig, 11:3o a.m. LOCATION OF MEETING The location of the meetings will be the Executive Conference Room at City Hall. 3 ADJOURNMENT The meeting officially ended at 1:53 P.M. when there was no longer a quorum present. DATE APPROVED: Ma SCO S Q0,k0Lj Milton Parks & Retreat' n Ad«sory Board rd