CHESAPEAKE PARKS, RECREATION AND TOURISM ADVISORY BOARD. Meeting Minutes. September 6, 2018

Transcription

1 CHESAPEAKE PARKS, RECREATION AND TOURISM ADVISORY BOARD Meeting Minutes September 6, 2018 Chairman Boyd called the meeting of the Parks, Recreation and Tourism Advisory Board to order at 6:09 pm, and then led the Invocation and Pledge of Allegiance. Members Present: Members Absent: Staff Present: Chairman Chris Boyd, Rick Bruner, Kurt Clemente, Kevin Cole (nonvoting ex-officio/cps), Susan Dixon, Paula Faivre, Dani Feret, Berkley Gibbs, Phil Johnson (non-voting ex-officio/gbbwhf), Michael Kos, Phyllis Lewter, Chris Lowie (non-voting ex-officio/gdsnwr), Winston Odom, Melissa Randall, Michael Scott, Amanda Shepps (non-voting Youth Liaison), Geral Stukes, and Troy Thorn (non-voting exofficio/ccc) Chuck Anderson, Vice Chairman Jean Holt, Lindy Huber, and Dale Thiemann Mike Barber, Monica Christiansen, Ray Wharton, Kim Murden and Cori Fuqua ROLL CALL Ms. Fuqua called roll and the attendance roster reflected a quorum with 12 voting members present and 5 voting members absent. HEARING OF CITIZENS: None present. MINUTES: Approval of Meeting Minutes: Ms. Lewter made a motion to approve the August 2, 2018 minutes. Mr. Scott seconded the motion. The minutes were unanimously approved by the board. ACTIVITY REPORTS: None UNFINISHED BUSINESS: Advisory Board Bylaws Updates Ms. Christiansen will be scheduling a committee meeting and will be sending an in the next few days with some dates and times to narrow down and schedule. After this initial meeting, further committee business and communications can be handled by . Athletic Rules: Ms. Faivre reported on behalf of the rules committee. A majority of the proposed changes requested by citizens were administrative in nature so the committee will not address those. The committee recommended one change which is to change the term Midget to PeeWee for all sports. They also

2 recommended an administrative policy change for basketball: Basketball for PeeWee and below - no back court calls because no mid-court line is inconsistent throughout the city. There was also a conceptual rule change proposed for youth volleyball that was written up with exact rule change wording but it was received after the committee met so the committee will meet again to discuss it and will get back to the board next month with their recommendation. Mr. Scott made a motion that the board accept the recommendations received to date from the rules committee. Mr. Odom seconded the motion. The board unanimously approved the motion. RECREATION REPORT Ms. Christiansen Ms. Christiansen reported on the following: Copies of the most recent Department Report and the newly-named Peake Discovery Guide were handed out. Chesapeake Recycles Day this Saturday from 9 am -12 pm at Sam s Club in Western Branch. Seniors Pig Pickin is next Friday at City Park. Tickets are $7. Movie Night: The Courtyard Square Park Movie Night will be September 15 th and will be a Smurfs movie. Community Center Hours have been extended so centers are now open at 7 am Monday-Friday. Hours are now Monday-Thursday from 7 am 9 pm, Fridays from 7 am 10 pm, and Saturdays from 10 am 4 pm. Ghost Train: We are still taking volunteers for this fun event. The crew is meeting regularly and getting ready to open the event at the end of October. If you want to volunteer or know anyone who would, please let us know. 55+ Bus Trips: Registrations opened yesterday and spots filled up quickly. They were all full by 11 am. We do start waiting lists and if the waiting list consists of at least 15 people, we do our best to try and schedule a similar trip a few weeks later. Registration is limited to only one person/registrant at a time. Regular Programming: The Food Truck Series continues through the fall, as well as the astronomy programs and others. Lots of opportunities to get out there and have fun. PARK GROUNDS AND MUNICIPAL SERVICES REPORT Mr. Wharton Mr. Wharton reported on the following: Fun Forest Slide: The tube slide that was previously boarded up was replaced and re-opened. Mr. Wharton went to the playground to follow up on this and it is now working just fine. 2

3 Storm Damage: Grounds staff had to scramble after a severe late Friday afternoon storm Labor Day weekend to get everything cleaned up and re-set up for the Symphony Under the Stars event that Sunday. School Fields: Our assistance has been requested and four athletic facilities have been identified that we will be assisting in renovating this winter: Western Branch High softball and baseball fields, and Great Bridge High and Oscar Smith High baseball fields. Housekeeping: The housekeeping team here at the Indian River Community Center does a phenomenal job in maintaining the cleanliness of the building. TOURISM REPORT Ms. Murden Ms. Murden reported on the following: Faith-Based Trade Show: The tourism team attended a trade show for faithbased organization bus and group tours. We have one group coming in October that is a result of contact at last year s show. State Religious Group Visit: We also recently had a site visit from a large group that is looking at Chesapeake for their May 2019 convention. Top Adventure Town: Chesapeake was nominated by Blue Ridge Adventure Tours as a Top Adventure Town and we made it to the final round vote against Roanoke. In October, the magazine will be doing an overview featuring all of the final round nominated cities. The magazine travel writer came in a few weeks ago in August and was taken on a tour around Chesapeake so she could see what makes Chesapeake a great adventure town! Chesapeake Restaurant Week: Coming October more details to come! DIRECTOR S REPORT Mr. Barber Mr. Barber reported on the following: Chesapeake 9-11 Memorial Annual Ceremony of Remembrance and Fundraising: The ceremony will begin at 8:30 am on Tuesday, September 11 th at City Park. Our former mayor, Alan Krasnoff, did a great job recently getting the Symphony Under the Stars audience all fired up and in a generous, giving mood prior to the concert! The committee was able to raise around $900 in donations in one walk-around collection that evening at the symphony event! The Chesapeake 9-11 Memorial Committee is also part of the citywide banner program fundraiser that you might have seen on some of the traffic light poles around the city. Those funds are earmarked to help purchase and install next phase of improvements to the memorial site, the largest flag in Chesapeake. The City is installing sidewalks around the perimeter of the octagonal memorial 3

4 fencing. Outside groups have also donated a couple of benches that have been recently placed there as well. City Council Retreat: The retreat was back in August on a Thursday and Friday and there were numerous subjects that came up that included the potential regional multipurpose stadium; zoning master planning; combining city garages for consolidation of buses and fleets; review of goals from the last retreat; a mega-industrial park area in southern Chesapeake; connectivity and accessibility of open spaces, trails, bike and walking paths, and facilities; economic development discussion regarding properties such as the Greenbrier athletic complex next to the YMCA on Greenbrier Parkway; the Chesapeake Conference Center; Community Centers and the possibility of building a new centralized ,000 sq.ft. community center. Council has approved significant funding in the CIP for 2021, 2022, and 2023 so the possibility of something big and new happening for us in the next couple of years is very real and we re really excited. NEW BUSINESS: Splash Park: Chairman Boyd asked for an update on the splash park at Western Branch. Mr. Barber said that purchase orders have been issued but geo-testing and site inspections must be completed prior to making the equipment. We fully expect it to be ready for opening by next Memorial Day. ADVISORY BOARD MEMBER & GUEST COMMENTS: Mr. Thorn A few events to put on your calendars to attend at the Conference Center: the Sports Club luncheon is coming up on Monday with Bruce Rader as the guest speaker; the Rotary Club First Citizen Banquet is September 20 with this year s honoree Carol Smith; and September 13 th will be the Taste of Chesapeake. Mr. Johnson Was up in New England for the past 30 days promoting Chesapeake to groups including a few universities. Mr. Lowie Looking forward to seeing the completion of the museum at the Battlefield and Waterways Park. Mr. Barber added that we are studying a triangular parcel at the northern part of Dismal Swamp Canal Trail to possibly build a Visitor s Center/Refuge Center/Ranger Station that could be shared with the Wildlife Refuge folks. Mr. Lowie also suggested a senior bus tour to include the historic dismal swamp canal, lock and trail. Ms. Dixon Attended the Symphony Under the Stars and it was a great event. Mr. Clemente Looking forward to the LED lights installation at Western Branch Middle School and will bring back comments 4

5 Ms. Lewter Had two very positive experiences would like to pass along to staff. Went to the Great Bridge Community Center to pick up a Peake Discovery Guide and the young lady there was a wonderful representative of the department! Then when she went to the Visitor Center to register for the bus tours, the gentleman helping her couldn t have been nicer and he handled the registrations in record time. Mr. Gibbs If you can make it to the Chesapeake 9-11 Memorial ceremony next Tuesday, please do so. Also the Jubilee Committee wanted to convey their thanks to Mike, Ray and staff for their assistance in repairing the park and the great job they did. Mr. Bruner Last week his twins went to Western Branch Park for a program called Tinkergarten. The dog park was busy that day too! Ms. Stukes Thank you to the Rules Committee for their input, and Paula for making the report to the committee today. The committee should be meeting next Wednesday at 6:30pm to review the one last volleyball rule change request. An will be sent out to the committee to confirm the date, time and location. Chairman Boyd Reminder to come to the meetings because your input is important. There were only three board members that RSVP d for the bus tour so we may try scheduling another one in the future. Ms. Holt Enjoyed working on the Rules Committee. Her dog enjoys the dog park at City Park. The rugby club is still trying to get scheduled in at Deep Creek Park but have not been successful in finalizing yet. Ms. Feret The Rotary Club will be planting trees in the shape of a rotary wheel at Deep Creek Park on September 22 near George Washington Highway by the pond. Mr. Odom Thanks again Berkley for the Jubilee tickets. The kids really enjoyed them! Also was wondering where people can fly drones in Chesapeake? At any of the parks? It s not really clear on the website. Mr. Barber responded that the city attorney s office advised that federal regulations should be followed. The only place that it s clearly legal for folks to fly is at Heritage Park. It s a good place for people to go to practice and learn how to fly them safely. Ms. Faivre Thank you for the Division Report! Everyone in her office loves to go to the Movies & More event. Thank you to Geral for heading up the Rules Committee and to the committee members. The baseball scoreboard will be installed this month at Deep Creek High School. It was purchased with funds raised earlier this year and we re looking forward to seeing it up and working. ADJOURNMENT: 5

6 The meeting was adjourned at 7:30 pm. NEXT MEETING: The next meeting will be on Thursday, October 4, at the Indian River Community Center, 2250 Old Greenbrier Road, Chesapeake Minutes submitted by: Cori Fuqua, Secretary 6