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06-12-1985 ~ ~ u CITY OF EDGEWATER Parks and Recreation Board June 12, 1985 Minutes Chairman Jones called the regular meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. in the Community Center. ROLL CALL Members present: Messrs. Jones and Sheridan, Mrs. Curry and Mrs. Gilchrist. Absent: Mr. Montgomery. Also present: Mr. Garrett, Recreational Director, and Mrs. Taylor, Secretary. Mrs. Gigi Bennington was present in the audience. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Regarding the minutes of May 8, 1985, Mr. Sheridan said he wanted to clarify whether Mr. Jones had prepared the outline for the Comprehensive Plan which was presented at the April 10 minutes; the outline said that it was prepared for K. Jones. Mr. Jones said that he had prepared the plan but it was done by a computer which a friend of his owns. Mr. Sheridan asked if he thought it wise to take the Board business outside of the City. He referred to the rules and regulations which say that the Board's business is to be kept in the file in the secretary's office. Mr. Jones responded that his friend is just donating his time and his computer. He went on to suggest that at this. time the Board is considering the minutes and asked if Mr. Sheridan is ques- tioning the minutes. The other matter may be brought up under new business or miscellaneous. Mr. Jones asked if there were any corrections to the minutes of May 8, 1985. Hearing none the minutes were approved as submitted. The Board considered the Special Joint Meeting of May 21, 1985. Mr. Jones asked if there were any corrections to these minutes. Mr. Sheridan referred the members to page 2, paragraph 2, which said that Mr. Jones said that the Board had plans for a large recreational complex for the 14 acres, and that plans are still being formulated for that site. Mr. Sheridan asked what plans Mr. Jones was talking about. Mr. Jones responded that it is the plans for the future park which he hopes the 5-year Plan will show. Mr. Sheridan said he is a member of the Board but he has not been in on any plans for that place. Mr. Jones said that that is what it was bought for. It has been discussed generally. The secretary commented that that statement may have been her intrepretation of what Mr. Jones said, because there have been off-hand comments about what could go into the park. Mr. Sheridan ~aid 'he questions if plans are being formulated does the whole Board know about it. Mr. Jones said the Board has discussed tennis courts on down to bicycle motor cross, etc., and when we are discussing we are also formulating, he commented. There were no other comments or corrections to the May 21, 1985 minutes and they were approved as submitted. OLD BUSINESS Menard-May Park Opening Ceremony - The date of July 4th had been previously set as the date for the opening ceremony. Mr. Garrett informed those present that the park is being heavily used and suggested another date, as it would be difficult to get the ceremony organized with so many people present as there would be on the Fourth. Both Mr. Jones and Mr. Sheridan had other commitments that day. After some discussion the date of July 20th was selected. It was agreed the program should be at 10 a.m. It was suggested that those people who have been working with the park plans from its beginning should receive invitations. The Mayor would be g~est speaker and also, Mr. Collier Clark, Recreation planner with the State Division of Recreation and Parks, should be invited to participate. Mr. Sheridan felt that someone from the Historical Society who is familiar with the Hawks o o Point may be invited to speak to give a background of the area" Mr~ Garrett suggested that Joanne Sikes be invited to speak, as she has a good knowledge of the history. It was agreed there would be a ribbon-cutting ceremony; no food or drink will be provided. publicity for the program was recommended. The secretary was asked to contact the news people for their cooperation. Mr. Sheridan moved that the names of the people who were involved from the beginning to the final construction of Menard-May Park complex be obtained for the purpose of issuing them an invitation to attend the opening day ceremony. Mrs. Curry seconded the motion, which CARRIED 4-0. Preparing the invitations was reviewed further. It was agreed that a letter could be prepared and sent out. within the next two weeks, if possible. Mr. Sheridan recommended that the entranceway to the park be blocked off at the time the ceremony begins to eliminate disruptions. Umbrella Tree Park Update Mrs. Taylor reported that she contacted Mr. Wilbur with the Rotary Club on this date, and he said that the Club will make a decision regarding their offer of the half-basketball court at their next meeting toward the end of June. The bid for the fill was reviewed by the members. It was pointed out that it would take about 2500 yards of fill to bring the property up to one foot above the road. Mr. Garrett said two crews surveyed it and made the same estimate. The City Engineer will do a survey of the site. He has been contacted. Mr. Sheridan suggested having the property cleared and getting other bids for the fill. In answer to Mrs. Gilchrist's question about the City requirements for fill, Mrs. Bennington said she believed the Code requires that the lot be graded to a level compatible with the other properties in the block. It was agreed that after the property is surveyed by the City Engineer the Board members would go to the site and mark the trees which they wan~ saved. Hr. Sheridan asked that the. members be advised as soon as the lot is surveyed. It was agreed that this would be done. Palmetto Street property The secretary advised that she had contacted the real estate people repre- senting the property owners of this site to get elevations or their permission to go onto the site. Mrs. Foxx, 'the real estate representative, said that the property owner had not responded to their letter asking for this infor- mation. 5-year Plan The Chairman referred to the minutes of the January 11, 1985 Council meeting, at which the Parks and Recreation Department was asked to work on a five-year plan together with the Bui lding Department and Councilman' 'Prater. Mr. Jones said that even though there is no City Planner the Board can work together to corne up with a plan for parks and recreation. Mr. Jones referred to a plan from the State which gives an outline for a comprehensive plan. In this handbook the State lists phone numbers of contacts if assistance is needed. Mr. Jones said that the City has directed the Board to work on a five-year plan and he asked the members for their comments. Mr. Sheridan said that if the City wants the Board to do it then they should give the Board a Comprehensive Development Plan to work to. He said that if their plan does not coincide with the overall Comprehensive Development Plan then they are just wasting their time and effort. Parks and Recreation Board - 2 - June 12, 1985 Q o The Chairman suggested that perhaps the plan for recreation could be incor- porated into the Comprehensive Plan when the City began work on that. Mr. Sheridan reiterated that the Board needs an overall goal to work to. Mr. Garrett offered that the minutes of January 11 called for the Councilmen to work with the other department heads such as the utilities department, the police department, fire department, rescue and parks and recreation. Mr. Sheridan said their plans are altogether different from the Board's plans. Mr. Garrett re~onded that their problems are the same. Mr. Sheridan said that the land that the Board wants to purchase is going up in price. Mrs. Bennington said that each department is going to project what its needs are. This is all put together and it goes to the Planning and Zoning Board and they put it all together and make it fit and work. Mr. Sheridan said he understands that but asked who is going to supply the information. Mrs. Bennington said that Conklin, Porter and Holmes, the city's engineers, already have a lot of the figures. Mr. Sheridan moved that the report of Conklin, Porter and Homes be obtained for the statistics pertaining to development, growth and expansion, etc. and that this material be studied in depth to determine the requirements for future open spaces, parks and recreational areas. Mrs. Curry seconded the motion. Mrs. Gilchrist said that she is concerned that while everyone is doing their studying everything is going under the bridge. She suggested that in the meantime the City should be obtaining land. Mr. Sheridan assured her that they would be doing that. Mrs. Bennington pointed out that the audit report has a whole section on statistics which may be of assistance to the Board. Mr. Sheridan asked that his motion be amended to include this audit report from Brent Millikan. The amendment was seconded by Mrs. Gilchrist. There was no further discussion on the motion or the amendment to the motion. The motion and the amendment PASSED 4-0. Mr. Jones said that he feels once the Board starts to work on the plan every- thing will fall into place. Mr. Sheridan asked when they were going to do all this work and Mr. Jones suggested that certain information needed for a meeting could be assigned to the different Board members. Mr. Sheridan again referred to the taking of business of the Board out of the City. He referred to the Parks and Recreation By-laws which states that it shall be the duty of the secretary to prepare all correspondence and approved minutes and be responsible for their distribution. The duties of the office shall include preparation of the agenda, preparation and sending out of minutes and establishment and maintenance of board files. He said he thinks that any- thing which is generated within the confines of the official board meetings should be retained by the secretary in that office where every board member has it available, to go in there any time to look at it. The secretary responded that when material is brought to the Board it then becomes public records and is maintained by the secretary. Mr. Sheridan said that what Mr. Jones has presented is contained in the manual. Mr. Jones said that he is just pre- senting a synopsis showing what the computer can do. Mr. Jones suggested that this discussion be continued during the Miscellaneous part of the agenda. NEW BUSINESS Mr. Garrett expressed pleasure with the turnout of parents at the ballgames this year, and noted that the concession made quite a lot of money. He was concerned that when the children go from T-ball up to the next age group they lose so many children. He has discussed this with the coaches and they trying to understand and resolve this situation. Mr. Sheridan said that he was actively engaged with the YMCA and they had about four baseball teams. They formed a cadre of coaches and each of the coaches taught the same basics. When a child moved up into another age group he knew exactly what was going on. Mr. Garrett said that they have discussed doing this, so that may be the direction to go. Regarding the bike path for Park Avenue, Mr. Garrett said this has been turned back over to the engineer for revisions. As it is now the cost has risen to approximately $172,000. Mrs. Bennington asked why the City could not do the labor since it has recently bought new paving equipment and is putting on five new men. Parks and Recreation Board - 3 - June 12, 1985 o o Mr. Garrett said that the parents sponsored a but because of poor publicity there were only they have everything needed to set up another planning for another dance on June 29th. graduation dance on June I 22 in attendance. However, dance very quickly. He is Mr. Sheridan referred again to the opening day ceremony at Menard-May Park and asked about publicity. He suggested there be sometlling in the paper very soon. He asked if Mrs. Parks could be contacted and the secretary agreed to do this. Mrs. Curry said her son plays a lot of basketball across the street from City Hall and he wanted to know if there would be lights for night playing. Also, he asked about the possibility of having metal nets put up. Mr. Garrett explained that there are a couple of street lights, one at each end of the court. Regarding the metal nets, Mr. Garrett said that they do not last as long as the nylon. The beginning tennis program started this past Tuesday with five signed up. Mr. Garrett related that an older couple have come to listen to the instructor, Jack Corder, talk to the children, as he did such a good job. This older gentleman suggested that the City plan something for the seniors. Mr. Sheridan said that he has had a lot of people ask him about tennis courts and where they are going to be, so there is a lot of interest in tennis. The pb~sibility of tennis courts at the newly acquired site was discussed. MISCELLANEOUS Mr. Sheridan again said that he feels that any information that is generated by this Board should be kept with this Board, to comply with the rules of the Parks and Recreation Board. He referred again to the By-Laws which say that the secretary shall maintain the Board files. He said that he feels these files should be available to the Board members in case they want to research something. The secretary said that everything which is presented at the meeting is maintained in the files at City Hall. Mr. Sheridan said that when they start to work on the 5-year plan there should be a file maintained for every piece of paper which is generated by the individual board members and the Board as a whole. He said this should be available to the Board members to review whenever they want. Mr. Jones explained that anything which is done by the members and brought to the meetings becomes a part of the records and is filed. Mr. Sheridan said he was concerned because Mr. Jones said he was going to put it into the computer. He asked why it is going into a computer. Mr. Jones said it is going into the com- puter for his personal use. It is there for when he wants to go back to work on it. There was further discussion about the computer and where it will be located. Mr. Sheridan was concerned about the legality of it. Mr. Sheridan said that when he wants some information he does not want to ask someone to go to a computer and get a read out. Mr. Jones said that every time he uses the computer duning the month he will bring that information in and it will-go into the file. Mr. Sheridan asked what he would do if M~. JoneS got sick. Mr. Garrett explained that it would be turned in to the secretary. Everything will always be in the office. Mrs. Gilchrist brought up again the algae problem on the lakes in Florida Shores. She said that from what she has read about duck weed it forms on a shallow lake. If it was blocked off in a canal the lakes would take care of themselves, she said. This idea was discussed at length. Mr. Sheridan asked what the Board is going to do about Duck Lake. The Council has given them permission to develop something there. ~1r. Garrett said they could put in some landscaping and a few benches and tables. Referring to the joint meeting with the Planning and Zoning Board, and the discussion concerning acquiring additional land, Mr. Sheridan said that, with the Board's permission he would like to go down and talk to Donnie Williams to see what he has available. He would then like to get the Board members together to go look at the available spots and find out the approximate cost to buy land in some of these areas. Mr. Sheridan referred to the dis- cussion at the.joint_meeting about eminent domain. He said that this is Parks and Recreation Board - 4 - June 12, 1985 . . ~ Q o something which should be avoided like the plague. You may acquire land, he stated, but you are also going to create a lot of bad feelings. Concerning available land for recreation, Mrs. Bennington suggested that someone contact Mrs. Massey, who owns land to the west of the City. Mr. Sheridan said that perhaps buying land which could be traded off for more desirable land at a later time should be discussed with the City Attorney. He pointed out that the money the City gets from its recreational impact fee is figured on the value of the land as it is now. A few years from now that money will not buy the same that it will buy today. The members were agreeable to Mr. Sheridan talking to Mr. Williams and Mrs. Massey to see what land is available. Mr. Sheridan asked if Mr. Garrett could provide the estimated cost of play- ground equipment for Menard-May Park and Umbrella Tree by the next Board meeting, so that he will know how much money he has to work with. Mrs. Curry moved for adjournment, seconded by Mrs. Gilchrist. The meeting was adjourned at 8:55 p.m. Minutes prepared by Joan Taylor Parks and Recreation Board - 5 - June 12, 1985