07-11-2002
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CITY OF EDGEW A TER
RECREA TION/CUL TURAL SERVICES BOARD
JULY 11, 2002 6:30 PM
LEISURE SERVICES OFFICE - 1108 S. RIDGEWOOD AVE.
MINUTES
ROLL CALL/CALL TO ORDER
The Chairman, Tom Tipton called the meeting to order. Members present were: Mike
Visconti, Jo Hagan, Kat Bearsley, Joe Fishback and Tom Tipton. Also present was Jack
Corder, Director of Leisure Services, Adelaide Carter, liaison from the Economic
Development Board and Mike Giusti, from the press.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Mrs. Hagan moved to approve the minutes of the June 13t\ 2002 meeting. Mr. Visconti
seconded the motion and it CARRIED 5-0.
OLD BUSINESS
Relocation of Fountain
Mr. Corder stated during the last two meetings there has been discussion on the
relocation of the fountain, and based on the last meeting, the consensus of the Board was
to move the fountain to the arboretum as soon as it was completed. (Previous to this, the
Board had voted to relocate the fountain to Menard May Park.) Based on the consensus
of the last meeting, Mr. Tipton drafted a letter to the Council for the Board to sign, and
forward to Council as a formal recommendation. Mr. Tipton read the letter to the
members. Mr. Visconti asked the time frame for the completion of the arboretum and
Mr. Corder stated it could be one year or five years; it will depend on funding and grants.
Mrs. Hagan stated this Board has discussed this issue of the fountain 9 times and Mr.
Tipton agreed it was time to get the fountain relocation final as there are many projects
coming up that need the attention of the Board. All of the Board members present
signed the letter and Mr. Fishback moved to send the letter to Council for their final
approval of relocating the fountain to an area in the arboretum when it is completed.
Mrs. Bearsley seconded the motion. Motion CARRIED 5-0.
Mrs. Hagan asked what the end result was with the letter about D.O.T. and the medians a
few months back, and Mr. Corder replied he had a meeting with D.O.T. and they were to
come back and dress them up a bit, which they haven't done as yet.
Mrs. Hagan also asked about the park projects in Whistle Stop and Menard. Mr. Corder
stated he spoke with Debbie Green from the Agricultural Center and they are still
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working on the plans and it should be done soon. At Whistle Stop, he stated the Eagle
Scouts will be doing a community project there.
Mr. Fishback stated he was very pleased with the job that D.O.T. is doing on the road
widening and the traffic flow is moving right along.
Mr. Visconti asked what happened with the "Welcome to Edgewater" signs that the
Chamber of Commerce was going to replace and Mr. Corder stated the Chamber had
gone to a Council meeting and spoke about redesigning them and he hasn't heard
anything since.
NEW BUSINESS
Park Update
Mr. Corder stated the ballfields are moving along slowly, but at least moving. He said
the excavator is working there now and next will be the well, sprinklers, sprigging,
fencing, dugouts, etc.
He said at the last meeting he hoped to get the museum opened near the end of July, but
that is not going to happen. It is taking much longer than he expected; he is hoping for
sometime in August but is not going to set a date yet.
Mr. Corder said this year's budget is really going to be tight. He lost some money for the
medians which had to be spent on pipe for the Boulevard project. He said he has ordered
some new playground equipment for Whistle Stop and Menard parks and that should be
here in 4 to 6 weeks.
Mr. Corder stated, for obvious reasons, he cannot run the Christmas Parade down the
Boulevard this year and he has come up with an alternate route that he hopes will be
acceptable. The staging area would be at the Edgewater Elementary School, and the
parade would run down Old County Road to Park Avenue and then left to Rotary Park
where the parade would disband. The Board agreed this would be a good alternative.
Mr. Corder stated his Recreation Assistant, Christi Moeller, has put together some
seminars this summer which are going well. One was on Lawn Care, one on Pest
Management and the last one will be on Hurricane Preparedness.
The Board had a lengthy discussion on an Adopt a Median project and Mr. Corder asked
the members to bring ideas and suggestions for this to the next meeting.
Beautification Ad Hoc Committee Report
Mr. Visconti stated he is pleased with the progress made in beautification over the past
years. He said the committees in the past worked hard and things are coming together.
The medians look great with the trees in bloom and things are getting cleaned up along
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U.S. 1. and many businesses and homes seem to be landscaping more. He said we should
be proud ofthe way our city is starting to look.
The Board members submitted their nominations for the business beautification award to
be chosen in August.
MISCELLANEOUS
Mr. Fishback commented on a "60 Minutes" show he watched recently concerning the
country of Venzuela implementing a program for children to play instruments and learn
classical music. He would like to see some sort of program here for the kids if funds
were available, or perhaps implemented by the schools. Mr. Tipton, a retired teacher,
stated the schools have cut funding for music and art programs in the schools, and their
focus seems to be more on students passing the FCA T tests. The Board members agreed
they would like to see such programs reinstated for the kids. Mr. Tipton gave Mr.
Fishback the name of a contact in the school system and he agreed to find out what, if
anything could be done.
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business, Mr. Visconti moved to adjourn, seconded by Mrs.
Hagan.
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RECREA TION/CUL TURAL SERVICES BOARD
JULY 11m, 2002 6:30 PM
1108 S. RIDGEWOOD (LEISURE SERVICES OFFICE)
AGENDA
ROLL CALL/CALL TO ORDER
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
OLD BUSINESS
NEW BUSINESS
MISCELLANEOUS
ADJOURNMENT
Approval of June 13, 2002 Minutes
Relocation of Fountain
Park Update
Beautification Ad Hoc Report