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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014-07-02 Parks Board MinutesRIVERSIDE PARKS BOARD MEETING MINUTES July 2, 2014 6:00 p.m. The Riverside Parks Board held their regularly scheduled meeting at Riverside City Hall, 2950 NW Vivion Road, Riverside Missouri 64150. Those in attendance were: Mayor Kathy Rose, Terry Dwyer, Jerry Peach, Elaine Warren, Public Works Director Tom Wooddell, Administration Director Meredith Hauck and Stacey Rasco, Executive Assistant (recorder). Alderman Mike Fuller, Timothy Miller were absent. Call to Order The Parks Board Meeting was called to order at 6:04p.m.  Approval of Minutes Quorum was not met. Approval of the March 5, 2014 minutes was moved to the next agenda.  2014-2015 Project Review Ms. Hauck noted that this meeting marks the first of the fiscal year. The Board will need to discuss any issues or opportunities for the coming year. Ms. Hauck noted that the YMCA day camp is going well, the swimming pool is open, also in the process of hiring a full time YMCA staff member as a Life Director. Mainly focusing on fitness classes to add in the AM and PM hours. Adult fitness classes such as spin classes. This is a big investment for equipment. It is hoped to have someone hired by August. In the future the new Director may talk to the Park Board to grasp needs for the city. Long term goal is to contract with the YMCA for these services. UPDATES Pool – contracted with the YMCA with this being the last year for this contract. The City will go out for bids again for next year and then work through the process. It was noted that a clock is needed at the pool. Mr. Wooddell will take care of having this installed. Day campers are continuing to place “stuff” (clothing, shoes, etc) on pool chairs. Ms. Hauck will follow-up with the pool staff. Mayor Rose stated that we need to look at cubbies or nesting pods for places to put their belongings. Ms. Hauck will work with the Community Center staff to look into these options. Parks Mayor Rose received a complaint while at Renner Brenner Park. It was reported that people are very fearful of the occupants of the park. This complaint was in regards to males drinking and an overall feeling of uneasiness. This family took the path from the Park and there were kids on skateboards who were smoking. The Mayor noted that this has been reported to Greg Mills, City Administrator and he is looking into the issue. EH Young The City has had a couple of events and all have gone very well. Mayor Rose expressed the mindset that EH Young Park is disconnected from the rest of the community. It’s only visited if there is an event. The ball fields are being used and are full which is great. Ms. Hauck noted that there was a Board Workshop not to long ago and this was a funding priority for 2017. Soccer teams are out there quite a bit but it is not reserved. It does not need to be reserved. People in the Northland do not think about our park because it’s out of sight. We need to think bigger moving forward when we have the funding. There are many great ideas that would draw people in. It was noted that a re-plan needs to be done in the park. The fence along the street needs to be taken down due to the entrance being in a different location. There are bushes that were planted by the Corp of Engineers that are difficult to work around. Mr. Wooddell and Ms. Hauck will review and work up a small “face-lift” plan to present to the Park Board. GOALS Ms. Hauck reported that we need to work on developing a Trail Patrol. Volunteers who are like Ambassadors. Have a t-shirt, walk or bike and talk to people to create an atmosphere of presence. It was noted that one of our safety officers took the Motorcycle up the trail by Red-X and this was a great visual to the community. Makes the city look involved. Tourism Commission Partnering with Park board on how to incorporate art into the community. The Mayor would like to do a Veteran’s Memorial somewhere within the city limits. The Memorial would include a Firefighter, a Police Officer, and military commemoratives. Need to make it original to Riverside. We need to recognize this group. Blue Springs commissions artists from all over the USA. Their Art Counsel leaves displays out for review for 60 days at which time the council decides what they want to purchase. This is all done on the artist’s budget. What the city does not purchase the artist’s returns to pick up. Ms. Hauck noted that the City of Riverside is sponsoring a class at the KC Art institute. At 4 different locations in Riverside and the final art will be displayed for a time as well. Tourism Commission has been noting that there are empty lots around the city and we would like to put art in these areas to make them more utilized temporarily. Other Projects Trails are covered. Our focus should be on great amenities and activities for the parks, maintenance, safety, etc. Still working with Parkville to connect to Riverside.   2014-2015 Project Review Ms. Hauck noted that this meeting marks the first of the fiscal year. The Board will need to discuss any issues or opportunities for the coming year. Ms. Hauck noted that the YMCA day camp is going well, the swimming pool is open, also in the process of hiring a full time YMCA staff member as a Life Director. Mainly focusing on fitness classes to add in the AM and PM hours. Adult fitness classes such as spin classes. This is a big investment for equipment. It is hoped to have someone hired by August. In the future the new Director may talk to the Park Board to grasp needs for the city. Long term goal is to contract with the YMCA for these services. UPDATES Pool – contracted with the YMCA with this being the last year for this contract. The City will go out for bids again for next year and then work through the process. It was noted that a clock is needed at the pool. Mr. Wooddell will take care of having this installed. Day campers are continuing to place “stuff” (clothing, shoes, etc) on pool chairs. Ms. Hauck will follow-up with the pool staff. Mayor Rose stated that we need to look at cubbies or nesting pods for places to put their belongings. Ms. Hauck will work with the Community Center staff to look into these options. Parks Mayor Rose received a complaint while at Renner Brenner Park. It was reported that people are very fearful of the occupants of the park. This complaint was in regards to males drinking and an overall feeling of uneasiness. This family took the path from the Park and there were kids on skateboards who were smoking. The Mayor noted that this has been reported to Greg Mills, City Administrator and he is looking into the issue. EH Young The City has had a couple of events and all have gone very well. Mayor Rose expressed the mindset that EH Young Park is disconnected from the rest of the community. It’s only visited if there is an event. The ball fields are being used and are full which is great. Ms. Hauck noted that there was a Board Workshop not to long ago and this was a funding priority for 2017. Soccer teams are out there quite a bit but it is not reserved. It does not need to be reserved. People in the Northland do not think about our park because it’s out of sight. We need to think bigger moving forward when we have the funding. There are many great ideas that would draw people in. It was noted that a re-plan needs to be done in the park. The fence along the street needs to be taken down due to the entrance being in a different location. There are bushes that were planted by the Corp of Engineers that are difficult to work around. Mr. Wooddell and Ms. Hauck will review and work up a small “face-lift” plan to present to the Park Board. GOALS Ms. Hauck reported that we need to work on developing a Trail Patrol. Volunteers who are like Ambassadors. Have a t-shirt, walk or bike and talk to people to create an atmosphere of presence. It was noted that one of our safety officers took the Motorcycle up the trail by Red-X and this was a great visual to the community. Makes the city look involved. Tourism Commission Partnering with Park board on how to incorporate art into the community. The Mayor would like to do a Veteran’s Memorial somewhere within the city limits. The Memorial would include a Firefighter, a Police Officer, and military commemoratives. Need to make it original to Riverside. We need to recognize this group. Blue Springs commissions artists from all over the USA. Their Art Counsel leaves displays out for review for 60 days at which time the council decides what they want to purchase. This is all done on the artist’s budget. What the city does not purchase the artist’s returns to pick up. Ms. Hauck noted that the City of Riverside is sponsoring a class at the KC Art institute. At 4 different locations in Riverside and the final art will be displayed for a time as well. Tourism Commission has been noting that there are empty lots around the city and we would like to put art in these areas to make them more utilized temporarily. Other Projects Trails are covered. Our focus should be on great amenities and activities for the parks, maintenance, safety, etc. Still working with Parkville to connect to Riverside.  Public Works Update Mr. Wooddell presented a city map for review. There have been locations identified to place benches as requested by the community at the last Roundtable discussion. These were approved by the Parks Board. All agreed this was a great start and move forward. Parks Maintenance Update Mr. Wooddell presented the parks maintenance report for review. It was noted that snakes are becoming a big problem in the Gatewoods area. Ms. Hauck reported that animal control is working on the problem. Still have people jumping in and out of the Riverway waterfall. This would be another great location for Ambassadors to patrol and have our Police department address when they can. Geese A suggestion of a dog silhouette was mentioned to chase away the geese.   Public Works Update Mr. Wooddell presented a city map for review. There have been locations identified to place benches as requested by the community at the last Roundtable discussion. These were approved by the Parks Board. All agreed this was a great start and move forward. Parks Maintenance Update Mr. Wooddell presented the parks maintenance report for review. It was noted that snakes are becoming a big problem in the Gatewoods area. Ms. Hauck reported that animal control is working on the problem. Still have people jumping in and out of the Riverway waterfall. This would be another great location for Ambassadors to patrol and have our Police department address when they can. Geese A suggestion of a dog silhouette was mentioned to chase away the geese.  Next Meeting The next meeting will be September 3, 2014 at 6 p.m.  Adjournment  The Parks Board adjourned at 7:09p.m. by unanimous consent.