HomeMy WebLinkAbout2010-07-07 Park Board Minutes
RIVERSIDE PARK BOARD MEETING
MINUTES
July 7, 2010
6:00 p.m.
Attending: Terri Dwyer, Ron Carlson, Debbie Leader, Kathy Rose, Julie Rule
Call to order: 6:03 pm by Julie Rule
Meeting Notes: No meeting notes from the June 2010 meeting were available for review and
approval.
1. Bus Stop Benches and Shelters
– Kathy Rose reported that the bus service contract for this
year had increased dramatically in cost due to cuts in funding for the KCATA. Last year’s
cost was $38,000 and this year’s contract for similar services is approximately $90,000
prompting the city to meet with KCATA to discuss cost cutting measures such as eliminating
stops and routes. We also discussed that we are missing other key information to moving
forward on the project such as:
Location of current bus stops
Current ridership data
Clarity on KCATA guidelines to understand if a structure could be designed that would
be complimentary to the streetscape.
Although the above data could be obtained, the group agreed that there were a lot of
unknowns influencing this project and made a decision to remove this project from the 2011
fiscal year and place it on the long term list of lower priority projects to consider at a future
date.
2. Renner Brenner Park Updates - We discussed the need to get started on the shelter house
design. The initial thought was to start with a structure similar to E.H. Young in the interest
of consistency in the parks and then work to ensure that it fits into the overall look and feel
that we are trying to achieve through streetscape elements. We will request staff to provide
some options for consideration along with pricing.
Additional items related to Renner Brenner Park were discussed:
Terri Dwyer reported that she had visited the park on 7/7/10 for a picnic with her children
and found what looked like blood on the picnic tables in addition to inappropriate graffiti
carved into them. This needs to be addressed.
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Kathy Rose reported that on 6/26/10, a child obtained 3 degree burns from a slide at the
new playground.
The vendor needs to be contacted to understand if there are options such as
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product coatings that would minimize the heat or we should consider alternatives
for providing more shad in the area.
We discussed that the playground has been popular and the swings are liked.
Kathy Rose reported that her visits to the park indicate that the skateboard park is not the
main source of trash and that there has been a lot of trash around the shelter house from
users.
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Julie Rule reported that the contact from Escapist had emailed asking if we were planning
on upgrading the skatepark.
3. E.H. Young Park Updates
– We discussed the need to get started on the process of identifying
playground updates and will need the following information from staff:
How much space is there to add on to the playground?
Contact a vendor to obtain a couple proposals for what could be added in the space
available as a starting point of discussion. Understand if items could be added to existing
equipment as part of the process. The thought was to use a similar process to Renner
Brenner where Fry and Associates provided some design options which we modified and
then bid.
Additional items related to E.H. Young park were discussed:
Kathy Rose reported that following the completion of the fly over bridge to Argosy,
the road from Tulleson to E.H. Young will be torn out. Following this, the Park
Board will need to consider (1) if additional park signage, landscaping, etc should be
added at the bridge and (2) how to best utilize the land on the other side of the road
which will then be connected directly to the rest of the park.
Kathy reported that the rain combined with the park use by the Scottish Highland
Games had resulted in some grass being torn up/ruts. A claim had been filed against
the Highland Games insurance. We discussed if there should be some additional
limitations such as no events in June due to weather that can create these types of
situations. No recommendations were made at this time.
4. MO Riverfront Trail – Kathy Rose reported that the radio tower that the call boxes are
waiting on probably will not be completed by the end of the fiscal year (June 2011). This
project is on hold and should be removed from the 2011 list.
We discussed that a portion of the trail had been closed due to flood conditions. It was
requested to have a better understanding of what triggers the closure to feel like we have a
good balance between levee use and trail use. We will ask staff to provide perspective.
5. Community Center Pool – Terri Dwyer reported on several items she and her family had
experienced while visiting the pool.
. Terri indicated that
Locker area smelled bad and trash was not being picked up
Meredith Hauck had recently met with the YMCA and Terri had seen an
improvement after that. Terri asked if the area could be cleaned with bleach
periodically or power washed periodically to make additional improvements to the
cleanliness.
Need for more stringent enforcement of the rules – Terri reported that she routinely
heard profanity from teenagers and she had seen some public displays of affection
that she felt were not appropriate. In addition, she felt that some older kids were
being left unsupervised at the pool for long periods of time. She had seen YMCA
staff step in to correct the situations which helped for a small amount of time.
However, she would like to see the staff ask folks to leave if after multiple
corrections, the behavior is still happening.
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New surfacing – Kathy Rose reported that the texturing was necessary due to the
slickness of the surface which had resulted in someone falling. Julie Rule indicated
that it was very scratchy and hoped it would wear down slightly. Terri indicated that
she thought it was better.
Attentive lifeguards – Terri believed that the lifeguards were very attentive.
6. Mowing – Terri Dwyer indicated that she had recently seen a newscast discussing that the city
of Kansas City was taking action against lawn maintenance companies that were mowing
city property with their safety guards taped up to make mowing faster due to less clogging.
Terri had driven by 4 mowers in Riverside from Embassy recently and noticed that all 4 had
the safety guards taped up. Follow up needs to be done with Embassy. She also reported
that she noticed them picking up trash rather than mowing over it which was a positive.
7. Linear Park Benches
– Ron Carlson suggested that we put in benches around the waterfall and
on the linear trail. Kathy Rose indicated that it was planned but the city had not taken over
the park maintenance from Garney yet. Ron brought flyers from Jim Frakes showing
benches using recycled materials as a possibility. We discussed if it should be the same
bench as the streetscape. Some thought yes and some thought if it wasn’t visible from the
street, then it could be other styles and materials. We will discuss further when it is time for
the benches.
8. New Programming
– Kathy Rose reported that the city had funded a couple of new
programming options targeted at “at risk” children:
“Girls on the Run” is a program for girls 8-14 years old that trains them in long distance
running while building confidence.
Smart Start is a program being offered by the Park Hill School District from children
grades 1-4 where they are picked up, fed breakfast, and receive 4 hours of reading time to
try to jump start performance at the beginning of the school year.
9.Challenger Field- Kathy Rose reported that she is meeting with Platte County Parks Director
Brian Nowotny this week to discuss the possibility of a field like this. She learned about it
from some of the city representatives in the All American City competition. Julie Rule
reported that there was a group currently planning and fundraising for a complex in Platte
County and indicated that Brian would have more details on this.
10. BLAST event – Kathy Rose reported that there were a few ideas coming out of the fireworks
followup meeting that might improve the event.
Move it back to E.H. Young park since the fireworks were too far away, the asphalt
was hot and vendors had to compete with Quiktrip for sales of food and beverages.
Have the event the Saturday before the start of fireworks sales which allows all the
vendors to participate in safety clinics.Some of the vendors felt the event “shut them
down” rather than brought in business as intended.
Reapply an idea from Gatewoods where residents organized a kid’s parade with
decorated bicycles and tricycles.
A motion to adjourn was made by Ron Carlson at 7:26 pm, seconded by Debbie Leader.
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