Lawrence Parks and Recreation

Advisory Board Meeting Minutes

December 13, 2011

 

MEMBERS PRESENT:  

Jana Dawson, Chair; Joe Caldwell, Vice Chair; Kevin Loos, Kelly Barth and Andy Clayton

 

 

MEMBERS ABSENT:  

 

 

 

STAFF PRESENT: 

Ernie Shaw, Mark Hecker and Roger Steinbrock

GUESTS:

Annette Deghand and Brian Brown

 

 

I.             Meeting called to order by Chair Dawson

 

II.           Approval of the Nov. 8 minutes-- Motion to approve November 2011 minutes by Barth and seconded by Clayton.  Motion approved. 

 

III.         Concerns of Board – Barth indicated she received a call from John Thornton who has concerns regarding the potential garden spots at Burcham Park.  His concern is, the riparian and habitat areas will be destroyed.  Caldwell shared that on Nov. 17 the Wellness Day for Leadership Lawrence was held.  Shaw and Hecker were there and presented for Parks and Recreation.  Survey that was compiled indicated that P&R was voted as one of the highest sessions of the day.  Barth also reported she had an inquiry about debris at the 8th street boat ramp.  Shaw indicated that he would check on it. 

 

IV.         Intern –Brian Brown –Intro. – Deghand introduced Brian to the board who will be interning with the department for the next four weeks.  He is here from Ohio University.

 

V.           2012 Advisory Board Office Election Discussion – Discussion took place regarding the Chair and Vice Chair positions.  The board unanimously decided that Caldwell will become Chair and Clayton would become Vice Chair.  Motion to approve by Loos and seconded by Barth.  Motion approved 5-0.

 

VI.         Holiday Lunch Friday Dec. 16 – Carnegie – Shaw shared with the board the luncheon is scheduled for Friday and that he hoped the board would attend.

 

VII.       DeVictor Park Playground – Loos and Dawson indicated, they have received a high level of interest regarding the lack of playground equipment in DeVictor Park.  Hecker indicated at one time money was set aside for playground equipment, but the neighborhood decided against it because of the school being so close.  Hecker suggested Loos contact the Neighbor Association to set up a meeting.

 

VIII.     LAWC Updates – Shaw reported the department has been in the process of working on the Request for Proposal for both design/site selection and fundraising. He gave a brief explanation of the phases that will need to be accomplished to move forward. 

 

IX.          YMCA informational meeting on Nov. 14 – Shaw reported they met with the YMCA officials from Topeka and Kansas City regarding partnerships between YMCA and the P&R department in those areas.     The partnership works very well for them since P&R in those areas did not have any recreational facilities nor did they run very many programs.  They were mainly a Parks department.  The city or county builds the facility and YMCA oversees the operational expenses of those facilities and programs.  This was just an informational meeting and no decisions to move forward have been made at this time.

 

X.            LPRD Administration offices at South Park– Hecker indicated, the renovation is on scheduled and should be completed in the Spring.

 

XI.          Boley Letter – suggestion of a pocket park – Shaw presented a letter that was received from Stuart Boley regarding a double lot which is currently available for sale.  He is requesting the City buy the lot and create a pocket park.  The lot is located on the south side of 1500 block of 21st Terr. 

 

XII.        Staff reports

                                         i.    Recreation/Golf Revenue/Expense Report – Shaw reported recreation is doing very well.  Revenue will be on the positive side as we approach the end of the year, coming close to hitting the 2 million dollar mark.  Scholarships, have reached over the 20 thousand dollar threshold.  Hecker reported, golf revenue’s year-to-date is about to break even.  We won’t gain much more revenue and our expenses will continue.  Projections are that we will have to cut into the fund balance. 

 

                                        ii.    Parks/Projects Report – Hecker indicated there are several projects in the works to include: renovations at Deerfield Park have begun on the courts and the department will be working on the RFP for the skate park.  Kasold north of 6th Street all of the concrete has been removed from the median and have been replaced with turf and trees.  Field lights at Hobbs will also be replaced. 

 

                                       iii.    Marketing Report – Steinbrock reported Blaine Clark an intern from KU will be starting for the spring semester.  His interest is in the Golf Course. Steinbrock said the department video will be updated in the coming year. He said the campaign to collect toys for The Shelter was on-going and that department facilities were a drop-off location for Scotch Fabrics annual Coat drive and had recently completed with a record number of coats being collected.

 

 

Meeting adjourned.  Next Advisory Board meeting scheduled for Noon, Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2012, Parks and Recreation Conference Room.