The Stafford County Parks & Recreation Commission held its regular monthly meeting Thursday, February 21, 2008, at the Rowser Building. The meeting was called to order at 7:05 PM by Tom Paton.

SILENT ROLL CALL

Members                       Present        Absent                           Staff:                         Guests:
Joe Brito                              P                                      Chris Hoppe                 Unah Kiser
Bobby Crisp                         P                                       Brion Southall              Barry Hill
John Druiett                         P                                      Judy Sokolowski            Harry Crisp
Brad Eads                            P                                      Camilla Shover
Bill Hoyt                                              A
John LeDoux                        P
Ken Mitchell                         P
Tom Paton                           P
Ingulf Rupp                          P
Randy Walther                      P

APPROVAL OF MINUTES
John Druiett motioned, and Ken Mitchell seconded, to approve the minutes with corrections to the Chair and Vice-chair. Motion carried unanimously.

PRESENTATIONS BY PUBLIC
None.

NEW BUSINESS
· Shiloh Community Services Corporation/ Form Subcommittee
Chris Hoppe introduced the project/assignment, in which Shiloh Community Services Corporation asked the County to donate 20 acres of land to them so they could build and run a community-based recreation facility that could be used by all Stafford County residents, but it would have a specific emphasis on the socially disadvantaged, the youth and the elderly. Brad Eads, Randy Walther, Bobby Crisp, and John Druiett volunteered to serve on a subcommittee to work on this issue. Joe Brito suggested a business plan needed to be obtained; Brad Eads suggested obtaining a business plan from Shiloh Community Services.

· Commuter Parking Needs
Joe Brito said that FAMPO has $150,000/year to rent parking lots. He proposed a pilot program wherein commuters could park their vehicles on County park parking lots, since there are not used much during the day. Joe also proposed the possibility of building the second and third parking lots at Patawomeck Park early to use for this purpose. After discussion about possible liability issues, parking use times, etc., Brad Eads motioned, and Randy Walther seconded, to decline recommendation of shared use of parking lots at County Parks. Motion carried with 5 in favor and 4 against. John LeDoux suggested a subcommittee be formed to come up with a plan and bring back to the Commission (subcommittee to consist of four members who voted for using the lots: Ken Mitchell, John Druiett, Bobby Crisp, and Joe Brito).

· Florence Helms Award
After reviewing the nominations, the Commission voted to award the following awards:
Group Award: The American Legion Post 290 for its athletic program
Individual Award: Evelyn Dittmann for her youth and community service and parks and recreation volunteer work
Because of budget cuts, and Volunteer Appreciation Banquet will not be held; awards will be given at the next Commission meeting.

OLD BUSINESS
· Athletic Field Taskforce

Video
The Commission viewed an informational video about synthetic turf.

Report Endorsement
After review and discussion, John LeDoux motioned, and John Druiett seconded, to endorse the Athletic field Taskforce Report that was presented to the Commission in January.

Adopt-A-field SASA Proposal
Chris Hoppe reviewed his memo in response to SASA’s proposal. John LeDoux motioned, and Brad Eads seconded, to solicit proposals from all sports groups who would like to participate in an Adopt-A-Field program. Motion carried unanimously.

Turf Field SASA Proposal
No information was available.

P&R Department Information
Chris Hoppe reviewed the packet that was provided to members. He said that division supervisors would attend the March meeting. He also said he would like to set a date for a park tour for Commissioners, which was set to March 1, with a snow date of April 5; everyone would meet at the Rowser Building at 8 AM.

PRESENTATIONS BY COMMISSIONERS
· John LeDoux said he sent a video to Chris Hoppe regarding ground-proofing babies, which was really good. He also said that he would like to continue the Commission’s tradition of awarding long-serving members with a walking stick; John said he would like for the Commission to recognize Larry Checca for his longstanding service on the Commission.

· Joe Brito aid he looked forward to meeting with the Commission, because he sees the need for more infrastructure; he proposed a $10 million bond for November 2008 and would like to build fields on the Musselman-Jones property.

· Bobby Crisp said she enjoyed the BOS tour, which was very informative; she found the maps and answers very helpful.

STAFF REPORTS
No questions were asked.

DIRECTOR'S REPORT
· Patawomeck Park
Concrete work on bleacher pads is complete, as is some of the walks around the playground areas. The pavilion restroom footings concrete failed to achieve specification and some block wall work had to be removed. Alternative solutions were approved, implemented and the masonry block walls are nearly topped out. Most light poles have been installed. Seeding has been done on large areas of the park and the trees are being installed. The last couple of rains have contributed to the irrigation pond filling but it still has a ways to go.

· CCC
Schools ceased their pursuit of the CCC when they realized that the County owned the building not the Schools.

· Fredericksburg-Stafford Park Authority (FSPA)
No meeting held in January due to lack of quorum. Harry Crisp was appointed as the Stafford Board rep and Beverly Newlin was reappointed as a Stafford Citizen rep. A second citizen rep position has not yet been filled.

· Aquia Landing Park
A survey was prepared and sent at the request of Mr. Milde to the 200+ closest neighbors of the park to get additional feedback about concerns regarding the proposed extended use of Aquia Landing Park. To date about 17% have been returned. If you are asked, we are not proposing to keep the gate open 24 hours a day just because the park will be open 12 months a year. The gates will be open 8:00 am – 6:00/8:00 pm depending on season.

· Widewater State Park
The second public meeting on the master plan will be held in March at Widewater Elementary School. I will let you know the date and time when it is set. The proposed amenities and phasing will be presented for comment. This will likely be the last public meeting on the park. The proposed plan will then undergo internal reviews and approvals. No funding is currently available to develop.

· Illegal Immigration Task Force
Public input sessions were held on January 10 and 30 in the Board Chambers of the County Administration Center. The last meeting was very well attended with the Board Chambers nearly full. Recommendations will be made to the BOS at the April 1, 2008 meeting.

· Smith Lake Park Synthetic Athletic Turf Fields
A Solicitation for consultant design services was advertised on February 15th & 16th and posted on the County’s website. Work has begun on developing the scope of the project.

· BOS Member Park Tour
On January 25 I led a tour of many of our parks and some historic sites. Chairman George Schwartz, Joe Brito, Harry Crisp, Bob Woodson, and Tim Baroody attended. At the last minute Bobbie Crisp and Aquia District P&R Commission nominee Bill Hoyt also joined the group.

· Vacant Positions
Existing positions
Administrative Specialist (1 position) – Applicants short listed, interviews to be scheduled shortly
Recreation Programmer I for Community Recreation (2 positions) – Delayed due to budget constraints
Assistant Director – Advertisement to be posted shortly

New positions approved in the FY 2008 Budget
Park Maintenance District Supervisor (1 position) - Interviews scheduled
Park Maintenance Worker I (2 positions) – Interviews complete, checking references
Recreation Programmer II for Aquatics (1 position) – Position filled by Kari Matheney who was promoted from a part time Recreation Programmer I in our Aquatics Division. That position will remain vacant until July due to budget constraints

ADJOURNMENT
The meeting adjourned at 9:50 PM.

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