The Stafford County Parks & Recreation Commission held its regular monthly meeting Thursday, January 20, 2005, at the Stafford Government Center. The meeting was called to order at 7:04 PM by Chris Hoppe.

SILENT ROLL CALL

Members          Present      Absent          Staff:                  Guests:
Jack Cavalier        P                             Tammi Ellis          Jim Lawrence
Larry Checca        P                             Greg Sager
Robert Dreistadt   P                              Judy Sokolowski
Chris Hoppe          P
Ed Johnson                          A
John LeDoux          P
Tom Paton             P
Frank Pote            P
Brian Robinson                   A
Tom Villacres                      A

ORGANIZE COMMISSION: ELECTION OF OFFICERS
1. Chris Hoppe was unanimously approved to serve as Chairman.

2. Frank Pote was unanimously approved to serve as Vice-Chairman.

3. The Commission’s Bylaws were unanimously approved as amended: Remove the word “Safety” from “Transportation Safety Committee” in Section 5.8 and change “Executive Secretary” to “Administrative Manager” in Section 6.5.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Since Chris Hoppe was not present at the December meeting, the minutes should be corrected to reflect John LeDoux’s signature, since he presided over the meeting. Robert Dreistadt motioned, and Larry Checca seconded, to approve the minutes of the December meeting as amended. Motion carried unanimously.

PRESENTATIONS BY PUBLIC
None.

OLD BUSINESS
Robert Dreistadt was pleased to mention that the softball field at the Armstrong Tract only cost $48,000 instead of $60,000.

NEW BUSINESS
None.

PRESENTATIONS BY COMMISSIONERS
1. Robert Dreistadt said the SBL had 400 registrants on the first day of registration, and they will need to begin cutting off registration at 1800 kids. He said he met with Linda Musselman to discuss the SBL’s use of Enon Community Center, and the SBL may have a new home at Enon after the Rowser Building opens.

2. Larry Checca said that both summer swim leagues are already full, with Curtis Park having 260 swimmers. He stressed the need for another pool in the County. Larry also said that the swim team from Stone River had disbanded, so those swimmers may be looking for swimming facilities as well. Tammi Ellis said she would talk with Camilla Shover, Aquatic Supervisor, to see if two teams could be formed from the Curtis Park team.

3. Frank Pote said he was glad to see that Tom Paton, Ed Johnson, and Tom Villacres had been reappointed to the Commission.

4. Chris Hoppe asked if we had been notified of unauthorized use of fields at Autumn Ridge Park and Smith Lake Park. Greg Sager said that we were not aware of any such use, but Autumn Ridge Park’s playground is open for use. The Department has “rovers” that monitor fields that are scheduled for use, but rovers do not monitor fields that are not scheduled for use.

5. John LeDoux said there is trash at Widewater Elementary and asked if the Department was responsible for trash pickup. Tammi Ellis said the Department is not responsible, since we are not using that facility this time of year. John said he would call the school and notify them of the problem.

6. Tom Paton said that unauthorized field use is occurring at Rodney Thompson Middle School by teens playing pickup football games and at H. H. Poole Middle School by travel soccer teams on the weekends. He asked who was responsible for the field repairs, because one of the fields at Rodney Thompson Middle School has a large puddle, and the area needs to be re-graded. Tammi Ellis said the repair would be a big job and would need to be a Parks and Recreation budgeted item.

STAFF REPORTS
Larry Checca asked if coed softball would still be offered in the spring, since we no longer had Fritter Park. Tammi Ellis said that coed softball will be offered, and it is advertised in our Spring Activity Booklet; the applications and deposits are due April 1.

DIRECTOR'S REPORT
Tammi Ellis reported the following:

· Rowser Building
Office furniture has been installed in the Parks and Recreation offices and sod has been installed. Slow progress is being made on parking/roadway improvements and the senior kitchen.

· Land Acquisition
A contract has been sent to the landowner and negotiations are ongoing. The County closed on the Musselman Property on January 3. The County now owns 42 acres on Truslow Road for future park development.

· Woodlands Tot Pool
The site plan has been signed and the equipment is available for installation. The contractor is getting permits and will begin work weather permitting.

· Woodlands Pool Filters
The repairs to the Woodlands Pool filters are holding. The contractor notified us that the sand for the new filters is ready to go. We are still waiting on the replacement heater and filters, which should be replaced after the high school swim teams finish (the last week in February).

· Moncure Property
The first public meeting for the master plan will be held on January 27, 2005 at 7:00 p.m. at Widewater Elementary School. A press release has been issued as well as letters sent to adjacent property owners, local homeowner associations, user groups, churches and other interested parties. Please put this on your calendar to attend.

· Willowmere Park
The Willowmere Park plans have been reviewed by the Technical Review Committee. A few minor changes will need to be made. Bids for the lights should be advertised soon.

NOVEC has installed timers on all of the parking lot lights. The lights are set to be on from 5-7 p.m.

· Armstrong Fields
The funding for the Parks and Recreation portion of the new softball field has been forwarded to the School Board. The Parks & Recreation portion was approximately $48,000, which is less than originally estimated.

· SRSL Funding Request
View Engineering has reviewed the soccer complex design on behalf of the county and has raised several issues regarding the plan. Staff and the engineer will meet with Anderson & Associates and Reb Benson from the SRSL to review questions. View will then prepare a final report. This information will be used to advise the BOS on whether to approve the requested $1.1 million requested by the SRSL for the development of the soccer complex.

· Budget FY06
Staff reviewed the department budget request with the Budget Office on January 14. It will be a very tight budget year.

· Comprehensive Master Plan for Parks & Open Space
Staff will interview three firms on Tuesday, January 18. The project amount available is $50,000 to complete the master plan. This will be quite a challenging but rewarding project. We estimate it will take approximately nine months to complete.

· The Recreation Programmer II position in the Sports Division has been filled by returning employee, Mike Kastelic.

ADJOURNMENT
The meeting adjourned at 8 PM.

Minutes Approved by:

____________________________
Chris Hoppe, Chair

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