PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION
REGULAR MEETING MINUTES
Thursday, May 15, 2008
The Stafford County Parks & Recreation Commission held its regular monthly meeting Thursday, May 15, 2008, at the Rowser Building. The meeting was called to order at 7:05 PM by Randy Walther.
SILENT ROLL CALL
Members Present Absent Staff: Guests:
Joe Brito P Chris Hoppe Shirley Checca
Bobby Crisp P Judy Sokolowski Larry Checca
John Druiett P Nan Rollison
Brad Eads P
Bill Hoyt P
John LeDoux P
Ken Mitchell A
Tom Paton A
Ingulf Rupp P
Randy Walther P
COMMISSION PRESENTATION
The Commission presented former member, Larry Checca, with a walking stick for his 10 years of faithful service on the Commission. Larry said it was an honor to have served on the Commission and wished the current members all the best.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
John LeDoux motioned, and Ingulf Rupp seconded, to approve the minutes from the April meeting. Motion carried unanimously.
PRESENTATIONS BY PUBLIC
Nan Rollison said she was present to obtain an education on the Commission’s goals.
NEW BUSINESS
None.
OLD BUSINESS
· Subcommittee Reports: Commuter Parking
No report; committee needs to meet again. John Druiett asked Chris Hoppe to request a report from Sheriff Jett asking for the expenses involved in allowing commuter parking in a park.
· Bike Trails
Chris Hoppe said the “Heritage Loop” plan is moving forward; the trail includes Belmont; Old Town Falmouth; Cambridge Street, King Street, and River Road; Shelton’s Cottage, Pratt Park, and Brook’s Park and will link to Butler Road’s existing trail.
PRESENTATIONS BY COMMISSIONERS
· Bobby Crisp said she was excited about the bike trail and said she would help in any way. She also said she was pleased with citizen participation with the hurricane recovery in the Berea area. She said that the subcommittee is still gathering information and feasibility about commuter parking at Patawomeck Park.
· Bill Hoyt said he began researching security systems; however, he was unable to gain access to the courthouse and the sheriff’s office. He asked what size flag is needed for the flag poles at Smith Lake and Patawomeck Parks. He asked for any information about the previous “Friends of the Parks” groups and prior bond information. Bill offered to change the locks on the lockers. He asked if the field at Brooks Park had been repaired; Chris Hoppe said he would check; Bill said he would get it fixed. Bill asked if the vacancies on the FSPA Board had been filled; Bobby Crisp said she would check. Bill asked for a list of equipment that was needed but cut from the budget. Bill said he purchased property in the Brooke area for an SPCA and may also build a three-acre dog park there. He said he also owns 44 acres on Coal Landing Road and is willing to set aside 15 acres for passive recreation.
· Joe Brito asked Chris Hoppe the status of the Assistant Director of Parks & Recreation position. Chris said it was frozen until the County Administrator said otherwise. Joe asked Chris to submit the request to the County Administrator, and he would support Chris’ request. Joe also said the bond referendum subcommittee held preliminary meetings to examine the needs of the County and suggested that parks be built in phases, such as rough graded fields for adopt-a-field programs.
· Brad Eads questioned the wisdom of the schools’ mowing part of their property and Parks and Recreation staff maintaining the ball fields. Chris Hoppe said the P&R Department is looking into coordinating alternatives.
· Ingulf Rupp said soccer fields are dangerous and unusable; they were too wet and unacceptable. Chris Hoppe said the fields are better than they were last fall and still have a long way to go; it will take time for them to fully recover. Ingulf said there were big holes in the fields at Willowmere and needed to be filled with sand.
· John Druiett said he walked Pratt Park last fall, and the fields were rough and unsafe. He suggested that zoysia be planted, and he would donate grass from his farm. He also suggested that staff walk the fields and look for safety issues. For instance, fences on backstops may need to be higher, low tree limbs could cause injuries to children. John said he would walk some parks, make a list, and work with Brion Southall and Ingulf Rupp.
STAFF REPORTS
No questions were asked.
DIRECTOR'S REPORT
· Patawomeck Park
The park was complete enough to be considered “open” of April 19. Punch lists for items to be corrected are being completed now. No games are scheduled until softball begins the third week of May. Completion of the drinking water well or the play equipment will be the
last item completed. Grand Opening Ceremony has been postponed until late June to try to get the entire park completed. The first games on the softball fields are scheduled for 5/21.
· Smith Lake Park Synthetic Athletic Turf Fields
Design contract award approved by BOS May 6; survey and geotechnical work to begin soon.
· Shiloh
No responses were received to the questions submitted from the Parks and Recreation Commission Sub-Committee members to the SCSC. As a result, no further consideration of the issue will occur.
· SASA Adopt-A-Field Proposal
On May 6, 2008 the Board of Supervisors approved the SASA Adopt-A-Field Proposal; attached is the approved final version.
· Commuter Parking Sub-Committee
A recommendation on this issue is not ready to be presented to the Commission at the May meeting.
· Park Facilities Master Plan
Comments on the draft Park Facilities Master Plan should have been returned to the consultant by the P&R Commission meeting. The final report will be presented to the Board of Supervisors at their May 20, 2008 meeting. We will also be discussing the Belmont to Ferry Farm trail at that meeting.
· Access to Parks by SBL and SASA
Staff met with SBL and SASA representatives to review current procedures for opening parks and discussed possible changes to how the leagues access parks. From time to time, for a variety of reasons, park gates have not been unlocked when the leagues anticipated. Depending on the site, this could create a safety problem but is certainly an inconvenience to the users. Suggestions were made and some discussion occurred about options.
Staff has determined that the best option is to install combination locks on the entrance gates of its parks, all having the same combination for simplicity. A sign will be posted on the gate adjacent to the lock with the phone number of the Recreation Facility Coordinator, 658-7110. Each night that phone number is forwarded to the on-call coordinator’s cell phone. If a problem arises where a gate is not opened by Parks and Recreation staff by the approved scheduled time, the league representative can call that phone number to be told the combination. This will alleviate safety and inconvenience problems. To ensure continued
security of the park system, combinations of all entrance gates will be changed to a new number the following day.
In the meantime, Brion Southall has begun researching systems that will assist us in getting ball field lights turned on to again address the occasions when staff cannot get to a field to turn on the lights when needed. I will report to you our progress.
· Red Fines Award
The Red Fines Awards were unusually well attended by program participants this year. It was very pleasing to see all the kids and their parents.
· Public Bond Meeting
Thursday, 5/29/08, 6:30 PM, BOS chambers
· History Presentation
Tuesday, 5/13/08, 1:30 PM, BOS chambers, given by Marion Brooks Robinson regarding Captain John Smith
· P&R Admin Office
Moved from the Rowser Building to the Rowser Annex 4/28/08. The Sr. Citizen Center is still housed at the Rowser Building, and Community Recreation staff will move from the Stafford Gym & Recreation Center into the Rowser Building as soon as HVAC repairs are made at Rowser.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting adjourned at 8:50 PM.
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