The Stafford County Parks & Recreation Commission held its regular monthly meeting Thursday, November 15, 2007, at the Rowser Building. The meeting was called to order at 7:11 PM by Larry Checca

SILENT ROLL CALL

Members                          Present   Absent                                Staff:                          Guests:
Jack Cavalier                                     A                            Chris Hoppe                Ana Morales
Larry Checca                        P                                          Judy Sokolowski          John Morales
Harry Crisp                           P                                          Camilla Shover            Lanatta Schools
John Druiett                          P                                                                            Norman Schools
John LeDoux                                      A
Eric Lindner                          P
Ken Mitchell                                       A
Tom Paton                                         A
Robert Ray                                         A
Randy Walther                      P

APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Eric Lindner motioned, and Harry Crisp seconded, to approve the minutes from the October meeting. Motion carried unanimously.

PRESENTATIONS BY PUBLIC
· Mrs. Schools said that she was coordinating the arrangements for a special event that would require parking at the Historic Port of Falmouth. Chris Hoppe asked that she complete a Facility Use Request and submit it to our facility coordinators to schedule use of this site.

· Mr. Schools said that a sign was to be relocated near the entrance of the Historic Port of Falmouth, and that VDOT was waiting for County staff to mark a red “X” where the sign was to be relocated. John Druiett said he would paint the “X;” Camilla Shover said she would follow up that it had been done.

NEW BUSINESS
Chris Hoppe discussed several aspects of the department’s budget, including recent department budget cuts of 4.4% (7% was requested), projected revenue for FY2009, and budget requests for FY2009. He also announced that the annual Volunteer Appreciation Banquet would not be held in 2008, due to budget cuts earlier this year.

OLD BUSINESS
· Athletic Field Taskforce
John Druiett made two proposals: 1) “Adopt a Field” policy so that organizations could maintain fields; 2) Concessions: organizations could sell concessions to raise money and put the money into fields. John said that he met with the County Administrator about these two proposals. Since all revenue must be deposited into the general fund, organizations would be required to write letters to the Board of Supervisors asking that the concession revenues be reappropriated to Parks and Recreation maintenance.

Chris Hoppe said that SASA and VYSA have a partnership and are looking into building a complex on the Musselman-Jones property. The county has asked for a proposal for the BOS to consider. Harry Crisp said a special BOS meeting would be held on Tuesday regarding a Lease/Bond to install synthetic turf.

· Swim Lanes at Woodlands Pool Subcommittee Report
Larry Checca said the meeting he attended stressed the importance of cooperation to resolve issues. He said it looked as if there were two teams trying to put each other out of business. Larry said they will have another meeting, but he had no desire to help groups if they don’t cooperate. All parties agreed that there should be a maximum of 10 kids per lane.

· County-wide Master Plan for Parks & Recreation
Chris Hoppe said he is preparing this item to go to the BOS the second week in December.

· CIP
The BOS approved the CIP; however, the approved version did not include the synthetic turf for fields at Smith Lake Park.

PRESENTATIONS BY COMMISSIONERS
Members congratulated Harry Crisp for his election win as the new BOS member for the George Washington District.

STAFF REPORTS
No questions were asked.

DIRECTOR'S REPORT
· Patawomeck Park
S.W. Rodgers of Fredericksburg continues to work on phase I construction. The current schedule still allows for park construction to be complete in time for athletic field play in May 2008. The drought and water restrictions have inhibited placing the sod on the fields because it cannot be watered. The sod placement has begun.

· Fredericksburg-Stafford Park Authority (FSPA)
We compiled a priority list of projects and equipment that will be required to raise the level of services at these park sites. This list includes athletic field improvements, playground equipment, and general infrastructure repair and will be shared with the FSPA Board at their November 21 meeting.

· Curtis Park Asphalt Trail
The contractor seems to have been convinced that deficiencies exist and has agreed to correct them shortly.

· Field Renovation Projects
We are completely renovating Soccer/Football Field #1 and the infield of Baseball Field #1 at Duff Green Park. Both of these fields have been taken out of service for this work. Sod was placed on the soccer field and baseball infield the week of October 8. The seeded areas are germinating. The baseball field will continue to be worked through the winter. We anticipate that the fields will be capable of some use in spring 2008.

· Aquia Landing Park
Department and County staff have created a draft operations plan necessary for the operations of Aquia Landing beyond the normal seasonal timeframe. We will schedule a meeting with the general public, park neighbors, County Departments, Commissioners, and staff to discuss any concerns or issues that they may have.

· Widewater State Park
The Director is participating in the master planning process for the new state park in Widewater, which is anticipated to be completed in 2008. At the second meeting on October 11, the group brainstormed activities/facilities that could be in this park and activities/facilities that should not be in this park. No one was able to attend the third meeting held on November 8. Two to three public input sessions will be held to gather citizen input; the Commission will be informed of the meetings and are invited to attend.

· Illegal Immigration Task Force
The Director is participating in the task force that will be making recommendations to the Board regarding policies affecting illegal immigrants. Work is expected to be completed mid-year 2008.

· Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation
A meeting was held with representatives of the Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation on November 5, 2007. Additional information was requested of us, and some questions were asked of staff probing at the County’s level of commitment. Decision may be made before the year is out.

ADJOURNMENT
The meeting adjourned at 8:40 PM.

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