PARKS & RECREATION BOARD

CITY HALL, 100 LOCKVILLE ROAD

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2010

REGULAR MEETING

7:00 P.M.

 

 

1.      ROLL CALL.  Mr.  Dean called the meeting to order at 7:18 pm., with roll call as follows:  Mrs. Lisk, Mrs. Carter, Mr. Dean and Mr. Barletta.  Ms. Hammond and Mr. Burre were absent.  Mayor O’Brien, Service Manager Edward  Drobina, Recreation Administrator Rebecca Medinger, Service Department Administrative Assistant Angie Perrine were also present

 

2.      APPROVAL OF MINUTES of  September 29, 2010 Regular Meeting.  Mr. Dean moved to approve; Mrs. Carter seconded the motion.  Mrs. Lisk, Mr. Dean, Mrs. Carter and  Mr. Barletta  voted “Aye.”  Motion carried, 4-0.   

 

 

3.      COMMUNITY COMMENTS.   The Mayor apologized that the City Manager couldn’t attend the meeting due to illness.  But wanted to communicate that they have been working on goals and came up with a new committee structure for council for next year.  The city is planning on relying more on the volunteer citizen committee groups to help us out.  The Mayor proceeded to explain how the Tree Commission will be changing.  In regards to this Board we would like for you to help the city with all of the festivals and downtown street closings.  The Old Village Association is looking forward to holding an event every month next year.  The city would like your group to meet with these festival boards and get your approval as part of the process.  Mrs. Lisk asked if it is a problem when they close the downtown streets for a festival.  The Mayor replied this is not as much of a problem now that Town Square Drive is open.  The idea is for them to get more foot traffic into there stores and we support this.   The city would like to offer them a new fresh approach and this would be one way of doing this.  

 

            The Mayor stated that a Pastor from a local church came into his office today and he is offering his church for the city to use.  I had Mrs. Medinger come down to my office and we talked to him together about the space of his church.  The church is offering twelve     classrooms, a café and auditorium.  This church is not happy that it sits empty most of the             day and the Recreation Department has been looking for a local place to offer activities.             These are the opportunities the city needs to find and we would love to have your help.           Mrs. Lisk stated that she agreed that this is a quality of life in the city and why people             live in Pickerington. Working in a business that is downtown I feel it is possible to get businesses and more people involved on a volunteer basis.      

    

       4.   REPORTS.

      a.   Recreation Administrator’s Report (Mrs. Medinger)

 

            Mrs. Medinger stated that everyone should have a copy of the report and asked if         anyone had any questions.  Mrs. Carter asked if they are still offering sleigh rides.           Mrs. Medinger replied they are offering horse carriage rides this Friday at the     Holiday Gathering.

 

            Mrs. Medinger commented that several other employees and I attended the       Disc Golf Tournament.  They had a great turnout with 80 participants.  Some of             the participants stated that they really liked the course and it was one of the top            ones in Ohio.  I followed up with an email to Paul Jay and he stated that they             would like to make a donation back to the disc golf course for maintenance of a             $100.  This will be discussed at the next council meeting.  Mr. Dean asked if any    concerns came up that was talked about at the previous meeting.  Mrs. Medinger         replied that everything went smooth.  In addition everyone should have a copy of             the Disc Golf Course Reservation Form.  Mrs. Carter stated that she likes it and            wanted to know if the participants had any suggestions about the course.   Mrs.     Medinger stated the only thing she was told was they needed more signage for the   holes and she is going to look into this for next year.                               

     

b. Parks and Recreation Director’s Report

 

     Mr. Drobina stated that everyone should have his report and if anyone had any questions.   Mr. Drobina stated on the report that the Service Department has not     been able to spread the leaves on the community garden yet because of the rain.       The signs have not been put up because the employees have been working on the        downtown Christmas lights and community tree.  Mrs. Carter asked if there was            any future plans of cleaning up the creek.  Because people in the spring and fall           tend to place their yard waste in the creek.  Maybe this would be something that           the volunteer groups could be working on.  Mr. Drobina stated that people are         not suppose to be dumping in that area.  The plan is to clean up the area so if you      are walking down there and want to look at the water you have a place to do that,         and maybe this will help cut down on the vandalism in that area by being able to           see more of the area.  I also would like to clear out some trees by the covered           bridge that are growing into the bridge, so this coming year we could paint the    bridge and make it more appealing for families to visit.  Again,  hoping to cut      down on vandalism.  Mrs. Carter would like to know if we could put it back to the         way it use to look,  I know its overgrown.  Mrs. Lisk asked if it could look like            Creekside in Gahanna but on a much smaller scale.  Open it up so that it could be       easily accessible for small kids.  This would help get more families there and help           out with the vandalism.  Mr. Drobina stated that it could also be used for          educational purposes.  This is one of our goals for this winter and spring is to      clean up the brush and trees, before it starts growing again. 

     

c.   Council Representative’s Report

 

     Mr. Barletta commented that council has been working on the budget for the past          four to six weeks. We were not able to fund a half person position for the office.         But the capital improvements plan which includes bike paths that would help the       city for applying for a grant is included.  The first priority bike path would be the          one by Sycamore Park over to Stonebridge.  Council members refer to the Parks                Master Plan and we as a group should probably be familiar with this.  So I would          propose that everyone get a copy of this if you don’t all ready have one.  Mr.     Drobina stated if some of the new members don’t have a copy of this Mrs.        Medinger and I can get you one.  I also brought copies of the Parks & Recreation             Budget for the members to have commented Mr. Drobina.                                                                 

 

             

5.   BOARD DISCUSSION ITEMS.        

             a.  Advisory Committee Bike Trails

                 

                  Mr. Barletta asked if the board wanted to get more involved in the planning of                           bike trail routes.   Unfortunately we do not have a lot of money to spend on bike                                trails and whatever we do will have a very limited scope. Mrs. Carter asked if we                                could start with the Parks Master Plan and the top five or six areas and blend the                                  two.     

 

             b.  Discussion regarding proposed archeological testing of Indian Mound

 

                  Mr. Drobina asked this discussion to be moved to the next meeting.

 

             c.  Discussion regarding 2011 Parks & Recreation Board Goals

 

                  Mr. Drobina stated we would like for the committees to get move involved.  So                                     I would like for us to set up some goals for us to achieve this coming year.  Does                               anyone have any ideas?  Mrs. Lisk suggested that we all have copies of the Parks                              Master Plan for next meeting so we can all discuss this together.  Mrs. Carter                             stated that the opening up that frontage in the parks would be a start.  Mrs. Lisk         

                  agreed.      

 

                 

6.   OTHER BUSINESS. 

 

             a.  Discussion regarding December 1010 Regularly Scheduled Meeting

 

                  The board agreed to have a meeting in December.  Mrs. Carter made a motion                                 to hold the next meeting on December 22, 2010 at 7:00 p.m. Mrs Lisk                                             seconded the motion.   Mr. Dean, Mr. Barletta, Mrs. Lisk and Mrs. Carter voted                              “Aye.”  Motion carried 4-0.  

 

                  Mr. Drobina questioned if the board would like to have their packets emailed to                                    them instead of them being sent in the mail.  Mrs. Carter stated it was fine to have                      them emailed, Mrs. Lisk and Mr. Dean agreed.  The packets will now be emailed. 

 

                 

7.   ADJOURNMENT.   Their being nothing further, Mrs. Carter moved to adjourn,       Mr. Dean seconded the motion.   Mr. Barletta, Ms. Lisk, Mr. Dean and Mrs. Carter           voted “Aye”.   Motion carried, 4-0.  The Parks & Recreation Board adjourned at       8:10     P.M. on November 30, 2010

    

 

     

 

 

  RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED: 

 

 

 

 ___________________________________

 Angie Perrine, Administrative Assistant

 

 

ATTEST: ___________________________

Edward J. Drobina, Service Manager