- Okay. All right. I'd like to call to order the August meeting of the Bloomington board of park commissioners
- And can we start with a roll call, please Kim Kathleen Mills here Israel Herrera here Jim Whitlatch
- here Is absent okay. Yes, we do have a quorum we have Jim here online so first up we have the consent
- calendar and
- As usual, just some regular things we see every month, and then also some smaller agreements.
- So do we have a motion to approve the consent calendar? So I move to approve the consent calendar. Okay.
- Second. All right, and all those in favor? Kathleen. We need to do a roll call. We do for that, okay.
- Since we have one. Oh, since we have, so for each item, okay.
- So roll call vote then of all those in favor Kathleen Mills. I Israel Herrera. I Jim Whitlatch.
- I Okay Motion is carried And then next up in our section B public hearings and appearances Emily boot
- gets to do all the fun things present Bravo award for this month to Madeline McKinney Not a
- lot of controversy over what I have to do. Thankfully I
- Alright good afternoon everyone Emily boot community relations coordinator and we would like to recommend
- Madeline McKinney and mad for my dog for the august 2025 Bravo award I would like to recognize Madeline
- and her business mad for my dog with the august or Bravo award. Um, I
- Bill was kind and Bill works with them primarily at drool in the pool So he was kind enough to do a
- little write-up that I would like to share with everyone a little over 20 years ago Parks and Recreation
- staff got the wild idea to create an event that allowed dogs into one of the city pools after the pool
- closed for this season You now know this is drool in the pool
- About this same time Madeline McKinney had started a new dog related business with training grooming
- dog sitting and more services Madeline had heard about drool in the pool and decided to promote her
- new business at the event Since then and drool in the pool has become an event loved by both humans
- and dogs We even celebrated its 20th anniversary at this year's event Meanwhile mad for my dog has become
- one of the best
- best known and most trusted businesses for all dog services and products in the community and has been
- a vital part of the event ever since.
- For the past nine years, Mad for My Dog has been an event partner for Jewel in the Pool. In this partnership,
- Madeline and her business provide all of the prizes for the dog contests and have their staff provide
- assistance in the operation of the event. Because she and her staff are so knowledgeable about dogs
- and so well known by many of the attendees, they have become the unofficial dog experts at the event.
- This is especially true on the nights that Madeline attends. She has a keen eye for all things dog related
- and if any dogs are acting in a way they should not be, she is usually the first one to notice and is
- often on top of the situation with her
- staff even before the event staff Madeline and mad for my dog have been a key part of drool in the pool
- for many years and park staff truly appreciates all that she and her staff have done for the event and
- It's in its in this 20th year. It's hard to imagine and drool in the pool without mad for my dog Madeline
- is on a trip. So she was unable to attend but she passes along her thanks and Larissa was kind enough
- to stop by as well as a representative for the event
- So yeah, we really appreciate them at drill in the pool It's always great to see them and like Bill
- said it seems like everybody there everybody there knows them So yeah, we're very grateful for their
- support and partnership and looking forward to continuing continuing it in the future Okay. Thank you.
- Thank you. Thanks Clarissa. Yeah Okay, yeah, it's been a few years since I've been to drill in the pool,
- but it's always
- A lot of fun and it is kind of miraculous all the dog interactions that go on there. Yeah That's that's
- excellent Okay, all right, and then next up Rebecca Swift will have some retirement recognition for dawn Yes,
- very bittersweet Rebecca Swift with the operations development division director with Bloomington Parks
- and Rec and
- Am here today to acknowledge Don Fadril after 28 years of dedicated service with the City of Wellington
- Parks and Recreation Department He has announced his plans of retirement effective September 19th So
- we're getting ahead of it so we can make sure we all get to acknowledge done So I just wrote a little
- something because I know he doesn't want to say anything, but I want to say something Don has been an
- essential part of our operations team leading the charge keeping our parks and facilities running smoothly and
- If you didn't know it, each summer it is Don and his crew who make sure both city pools are up and running,
- who keeps the spray pad flowing, and who troubleshoots electrical breakers before concerts in the park
- so every show can go on. Don has literally kept the lights on in every park facility along every trail,
- ensuring that our community can go on and enjoy safe and welcoming spaces year-round. We extend our
- heartfelt congratulations to Don.
- on his well-earned retirement and offer our sincere gratitude for nearly three decades of service.
- His knowledge, reliability, and commitment to our mission will be greatly missed, and his contributions
- will continue to shine across our park system for years to come, including through our LED lights,
- which he is making sure that we are all fully converted, mostly. We'll leave AGB for your crew before
- his last days with us.
- So please join us in congratulating his remarkable career and wishing him the very best in the next
- chapter of his life.
- I won't make you get up and say anything done But we do have a little gift to send you off with this
- is a commemorative clock That was actually made with wood from a tree that came down in seminary many
- years ago You were probably around when that happened and then op staff made sure to get a
- little commemorative plaque on there for you. So
- Yeah, thank you. Congratulations. Yes All of that very important behind-the-scenes work All right Okay,
- and then into our Section C Rebecca stays with us for the addendum with Aztec engineering for the power
- line trail design services. Yes, so I'm recommending an approval of an end end with Aztec engineering
- for the power line trail development We first contracted
- With Aztec back in 2020 and the process to get this trail developed has just been long-going and different
- changes and scope of work also additional plans required from Duke Energy in order to do their permanent
- inspection, so just just additional scope of work needed to be added which resulted in More funds need
- to be allocated to this project. So this is just a contract addendum to include additional funds needed
- to cover the scope of work and
- I'm happy to answer any questions and cannot wait in order to talk to you about what contractor is going
- to help me build the power line trail Okay. All right any questions for Rebecca? I Don't see any from Jim.
- Okay. So do we have a motion to approve this? So I move to approve the addendum with Aztec engineering
- for powering their power power lines right project Okay second
- All right, and a roll call vote of all those in favor Kathleen knows I Israel Herrera by Jim Whitledge.
- I Okay motion is carried and then Rebecca also has items C 2 which is the agreement with ENB paving
- for asphalt repairs at various park locations Yes, I am here to recommend an approval of the service
- agreement with ENB paving and
- the asphalt repairs and enhancement projects and this involves multiple city locations as included in
- the scope including Asphalt repairs at Miller Showers Park redoing the entrance drive at Griffey Lake
- Nature Reserve Repairing the basketball carts at basketball courts at RCA and doing some crack repairs
- on the tennis and pickleball courts as well as putting in a new pedestrian walkway out at Rose Hill
- Cemetery to
- Create an actual paved walkway where there's a new entrance where a drug car drove through many years
- ago So yeah ENB paving we did open this up as an invitation a bid and ENB paving came in as the lowest
- bidder and which is great for us because we do have a great working relationship with the ENB paving
- and they're very familiar with our sites, so Looking forward to hopefully kicking this project off next
- month in September and there will be periodic work sites happening throughout the rest of the year
- Any questions about this agreement with the ENB paving? None for me. No, okay. Do you want to make a motion?
- To approve the contract with E and V paving for asphalt repairs and enhance enhancement projects Second
- all right in a roll call vote of those in favor Kathleen Mills. I Israel Herrera. I Jim Whitlach I
- Okay motions carry. Thank you, Rebecca And then in c3 Heidi will tell us about the approval of the bird
- City USA application Hello, I am a Heidi Shoemaker the natural resources coordinator for the city of
- Bloomington and
- And Bloomington was previously certified as a bird city, Indiana, or a bird town, Indiana. Back in 2016,
- the Monroe County Naturalist took on the lead of filling out the application and certifying the city
- and the county together at the same time.
- After her retirement, no one took on the recertification, so it's kind of sat idle for all of these years.
- And then the Sassafras Audubon Society reached out and asked if they supported the financial means of
- the application, if the Parks Department would put together all of the requirements for the application.
- This certification is similar to bicycle-friendly communities or tree city communities where there are
- different standards that you have to meet. So to put together the application,
- We had to show that we were creating and protecting bird habitat that we were reducing risks and threats
- to birds in our community and that we were also educating and engaging Citizens in our community about
- birds and so after the completion of that application We have been recertified and that is valid through
- 2027 Yes, thank you for explaining the process yeah, yeah and you wore your bird pin and
- I did. Yes. Thank you for noticing. Okay. So I move to approve the rate designation as Bloomington-Burntown.
- Second. All right. In a roll call vote of those in favor. Kathleen Mills. Aye. Israel Herrera. Aye.
- Jim Whitlatch.
- All right motion carry. Thank you Heidi. Thank you All right, and then Leslie Brinson is up next with
- the agreement with cancer support community for cancer awareness walk Good afternoon, Leslie Brinson
- the recreation Services division director the first time I've said that so that's exciting
- I am here to recommend an approval of a partnership agreement with the cancer support Communities to
- deliver the paint the town pink breast cancer awareness event on Sunday, October 26 2025 there's no
- money exchange in this partnership This is the first year for an official partnership agreement with
- this organization The Parks Department is happy to work with the cancer support community team to produce
- a great wellness event at switch our park The Parks Department will be responsible for the survivor
- walk some family
- Activities and then providing the location of switch yard park the cancer support community will provide
- the resource fair program Activities as well as all volunteers and marketing for the event We are working
- closely with both the staff and the volunteer committee That's been put together as this long-standing
- event this event started in combination with the Bloomington farmers market here at City Hall and
- Long time ago over 20 years took a little break after kovat They are trying to revitalize the walk in
- the program and we're happy to be a part of that happy to answer any questions To approve the partnership
- agreement with cancer support communities Second all right and a roll call vote of those in favor. I
- Kathleen Mills I Israel Herrera I Jim Whitlatch I Okay motion carry. All right. Thank you Leslie and
- next up as Kevin in C5 the agreement with LRT for Banneker front step replacement
- I'm Kevin Terrell, the program and facility coordinator for the Banneker Community Center, here to recommend
- the approval of the bid of LRT restoration technologies to replace the historic limestone front steps
- at the Banneker Community Center within the parameters of the grantee of the project, which was the IDNR,
- Indiana Department of Natural Resources, the Division of the Historical Preservation and Archeology.
- The grant funds will cover Twenty two thousand five hundred of this with the remaining forty six thousand
- four fifteen being covered by the Banneker Community Center non-reverting account LRT was submitted
- a quote during the RFQ process that started back in the early summer Having now gained approval from
- this bid from the IDNR who had to approve it we would like to select them to do the replacement steps
- project at Banneker and
- This is a much-needed project for the safety of the users of the community center And it also will be
- conducted within the guidelines of the IDNR and within the spirit of the historical building that we
- were in And with that I'll answer any questions if I can No questions, so yeah, I move to approve I
- David for a vinegar steps project to LRT restoration technologies second Okay, and a roll call vote
- of those in favor Kathleen Mills. I Israel Herrera. I Jim Whitlach Okay motion carried. Thank you, Kevin.
- Thank you and then c6 keto has the agreement with hunger skate parks for some Cascades skate park repairs
- Good afternoon, Satoshi Kiro from Sports Division. Staff recommends approval of the service agreement
- with Hangar Skateparks. Hangar designed and constructed the skatepark at Switchyard Park and has a history
- of local and regional parks and they are the expert when it comes to skateparks. The cost of this project
- is $14,000. Christie from the Hangar and I met at
- upper cascade skate park in June. Maintenance work including addressing major cracks and holes.
- Most repairs will require removal of existing patches, surface prep, and application of new patches
- and the ceiling. Happy to answer any questions. Okay. Yes, go ahead. So this is like repair or it's expansion?
- Yes, this is a repair for the concrete at the skate parks Is this something that can be done Like in
- maybe colder weather when the skaters wouldn't be out or does the concrete need some more? The timeline
- for this project is sometimes in October. Okay, it's a concrete walk So we don't want to get into the
- cold weather. Sure. Okay makes sense Okay No questions, okay
- So I move to approve a contract with hunger skate bars for the escape bar for escape our repair Second
- All right, and a roll call vote of all those in favor Kathleen Mills. I Israel Herrera. I Jim Whitman
- All right. Thank you. Thank you
- And then c7 the last item in this section is mark sterner has the agreement with Bloomington soccer
- for TLRC Reynolds Good afternoon mark sterner general manager of the Twin Lakes Recreation Center Today,
- I am recommending approval of our annual partnership with Bloomington soccer providing approval.
- This will be the 17th year, which is shocking but fantastic at that
- Bloomington Soccer offers quality instructional programs for our youth in the community. In addition to that,
- they offer adult leagues, a variety of adult leagues. Just to highlight a couple of the main points
- associated with this partnership are that Bloomington Soccer receives reduced hourly rates based upon volume.
- We also provide a nominal amount of storage that suffices for their program.
- Marketing to include our program guide and closed circuit television and then scheduling priority Poor
- per city per the parks policy and I'd be happy to answer any questions Alright any questions about this
- agreement with Bloomington soccer No Okay, so I move to approve the partnership agreement and
- with Bloomington Soccer. Second. And a roll call vote of those in favor. Emily Mills. Aye. Israel Herrera.
- Aye. Jim Whitlatch. Aye. All right, motion carried. Thank you, Mark. Thank you. And then in our section D,
- first up, Kido will return to give us the Bloomington Pickleball Club update. Thank you. Satoshi Kido
- from the Sports Division.
- Dave Martin, chair of the board of the Bloomington Pickleball Club, will provide a brief update on the
- growth of pickleball in Bloomington community. The club's ongoing partnerships with the city and the
- current programming at RCA Park and future facility needs based on increasing community demand. Dave?
- Good evening, commissioners. My name is David Martin, chair of the Bloomington Pickleball Club. Bloomington
- took an important step several years ago by building four courts at Switchyard Park. Shortly after,
- we saw another big win with six courts at RCA Park. Together, that gave us 10 permanent pickleball courts
- and the foundation of a strong community. But since then, despite explosive growth
- We've been stuck at that same number for too long. Our partnership is not just about core time,
- it's also financial. The financial contributions of our club clearly demonstrate the community's involvement
- in city facilities. In 2023, the club paid the Parks and Rec Department $243, just getting started. $1,800
- in 2024,
- and $1,320 already in 2025, with projected payments of $5,490 in 2026 if programming continues at its
- current pace. So nearly $3,400 in the two years, plus another $5,500 planned for next year. I also use ChatGP.
- GPT to help me a little bit. So don't quote me exactly on those numbers, but I did run it through my
- financial guy Kyle The treasurer of our clubs. So we've contributed significantly Financially, we believe
- and that's just part of our partnership club paid improvements $2,485 spent on wind screens an additional
- 115 and 2023 and 115 and 2024 on core tape for lines We put in a lot of money out of our
- Club and in kind donations volunteer times volunteer 40 hours per ladder season valued $25 an hour We've
- estimated $9,000 worth of donated time in 2025 alone so combined financial and in kind support exceeds $15,000
- since 2023 and we thank the department for its support installing lights at RCA Park and
- Replacing nets and now scheduling crack repairs. Thank you But while the community has grown to over
- 750 active players at least Bloomington's courts have not grown with it switch yards for courts are
- busy with casual open play but not large enough for structured programs RCA is our hub, but six courts
- can't handle the demand on busy nights and
- 40 to 50 people compete for 24 slots, leaving many waiting. Cracks keep returning, patched every year.
- We've even brought in experts who showed us the cost and value of post-tension concrete. Neighboring
- communities at Greenwood has 27 courts. Columbus has 118 courts, including indoor and outdoor. Bloomington
- risks falling behind. We've fallen behind.
- So tonight, we're asking the board to help Bloomington take the next step, expand RCA Park,
- convert the remaining tennis courts to pickleball by spring 2026, include pickleball facilities in the
- five-year parks plan, and continue responsive maintenance and information sharing. Lighting, crack repairs,
- nets, our club has done everything asked of us, organized programs, paid fees, provided equipment,
- and built the community.
- Now we ask the city to match our effort with real investment and facilities So Bloomington has the players
- the passion and the foundation with your support we can make RCA Park and Bloomington a regional leader
- in pickleball Thank you for your partnership and helping us take the next step Appreciate it, thank you Yeah,
- sure yeah, go ahead
- Okay. Yes, I think Dave did an excellent job. I'm also an active pickleball player. I began nine years ago.
- My son was 10 years old when we started together. My son's now on the IU pickleball team. So, I mean,
- I have a lot personally invested in pickleball. I've enjoyed it a lot, and my son's now a very high-ranked
- player. I just asked that you help us, help the city, because if we have
- We get the additional courts so they the two tennis courts can be converted into six courts six permanent
- pickleball courts If we have that then we'll hold tournaments and we'll maintain the courts ourselves
- The city won't be it won't have to lay out the money each year for maintenance We'll take that out of
- court funds out of club funds So, you know, we just were not able to do that with six courts, but we
- absolutely will be able to do that with 12 so we want to be able to
- You know to take this burden off the city shoulders. We understand you have a lot on your shoulders
- right now So with the 12 courts, we will we will maintain those courts ourselves Of course, the concrete
- has reached the end of its lifespan But we will maintain it until at least the next five-year plan and
- then we can revisit this But we will do the work until then Thank you very much Yeah, appreciate it.
- Thank you. Thank you for your time. Yeah
- Okay, and then um Next up under the reports d2. We have the tim strategic goals 2025 update Good afternoon
- commissioners tim street director of bloomington parks and recreation
- In your board packet this evening is a periodic update on our strategic goals for 2025. These are the
- last goals that were part of our 2020 to 2025 master plan. You'll recall that a year or two ago,
- we started scheduling just regular updates on the goals, status updates, things like that, to give to
- the board. This is just one of those moments.
- So as you review if you have questions on it now or you want to reach out in the future with questions
- about what's on there I'm happy to answer that we of course don't yet have any type of 2026 strategic
- goals that are Formally written, of course, we have ideas and things we're working towards Thinking
- about as part of our master planning effort, but those are going to come this winter considering all
- of the community input the community needs assessment and everything that is going into that
- Questions about this strategic goals update And thank you for for the information so there are five
- that are incomplete in nine That are not like no longer applicable There there were nine categorized
- in there that either because we've had staffing turnover for example our natural resources area there
- were some goals in there that were
- Kind of tied to Steve and Steve retired we had a gap now we have Mary some of those goals we've said
- We're no longer gonna plan to complete those this year. They're no longer applicable. So that may be
- something that we revisit for 2026 The vast majority of them are either complete or somewhere along
- the way towards being complete All right, Jim, do you have any questions about the goals update and
- Do not okay All right Well appreciate the update. Thank you, Tim Looks like good progress so far All right,
- and then in section e if we have any other public comment this evening either online or in person you
- can step up to the podium and
- to make a comment, please raise your hand icon. No, okay. All right, and then back to you, Tim,
- for any other announcements. Sure, I will stay here to give you a few closing remarks and updates on
- things that are going on in the department. I wanna thank the Pickleball Club for being here tonight
- and making comment.
- the good information you've brought. Obviously, we've been riding a big retirement wave these last years,
- and Becky managed to retire and sneak out without getting recognized at Park Board, we realized,
- because there was no June meeting. So we miss her, and of course, want to formally recognize Leslie
- stepping into that role. We're really excited to have Leslie as our rec division director.
- I want to give a shout out on one particular agenda item this evening, and that was the Banneker Front Steps.
- That was a lot of work from Kevin and Sean to get this DNR grant, to find a historic architect,
- and many thanks to Doug Bruce locally, who has helped us out with the necessary plans. We would not
- have been able to get the grant and get the funds without him. And the good news is Banneker also has
- received a Black Historic Preservation Fund grant,
- That we're going to use for facility repairs next year The foundation parks foundation golf outing was
- yesterday and was a big success. So thank you for everybody who helped support that We presented our
- parks general fund budget to City Council this week and we'll bring that up Well, of course the City
- Council is the body that approves that budget. We always bring it to park board as well So you can see
- it and consider it as you approve the non-reverting budget We will bring that to you in a coming month
- Just an update on master planning where we are with that. We have our next site visit determined to
- be October 7th and 8th We will come back we will do a provider Workshop with people who provide similar
- services to parks and rec and leisure industry And we will have a community workshop and a park board
- update meeting on where we are in the process and then as mentioned this winter we will take all of
- the community input focus groups data and
- questionnaire, survey, all of that. We will put that together to help us make some really important
- strategic choices about where we're heading in the midst of some certainly tighter budget times to come
- in terms of our general fund and property tax revenue. Last few things coming up. It's the last weekend
- for the pool. It's Labor Day. The spray pad will continue for a little while yet, but preparations are
- already underway at the ice arena.
- Glow week is coming up the third week of September Tuesday market continues at Hopewell Commons and
- has been great this year and I think that's all I had our next meeting will be Kim. Do you happen to
- have that? September 25th at 5 p.m It'll be chilly there for that last pool weekend, but I
- All right, and with that, I'll adjourn the August meeting of the Bloomington Board of Park Commissioners.
- Thank you, everyone.