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.