- Will call to order this December meeting of the Bloomington Board of Park commissioners And we obviously
- just have two of us here in person, but we do have Ellen there remotely And we don't have Kim but we
- have Kim's step in person to help us. Can you can you do the roll call vote for us, please? Here Here
- Jim Whitlatch
- Okay, all right, and we don't have Israel but we do have a quorum So And just to confirm we do need
- to do the roll call vote with every yeah, okay All right, so we have the all of the a 1 through a 15
- consent calendar items We usually approve in one motion and
- Move we approve the consent agenda items a 1 through a 15 I'll second Okay, and a roll call vote of
- those in favor Kathleen Mills. I Ellen Rodkey. I Jim Whitletch, hi Okay consent calendar is approved
- and then in section B public hearings and appearances we have the Bravo Award and
- Which Emily Boock will tell us about I'm sorry You're welcome, yes Good evening everyone Emily boot
- community relations coordinator and I would like to recommend Alan Bully for the December Bravo award
- I would like to recognize Alan with the December Bravo award in recognition of their exceptional
- contributions as a makeup artist for our annual dearly departed cemetery tours at Rose Hill Cemetery
- Crystal was on vacation so she couldn't be here, but she provided this that she would like me to read
- for the past two years Alan has brought history to life
- quite literally, through their artistry. This immersive experience would not be the same without the
- remarkable work Alan does behind the scenes. Alan shows great attention to detail as they transform
- volunteers into ghostly figures from the past using makeup not just as an art, but as a storytelling
- tool. Their work adds authenticity and atmosphere, captivating guests and enriching the tour experience.
- In addition to Dearly Departed, Alan also volunteered their time to help with makeup at Skate and Scare as well.
- So on behalf of everyone, we're very grateful for Allen's generous contributions So is that one of Allen's
- creations up there is that wow that looks like a mask that's fairly impressive Yeah All right. Well,
- thank you Allen Okay, and then next in section C C 1 we have the
- Non-reverting budget amendment for purchase of the new mobile stage which Leslie. Yes. Okay. We'll tell
- us about okay Yes, thank you Leslie Brinson recreation division director staff recommend the approval
- of a non-reverting budget amendment to allow for the purchase of a new showmaster mobile stage this
- purchase price of the stage is 155
- thousand eight hundred eighty two dollars the current winger mobile stage used for parks events and
- various other community events was purchased in December of 2003 and it's starting to experience significant
- wear and tear as well as challenges with its hydraulic systems battery and brake
- November members of the parks operations and recreation divisions as well as our city fleet manager
- took a trip to century industries in Sellersburg, Indiana to take a look at mobile stages Staff determined
- that their stage was appropriate for our needs and also discovered that the stage if it were to be purchased
- in 2026 that the price was going to increase significantly due to century injuries industries price increases
- Tune of additional at least $30,000 in order to get the best pricing. We wanted to make the purchase in 2025
- The Parks and Recreation Department's non-reverting overall cash balance is around 1.5 million and the
- community events fund line in the non-reverting account has a budget surplus of this year of about $80,000
- we currently project that the non-reverting account overall will have a budget surplus surplus at the
- end of around 133,000 so making this purchase would ultimately have a budget deficit of around 22,000 in 2020
- 22,000 the production time for a new stage is approximately eight months So we will continue to use
- our current stage until the new one arrives and then once the new one arrives We will look at surplusing
- or selling our current stage. I'd be happy to answer any questions Okay, and mobile stage so this is
- used in various locations around correct This is the stage we take to Brian Park for our concert series
- which yard park It's also available to rent out to the community. So you might see it at taste of Bloomington
- or different
- Events around town as well. Okay Any other questions for Leslie Okay. All right. I move that we approve
- the non-reverting budget amendment for purchase of new mobile stage Second okay in a roll call vote
- of those in favor Kathleen Mills. I Ellen Rodke I Jim Whitletch I Okay
- Motion is carried. And then next in C2 is the updated rental agreement template from Mark Sterner. Good
- afternoon. Mark Sterner, general manager of the Twin Lakes Recreation Center. The Twin Lakes Recreation
- Center and the Twin Lakes Sports Park, along with Winslow Sports Park, are seeking to make changes to
- our current rental agreement. Over the past couple of years, these facilities have experienced growing
- number of cancellations from tournament directors
- Is our intent to include a non-refundable deposit to secure the facility rental space for events?
- cancellation seven days before the event per the existing agreement are causing a variety of issues
- with revenue and staffing and The item that we're looking at is located on to see of the agreement And
- so you're saying there's been sort of an uptick in people canceling at the
- It's really kind of taken place over the last three years and kind of what we're seeing is the larger
- events, the more premier events like shoe companies, those events are going up to where they can get
- 20 courts in a small radius. So the mid-range events that we get, they oftentimes, if they can get a
- high school, they will do so. So they'll hold our facility in terms of time
- Until they find out whether or not they get the high school and then they cancel on us and then that
- point we've turned away vents So it's just turned into a real issue not just at the rec center, but
- at the ball fields as well Cody Martin seeing the same thing in those areas, okay
- Seems to me that's still a pretty short notice because you're not going to get another tournament in
- there in seven days. It even eliminates a lot of the community from filling some of those spots as well
- because they might have already checked and it's not available. So yeah, it's certainly something we
- feel is necessary at this point. We only generate interest from serious event directors.
- I'm just thinking it maybe should be 30 days or something like that so that you now I guess the question
- would be if people would balk at that but I'm not I'm not sure they would quite frankly I just I think
- seven days is pretty lenient we could look at that no I think it's too lenient I guess what I'm saying
- it's way too lenient non-refundable will help us a lot well it's yeah I'm fine with it seeing what happens
- Alan any questions
- No, no nothing additional then the seven-day thing was what caught my eye to it feels really short so
- But if we're asking for a non-refundable deposit and we'll get that Okay, you all disappeared for me,
- but hopefully I didn't disappear we can still see you All right, I move we approve the updated rental
- agreement template and
- Second done. Okay and a roll call vote of those in favor Kathleen Mills. I Ellen Rodkey. I Jim Whitlatch.
- I Okay motion is carried. Thank you mark. Thank you And then in c3 is the service agreement with woods
- electric for the 2026 services Darren Eads
- Good afternoon during eats sports facility coordinator Yeah, you have before you this afternoon the
- service agreement as you've been told over and over and over We're trying to bundle a bunch of these
- agreements together Woods is one of the electrical companies one of the several electrical companies
- Parks Department uses throughout the year. So we'll just look at a blanket agreement of $20,000 and
- allows us to be able to bring them in throughout the year for unexpected repairs I'm glad to answer
- any questions
- Any questions for Darren? No questions, all right. I move that we approve the service agreement with
- Woods Electric for 2026 services. Second. Okay. And a roll call vote of those in favor. Kathleen Mills.
- Aye. Ellen Rodke. Aye. Jim Whitlatch. Aye. Thanks. All right. Thanks, Darren. And Mary Wells has C4,
- the agreement with Habitat Solutions for 2026 Griffey prescribed fire.
- Good evening, Mary Wells natural resources manager Here to recommend the approval of a contract with
- habitat solutions for implementing prescribed fire and forest and Improvement services at Griffey Lake
- Nature Preserve a total contract amount is seventeen thousand three hundred and eighty dollars Just
- to give you a little bit of background, right?
- Prescribed fire and forest and improvement are recommended forest management practices to improve it
- forest health and wildlife habitat in both 2020 and 2023 habitat solutions successfully implemented
- pretreatment fsi or forest and improvement and prescribed fire on 7.7 and 9 acre burns at the preserve
- Under this contract habitat solutions will implement prescribed fire on a separate 15 acre burn
- Unit which is north of Griffey Creek in winter through spring of 2026 as long as conditions are favorable,
- which is a big if as with previous managed burns the Bloomington Fire Department will be encouraged
- to be on hand to assist with hazard mitigation To minimize risk and then habitat solutions will again
- be conducting the forest stand improvement as a pretreatment within the designated burn unit
- Happy to answer any questions you might have Okay, so this is a this is a bigger area. This is like
- twice the size. Yes a little bit bigger the Just to provide more impacts and the area itself is conducive
- to a larger unit based on the natural fire breaks that already exist with ravines and trails so a unit
- this size in that area will
- Make our prep in terms of providing those fire lines secure fire lines a little bit easier So and it's
- ideally situated in terms of aspect in terms of that south facing slope that we're looking for Okay.
- All right any other questions for Mary? I Don't have any all right. Thank you Move that agreement with
- habitat solutions for 2026 Griffey prescribed fire be approved a second
- Okay, and a roll call vote of those in favor Kathleen Mills. I Ellen Rodke. I'm Jim Whitletch. Hi. Okay.
- Thanks Mary motion is carried and Amy has the service agreement with Izzy's rentals for 2026 port-au-lettes
- Yes, hi Amy land back the operations coordinator
- This is a renewal of our contract with Izzy's to service our portable toilet units in on trails multiple
- parks throughout the city Most of them are on a weekly basis They shift from once a week to twice a
- week during the busier seasons So we have a pretty detailed schedule worked out with Izzy's and
- Then we also use them on an ad hoc basis for other community event rentals that we need throughout the
- year so Since I think it was last meeting we talked about the the portalette in Seminary Square needing
- a lot of additional cleaning. Do you get any sort of report from Izzy's if there's if there are problem
- units that are attracting a lot of
- We have our staff are also going to all these units multiple times a week and so we'll get pictures
- and reports from our staff usually okay, and then they'll go and and then we let Izzy's know if we need
- a repair and they're usually really good at coming out and repairing units for us if something happens
- to them Okay So does this include the one in seminary square? No separate content. Yeah, and it's it's
- with a different company. Yes, I
- So where are these port I get the temporary ones we bring in but where I'm trying to think where the
- other ones might be there are Several you don't need to tell me all yeah, there's there's there's some
- on Clear Creek Trail. Okay, there's one at RCA temporarily while the restroom buildings are closed for
- the pickleball court there I'm Blinking but sorry Yes upper cascades
- Wabahani Brian Park. Yeah, anyone else? I've got a very detailed schedule if anyone's interested I Spend
- way more of my life than I ever thought I would Yeah, thank you Okay, so I think anything Ellen I
- Okay, I move that we approve the service agreement with Izzy's rentals for 2026 Port-au-lette services
- Okay, and a roll call vote of those in favor Kathleen Mills. I Ellen Rodkey. I Jim Whitlatch. I Okay.
- All right. Thank you. Amy motion is carried and c6 Heidi has the environmental resource advisory council
- appointments and
- Yeah, Heidi Jamaica natural resources coordinator and I am here to propose that you accept the reappointment
- of four members of our environmental resources Advisory Council all four members have been long-standing
- members of this group of individuals that help kind of guide Decision-making on natural resources properties
- and facility facilities We meet six times a year for an hour and a half at various locations around
- the community
- the four members in question are Denise Gardner Bill Jones Marney Potter and Angie Shelton and They
- will be four of the nine-member committee if they are appointed tonight We still have two openings for
- this committee and are accepting applications Okay All right
- These the only where there are other applications or these were the four that were on there agreed to
- resurve and you're looking for two more Yes, so the these four the they serve a two-year term Their
- term is ending at the end of December and they have reapplied to continue into another two-year term
- We have one member that chose not to reapply and then we had one member that stepped down early from
- their appointment And so that's where other two openings are but there have not been any other applications
- that have come in
- All right, I move that we approve the environmental resource advisory council appointments I'll second
- and the roll call vote of those in favor Kathleen Mills. I Ellen Rodkey. I Jim Whitletch Motion is carried.
- Thank you. And I could just make one comment. Oh, yes, you one is the
- Credentials of the people on Iraq are quite impressive. So just gratitude to those folks were continuing
- to serve and a PSA that if anyone is Paying attention to this meeting, please apply and fill those other
- two positions Okay, thank you. Thank you good
- Alright and Joanna it sparks for c7 will tell us about the agreement with nature's way for downtown
- planter replanting. Yes Yes, Joanna sparks urban green space manager here this evening to recommend
- the approval of a contract with nature's way for landscaping services the courthouse square not to exceed
- thirteen thousand five hundred and twenty dollars and This will convert the four remaining
- Original planters on the courthouse square. We transitioned 12 planters the earlier this spring to a
- different native forward palette and we had some outliers and Haskell has converted seven of those planters
- to tree beds native trees and shrubs and We have four remaining. So this this is to fund the transition
- of those final four so that we'll have a
- symmetry around the square and brand it So they're they're all the same so happy to answer any more
- questions or any questions And presumably a little bit lower maintenance by making some changes. Yeah.
- Yes. Okay. Yeah All right move that we approve the agreement with Nature's Way for downtown planter
- replanting second
- Roll call vote of those in favor Kathleen Mills. I Ellen Rodkey. All right, Jim Whitletch All right.
- Thank you. Joanna motion carries and then see aid is the partnership agreement with visit Bloomington
- for freeze-fress free freeze Fest that is hard to say
- In a new location. Yes, thank you Leslie Brinson again Recreation Division director staff recommends
- the approval of a partnership agreement between the Parks and Recreation Department and visit Bloomington
- for freeze fest 2025 visit Bloomington will be providing parks with an $800 stipend to help cover costs
- of the event
- Would be deposited in our community and events recreation line. This is the first year for this partnership
- But not the first year for this event freeze fest will be moving to switch yard park in 2025 It'll run
- on Friday January 23rd and Saturday January 24th I've cut ice covers from ice of America will come to
- Bloomington to create large ice sculptures that will be placed around the park throughout the week and
- The event will also include a chilly cook-off on Friday night an ice battle also on Friday night winter
- Palooza our Saturday kids event and different family activities along on Saturday Parks will be providing
- the pavilion and surrounding park areas while visit Bloomington will be coordinating with ice of America
- and work with a volunteer committee to organize the ice battle chilly cook-off food trucks and sponsorship
- Parks will continue to run the winter blues event on Saturday the 24th from 3 to 5 but I've made the
- event free to the public this year to Make it more accessible to those attending freeze fest. I'd be
- happy to answer any questions Okay in the ice Carver battle is that sort of like the pumpkin launch
- and that anyone can?
- Do you have to bring a chainsaw? I like where you're okay So ice of America will provide to ice two
- teams of two that will be on our mobile stage They'll have a certain period of time and then in teams
- they carve large structures and the crowd gets to vote on who wins There's lights and music and it becomes
- kind of a whole Event in itself, but we will be using the mobile stage for that event
- Okay, that sounds fun All right any questions No, I move we approve the partnership agreement with visit
- Bloomington for freeze fest 2026 I'll second a roll call vote of those in favor. I Ellen Rodkey. I Jim
- went lunch. Hi. All right motion is carried and
- Then in c9, Rebecca Swift has the MOU is southern meadows for the rail trail spur operations
- and responsibilities Guys might get sick of me talking about this topic but Rebecca Swift operations
- and violent division director and I've been here previously to talk about Accepting ownership of the
- bridge getting in at the bridge inspected now I'm here to present and recommend an approval of this
- memo of understanding of
- Between the city of Bloomington parks recreation and the SOMA development company who's actually the
- property owner then And this formalizes long-term responsibilities for the southern Meadows spur of
- the Bloomington rail trail and this really outlines the collaborative development and also feature management
- and maintenance of the bridge and the access to the trail for future management and maintenance needs
- so SOMA will maintain the segment of trail on its property and
- But still grant the city of permanent access and for rights needs to inspect maintain or repair the
- bridge But the bridge itself and everything north of the bridge will become property of the city of
- Bloomington Parks and Recreation So in the coming months I also expect to bring to the board a quick
- date a quick claim deed to accept the parcel officially And make the new trail spur that was acquired
- by Somo to facilitate construction of this trail so I'll bring forth the official quick deed for us to
- Officially accept the property but just getting everything in line and really this is just an MOU for
- maintenance of responsibilities Happy to answer any questions Okay, any questions for Rebecca? All right,
- I move we approve the MOU with Southern Meadows for rail trails spur operations and responsibilities
- again Okay, roll call vote of those in favor Kathleen Mills. I Ellen Rodkey. I
- I Jim Whitletch. I Motion is carried. Thank you, Rebecca And then we move into our section D reports
- where Haskell will tell us about the urban forestry fourth quarter risk report Good evening Haskell
- Smith urban foresters. So to cap the year off here a report of what all we kind of did what's still
- risk out there and
- Won't go into too much detail to save our time. I think everybody's a little worried about the snow
- that's moving in The beginning of the year identified 47 high-risk trees We've removed all but nine
- of those are addressed their issues Those nine have still been inspected, but I've reassessed them to
- a lower risk rating So that pretty well removes all our current high-risk trees. It doesn't mean there's not
- Still trees out there that may fall into that category just as of our snapshot of inventory Those have
- been addressed in here as well were 25 tree great issues that we Were hoping to address due to some
- staffing issues. I was only able to address about 12 of them and I waited a last minute to put this
- one together. So I didn't actually get those updates in here But they have been addressed
- So yeah, our year-end numbers we've pruned 1,944 trees removed 307 planted 786 and inspected about 5,500
- trees we've added in 1,300 trees to our inventory and I've gotten several thousand emails But altogether
- with all those Those numbers we've worked on or inspected about 30% of our inventory and
- Which I think's outstanding for the size of our crew It was in a separate packet so I I read it yesterday.
- I don't have it in front of me There was that huge number of emails and phone calls that you get about
- trees. Do you remember how many? Today I'm just shy of 5,000 emails a little over a thousand phone calls
- Okay. Yeah
- That's that's a lot of tree. That's why it gets it goes to voicemail more often And those are people
- who are mostly concerned about safety issues no Any anything you can think of? Hey, yes, there are a
- lot of safety concerns, but there's also Hey, my trees leaves are falling off. Well, it's October Okay
- Happens or any other you know any number of things. Hey, I saw a kid hitting this tree with a stick
- Can you go look at it or this one got hit by a truck? Hey, why is there somebody planting trees in my
- yard? Yeah, anything everything to do with trees Okay, and so you 30% you looked at and then with the
- goal be to try and get to another next next few months get to another chunk of trees to assess or
- In general, so we try to do over the course of 10 years have you know the turnover the full reevaluation
- So 30% pretty good as far as trees just worked on I'd like to get in a 10-year span the pruning cycle
- and everything in there So we're working towards that. We're not quite there this year is higher because
- I hired a inventory specialist and my staffing issue I have a
- Full-time employee on a weight reduction. So walking around with a iPad is about all I could have him
- do right now So my inventories inspections are way up. Although neither of those were qualified to do
- risk assessments Okay, all right, thanks any other questions for Haskell about his report Not for me
- All right, thank you for all the information I
- Then Leslie will adeptly check online for public comment. Yes There is nobody online, okay, and is there
- anyone here In person you would like to comment I Think I know all the faces here Okay, and then we
- will go back over to Tim for some other announcements. I
- Yes, good evening Tim Street Parks and Recreation director I think we have a knack for scheduling meetings
- when it's gonna thunderstorm snow or Or something like that. So there's a little bit of distraction
- out there I just want to add on the the urban forestry report there at the end I think being up a net
- positive 300 400 on the year I think I was looking at there is is really incredible for our city If
- you've been out and about in town right now
- Bicentennial round three planting which you approved quite a while ago. These things take a while to
- work out is going on We've had a good planting window here. And so I know I've seen it in my neighborhood
- I've seen it in other places around the city A lot of fresh new trees going in in the streets and right
- aways. So that's really exciting to see that and we also just had a big replacement of warranty trees at
- Hopewell Commons for ones that didn't make it from their initial planting. So a lot going on there.
- Obviously, we are here. This is our last meeting of the year. I want to thank the board. I want to just
- take a moment to just recognize the outstanding efforts of our staff throughout the year. This year,
- we had more than 400 unique staff members throughout the year.
- By the time you count our full-time and our seasonal, temporary, everyone who touches work for us and
- all the different ways we serve the community, it's been a really great year. We've obviously had some
- big highs in terms of getting re-accredited and working on the master plan and a lot of great projects
- that I look forward to putting in our annual report and bringing to you all early in the new year.
- That said, we're heading into, I can't say it's a completely quiet time because there's still things
- going on. Skate with Santa is this weekend. I'm excited that we are bringing Freeze Fest to Switchyard
- Park. I think that's a great place for it, a great place to have this community event. And we will continue
- our work on wrapping up our master plan. We have a staff strategic planning meeting scheduled for January 14th.
- The surveys for the master plan, the final surveys are out now. We're hoping to get those results in.
- Our consultants preparing to summarize all of the feedback efforts and surveying we've done for that
- meeting on the 14th. And from there, we wanna wrap up the plan and bring a draft version to the board
- for approval. One other thing I'm excited about here early in the new year is we're getting the new
- lights installed in the Switchyard Pavilion that you all approved a month or two ago.
- Right in time for the darkest part of the year. So that will be a nice improvement there as well Other
- than that. Yes. I just want to thank everyone and get us out of here for the snow our meetings We have
- managed to make a little more regular in the new year this year We got bounced around on the calendar
- a little bit, but it is the third Thursday at 5 p.m And so the first one of those will be January 15th
- here at 5 p.m. In the new year. Thank you All right. Thank you Tim and thanks to all the staff so
- All right, and with that, I will adjourn the December meeting of the Bloomington Board of Park Commissioners.