WEBVTT 00:00:01.826 --> 00:00:08.549 - is 5.03. So I will call to order this, what month is this? February meeting of the Bloomington Board 00:00:08.549 --> 00:00:14.807 - of Park Commissioners. And we have three here in person. We'll get our roll call in a minute. 00:00:14.807 --> 00:00:21.530 - And do we have, Kim, do we have Jim? No, he's not going to be here. He's not going to be here. OK. I 00:00:21.530 --> 00:00:27.788 - thought I didn't know if he was virtually. OK. So could you start us with the roll call then? 00:00:27.788 --> 00:00:31.582 - Kathleen Mills. Here. Ellen Rodke. Here. Israel Herrera. 00:00:31.874 --> 00:00:41.804 - And Jim went watch his accent. Okay, so we do have a quorum today. And we will start with, as always, 00:00:41.804 --> 00:00:51.831 - our consent calendar. And this is all of our usual business report, credit card refund, not really any 00:00:51.831 --> 00:00:59.230 - surplus this time, but some templates and smaller agreements that we've had 00:00:59.458 --> 00:01:10.769 - a chance to see over the last few days. We do need to pull out one of our items to vote on separately 00:01:10.769 --> 00:01:22.302 - because there was a typo. Sure. I'll make a motion to remove A-15 from the consent calendar. Do we need 00:01:22.302 --> 00:01:28.734 - to do roll call? No. All those in favor of removing A-15? 00:01:29.378 --> 00:01:38.947 - Aye. Okay. So that is removed. And then the remaining consent calendar items. Do you want to move? Yeah, 00:01:38.947 --> 00:01:48.607 - I can make a motion to approve the consent calendar. Okay. And all those in favor? Aye. All right. Motion 00:01:48.607 --> 00:01:55.806 - is carried. And then a 15 is a Winslow Sports Park 2026 concessions agreement. 00:01:56.290 --> 00:02:05.765 - Um, which we just need to correct the amount on that and then we can vote on that separately. Okay. 00:02:05.765 --> 00:02:15.240 - So I'll make a motion to amend that, uh, the contract amount to $2,500 for the Winslow sports park, 00:02:15.240 --> 00:02:25.758 - 2026 concessions agreement. Okay. And all those in favor of that amendment. Aye. All right. Motion is carried. 00:02:26.210 --> 00:02:34.350 - Kim, do we need, is that enough on A-15? Okay, all right. Okay, and then we will move on to section 00:02:34.350 --> 00:02:42.652 - B in our public hearings and appearances. And first up, we have the Bravo Award that Julie Ramey will 00:02:42.652 --> 00:02:51.199 - tell us about. No umbrella for the Bravo? Oh, okay, all right. I was like, because, you know, it's gonna 00:02:51.199 --> 00:02:52.094 - storm, so. 00:02:52.898 --> 00:03:01.348 - Good afternoon. I am Julie Ramey, the Community Relations Manager. It is my pleasure to present today's 00:03:01.348 --> 00:03:09.474 - Bravo Award for Outstanding Volunteer Service to David Skirvin. David has been with the Bloomington 00:03:09.474 --> 00:03:17.843 - Parks Foundation for 23 years, and he recently ended his tenure with the Bloomington Parks Foundation. 00:03:17.843 --> 00:03:22.718 - In 2002, he was invited to volunteer with the foundation by 00:03:22.818 --> 00:03:30.945 - our legendary board of parks commissioner member, Les Coyne. And David had recently retired from Indiana 00:03:30.945 --> 00:03:39.150 - University after 35 years of service to the university. And his recruiters recognized his strong interest 00:03:39.150 --> 00:03:47.122 - in parks and recreation and his skill in logistics and organization, which made him an ideal candidate 00:03:47.122 --> 00:03:48.670 - for the foundation. 00:03:49.314 --> 00:03:56.445 - He joined the foundation board in 2002 and remained actively involved for more than two decades, including 00:03:56.445 --> 00:04:03.309 - service as president in 2024 and past president in 2025. And when I asked David to reflect on his time 00:04:03.309 --> 00:04:10.306 - with the foundation, he said that when you're on the board, you tend to get wrapped up in the challenges 00:04:10.306 --> 00:04:14.238 - that an organization faces. However, his passion for parks 00:04:14.370 --> 00:04:21.951 - and his behind-the-scenes dedication to, as he says, dot the I's and cross the T's has helped make the 00:04:21.951 --> 00:04:29.678 - foundation more efficient and effective. And the Bloomington Parks Foundation's successes are highlights 00:04:29.678 --> 00:04:35.198 - of the great work done by the Bloomington Parks and Recreation Department. 00:04:35.554 --> 00:04:41.945 - We are deeply grateful for the years of service by David Skerven and all our Bloomington Parks Foundation 00:04:41.945 --> 00:04:47.974 - members, and are especially happy to present David today with, yes, an umbrella and a commemorative 00:04:47.974 --> 00:04:54.184 - certificate. And I'd like to invite David to the podium to say a few words. Okay. Thank you very much. 00:04:54.184 --> 00:04:59.550 - Thank you, Julie, and thanks to everybody, Tim, and everybody with the Parks Department. 00:04:59.938 --> 00:05:06.711 - There's little more that I can say in terms of what Julie has just said. It has been a labor of love 00:05:06.711 --> 00:05:13.550 - over the last two decades plus, thanks to Les Coyne. Joanne Alcott, I remember, was very instrumental 00:05:13.550 --> 00:05:20.390 - when she selected me or posed the opportunity for me to join. But as I've said to Julie and I've said 00:05:20.390 --> 00:05:27.297 - to others over the years, it's easy to be on a support board for an organization that is so successful 00:05:27.297 --> 00:05:28.638 - and so prestigious. 00:05:28.738 --> 00:05:33.775 - And I've also mentioned to you, Tim, and to your predecessor, Paula, and even to Mick Rinneisen over 00:05:33.775 --> 00:05:38.961 - the years, if I were living my life over again and I chose a different career path, I worked at Indiana 00:05:38.961 --> 00:05:44.098 - University, which was a great career, by the way, but I think people that work in parks and recreation 00:05:44.098 --> 00:05:49.284 - are truly the salt of the earth. I really enjoy working with you all and the things that you do to make 00:05:49.284 --> 00:05:51.678 - Bloomington such a great community. It truly is 00:05:51.906 --> 00:05:57.488 - an asset to living in Bloomington, Indiana. So thank you. Thank you for everything. And thank you for 00:05:57.488 --> 00:06:02.961 - this. It's very opportune on a day like today. I think we have a tornado warning till 9 o'clock. So 00:06:02.961 --> 00:06:08.325 - hopefully I won't be Mary Poppins and have to use it. So thank you again. I really appreciate it. 00:06:08.325 --> 00:06:09.310 - Thank you, David. 00:06:24.386 --> 00:06:31.656 - Thank you for this decades of service to the board. And next up in our B2, we have a staff intro from 00:06:31.656 --> 00:06:38.783 - community events intern, Grace Olson. Hi. First, I want to say thank you for allowing me to come up 00:06:38.783 --> 00:06:46.623 - here and introduce myself. My name is Grace Olson. I am the new intern in the Recreation Services Department. 00:06:46.623 --> 00:06:52.254 - I'm finishing up my degree at IU studying parks, recreation, and the outdoors. 00:06:52.354 --> 00:06:57.924 - And I have developed a very strong passion for outdoor recreation, conservation, and community outreach. 00:06:57.924 --> 00:07:03.282 - And growing up in Michigan, I would frequently take trips to the Upper Peninsula, where I discovered 00:07:03.282 --> 00:07:08.905 - my love for hiking, camping, and being outdoors, and therefore became a Parks and Rec major. I am excited 00:07:08.905 --> 00:07:14.263 - to apply what I have learned in my coursework and hands-on experience to support moving to Parks and 00:07:14.263 --> 00:07:16.862 - Recreation, and I've loved my experience so far. 00:07:17.986 --> 00:07:23.005 - Through my studies at IU, I've gained valuable knowledge in several areas, such as event planning, ecosystem 00:07:23.005 --> 00:07:27.748 - management, resource development and fundraising, and many more. As I'm exploring career opportunities 00:07:27.748 --> 00:07:32.490 - post-graduation, I'm excited about the variety of learning experiences coming my way to prepare me for 00:07:32.490 --> 00:07:37.325 - a life in the field of Parks and Rec. My time here so far has been truly inspiring, and I'm very excited 00:07:37.325 --> 00:07:42.390 - to be a member of the team. I'm looking forward to continuing this journey and contributing to the enrichment 00:07:42.390 --> 00:07:46.718 - of the community through recreational opportunities and environmental stewardship. Thank you. 00:07:47.042 --> 00:07:58.535 - Yeah, welcome, Grace. Okay, and then on to our section C, other business. At the last meeting, we neglected 00:07:58.535 --> 00:08:09.283 - to elect our vice president. Don't take it personally. So in C1, we need to elect the vice president 00:08:09.283 --> 00:08:16.094 - for 2026. So I will move that we elect Ellen as vice president. 00:08:17.410 --> 00:08:24.842 - All right. Okay. All those in favor. I Motion is carried All right, and then Leslie Branson and C2 will 00:08:24.842 --> 00:08:32.416 - tell us about the N right East partnership agreement for the year Good evening, Leslie Branson recreation 00:08:32.416 --> 00:08:39.562 - division director I'm here to ask approval of the partnership grant agreement with area 10 on aging 00:08:39.562 --> 00:08:46.494 - for the N right East active living center this grant partnership is in the amount of $20,000 and 00:08:46.946 --> 00:08:52.215 - Due to the continued popularity and community sport and senior participation the department would like 00:08:52.215 --> 00:08:57.688 - to continue support of the area 10 and right East active living community center our funding helps support 00:08:57.688 --> 00:09:02.906 - the daily operations of the center which is located in the college mall in right East is open Tuesday 00:09:02.906 --> 00:09:08.225 - through Thursdays from 11 to 3 and includes a daily lunch option the center continues to see consistent 00:09:08.225 --> 00:09:11.806 - and promising numbers in both the membership and class participations 00:09:12.034 --> 00:09:17.527 - Park staff and area attend staff work closely on some joint programming and marketing of events that 00:09:17.527 --> 00:09:23.183 - have similar demographics. Currently we are hosting a walking program there three times a week and look 00:09:23.183 --> 00:09:27.806 - to increase our health and wellness opportunities at the center as the year goes on. 00:09:28.418 --> 00:09:35.799 - I've also included a few of their numbers from 2025 with their lunch meal served. They have 18 different 00:09:35.799 --> 00:09:43.111 - programming options, including several strength and balance, flexibility, walking, and of course, Euker 00:09:43.111 --> 00:09:50.281 - Bridge and Mejong, as any senior center should. I'd be happy to answer any questions about this grant 00:09:50.281 --> 00:09:58.014 - opportunity. All right. No, it looks great. It's always been a good arrangement. So any questions for Leslie? 00:10:00.162 --> 00:10:07.288 - Now make a motion to approve the partnership grant agreement with area 10 on aging for Enright East. 00:10:07.288 --> 00:10:14.414 - Second. Okay, all those in favor? Aye. Motion carried. All right. Thank you, Leslie. And then in C3, 00:10:14.414 --> 00:10:21.823 - Sean Marler will tell us about the agreement with convergent technologies for switch yard camera repair. 00:10:21.823 --> 00:10:29.090 - Good afternoon. Sean Marler here. Staff recommends the park board approve the contract with convergent 00:10:29.090 --> 00:10:30.078 - technologies. 00:10:30.306 --> 00:10:36.329 - for the repair and replacement of parts of the CCTV security system at Switchyard Park. There 00:10:36.329 --> 00:10:42.928 - are approximately 50, not approximately, there are exactly 55 cameras and approximately 38 of them are 00:10:42.928 --> 00:10:49.591 - non-functional due to a variety of issues from environmental exposure and component failures over time. 00:10:49.591 --> 00:10:55.998 - That flood we had a couple of years ago really hit that particular piece of technology pretty hard. 00:10:56.098 --> 00:11:03.840 - This is a project we're working a lot with IT. Michael Crump from IT is here. He's the lead for the 00:11:03.840 --> 00:11:11.582 - IT side. They're doing a lot of the specs and helped us quite significantly in determining what was 00:11:11.582 --> 00:11:19.479 - needed, and they will work with Convergent on the repairs. I'm happy to answer any questions. Oh, and 00:11:19.479 --> 00:11:21.182 - the amount is 68,896. 00:11:21.762 --> 00:11:29.932 - The original cameras from 2019, were they with this company or a different conversion or they were different 00:11:29.932 --> 00:11:37.428 - companies? It was a different company. Presidio was the subs, but yeah, I don't know. Okay. I think 00:11:37.428 --> 00:11:44.923 - they were just the subs for that. And since 38 of the 55 are not working, I mean, you mentioned the 00:11:44.923 --> 00:11:48.446 - flood, but I mean, was there any sort of like, 00:11:48.994 --> 00:11:55.939 - Did we get anything for those ones that aren't working? Is there any sort of warranty, I guess, is the 00:11:55.939 --> 00:12:02.883 - question. They are out of warranty. The warranty is only for a couple of years. I forget if it was two 00:12:02.883 --> 00:12:09.626 - or three years, but it was not that long. OK. OK. All right. Other questions for Sean? Do they have 00:12:09.626 --> 00:12:14.750 - an estimation of how long this set of cameras? Well, it's a great question. 00:12:18.466 --> 00:12:25.882 - If you were able to hear Michael, Michael said that it would be very hard to predict the life cycle 00:12:25.882 --> 00:12:33.372 - on technology like this. Do you have other questions? No. OK. OK. We'll make a motion to approve the 00:12:33.372 --> 00:12:40.937 - contract with Convergent Technologies for the replacement of security cameras at Switchyard Park. OK. 00:12:40.937 --> 00:12:47.166 - And all those in favor? Aye. All right. Motion carried. Thank you, Sean. Thank you. 00:12:47.810 --> 00:12:56.210 - And C4, Kevin Terrell will tell us about the addendum with LRT for Banneker step replacement project 00:12:56.210 --> 00:13:04.693 - change order. Thank you all. Kevin Terrell here, the program and facility coordinator of the Banneker 00:13:04.693 --> 00:13:13.176 - Community Center. You guys approved our steps project with the Lithco restoration technologies toward 00:13:13.176 --> 00:13:14.590 - the end of 2025. 00:13:15.266 --> 00:13:22.126 - And this contract add $12,250 to that original contract agreed with them for the replacement and the 00:13:22.126 --> 00:13:28.919 - refurbishing of our historic Banneker Community Center limestone steps. All this in accordance with 00:13:28.919 --> 00:13:36.322 - the guidelines of the grantee, which was the IDNR, and the Division of Historic Preservation and Archeology. 00:13:36.322 --> 00:13:40.126 - This additional funding, on top of what we already got, 00:13:40.866 --> 00:13:48.228 - is needed based on the recommendations of LRT and with the approval of our principal investigator, Doug 00:13:48.228 --> 00:13:55.449 - Bruce of Tabor and Bruce. After they inspected the steps, after they did the initial demolition, they 00:13:55.449 --> 00:14:02.811 - will fill the existing limestone blocks with grout, form, and pour concrete under the first step, under 00:14:02.811 --> 00:14:06.846 - the one block, and then under the landing and replace 23 00:14:07.138 --> 00:14:14.241 - concrete masonry units blocks and the support walls under the steps and the landing and fill space in 00:14:14.241 --> 00:14:21.693 - between the blocks. Essentially, this will make it much safer, sturdier, and hopefully much longer lasting 00:14:21.693 --> 00:14:29.006 - than what was done the last time. And I'll answer any questions that I can. OK. All right. Any questions 00:14:29.006 --> 00:14:36.318 - for Kevin? I'm going to make a motion to approve a contract agenda with Lithco Restoration Technologies. 00:14:40.034 --> 00:14:47.916 - All those in favor say aye All right. That motion is carried. Thanks Kevin. Thank you and c5 is a partnership 00:14:47.916 --> 00:14:55.582 - agreement with the Bloomington community orchard that Pascoe will tell us about Good evening commissioners 00:14:55.582 --> 00:15:02.891 - Haskell Smith urban forester Staff recommends approval of the agreement with Bloomington committee or 00:15:02.891 --> 00:15:08.766 - community orchard and for continued use of city parks and recreation property and 00:15:09.218 --> 00:15:18.225 - cooperative program partnership through 2030. Slide updates have been made during this iteration, including 00:15:18.225 --> 00:15:26.564 - language on some fencing and BCO's desire to build an educational shelter. There's no funding being 00:15:26.564 --> 00:15:34.903 - supplied, just a cross partnership. Mr. Josh Davis here if you have any questions in regards to the 00:15:34.903 --> 00:15:37.822 - orchard itself or any programming. 00:15:38.338 --> 00:15:45.854 - within the enclosed, the fenced in, okay, yeah. Before it snowed, I was over there, I don't know, more 00:15:45.854 --> 00:15:49.502 - than just looking around, it's really nice, yeah. 00:15:53.986 --> 00:15:58.887 - My name is Josh David I'm ex officio board chair for the Bloomington community orchard so I see some 00:15:58.887 --> 00:16:03.884 - new faces up here so I actually know it's been a couple years since our last renewal and I just wanted 00:16:03.884 --> 00:16:08.931 - to share some of the other accomplishments we've talked about but then I'm happy to field any questions 00:16:08.931 --> 00:16:13.831 - you have about what we're calling the outdoor classroom but shelter. So we're big about food justice 00:16:13.831 --> 00:16:14.462 - food access. 00:16:14.626 --> 00:16:19.562 - growing the ability for people to grow food for themselves, their neighbors, and each other. So while 00:16:19.562 --> 00:16:24.450 - fruit is not always growing on the trees, we installed a little free pantry in the orchard to create 00:16:24.450 --> 00:16:29.580 - year-round food access provided by us and the community. We installed a propagation station to transplant 00:16:29.580 --> 00:16:33.694 - things that were growing at the orchard into people's private and public properties. 00:16:33.762 --> 00:16:39.169 - to grow more food collectively for each other. We also installed ADA accessible pathways through the 00:16:39.169 --> 00:16:44.683 - orchard because we are designing to or we're trying to be a model of access without financial capacity 00:16:44.683 --> 00:16:50.037 - for food, which we see as a fundamental human right. And in doing that, we also wanted to make sure 00:16:50.037 --> 00:16:55.497 - that people of all physicalities were also able to access the site and our educations. So we add more 00:16:55.497 --> 00:16:58.174 - educational signage for self-service. We also let 00:16:58.338 --> 00:17:03.756 - launched a class sponsorship program to help pay local educators to teach free to the community classes 00:17:03.756 --> 00:17:09.069 - at the orchard and around the community. And through that we've been able to offer thousands of hours 00:17:09.069 --> 00:17:13.758 - to thousands of volunteers to help cultivate this incredible one acre public food forest. 00:17:13.826 --> 00:17:18.874 - which now serves as actually a model for both national and global audiences. Over the past five years, 00:17:18.874 --> 00:17:24.119 - we've been contacted by more and more groups that are looking to start this. Originally it was individuals 00:17:24.119 --> 00:17:29.118 - in their communities and now it's city officials who are actually reaching out to us. So through that 00:17:29.118 --> 00:17:34.167 - feedback, we created not only a two-page worksheet that helped guide people through the processes that 00:17:34.167 --> 00:17:35.294 - we thought successful, 00:17:35.362 --> 00:17:40.868 - We also developed a how to start a community orchard handbook, which we've drafted and is out for feedback. 00:17:40.868 --> 00:17:46.018 - So to help empower more and more communities based on the Bloomington model that you all have helped 00:17:46.018 --> 00:17:51.116 - create a foundation for. And beyond that, I'm just pleased to announce that we're actually, even as 00:17:51.116 --> 00:17:54.430 - an all volunteer organization, celebrating our 15th anniversary. 00:17:54.530 --> 00:17:59.742 - So a major accomplishment for us. But looking forward, we want to add more self-service activities, 00:17:59.742 --> 00:18:05.058 - including for teachers in the community, to use the orchard as an ongoing resource for their classes, 00:18:05.058 --> 00:18:10.375 - youth groups, and otherwise. And then the outdoor classroom, which we see as a great space for refuge 00:18:10.375 --> 00:18:15.326 - for volunteers, for meetings, for classes, and other smaller orchard events there at the site. 00:18:16.066 --> 00:18:21.952 - That's a little update, and I just want to say thank you all. And a big thank you to Tim and Haskell 00:18:21.952 --> 00:18:28.013 - and Rebecca. I know Dave and Lee left big shoes to fill, and they have filled them very nicely and been 00:18:28.013 --> 00:18:34.133 - a very wonderful group of leaders to work and collaborate with. So thank you all. Well, thank you. Yeah, 00:18:34.133 --> 00:18:40.019 - I'm glad it's going well. Thanks for the details. All right. All right, do you want to? Yeah, I make 00:18:40.019 --> 00:18:44.798 - a motion to approve the partnership agreement with Bloomington Community Orchard. 00:18:46.562 --> 00:18:55.225 - and all those in favor aye all right motion is carried c5 passes and then in c6 it's almost mowing time 00:18:55.225 --> 00:19:03.972 - again so joanna sparks will tell us about the renewal with green dragon yes good afternoon joanna sparks 00:19:03.972 --> 00:19:09.886 - serving green space manager and deep breath spring is almost here okay 00:19:09.986 --> 00:19:18.096 - But yes, I'm here today to present an addendum to the existing and the pre-existing contract mowing 00:19:18.096 --> 00:19:26.287 - agreement with Green Dragon to mow 20 properties for the Parks Department that will be first entered 00:19:26.287 --> 00:19:27.422 - into in 2004. 00:19:27.746 --> 00:19:34.581 - This is a renewal that was included option that was included in the contract. And this contract is for 00:19:34.581 --> 00:19:41.616 - one hundred. I'm sorry. We pulled the other one. The next one one hundred and eight thousand four hundred 00:19:41.616 --> 00:19:48.717 - and five dollars. And this basically is for twenty seven mowing cycles between April to the end of October 00:19:48.717 --> 00:19:55.486 - early November to maintain turf with mowers and string trimmers. All right. Any questions for Joanna. 00:19:59.938 --> 00:20:09.605 - Yes. Yes. And we have the option to renew in 20. Yeah. It's written into the contract the option to 00:20:09.605 --> 00:20:19.561 - renewal with the set price. So we have 20 24 pricing for performance has been great for 10 years. They 00:20:19.561 --> 00:20:27.198 - were contracted with us prior to that for different areas for mowing services. 00:20:29.858 --> 00:20:40.461 - The renewal is three years. Green Dragon has contracted with the city for I think about 10 years. They've 00:20:40.461 --> 00:20:50.764 - had contracts with different areas. With the way it's contracted, there's a three-year renewal clause. 00:20:50.764 --> 00:20:58.366 - So once you get outside of that three-year renewal clause, it goes back out 00:20:58.594 --> 00:21:07.121 - and gets bid again. And the same contractor may win it again, which is what's happened here. And they've 00:21:07.121 --> 00:21:15.404 - continued to do a good job. Yes. Yes, I'm sorry. I didn't quite understand what you were fishing for. 00:21:15.404 --> 00:21:23.768 - OK. All right. Yeah, I'm in commission to approve the agenda with Green Dragon Lawn Care for 2026. OK. 00:21:23.768 --> 00:21:27.422 - And all those in favor? Aye. Aye. All right. 00:21:27.874 --> 00:21:34.736 - Motion C6 is carried and then Joanna also has renewal with for you lawn and landscape for twenty twenty 00:21:34.736 --> 00:21:41.730 - six mowing. Yes and rinse and repeat with 16 different properties for a different vendor for you lawnland 00:21:41.730 --> 00:21:46.942 - landscape company for the amount of twenty three thousand eighty five dollars. 00:21:52.642 --> 00:22:01.075 - And this one is new correct. We haven't contracted with for you before. No no this one is the same situation 00:22:01.075 --> 00:22:09.045 - as the previous contract. It is a part of a renewal of the twenty twenty four contract the request for 00:22:09.045 --> 00:22:17.091 - quotes in twenty twenty four. We asked for two separate packages to be quoted and we contract and there 00:22:17.091 --> 00:22:22.430 - were two different vendors that got the lowest bid for respectively. 00:22:22.882 --> 00:22:35.062 - So Green Dragon got the 20 properties we previously discussed, and For You, Lawn, and Landscape got 00:22:35.062 --> 00:22:44.318 - the 16. 16. OK. Yeah, it's for two different. Yeah, it's for two different. 00:22:44.514 --> 00:22:52.864 - groups of locations. I think the services are essentially the same. The services are identical. It's 00:22:52.864 --> 00:23:01.214 - 16 different locations, which are really small. They're basically public works properties throughout 00:23:01.214 --> 00:23:09.150 - the city. Yeah. Most trips here and there. Yeah, little spots. Yeah. Okay. Any other questions? 00:23:10.306 --> 00:23:17.900 - I make a motion to approve the denim with for you lawn and landscape for twenty twenty six. And all 00:23:17.900 --> 00:23:25.570 - those in favor. All right. All right. Motion C7 is carried. Thank you. And then in C8 Mary Wells has 00:23:25.570 --> 00:23:33.620 - the agreement with eco logic. Good afternoon. Mary Wells here natural resources manager here to recommend 00:23:33.620 --> 00:23:36.734 - approval of the contract with eco logic. 00:23:37.538 --> 00:23:44.778 - for ecological consulting and restoration services at Griffey Lake Nature Preserve, Miller Showers Park, 00:23:44.778 --> 00:23:51.811 - and Switchyard Park. As you may remember, Egalogic is a trusted ecological restoration consultant and 00:23:51.811 --> 00:23:58.845 - service provider here in Bloomington and has worked closely with Bloomington Parks and Recreation for 00:23:58.845 --> 00:24:05.878 - over a decade. Since 2016, they've delivered a range of consulting and ecological services, including 00:24:05.878 --> 00:24:07.326 - floristic inventory, 00:24:07.714 --> 00:24:15.713 - plant community, mapping, deer browse monitoring, and ecological restoration and various vegetation 00:24:15.713 --> 00:24:23.711 - management services. Excuse me, I'm a little choked up. Under this contract, Ecologic will build on 00:24:23.711 --> 00:24:31.550 - their past work and expertise for various types of improved land management. So that will include 00:24:32.930 --> 00:24:41.563 - The contract will be an ongoing deer browse monitoring survey that they started back in 2018 that is 00:24:41.563 --> 00:24:50.111 - helping us make decisions on the success of our deer hunts by monitoring the vegetation at Griffey. 00:24:50.111 --> 00:24:56.094 - And then they will also be continuing restoration services at various 00:24:56.194 --> 00:25:02.530 - parks, including a new area in the wetland at Griffey, about nine acres, where they're currently contracted 00:25:02.530 --> 00:25:08.632 - to do some winter work. They're going to do some follow-up work under this contract. And then they will 00:25:08.632 --> 00:25:14.734 - also be resuming their restoration activities at Miller Showers Park, as well as Switchyard Park. Happy 00:25:14.734 --> 00:25:17.022 - to answer any questions at this point. 00:25:25.378 --> 00:25:32.950 - Oh, and I did not state the amount. So it's fifty seven thousand seven hundred forty nine dollars and 00:25:32.950 --> 00:25:40.521 - thirty nine cents. Thank you. Yeah. All right. Well, I make a motion to approve the service agreement 00:25:40.521 --> 00:25:47.945 - with Ecologic for Griffey Miller Showers and Switchard Park. OK. And all those in favor. All right. 00:25:47.945 --> 00:25:51.582 - All right. Motion carried. Thank you. Thank you. 00:25:52.994 --> 00:26:00.486 - Then in C9, we have the appointment of Erica Eason to the ERAC that Heidi will tell us about. Yes, Heidi 00:26:00.486 --> 00:26:07.621 - Schumacher, Natural Resources Coordinator for the City of Bloomington. Just a brief update on this. 00:26:07.621 --> 00:26:14.970 - Since the application came in, Erica has experienced a name change. It is now Erica Myers. But all the 00:26:14.970 --> 00:26:21.534 - qualifications still stand. So staff recommends approval of the appointment of Erica Myers. 00:26:21.698 --> 00:26:28.469 - to the Environmental Resources Advisory Council. This is a two-year appointment, and the council is 00:26:28.469 --> 00:26:34.834 - made up of nine members. We currently have two openings. Erica is qualified for this position 00:26:34.834 --> 00:26:41.876 - as a conservation specialist in soil and water conservation for Monroe County, and we believe she would 00:26:41.876 --> 00:26:49.054 - be an asset to the council. We're always lucky to attract people with such good experience and education. 00:26:49.282 --> 00:26:58.764 - Yeah, absolutely. I think it's a really nice fit that she's got that experience with the county. We 00:26:58.764 --> 00:27:08.341 - still have one seat open. We have received one application, but no one will not before the deadlines 00:27:08.341 --> 00:27:17.918 - for this meeting. So hopefully we will have the next appointee at the next board meeting. All right. 00:27:18.082 --> 00:27:26.227 - I'll make a motion to approve the nomination of or the appointment of Erica Myers to the Environmental 00:27:26.227 --> 00:27:34.136 - Resources Advisory Council Okay, and all those in favor All right, thank you Heidi and in c10 Looks 00:27:34.136 --> 00:27:43.230 - like Cody Martin will finish it out here in the last three versus the agreement Bloomington Junior League Baseball 00:27:44.066 --> 00:27:49.018 - Hi, Cody Martin, Sports Facility Coordinator. Today I'm asking for the review and approval 00:27:49.018 --> 00:27:54.624 - for our partnership agreement we've had for the last few years with Bloomington Junior League Baseball 00:27:54.624 --> 00:28:00.230 - Association. They're housed mainly at Winslow Sports Park. They outgrew the park toward the end of the 00:28:00.230 --> 00:28:06.216 - year last year and so had some overflow at Twin Lakes Sports Park as well. Really good symbiotic relationship 00:28:06.216 --> 00:28:11.713 - we have with them. Our revenue from Winslow was about $18,000 last year just from Bloomington Junior 00:28:11.713 --> 00:28:12.638 - League Baseball. 00:28:17.826 --> 00:28:24.747 - Is that the first time they've needed to overflow at Twinlake? This was my first outdoor season. I know 00:28:24.747 --> 00:28:31.401 - they didn't need it the season before, so I don't want to say definitively that it's the first time 00:28:31.401 --> 00:28:38.188 - ever, but in recent memory, yes. Okay. All right. Great. All right. I'll make a motion to approve the 00:28:38.188 --> 00:28:44.510 - agreement with Bloomington Junior League Baseball for 2026. Okay. And all those in favor? Aye. 00:28:45.058 --> 00:28:51.439 - All right, motion is carried for C10. And C11 is the similar agreement with Monroe County Senior League 00:28:51.439 --> 00:28:57.819 - Baseball. Yes, so same situation with Monroe County Senior League. We've been a partner for many years. 00:28:57.819 --> 00:29:03.955 - They're housed mainly at Winslow Field 6, which is our larger baseball field on the complex. Rental 00:29:03.955 --> 00:29:10.090 - fees revenue last year was about $4,000. Would have been more if the rain would have stopped at any 00:29:10.090 --> 00:29:14.814 - point in the first three months of the season. But again, great partnership. 00:29:14.978 --> 00:29:22.195 - long-standing and we just seek to keep it going. Okay. All right. I'll make a motion to approve the 00:29:22.195 --> 00:29:29.556 - agreement with Monroe County Senior League Baseball for 2026. All right. And all those in favor? Aye. 00:29:29.556 --> 00:29:37.062 - All right. Motion is carried for that one and C11. And then finally C12 is a similar sort of agreement, 00:29:37.062 --> 00:29:40.382 - but this time with Bloomington Football Club. 00:29:40.738 --> 00:29:48.019 - Yeah, Bloomington Football Club utilizes what used to be Winslow Field 5, primarily used for soccer 00:29:48.019 --> 00:29:55.663 - for BFC for the last few years. Revenue generated is about $8,000, another really good partnership where 00:29:55.663 --> 00:30:02.944 - there's a lot of give and take both sides. So again, we just seek to renew the same agreement. Make 00:30:02.944 --> 00:30:09.278 - a motion to approve the partnership agreement with Bloomington Football Club for 2026. 00:30:10.978 --> 00:30:17.377 - All those in favor. Aye. All right. That motion is carrying C12. Thanks Cody All right, and then we 00:30:17.377 --> 00:30:23.968 - move into section D reports and first up Tim is going to tell us about the strategic goals update Good 00:30:23.968 --> 00:30:30.431 - evening commissioners Tim Street parks and rec director for the city of Bloomington. Good to be with 00:30:30.431 --> 00:30:37.086 - you tonight It's always stormy every time we do this. It seems like so why make an exception this time? 00:30:37.086 --> 00:30:39.646 - Hopefully we can get out of here before 00:30:40.226 --> 00:30:46.839 - It starts raining too much. I also want to shout out Cody, just for those last three items, it's a lot 00:30:46.839 --> 00:30:53.387 - of work working with those partners and managing relationships and expectations and all those things, 00:30:53.387 --> 00:31:00.450 - and I think that's going particularly well. So first up, agenda item D1 is just, we've done this periodically 00:31:00.450 --> 00:31:06.870 - for the last couple years. An introduction of a progress update on our strategic goals. A reminder, 00:31:06.870 --> 00:31:09.502 - these are sort of our last set of goals. 00:31:09.922 --> 00:31:16.873 - from our master plan that is well now done. We are in new territory now that it is 2026, and we'll be 00:31:16.873 --> 00:31:23.960 - under the umbrella of the master plan that we are finishing now. But 92 of 114 goals on that list, it's 00:31:23.960 --> 00:31:30.978 - a lot of goals. It does get into some tiki-tac stuff a little bit, but it's important stuff that we're 00:31:30.978 --> 00:31:34.590 - tracking and monitoring. And we'll say as we look to 00:31:34.946 --> 00:31:40.875 - present our overarching master plan goals for the next five years to you soon, you're not gonna see 00:31:40.875 --> 00:31:46.922 - this amount. This is a more granular approach. Just a report for the park board and something we like 00:31:46.922 --> 00:31:53.028 - to bring before you for lots of reasons, including transparency, accreditation, feedback, all of those 00:31:53.028 --> 00:31:59.075 - reasons. So I'm not gonna dwell on that. These are goals you've seen before. About 80% of them remain 00:31:59.075 --> 00:32:03.166 - in play. Even if they're not done, they're on track to be done soon. 00:32:03.394 --> 00:32:15.905 - here in 2026, and we'll of course entertain any questions that you might want to get into on those. 00:32:15.905 --> 00:32:28.542 - Okay, any questions about the goals? Other than the tiny, tiny font? No? I think it's a really great 00:32:29.058 --> 00:32:36.034 - I mean, to see this comprehensive of a strategic plan for the year and to be at the percentage 00:32:36.034 --> 00:32:43.597 - of accomplishment that you are at is not surprising, because this is such a great department. But it's 00:32:43.597 --> 00:32:50.940 - just amazing to see. And I hope that the public recognizes how hard you all work. Yeah. And that is 00:32:50.940 --> 00:32:58.430 - all down to our staff members. It all starts there. We have a wonderful staff. So all credit to them. 00:32:58.946 --> 00:33:05.832 - Moving to D2 then, this is our master plan community survey results. So I'm going to introduce this 00:33:05.832 --> 00:33:12.787 - and then we have Jeff Andreson online from Acuity Research. He is going to just kind of talk through 00:33:12.787 --> 00:33:19.673 - about a 10 minute overview of the findings that we have from our community survey results that have 00:33:19.673 --> 00:33:26.560 - come back. Just a reminder, we are nearing the end of our master plan process. At this point, we've 00:33:26.560 --> 00:33:28.350 - done all of the community 00:33:28.770 --> 00:33:35.388 - input and engagement. Going back to last spring, late spring we started with community focus groups, 00:33:35.388 --> 00:33:42.137 - staff focus groups. The questionnaire through the summer that generated over a thousand responses from 00:33:42.137 --> 00:33:48.755 - community members when we passed it out at farmers market and concerts and things like that. On down 00:33:48.755 --> 00:33:55.504 - into some more feedback this fall and then ultimately the input from the statistically valid community 00:33:55.504 --> 00:33:57.470 - survey which is what this is. 00:33:57.570 --> 00:34:03.270 - It took a little longer than we anticipated, I think, just lack of emails and having to rely on the 00:34:03.270 --> 00:34:08.970 - US mail, which I do not recommend. Just took us a little longer than anticipated, but we did get to 00:34:08.970 --> 00:34:15.126 - the sample size that we needed. And that said, I'm gonna turn it over to Jeff. Jeff, you should be co-host, 00:34:15.126 --> 00:34:20.826 - so you should be able to unmute and turn your video on, and Kim is gonna pull up the PowerPoint and 00:34:20.826 --> 00:34:26.526 - share it on Zoom, so give us just a second to transition here. And then Jeff, when we're all ready, 00:34:26.722 --> 00:34:33.469 - turn it over to you and you can tell us when to advance the slides. Okay, sounds good. Can you hear 00:34:33.469 --> 00:34:40.418 - me okay? We can hear you just fine. Perfect. Thank you. Kim, are you good? Great. As Tim said, my name 00:34:40.418 --> 00:34:47.367 - is Jeff Andreessen. I'm president of Acuity Research and Insights. We're a full service public opinion 00:34:47.367 --> 00:34:54.654 - polling firm in Evanston, Illinois. We've done work for park departments, park districts, school districts, 00:34:55.010 --> 00:35:02.663 - cities, villages, libraries, all over for about 25 years. And tonight I'm gonna provide an overview 00:35:02.663 --> 00:35:10.392 - of some of the key takeaways from the quantitative statistically valid survey that we conducted with 00:35:10.392 --> 00:35:18.122 - residents within Bloomington regarding the Parks Direct Department. The next slide shows just a high 00:35:18.122 --> 00:35:23.326 - level summary of our approach. I'm sorry, there are builds in here. 00:35:23.458 --> 00:35:31.571 - I thought I would be going through this. You might have to click a couple of times for things to appear. 00:35:31.571 --> 00:35:39.375 - There we go. Our goal was to receive completed surveys from a minimum of 400 residents. We did that. 00:35:39.375 --> 00:35:47.488 - The next bullet shows the dates of our data collection essentially from mid-November through just before 00:35:47.488 --> 00:35:50.270 - the Christmas holidays in December. 00:35:50.658 --> 00:35:56.799 - Part of the delay is that that's just a difficult time of year to conduct a survey. People are busy 00:35:56.799 --> 00:36:03.185 - with family and events and so on. Everybody who was sampled had three options to respond to the survey. 00:36:03.185 --> 00:36:09.756 - They could do it online. They could fill out a printed questionnaire and mail it into us. We had a prepaid 00:36:09.756 --> 00:36:16.081 - return envelope to our office so that we could process those. And we also gave a toll free number that 00:36:16.081 --> 00:36:20.318 - someone could call if they wanted to complete it over the phone with 00:36:20.514 --> 00:36:30.121 - one of our live interviewers in Evanston. You'll see the vast majority of people opted for the online 00:36:30.121 --> 00:36:39.539 - survey. And the rest completed the paper survey. Nobody requested a phone interview. In addition to 00:36:39.539 --> 00:36:48.958 - the statistically valid survey, we gave the department the survey link and the QR code. So after we 00:36:49.474 --> 00:36:57.780 - received responses from 405 sampled residents. The department made the survey link available to residents 00:36:57.780 --> 00:37:06.086 - or users on the website, on social media, other channels so that anybody outside of our sample who wanted 00:37:06.086 --> 00:37:14.157 - to reply could do so. We compiled those responses separately and those are provided in the full report 00:37:14.157 --> 00:37:17.918 - overall. We had a very good additional response 00:37:18.946 --> 00:37:28.439 - that open survey as well. For our statistically valid sample of just over 400, we weighted it to adjusted 00:37:28.439 --> 00:37:37.752 - census targets for Bloomington. The census includes demographic data for IU students who are obviously, 00:37:37.752 --> 00:37:39.454 - for the most part, 00:37:39.586 --> 00:37:48.977 - in Bloomington temporarily and turning over every year. So we adjusted those to focus more on permanent 00:37:48.977 --> 00:37:58.187 - Bloomington residents, both homeowners and renters outside of the IU system. And for a sample of this 00:37:58.187 --> 00:38:08.030 - size of just over 400, the maximum margin of error is just under plus or minus 5%. A full description of the 00:38:08.290 --> 00:38:16.774 - demographics are provided in the full report, as well as a map on the next slide that shows the regional 00:38:16.774 --> 00:38:24.935 - distribution of our respondents. And again, those percentages for the north, southeast and southwest 00:38:24.935 --> 00:38:32.126 - areas are the adjusted percentages for, again, more permanent residents across the city. 00:38:32.578 --> 00:38:39.376 - In terms of the key findings, on the next slide, our surveys generally start very broad. We begin by 00:38:39.376 --> 00:38:46.376 - asking people to give their overall opinion of the department on a zero through 10 scale. Anything that 00:38:46.376 --> 00:38:53.174 - is six or higher is a favorable rating. Anything four or lower is an unfavorable or negative rating, 00:38:53.174 --> 00:39:00.510 - and a five is considered neutral. The vast majority, as you can see here, have at least a somewhat positive. 00:39:00.706 --> 00:39:08.372 - opinion of the department and that includes 39% who hold you in the highest regard, giving you scores 00:39:08.372 --> 00:39:16.038 - of nine or more. On the other end, only 3% have a fully negative opinion overall and the remaining 7% 00:39:16.038 --> 00:39:23.628 - are neutral. Those are generally people who are familiar with the department, but not enough to have 00:39:23.628 --> 00:39:26.334 - formed a strong opinion either way. 00:39:26.594 --> 00:39:34.770 - To the right of that bar, you can see your average rating is a 7.9, which is very strong, very positive 00:39:34.770 --> 00:39:43.103 - overall. And the good news is that, for the most part, that's consistent among most subgroups. No segment 00:39:43.103 --> 00:39:51.436 - of our sample gave an average rating below a 6.6, which is still a solidly favorable rating. So everybody 00:39:51.436 --> 00:39:54.974 - was 6.6 or higher around that average score. 00:39:56.642 --> 00:40:05.244 - The next slide will show the responses to a question that we asked about whether or not the respondent 00:40:05.244 --> 00:40:14.179 - and their household feel that their household, their interests, their background are sufficiently included 00:40:14.179 --> 00:40:21.278 - and represented by everything that the Parks and Rec Department provides in terms of 00:40:21.410 --> 00:40:29.357 - activities, programs, events, engagement, and so on. Overall, about nine out of 10, 91% of the respondents 00:40:29.357 --> 00:40:37.081 - said yes, we feel that we are sufficiently included and have enough access and representation in what's 00:40:37.081 --> 00:40:45.029 - being offered. 9% disagreed. And the breakouts that you see here by age, whether or not they have children 00:40:45.029 --> 00:40:50.302 - under 18 in the household, their region, or their length of residence, 00:40:50.402 --> 00:40:57.322 - These are the only variables where there was a statistically meaningful difference between those yes 00:40:57.322 --> 00:41:04.447 - no responses and you where you can see the disagreement coming up a little bit higher than that average 00:41:04.447 --> 00:41:11.367 - of 9% is among those who are 45 to 59 at 12% households without children 10% versus only 2% of those 00:41:11.367 --> 00:41:16.094 - with children. Residents who live outside of the southwest region so 00:41:16.802 --> 00:41:24.612 - Folks in the north and the southeast regions are around nine and 10%. And then longer term residents 00:41:24.612 --> 00:41:32.576 - of 10 or more years are all at 10% or higher. This reflects some of the open-ended feedback from those 00:41:32.576 --> 00:41:40.308 - adults, older adults and those without children that if they feel underserved, it's because they're 00:41:40.308 --> 00:41:46.494 - seeking more programs or activities for their age group or for their household. 00:41:46.658 --> 00:41:53.537 - There's a perception among many that the Parks and Rec Department does a really good job of providing 00:41:53.537 --> 00:42:00.483 - activities and addressing the interests of children, youth, and young families. But if someone doesn't 00:42:00.483 --> 00:42:07.902 - have children or their children are out of the nest, so to speak, there may be more that they're looking for. 00:42:09.634 --> 00:42:17.273 - We then, on the next slide, informed residents that in 2024, just under 2% of their property taxes went 00:42:17.273 --> 00:42:24.692 - to fund the Parks and Rec Department and asked them to rate the value that that 2% of property taxes 00:42:24.692 --> 00:42:32.331 - represents, given the programs, parks, facilities, and services that the department provides. Just over 00:42:32.331 --> 00:42:36.958 - three out of four respondents said it's at least a good value. 00:42:37.058 --> 00:42:45.231 - for that 2% and that includes almost half saying that it's an excellent value. So these are very, very 00:42:45.231 --> 00:42:53.245 - strong value scores. The average 7.7 value score is directly in line with your overall esteem rating 00:42:53.245 --> 00:42:55.070 - on average and only 8% 00:42:55.266 --> 00:43:01.481 - feel that you represent a poor value. Not surprisingly, those lower ratings are more likely to come 00:43:01.481 --> 00:43:07.881 - from people who aren't using you. They say they don't visit the parks, they don't use your facilities, 00:43:07.881 --> 00:43:14.220 - they're not attending events, they're not participating in programs. What those percentages represent 00:43:14.220 --> 00:43:20.435 - is that for every one person saying that that share of their property taxes in their mind is a poor 00:43:20.435 --> 00:43:24.350 - value, you have almost 10 people saying it's a positive value. 00:43:24.930 --> 00:43:33.881 - So it's almost 10 to 1 good value to poor value. And again, there's much more detail in the full report. 00:43:33.881 --> 00:43:42.576 - On the next slide, you'll see the results from questions that we asked about their usage of the parks 00:43:42.576 --> 00:43:50.078 - and recreational locations. 90% said someone in their household had been to one of your 00:43:50.210 --> 00:43:57.782 - parks or trails or playgrounds in the last year. And we asked which ones a majority mentioned going 00:43:57.782 --> 00:44:05.354 - to the beeline trail to either Switchyard or Bryant Park. Almost half had been, or someone in their 00:44:05.354 --> 00:44:12.926 - household had been to Griffey Lake, 40% the rail trail. And you can see the responses in rank order 00:44:12.926 --> 00:44:18.302 - from there down. We're only showing the ones that received 5% or more. 00:44:18.946 --> 00:44:27.185 - of the overall response. And then on the next slide, we likewise asked about your recreational facilities 00:44:27.185 --> 00:44:35.347 - in the past year. Almost two thirds said someone in their household had been to one of your recreational 00:44:35.347 --> 00:44:43.119 - facilities. And for those, we see more of an even spread, most of them in the teens or low 20s with 00:44:43.119 --> 00:44:48.638 - Brian Parkpool leading the responses followed by the spray pad and dog 00:44:48.930 --> 00:44:56.027 - park at Switchyard, Twin Lakes at 17%, the Ice Arena at 14% and so on from there. So then for anybody 00:44:56.027 --> 00:45:03.124 - who said that they've been to one of your parks or facilities in the past year, we asked them to rate 00:45:03.124 --> 00:45:10.430 - their overall satisfaction 0 through 10 on a number of attributes and those are shown on the next slide. 00:45:10.786 --> 00:45:18.004 - While your overall esteem and value ratings were very high, the satisfaction scores among the users, 00:45:18.004 --> 00:45:25.366 - the actual people going to your parks and facilities were even higher. In terms of overall experience, 00:45:25.366 --> 00:45:32.942 - the level of cleanliness and upkeep at those locations, accessibility, the safety factor, and the service 00:45:32.942 --> 00:45:40.446 - from staff when they're interacting with staff. A majority, or sorry, at least half, 50 percent or more, 00:45:40.610 --> 00:45:48.740 - are completely satisfied with those attributes based on their experiences. And the vast majority are 00:45:48.740 --> 00:45:57.594 - at least somewhat satisfied with no more than 4% expressing dissatisfaction with any one of those attributes. 00:45:57.594 --> 00:46:06.046 - And you can see to the far right that those average ratings of 8.0 or higher are consistently very high. 00:46:06.046 --> 00:46:08.702 - Outdoing the earlier ratings for 00:46:08.802 --> 00:46:15.556 - your esteem and value. One thing I'll call out here is the bottom attribute quality of service from 00:46:15.556 --> 00:46:22.512 - staff. It receives a lower average rating, still very strong, but just lower than the others. The main 00:46:22.512 --> 00:46:29.266 - reason is to the left of that bar, you'll see 19% who are neutral. Those are mostly from people who 00:46:29.266 --> 00:46:36.357 - say, I go to the park to walk my dog, but I don't really interact with any staff. I don't see any staff, 00:46:36.357 --> 00:46:37.438 - so I can't give 00:46:37.602 --> 00:46:44.982 - an opinion on how satisfied or dissatisfied I am. So the reason that average rating is a little bit 00:46:44.982 --> 00:46:52.657 - lower is because we've got more people in that neutral response for staff service. For anybody who gave 00:46:52.657 --> 00:47:00.184 - a rating of six or lower, we asked in an open-ended question why they're not more satisfied. I can go 00:47:00.184 --> 00:47:02.398 - to the next slide. Thank you. 00:47:02.850 --> 00:47:10.782 - to tell us why they're not satisfied and with which specific location or locations they're not satisfied. 00:47:10.782 --> 00:47:18.265 - The responses to the left are from people who identify a specific park or facility. You can see the 00:47:18.265 --> 00:47:26.048 - ones generally that come up most often are those that are most visited in general, certainly Switchyard 00:47:26.048 --> 00:47:30.014 - and Beeline followed by seminary at a distant third. 00:47:30.370 --> 00:47:39.572 - and then trails in general. For most of those, certainly the top three, the vast majority of responses 00:47:39.572 --> 00:47:48.774 - regarding lower ratings for those had to do with perceptions of safety, concerns about likely drug use 00:47:48.774 --> 00:47:58.334 - taking place in the parks, homeless people, unhoused people in the parks, and just a general concern about 00:47:58.434 --> 00:48:06.973 - safety in those locations. For trails that had more to do with just upkeep or preferences for fewer 00:48:06.973 --> 00:48:15.768 - paved trails, preferences for more unpaved trails. To the right, those are the few responses that were 00:48:15.768 --> 00:48:24.562 - just generally given without being attributed to any one location or any specific location. And again, 00:48:24.562 --> 00:48:26.014 - you can see that 00:48:26.274 --> 00:48:34.028 - safety concerns followed by upkeep were the top responses there. All of the numbers on this slide are 00:48:34.028 --> 00:48:41.631 - numbers of cases. These are not percentages. So you can see that beyond the top few responses, most 00:48:41.631 --> 00:48:49.537 - of these only, a lot of these only got two, three or four responses each. We then moved on to questions 00:48:49.537 --> 00:48:52.958 - to gauge the level of demand and interest in 00:48:53.538 --> 00:49:01.460 - some of the, some potential recreational facilities. These percentages show the level of interest or 00:49:01.460 --> 00:49:09.382 - demand for each of these amenities. So 75% of the respondents said they're interested or like to use 00:49:09.382 --> 00:49:17.540 - or would like to use more trails for walking, hiking and biking. Just over 60% likewise have a interest 00:49:17.540 --> 00:49:21.854 - in open space and natural areas, as well as amenities. 00:49:22.242 --> 00:49:29.578 - in the parks and near trails such as benches, garbage cans, drinking fountains, et cetera. And then 00:49:29.578 --> 00:49:36.914 - after those top three, it drops off 38% express demand or interest in some kind of water feature, a 00:49:36.914 --> 00:49:43.883 - swimming pool or aquatic center, and then pickleball courts, ice rinks, outdoor sports fields, 00:49:43.883 --> 00:49:48.798 - splash pads, et cetera, all hover somewhere around 14 to 27% each. 00:49:49.250 --> 00:49:56.842 - So once we know what the level of demand is for each of these, we ask those who are interested in each 00:49:56.842 --> 00:50:04.433 - how well that demand is being met. And we plot that on this quad chart. So the y-axis to the left from 00:50:04.433 --> 00:50:11.951 - zero at the bottom to 100 at the top reflects those percentages that we just saw. So if you look over 00:50:11.951 --> 00:50:18.142 - to the far right, you'll see trails. If you draw a line over to that vertical axis, 00:50:18.274 --> 00:50:26.409 - That's that 75% who said they're interested in trails. And then for park and trail amenities and open 00:50:26.409 --> 00:50:34.863 - space, those were 1661% each. The X axis, the horizontal axis is the percent who said that their interest 00:50:34.863 --> 00:50:43.078 - or usage or demand for each of those is currently being met mostly or completely. And you can see that 00:50:43.078 --> 00:50:45.790 - when it comes to your facilities, 00:50:46.146 --> 00:50:53.993 - Whether it's in high demand or low demand, the majority of people, roughly 60 percent or more, say that 00:50:53.993 --> 00:51:01.689 - that demand is already being mostly or completely met. Again, this is asked whether it's being met by 00:51:01.689 --> 00:51:09.310 - the City of Bloomington Parks and Rec Department or any other provider. Whether the folks using your 00:51:09.474 --> 00:51:17.214 - with expressing an interest in pickleball courts are using your pickleball courts or going elsewhere 00:51:17.214 --> 00:51:25.108 - for pickleball, they're telling us that they're able to find pickleball courts pretty readily. So none 00:51:25.108 --> 00:51:32.158 - of these represent gaps for the city. And I'll tell you, and I've been on a number of these 00:51:32.354 --> 00:51:40.947 - worked on another of these studies with Jamie. This is unusual. Usually there's something to the left 00:51:40.947 --> 00:51:49.539 - of this chart that shows some gaps, but for the features that we tested here, all of them are seen as 00:51:49.539 --> 00:51:57.374 - being in good supply. The next slide, we wrap this up by asking them to identify the top two 00:51:57.922 --> 00:52:05.142 - amenities or features that they would like to see the top priorities for the Parks and Rec Department 00:52:05.142 --> 00:52:12.574 - in terms of prioritization for providing or improving or adding. The dark blue segment shows the percent 00:52:12.574 --> 00:52:19.794 - giving that their number one priority. The light blue is their number two and then the sum percentage 00:52:19.794 --> 00:52:25.598 - is off to the side. And you can see here when it comes to priorities while trails 00:52:25.698 --> 00:52:34.280 - still remains number one. Park amenities and trail amenities, well, initially being tied with open space 00:52:34.280 --> 00:52:42.535 - becomes clearly a second priority over open space and natural areas in terms of priorities. And then 00:52:42.535 --> 00:52:51.198 - beyond those, the responses in terms of prioritization drop further. You'll notice at the bottom that 17% 00:52:51.618 --> 00:52:59.135 - feel that none of these are priorities. This is likely a combination of people who just simply are not 00:52:59.135 --> 00:53:06.798 - active outdoors or recreationally or just not interested, or they're people who say, yes, I'm interested 00:53:06.798 --> 00:53:13.950 - in an ice rink and my needs are currently being met. So I don't have a priority or an unmet need. 00:53:16.514 --> 00:53:24.424 - For some facilities, we asked a willingness to pay questions and we preface this by saying that the 00:53:24.424 --> 00:53:32.808 - Parks and Rec Department is managing several aging facilities and that major improvements and renovations 00:53:32.808 --> 00:53:40.718 - would likely mean higher user fees and or property taxes to address those. Knowing that, would they 00:53:40.718 --> 00:53:42.142 - support or oppose 00:53:42.658 --> 00:53:50.775 - seeing improvements to the facilities that you can see here. Four out of the five receive roughly 75, 00:53:50.775 --> 00:53:59.131 - three-quarters percent support, which is strong. It's highest for Bryan Pool, followed by the Ice Arena, 00:53:59.131 --> 00:54:07.726 - Winslow Sports Park, and then Twin Lakes. I'll caution you though that you'll see from the colored segments 00:54:07.726 --> 00:54:10.750 - of the bars that most of that support 00:54:10.882 --> 00:54:18.635 - is somewhat support. So clearly people are favorable of the concept, but obviously the details in terms 00:54:18.635 --> 00:54:26.090 - of what kinds of improvements, what the timeline would be, how much higher would user fees or taxes 00:54:26.090 --> 00:54:33.769 - be to pay for those will obviously be important to them. Mills Pool rounded out the list, but it still 00:54:33.769 --> 00:54:40.702 - has a very high level of support over opposition, just over two to one. I will call out that 00:54:41.154 --> 00:54:48.921 - Well overall support for mills pool is a little bit lower. The percent its percentage of strong support 00:54:48.921 --> 00:54:56.390 - is about as high as the top 2 items about Brian pool and Southern so something else to keep in mind 00:54:56.390 --> 00:55:04.307 - in terms of this context. And then on the next slide. We again asked well if the parks and rec department 00:55:04.307 --> 00:55:07.518 - could only do one of those what would what 00:55:07.618 --> 00:55:14.896 - Do you think should be its number one priority, knowing that it would likely mean higher fees and or 00:55:14.896 --> 00:55:22.174 - property taxes. In that context, Brian pool comes up most often support for Brian pool is especially 00:55:22.174 --> 00:55:29.957 - strong in the Southeast region, but also among the newest residents of Bloomington. The second top response 00:55:29.957 --> 00:55:31.614 - was none of these are. 00:55:31.746 --> 00:55:39.428 - priority. And again, these are people who think that these locations or these facilities are in good 00:55:39.428 --> 00:55:47.110 - shape, or they simply don't want to pay more to have those improved. That 24% at the bottom tends to 00:55:47.110 --> 00:55:54.868 - be the oldest most long term local residents, those without children and people who are participating 00:55:54.868 --> 00:55:57.150 - in the department's programs. 00:55:59.458 --> 00:56:07.830 - With regard to the pools on the next slide, again, we reminded people that both of the outdoor pools 00:56:07.830 --> 00:56:16.202 - are in need of major repairs and improvements, and we were interested in which of these options they 00:56:16.202 --> 00:56:22.750 - would support more if these were the options available to them. Just over half 00:56:23.010 --> 00:56:32.366 - would support improving one of the pools and converting the other one to a splash or spray playground 00:56:32.366 --> 00:56:41.631 - facility versus 33% who would like to see a new aquatic center or outdoor pool that replaces both of 00:56:41.631 --> 00:56:50.895 - the two existing pools. And then only 12% supported making improvements to one of the two pools, but 00:56:50.895 --> 00:56:52.638 - closing the other. 00:56:53.058 --> 00:57:02.697 - The fourth option to close both pools was supported only by 2%. So again, the two biggest options among 00:57:02.697 --> 00:57:12.521 - these options is to improve one and convert the other or provide a new one that replaces the two existing 00:57:12.521 --> 00:57:16.414 - pools. We then move on to questions about 00:57:16.674 --> 00:57:23.259 - Participation and attendance in department-sponsored programs and events, nearly half said someone in 00:57:23.259 --> 00:57:30.295 - their household had attended something in the past year or participated in something. And of those attendees 00:57:30.295 --> 00:57:36.815 - and participants, their overall satisfaction, again, is very much in line with the high satisfaction 00:57:36.815 --> 00:57:43.335 - scores that we saw with the parks and playgrounds and trails and facilities, averaging 8.4 with just 00:57:43.335 --> 00:57:45.982 - over half saying that they're completely 00:57:46.498 --> 00:57:54.707 - satisfied with those. Again, if anybody gave a lower score, we asked an open-ended to find out with 00:57:54.707 --> 00:58:03.491 - which program or event and what the issue was. Those are provided in the full report, but it was literally 00:58:03.491 --> 00:58:11.700 - a handful of people who were less satisfied with programs and events. We then asked about a similar 00:58:11.700 --> 00:58:15.230 - demand analysis for programs and age-based 00:58:15.458 --> 00:58:23.270 - activities as well as events. You can see that interest and demand is highest, obviously, for the farmers 00:58:23.270 --> 00:58:30.714 - markets. The only wrap I saw in the farmers markets is people want more of them in more locations. I 00:58:30.714 --> 00:58:38.157 - love the farmers markets. Outdoor concerts is a close second. Roughly a third express an interest in 00:58:38.157 --> 00:58:43.390 - natural resources education as well as gardening and orchard programs. 00:58:43.778 --> 00:58:54.238 - The level of demand for very specific types of activities for youth age groups is shown there mostly 00:58:54.238 --> 00:59:05.009 - in the 3 to 5 percent range. But again, people could provide multiple responses across those. Then it's 00:59:05.009 --> 00:59:09.566 - higher for the 18 to 59-year-old age group. 00:59:09.698 --> 00:59:17.732 - sports for that age group, that adult age group is fairly high, but it's a little bit higher for visual 00:59:17.732 --> 00:59:25.765 - and performance arts as well as basic recreation or enrichment programs. And then when we plot how well 00:59:25.765 --> 00:59:33.953 - those activities are being met or readily available, the good news is that the two that are most popular, 00:59:33.953 --> 00:59:38.974 - farmers markets and outdoor concerts, people feel that they have 00:59:39.714 --> 00:59:49.841 - pretty easy access to and are in good supply. The bottom right quadrant also shows that for lower priority 00:59:49.841 --> 00:59:59.399 - activities, those are likewise readily available. Natural resources education, both youth sports and 00:59:59.399 --> 01:00:04.510 - visual and performance arts for ages five through 12. 01:00:04.642 --> 01:00:12.155 - as well as slightly to a lesser extent recreational and enrichment programs for that age group, as well 01:00:12.155 --> 01:00:19.523 - as teen sports for ages 13 to 15. To the left of that in the lower left quadrant, these are where the 01:00:19.523 --> 01:00:27.614 - gaps are, where the percentage who are expressing an interest or demand on the vertical axis are also reporting 01:00:28.098 --> 01:00:36.559 - less than a majority saying these are readily available to them. And you can see most of these, again, 01:00:36.559 --> 01:00:45.020 - are centering around adult and active older adult programs, especially recreational, basically all the 01:00:45.020 --> 01:00:53.563 - categories for the 18 to 59-year-old. Recreation enrichment, visual performance arts, and adult sports, 01:00:53.563 --> 01:00:57.342 - as well as programs for those ages 60 and up. 01:00:57.506 --> 01:01:05.262 - The gardening and orchard program is close to being a majority of needs being met or interests being 01:01:05.262 --> 01:01:13.171 - met as is preschool programs at the very bottom there. So the biggest opportunities here are for adult 01:01:13.171 --> 01:01:21.234 - programming. And again, we have other questions in the full report, open-ended questions that articulate 01:01:21.234 --> 01:01:23.614 - this in respondents own words. 01:01:23.874 --> 01:01:31.433 - When we ask what the number one priority should be for the Parks and Rec Department to add, improve, 01:01:31.433 --> 01:01:39.367 - or expand in terms of events and programming, again, they love the farmer's market, they love the outdoor 01:01:39.367 --> 01:01:47.151 - concerts, they want to see those maintained. And then each of the remaining categories garnered between 01:01:47.151 --> 01:01:49.022 - 5% and 9% of a priority. 01:01:49.282 --> 01:01:57.987 - So it's beyond those top two events, it's really spread out in terms of the types of activities and 01:01:57.987 --> 01:02:06.691 - programs that people are interested in. Again, the full report provides profiles of those who place 01:02:06.691 --> 01:02:15.396 - gardening and orchard programs as their top priorities as opposed to sports for adults 18 to 59, as 01:02:15.396 --> 01:02:18.878 - opposed to programs for adults 60 plus. 01:02:22.466 --> 01:02:30.398 - And then we wrap up the survey by asking residents where they go for information about the Parks and 01:02:30.398 --> 01:02:38.722 - Rec Department, its programs, the parks, its services, the light orange responses are multiple responses. 01:02:38.722 --> 01:02:44.062 - So we ask them to select as many as possible. You can see here that 01:02:44.610 --> 01:02:52.219 - A lot of these, a lot of residents are omnivores. They're going to multiple sources and again, those 01:02:52.219 --> 01:02:59.978 - are skewing more toward the more engaged park and facility and program participants. A slight majority 01:02:59.978 --> 01:03:07.737 - rely on word of mouth. Almost as many go to the department or the city website or refer to the printed 01:03:07.737 --> 01:03:09.470 - program. About a third 01:03:09.858 --> 01:03:18.682 - rely on signage at your locations or your social media posts. And then after that, 21% mentioned the 01:03:18.682 --> 01:03:27.681 - digital program guide. So the printed versus the digital guide as a source gets better than two to one 01:03:27.681 --> 01:03:36.680 - usage or reference over the digital guide. We then wrap up by asking, well, which one of these is your 01:03:36.680 --> 01:03:38.078 - primary source? 01:03:38.242 --> 01:03:46.830 - Initially, word of mouth was the top multiple response. It quickly drops off and is replaced by the 01:03:46.830 --> 01:03:55.504 - printed guide as the top response as their primary resource at 29%, followed closely by the city and 01:03:55.504 --> 01:04:04.350 - department website at 23%. And then everything else receives just 10% or less of the overall response. 01:04:06.690 --> 01:04:16.501 - I'm happy to answer any questions or talk about anything that surprised you or didn't surprise you here. 01:04:16.501 --> 01:04:25.844 - Just kind of echo, having looked over the slides earlier, how wonderful it is that people feel like 01:04:25.844 --> 01:04:34.814 - they have such good interaction with the staff. I mean, that is not surprising, but it's really 01:04:34.914 --> 01:04:46.087 - You know, nice confirmation to see and a lot of other positive things for us to think about. So any 01:04:46.087 --> 01:04:57.707 - other comments or questions for Jeffrey? Okay. All right. Thank you again for that. And then in section 01:04:57.707 --> 01:05:03.294 - E, do we have any public comments here or online? 01:05:09.442 --> 01:05:18.356 - If you're online and want to make a comment, please raise the hand icon. Okay, so no public comment 01:05:18.356 --> 01:05:27.360 - this evening, and then we'll go back over to Tim for any additional announcements before we adjourn. 01:05:27.360 --> 01:05:36.542 - Yeah, first of all, thank you again to Jeff from Acuity for being on with us. I think there's a lot of 01:05:37.154 --> 01:05:44.304 - really great information in that report for us to draw on. We are currently in our master plan working 01:05:44.304 --> 01:05:51.314 - on identifying our priority goals, which we'll be bringing up with the final plan. And we know those 01:05:51.314 --> 01:05:58.395 - surround our community impacts, investing in what we have, financial sustainability, our staff, those 01:05:58.395 --> 01:06:05.822 - are main themes that we're looking at with our goals. And I think looking at the community survey gives us 01:06:06.114 --> 01:06:12.154 - even more information and affirmation that we're on the right track with those goals that we can see 01:06:12.154 --> 01:06:18.254 - a high percentage of the community. There's things people want, but there's things that are being met 01:06:18.254 --> 01:06:24.414 - pretty well. And so I think it's our task to continue to meet those expectations as well as we can and 01:06:24.414 --> 01:06:30.693 - answer those community demands with our resources. So that said, just shout out a few other things going 01:06:30.693 --> 01:06:35.358 - on. A few projects are ongoing or wrapped up that you might see or encounter. 01:06:35.490 --> 01:06:41.622 - There's some new interior lights at the switch art pavilion Brightening up the space especially on some 01:06:41.622 --> 01:06:47.517 - of these dark winter days. Those are great As Kevin mentioned the bannacher front steps are nearing 01:06:47.517 --> 01:06:53.472 - completion and soon We'll be starting a roofing project a roof and gutter project at bannacher. That 01:06:53.472 --> 01:06:59.486 - should help with some water penetration issues there energy efficiency investments have continued and 01:06:59.586 --> 01:07:05.648 - There's new LED lights at Banneker at the Allison Jukebox building, and this year we're gonna be pursuing 01:07:05.648 --> 01:07:11.424 - solar panels on the Allison Jukebox building as well. The power line trail is out to bid. We're very 01:07:11.424 --> 01:07:17.257 - excited to bring that project to fruition this year, hopefully during the summer construction season. 01:07:17.257 --> 01:07:23.148 - The tree assistance program is ongoing and having a big impact. I know the board has heard about that. 01:07:23.148 --> 01:07:28.638 - And we haven't met since this all happened, but obviously we had a pretty significant snowstorm 01:07:28.802 --> 01:07:35.689 - Over the the last week there of January and our staff had to do a lot of work both at our Rec and sports 01:07:35.689 --> 01:07:42.380 - facilities and are getting our programs going or keeping them going all the snow moved in like freeze 01:07:42.380 --> 01:07:48.939 - fest winter Palooza those things and then of course snow removal efforts afterwards and I think you 01:07:48.939 --> 01:07:53.662 - know the the impact of that large snow on the community really showed a 01:07:53.794 --> 01:07:59.486 - how important some of these rec facilities, especially our trails, walking paths, things like that, 01:07:59.486 --> 01:08:05.462 - having those cleared for folks can be very impactful to our community health after a big snow like that. 01:08:05.462 --> 01:08:11.324 - So thank you to all of our staff who worked on snow. We're spending a lot of time thinking and working 01:08:11.324 --> 01:08:17.187 - on digital accessibility stuff right now, dealing with an upcoming federal government deadline to work 01:08:17.187 --> 01:08:22.366 - on things like board packet materials and website. Julie has been leading the way on that. 01:08:22.562 --> 01:08:28.908 - And of course we are in a big seasonal ramp up right now to performing art series and concerts and the 01:08:28.908 --> 01:08:35.192 - market and all the things that go into that. Really looking forward to getting those again. Obviously 01:08:35.192 --> 01:08:41.846 - the template agreements tonight, big part of starting to get our vendors and performers and concessionaires 01:08:41.846 --> 01:08:44.926 - signed up to be a part of these community events. 01:08:45.762 --> 01:08:52.348 - I'll just shout out Twin Lakes continues to be really busy between basketball and volleyball on alternating 01:08:52.348 --> 01:08:58.507 - weekends. It seems like a lot going on there as well. So that brings us to the end tonight. Our next 01:08:58.507 --> 01:09:04.788 - meeting is slightly adjusted because of spring break. So rather than being on the week of spring break 01:09:04.788 --> 01:09:10.825 - as it typically would be, we are adjusted to the following Monday, March 23rd at 5 p.m. All right. 01:09:10.825 --> 01:09:15.582 - Thank you, Tim. And thank you to all the staff who participated this evening. 01:09:16.098 --> 01:09:20.158 - I'll adjourn the February meeting of the Bloomington Board of Park Commissioners.