- Okay, so it is 502 and I will call to order the March meeting of the Bloomington Board of Park Commissioners
- and Kim, could you start us with the roll call, please? Kathleen Mills here. Ellen Rodkey here. Jim
- with lunch here Israel Herrera Okay, so we do have all four members here today And a big crowd of people
- who like to see the parks board
- so we first we go into the Section B Public hearings and appearances. So Emily Boock will be up. Oh,
- no, sorry. We didn't go to do a first up then is a the consent Agenda which we usually take these all
- in one motion. So do we have someone wants to make a motion? Move to approve the consent calendar second
- All right. And all those in favor. Aye. Aye. All right. That motion is carried. And then we will move
- into section B and the Bravo award with Emily Boock here to present. She's on the other side.
- Good evening everyone Emily book community relations coordinator and we would like to recommend is a
- door Tory for the March Bravo award I would like to recognize is door with this award in recognition
- of his volunteerism as Santa at our annual winter wonderland event Is a door has volunteered as Santa
- at winter wonderland a joint event with the community and Family Resources Department for the past three
- years His portrayal of Santa is a highlight of the
- Event that resonates with kids and adults of all ages He has been a key player in creating holiday magic
- and memories for countless families in the bandit community We are especially grateful for the representation
- He gives the children as a black man for portraying Santa showing them that they belong in this beloved
- holiday photo tradition We are very grateful for his volunteers. I'm in our community. Thank you
- Thank you to Parks and Recreation City of Bloomington Community and Family Resource Department and So
- all the Friends and family in the past that has support me. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you very much
- our Section C Which is our other business So we have a number of contracts and agreements tonight And
- I should say since it seems like we have quite a few people don't normally come to the meeting We do
- always have public comment time Here at the end, so we'll try and be swift so you won't have to wait
- too long if you wanted to make a comment and
- So first up in c1 is the partnership with iu for the grand balloon concerts at switchyard main stage
- leslie brinson Good evening, leslie brinson recreation division director i'm here today to recommend
- the approval of a cooperative partnership agreement with indiana university indiana university for grand
- balloon concert series at switchyard park
- Bloomington Parks and Recreation Department will be managing contracts scheduling initial payments of
- fencing portable restrooms and potential shade structures With reimburse reimbursement from Indiana
- University. This is the first year of what we hope will be a multi-year partnership agreement with Indiana
- University for this concert series the grand balloon concert series at Switchyard Park will host three
- ticketed concerts June 20th July 18th and August 29th on the main stage at Switchyard Park
- The University will be responsible for all organizational and event tasks including items associated
- with the performances Ticketing and the general event area the Parks Department will manage contracts
- associated with parking fencing portable restrooms Having all those costs associated be reimbursed by IU
- We are also working with IU to invest in infrastructure improvements for the stage and lawn area right
- now We're trying to focus on the shape and trade shade structure improvements But a final determination
- of that project has not been completed in this agreement. IU has guaranteed a financial Commitment that
- will go towards future work in the lawn But not knowing exactly that timeline we have built in just
- a dollar amount as a hold for that financing right now and
- programming we feel but fills a gap in our current concert series and Offerings in the park while also
- supporting a larger economic development investment with the city of Bloomington. I do have IU here
- and Comment Ali to answer some questions from IU side Thank you, I'll just say that the the grand balloon
- was founded in 2018
- The first Grand Flu was held in the parking lot of Upland Brewery And it has expanded every year since
- if you were here last summer you saw it out on Kirkwood But we've outgrown that space as well. It's
- always meant to be a Program that was dedicated to building up the arts and culture summer calendar
- as well as creating experiential learning opportunities for students And then also boosting businesses
- in the region
- And so we're really excited to kind of I think this is sort of the apotheosis of our relationship with
- the city moving into Switchyard Park Investing in the park investing in the region and really kind of
- giving back to the community at large with the proceeds from the tickets that we're selling Happy to
- answer any questions, though Oh
- I just wondered, I'm trying to remember from last year or year before, is this more the three separate
- concerts? Is this more than you've had in the past? It's always been multi-venues, but over one weekend.
- And we are stretching it out over three months. So a concert each month in June, July, and August, which
- we hope will boost attention and attendance. OK. All right. Thanks. Thanks.
- Four-year partnership was my question. Is it is this an initial year as a trial and then the partnership
- will like renew or is this Because it says we hope will be a four-year partnership. I mean, I think
- the intention is it for it to be long-term each year I think invest the investment part of it will change
- or the infrastructure potential will change and
- So that's why I said helpful But I do think our intention is for it to stay in the park and continue
- to grow and the partnership might change a little bit again Kind of based on that infrastructure. Okay
- concept makes sense. Thanks Yeah, I'll make a motion to approve the partnership with IU for the grand
- balloon concert at switchered main stage Second, okay, and all those in favor I
- Motion is carried. Thank you Leslie and Ed And in c2 Rebecca Swift's first item is a contract with Monroe
- LLC for construction of the power line trail It's right here folks Rebecca Swift operations director
- here to recommend a contract with Monroe LLC for the construction of the new power line trail that will
- be located in the Duke power line easement just across the street from Switchyard Park
- I can go into the details of the project but really for the sake of this they were the lowest of five
- bids received at a total of six hundred and thirty seven thousand seven hundred and seventy five This
- will be paid out of the bicentennial bond and really looking forward to building this this summer All
- right any happy answer any questions questions for Rebecca Make a motion to approve the contract with
- Monroe LLC for construction of the power line trail second
- All right, and all those in favor aye-aye All right motion is carried and then Rebecca has more items.
- Yes, see three contract REA for construction inspection services for the power line trail. Yes Construction
- but more the inspection part of this large project knowing that it involves a lot of different steps and
- Inspection of the pouring before the gravel and the asphalt. We have glow rock going in a lot of things
- to stay on top of so We're looking to hire REA to help support construction inspection services as well
- as provide some on-the-ground technical services when needed We've worked with them in the past and
- I'm really happy with the services they provided So really looking to recommend us hiring REA for some
- construction services not to exceed 124,950
- So that's kind of a top end of the price possibly correct not to exceed but hopefully they will not
- use all those hours allocated to them, right? I'll make a motion to approve the contract with REA for
- construction inspection services And all those in favor I
- motion is carried for C3 and C4. Finally, Rebecca has the agreement with GTE MobileNet Verizon for Ops
- Center cell tower lease extension.
- That's a mouthful for the sake of it. We'll call it Verizon Wireless. We are extending the lease agreement
- We do have a cell tower located at our ops center. And so we do generate some non-reverting froms from
- that cell tower So this is just an extension. It was time to update the lease agreement for another
- 15 years So ran this there are legal their attorneys and we were able to come up with this lease agreement Have we
- determined What fair market value rental is for did we look at the rental amount or I? Have not looked
- at the rental about no, okay
- I'm just thinking with the 50, you know, but I don't know what the going I have no idea what the going
- rate is for those But I just wondered if we'd consider that and re-upping the we don't set the the rental
- rate So I don't know if we have control over that I know the only thing that we have we we have to agree
- that we won't redevelop Relocate or sell the rental rights to anybody else, but I don't know that we
- even get to dictate what that cost is that rate is I mean they're using our tower. Yeah, right, right
- We look at it specifically this year re up the lease
- We didn't look at it specifically this year, but we have in recent years and found it to be in line
- acceptable To the point where we didn't feel like we needed to this was just sort of a formality and
- there's a built-in escalator Year-over-year in it too. So we didn't feel the need to dive deeply into
- that this time Okay
- Yeah, I'll make a motion to approve the agreement with Verizon for the cell tower lease extension second
- Motion is carried. Thank you, Rebecca. Thank you. And then c5 Sean Marler has the agreement with green
- dragon for 2026 switch yard mowing Good evening
- Sean Marler recreation facilities general manager here to recommend for approval the 2026 switch our
- park mowing contract to be awarded to Green Dragon Inc The total area to be mowed is a little larger
- than in the past as we have changed over some space from
- on natural landscaping to grass, and we've identified some other areas we'd like them to mow. The new
- size is approximately 17.2 acres, which is an increase from the 15.6 previous acres. The per cycle quote
- was $1,000.32, which comes out to $60 an acre. Typically during the year, we do about 26 to 30 cycles
- starting sometime in April. Excuse me.
- the not to exceed amount is $33,025. This year we did have a record number of bidders in the process.
- Typically we only get two to three. This year we had six, of which Green Dragon was the lowest. Green
- Dragon is also the company that has won the bid in the past. I'm happy to answer any other questions.
- You said it sounds like maybe two acres switched over from a landscaping situation Is this just a better
- use of that space or it was partly that and also partly there was an area to the south near the college
- entrance That we are walnut entrance that typically in the past we hadn't been mowing and we decided
- to start mowing Okay, it was a combination of those two and that space alone was it was about an acre,
- right? Okay, and I just like to
- That parks does some of its own mowing as well, but correct There are some small spots that we still
- more ourselves because it's not Cost-effective to have green dragon do it and we'll also come in and
- mow before a certain event Sure. Okay. All right any questions for Sean? No, I think
- Cursory search of $60 an acre is a really competitive rate So it is like I said there were six bids
- and the fact that we've had we've enjoyed having Green Dragon in the past The fact that they were still
- the lowest bid I think says a lot about us getting a good price for good work. Yeah I'll make a motion
- to approve the service agreement with Green Dragon for 2026 switch yard mowing second
- And all those in favor I All right motion is carried and see five. Thank you Sean. Thank you And then
- Haskell Smith has c6, which is the MOU with gray star for in lieu tree planting Good afternoon Haskell
- Smith urban forester
- This is a review and approval of a memorandum of understanding between Parks and Rec planning
- and transportation and gray star development for off-site tree planting For the fell iron property in
- which is the BIM currently BIM over there Staff recommends the approval of this memorandum of understanding
- between all parties the fell iron property had some
- UDO planning requirements, they couldn't quite meet with on-site planting and still developing the property
- to its full potential. So they kind of pitched an idea of off-site planting, worked with them and the
- planning department to kind of get to these numbers. Grey Star's been through some BZA meetings already.
- This tree planting is conditional to their occupancy permit at the end of when it's all said and done.
- I think out of the 143 trees About 40 of them are street trees and the rest have to contribute to closed
- canopy So these will work in the areas that we're trying to restore to forest Butler Park being probably
- the closest one to that happy to answer any questions That I can Okay. All right any questions for Haskell
- about this?
- No, I think that's not This is tree planning well the first tree planning, but yeah, you're talking
- about the second Yeah Yes coming up so Okay
- Make a motion to approve the MOU with gray star for in lieu tree planting second Okay, and all those
- in favor. I I See seven motion is carried and then Okay, then on to the next one Haskell has the partnership
- with canopy Bloomington for 2026 youth tree tenders program Yes, this is a continuation of our youth
- tree tenders program
- Again, it's paid from funds from the economic and sustainability department not to exceed $13,000. This
- partnership hires about 10 high school students throughout the season. They work, I think, 40 to 60
- hours over their summer working on trees, mulching, pruning, watering, root ground excavation, all those
- things from either high school, any high school. Canopy Bloomington handles all the outreach and hiring
- and all that.
- Good stuff at some point. I usually come in and do some sort of educational aspect to it but I think
- this is our Fifth fourth year fifth year something like that, but we've all told they're over Six six
- hundred trees that have been worked on I think just in the last few years Okay, and you you don't have
- any trouble getting a
- Students to participate in the program the first year was a little rocky But it seems like it's been
- pretty consistent four or five application or the you know, they're student-based. I Ava's not mentioned
- any struggles. Okay. All right. Great. Yeah I guess is canopy take care of kind of the student recruitment
- and all of that and then you just have to show up to provide the training and yeah, I mean basically
- canopy Bloomington handles everything and
- Yeah, start to finish on the work. I tell them what trees to work on And kind of check up to make sure
- they're doing all the good right things, but canopy pretty well handled I Make a motion to approve the
- partnership with canopy Bloomington for 2026 youth tree tent tree tenders Second okay, and all those
- in favor. I I All right motion is carried and then
- Tree season Haskell has a few more items see a 2026 first quarter urban forestry risk report Yes, there's
- a lot of dead trees in that risk report. Yeah. Yeah, that's not even all of them Those are the ones
- we're gonna try to focus on So yeah Haskell Smith urban forestry. This is the first quarter risk report
- for 2026 I Added some tables from last year kind of tried to spruce it up a little bit I won't spin
- much time Going over anything in here But currently we're working on tree grades right now with seven
- new great installations I think we've got six of those and already and then the 49 sites we are looking
- at Working through as many as those as we can currently Okay, and I noticed that even though there's
- a lot of dead trees on the list Most of them are not listed as a sort of immediate
- Hazard is that I assume that just where they're located if they were to collapse. They're not gonna
- Yeah, so generally the risk reading has a few things built into the matrix likelihood to fail likelihood
- of contact with the target and then consequence so it may be that it could fall but it's gonna fall
- on Nothing that matters, you know field right? So yeah, I kind of Okay
- Any other questions for Haskell? Well, I guess so does that that mean those trees are in Low-risk category
- or are they higher risk for falling? But we're not as we're not as concerned about is that am I looking
- at the right one? I see I didn't put the risk ratings on here. Actually, I believe oh, yeah. Yeah, they're
- like moderate. Yeah We're out of high-risk trees. Yeah as according to treekeepers so now we're getting
- into the moderate and I
- Figure the dead ones are the ones we should start with. Yeah Yeah Well keeping track of 24,000 trees
- is pretty impressive If it wasn't for the software, I wouldn't know where to begin Okay Any other questions
- for Haskell Do we need to approve this is that do we take okay? So I make a motion to approve the q1
- tree risk and reporting document second
- Okay, and all those in favor I All right motion is carried and then c9 Finally for Haskell's the agreement
- with bluestone for storm resiliency pruning phase two Yeah stack recommends the review and approval
- of the phase two the storm resilience pruning project. This is with bluestone tree LLC again It is grant
- funded from an IRA grant that was passed through to American forests not to exceed $25,000
- Basically, this is going around high priority streets and reducing risk hazard reduction pruning or
- if a tree isn't good enough health will put a cable in it or if it's got a bunch of dead branches on
- it will deadwood it and that's Pretty much the short and skinny of it. The first phase pruned about
- 25 trees, which is much less than I anticipated But there was some nasty stuff that got taken care of
- and then looking at this one I'm kind of figuring it's going to be around in that 25
- to 30 trees again Okay All right. Well, that's certainly a good proactive thing to do especially since
- we have more and more storms seems like these days. Yeah Okay, all right, and this is a federal grant
- any questions for Haskell Make a motion to approve phase two of the storm resilience pruning project
- with bluestone tree and
- Okay, and all those in favor All right motion is carried. Thanks Haskell. Thank you. And then in c10
- Julie Ramey has the adopt a roundabout sponsorship agreement template. Good afternoon I'm Julie Ramey
- the community relations manager for the Parks and Recreation Department and the document for which I
- am seeking your approval today is a little bit different than some of the other Things that you would
- typically look at this is a template
- a sponsorship agreement for the newly resurrected adopt a roundabout program Parks and Recreation is
- responsible for the overall maintenance and landscaping in three different roundabouts and the Public
- Works Department is responsible for maintenance of a fourth roundabout so Joanna Sparks and
- with our department, our urban green space coordinator, and Cassie Wernie from the Department of Public
- Works, and I and Rebecca Swift put our heads together to come up with a program that would help financially
- support contractually managing vegetation and the overall upkeep of these four different roundabouts.
- So the template agreement that I seek your approval for today outlines the details of What will be a
- sponsorship agreement that hopefully we will be able to sign with businesses who are interested in sponsoring
- a roundabout so like most
- Agreements of this sort it is the recognition that sponsor businesses are seeking not only do they want
- to help beautify Bloomington's gateways and entry points and Areas of our city where there's a lot of
- traffic, but they also like to see their name out and get recognition for that support
- So the sponsorship agreement outlines the details of what a sponsor will receive as a roundabout sponsor.
- It's dependent on the number of entry points to a roundabout. There are either three or four entries
- into each roundabout and the pricing is based on the number of signs that a sponsor will receive when
- they sign on to adopt a roundabout. They can adopt one entry or all four and get the associated
- number of signs. So there's a lot of moving parts. Not only does the Board of Public Works need to also
- review and approve this sponsorship agreement, partnership agreement, but we're also working with traffic
- and engineering to ensure the correct placement of signage within the roundabout itself, within the
- rights of way, and the funding for the program will go directly to, for the roundabouts that Parks and
- Recreation manages, it will go directly to our urban green space.
- So that they can use the funding to contractually assist with the management and upkeep of our roundabouts
- If anyone is interested in the tap the tap Rogers roundabout that was the one that's managed by Public
- works and that funding will go to public works to help them manage the vegetation in that roundabout Okay and
- Am I right? I remember some sponsorship before but then we sort of paused for a while or Where's that?
- The we have resurrected the adopt a roundabout Okay program the program that we had in place wasn't
- working the way we had hoped that program had a basically had volunteers and landscaping companies to
- agree to maintain a roundabout for a set period of time and
- while intentions were good when a company is in business and they're working and they have a Kind of
- a freebie out there. It didn't tend to be the highest of priorities and Without any real skin in the
- game. It wasn't working the way that we had hoped So we scrapped the original program that took the
- best parts of it and built this formal partnership or sponsorship agreement Okay
- Thank you. Yeah, I was just trying to remember from before I remember less coin had some feelings about
- some of the Roundabouts that he didn't feel were kept up as much as they should have before so it's
- noteworthy that anyone who chooses to be an adopt a roundabout sponsor has no other Responsibilities
- to the roundabout other than writing a check so they do not go to the roundabout to pick up trash or
- pull weeds there's no physical presence and
- They just get their sign and we use the funding to beautify the roundabout Okay. All right Thank you.
- Any any questions for Julie? I was just curious about the sign. I think as I read it this the city will
- actually Create the signage and install it. So this is Like night. Is there any description you can
- provide of the signage? I assume it's not just like yard sign. I
- It is not we have a maximum size for the sign based on the sign ordinance of the city and then working
- on the details of the actual sign size and height with the traffic and engineering folks again line
- of sight and traffic in a roundabout so we haven't landed on Exactly what it's gonna look like yet.
- So Not not just white text on a blue background
- My vision is a stylistic roundabout with a logo This roundabout adopted by and a company name so simple
- as you're driving by it's not too distracting But still gives our sponsors recognition Besides the roundabout
- are there other sponsorship back options similar to this I like it baseball fields or Other
- Parks Facilities we have advertising opportunities at Winslow Sports Complex. There are signage banners
- advertising at Twin Lakes Recreation Center But beyond or and also at the Frank Southern ice arena,
- we sell banners and advertising there So it's similar to their our advertising programs, but we are
- actually asking for an adopt around about
- shoo-horning it into our other adoptive programs and it's sort of a Combination I guess of advertising
- and adoption A company can sponsor every single roundabout if they want to and
- And it's not exclusive. So if a roundabout has four entry points, the Sarah Rogers roundabout is a good
- example. There's four entries and exit points to that roundabout. If one company wants to buy all four,
- there's a price point for that. And those price points are part of the partnership agreement or the
- sponsorship agreement. If they only want one sign, then they get one entry. They get their sign in one place.
- But there's no exclusivity unless the company wants to buy all of them or all four entry points It could
- be for they couldn't company could sponsor the entire roundabout if they wished if they wish and I see
- that well, there are some companies that are restricted but It doesn't see doesn't show anything about
- educational ones. So any University or any educational
- a organization can sponsor the roundabout. The agreement does, the template outlines the types of businesses
- that we do and do not permit to be a part of the program. So political advertising, for example, we
- wouldn't take a political ad for a sponsor for the roundabout. Companies that make a certain percentage
- of their income from alcohol or tobacco sales, those kinds of things.
- Restrictions are outlined in the agreement And remind me the signage would be something that would come
- or approved by the Department or the organization can come up with the design and you approve it All
- of these signs will be designed and fabricated by parks and recreation so we'll work with the Adopter
- on their logos and the way that they want their company name to appear but we will take a
- We'll take all of the responsibility for producing the sign and getting it installed and For the renewal
- the max time would be one year and then revision of the of the Interest of the company to continue but
- that would be only limited to one year for the current template is for a year does does indicate that
- it is for one year they get the first right of refusal for future and
- requests or to keep their sign in a roundabout and we we couldn't we will look at the success of that
- and how how the year of Exposure goes we're hoping that as more traffic goes in and out of those roundabouts
- They'll see signs and it'll promote itself and ideally we'll have people standing in line wanting to
- adopt a roundabout Okay
- All right. Thanks Julie. I'll make a motion to approve the adopter roundabout sponsorship agreement
- template and Second, okay. All those in favor. I All right motion is carried. Thank you, Julie and In
- c11 we have the agreement with the Bloomington pickleball club for 2026 mark sterner Good afternoon
- mark sterner general manager of the Twin Lakes Recreation Center
- Today I have the approval of the partnership with the Bloomington Pickleball Club. The Bloomington Pickleball
- Club, established in October of 2022, operates with the mission to promote recreational and competitive
- play while creating a positive and inclusive experience for all. As a part of its partnership with the
- city, BPC has granted exclusive use of the RCA Park Pickleball courts from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday
- and Thursday evenings from April through October.
- This two-hour time period supports organized play events and tournaments for both adults and youth Helping
- to further introduce the sport to the Bloomington community the only modifications to this year's agreement
- are is the usage fee which goes from five dollars per core per hour to 750 per core per hour and staff
- recommends approval
- All right, I'll make a motion to approve the partnership with Bloomington public pickleball club Okay,
- all those in favor All right. Thank you. Yep. Thanks mark and C12 is that's the time of year for price
- schedule updates with various staff members can tell us about updates for Twin Lakes Frank Southern
- Center aquatics
- You're gonna take this one Tim Street parks director I will go ahead and give the overview and then
- we can have staff available for questions on any of these since this is a multi staff effort We recommend
- approval of a certain amount of fee changes as indicated in the table on the staff report These are
- just periodic updates for the most part and I will just kind of go through a high-level overview of
- Broadstrokes of it and then we can have staff come up for any specific questions in the ops division
- There's an update to a range of prices for memorial trees and benches just based on material costs And
- particularly the benches what they are costing now materials are going up In farmers market. There's
- a number of fees that have been removed because there was a grandfather clause as you can see in sort
- of the footnote at the bottom of the table there that they are now Timing out I guess is the term I'm
- looking for
- As well as an adjustment for the amount of farmers markets there are this year There's one additional
- one based on how the calendar falls. So we have one extra Saturday this year Sports division just removing
- a fee that is not being used
- And then, under our sports division as well, which would be Chris Hamrick on any of these items for
- Frank Southern or for aquatics, there's a number of fee updates. Chris is doing a number of fee updates
- as he looks at the cost of things and cost recovery at the ice arena, and particularly some of the summer
- usage that we piloted a bit last year that has gone well and we want to continue just continuing to
- find ways to generate revenue there to support the operation.
- And then a few aquatics fees No change to the main aquatics fees, you know the admission we talked about
- that a lot last year That is remaining consistent for this year. And of course Chris will be back up
- after this to talk about the fee waiver policy And just some brief overview of aquatics numbers as it
- relates to this as well But we can have any staff come up for questions as needed Okay Well, just a
- couple of things stood out to me at
- Frank Southern I mean Jersey. It looks like these are new kind of interesting options Jersey purchase
- and then the gear purchase I assume would be like hockey skates and Yeah, so right now the youth program
- who has showed up quite abundantly here They currently run the gear rental program for our house hockey
- program. We will be running the gear rental program going forward and so as an attempt to Offer a
- Accessible entry point to house hockey. We want to keep house hockey as cheap as possible for an entry
- point and then allow other options on top of that So the gear rental program will be free as part of
- the house hockey program But then we'll also offer at the back end You really loved house hockey you
- want to purchase your gear then you can pay extra money if you decide to do that So you have the accessible
- entry point while also having the option to spend more money if you would like to and that's the same
- with the Jersey purchase Okay. All right. That sounds good
- and then for aquatics oh Never mind. I see new toddlers fee for the swim lessons. Is that yeah, we're
- changing our guardian and toddler class a little bit So we've kind of found from last year that the
- three we had nine days Of classes that's just a lot for a guardian and toddler. There's not a whole
- lot to do It's about just getting the kid comfortable with the water and that kind of thing So we we
- shortened the class and therefore we cut some of the price for it
- Well, as someone who took their kids to all nine days and sang wheels on the bus. Thank you Yeah, it
- was too long Okay, all right, so that's the aquatics portion and Frank Southern I had a couple of questions
- since Chris is there what's the difference like it says adult hockey men's league $300 adult hockey
- men's league team sign up with 13 players to
- 250 yeah, so our our goal this year is to Get teams to sign up as a whole so it's $300 if you're if
- you're signing up as an individual And then if you sign up as a team you get a discount because we want
- to get whole teams. Yeah That makes more sense. And yeah, I thought that it was smart to change the
- lifeguard with the rental yeah, that makes a ton of sense so
- Well done on that piece For the trees and benches sorry Chris that probably is not you is it what is
- the Is that our cost on it? Are we is what happens? Yeah, if the tree falls and then you've got to replace
- it now or I know it's not but I mean
- But are we accounting for that if folks are, you know, vandalism to a bench or whatever? We do try to
- factor it in, but really it's the initial cost of the installation and the materials and the initial
- tree. I don't know if you actually filter in a replacement, but no, that is just part of the course.
- We do anticipate some vandalism's damage, also just weathering. Benches are a great example. Hopefully
- the tree just keeps growing and is healthy, but we don't put that on the person who's
- Who's getting the memorial? However, there's no expectation where if the tree were to fail or die I
- forget how many years there is no replacement Okay after a certain amount of time we don't we say after
- three years or correct same with replacing the memorial plaque those Walk away sometimes too. We we
- put in every obviously we make them very heavy We install them so you can't just walk away But there's
- no expectation for replacement forever to maintain that as a memorial tree. Yeah, I
- Yeah, I mean, I don't know I guess and that's through us. It doesn't go through the foundation. Correct.
- Okay. Yeah, I mean I think The instant cost installation of the bench to the labor that good I mean
- I just would hope all that's being accounted for The maintenance is probably the one thing we are shortcoming
- is the long-term maintenance But we're definitely covering the overhead for the install the purchase
- and the initial investment. Okay, I
- And then on the farmers market, so basically Tim you try you touched on this but essentially it's now
- 675 for a large space 486 for a small space. Yes, so we didn't change the day rate So it's still $25
- a day or $18 a day. There is an extra Saturday So there's 27 Saturdays this year's 26, but really the
- difference is we removed a 10% fee so
- In our attempts to kind of come back from COVID we were giving farmers a discount if they reserved their
- Space for the whole year which gave them a 10% discount It didn't really increase the number of reserved
- vendors It really wasn't doing what we thought it would do and so we've and now we're kind of a little
- bit back to full not full capacity but closer and so we've removed that 10% which makes the jump look
- bigger and
- But ultimately the fee is the same $25 and $18 just accounting that exercise Just making sure I could
- read a chart Okay, any other questions about Schedule price schedule updates. No, okay. All right. I'll
- make a motion to approve 2026 season fee changes Second all right all those in favor. I Motion is carried
- And then finishing out this section see Chris hammer also tell us the aquatics report and fee waiver
- policy update Hello, Chris hammer facility manager at the pools here in town We're recommending the
- approval of an updated policy for the fee waiver for the 2026 season We're updating the fee waiver to
- include adults who are legally classified as children for public benefit purposes this also updates
- the requirements for pool fee waivers to meet the federal standards and
- This allows us to not be checking people's income statements to see if they qualify or not The federal
- government will do that for us and then we just take their acceptance letter This also updates to allow
- us one or to allow people to come in with one free adult supervisor with the qualifying participant
- instead of two Okay Happy to answer any questions seems wise to just streamline it to the federal standard. Yeah, I
- It's say I think it's gonna save a lot of admin staff time Yeah, not having to not having to check all
- that stuff and and then we you know, it's it's just the federal standard We don't have to just determine
- what our standard is and all that kind of stuff. So Okay All right, any questions about the Beware for
- Chris Kathleen if no questions, I do have public comment just to share This is from Deborah Meyerson
- We were emailing back and forth about potential policy updates and she said thank you for your reply
- both of these policy proposals sound excellent and responsive Managing income eligibility via existing
- federal programs such as snap wick section 8 or SSI Which is targeted for disabled or aged with low
- income sounds like an excellent way to streamline internal application review While providing access
- to households with limited resources for example Samuel and his housemate each have snap and SSI which
- is essentially their only income and
- Thank you so much for your help investigating how to manage the pool waiver Samuel is already talking
- about when Brian Park pool opens this summer Okay. All right. Great. Thank you Prove the fee waiver
- policy update Okay, and all those in favor aye aye All right motions carried. Thanks Chris And then
- we will move into section D where we have two reports this evening. I
- And do you want is the Iraq in your report? From didn't you're not Denise. I'm not any so unfortunately
- Denise had a scheduling conflict So I was unable to attend today, but we do this annually We give an
- update from Iraq which stands for the environmental resources advisory council So we did still put forth
- the annual report from you for me all included some photos and
- If you'd like we could come back at a later date and present it to you all There will also be an opportunity
- for a natural resources manager We're requesting that she give you all an annual update a natural resources
- management So there's a lot of overlap and content there But if you have any immediate questions or
- want anything clear if I'm happy to answer but for the sake of the wonderful crowd that showed up today
- I think we're all eager to move on to the next agenda item So with that again happy to answer any questions
- Otherwise, if you would like we can present it at another time or just call it Good for your all's to review
- You mean you're going to skip talking about the insect inventory? I know. No, I'm happy to find where
- I am. I also liked the chest measurements of deer taken during hunts. Thank you. Keep repeating that.
- Look at all the good science we take into account when decision-making. So yes, insect inventories,
- chest height. But yes, feel free. I'll keep talking if you let me. Okay. Don't discount our bird town.
- Exactly. Bird town, tree town, bee city. Yeah, forgetting one.
- Bicycle bicycle friendly. Yeah. All right. Yeah. No, thank you There's a lot of good information in
- here and we can always read this and then if we want to follow up that would be great Okay, a lot of
- good work. We're proud of so, okay. All right. Thanks Rebecca and then indeed to We have the Frank Southern
- ice arena risk and operation report which Chris will go through with us and Tim and also again just
- since we probably have some people here that I
- Don't usually come to the meeting. I'll just point out that this is strictly an informational report
- We're not making any decisions or voting on anything. This is just that we get a sense of where things
- are with our Beloved but aging ice arena. Yeah, so go ahead Yeah, Chris and I had talked earlier today
- and just said I would just help preface this a little bit just to yes re-emphasize that as well This
- is an informational report that really we've been working on for a while now considering
- Count myself if you count keto Chris and Alec we've all been in our respective positions for about less
- than two years. So basically a total total reset in terms of how leadership
- Overseas the operations of a lot of our sports facilities including the ice arena So we've been working
- on this report for the better part of gosh a year I know Chris and Alec have met with IB story, which
- is the rink consultant a few times in there and explored some different options that we've talked about
- to the board We've gotten some some better clarity on some of the claims they've made about you know
- the unique old nature of the of the ice arena and able to Explain that better
- And of course, I'll just mention that you know, we we of course were preparing this report before we
- had the ammonia leak a few weeks ago So most of it was already prepared by that point We did go back
- in and amend, you know a paragraph in there to kind of catch up with what we knew When we had to have
- the report done for this board meeting and Chris can speak more to that and what we've discovered since
- and then you know continuing to work with our mechanical contractor to identify the methods and costs of
- Repairing the system the gasket that failed and again, I want to defer to Chris on that but Looking
- to you know, how do we safely reopen? While we look at the bigger picture questions that are involved
- in this report That's really where we're at. And lastly, I would just say, you know, the ammonia leak
- is something we've Thought about and worried about and you know wanted to be prepared for and I'm very
- grateful for our staff I'm gonna give a big shout out to Isabel who was there that night?
- You know the alarms the exhaust fan everything functions as it should have Yeah, we don't like that
- it happened, but I am very pleased with how our staff and systems handled it and that we were Prepared
- to handle it the appropriate way and I appreciate everyone being out here tonight To talk more about
- this. I'm sure so I'll turn it over to Chris. Yeah, I
- First of all, if anybody knows Rebecca, she would have talked about insects for the rest of the meeting
- if she had the opportunity. I also want to reiterate, thank you guys all for coming out. It's great
- to see this much support for the ice arena. Obviously, they care a lot about it. I care a lot about
- it. Alec cares a lot about it.
- Isabella was the supervisor on duty. She's here tonight. She's also plays on one of the IU teams and
- Peyton was there as well I don't know if anybody else we had some ice show instructors that were there
- that helped as well So I don't know if any of them are here that were there that night I kind of want
- to give you guys the outline of what we're gonna talk about today First so that you you know that what
- we're gonna get to and feel free to stop me at any point if you have questions or anything like that
- so we're gonna talk about the history of the ice arena a little bit and
- the community impact, the current conditions, the current system, what the risk management aspect of
- it is and what we're working on. The addendum obviously is the ammonia leak and then we'll talk about
- next steps from here.
- So it was built in 1966 as an open-air facility. It was enclosed in 1988. Before that, it had open air.
- And there's some funny stories. My dad played there and has told me some funny stories about people
- sticking their tongues to the posts and all that kind of stuff.
- They I'm glad they enclosed it. I'm glad I didn't have to claim an open-air facility in 1996 a feasibility
- study was conducted due to city administration that I think the mayor at the time Recommended as part
- of the budget. We're going to close the ice arena and save the money on it So they conducted a feasibility
- study the results suggested a new facility be considered to replace the Frank Southern ice arena due
- to the demand in the area partnerships and RFPs were explored but ultimately enough enough funding was not
- available to build a new ice arena The funding that had been collected through some generous donations
- through the likes of Phil Hill Funded renovations including the lobby and a new compressor as well as
- the HVAC system repairs and roof repairs The community impact the ice arena serves between 60 and 65
- annual 65,000 annual visitors including several of the user groups which have shown up tonight and
- Many of these groups have participants that have been a part of the ice arena from the time they were
- five all the way through high school and sometimes longer than that. And they will, there's several
- instances of multiple generations now going through the ice arena. We also host a number of open use
- and recreational introductory programs. In the master planning survey, 76% of participants expressed
- willingness to pay for improvements to the ice arena and 23% strongly supported.
- Now part of that master planning process as you guys know no numbers were attached to that so it's maybe
- a different different conversation we start talking about how much money people want to want to pay
- the current conditions we've included the budget numbers in the report I won't read through that whole
- piece for you.
- The slight decrease in cost recovery over the past few years has been due to a variety of factors We've
- had a salary study for full-time employees that has changed that a little bit annual raises for part-time
- staff we move the ice resurfacer into our operational budget because we have to lease it now instead
- of Instead of using the one that we had before we had to replace that one And then just in general starting
- to spend money to replace some of the old pieces of the building and trying to fix some things up
- We are currently working on some new initiatives to improve the cost recovery rate. You saw those in
- the fee changes. Some of these include extending the ice season, opening the building in the summer
- for rentals, working to increase partnerships for sponsorship, naming rights, looking at a shared stewardship
- model as a possible new model. Along with these initiatives, the entire Parks Department has just gone
- through training on financial sustainability as part of the master planning process. We are working
- to review various cost recovery factors, including pricing usage rates.
- partnerships Our current system, so this is where we get into the the details a little bit with with
- everything that happened We have an direct ammonia based cooling system. This means that the ammonia
- gets pushed through the pipes Which which cools the concrete and allows it to freeze many ice arenas
- you use ammonia as a coolant and many ice arenas have direct systems and
- But we are one of the last systems that has a direct ammonia system meaning our all of our ammonia gets
- pushed through the pipes So they will use a smaller amount of ammonia to cool glycol that will run through
- the pipes or they will use So that's that that's an indirect system We're one of the last that has all
- of that ammonia getting pushed through the pipes and that's per IB story Who's the the rank consultant
- that we've been talking to? Any questions so far
- Feeling good. Okay. All right risk management. I know it's a lot. I'm sorry Risk man that we've done
- a ton of work on this risk management understanding the risk possible the possible risks involved We've
- been considering some key factors surrounding risk management with the ice arena and Hydrosammonia has
- been used for many years as a coolant for both ice arenas and in many other industries It has mature
- safety standards. There's many standards that have been
- Used for a long time. It was chosen and it's still chosen because it is self alarming at low concentrations
- You can smell it at a really low concentration. It's energy efficient It's lighter than air which means
- it's easily ventilated out of a out of a tight confined area and it's considered environment environmentally neutral
- It does come with potential risks. Obviously the majority of ammonia leaks result from normal mechanical
- failure points like valves or in this case gaskets Rather than catastrophic slab failure or due to the
- direct design specifically and that's according to the International Ice ammonia refrigeration Ammonia
- incident database. Sorry, that was a lot to say a lot to say we use a contractor deem who is a
- Certified by the II AR and trained in their ammonia refrigeration management program They handle all
- of our inspections as well as start up and shut down all adjustments Are made and work is done exclusively
- by them. We don't have staff members going in there trying to figure out we're trying to You know at
- home where you know work it out that kind of thing so it's all done by a certified contractor we've
- installed a new alarm system that is monitored 24-7 by central securities and
- We have EAPs in place that are shared with risk management MCC SC and BFD annually The directive is
- simple and the invent of an alarm clear the building call BFD and call Dean and And we'll work it from
- there staff is not responsible for anything other than those two pieces They're not responsible for
- going in and trying to figure out what's going on anything like that Just clearing the building getting
- everybody safe and that's to keep staff and patrons safe
- As part of this process, we've been working with Deem to meet the IIAR9 standards for existing closed-circuit
- ammonia systems. This standard is designed for systems that operate with more than 10,000 pounds of
- ammonia. Our ice arena operates with less than half that at 4,125. We have decided to go ahead and try
- to meet these standards anyway, just as a safety precaution. We'll talk here in a minute about the gap
- analysis. This is also in the report that you guys can see.
- We just don't see any reason why we shouldn't just go ahead and meet these standards even if we're not
- actually bound to them Dean has conducted a gap analysis and we have until December 31st 2029 to remediate
- any deficiencies or state why we are unable to do so Gaps are listed in the report but includes some
- construction documentation tagging
- Content connecting our water heater to the e-stop adding an eyewash station and adding a ventilation
- switch outside the mechanical room So we have one inside the mechanical room, but just adding one outside
- the non admin items So the admin items are already being worked on that non admin items. We estimate
- the cost at approximately $15,000 Now the addendum on the ammonia leak
- March 10th a gasket failed leaking ammonia setting off the alarm and kicking on the ventilation system
- Ammonia was ventilated out of the system or out of the facility and and mechanical room the alarm tripped
- I was called immediately by our monitoring company and staff on site began executing the EAP all patrons
- and staff were evacuated quickly and
- BFD and BPD were called and BFD did a secondary sweep upon arrival just to make sure that everybody
- was was truly out of the building MCC SC was also notified and then deem was called to come down and
- figure out what was going on They isolated the leak and declared the building safe The ammonia was pumped
- out of the floor back into the tank in the arena was closed for the ice season The failure point was
- not something that was due to the direct ammonia system or age of the system The gasket is just like anything
- Other gases to rubber gasket that just happened to fail just like it would in your car or something
- like that So unfortunately it failed and more important thing than just a car gasket, but but that's
- it's just a normal gasket Obviously going forward we're planning on replacing the gaskets and making
- sure all that stuff's good to go So in conclusion the ice arena is at a critical point the facility
- hasn't received the necessary capital investment over the years last month we
- Last month we met with the risk department to ensure we were on the same page about operating with the
- appropriate safety precautions. Next steps from them and from our conversations include completing items
- on the gap analysis, repairing issues caused by the leak, and creating a full comprehensive risk management
- plan. So we have EAPs in place. We have a risk management style plan, but the risk management plan is
- a separate, it has to follow certain standards and documentation steps.
- Estimated cost for all of these repairs is somewhere between thirty and fifty thousand dollars We think
- it's going to be a little bit on the lower end of that To do those repairs over the past few years.
- We have been meeting with Ivy story Who's the reek rink consultant that they're international they work
- with? NHL ranks and small-town ranks and all kinds of all kinds of ranks and they've helped us develop
- a few options and
- Option number one would be abandoning the Frank Southern Center and building a new facility. Estimated
- cost for that would be $12 million plus depending on how we want to go about that. Replacing the entire
- ammonia system, getting all the ammonia out of the building, going to a glycol-based system. It's a
- new kind of compressor, pretty state-of-the-art stuff. For that, that would be three to four million.
- Replacing the direct cooling system with an indirect system, so this would be
- Going to the system that a lot of other places use where they have a small amount of ammonia that cools
- the glycol that runs through the floor That that estimated cost would be 1.2 million I do want to make
- sure I note on that that that would mean that we would still have ammonia in the building It would not
- be pumped out into the floor. It wouldn't be in the same the same system, but we would still have ammonia
- in the building
- Given the ice arenas impact profile. It is unlikely general fund money will be used to cover the full
- cost of any of these options Funding contributions must be pursued from other sources private individuals
- naming rights contracts partnerships that kind of thing And I think that's all Yeah, I'll just try to
- keep my questions short again because we have people might want to comment but as I
- Maybe for Tim, do you know if there have been any other leaks over the age of the ice arena? When I
- it actually at the start of the year, I had had lunch with the former deputy mayor McRenison He had
- said there had been a minor one Sometime during his tenure, but he didn't remember when exactly I want
- to say that was probably the late 1980s early 1990s Okay, and I know that the Zamboni failed and so
- we went to the renting and
- Other than that, I mean have there been any big costs associated with it or I mean and other than replacing
- this system I guess is there been is there been other deferred maintenance in there like we talked about
- with the pools or is it just been is this really the focus of what we Needed the big focus as far as
- deferred maintenance is this system because we want it to be as safe as possible the other things that
- are included in deferred maintenance is is stuff stuff really needs painted and
- The flooring really needs replaced. It's a lot more. There's a lot of cosmetic stuff that that goes
- into it. Thankfully overall while this system is outdated. It's it's not the system that we would want
- to if we were to install something today. We wouldn't want to use it. But the the the way that the system
- itself has been taken care of.
- They have updated a lot of pieces within that so that that's why it's safe That's why the the ventilation
- system worked the way that it was supposed to and all that kind of stuff. So We didn't you know, it
- wasn't it wasn't dangerous because not that it wasn't dangerous But that it wasn't creating a problem
- because a lot of the system had been updated on that front now the the pieces that have not been updated
- in the ice arena are just
- All of the cosmetic stuff and and you know, there's storage issues and locker room issues and all that
- kind of stuff So that's where the deferred maintenance comes in. Okay Kathleen I'd say there were there
- were really two major investments in the 2000s and One came in the early 2000s with some of the money
- that was donated by the Hill family during The mayor at the time was interested in shutting down the
- arena. There was public pushback there was a whole process by way of
- The YMCA was contacted IU was contacted to see about partnership opportunities the opportunity to build
- a new rink as Chris mentioned there was there was not the social or fiscal capital at the time to make
- that happen and
- And so instead the donation for rooms went to renovating the arena. So about $400,000 went in it replaced
- the compressor It did some lobby renovations at one point. There was a roof failure that cost some insurance
- dollars over the lobby to be activated from an improper roof installation And then solar was installed
- in 2017. So it is Chris mentioned I think the the critical
- You know alarm and safety call-out and vent fan all of that stuff has has been kept up which has been
- really important for safe operations But we are at a critical junction once again of you know, the investment
- from 25 years ago Is reaching its end date when we know we have an old facility, you know the price
- tag for a new facility is very steep so we are just really exploring all options and
- Regarding the arena and what we consider with it going forward Yeah, I see yeah when in 1999 when we
- reached out to the Y and IU and they both declined to be involved in that But was IU using the rink
- back then? I mean, obviously they're using it now, but we have somebody here that I think played around
- that time Yeah, so he played for IU
- And yeah, they were they were using it. Yeah. Okay. Yeah, okay Obviously, it's not a division one program
- sure and I think going forward I don't want to speak for IU. Obviously if they want to donate money,
- we'll take it but but I would say that most likely with all the stuff that's going on with with all the
- That they're having to pay and all that kind of stuff. I think yeah It's unlikely at this point that
- they would be interested in starting a new division one program right now it's something that we obviously
- will connect with them and and see if they want to pursue at some point, but I Would be surprised if
- they're wanting to do that right this minute. Okay, right. I
- Thank you. So what's the plan for us going forward? This report's helpful and all that but when are
- we going to explore alternatives? How's that going to be presented to us or how's that going
- to be undertaken? I Think likely what we discussed today I was just getting back from vacation and getting
- up to speed on everything that's been going on is we'll likely have a contract for a Fuller picture
- of exactly what it's looking like to open safely and kind of do status quo and
- You know for the next couple years here And then I think what we need to do is put together a stakeholder
- group and really have some serious discussions It's it's IU. It's blades. It's figure skating.
- It's you know, a lot of the interested parties Have some of these discussions and really explore these
- options laid out in this report for the long term And and certainly the board would be a part of that
- stakeholder group I would hope maybe to have representation on it then ultimately a decision would come
- back to the board
- Which direction we want to pursue as well Yeah, I guess from my standpoint Without having much information
- other than this and having lived in Bloomington for 45 years is That I think the ice rinks a valuable
- asset to the community. I think the current ice rink that we have is Well below standard I think that
- this is a community that should have a
- better ice rink and I guess I would Generally again without a lot of knowledge or having looked at it
- or having heard from anybody I'm less interested in putting money into the ice rink we have and more
- interested in looking what other alternatives we have out there and I know that
- IU was, that's 27 years ago that we asked them if they wanted to be, now I understand NIL and everything
- else, but I also understand what I saw during the Winter Olympics with hockey. I also know that Title
- IX is still an issue and women's hockey is more and more popular. Even if we didn't have a men's Division
- I program, it seems to me a women's hockey team would be something that IU might be interested in.
- and it seems to me that I mean I would be in favor in going into significant explorations on a new ice
- rink partnering with somebody whether that's IU whether that's somebody an entity like cook or a minor
- league team or
- You know getting a lily grant or fundraising on our own or any kind of bonds that we could do Would
- seem to me a much better use of our money than continuing to put money into an ice rink that I think
- is not It's better than nothing, but I'm not sure and these people out here know better than I do. I'm
- not a I'm not an ice skater or a hockey player or anything else like that, but I I
- I'm not sure it's a whole lot better than nothing. It's a little bit better than nothing. So I would
- be I would be in favor of significantly exploring what other options we have to build in partnership
- more than likely a Nice arena or ice facility that could be used by the public could be used by the
- University and
- I want to say I think you kind of hit the nail on the head with the with the We're at the point now
- where it's we have to make that decision, right? Like it's do we put more money into the ice arena the
- way it is and try to fix up what we have or do we
- Pursue something else and I think that's when when Tim says that's we're at a critical juncture I think
- that's what he means like it's to me. We're just throwing good money after bad by putting it into this
- facility I'd rather put it towards a I'm not at all for closing down and not having a nice facility
- Far from it and I'd keep what we've got before I go to that route, but I think we're much better looking
- at options and
- Again, it's hard to believe because I remember when it was getting ready to be closed the first time
- but it's that's that's 25 26 27 years ago that that you know things have changed Since that time so
- that's my two cents worth and Jim. I agree as well And I think importantly that's why we wanted to make
- this report and put it out there and really get this in the public eye Because what we can't do is we
- can't just continue to say, okay. Well, we can't figure it out right now we'll just
- Do the big bare minimum repairs make sure it's at least safe, right? I mean that's that's a minimum
- standard. We're always gonna hold ourselves to And and then not make a decision for years and years
- and years so I think you know certainly looking at the the immediate investment needed to you know respond
- to the leak and replace the gasket and make sure that stuff's good is stuff we want to do because whatever
- decision we come to on this and Legitimately all three of the options on here there may be
- Variations of those options as well, but they're all valid and they're all worth exploring And that's
- why we wanted to put this out there as an informational report right now Not with the recommendation
- because we need to have time We need to have a public process and a chance for stakeholders to be involved
- as well. So That's why this this report is public. I'm happy to have it out there I'm happy for people
- to review it share it talk about it. Great. I would love for this to be in the public eye Any other comments
- From board members before we go to public comment Yeah Okay. All right. Thank you. Okay. Thank you Chris.
- Thank you, Tim Okay, then in our section II anyone who in person would like to comment we usually offer
- two minutes and ask you to come up to the podium state your name and
- And then Kim will see if we have any online comments as well. Do we still have a sign-in sheet for people
- to? Okay Okay Yeah, so anyone who would like to comment on anything we've discussed or any other parks
- issues All right get it started
- Was not prepared to speak but I'm going to do it. Anyway, my name is Mark Deitch I've been a long long
- user of the Frank Southern Center since I believe is 1978 I'm from India drove down from Fishers tonight
- and currently the one of the coaches Or I'm the head coach of the d3 I Worked at the Frank for five
- years during my
- college time here. So, this rink is kind of a second home for me, as is this town. We have a pretty
- good representation here. Several guys that I've coached from the other team. I really wanted to mention
- how successful those teams are. One of the teams won
- nationals two years ago. The team I coach did very well, and really the one I want to focus on here
- the most was the women's team. And not only that, but there are girls from Bloomington who are Bloomington
- residents that make up that team. And they're very excited. They're trending up. They went from just
- kind of a group to being an HTA official team now.
- which just happened this year. But bottom line is, we need this ranked badly. Obviously, best case scenario,
- we got a big, nice two-pat facility. We know that that's very difficult. But there are so many opportunities.
- I am involved with the ACHA, which is the governing body of club hockey.
- And they have come to me the last two years looking for help to find a facility to host regional tournaments.
- And I helped them two years ago, or the season before last, have it down in Evansville. Would love to
- have done it here. We just don't have a facility for something like that.
- But the need is there the want is there obviously as we progress on Sorry, sorry to cut you off that
- is two minutes Thank you Anyone else who would like to comment yes, come on up
- If anyone online would like to make a comment also, if you would like to raise your hand, I can. I moved
- in Bloomington 11 years ago, and I have two daughters. Both of them are figure skaters. And actually,
- this is not the only reason, but this is one reason I had been homemaker for a few years to support
- my husband. My husband is a faculty in IU.
- and my two daughters to skate year-round in Columbus. So during this difficult journal, we've been couple
- with many families. Some kids, they are really talented figure skaters. But because I first put in the
- community to Columbus, they created. So it's really, so if we have this kind, it will make a big difference
- in figure skating community. Yeah, so that's my point.
- So you're wrong ring though. We will help cultivate a Beautiful ice skating community. Yeah, okay.
- Thank you. All right. Thank you Yes, anyone else who'd like to comment My name is Allison Norris, I
- have two young boys that are involved in blades and then three-year-old tags along quite a bit more
- probably and
- when he's a little bit older, the kids that play hockey at Frank Southern, they spend their summers
- traveling to Columbus, traveling to Indy to try and get a little bit of ice time. It's a really long
- drive for an hour in the summer. But even just discussing with them the possibility that the Frank doesn't
- exist anymore, that they don't have an ice rink, they don't just want to play hockey. They want to play
- hockey in Bloomington. They want to be home. They want to be here.
- And they deserve a good facility. We travel all over to small towns all over Ohio. And South Bend,
- I think, just got a fifth sheet. And it's like, can we get one? One full-size sheet would be glorious.
- So I really appreciate your attention to this. Thank you. Thank you. Hi, everyone. It was kind of loud.
- Amy Moorwick and Thanks again for listening to this. We really do appreciate it I am speaking as somebody
- who has spent over 30 years coaching gymnastics So in in Bloomington, so I've witnessed how sports can
- shape confidence resilience character And then for the past 10 years, I've also been deeply involved
- with the blades as a parent team manager board member and of course a fan of all of it and
- And then through that lens I can tell you that Bloomington's ice skating rink is far more than a facility
- It's a community hub a character building space in a place where lifelong friendships and family traditions
- flourish As I'm sure you can all hear it attest from from people talking It's also a place where our
- youth gets to experience IU and those players when they come into the rink It's pretty unique in that way
- So over the years I've watched countless kids grow into remarkable young adults because of the opportunities
- provided at the rink both in hockey and in figure skating Our players and skaters deeply value every
- minute on the ice and they do not take it for granted This past year our high school hockey team had
- a slow start to this season, but through grit and perseverance They came together ultimately reaching
- the state finals, which is really cool and then for those players every second on the ice every moment
- with their teammates mattered and
- And for the community it meant celebrating pride teamwork and dedication I could go on and on and I'm
- gonna keep it shorter, but basically the other day I was in the rink and I was seeing all the different
- when somebody mentioned generational it is so true I sat there and watched like Grandparents came and
- talked to me about how they remember watching their kids play there and now their grandkids are playing
- at the same time I watched a 3v3 adult tournament and
- Happening that was so awesome and the families were coming in to watch those and nobody got hurt. I
- don't think so. That was good Good old weeks there and and you know just even like during the day like
- there's open skates hockey drop-ins college kids Okay, thank you
- I'm gonna ask for everybody to hold on for just a moment. I'm gonna take one from Online, okay, Claire.
- I'm gonna ask you to unmute yourself and give you an opportunity Hi, sorry, we got so many missed mixed
- messages today about the time I would have been there myself. I'm Claire Walsack I am part of the Bloomington
- figure skating club. I have skated at the rink for 20 years and
- With my family, both my kids were part of this club. I was the president of the club for four years,
- and now that I'm an empty nester, I am an avid figure skater myself. This is part of the community.
- More than once, we have gone and tried to get a group of people for support. We need a new rink. I don't
- know how many people know, but Jill Watson, an Olympic medalist, started in Bloomington at the Frank
- Southern Arena.
- What I'd like to bring up though is we also need an interim plan. Our club is just recovering now from
- COVID. The IU figure skating club almost dismantled and the current administration there has rebuilt
- that club and it's shining. I love IU women's hockey and all the groups. If we don't have an interim
- plan to keep figure skating going, all of these clubs will suffer. So we need both a short term plan
- and a long-term plan. We need to do something to get that rink back open in the fall while exploring
- the longer-term opportunities. And with the Evansville, Bloomington and IU were approached about getting
- one of the minor league teams. And once again, IU said no. So that's all. All right. Thank you.
- I think Amy and Claire kind of took a lot of the things that I was thinking of saying. I don't have
- anything planned. My name is Jen Campanella, and I have been coaching with the Bloomington Figure Skating
- Club since 2004. And I started heading the Learn to Skate program that we run in 2008 after my daughter
- was born, 2009. But I've been involved with that ever since I moved back to Bloomington.
- We have driven five days a week over to Columbus for my daughter to skate. It's super challenging for
- families, but it's such a community. Our Learn to Skate program, the skating school, typically I anticipate
- every year in the fall registration around 250 skaters, and in the winter we bump up to about 350. And
- it helps when there are Olympics happening.
- But to see the families and then at the end of the season Families in the skating school will come to
- me and parents say so when is registration for the next? Session and I have to tell them in October
- and The look on their faces when they're not really familiar with the rink But it's been amazing to
- see the community stick together and continue moving forward with what we have
- But I agree with everybody that has spoken already. I can't say it enough. This community is tight-knit,
- I think. And I think that it has plenty of room to grow, if given the opportunity, and to become even
- closer. So thank you. All right. Thank you. All right. Any other public comments? Dylan, I'm going to
- ask you to unmute yourself. Hi. Thank you.
- My name is Dylan Frecken. I'm the current head coach of the IU women's club team. I've been a head coach
- within the youth program for a number of years here in town, as well as the JV high school team recently.
- And as I said, now the IU women's team. And yeah, I just want to chime in and agree with comments made
- earlier specifically for the women's program. With the professional women's hockey league gaining a
- lot of traction,
- as well as the success we've seen with Team USA in the Olympics. Women's hockey, I would argue, has
- never been more popular, speaking specifically for our team. We have more players who have reached out,
- high school players who are wanting to come to IU, who have reached out about playing here next season
- than we currently have on our roster today. Our goalie was a Division I commit at Penn State, who was
- just in the Frozen Four this weekend, who currently plays for our team.
- And I just think women's hockey, young girls in Bloomington and the state of Indiana, they deserve this
- opportunity. They deserve this moment. The sport of hockey deserves this moment, deserves this opportunity.
- And in my time with the Blades coming from Michigan where I had hockey rinks everywhere, the best word
- I can describe the Bloomington hockey community is overachievers. The success that the Blades program
- has seen is in spite of the rink.
- And it's because of the families, the kids, the coaches, and the love for the sport. And it's time that
- we give those families, those players, that community facility that they deserve, that they've wanted
- for years to achieve the potential that they've always had. And as the coach of the women's program,
- I'm really excited to be a part of that. And I'm just really grateful that this conversation is being
- had. So thank you.
- I'm excited for the future of hockey in Bloomington if we can all come together to do what's right.
- Okay. Thank you, Dylan. All right. Any other online comments or in-person comments? Okay. Mia, I'm going
- to ask you to unmute yourself, please. Hi. I was not prepared to speak today.
- but I did wanna share a little bit about how important the Frank has been to me and my time in Bloomington.
- I came here when I was around eight years old and I've been skating at the Frank ever since. I started
- with the skating school and Jen was actually my first skating coach. So hi, Jen. And then I just continued
- with the Bloomington Figure Skating Club and now I'm on the exec board of the IU Figure Skating Club.
- Um, and I've watched this rink go through many seasons, but it's been set the home to me and I've built
- so many friendships and such a hopeful community and a family. Um, we just recently had built our IU
- figured team back up after COVID and started competing again. And we just got back from the competition
- in Wisconsin. Um, and it's,
- a really great environment and yeah, we definitely have a community that would benefit from a new rank
- and yeah. All right. Thank you, Mia. All right. Any other comments? Yes.
- I'm Sarah powers and I'm the president of the Bloomington blades youth hockey program and I just want
- to share similar stories that everyone has about how we just love our ring and our community and It's
- really time that we invest more in that resource this past year COVID hit us hard as well just like
- it did the figure skating club and this past year my son actually had to play in Columbus for his final
- year of youth hockey and
- Because we just didn't have the players because the resource hasn't been there. So it's hard to grow
- that community So I appreciate that you're giving this attention and support and I appreciate Tim and
- Alec and Chris and all of their hard work. So Thank you
- Wendy Westfall. I have three boys. They've all gone through the learn to skate program with Jen. He's
- done a wonderful job my voice started the oldest is now 19 and joined the figure skating club and It's
- just been a wonderful experience. He started when he was three I think and we've gone every year and
- we love it I just wanted to echo what Claire said about needing an interim solution not that the
- Rink is closed while a new one is being built because I agree that all that momentum would get lost
- and when something is ended, it's very hard to get the momentum and start it up again and make it financially
- feasible. So if there's a way that that can be continued. And I also agree with what others have said
- that it would be nice to have something that's open year round. It's obvious why that's not possible.
- And finally, also, I don't know how the logistics work with skating and renting the ice time, but it
- does feel like there's a lot of competition for who has what hours on the ice. And if there's a way
- to address that with a new facility, that would be wonderful too. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Any
- other in-person comments this evening? Hi. My name's Amy Mason.
- I've been coming to the rink for a long time with my three children. I have a son who's about ready
- to graduate. He was with the Blades, and a son who is a rising senior who is highly concerned about
- his senior year with the Blades. I have a question. So what happens from here? You see, this is such
- a small...
- Support here there. We've got we've got so much power Like we will help you like what what do we do
- from here? And how are you going to use us because I mean, I'm ready like let's go. Let's build a new
- rink We've been I mean all these people know and we've been talking about it for years, but what what
- can we do? I want to know action. What can we do right now? I
- Can we get some donations from all those people watch heated rivalry? Okay, all right Tim do you want
- to answer what where do we go from here? I think you know public comment is not a Q&A as much but I
- want you to know I'm happy to address a little bit of that in my closing remarks when we finish public
- comment. I think thank you very much All right, yeah, yes
- Hi, I also wasn't planning on this land speaking or having anything prepared, but my name is Danielle
- shaper. I'm actually
- Speaking on the last point about making sure that we only have a small fraction people represented here
- I actually am a member of the roller derby team here in town I am a skater a coach and on the board
- of directors for it And I just want to say that I moved here from a small town in New Mexico and I've
- been at every County Council meeting there because we had issues with Space this summer the Bloomington
- roller derby team is renting the Frank's ice arena for our home season And it's like we are so excited
- to be able to have that opportunity my last league I've watched roller derby leagues time and time again collapse
- And like and hadn't failed and not have a venue and so having a venue like this is extremely important
- And I just want to say that there's a lot of support for having an ice rink that also has you know The
- the ability to rent a concrete pad
- Not only because you know the derby team here in town has been seeing a large amount of growth in the
- last few years But I also want to say the opposite of sort of the multi-generational Legacy that we've
- seen here I moved here in 2024 and the best thing about coming here is knowing that I had a roller derby
- lead to Landon because we all know those who place team sports It's not just the sport you play but
- the community you find in that right? So a few years ago
- My mother got very sick. I had to clean out an entire house full of like decades of things and an entire
- roller derby team Descended and helped me haul all that stuff out right an entire roller derby team
- descended and helped me scrub
- 50 years of nicotine off the walls can thing, right? I move here and I got an email from the roller
- derby team saying we can help you unload You haul when I like the first day I was here that derby team
- was unloading my truck and so forth with me And I just want to say the community find is very important
- So this ice rink like they've said is not just these programs you see here There are other populations
- too that really really care about it and I just want to thank you for again for your time and your attention
- on this and because it is so important to so many of these communities that
- Yeah, the last speaker said just a tiny fraction of the people that are affected by these and the community
- that we see is Shown here today. So thank you so much for your time with this with this matter. Thank
- you All right, any other online or in person Hi, my name is Scott coffin I was not prepared to speak
- today as well, but I just wanted to say that I'm not a coach or
- I'm not a parent. I'm not an organizer. I'm a participant I've played hockey since as long as I can
- remember I learned how to escape before I learned how to read as I say often I'm also a Bloomington
- bike polo participant. We're going to be using Frank Southern this summer And I just wanted to say that
- the facility is very important to me And I hope that we can find an interim plan for the facility as
- well. Thank you. Thank you. I
- Is there anyone else online who would like to make a comment if so, please raise your hand icon Okay,
- all right Well with that then we might go back to Tim Street for some to address the question of maybe
- next steps Sure. Oh, first of all, I just want to thank everyone for being here tonight or for being
- here online I always really appreciate when we get the public out
- You know one of our main goals as a parks and Recreation Department is to enhance the quality of life
- in Bloomington and have meaningful community impacts And I think we see that when the community comes
- out and talks about What it is that's important to them this meeting is the ice arena, you know other
- meetings We hear other aspects as well and it's always it's always really great to hear So as always
- thank you for we always have to do our agenda before we get to the public comment so so thanks for sitting
- through a slice of the Parks Department as well
- Of course, we'll have our next park board meeting on April 16th, which is back to our normal time Which
- is Thursday at 5 p.m. We're a little off our schedule this week because of spring break And you can
- certainly come in person or give public comment again or tune in online to see what next steps there
- might be I don't have really concrete next steps right now to offer other than to say we really wanted
- to get this information out there and and work on it and explore these options, but
- Certainly to anyone here tonight or anyone who catches wind of this later. We need the public engagement
- Certainly and we'll have opportunities. You can reach out to myself To keto who's our sports director
- to Chris or Alec at the arena? Or at the pools you might find there this summer when they they switch
- to the other half of what they're doing But but more to come I think is really my next step now and
- stay tuned and I really think we want to have a stakeholder group
- Really explore the options that we've put in this report. So more to come on that In terms about just
- my closing announcements for the end of the meeting I'll mention back to natural resources are prescribed
- fire is happening at Griffey tomorrow Unless the weather changes significantly between now and then
- so we're excited for the the natural resource enhancement happening out there tomorrow
- We are really busy gearing up for a lot of events as you heard about the Grand Flume concert series
- We're really excited about those concerts I would expect IU to start some heavy publicity for those
- now that the partnership is is formalized and they can Make sure to finalize all the bookings and everything.
- I know they've been been talking with some really exciting names for those concerts That I'm excited
- to get out there The first weekend in April is coming up, but that's a big weekend for us
- The Griffey Boathouse will open. It's the first food truck Friday It's the first Bloomington community
- farmers market and parks will be tabling There and you can always come talk to us there as well There's
- a dog egg hunt the dog park at switchyard that Saturday. So a lot of different things going on And of
- course, we're excited to announce our performing arts series coming up soon with the new program guide in April
- Through our publicity as well. So our next meeting will be April 16th We anticipate presenting the draft
- master plan to the board That will that's obviously been wrapped up and will influence a lot of big
- decisions We're making not just about the ice arena, but about other investments in financial sustainability
- In what we have as well. So that said thank you for coming tonight, and we will see you all next time
- Thank you very much to everyone who people spoke and people just came out to in support It really helps
- us to see see that concern and that love that you have for the ice arena. So thank you and with that
- I'll adjourn the Bloomington Board of Park Commissioners March meeting and