Parks and Recreation Board Meeting Minutes - August 5, 2024

Parks & Rec Meeting Minutes
August 5, 2024 @ 7pm

Hybrid meeting was held both via Zoom and in person at the Township building.

• Call to Order
• Attendees
  • Board Members Present: Helen Eckel-Wiener, Anne Duzan, Brett Klukan, Sam Wiener, Jane Kennedy, and Katy Brauchle.
  • Staff Members Present: Abbey Swan
  • Guests Present: None
• The Parks and Recreation August 5, 2024 agenda was posted on the Township website and at the township building on July 29, 2024. Agendas were made available to the public at the meeting. The 2024 Parks and Recreation meeting schedule was published in the Daily Local News on December 27, 2024.
• Public Comment
• Minutes Approved – July 1, 2024
• Old business
  • Summer Series Recap – Lorax Movie Night went well despite some technical issues with the popcorn machine (the screws were missing from the kettle). The crowd was larger than expected. Many attended the craft time before the movie. We did find a small hole in the movie screen that needs to be patched.
  • Summer Series/ National Night Out is tomorrow starting at 6:00. Parks and Rec members should arrive by 5:30 to set up the craft table. The weather forecast looks iffy, so we hope to make a decision by noon tomorrow.
  • Community Day – We’ll do the duck pond again with prizes and smaller nets plus a larger Art Show than last year. The band – Roger That has been booked, Rotary will be doing Bingo in Pavilion 1. We’ll have mini golf, axe throwing, an obstacle course, the magician, and performances. Jane suggested adding a photo booth and other additions to the tent with the characters (could hand out safety info, etc.). Brett suggested Chase from Paw Patrol could be near the PD. Anne suggested a general photo booth would be fun too.
  • Water Leak Update Municipal Park – prices to fix the water leak were very high so Public Works decided to run an entirely new water line (the old one went under the parking lot, the ball field, and the playground). They dug a new line to the north of the tennis courts and started hooking it up. It should be working tomorrow.
  • Science and nature kit purchase – Helen priced out purchasing a kit like those available from the library. The group voted to approve purchasing a kit of our own to use at events.
  • December bus trip – just a reminder that December 14th we’ll have one bus booked to NYC for an on your own trip. Abbey plans to start ticket sales right after Community Day. Abbey will update the release waiver and other paperwork for the trip.
  • September Clean Up Crew – we need a leader for the September 14 Clean Up. Brett offered to help since Abbey will be out of town and lots of other members will be available to attend.
  • 2025 Budget Request – Abbey presented a draft budget memo with the items discussed at our July meeting. The members voted to approve the memo for budget request for 2025.
  • For Community Day, the budget for expenses and revenues was increased to $12,000. We asked for $10,000 for Summer Series events and Art in the Park, the same as 2024. Holiday events (with clean up events) stayed the same. We also added money for a bus trip (which is offset by revenues).
  • For park spending – the maintenance budgets cover the water and electric bills plus mulch and were adjusted based on spending for 2024. The improvements budget proposed adding a new line item for the meadow park of $1000/year to continue converting the grass. We’d like to add some new playground equipment to Municipal Park and update the large swing set in Municipal and Lloyd. Anne suggested adding more accessible swing options which Abbey will price out – we may want to explore having a consultant make a recommendation to improve accessibility in our parks. The group looked at a variety of equipment options and decided to post a board for voting at Community Day. Jane suggested replacing the old merry-go-round with something less dangerous. After some discussion it was agreed that we should consult with a playground planner and seek grants to fund an update to Municipal Park. The group agreed to ask for $20,000 for Municipal Park improvements. Lloyd Park – we asked for $10,000 for a new swing set and repairs to the gazebo.
• New Business
  • Abbey reported back about a stream health event hosted recently by Bondsville Mill. There was some interest in attempting to host a similar event next year, maybe in conjunction with a movie night.
• Additional Business
  • Jane donated a lot of books for the PULL stations. Everyone asked Public Works to lower the book box.
• Adjournment