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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - Recreation and Parks Committee - 03/08/2021Recreation and Parks Committee March 8 5:00-6:30 Agenda This meeting will be held virtually. Please join from your computer, tablet or smartphone https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/262754645 You can also dial in using your phone United States: 1 (646) 749-3122 Access Code: 262-754-645 5:00-5:05 Call meeting to order: Katie Changes or additions to the agenda Comments from the public not related to the agenda Approval of minutes from Feb 22, 2021 5:05-5:15 Paul Connor- PUD presentation 5:15-5:50 Work Plan Review 5:50-6:00 Review Package Creation for Onboarding New City Manager 6:00-6:10 Develop strategies for ongoing communication to City Council 6:10-6:15 Google Docs Review 6:15-6:30 Directors Report Next Meeting: Monday April 12 Recreation and Parks Committee February 22 5:00-6:30 Meeting Minutes Present: Mike Simoneau, William Sudbay Lauren Wedam, Katie Langrock, Christy Pilsucki, Jennifer Kochman, Jon Pence, Bill Barber Staff: Holly Rees Absent: Caroline Henne Guests: Ilona Blanchard, Paul Connor Meeting called to order at 5:03pm by Katie Langrock. Changes or additions to the agenda Holly would like to add a discussion of Wheeler. Holly has an announcement as well. Comments from the public not related to the agenda None Approval of minutes from January 11, 2021 meeting Motion to approve by Jennifer, Mike seconded the motion. All approved. Holly announcement Holly did not send Director’s Report for this meeting because it was not ready for the packet on Friday. Holly can give oral highlights today. Most pressing update is Ben McShane (R&P program staff) gave his resignation and his last day was this past Friday. R&P is going to focus on hiring for the Senior Center position for now and then back fill Ben’s position. Holly said we can review Director’s Report at the next meeting which is only 2 weeks away. Ballot Review Q and A (Ilona) The Garden Street project includes a planned connector between Dorset Street and Willison Road. It will provide a different route option for cars as well as pedestrians and bicyclists. Article 3 on the upcoming ballot provides funding for Segments A (west end) and C (connection) on the map. The Article ask for $4,002,550 and any of the funding left over will go to Segment D on the map. Ilona said there is more information online on the City website. On the front page there is a “Learn more” button about the annual meeting. This second page has information about the candidates, ballot and a video overview as well. The public can navigate to the Garden Street page and read all the FAQs about the project. Ilona said there is a public hearing about the project on 3/1 as well. Jennifer said she sees a positive of this project is that it will give some alleviation to the traffic back up from Dorset onto Willison Road. Ilona agreed it will provide an alternative pathway if people want or are able to take it, not just for cars but walkers and bicyclists as well. Jennifer asked if Ilona thought this would increase business interest in that area. Ilona said the increased foot and car traffic is what draws businesses, and this project will create that. PUD presentation (Paul Connor) Open Space/Civic Space Proposed standards presentation. Paul reviewed presentation materials. Jennifer provided some history and context that, in 2012, the City had some maps and zoning but nothing that said any residential development had to have any type of space. Jennifer said it was the R&P committee that first sent a resolution to the City Council stating that every residential development needs to have some sort of open space. Since then, Jennifer said developers would come to this committee to present and get feedback. Paul said they want to bring the idea that all new developments need to have space for recreation into the rules and regulations. Paul said that a subdivision of land is broken up into Hazards/Level 1 resources which are set aside/protected and the rest becomes developable land. They are proposing, for future developments, 10% of buildable land must be set aside as a civic space. Additionally, Planned Unit Developments will maintain their flexibility but within boundaries. There are three types of land including traditional neighborhood, neighborhood/commercial and conservation. Traditional would require a minimum of 10-15% to be civic space. Paul said the Idea is to create a community, places for people to gather. Jennifer inquired if the PUD concept was going to be used throughout the City. Paul said yes for residential and commercial neighborhoods with parcels up to 4 acres. Jennifer said she likes the idea and makes her think about livable neighborhoods she has seen here and in other places. Paul said they are thinking about it like gathering spaces or focal points of neighborhoods, whether that is a park or a store, but places where neighbors will gather. Paul said these rules would not address individual parcel lots as that is a more complicated issue. Katie clarified what Paul is seeking from the committee. Paul said he would like to share a draft of the plan and have R&P look at it to assess whether it meets the scale for South Burlington. The models they have based their plan on is a larger scale, so they have had to scale it down to South Burlington’s size. Lauren inquired if these rules would be applied to current projects like Obrien or City Center project? Paul said they have been working closely with Obrien throughout the planning. Paul said they cannot hold Obrien to these rules as they are not in place yet but would like to keep that property in mind as R&P reviews them. Holly asked about the format for feedback and turnaround time. Paul said he would like to come back in March to share the plan and get initial thoughts, then come back in April to get the committees deeper thoughts. Jennifer asked if there is role to continually review new proposed developments. Paul said depends on scale of project and, for something like Obrien, there would certainly be a role. Paul said he would anticipate, with the new rules in place, there will be more guidance for the committee and applicants at the start of the process. Jennifer likes having teeth, she said R&P has made recommendations in the past but there was no teeth to it. Will asked about telecommuters who can work anywhere, VT is a great destination, what is the plan to implement this on a smaller scale and keep it an attractive place to live. Paul said his first thought is that, looking at the history of community design, a neighborhood makes sense with everything in walking distance. Paul said believes that the pedestrian environment is coming back. Package Creation for Onboarding New City Manager (Holly) New City Manager will be announced soon and coming in to train with Kevin Dorn. Great opportunity for us to have new City Manager get to know R&P! Important to have documentation on hand to onboard this person. What is the history we want to tell? What is the pathway we would like them to embrace? What document do we want to have and how do we want to present it to this person? Holly said we might want to have core documents, a narrative, accomplishments of the decade and what we are still missing? Holly asked that we think about it and we can map it out maybe at the next meeting? Other ideas were department funding, gap analysis. Katie suggested they attend most committee meetings within the first 6 months. Holly said Coralee and Paul started executive team meetings with all the committee execs met to develop work plans. Then COVID-19 happened and it stopped. Holly said we need to get back to work plans and using Google drive to house documents. Holly raised questions of what information should we be putting out there? What should we be making available to committee members to be able to share with the public? It would be handy to have information for committee members to share on social media. Jennifer said who we are and what we do, bylaws should be included, plans for the IRF. Holly would like to start to create that document and Jennifer volunteered to work on it. Katie said she thinks we should educate city manager on annual report, work plan, NRPA summary which supports the report and work plan. What is the key take away we want this person to have? Bill suggested we take the City Manager on a tour of the parks. Katie agreed this would be a good idea and might be possible in September or October. Develop strategies for ongoing communication to City Council (Holly) Holly said getting in front of CC is important but wants to develop strategies for how we maintain ongoing communication with them. Holly asked should she send the Director’s Report? Be on their agenda more than once a year? Holly said the Planning Commission and DRB get a lot of face time with CC with other committees only going before CC if there is a problem. How to get CC more involved in the highlights, needs and project completion information so that CC can speak to them as well. Holly said CC does not feel very well versed in R&P to be able to speak about it. Bill suggested taking them on a tour as well once a year and you would have their ears for an entire day. It also builds camaraderie. Bill acknowledged that not everyone would come, but those that did would be able to get a lot of information. Katie said she thinks the CC is too overtaxed in their schedules and in each of their meetings so it might be hard to add in a tour with them. Katie wondered about a public tour that CC could join? Holly said the rules indicate that she cannot interface directly with CC; it has to go through City Manager first. Holly would love to invite CC to chat at some type of event but does not have that flexibility as their schedules are very busy. Holly said she thinks it would be good to have face time with CC in March or April, restart the symposium and then a tour of the parks in fall with the Director’s Report to supplement the in-between months. Public Outreach of Park Maintenance Status etc. (Holly) Holly said there is now information about park maintenance status. It is located on a drag down menu from City website. R&P will continue to maintain this as well. Holly said they are intentionally providing information to the public which is good. They added to the Wheeler tab as well in the easement section. The easement language is in there and a quotation from Kevin is in there as well. Holly said they want to be mindful of what the community is interested in and make sure there is access to that documentation. Meeting timed out at 630 when the quorum left. Motion to adjourn by Mike, seconded by Jennifer. All left in the meeting approved. Next Meeting: Monday March 8 Respectfully submitted, Christy Pilsucki Priority & Work List for July 2020 - June 2021 The committee’s themes remain consistent year over year, supporting our mission, the Recreations & Park department and our community. 1. Continued focus on creating an Indoor Recreation Facility for the future in South Burlington a. Advocacy i. Initial advocacy around education that the March 2020 vote was not against an indoor facility but rather an increase in taxes to support this project. b. Fundraising c. Costing Review d. Begin planning for timeline 2. Provide ongoing review and input to development projects in the community that promote opportunities or potential opportunities for recreation that serves all members of the community. a. Consider official committee liaison to work with RDB. This Liaison would have the support of the committee to work with the RDB and developers with the expectation that some of the projects will need to be presented to the committee. Work is needed to outline this committee position, responsibilities and expectations. 3. Prioritize social equity and the role that the committee has in providing recreation and parks access for all members of our community 4. Research and document South Burlington’s Recreation & Park Department in comparison with appropriate national data. Using annual update from NRPA study to identify trends. 5. Open Space Management a. Continue to have a perspective and voice in the use of South Burlington’s open space. b. Advocate for recreational access for all in our community on city owned property 6. Park Asset Management a. Formalize process, structure and expectations of park maintenance from the perspective of the committee and of the community that visit our parks 7. Review the opportunity to increase communication with our community. a. Ensure Recreation & Parks Department has opportunity to present to the City Council at least annually. b. Committee & Departmental outreach around education & advocacy i. Sharing the recreational and park needs, priorities and accomplishments Recreation and Parks Committee Document Package for On-Boarding New City Manager Table of Contents: Introduction Committee History By-Laws Annual Report 2020 Annual Work Plan July 2020 - June 2021 NRPA report: Rec Center Plans:status update from Ilona ( $75K in CIP for construction verification) Tour Schedule and Agenda: Introductory Paragraph: Katie Langrock Committee History: By-Laws: Adopted October 17, 2016 City of South Burlington, Vermont Recreation and Parks Committee BY-LAWS Article I Mission Statement The committee shall be called the City of South Burlington Recreation and Parks Committee. The Recreation and Parks Committee is appointed by the South Burlington City Council to serve the residents of South Burlington by acting in an advisory capacity to the Recreation and Parks Department and the City Council. Article II Duties and Purpose of the Committee A. The Committee shall consult with and advise the Director of Recreation and Parks in matters affecting recreation programs. These matters shall include: 1. Review of park/facility related projects 2. Review of program offerings 3. Review of department policies, and city policies affecting the department 4. Review of finances and proposed budgets 5. Assisting in the development of long-range planning, including needs assessment and setting priorities 6. Providing interface and collaboration with other city committees 7. Other matters as they arise B. The Committee will meet at least once a year in Executive Session with the Director of Recreation and Parks to discuss ways the Department of Recreation and Parks and the Committee can improve their functioning and collaboration. C. The Committee will be involved in the selection of a new Director of Recreation and Parks. D. The Committee will provide support to the Director’s annual presentation to the City Council of budget and other matters. E. The Committee will serve as 1. Representatives of the community 2. Advocates of the department and its mission 3. Citizen advisory committee to City Council Article III Membership and Attendance A. The voting membership of the Committee shall be no fewer than seven and no greater than nine members. All members shall be residents of the City of South Burlington, Vermont. Members shall be appointed to three-year terms, on a rotating basis. There are no limits on the number of terms a member may serve. B. The Director of Recreation and Parks is an ex-officio, non-voting member of the Committee. C. Other ex-officio members may be added for a period of one year or less; members may be added by a simple majority vote of the Committee at any regularly scheduled meeting D. In the event of the resignation of any Committee member, the Committee will petition the City Council to appoint a member to finish any unexpired term that might remain. E. The Committee may request the City Council to add additional members if needed. F. Attendance will be recorded in the minutes of each meeting. Members are expected to attend at least 75% of the Committee’s regular meetings. G. A member who is unable to attend a meeting should notify the Chair prior to the meeting and should submit reports of any business he/she has conducted on behalf of the Committee since the last attended meeting. H. The Committee follows the City Council of South Burlington, Vermont, Guidelines for Citizen Participation, as City Council Appointees on City Boards, Commissions, or Committees in a Volunteer Capacity, adopted by the City Council October 17, 2011. Article IV Meetings A. All meetings shall be conducted under “Robert’s Rules of Order” unless otherwise provided. B. The committee shall meet a minimum of ten times per year, on a day, time and place convenient to the majority of the membership. C. The Chair may call special meetings as needed. D. The first meeting after July 1 and the appointment of new members shall be known as the Organizational Meeting. This meeting will include the election and installation of officers, namely the Chair, Vice-Chair, and the Clerk. E. A majority of voting members constitute a quorum at any regular or special meeting. F. All meetings are open to the public, and the agenda will be published in accordance with VT Open Meeting Law. Article V Officers and Elections A. The officers of this Committee shall be a Chair, Vice-Chair and a Secretary, who shall be elected at the Organizational Meeting to serve for one year or until a successor shall be elected. B. These officers and the Director of Recreation and Parks shall constitute an Executive Board which shall act in urgent situations. C. All officers shall be nominated and elected from the floor at the Organizational meeting. A majority vote of those present shall constitute an election. Article VI Duties of Officers A. The Chair shall preside at all meetings of the Committee. B. The Vice-Chair shall act in the absence of the Chair. C. The Chair shall meet regularly with the Director of Recreation and Parks to discuss preparation of agendas, reports, and other matters that concern the Committee. The Chair will maintain open communication with the Director on matters affecting the Department. D. The duties of the Chair shall also include: 1. Serving as representative of the Committee at public affairs 2. Together with the Director, creating a calendar of Committee activities and goals for the coming year to be presented in the fall of the current year. These goals may be adjusted during the course of the year. 3. Conducting the new Member Orientation with the Director. 4. Creating an annual report of Committee accomplishments and objectives that will be included in the Department’s portion of the City’s Annual Report. 5. Conducting correspondence with City management and City Council on behalf of the Committee. E. The Secretary shall keep a record of the proceedings of the Committee in the form of minutes. Minutes shall be published in accordance with City guidelines. Article VII Duties of Members Each member is expected to attend meetings, and to participate in the work of the Committee. Article VIII Sub-Committees Sub-committees may be appointed by order of the Committee as needs may arise. All sub-committees shall include at least one member of the Recreation and Parks Committee. The sub-committee will select a chair. The chair will schedule and conduct meetings, and report to the full Committee. Sub- committees shall not necessarily be restricted to members of the Committee. The Chair of any special committee may be an ex-officio member of the Committee, including Program, Facilities, Park Areas, Finance, Equipment and Supplies, and the like. The Director of Recreation and Parks may be an ex-officio member of a sub-committee. Article IX Amendments These by-laws may be amended at any time at any regular or special meeting by a majority vote of the City Council, present and voting, provided notice of the proposed amendment has been given in writing to all city Council and Committee members at least fifteen (15) days prior to the said meeting. Approved unanimously by South Burlington Recreation and Parks Committee October 17, 2016. Annual Report 2020: Recreation and Parks Committee Annual Report 2020 Mission: The committee shall be called the City of South Burlington Recreation and Parks Committee. The mission of the Recreation and Parks Committee is to support the Recreation and Parks Department in their goals and efforts to provide recreation and program opportunities; and to acquire and maintain recreation facilities and open space. We do this in concert with the NRPA pillars of recreation: Conservation, Health and Well-being, and Social Equity. The Recreation and Parks Committee is appointed by the South Burlington City Council to serve the residents of South Burlington by acting in an advisory capacity to the Recreation and Parks Department and the City Council. Members: Katie Langrock, Chair, term expires 2023 Lauren Wedam, Vice- Chair, term expires 2022 Jennifer Kochman, term expires 2022 Mike Simoneau, term expires 2021 Jon Pence, term expires 2021 Christy Pilsucky, term expires 2022 Caroline Henne, term expires 2023 William Sudbay, term expires 2023 William Barber, term expires 2023 Committee Accomplishments July 2019 through July 2020 Committee Membership Recognized our retiring long standing members Liz Robitaille, Paul Steinman and Glenn Sproll Introduced new members Lauren Wedam, Christy Pilsucki in July of 2019 In October of 2019, Tami Zyka resigned from committee creating need for mid year reorganization Refinement of committee orientation Half day committee tour of all parks, learning history, space utilization and discussed potential for future improvements Indoor Recreation Center: Much of this year was spent working toward the long term goal of creating an indoor recreation facility. Veteran’s Park was the location best suited for the facility and work began to develop plans and funding. The committee participated with the city management and outside consultants throughout the process of: • Establishing an RFQ for indoor recreation center design • Preparing public outreach steps and timeline for Indoor Rec Center kick off • Developing FAQ’s and initiating public outreach And received updates: • Reviewed of Indoor Rec Center Slides and Cost Presentation- Ilona Blanchard • Indoor Rec Facility Operation Plan Status Report • Funding mechanism voted down in March Analysis NRPA sub-committee analysis created and presented to CC July 15 Participated in developing CIP Development review Reviewed Rye Meadows park setback per planning request Presentation and discussion of O’Brien Farm Master Plan Concept in joint meeting with NRC and Bike & Ped Committee Park updates Bay Crest Install Update Parks Foreman planned outage Supervision of Seasonal Summer Park Staff Athletic Fields Public parks signage Overlook Park Update Discussion of conserving park land Dog Park updates and discussion around new potential locations Wheeler House & Common Roots Lease extension inquiry, addition of outdoor pizza oven • The Common Roots lease extensions for both Underwood and Wheeler House occurred over multiple meetings. The committee worked to create consistency between the leases and to formalize the relationship between Common Roots and the City of South Burlington. Potential new Park spaces: Overview and discussion of South Village soccer field status & general design Overview and discussion of Airport Landscaping plan & Chamberlin neighborhood recreation path 180 Market Street 180 Market Street Update: Review Final Design, Fit up and Finish and next steps Other areas of focus or discussion: Participated in the IZ Open Space Group Reviewed Land Trust Conversation Ballot Language Update on Land Trust Cents for Conservation Covid Response Mid-March • All support staff put on administrative leave through end of the month, working from home for essential tasks only April 2020 • NO MEETING-City Council suspends all committee meetings as city moves to essential work only • Department heads have to furlough staff and use “essential work only” time. Two rec staff are fully furloughed and 2 up to ½ time only May 2020 • Staff furloughs continue: Department Head only full time employee for Department June 2020 • Staff furloughs continue: Department Head only full time employee for Department Priorities Related to the Comprehensive Plan The Recreation and Parks Committee and Department continually engage in an effort to assess and address priorities. We strive to create indoor and outdoor recreation and program opportunities for all residents of South Burlington. Comprehensive Plan goals, objectives and strategies support these Recreation and Parks priorities: • Indoor Recreation Space is a critical need. The winters are long; many people would enjoy indoor fitness facilities, but can’t afford a club. Recreation and Parks recognizes social equity and health and wellness as pillars. We support the location of Veterans Park for creating an indoor recreation facility. • Program Space: The Department of Recreation and Parks has a long-standing need for program space. Adults, seniors and pre-school populations (in fact all populations!) are under-served by programming simply because of lack of space. 180 Market Street will alleviate this problem to some degree. • Creation of Playing Fields and Tennis Courts: The fields and courts are in heavy demand during the season when they must also undergo maintenance. This has been a chronic, long-standing problem. In addition, we have recently been approached by residents who want more courts available. We have participated in the IZ Open Space Task Force, and have shared these concerns. • Recreation and Parks Administrative Offices: When 180 Market Street is completed in 2021 the Recreation and Park Department office space will move to this address. • Creation of City-owned Open Space, Open Space Amenities, and Planned Maintenance: Recreation and Parks has participated in planning and advocacy for the many studies and mechanisms to provide and enhance open space for conservation and for active and passive recreation. In July 2019 Recreation and Parks recommended to City Council creation of a task force to develop a Master Plan for Parks. • Recreation and Parks Department Programming: We strive to meet the community’s needs and desires for a variety of passive and active programs. Through consistent communication with our residents (via conversation, social media and surveys) we are as responsive to requests as our spaces allow. • Passive Recreation: We have plentiful options for hiking, nature exploration, and community engagement; making the most of the many park landscapes that we manage. • Active Recreation: We are limited in our capacity to provide active recreation programs, due to a lack of space. We program our parks to their fullest with youth and adult league sports, fitness programs and events in the optimal weather months, but are limited to our indoor offerings which leads to a lack of cultural, educational, fitness and recreational programming. Indoor/Outdoor Swimming Pool: Everyone should know how to swim, and how to enjoy water sports. This is a long-range goal, and possibly should be explored as a regional facility. Priority & Work List for July 2020 - June 2021 The committee has not yet met to create the work list and prioritization for this fiscal year. It is on the agenda for our January meeting. An updated version of this document will be submitted when this is completed. Our list will most likely remain consistent and will focus on the following: 1. Recreation Facility for the future in South Burlington 2. Open Space Use Guidelines a. provide ongoing review and input to development projects in the community that promote opportunities or potential opportunities for recreation that serves all members of the community. Discussions surrounding social equity and the role that the committee has in providing recreation and parks access for all members of our community Master Maintenance Plan(s) • Open Space Management • Park Asset Management Annual Work Plan 2021 Priority & Work List for July 2020 - June 2021 The committee’s themes remain consistent year over year, supporting our mission, the Recreations & Park department and our community. 1. Continued focus on creating an Indoor Recreation Facility for the future in South Burlington a. Advocacy i. Initial advocacy around education that the March 2020 vote was not against an indoor facility but rather an increase in taxes to support this project. b. Fundraising c. Costing Review d. Begin planning for timeline 2. Provide ongoing review and input to development projects in the community that promote opportunities or potential opportunities for recreation that serves all members of the community. a. Consider official committee liaison to work with RDB. This Liaison would have the support of the committee to work with the RDB and developers with the expectation that some of the projects will need to be presented to the committee. Work is needed to outline this committee position, responsibilities and expectations. 3. Prioritize social equity and the role that the committee has in providing recreation and parks access for all members of our community 4. Research and document South Burlington’s Recreation & Park Department in comparison with appropriate national data. Using annual update from NRPA study to identify trends. 5. Open Space Management a. Continue to have a perspective and voice in the use of South Burlington’s open space. b. Advocate for recreational access for all in our community on city owned property 6. Park Asset Management a. Formalize process, structure and expectations of park maintenance from the perspective of the committee and of the community that visit our parks 7. Review the opportunity to increase communication with our community. a. Ensure Recreation & Parks Department has opportunity to present to the City Council at least annually. b. Committee & Departmental outreach around education & advocacy i. Sharing the recreational and park needs, priorities and accomplishments Nrpa report: Rec Center Plans:- status from Ilona Tour Schedule and Agenda: Recreation and Parks Director’s Report February 2021 OPERATIONS: Registration Software: We have signed off on the contract for the new registration platform and have now begun to build it from the inside out. We have met as a transition team and have laid out a time line for implementation over the next several months, with an estimated activation of July 1. Our new platform, CivicRec, will be much more user friendly and will synch with out in the field payments on mobile devices. We are excited about this change, but it is labor intensive with staff time to transition from one platform and to build another with seamless transition for the client. Travis Ladd has given the lead in this transition team, so will be keeping us all in the loop as needed. 180 Market Street Move: We have spent a lot of time reviewing the open floor concept at the new city hall and have established our needs in terms of work terminals and office operations. We will continue to advocate for our needs as we work with Ilona Blanchard in the coming weeks/months for final fit up for the facility. It is unknown to date what materials we will be brining with us in terms of furnishings for the work space, but Ilona will be doing an inventory soon so we should know more in the next bit. Retain indoor rec space at 575/ on satellite office: We recently learned that we will be retaining the use of all of our current storage as well as back program space and one small office space at 575 Dorset Street. This will allow us a modest space for programs to supplement the Senior Center program space. We are excited to have this space in our inventory and once all storage has been redesigned after the building is vacated, we plan to have a full line up of activities running from this space. Website: We have added an Open Space Tab to our parks pull down menu which houses some of the historical documentation for the Open Space/Conservation Fund and Projects as well as annual updates and supporting budget materials for the past years. Please review this and help support any clarifications to the public by providing links. Committee Liaisons: Committee staff liaisons met last week as a group in the first time for over a year. The purpose of the meeting was to connect about status of committees, regular communication to CC, thoughts around continued virtual meetings, document repositories and the prospect of continuing with an annual committee symposium with City Council. We will meet again in two weeks. I will provide an update on this work in the March Directors Report. Return to Office Plan: City Management has informed the work force at City Hall that we will continue to work remotely until March 15 and that there will likely be an update to staff around March 1 as to next steps. STAFF: Staff Reviews: We are in the process of completing written annual reviews for the month of February and then have scheduled one on one meetings to complete them in March. Ben Resignation: On Friday Feb 5, Ben McShane (Recreation Specialist) submitted his resignation and two weeks’ notice, his last day of employment was Feb 19. Ben leaves us to go on to a job with VIP, managing alcohol sales accounts with existing vendors. Below is the information posted on our website to wish him well… “We would like to thank Ben McShane for his nearly two years of service with the South Burlington Recreation and Parks Department and wish him well in his next adventure in sales and account management with a local company. Ben infused his own unique personality and style into the programs and events that he produced and will be missed. As a South Burlington resident, we hope to see Ben at our upcoming events and celebrations and know that you will all join us in thanking him.” Next Steps in Hiring Process for Recreation Specialist: With the current City Budget constraints, we are holding off on replacing this position as a cost savings measure for the city. Priority will be given to hiring the Senior Center program staff ahead of this position. Next Steps in New Hire Process Senior Center: After much research and contemplation, it has been decided that we will be hiring for a Recreation Specialist for Adult and Senior Services to fill the needs of programming the Senior Center Space(s). A true “Senior Center Director” is something that this position may grow into, but is not needed (nor financially supported) at this time. This will be step wise growth that we can plan for in subsequent budgeting years as needed. A draft of this job description will be posted by our HR department by the end of February with interviews to happen late March and an offer made in the beginning of April in order to onboard someone in plenty of time to organize for an opening in July. Individual staff reports: Recreation Specialist Brett Leonard, CPRP We’re at the height of winter and now beginning to methodically turn our focus towards spring and summer programing along with readying ourselves to move into 180 Market Street later this year. INTERNAL • Winter Lights Display o Finalized equipment purchases and notations for future growth. o Seeking quote for electric panel adjacent to the band shell • Grab-and-Go Meals Event o Partnering with Age Well VT for meal distribution dates in Feb, March and April similar to what was done in Q4 of 2020 • Senior Center Operations – Initial stages of outlining plans for operations and revenue generation. • City Safety Committee o Claims review, winter trainings. o Monthly City Hall fire extinguisher/ AED checks • VT Hot Chocolate Week o Celebrating by distributing steaming cups of hot chocolate daily at various parks throughout the week. o https://diginvt.com/blog/outdoor-adventures-with-hot-chocolate/ • Ski Loop – Keeping the loop at Veterans Memorial Park visibly groomed after each snowfall. • Tour of new City Hall o Sheetrock is up, giving us a clearer understanding of the space that we’ll have to program w/in the Sr. Center and what our 3rd floor workspace will look like. • Dept Storage – Adjustment in equipment/supply shelving and location in anticipation of our move to 180. • E-Sports – Webinar and discussion with VT colleagues regarding the formation of a statewide league. • Take-Out-Thursday o Soliciting vendors for this first ever, COVID-friendly food truck series at Veterans Memorial Park to bridge us from April -June, prior to our summer SoBu Nite Out series when we can hopefully gather in our parks. • Early/initial prep for a virtual Memorial Day “ceremony” in conjunction with SBHS. • Pop-up BBQ o Coordinating these events with Champlain Housing Trust and SBPD. o Sites are: Dorset Commons, O’Dell Apartments, Lime Kiln and Garden Street complex. EXTERNAL • VRPA Executive Board – Virtual meeting regarding association finances, investments and branding. • VRPA State Track Meet Committee o Initial meeting to discuss a virtual offering for our 400 athletes in conjunction with both Maine and New Hampshire state associations, creating a regional meet. Special Projects Coordinator For the better part of the past month, I have been reaching out to all our past food vendors and bands to book them for SoBu Nite Out 2021. During that time, I have also secured a firework display for July 29th. We are planning the series for both a small limited group size, as well as large capacity size. I hope to have our band lineup solidified by the end of February. We already have our alcohol vendor set from last year’s RFP process and look forward to working with them this summer. As we get closer to June and I figure I will have a better sense as to what our event and its setup will look like per any guidelines. We have signed a contract to begin the process of implementing a new registration and facility scheduling software with CivicRec. We have a kick-off meeting coming up soon and are eager to get started. During the implementation of the software, I will be the project lead and plan for countless hours of setup and training with a hope of going live this summer (launch date to be known soon). I began accepting community garden plot registrations for returning gardeners a few weeks ago and plan to close that registration window by early this week. We typically fill about 35-40 plots at the Wheeler Homestead and have received about half of those registrations at this point. I will be assessing what plots and sizes are available the first week of March and begin going through the waitlist of roughly 20 people at that time. I am still in the midst of putting together the wayfinding package for Wheeler Nature Park. I am about 3 informative signs away from completing the design process and will begin working with Design Signs to manufacture those signs. The manufacturing process will take a minimum of 8 weeks. After that I will meet with Design Signs to figure out a plan for installation potentially this summer. As I mentioned last month, I will begin work on mapping out all park related wayfinding signs to include the current rec path posts and kiosks, Red Rocks wayfinding, and City Center Park wayfinding. By mapping out all of these signs using ArcGIS, it will allow city entities to see all of our wayfinding on a single map along with images. This will simplify the process for managing and maintaining our park wayfinding moving forward. As we have begun looking toward spring and summer over the past month, I have begun to create and design our next issue of SoBu Play. The upcoming issue will include events, spring programs, summer camps, and a number of informative articles related to upcoming projects. Again, due to a spending freeze this will be a digital brochure hosted on our website, but unlike last time there won’t be a postcard mailer. This time we will focus on our social media accounts and website to get the word out. I’m aiming for a March 1st release. I have collected a good portion of our typical athletic field and event requests along with some new requests for this summer. Early requests have already been put on our calendar and plan to add many more requests in the coming weeks as space within Chittenden County is becoming limited due to COVID. As I anticipate more need for space, I will begin looking at some of our non-traditional spring field spaces to try and fill those needs. As spring and summer quickly approach, I’m planning to adjust and post our seasonal Red Rocks Park Ranger position in the coming weeks. I am looking to expand the hours in which we have park rangers at Red Rocks this summer to help remind and educate the park patrons of the rules, specifically the dog leash ordinance. This expansion of hours will also allow me to utilize the staff to do the twice-weekly e-coli water tests and freeing up that little bit of extra time this summer to focus on our events, registration software implementation, and other recreation & park projects. PROGRAMS: SoBu Play- digital version: We are working on our Spring/Summer Digital Brochure that will be posted on our website March 1. Designed in house by Travis, this brochure will list program, camp and event offerings as well as provide updates on Open Space, Spring Park Projects, Dog Park Updates, Staffing Updates etc. Once it is created, we will then market the link through FPF, on A-frames at our parks and schools and also on our social media. This no cost marketing is hugely different than our traditional $12K printed distribution, but we are hopeful that it is as effective. Hot Chocolate Week: Hot Chocolate week was a big success. Brett was able interface with over a hundred community members during the week as he stopped at a different park each day to deliver hot chocolate from our logo table. We continue to look for these pop-up type events to support our community while in our parks as a minimal expense and within the necessary parameters of the current governors’ orders. Spring Season: We are working on a full inventory of traditional outdoor spring programs, though we will need to follow the current governors orders so remain flexible. In question is the league play for our girl’s lacrosse program. There is not a league meeting planned until mid-march, which is past our registration deadline date. We are being as flexible as we can, but may end of up running clinics instead of a full-blown league. With HS spring sports being pushed back to accommodate a full winter season, nobody is thinking spring yet and registration is lagging. We will do a big marketing push once students return from their break next week. Camp Season: EVENTS: Maple Moon Event: We will look to partner with Common Roots on March 20 for a Maple Moon Festival at Wheeler Homestead. This event will serve nearly 200 people that have been identified by school guidance counselors as food insecure. The clay oven will be fired up to provide pizzas for those that attend and we are working with REI to get free snow shoe donations for the day to run snowshoe walks. Food production cycles will be taught as well as resources for food access will be reviewed. Hot Air Balloon Glow at Tech Park: We are in the beginning stages of talking about a drive-up hot air balloon glow at tech park. More details to come about this late March or April possibility. Vermont Ballet- Pollinator Performance: We will be partnering with Vermont Ballet and Common Roots to support to community events at the Wheeler Homestead on Sunday June 6. These two ticketed events will be part of the ballets “pollinator” series and while details are still coming together, it looks to be a festival environment with tabling and educational opportunities once the ballet performance has finished. We will look to support with a craft and or guided walk and hope to include the library as well for a story time or installation of a temporary story walk. I will keep everyone apprised as the plans come together. Continued Senior Meal Deliver: This past Wednesday we held another successful (our 4th) meal pickup event at Veterans Memorial Park, handing out 75 FREE meals to older SB residents. The delicious and nutritious meals were provided by Age Well VT and consisted of a beef burger w/cheddar, oven brown potatoes, mixed beans, a dinner roll w/butter and strawberry shortcake for dessert. Our staff packaged the meals, prepared the park with a- frames, cones, tent/tables and then distributed the meal bags by placing them in the back seat or trunks of vehicles. We were happily supported once again by SBPD officers from the Youth Services Division. They kept the traffic flowing safely and greeted each participant as they took attendance. We will be holding two more Grab-and-Go events this spring. The next event will take place on Wednesday March 10th followed by another on Wednesday April 14th. DOGS: Dog Recreation Task Force: The Dog Recreation Task Force had its first meeting on Feb 9. The group decided they would press forward with monthly meetings that would take place virtually the second Tuesday of each month from 12:00-1:00. The next meeting with be March 9th. All agenda items will be warned and minutes posted on the city website for anyone to access and public attendance is welcome. Update on Wheeler Dog Park: Below is the update provided to the community about the Wheeler Dog Park. We know that dog guardians have been anxiously awaiting a new dog park. Both volunteer committee members and staff have been busy trying to make that a reality and it is nearly here! Like so much in our world, the process has been impacted by COVID, which has caused delays. With the sighting and design work already complete, the project has entered the final permitting phases with installation to follow this coming construction season. Thank you for your patience. We are excited to see this well- planned project come to fruition, as we know you are too. Special thanks to our diligent citizen volunteers on the Dog Park Committee, who have worked tirelessly to get us to this point. Their hard work in the creation of a sight evaluation matrix, land evaluations, development of Dog Park standards and continued advocacy has been the driver to this success. We look forward to formally recognizing their efforts when we officially open the Wheeler Dog Park this coming construction season. PARKS AND FACILITIES: South Village Soccer Field Update: No further updates to the timeframe of development, though I have had several meetings to ensure that the components discussed in the Rec and Park Committee with the developer where included: Bathrooms, water fountain, access, parking, buffers to Spear Street and the ½ basketball court slab. Final versions of the plan are being prepped for review by the DRB. Underwood Update: A designer has been selected to work on phase 1 of the viewing area, connectivity and access at the Underwood parcel. CC has signed off on providing the City Manager the ability to negotiate the contract and we are currently awaiting that. Public process for this project is likely to happen within committee time in the summer months. Once a firm timeline is established, I will share with the committee. While part of the project team, Ashley Park will be leading this project. Wayfinding at Wheeler Update: The final sign design package (wayfinding and interpretive) should be completed by the end of the month. Once this is complete, the signs will do into the fabrication stage this spring, ahead of installation this summer. We are working with our vendor to establish access to materials (the cedar posts were hard to come by in the early stages of the pandemic). We are hopeful that this “Open Space” project will be completed by mid-summer. NR206 project- The Red Rocks Management Plan project has been chosen by an NR206 work group this semester, so we will begin weekly meetings with that group to establish our needs for assessments as they work toward helping to update some of the Red Rocks Management Plan. Farrell Park: Received two inquiries from families of young children concerned about a resident crated jump in the sledding hill at Farrell Park. I consulted with our lawyer an in follow up with our insurance carrier, the jump is to be removed. Messaging was sent to our DPW staff to remove this as soon a reasonably feasible given work schedule constraints and impending weather events. The hope is that these do not return. If they do get re-installed, we will look to provide signage indicating the violation.