The Ellettsville Parks and Recreation Board met
on Monday, July 7, 2003, at the
Ellettsville Town Hall. Members present
were Darlyne Sowder - President, Edwin Macatangay - Vice President, L.D. Axsom,
Denise Knell and Jeff Frownfelter - Secretary.
Other people present during the meeting included Stewart York from the
Ellettsville Journal and Michael Schroeder from the Bloomington Herald Times.
Darlyne Sowder called the meeting to order at
7:08 PM , Edwin Macatangay seconded the start of the meeting.
Minutes
from June 2nd, 2003 Meeting
L.D. Axsom motioned to accept the minutes from
the June 2, 2003, Meeting. Edwin
Macatangay seconded the motion to accept. Motion carried 5 - 0 in favor of
approving the minutes.
Floor
Open for Public Comment
Leasa Farkas was going to be present to discuss
the Tree Committee but was not present.
Old
Business
5 Year Master Plan;
No news at present concerning the Five year
master plan for the Parks Board of Ellettsville. Darlyne Sowder was asked by the parks board
to contact Prof. Segedy and try to
obtain some information.
Skate Park;
Restroom construction is again underway with
the progression of the foundation, blocks and cement as well as some basic
plumbing. Cost to the Parks Board to
date is approximately $909.19.
Continuation of construction will continue based on contractor and
Ellettsville town employee schedules.
Damage and vandalism;
Graffiti appeared in the park days prior to the
July meeting. The damage was done with
spray paint and covered large areas of the central mound. The park was closed due to the nature of the
graffiti. Parks board president
suggested the graffiti should be painted over before reopening the park. Edwin Macatangay suggests the possibility of
hiring the painting out. Jeff
Frownfelter and L.D. Axsom volunteered to paint over the graffiti if they were
provided the paint. He was planning to paint on Wednesday, maybe Thursday, in
hopes of reopening the park by the weekend.
There was a suggestion from Denise Knell to look into video surveillance
of the Skate Park in the future. Denise
volunteered to look into the costs of such equipment and maintenance of that
equipment. There was a brief discussion
of the legality of the video camera and a suggestion that the town lawyer would
have to provide answers to that question.
Only the costs will be investigated at this time.
In addition to the vandalism, there have also
been more incidents of bicycles in the park.
This brought up the topic of enforcement and the ordinances. The town lawyer suggests that in the case of
someone witnessing a violation of an ordinance that the witness should contact
the police or the county prosecutors office that deals with juvenile
offenders. Ellettsville town police
still state that they can do nothing about writing a ticket for violation
because they have no means of actually writing a ticket or submitting a
violation relating to a town ordinance.
They also state that there is no current way for the Town of
Ellettsville to collect fines, nor any way for a citizen to pay fines. There still seems to be some discrepancy as
to whom exactly would enforce town ordinances.
Some questions were put forth
from the Parks Board in their quest to obtain help in maintaining a safe
environment for the skate park. Sandy
Hash has contacted two other towns for samples of their ticket system. Parks Board members would like to ask the town
to investigate the bylaws of the town to discover what clarification there may
be concerning the duties of the town police and enforcement of town ordinances.
Pop machines for the skate park area were another concern from
previous meetings. Denise provided some
facts concerning the operation of and maintenance of pop machines. A Coca-Cola representative provided some
information. The Coke company would
conduct a site survey to ascertain suitability of the area. Coca-Cola would provide the machines with no
deposit required. They would also maintain the machines. Payment would be based on the following
model: At 50 cents a can there would be
a 10% commission on each can. At $1.00 dollar bottles there would be a 25%
commission per bottle. Electrical costs
would be approximately $5.00 dollars per month.
Coca-Cola would select the product unless specific requests were
made. The
July 7, 2003 Parks and Recreation Board Minutes
continued
stock provided would be based on sales and
demand with the purpose of highest profitability. There would
be an initial restock every week and future restock schedule would
depend on sales. This all started with
the Fire Department wanting to relocate their machines near the new
bathrooms. Now with a better understanding
of the costs and potential profits, Darlyne or the Parks Board can enter into
discussions with the Fire department with a better education.
Wishing Well Nature Park;
Gravel has been placed in a parking area below
the Paved lot. The gravel is not next to
the street (Sycamore Drive). There is a
sign indicating the park. Paths still
are in need of weed control. Contact of
some weed companies need to take place to get estimates on having the weeds
sprayed. The Ellettsville Street
Department is unable to spray the path.
Other weed control businesses need to be contacted to provide estimates
or determine interest in spraying.
Memorial Park;
Total cost of Memorial Park has come in at
$787.50. $500.00 has come from the
VFW. Don Lewis has mentioned providing
some funds. Darlyne will contact him to
check on his donation ability.
New
Business
There was some discussion and overview of the
budget. Darlyne provided the Parks Board
members with a schedule of budget discussions.
These will take place over the next two months with August 25th being
the pre-adoption and time for public comment.
There was some concern from board members of additional duties to be
acquired in the coming year. These
additions will include new lights at the skate park for the restroom facilities
and new town entry areas resulting from the the new road construction. Additional funds were added to the budget.
The meeting was moved to adjourn by Edwin
Macatangay and seconded by L.D. Axsom. All members voted to adjourn. Meeting adjourned at 8:57 PM.
______________________________ ______________________________
Darlyne Sowder - President Edwin Macatangay - Vice President
______________________________ ______________________________
L.D. Axsom - Member Jeff Frownfelter - Secretary
______________________________ ______________________________
Denise Knell - Member