June 2, 2003 Park and Recreation Board meeting Minutes

The Ellettsville Parks and Recreation Board met on Monday, June 2nd, 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 Gus Mathias, Ellettsville resident from South Paul Street.

Darlyne Sowder called the meeting to order at 7:05 PM , Edwin Macatangay seconded the start of the meeting.

Minutes

L.D. Axsom motioned to accept the minutes from the May 2003 Meeting, Edwin Macatangay seconded the motion to accept. Motion carried 4 - 0. (Denise not yet in attendance.)

Floor Open for Public Comment

No General Public comment.

Old Business

5 Year Master Plan;

Jeanna Kapczynski contacted Prof. Segedy. There is no questionnaire as proposed concerning the parks and the towns input on parks as of this time. There is also at this time no response or feedback concerning the 5 year master plan for the parks.

Skate Park

Restroom construction is still awaiting the plumbing to be completed. This work is expected to be completed by the 3rd depending on availability of the contractor. There were several other issues and public comments concerning the park.

Damage and vandalism;

1. large cement blocks (from the restroom construction) were becoming damaged and possibly causing damage to the skate surface and facilities as people were throwing the blocks down on the surface from atop the raised island. This act was witnessed.

2. Drinking and eating is taking place inside the skate park resulting in related trash being left in the facility.

3. Bikes are still entering the skate park in violation of the rules.

4. Gus Mathias reports an excessive noise level in the skate park which consists of vulgar and obscene language. Gus gave specifics as to the type of behavior and language he has personally witnessed in and around the park. As a neighbor of the park he is requesting action from the parks board and or the police. He witnessed the block throwing incident. He has removed a shopping cart from the premises. He has also witnessed several unsupervised young people at the park. All incidents are clearly stated in the parks rules as being grounds for expulsion from the park or possibly resulting in the park being closed.

Police response to requests for help and enforcement of the skate park rules has been negligible. There was a discussion of enforcing the no bike policy. At one incident the police did take some action with a juvenile and removed the bike as well as issued two warnings. The adult responsible for the juvenile was contacted. Police officers will try to respond to calls relating to the skate park but are still working out the enforcement of the skate park rules and exactly when and how to administer tickets when violations occur.

parks board members feel law enforcement of clearly established ordinances is an important step in keeping the skate park open for those who will use the facility properly and keeping out those who would abuse the facility. Parks board members plan a visit at the next town council meeting to express views and solicit support.

There was some discussion of various methods of keeping the park safe and undamaged while dealing with the current vandalism, ordinance disregard and noise levels. Several proposals were discussed by the parks board. One included closing the skate park at the next incident until a solution can be found. Another idea is more police visibility and perhaps closing the park until a review by the town council could help provide that police presence. Yet a third option was to make the park a "members only" admission. In order to inform the public of the problems and possible future of the park there was a proposal to provide a public notice of the intent of the parks board concerning the park. The proposal would outline a set plan concerning steps that would be taken in the event that ordinances were broken. Parks board members agreed that enforcement of the ordinances concerning the park will need to be enforced in order to keep the park open for those who want to use the park properly.

There was a motion from Edwin Macatangay to contact the town council with a request that Ellettsville police enforce the ordinances of the skate park by writing and issuing tickets. Darlyne Sowder seconded the motion. The motion carried 5-0. A second motion from Jeff Frownfelter

June 2, 2003 Park and Recreation Board minutes continued

was proposed. This motion proposed that the police contact the parks board president about closing the park upon the event of significant ordinance violations or other illegal activities occurring in the park. At this point the park would remain closed temporarily. The parks board would investigate during the closing a means to keep the park open in a safe environment. The motion was seconded by L.D. Axsom and passed with a 5-0 vote. A plan for the parks board members to attend the next town council meeting and voice support for the two motions was put into place

Wishing Well Nature Park

Jeff Frownfelter provided a report on the weeds in the pathway of the park. He suggested another spraying of the trail to knock down the weeds. Weeds in parts of the trail were already knee high. Jim Ragle will be approached to spray the weeds. Mr. Ragle will also be approached to provide signs for the parking area off of Sycamore Street.

Memorial Park

The contractor for the cement finishing did not show up at the scheduled date and time. The scouts father worked the concrete and finished the job. Control cuts were later placed in the finished concrete to control any breaking and cracks that may occur in the future. Don Lewis will be contacted about final payment for services and materials for the restoration of the park sidewalks. A review of the parks board budget will be done to finalize exactly from what area of the budget the funding will be provided.

New Business

New weed eaters (2) were requested of the parks board budget from the Ellettsville street department. These will be used in the maintenance of the parks areas when the town department maintains the public spaces. Jeff Frownfelter motioned to approve the purchase of two weed eaters from the parks board budget, Denise Knell seconded the motion. Motion approved with a 5-0 vote.

The fire department of Ellettsville put in a request to move the pop machines to the new restroom facility being built when they are complete. There was some discussion of the electric bill and potential profits of the machines and what would be a fair and equitable exchange between the parks board and the fire department. Further investigation into the costs of maintaining pop dispensing machines and potential earnings will be done by Denise Knell. A decision will be made upon completion of the information.

The meeting was moved to adjourn by Edwin Macatangay and seconded by L.D. Axsom. All members voted to adjourn, meeting adjourned at 9:02 PM.

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Darlyne Sowder - President Edwin Macatangay - Vice President

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L.D. Axsom - Member Jeff Frownfelter - Secretary

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Denise Knell - Member