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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPRC meeting notes 100219 Orange County Parks and Recreation Council Meeting Summary Date: October 2, 2019 Place: Environment and Agricultural Center Conference Room PRESENT: Haywood Rhodes; Gina Reyman; Robert Robinson; Tim Tippin; Michael Zelek; John Greeson; Robert Smith; Cecily Kritz ABSENT: Rachel Cotter; Tim Braddy; Jennifer Moore STAFF: Lynn Hecht; David Stancil; Chris Sousa, Recreation Superintendent I. Call to Order: Introductions. All the board introduced themselves and Stancil introduced Cecily Kritz, new member and Chris Sousa, the Recreation Superintendent in attendance to give a presentation. ii. Additions or Changes to Agenda, Meeting Summary: Tippin asked that the Multi- Modal trail update be added, and Rhodes noted it will be discussed in Old Business. September 4 notes were reviewed. Braddy was listed as present and absent. He was actually absent. III. Report of the Chair: Membership/Vacancies: There is now a vacancy for the Hillsborough Town Limits slot. Two applications were made available for review. There are two applicants from Hillsborough Town Limits. Since the vacancy had just occurred, the group decided to table the decision and see if additional applications come in. IV. New Business a. The annual Recreation Division update was presented by Chris Sousa. He used a power point presentation and additional handouts for his presentation. Following this was a question and answer period. Examples of the discussion topics included questions about the amount of work and programs compared with the few staff. Sousa commented that there are many volunteers and seasonal staff who help run the programs. He also added that there are contracted employees who run many of the programs as well. Another question asked how many were turned away from Summer Camps. He said there were many, but that he didn't have the staff and facilities to handle more campers. There was also discussion about facility use/space and the fact that the current Central Recreation Center building is maxed out. The Central Recreation Center was originally built in 1957. There hasn't been a replacement since then. b. As requested at the September meeting, consideration of adding a standing recreation and athletics update agenda item was discussed. There was discussion about how frequently the updates should be. Reyman moved and Zelek seconded the motion to add to the agenda a Recreation and Athletics update to the agenda on a quarterly basis. All voted in favor. V. Old Business a. Blackwood Farm Park update and draft plans were presented by Stancil. Stancil presented a refined master plan and some early sketches of possible facilities for the next phase. It is hoped that funding will allow the amphitheater to be constructed in this phase, but the Nature/Learning Center will be built further down the road, hopefully with partners. The staff is continuing to work with the architect and engineering team for the project. After permits are approved, construction will begin by late spring/early summer. There will be an open house for the neighboring community, tentatively for October 30t". The disc golf course is also in the plans, and after wetland delineation a planning group will be formed to start the design. There will be agricultural demonstration areas with the help of folks like Cooperative Extension and Soil and Water. Local Fest will be in June at this park. b. Multi-modal trail. The letter that the Council approved last month was sent to the Board of Commissioners. Staff has not received any notice of next steps from that memo as of yet. The Intergovernmental Parks Group, which was requested to review the concept, meets next week. Commissioner Bedford and McKee convene these meetings. Staff has learned that the letter will be presented at the meeting with limited discussion. Representatives from all the Parks and Recreation Departments will be at this meeting. Tippin stated that he shared the letter with Bonnie Hauser, and there had been question about whether the letter was on the BOCC's web listing of correspondence. Stancil has discussed this with the Community Relations Director and will be working with the person in the BOCC office who can post this letter to that list. VI. Report of the Director a. Project and initiative updates were discussed. River Park Phase II is underway. The new EAC and Detention Center ground breaking is underway. VI I. Council and Committee Reports a. Intergovernmental Parks Work Group, next meeting October 9. b. Items from the Council. Hecht spoke about the learn to swim initiative c. Friends of Orange County Parks and Recreation (FOPR): no discussion. VIII. Meeting adjourned at 8:05PM. The next meeting will be November 6 at Animal Services Center Conference Room, Eubanks Road, Chapel Hill)