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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes 05-29-2008 ST. LUCIE COUNTY RECREATION ADVISORY BOARD MEETING May 29, 2008 Roger Poitras Building, Conference Room 3 2300 Virginia Avenue, Fort Pierce, FL Chair, Brad Keen, noting that a quorum was present, called the meeting to order at 5:25 p.m. Roll Call Members Present: Brad Keen, Christifor Cinord, Rick Gosser, Erik Martin, Albie Scoggins Members Absent: Gabriele Klaesen (excused) Staff Present: Debra Brisson, Mark DiMascio, Guy Medor, Patti Raffensberger Adoption of Minutes Albie made a motion to approve the minutes of the March 20, 2008 meeting. Rick seconded the motion, all in favor, motion carried. New Business Revised Future Meeting Dates: In accordance with the BOCC mandate that all committee meetings must take place on Tuesdays or Thursdays, future RAB meetings were set up for Thursdays on July 17, September 18, and November 20, 2008, at 5:30 p.m. Brad asked the board if that was a problem for anyone. Two members were not certain if the July date would be good for them, and possibly November. Brad asked that the board be polled in late June to see th who would be available on July 17 to determine whether or not the meeting should be rescheduled. Old Business Brad asked Debbie to give an update on Strategic Planning and Comp Plan issues discussed earlier in the year. He asked if the language for the EAR was revised for acreage. Debra said the findings/input from the EAR meetings would be discussed at Strategic Planning tomorrow. Debra said they included her language on the need to separate environmental lands from parks because ESL would have their new LOS. They are also trying to develop a better method than calculating by acreage for park land. Debbie said she spoke with Glatting Jackson about the feasibility of updating the Master Plan. She said budget and legislative issues are changing everything so we need to work with the cities to define our role, perhaps to provide only regional facilities, and avoid duplicating efforts. The process is ongoing. Brad said the board members are proponents of environmental lands program, but the consensus of this board was that there needs to be some separation between environmental lands and active/passive recreation sites, they shouldn’t be lumped into one category to determine level of service for the comprehensive plan. Debra said RAB’s recommendation, as well as her own, had been conveyed to the EAR. Parks & Recreation Director Report – Debra Brisson Budget: Debbie said the County is preparing a 2-year budget. Guy said Parks has 12.17 frozen positions, 8 from the ballfield maintenance crew. Recreation is down 9 positions so in total we are down about 20%. Debbie explained some of the work force reduction/reorganization programs that the County is offering. She said to this point we have been able to maintain the same levels of services but to expect changes in hours and programming as staff decreases and additional facilities come on line. Christifor expressed concern that if parks would have to close, people would have no opportunity to alleviate stress through leisure activities. He said the results would be alarming and would be felt within months. Rick said crime budgets would increase while park services decrease. Debbie stated staff remains hopeful and will strive to provide facilities and programs. Capital Improvements – Mark DiMascio, Project Manager th Ilous Ellis Basketball Canopy – 13 & M in Fort Pierce. Mark described the project as a 3 arch structure over the top of 3 courts, new surface, ADA parking and sidewalks. Skate Park – 15,000 sf facility. Team Pain did a wonderful job. Irrigation, landscaping, fencing and shade sail are expected to be complete by the grand opening on July 19. We are ahead of th schedule and hope to have a soft opening on June 20. Ravenswood Pool Splash Deck Addition – We are also adding a new office building and ticket booth, parking lot and site lighting, irrigation and landscaping. Completion should be in about a month. The pool remains operational during construction. MLK/Dreamland – Through a grant from the Baseball Tomorrow Fund, a foundation of Major League Baseball, we are building 2 new Little League fields. This is in the early stages. Ilous Ellis Playground - We have secured grant funding of $93,000 to build a new playground. We are waiting for quotes. Fenn Center – Mark said Central Services is in charge of this project, but he is familiar with its st progress. He said we might be able to occupy the building by August 1. Debbie said programming will begin several weeks afterward. Debbie and Mark reported on the progress to date. A ribbon cutting date/grand opening ceremony date has not yet been set. Debbie said the City of Port St. Lucie and SLC have reached an agreement on Impact Fees and we are now able to move forward with South County Regional Stadium bleachers, locker rooms. We are working with Architect, Schenkel and Shultz for a final design, similar to Jensen Beach H.S. Brad asked if the RAB members could have a preview tour of the Fenn Center in July. Debbie said she would try to arrange it. Debbie said the Skate Park Committee did a phenomenal job and they are handling the grand opening for the skate park and that invitations will be sent to the RAB members. She discussed operation options, rules and regulations, liability and waivers. Debbie said there is a lot of excitement in the skating community about the facility and it has even appeared already on U- Tube. Brad asked if anyone had any additional items for discussion and there was no response. Submitted by, Barbara Heck 2 3