The Parks Commission held a workshop Dec. 3 mainly focusing on renovation money. Director Sam Dudley went over a rough draft of the budget and Commissioner Ruth Hager started off by asking if there was a provision that would include funds for training and conferences for employees and commissioners.
Chair Mark Ingram suggested creating a line item of $10,000 for that, and when asked by commissioner Aaron Borey if there had been such an item in past budgets, Dudley replied that there had been OSHA and chainsaw trainings.
Ingram said that there were state conferences that commissioners might want to attend, with Hager saying that a good example was the state tourism conference with an outdoors focus. Commissioners agreed on value of the item.
Asked how he was arriving to his numbers, Dudley said he used what had been budgeted for 2024 as well as actual numbers achieved. He said those numbers were either the same or close, and that the biggest change had been the interest earned from their money management account.
Dudley said that the Watershed grant would be used up during 2025, but that Parks received a grant to plant pollinator trees, were using a grant from the Banks Foundation on Basin Park, and had secured a tree grant from the Walton Foundation. The CAPC is looking to continue helping to fund projects for parks as well, particularly assisting with lifting the Basin Park fountain.
When going over the line item for revenue from Jamboreeka, Borey asked if it included concessions and t-shirt sales. Dudley responded that projected concessions had been “blown out of the water” with snacks, boats, and t-shirts. He also said that Parks is getting to be well known for lodging in the area.
A line item for the new in-house shuttle service was being conservatively set. Ingram added that the same was true with donations and sponsorships, that they hoped to receive more than was projected but wanted to not count on money they might not get.
Ingram suggested a new strategy for when they needed to get urgent projects taken care of: take out a loan and budget in a loan payment. Borey agreed saying that whatever new amenities were obtained or built could allow them to bump up prices in lodging or rentals, which would increase revenue and make the loan payback faster.
Ingram asked commissioners to examine how Basin Park looked. Hager said Rick Armellini approached her about the fountain, and she had directed him to contact Dudley. Dudley said they were also working to plant trees at Basin Park to make it look similar to the past, “southern and charming.” Commissioner Ruth Mitchell suggested funding the trees by allowing people to buy them and dedicate them like the benches. Dudley admitted that tree planting would be quite expensive.
Ingram asked what changes were proposed regarding payroll, and Dudley said a five percent increase to cover cost of living increases to all employees as well as a “small bump” to the pay of Lake Leatherwood Manager Juanita Drought. Borey and Ingram directed Dudley to designate Drought’s raise as performance based. Hager recommended comparing the employee raise to what the city is doing.
Dudley also asked for a PPE allowance for employees, particularly for boots, gloves and visors for when employees used chainsaws. Borey said there should be a policy to back up that allowance.
Ingram asked Mitchell about her research for providing bathrooms at Lake Leatherwood while the bathhouse is being renovated. Mitchell had gone to Arkansas State Parks and found that they could apply for grant to work on the bathhouse. Mitchell also looked at a company that sold prefab units that they would install, and Parks would only be responsible for providing the slab the building would be set on. Commissioners said they would discuss it further.
Ingram said the Parks regular meeting would be in the Aud on Dec. 17 at 6 pm. Dudley then wrapped up the workshop by giving commissioners a tour of the building next to the Parks office which is being renovated into a long-term rental property.