During public comments at the Parks and Recreation meeting on August 20, former commissioner Sue Hubbard kicked off discussion regarding an FOIA request that had only been partly fulfilled. She wanted to see the budget, and also wanted to see Director Sam Dudley’s notes on the sheet he used to share his budget report at the previous meeting.
Dudley said at the last meeting that he would clean up the form before turning it in to the city. Hubbard argued that she and all citizens should have access to Parks commissioners’ notes as well as the documents they referred to. Dudley said that the note he uses are for in case other members have specific questions about amounts and percentages, that he didn’t think them relevant and that he was sorry for causing any issues. Chair Mark Ingram encouraged him to just save a copy of both versions in the future.
In his August report, Dudley said that summer was coming to a close and finishing work on the Harmon Park building was the priority. He said that wrapping up that project would have a positive impact on the budget for next year. He also said that at Lake Leatherwood he wanted to open up Request for Proposal to the shuttles, as the contract ends in December, and he wanted to see if any other businesses would take advantage of the program.
Dudley told commissioners he had been in contact with Apex Cleaners of Huntsville about being in charge of cleaning the Lake Leatherwood cabins and that there would be changes to charges for cabin rental in order to pay the cleaners. He said he hoped this might incentivize guests to rent cabins for longer periods, as it will be cheaper to have a multiple night stay. He also said that Leatherwood Park Manager Juanita Drought had signed Leatherwood up for a fishing derby to take place in October and he would post more about the event soon.
He thanked the Preservation Society, which has given money for a project to restore the Crystal Terrace Bridge, also known as Tulip Bridge. The bridge is above and behind the library and has been damaged for a while. Dudley said he hoped to have it renovated by fall, with added handrails possibly funded by Main Street Eureka, to make the area safe.
Dudley said he had met with Public Works Director Simon Wiley, city Planning and Community Development Director Kyle Palmer, the CAPC, and preservationist Rick Armellini about the fountain at Basin Park. Dudley urged the groups to “put their hands and their pockets together” to fix the fountain, which has been sinking slowly over the past 20 years.
A report by McClellan Engineering in 2011 warned that if the fountain wasn’t fixed, it would risk the integrity of the park. Dudley said he wasn’t entirely sure what this meant, but that it was time to tackle the problem sharing the cost and responsibility so it wouldn’t harm any one department.
Ingram said that the fire department had put a Go-Pro down into the fountain to show underneath the park and provide a clearer picture. He added that although you can see where it was sinking, when the plan about the project and how to fix the issue was explained it wasn’t as dramatic a project as one would assume.
Dudley said the plan was to tackle the fountain after December decorations had been taken down. He said it would be a good opportunity, while parts of the park were roped off, to take out the wooden benches to sand and refinish before reinstalling them.
Change in commission eligibility possible
Ingram took over with new business, bringing up the At Large positions on the commission. Currently there are seven positions on the commission, five for residents within city limits and two At Large seats for those living outside city limits. Ingram said these people are as much a part of the community and have a right, based on paying taxes into the city, to participate. He put to the vote giving one of the city limits positions the ability to also be an At Large position if no city limits citizen applies for it. Commissioners passed that unanimously, so now city council will have to approve the position change.
Memorial benches
Ingram brought up memorial benches in Basin Park. A mockup of what the plaques would look like was passed around while Dudley shared his ideas. The Preservation Society paid to have 13 benches refurbished, and a single bench was dedicated with a plaque honoring them.
Dudley said he had requests and questions about dedicating benches in the park. He recommended a $1000 minimum for people to dedicate a bench as a memorial, and each bench can only be dedicated once in order to increase importance and value.
After paying for the plaque and installation, he said there would be at least a $600 profit as people can choose to dedicate over the $1000 minimum. Commissioners will discuss how to pick who gets the benches if there are more than 12 people wanting a dedicated bench. Guidelines will be drawn up soon.
- Commissioner Ruth Mitchell said the Arts in the Park program, in conjunction with the Arts Council, has become complicated. Mitchell proposed having a quarterly event throughout the year with permits needed. The program will be put on hold until October when changes will be implemented.
- Ingram said he thought it would be good to have a quick rundown of where the budget is and how the commission is meeting goals and review what needs to be changed or amended. He mentioned that they had looked into using the state contract for fleet trucks to get the gardener a new truck, however, he and Dudley decided it would cost as much to simply buy a single vehicle and not go to Little Rock to pick it up.
- Dudley added that use of the contract might be more likely to save them money if they updated all Parks vehicles every two years, which would save on maintenance and allow Parks to sell the older vehicles so recoup some of the price.
- Commissioners made changes to line items, adding funds to Leatherwood by transferring funds from the other parks that don’t have as much need.
- Mitchell advised on doing an assessment on the rental income from the cabins so they could determine what profits, if any, are being made, and Ingram agreed. Dudley asked that the budget be amended about having a full time cleaner for the cabins and instead making a deal with Apex Cleaners. Those changes were made.