The Nov. 19 Parks and Recreation meeting started with public comments by former commissioner Sue Hubbard, who said she was concerned about the current plans for the Gravity Feed shuttle. She was surprised that there was an intention to do the shuttle in house, as it cost the former director a great deal of inconvenience because of issues with driver availability.
Hubbard said there was no easy answer and urged commissioners to weigh the pros and cons. She said she was also concerned about the shuttle dropping off passengers by the ballfields. That had caused problems in the past with people trying to use the fields having trouble accessing them and dropped off passengers often taking up parking spaces and holding tailgate parties after their rides.
Parks Director Sam Dudley said he had cancelled that contract with the intention of creating a contract with Nick Castro, owner and operator of Gravity Feed, and a subcontractor of the previous provider. Dudley said he likes the idea of running the endeavor in-house and thinks it will help him to prioritize other projects without having to be so focused on the shuttle.
Dudley made a modified contract for Castro that has changes he hopes will incentivize Gravity Feed to get more customers and that the revenue will help pay for trail upkeep.
Chair Mark Ingram said he appreciated the work Dudley had done but wanted time to read through the contract for all commissioners because he didn’t want to get Parks back into a deal they had had to get out of in the past.
Dudley said it would be $500 a month guaranteed, on top of that would be ten percent of shuttle operations. Castro would use the same reservation system as the Parks and would try to “cross pollinate” business for Lake Leatherwood, like cabin rentals. This was estimated bring in roughly $12,000 a month.
Castro said he would like to also hold events at Lake Leatherwood. Ingram remarked that they had believed the other proprietor, who had also said he would do events, but only held one or two and Ingram wanted more. The contract would begin on Jan. 1, and Gravity Feed would be the exclusive shuttle service run by LLBP Operations. Commissioners passed the contract.
Ingram took a moment to address what he called “keyboard warriors” posting comments on social media about Basin Park and the fountain. He said these people talked as if Parks had no idea of what was going on at the park and weren’t doing anything about the sinking fountain, even though it has been a repeated topic of discussion at meetings. The commission has been reaching out to the city, the CAPC, and other sources for ways to fund fixing the the foundation of the park, and work has been done to uncover the extent of those problems as well as trying to figure out the best course of action. Ingram asked the public to contact Parks commissioners or staff if they had questions, and that he did not appreciate hateful, unhelpful comments.
In the Director’s Report, Dudley said that October and early November had been good for lodgings, boat rentals, and general sales. Lodging surpassed $200,000 and general sales was around $150,000. He mentioned that they had renovated Cabin One by removing rotten siding, replacing, and painting it, with the inside already renovated. He said renovations had begun on the ballfield with the team collecting money from local businesses. The school gave Parks $72,000 for the work.
Dudley said that they had removed 12 to 15 mimosa trees, which are “aggressively invasive” from Black Bass Lake with the help of Glenda Moore and Parks staff. The Harmon Park apartment building is being worked on, installation of sheet rock has been completed and they will begin painting after they have finished putting up the city’s Christmas decorations.
Dudley said he had submitted a request for a funding proposal to continue a number of projects throughout Basin Park including renovating the stairs to the gazebo, planting several trees and removing one dead tree that was leaning over Spring St. He said they were putting together an RFP concerning the substructure under the fountain. Finally, he said that they had received four of the dedication plaques for benches and they would start installing them on or after Dec. 10.
Ingram then told the commission that the Finance Committee was requesting some information about the audit, but other than that there was nothing to report.
Parks has been charged by Cornerstone Bank for a deposit box and Dudley said he was contacting former commissioners who may have had access to it so they could find out what was in the box. Ingram remarked that in the future, any time there were staff or commissioner changes, they should have a policy in place to update bank and other services so old members would be removed from having access and new members would be provided access. Commissioners motioned to remove the old members and workers and give Dudley and Nicky Boyette access.
Dudley discussed renaming the trails at Lake Leatherwood. Parks had surveyed the public and the trail names will be named after different names for a Bigfoot in theme with the statue at the park, and Parks will also work with Jayme Brandt of T-Rex to design and make t-shirts, his artist’s fees derived from sale of the shirts. Dudley asked for approval of the names: DH1 would be Yowie Rocks, DH2 would be Ogre Run, DH3 would be Troll Bridge, DH4 changed to Skunkape, DH5 to Swampstalker, DH6 to Shreddy Yeti, and DH7 to Cyclops Drops. The commission voted and approved the changes.
There will be a budget workshop Dec. 3, and the final meeting of the year will be Dec. 17.