The Nov. 17 regular Parks commission meeting began with a quick revision to the agenda, taking off the Shuttle RFP as a topic of discussion. Commissioner Kevin Reuhle said that the city attorney would be speaking with Slaughter Trail Guides attorney, and there was no need for the discussion.
In new business commissioners discussed relocation and repair of the Sasquatch art installation created by Stephen Feilbach. Sasquatch was originally placed at the shuttle turn around and had become more “interactive” than originally anticipated with people taking photos with the statue. The statue will be moved to near the playground at Lake Leatherwood City Park.
The commission needed to vote on whether or not to pay for repairs and enter into a lease contract with Feilbach for the statue. Repair costs would be $3,500 and the lease agreement would be for five years. A QR code would be set up so people could donate to help recoup cost and whatever would be left over would be used as a lease payment. The statue will be moved to its new location on January 31. Commissioners Reuhle and Carmen Burden first and seconded the motion for Parks to pay for the repairs and enter into the lease agreement, and that carried unanimously.
Second on the agenda was commissioner Sam Dudley asking if approval would be needed for him to do light maintenance in LLCP if NWA Trailblazers, which Dudley works for as a contractor, assigned him the work. His concern was with a possible or perceived conflict of interest with him being on the commission.
Commissioners determined that no motion was needed and that the subject would be on a case-by-case basis. Dudley would need to go to the commission before he would be allowed to do any work in the park assigned by NWA Trailblazers.
Director’s Report
Scott Miskiel said Christmas decorations are being put up in parks around town; two grants had been submitted for Basin Park that Parks might possibly receive in the spring; and the broken light in Basin Park should be replaced in six weeks.
Miskiel added that he was working on a vendor program for shuttles and events, and that trail and road construction policies and procedures were being investigated at the behest of a public comment from the last meeting. The Dog Park will be receiving repairs in December and January.
Other items
- Commissioners Dave Hartmann and Dudley went over the first meeting of the Long Range Planning committee. They said they discussed creating a calendar for items the commission would need to complete, with financial reports being the example. They also said they discussed reviewing the 2013 Lake Leatherwood Master Plan.
- An employee of Parks cited a grievance with Interim-Director Scott Miskiel during public comments.
Minutes of the Oct. 15 special meeting and Oct. 20 regular meeting were a