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View Agenda for this meeting
PARKS. RECREATION
&
CULTURAL SERVICES
Thursday. May 12. 2011 - 7:00 PM
NOVI CIVIC CENTER - COUNCIL CHAMBERS
The meeting was called to order at
7:03 pm with Commissioner Dooley presiding.
Commissioner Dooley introduced the new
Director of Parks Recreation and
Cultural Services, Jason Mangum.
Director Mangum stated that this is
his first week as Director. He has a diverse
background in Parks and Recreation. He has worked in the non-profit sector,
the
corporate recreation sector and for the last ten or twelve years he has
worked as
a municipal employee for several different municipalities, both urban and
rural.
He was attracted to the breadth and depth of the Parks and Recreation
programs, parkland and the dedication by City leadership and the citizens to
making Parks and Recreation a priority in Novi.
ROLL CALL:
Dooley
(Present), Jewell (Present), Policicchio (Present), Staab
(Present), Tecklenburg (Present),
Torimoto (Present), Wingfield (Present), Kerbrat
(Absent).
APPROVAL OF AGENDA:
It was moved by Commissioner Staab and
seconded by Commissioner Jewell to
approve the Agenda as written.
Voice Vote Unanimous
CITIZEN COMMENTS:
None
APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
A.
No April
Minutes due to cancellation of meeting.
B. Approval of March 10,2010 meeting
minutes
A motion was made by Commissioner Jewell and seconded by
Commissioner Tecklenburg to approve the Minutes as written.
Voice Vote Unanimous
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
A.
Walkable
Novi - Commissioner Policicchio
Commissioner Policicchio stated there
is another resolution to support
communities of Walled Lake, Commerce Township and Wixom with the
application of a grant to connect the Huron Trail and the West Bloomfield
Trail as part of the Master Plan, for the State to have a cross State trail
system. We support that. There was a discussion about the non-motorized
Master Plan. Several projects have been approved and are going to be
undertaken this year.
Commissioner Torimoto stated that this was his first meeting and they did a
nice job in terms of making the Master Plan visual.
B. Novi Park Foundation -
Commissioners Dooley
&
Staab
Commissioner Staab stated that there
was a meeting this past Tuesday
and Director Mangum was present. They also welcomed one new
member, Katherine Cardenas. She stepped up and took command of a
couple of items. The Golf Outing on August
4th
was on
the agenda. Save
the date cards will be going out next
week. They will be posting a parttime
position of Executive Director for the Foundation. This person will be
working part-time to do more marketing, predominately focusing on fund
raising. On July 15th,
Superintendent Cowan will be doing the unveiling of
the sculpture for which the Foundation
has donated funds. It is a Friday
night when it will be Movie Night in the park. More people need to be
involved.
Commissioner Dooley asked if the
part-time position had any
expectations of how much money they would want to raise.
Commissioner Staab stated that he is not at liberty to say at this time.
Commissioner Dooley stated that this is a group which gives back to the
community and encourages anyone with this skill to step up and apply for
the position.
STAFF REPORTS:
A. Administration Division - Director
of Parks, Recreation and Cultural
Services - Jason Mangum
Director Mangum stated that he is in his first week on the job and he has
spent most of the week getting to know many of the community members
and partners within Parks and Recreation. He has been to the Ice Arena
and met the management company. He has met with the School District
and their Community Education Department. He has been to the Library
and tomorrow he tours Meadowbrook Commons.
His initial goal is to become a student of the department and of the City.
He hopes to look at the Strategic Plan which is a well thought out piece of
planning. As long as the Commission is still on board with that document,
he hopes to look in to the goals and objectives and how we will reach
and accomplish those. A very large undertaking is the CAPRA
accreditation process. There is an opportunity for each member of the
Commission to be involved and to reach out to the community and make
some of those accreditation pieces come to fruition.
Commissioner Wingfield asked what some of Director Mangum's
background was and his area of expertise.
Director Mangum replied that he came up in the recreation side of Parks
and Recreation, originally with an emphasis in teen programming. He
had an opportunity to start comprehensive outdoor recreation
programming in three different communities. There was everything from
rock climbing and repelling to white water rafting down the Grand
Canyon and everything in between. He did his Master's Degree at
Arizona State in Recreation Studies and his thesis is based on the need for
outdoor recreation and the benefits that come through them and the
teen population. Since then he has moved in to some other areas. Most
recently he was the Director of Parks and Recreation in Show Low,
Arizona. He had park maintenance, park planning, capital improvement
projects as well as recreation programming and even a cemetery they
had to work with.
Commissioner Torimoto stated that
coming from the Walkable Novi
meeting, he thinks that the challenge is budget; it is trying to to achieve
more with less. He asked Director Mangum if he had any specific ideas.
Director Mangum stated that he tries
to run a department where it is
impossible to create more with less. He thinks we can create different
with less. We will look at everything from budget, to operations, to
staffing
and to thinking outside the box and networking with other communities to
continue our level of service and the level of service our citizens have
come to expect and do it within the budget constraints we have.
In order to keep the department on the path of continuing to improve
and expand our infrastructure as well as the programs, Commissioner
Policicchio stated that he would be interested in knowing, in the future,
what Director Mangum would be thinking outside the box.
He feels we have a very good staff but feels it is stretched to the max in
terms of what they do for the residents of the City. He asked how they, as
Commissioners, could be of help to him.
Director Mangum replied there will be
a lot that goes into how we
analyze our programs. We will take a look at every angle that we can,
and look at the best of the best as far as our benchmarks. It is his goal to
become the best of the best in every aspect we have an opportunity to
use.
Commissioner Teklenburg welcomed
Director Mangum and stated that
he is the single person moving back to Michigan and he applauds him.
Director Mangum thanked him.
B. Recreation Division -
Superintendent of Recreation - Nancy Cowan
Superintendent Cowan welcomed Director Mangum. She thanked the
Commissioners for supporting the team and being advocates for the
department especially during the past ten months.
1. Introduction of Emily Stevens -
Recreation Supervisor
Superintendent Cowan stated that Emily Stevens is a Recreation
Supervisor on our staff. She has over ten years of programming
experience. She has a great deal of experience with camps,
programming, teens and adults. Some of her responsibilities will be
camps, including Camp Lakeshore. She will do some teen
programming, including Fire Up Fest which has been very
successful. She is starting to make some inroad with some of the
parent group and school.
2. Recreation Happenings
This past weekend was very busy. The Michigan Jaguars hosted
their tournament again this year at ITC Community Sports Park. We
have heard from the Jaguars that our complex, as usual, has fabulous
turf and is one of the best sites around. We will provide
some statistics and are working with the Jaguars on that.
It was also Arbor Day in the City.
There were several hundred
individuals participating this year that planted and did work at
Brookfarm Park. Mayor pro-tem Gatt and Council member Fischer
were there during that time to welcome people and participate.
We hosted a softball tournament at
Power Park this past weekend.
This is our first of eleven at that facility for this summer.
Both Choralaires and the Novi Concert
Band held concerts this
past weekend which were both well received by the public.
The new Engage! has probably
come to your mailboxes. It is out
and has all of our summer camp programs in it as well a community
guide with other community events.
The sculptures at Fuerst Park are
supported by the Novi Parks
Foundation and we are looking for an install to occur with the new
sculptures on Friday the 20th •
We have a new partnership with the
Art Institute and are looking forward to that.
The Enhance! publication has
just been mailed out. It is our older
adult's publication.
Matt Wiktorowski plans to be at the
next Commission meeting to
give an update on field usage and turf. Despite the rain, the turf is
holding up pretty well. There has been alot of rescheduling of
games by Matt ostermeyer's team but we are on track to finish the
season on time.
3. Postpone Park Maintenance Standards
to May
Evie Watt is coordinating with the Commissioners. We would
appreciate the information and the feedback from the
Commissioners. We are working on some of the comments we
have received that were turned in early.
4. Fuerst Park and Tunnel
There is information in your packet about the Fuerst Park Arbor and
Tunnel. From a past Mayor's exchange there was an idea of
creating a rebar tunnel and arbor for the Fuerst Park garden area.
Staff has preliminarily looked at the two structures and provided
some information in the packet of some locations. If you do have
feedback on those locations there is an option one on the arbor
and option two on the tunnel where we are hoping to locate
those. Some of the reasoning for those is because there is some
irrigation and lighting happening at the park. This will be hopefully
completed by an early June timeframe. We have tried to
coordinate with the placement of these structures based on
proximity to the garden. If there is any feedback Nancy Cowan
would be happy to hear it.
Commissioner Torimoto stated that in
the past that there was some
feedback for adding an active structure to the Fuerst Park. He
asked if there is any thinking on where the active structure would
be and where it would be relative to any additions we are making
to the static structure we are adding.
Superintendent Cowan stated that is a piece of the next agenda
item.
5. Request for Proposals - Fuerst Park
and Landings Park
Superintendent Cowan stated that the RFPs (Request for Proposal)
have gone out for Fuerst Park and the Landings Park. The RFP for
phase three of Fuerst Park is to solicit some public input on what a
potential phase three and active portion of that park would look
like. That is what we are aiming to receive from a consultant, to
gather that information from a third party and put it together to
develop some plans to look at what a phase three could
potentially be.
Commissioner Torimoto asked if in
terms of location it would be
near the garden.
Superintendent Cowan stated that the
active locations are close
to the garden. It depends on the topography of the park and
what amenities the public, City Council, Board and Commission
have feedback on. That is one of the pieces we do not have the
expertise to do. We can think of ideas of what we might like there
but the engineering and placement aspect is not our forte. That is
what the consultant will look at.
Commissioner Staab stated that he is
having a hard time
comprehending the rebar structure. It looks like it will be three feet
in the ground.
Superintendent Cowan replied that the
specs on how far they are
putting it in would be a DPS piece. It is like an arch.
MATTERS FOR COMMISSION DISCUSSION AND/OR ACTION:
Commissioner Staab asked
Superintendent Cowan if our CIP includes re-funding
the baseball fields, park access and phase one for The Landings.
Superintendent Cowan stated that this
is correct.
Commissioner Staab asked if there are
any other items.
Superintendent Cowan stated that the
layout for 2011/2012 items are the ones
that were submitted. The 2012/2013 and other projects are listed as well. As
the
budget process goes, City Council approves only the current year for funding
and chooses from there.
Commissioner Staab asked if all of our
items were funded.
Superintendent Cowan replied that she
did not think the pathway phase
development was not. Landings Park was approved. Power Park access road
and fencing repair was approved.
Commissioner Staab then asked Director
Mangum if he has done much in the
area of Fine Arts and Cultural activities. We have a good sized emphasis on
theatre and the art.
Director Mangum replied that he does
have some background, not as an
administrator, but he was his community's liaison with the Arizona
Commission on
the Arts which is the statewide art commission. He was able to provide some
services for local artists, both performing and visual. He fells the arts
are a very
important part of quality of life. He encouraged everyone to come to the
theatre and see "The Little Princess" production starting on Friday.
Commissioner Wingfield stated that for
Adult Softball, in most municipalities has
dwindled or they no longer have programs. Novi had 113 teams this past
summer and is growing. Our program, and updating are facility four or five
years
ago, has a lot to do with that. There are several private complexes that are
doing fine but many municipalities do not even have a program. He has played
in the program for about twenty-five years. Usually you allow returning
teams the
opportunity to register by a certain date and it was not done that way this
year.
Several people did come in to register and could not get in the league.
However, everyone was accommodated. He requested that returning teams
again be allowed the opportunity to register first.
Superintendent Cowan stated that we
did not provide that deadline for the past
couple of years. This was because we have had so many late registrations. We
have found that when we do set that deadline many people are past it anyway.
We then end up having an open space and some of those returning teams are
still not registering. There is a balance between making sure those who have
played before have the opportunity to play while still making sure that we
market our complex and our facility so we do not loose teams to other
communities who can sign up earlier.
CITIZEN COMMENTS:
None
COMMISSIONER COMMENTS:
Commissioner Wingfield welcomed
Director Mangum.
Commissioner Staab welcomed Director
Mangum and hopes his transition goes
smoothly and his family gets here as soon as he can.
Commissioner Torimoto welcomed
Director Mangum. He stated that he
coaches soccer and with the weather it has been a challenge. Theresa
McClure and the rest of the staff did an unbelievable job, and continue to,
keeping the league going.
Commissioner Teklenburg welcomed
Director Mangum and Emily Stevens. He is
happy to go out to the parks and see all the activity after the last
appraisal.
Commissioner Jewell welcomed Director
Mangum and Emily Stevens.
Commissioner Policicchio welcomed both
Director Mangum and Emily Stevens.
The City is going through a tough time like many other cities but it is
continuing to
improve. He thanked Superintendent Cowan for her good job during the
transition.
Commissioner Dooley welcomed both
Director Mangum and Emily Stevens. He
also thanked Superintendent Cowan for the tremendous job she did during the
transition. Arbor Day was on May
7th.
He would
like to acknowledge Wendy
DuVall in particular. She is very
committed and organized. It was good to see
Mayor pro-tem Gatt and Councilmembers Justin Fischer and Wayne Wrobel
there working in the Brookfarm Park. The Daisy Scouts, Brownies, Girl
Scouts, Cub
Scouts and Webloes were all involved.
The hotdog cookout had to be postponed
until Saturday, May 21
st.
The Novi
Athletic Booster Club does provide
free hotdogs to families and coincides with
picture day.
ADJOURNMENT
A motion was made to adjourn by
Commissioner Jewell and seconded by
Commissioner Wingfield.
Voice
Vote
Unanimous
The meeting was adjourned by
Commissioner Dooley at 7:50 pm
DATE APPROVED:
________________________________________ __
Jay Dooley, Chairperson
Paul Policicchio, Vice Chairperson
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