Parks & Recreation Commission - Regular Meeting

so the mics are hot hot hot all right [Music] think they're easing you guys in a good agenda I think it's behind oh all right it's 6:00 on February 24th I'll call the meeting of the Parks and Recreation Commission at the city of East Grand Rapids to order um first agenda item for us is the public comment by anyone in attendance any public comment all right uh moving on to agenda item three the report of the Commissioners and starting with me uh nothing to report for the moment just anything welcome welcome to the parks and Rec commission hi everyone I'm lon l nice to meet you all I'm excited to be here to work with the parks and rec committee and with you guys so welcome and looking for nothing to report not yet hey everybody Kate Skaggs um long time no see for some of you um happy to be filling in for commissioner berdick for a few months on Parks and rack excited to welcome these two new folks to the board here um I suppose I can give a quick readout of our most recent City commission meeting um it was 4 and 1 half hours long it was uh very very well attended uh we heard a lot of

public comment about The Gaslight Village Development and uh what that will look like and it also included a presentation from the property owner um by and large I would say that the tenor in the room was folks who want to see some flavor of development and you know in different ways shapes and forms that they wanted to uh Express to the commission that they would alter or or uh rearrange how they would do it and in some cases there were people who were opposed and in some cases people who were fully supportive so it was very informative it was great to have the public out and connecting and um that conversation is going to keep moving on uh down the line we didn't vote on anything in that meeting so uh the concept plan will be something that we'll be voting on on a upcoming meeting I know that's definitely something that everybody's interested in and if we can swing it we'll try to get some public space down there and hopefully uh some spots for parks and recck to to hold our various fun events that's what I got thanks appreciate that report and uh you really just could not you just missed us that much it was only few months so welcome back though uh commissioner SCU really appreciate it good evening everyone my name is Todd Bell thank you for uh welcoming me tonight to my first meeting excited to be part of the parks and rack commission and I have no comment welcome no report thank you excellent thanks uh no report hi I'm Leila Co this is my second meeting I am the leison from the East Grand Rapids Public School Board and um we are having a meeting the EGR schools uh for the high school design Presentation tomorrow from 6:00 to 75 in the PAC excellent thank you moving on to agenda item four minutes of the regular meeting held January 2027 2025 they're

enclosed in the agenda uh packet uh any discussion of the minutes if not I would move for approval of the minutes dated January 2027 2025 we have a motion for approval so moved the second second uh all those in favor of approving the minutes dated January 2027 say January 27 say I I I those opposed the minutes are approved moving on to agenda item five the special event calendar Derek yes um Commissioners as you may recall me hearing in in the past I'll just continue to keep the special event calendar as part of the agenda packet just to help guide uh discussions uh such as the um special event um application review U that we have on the agenda this evening um just having that calendar there will be helpful for the reminders um making sure that we're keeping to the existing the two event per month policy um and then those of you that have been um part of the board previously um um Might Recall this but those of you are new I'll share that um in the past we used to have a limit of eight events per month um so special events that would like shut down a road or have a closure um recently the city commission uh with a recommendation from The Parks and Recreation commission um did remove that 8 uh limit cap um to allow for some additional events to take place like within the Gaslight Village business area um and because of that eight event cap removal um that's why we're able to have discussions about potentially some additional events um we still would maintain the the two event per month um maximum um permit allowance um but the um the change in policy just provides for a little bit more flexibility with scheduling some um events which we've seem to have a

variety of new ones that have been coming up so all right great um moving on to agenda item six consideration of the request to approve the special event permits that are enclosed you want to just take both of them at once um you know um we certainly can do that I would like to talk through the the gas light Criterium special event a little bit in more detail than the uh than the returning Goble a wobble one so if we could start with that one that would that would be great sounds good um and also I know um our a public commenter here is actually the applicant for the event um it's um the first time since I've been here where I can say there's actually someone from the application in the audience where um if you potentially had some specific questions that I couldn't answer um uh the resources here um but also wanted to point out as as well is I did include a memo uh with this uh special event application um that's I traditionally don't do that for returning events because we you know have the benefit of experiencing the event um in in a recent capacity and and a lot of times when events are applying for a a special event um permit from year to year not a lot has um changed um with the events um but because there has been a gap um from the last time this event um has taken place actually prior to my tenure here at the city felt like it would be prudent to have a little bit more um thorough dialogue here so um as outlined in the memo the um you know a criterium event um and I'm certainly a novice in this category but um um but it's a you know a bike race where Riders are are racing around a short Loop course um this is an event that we have hosted in the City previously um a quick um look back and my records showed that from 2005 through through 2019 um it was a regular occurring event um and then in 201920 um um the the event did not return for for one reason or another

they um did not apply for a special event permit um so it wasn't as though um they were told they couldn't come back or um there um permit was revoked um but there was a break there um and under some new leadership um through the Ada bike Team um they are requesting to return back to Gaslight Village um and as I noted um in talking about the special event calendar and the um the policies that we have under our new guidelines um we do have openings for um special event um permit specifically um in the month of August um because the only existing uh special event that we currently have in August is the taste of East which is um still to be determined um so includ included within my memo um and then also just the rest of the agenda packet um is some information from the applicant that outlines a little bit further in detail the proposed course which would go down um Wealthy Street and and sort of circle the the high school campus as being their short looped course um this event is proposed to be on a Sunday um which would be part of a a series of events that would take place in in West Michigan um on Friday and Saturday that I know the the Ada bike team's working on establishing some other events um that would draw people in maybe from a more um not so much local but you know from out of state and um more regionally um with the idea that people may come to participate and to or three events more so than they would come just for a single event in East Grand Rapids so this would um potentially help the event organizer draw people from out of state uh to participate in their Friday Saturday with the Capstone um event being the Sunday event here in in Gaslight Village um as outlined in the memo certainly the um intent of the organizer would be to um really try to help promote this as a um a supporting

piece as a bonus to the businesses in Gaslight Village you'll note uh that the start Finish Line is on Wealthy Street um which traditionally is where a lot of um event Spectators would be gathering uh so the idea of um placing those Spectators in the areas where they may be frequenting the businesses that are open during that time frame um as you can see on the course there is um a a thought out detour plan um that Public Safety has taken a look at um and they they felt like the um with the event being on a Sunday um they were would be able to manage um a longer duration event um such as this when you compare it to our normal 5K events which are like 8:00 a.m. till noonish approximately um this event would be a little bit longer throughout the day as you can see their proposed schedule within the the application um within the submitt from the applicant um we also did have um City engineering and other staff take a look at the um the proposal um and found it to be in order um in aligned with um past event uh permits um so certainly happy to answer any questions you might have um and then again as noted the applicant is here um if there were any um questions of the applicant thanks and appreciate the applicant being here is there any discussion or questions I have a quick question um noting that Ross is going to be closed for the whole day and there's no way to get out of that street it's a no Outlet will there be any like extra notification to those residents so they can move their car or prepare accordingly I'm I'm I'm hearing your commissioner skags I'm just trying to find Ross on the map um it's like maybe it's not labeled on this map it's kind of right across the street from the

parking lot of of the high school oh there it is I I see it there gotcha um yeah C certainly um notification of road closures for an event like this would be a requirement that we would have of the applicant so we would work with them to make sure that um anyone within this um footprint would know that um and that's something that um we do for like for the triathlon as well is um requests that anyone that may be in the affected area reach out to um either the the applicant or the city so we can help um talk through those um race day um opportunities challenges um to come up with a game plan ahead of time but we we certainly would um take that into consideration is it possible for you to add to that you certainly can yeah come on up we can Tech Team it here so I'm Ryan with the c de cycling team um along those lines um so we'd go out at least a month in advance um to all the impacted residents on Lake Drive instances like Ross there um we would make sure aside from actually handing them try to get actual face-to-face communication with them but if you also look on the schedule we would um emphasize with them that racing isn't nonstop so there are usually about 10 15 minutes between each of the races that would allow for a window for residents not just on Ross but on Lake Drive or anyone else that would be directly impacted and be stuck in course um to be able to leave and in part of this letter that we would hand out would include at least two points of contact on the race team um for them to reach out to somebody of something were to come up day of if they need to leave or get off or come home or things like that um and if I may one more um and this may completely throw a wrench on this this I literally just

found out about this on the way over here um would it be possible to change the the requested date for this permit at this point or would we have to go through new submission of proposal it would just be to move it back one weekend I found out there's another event happening east side of State this state well your timing is great um so I'll just I'll just add this so This was um news to me as well um on the car right over here it was brought to my attention with it um being in the same month um that does not change the the special event policy so with it still being in August that would be a um an open date um and and and certainly if the um parks and W commission um were supportive the the motion um of support for this event could just include the the potential date change um so are you saying that the the date change would then be I'm just going to find it in my notes Here the 24th the following Sunday oh so it would be late the later Sunday correct and if that I understand that's an issue that I can track this request or withdraw this request and we can have further discussions about it um but I apologize for that it it literally was with past 15 minutes on the way over here I was confirming with my timing person that would run the event the time will there's a world in which that next week might be better because the 17th is the day before school starts so there's going to be a lot of people wanting to go like to the store right and and could be advantageous for you guys as well that pretty everyone should be back um their Summer's activities yeah yeah I have a question about the intersection at Breton and Lake

Drive how how is that supposed to work with traffic or do you anticipate that the detour would would be on one of the other streets like Gilmore or Santa Monica uh so that intersection wouldn't be fully closed um it would be closed for traffic if they were looking to continue uh what direction east or west on Lake Drive um that traffic the intersection would be open for them to make the left turn onto Breton um and it doesn't really show up at least on the one I printed I don't know if the one you have in color um but that would the detour would follow that next Road over argena um to San Jose yep okay so that intersection would not be fully closed I take it that that's worked out before back in 2019 where we have cars and bikes during that intersection is quite large so yeah we would have class three barriers to actually close off that intersection um but the um the south east corner of that intersection would be open for traffic to flow on Lake Drive to okay great yeah I I don't know specifically if if um we've done that before at that intersection but I can share with like other events we've had we do um sometimes we'll close like partial intersections so if you think about entering the city from the south going north we would put cones in the left turn lane to make it so no one could get in that lane to try to go West on on Lake um and then effectively just give them the option to turn right and then anyone coming um West or guess Northwest on on lake would only have the option to turn left I got two questions one for staging like if there's like a lot of bikes coming and going um is that I know for some races it's always it's been like by

Public Safety but this one starts and stops in gasl light is there a location for staging where everyone just kind of finds their parking and walk um I think in in the discussions we've had we talked about using like the middle school parking lot um for for um participant parking um but those can be further discussions I mean people are coming on bikes so if we we can put them further away from the event um to not take up you know street parking and those would be things that we would include in race information and directing U participants on where to park okay and is there a maximum number of bikers that can be going around this little loop at a time uh typically um some of the bigger National events um and the elite men you're looking at about 150 participants in One race um for this we are anticipating we would anticipate roughly 200 people per for the whole day okay a minimum of 200 for the whole day um that's very very similar numbers to what we're seeing for other Regional events um like this about this size so you don't anticipate it being so packed that people are going to be crashing or anything like that I mean that people will crash if there's three people in a bike race but um no it won't be that packed um I mean probably looking at um last year when we put on the event in a I think it was like 35 was the maximum number in one of our one of our races okay thank you I I just want to throw in that crits are really exciting the stacks of straw bales it brings a lot of energy to a community and I'm really excited that you you guys are bringing it back and reached out to us I mean I'm kind of I think I'm probably biased but I mean it is a very spectator friendly event um very high

energy um I mean aside from the overall races you know we work to find sponsors to do like One laap races within the race to make it more exciting um so yeah it's very exciting very spectator friendly um and everybody I've ever talked to they love watching crer byes any additional questions thoughts comments I really appreciate it um I guess we'll wait for commissioner skags to return um but at this time I guess IID ask for a motion to approve the 2025 EGR Gaslight Criterium Bike Race for August 24th did I get that right 2025 correct so moved is there a second second any discussion further on this motion hearing no additional discussion I'll ask for a vote on the motion those in favor say I I those opposed the motion carries um next we'll consider the permit for the 2025 kids food basket gobble wobble Derek anything to present yes so the um the kids food basket gobble wobble is um as as noted in their application um is their 20th annual event so they've been around for um for quite some time um th this event um quite honestly goes um every year seems to go off without a hitch they um do their due diligence to meet with Public Safety ahead of time and iron out any the course uh details um and so um City staff is uh recommending approval pending any um questions the committee

may have any questions thoughts for the director so this is um goes along with the adult gobble wobble like there's two events or is oh no it's just the kids food basket it's both the kids run and the yeah and kids yeah yeah yeah yeah all right yeah so they do have the kids portion the adult portion and then kids uh food basket is the beneficiary of the event uh if there's no additional thoughts concerns or questions I'll entertain a motion to approve the 2025 kids basket gobble wobble special event permit show you got us so moved show second any discussion on the motion as second and hearing none I'll ask for a vote to approve the permit as moved um all those in favor say I I I those opposed the kids food basket special event permit is approved moving on to agenda item seven DNR Grant application discussion director yes so as you may recall at our last uh parks and recre U Recreation Commission meeting we had talked about the prioritization of upcoming Parks Improvement projects um and Waterfront Park um Rose to the top of that list for this committee um so I've been working on um just getting some items together um so that we can apply to DNR grants uh this funding cycle which has an April 1st deadline um so in the last couple weeks I've had an opportunity to attend um a DNR um online training and then also um I connected with our grant coordinator um directly and and so each region in the state of Michigan has their own Grant coordinator through the DNR um to help assist and make um those application decisions which um you know best fit the community

maybe best fit the the property um so to best align the applications for the you know highest chance of success um and through those um trainings and conversations um I did learn that the DNR has changed a couple of items which actually um they they're trying to streamline the application process make it a little bit easier than um maybe you know removing some hurdles that they have in the past um like one of those um hurdles um in the past was that you had to have a public hearing within a certain time frame um and now what they want to see is number one the completion of the five-year wreck plan which we do have verification they accepted and approved our W plan um but then two um they just want to make sure that um um these types of applications or any projects are on agendas U so community members can see that you know the city is considering applying for um a grant um and then um you know can uh come and make public comment during that time so um intentionally we're having this agenda item on the agenda for this evening and also the next two City commission meetings um the um Waterfront Park uh Grant applications will be on the the next two agendas just to further provide those um public engagement opportunities and in and input opportunities um also I did hear some good news that they did um um increase the uh Grant amounts for development grants um since the last time I had uh received a grant um and then uh lastly um our new Grant coordinator um really after talking with him about the Waterfront Park the proposed scope items within the um conceptual plan that we have um they really encouraged me to apply for multiple grants this time around um not just with the um the Michigan natural resources trust fund Grant which as you can see um in the application material materials there's a potential $400,000

Grant um they they really um suggested that I take a look at dividing the the project up in applying for a land and water a conservation fund Grant um a trust fund Grant and a recreation passport Grant so really the trifecta um and um what that does um for us is um you know of course the more applications you submit um maybe the more likely one of them might get funded um but by separating them out into smaller Grant applications um it can uh help us reach points in certain categories that the recreation passport May place a higher emphasis on recreational opportunities whereas the land and water conservation fund really they would love the uh project components of uh the uh Wetland restoration um the um Trail and Boardwalk development so it allows for us to put our um you know kind of put our um options into multiple buckets but it still gives the city the ability to choose which Grant um we would like to accept if we were to receive multiple grants so allows us to hedge um the application bets a little bit without um limiting our future decisions to be made um so I wanted to have uh some of those discussions with you tonight number one to point out the um the increased public engagement and public input opportunity by this being on the agenda tonight but then two to um hear the thoughts of the committee about um you know potentially applying for multiple grants um and um anything else that you may uh have questions about with regard to the DNR process um I did uh highlight the timeline here because that um for a lot of people that's one of the most surprising items that you would learn with a DNR Grant is that you apply in April of uh year um one in this case

um and you don't um get to break ground for two more years so it is a lengthy process um but as you can see with some of the potential Grant uh funding opportunities that um it's can be worth uh the patients um so but happy to answer questions you might have or um maybe varying thoughts um regarding the application process any questions one question I had Derek about the you mentioned splitting the grants into or the the project into three grants does that mean that we're only able to accept if we were um chosen for say two of the three or even all three would we be only able to accept one or are there parts that we could accept from one Grant and uh parts from another Grant how does that process play out um Pat Patrick um it um it varies um so we can um accept more than one Grant if we don't have overlapping scope items or if we write the applications um such that one um application is not dependent upon the other so that will be part of the discussion um at the staff level and also the the city commission level um if um for example um the the playground for me is one of the um potential scope items on this list that does not fit really well into the grant um any of these grants um it um it's it's seen as kind of like a base amenity at this point even though it would be really widely accepted here in East Grand Rapids but um but it doesn't score well as as an amenity um so that may be an item that we um slide into the recreation passport Grant which is the um the granting um or I guess the grant that has the least uh funds available the lowest uh percentage of likelihood

of of us receiving funds for that and so if we were to receive it receive it that would be great um but if we don't get that um the grant for the playgrounds but we do for other items that's a small enough chunk where the city could maybe choose to go forward with the playground component without the supporting grant funding so um I guess to answer your question yes we can accept multiple grants provided there's not the overlap but the intent would be to try to um position those applications whereas if we didn't receive one or two of them we still would have a viable project to move forward with and decisions for the community to potentially move forward with everything um despite not getting multiple uh grants right that makes sense thanks D is there capacity to write three grants um by the application deadline of April 1 which is like six weeks away that um that was my question for the for the grant coordinator cuz um we are um I'm writing these grants um and um because they are all through the DNR uh fortunately a lot of the materials that are required are the same for each of the three um like some of the the items like we have to get um letters of support so I already have one from Anthony myy at the schools and I'm already working through those our networks to get letters of support because we do get um we get points for those types of things I met with disability ad kits of Kent County last week we have um those types of things um that are required for the trust fund um we can reuse those for the others um the the only outlier to to Really and the narrative and um meeting minutes all those things are the same uh really the the chunk of additional work that would be needed would be for the the land and

water conservation fund um that does um that funding um is is tied to federal funds so they do have some additional um requirements one of them being um we have to um reach out to the fish and wildlife service to make sure that where there's no like endangered species on the site Etc we actually already have a um environmental assessment that shows that there's not but we still have to go through that that those steps and then there is a a shipo organization the state historic preservation office um essentially um connecting with them to make sure that um this isn't a site that might have historical significance or artifacts um we know locally that the the site was you filled in with fill material and was previously Wetlands Etc um so we're um that's a um that's just one of those extra steps that we would have to do but the um one of the nice things about those two requirements is they just want to see that it's been initiated by April 1st and then we have until October 1st to have that completed cuz some of those um sometimes there can be long process for some of those items um and so really to meet the deadline really not much work and then even after that it's just making sure that we're following those steps you sound like you know what you're doing thank you I have a question about the percent match is that if you apply the city has to commit to this in order to move ahead head with the funding if we get it that that is correct so the percent match um that's listed on the chart in the page um the city is required to pass a a resolution committing to that match amount so for example um the the land

and water conservation fund for the development um it's a 50% um fixed match and um their maximum Grant amount is U or excuse me their maximum application amount is $1 million so if we're ask asking for 500,000 we would have to commit to 500,000 for uh for that application um and and and that would be the resolution by the city commission you're only committed to that if you do then accept a grant and execute the project agreement documents related to that so if if something changed on the city's behalf during um before that were to happen um we could with withdraw our application if if desired um the other grants um so the trust fund and then also the wreck passport you um see there the max or excuse me the match is 25% minimum um those are on those two Grant applications those are point-based um matches so um by um by matching the minimum if we were only to match 25% we would receive the lowest amount of points so I always recommend um matching at the 50% level or maybe even 51 just to make it look look a little bit better um because we would receive more points and it's something um those of you that have heard me talk about DNR grants before that's one of the um things in this community we really need to do everything we can to get all of the points for things like that because we will not get any need-based points for um based on um social economic status of the community there's some communities that get an extra I think it's 30 points whereas we don't so in those circumstances with match Etc we need to make sure we're maximizing those opportunities great question thanks for the information director Melville any other discussion please um what are we looking at in terms of how many mill

dollars are left um so yeah we talked about that a little bit last time and I'm glad it was asked last time because I was able to go and look and um not go off the top of my head um is um we recently sold the bonds for the remaining um amount that had not um yet been sold um after the Manhattan Park development is complete um and and I say it that way because um there may be potential change orders that come about fortunately most of the underground Works uh done and and that's usually where most of the change orders happen but um there there's still that potential where we might have to use some of the contingency that we've set aside um but we're we're with uh cash um remaining we're close to like 900,000 we have interest earnings on that 900,000 that would um it's been a good year for interest earnings um and then of course any leverage we're able to receive from Grant funds but um yeah so I guess for a rough number approximately a million dollars um so with with this um rough cost estimate for uh Waterfront Park would um for us to do everything on the scope list including the um the playground area parking lot expansion everything else would um would probably be close to the $1 1.5 million range so we would need some Grant funds to to realize this project or find funding elsewhere thank you any other questions the request before us though uh director CL uh if you want to clarify too is to get some feedback on what the the board here thinks of the proposal to potentially apply for the three different grants and separating out the proposals I'd say uh you know last time we had a last meeting we had a pretty good discussion robust discussion about yeah sort of the open-ended question about how you piece these things together how big or small

do you make it to optimize your score sounds like you've gotten a lot of Direction on that front which is great um so any other any feedback uh as far as concerns or whether you think the the the direction as we're looking at it here is the right one open-ended any thoughts I have a question are are we going in with the waterfront park because that's priority or one of the like the other things that are lower on the priority list are there any of those um improvements that would be like a better match for some of these grants like I don't I don't know I'm throwing out hen pile are they are those smaller lower priority Parks if we applied could they be more of like a sure sure thing than going in with Waterfront if we were to throw those in there instead of just going all in all three all water Waterfront yes so I I would say the um the main reason why we're talking about Waterfront Park tonight you're right is because of the the prioritization um from the the parks and wck um committee saying hey we'd like to see Waterfront Park be potentially next so that's the main reason um as as far as the viability of um some of the other applications um I I think that part of the reason why maybe Waterfront Park Rose to the top is because there was more of a defined plan if you will that had with like a list of scope items to help um think through that that application process um like for example the hoden pile um Remington like the um the trail expansion um didn't necessarily include like Wetland restoration and some of those other things it was more so um trail-based and I I do think that this um the the list of scope items that we have outlined here with the playground area aside um

as I addressed that earlier but like the Wetland restoration Trail and Boardwalk development um the parking lot expansion which is important for two reasons one not just access to Waterfront Park but um in my narrative I'll argue that that's trail head for the Reeds Lake Trail which um might sway some points our way as well so I think all of those things combined um Waterfront Park is our um most application ready but then also our best chance to receive the most funding in in my opinion certainly with some more development of some of the other projects on the list that um something might change if once those get um discussed more but as it sits today I would say this is the most um worthy of a a DNR application or applications in this case I I think it might be helpful to throw in that Waterfront Park was if and correct me if I'm saying this wrong was partially funded by a DNR Grant back when that was done correct yes so Waterfront Parks um history includes phase one on the east side of the road which was funded by a DNR Grant um and then actually the acquisition of the property was a uh DNR of supported um purchase as well um and so um although we w't necessarily get any additional points for that I would think if I were someone from the DNR reviewing an application of a propert for a property the DNR helped purchase that might bode well for us okay any other thoughts questions concern or feedback for the director I just my own personal input here I think it's a good direction um it

seems like you've gotten a lot more specificity and knowledge about how our project Scopes may be scored um so my feedback is to press on and split the projects into three and pursue the three grants under the aggressive schedule you have here but it sounds like you uh you're able to do that confidently so that's my support I I do have one question or perhaps one more question the preliminary scores when they're issued in September yes could they be potentially so low that we we just stop and and we look at okay we have the 900 let's go back to specifically what the community has requested and I and I feel like that keeps coming back to a young child child children's playground like do you ever I guess the question is do you ever stop where it's like this just doesn't look viable and and then look at opportunities later on like how does how does that go um so I guess one of the things to add about the um the pre preliminary scores issued so in the September of 2025 you know we'll apply in April um hopefully we'll have a site visit that's something the DNR chooses uh which sites to visit I would really like to get someone out here to walk it to um you know help them understand it um and then we'll get those preliminary scores in September we do have the ability at that time to um um essentially boost up our application so if we're scored lowly in an area um I'll know that from our grant coordinator they may say well um we're not really buying the um the trail head to reads Lake connection um can you expand upon that for us and and they'll

show me what um my current score would be but then it's my job as um you know the applicant to to try to boost it up to maybe increase our scores in that area or all the other areas um so I I think that if um the DNR Grant coordinator were to tell me like hey hey don't waste your time on on trying to get any more points I I certainly would hope that they would share that um but but a lot of times it's um just trying to find those small adjustments to go from 10 points in a category ategory to 15 and as you work your way through the application you know if you get five extra points on 10 different categories that might be the the funding or not and then the other um I guess the other um piece to that puzzle is uh we don't know annually how much funding the DNR is going to give out until it's complete and so if if um like there's um some years where um I should have brought that I I had a a cheat sheet there's um two years ago they they gave like let's say $8 million for development grants um and the rest went to acquisition because they split it up between development and acquisition last year they gave almost twice as much Grant funds for development as they did the previous year so if if we would go on um look at the list and say well last year they gave 8 million and we're going to be in this cut off here um we won't know that until after all the applications and scoring is done um and and I guess the last thing to to say to that is um if we don't receive the grant for let's say the playground area um if we separate that out we still would have the um ability as a community to do that separately if um if if that was the desire of the commission essentially we could um move forward with a smaller

scale project uh and then maybe try to reapply the following years for some of the larger scope items but that certainly um I'll take some direction from the commission if if we get to that point okay thank you great question a lot of good information there any other feedback questions all right uh director are you satisfied with the level of feedback you've got on that agenda item yeah that that's very helpful and and certainly if you uh know any neighbors or community members that might be interested um just let them know the next City commission meetings um we'll be accepting um feedback and again it's um that's I guess that's one thing I would stress the LA I guess maybe last comment is the um the conceptual plan that we have for Waterfront Park is just that it's conceptual we'll use that for our application to the DNR but it's to be expected that um after we apply and and maybe even um after we find out that we're potentially going to be getting the grant there's still a whole another year of opportunity for us to um solicit more Community engagement and feedback because we will have to refine that plan um it's that's not what we're going to build um necessarily and so there'll be additional opportunities even after the Grant application is submitted to uh refine that and as long as we still keep the same scope items in place um the DNR is okay with that um So within the application I'm not going to tell them that the the the parking lot's going to go here or um you know all these specifics it'll be very general so that we can make those updates and adjustments with Community input um over time that was going to be my question so they're only necessarily looking at items right and not necessarily the specifics around those items so there's

some room to navigate and change within that yes that that's correct they'll um the um conceptual plan that we have to the um I guess the required plan really could be a Google map of waterfront park with little circles that are numbered that say number 27 is the expanded parking lot and number two is the the playground area like where we generally think they'll go but they don't need to see um engineered plans or anything like that okay well sounds great uh encourage the the work to continue and look forward to seeing uh what other public you get and then ultimately the applications being made so thank you for that and then with that we'll move on to agenda item 8 the report of the director yes so um I'll just draw attention to a couple of things here on the on the list so Sports night out if um has anyone ever attended Sports night out in the past no sorry I didn't want to put anyone on the spot Sarah and I have um that's an event that we um put on annually and you know sometimes um when you have an event like that um the um you pick the date um you know 6 months in advance and there's a lot going on in the community so people have to make choices of what they're doing um so it wasn't the most highly attended event that we've had but certainly um very impactful lots of it's fun to see you know families recreating together um and so we um collecting um feedback on on that event and ways that we can potentially boost um enrollment in the future um and then just to um point out the some of the new programs that we're putting on in in our department department is um like the the softball program um I think we're up to 18 U Middle School softball players that will be playing on our inaugural team this uh spring they've been meeting on Sundays to you know get some hitting and and throwing in ahead of time um so it's

nice to see the um support behind that new idea um our our Middle School boys um basketball teams played their first games at the courthouse yesterday that's a a sport uh facility in Byron Center um so again another enhanced opportunity that we're trying to just provide um you know more playing opportunities for our athletes um and then I know we have um I forget the name of it Sarah do you recall the new not the Improv but the new theater um yeah I put you on the spot that's right but um the I guess the um the thought is that we're um you know we when we receive public input when we receive requests like hey have you ever thought of this program or um is there any way we can get something like this going um we certainly do take a close look at it um I shared this with the city commission but we do uh we call them interest lists so we'll set up a like if you're interested sign up on this list so you can stay informed um we recently did that for cheerleading I think we have like 50 uh uh families on that interest list so that guides us our decision-making of well we've got a lot of support for this so um just wanted to share like those um ways that we are reaching out to try to come up with new programming um outside of kind of our regular um offering that we have so any questions for Derek I had a question Derek I know uh this is not I think currently on your report but related to some of the sports are there any updates on the Sports Coordinator position that you guys were I think you were doing interviews last time or last meeting or maybe in the process of that do you have any updates on that um position yeah without saying uh too much I um I if you would ask me that on maybe Wednesday or Thursday of this week I'll have a good um better answer to share for you um but we're we're still working through that process um for those that um of you that might not be as familiar

um we in in the Parks and Rec Department we have three uh program supervisor positions we have an aquatic supervisor a Leisure supervisor and a recreation supervisor they're the ones that plan all of our great activities and um make sure all that happens um goes off without a hitch um and one of the Strategic goals of the city commission uh last year was to um you know add more programs like we were just talking about but then also create that um tighter connection with the school district from a vertical alignment perspective so trying to align our youth programs um and middle school programs with the high school programs um and so we created a job description we've um are almost complete with the um the hiring process there um and um so we'll have some new programs coming on board and and that's the plan for that position is to um try to roll those programs in um not all at once but over time like as the Manhattan Park development gets completed this summer next summer um you'll probably see some pickle ball um offerings in our program guide or some beach volleyball options um so it it's an opportunity for us to bring someone on board to do a little bit more and then to grow things over time I have our answer yeah kids stage kids stage it's acting kids acting class so we try to find that balance of you know Recreation Leisure theater like a little bit of everything and then as far as Manhattan Park goes I imagine it's not been a whole lot going on due to the weather but any anything any updates there yeah uh I can share they've um they've been absent for 6 8 maybe 10 weeks now time seems to fly but um I I didn't check today but they are planning um to be back this week um they're going to work on um

digging out some of the rain Gardens um that we built into the uh the plan for of storm water um uh retention and um movement across the property um they also are going to work on the the footings for the restroom building this week um they said next week there might be um again another project that's pulling them away and then um after that we can expect for them to be there on a more regular basis weather permitting of course but yeah so it has been a little bit quiet but um this week hoping to see some more activity and um they are still on schedule for the like that June 30th completion um hoping that maybe spring might cooperate to get ahead of that but we'll we'll see what Mother Nature brings anything else for the director before we adjourn well I appreciate it Derek a lot of information uh there in I'd also like to again welcome the new members and commissioner Skaggs back to the parks and rec commission two more months okay okay well good know all right uh with that we will adjourn at 6:52 p.m. thank you welcome I hope you'll enjoy yeah spending some