Parks & Recreation Commission - Regular Meeting

So so many different last year when we were you had coach, a football coach, a shot coach, a disc coach, a hurdle coach, a strength coach, and two distance coaches, which is for 130 kids. That was phenomenal. But we don't Yeah. All boys and girls. 120. Yeah. We're a little smaller than we were a week ago because couple hard workouts and we don't have as many as we used to have. That's what happens. Sure. It's part of the game. Mhm. Yeah. Perfect. Actually know what she's going to talk about, too. Yeah. I agree. Which is safer for me. Caroline, get out of it again. You tell us. No worries. She Well, everybody runs when we come back. Well, this Friday we're going to have our inner squad game is slow. Yeah, I think it is slow. But I guess is that the official it's two minutes behind and all of us to agree with commission nights single source of truth. There you go. All right. 6 o'clock. So being 6:00 I will go ahead and call this parks and wreck commission meeting to order and we will start with public comment. [Laughter] Please make a line. No questions. State your name and your address, please. I I know. Okay. Do you want me to use the mic? Yes. Yes, please. Just for the for the recording. Okay. My name is My name is Marily Fischer. I live at 609 Lakeside Southeast, uh, apartment D, Lakewood Hills Apartments. And just so everyone knows, Larry Fischer is my husband in full disclosure.

We have lived in Lakewood Hills Apartments across from John Collins Park for four Fourth of July celebrations. There were the two that were cancelled because of CO. I would like to ask Park and Wreck to close Lakeside Drive from the northern border of the Lakeside Wealthy intersection to the southern border of Rose's parking lot on July 4th. From the time that the boat ramp closes until after fireworks, the parade could still go north on Lakeside as that route is already monitored by public safety officials. Closing Lakeside will not negatively impact any residents of Lakeshore condos or Lakewood Hills Apartments as both complexes have alternate exits and entrances. If Roses is open, which would be an anomaly. They're, as far as we know, they've never been open on the 4th. They just have a private celebration. They would have use of their parking lot, which would also be available to their marina tenants. I want to bring these safety issues to your attention. There's lots of foot traffic, especially kids coming back and forth across Lakeside to and from Gas Light and the park. The east side of Lakeside has the food trucks. Definitely, I'm fully in favor of the food trucks. In fact, bring more, but it does cause pedestrian visibility issues for car traffic. Many cars park illegally along Lakeside that day. The bicycle officers last year said people don't care if they get tickets. And in at least one instance, a young female bicycle police officer was told to f off, only they use the real word, by a driver parking

illegally. When fireworks begin, cars just stop. This creates a four a street that's four vehicles across of solid stopped traffic, maybe about 20 to 30 cars deep. Keep in mind this is when hundreds of people are along Lakeside and in John Collins Park with explosives being set off about a half mile away. If there was any emergency, there is no way emergency vehicles could get through the traffic quickly. I want to bring this to your attention now because July really is right around the corner, even though it doesn't seem like it. I spoke with public safety. They referred me to city commission. I spoke with Ryan Berdick and Katie Favali and they asked me to bring it to park and wreck which is why I'm here. This is likely to take some time within the city approval process. So I would like it to be considered as soon as possible. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for your comments. Do we have It looks like we have no other public comment. 603. She did pretty good. Yeah. And if I could um just so the um parks rent commission is aware, I'll I'll take this uh feedback received um and chat with um Rick the um the chief of public safety and um just to understand uh their perspective. Um we've actually um as a staff and parks and wreck have talked about this and kind of hemmed and hawed um back and forth and um but yeah, I'll happy to uh talk to public safety and report back at our meeting next month. And I don't know if anybody was around when our police officer was killed on the 4th of July at night um when we were handling traffic. There's a memorial for him in in the village here, but we had an officer hit many many years ago, maybe in the 90s even. Um and so there

has been issues with traffic on the 4th of July. Um I would actually second what the young lady was saying. We we observe the traffic and it's just a nightmare. Um it really is. Um, I tried to do the enforce the parking out there, too, but I was told to stop doing that. Can't park there. $50 ticket. We need to get you a badge. I They bought me a vest and everything. What did she ask you? Sorry. What did she ask you? She asked me if I needed a vest. I said, "No, I already have a vest." No, I said badge. No parking sign. I do. Yeah. But the white school police officer asked him to please stop impersonating an officer. Just trying to keep people safe, right? That seriously, she did. I will say that we can kid about it, but there it's it is a dangerous situation with that traffic. I'm sorry. Yeah. I'm glad this brought it to our attention. Well, and if nobody tells you, you don't know. We certainly lived in just many years before we were aware of that situation. If you're not there, you don't know. Right. So, um, three members of, um, the Lakeshore condos were supposed to be here tonight to also speak, but it's too cold. Well, thanks for being here. Thank you for being here. Yep. Thank you. Thank you. And with that, we we will close public comment and move on to report of commissioners. I will begin with myself and tonight I have no report. I have no report. I'll just give a quick update from city commission. Um, everybody's always very interested in what's going on in Gaslight and tomorrow we should be seeing a public release of a revised plan that was announced uh last week or

so that that was going to be coming out. So, um that will be available tomorrow at some point during the day for everybody to see and review. And then on March 31st, which is next Monday, Gaslight Investors is going to be giving a presentation again for commission. So if you're interested, tune in on YouTube or come join commission meeting six o'clock on the 31st. Uh, no report for me. And I don't know if people pay attention to the East Grand Rapids residents Facebook thing, but there was a lot of comments recently about our farmers market and why it had to be there. I don't know if you anybody addressed anything to parks and wreck, but there was a stream and of course there's a lot of experts out there in the world that you know are have a better way of doing things. So I don't know if that was brought to your attention or not, but there was some questions. Okay. Yeah. And uh none of them have recently made their um way to us, but um last year there um certainly um as we kind of rolled out the information and then throughout the season heard feedback of hey, haven't you ever thought of like the school parking lot on Bagley or some other locations that we did um we we did vet and unfortunately those locations didn't work out um on a consistent basis. So um this was the default uh location and but we are excited to have the farmers market come back again this year. So fully support it. Also want to highlight that spring sports have started. We've actually had competition and certain I think lacrosse has had some games and soccer for sure has had some games. Um, I just wanted to comment that um the dog park is a lot of fun but very muddy. And I'm wondering if um the the baseball field, the the tubing that we put down to help drain it, if that's very successful, if that's something since we built the dog park on the swamp, if

maybe we could consider if it's works really well, maybe adding some drainage in there. um just throwing it out there as a really nice option. I I will actually include the dog park is going to be part of my construction updates. Um so I'll I'll I'll touch on on that. Thank you. Yeah. Yay. Nothing to report. All right. I think that concludes our report of commissioners. We will move on to a request to approve the minutes of our February 24th meeting. Do I have a motion to approve? So moved. Motion. Second. Second. Thank you. All right. Minutes approved. Moving on. We have We can just take a a vote. I Oh, yeah. Sorry. Here forgot the vote procedure. All right. So, we've got our motion or second and do um All All in favor? I I I Any oppose? Any discussion? All right. Fifth item. We have the special event calendar enclosed for everyone to review. And then moving right into our sixth item, we have two events to um special event permits with actions requested. Starting and Derek, you're going to start us off with the after dark party. Yes. So um and and thank you Patrick for uh pointing out we do have the event calendar we keep in the on the packet just to help uh keep track of all the the fun activities we have going on in the city, especially as it relates to uh permits that are required for for some of those events. Um so before you tonight, the first event we have is the

um the GVBA after dark party. Uh you may recall last year was the first time that there was an after dark uh party um that took place in June. And and what this event is is it's a collaboration um between the East Grand Rapids Community Foundation who helps financially support the event um and also the GVBA um as a um kind of recognition of you know trying to bring in some additional activity, more community building, more um engagement um in the Gas Light Village. And so that is the reason why the community foundation um is supporting the event, but um GVBA is kind of helping put the event on. Um with the support of Lions and Rabbits, the nonprofit group. Um so last year was um a really successful event. We learned some things about it. Um we learned to um have warmer weather when we have a dunk tank. Um and we um also um you know just logistically and layout um we we listened to the feedback that was received from last year. Um and just a quick summary of some of that is um some more food trucks or at least spreading them out um on the site. Um the um the event uh be beverage area um was um a little bit difficult for some people to find. So either having that in a more prominent location or um potentially having multiple um and then layered on top of that, we had a really successful um the beer and harvest festival in the fall where we got to uh see, you know, different uh event layout and different experiences. Um and so trying to pull some of those details into uh a summer 2025 event. Um, we did uh put out a survey to all GVBA uh membership uh to um uh to find out when they would most like to have u an event such as this. So for for 2025, we asked them to um see if they would like to have it on a Thursday

again like it was last year or potentially a Friday or Saturday and then um there were some options to have an early June or a later June. Um and almost unanimously the feedback received was that the earlier in June um was perceived as the better for the businesses before um before a lot of people in town may start their summer vacations and and um and taking off. Um but then also um the um majority of the feedback received was to have the event on a Saturday. Um and so for that reason uh June 7th uh was selected. Um, currently, um, and on the application here, the name is still the after dark party, but you might have noticed the timing is a little bit earlier to, uh, incorporate some more family-friendly activities throughout the day. Um, so it would be, um, start a little bit earlier and go a little bit longer. Um, but but not potentially, um, after dark depending on when sunset is uh, on on June 7th. Um but the um certainly you know the financial support from the community foundation and the um GVBA um interest in this event um is why it's on the agenda uh for your review tonight. I'm happy to answer any questions you might have. Patrick and I are also on the committee foundation. Me too. Are you back on? Y I just usually have to zoom in on my way to work. Yep. Kate, Patrick, and I are on the committee foundation. Yes. With others, but if there's any questions, all of us happy to can it. Sorry about that, Kate. No, it's okay. It was a great event last year. We learned not to have chocolate on our table uh cuz it all melted. We were giving away candy to kids, so we'll not have chocolate this year. But it was well attended. We learned some things, like you said.

I guess we're good. There's a there's an effort to do a little bit more variety in the entertainment this year, too, I think, and invite some groups from some like school groups to do performances. Right. Right. With the cancellation of festival downtown, we thought we could capitalize on some of that. There are some people that are looking for an avenue to participate and if we ended with some in town groups, so high school, middle school, whatever, or groups connected to the East, but then also possibly groups from other areas, dance troop, vocal, whatever, it would then draw hopefully more people from outside the community, which is exactly what GVBA wants. And um so we're look, Lions and Rabbits is uh looking into that for us. That's good. Thank you for bringing that up. Do we need to take action on it? Yep. Yes, please. Do I have a motion to approve the Gaslight Village Businesses Association after dark party for 2025? So moved. Second. Second. All in favor? I. Yes. Any opposed? Any comments? Motion passes. It's great. It's great. Yes. So, the the second event uh for your review this evening is the Reads Lake Trailblazer Run. Um for those of you who may be familiar, this again is related to the um it's the main um well, as of today, it's the main uh fundraising um event for the East Grand Rapids Community Foundation. Um so, this is a morning of the Fourth of July event um that fits nicely into our Fourth of July schedule. So before we have to um start worrying about road closures for the parade, this this event goes on. Um and um lots of community involvement um they would um be utilizing the same courses um that they used last year. So the same out and

back course that we used for um for the the Reeds Lake run. Um it works really well to limit the number of uh rogue disruptions uh required for an event like this and also limits the um the involvement required on behalf of public safety who is quite busy on 4th of July already dealing with other um um related items. Um so um essentially this would be this um the same as it has been in years past. Um and happy to answer any questions you might have. less volunteers needed with an out and back course which is very important because it's hard to get volunteers in the fourth. We also have a family type division this year that if there's a family of four that would like to participate there's the ability to do that this year which is interesting and race numbers are going back up. Um how many did we have for Irish jig? Do we have a number on that? It was huge. It was uh it was more than 200. Yeah. So, it's bouncing back after CO now. And so, we don't need to be a huge race, but it is a nice it's to me it's part of the celebration of East Grand Rapids on the 4th of July. You start with the race, you go to the parade, you hang out at the park for the afternoon stuff, fireworks, keeping everybody safe. What a great day that is in our community. So, this is the outback to the like rock area. Is that right? Little little past that. Little past it, but Okay. So, that it does close like Lakeside Drive, which was part of public comment. Mhm. the part that she's talking about. Yeah. Yeah. That woman. Well, I'm wondering, you know, in thinking through like the best Fourth of July, like lots of road clo like would this just be an all day closure at that point, right? With only just um No, it's only temporary. And I have to tell you that there's a lot of signage up um for so people can still get out to their morning events and whatnot. There's the volunteers do a pretty good job of making sure you can get out and do things not just for this race and all the because there's at least three races

that use this route over the year and you can handle it. We can get out and Yeah. Well, I mean just thinking through logistically like if if um you know I felt like she was very compelling like I was moved you know by the safety um you if that's a serious consideration to close it then logistically would you really want to open for any part of the day? I wonder for boating people want to put their boats in then you wouldn't be able to get to the put the ramp would be tricky. Is the boat ramp closed for the morning then? How does Yes. So for the boat ramp um we close it in the morning time. Well people come use the boat um ramp super early. Like they'll come launch their boat 600 7:00 but um but we do close the um the boat ramp area for the the race. Um it's also closed for the uh for the parade and then during the kids um activities and the water ski show down in the park etc. Um the boat launch is closed during that time as well. So effectively from let's say 8:00 a.m. to um I want around 5:00 p.m. um is when the boat ramp is closed. And that's actually we've we've posted uh the time of the boat ramp um closing a little bit later than what it probably needs to be, but we need the boat show people all to be packed up and gone. Um and and there's that timing thing, right, of we don't want people circling the block to put their boat in waiting for the boat um the ski show people um to to be removed. Um and then it opens back up for a period of time for like a couple of hours for people to launch their boats. And I'm I'm speaking currently. Um it um opens for a couple hours so people can launch their boats ahead of fireworks and then we do shut it back down again uh later in the evening. So it's open for a couple hour window uh currently. And I do think that would be part of my discussion with public safety

is is there a way to even if the roads closed to find that window to to allow for that because we know that there's a lot of boats that do like to park out in front of or anywhere on that end of the lake. Um, and if the launch was closed that entire day after um, let's say 7 a.m., that would um, preclude some of those folks from getting their their boats on the water unless they had a way to do it the day before. Um, so I think that would be part of my discussion with public safety is is there a way for us to have that? Um, and for the parade too, we would need the um, the road open. So after the parade is um, through um, and then um, after the ski show, etc. Is there a way for us to um have a period of time to open up the boat launch to allow for um people to launch their boats and get get their vehicles out of there? Um and then have it um the road closed until the end of fireworks. Um I How how much boat traffic do we have? I mean, is it pretty heavily trafficked? Um unfortunately launch like not people who have a boat on the lake, but Sure. Um I would say it would be it's pretty consistent um right after we open it up and so um but most of that time I'm usually down by fireworks and doing other things. So, I haven't seen like actually how many vehicles do end up launching, but I do know we have a we usually will have a wait um of people lining up to to get their boats in um after this, you know, when it opens up during that window, but I I wouldn't um like if I had to guess, I wouldn't think it would be more than 20, but um um that would just be kind of just based on how many boats I've seen and how many trailers I've seen around, stuff like that. and and I could certainly ask public safety. They typically have more of a presence down there u during that time.

And so that can be part of my review um when I ask them about the the closure of Lakeside. Any other comments? Do we have a motion to approve the 2025 Reeds Lake Trailblazer? So moved. Second. All in favor? I I Yes. Motion passes. All right. So, moving on. We have a construction update. Looks like it's going to be verbal only. Yeah. So, I've got a couple of U construction projects that are um either underway or hopefully will be underway soon to uh to talk through. Um the main one being uh Manhattan Park. Um, so it's been really nice that this pretend spring that we had for a couple of weeks has allowed for the construction team to get out there and make some progress a little bit earlier than they were planning on. Um, not saying they're ahead of schedule, but it's just nice when um, they're they're not telling us that they're having to push anything back. Um, but they're currently um, and I guess has anyone been out there recently or driven by to see any of the progress? So, it's it's nice when we start to see stuff going up. uh because for so long they were working on the underground, you know, storm water, um bringing in electrical, um uh bringing in plumbing for uh the restroom building, etc. So, it's nice that we're starting to see the fruits of their labor above ground. Um we have the um both the tennis courts and pickleball courts have been poured. Those were poured in the in the um in the fall, but now they they poured the the collar or the ribbon around that that holds all of the fence posts. Um and all of the fence posts are in. So, you can start to get a kind of a sense of uh what that space will look like. Um the last time I was out there was Friday and they may have made some more progress since then, but they um have

the restroom building constructed up to the floor of um the um of the building. So, they now they need to bring back their masons and work on the um um bringing up the the walls and ultimately the roof. Um they've poured the footings for the uh the new pavilion. um and the new sign that's going to be going in in front of the pavilion. Um and then um what was the other thing that they worked on? Oh, and they've um sandlasted the um the post-tension courts. That's one of the um things that I've actually um been able to learn is um the post-tension courts when they pour them um they sand blast the very top layer just to make them perfectly smooth and and level. Um so that's been completed. That was a a big task. Um, so in the next couple of weeks, we'll uh continue to see them doing some sight concrete, so some additional sidewalks and um potentially start to work on the uh the splash pad um concrete work. Um you know, they'll continue working forward through uh the end of May is when they're expecting substantial completion, which means that they'll unlike all the things um should have been built by then. Um but um remaining work items after um the end of May would be like irrigation system and plantings um those fine uh details um that uh need to um be completed before the um the contractor can leave the site. Um also as well the um city engineering team is layering in a parking lot um renovation um during the those final weeks of construction. So once all the heavy equipment moves out of the site, that parking lot off of Manhattan will be resurfaced. So um the the parking lot will kind of match the aesthetic of the rest of the space. Um but uh and then um final um like site furnishings and those types of things will show up um towards the um early to middle of June. So no,

it's definitely exciting to see the um things uh coming upward and um they're they're staying on track. There's um the last couple times I've been there, there've been multiple um types of, you know, concrete contractor, tennis court contractor, fencing contractor. So, they're really um starting to uh ramp things up now that we're here um now that spring is closed kind of here. Yeah. So, um but before I move on to some of those other projects for updates, I just wanted to see if anyone had any questions about Manhattan Park. Anything on the soccer field? Is that ready to go? Oh, the one in the back that had the um scoreboard you were putting on field five. Yeah. So, field five um the Yeah, the scoreboard was put up um middle to late fall last year. I forget what um timing on that, but that's up. And um the the soccer field is complete. You may have seen this winter at some point there. Unfortunately, some um vandals took a a ride on that um field. um they actually moved a boulder um that we didn't think anyone would be able to mo to move. So now um we have a big concrete block um and that boulder was strategically placed there as um the one spot that we could move and and bring in equipment if needed. Um, so it's it's serving a purpose, but um on that day it did not. And um and um our grounds maintenance team, they actually um it's it's pretty interesting with what they had to do is so that field we we brought in special soil um and then also a special seed mix to help with drainage and uh to make sure that we're um the the problems we've had in the past weren't continuing on. Um but when um vandalism like that happens, that means that you can't just throw some dirt and throw some uh grass seed down. Um but um due to some foresight on the um so Jared Hverson is the engineer that helped us design that, we actually built the field longer than what it needed to be. So if you think

like um the wear areas on a soccer um field or the goal areas or the goal mouse, but we made it longer so we can shift the field back and forth from season to season if needed. Well, that extra length provided us um like a sod farm um where we were able to cut out some sod of the same soil and the same grass uh types, etc., and transplant that to the area that was vandalized and then um you know, kind of backfill that area. Um so it's um yeah, they've been using it for practices um last last week they were out there. So yeah, it should be uh good to go. Thank you. Yeah. And if there's no other questions about Manhattan, I'll move to the dog park next. So, um, as as noted, um, we we certainly have one ma I would call it a major drainage area and then there's some others that are, um, that would be kind of lumped into the, um, that space, but maybe not quite major, but um, but definitely an issue. Um, and what um, Commissioner Jacobe is referring to is um, that it's it was built in a swampy area with um, it was positive drainage down to the fence line. Um, but when an area gets muddy and dogs are digging a little bit, it um, creates a little bit of a ponding area. Um, and of course that seems to be their favorite area to go when they go visit the dog park is the um, the muddy area. Um and so last fall we had an engineer take a it was actually the same um engineer that designed Manhattan Field number five for us um took a look at it um was going to uh think on some ideas for improvement. Um we met back out there a couple of weeks ago. Um and he's putting together we are going to install some drainage. Um so the um unless unless he comes up with a better idea, we'll have a small drainage structure in the middle of that area that will collect all of the water and then um the um we'll be installing a French drain um along the fence line um

and regrade that area. So um it does have that positive drainage down to the um the ditch essentially. Um but the um the the drainage structure and the French drain incorporated within the dog park area should collect most of that water and keep there from being any standing water which is uh the issue. Um when we when that space was built, no drainage was put in. Um and and and typically you don't have that in a dog park, but because we are collecting that water and it is it's right by the entrance area um and it's a hightraic area. Um and so that's the plan. And we um will be soding that space because um it's a for for a dog park. We don't need to make sure there's a specialized blend of grass for for for that space. Yeah. So, we'll be putting sod down, which um speeds up that um that repair process. Um it's it's likely we will need the um weather to be a little bit drier to do that work because of the groundwater in that space. Um but we've asked them to um either give us some temporary solutions or you might see some snow fencing show up that will section that area off temporarily until we're able to um get the um the drainage put in. But I think that um although it won't look as as pretty, I think that would be welcome um just based on some of the feedback that I've heard. So, thank you. Um but so my and this is to be expected with um projects like this, you know, certainly we um didn't overengineer the dog park, but when you find problems like this, it's um you know, when you hear, oh, we met with an engineer, it's um someone who can meet us out there, eye it up, get their level out, come up with a game plan in like an hour or two. So it's not like we're investing significant amounts of of money in in this improvement. It's um and we're going to have sweat equity. So our um parks and recck team is going to

uh perform that work. So there won't be um additional costs outside of um outside of the materials which will be very minimal. Um and then unless there's any questions about the dog park, uh Remington Park is actually um as as you brought up earlier, the the drainage project that we um nearly completed last fall. Um there's still a little bit of work to do uh this spring yet. Um, but the baseball team has been out there practicing uh this spring, which um from what I've heard from uh people in the baseball world has is pretty unheard of here in in East and um for them to be on the field this early. Um they they could have been playing games weeks ago um with how good that system's working. Um again, same engineer that we worked with, Jared uh Hverson, can't give him enough credit. Um he helped identify the solution. Um and um so we're we're just working on just minor um items. Um like this week they'll they'll be putting in some extra material in the infield to just kind of level things out. Um over spring break they'll be coming back and they will be installing an irrigation system in the infield. So the dirt part of the infield um they're adding that. So on dusty days and it seems counterintuitive, right? or um we said the field's too wet, now we're putting drainage, but now we're putting irrigation. Um because the drainage system works so well, um we do need to have irrigation on the grass parts, but also the dirt infield can get really dusty and um and especially when the wind's blowing off the lake um can um provide issues. So that irrigation system is really small heads designed just to wet the infield like you would see at like a a professional baseball game. Um and um so that's um included within the project. And then also there are you may recall part of the um scope of the project was to raise the level of

the field by doing like quarter or half inch sand applications over time. Um we had four of those completed last last summer fall and we have six more um to be completed um this year. And so they'll just come back every couple of weeks and it's incredible. They'll leave a pile of a pile of sand like the the size of of this seating area out here and all of that sand puts this much of a layer of of um sand on the baseball field. But over time as you add it add it up and add it up um we'll have a sand cap on the field that will um in addition to the drains that were put in that sand will help the water get into those drains. Um and it's also leveling the field. That was one of the um one of the scope um items of the project was to um for the outfield by putting sand applications in to get rid of some of the undulations that are out there. So um I've heard really good uh things from the baseball team. Um they're um really excited on how it's performing. Um and next steps um uh we'll have some other improvements coming uh for for Remington like the um new uh windcreens in the outfield. um getting the scoreboard um renovated. Windscreens are um on the fence um on all the fences. There's it's like a a mesh material um to it it really helps clean up the space um from not seeing all the vegetation that's behind it, but then also um it it's branded so it'll say like um the state champs and east east Grand Rapids with the block E. So there's some um some marketing there as well. Um so new windscreens and then renovating the um scoreboard. And then lastly there um we had a project that um will be coming up this summer just to install some more concrete um on that site um from that will connect um the behind home plate. Um it'll connect to the restroom building and then also connect to the um

homebased dugout side. So maybe if there was someone um that was in a wheelchair that needed access to the field, we were improving that space um and just making the entire field ADA accessible. So but happy to answer any questions about the um the Remington project. Just out of curiosity, the sand you just put it directly on the grass. Um so you take um the sand they use um like a broadcaster that spins. It's kind of like a salt spreader. um and they um drive back and forth in different patterns um and it spreads it and then they have a brush um that they and and we're talking this huge equipment, right? This big uh things that you drive um and then the brush can move it around and move the grass blades back and forth so the sand settles down instead of just sitting on top of the grass. Um and now at this point in the process, they'll target the low areas a little bit more so they can they can strategically place it. all this equipment they have has GPS in it that they can target it. It's it's really it's really quite incredible. Um but yes, that's but the reason why they do such a um a small increment at a time is so we so we aren't killing the grass and laying it down. But it's specialized equipment and that that's why um if if you may recall we um we we didn't do our normal process for selecting this vendor because they had such specialized equipment that's just not available in the area. We were able to um come to an agreement uh with them to do this project and um yeah it's it's proving to be successful already. So thanks Derek. What's the time frame for the scoreboard renovation as well? Um yes. So the um the scoreboard renovation will be later this spring. Um that is a very big scoreboard. It doesn't seem like it is from when you're standing at home plate, but it's quite large and it's still it still works. Um but the um due to its

placement where the sun beats on it. Um we're we're looking at having it like repainted with new vinyl letters and that so it won't be like taking it down and putting a new one up and they need to have consistent better temperatures. So Gotcha. Yeah, that makes sense. Yeah. So, later this spring and that's would be after this season then. It it potentially could be after the season depending on on timing, but um yes. Cool. Happy to answer any questions you might have and all right no other questions. All right. I guess we can move on to our final item, report of the director. Yes. So, um, as always, I'll try not to repeat too much, which was in my written, um, director's report. Um, just a couple of highlights to share. Um, softball, you may have, uh, recall, um, that we've added a middle school softball program this spring due to requests that we've received. Uh we have 22 um athletes playing on on that team this uh this spring and that's a large team um and we weren't quite sure how much interest we were going to get. So we have it worked out where we've scheduled them lots of games and all their games are double headers. So one half of the team will uh play the first game and um the other half will be cheering for them and then they'll get to switch and play the other half and the coach will u mix things up and you know do different lineups and things so players can play uh together. Um but really uh from um what the coach has been reporting to me, they've um they've been doing um Sunday trainings at the high school and the batting cages. They've been um use using elementary school gyms where they can. They've been um outside practicing. Um and it's um he just keeps telling me how excited these girls are for the season and they can't wait to get their new jerseys, which are

showing up this week. Um, so it's um it's just um really neat when um you know you get a request from the community and you're able to make it happen and to come together and have 22 athletes on a on a team that they may have participated in something else but they might not have and u so this is just again providing those opportunities. Um and then also I wanted to add another uh community foundation related update. Um um you may recall Andrew Grass Heist who was um instrumental in bringing the um the beer and harvest festival to the community in the fall. Um he and I have been connecting over the last couple of weeks just talking about different ways to um increase engagement um in the community. Um and he did bring a request to the community foundation to uh for some funding to support um like once a month uh sidewalk socials uh where the um you know the intent is to get the community out kind of similar to a um you know a harvest festival or something like that but on a smaller scale um not with any major road closures um but having um music and um some entertainment and um they do have permission from um to shut down Reatta Plaza, that that private area with the um the fountain. Um and so they're working on the the logistics there. Um but in case you're wondering why that wouldn't come back to Parks and Wreck for a permit, it's because they're not doing any um road closures and um a majority of the um activities will be on either the sidewalks or in that in that private area. Um but again just um another one of those positive things coming about from another positive thing like just um more growth but just wanted to make make you aware of that in case you you heard about it and um were wondering if it had had been approved and um that's going to be happening with support of the community foundation. Um

and then um I think that was my last one actually. Yeah, that was my last item, but happy to answer any questions you might have about anything you've seen or heard going on. Very exciting. Do you know, Derek, when the parking lot is going to be open behind the area previously known as the sculpture? Um I I don't have a date and I know it actually came up in a meeting I was at earlier or um last week and Doug Lefay who is a little bit more in tune with that than I am said it should be happening or she should be hearing pretty soon but um I could find out a date if he has one. It has the lights up in the it's striped but it looks there's some there's still the middle area is still not repaired very well. You'll see a bunch of cones in the middle and it looks like I I there was nobody working today and I probably because of the weather because I think that's the probably that's the last thing they got to do. It's looking red. Close. I look at it every day. Close. It's my backyard. So pretty. Not too much dust in my car either. Sorry. I have a question regarding the DNR um grant. Yeah. Um, so that went before city commission, I think it was last week, Monday, and then you had the conference. Can you just give a quick update of where we're at with the DNR grant? Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. I um as as you may recall, we talked about the applying for um DNR grant funding for Waterfront Park as the next priority project um in the parks improvement list. Um, and I did go to the um the M Parks conference and um it was in Traverse City this year. Um, I'm really happy I went because I was able to go to a couple of sessions uh specifically with the DNR. Um, actually one was with our grant coordinator. Um, and it's important for um, communities to know

their grant coordinator because they'll help give them advice on grant applications or maybe tips or things to think about. Um, and so, um, I've been able to start building that, uh, relationship because we have a new grant coordinator for for this area, um, and was able to go, um, through some sessions and then, um, was actually, um, was able to have a meeting with our grant coordinator who provided some insight, uh, for our applications. Um, so we will be, um, I'm actively working on them. I'm I'm almost done. We're getting close. Um and they're due April 1st. So um we've got some um time there. But um the recommendation was to apply for multiple grants um in um each so one in each of the uh the grant funding sources. So there's there's three different grant programs. One is the land and water conservation fund. Um the other one is the Michigan natural resources trust fund and the last one is the recreation passport. Um, and the guidance that they um suggested, which actually makes perfect sense, is to apply in each one, but have each application be a little bit different. So, if there's something that either stands out as positive or negative um on um um on from the DNR perspective, if you have um slightly different applications, you can kind of um kind of parse out how your um your final scoring will go based on um those initial reviews. Um, and so for the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which is um the largest grant amount, they they allow up to a $500,000 grant. If the community brings a $500,000 match, um we'll be applying for a $500,000 grant. Um and then for the the trust fund um that has a little bit smaller of a grant um award is $400,000 and the um we'll be matching that with four $400,000 of community funds uh to hopefully um receive the full grant amount there. And then for the recreation passport, it's a much

smaller grant amount. Um so we actually separated off the playground area um to be a standalone application. Um, typically having a playground in a larger scale um, application is not going to provide you any sort of points. Um, but by peeling it off um, and and having it be by itself, it might give you the opportunity to not only get the larger application um, or the larger grant, but maybe the smaller one as well, which combined together would be more grant funds, which would be a good thing. So, um, so I'm I'm working on those applications and, um, yeah, we'll be submitting, um, one one of each. Thank you. Yeah. Can I ask you about the kayak rental kiosk? Could you help me understand the 50% revenue sharing amount? Does that are is the city getting 50% of that 7,000 or that the total is the 7,000 that from that? So, just curious if that this means it's exceeding what you guys are um planning for the 5-year recoup of the startup or just trying to understand how popular that is. Yeah. And I'll I'll um maybe start I'll back up a little bit for those of you that might might not be as familiar. So, we have the kayak rental kiosk um that's outside. It's actually on Manny Field right now. We'll move it over now that our snow piles are gone. Um and that's a program that this um we implemented in 2023 late late very late in 2023. Um and so last year was our f first full year of operation. Um, and the way that program works is, um, so Rent.fund is a company that, um, they, um, effectively we we have an an agreement with them for a 5-year period that it costs the city um, the $26,000 for them to bring in um the the units and to purchase the um the kayaks and

the two there's two standup paddle boards as well. Um and then um after the um program started, any revenue that is brought in is split 50/50 with the city u receiving half and rentf fun receiving half. Um and the reason why they continue to receive a financial benefit um outside of being paid for the placement is because they provide the staffing for for that program. So, there's a customer service phone number that if anyone has any difficulty with it, um they have someone that comes and checks the equipment on a regular basis. So, if somebody maybe forgot to put a paddle back or if there was any sort of damage to any any of the equipment, they're responsible for doing that. Um, and the reason why um they were selected is because it's it's really a 7-day a week operation, especially in the uh in the summertime of, you know, Saturdays and Sundays were by far our heaviest use days. Um and and so it's nice to have them being responsible for the communication and things u when we don't typically have staff here. Um and so the um our first payment for the full the first full year as noted in the director's report there that $7,000 and some change um that is our portion of the um of the revenue that was brought in. Um so in total it was a little bit over $14,000 that was um um based on the the usage. Um I would say that we were expecting ex especially for the first year, first full year, um based on the feedback from rent. Fun, we were expecting somewhere closer to 300 rentals. Uh and we had 549. Um they had actually called me um this winter and said, "Hey, you were our busiest um new uh location. Um what are you guys doing? Uh number one, and number two, do you want any more?" Um and we said, "Well, let's see what uh what year two brings." Um but um yes, it's um I would say um

optimistically we're a little bit ahead of that pace. Um but I um I'm I'm hoping that um it's going to be something that sustained use over time instead of um it being well that was the new thing for us to try and and um so that's something where we'll um continue to actively promote that and um get the word out just to um because it benefits um not not only from a recreational perspective but from that revenue perspective um benefits the community. So that's great. Thank you. Yeah, it seems like an innovative and fun way to get people out on the water and it's great that it's exceeding your expectations. So kudos to you guys for coming up with that idea. Yeah. And um certainly it was um it was one of the city commission strategic priorities previously to improve access to the lake. And so that was one of the ways to do that. Um and during that call this winter when they um tried to get us to get some more um they also shared they have some other um they're working on some new things where they can actually excuse me um they can rent um like smaller ones. You can rent pickle ball paddles or even some communities um they have a trial community that had um binoculars for bird watching. So, we'll continue to think about if there's other um opportunities for us to just, you know, make some things more accessible for the community. All right. Any other questions? Looks like we're good. All right. I think that's our last item. So, with that, we will uh bring this meeting to a close at 6:50 p.m. Thank you. Good job. Thanks everyone. Well done. I'm glad it wasn't really nice though.