City Council - Regular Meeting

Hello, my name is Andy Kenyon and I have the privilege to be the director of the parks and recreation department here at the city of Holland. Thanks for watching this video update of what we've been up to this past year and what we are looking forward to working on in the coming fiscal year. Let me begin by talking about the biggest project that we've ever been a part of, the ice park. Over the past few years, we have been planning, organizing, and fundraising for this space to become a reality. And as you have heard throughout this series of budget videos, every department within the city of Holland has touched the park in one way or another. We couldn't be more proud of how it has turned out and what it has become in the short time that it's been operational. The amount of laughter and smiles that have been accompanying people as they meander through the 700 linear feet of iced ribbon has been awesome to witness. This has become a transformational space in the city and our options for programming it are almost endless. The whole team has worked relentlessly to make sure that each of our guests experience is second to none. I couldn't be prouder of how hard they have worked to make this whole thing a reality. We are excited to keep building upon this foundation. While the ice park has been a large part of what we have been working on this year, it is far from the only thing. Here are some other projects that we've been spending some time on. The bridge at Venrali Farm was installed earlier in the fall. You may remember that we had a wash out during a rainstorm a number of years ago that destroyed the old bridge. The new one is a 40ft clear span wooden bridge that should last for a really long time. This helps to create a great loop that connects the country club road side of the park to the 24th Street side. Some additional work will be completed on the boardwalk that surrounds the bridge in the spring. Lake View School Park has received a new name and some muchneeded improvements. now called Losers Park. Thanks to our Hayek student Maggie Talgenoff for the suggestion and the recommendation by the Parks and Recreation Commission. This

park has received a new irrigation system, parking area, and a dog run. And a new playground will be added in the spring, as well as many more trees to help fill the space. The recreation team began a new adaptive recreation program this past fall. This is a collaborative effort with assistance coming from the Special Olympics and Hope College. This awesome new program was born out of an idea from the community seeking an inclusive option for kids and families to participate in. Hope College's School of Kinesiology has integrated this into their curriculum as well. We look forward to using this inaugural program as a springboard to grow our adaptive and inclusive offerings moving into the future. The longunning and everp popular Junior Adventure Camp has gotten an upgrade. The recreation team work extremely hard at receiving a nationally recognized accreditation through the American Camp Association. The ACA accreditation program helps to educate camp owners, the city, in the administration of key aspects of camp operation, particularly those related to program quality and the health and safety of campers and staff. This is a huge deal and I'm very proud of the team for making this a priority. The community will benefit greatly. The bike park has been in planning mode for most of the past year and we are looking forward to getting this into the construction phase later in 2026. Fundraising is well underway with our local partners and the energy and excitement levels are through the roof. We are pumped to get this construction of the park underway. As we take a look into the future and the next fiscal year, these are some of the things that we will be working on. The recreation center. This is a building that we've been talking about for decades and we are excited to currently be in the planning stage of this project. As you may recall, we are looking at constructing the recreation center in Smallberg Park. This new facility will serve the community well and bring our recreation programming under one roof. Currently, families have to drive all over the city for their

wreck needs to be met, and having one space for them to rely on will be great. We are very fortunate to have great partners that allow us to use their spaces. However, it is becoming more and more difficult to consistently have this access. Look for more information and discussions on the recreation center soon. Our facility team is always out and about making sure that all of our buildings and facilities are running smoothly. They don't like a lot of fanfare, but deserve kudos nonetheless. This group often works on projects that just happen, and nobody really sees it. However, this coming year, one of the projects they'll be working on is replacing the water chiller at city hall. This is part of our ongoing process to maintain our buildings. I imagine if this didn't get fixed before the heat of the summer, everybody would see it. Great job as always, facility team. And finally, we're looking to expand Pilgrim Home Cemetery. Currently, we have roughly 10 years of space remaining at Pilgrim Home if they continue to be sold at the current speed. This expansion is critical for the cemetery to grow and to continue to generate revenue. The plan is to move west where our soil piles are currently located. Our composting that was done in this space for years was moved near the transportation services facility a few years ago, setting this space up to be renovated. This expansion will create about 4,100 additional spaces. Thank you very much for listening to this update. I'm looking forward to the coming year and very excited for what the future holds for us. Have a great day.