Parks and Arts Commission - Regular Meeting

Good afternoon. This is Monday, May 4th, 2026, and this is the City of Liberty Lake Parks and Arts Commission. Somebody's phone. We will start um our meeting today by doing our uh call, our roll call. sign. Okay. I'll be back. Stand by, folks.

All right, we'll get into roll call. Nancy Hill, that's myself, present. David Heimbaugh, present. Laura Frank, present. Katie Ferris, present. Please note, John Bar has uh let us know he's unable to attend today. No, no, Learco, present. Bob Schneidermiller, he's present. Joanie Haye, present. Gary Edwards, here. Megan Ballinger. Great. And staff today, it looks like we have Jen Camp and maybe someone online. Muel is on. Male Stevens is online and we have David. We have Well, he's Yeah, we have communications first.

[laughter] Um, do are there any changes to the agenda? I think David, you mentioned Yes, I want to uh present the story walk stand prototype. Uh, pictures are in their packets and I would like to vote on that to have the school move forward. So we can move that up into under agenda item five for a vote. Please, all in favor? I opposed.

Okay. Please note that agenda item from uh six, storywalk update will be moved up into action items, discussions, and presentations for a vote. Next up, approval of April 6, 2026 meeting minutes. Did everybody have a chance to review? Are there any edits? If not, we'll need a motion to approve.

I move. Okay, Gary has moved to approve. Do we have a second? I'll second. We have a second by Noel. All in favor? I

oppose. Please show that the minutes from our last meeting are unanimously approved. Moving into citizen comments. I don't see any citizens in our audience. Uh Shane, do we have anyone online? Thank you, Shane. Seeing no citizen comments, we'll move into item five, action items, discussions, and presentations. You'll see in your packet there's a note um from I think it's towards the end. No, somewhere from there was a note from Gary about a suggestion he wanted to put forward on um expanding uh music into um our purview. And he had recommended in an email to uh Jen and male that we might want to form a subcommittee uh to support fleshing out some of these ideas. Gary, did you have something you wanted to share with the group?

Sure. Yeah, I'd like to propose that we've set up a subcommittee and I'd be willing to chair it if you like and uh we've I've had some chats with people in the community and uh you know uh arts bring in a lot of income uh to res and businesses in the city. It's an huge economic impact and uh so not only would my uh expansion of the music uh part of our program be uh entertaining, it would also be economically advantageous to the community. So um I haven't have a lot of experience. I have a degree in music and I've played in bands and I've run talent shows with kids at coffee shops and stuff like that. So uh I would just like to set up the sub subcommittee at this point. So then we could get together and brainstorm different ideas and consider budget uh costs and things like that.

And just to note for the group, we don't have a line item for this other than our programming budget of which we've used a portion, but we do have programming left. Uh so discussion commissioners, what what are you thinking about um Gary's proposal? I think it's a good idea because I think uh parks and arts, while we have the physical arts, performing arts is another part of the arts. And I think it'd be a great addition to our community to get more local musicians, you know, out there for the public to hear. I think it's a great idea, too. Growing up, we had plenty of concerts in Pavilion Park and I don't think we've really done much of that the last few years. Be nice to have some music back. Is the goal to implement something this coming summer or this is a subcommittee that would develop fully develop a plan for starting next summer?

Timeline would be just to u No, this summer might be pretty soon. That's what I was wondering. I was just asking if you know it took me a year. It's almost been a year since I joined this group and uh it's going to take another year to uh consider it and and uh determine what's feasible and and what priorities there are. Yeah, I think it's a great idea and certainly worth flushing out, but I just wanted to make sure we're not trying to rush something in this summer and just make sure that it's really thoughtfully developed. Oh, yeah. [laughter]

I would want to make sure the uh the city is on on board to do this with us because I don't see all of us volunteering our time on the weekends to do something like this. Um setting up tear down. Um Lauren, Joe and I did that for and and Bob did that for many years with friends at Pavilion Park. It's a lot of work. even the pocket park concerts. So, you know, we would need, you know, the city to be able to stand in and say, "Hey, yeah, we'll help set up tear down whatever needs, you know, make sure power's on, etc., etc." So, um Laura, do you have any thoughts on that? Or Jen, you have any thoughts on that?

Not right off the top of my head, but it would have to be coordinated in some fashion and um and we'd have to have discussions regarding what kind of staffing, if any, it would take. I mean, um, without knowing the details, I can't really Okay. I don't

When we did the pocket park scary, they were they were great. They weren't well attended, but they were they were really fun. And, uh, usually those were pretty easy because as long as they had power, the band could bring their own equipment, set up tear down, people bring their own chairs. There was very little logistics that we had to worry about. Then doing something at Pavilion Park, you know, would be a completely different story. But but I'm I think it's a good idea. I think it is worth some merit to pursue looking into it anyway.

And I suppose part of the process would be developing a business plan which would let Jen and her team know what the setup and take down and monitoring requirements might be. I would when I was meeting with MueL and Jen to set the agenda, I was thinking what music do we have now? I mean, we have the music in Rocky Hill in conjunction with the entrepreneurs in the summer and that's going again this year. It is. And then we have um whatever we're going to have at the 4th of July and male um did you say touch a truck and I don't am I forgetting something? We have uh New Jack City on the 4th of July and we had the Spokane Symphony. Spokane Symphony.

Yeah. So I mean we have a little bit now but certainly it seems worthy of a discussion to see what what else we could do especially on a small scale if it wasn't too labor intensive. The the other idea that we and I had discussed and talked um about as staff is he is actually looking into doing some sort of a musical wreck programming next year. So this something like that could be a a very good fit um in coordination with any a musical type of wreck program. maybe forming a subcommittee and maybe male

yeah male could uh attend is and is there is there interest then in moving forward with a subcommittee and if so that's usually a threeperson job and I hear Gary would we have two two other volunteers to be on that subcommittee I'd volunteer Joanie

and okay so Joanie and Noel and Gary will be our music subcommittee and male and join you if he can or um you know certainly be involved since he's in the programming area and we'll look forward to hearing what you guys flush out. Oh yeah, we probably should vote. You're always a great reminder. Thank you. [laughter] All right. Do we have a motion to form a subcommittee to research uh expanding music options in the city of Liberty Lake? I move that we form a subcommittee for music performing arts in Liberty Lake.

Okay. I moved by Katie, seconded by Joanie. Um all in favor I I oppose. All right. Please show the motion carried. Here it is right in the agenda. Vote. [laughter]

All right. Moving on to our next item, which is our budget discussion. Everybody get out their little long pieces of paper. So, Jen's done a great job in keeping us informed on what we're looking at. Our goal with the budget discussion is to talk about next year at this meeting um our um June meeting and to hopefully finalize it in July because we need to pass it off by August. If there was a last minute little thing, we could maybe go into August, but it'd be nice to have it done at our July meeting. So, when we look at 2026 and um we already have, you know, just a few placeholders. Oh, the that's 26 versus 2027. We have a few placeholder categories. Um, before we kind of get into what that might look like, Laura, at the last meeting, I tried to give them a little idea about the carousel and that should probably be uh part of our discussion. Do you want to kind of go over what the artist vision was and and

Yes, I would love to. Um, and I apologize for not being available to attend last month's meeting, but were the pictures shared or the overview plan Um, we have the location pictures for the

Okay. Do we have the sketch that he had provided? I think that might give a good visual. So, um, I guess just as a recap, so the location that has been recommended and, um, Derek and Trevor had come out as well to take a look at it is kind of up by the ball field. Um, it's a little higher up, not directly in front of the mural. It actually um it's a little tucked out so not in the main bowl area where we have events and heavy traffic and it would preclude uh vehicles from coming in and out and also provides um I think much better visibility from all areas of the park because you'll be able to see it from the lower part of the park as well as the upper tier. And so what the artist had suggested when he gave us his original proposal, so we we commissioned for two and he had said, "Hey, wouldn't it be neat if we could do a full complement carousel?" So you could do it in any even number that you wanted um and then at whatever frequency we wanted. Now having worked with the artists and having a high level of confidence, I think it's a project that we could execute probably annually if we budget for it or if we wanted to do every two years, we could certainly look at that. But I think um within his capabilities and also within our capabilities as a commission to be able to execute it, you would add two new figures each year. So it kind of builds excitement around the piece and it makes it, you know, we've talked about having these kind of statement pieces uh throughout the community. So, I think that this would become a statement piece that people would come to see. Um, it's a highly interactive piece. And then the other idea that he had, which I thought was really neat, was like a a shadow cutout of a figure where you could post that. So all the locations would be set initially and then you would have a a I don't want to say a cardboard but like a high-grade material type sign where it would say you know coming in 2027 or

coming in 2028 and it would be set for a new figure. Um, the other piece that I was actually really excited about is he had proposed doing like the sleigh that's on the carousel and was on the original carousel and that makes it more inclusive for people that maybe have ADA accessibility issues where they would still also be able to um interact with the artwork that way um where you would be able to push a wheelchair in and it's again a piece that is designed and meant for interaction. So, the idea is that people can sit on the carousel animals and have their picture taken. And um so anyways, I don't know where the conversation left off last month, but

we didn't really have a discussion. It just kind of a prep for discussion to be thinking about as we were approaching our budget meeting today.

Yeah. So, the last time we discussed this and met with the artist again, it would really just be in multiples of two. So he had originally recommended 12 if we didn't want to commit to 12. Uh we felt that eight if we did want to expand eight also provided a nice visual number where it's full but not necessarily if we didn't want to commit to the full 12. But um yeah it I'm super impressed with Peter and his communication and the progress reports that he's kind of provided along the way. again highly confident that it's something that he as an artist and we as a commission would be able to execute every year. So it's really just a matter of the desire of the commission if that's something we want where it's more of a larger statement art piece in the park or if we want to keep it as a a smaller piece that would just be the you know part of the the city celebration. One of the reasons we need to decide is we would build out the mounting area with the first. So, because it's going to be in I don't think it's is it bark? I don't think we've decided yet, but whatever bark or um material would be in the base and you would curb around it. You're not necessarily wanting to expand that each time. So, we would do the full perimeter initially and that's where the placement or the, you know, the the preview pieces, I guess, of the signs would go. So that way it has an idea of well there's only two in here and it's this huge area. Why why is that? So it' give a good visual as to what the the future plans are.

Yeah. Sorry that was longwinded but I think is that everything?

And for perspective um two pieces currently this year I believe are costing 50,000 which in the sculpture world is kind of almost reasonable. And uh if we wanted to do 12 that would be take five years. If we wanted to do eight, that would take three more years, which to me sounds a little more doable and not overcommitting. Um, but again, we could stick with the two and it's still a novelty. These are designed um for kids to actually climb on and sit on just like they would do at a merrygoround. Um there won't be any sharp edges. There'll be, you know, photo opportunities on them. and the and the location is will you look right at the pavilion, you can see the playground, the open spaces and ball fields behind. So, it's it's visible from a lot of areas in the park. So, what what are I mean, we're just starting the budget discussion, but since this is fresh in our minds, what are folks's thoughts about this? Um, maybe this was brought up in a previous meeting and I missed it, but do we have an idea what the material is for the final product?

Yes. I don't know off the top of my head. I can send it to you. He he provided it in his proposal. Isn't it almost like cement? It is, but it's something that's not going to get super hot. So, he treats it, but I can't remember the exact materials that he's using. it it but it looks more like to me bronze but not more bronzed but yeah there's no scorching metal when you sit on it clever yeah they I mean they look like they're going to be fantastic so if we started off slow and just did a couple just initially would that include the sleigh or when No so we already voted on and approved it's the liberty horse and the oh shoot the toad right

frog toad um And so then we would just work with him moving forward in terms of there's um specific carousel figurines, you know, that relate to the historic as well as when we would want to do the slay. Jen, you did have a thought about the because I was we were talking about the circle and how your team wanted to make the pad once, not a lot of times, but you were talking about with the tube that it could they could

could just anchor them in the in [clears throat] the grass like we did with the story walk over at Orchard. That might be the simplest um situation initially until we get the whole thing in and then figure out what what to border it with at a later time. mowing, edging, landscaping concerns with that or sure there is at storywalk but we actually it's easier to maintain the story walk that's directly in the grass at orchard than it is to maintain the one at Rocky. So that could weigh into it. I mean that is is there um from a risk management standpoint we were clear for something like that?

We'll follow up on that. It probably would be safer to fall on the graph than on the cement, but well there. Yeah. I mean, there would never be cement, but whatever. I don't know what it'd be like playground bark or like the rubber pallet. What what we're using in our playgrounds. Who else has thoughts about that idea as we kind of toss it around?

I like the idea to start off with. We looking at starting out with two. We've already they're they'll be installed for the birthday celebration. So, they'll be installed before the 4th and unveiled at the birthday. So, it's just a matter of if we want to budget the continuation of it in the next three years or however many years, but do you see two every year? Speak closer to

Yeah, I I like the idea of doing two every year. I think it's an amazing idea. Any other thoughts before we get a little further into this? So, when we look at our 2027 placeholder on the paper, um we had put in there the Smarty board um for the redone Pavilion Park. What's the timeline on Pavilion Park? Do you think that's realistic for 2027, Jen, or would that be a 2028? The goal is 2027.

Okay. So, that's kind of a placeholder. We also have um our city hall the exterior and we had put that in for 40 because if you remember this year um is 60 and that's for the interior. Then we have our maintenance which probably shouldn't change unless we get feedback from staff that that's not enough. Um, then we have our typical beautifification and programming. And then we had the placeholder of uh the Liberty Lake art at 40. And that's what we have so far. So, I know we talked about last year some murals on some of the restrooms in the Oh, I see a hand. I'm sorry. I was raising my hand. Would you like to come up, Karen?

Yeah. Um Karen Moley, our art consultant.

I only have one thought about the city hall, which is we had a series of emails that went back and forth about the garage door and the holes in the concrete that are on the side of the wall where we were talking about doing possibly a mural at the city hall. And I never got a satisfactory answer in my view from the folks that are working on the garage door replacement and whether or not there would be prep to that wall above and beyond the garage door being filled in and what part of that is to be in the parks and arts budget and what part of it is in the city hall renovation budget. So I just I mean we don't have to know right now. I just don't want this budget to move past without people talking about that.

Yeah. And while you're up there, we were when we were had earlier conversation about the exterior of the building, we have some limitations because of structural that it's for extra weight and then we have literally almost no grounds except for a parking lot around it. So there was conversation on that south wall that faces mission of doing a mural, which is what Karen's referring to as far as if we were to keep 40,000 in that and we wanted to do a mural, is that a sufficient budget number? I don't know what it would cost to do the wall prep. So, yes, it's enough to do the mural, but I'm not sure about what would be accommodated in the building budget for the wall prep.

Let let me follow up with um public works and see if they could give us a ballpark. That would be helpful. Okay. Yeah. Thank you.

And then Karen, um what do you think the actual mural alone would cost for that? I I need to get the measurements and actually price it out. I got I stopped actually to be honest with you when I was pricing this because we had all these these conversations about the garage door and what needed to happen there. And I was still waiting to hear about that before I figured out if we would attack the whole wall or if we would do a portion of that based on what the building repair what the building repair costs would be. Maybe if by the next meeting you could get a rough idea of what the the mural by itself.

I can do that. But then then that would that would help us as as we go down the decision-m project process towards the budget. Mark, do you have any enlightenment on what they're going to do to the exterior building as part of the project? Not specifically. That would be a question that um the project management team could answer. Oh, I forgot to say Mark Makavoy, our city administrator, is you completely overlooked you. I'm sorry.

Well, there was kind of an exchange about that because the idea was that the garage door, my understanding is that the garage door in the south side of the building will be filled in and then I took some photographs of these various places where people had um put anchors and various things into the wall. And the wall at its present moment is not in sufficient condition to paint a mural upon it. But I think when they're done with the building it will be. But I don't know what they're doing anyway. So the answer is I don't know. develops.

So, so what I would need to know is if we do this, if we go in and touch it up and clean it up and do whatever, is there anything beyond that that is special because art is going to go on if if a mural were to go on it that needs to be done differently or if they just go slop some paint on it, is that a sufficient surface for art? So I think presently it's a concrete wall and I am imagining similarly to the basketball court that it would need to be pre cleaned very well [clears throat] and prepped.

Okay. And where I saw the photo um in those photographs where the anchors were, those holes for the anchors would need to be filled and and I'm assuming that there would be um there would be some sort of primer that would be appropriate for that. To be honest with you, I don't know enough about what they're doing to the garage door, okay, to know what priming would be appropriate for that. Okay. So, I'll find out the the logistics of of because worst case scenario, we could probably talk to Arrow and it's probably a similar size to the Rocky Hill baseball. I think 10,000 to prep that surface.

I think I mean I don't know, but I I think it would be I mean, and if they're doing it as part of the construction, don't think they are. I think Ben said they weren't, but it would be easy to touch it up. But what does that So, I'll find out. Thank you for checking anyway. I just didn't want it to go by and not say anything. Well, Jen can work on what what the building prep is going to look like and then you can work on what the actual art would be and then we'll have that for fuel for discussion at our next meeting.

If the garage door were not filled in, my recommendation would be that we would start the mural to the what would be west of the garage door. If the garage door is filled in, then I would do the whole wall.

What would you do about that? Uh that hiding the dumpster wall. I don't know what to call it. Um the uh the wall that obscures the dumpster is a concrete block wall, and it if it would need to be cleaned and prepped, but it could be part of the project if one chose to do so. But that would go into this question that Jen is answering, which is, you know, it what would we do or how much would it cost to prep that? It makes sense if you're standing directly from it on the south and looking north to do the whole thing and include that um short wall that obscures the garbage cans. If you were not able to for some reason do the wall where obscures the garbage cans and I think you would start with that as the bottom the bottom horizon of the mural.

Right. So anyway, we don't know enough yet. Okay. Thank you. Do you sorry before you sat down when you um when you're prepping it, does that the existing mall does it require any type of texturizing or you feel like the the concrete blocks as is if they're just cleaned and primed are sufficient or or so I imagine that's a very different price. That's why I was Well, I don't know the answer to what I mean. I don't know. It's actually quite smooth right now except for the pock holes from the signage that was once there and the door.

So, I'm imagining that when they do the door, if they do that they would blend the concrete. The mason would blend the concrete. I don't know what they're putting in there. If it's going to be block or if it's something else. I'm imagining they would blend the concrete together and then you would probably do as smooth of a surface is practical relative to what is already there. I mean, I don't think you would finish it out to like the kind of concrete that you would have in an interior environment, but yeah.

Um, anyway, so yeah, I don't know what they're planning to do there. So, I would think you would want it to be the same on the old part of the wall and where the concrete is for the door. So, it doesn't look like you just covered up a door, right? [laughter] Okay. So, um I'm reading the last communication and it says that the exterior wall isn't being touched as part of the renovation. So, it's probably fair game for a mural. So, aka we probably need surface prep. So, I can contact. You never answered my question about the pots. The Yeah, the rollup door is being filled in with concrete and painted in neutral color so it could be muralized as well.

Any say anything about there's a bunch of I'll ask further. You're not like they're like somebody ran a threaded bolt through there, but you'd want them all to be sealed before you started work. I love the idea of including the dumpster privacy wall in there as well. I don't know if we'd need to adjust the the price. I mean, I guess that's something for further discussion, but including that that piece of it, I visually when you drive by, I think it would stand out to I agree. And it, you know, depending on the artist, you could do something almost very interesting with the with the two different Yeah. the dimensions. Yes.

All right. So, it sounds like you there'll be some research done and we'll have more information on that. You know, I just kind of glancing at our budget and my we've had some carryover numbers like we had 77,000 carryover for a total budget of 207 with a carryover. So, we've been using 120 130,000 a year. And in our 2027 budget sheet, it this totals are just placeholder is 113. So, we probably want to stay, you know, in a similar range for our projects. So, if we kept beautifification 10, programming 10, if we decide we want to move ahead with the exterior, I don't know what that's going to be. We have the 40 in there. Um, then we have the Smarty Board. That's a pretty set price, I think. Um, then the Liberty Lake art, which is kind of money that could go towards carousel pieces. It could go towards murals. it could go to whatever. Um, then that is adding up to 113,000. We probably could go a little more if we decided to do um if we need more money for the city hall art. We could, you know, up at another 10 if we needed because of the prep. But we don't h if if we stick with the exterior of city hall, um we don't have a lot of other project money. So we have to be very thoughtful in what we do and the carousel pieces is certainly uh one option for that. So just kind of brainstorming, what do you folks want to see for us to do next year? Well, the story walk needs to be placed into 2027 because

they will have a prototype for us, but by that time they'll have less than probably 40 hours left of shop time. That'll be a carryover. So, that won't affect our 2027 number. But yes, we will have to carry that over. Okay.

There's um just a question. There's a few projects that we've discussed that are not on here. So, I don't know if it's something that we want to put placeholder for 27 or 28, but we talked about mural, a mural on the bathroom building at the trail head at Harvard. Um, and then we also talked about doing some type of mural on the Orchard Park concession building. And last year we discussed potentially expanding the rock art around Orchard as well. So, those were three that I know we've kind of thrown around a little bit and not sure if it's something that we want to move forward with or if it would be 27 or further out.

The other thing that we don't have in our 2027 budget is we don't have a budget for an art consultant. Yeah. And the we're we're get we're I think about halfway through the budget right now. I don't know that we're going to get to too much of procedures and guidelines and policies um this year before the budget runs out.

Yeah. And if we do the exterior of city hall, would be nice to have something on that. So, we might have to look at usage this year and what a number for next year might look. So, maybe as we go through the discussion, you could add that as a placeholder so we won't forget about it when you publish the next document. So be thinking about that because it is helpful to have an expert. Yes, Kade.

Well, I know at the last meeting you said come with ideas for beautifification and we had talked about putting some more benches in at Orchard Park like facing the tennis courts. So, uh I think that would be a good idea to follow up on whether it's artistic benches or just uh comfortable benches. Uh, I think it's a need there. And also the fencing around the north side of the basketball court where it goes down the hill into the parking lot, the basketballs and can hit anyone walking by. So, it's kind of a unique situation where uh we wouldn't want someone to get hurt by flying basketballs and it's on a hill which is unique to the other parks. So,

so the fencing is on tomorrow night's agenda. So that'll be taken care of.

Um just my suggestion um you can do any kind of a bench obviously it would be the decision of the commission but if it's just a simple plain bench there that's something that staff can order um we can incorporate into our budgets. My recommendation might be to do more like you mentioned more of an artistic type of a bench. Um just because it'll make more of a statement and it's something very parks and arts commission stamped. Yeah. So maybe like cuz there's a hill that you have to walk up to to go through Orchard Park, especially for seniors and other people that maybe want a rest spot where they can sit down and have it be more artistic looking at the whole park, that type of thing. That would be cool. Uh, and maybe just have the benches facing the tennis courts cuz I know Selkerk has tennis matches there. There's now pickle ball games. There's a lot of things going on at Orchard Park. So, I think benches facing the tennis court area would be great. Uh, I also followed up on uh I remember Laura, you were concerned about possibly having uh raised beds in Orchard Park and you said it was an original plan, but it was never never happened. Do you remember that?

Community gardens. Community gardens. Community gardens.

Yeah. So, at the HOA meeting, at the last HOA meeting, uh Jim Frank gave a presentation on the farm. And I specifically asked him, are there enough community garden beds available? And he said, you know, that it's been a big demand. People are getting those and we have a lot more room. If we have the demand, we can make more community garden beds. So, and he said, "We provide instruction on Saturday mornings." So, people just learning how to do farming. They can get help. So, it kind of makes sense to let the River District Farm handle the community garden beds to me because you get support there. There's room there. They provide the watering. So, there's a lot of support for gardening there. And it's just across the street. Literally across the street from Orchard Park.

That makes sense. So I'm just saying.

So what I think I'm hearing you say is the the need for the benches. I would call them observation and resting benches for the courts. I'm hearing that your team, Jen, could look at that and possibly just get regular normal benches, but maybe there could be an opportunity for a decorative bench as you're you're walking up the hill to the park for people to rest and relax. I did look at this one website called Noble Winds and they kind of have more contemporary benches that you can actually put a mural on the inside of the bench or you could just have a city logo like our new logo they're working on. You could have that painted on it. So that's kind of a cool idea. Yeah. I mean, there's probably like a million ideas, but it was like kind of more contemporary and you could do some painting, special painting on it.

Okay. Could you maybe um send Jen some examples of that and we can Yes. Send her the website. Take a look at them next year because I mean a decorative bench is nice. I have no idea on the cost of that, but we do have if we keep a 10,000 beautifification budget that we could um look at doing something in. What have we used our beautifification budget for this year? Where is that? I don't think we have Oh, we have benches. Question mark. Yeah. So, we have money this year. I think there's bench money available. Maybe we need a bench this year because I mean we have the money. be great.

Well, I I I think if the funds are there, there isn't any reason to hold back. The sooner they get there, you know, the more use they will get. And I think that's a great idea.

Well, maybe you can bring some ideas forward for our next meeting because that's something that we we could do this year unless there's something else that comes up for beautifification. Um, and this is a great time to do it because we don't want to get to fall and realize we've done nothing with beautifification. So, thank you for bringing that up, Katie. All right. And Laura, you had mentioned I forgot to write it down, the murals on the some of the Oh, the bathroom building at the Harvard trail head.

Oh, yeah, the trail head. And then we talked about the concession building at Orchard and then potentially expanding the rock art around the splash pad. And it started as a safety project for the trip hazards, but I know there was enthusiasm around it and we talked about potentially expanding that. Do you remember what we spent? Because I think we used beautifification for that last year. Do you remember what we spent on that? Where is last year? Let me 10. I thought we spent 10,000. We basically just said as many rocks as they could do within the budget. So, it's possible. I don't know what the bench would be. We could do a bench and do a couple rocks for this year.

Yeah. I don't know what their particular artist availability is. I know they have some pretty big projects going right now. So, I'd have to check with them about this year if if nothing else we could look at next year. Okay. All right. What else are are you folks thinking about? Well, we don't have I we have some food for thought from today. We we're getting back some more information and uh we will take up this conversation again at our next meeting. So come Sounds good with your thoughts and ideas.

All right, our next agenda item is the artist consult update. Uh Karen and I will say that I did attend the last um city council meeting and presented our theme of past, present, and future and that was wellreceived. The the council thought it was um a broad enough category that allowed for a lot of opportunity and um so Karen.

Okay. Thank you. Um, so Nancy went to the council meeting. So you guys kind of looked at the basic gist of the two parts of the interior artwork for the city hall building. One section being commissioned work for that large atrium area and then portable works for some of the conference rooms and other areas. So if with the council's blessing we're ready to go on to the next step which is to do a call which would be on um the submission software and I started working on that based on the materials that I presented to you at the last meeting. Um I would imagine that we would do something kind of similar to what we did last time. I set up the calls. I work with Jen and the Liberty Lakes staff to do some press and website and social media outreach. I would do outreach to artists whose criteria meets the criteria we set up both through Spokane Arts social media and their email newsletter as well as through my personal contracts from the re region. We did do portable works for two projects fairly recently. one for the city of Spokane. Um, their five public libraries and I have a frankly a kind of ridiculously robust list from that which might glean way more than we need but there was a lot of interest in the portable works for the libraries. Um, so I think we're ready to go forward with that. I think most of you were here at the last meeting that we had. Um, and I just want to make sure you have if you have any questions that I answer them.

I have one thing I forgot to mention in the council meeting. Uh, one of the council members did bring up that they really didn't want to see the whole city art being done by one artist. They wanted to have some variety, if you will. And it's my understanding from what you just said that what I would call the lobby or the the space where the public enters the building that would be maybe a larger wow factor piece and then in the smaller like a conference room or possibly in the council chambers that that might look a little different.

Yes. And without being a mind readader I don't know exactly what that is yet but that's why we broke it into two pieces. Right. one piece for the more major commission or commissions. It might actually end up being more than one person and then the portable works would o be opened up to whomever would submit. Um I think it's extremely unlikely that we would have such a few number of applicants that we would only choose one. Um and I I don't have I never have gotten the sense from you guys that that's what you think you want to do. So, on the call, I mean, I'm used to the call for qualifications, for example, um what we just did on the Rocky Hill, which I know you're going to get into, and where you see samples of the artist's work, would we be able to do a call that was more for the artist's vision without them flushing out the project too much?

So, I'm going to say this. I will never do a call for you that artists do not get paid for their design work. Period. Um, so if you want to do a commissioned piece, we would do similarly to what we did with Rocky Hill. Set up the artist statement so they can respond to you in a short written statement and you'll have a sample portfolio. If you want them to start doing design work, then we need to set up some sort of stipen for the finalists. You could choose more artists than you think you want like um we have done with some other things. Um but I won't I won't do a I won't do a call where they work for free.

Yeah. And I'm not really talking about them actually doing a design, but how are we going to know whether they would envision a mural or a big metal workpiece or a collage of photograph or a little sculpture? How would we know when picking the artist what what what road we were going down? So, we would ask them for

a brief resume. We would ask them for an artist statement where they would say, I'm a mural painter and this is what I do or I do, you know, carved wooden relief sculpture. And you would have 10 exemplary works of art. you would have a sense of where their what their strengths are. Um, you possibly would have them respond somewhat to the past, present, future. I see that as being a thing where you get to a number of finalists and then you actually sit down and talk to the finalists before they do their designs. At least the art committee does. So that they're not just dancing around trying to speculate what it is you're thinking.

Having a workshop. We would have a workshop. Okay. And they would come in and they're

Yeah. We probably get to I mean I don't know. We have to evaluate them, but we probably get to three or something and have a workshop and then have them come back with a concrete proposal. And when I think of the proposal, it's it's several parts, right? It's their ideas. There would have to be a projected budget which which would relate to our $20,000, right? So that you would know how much of that is going to be design fees, how much of it is materials. They may have subcontractors depending upon what they're doing. You know, I can see sometimes when people do um things like um photo murals or things like that, they may have a fabricator or a company that develops the materials for them. And you may remember that when we set the budget, we set up a picture framing budget that's on top of the commissions and the portable work. So, we come up with some cohesive appearance and security mounting style. and and we wouldn't be if part of it in the big room was a giant mural, then we wouldn't have that cost there.

Yeah. But we don't know yet. We don't know yet. I'm actually thinking that it is probably prudent and you guys can decide. You're the deciders. But that if they did a commissioned work that it would be designed in such a way that it is it could be a mural, but a mural that's on a panel or something. Yeah, that's what we did at Trout,

right? So that if for some reason, I mean, I don't know what you're going to do, but people frequently remodel buildings and if you put a lot of money into an interior mural and then who knows, you cut a new fire exit or something, then you can do substantial damage to the image of of what it is and it no longer is, you know, has the integrity of the original design. Do you feel the $60,000 budget we have this year is sufficient? I do. I'm just panicking when thinking about all this that

if we need more money, we do have the 10,000 for beautifification. So, I don't know. I mean, we could definitely have some ideas for spending that, but maybe we could hang on to it and not spend it till Well, if since council is approved and I've started working, I'm imagining that we would send out the artist prospectus and set up the online application process pretty soon. Um, I was hoping before I go to Taiwan so all the artists can work on that while I'm out of town and then we can do the arts the artist selection in the middle of the summer or end of the summer. Um, if and if you're not approving your budget until the if I was paying attention, you're going to have your budget done by the end of July, right, for the new fiscal year. I think there's enough time in there, Nancy, that you can you could make a change if you needed to.

Yeah. Well, we we would really, of course, like the inside artwork to be done before City Hall opens in January, but I know that's why I'm pushing. Yeah. [laughter] Keep going. Okay. So, questions or thoughts do you want have uh for Karen?

Okay. So, when I get everything done, which I probably will by the end of this week or early next week, I'll send a draft of the press release and the um the little the Facebook and social media note to Jen after I get it set up. And then I will hope that you guys will share it around to your contacts as well as um when we did the basketball court, which I'm going to talk about next. Um we had um seven completed and then we had a whole bunch of people that contacted me who wanted to know more about it. So I think our communication strategy was actually quite helpful. Um, I talked to 12 or so people, 10 or 11, 12 people on the phone. I got a bunch of emails. I had a number of people who were like, "This is really cool, but I'd like to do it in 2027," which is kind of the way things are often. Um, anyway, so we got to um seven people who actually completed the application. And then the art selection committee folks, the subcommittee looked at everything. And um I actually I asked as well um I hate this one. I can't remember somebody's name. Last year's basketball,

Danielle Davis. Danielle Davis to look at them because Danielle has the experience of actually painting the basketball court and she made some suggestions. both I had her look at the application and perspectus and then I also had her look at the applications. So we could at this time if you wanted to look at our three finalists photographs um the art selection subcommittee actually got to one of these three people but Jen and Nancy asked me to have the three finalists and have you guys look at them and vote. So Melissa Cole was

one second. Let's just finish the um city hall update. Anything else on city hall and then we'll segue already into Rocky Hill. Okay. So Nancy, if none of the commissioners have anything on city hall, I'd like to make a comment. Yes, go right ahead.

I I don't know if I'm [clears throat] overthinking this or thinking about it in the wrong way, but I just want to encourage the commission on this particular project um to think more boldly than maybe you have been uh thinking up to this point. I don't I don't know what the artistic community definition of portable art is. And I guess I'm a little bit more comfortable after hearing there's a possibility of different things uh that could be possible based on uh the call and who responds to the call. Um but I I've worked in city halls for almost 30 years. Um, and I've visited uh other city halls, and I can tell you the difference between wanting to come to a city hall and not uh if if there's bland art, you don't even notice that it's there. Uh, but if there's bold art, you not only notice it, but you tell other people about it. Um, and so there's an opportunity here to incorporate that uh certainly on the interior. With respect to the exterior, I guess my concern would be that from the roadway, um, not only do you have a screening wall, you've got three large trees that I I don't know if you're going to be able to see a mural, uh, from the street. And so my question would be, what what value would a exterior mural bring that couldn't be transferred indoors to make that really pop more than the current plan? And so those would be my thoughts and use those how you will to make decisions going forward. But from somebody who represents the staff that's going to be there every day. I would ask you to consider those. No, I mean I I love the idea of of something that people will remember and and I think that's our goal as a commission, but we really appreciate your input and as we move towards if we spend money next year on the exterior,

we're certainly take a look at at your comments there. Um, Erin,

well, what I would say is we haven't selected a single thing yet and we have a big idea and the quality and character of the commissioned artwork will have everything to do with how well we do at recruiting people to do those original designs for the main area. Um, I have no doubt that there will be really strong applicants for that process. Um, I would also say when we did portable works for the libraries, we didn't end up with a whole bunch of pictures of Riverfront Park, we had a very strong level of applicants doing all sorts of things in a variety of media from a variety of different cultures. And I would expect that the committee would get a strong level of applications. Um, and I don't know, I mean, it's going to be up to them to choose what that is. And it may be that the language we presented at city council was too bland for you. Um, it's pretty descriptive of what I was described as being in from the people that were involved with the art selection committee to be interested in having. Um, so I don't know. I think it'll be interesting to see what we get for applicants. There's not a lot going I mean there's some stuff going on but I think with a budget with budget sizes that where we're at that we will get good quality applications

and Mark I suggest maybe when we uh after the qual call for uh qualifications and we pick some top three or something and have the workshop I suggest maybe you'll be able to attend that workshop and get an idea of um you know what what our options are. Yeah, I'd love to contribute in any way that you think is appropriate. Yeah. No, maybe maybe we broaden the committee that chooses the art into maybe a couple of staff folks, maybe a council

council person. And I love that. I mean, that's kind of what we did. Um, when we chose the the bureau for Pavilion Park, we had a staff, we had a council person. So, I don't see any reason when we get to the workshop level that we couldn't involve a few more people in that process. So, we'll definitely keep that in mind as we move forward. Anything else on city hall? All right, moving on to Rocky. Did you say something?

No, I just have a quick question. Not about city hall, but about Rocky Hill. Are we opening the vote for the top three or are we just voting on accepting the subcommittee's recommendation? I wasn't sure. I'm not sure because I was asked to put together the three fi the three finalists in their picture. I didn't know if we just needed to vote on the one that was being recommended from the selection committee or for reopening it for I guess I I thought and maybe I'm thinking wrong that we were maybe going to do a stipen. Well, we we for the top couple. Oh, I thought we were selecting someone to move forward with to then.

Well, we have a very short timeline, so if you're going to do a design process and give the three finalists a stipend, I better get on that like in the next 15 minutes after I get home. Um, we did have three who ranked highly. Um, Melissa Cole was the one that was most highly ranked by the committee. And I mean, you could do either of what you just described. Um that's not my decision to make. Well, if we s I'm I'm all for meeting the timeline.

Yeah. And that's why my interpretation of it the vote was of voting to accept the recommendation of the subcommittee versus opening it up and going through a design process just because of the trying to execute it. I mean, the one thing I noticed in the subcommittee is that we had some really strong applicants and so the number one was the Melissa person,

right? Melissa Cole and her pieces. We could go back to the beginning. Melissa Cole was the strongest or this most highly ranked. Um, many of you know Melissa. She lives in the valley. She's done a huge number of public art pieces, both paintings, murals. She also did the the big um tiles that are on the bridge in Lewon. Um these are murals that she did for public school. The next one is um another mural. She does a lot of images of nature. Although for the basketball court, I would imagine that she would change up what she's doing. Um, there was one more photo in here. Um, this is a very large mural of the Osprey. Um, and then the other two that were close to the top were Ellen Pickin. U, many of you know Ellen. She lives in Spokane. She works all over the country. Um, she does a lot of these large geometric murals that are on public buildings. You may have seen some of her hotels in Seattle. Um, she's worked for Google and for a bunch of other people. Keep going, please. Um, this is a black and white one. And this is actually in the community building downtown. It's in the um pile space where their office is. And then the third person was Josh Thomas who I think most of you know because he did um the uh skate park for you all. So, I would say this. Um, they were ve

we had very strong applicants and I don't know like how you're going to deal with next year's basketball court project, but it occurred to me as I was looking through all of them that you had such strong applicants that it may be that you don't need to do a another call, but choose one of your finalists for next year's basketball projects. I don't know how you feel about that. If we do one, I don't know. Yeah, I don't know if you will. Um, so what's the pleasure of the commission for the timeline to get it done? Do we want to go with the top selection which was Melissa and keep going or what are your thoughts, Gary?

Well, I thought all three were I thought all three were terrific for different reasons. To me, great art means that you see something new in it every time you look at it. So, uh, but I would say go along with the, uh, subcommittee's recommendations because they're all three are great.

Well, I I think that's a good idea. It allows us to move along faster than having to work through committees. So, um, I'm in agreement with what you are saying. Well, I just have a quick question for you, Karen, in terms of because we haven't gotten to a point where it's the actual proposal for the court. Would we move forward with a stipen for a design or would we do you recommend as the next steps for that? Yes, if I were doing this, what I would do is do what we said in our perspectus, which is to move forward with a design stipen for one or all three depending upon your pleasure for a design to be back to us by something like June 1st, which is three weeks from now. Mhm.

Um and we would either accept or decline the design or and usually if you do design then you have a couple changes, a couple opportunities for changes, but um I also haven't talked to Melissa or actually any of them to see if they're still available, you know, because we did this and like with Melissa and Ellen, they're working constantly. So, you know, we I need to call and make sure we make their window. So, would we would you recommend doing a vote if we accept the commission or the subcommittee's recommendation of Melissa, but if she is unavailable, go to

Yes, that would be what I would be. And then a question more for Jen is before they can move forward with the design piece of it, do we have to have an artist agreement for a proposal and the stipend and does that have to go to commission or or council or is that below the threshold because that all adds to our timeline as well. I I like that idea of going one, two, three. So if availability is an issue then we go to the next one and then we don't have to keep I I would just say maybe structure our vote such that we can keep it moving along. Do we have logical to me? Do we have a motion? Laura, I have a question.

Sorry. I have a question for Laura. I really do like Melissa's uh nature ones. Do you think she could do one for a basketball court that would be like more Oh, absolutely. Okay. Yeah, I think so. Also, I just wondering because I like obviously Josh did one for the skate park that was more kind of whimsical, sporty. Yeah, I think well and Karen could probably speak better than this than I can. I think she would adjust for the the project, but I've worked with Melissa intermittently for about 15 years and she is very responsive to the scope of work.

She her favorite stuff, she's a biologist by trading. Her favorite stuff is usually plants and animals, but I mean, she's a great designer and, you know, I think you might end up with some nature motifs in the borders, but I don't think she's she's not going to make a school of fish probably flying across the No. And I would say she submitted for the Pavilion Park mural, and the style that she submitted for that project is very different from what was in her application. So, I I I really feel confident that she'll, like you say, pivot for the the scope of the the job. Great. Do we have a motion?

I move that the uh commission request um the artist agreement to uh let me amend that motion. It's not the word I want to use. Why don't you let Laura go ahead?

Um okay. So I I move that or motion that we move forward with reaching out to Melissa Cole first as a subcommittee um highest I guess um evaluation. If she is not available then moving on to Ellen Pickin and if she is not available moving to Josh Thomas to do an artist agreement for a proposal stipend and the um basketball court mural project in Rocky Hill. Sec. Second that moved by Laura, seconded by David. Any discussion on the motion? Seeing none, all in favor? I opposed. Okay, motion carries. We're ready to move forward. Thank you so much, Karen.

I'll call Melissa first thing in the morning and get going. Thank you, Karen. Male, are you online to talk about the commemorative sticker design and that boat? Uh, yes, I am. Okay. Can you guys hear me? Yes.

Okay. So, yeah, the students, we had six submissions and they got them to me last week and then they should be in your packet numbered one through six. Um, and so, uh, that it was a total of six submissions. So, the original idea was to get as many as we could and then the students would vote and narrow it down. So Heather, since there was just the six, decided to send those six over. And then so the next step would be if there's interest in proceeding with one of the six as a commemorative sticker for for this year. Which one do you like, male?

Um I like number three. I think there's a lot of thought put into number three and it hits the points of the 25th and 250th and then also year 2026. So, even though the city limits does not include the lake and and sailing, I think it does hit a lot of the points and the America theme, the fireworks that we were kind of hoping for. Number three looks uh looks well. I I do like number four. Uh, number three looks way too much like a lot of the uh parade shirts and parade buttons that have been done in the past. It just reminds me a lot of those um that's my thoughts. I

actually really like number one um as well because I think it it has the golf courses, the carts, the fireworks, the pavilion. And I like that it had more I guess themed to Liberty Lake. Yeah, I kind of like that it says Liberty Life on it. Yeah, number three is the one that caught my eye first. Okay,

I also like number three. It's It hits all the points of our 25th anniversary, the 250th birthday of our country. Um it's 2026. I like the simplicity of number four and I like how number one kind of mirrors our Liberty Lake map we put out last year. Mhm. Um these are these going to be for sale this year, male. Uh so the it was up to the commission. I think what they you guys all decided the last time we discussed this was just to print stickers and hand them out.

Okay. In that case, I feel like option number three is the one that most I mean, kids love stickers. I think kids are going to be most drawn to that one. I agree. So, what I'm hear I didn't hear anybody mention two, five, or six. So, it's kind of now one, three, or four. I love one because I feel like it it matches the Liberty League brand a little more. Number two is like to the point of any place in America. However, one is so busy that you kind of I think that's why number three stands out is because it's very simple. So, I'd say for me it's between one and three.

Male, is this size on our paper um the size of the sticker? Uh, no. Oh, it'll be a little bit bigger than that. That's about 2 in. So, add about another inch all around.

It's a decently size sticker. Well, I think my only hesitation with three is that it doesn't say Liberty Lake on it. That was I like the design. I thought it it's simple. It stands out. It just doesn't say Liberty Lake. That was one detractor for me on that one. Yeah, I know. Number one's a little busy, but if it was another inch bigger in diameter, that would help. Certainly, you see something different on it every time you look at it. Does our student commissioner have any thoughts on it?

Is there her microphone? Um, I think personally, like if I was to see these as stickers, like I feel like I'd be most likely to pick out number three just because it's like it's very like simple and the color scheme is nice and would match a lot more like water bottles and they it would stand out more and I like number one, but yeah, it's there's a lot going on.

So, let's do kind of a straw poll. I think it's I mean, how many people like number one? Raise your hand. This is unofficial straw poll over like it's our number one pick. I like it like who who number's first pick is number one. So, Laura, anybody first pick number two? Number three, first pick. One, two, three, four, five. And number four, first pick five. I think we're out of people. Six. You didn't vote.

I didn't vote, but I don't I don't even think I need to vote because the straw poll says number three is [snorts] the winner. So, we will need uh an official vote and um authorization for male to go ahead and place the order. And that's coming out of our programming budget. Male, remind me how much those were. Um I actually don't have the number in front of me. They were fairly inexpensive comparatively if I remember correctly. Right around a hundred dollars, right? Okay.

I have a suggestion. [clears throat] Is there a way for the artist to incorporate just putting ll on one of the sales, you know, just kind of discreetly or just maybe throw that out to him if he doesn't or she doesn't want to do that. Totally understand, you know, for Liberty Lake, that type of thing. or maybe even put it on the boat in the, you know, at the um at the stern on the uh starboard side, which is the right side facing us. Male, um yeah, I I mean I I could ask if that's the direction you guys would like.

If they if they say, "Yeah, that's a great idea." And if they say, "No, I just like it the way it is," then I'm totally fine with it. Yeah. If that's the direction you guys would prefer, I mean, I can always ask. All right, we're going to need a motion. I'll move that uh we authorize male to move forward with ordering stickers based on submitted design number three. Second. Any discussion on the motion? All in favor? I

oppose? Nay. Please show the motion passes unanimously. Now we'll get to our um amended agenda item moving the story walk update uh which David will provide and hopefully we can uh vote on the submitted design. David,

thank you. So in your packet you see uh a copy of an email from Salorenzan who uh is the instructor that's working with the students at Spokane Valley Tech. So after their committee of um designers met with and conferred with designers in the past, they came up with a new image and a new design. So do we have those pictures that we can put up on the screen? No.

Um because the the pictures here don't show the entire image that's in the uh in the email. If you have a copy of the email, maybe you could just pull up the one that has a better image of this of the actual stand itself. Give me a minute. I'll see if I can. So So let's talk about She's doing that about timeline.

Yeah. So um the school wants us to give them the okay to make a prototype, a working model. Um, so the installation will be have will have to be moved to probably spring of 2027 because they have very few hours left in in this year to actually make them. But they would like to make a prototype for us and my goal would be to have them actually bring it here as they've done in the past and present it to us. Um, but the design, if you if you can see it, is more of a flat um kind of Y-shaped design on the pedestal versus the pole design. Uh, and then it would sit on those tabs that you're seeing in the the actual uh presentation. They also made some modifications to changing out the um there we go. Thank you. changing out the uh the story, making the app the uh device open up easier for staff to be able to change those out. One of the things that they mentioned in the email was that on the flat poles, the two flat pieces on the previous picture, um we could actually incorporate some laser cutting into that. So, if we wanted to do to do a design on them, they could actually be cut out into those flat panels. you go keep scrolling up and go to the previous picture right there. So those will be flat like this versus a square pole. Um they were having some warping when they were um heating up the previous ones. So this would make it um where if we wanted to have a design cut into them, we could. But this would be the third model. Um what I'm looking for today is the okay to have them go ahead and make a full prototype for us. um whether they bring it here which would I prefer and that way then they can get started on it in the fall.

Could you ask them to round the corners a bit so that we don't have Thank good idea. Thank you. So I would like to have a motion if there's no discussion or further questions um for clarification at least get a motion out there so that we can vote on that. Any discussion? Excited to see their prototypes. It's nice to see their thinking and the design is evol evolving. Me too. You want to make the motion, David? This your project.

I move that the parks and arts commission authorize Spokane Valley Tech and Sal. Lorenzan to have the students make a prototype with the adjustments of rounding the corners more so they're not as sharp. Seconded. Okay. Moved by David and seconded by Noel. All in favor of moving the project forward to get the prototype. Uh I I

opposed. Nay. I seeing no opposition. Please show the motion has passed unanimously. We'll now move on um to our uh number six, unfinished and new business. Starting out with a pavilion ticket booth update. Is there anything new, Laura? Uh, no, just waiting on a proposal, a bid proposal for that. Still thinking it's something that we can get done this year, though. Okay, great. Um, Kramer Art update.

Yeah, I'm sorry. I actually just got a text from the artist. Um, it's it's done. It looks fantastic. If you haven't driven by, the glass really um the fused glass pieces got installed on Friday and they just really showcased the piece. the concrete um contractor did come out and do some texturizing on the the pylon bases just trying to discourage any graffiti. Um Mallerie who just texted me was saying that there's a couple that are slightly different colors. So she's going to just follow back up with um Bacon to see if that's something that they can correct. But I I do believe once the landscaping is in you're not um going to notice or see that. And she also sent a bunch of pictures which I will forward to you Jen um to distribute as appropriate. And she said she did send a request to the city, I don't know if it's Instagram or Facebook to be a collaborator on a reel that she created of the the piece in progress. Um something that you guys should be able to share. So um minus the the landscaping, the project is complete and looks fantastic. So please uh take a look. And then I do think that once um that landscaping is done that we should do some kind of formal dedication though. So I think we should kind of look at get maybe a tighter time frame. I know Ben said May. Um so once we have an idea of when the completion is so we can install the the plaque with the art piece title um as part of that and maybe have them out and do an official dedication to the city. we uh go ahead and uh order the plaque and then maybe um by our June meeting we can set a dedication.

I think it's been ordered, hasn't it, Jen? I think you already have it. Yeah, I was like I thought that was already Yeah. Yeah. So, yeah. So, I was picking a date then. Yeah. So, something in June, I'm guessing as long as public works uh comes in in their schedule. Yeah. Yeah. Awesome. Yep. Will the light will the lighting be at the same time as the landscaping? After the landscaping. U Jen's team had ordered solar lights and they want to place those after the landscaping is in so they can be not in the way of anything.

All right. Thank you. Next item. Um bike pedestrian safety advisory committee update.

Okay. So, we had a real exciting uh town hall on the micromobility this last week, which we had over a hundred people show up for standing room only and it was a great presentation. Uh the city uh police department, Liberty Lake Police Department did the presentation. The fire department was also there because they go to a lot of accidents. And so it was great. People got to ask questions. They clarified what all the e vehicles are and what's legal, what's not. So, it was kind of the our first step in really getting the education out there. And it is uh on our Liberty Lake uh website where you can listen to it if again if you want to on YouTube. So, it's got a lot of great information. Mark, who was here just a minute ago, said they're also going to make a little print out with pictures to show the different vehicles so people can identify them and what's legal, what's not for different ages, and that type of thing. So, that's great. Uh, then we uh are moving forward with our bike ride is at the end of May on the 31st and we're hoping to get more PR out on that. It is free, but they need to sign up on our website through the recreation events. Uh just a waiver, liability waiver. But all the they're going to start at Orchard Park, right over the bridges to Rocky Hill Pavilion Park, and then back to Orchard Park on a Sunday morning. Should be super fun for families to do. And then, you know, if you have people coming in from out of town, you can show them what a great city we are with these fun parks. So, I was thinking it'd be kind of cool if

maybe uh we could get someone from this committee to be at the park that you're closest to, like if you live by Rocky Hill Park, maybe you could be there for an hour that morning and just uh welcome people on their bikes and say, "Hey, here's a great piece of art you might want to look at." matter, you know, just anything about the park you could say, you know, to the people biking by. What do you guys think about that? Just look at my calendar. See what I'm That's a Sunday. Yeah, Sunday morning between 9 and 11. The date on that again, please. May 31st. You can put me probably down for Rocky Hill. Just send me an email if you don't mind with

Okay. what you're thinking and Yeah. Okay, cool. I'm going on the ride.

Yeah. And yeah, that's the main thing we want to encourage a lot of people to go on the ride because it since it's the very first one, a lot of people don't know about it and we're trying to put up a few flyers and posters about it, but uh there's so much going on in May. You know, we have a lot of things going on. So, but there's nothing else on May 31st. [laughter] Should be super fun. So, uh, the other thing is Touch a Truck event is coming up June 5th. And I don't know if Miguel's still on the line. He might be talking about that. But, uh, remember last year for Barefoot in the Park, uh, I was able to get helmets to give away to kids that need them for biking. Since we're not having that, I was thinking it'd be cool to be a Touch A truck because there will be a lot of kids there and the time frame is 3 to 7. So, it's a time when people will be out of school going to the event. So, I talked to the scope people in Liberty Lake and they're willing to bring the scope car there and then we can give away helmets at Tet Truck. So, that'll be kind of fun. So, that's June 5th, the first Friday 3 to 7. So yeah, a lot of

town square. Yeah, town square where the farmers market is. Any questions about our fun events coming up? That's awesome. That's a a big addition to Touch a Truck to get the helmets out there. Yeah, especially at the be. So, thanks for putting that together. And if anybody can email Katie if they can be at Pavilion Park or Orchard Park that day for a little bit to May 31st or just bike with us or bike. Yeah, it'll be fun.

All right. Thank you for your report. Um, next up is the Liberty Lake Better Together Rock Garden dedication. That's June 3rd, I believe, at 1:00 if I'm remembering correctly. It's a weird time because the the schools are going to be participating

in that. So, and that's uh right at the corner there of uh Pavilion Park at Molter and Country Vista. They've started to work on it and it sounds like everything's um on on target to to hold that date true. And mayor should be there, I'm guessing. And yeah, should be kind of a big deal. and kids and putting the rocks in and it's been very well thought out by Liberty Lake better together and Mara they've done a really good job with keeping up with that. So hope to see everyone there. What time is that? 1:00 on June 3rd. I guess we'll meet one more time. So we'll get one more really recent reminder because isn't it Monday? June 1st and Monday. Yeah,

correct. Yeah. All right. Staff report.

All right. Um, so park facilities, parks and facilities upstate. Uh, obviously the rock garden is in progress. Um, Kramer lighting is here. We're waiting for the landscaping. Uh, staff is working on some concrete around the Orchard Park maintenance shed um to get rid of some mud in that area. We're looking to re resurface the tennis court at Orchard Park this year. Uh, that's on tomorrow night's agenda. Same with the basketball fence extension. And just to let you know, we're seeing uh vandalism on the Hooptown mural as well as the um Rocky Hill tennis courts from ebikes burn burning out. Um we've seen that caused a lot of problems. We had a citizen volunteer to pressure wash the mural and we actually said thank you but no thank you because we don't know what kind of damage that's going to do. Um, so I'm not sure exactly what the solutions are. We're working on signage um that says no ebikes in parks. Uh, working on the language for that. Um, they they have done other vandalism in the restrooms and in our swailes with their ebikes. Um, so tearing things up pretty good. It's it's really a problem. So hopefully the signage will help deter the least we can do is post it. So we'll see if that does help. Uh, several events. Muel, do you want me to run through this stuff for you?

Uh, I mean, I I can real quick. Uh, so Touch Truck is June 5th, like Katie said. Um, should be fun. We got music, food, and vehicles for families to look at. Fourth of July, Founders and Fireworks. We are just about planned out and good to go. I am looking for judges for the uh, apple pie baking contest. I need two individuals. And then we also will have our parks and art booth there. So, I know it's the fourth, so we'll probably send out an email and see if anyone's willing or able to to help out with either of those. And then we'll have the the concert that Labor Day weekend. Um, and we got that moving along as well, planning for that. Um, and then just super quick with programming, um, Nancy had asked just for me to throw out some ideas for that programming budget. And I there's a a piece of paper in your packet with some just ideas I had thought of uh doing some research and it I would really try to focus on things that would fit within the art category. So uh art or performance art or things like that. Um so here's just a list of different ideas for classes and or programming or events that revolve around art. And I think we'll have a more de in-depth discussion on that and voting on potentially some ideas at the next meeting. So this is just kind of get you guys something you can look at and prepare for next time. That is all I have.

Are there any questions for Muel? I love the the chalk art. That sounds fun. Me too. These are great ideas. I have a question. Is it going to be New Jack City again for the Fourth of July uh park? Uh not this year. So, uh it'll be two different bands. Um one earlier in the day would be Soul Proprietor and then the other one in the evening is uh Jam Shack. So, one Soul Proprietor is Rhythm and Blues. Jam Shacks Classic Rock. And what was the second one? Jam Shack.

Yeah. Okay. Um I'm not going to go through all the projects, but I did notice on H that I still am showing mural extension. I'll scratch that and replace it with ticket booth. U the one note on projects uh update is signal boxes are scheduled for May 11th. And I'm keep my fingers crossed. [laughter] David, I might need your help. My gosh. Yes, they I remember when they were scheduled for December 3rd and they didn't get done. So, well, the weather is supposed to be like this through next weekend. So,

so May 11th and we will get photos of them working. Um, and then real quick, uh, we are applying for an RCO grant. I'm going to inform the city council about this tomorrow evening when I provide the parks plan update. Um it it's a 500 up to $500,000 matching grant that the um recreation conservation office offers. It's incredibly competitive. Usually there are about 60 competitors throughout the state um from cities uh counties um and statewide uh Washington state parks. So uh it's a lot of a lot a lot of work to put this grant together. And so we've gone through the application. Next steps is the technical review in a week or two. And then we have the final review in August. And in October, they determine your ranking and they award in I think it's April of 27. So it's a very long process. We don't know what we're getting. Um but this money would help uh fund the pavilion playground renovation.

Awesome. We're also going to be applying for a grant through America's 250. So, Washington State has a commission that is specially set aside um per Governor Eninsley for America's 250th celebration and they are offering a grant. So, we're going to go for that and see if we have any luck there. And then uh upcoming council report May 19th any volunteers? I am unavailable. Um someone else has an interest. We can occasionally skip one and we don't have a lot of new. We could we could pause and take a break for May. We don't have much. I wouldn't say there's anything really new or different to report.

Somebody has a burning desire to do it, they can. Otherwise, we'll we'll put it off until um June. I'm out of town. Sorry. I'm out. All right. Our next meeting is June 1st and can't believe for June. Oh, anything else for the greater good or we'll need a motion. I move that uh we uh conclude today's uh commission meeting. All in favor? Oh, I guess we need a second. Thank you, Laura. All in favor? I oppose. All right, we're and thanks so much for coming. It was good discussion. be thinking about uh