Parks & Recreation Commission - Regular Meeting

in the East Grand Rapids like the bike lanes in Grand Rapids are a little bit like we're getting there but it just takes these roads to like get it better. Plymouth was getting 38 pages today. I saw that that passed so I was thrilled. That was one where I was like I will go to the map with this like I am not going to do this again. Like we're going to get this first pages. She has even that stretch on Reeds Lake Boulevard. I would always have my kids ride on the path and like ding ding through through walkers. Once it's a lot better because I got three with an agenda on on the bike. Anybody need an agenda? So much safer. I've got three. Oh, you know what? I bet they ended up I'll take your No, it's all right. Yeah, I don't have one, but I usually pull it up on I'll take one. Okay, there you go. computer. Thank you. Oh, just the agenda. Nice to meet you. I was I think I was at one meeting prior, so new, pretty new. Really new. I was coaching, so I know I missed one. Me too. Me too. I'm not um I um I don't typically teach in the summer. They don't run the undergraduate the traditional undergraduate programs in the summer. So tic tac couple seconds. This clock runs slow too about a minute or a minute and a half. Where's all I'm missing? This is I'm getting so used to it. I watched all you. And you know what? I was joking with with Wesley cuz I saw him yesterday. Um me and I was like I wasn't going to talk to her like why open yourself. I get cuz he was running. He's running. But like for me, I was like, I'm gonna make her work harder than that. I want to see who she is and what she does.

Get involved at all and stuff. Went to Tiger Game and hang out with the grandkids and her nieces and nephews and so it was all good. Nice. Where is she living though? San Diego. Did you see the stuff with really village said something was in the words? You think it's like a pro I some ways it feels like uh with the clock showing six o'clock I'll call this evening's meeting of the parks and recreation department uh parks and recreation commission meeting at the city of East Grand Rapids to order. Um let's see first on the agenda any public comments? Not seeing anyone in attendance. We'll move on to the report of the commissioners. I'll start at the far left, my far left. Um Leila Cool for the East Grand Rapids School Board. Schools out of session. Um we had our budget hearing June 2nd and another school board meeting um June 9th to mostly approve the bond series um to keep the construction underway. Construction planning I should say. Construction hasn't started. So is this a contract you're just by the way? Oh yes, it is this contract year and we going Yes. Yes. That was in May. Um and we um reached an agreement with the teachers association. Nice. No report. Um just want to make everyone aware of the Fourth of July events going on and how we can use all the help if anybody's around um helping with the race that's at 8:30 in the morning. The fire um that reads a trailblazer. I just want to call it firecracker run the trailblazer. Um and if you're interested in volunteering, if you go on the foundation website, there's a volunteer guide for you. Um so if anybody's free, uh obviously we have the race and then the parade and then all the events at the park, which is awesome, and then the fireworks with our change of uh the street. And so we'll be safer than we've been in a long time. Uh

emergency vehicle if needed, we'll be able to get there. Um so Fourth of July and East, if you know, as you all know, if you've been around, it's a fantastic day. It's one of the best days of the year. Absolutely. Uh I have no report, but welcome back uh to the parks and recck commission, Brian. So glad you're back. Uh okay. I have a lot of kudos for parks parks and wreck. Um my kids went, my daughter and my husband went to the sweetheart dance. Had a wonderful time. Um small knit. If May is so busy, if it's possible to have that just a month earlier, I think that would help just manage all the things all the things that in May. Um, a a great parks and rec soccer season. And then I've been out on the trails a lot this spring and appreciative of parks for um all my email of there's a tree here, here's a tree. Um, and they were cleared in very short period of time. So again, kudos for that. And uh that's all I have. Nothing for me. Um all I've got is at the last um city commission meeting, we approved the fencing for the pickle ball courts to sound dampen it. Um I bet that's already in process and going and it was a four to five week lead time when we went from when we pulled the trigger. So, I'm hoping that's going to be pretty close to when everything's ready and going. So, we get those up quick. Yeah, we we ordered it the next day and um it it should align pretty closely with um whatever the actual grand opening date ends up being, but it it should be right around that date. Perfect. Um the only thing other thing we kind of mentioned through that was um we had mentioned possibly doing something with uh webcams or any sort of camera so you could see the courts

without going so you could see if they're open as a possibility uh to kind of help our residents out cuz we have four courts especially with these with these sound dampening materials up. It might be hard to like just drive by and see. So, if there was a possibility that we could put up some cameras to allow people to see if the courts are available, might be a cool little feature. So, that was the only other thing that kind of came up out of that. And uh that's all I've got. Cool. Great. Okay, moving on to agenda item four, the minutes of the regular commission meeting on April 28th, 2025. Uh they've been enclosed with the agenda materials. If there's any discussion or amendments to the minutes as posted. Not hearing any. I would entertain a motion to approve the minutes. So moved. Second. Any discussion on the motion? Hearing none. All those in favor of approving the minutes say I. I. Those opposed hearing none. The minutes are approved. Moving on to the special event calendar. is enclosed for our information. Is there any discussion, Derek? No, sir. The uh just for um review, especially as we're um I'm asking for consideration for some special events um permits this evening, but no um no special attention for the calendar. Okay, great. Well, we'll move on to item six. Um guess we'll just get started with 6A 2025 Winterfest at Manhattan Park. Yeah. So I will take them one by one and then um certainly we'll um accept any questions that you may have. Um so the um Winterfest um is a proposal from um the East Grand Rapids Community Foundation. Those of you that were at the April meeting may recall we uh talked about it a little bit conceptually. Um but at that meeting we only had um five committee members in in um in person and um Patrick being one

of them whose uh name you see on the application um we just requested that we bring it back for the uh next month for review. So that's why it's uh here again on the agenda. Um so the East Grand Rapids Community Foundation is looking for additional community engagement um event ideas. Um also um events that would potentially um allow for some fundraising um some capital for the uh for the foundation to utilize in uh some of the great projects that they work on throughout the community. Um, and so the idea of a winterfest uh family-friendly event at Manhattan Park was conceptually um identified by um Patrick and also um Rey who works with the community foundation um as a um you know mid- winter opportunity here in East Grand Rapids when they're um it's kind of a down months if you will except for the indoor sports. Uh so trying to find opportunities to get the community together. Um so really the um they're still working on the specifics uh related to the event. Um but it would be um proposed to be on um the February 7th um kind of a um middle of the morning till early um early in the day uh events uh that would have uh field uh type games um outdoor winter uh related activities. Um part of the planning would include um having like a tent with a warming area for the participants to come in and get warmed up uh throughout. Um and they're still again still working on what those games might be, what the exact layout would be. Um but really um the the intent is to uh bring families together in East, let them get outside, enjoy the um you know, the great outdoors uh in the uh winter months at Manhattan Park. uh and again um to raise some funds um and um as a result of the event. Um so I'm happy to answer any questions you might have like

conceptually about the event. Um but I know once um either your u feedback is given here today. I'll I'll share that with the uh the event planning committee and I know that in the um in the coming months um they're going to be working on uh finalizing like what those games would be, what kind of prizes they would have, exactly where it would be at the park. Um but it's more so conceptual approval at this point. I will share that um the request um that they submitted um was to utilize like man five, which is the new soccer field. Um and certainly that's uh something that um myself and the parks and recreation team would work w uh with them directly on to identify which spaces of the park if it is going to be Manhattan uh field number five or some of the other areas um just dependent upon um how much snow we have um or lack thereof at at that time frame. If there's really low uh level of snow cover on um the soccer field, we'll likely we'll redirect them to other areas so we're not creating um springtime um issues with muddiness or worn grass um that we can um we can avoid if um and so um we'll certainly work with them to refine those details and exact placement. Um and that's quite common. Um we do the same thing for the the kisscross event, the biking event that takes place at Manhattan Park. So, um, we always have a this is the requested areas, but then we have a plan for if if it's going to be rainy and, um, we want them to stay off the Fredbun trails or if we want them to stay off of certain, um, grass, uh, areas in proximity to athletic fields just again to protect the uh, the surfaces so we're not creating additional um, issues down the road. So, but happy to um, answer any questions you might have about the Winterfest proposal. I'll add that Ray Fischer is the vice president of the foundation and he's researching other communities that have similar winter events for different activities by age

group. So there'd be certain activities for really young ones, middle size and then maybe up to high school age and that type of thing. Um so Ray's doing and Patrick Parks who's also on our committee is um they're they're really carrying the ball on this one. should let you know that we're also kind of thinking of because we helped the park the foundation helps put on um the after-dark party that just happened. Um and we're trying to get our name out there. Um and so Winterfest and we may change after dark to Summerfest since festival is gone and that event ends long before it's after dark. Um but by the way that was a great event too I thought if anybody was there. Um, so this is there there's a there's a a reason more than reason just to raise money um to provide a a great opportunity for kids to get outside and whatnot in the middle of the winter. And um does it do they have a weather date if it's not on that first they had talked about that? No, they they had not requested a weather date of a rain out date, but you know anyway. Okay. We we've talked about in the foundation. I didn't know if they proposed that. Thank you. Any other questions or discussion? I just know we did a few of us were here at the last meeting and discussed it. Uh we had a lot of I think as I recall very positive things to say. Uh it's great to see the park utilized during the winter when it's underutilized and have fun things to do. So um do you want to take a vote? If we could take them one by one, that'd be excellent. All right. Excellent. Well, do I have a motion to approve the special event permit for the 2025 Winterfest at Manhattan Park application? Permit application. I move to approve. Sounds like I have a motion in a second. Yeah, I think it's 2026, right? 2026. It would be 2026. It says 2025. Yeah, I'm just reading and not catch. No, no,

good catch. Thank you. That happens. Um, yes. Thank you. the 2026 Winterfest at Manhattan Park permit. Thank you very much for that catch. Any further discussion? If not, uh, all those in favor say I. Those opposed, not hearing any, the special event permit request is approved. Uh, 6B, the Gaslight Village Taste of East. Yes. So, uh, those of you that may be familiar with Taste of East is a annual event that is, uh, put on by the Gaslight Village Business Association. Essentially, they shut down a portion of Wealthy Street from Chase Bank to DNW. Uh, similar to the same road closure that we've been utilizing for like the after dark party and for uh the harvest festival last year. It seems to work well with traffic detour um signage and and still allowing for the rapid bus uh to operate and and pick up from their uh bus stop by DNW. Um so um a a slight change to this year from from years past. It's always historically has been on a Thursday um and and typically right before uh school is starting. Um this year the planning committee has been in um in communication with um there's a rally on the Reeds um event. Um that is a volleyball/ community uh event that's um scheduled to take place on Memorial Field. Um they they did do this last year if you may have uh recall that they put down a temporary volleyball court on Memorial Field and had two teams come and play. Um this year their plan is to have four teams playing for the the rally on reads event along with the activities and the uh gaslights um the um taste of east planning committee from the um business association um linked up with the rally on reads group and wanted to have the event on the same day so that community

members could um still benefit from uh you know going and watching the athletic teams on um playing on Memorial Field. but then also could come out and participate in the the Taste of East um which is certainly like an end of summer uh celebration. There is a small fundraising component to that where they they do uh give proceeds from the event back to a local nonprofit. Um but um the remaining of the event would be similar to years past. So it would be the businesses coming out. Uh the restaurants participating by having special um special food offerings on that day. There would be some kids games set up throughout the uh the road closure um and having some musical entertainment. Um but then this year the difference being that there would also be some um activities and draw down in the memorial field area. Um, so happy to answer any questions you might have um about the uh updated plan for uh Taste of East and and their permit request. Hoping the school's u pretty diligent about making sure some of those people who carry drinks around won't carry them into the stadium. hoping that they hit that certain door. That certainly has been a point of discussion and um they're working on the the best way to to monitor that and what Larry's referring to is the social district. Um the uh technically the social district ends at Jose Babushka's there on the south side of the road and so uh cups should not be making their way um any further past that on the on the south side of the road um and shouldn't be entering into u Memorial Field for this or football games or anything for anything. Correct. Sounds like a great partnership. It's a great another great day in the summer. Sounds like a lot of fun. It's a lot. It is a lot. Yeah, there will be a lot. Agreed. I I look forward

to Taste of East every year. Uh absent any further discussion, let's entertain a motion to approve the special event permit request for the 2026 Gas Light Village Taste of East. Um just briefly you you mentioned it's expanding to Memorial Field um the public school field right is that so the uh the rally on reads event is on um would be on Memorial Field and then the Taste of East would be at the same time but the events would be um they wouldn't share a footprint. They would be overlapping times with the thought that people would kind of come and go to the different events throughout the throughout the day. and we're only approving this and then making sure there's going to be appropriate safeguards so that the overlapping events, especially when it comes to alcohol, um there's an issue with that. Cor correct. Yeah, we're um your review for this uh permit request is for the uh the road closure on Wealthy Street and the the event activities for the Taste of East uh Okay. uh solely and then the um the rally on reads is separately being handled through like the athletic department. Um I just wanted to bring up that um that alignment of the two events because that is a a ch um a distinct change that they made intentionally um they wanted to align the two dates as opposed to accidentally um putting them on the same day. Can we put a stipulation that there is an appropriate plan to make sure that the social district lines are are enforced because it is really close to the public school that one like where I I can share that that um that I will absolutely work with the school district to um to make sure that there's um safeguards in place. That has been a discussion point at the um at their planning meetings as well.

And um I know that the uh even even without an aligned event um I I know that um we're wanting to make sure that that's um taking place for all for all activities. So and I I certainly um coordinate with uh Chris Zystra the athletic director and um that can be a point of emphasis that I have with him. Okay. Thank you. Has there been a touch point with public safety at all? There has been. Gotcha. We can discuss after a motion has been made. So I will entertain a motion to approve the 2025 Gas Light Village Taste of East special event permit request. So moved. Second. Excellent. Any discussion on the motion? Absent. Further discussion. Uh all those in favor of approving the special event permit request for the Gas Light Village Taste of East say I. I. I. Those opposed? Nose. The eyes have it. Uh, the special event permit request is approved. 6C, the 2025 resolution run. Thank you, Larry. Okay, so yes, the resolution run has been a a long-standing event uh here in East Grand Rapids that uh has historically taken place the day before New Year's Day. Um and they um it's a 5K event that sets up u in front of John Collins Park and they have their start and finish um um on Lakeside in front of the park. And then also um recently they've done a a youth or like a a younger kids fun run that also starts out in front of John Collins Park, comes down past the community center and then and and turns around. Um and then following the uh the race, they've partnered with Big Bobs to do a postra celebration. Um historically they've done that um for the la or I should say the last couple years they've done that

um on a more formal basis. Um there is a a new event organizer that's been with them for this will be her third race. Um so you'll you'll see the name Laura, I'm not exactly sure how to pronounce it, Capereer on the um application. Um, so she's been involved the last three years. They've done a I I would say um a better job than in the past of of promoting the event and and trying to grow participation. Um so it's an event that used to have somewhere closer to three or 400 runners. Now last year they were closer to six or 700 runners and are expecting somewhere um in the same amount. Um, one thing that we did learn last year is that for the previous couple of years, the event was taking place on either the weekend or a day that the community center here wasn't open and the library wasn't open. But then last year that, you know, the way the calendar falls, it um it was a working day for um city staff and also library staff. And um so we'll work with the event organizer. Will will we need to work with the event organizer just to do a little bit more communication to let everyone know that this event's happening similar to the the Irish jig, etc.? Um because when it happens on a weekend, it's um no one seems to notice, but when it happens on a day when everything's um buzzing around and people getting ready for the uh the holiday the next day, um it's um just a little bit more advanced notification is helpful for people to be aware of. Um but other than that it's very similar uh format um to years past and u I could say we um last year did not have any um issues with with the event. So happy to answer any questions you might have about the next one. The resolution run. It's got a really long history been around for a long time. 90s maybe maybe 80s.

Well, in keeping with the beloved uh events here in EGR, I will request a motion to approve the special event permit request for the 2025 resolution run. I move second. I have a motion and a second. Any discussion on the request on the motion? Hearing none. All those in favor of approving the special event permit request for the 2025 resolution run say I. I. Those opposed hearing none. The permit request is approved. Moving on to 6D, the 2025 gaslight village tree lighting ceremony. Yes. So, last event uh for your review is the annual uh tree lighting in uh Reata Plaza. Um last year um was the first time that we expanded the road closure um in the time that I've been here at the city. So, historically, we kept um Wealthy open um up into Reata Plaza and allowed for traffic to flow through there. Um the events grown in years past. Um and so last year, we um we experimented by closing the the road by Chase Bank, similar to what we do with all um all the other events that are are taking place. Um and um and Santa snuck in the back way. Um, and in speaking with the the team that was there that day, and I was there myself as well, but just getting feedback, um, that seemed to be a a really nice improvement for not only safety, um, is the main, um, thing, but just the flow of the event and, um, maybe even that little surprise of having Santa sneak up and pop up out of, um, you know, the back of the show. Um, but we're working with the, um, Gasite Village Business Association on this. They have um reindeer and Santaas lined up again. And um it would be this very similar to events in years past. So the hand warming stations with the the little fire pits for roasting marshmallows as well. Musical entertainment. Um potentially working on lining up some

pretlighting entertainment. We've had some um like dance troops and um the Madricals have performed in the past. So those details are still being worked out. Um but the uh the Friday after Thanksgiving is um is scheduled for the the tree lighting if um and happy to answer any questions you might have about the the event. Carriage rides will they carriage rides? Yes, carriage rides will uh be um another um tradition that they are planning to uphold. Um, and I I'll say also bec um on that note, the the reconfigured road closure and um not having to bring Santa back and um or to the event on a carriage actually helped with the lines at the carriage. So, they were able to get people through a little faster. So, there was another uh benefit to the different road closure as well. So, any discussion or questions? Okay. Um, if not, I will entertain a motion to approve the special event permit request for the 2025 gas light tree lighting ceremony. So moved. Second. Motion in a second. Is there any discussion on the motion? Hearing none. All those in favor of approving the special event permit request say I. I. I. Those opposed? Hearing none, the motion is approved. Moving on to item seven, Manhattan Park construction update and discussion. Yes. So, we are uh ever approaching the uh tenative completion date uh for the uh park improvements. If anyone's been out there as of late, you'll see uh sport courts have been painted. The um they're working on placing the um the seating wall and the um and the pavers for the splash pad. And effectively what they're doing is trying to get their last items on the kind of on the outsides of the um the site uh completed. and then they'll back out through the middle and and pour concrete and get all their equipment out and kind of back out of the site. Um

that's been their plan all along. And so they're they're still um really close. We're um just kind of monitoring the weather over the next week and a half as they're trying to uh line up um you know certain activities like the pouring of the port in place surfacing for the playgrounds, certain things that need to have weather cooperation for them to take place. but um they're um they're very close uh to completion and um so we're we're tracking that on a on a daily basis. Um a couple of items that we do know that um like won't quite be done in time for um the um when the park opens, like for example, the um the restroom facility doors. Um the the there's a special order paint that we've learned about recently that are going to delay the delivery of the doors for the restrooms, but we're working with the contractor to um install temporary doors so the facility can still be used and then when the doors come in, we'll swap those out. Um and then there also may be some u minor landscaping items um that they'll be continuing to work on even after the um after the completion date. um but nothing that would um disrupt users from using the other amenities in the park. So, we're um we're actively pursuing that. Um also in the parks department, we're just finalizing some signage um that we're going to uh place in the park. Um some of it is just replacement uh of uh like tennis court um rules and and guidelines and um you know, new parking signs, things of that nature. um which um brought up a couple of the discussion items that we have on the agenda for tonight and um just wanted to run that by you for feedback. Um and so the first of them is related to the tennis and pickle ball courts. Um for those of you that might not be aware, historically the um the courts um I'll say sports courts for purposes of this discussion in town, so that could mean tennis courts or pickle ball courts

um are either first come first serve. So, anyone that um goes to the park and sees that there's a a facility that's um not being used, they can use that. Um and then if um if they would like to reserve a space, we also do allow for reservations of sports courts. So, we do have a couple of groups that uh want to meet on the same day and time with a small group of their friends. Um and so they're allowed to reserve the courts for $8 an hour. Um, and we do allow for them to reserve either one or multiple hours. Um, so wanted to share that with you as as far as uh the history goes that we have um allowed for reservations in the past. Um, but again, when they're not being uh used, it's first come, first serve, and anyone can use them. Um, but we also do have a 1 hour time limit for for that. So, if I were to go use the park, no one was using them, and I wanted to play, let's say, uh, pickle ball for an hour, um, the the rules would state that I could play for an hour, but if there's other people that are waiting for me, I should, um, you know, end my time at 1 hour. Of course, if there's nobody waiting for me, I'd be able to um, you know, extend that play if I would like to. Um but wanted to um receive feedback from the parks and rec commission uh related to our intent to continue on with that plan for the um the renovated tennis courts and also pickle ball courts at Manhattan Park. um as far as um uh number one the uh maintaining the um the rules that we've had in the past to the 1 hour of play and unless no one's waiting for you but then secondly the u feed any feedback that you may have related to the the reservation of the courts as far as if um allowing folks to to reserve them. Um and um we just wanted to run that by you instead of moving forward with our uh normal operating plan. So if it was court reserved somebody put a sign I

mean would park and w go out there and say reserve 9 to 10 or whatever how would I know it was reserved if I was um if we do have reservations we um we'll place those um typically we'll try to place them on Monday because we'll run reports of all the reservations for the week try to get those um on Monday. The u the only caveat to that is if there were a reservation that came in on Tuesday or Wednesday for later in the week. Um and we do place it in a um an obvious spot. Um so on the um on the courts that we'll have now at Manhattan Park, there's u multiple gates, but um there's a you know the gate closest to this parking lot and the gate closest to this parking lot would be the locations that we would be placing those signs. Is there a digital alternative to a paper, you know, like a QR code? That way someone can just, you know, see if there's an updated schedule and because if I make a reservation on Tuesday because I want to get together with friends on Saturday, it might be awkward if I show up at my reserve time and there's someone there and they're like, "You're not on the paper special." So, can we digitize this? We will we would love to do that. Um, we I don't think our um Rec one software company's quite there yet, but if we can figure that out, absolutely, we would defer to that. Um we if we do have a reservation that does come in later in the week, we will um if if we have the time like let's say if it comes in on Tuesday and it's for Wednesday, we will go out and try to put it out ahead of time. The only catch to that would be if someone were were to reserve something on let's say Friday afternoon after we were closed um and and we didn't have someone to come in and put it um there that day. But we we definitely do still put out the reservation signs even if um they're not done in ahead of time. Um but I will push our developer to our our um software company because that would be really nice because that does as you can imagine it doesn't take a lot of time

but just you know going out there and doing it and then if if there is one midweek that that would be much better option for us. Are there any cut offs like 24 hours in advance or anything like that for making a reservation? So we do yeah we do have cut offs because we um once someone makes a reservation then we have to um go in and create an invoice and have them pay for it. So there we do have some of those cut offs. So if someone were to let's say on Saturday morning go out and look and see the courts aren't being used and say I'm going to book them for the day. They wouldn't be able to do that. um there would have to be there would be a layer of advanced notice. So it's not a hard and fast 8 12 24 hours. It's more like just about whether the billing can be processed. Correct. Yes. If Yeah. If we're we have to be open to be able to complete a a reservation. Okay. I guess uh what do I get for my $8 for reserving? It just seems like is there like, you know, I would, you know, there's a lot of awkwardness if you got to kick someone off at your reserve time and I feel I paid $8. What do I get for that other than just the knowledge and like the reduction in anxiety and showing up? But if there's someone there, that's more anxiety for me. So is I wonder if you anticipate it being very popular or more popular, is there a consideration for maybe we have certain days of the week or certain blocks of time where it's reserved and it's just known like there's a sign that says, you know, that way maybe it also cuts down on the reservation scramble because we know that we're only accepting reservations on Saturdays and Sundays from 8 to noon because that's the most popular time. But every other day of the week, it's first come, first serve because I just feel like I'm paying $8. I I don't want to be the one to police my reservation. I kind of want something for my $8 other than peace of mind.

Sure. Well, um in addition to um well, the peace of mind is is kind of really the what the $8 is. We do we do send a a paper permit u to the the person as well or a digital permit to the person so they have that in case there were any issues. I I can say um in in my tenure here the it's any issues that we have would be very very limited. I can't think of a a time um especially if we have multiple courts where if someone says hey I reserve this one specifically but you can go use the others u but really the I guess the value back to your initial question is is that it is that peace of mind and being able to tell if you have others in your group that you're going to schedule a time um to be able to go and play. And yes, there may have to be that conversation if there's others using it, but we've had pretty good luck with either the sign on on the fence and or the the permit in um that the people would be able to show on their on their phone to to support their reservation. Um that's the same kind of the same process we have for pavilions as as well is we put the sign out and um well again I can't think of an example of when someone refused to move from a pavilion but usually the sign does help with that. Um but as far as the um different days and times I um I mean I I certainly guess I would leave that up for discussion of this group. Um, I I I know that the um the reservations that we have had consistently in the past, a majority of them have been daytime, like during the week, like 10:00 a.m. till noon on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Just it's they're just utilizing it to have that standing reservation, I guess, is the best way to describe it. The other thing that we do is um in the event we open up a park and everybody

wants to play with the new toy so to speak um we will adjust and we um rather flexible in regards to okay now this is becoming a problem how do we adjust to address those concerns so it's not intended to be a we only make this decision once and in perpetuity the policy shall never be changed so yeah I was just wondering if there was like a sign that you said signs were being made if you were listing out the ter like the instructions so if This was like a more permanent decision because we already paid for this sign. Signs can be adjusted. That's all. Yeah, they they they can. And and what we've done with like like the pavilion ones that um we make some that can be put up and taken down if um like cuz we don't have them up during the year at um when school's in session cuz they would probably disappear from or maybe become artwork. But um and and to um manager Charles point is yeah that this is kind of the asking how should we should we continue with our normal operating procedures from the start and then I certainly would be happy to report back to this group in August or September of we've had this many reservations and we've come up with these issues or it's been nice and smooth. I'd be happy to share that report back. Sounds great. I agree. That's probably the best course of action in my mind. Uh stick with the business practice as as usual and you know if there are reasons to make changes, great. But if not, stick to the plan. So, sounds good to me. Any other further discussion on the the pickle ball courts and reservations? It'll be interesting to see how busy it is. I look forward to the park being open. It's going to be great and looking awesome on the progress so far. Um so, we look forward to that. Just a question about the park itself. How are will the announcement go out when that it's open and um is that just going to be on the website or will there be a bigger community? Yes. So we um I I am going to

be very excited to share this news. So I would love to share as many ways as we can. So certainly the website, social media, East Express. Um we are planning a a grand opening um celebration as well that um might not necessarily align with the opening day, but that would be another um media that we could use to promote saying, "Hey, yes, the park's open now, but come on this day for the the celebration." Um and electronic board up front. We um we want to make sure that everyone's aware as you can imagine today especially um people calling to ask about progress on the splash pad and we've had um pickle ball as well. Lots of excitement. So we want to make sure as soon as it's um safe and the construction team is moved out and moved their fencing and things are open. We we want to see it uh get utilized. So we'll try to hit all those areas. So you're thinking like next couple weeks probably. I'm I'm um so like pretty much it gets Yeah. daily. I'm going out there the um I would say tentatively we're looking at like early to mid next week, but I we need some of those um final items that we need the weather to cooperate and line up to make sure that they can like pour the concrete and and so is um and and that's going to really be one of their last items is the um that main entrance area is all dirt still and that that's not the final plan. So, um that will um once once we have the concrete scheduled for that area, I I'll feel much more comfortable about saying this this date, but it's getting very close like really within the next couple of weeks. Oh, sorry. One more question about the pickle ball. Is there like a beginning and end time because if there's sensitivity around sound for the neighbors restriction on when those courts are open? So, um, that kind of leads into the next part as well. So, a good segue,

but I'll answer I'll answer that. Um, so it's the hours of the park are 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. Um, the and that's um, you know, we we don't allow for any activity before that and after that. Um, and then, um, as Commissioner Berdick shared, we do have that, um, sound mitigation material that we're, um, that we're going to be installing. That should really help with, um, that sound um, traveling. Um, but the the 7:00 a.m. to 10 p.m. are the hours of the park. U, I can say I've never um seen anyone there early in the morning. And with there not being lights on those um sports courts, that would um you know, of course right now this time of year when it's light till 9:30, there may be folks staying out there, but um other times of the year that the the lighting is going to be the the restricting factor there. Good question. And I assume the neighbors in that area, if they are hearing a lot of noise in the 9 to 10:00 hour that really bothers them, I'm sure they'll hear about it. Good, good question. And uh let's move on to the splash pad discussion. I um I have one more. I I did some facility rentals earlier this year, but they were joint jointly u managed by parks and rack and school. So when So Manhattan is going to be solely parks and wreck. So, are all the reservations in planned to be within the wreck one um reservation? Like yes, totally online. And so that would be similar to it looks like everything with man everything right now with Manhattan's closed down. I'm just struggling with this a minute, but but on the recck one, it will be within the rec one software. That's um that's how we on our end can

track to make sure we're not double booking um any of the facilities. Um currently we do have a lot of the facilities at Manhattan Park, they're they're marked as closed um because like the pavilion um we have scheduled to open uh for reservations in mid um mid July. Uh we built a little buffer in there just to make sure that the um construction was going to be done before people were planning activities and then like the sport courts and that we uh we have not opened those up for reservation yet um because I wanted to have these conversations but um we will be adding the um uh we'll be adding the the new pickle ball courts to that reservation system. It does get a little tricky. Um, not to get too far in the weeds, but when you have four courts in a row in the same amenity, it's a little different than when there's one pavilion per site, which is where the um the ability to have like the people to go online and look um is it just makes it more difficult. And again, I don't want to get too far in the weeds, but it will be through that same software and um and for tracking and revenue collection purposes. Good question. Thanks for the discussion. Um, absent any further discussion on uh the pickle ball tennis courts issue at Manhattan, let's discuss the splash pad uh questions that you'd like to discuss, Eric? Yes, absolutely. So, um, as noted um on the the previous item, the the hours of Manhattan Park are 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. Um, and with the addition of the splash pad, we have an amenity that um has the ability to have hours tied to it. So the the splash pad uh will be um a push button activated which means there's um there'll be literally a button um in proximity to the pad that um when users want to activate the water features they can go push that button um and it will turn on for um a small amount of time and then um you know they can play in

the water and then they'll have to reactivate the button and that's um designed for um you know water conservation purposes so it's not continually running throughout the day when no one's But then also um it's like an irrigation system that we can uh schedule uh times of when it can be turned on um um and activated by the public. Um, and so I did research and uh took a look at some of the other area splash pads in the um the communities surrounding us um to see uh kind of the hours of operation um for and for a couple of reasons and and speaking with the um other area parks and recreation directors and also drawing on my experience from uh running a splash pad in a previous community. um the the early morning times and the and the later in the evening times. Uh typically um the splash pad's not open for a couple reasons. um um you know, it tends to be a little bit cooler in in the morning times and um so trying to avoid some of the the um cool hours of of use, but then also uh the morning times are typically when the um uh the staff are able to go, you know, blow the um the pad out, um double check, make sure everything's ready for the day and provide some of that that maintenance opportunity. Um, and then of course on the the flip end of that, the later in the day, um, typically when you start to, uh, have less families and younger users, um, they're, you know, tends to draw different types of crowds. Um, and and so a lot of the splash pads in the area that you can see on the the lists, I was able to find, um, you know, 10 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. seems to be a pretty common um, time frame for the splash pad to be open. Um, you know, some communities look at different days of the week, different schedules. Um, but for the most part, um, it's a 7-day a week um, scheduling just to keep things consistent. Um, so the community knows what to expect. Um, and I wanted,

um, some feedback from the committee um, on that um, tenative plan for a 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. 7-day a week staffing. And to city manager Charles point, um this wouldn't etch it in stone. Uh but it would be an opportunity to um start it uh and then if there was feedback um that we were receiving um either from um the community or just on our own observations, I would bring that back for you for discussion if if there was a need to adjust that time those times at all. I have just one question at the outset. that I think your recommendation recommendation for times makes complete sense. Uh but given that it's 7 days a week, would there be any necessity to build in you know a day every two weeks or half a day for every two weeks or whatever it is uh for cleaning and maintenance just to build it into the schedule. So like you know every other Sunday it shuts down at 5 to I don't know what what's maintenance and cleaning look like? Yeah, I I I do think that the um if if we're opening at 10:00 a.m., our our summer um our maint our grounds maintenance team and also our summer help, they start at 7:00 in the morning. So, that provides a nice window of of opportunity. Even if folks are getting there at 9 or 9:30 early to um you know, for to play on the playground, that still gives them a couple hour window. Um, you know, some of the maintenance items that I've I've done on splash pads over the years don't really apply cuz ours, as you may recall, we designed it to have uh it be a multi-use space. So, it's going to be it's flat with the ground sprays. So, fortunately, there's not a lot of like above ground um items that would need uh repair. Um, but it would be power washing and um and blowing and and you know, picking up um any loose debris. And I think for the start uh at least uh I'm I'm comfortable in in saying that in those couple of hours before the splash pad opens, we'd be able to get a majority of it cleaned.

If we ever had to do um a more in-depth a deep cleaning, I do think that's something that we could accomplish on a um to schedule it and say it'll be, you know, posted a week or two in advance if if we have the benefit of of knowing that it it needs that. and scheduling it so people will know, okay, next Tuesday, PAD opens at noon or whatever the case might be. Okay, one followup. Uh given that it's a 10-hour proposed day, um will there be information posted? I assume say something does happen in the middle of that day that requires cleaning or city staff attention. Yes. Yeah, we all have. Much like a public pool, it can be shut down for sanitization. not just like those sorts of things. We're talking about little kids and it's 10-hour day. So, it's it's a reality. Yep. So, yeah, absolutely. We'll have um information on there for them to call and um we deal with the problems as they arrest. Yes. I And either unfortunately or fortunately either way, I have experience dealing with that. So, I'm familiar. Cool. All right. Just making sure any I like I like this window. I do. Sounds really reasonable. Agreed. Well, I think you have pretty resounding feedback that your proposed hours sound great. Uh we look forward to it being open and seeing what kind of attendance it gets and and all the other things you might learn along the way here this summer. So, all right. Any other discussion on the Manhattan uh park construction update? If not, we will move to item agenda. Agenda item number eight, the middle school sports vertical alignment and parks and recck staffing update. Yes. So, um I'll I'll um give you a little bit of background on this. So, as as you may recall in the current fiscal year budget, we have a position. It's

called the um recreational sports supervisor position that was budgeted to be added to the parks and recreation department. uh the uh that position was going to be um essentially half of that position was going to be supporting vertical alignment initiatives. Um, and when I say vertical alignment initiatives, that means um connecting the youth programs uh to the high school programs through um through intentional activities and and operational practices to to really just create more of a connection between those youth programs and the high school programs. Um that's some feedback that um the city and the schools have received over time about uh the need to just have further uh create further relationships and further connections uh for the benefit of the uh the youth athletes in the community. And so some some examples of what that could look like. You know, it really depends on sport because every sport is so unique. But um like basketball for example, one of the uh vertical alignment initiatives would be having um you know the basketball coaches involved in summer camps which we I'm happy to report we have that um already um but um adding opportunities for the high school players to come down and mentor and be involved with the youth program so that the younger kids can see and um learn from the high school players having um direction and support from the varsity coaches for our youth coaches so that the um they're teaching and instructing in the ways that the varsity coaches would expect. Um and really just um creating that cohesion between the programs. So um the community um wouldn't be able to necessarily tell that there's a you know it's a this is a a youth uh middle school program or high school program that just creating more connections and alignment between the two. And the other half of the position

uh was going to be uh creating and implementing new uh programs. Um like you may recall this spring we added the girls middle school softball program back to our program offerings. Um we're planning on um adding uh girls cheerleading for the fall. And so instead of um giving those programs to existing staff, those programs were going to be included within the new staffing position. Um we posted the position originally in November and and did an initial round of interviews. We had u approximately 60 candidates. Um and we did make two job offers. Neither of those were um came to fruition for for uh different reasons. Um and so we reposted the position. And um and about the time that we were reposting the position, the um the schools um reached out and asked if uh we'd be willing to have some additional conversations about this position and and how the implementation may uh may look. Um and as you can see here, we um we have a pivoted direction. Um through those conversations with the schools, we uh we did identify the you know, the position. And um I guess I should say we confirmed the need for the position and the uh the need to have the vertical alignment. And um so we um during the um conversations we had with the district, we um we had probably four or five of them over about a month period and started to incrementally um talk about different ways of accomplishing the vertical alignment piece and um different from the your sports director position. Um at at one point in that in that span of meetings, there uh was the conversation about coach Shadic. He's the varsity football coach um who has been with us for three seasons now, I believe. Um and coach Shadic has um athletic director

experience at a previous school in um down in Indiana. Uh and um quite frankly from my conversations with them um the type of work that we're looking at doing with the vertical alignment piece is um the things that um get uh coaches like coach Fhatic excited um and so um through the conversations we had with the school district uh came up with this pilot program opportunity uh that um effectively u coach Shadic would remain a East Grand Rapids public schools employee. Um um but some of his time um in the classroom and time outside of the classroom would be um rescheduled and um to allow for him to have uh time in his schedule to perform these duties. Um and effectively coach Shadic again would be remain an East Grand Rapids public schools employee but during uh the time that he's working on these vertical alignment initiatives um he would be under the direction of myself and the and the city and um accomplishing the vertical alignment tasks that um with our direction but certainly with collaboration and support from the the public schools administration specifically Chris Zystra the athletic director Um so um as outlined in the memo um coach Shadic would be um the person that would be uh completing the vertical alignment initiatives. He would be the one that would be connecting with other varsity coaches, helping create the the practice plans for us to uh support our youth coaches with helping create some additional programming opportunities. Um you may have heard me mention that we um sent teams to the courthouse. It's a basketball facility down in Byron Center this winter. And so that would be one of the tasks that Coach Shadic would um be

tasked with is further refining that and building it into a program um that um could have steps along the way and have greater connections with uh the uh with the high school program. um with the ultimate goal of, you know, supporting again supporting the youth athletes in the community and helping support our youth programs um and um ensuring um you know, easier transitions and um streamlined success at the um at the high school level as as our middle schoolers age out of the middle school program up to the high school program. Um just want to think if I left out anything. thing. I just want to again just touch on a couple of of the key details and then um I'll certainly answer any questions you have. Um but this would be for a one-year pilot program um for us to en ensure that the results um are moving in the right direction. Um certainly we don't think that coach Shadic would be able to accomplish everything that we have outlined for this position in one year but it would give us a great starting point to uh so around this time next year or maybe earlier we'd be able to say we've had u we've met these benchmarks and had um you know these successes. So there's um uh so there would be a discussion about extending the pilot in the future. Um, also just want to reiterate that um, this would not be adding on additional duties to coach Shadic's duties. It would um, they would reassign some of his existing duties to free up his time to to do this work. Um, and then lastly, there um there was some discussion at at the meetings about, you know, the city has uh, run the middle school sports program um, you know, dating back to 2008 and maybe before. Um and the um the intent of this arrangement is not to um is is not for the schools to take over middle

school sports, but for us to collaboratively um improve um the the options um that we um present to the community. So with that, um happy to answer any questions you might have about the pilot program or the the job description. Did the Go ahead. Did the sports supervisor position cover all middle school youth sports or just the the four identified in this proposal? So the um the middle school or the youth sports supervisor position um was best way to to explain this is that it it was going to cover all middle school sports. Um and that would be part of our approach to years two and three if the pilot program did move forward is that so that in year 1 um you saw football and um boys and girls basketball and and track and I think middle school softball and baseball as well. Um the intent would be that if the program were renewed for year two, additional sports would be added um that would then be brought into um the same um umbrella I guess. But the sport supervisor position was going to manage all the sports. But I I do believe that it would have been um just based on work effort and training and everything. It would have been an incremental approach as well that they wouldn't have been able to um do vertical alignment for every fall sport at once. They would have to add them over time. How did the four five sports get chosen for the pilot? Yeah. So the um so football um was chosen for a couple reasons. One um coach Shadock has already started the vertical alignment efforts. Um Pam Slater who works down in the parks and recreation office um she and and coach Shadic have been working on adding sports camps and trainings for coaches and things over

time. So it already has a really good head start. Um, and then another piece to the the puzzle of of this pilot program is that coach Shadic would be taking over the um uh administration of the youth football program. It would still be a city parks and wreck program, but he would be our representative for that. Um, so um for those two reasons um it um the the team thought that having football would make sense. basketball um for both boys and girls was chosen um because we have started the courthouse basketball procedure. We've got some really good feedback on it and are expecting some growth there. Um and then also girls basketball is one of the sports um that we've noticed that um once um once the athletes reach the middle school age level um there is some drop off in attendance from middle school to high school. And so that's one of like the areas where the vertical alignment piece is strongly needed to help keep numbers up and keep our participation, keep athletes wanting to come back and um so trying to um support them to keep numbers up to help the varsity programs. Um and then the um track and baseball and softball were chosen for again for two sports that had both boys and girls sports options. Um, but with the newness of softball, um, and the positive, um, I think we had like 24 26 girls playing this year. We're expecting more next year. We felt like that growing sport would need a little more attention. And so, we paired baseball with that. It's cuz there's a lot of overlap between what um, if if we create the vertical alignment for softball, it's going to look eerily similar to the baseball, just different names in in those pieces. was that was kind of the thought process we went through. As a current varsity coach, most of my

questions will be for Josh addict to tell you the truth. Um I personally I'd like to see cross country added with track. Um to me there's a lot a fair amount of overlap even though track does involve 17 different events and there's really only three or four distance events. But I still think the running program as as a whole would be the right way to go in just an opinion. um says increase retention of student athletics in per sport in the season. That's a great goal to have. Um not only to get them out as freshmen to keep them out all those years. Um that's obviously a bigger challenge with cut sports like basketball and things like volleyball, whatever. Um I was told there 80% of high school kids participate in at least one sport this year. Um if that's true, that's phenomenal. So, I'm wondering how he's you know, if one of his performance indicators is to increase participation, good good luck. Um, your numbers are I mean, you're talking maybe 750 out of 950 kids participating. That's amazing in one sport. I think crew helps a lot with that because they take a lot of kids. Um, you know, I I just most of my comments would be really for coach. I'm I'm mystified of what the curriculum I'm supposed to write for track is, but um again, that's for Josh. I don't know what the curriculum is and I've only been doing it for, you know, 45 years. So, um, how was he chosen for this position or did he ask for it or was he fall and told that he would be doing it? Um, so um, as I I mentioned, we've been working on the vertical alignment piece specifically for football um, for a more than a year now. And um I guess when I'll I'll say this when the position first came up u we we've heard some feedback of well coach Shadic would be great for this. Um but um coach Shadex has a position already, right? And and so um I I think when we came back together with this school um administration and started talking about

what you know what resources do we have here in the community to help with this um coach uh Shadic is highly regarded amongst um his his his peers and I think and when I say that the like the other varsity coaches um and so and that for me was one of the um was going to be one of the hurdles of hiring a new city employee. um to come in and become integrated with the community and earn the respect of the varsity coaches and maybe make some changes that um you know sometimes changes can be hard um whereas it might be a little bit more streamline if it's coming from a known um a known commodity and coach Shadek who's demonstrated he's willing to put in the work for the football program and others as well based on his past experience. Um and then layered in with that um coach Shadic was not part of the initial discussions but we um did have a meeting with him. He was not volunttoled but we asked said what do you think about um something along these lines. It wasn't quite this refined when we had first met with him and I forget what he said exactly but it was something along the lines of I was built for this kind of work. So I know he would be really excited if if there was the opportunity. Will this be brought before city commission for final vote? It it will. It's a contract. Okay. My commissioner was looking at me funny. Yeah, that kind of surprised me. I thought like when we approved it, we were good. But okay. And so the I I take it that the effort to look for a sports supervisor position that'll go on pause during this pilot program. Correct. for for that uh for the recreational sports supervisor position specifically. Yes, that will go on pause. And then at the end of the pilot program, I I see

that there's goals, but it what are like when I think of a pilot program, I think of there's going to be kind of two choices to consider at the end of that year. What does that look like? It's f well certainly um like you noted we have the goals in the um the way that we're going to evaluate the success of the of the pilot. Some of the goals um that even as Larry touched on um would be a bit ambitious for one year. Like I um realistically I don't know if we're going to see a um a larger um retention of athletes over over one year. Um but um I think some of the the tangible items that we'll we'll be able to see come to fruition and and we'll be able to evaluate will be like those added touch point opportunities like the extra camps, the extra um mentoring opportunities for the high school kids, mentoring the younger kids, the um creation of there. So there are some deliverables here as uh as Larry noted like the uh the handbook or the um the uh I forget how how you said it but the basically like the training plan that would be coming from the varsity the curriculum. Thank you. um a lot of those content things can be created and um and I think at the end of the first year either at this time or maybe earlier in the year we'll have the benefit of seeing those things being created seeing the um or witnessing the the extra vertical alignment opportunities and we'll start to um we'll look at the the data uh to see where the numbers are. But I do think that some of those pieces would um it's going to take year two or year three to see like the full growth and u some of like the full realization of the some of

the deliverables in there. But that would be a um a conversation that we would have um as city staff and with the school district staff and monitoring over time certainly. But then um at the end of that period assessing and bringing it back to um at least the city commission because it would be a as as city manager Charles noted it's a contract and if if that contract expires there would have to be a renewal to that and so it ultimately would come back to city commission again. Well, and Larry, I can speak a little bit on the creation of of curriculums. It's less about telling coaches like you what to do and more about learning from coaches like you what you're doing and what's been successful and transferring that information on for for either other sports or for when you do eventually decide to leave that we have all that institutional knowledge and we've kept it. Cuz in a lot of times, a lot of these programs, um, you'll have one very passionate coach or one very passionate set of parents that put this great program together and when they decide to leave or they they just age out of the program with their kids or or retire, um, you lose all that and that's what I think scare that that's what we're trying to prevent. I wanted to point out that maybe the who and the how has changed, but um, Chris Alistister has been talking about these objectives with all the head coaches for a while now. this is not new to anybody who's been coached at the high school that these are the the wishes and the wants and the things that it's just who's going to run this program whether it's Josh Shadic or someone else and and how exactly is structured that's still being obviously worked on real hard um but these the goals basically have been set out there we've all been talked talking about it and whatnot so so part of this is not new I am a little concerned um regarding the shift um from I understand it was unsuccessful the sports supervisor position which my take on it was there

was a lot of community support for it like a lot of hopes that um middle school youth programming in general including a lot of other sports um would would be improved through um a sports supervisor in that alignment I'm concerned with what's um on the table right now is really narrow and will benefit just a small subset of sports with uncertainty about what the rest would look like. Um, and in that first year after this has been heavily promoted um through the community the first year there's going to be this additional cost and only a benefit to to you know four types of sports. So I'm I am a little concerned about the optics and additional cost the the 50,000. So there, you know, there was going to be a sports supervisor and that was going to be a cost that's off the table, but so now there's just an investment of 50,000 into these four areas. Can I ask a question on along those lines? Is there a plan, assuming coach Shadic is very successful in the pilot of the year and maybe we renew the pilot or whatever, you need a few years. Is there any plan in place to address the middle school sports coordination responsibilities that are not going to be under uh coach Shadic in this pilot in the future? And would that come at a separate cost and perhaps what's the city's plan to address those extra responsibilities that aren't identified here? Sure. Um and I guess I'll start by sharing because Michelle asked if we were going to um fill the sports supervisor position and I said not not this specific one, right? Um, we do have other supervisors in the parks and recreation department. Um, they all have their, uh, various assigned programs. Uh, we do have one position that's going to be coming up for, um, it's going to be vacant in the coming weeks. Um, and so we're looking at, um, filling that. And so some of those, uh,

responsibilities. One thing that we like to do at the city is um as any successful organization should is when you have the opening take a look to see um you know does it make sense to fill that exact position or should we take a step back and look at maybe reassigning some of our programs uh based on um the talents that we have with with our staff team. Um, and so we're planning to do that uh with our existing team to help guide our decisions on who will who will um be u filling our our vacant position. Not and I I know it starts to get confusing as we talk about different supervisor positions, right? But the um the new position not being filled. I'm um the position that we'll have vacant um we're looking at the best way to fill that. And so some of the um unassigned responsibilities of the new position could potentially go to whoever fills that role. Um but then the other I think the other piece to this that I should reiterate is that the um year one is um of the pilot program would be designed to kind of get the the systems built in place. And when I say like the handbook um or the um or the curriculum, it would be developing that from a um yes specific sports that were outlined, but that would then be used for if year two or year year three were approved that then the um the efforts of of coach Shadic in this case would pivot to then establish the the curriculum for the the next I'm drawing a blank on the other sports that are in the fall, but is boys soccer and like some of the other sports that aren't being assigned in year one, it would come along in year two. Um and and I again I think that if we would have hired the position as we

had posted originally, there would have been some of that um overtime development um you know maybe one or two sports per season would be getting added instead of being able to tackle every fall sport if if that helps. And just to expand on that, the underlying goal for the city is that vertical integration K through 12. It's it's getting um an eye towards um when we start with um when our kids start to join the program and that bringing them up all the way. We also recognize that kids develop at different times. The star baseball player at six in sixth grade is probably not going to be the same potentially won't be the same one in 10th grade. So we're looking at those opportunities. The other thing too that we as a city have an absolute obligation is to serve the entire um range. Um and so taking this taking this first step we think is a really good one with an eye towards ver in ver vertical integration not just middle school sports but then looking beyond what are those opportunities things of that nature. So this is a starting point for the journey. We're saying a year one pilot just to go we think we've got the right player you know right players and um and as part um in this situation however we don't know until we don't know. Um, couple questions I've been asked since rolling this out is what happens if you know what happens to Mr. Shadic. If something happens and we decide no, this isn't working for whatever reasons, he will go back to the schools. The school schools will reassign tasks that he have, you know, there's a home for him, I guess, is basically what I'm saying. Um, but um, we have a unique, we think we have a unique opportunity, a unique talent with Mr. chatic and the integration with the schools and that buy in that instant kind of credibility um that he brings to the table with our other coaches. Um we think it's a really a really good fit. Um and I think it speaks volumes to the partnership

between the city and the schools looking for different and creative solutions. I I would like to make a couple comments and I agree with Shay that finding the right person to be in the right seat on the bus is very important. Um, personally, I don't know Josh Shadic terribly well, but what I do know is, um, he's supportive of all the programs. When I see people like Butch Briggs and I can't remember the basketball coach, uh, and Josh at track meets, uh, maybe because some of their other athletes are out there, whatever, it doesn't matter. That that to me, I really feel supported. Um, that isn't always the case. Having a person in this position that's in the schools, that's unbelievable, folks. You can't find coaches. Okay. I'm the current head women's track coach at East Grand Rapids because I was the only applicant. That's not what I Well, I didn't get the last job I applied for at the high school, but I was the only applicant. All over the state of Michigan, schools are looking for people to be involved in their sports program. We have the opportunity to have somebody in the schools with charisma that appreciates all sports in my opinion. Now, again, I don't we're not friends or anything. It's just my observation of him because I hang around the schools a little bit. Um, this could be a a beneficial thing for kids of all ages in my opinion. Um, I'm not getting paid by Josh or anything, but Can I ask what is the 50,000 cover? Is it It says it's for a pilot program, but is this for personnel? Yep. It covers his time. It So, it doesn't cover like costs associated with the handbook and, you know, staff time for research or anything like that. This is just for covering his time. Th this would be for his time and um but um his time would be the time doing the research and Oh, so there's no additional staff in this pilot program other than coach. Yeah, coach Shatic is is the the staff person in this and then I guess for I don't

know if are we taking comments on the deliverables, but for e for just gender equity the the football is purely male. Is there a consideration for just to balance it to have a all female sport to be added in that first year? Cuz basketball you do have boys and girls same as baseball, softball, boys, girls. There's equity there. Track boys, girls, but it seems like football is all boys. Is there a possibility to consider like field hockey? Field hockey. Yeah, that there is the um I think the one thing we were just trying to balance um was number one the kind of um growth over time, but then also with football um being in season for coach Shadic and him taking over the football program. We're just trying not to um I guess put too much in the fall season because some of that implementation wouldn't even be until the following year if that if that makes sense. Um but that's absolutely feedback that we I want to hear as much feedback as I can. So that's helpful. And part of is spring, right? I'm just saying for just as an example that's a spring sport, isn't it? I think isn't it not fall like is that field hockeyy's fall fall? Yeah. Yeah. In volleyball as well. I guess the other question I'm not promoting field hockey or associated with them but isn't wasn't there issue or public comment from the field hockey team about you know how they felt their field was going to be you know out of service for the the turf. So would it be something to consider to off you know include them in this evaluation as a counterbalance to I think is it this this October that the field's getting redone? So they're going to be offline for those games for those girls. Yes. And and I um just to touch on that um

you are correct. it came to the meeting when the um financial um the match needed for the turf replacement on May Field um when it came to the city commission um and because it is going to be taking place midseason um September 29th is when um the turf will start to be torn up um and I've been in a couple of meetings with Chris Zystro. He and I met with Aquinus and we've also met with um Kelvin um specifically for field hockey to find them a a regular uh place to um to practice and I know they've worked out for them to play their games on Memorial Field during those days. So, they've they've able to um to find a good landing spot for that. Um but um that's that's helpful to hear that uh the feedback about the um trying to include a balance. Do we have a men's volleyball team? Not yet. Nope. Um are we is this part of this um one of these teams? I'm looking through the the thing here. Are are we doing volleyball kind of as we're doing basketball in this with with finding travel and leagues for them as well? That's that's the intent to find um there's local they call them power leagues um that um you can play in a regular basis and getting our foot in the door on that for volleyball. Yes. Cool. And um for the um boys volleyball, I've I actually this weekend was um talking to some varsity coaches of other sports in the area and um I know some schools have started to add boys club volleyball teams. I don't know what sport on the um is going to be added for the girls side of things to to balance that, but the um I I think it's a year or two away and we're going to see it as well. It's it's coming. And yeah, and I like totally understand the like wanting to have because we don't have um women's football um looking for women's sports, but I just wanted to point out we do have volleyball. That will be one that we are doing in this program. Correct. Correct. It doesn't seem like it'll be

fully in this program, right? Because it's it's because it's not listed. Yeah. So listed listed underneath the bottom. Yes. Yeah. Listed underneath there. the um it's more more of the uh developing the uh putting in the the groundwork to build that program to um it's not where you can just go sign up online and say hey we want to be part of your program. So you have to a lot of in a lot of cases you have to have your athletes signed up to be AAU athletes if anyone in here has had to do that before and um making sure that we um meet all the criteria. So, it's it would be more of the um researching and building the volleyball program to roll out the following year. Um but it is definitely going to be a focal point. I would imagine too that that creating something from scratch is probably a fairly heavy lift as opposed to say courthouse where you can call and just sign teams up, right? Just one other point I'd like to make is um this is a city program. This isn't a school program. This is a city initiative. John um Mr. Shadic when he's working in you know on in on city time he works for us under our direction. So um question was posed to me recently in regards to again going back to um at some point in the future if Mr. Shadic is no longer part of that program. It comes back to the city. It's not you know doesn't reside then with the schools. The intention is to bring it back. Um well it is this is a city initiative. We just happen to have a um person that we think has schools who works with the works for the schools and we've been able to work out this partnership um at this but this is a city initiative obviously in partnership with the schools. Excellent discussion. Any further comments or questions? I'd echo uh Commissioner Fischer's comments. It sounds like an excellent

opportunity to align uh the schools with the city's initiative. I think you have a lot of feedback there. Um so with that, we'll move on to agenda item nine, EGR crew boat house naming request. Yes. So included within your pocket is a memo uh related to the the naming request. And I do also have a little bit of more information to share with you. Um but but in short um you may be aware that the uh the boat house um in John Collins Park is is there to support the um the EGR crew team. And in the past it was uh just the main floor which was used for storage um of their of the boats and equipment. Um and then in 2022, uh the facility was expanded to have the upper area that has um like the rowing machines and um other spaces to again support the the functions of the EGR crew team. U and so recently um the representatives from the crew came to um city manager Charles and I with a request to uh place signage on the facility um for naming purposes. Um, and as outlined in the memo, um, the, uh, again, the construction was completed in 2022, um, which was prior to the establishment of a new, uh, city naming policy, which you may recall was brought to the parks and recreation commission back in like December or January. Um, and so that wasn't in place um, at the time. Um but um we're requesting for your review of the requests from the crew team um kind of with the um the naming guidelines in um in mind as we're reviewing that. Um and so just to outline that a little further um so Dr. Tom gets um is one of the um members of the uh crew team uh community um that has been involved since their inception. Um and um I'm told he's um probably um

the utility knife has done a lot of different uh things for them, you know, making the awards, helping establish the program um and probably everything in between. Um and so there is a request from the the crew team. Um I have an up some updated verbiage here that actually can you turn the docky cam on please? I just remembered we have that. I could throw that on there. Um, so I'll I'll stall here uh while we're waiting for that. Go ahead and put it on. You can see it on the screen. Oh, yeah. You can see it on your screens. That's right. Um, so this um the bottom one here would be where it says lower level um would be um for recognition for um Mr. Gets um and all of his and and also his family's efforts. I um I would be remiss if I didn't um say say the entire Gats family. Um so the verbiage would be the East Grand Rapids crew team, the Gats family boat house. Um this would be placed on the the lower level of the the boat house on the Reeds Lake side of of the facility. Um and there is a photo in the memo that kind of shows um the style of the sign what it would be. It would be um a fixed above the door. Um and um you know would it would be a um a pretty simple design um sign. Um and then the other request um is to recognize um the Dr. Sorry, my memos got out of place here. The other uh request would be to to recognize Dr. John Mitchell and Dr. Gina an for their contributions to the boat house. Um so in the original memo um it did reference the the um Dr. John Mitchell family but um updated version here would um be to to recognize u Dr. John Mitchell and Dr. Gina an um they've been involved in the

the crew team again in various capacities and were uh donors to the um to the u construction campaign as well. Um and so the um the verbiage um that's being requested is this upper uh verbiage here. So, the East Grand Rapids crew team and Mitchell rowing center. Um, this would be placed on the upper level entrance which would be on the lakeside uh side of of the facility. Um, and then also um on your your desks uh this evening cuz um it was missed I I did miss putting it in the packet but is a copy of that recognition policy that outlines the guidelines that we're looking at um when um naming a facility. Um and so certainly uh with the uh boat house being within John Collins Park, that's why it's for uh the review here by the parks and recreation commission. Ultimately, this will go to the city commission with your comments. Um, a couple of items, um, I just wanted to point out, um, is that the, um, that the policy does allow for, um, names to include someone who has provided extensive service to the community or, uh, the crew team in this, um, circumstance or significant uh, contributions. Um, and so um, the those boxes would be checked underneath scenario. Um and then also um item G on the um the second page of the policy um that outlines um you know typically as a general rule portions of of a facility will not have um subnames or name other than the name of the entire facility. Um but it it does uh provide for exceptions to be made in and circumstances um and wanted the feedback of of of this committee. Um, the crew program does have a history of naming boats after people and memoriam and Dan Graham and some others over the years. Just so you know, this is not anything totally totally new. Um, some

of those boats, I'm sure, are gone and retired, but um, they have named boats after folks. And of course, the schools are now doing that. Um, you know, in the James E. course administration building in Gerkin Plaza and Witchberg's pool deck and Pam Steers is at the PLA they're around we so this request is coming after the adoption of the policy correct so yes the request did come after the adoption of the policy it's my understanding that the um since we didn't have a policy in place there was the intention um um during the fundraising campaign that there was going to be potential naming opportunities. Um but um obviously it didn't happen at the time of construction and the um kudos to the crew team for reading city commission packets and staying aware. They knew that um a policy had come up so they wanted um official review of that. I think if the crew team feels like this is these are the right people to honor and they'd like to sign, I have no problem with that. I think it's a great idea and thanks to these wonderful people for their volunteerism and support through the years. We have a great crew team and should be really proud of it and it starts with these foundational people. So, I have a crew team member um and but I would still support following the policy and doing a a public hearing. Um I don't the policy was adopted and I think it's appropriate to follow the policy. Sure. And and just to uh point out that this um as an ordered this will go to the city commission um and they could do the the public hearing could be held at the city commission meeting. Yeah, that's what I thought. They would be able to speak at the commission meeting if they wanted.

Correct. Correct. Okay. Okay. Any other feedback for the director and the city? Were you looking for feedback on the actual verbiage? I was kind of unclear about that. It seemed like just the review of the policy cuz the um technically the um any sort of naming or recognition does come to parks and recreation if it if it falls within the the park system. Um the only um exception to that being um the recognition for smaller items, the the lower portion of the policy for like a a plaque on a bench, something along those lines we handle administratively. Just for my education, so does the city own that building or is it city land? Yes, to both questions. Um it's a city-owned prop um building on city- owned land. It was constructed in by uh the crew team and fundraised solely by the crew team. the city contributed nothing towards that. Um, so very unique relationship. It's something when I joined the city, I kept scratching my head of why is the crew team in the middle? But it's it is what it is. And the crew team's not a varsity sport. They're their own entity. Is that why it doesn't go through the public school for any they're they're a club level sport at the high school? Um, I have reached out to Dr. Dr. Culla made her aware of the request just to um it's in this kind of no man's land of it's associated with the high school but it's not really the high school, it's the city. Um but I did reach out to Dr. Culla. She's I know vetting it right now just among some of her um gang. Any other discussion or questions or feedback? Uh hearing none, I I would echo the comments of support. I think it's a great idea if the crew crew team wants to honor these folks who have contributed uh their own resources to the su success of the team and the awesome facilities that we have at

Collins Park and the crew team. That is great. Any other feedback? Hearing none, we will move on to agenda item 10, the report of the director. Yes, just a couple highlights for you. Number one, um there's still a concert going on down at John Collins Park if anyone wants to go down there afterwards. Um and on that note, um we just so you're all aware, uh we also in addition to a naming policy, we have a weather policy at the city that um the parks and rec commission did review about a year year and a half ago that outlines protocols for a heat index. And and just so you're all aware, we do watch the the weather closely. Um we we refer directly to that policy in circumstances like uh we have this week. Um, and if there's a combination of heat and humidity that uh causes the the heat index to uh fall within certain ranges um that are outlined in that policy, we make um appropriate steps of either increasing breaks and adding um extra water breaks as needed um up to cancellation um and everything in between. It it could um even be like limiting um the amount of equipment being worn. If it were a football camp, we would say no helmets, no shoulder pads. that that type of thing. We just wanted you all aware we do watch that closely and um we just rely on the policy. So there's no um there's no city staff think well it's really hot today but it feels windy it's we just go right to the science uh the uh the heat and humidity and go right to a chart that tells us uh what our action steps need to be. Um and then um lastly just wanted to highlight the um you know community foundation as they're looking at um you know doing Winterfest and different community supporting things. Uh last week we did get the the trail mile marker posts installed along the trail. So uh a couple years ago there was a project to do the way finding for the Reeds Lake Trail, but the mile markers

along the way um were still the old wooden routed out ones. and the community foundation provided the city with funds to purchase that. It was a really long uh lead time due to some production issues, but those got installed last week. So, if you're out on the trail um and see some new posts, those um the community foundation plaque is on those uh to recognize their contributions. So, and then uh the last item I had was just the um the wrap-up of the Rusty Sweeney the baseball field renovations that we undertook starting last July. Um those are uh 100% complete. Um they finished up the last uh minor items a couple of weeks ago. They had a great baseball season there this year where they were able to play nearly every game there. And um I've in talking with my grounds maintenance team, there were days where it rained and they were still able to play. Um and in prior to this, they might not have even played the next day. Um that's uh how well the field's draining. Um there will be some incremental maintenance needed over time with some additional sand top dressing that will accomplish through the um the joint facilities committee. Um we had we brought that to them in um at their spring meeting and um so over time um additional sand applications will be put down to u just promote drainage and help the system operate as it should. Thanks. Great. Any questions or comments on any topic for the director? Uh, I just had a question about the Fourth of July road closure. Is that like a done deal? I I haven't seen any signage or anything in the mail for residents. It is. It is a done deal. And I know that our uh Sabo PR um firm that helps handle our communication has been starting to roll out the Fourth of July items. Um we do have the um um so on that note like the

boat um launch closure that we talked about that will be required that's we have that on the digital sign already and um have signs posted down at the ramp to help um educate um the boat ramp users but it will definitely start to see a little bit of an uptick in in those promotions. Um but uh we are planning on closing the uh Lakeside from Wealthy Street um just past Roses during I'll say a majority of the day. There will be a a window of time as you may recall where after the the ski show and after the um main events during the um during the day once those are complete the boat or the road and the boat launch will open for a couple of hours to allow Boers to get off the water or on the water. Uh, and then that road will close again until fireworks are complete. And then we'll work with the public safety team as to the best time that that should reopen depending on um like as they help people exit the city after the fireworks. They'll um we'll we'll fine-tune when that's going to open. But um we're excited to give it a trial run this year and um have heard a lot of positive feedback from people that have learned that it is going to be closed. So, I'll tell her. Uh, any other questions or discussion? Well, thank you all for your participation. Thank you to the director and the city manager. Uh, with that, we'll adjourn the meeting of the parks and rec park parks and rec commission meeting of the city of East Grand Rapids at 7:36 p.m. Great Fourth of July if you're here, everybody. What a big day. It's