Parks & Recreation Commission - Regular Meeting

To start filming? OK. Welcome. I will open the Parks and Rec Commission regular meeting Thursday, August 6, 2026, and call that to order. Can we get a roll call, please? Chair Taylor? Present. Vice Chair Intener? Present. Commissioner Bailey?

Here.

And we have, like I said, for the record, Commissioner Munick said he had work obligations and wouldn't be here, as well as Brenda Lear. She is not available. Actually, I don't know about our youth commissioner. Do we have an excused absence? On a trip. On a trip. Okay, perfect. That time of the year. Thank you. Please join me for the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. Okay, and we have approval on the agenda. Any questions or edits?

I'll make a motion to approve the agenda.

Great.

Wonderful.

We do. Oh, we do. OK. I think.

Chair Taylor? Yes. Vice Chair Endner? Yes. Commissioner Bailey?

I'm not rushing. We just have very little, and we want to hear what you have to say. I don't have any public speaking cards, but we do have some members in the audience. No? We're good? OK. OK, we'll move right on to our consent calendar. We love to see you in the audience. Thank you for coming. We have our minutes from our regular meeting of June 4. Do I have any edits, questions, concerns on the minutes?

I'll make a motion to approve the minutes from the June 4, 2026 meeting. Thank you.

And can we call the roll, please? Chair Taylor? I'll abstain because I wasn't at the meeting.

OK. Vice Chair Inner?

Yes.

Commissioner Bailey.

Thank you. And rapidly moving on to our presentations, we have our discussion items for the Sarasota playground reconstruction update. We'd like to receive and discuss that. And we're so excited that you're here to join us tonight. So thank you.

Thank you for having me tonight so I'm here to give you an update on the Sarasota the long-awaited Sarasota playground equipment so this has been in front of City Council it's been in front of you folks a couple of times because I've been here presenting to you and Christy has put out a survey you all have put out a survey and we've got the results back so we know some of the some of the equipment that the community wants so Christy has that information And the direction that I had received was that an RFP would be going back to city council for the purchase and installation for the construction of the playground. So after talking with Christie in depth about this, we kind of really broke down the process. And I know that we've got a grant that we have got the time is ticking. And we really don't want to get behind and we really want to make sure we can optimize that and utilize it. So that's what this is all about. So as I was walking through it and talking through it with Christie, I came up with a solution that we think would be more expeditious and more efficient. So I just wanted to kind of lay that out for you because it's not an RFP. So an RFP would have been a process by which we would go out to vendors, consultants, who would help us sort of design this playground. And after talking about it, we already have the footprint. We know the space where the playground's going. We know the equipment that we want to purchase. So we have an opportunity, we're required as a public agency to adhere public contract code and law and competitively bid a process, whether it be a widget, gym equipment, or street paving, anything. But we also have another opportunity and what it is called, it's called a cooperative agreement. And so this is a process that is well within the law, it's encouraged actually. And it is a process where other public agencies have already bid this similar work. And so we are able to, the term is piggyback on their bid and their negotiated unit prices. So it really worked out well for us because I'm like, Christy, Who's the vendor you want to use? And so she said, it's Playwell. So we went and looked, and Playwell, we have a cooperative agreement with them. So it worked out beautifully. So what the next step is, is Christie has invited Playwell representatives to come out, look at the space that we have identified, and we'll give them the pieces of equipment that we want. And they can kind of just eyeball it and see how things are going to work. So once that happens, we'll know what the price is and the cost of the equipment itself. So I sort of see this, this will be a two city council meeting item. One, we would be going to council to purchase the equipment, We think it's about an eight to 12-week lead time, which isn't bad. I mean, I know we've heard before, a year maybe. Much, much longer. So fingers crossed that they're not just saying that. But anyways, we can avoid a lot of the other time gaps that we would be wasting time on. So anyways, Christie will be having them out next week to meet her at the site to look at the equipment that we want, the playground equipment that we want. We'll take an item to council to authorize the purchase of that. And after we do that, we would be putting together some specifications for the installation of the equipment and everything else, which would be a competitively bid process. So we will go out to bid, and we will be required to accept the low bid. So, and that will be for, we're gonna group it all together, so it'll be for the fence, whatever shade structure we end up with, the equipment installation, and we will be getting the specifications from the manufacturer, for example, how deep the footings need to be for the swings, you know, so they don't, you know and then whatever base material we plan on using so it's really a much much more streamlined um process and and since we you know we know a lot of the answers already we don't really need to hire a design team to come out and design a playground for us it's a finite space with already determined equipment so i i i just question on that um

I'm not clear that it's already determined equipment because the number of options are unbelievably a lot. I mean, we're going with Playwell, so it's Playwell equipment. But they have a lot of different stuff. They do. You know, various different things. So there's a lot that goes into that. And then my other question is really about the ADA decisions, about how much we're going to do. And that's a pretty big thing that we haven't fully – that's not fully fleshed out yet. Okay. But we'll need to know that before we decide on the equipment we're going to get. Definitely. And then the surfacing is going to be a part of what we decide. Anyway, so I think there are some – I don't think it's simple. Okay. I think it's much simpler than what we were talking about, and I love the idea, and I think Playwell is a fine partner. They have a lot of good equipment and a lot of options. But I guess – it feels like we're about to make a decision next week. Well, when Playwell comes out, we're just talking about them. And when they come out, whatever feedback they get is what they're going to design and build off. What they're building our package out, that's what they'll have. And that's where what comes back from them will be based on what happens next week is really kind of what I'm hearing in my mind, the way it's being laid out.

Well, and I would defer to Christy, because you will be talking to them about it.

Yeah, so what they're gonna see are the answers from the survey, they're gonna see the area, and they're gonna see what the community wants. And then they could put together the pieces more than one example. Right. And then we can have the playground ad hoc committee come. We can talk about it.

But I actually think it'd be nice for the committee to be there with the meeting at 4-1-1. I would love that. To hear firsthand what they're seeing and to have some understanding of talking to them. And they'll have their catalog there. There's going to be a lot to look at. It's a lot of fun.

And it'll likely be an iterative process.

Yes.

and that's all i wanted to make sure is we're not moving so fast that we don't have points to participate and i understand the urgency to get it done and i'm right there with you so that we don't and even if brenda i know she's on a trip if she even if she's not back you if you're available i don't know i'll make myself available alternate person to attend on it but at least one of them could yeah

Yeah. And then I guess the, I mean, I think it's very exciting. But I like the iterative process. I like to have more than one option. Because the other thing is, we haven't done all of our homework. We know what a pool of money we have for the grant. But there's likely other ways to match that money and get maybe more money. And so I'd like to make sure that we have options on how we're going to buy based on maybe going out to get some grant money. to do it so that we can have, you know, because the money's never going to, it's just not going to go as far as we think it's going to go with this project. And I know it seems like a lot of money, but with all that's going to go on and the surfacing and all that, it adds up pretty quick. So I like the idea of having options.

And I would just caution you, I think the grant expires June of 27. Yep. So we're not trying to rush this through. We just know we need to get it moving. Yes.

Is that to be submitted for reimbursement, or the project has to be finished by June?

Actually, what we have to do is file for an extension this fall.

But it's not guaranteed.

So June of 27 isn't the actual current deadline? It is.

It's the current deadline.

And you don't think we'll be done by June of 27? I do. Oh, why are we filing an extension then?

Just to make sure.

In case we're not, yeah. But what triggers it really is an expenditure, and that's why we're trying to buy the equipment. Is that right? Well, but it's all of the expenditure. Oh, okay.

Are we allowed to submit in parts? Incremental?

oh yes okay yes yeah so we could make this purchase submit it and then we started the project maybe ask for the extension on the install as a cautionary measure and sage to your point um sometimes and i don't know the specifics of this grant i'm just kind of peripherally involved in that but um a lot of times an illustration of movement on a project exactly yes continues on it it helps the granting agency realize their money is being spent how it's intended And I think that's what you were relating to.

Yes, and I think that buying the equipment is definitely a big step forward.

I do have to fill out the progress reports every month. And so sometimes it's 0%. They've been pretty simple so far. But sometimes it's, we did the survey, and they're very happy.

And even sometimes staff time qualifies.

I think this will look really great.

Yeah. just one question the base material what was the feedback on I'm not sure that that was included in the survey it was really the only feedback was no sand I was sharing with Sage earlier that I just went to Paso Robles a week before last and they have an amazing community park right in the heart of Paso Robles and their playground was used as early as about 738 in the morning until just at dark it was really impressive I did take some pictures that I'll share but they had no sand very clean they had like the compressed I assume it's tires maybe but it's rubber so the whole thing is yeah and so it's probably it's no wood chips so it's mostly it's it's ADA accessible for the whole playground Yes. There was an area that's kind of off to the side, and I'm trying to think of what kind of material they had over there. Maybe it might have been ground-up tires, but immaculately clean. The equipment is so clean. The surface area was clean, and also their restrooms were quite impressive if you ever are up there. something to think about for Libby is their community designed restrooms also very clean with the centralized sharing sink.

So multiple stalls that are non, they're just individual.

Non-gender, gender neutral. I think there were six of them and then They have individual doors, and then you walk out, and it's very open, like pass-through-wise, and the sinks are like a trough style on both sides, very functional, and again, really clean. That was the part. But the equipment was, the most impressive thing was seeing all ages um spread out through a pretty no really no bigger than than sarzodi park and the different pieces of equipment that they had um being used by all the different ages all at the same time was really laid out and very impressive so you might be able to see it like on the website or on google or something i don't know but i was impressed at the amount of use going on

Though I'm not on the ad hoc committee, I would like to be present if that's possible when we meet with Playwell.

As long as Brenda's not there. Yeah, as long as Brenda's not there. Oh, okay. If Brenda's there, it creates a... Okay. We can't have more than two.

I see, I see. If she's not there, please let me know. I was at a couple of parks recently, and with this in mind... two very different parks one was in nevado very um accessible and i think they they might have done a lot of work very specifically around that and um so i brought back some ideas from that that i would love to share probably with you christy and um and then i was at a very different park at the presidio above the tunnels which is a really lovely very natural with engineered wood chips and like the wood you know structures and so forth but but two very different parks both um seem to be well loved so

And at the very least I can share what I found compelling about the park in Nevada there was some signage that was really supported

young kids with differing abilities to You know kind of communicate the things that they wanted to do at the park to families even if they were nonverbal It was like a point at this all the structures at the park were kind of on a sign and so they could you know Say this is what I want to do to whoever their caregiver was it was with them. I thought that was really nice and inclusive Um

so that meeting is next week which is great very beginning of the month is so is the hope that we could get to one more meeting here before the meeting is not set for next week i'm actually calling them tomorrow after this meeting and then we're going to set we'll set it for next week okay and i don't have any preconceived um timelines no okay great

You're thinking bringing it back here for a final approval from the commission before it goes to council? Is that what you're suggesting?

I would love to be able to bring back what they send us and just present it and get feedback and just have people have an opportunity to talk about it here at the public meeting.

Okay so that would be at our September meeting which would be great for those listening today they could plan to attend September meeting to go over final If we're there we can't I mean well that's the goal but otherwise we'll have an update it'll be on the agenda either way I think because we're getting moving and we're gonna keep it keep it at the front of things

because I think that that yeah I just think it'd be nice to be able to do that for the community and once once this body decides and agrees on on the components then we can certainly take it to council for approval for the purchase of said components perfect yeah and then and does play well not install well they might The problem with that is we cannot sole source it because there are other people who do it. Because it's the size of the budget, right? It's the size of the project. If it were over $2 million, we would have the ability to sole source it. We don't have that ability. So we're going to buy them, buy the equipment, and have somebody install. And they could? If they want, they could bid that.

If they're the lowest bidder, they could end up doing it.

It's the lowest qualified bidder. It's the lowest. Sorry. If they're the lowest qualified bidder.

The term is responsible and responsive bidder. Okay. Responsible bidder. But I'm just going to shorten it and say just the lowest bid because we will make sure if they are responsible and responsive.

Yes. Okay.

So it could be. It could be. Yeah. It probably won't be because they're not local.

this will in all likelihood be a local that it's not a big job it's not it's not going to store the equipment is that something that somewhere over at the park because we got no room that's been discussed because well and the yard is busy well ask because i've experienced this before where we split the bed purchased all the materials and then it sits tarped for nine months waiting for somebody to install it and it deteriorates or it gets, you know, infested.

Or you don't know what you needed to know when you bought it.

Yeah, just something to make sure.

Let me just say, if we have a lead time, when we put out the specifications for the bid for the installation, we will let them know what the ETA is. and hopefully coordinate that. Because there will be some work required at the site before this comes. There will be some grading, removal of the sand, and removal of the fence. We're going to take the fence down, the sand out, all that. So hopefully we can coordinate those. That's what we always like to try to do.

And if not, you have more open space there than you used to. That area of the park hasn't found its new what it's going to become yet So we hope there's enough lead time on once we order until we receive and we can be out to bid at that point and hopefully we can have a start date very close to that date of receipt I think this is really good I think it's a great plan I'm glad we were able to find a path of simpler path Indeed I agree I agree when we started talking like there's an easier way that's great yeah well thank you You're welcome yeah I think they are looking for a recommendation from the commission Any other questions?

Before I can, I'll make a motion that the commission recommend that we move forward with the process to purchase the equipment separately from the installation services in order to expedite construction and ensure compliance with the grant deadline.

I'll second that.

OK. And can we get a roll call?

Chair Taylor?

Yes.

Vice Chair Intner? Yes. Commissioner Bailey?

Yes.

Great. Wonderful.

Thank you. Yeah.

Thank you very, very much. Enjoy. Okay. And I am available to assist and to help, and I'm in contact with Christy regularly, so we'll be looking through this process.

Thank you. Excited. Thank you very much.

Okay. We kind of got the playground ad hoc update. Unless you have something further you'd like to add?

No.

No? Okay. And...

We met with Christy and just discussed how the opening, I think it was maybe post-opening and how it had gone. And then I visited the pool on one particular day and I saw it being joyfully used.

Mic please.

I visited the pool. So we met with Christie and I think it was post opening and just kind of checked in and she expressed how things were going. And then on a separate occasion I went and visited the pool and saw it in full use. Somebody seated outside to accept signatures and payment and lifeguards on duty and it looked wonderful. So I don't think there was anything that. other particular if you can help me recall that came from when we met for a moment with the ad hoc committee was there anything else that you recall from that meeting Christy no I think we're just talking about attendance yeah

Managers report to we can talk about Commission members reports, too. There's only three of us here So it's sort of a condensed meaning but if you want to talk about the pool while we're on that topic Yeah, sure.

So we just got the numbers back from the last week and it looks like Sundays are the biggest hit so Sunday August 2nd, we had a hundred and nine Participants Throughout the day. Yeah, it's just daily totals but I Honestly, it's come up to maybe 60 average daily, which I think in the very beginning, probably when I spoke with you, Commissioner Bailey, it was maybe like 20 or 30. So it's definitely coming up.

And is there a specific time of day that you are sort of keeping track as to what the more popular hours of the day are? It's different. Or getting a feel for... So it's Monday through Friday 11 to 3 and then Sunday 2 to 6 it's really been that for for the whole time

So it seems like Mondays are maybe the slowest than the other days, but the times of day, it's much the same.

The two to six compared to ending at three, are you seeing more people there at four or five in the evening after work hours?

No, they usually all come right at two or three. I think it's just because it's a weekday. I mean, I'm sorry, a weekend. So more families come at that time.

Well, I've heard good feedback from a lap swimmer who is very excited. And I was asking her if there was a lot of space. You know, she says it's just great.

Plenty of space, lots of room.

Do we have any data on the swim lessons on Saturday?

I don't have any data of recent, but I do know that they were all filling up. Every single class was filling up.

Are they still just going to do one day of swim lessons?

For now.

Not like 14 days of swim lessons? No. Like to learn to swim?

Well, it's a session. Not summer sessions. They're just doing the Saturday sessions. yeah it's just Saturday and it's like a six-week session or something so it does go in session but that's a good I mean a good question for next year because I mean all of this is leading up to what do we do in a full summer when everyone has time and it's in the but it would hopefully be the four day week so just lessons on Saturday no open swim on Saturday no and that's going that wasn't even just summer specific are they gonna keep that going after the summer or that discussion hasn't been had yet hasn't been had yet

find out for you though Because then that is a good question whether you could have Saturdays and Sundays for lap and free swim if they're not going to do that during the school year Back up to Commissioner member reports do you have anything else that you'd like to share about the playground update pool update anything else that you've caught your eye throughout the month

you're gonna this will be under the managers report the activity guide you're gonna talk about that yeah no no nothing just you know I've been keeping my eye on parks as I've been traveling around we did a little traveling last week and so taking a few pictures here and there but I'll send those to Christy and yeah just to take into consideration I just want to say that the timing of the pool opening not that we had much control over it was perfect

It really was, right before the heat wave. Because this month is every single day has been above average for all of July.

Yeah, really been really warm for sure. Okay, and I don't have anything other than what I already shared about my playground observations as well. Oh, I actually do have one other thing. So while I was in Paso Robles with my family and my dogs, we did go to a dog park. And it was really large, like... I would say three or four times as big as the one that we have at Soul Park. And you know what I noticed? There was no one there. I was shocked. I was shocked. We were the only ones. We had the whole park. It was probably almost an acre of property. It was huge. It was set up. It's a small dog and big dog and stuff. But that was really interesting. And it was a very well-maintained, very popular property. for for my dogs but not I was surprised that nobody was there so that was really fun like in the 90s yeah it was warm but anyways it just was interesting to see how other cities are using their space so moving on to your manager's reports yes so we do have the fall guide out now if everyone has received it and I have to say the biggest update that we have so far is the

Holiday trolley light tour We've got 12 sold-out nights. Oh, that's great. And we are only selling these tickets in person So we have had a line at the door since Tuesday morning at 9 a.m. That's great. And how many are on each? 28 28 right is 28.

Yeah Thinking of adding more are you?

yeah we can actually run two at a time so we're um taking wait lists and things like that so that's a good way to do it yeah so once we start you know filling them all up then we'll open up more days

And then so walk us through what that looks like you get on the trolley and you drive through a specific route or just to look at Christmas lights and such?

Yeah actually you meet at the rec department we do have hot chocolate we've got a movie playing and then you wait you know for the trolley to arrive you board the trolley we go as far as Burnham There's the big house. Yes, there's quite a few on Burnham. So we go all the way down there. So we do have the normal route that we've been taking the past two years, which I believe I'm going to keep, but we are going to put out a social media post soon letting people know, you know, do you have a favorite neighborhood that we don't go to, or are you on this route where you might want to participate? Oh, that's great. So, yeah. and the ghost tours I remember were really popular are those those are up too we're doing the same thing where it's in-person ticket sale so okay yeah and then of course gymnastics we do have a brand new skinnier gymnastics class that has been taking off and been a lot of fun so what days are that I believe that is a Tuesday night and that's drop-in it is drop-in yeah it's drop-in so Stacy has been teaching that is the senior hikes I noticed you have the senior page is the hike is that a new offering we had that last season yeah there's quite a few senior strength and line dancing is that new My dancing's been going for a little while now. Yeah. The seniors is pretty new.

Oh, so there's two different times now?

Mm-hmm.

I don't see bridge on here. You have bridge, don't you? You have a bridge group? They just come in and organize themselves? They do. Yeah. They do, yeah. Is that just in the tent?

Yeah, we haven't had that during the summer because of summer camp. We've only had Wednesday open for the seniors and drop-in game room while everybody's out on their field trips on Wednesdays. So next week we'll be back in business.

I love the facilities page too that's really nice so if someone wants to rent something or just are not familiar with the community that's really great

How have the summer camps been going?

Oh, so well. So well.

That's great.

Yeah, I don't know if you have Facebook or if you're included on the Ohio Rec Department Facebook, but we're putting updates every week and showing what's been going on at the camp. So it's really fun to watch.

And are the camps taking place at the Sarasota or their trash? Yeah, at Sarasota. There's quite a bit of activity still going on. Oh, yeah. Friday's the last day.

I know some people who are involved, and they're really happy, and the kids are loving it. And I'm just glad it's being offered.

Yeah, they're having a really good time.

Do they, have they gone to do like a swim day? Do the camps, are they utilizing the pool at all? Not yet, no.

No, no, but they did go to the water park. They went to Casitas Water Park, but hopefully next summer we'll have that happen every Friday, yeah.

And you've had some water features there, I think, right? Did you have some water play there, I think?

Oh yeah, yeah, we got a big slip and slide thing with a big rainbow that shoots out water, and yeah, it worked perfect.

Although the guide is lovely. Yeah. Thank you.

Concerts.

Concerts. Our next summer concert series is coming up August 22nd. it's gonna be a local group Ojai Department of Rhythm so they'll be coming up on the 22nd and then possibly one the week after but I'll announce that when I'm confirmed It's so nice you guys are adding things there's lots going on and I think historically we've been we used to be pretty limited by the book

If the book was out, we weren't adding things. And I just am so appreciative that we are adapting as we go with social media available and all the kinds of ways we have to communicate now. We don't need to be limited. When good ideas come that are viable, I really appreciate that you're just adding new things like crazy.

yeah and we're just doing pop-ups um right now it's not in here but there's um an event called center stage that's gonna happen um i believe it's august 15th and so anybody that you know likes to read poetry or sings or does music or whatever they want to do we'll have it in the multi-purpose room and each person gets i believe seven minutes and they'll have an audience. Sounds like an open mic. Open mic. Okay.

Amazing.

And it's in the, at what time is it gonna be? Three.

Sorry. 6.30 to 8.30.

Perfect, thank you.

I just wanna make sure people catch it. Yeah, so we've opened that up. Whoever would like to come. I did purchase a big JBL speaker that has microphones that we can use. Now you're ready for karaoke night. Ready for karaoke.

Okay, so you're putting all this stuff out. I'm not a Facebook person and not much of a social media person, but this is all out on all the social media. So people, if they're following or if you're not and you're out there listening, follow because there are things popping up all the time. All the time.

Facebook, Instagram, Twitter. the city's page, the newsletter. Yep. Flyers. Look around town. Come to the department. We have flyers all outside. We'll put all our new flyers up. Or just come in and ask.

Call and ask. I just wanted to, I really like the Thursday Social Club for seniors. Yes. That's great. What is it? They're free activities. And throughout the year, each month, there's different activities on the first and third Thursdays.

Lay did like a mocktail event. Oh, I saw that.

Oh, that's different. Oh, that's different than the senior program. You did that already? Uh-huh. And are these all different? Who's running like the bingo and the family feud game day and things like that? That would be Lay. Yeah, it's staff. Yeah, we do that.

Has attendance been good? I think it's lovely. The more things we can do where people can drop in and it's free. I love that we're doing so much for seniors. I think that's great. I think our next goal needs to be, as we've talked about, teens. You're going to have a similar look to what we're doing with different types of activities.

Well, I would like to mention that for the past two weekends, I did try a teen swim night at the pool Saturday night, which the most attendance we got was four.

Oh, bummer. But it's so new.

It's so new. And things take time. It takes time. We also did a skate night, which we're going to do this week too, Friday night at the skate park. I don't know if you saw, but we've... totally cleaned up the skate park I had the maintenance crew out there power washing cutting down these vines they really did a great job so they finished today and it looks great so

Did we ever get the shade sales put up? There was some controversy I know with the placement with the change of the superintendent we revisited that at all because didn't we already purchase them?

No. I don't think we already purchased. But we do have a lot of our easy ups at the recreation department. I'm thinking of just like zip tying to easy ups.

They used to do that and you can't do it for safety reasons. Oh really? Because they would bring their own but then they were

They really do. The wind can really pick up.

And because they're skating and they have poles.

They do make a, I did see a new sandbag design that clips onto, you put one on all four, it like clips on to, you could probably somehow secure them to hold it down. But the wind can really pick those up quite quickly.

we'll have to put this back on the agenda because it isn't agendized but i i think it's something to put back on as a future agenda item is to come back to that because it's been so hot at the skate so hot and speaking of shade um i did want to bring up that the city is working very closely with climate tech they're doing a lot of energy saving changes in our buildings And one thing that they were looking out for Libby Park was creating some type of shade for solar panels to actually power the snack bar and different things around there So we did a walkthrough last week at the park They're living here at Sarasota Libby. Yeah, so there's an area in between the playground and kind of the gazebo, I guess, up front a little more, though. It's all grass, a lot of sun. They're thinking of just doing a cover or possibly over the snack bar. There's so many different options. You mean the ticket booth? The ticket booth, mm-hmm.

I mean, well, it's not agendized, but I... I'm so, I'm a little confused. Why Libby? Because that park, the area you're talking about is the grass area. It's the little lawn where everyone likes to sit in the grass and kind of be out there. And that park is so, it has so much there. I hope they're bringing forward some designs here to have a discussion about it before it's just done because that Even a small footprint in Libby is a big deal.

I can put it on, we can put it on the agenda. Nothing will be, you're gonna meet with them next, did you say?

Public Works talks with them every week. Every week, they're out here doing.

We could put that on our agenda and get an update of what's actually happening.

Any prime attack that's going into the parks, if we could hear about it before decisions are made, that would be great.

I agree. You know, there's not much sun except for maybe right above the playground. And I know that grassy area has some trees, has some sun. I know my wife and I, she'll get the sunny spot and I'll get a little shade and we're pretty happy.

Yeah, exactly. And I also think, I'm just going to come back to the history of that playground, is there was a lot of sightline issues from the street and from the plaza. What do you want to see?

Right.

And anything that's going to be a structure, you need to consider what it's going to look like. From the back? From both sides. Yeah. And anyway, so, but again, it's not on our agenda, so we're not talking about it. I'll add it to next month. Okay.

And what, you mentioned the snack bar. What is the update on the snack bar? I noticed it's still not open.

So it's still going through permitting. Mm-hmm. We have to go through the health department. We have to give them a menu of what's gonna happen We have to show them the equipment do a layout and they go through their whole permit process. I

Well, my understanding is that should just take a couple of days, though, not months. No. Well, we already have the permit for the restaurant, right? For what restaurant? For the snack bar that's already permitted through the city.

That's ours. So this would be a shared use. Right. So depending on what they're going to be making, the equipment has to match their menu.

Yeah, but that's not, I mean, we signed that back in May. We said, when will it be open? You said summer. So we're still, I mean, it's been 13 months since it served the public.

Yeah, that wasn't because of anything from the city or from the vendor. It all has to do with permitting.

OK. And what specific agency is holding it up? Because I've worked with environmental health, and that's never been. That's who it is.

That's the only permitting that we go through.

Last I spoke with Theodore, he said it was days, not a couple months. So have you spoken with him?

Yeah.

Well, keep us updated. Yeah, I think maybe we'll put that on the agenda for next month too.

We were hoping for the beginning of soccer and yeah, so we'll see.

Well, it's just disappointing when we represent that it's going to be open by summer and it's not. And it's, you know, the last vendor failed to perform. So it's hard to, I just think we need to have more eyes on what's really going on. Because if they awarded it in May and this is August, that doesn't seem reasonable to me.

Unfortunately we can't control their process so there was really nothing we could do about it so estimating the time for it to be open that was our hopes if everything went correctly but unfortunately we've had to come back a few times. So what's the most recent timeline update? They had to come back by August 10th, and they just came back yesterday that we have to provide a few more, well, they have to provide a few more equipment pieces.

And to install? So they haven't installed some of the stuff yet, so they can't get signed off on what's not in there?

Well, no, they actually have to have the equipment inside of the layout. Right. So the equipment that they left out of the layout needs to be in there.

Right. So they went with a plan. The plan didn't represent what's really happening. The menu didn't line up with what they said they were doing. And so now the vendor is holding it up, to be clear, because their plan wasn't correct, and they didn't have all of the equipment.

OK. Yeah. Mm-hmm. So it isn't really environmental health. No, it's just the permitting through there. Well, yeah.

Okay, well, let's get that for next month and we can discuss it in more detail. I just think we owe the public an explanation on why they're not getting that service. Okay, anything else on your manager's report?

That's it. Thank you. You're welcome. So many good things happening. It's wonderful.

And do we have a city council liaison report today? No, not tonight, not tonight. Okay, and that's okay. Okay, I have quite a few items for our future agenda. Do you have anything that you'd like to add so I don't miss it? I have the playground equipment update, shade at Libby, re the solar potential, snack bar.

Any projects that are coming up for the, what's the name of the solar, who's the contractor, whoever we hired to put those projects together, who's that? Climatech.

I already have on here future agenda item about a youth mentorship opportunities but I want to I want to add that I'd really love to understand what type of training or professional development is happening for youth facing staff What are we offering?

So the future agenda item says youth program review and discussion of youth programming or teen programming or

Well, it's not just the programming. It's really how are the adults who are working with youth being prepared to understand what type of skills we want them to bring in their relationship with youth and how we help them develop those skills.

Which is great, but should we do it under the large umbrella of what we're doing and what we're looking for and how we would like it, just kind of a big look? Because I feel like from my perspective, I need a big broad view before I start to narrow down a little bit. Sure. Because I don't think with all of our new members, that we've done anything programming specific yet. Like where we just took on a chunk of what we're doing as a programming.

I think there's wisdom in that because then we're taking a look at what youth programming are we offering, we see where we have strengths, we see where maybe there's some opportunity space. And then so we could look at that as a whole and then see within that, okay, what would be the appropriate ways to make sure these folks are able to do their job and develop our young people and support them in a way that's beneficial to the mission of the Parks and Rec.

Perfect, I think if you're comfortable with- Yeah, 100%.

Okay, so I picked up youth programming, staff training for youth development slash youth mentorship opportunities. Does that cover it? Okay. But ideally, you're just referring to the training that staff's being offered?

You know, I want to understand, like, are we making the best, are we providing the best training available to help develop the next generation when we have those times with them?

Right, resource training. And what are those, yes, and how we use those.

And then as you're saying, Sage, what are those times, and how can we bring in more youth? And I, too, what's going on at Parks and Rec now, they are trying lots of things. They're, you know, teen dance night. You're trying to... the music, or I'm sorry, the pool night. So I think there's...

I think open mic night is great. Open mic night. Oh, yes.

Yeah, so just getting that word and shifting the behavior to have those kids start coming in more.

Yeah and I think that's really attractive to the especially the preteens coming up if you can get them involved as a preteen it will carry that in my opinion you know it carries them into as they they're comfortable being there and I think there's a gap and we're probably would would see it through COVID right that age gap was not allowed to participate in those formative years when they would have then been like the feeder program for our team what our teens are right now so I think that's one of the reasons why just my observations we see a little gap because everything was shut down for some So we have a good-sized list I mean we'll pick and choose and I also think that

Summer is not the right time to do that for us for staff. I think yeah Well, we can what if we were looking at like October November sure I'm just thinking further out because we have some things that we like the playground needs to happen now Yeah, well we can also talk about we can agendize it and talk about it how we want to do it So I'll put it on the agenda for next month.

We can talk about how we want to claim it I think Christie's more involvement for next month for October.

Yeah, November. Yeah

I would love the opportunity being that it'll be agendized that we can then discuss it in more detail and understand better what we're looking to to learn Okay okay great that's it that's all I have thank you I think I beat your record I will adjourn the meeting at 6 47 thank you thank you Christine

Oh.

Oh. Oh.