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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPARKS & REC 2017-05-03 REGULAR M I N U T E S th 764 REGULAR MEETING PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION CITY OF LIVONIA On May 3, 2017 the above meeting of the Parks and Recreation Commission of the City of Livonia was held in the Jack E. Kirksey Recreation Center conference room, 15100 Hubbard, Livonia, Michigan. Mark Johnson, Chairperson of the Commission, called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Members present: Cathy Kevra, Paul Condon Roger Walklin and, Mark Johnson Members absent: Kevin Summers Also present: Ted Davis, Superintendent Tom Murphy, Facility Manager Michelle Koppin, Asst. Superintendent Dean Kendall, LCSC Joseph Bublitz, LCSC Upon a motion made by Mrs. Kevra seconded by Mr. Condon, it was rd #3573-17 RESOLVED, that the Commission waive the reading of the minutes of the 763 Regular Meeting of the Commission held on April 5, 2017 and that the minutes be approved as submitted. A roll call vote was taken on the foregoing resolution with the following results: AYES: Condon, Kevra and Johnson ABSTAIN: Walklin ABSENT: Summers The Chairperson declared the resolution adopted Upon a motion made by Mrs. Kevra seconded by Mr. Walklin, it was #3574-17 RESOLVED, that the Commission move New Business 1 to the front of the agenda. A roll call vote was taken on the foregoing resolution with the following results: AYES: Condon, Kevra, Walklin and Johnson ABSENT: Summers The Chairperson declared the resolution adopted Representatives from LCSC Re: 2017-2018 pool lane usage – Mr. Bublitz introduced himself as the head coach of the Livonia Community Swim Club and said they were here because they were concerned that lane usage will be cut to four lanes in the Fall and they would like it to be five. Mr. Davis said currently the club has six lanes on Monday through Friday from 3:30-8:30 p.m. and six lanes on Saturday 8:30-11:30. He said he is proposing the club would have six lanes Monday through Friday 3:30-5:30 and from 5:30-8:30 it would go down to four and Saturday would stay the same. He explained that the member survey received a significant number of comments about the lack of pool space specifically in the lap pool. He said we are looking to reduce lane usage by 17%. Mr. Johnson asked how long the present schedule has been in place. Mr. Kendall said about four years. Mr. Davis said there is a 2008 council resolution stating Monday through Friday 3:30-7:00, Commission Meeting 2 May 3, 2017 six lanes and after 7:00 it would go to four lanes. Mr. Bublitz said prior to that we had seven and when the team was smaller we reduced to five and when numbers went up again we went back to six and extended our group times. He said with the current way they operate, that if they were reduced to four lanes they would have to seek additional pool space outside the rec center. Mrs. Kevra asked their membership number. Mr. Bublitz said about 100-140 members. Mr. Davis asked for their winter roster. Mr. Bublitz said he could provide it at a later date. Mrs. Kevra asked how the age range works. Mr. Bublitz explained when the different ages swim. Mrs. Kevra verified that the biggest group is at 5:30-8:30 when they would have four lanes. Mr. Davis said that is prime time. Mr. Bublitz agreed that is prime time and explained prior to January they were also using two lanes in the leisure pool and they reduced that due to the Department’s request so this will be another reduction for them. Mr. Johnson said it looks like there are about 52% Livonia residents and asked if it stays the same in Winter when there is an uptick in membership? Mr. Bublitz said we tend to see more residents in the Winter. Mr. Condon asked what goes on in the pool after 11:30 on Saturday. Mr. Davis said typically we are open for lap swim unless there is a scheduled event. Mr. Condon asked if there is any accommodation we can come up with on Saturday or Sunday. Mr. Bublitz said they already have those groups practicing on Saturday so they are mainly looking at what is affected Monday through Friday. Mr. Davis said we anticipate this reduction would impact revenue about $1700 a year. Mr. Johnson asked if this has to go to Council. Mr. Davis said no and explained in 2008 the residents took this to Council due to no lanes being available. Mr. Johnson said we have to look at this because our members are paying and we offer them a pool and if they’re disappointed then we are going to lose membership. Mr. Bublitz said he understands. Mrs. Koppin said the previous council resolution had a recommendation to only hold one big event on one Saturday and one Sunday per month and it could be the same weekend. Mr. Condon noted recent customer complaints. Mr. Bublitz said he noticed on previous Commission minutes discussion of changes to the spectator gallery and asked if they would be cut out of hosting meets here. Mrs. Koppin explained that spectator gallery talk is in very early stages and would not impact them for at least two years. Mr. Bublitz commented that he gets a lot of positive feedback from other teams regarding the rec center. Mr. Johnson verified this is only for discussion tonight. Mr. Davis said Commission has already voted but could change. Mrs. Kevra verified that these changes won’t really impact them until Fall and Winter. Mr. Davis said nothing will change until September, we are giving six month notice. Mr. Murphy explained the Ladywood schedule. Mr. Johnson said we will consider their request and we have to consider the best for everybody. Mr. Bublitz apologized for the complaints from their members regarding the air quality. Mr. Davis explained the air quality issue. He said he thinks the issue may be solved, the chemical balance is good but we are monitoring the air situation. Mr. Davis said the total chlorine gets too high and air circulation isn’t good enough so it is not a good breathing environment to be working that hard in. He said mostly the problem is on the HVAC side although we are trying to get an air quality study through Michigan State University. Mr. Johnson said at least the issue is being addressed. Mr. Walklin asked if we have a PM contract with Mead. Mr. Murphy said they come out at least once a month for preventive maintenance. Mr. Condon said we haven’t had discussions of the air quality in the past. Mr. Davis said we’re getting to a certain age of the facility where some things needs to be replaced. He explained. Mr. Bublitz and Mr. Kendall left the meeting at 7:23 p.m. Mr. Walklin asked if the equipment is wearing out? Mr. Davis said we have replaced a lot of the innards, motors, belts. He said this is an automated system but we’re having issues getting it to provide good air quality in lap and leisure. Mr. Walklin asked if the lack of control is causing more problems than the physical HVAC unit. Mrs. Koppin said Mead is looking into that. Mr. Davis said the controls are very expensive and Mead doesn’t want to replace those although it’s part of their contract. He said they have two more years on their contract. Mr. Johnson said we still have some time to tell them to fix it. Mr. Walklin asked whose control package is it? Mr. Murphy explained the control package and how it works. Mr. Walklin asked if there was a problem with the original software package and then you put in a different software package. Mr. Murphy explained. Mrs. Koppin explained other repairs being made that may impact it. Mr. Johnson said to keep the club Commission Meeting 3 May 3, 2017 in the loop as things progress. Mr. Walklin asked when the study will begin. Mrs. Koppin said it will be scheduled within the next month or two. Mr. Condon said you need to get it back to what you think is a baseline before you have the air quality test done. Reports from Staff – Mr. Condon said it is good to see the uptick with 100 Days. Mr. Davis said we will raise fees again. Mr. Johnson asked if we promote our success with that? Mrs. Koppin said the winners were put on Facebook. Mr. Johnson asked when it was realized there was a design defect with the LED lights? Mr. Davis said they were just replaced two years ago. Mr. Johnson verified there was no cost to us. Mr. Johnson asked how we knew who did the graffiti? Mr. Murphy said we knew within six minutes through the building supervisor’s connections with the teenagers. Mrs. Kevra said she forwarded the Touch a Truck information to her son at Channel 2 to get into the media. Mrs. Koppin explained the event. Mr. Condon asked if it was advertised through the school district or with an email blast. Mrs. Koppin said she will check. Communications Green Fee Report – Mr. Johnson said thank goodness for good weather. 409 Report – Mr. Walklin asked what impacts the Idyl Wyld deficit and said every year it goes down. Mr. Davis said it depends on what we spend and said this report is for the month of December only. Mr. Walklin asked for copies of reports from six months back. Mr. Davis said he will forward them to Commission. LCRC Package Totals –April 2017 – Mr. Davis said we are dropping in annual but up in EFT. Mr. Condon asked if there is information available about the Open House? Mrs. Koppin said Amy will provide it next month. Mr. Davis said there wasn’t a big crowd. Mr. Murphy said it has turned into a resident appreciation day and is not a big membership drive. LCRC Code of Conduct – April 2017 – Mr. Johnson asked about one incident. Mr. Murphy explained. LCRC Comment Card Report – April 2017 – Mr. Walklin asked about the spin bikes. Mr. Murphy explained people couldn’t hear the TV. Mr. Walklin asked if the Sci-Fit should be pulled off? Mr. Murphy explained. Mr. Walklin asked if there is staff posted in the Tree Fort. Mr. Davis said no, we have put extra staff at the front desk to catch people sneaking in. Mr. Murphy said the facility attendants and building supervisors walk around and check on it. Mrs. Kevra said she would say something if she saw kids acting up. Mr. Condon asked about the racial comment. Mr. Murphy said there was no phone number to call back. Mr. Johnson asked about the men’s room comment. Mr. Davis said they didn’t specify which one. Mr. Condon asked if we have automated air fresheners in the locker rooms. Mr. Murphy said no. Mr. Davis said we’ll look into the cost. Letter to Council Re: Sole Supplier for Pulsar Briquettes – Mr. Johnson said C-6 through C-11 are just for our information. Mr. Condon said he doesn’t ever remember as many grants applied for and received and said this is tremendous. Commission Meeting 4 May 3, 2017 Letter to Council Re: Support of Rotary Park Universal Playground Project, MNRTF Grant Application – Letter to Council Re: Support of Botsford Pool-Activity Feature Project, Recreation Passport Grant – Letter to Council Re: Fox Creek Golf Course restaurant patio replacement – Letter to Council Re: Agreement between Charter County of Wayne and City of Livonia for Improvements at Compton, Botsford and Shelden Parks – Letter to Council Re: “L” Magazine priting for a two year period – May 2017 to May 2019 – Old Business Letters to expired members – Mr. Davis said the response was not as good as last month, we only got one renewal. Review of CR#3518-16 Re: Idyl Wyld Golf Course Hole #10 Proposal – Mr. Davis explained what updates have been done. Mr. Johnson said the tee box is not moved over. Mr. Davis said they are still planning on doing that and explained more updates to be done. Mr. Walklin asked if we could get a schedule from the golf division. He said it seems they should be farther along. Mr. Davis explained. Mr. Johnson said he is not concerned since we can still play 3 & 4. Mr. Condon asked if the delay was due to Tom’s accident? Mr. Davis explained. Mr. Condon asked if the L Magazine printing cost includes postage? Mr. Davis said no, the postage cost is about $6,500 per issue. Mr. Condon said he wondered if the L Magazine will be outdated down the road. Mr. Davis explained that Community Education stopped printing and lost 50% of their revenue. He said it is still the best means of getting information out. Mr. Murphy said it costs .44 to put a magazine in every Livonia home. Mr. Davis said the magazine may be combined with the City Newsletter in two years. Mrs. Koppin said we keep 2,200 on hand and we go through all of them. New Business Letter submitted by Tom Murphy approved for submission by Edward Davis Re: Various House Rule Changes – Mr. Walklin recommended a change to the wording regarding returned checks. Mr. Davis said it could be changed to “all failed payments”. Mr. Walklin asked why these changes were being made. Mr. Davis said we are looking to simplify a lot of these also we are eliminating the Young Adult fee and changing the Couple to Adult plus One. Upon a motion made by Mr. Condon seconded by Mr. Walklin, it was #3575-17 RESOLVED, that the Commission approves changes to the House Rules regarding age designations, couple memberships, family memberships, daily pass visits and failed payments: A roll call vote was taken on the foregoing resolution with the following results: AYES: Condon, Kevra, Walklin and Johnson ABSENT: Summers The Chairperson declared the resolution adopted Sponsorship Opportunities – Mr. Davis said this is a little overdue. He said we haven’t had a lot of set sponsorship opportunities and one thing that precipitated this was previously with the L Magazine we had an outside contractor going out and selling ad space for us. He said no one bid on doing Commission Meeting 5 May 3, 2017 that this time so if we want to recoup that revenue we are going to have to look at sponsorship. Mr. Davis said he shared this with Dan West who thinks these are reasonable and attractive for businesses in our community. Mr. Johnson verified these are the suggested prices if you want to bid on sponsorship. Mr. Walklin asked if this was put out to the Mayor’s office and Council? Mr. Davis said he wanted this to come to Commission before the Mayor. Mr. Walklin said we wanted to do this years ago and he has no problem with it. Mr. Davis said a lot were probably shot down because of sign ordinance issues but these have been vetted through legal. He said he thinks the Mayor will be open to this. Mr. Johnson asked if this is a conceptual idea and if they are all annual. Mr. Davis said yes they are all annual unless they are sponsoring a program with a start and end date. Mr. Johnson asked if there is signage, will they all be standard? Mrs. Koppin said we would design the signage so it would all be the same. Mr. Condon asked what the size of the sign will be? Mr. Walklin said the sign size and area will be important for someone to pay that amount of money. Mr. Condon asked about the youth scholarship program and said it is a little confusing. Mr. Johnson said we are looking at an initial idea that will probably go through multiple revisions. Mr. Condon verified that with the 85/15 match the 85% comes from the sponsor and nothing comes out of our revenue. Mr. Davis said yes. Mr. Walklin asked what is the anticipated quantity of need for the scholarship program? Mr. Davis explained the Healthy Livonia project, the free/reduced lunch program, summer feeding program and the free swim lessons we are offering. Mrs. Kevra asked how long before the downed trees will be cleaned up at Rotary Park? Mr. Davis said normal time would be about a week but there was a lot of clean up needed due to the wind storm. Mr. Davis said Paul had asked about our marketing efforts. He passed out marketing information and explained the statistics. Mr. Condon suggested making the subject line very concise and a teaser. Mr. Walklin said he thinks it’s doing a good job. Mr. Condon asked if St. Mary’s ever purchased all the memberships they were supposed to. Mr. Davis said they did purchase them and converted the 90 corporate passes to 45 family memberships as part of Healthy Livonia for low income families in Livonia. He said the 234 members are not included in our membership number but we have been paid for them. He said this is a six month trial. The Chairperson called the meeting adjourned at 8:36 p.m. MARK JOHNSON, CHAIRPERSON PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION NEXT MEETING: WEDNESDAY, JUNE 7, 2017 AT 7:00 P.M.