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PARKS & RECREATION BOARD 2018/12/04 MinutesThe City of Lake Forest Parks and Recreation Board Meeting Minutes December 4, 2018 I. Call to Order The Parks and Recreation Board Meeting was called to order by Chairman Charlie Kohlmeyer at 6:00p.m. The following were present: Board Members: Mr. Charlie Kohlmeyer Mr. Paul Best Mr. Rich Adams Ms. Nancy Duffy Ms. Melanie Walsh Mr. Steve Reimer Ms. Shannon Maguire Mr. William Zordani, Student Friends of Lake Forest Parks & Recreation Foundation Members: Mr. Steve Malin Mr. John Powers Mr. Ed Zarek Mr. Patrick Marshall Mr. Ara Goshgarian Mr. Mark Milliman Mr. Mike MacDougal Mr. Fred Jackson Mr. Patrick Hoch Staff: Ms. Sally Swarthout, Director of Parks and Recreation Mr. Joe Mobile, Superintendent of Recreation Mr. Chuck Myers, Superintendent of Recreation Ms. Dani Spann, Administrative Assistant Special Guests: Mr. Steve Konters II. Approval of Minutes Meeting minutes of the October 16, 2018 Park & Recreation Board Meeting were presented and approved. Board member Duffy motioned for approval of the minutes and Board member Reimer seconded. The minutes were then unanimously approved. III. Opportunities for the Public to Address the Board on Items not listed on the Agenda No comments IV. Open Lands Park Naming Selection Superintendent Joe Mobile gave a brief overview of the Open Lands Park project and the renaming of the park. After meeting with Staff, they are recommending the park be renamed Veterans Park. There is a great amount of support from the community and this name will give a real memorial feel to the park. Mr. Mobile talked about Lars Matson, an Eagle Scout who would like to create a Veteran memorial in the park. Several guests from the community, including members from the American Legion spoke and shared their history and support of the new name, Veterans Park, and the idea to have a memorial on site. Former Mayor Rummel spoke about his history with Lake Forest and residents expressed importance of honoring our Veterans. Currently, there is not an area in Lake Forest that recognizes Veterans and this would be a great place to honor and remember past, current and future Lake Forest Veterans and their service. It was noted the Eagle Scout project will be an amenity worked into the current design. Staff, along with Lars will meet with Craig Bergmann and come up with ideas. A motion was made by Board member Adams to approve the renaming of the Open Lands Park property to Veteran’s Park and to proceed to City Council for their approval. The motion was seconded by Board member Walsh. The motion was passed. V. Comprehensive Master Plan Presentation Steve Konters from Hitchcock Design Group presented the proposed final draft of the Comprehensive Master Plan and gave a quick overview of the draft format and organization of the booklet. This draft is an opportunity to give feedback and comments before the final draft is sent for approval. Key highlights are located in the beginning to give a quick synopsis of the objectives of the plan. Mr. Konters stressed this is a living document. The different chapters will begin with a title page and an overview page stating the purpose and main content of the chapter. Chapter 2 shows the action plan items listed by each facility and their justification of strategies. Chapter 3 is the analysis and inventory of the facilities, parks and open spaces. He mentioned they are still compiling data for the North Shore comparison matrix. The next chapter talks about the community engagement phase along with the trends at the various local and state levels with the final chapter as an appendix going over the various reports received during the surveys and comments received through the online survey. There were several questions regarding the responses to the online survey that was conducted. Mr. Konters replied there was a very high percentage of responses and these household totals were verified by each unique IP address. He went over the survey results and how they were generated. A Master Plan becomes a guideline over 10 years, whereas items and estimated costs are analyzed annually. This Master Plan booklet can be viewed by the public with detailed survey results removed for privacy. Feasibility studies will be completed for any of the larger items on the Master Plan. Mr. Konters encouraged members to review this draft in more depth and to direct any comments to Joe Mobile to be accommodated for the final draft. This will be considered for final review by Parks and Recreation Board and Friends of Lake Forest Parks and Recreation Foundation for their adoption after the January 15th Parks and Recreation Board meeting. Small discussion followed on making a marketing condensed version of the history and adoption of the Plan. VI. Comments by Director Director Swarthout talked about the following upcoming events in December. 1. Cocktails With the Claus’ – December 7th at 7:00pm at Northcroft Park Pavilion- Fundraiser by the Friends of Lake Forest Parks and Recreation Foundation 2. Annual Holiday Art Sale – December 7th from 6:00pm - 9:00pm and December 8th from 10:00am - 4:00pm at the Stirling Hall Art Center 3. Winter Dance Spectacular– December 8th at 4:00pm at the Lake Forest Recreation Center Gymnasium 4. Dinner With Santa – December 8th & 9th at Northcroft Park Pavilion- Fundraiser by the Friends of Lake Forest Parks and Recreation Foundation 5. Claus’ Coach- December 16th Director Swarthout mentioned that a very sizeable donation was made by Nancy Hughes for the North Beach access road, going forward the North Beach access road will now be called, The Hughes Gateway. Also, it was approved to name the patio at the Deerpath Golf Course, The Bob Kiely Patio in honor of all his service and dedication. The target date for the North Beach access road to be utilized is mid-July, weather dependent. The ravine repair is scheduled to be done by the end of the year, weather dependent. After much input, staff is looking at next steps for the boardwalk. A short discussion followed on the boardwalk. Ara Goshgarian, Vice President of the Friends of Lake Forest Parks and Recreation Foundation, mentioned the Foundation would like to see more support and collaboration from the Parks and Recreation Board members for future events. VII. Comments by Board Members Board member Reimer mentioned developing a collaboration component between the Parks and Recreation Board and the Friends of Lake Forest Parks and Recreation Foundation. The subject of Parks and Recreation having their own website was brought up. Members stressed an updated website will improve the marketing and advertising of events with the Recreation Center and the Lake Forest Parks and Recreation Friends Foundation. They mentioned the current information is not easily accessible in the City’s website and is not mobile friendly. Board member Maguire inquired on a status update of a new website for the Recreation Department. VIII. Adjournment Board member Reimer motioned for adjournment and Board member Duffy seconded. The meeting was adjourned at 7:43p.m. Respectfully Submitted Dani Spann Administrative Assistant