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Full Agenda Packet LEISURE SERVICES ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING TH TUESDAY, MARCH 8, 2011 7:00 PM MUNICIPAL BUILDING, 18 N. JACKSON STREET ROOM 416, FOURTH FLOOR Use the Wall Street Entrance AGENDA 1. CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL TH 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES FROM NOVEMBER 9, 2010 AND THE TH JANUARY 11 , 2011 MEETING 3. TRAXLER PARK LAND RINK UPDATE 4. OAKHILL CEMETERY UPDATE 5. PARKS DIVISION CAPITAL PROJECTS UPDATE 6. RECOGNITION OF KEVIN REILLY AND JAYME ROTH FOR THEIR SERVICE TO THE CITY OF JANESVILLE 7. MATTERS NOT ON THE AGENDA 8. ADJOURNMENT IF UNABLE TO ATTEND THE MEETING, PLEASE CONTACT KARLA KING AT kingk@ci.janesville.wi.us or 755-3030 LEISURE SERVICES ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES TH JANUARY 11, 2011 7:00 PM MUNICIPAL BUILDING ST 1 FLOOR CONFERENCE ROOM Members Present: Kevin Reilly, Betty Schwarz, Steve Ellis, Sandra Hendricks and Lorie Markus Staff Present: Shelley Slapak, Janet McLean and Bill Scherer The meeting was called to order at 7:01 PM in the First Floor Conference Room of the Municipal Building by Chairperson Kevin Reilly. TH APPROVAL OF THE NOVEMBER 9, 2010 MEETING MINUTES A motion was made by Lori Markus and seconded by Sandra Hendricks to approve the meeting minutes. Please note, five members cannot formally do business; therefore, the November 2010 minutes will be placed on the March 2011 agenda for approval. RECREATION DEPARTMENT UPDATE Shelley Slapak, Acting Recreation Director, introduced Bill Scherer, the Ice Center Manager and Janet McLean, the Senior Center Manager to the Committee. Shelley gave a brief update on the status of the skateboard park. The City Council has chosen the Jackson Street site (Batting Cages) for the proposed site of the park. Currently nothing has been happening other than continuous fundraising on the part of the Skateboard Park Committee. ADULT WINTER SPORTS Shelley distributed a table containing adult winter sport league participation numbers from 2003 to present. She gave a brief overview on the history of adult sports and program fees, information on the school facility use and the utilization of the website “Team Sideline” for standings information. SENIOR CENTER NEWS Janet McLean distributed the current Senior Center Newsletter to the Committee members. She discussed the monthly calendar including the daily programs. Janet discussed the addition st of the mandatory $25 membership fee effective January 1, 2011 and informed the Committee that to date there have been 348 memberships sold. Further discussion took place regarding what the membership fees include and that specialty classes require extra fees. Kevin Reilly asked whether there was a scholarship fund to assist individuals that are unable to pay the membership fee. Janet reported that an anonymous donor was willing to give up to $200 for membership fees. Currently only three people have inquired about the scholarship money. Betty Schwarz asked if the membership fee is pro-rated and was informed that it is not. Sandra Hendricks stated that $25 for membership to the Senior Center is a deal. Janet also discussed the daily and extended trips sponsored by the Senior Center and that new mid-length timeframe trips have been added. Kevin Reilly stated that his aunt attends and participates in programs at the Senior Center and loves it. Janet also informed the Committee about monthly special events, board elections and tax preparation available to the seniors. She stated that between 800 to 900 people take advantage of the tax preparation program and half the donations are given to the Senior Center Board and half to the Senior Center. Other classes such as ceramics, art and zumba were also discussed. Sandra Hendricks asked how many hours were spent creating the monthly brochure. Janet stated that the brochure is done in-house but that they are looking to work with a company to create the brochure and sell advertising, which in turn should pay for itself. Lori Markus asked how many members were anticipated to join the Senior Center. Janet stated that 700 members had been budgeted for and that the average age of members is 68 years old. Kevin Reilly thinks that there is a stigma with calling it the Janesville Senior Center. Janet agreed and stated that they are working on getting the name changed to Senior Activity Center. ICE CENTER UPDATE Bill Scherer shared with the Committee the recent maintenance issues at the Ice Center such as the bleacher heater and the scoreboard not working. Bill also gave a history on the user groups of the Ice Center.  Janesville Jets Junior National Team is in its second year of existence and averages 500 to 700 in attendance.  Youth Hockey has grown from 12 teams to 16 teams. They lease the concession stand to help pay for rental of the Ice Center.  Figure Skating Club has approximately 15 to 35 people year round. Their biggest use of the Ice Center is during the summer.  High School Hockey teams include both Varsity and Junior Varsity Bluebirds and the addition, two years ago of the High School Girls Hockey program, the Fury.  Polar Express Learn to Skate Program was previously run by contract and averages approximately 70 kids per session.  Adult Hockey Leagues (A and B). Hockey A is a rental group and Hockey B is in-house.  Public Skating has suffered a decline due to 58 public skating sessions being lost because of the Jets usage. However Holiday public skate which took place the week of th December 27, 2010 was a huge success with daily numbers of 102, 138, 197, 157 and 100. Bill discussed the mechanical problems at the Ice Center and stated that he is in the process of fixing fire code violations and working on the aged refrigeration system. MATTERS NOT ON THE AGENDA Sandra Hendricks asked about the land rink at Traxler Park and what the attendance numbers have been. She suggested that Jeff Keena attend the March meeting and give a report. There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 8:00 PM on a motion by Betty Schwarz and a second by Lorie Markus. The next Leisure Services Advisory Committee th meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, March 8, 2011. Submitted by: Shelley Slapak, Acting Recreation Director LEISURE SERVICES ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES NOVEMBER 9, 2010 TH 4 FLOOR CONFERENCE ROOM, ROOM 416 MUNICIPAL BUILDING Members Present: Betty Schwarz, Steve Ellis, Lynn Jones, Sandy Hendricks, Lori Markus, Jayme Roth, and Councilmember Bill Truman Staff Present: Shelley Slapak and Tom Presny The meeting was called to order at 7:05 PM in Room 416 of the Municipal Building by Vice Chair Betty Schwarz. APPROVAL OF THE SEPTEMBER 28, 2010 MEETING MINUTES Correction was noted that the meeting adjourned at 8:25 PM rather than 7:25 PM. A motion was made by Sandy Hendricks and seconded by Lynn Jones to approve the minutes as corrected. UPDATE ON THE TRAXLER PARK VETERANS WALKWAY CONCEPT PLAN Tom Presny gave a summary report of recent meetings with the Patriotic Society. It was discussed that the City wants to be sensitive and accommodating to veterans, but to also be considerate of limited space and other park users. Tom indicated the Patriotic Society had 1,500 members with good intentions to recognize vets. Concept plans were put together for the Veterans Memorial Walkway. Tom Stehura shared that the concept plan will be modified. He indicated that the Patriotic Society does not have a problem with other user groups utilizing the memorial. The veterans want memorial visibility and the City wants to protect open space. The veterans as a committee will attend a City Council meeting in January on this matter. Tom opened it up for further discussion. Betty Schwartz: Asked if there would be an eternal flame at the memorial on Veteran’s Walkway. (likely not was the response). ICE AGE TRAIL SCOPING PROCESS / MASTERPLAN FOR TRAIL IN ROCK COUNTY Tom Presny presented the Committee with two draft Ice Age trail plan maps. The 1100 mile long trail crosses 28 counties and each county must have an adopted plan showing a corridor of 1 mile in width where-in the Ice Age Trail must exist. It was noted that Janesville was one of the first southern communities to establish the Ice Age trail in the early 1980’s. Tom mentioned that Janesville has just started the scoping process. The National Park Service is working with the City on this matter and we are considered to be in the first phase. A committee of 18 professionals and citizens is working in Rock County to evaluate a broad range of trail placement criteria. Tom shared that the map showing the colored dots represent desirable trail amenities. The larger the dot the greater the value it received. The second map with a single trail corridor has been recommended by the trail committee. The corridor provides linkage from Lima Center, through Janesville and traversing west north of Footville, to Magnolia Bluff Park and finally connecting at Albany with The Sugar River Trail Bike Trail. Tom mentioned this was a process which would lead us to officially becoming registered as a segment of the Ice Age trail and making us eligible for future maintenance and land acquisition grants. Questions and comments: Sandy Hendricks: Commented that most people think of the Ice Age trail as completed in Janesville. Steve Ellis: Isn’t the corridor already more than one mile wide? Tom Presny: Corridor width is referring to where land could be purchased or the trail could be built. William Truman: Shared that the state DOT recently gave a grant for a new trail extension from Janesville to Milton and northward to Watertown within the right of Highway 26. TRAXLER PARK LANDRINK – SKATING IMPOUNDMENT Tom Presny shared that this outdoor skating impoundment will be one where earthen berms will be created in order to retain more water than historically provided. This process will create thicker ice. Tom explained the process in detail: 1.) water enters via city water pipes at 55 degrees. 2.) Water goes through a chilling pond. 3.) Water seeps out from chilling pond into larger area where water will freeze. Ideal conditions will make 12 inches of water becoming ice, but some flowing water underneath the ice will exist to float and strengthen the ice. Right now a contractor is in the process of excavating the top 18 inches of soil and then bringing back 12 inches of clay. The project should be completed for use this winter. The City of Madison successfully uses this bermed impoundment system for their outdoor skating. The only downfall is the lost ability to remove snow when the ice is too thin to drive vehicles onto it. Traditionally we have a 3 week season and the hope is for this to be a 6 week season. Questions/comments: William Truman: Friends of Traxler bought a new skate sharpener and they are working with electricians for new lights. UPDATE ON RECREATION PROGRAMS Shelley Slapak shared that the recent Enchanted Forest special event at Palmer Park proved to be another success with the second highest ever participation of 4,800 children. Visitors attended from a broad region including Rockford. High winds cancelled the event on Wednesday but large attendance took place on Thursday, Friday and Saturday (October 28-30). Sunday a Trick or Treat Trail was hosted in the park attended by an additional 800 children. The success of these events is due to the high degree of volunteer students from Craig and Park High Schools and support from the Optimist Clubs and many in-kind donations from area businesses. th The Sugar Spice and Ice winter program will be held on Saturday, December 4 at Traxler Park. Santa will be there and the committee was asked for suggestions on how he might arrive in a grand fashion. Entertainment will be provided on an outdoor stage. Hayrides through the park will be offered along with fireworks. MATTERS NOT ON THE AGENDA Councilmember Truman overviewed 2011 budget cuts to Leisure Services. A park employee vacancy will not be filled at Riverside Park will result in service reductions at the park, other west side parks and at the cemetery. Riverside Veterans Field will be mowed to game standards by the city and the field will otherwise be cared for by American Legion Baseball. In addition wading pool hours at Riverside and Palmer will be reduced by two hours per day. Steve Ellis shared that he and Janesville Youth Baseball were successful in getting the current bus routes to extend to the Youth Sports Complex beginning in 2011. The next Leisure Services Advisory Committee meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, January 11, 2011. The meeting adjourned at 8:13 PM . Minutes respectfully submitted by: Shelly Slapak, Recreation Coordinator Tom Presny, Parks Director LEISURE SERVICES WINTER ADULT SPORT LEAGUE NUMBERS VOLLEYBALL LEAGUE TEAM NUMBERS YEAR CO-REC SAND FALL TOTAL 2003 57 51 57 165 2004 56 52 52 160 2005 58 45 54 157 2006 53 39 51 143 2007 44 33 49 126 2008 52 36 47 135 2009 56 24 47 127 2010 53 24 43 120 2011 45 DODGEBALL LEAGUE TEAM NUMBERS YEAR CO-ED 2006 7 2007 6 2008 8 2009 11 2010 12 2011 8 MEN’S BASKETBALL LEAGUE TEAM NUMBERS YEAR MON-REC TUES-INT WED-COMP TOTAL 2003 6 6 7 19 2004 12 6 6 24 2005 12 5 6 23 2006 9 4 5 18 2007 6 4 5 15 2008 6 6 NA 12 2009 7 NA 6 13 2010 10 NA NA 10 2011 ?