City of Mount Carmel Parks & Recreation Board Met March 16.
Here is the minutes provided by the board:
Chairman Tom Meeks brought the meeting to order.
Present on Roll Call: Chairman – Tom Meeks, Members- Rick Andrews, Alyssa Hopper, Doug McPherson
Also, Present: Mayor Joe Judge
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
As this was the initial meeting of the Mount Carmel Parks and Recreations Board there were no previous minutes to approve.
CHAIRMAN’S COMMENTS
As there were no other visitors at the board meeting Chairman Meeks turned the meeting over to Mayor Joe Judge who was there for orientation of board members.
VISITOR COMMENTS
Mayor Judge welcomed the new board members and handed out a packet to each member present at the meeting. The packet was an outline based off the Parks and Recreation Board Ordinance. The Mayor explained the purpose of this board is an advisory board to make recommendations concerning parks and recreational activities in the City of Mt.Carmel to the City Council for consideration.
Mayor Judge explained how board members are appointed to the board, the length of the terms of board members, the monetary compensation or lack there of for each board member.
Mayor Judge explained how the officers of the board. The commissioner over Parks and Recreation will be the Chairperson of the board and at the next meeting the Chairperson would appoint one of the members to be a secretary for the board. He explained the secretary would be performing the current tasks of taking minutes for the meeting.
Mayor Judge explained when meetings were scheduled the third Tuesday of March, June, September, and December at 5:00 PM and that special meetings could be called by the Chairperson or the Mayor when needed.
Mayor Judge explained that meetings open to the public and for their input on recommendations for parks and recreation for the city. He also explained that meetings will be posted at least 48 hours in advance on the City’s website and also sent out to the media. He explained the order of business the meetings will adhere to.
Mayor Judge explained with the number of board members there must be a minimum of 3 board members to constitute a quorum for the purpose of a meeting.
Mayor Judge went on to explain the Duties and Responsibilities of the board.
Mayor Judge then asked if any board members had any questions or comments at this time.
Board member Doug McPherson stated his only concern was the meeting scheduled for the 3rd Tuesday in December each year that there could be a conflict with holidays. The Mayor stated that the concern about that meeting could be addressed and that meeting could be adjusted.
Mayor Judge asked each member for email addresses and phone numbers so the members can be notified of meeting times and agenda and minutes to be sent.
Mayor Judge went on to share what progress is being made with projects at the park currently. The shelter house has been built and electrical has been started and will be progressing quickly next week. Supplies have started being ordered for the new restroom facilities that are to be built at the park. The Mayor showed renderings of the bathroom facilities that Tim Raibley and ADG had completed to the board members.
Board member McPherson asked if we had met our goal for donations to complete the shelter house and the restroom facilities. Mayor Judge stated that we are about $2,000 short of our goal and hopes that new donations will be coming in soon. Board member Andrews asked if this included the restrooms and was told yes.
Mayor Judge then stated bids for the new tables at the shelter house have been received. He explained the tables are 8 feet long and metal framed and epoxy coated for long life expectancy. Board member Andrews said the Pickleball board had purchased resign tables and was given the best deal and the supplier had stated t hat if anyone could beat that price he would match. The Mayor said the supplier he had received the quote from was $740.60 per table. Mayor Judge told board member Andrews he might reach out to his supplier to get comparable prices for 20 of the 8- foot tables.
Board member McPherson asked after the shelter and restroom facilities are completed does the City have plans for patching of the paved areas in the park. The Mayor said we need to get some quotes on soil cementing and to have drainage from the Pickleball courts be redirected since it is currently running across the road that runs through the park. Board member McPherson asked so the City is planning on redoing the entire road way through the park. The Mayor stated we are looking at approximately half at this time. Chairman Meeks said the City has looked into putting some parking inside the circle area of the park due to congestion at the park. Board member Andrews stated he felt it would be more cost effective to redo the entire roadway at one time verses spreading the job out over time. Board member McPherson stated there is no doubt the overall cost would be less if it were to be completed at the same time.
The Mayor stated that he, David Easter, and David James from MCPU met last Friday to discuss redoing all of the electrical at the park due to a distributing rack that is needed to meet the demand of electrical power requirements.
Chairman Meeks asked board member Andrews about motion detector lights at the Pickleball court. Board member Andrews explained the lights are designed for automatic time to shut lights down. It also has designed the courts to be individually lighted. Chairman Meeks asked if MFT funds could be used for the parking area inside the circle. The Mayor explained that he would need to verify that before he could answer that question.
Board member Andrews stated that he owns a man lift and he would donate the use of the man lift to help with tree and limb removal since the weight of it would be less than the bucket truck the City has and would cause less damage in the park. The Mayor stated that we would bring the chipper truck out for that as well.
Board member Andrews stated he and others would like to have the Pickleball courts placed on the existing sign at the entrance to the park. The Mayor stated at the next board meeting they would need to discuss it and bring a recommendation to the City Council.
The Mayor stated this meeting was mainly an orientational meeting for the new board members but he wanted to through some things out for the members to discuss at their next meeting.
Board member McPherson asked if the board should concentrate on the main city park until the planned renovations are completed. The Mayor said yes.
Board member Andrews asked if the City could have the main gate entering the Park could be painted. The Mayor and Chairman Meeks stated they have that issue planned already.
Chairman Meeks stated the City used to lock the gate at 10 PM and wondered if we should start doing that again. The Mayor stated due to a request from Stymie’s Restaurant the gates have been left open during the summer time until Midnight. Chairman Meeks said he was just concerned about mischief that might occur when the gates are open and no one around later in the evening.
The Mayor stated the City had added more dusk to dawn lights in the Park along with the lighting at the Pickleball court to help prevent occurrences of mischief.
Board member Andrews asked if the shelter would have LED lighting. The Mayor stated that the LED lights are already installed at the shelter.
Board member Andrews asked about removal of the large tires from the park. The Mayor stated we are working on the issue and thought they had someone interested but due to the weight of the tires the person said he could not use them.
Board member Andrews asked if there were any grants available to be used at the park. The Mayor stated a lot of the grants that were available require engineering plans to receive the grants and the time frame for those has closed. He stated other recreational grants have been diverted due to the covid pandemic. He said Toyota has grants with a maximum of $6,000 dollars. The Mayor also stated a few of the churches in town have some money in trusts available that they would like to help with improvements at the park.
The Mayor asked if any other members had any comments or questions with no further questions a motion was made by member Doug McPherson, and seconded by member Rick Andrews to adjourn all members present voted Aye.
Meeting adjourned at 5:24 pm
https://www.cityofmtcarmel.com/sites/default/files/fileattachments/city_council/meeting/11011/03-16-21_parks_board_minutes.pdf
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