Loading...
07/27/2021 Parks and Recreation Board Meeting Minutes July 27, 2021 City of Clearwater Main Library- Council Chambers 100 N. Osceola Avenue Clearwater, FL 33755 m Meeting Minutes Tuesday, July 27, 2021 6:30 PM Main Library - Council Chambers Parks and Recreation Board Page 1 City of Clearwater Parks and Recreation Board Meeting Minutes July 27, 2021 Roll Call Present 6 - Chair Bruce Rector, Board Member Lisa Tuttle, Board Member Jason Hood, Board Member Patrick Raftery, Board Member Scott Thomas, and Board Member Martin Armstrong Absent 1 - Vice Chair Mark Rodriguez Also Present— Jim Halios — Parks & Recreation Director, Patricia O. Sullivan — Board Reporter 1. Call To Order The Chair called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. at the Main Library. To provide continuity for research, items are in agenda order although not necessarily discussed in that order. 2. Approval of Minutes 2.1 Approve the Minutes of the Parks & Recreation Board Meeting June 22, 2021. Member Raftery moved to approve the minutes of the June 22, 2021 Parks & Recreation Board meeting as submitted in written summation. The motion was duly seconded and carried unanimously. 3. Citizens to be Heard Regarding Items Not on the Agenda Elizabeth Davis'eComment recommending the City's 10-year plan include EV charging stations in City parks and at BayCare Stadium was read into the record by the Board Reporter(see page 6). 4. New Business Items 4.1 Parks and Recreation Bi-Monthly Project Update Report Parks & Recreation Director Jim Halios said he will forward July's report when it is updated. 4.2 Update on Pinellas County Gas Tax Increase to Fund Sidewalk Repairs Mr. Halios said the County's local option gasoline tax funded sidewalk and street improvements and mowing rights-of-way. The County retained 60% of the tax and distributed the remaining 40% to municipalities based on size,- Clearwater ize,Clearwater received$3 million. County infrastructure improvements were 8 years behind schedule, transportation will be in a deficit by 2022. In August, the Board of County Commissioners will review next year's budget that includes a 5 cent gasoline tax increase to 12 cents/gallon, the maximum tax permitted. The added cost per resident is estimated at$27/year. Page 2 City of Clearwater Parks and Recreation Board Meeting Minutes July 27, 2021 Landscape Manager Matt Anderson estimated the City spends $1 million annually on sidewalk repair and curbing. 4.3 Update on July 15 Volunteer Clean-up of Forest Run Park Member Raftery said he had contacted Parks & Recreation Volunteer Coordinator Samantha Moullet re a cleanup of Forest Run Park, by coincidence a church group wanted to participate in a volunteer project while visiting Clearwater. He said he and Member Armstrong met with Ms. Moullet at the park to set up the volunteers, who worked more than an hour picking up litter. He said a photo of the volunteers'July 15 efforts was posted on the City's website. Member Raftery said a Citywide effort to pick up litter across Clearwater was scheduled for October 16, 2021. He hoped his neighborhood would be part of a Forest Run Park cleanup and requested board members to encourage their neighbors to participate, preferably in a park near them. He said the City's volunteer bulletin was informative. Mr. Halios said the City will advertise the event on social media and the web. 4.4 Revise Selections for Arbor Day Tree Giveaway Mr. Anderson said he oversaw the Arbor Day program, he had discussed the program with last month's Citizen to be Heard, Kenneth Brant and provided him handouts. Based on Mr. Brant's recommendation, the City would consider adding Silver Buttonwood trees to the giveaway. Mr. Anderson said staff inspected all trees at the growers to be certain they were free of pests and disease. Crepe Myrtles made up 39% of species distributed on Arbor Day, Crepe Myrtles are drought tolerant, pest resistant, can tolerate abuse and do not cause structure issues. The 2022 giveaway will include some viburnum and elderberry and fruit trees. About 10— 15 City arborists attend the tree giveaway to educate the public on planting and nurturing. He will provide the Board with a list of species slated for next year's event. 4.5 Skateboarding Fees at Ross Norton Complex It was stated a resident had commented that the $2 fee to skateboard was unreasonable. Mr. Halios said all recreation programs charged a drop in fee of$1 with a recreation card or$2 without. 4.6 Sunshine Law Requirements Page 3 City of Clearwater Parks and Recreation Board Meeting Minutes July 27, 2021 Mr. Halios said he had emailed a copy of the State of Florida Sunshine Law for board member review. Members cannot discuss board business outside of meetings, all dialogue must go through him. 5. Old Business Items 5.1 Parks & Recreation to meet with residents of Lake Bellevue in August to discuss improvements to the recreation area. Mr. Halios said he would provide feedback re the August meeting with the Lake Bellevue neighborhood coalition. He was working with Engineering and the Neighborhood Coordinator re water quality and park improvements. It was stated that one board member may attend. Mr. Halios reported he was volunteering at Lake Bellevue Day on August 6. 6. Director's Report Mr. Anderson said the Parks & Recreation Department had 4 spray technicians but was not resourced to tackle invasive plants at passive parks. Mr. Anderson said the City had no regulatory control over Duke Energy. As a courtesy, Duke Energy contacts the City when working in the area. Duke Energy is regulated and required to make proper cuts when trimming trees to maintain a 10-foot clearance from power lines. Residents can reach out to Duke Energy with tree pruning concerns. It was stated a massively pruned tree was unattractive and eventually would split. Mr. Anderson said it was preferred that a tree be maintained rather than removed. Duke Energy arborists made that decision and contacted the City re any tree removal. Duke Energy arborists were well qualified. In response to questions, Mr. Halios said spray technicians were licensed, volunteers cannot spray for invasive species in City parks. In conjunction with a University of Florida program, released beetles decimated air potatoes, funding cuts ended that program. The October 16 cleanup will focus on litter. Moccasin Lake Nature Park volunteers participated in an event to remove invasive species, the work was more intensive than picking up litter. In response to questions, Mr. Anderson said continuous spray applications were necessary to eliminate invasive species. He will verify that City pesticides are labeled for recreation areas. Mr. Halios said citizens have expressed concern regarding City use of pesticides. It was noted in Page 4 City of Clearwater Parks and Recreation Board Meeting Minutes July 27, 2021 response to a citizen's request last year, the City had provided a list of pesticides it used. 7. Board Members to be Heard 8. Adjourn Member Raftery encouraged members to question residents at their neighborhood park re how they use the park, if they have issues, and if they would commit to pick up litter and maintain the park. Member Raftery said he would attend the July 15 City Council meeting to recommend the Parks & Recreation budget have sufficient funds to repair sidewalks. He encouraged members to point out the important work done by the Parks & Recreation Department and for people to make their budget concerns known; the City Council will accept public comments re the budget in September. Member Armstrong questioned why Lake Chautauqua Park had so many speed bumps. Chair Rector said the view of Coachman Park from the top of the Memorial Causeway was amazing. He said it was impressive how much work had been done in the park on behalf of City residents. The meeting adjourned at 7,; City of Clearwater Parks & Recreatio Adviso Board Page 5 Parks and Recreation Board on 2021-07-27 6:30 PM Meeting Time: 07-27-21 18:30 eComments Report Meetings ri? oDpose NES.aTa Parks and Recreation Board on 2021-07- 07-27-21 16 1 1 0 0 27 6:30 PM 18:30 Sentiments for All Meetings The following graphs display sentiments for comments that have location data. Only locations of users who have commented will be shown. Overall Sentiment a SupporV. 1 00%j • Oppos‘N.0%) • NoistrW.:0`,0 No Response;0%) Parks and Recreation Board on 2021-07-27 6:30 PM 07-27-21 18:30 Agenda Name 3. Citizens to be Heard Regarding Items Not on the Agenda 1 0 0 Sentiments for All Agenda Items The following graphs display sentiments for comments that have location data. Only locations of users who have commented will be shown. Overall Sentiment ■ Support(100%) ■ Oppose;0% ■ Neutran30 No Respoaset0%i Agenda Item: eComments for 3. Citizens to be Heard Regarding Items Not on the Agenda Overall Sentiment ■ Support(100%) ■ Oppose(04%0 ▪ Neutron%) No Responso;0%) Elizabeth Davis Location: Submitted At: 2:59pm 07-20-21 Good afternoon, I would like you to consider asking for EV charging stations at our parks for the 10 year plan. As we evolve and improve our Greenprint 2.0, we need to inspire our residents to buy hybrid, electric vehicles. Our tourists need to see that we support their lifestyle. Even at the BayCAre Phillies stadium, we should be negotiating with them to invest in EV stations on the main public property. We invest in the Phillies, They should invest in our Greenprint plan. It is worth asking their commitment to Electric charging stations for guests and fans. Thank you for your work to make our city greener every day.