Parks Advisory Board Minutes – June 1, 2012 Page 3
Minutes
Parks and Recreation Advisory Board Meeting of June 1, 2012
7:30 a.m. – UF/IFAS Broward County Extension Office – Davie
Board Members Present / County Staff:Patrick Brochu
Christina Clifford
Terry Danger
Tyson Jones
Sharon Kent
Marc Kiar
Stephen Lawson
Alex Lazowick
Dana MacDonald
Jack Mathison
Stephanie Munson
Howard Nelson
Guy Roper
Bill Spute
Board Members Absent
Bill Norkunas / Dan West, Parks Director
Jim Federici, HCED
Cyndy Baker, Parks
Cheryl Cayer, Parks
Carol Morgenstern, Parks
Mary Noe, Parks
Sarah Perkins, Parks
Gayle Preston, Parks
Gary Remillet, Parks
Pat Young, Parks
Melinda Carlisle, Parks
Chris Deal, Parks / Duncan Finch, Parks
Waldron Green, Parks
Cathy Hagen, Parks
Lou Metz, Parks
Joe Oates, Parks
Bryant Roberts, Parks
Marvin Schnapp, Parks
Ray Truman, Parks
Norm Wilson, Parks
Anita Ziegler, Parks
Brenda Jimenez, Parks Extension
The Parks and Recreation Advisory Board (Board) meeting was called to order by Bill Spute, Chair, at 7:40 a.m., after which all present recited the Pledge of Allegiance. Roll was called; a quorum was present.
Introduction of New Member: New Board Member Alex Lazowick was introduced and spoke briefly about his background. Mr. Lazowick represents District 3, Commissioner Stacy Ritter.
Approval of Minutes: A motion was made by Board Member Mathison to approve the minutes (with a correction) of the March 1, 2012, meeting. The motion was seconded by Board Member Danger, and the motion passed unanimously.
Manager’s Report: Pat Young, County Liaison for the Extension Education Office, welcomed everyone to Extension’s first hosted Board meeting. She spoke about the four programs offered by Extension: 4H, which teaches life skills for youth ages of 5 to 18; Urban Horticulture, which trains master gardeners and helps residents with gardening issues such as pest control; Commercial Horticulture, which targets businesses and provides tree trimming training and other services including pesticide application and fertilizer usage information; and the Family Nutrition Program, which includes food safety. Ms. Young stated that Extension Agents provide scientific, research-based information, which is key to their credibility in the communities they serve. She introduced Ms. Brenda Jimenez, University of Florida’s County Extension Director and Head of the Family Nutrition Program. Ms. Jimenez spoke about the history behind the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS), which was established in 1862 and celebrates its 150th anniversary this year.
Bond Construction Update: Jim Federici, Planning and Design, provided a brief bond construction update. The project for Fern Forest Nature Center’s exterior should be complete in a couple of weeks. The Miramar Pinelands Regional Park project is progressing, with completion expected October/November 2012. Quiet Waters’ DB2 project is complete. Staff is preparing the final adjustment change order and closeout documents. West Creek Bridge on Hillsboro Boulevard is now in place and the project is 98% complete. Final site work and signage installation remains to be done. The Central Broward Regional Park (CBRP) maintenance facility plans are with the City of Lauderhill for building permit review. The Deerfield Island design is complete and will be out for bid soon. Park staff is working on plans to make improvements at Everglades Holiday Park. Staff is putting together a plan with a consultant to modify the single lane bridge access, to either widen the existing bridge or put in a parallel bridge. South Florida Water Management District may assist with funding. There are a number of other projects in the design phase. Board Member Kent requested that addresses be included in the project updates. Staff will include addresses with the written updates so that Board members may visit sites and see construction progress first hand.
Employees of the Quarter: The Employees of the Quarter were introduced and each was presented with a framed certificate to commemorate the award, a polo-style Division shirt embroidered with his or her name, a gift card to a local restaurant, and a Division “Find it All” mug. Receiving the award for Maintenance was Joe Oates, Groundskeeper. Mr. Oates is a team player with a positive attitude and can-do work ethic, takes initiative and offers creative solutions to problems, is committed to getting the job done and giving extra effort to help the team accomplish its goals. Receiving the award for Administrative/Program Support was Marvin Schnapp, Courier. Marvin was described in his nomination as a HERO: Hard working, reliable employee; Earned our respect and gratitude; Real “can do” attitude and team player; and Outstanding, “over and beyond” performance. He does not seek attention for his SUNSational performance, instead, he merely states, “That’s my job!” Receiving the award for the Supervisors/Managers was Vickie Bowen, Park Manager I at Vista View Park and Long Key Nature Center and Natural Area. Ms. Bowen consistently goes above and beyond in many aspects of her job performance, she is always willing to assist wherever and whenever, cheerfully completes routine daily tasks, and goes a step further with the hall rentals to ensure patrons have the best experience possible. As Ms. Bowen was unable to attend, her supervisor accepted the award on her behalf.
Parks and Recreation Division Update: Budget: Director Dan West reported that the budget process is ongoing and any impact to the Division is not yet known. Each agency was asked to propose a 5% budget reduction. The Division proposed a number of items, such as not filling the vacant Assistant Director and Human Resource Officer positions, consolidation of the district system from two to a single operating unit, and possible cutbacks in the sign shop and nursery operations. Mr. West stated that the Division will keep moving forward with efficiencies, centralizing purchasing, payroll and accounting, and removing as many layers as possible while still providing services to patrons. Once the budget items have been decided, Mr. West will report the outcome to the Board.
NRPA Accreditation: Mr. West reported that the Division recently received re-accreditation from the National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA) as an accredited park agency. The recognition is to be lauded, especially in light of budget issues, and thanks to a lot of hard work by staff. The award will be recognized by the Board of County Commissioners on June 12.
Everglades Holiday Park: EHP is the newest park in the County system. There has been a tremendous effort by staff over the last two years in preparation for the transition. The last six months have been “a real work of art and science” to get the park on line. Sunday, June 3, is the date when the official transition from Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to Broward County will occur.
Board Member Roper commented on negative press and the public’s perception that the County is “shutting down” Everglades Holiday Park. He stated that he tells people the goal is to make the park better than ever and nothing will be shut down. Mr. West stated that the Division needs to spread the word that EHP is going through a transition to be brought up to County standards. Sarah Perkins has been working with Bridges Everglades, LLC (concessionaire/vendor) on a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that addresses the operational side and sets a new standard for the concession.
Lou Metz will be working on a Request for Letters of Interest (RLI) for a long-term vendor (up to a five year contract) during the next year. Mr. West would like Board members to visit EHP in a month to see the progress. EHP produces approximately $3.5 million in revenue every year. The Division hopes to acquire additional land adjacent to the Park. A 14-member ad-hoc committee has been created. The first meeting will be held at Long Key on June 12 at 7:30 pm. The committee is made up of representatives of stakeholder groups.
Board Member Munson mentioned an EHP television commercial being aired, and asked if it is a Bridges commercial. Staff responded that the MOU requires Bridges to update its promotional material to include the Broward County Parks and Recreation logo. She asked if the MOU with Bridges will also control Gator Boys. Mr. West explained that Bridges has a permit to house gators on-site, allowing them to do shows and demonstrations. The Gator Boys television show is a separate, off-site component. If requests are made to produce new shows at EHP, separate agreements would be established. Gator Boys currently does all the filming and show production off-site. Ms. Munson expressed concern about past reports of Gator Boys swimming off the docks, and dragging gators past children that were fishing on the dock. Any incident of that sort would now be addressed by Parks staff to ensure there are no safety issues in the future. The Parks Maintenance Group is working to make the site safer. All the incremental improvements made to date have been accomplished with operational dollars, not capital funds. The next phase, including redesigning the boat ramp and other projects, will be accomplished using capital funds.
Mr. West reported that staff is in the last stage of selecting a park manager for EHP. This individual will work in conjunction with Markham Park for a period of time before transitioning to EHP. A question was asked as to whether there are plans to charge for admittance to EHP. Mr. West responded that at some point that will happen - a year to 18 months from now - but not until current ingress/egress issues are resolved by either adding a parallel bridge or widening the existing bridge. Local groups are concerned about maintaining 24 hour access to EHP for fishing and hunting. Board members expressed concerns that the Park’s isolation makes it a place where underage drinking takes place. EHP staff will be working with Broward Sheriff’s Office to a greater degree than has been done in the past to curtail this activity.
Toby’s Concessions: Mr. West discussed the issues that led to terminating the contract with Toby’s Concessions on May 22. Mr. West provided a brief history of agreements with Toby’s: there was one agreement for CBRP Stadium and Aquatic facility, and a second general/miscellaneous agreement for 12-14 Parks facilities. From the start, staff worked with Toby’s to resolve violations of the agreement, including quality of service, prompt payment, etc. Staff spent thousands of hours working to administer these contracts. In recent months, Toby’s failed to provide valid Workers Compensation Insurance - a violation of a statutory requirement. Staff had spent several months working with Toby’s to amend the agreement to narrow Toby’s focus to the more profitable operations and to give them the opportunity to correct issues. The inability to resolve the Workers Compensation Insurance left no alternative but to sever the relationship.
A temporary food vendor permit process has been put in place. Temporary food vending trucks provided service on very short notice for Parks’ patrons over Memorial Day weekend. All reports about the service provided by the food trucks were very positive.
Toby’s will vacate all Parks locations within 30 days of May 22. Parks’ staff will operate concessions until a new concessionaire is contracted. How the sites are packaged will be reviewed with possible “hybrids” of some sites being self-operated and others having a concessionaire on site. Another option is to bring in food trucks for special events as has been done in Hollywood. This may be piloted at CBRP to the end of the year and, if so, a report to the County Commission will be provided.
Mr. Roper complimented Parks staff, stating his wife has been training their Australian Shepherd to become a therapy dog. They passed the final test at Tree Tops Park two weeks ago. Tree Tops staff was very helpful to the group.
Old Business: Lou Metz researched verbiage on by-laws in relation to a question raised in a prior Board Meeting about changing certain language (“shall” to “may”) in the Board’s by-laws on committee appointments. The County Attorney’s Office has advised the Administrative Code states “shall”. To change “shall” to “may” would require a public hearing and taking the item to the County Commission for approval. Members of the Board discussed the item, agreeing that it was important enough to take to the Commission, but that there was no urgency and the issue might be combined with other “housekeeping” issues in the future.
Motion was made by Board Member Nelson and seconded by Board Member Mathison to bring the item to the Broward County Board of County Commissioners without time urgency. The motion passed unanimously.
New Business: Broward County Park System Fee Schedule. Business Operations Manager Cheryl Cayer presented a revised fee schedule for the Division. The fees are based on information obtained in an annual review that included working with other agencies throughout the state and talking with staff. Additionally, with the implementation of the RecTrac point of sale system, it was discovered that Parks no longer falls under the sales tax bracket structure that has been followed previously. The Division now needs to follow a different bracket system for the addition of sales tax. Staff is recommending that for most fees, we add sales tax to the current fee. Other recommended fee changes are to keep in line with what other agencies in the state are charging, including Hollywood North Beach entry fees for special events.