BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS ANNUAL RETREAT Auburn Hill Golf Course 443 S. 135th West Saturday, September 22, 2007 8:15 a.m. Present: Janet Miller, Andy Solter, Doug Leeper, Bryan Frye, John Stevens and Tim Roth Absent: Glen Dye Also Present: Doug Kupper, Director of Park and Recreation; Karen Walker, Assistant Director of Park and Recreation; Tim Martz, Superintendent of Park Maintenance and Forestry; Larry Foos, Superintendent of Recreation President Miller called the meeting to order at 8:45 a.m. PUBLIC AGENDA No Items. REGULAR AGENDA Item 1: Board Member Introductions Each Board member provided a personal introduction and an overview of their personal and professional interests and how they came to serve on the Board of Park Commissioners. Item 2: Approval of Minutes Motion 1: On motion by Solter, second by Frye, IT WAS UNANIMOUSLY VOTED that the Board approve the July 9, 2007 and the August 13, 2007 minutes. Item 3: Election of Officers Solter informed the Board that Miller was again nominated to the position of Park Board President. Bryan Frye was recommended to serve as the Vice President and Dr. Dey was nominated to serve as the 2nd Vice President. Solter asked if there were any suggested changes. There were no further comments or recommendations to the proposed nominations. Motion 2: On motion by Solter, second by Leeper, IT WAS UNANIMOUSLY VOTED that the Board approve the election of officers as suggested. Item 4: Overview of Wichita's Parks, Recreation and Open Space System (PROS) Miller asked Kupper to provide the Board members with a general overview of how the Parks and Recreation Department works throughout Wichita. Kupper began by introducing members of the Park Department staff and how each of these members contributes to the department. Kupper explained that the department currently runs and maintains the city's parks, all 10 recreation centers, the City's five golf courses and Botanica and Century II. The department is also home to the forestry and landscape divisions that maintain the upkeep and care of all city owned trees. He said that they maintain over 2,400 acres of ROW and 3.8 sq ft of landscape medians. He said that the Park and Recreation budget now stands at $17.5 million and is spread throughout all of the various divisions within the department. Kupper said that they have over 800 employees of which 1/4 are full-time and the others are seasonal employees. Kupper said that the department is set to receive new mowing equipment that will help them maintain their 21-day mowing rotation. Kupper said that the mowers they have now are only expected to last about 5 years and most of their current equipment is older than that. He said that the Forestry Department currently has 2,500 trees planted and they remove 2,000 each year. He said they also prune 17,000 trees annually and mow around 25 acres in a 24-hour period. Kupper said that several of the recreation centers offer summer child care services through the Summer of Discovery (SOD) program. He said that SOD has a high cost recovery but that the general assumption is that the recreation centers are not utilized within the community versus competing organizations. Kupper said that they had asked the city council for $10 million to build a new recreation center in Plainview in 2010 and 2011 but the Council moved the money to the unfunded list. Item 5. Overview of Budget and Capital Improvement Plan Board members were given spreadsheets outlining the CIP budget from 2007-2016 and discussed what items they would like to see added throughout the Wichita Parks and Recreation system. Miller said that they would like to adopt the new Park, Recreation and Open Space plan in 2008 and have the funds available in 2011. Kupper said that the first two years of the PROS plan, 2007-2008, have already been funded. He said that the first few million might be available in 2009 or 2010 and that they would be introducing a new CIP plan to the council in 2010 in order to receive the additional funding. Kupper said that $350,000 in CIP funds have already been initiated and will be used to develop the Kingsbury Tract in 2008. Board members continued to discuss the money and where it had been removed or added based on the new budget approved by the City Council in September 2007. Item 6. What Would an Ideal PROS System Look Like in Wichita? The Board discussed and offered different ideas concerning how they would like to see a PROS System set up in and around the Wichita area. Item 7. What is Our Role as Park Board Members? The Board members offered ideas and thoughts on how to gain more community feedback concerning parks and how to present these ideas to the City Council. They examined ways to obtain more funding and community involvement with the new PROS plan. Item 8. Review of PROS Plan Process and Timeline Miller passed out a document explaining the guiding principals of the PROS plan. She asked that each member incorporate these principals into their thinking when referring to the PROS Plan. Item 9. Review of 2007 Park Board Goals Miller reviewed the 2007 Park Board Goals and provided a current status of each goal. Item 10. Develop Goals for 2008 See attachment. Item 11. Adjourn to Park Board Tour Miller adjourned the meeting and all members departed for the tour. ___________________________________ Janet L. Miller, President ATTEST: _______________________________ Myca J. Bunch, Recording Secretary ?? ?? ?? ?? Board of Park Commissioners Annual Retreat September 22, 2007 1