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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-17-2010 Regular MeetingThe Recreation Board of the City of Fairhope met Wednesday, March 17, 2010, at 5:15 p.m. at the Recreation Center located at 803 North Greeno Road. Present were: Chairman Charlie Langham, Sherry Sullivan, Jennifer Douglass, Jim Godfrey, Hank Mullins, Vann Saltz, Tom Kuhl, Derek Thomas, John Baker, and Liz Chandler. City Administrative Assistant Pandora Heathcoe took the minutes to the meeting. Absentee were: Mike Ford, City Council Member. Chairman Charlie Langham called the meeting to order. Since there was not a quorum for the February 171hh meeting, there were no minutes to discuss or approve. Charlie Langham — Announced at the meeting that he will be stepping down from the committee effective May 1, 2010, therefore a new chairman will need to be appointed and this will be discussed at the next meeting. This decision is due to the fact that he does not reside within the city limits of Fairhope. It was also discussed that Jim Godfrey will not be renewing his seat on the Board; therefore leaving two open slots for appointees. Hank Mullins also is up for renewal and requested the nomination form so he can turn it in to the City Clerk's office. It was suggested that several blank forms along with any completed forms from the City Clerk's office will be brought to the next meeting. Funds — Reported that the City Council announced effective October 1, 2010 the money in the Recreation Improvement Fund will be placed into the City's General Fund. These funds are approximately $10,000 per month. Vann Saltz voiced his concerns as to how the Council could make this decision without the Board being notified first. Charlie Langham said he met with Lonnie Mixon about this and voiced his concerns. Charlie said he also explained to Lonnie what the funds had been used for in the past, such as: equipment, the swimming pool, gators, etc. Sherry Sullivan suggested that Board members should attend the Council meetings to voice their grievances or write a letter to the City Clerk's office requesting being placed on the next City Council meeting agenda. A motion by 1st Vann Saltz, 2"d by Jenny Douglass, and it was unanimously carried to write the letter to the council. Also Charlie Langham said that he planned to attend and address the Council about the Recreation Center's concerns. 40 Acres — Tom reported that the City Council has leased out the 40 acres to Eric Street for $2,300.00 for a one year lease. Dog Park — Tom reported that the dog park is almost complete. Its size is approximately 1.7 acres and he believes that the dog park people are satisfied with the way it is turning out. However, he did say that some of the baseball leagues are complaining that the size is larger than originally drawn out and it is taking away some of the batting practice space. 5-Year — Tom reported that he has turned in the 5-year plan requested by the City Council to review. He explained that the Council was requesting future capital expenditures or any other items where money would be required in the next five years. Some of the projects he reported on the list was to develop the land on Manley Road, pull sod up in the field and redo, etc. Franchise Agreement— Hank Mullins asked where they were on the franchise agreement. Sherry Sullivan reported that there was a meeting to discuss this issue. Those who were in attendance were: Lonnie Mixon, Debbie Quinn, James Gillespie, Gregg Mims, Tom Kuhl and Sherry Sullivan. She reported that it was decided to have the franchise agreement remain as it is and that the Recreation Center should continue to operate as it has in the past. Hank Mullins voiced that he felt this was in error due to the fact it would bring in money for the City via the Recreation Center. Coca Cola — Tom reported that Coca Cola is no longer in the scoreboard business. Currently the scoreboards are in dire need of repair or in fact, replacement. All of the scoreboards are working except two. One company has already reported that replacement parts for one of the scoreboards are no longer available; therefore the scoreboard is difficult to maintain. Currently, $1,700 is needed for spare replacement/repair parts. Tom said that currently Pepsi is in the scoreboard business and he has looked over the contract with Coca Cola to see if there was a termination clause and looked for the end date of the lease. Tom said he would give Lisa Hanks, City Clerk a copy of the current lease for review to see if Tut Wynne, City Attorney should review it also and the findings would be reported at the next meeting. Tom wanted to know if the scoreboards should be turned over to the individual leagues to maintain, which means the leagues could maintain contracts with Pepsi for the scoreboards. Currently, Fairhope High School has an existing contract with Coca Cola. Another option would be to put the contract out for bid between Pepsi and Coca Cola. Vann Saltz voiced his agreement that the leagues should take over the handling of the score boards. 2 Bleachers — Charlie Langham and Tom Kuhl reported the status on the bleachers in the football stadium on the home team side. A site survey was done before the Senior Bowl with concerns as to how the bleachers and structures have shifted. It was felt, at that time, the repairs could wait until after the Senior Bowl; however repairs or modifications needed to be done before the Fairhope High School graduation in May. John Baker, of Thompson Engineering and also Recreation Board member described the situation and reported that should the bleachers continue to shift it will cause a major problem and liability issue. That Tom asked could his company supply a cost estimate on the repairs and questioned could the project be done by in house or outside contractor. John Baker said that with the information he currently had, he thought that the repairs could be done in house using the engineer's recommendations and a crane. Rec Center — Liz Chandler reported that the Recreation Center is currently at an approximate 1,600 member status. She also reported that they are almost to the $200,000 revenue mark. In reference to the previous discussion concerning the five-year plan, she said she felt that should the membership continue to grow, the current facility will not be able to accommodate those members. She said she would also like to redo the old gym floor, replace the carpet, and that the HVAC unit will need major repairs or possible replacement within 5 years. She also reported that she would like to implement a cross training between the Recreation Center staff and the swimming pool staff. This would help the current staff shortage and would answer the problem of employee coverage when other employees take time off. The next meeting was scheduled for Wednesday, April 21, 2010. Vote to adjourn was approved by 1 st motion by Jim Godfrey and 2nd motioned by Hank Mullins and unanimously carried. The meeting was duly adjourned at 6:30 p.m.