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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPark Board Minutes 03.01.2012 City of Laurel Park Board Minutes Thursday, March 1, 2012 The Park Board meeting was brought to order at 5:34 pm. In attendance were: Chairman, Mark Mace, and Park Board Members, Gretchen Paulson, Hazel Storck, Amy Pollock, Chuck Dickerson, LuAnne Engh, and new member, Bruce McGee. Mike Crowl, Corey Mcllvain, Kat & Hunter Stokes, and RJ were also attending. Public Comment: Mike Crowl, (1209 5 Ave, Laurel) President of the Laurel Little League, presented an idea to develop the north side of Fir Park as a baseball field. There are 550 -600 kids in Little League and they are having problems finding enough fields to accommodate all of the teams. The area used to be a softball complex. It also has access to parking and outhouses. They would start out as a practice field and increase to game field. Mark Mace advised him to talk to Kurt Markegard about the suggested location and bring it back to the Park Board and then we would make a recommendation to the City Council. Mark also got Mike's number and will talk to Kurt. The Board then discussed the joint venture with the School District concerning a tennis court. Superintendent, Tim Bronk, would like to apply for the grant by April 1 Specifics will be ironed out later, but right now the School District needs a "green light" that we will work together in order to apply for the grant. LuAnne moved to recommend the joint venture with the School District and Gretchen seconded. The motion carried unanimously. Mark Mace then brought us up -to -date on where we are with the Park Maintenance District. Mark talked to Brett Rutherford, Yellowstone County Election Administrator, concerning a vote for the Park Maintenance District. Mr. Rutherford advised that November has shown to be a successful time of the year for them to pass. The cost was estimated at $2,300 for mail -in votes. It was discussed that before that time, we need to let the Laurel people know what we are trying to accomplish, ie a spray park, tennis courts, etc. We will need to have a public comment period and a public hearing for the Billie Riddle money. We will discuss it at our April meeting and set up the hearings at that time. We need to get an updated "needs assessment" for the parks. Also, Mark will ask Mr. Rutherford for a "punch list" in order to make this happen in November. Mark updated us on Riverside Park because Kurt was not present. He first talked about rebuilding the levee. The Army Corp of Engineers does not agree that we are in jeopardy. The public comment period was extended for 21 more days. There is going to be a needs assessment on Riverside Park. The Laurel Rod & Gun Club has to go elsewhere due to the risk the City assumes by having firearms in a public park. The majority of the Exxon money will go to Riverside Park. We may have to use funds to build up the levee to in order to bandage the situation. Hunter Stokes, a youth from our community, then proposed a skate park in Laurel. Hunter is a 4.0 student, a corporal in the Young Marine Program who loves to skate board. He has already looked into grants from the Tony Hawk Foundation, and other resources. He has also narrowed down the location to 3 local parks: Murray, Cherry Hills, & Washington Park. Washington seems to be the best option. Research has shown that concrete would be the most economical type of skate park because it is safer, requires no maintenance, and is difficult to vandalize. Stokes and his mother Kat have also talked to the MMIA concerning liability insurance. They were told that there has not been any lawsuits filed against the Billings Skate Park and there is no cost for the endorsement. The proposed skate park would be for skating only (no bikes). Lighting would not be needed as the park could have specific hours when it's open. The Billings police department and Joe Feden from the Billings Parks Department said they are very happy with their skate park. They have found that the kids do a good job of policing it because they want to continue to skate there. He said, "If you don't have a skate park, the whole town becomes a skate park." Overall, the board seemed in support of looking further at the skate park. Mark recommended they get a committee together and come back in April to give us more information. No one knew if Heidi Jensen had any updates concerning the Elena Subdivision parks. Gretchen will follow up with Heidi for our next meeting. The Park Board Meeting adjourned at 6:59 pm. Respectfully submitted by Amy Pollock, Park Board Member.