11-03-2003 PRCEM
MINUTES
Parks, Recreation & Community Education Advisory Board
November 3, 2003
Members Present: Mike Schiesl, Jay Beytien, Bill Arndt, Mary Inglis, Mike Cannon, and Bernie
Miner. Also present were DolfMoon and Karen McKay.
The meeting was called to order at 5: 18 pm
A motion made by Bill Arndt and seconded by Jay Beytien approved the minutes dated October 6,
2003. The motion passed unanimously.
OLD BUSINESS
Library Square - A front page article about the Library Square renovation will be printed in the
Hutchinson Leader soon. The project is scheduled to begin in June, 2004 and be done by fall of
2005. There will be a water fountain in the center of the park. There will also be three life-size
statues of the Hutchinson Brothers with a donor-sponsored paver walkway up to the statues. The
cost of each paver is $5,000, which will go toward the Hutchinson Community Endowment Fund.
Several trees will be planted, short and tall; the flowerbeds will also be renovated. The park will
resemble a 1925- '28 plan for Library Square.
2004 Park & Recreation Budget - There have been two staff meetings to set the 2004 budget. An
additional 5,000 dollars will be allocated to the contractual maintenance line. Dolftold the board
that professional sign painters will redo the signs identifying the parks next year. The signs will sit
on a patio of pavers with flower buckets.
Jay asked Dolf if more garbage cans would be set out next year. Dolf told the board that there will
be the same in 2004 as there were in 2003. Mary asked Dolf how often the flowerpots on Main
Street are watered. Dolf told the board that there is a crew of five to care for the flowerbeds and
pots and they water the pots three times a week.
Capital Projects 2004 - The backstop on VMF baseball field will be replaced in 2004. The floor
in the Rec Center Gym will be replaced in 2004. The funds were budgeted for half the cost,
$47,500 in 2003 and the second half $47,500 in 2004. The new floor will be installed in August,
2004 and will be 1/8 inch thick installed over the current floor. It will be a smoother surface to
accommodate volleyball and basketball. Tennis rentals will be eliminated at the Rec Center; rentals
have taken place at the fairgrounds in recent years. The new divider net is scheduled for installation
in a couple weeks. It will roll up with a key operation. The new Pepsi sponsored scoreboards will
be installed next week. The gym also needs new lighting, if it can't be worked out with Hutchinson
Utilities, part of the $50,000 Pepsi sponsorship money will be used to fund that project.
Pepsi is the primary vendor in the Rec Center and in Roberts Park. Coca-Cola is the sponsor in the
Event Center, Civic Arena and VMF Ball Park.
MINUTES
PRCE Advisory Board
November 3,2003
Page two
Grant Updates - There are several grants in progress at this time. It is a goal to get them
completed in 2004.
Bluff Street - The National Guard will be resculpturing the river bend to provide a "hook"
downstream to create a sand bar. The Veterans will provide rocks, and 3M is providing a financial
donation.
Riverside Park - Prairie grasses will be replanted birch, ash and cottonwood trees will be planted
Rotary Park - $45,000 is available. The High School construction class may build the restroom and
shelter in the spring. They built the garage at Roberts Park in the spring of2003.
Miller' s Woods - Prairie grasses are growing, there are lots of flowers. The woods should be
mowed or burned to kill areas of undesirable growth. Roberts Park prairie grass is burned every
other year.
City /School Projects - Darin Nelson, Alternative Learning instructor at the High School will work
with his students to assemble and varnish picnic tables as a community service project. The city
cut, routered and drilled the wood for the tables. The biology and ecology classes have also worked
with Lawrence Winter, Park Resource Coordinator and Mark Schnobrich, City Forester with
projects on school and park property.
Outdoor Ice - Because of budget cuts, there will be no outdoor ice at Park Elementary this year. It
was a $2,500 budget item that doesn't include a staff person for ice maintenance (flooding, snow
removal), heat, and rest room supplies. Bill Arndt asked if volunteers would be able to help out
with flooding and snow removal.
The hill at Kiwanis Park will be available for sledding, but the warming house will not be open.
With a financial donation to staff the warming house, it could be opened.
The Middle School outdoor ice rink was eliminated. The top priority for staff is snow removal on
the sidewalks on school, city and utility properties.
TaeKwonDo - When the TaeKwonDo began through PRCE it was meeting in West Elementary
School and the Rec Center. 25% of every dollar came to the school; it was a $6,000 per year
program. The instructor, Todd Malenke opened his own building last summer, and we continued to
advertise the classes in the brochure. Now the school is receiving 5% of the registration fee. Dolf
recommended that the school sever its relationship with Midwest TaeKwon now that it is a private
business. Mike Cannon made a motion; Bernie Miner seconded the motion and the Board
unanimously agreed.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 6:15 pm by a motion made by Bernie Miner and seconded by Mike
Cannon. The Board unanimously agreed.
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