MINUTES

CITY OF OAK CREEK PARKS, RECREATION & FORESTRY COMMISSION

Thursday, June 14, 2007

Present:  Dan Jahn, Alderperson Tom Michalski, Paul Sigler, Patricia Glatch, Janet Fluegel, & Ann Lampe

Absent: Peter Wagner & Marianne Dickmann

The Thursday, June 14, 2007, Oak Creek Parks, Recreation & Forestry Commission meeting was called to order at 5:43 p.m. by Chairperson Janet Fluegel.

Election of Parks, Recreation & Forestry Commission Officers

Janet Fluegel was elected to serve as the chairperson and Marianne Dickmann as secretary for the June 2007 to June 2008 term.

The minutes from the May 10, 2007, meeting was approved on a motion made by Patricia Glatch and seconded by Paul Sigler. All aye; motion carried.

East Middle School Park Facilities - Update

The only park facilities currently located at the site are a segment of the bike trail and the playground structure. The playground structure will remain on site until at least August or September. The department is waiting for a decision from the school district as to what, if any, park facilities will be relocated or developed at the East Middle School site as part of the new middle school construction project.

Abendschein Community Park – Prioritize Park Facilities for Phase 1 Development – Informational

The Common Council denied the request to relocate the disc golf course at this time.  Ann Lampe stated that as Abendschein begins to be developed into a Community Park, the disc golf course needs to be moved to a more remote area.  The Director gave some history to the Commission about the park development plans and that the original plan was to have the disc golf course temporarily located at Abendschein Park until other park facilities were developed at the site.

After much discussion, Ann Lampe made the motion that the Director meet with the School District to discuss park facilities at the East Middle School site and the Memorandum of Understanding regarding the park facilities that were located at the site; that staff and Commission should proceed with the Abendschein Park site plan update, and then meet with the Common Council with the new park plan update and another request for approval to relocate the disc golf course. Seconded by Alderperson Tom Michalski.  All Aye; motion carried.

The Director informed the Commission that the request to eliminate the Clement Avenue extension from the park site plan will be put on a future Plan Commission agenda. The Commission asked that they be advised of the date of the meeting.

The Commission and Director reviewed the tentative park facilities planned for Abendschein Park as he will be meeting with Vandewalle & Associates in the coming week regarding the park plan update.

August Meeting Date – Review & Take Action

Ann Lampe moved that an August Commission meeting be held on Thursday, August 9, 2007, at 6 pm.  Seconded by Patricia Glatch.  All aye; motion carried

Park & Open Space Plan Update - Informational

A memo update was included in the Commission Packets.  Hopefully a plan update draft will be ready for review in time for the August Commission meeting.

Various Community Facilities Use/Rental Policies – Review & Take Action

The Director is reviewing the departments’ facilities use/rental and use/permit policies and is seeking Commission input. Items discussed were athletic-sports fields & facilities used for profit, non-resident use of athletic-sports fields & facilities, use of neighborhood parks by non-neighborhood groups, and Miller Park pavilion & open air shelters rental requirements.

The following recommendations were proposed:

• Facilities rentals are for tournaments and special events
• Facilities permits are for the athletic fields and facilities that are rented on an hourly basis
• Permits are for residents and bona-fide (must verify) Oak Creek groups and not for non-residents
• Oak Creek groups, clubs and/or organizations must be bona-fide Oak Creek groups, clubs and organizations
• Non-resident groups, clubs and organization may rent facilities when available at double the resident rental fee.  Resident groups will have first priority

Rental Fees for Athletic-Sports Field: Facilities Used for Profit:

• Resident Groups: Fee plus 20% of profit
• Non-Resident Groups: Double resident fee plus 20% of profit

Rental Fees for Athletic-Sports Fields & Facilities Not Used for Profit:

• Non-Resident group fee is double resident group fee

Use of Neighborhood Parks by Non-Neighborhood Groups:

• Organized sports and other long-term ongoing activities are not scheduled in neighborhood parks.  Conditional exceptions to this policy may be made by the Commission. If exceptions are made, an informational sheet of guidelines for use of neighborhood park facilities will be forwarded to the group.

Miller Park Pavilion & Open Air Shelters Rental Requirements:

1. Legal adult in the State of Wisconsin age 21 and over.
2. Residency of the City of Oak Creek or Oak Creek Organization (proof required).

After much discussion, Patricia Glatch made a motion to approve the various policies discussed and to implement them in the next new fees & charges schedule, seconded by Ann Lampe. All aye; motion carried.

Park Development-Update 2007 CIP/CEP Projects-Informational

The Director updated the Commission on the following projects:

1. Miller Park Pavilion renovation and addition project schedule change.
2. DNR Grant Applications for land acquisition for the woodlands adjacent to Abendschein Park and the Oak Creek bank stabilization in the park.
3. Wood Knoll/Oak Creek Manor Park site options
4. Wood Ridge Park site was not discussed
5. Riverton Meadows Park Tennis Courts/Play structure installation schedule.

Recreation Programs-Information

Recreation Supervisor Mary Jane Trate gave the following summary on some of the upcoming summer recreation programming to the Commission. The majority of the recreation programs are starting the week of June 11 and June 18^th.  The Meadowview location for playgrounds is full and the school district had to transfer children to the summer school location at Cedar Hills so the parents can send their children to our playground program after summer school.  The weekly summer camps are full and we had to add another location for the last week. T-ball is nearly full, rookie ball registration is down, elementary baseball has done well this year and the kickball program and fundamentals of baseball program are popular as well.  The rest of the programs are looking good for registration.  The office is extremely busy as the phone is ringing off the hook, there are lots of people at the counter, and it has just been very, very busy.  Swim is doing well and evening is more popular as parents can get the children there easier.  Adult Softball has one league each night and no women’s league.

We now have online registration and there has been a steady stream of people using it.

Park Facilities Permit/Rental Requests-Review & Take Action

1. Local UAW 438 Veterans Committee Fundraising Softball Tournament

Tom Michalski made a motion to approve the request for appropriate fees and charges and risk management policies.  Seconded by Dan Jahn; All aye; motion carried.

Communications

1. Proposed Bill 341 Impact Fee Legislation e-mail

ADJOURNMENT

At 7:29 pm, Paul Sigler made a motion to adjourn the meeting.  Seconded by Patricia Glatch.  All aye; motion carried.

Respectfully submitted,

Janet Fluegel
Chairperson
JF/dl