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Home My WebLink About2009 06.03 PRC MinutesCITY OF APACHE JUNCTION Parks & Recreation Commission 1001 N. Idaho Road Apache Junction, Az. A regular meeting of the Apache Junction Parks and Recreation Commission was held June 3, 2009, 6:00 p.m. at the Apache Junction City Hall pursuant to notice as prescribed by law. Present Absent Theresa A. Nesser, Chairman (6:15 arrival) Conrad Pisinski, Vice -Chairman Stephen Amrhein Mona Barton John Mahony Sandra Schenone Wayne Standage Staff Present:Jeff Bell, Director Parks and Recreation Kelly Martin, Park Ranger Supervisor Mary D. March, Secretary Others Present:Cyndi Ruehl, Restoration Manager, S.A.L.T. Rosemary Scherer, Executive Director, S.A.L.T. CALL TO ORDER: Vice -Chairman Pisinski called the meeting to order at 6:00 pm and led the Commission in the Pledge of Allegiance. ACCEPTANCE OF AGENDA: Commissioner Standage moved to accept the June 3, 2009 agenda as presented.Commissioner Schenone seconded the motion which passed unanimously. ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES: Commissioner Schenone motioned to accept the minutes of May 6, 2009, regular meeting as presented.Commissioner Standage seconded this motion which passed unanimously. DIRECTOR'S REPORT: Mr. Bell relayed to the Commission the City has and opportunity to participate in the Work Force Enforcement Act, employing youth and young adults for the summer.We have requested 4 positions and will be interviewing 3 individuals for these positions next week.The Attorney's office and Court are also participating.The program will start next week and run for about 8 weeks and is supported by federal stimulus dollars. Mr. Bell informed the Commission that the Pool is open and running at full capacity.Learn to Swim Classes started this week.Summer Open Gym numbers are low, restricted use of facilities by the school district struggling with their own budget issues and the downturn in the economy are having an effect. We have received approval to continue with July 4th Event. Lastly Mr. Bell, relayed we received, from the City Attorney a draft ordinance for employee background checks and fingerprinting to present to the City Council for an executive session, work session and regular council meeting.This will take several months, Mr. Bell-will update accordingly. OLD BUSINESS: Update and discussion on Parks and Recreation Department budget proposal for FY09/10. Mr. Bell relayed that the City budget still has a half million dollar gap, that management is trying to iron out.We are possibly looking at a 3.5 to 4.5% pay reduction city wide.Budget discussions with the City Council are slated for June 15 & 16, 2009. Parks and Recreation personnel has been hit hard, prior to the hiring freeze our.department had 56 career status employees we are down to 41 currently, this includes the 7 parks employees transferred to HURF.We recently lost Joe Ornellas, Parks Superintendent who resigned and is moving to Minnesota and Earl Black, Park Attendant resigned effective the end of this month, we are getting to a critical point. We have staff job sharing without a single complaint and instead a willingness to do what it takes to get the job done. Wayne Standage inquired about the utilization of volunteers. Mr. Bell relayed the City has been working on a process for utilization of volunteers. Any interested should be referred to the Human Resources in general. If someone is specifically interested in volunteering with our department they are more than welcome to contact us. NEW BUSINESS: Presentation and discussion on Silly Mountain Park improvement efforts. Mr. Bell expressed his appreciation for a Wonderful relationship with S.A.L.T and introduced Executive Director, Rosemary Scherer. Mrs. Scherer relayed to the Commission that S.A.L.T. recently, received $35,000 grant from the Nina Mason Pulliam foundation from improvements to Silly Mountain Park.Improvements are to include an interpretative frail, hard surface for handicap accesa and .stollers, additional signage, benches and some plants located where the interpretative center will be.$5000 is set aside for the reseeding project.Mrs. Scherer also expressed mutual appreciation for a wonderful working experience and for the many wonderful volunteers. Mrs. Scherer introduced Cyndi Ruehl, Restoration Manager, to- update Commission on status of restoration efforts to date. Ms. Ruehl provided a powerpoint presentation depicting the damage produced primarily by off-road.vehicles to the face of the mountain over the past 30 years. About 2 years ago the .City was granted a lease from the Bureau of Land Management and S.A.L.T. Partnered with the City for'restoration purposes. The hydrology and drainage on the mountain had been devastated.To accomplish repair areas needed to be closed and signage posted. Ten new . trails were established for hikers.The natural vegetation process had been interrupted and needed to be re-establish.Buffle grass which destroys native vegetation and also burns very fast was discovered and with the help of -many volunteers removed. Adjustments to dirt and hydrology were made to encourage the natural reseeding process.Hydrology was closely monitored and checked with every rain and seems to be working.Six hundred and fifteen cactus cuttings have been planted by the parks crew. Hydroseeding has been performed. With assistance from rains, vegetation looked good in February, we could use a couple more rains to help encourage the natural process. Everything is dry right now, plants have gone through life cycle and have dropped seeds for fall rains.The wood plants that grow slower are coming up now and the cactus cuts have new growth on them.The visual change appears minor but is the foundation for the realization of a significant difference in the next 8-10 years. Ms. Ruehl also included in her presentation the names of the many groups and organizations that have volunteered or donated countless hours and resources toward this restoration project, this project has been successful from the beginning because everyone involved has ownership in this project which will promote the continued success of this project. Presentation and discussion on plans for the Apache Junction Landfill site. Mr. Bell relayed that he met with Bryant Powell who has met with representatives from Republic/Allied Waste in regards to the landfill. They are very interested in working with the city for passive recreation at the site.The landfill has 10/12 years of life remaining.Since many things can change in 10 to 12 years is it a little premature to begin the planning process. As time winds down the City and Republic will meet to develop a plan. Wayne Standage asked how much higher can they go. Mr. Bell replied he believes the can go broader but not higher. Theresa Nesser, asked how the City became involved with the landfill. Mr. Bell replied they asked the City to grant an expansion and during that process an agreement was negotiated. Request by the Commission for placement of items on future agendas. FY 09/10 Budget Update; WIA Selection of Next Meeting Date: July 1, 2009 (may cancel due to holiday) August 5, 2009 at 6:00 pm CALL TO PUBLIC: None ADJOURNMENT: r h r hr.inn n n fivrthe.r hvicine.cc .nnei adjourned the mee,Ili at 7:10 pm z Chairmd Vice -Chairman no objections Chairman Nesser