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Home My WebLink About2013 04.03 PRC MinutesCity of Apache Junction Parks and Recreation Commission 300 E. Superstition Blvd. Apache Junction, Az. 85119 A regular meeting of the City of Apache Junction, Parks and Recreation Commission as held April 3, 2013 at the Apache Junction City Hall pursuant to notice as prescribed by law. Present Absent Theresa A. Nesser (Chairman)Jesse Gage (Excused) Conrad Pisinski (Vice -Chairman) Mona Barton Jennifer McGraw Wayne Standage Jeff Stuble Staff Present: Jeff Bell, Director of Parks & Recreation Liz Langenbach, Recreation Superintendent Mary D. March, Administrative Assistant CALL TO ORDER: Chairman Nesser called the meeting to order at 6:02 p.m. and led the Commission in the Pledge of Allegiance. ACCEPTANCE OF AGENDA: Conrad Pisinski motioned to accept the agenda as presented. Wayne Standage seconded this motion, which passed unanimously. ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES: Wayne Standage motioned to accept the minutes of February 6, 2013 regular meeting.Mona Barton seconded the motion, which passed unanimously. DIRECTOR'S REPORT: Mr. Bell advised the Commission the City Manager's office and Council are looking into a new agenda management program, we are currently using Novus. The new progam is Granicus and you can video record meetings with time stamping of agenda items, motions, etc..., view meeting on the website, intiate, schedule and approve agenda items. Granicus is a complete package that meets public posting of legal actions and record retention requirements. Granicus will be used for all public meetings and implementation is scheduled for the first of July. Little League's opening ceremonies will be held this Saturday 10:00 am at the Little League Complex. The Parks and Recreation Department has been invited and we have in turn invited the Mayor and City Council, Little League would like to recognize us for the renovations and improvements to the facility. Next budget meeting is April 2 2 nd .Initially departments were directed to submit a flat budget. Staff was advised revenues are up a little bit and we can expect a small increase for Arizona State Retirement but, anticipate health insurance to remain the same.Mr. Bell suggested this as a budget item for update next meeting. The City has hired a new employee, Dan Beeman to be in charge of corporate sponsorships. Mr. Beeman brings with him a lot of marketing experience. We have received a lot of interest in pickleball from our community, we believe most from seasonal residents but, seems to be picking up with locals.We have added this activity at the MGC and have converted a tennis court at Prospector Park into pickleball courts. We also have a gentleman coming in to discuss how to make 1 tennis court into 4 pickleball courts. Home Rule passed and candidate for City Council, Gail Evans secured a seat in the primary.There will be a runoff on May 21st between Jeff Struble, Christi Rizzi , Dave Waldron and Clark Smithson for the remaining two seats. Mr. Bell relayed that the IGA with the school district is not on the agenda tonight because the City Manager, passed this duty on to Assistant City Manager Powell as part of his succession plan. Jeff will be meeting with Bryant prior to meeting with Superintendent Wilson at the school district. Mr. Bell asked Commissioner Standage if he would share with the Commission information related to the Open Space Forum at Mountainbrook he attended recently. Commissioner Standage advised the commission that about four years ago he began attending Pinal County Partnership and Open Space Committee meetings in Florence about two years ago it was decided to divide Pinal County into regions to better meet the individual needs of each region, hence the Northern Open Space Region headed up by Cindi Ruehl. The forum at Mountainbrook sponsored by Aerobic of the Mind was one of several meeting held to generate interest for a County Open Space, Trails Commission and Department. Establishment is imperative to the completion of the county master plan, comprehensive plan and open space trails,regional parks master plan.Pinal County is about 60 years behind Maricopa County related to regional and natural open space parks.Cindi provided a powerpoint presentation the was about 20-30 minutes long. Commissioner Standage would like to see a presentation at a future meeting maybe getting some younger interest and providing a better understanding of what is taking place. Chairman Nesser asked if we need to bring our plan back and revise to include Pinal County's efforts. Mr. Bell advised they will bring their system into ours this is already provided for in our plan. OLD BUSINESS: Update and discussion on recreational opportunities for the teen population. Liz Langenbach, Recreation Superintendent relayed to the Commission the Spring Teen Forum which is a follow up to the fall forum is scheduled to be held April 27th.At the forum teens will contribute ideas related to two special events for summer MGC Teen Night to kick off the summer and Teen Bash at the Pool to end the summer before getting back to school. We already have the funds available for these two programs so they will see their ideas put to action. At this forum other communities have been invited to come and share information related to volunteer opportunities, jobs program, school programs, anything of interest related to teens happening in their communities. One thing we hear from this age group is they do not know about programs, events, etc_So on this registration we have specifically asked parents if we can contact their child by email or text. We have always provided and open gym program for youth up to 8th grade, this year at the MGC we will have a separate targeted 5th _ 8th grade group that can run at the same time as the younger group but separately, incorporating fitness etc_ and led by some of our younger staff.Other classes offered that would be of interest to this age group are Hip Hop, Karate, Cooking and Sports Clinics.The new brochure is available on Monday, April 8 th. Update and discussion on proposed changes to Park Naming Policy. Mr. Bell relayed the City Council has given direction to place the park naming policy, in the form of a resolution, on the consent agenda for May 7th. NEW BUSINESS: Update and discussion on "Impact Fee Study Update". Mr. Bell relayed about two months ago staff was advised the City was up against a timeline to expend development impact fees. Currently an impact fee study update is being done with a consultant. While meeting with the consultant we were made aware state law has changed in regards to what these funds can & cannot be used for. Mr. Bell provided the commission a list. The consultant is even unclear on what we can develop. The new law only affect money collected after January 1, 2012. Also the time limit to expend funds within 7 years was self-imposed by the City and can be changed to 10 years, as required by the state. Since there is some movement in the downtown area, changing the self-imposed limit to 10 years, could be very important to acquiring open space area for downtown events. Request by the Commission for placement of items on future agenda. Development Impact Fees; Teen Recreational Opportunities Update; FY 2103/14 Budget; Pinal Partnership Presentation; Granicus Selection of next meeting date. May 1, 2013 CALL TO PUBLIC: None ADJOURNMENT: There being no further business, Chairman Nesser adjourned the meeting at 7:21 p.m. Vice -Chairman