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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2016 04.06 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 was held April 6, 2016 at the Apache Junction City Hall pursuant to notice as prescribed by law. Present Theresa A. Nesser, Wayne Standage Jr. Mona Barton Jesse Gage Frank Schoenbeck Absent Chairman Judy Borey, Excused , Vice -Chairman Marit Runyon Staff Present: Liz Langenbach, Director Mary D. March, Administrative Assistant CALL TO ORDER: Chairman Nesser called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. and led the Commission in the Pledge of Allegiance. ACCEPTANCE OF AGENDA: Wayne Standage motioned to accept the agenda as presented. Frank Schoenbeck seconded this motion, which passed unanimously. ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES: Mona Barton motioned to accept the minutes of February 3, 2016, regular meeting.Wayne Standage seconded the motion, which passed unanimously. DIRECTOR'S REPORT: Liz Langenbach, relayed to the commission that she is very excited to be at her first Commission meeting in her new role as Director of Parks and Recreation. She has majorly huge shoes to fill left by Jeff Bell, who she has had the privilege of working under his mentorship for most of her career with the department. Jeff is definitely enjoying his new retirement, unfortunately he has not been very receptive to a public display of affection so, for now we are respecting his wishes and hoping he will be more receptive after he has had time to realize he misses us. We will keep you posted. , Chairman Nesser, asked Liz to provide a little information about herself to those present who might not know her. Liz advised this past March marked her 20th year with the City of Apache Junction, formerly as the Recreation Superintendent working closely with Nick Blake, Parks Superintendent on facility design, development and operations. She has been a part of this community for many, many years. She grew up here, attended School here and went on to work for the School District and the City's Parks and Recreation Department and hopes to continue with the City for as many years as the City will allow her to. Liz asked the Commission to give some thought to what kind of roles they would be interested in, as an advocacy group for parks and recreation and our community. Liz also mentioned that it had been a while since we have had Parks and Recreation employees come and introduce themselves to the Commission, we have new commissioners and new employees since these introductions were last scheduled. Liz also would like to take a moment to recognize volunteer service awards received by Commissioner's at the City's recent Awards Banquet.Theresa Nesser and Wayne Standage were present to receive their awards for their many years of volunteer service.Commissioner Mona Barton was not present and it is our honor to provide Mona with her award for her 11 years of service.We have been very blessed to have commissioners that have been with us for .a very long time and also blessed with all our new commissioners and hope all enjoy their time with us. We are currently in the processes of hiring our summer staff which includes 60-70 individuals to fill seasonal aquatic & recreation positions. We have many returners as well as new staff.We are very appreciative of the support and assistance we receive from our Human Resources staff, we could not do this without them. Liz updated the commission on the status of the Youth Advisory Council. Their first meeting is scheduled for April 12th, the Council consists of 10 individuals, selected through an interview process. These individuals are very involved in their schools and community.In the beginning they will meet twice monthly, working on bi-laws and reviewing procedural information. Our biggest task is to make their experience meaningful so that they have a feeling of involvement and accomplishment. Right now on their agenda are two teen special events they will be taking the lead on. They are also tasked with naming of the downtown park.The Youth Advisory Council will work on any teen/youth issues that may come up in the city and may be liaison to community groups looking for youth input. Liz relayed the design for the downtown park project is nearly complete, we will bring update information back to the commission at our next meeting. The summer issue of the Citizen brochure is due out April 12th in the AJ Independent.We are offering and early bird registration to residents for swimming lessons this year one week prior to open enrollment as well as pool reservations to resident that we have offered in the past. April 16th is the earth day celebration at Earthheart Park this is an annual wellness partnership event involving many wellness organization. Liz relayed that the second purpose of tonight is our joint meeting with Planning and Zoning, which follows immediately, for presentation by the ASU group on the Capstone project for final input prior to final presentation to City Council. Call to Public: None Request by the Commission for placement of items on future agenda. P&R Commission Involvement; Meet P&R Staff; Downtown Park Update Adjournment. There being no further business, Chairman Nesser adjourned the meeting at 6:25 p.m.