Parks and Recreation Council

PARKS AND RECREATION COUNCIL Meeting of August 7, 2008

Present were Council Members: Ron Mears – Chair William Craven Brenda Bramble Andy Urquhart Ron Whittington Deloris Donnelly Joan Brown Joe Smack John Williams

Staff: Chazz Salkin Paul Nicholson Matt Chesser Greg Abbott Mary Voshell Esther Knotts Lee Jennings Ray Bivens

Friends Group Executive Directors: Catherine Coin – Friends of Auburn Heights Anne Allen – President, Trap Pond Partners

The August 7th meeting of the Parks and Recreation Council was held at the BuenaVista Conference Center, New Castle, DE. Chairman Mears called the meeting to order at 9:35 a.m.

INTRODUCTIONS/ANNOUNCEMENTS Chairman Mears welcomed everyone to the meeting and had everyone introduce themselves. Ron Mears introduced the new administrative assistant, Esther Knotts.

CHAIRMAN’S REPORT – Chairman Mears had prepared a statement regarding the impending retirement of Clyde Shipman. In Clyde’s absence, Chairman Mears paraphrased his comments stating that Clyde was one of the major contributors to the success of the Delaware State Parks program. Chairman Mears also stated, both Clyde and Jim O’Neill made “large footprints in our parks and they may prove difficult to fill.” The advisory council and the park system will miss Clyde and want him to know that he is welcome at the Council meetings anytime.

APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES A motion to approve the minutes of May 2, 2008 was made by Joan Brown and seconded by Joe Smack. By unanimous vote the minutes of the May 2, 2008 meeting were approved.

COUNCIL REPORTS

Fort Delaware Society – Bill Craven The Society does not meet in July or August. The Sutler Shop sales are down from last year. As expected, following the airing of the Ghost Hunters program, visitation is up.

Natural Areas Advisory Council – John Williams The Council received a proposal from a developer who wants to have some natural areas land (off Reybold Road) switched to private property. Members are not in favor of taking natural areas land and trading it for other non-natural area land. A site tour was done.

The natural area inventory has been updated. An interesting issue is whether buildings such as nature centers should be part of the natural area or if they should be carved out of the natural area.

Andy Urquhart questioned whether or not the effort by the legislature to undermine the state resource areas was still active. Chazz Salkin explained that both of the pending bills had been tabled and a stakeholders group was created to advise Secretary Hughes and the Open Space Council whether legislation is necessary. The first meeting of the stakeholders group was held on 8/6/08 including the Home Builders, the Positive Growth Alliance from Sussex County, the real estate community, the development community and environmental and conservation groups. Much progress was made and the group will continue to meet until all of their questions are answered and they arrive at some kind of consensus. The stakeholders group will present their thoughts and recommendations to the Secretary and to the Open Space Council as the Open Space Council goes through the process of developing criteria and recommending SRA maps for the second time.

Bi-State Council – Andy Urquhart Nothing to report at this time.

Wildlife Committee – Ron Mears Nothing to report at this time.

Resident Curatorship – Lee Jennings The Division has a very good candidate for the Warrington property. She will be visiting the property during the Labor Day weekend. Lee Jennings and other staff will meet with her then and discuss her intentions which specifically include organic farming on, up to, 25 acres of the Warrington property.

Public Comment/Friends Groups There were no public comments.

STAFF REPORTS

Personnel (Greg Abbott)

Greg Abbott distributed and reviewed the personnel updates.

Cultural and Recreation Services section Matt Ritter accepted a lateral transfer from Trainer Educator to Park Manager at Killens Pond replacing Benny Divita. His transfer to the Water Park Manager position created a Nature Center Manager vacancy.

Operations and Maintenance section Theresa Mosier was hired as the Marina Manager at Indian River Marina, effective July 28, 2008. Theresa fills a two year vacancy at the marina. Theresa’s previous experience includes dry stack storage, wet slip, retail and fuel sales and policy.

Clyde Shipman will retire effective September 1, 2008. Clyde is leaving after almost 38 years of service to the Division. He will be missed both professionally and personally.

Budget (Chazz Salkin) Mr. Salkin reported that each Department was asked to submit a list of hiring priorities to the Budget Office for FY 09. DNREC has a total of 150 vacancies and submitted a list of 68 hiring priorities. 15 of the positions submitted were for our Division (12 General Fund, 3 Special Fund). Last month the Budget Office approved 12 hirings for the Department. The Division received one of the 12 approvals. We will be filling our Volunteer Coordinator position.

This submission/approval process will continue on a monthly basis. A list was submitted on August 1st. No response has been received. The Division is hopeful that after the mid- September DEFAC meeting we will be able to start hiring at a rapid rate.

Chairman Mears noted that since the end of the fiscal year and the JFC hearings, there were no cuts, fiscally or in personnel.

Andy Urquhart asked for clarification of the Volunteer Coordinator vacancy. Chazz Salkin explained that there are two full-time positions associated with the Volunteer program. Glen Stubbolo’s administrative position and the vacant Volunteer Coordinator position dedicated primarily to the AmeriCorps program. Mr. Stubbolo is covering both positions at this time.

Section Reports Planning Preservation and Development – Matt Chesser

Bellevue State Park – The parking lot project and the comfort station renovations are now complete. The parking lot was repaired/replaced in kind with a different alignment and some different drainage configurations.

Brandywine Creek State Park - The Hawk Watch and Mill Race parking lots are complete except for a special order gate that has not been received yet.

Killens Pond - The Nature Center is in final inspections. The Division received money in the bond bill for exhibits, furnishings, and finishing touches of the building. The Division is in the process of creating the specs and going out to bid for the exhibit portion of the project.

Fort Delaware State Park – Roof repairs continue on Front 5 and will begin on Front 3. The Fort’s terreplein system is overburden by an additional 6 feet of material. Staff is excavating the overburden and taking it down to its historical depth. The Division doesn’t have the funding necessary to put the underlayment on the roof on Front 3. Staff has also been working on creating a landing site on the Fort Delaware side of the island near the end of the Corps seawall. The Division hopes to have the site temporarily in place by the end of the summer and, after a season of use to ensure that the site is workable, plans to make the landing site permanent.

Fox Point State Park – Phase II of the remediation process is underway. This project is a joint effort between the Division, the Superfund section of DNREC, and Del Dot. The Superfund group is providing funding for amenities including trails, new roads, and parking lots. They are also overseeing the remediation. Del Dot is providing fill material from their Glenville site. The Division will provide funding for a 5-hole bio sun restroom unit. Completion of this project is ahead of schedule and will be done this fall with final clean up in the spring. This project may be nominated for a Governor’s Excellence Award.

Garrison’s Lake – The golf course will open to the public on September 12th. Delaware State Golf Association will be operating the course as a non-profit beginning August 16th. An open house is scheduled for September 6th for the public and the workshop participants who have been involved with the project. Council members will receive invitations to a September 10th opening with the Governor.

Port Penn Interpretive Area – The Clever House lead and asbestos abatement project will be done in 2 weeks. When the abatement is finished the building will be “moth balled” because all of the Phase I money was used during the process. Additional funds have not been secured.

White Clay Creek - The bridge is in production now with a fall delivery date. Once the bridge is delivered, the abutment and utility work will begin. The Division is hoping to have utility poles removed and run all over head wiring underground. This project is scheduled for completion in late fall.

Indian River Marina - The Operations Building is under construction. The project is slated for completion in early ’09.

The Division has received funding for and will begin on 3 large projects this fall:

Trap Pond Nature Center - The conceptual plans are ready. The full design process will begin and construction specs will be put together this fall.

Alapocas Run State Park – Construction will begin on the eastside ball field restrooms with an estimated completion date of early spring.

Garrisons Lake – The Division will erect a big metal shell, similar to a Morton Building. The Division is seeking additional funding in order to “fit out” the building for full blown maintenance activities.

Cape Henlopen Pier – The Division received $200K from various sources for match from federal funds to repair the pier. The process of designing the bid specs has begun. The Division plans to repair as much of the pier as possible. Negotiations are underway with consultants. It will be spring before all the necessary steps are completed (permitting etc.) and construction begins. The project should be completed by Memorial Day weekend.

The Division expects the repairs to last another two to three years. The Division will make the public aware that this is just a “band aid” to the pier and that the pier is not “fixed”. Currently, the pier is open on a limited basis

White Clay Creek – The Division will be announcing another public meeting regarding the master plan. A draft will be put on the website and in mid-September the public will have another opportunity to comment. Paper copies of the draft will be available at the Park Office and the Nature Center. Andy Urquhart suggested that paper copies also be available at Newark and Hockessin libraries. The Friends of White Clay Creek will be notified of locations where to obtain paper copies. Workshop attendees will receive emails or mailings. Catherine Coin from the Friends of Auburn Heights offered to distribute the drafts of the master plan at the upcoming “Steamin’ Days” event.

The proposed fee increase for Killens Pond which the Council endorsed did not make any progress in the budget process. This proposal will be brought forward again. As requested by the General Assembly and the Joint Finance Committee, the Department will be developing a process for recommending fee increases through the budget process. The revenue from the proposed fees will be shown as part of the following year’s projected budget.

Operations and Maintenance (O&M) – Paul Nicholson

Surf fishing vehicle check points are being conducted on Saturdays and Sundays on an alternating basis between Cape and Delaware Seashore. On the average, 15 to 30 people were found to be in violation.

An increase in the fine structure was approved. The minimum fine has been raised from $25.00 to $50.00. The parking fine was raised from $10.00 to $20.00.

Two park buildings were damaged in recent storms. The Gatehouse at Bellevue Mansion sustained $100 K+ in damages to the roof when a giant tree fell on it. This cost will be covered by insurance with exception of the $500 deductible. The Baker House at Brandywine Creek, suffered $5K in damages when a tree fell on the back porch. All cost will be covered by insurance. An engineer was brought in to assess the damages at both properties.

The Division will be taking responsibility for Auburn Heights as soon as October 31st. The Division is working with the Marshalls, Catherine Coin, and the Friends group to determine how the transition will take place. The Division plans to have a person living on site to secure the building.

Oversee (Reynolds property) - A tenant has been secured for a lease/curatorship for a short term. In lieu of rent, the tenant will be performing historic restoration.

Cultural and Recreational Services (CARS) – Ray Bivens The National Association for Interpretation awarded Jim O’Neill the outstanding interpretive manager award for the nation.

In September, the Friends of White Clay will be receiving a “Friend of Interpretation” award. Angel Burns, Nature Center Manager at White Clay Creek and Lums Pond, will be receiving the region’s highest honor, “Outstanding Interpretive Professional”.

Due to the efforts of the Trap Pond Partners and the legislators, the Division received a $93K grant from the Gateways Network for exhibits at Trap Pond State Park. The grant more than doubled the amount of money the Division had dedicated to exhibits at Trap Pond.

Last Thursday, Chazz Salkin accepted an award from the Nemours Foundation for the work that the Division has done helping to fight Child Obesity and some of the special programs the Division has initiated.

The marketing department has begun running weekly advertisements in the News Journal. These ads are able to be rotated on a weekly basis.

In July, the Cape Henlopen “Osprey Cam” went live on the internet. This was an initiative by the Friends of Cape Henlopen and in a one week period, the site received more than 16,000 hits from the DNREC website.

The Ghost Tours at Fort Delaware are selling out quickly so additional tours have been added. There will be a special tour led by Lee Jennings, a behind the scenes, “where the ghost hunters went” tour.

Ray Bivens circulated the cover of the fall program guide which will be included in community newspapers statewide. The program guide will include an article regarding “Children in Nature” written by Barbara Woodford, Wilmington State Park, Nature Center Manager.

Ray Bivens distributed a pamphlet which featured the paddling festival at the beach parks. The Division had two corporate partners in this venture, Quest Fitness and Coastal Kayak.

OLD BUSINESS Andy Urquhart began a discussion on safety and user conflicts on multi-use trails. Although he specifically discussed White Clay Creek this is an issue in many parks. The discussion focused on the safety concerns of pedestrians sharing single track trails with mountain bikers and a meeting which was held on June 12th, involving Division staff, Jim Ireland, representing the Trail Spinners, and Andy Urquhart representing the Friends of the White Clay Creek.

One result of the meeting is a Trail Watch program will be put into effect. Mountain bikers will patrol the trail encouraging cyclists to go slower when approaching pedestrians. Although Mr. Urquhart had hoped that the group could reach the outcome that the bicyclists would stop when approaching pedestrians, mountain bikers stated that if they were required to stop for pedestrians on any regular basis, their mountain biking experience would be destroyed because they need to keep up their momentum. These findings raise some very fundamental questions about compatibility on multi-use trails. With the spectrum of users, it may prove to be impossible to work out a way that all users can use the same trail.

Andy Urquhart stated that during the June meeting, discussion centered on widening the trails to 36 inches. Widening single track trails in White Clay Creek would result in a sacrifice of 1.58 acres of habitat, would cause forest fragmentation, and also cause an ecological impact far in excess of the lost acreage.

Mr. Urquhart further stated that White Clay also has trails that are 8 and 10 feet wide, and are heavily used by bicyclists and pedestrians and there is no conflict on those trails.

Joan Brown suggested limiting hours of use for certain activities. Mr. Urquhart presented several possible solutions. Ron Whittington stated that compatibility issue really needs to be addressed.

Chairman Mears questioned the impact on mountain bikers of limiting the use of the 14 miles of trail. Andy Urquhart stated it would be a huge loss of technical trail riding.

Paul Nicholson offered that this is huge issue for management to contend with. The Division is planning to have a quorum come together and have a facilitator lead the session to try to determine the best path forward.

Discussion continued regarding multi-use trails throughout the park system and the potential for accidents on these types of trails.

NEW BUSINESS The 5th Annual Delaware State Parks School is scheduled for November 7th at Del Tech Terry Campus in Dover. Registration packets will be mailed out in mid-September and are due back on October 1st. Council members are encouraged to attend.

Upcoming Events The next Park Council meeting will take place on October 30th at 9:30 a.m. in Kent or Sussex County.

By unanimous vote the meeting adjourned at 10:47 a.m. The Children and Nature Workshop followed.

Respectfully submitted,

Esther Knotts Recording Secretary