Minutes of the Board of Commissioners of the New Orleans City Park Improvement Association
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MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS OF THE NEW ORLEANS CITY PARK IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION I A meeting of the Board of Commissioners was called to order Tuesday, January 25, 2011 at 4:00 p.m. by the President. The meeting was held in the Administration Building. PRESENT: Commissioners Lupo, Marsiglia, LeGrand, Giffin, Hess, Fierke, Brooks, DeBlieux, Masinter, Katz, Laborde, Shreves, Schoen, Guidry, Romig, Hemperley, Pappalardo, Payton and Schrenk ABSENT: Commissioners Brennan, LaFranca, Hoffman, Hales, Chase, Clarkson, Claverie, Famet, McKeithen, and Brown. STAFF: Bob Becker, George Parker, Rob DeViney, Paul Soniat, Julie LaCour, John Hopper and Denise Joubert GUESTS: Ryck Soto, Joseph Taranto, Trevor Haynes, Joey Richard, Kevin Cox President Robert Lupo welcomed everyone and said it was an honor and pleasure to serve as President of the City Park Board. He also said it was an honor to preside at the first board meeting in the Park's new Administration building. Lupo asked Board members to review the current roster as well as Board Committee Assignments and notify Denise Joubert if there are any changes. President Lupo requested all Committees set a standardized monthly meeting I schedule. The December minutes were approved. The Chief Executive Officer introduced Joey Richard with Postlethwaite & Netterville, who is the independent auditor for the Park. Richard presented his financial audit and delivered a positive report. He reported there are no negative audit findings. Commissioner DeBlieux reported the Park retained an outside firm to review the Park's credit card statements and there were no findings. Becker thanked Rob De Viney and Kevin Cox for their help with the audit. Julie LaCour, Director of Special Events reported Celebration in the Oaks was a huge success mostly due to great weather throughout December. LaCour thanked the staff for their hard work. Becker thanked LaCour and staff, Amusement staff as well as the Garden staff for their efforts. Committee Report: A&E - Commissioner Edmund Schrenk updated the Board on various projects in the Park. Work continues on the tennis complex, Popp Fountain reception hall, and the lighting project. Roadway repairs are underway. Bids for the landscaping of the tennis center are being reviewed. The bid for the new shelter at the Marconi soccer fields is due in February. Design proposals for miniature golf have been received and are being scored and evaluated. I Athletics - No Report Golf - Becker reported work continues on the examination of the golf plan and hopes to finalize I soon. A Public Hearing will be held when the plan is finalized. Development - Commissioner Susan Hess reported the committee is moving forward with the Capital Campaign for the Miniature Golf project. Sponsorship has been secured for ten holes with prospects for six additional holes. The Committee is also working with a prospect in regards to the naming rights for one of the two Miniature Golf courses planned. Hess requested board members notify the committee if they know of any potential sponsors. The annual giving fund is going well. lndividualletters will be mailed out to each board member to verifY their support of the Park. Hess advised Board members to make the Committee aware of any donations to the Park on their behalf. Finance - Commissioner Karen DeBlieux reported the Park had a good December due to strong performance in Celebration in the Oaks. The Park received the manifest for Voodoo Music Experience and ticket sales were lower than expected. Special Events/ClTO - Commissioner Andrea LeGrand reported the committee discussed a new fundraiser to be held at Henry Shanes car warehouse. The committee is working on highlighting the 25th anniversary of the first Celebration in the Oaks. The Rock 'N Roll Marathon is th scheduled for February 13 . Horticulture and Grounds - Commissioner Jane Brooks reported the committee met jointly with the Botanical Garden Foundation where John Emerson gave a presentation of the Botanical I Garden Master Plan. The committee voted and endorsed the plan. Paul Soniat presented the plan to the Board. A motion was unanimously passed to adopt the plan as a component of the Park's Master Plan. NOMA - Commissioner Paul Masinter reported a retirement party for John Bullard is scheduled th for January 29 • An Art market to celebrate NOMA's Centennial Celebration is scheduled for May 14th on the Great Lawn. Nominating - Commissioner Larry Katz reported there are four open-At-Large positions on the Board. The committee recommends Ronnie Slone and Steve Pettus for two of the four open At Large positions. The Board will take action on these nominations at the February Board meeting. President Lupo thanked Commissioner Katz and the committee for a great job in recruiting prospective Board Members. Legal - Commissioner Paul Masinter reported the committee is currently working on the cooperative endeavor agreement with the Children's Museum. Public Relations - No Report Tennis - Commissioner Errol Laborde reported the grand opening ofthe new Tennis facility has been tentatively scheduled for March 24th. The Committee plans to invite Governor Bobby I Jindal, Lt. Governor Jay Dardenne and Mayor Mitch Landrieu to attend the opening festivities. .3 Botanical Garden- No Report I Friends of City Park - Dessa Giffin reported the Friends currently have 3600 members. Lark in the Park is scheduled for Marchi 8th. Dog Park - Commissioner Jackie Shreves reported the committee is working on lighting and irrigation of the Dog Park. An Anniversary celebration has been scheduled for March 27th in conjunction with Dog Day afternoon. New Business - President Robert Lupo expressed condolences on behalf of the Board for the loss of Bob DeViney father of Chief Operating Officer Rob DeViney. Public comment was then invited; there were no public comments. The meeting was adjourned at 6:00 p.m. The next meeting is scheduled Tuesday, February 22nd at 4:00 pm in the Pavilion of Two Sisters. Denise Joubert Recording Secretary I Laura Claverie Secretary I MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS OF THE NEW ORLEANS CITY PARK IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION I A meeting of the Board of Commissioners was called to order Tuesday, February 22, 2011 at 4:00 p.m. by the President. The meeting was held in the Administration Building. PRESENT: Commissioners Lupo, Brennan, Brooks, Brown, Chase, Claverie, DeBlieux, Giffin, Hales, HemperJey, Hess, Hoffman, Katz, Laborde, LaFranca, LeGrand, Masinter, McKeithen, Marsiglia, Pappalardo, Payton, Shreves, Schoen, Schrenk and Vesich ABSENT: Commissioners Clarkson, Farnet, Fierke, Guidry, Romig and Sardie STAFF: Bob Becker, George Parker, Rob DeViney, John Hopper, Kevin Cox, Lisa Laraway and Denise Joubert GUESTS: Leslie Kramer and Kevin Colomb President Robert Lupo welcomed everyone and introduced new Commissioners Mrs. Rita Vesich and Mrs. Joey Brown. The January minutes were approved President Lupo introduced Leslie Kramer the operator of Equest Farms who reported on a th I fundraiser Tails but no Black Tie scheduled for March 19 • Kramer is hopeful to beat last year's donation of $25,000. President Lupo thanked Kramer for her presentation and hard work on this event. Chief Executive Officer Becker reported revenue for January exceeded budget while expenses are being kept under control. Becker reported The Rock n Roll Marathon held on February 13 th was well attended and very successful for the Park financially. He also reported on the Tax Increment Financing District which allows the Park to recapture sales tax on events held in the Park. The Park should recap substantial revenue from Voodoo Music Festival. The "Big Rock" sculpture has been removed from the Park and placed at UNO. A Memorial Service was held at the Goldring/Woldenberg Great Lawn for Carlos Cashio who recently passed away. Carlos was the leading landscape architect for many of the Park's projects. Becker introduced Kevin Cox as the newly hired Controller for the Park. Kevin was the CPA the Park retained on a consultant basis to help reconcile accounts and prepare for the audit. Becker presented a Resolution to authorize Kevin Cox, Controller as additional signature for Capital One Operating and Payroll accounts. The Resolution also authorizes Kevin Cox as I additional signature for Whitney Bank accounts and authorizes Kevin Cox as additional signature for Louisiana Asset Management Pool (LAMP) accounts. The Resolution was unanimously adopted. I Chief Development Officer John Hopper reported the Park has been busy with volunteers from several universities during spring break. Committee Report: A&E - Commissioner Edmund Schrenk updated the Board on various projects in the Park. Ace Torre, the designer for the Festival Grounds anticipates producing construction documents by the end of April with construction starting in September. Work continues on the tennis complex and Popp Fountain reception hall. The lighting project and roadway repairs are near completion. Athletics - Andrea LeGrand updated the Board on upcomin~ athletic events. The LHSAA State Soccer Championship is scheduled for February 25th and 26 and will be held at Tad Gormley th Stadium. The 2011 football draw is scheduled for March 16 . The Park received $25,000 from Clorox for the "Toilet Bowl" which will be used to waterproof the floors and install new bathroom fixtures. Golf - Becker reported work continues on refining the estimates for the new golf course construction and adjusting the plan to better utilize the available space. A Public Hearing will be held on March 22nd on a revised plan. President Lupo emphasized the importance for the Board to review the revised plan. Development - Commissioner Susan Hess reported the committee is moving forward with the I Capital Campaign for the Miniature Golf project. Sponsorship has been secured for eighteen holes. Hess requested board members notify the committee if they know of any potential sponsors. Finance - Commissioner Karen DeBlieux reported the Park is ahead of budget for the year. The committee is working with staff on reviewing financial plan for Celebration in the Oaks.