April 12, 2017 County Parks Board Meeting Announcement Administrative Offices: St. Patrick’s 50651 Laurel Road TO: MEMBERS OF THE ST. JOSEPH COUNTY PARKS BOARD South Bend, IN 46637 574/277-4828 Fax: 574/273-2334 Bendix Woods MEDIA FRIENDS 32132 SR 2 New Carlisle, IN 46552 574/654-3155 Fax: 574/654-3674 Ferrettie/Baugo Creek The St. Joseph County Parks Board will hold its monthly board 57057 Ash Road Osceola, IN 46561 meeting on April 18, 2017 at 9 a.m. at Bendix Woods County Park, 574/674-9765 Fax: 574/674-9778 Van Paris Shelter. Spicer Lake County Line Road New Carlisle 574/654-0361 Board Members: If you cannot attend, please notify Kelley Herrera Fax: 574/654-3155 or Evie Kirkwood as soon as possible at 277-4828. NOTICE OF MEETING ST. JOSEPH COUNTY PARKS BOARD Tuesday, 9:00 a.m., April 18, 2017, Bendix Woods County Park Van Paris Shelter, 32132 State Road 2, New Carlisle, Indiana 46552 AGENDA I CALL MEETING TO ORDER II Administrative Update, presentation on fishing programs by Jamie Hartzke, Leisure Services Manager, and discussion of Give Local Challenge Match with Pete Jank, president, Bike Michiana Coalition. III CONSENT Agenda: MINUTES & MEMORANDA, CLAIMS, STATUS OF PARKS REPORTS (including Administrative, ILS, Disposals, Budget/Donations, Attendance and New Hires) IV OLD BUSINESS a. LaSalle Trail Update V NEW BUSINESS VI Delegations VII ADJOURN Next Parks Board Meeting: May 16, 2017 – Ferrettie/Baugo Creek County Park, Interpretive Center – 9:00 am April 2017 SJC Parks Board Packet Page 2 Minutes & Memoranda of the St. Joseph County Parks Board March 21, 2017 The St. Joseph County Parks Board met at 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday, March 21, 2017, at St. Patrick’s County Park, White Barn, Harvest Room, 50651 Laurel Road, South Bend, Indiana. Board members present: Larry Catanzarite, Virginia Calvin, John Ferrettie, John Gleissner Board members unable to attend: Donna Pfeil, Tom Panzica Staff present: Evie Kirkwood, Director; Steve Slauson, Deputy Director; Kelley Herrera, Administrative Manager & Recording Secretary Press in attendance: None Delegations: Jim Goodhew, St. Joseph County Parks Foundation Board Call to Order: President Larry Catanzarite brought the meeting to order at 9:17 am. ADMINISTRATIVE UPDATE/GIVE LOCAL UPDATE Ms. Kirkwood mentioned that Purdue Extension Service is currently accepting applications for the position previously held by Phil Sutton, who retired at the end of January. She stated that they are aware that the person who fills that position serves as an ex officio member of the Parks Board. Ms. Kirkwood then introduced Jim Goodhew from the Parks Foundation Board to discuss this year’s Give Local fundraising event on May 9, 2017. Mr. Goodhew thanked the Parks Board for 100% participation in the first Give Local campaign in 2015 and asked for the board’s support again this year. He stated that we have received a $15K challenge match from Bike Michiana Coalition to help raise the local match needed to fully fund Phases 2 and 3 of the LaSalle Trail. We will again be promoting support for children’s nature programs as well as reaching out to community members and businesses with an interest in seeing the LaSalle Trail completed. Ms. Kirkwood noted that in 2015 the Foundation Board had decided to direct all funds raised through Give Local into the permanent endowment to build that fund to a level that would begin to yield significant annual interest. She stated that the Give Local rules require participating organizations to deposit a minimum of 25% of funds raised into their endowments, but may use the remaining amount for current needs. The Foundation Board has not yet decided how to designate the funds raised this year, however, they recognize that the $15K challenge match and first $15K of gifts received to earn that match will be directed to the LaSalle Trail project. Mr. Goodhew also shared that the Foundation Board will be hosting two “Coffee with the Eagles” events in May, inviting business and philanthropic leaders in the community to ND-LEEF at St. Patrick’s County Park. He stated that these will be informational and relationship-building events to gather ideas on how the Foundation can develop a stronger plan for building its donor base and reaching out to individuals and organizations for support. Ms. Calvin stated that she was proud of the work done by the Foundation board to advance their mission and make significant progress in building the endowment. Mr. Catanzarite concurred and asked Mr. Goodhew to pass on the thanks of the Parks board to all members of the Foundation board for their dedication to the Parks and making a lasting difference in the community. Resuming the administrative update, Ms. Kirkwood briefly summarized non-agenda items. She stated that the Parks, in partnership with Notre Dame, had recently received an award from Great Lakes Parks Training Institute for ND-LEEF. She noted that Tales to Trails, a program funded by a donor and Gift and Grant support, is underway which consists of a Parks interpreter visiting first-grade classrooms at Perley Elementary in South Bend for seven weeks, culminating in a field trip to Bendix Woods County Park. She mentioned that year-to-date attendance is up slightly despite having very little snow for the winter season, noting that the lack of snow likely contributed to an uptick in disc golf revenue. St. Joseph County Parks Board Meeting Minutes & Memoranda |March 21, 2017 Page 1 of 3 April 2017 SJC Parks Board Packet Page 3 Minutes & Memoranda of the St. Joseph County Parks Board March 21, 2017 Ms. Kirkwood stated that the inventoried asset disposal request this month included a request for permission to sell a dump truck with plow and salt spreader and a flatbed trailer used with this truck. Mr. Slauson noted that this vehicle is rarely used, is costly to maintain and repair, and is the sole vehicle in our fleet that requires staff to hold a commercial driver license to operate it. He stated that the county attorney has given us permission to sell the truck and trailer on eBay Motors, and we plan to use the proceeds generated toward the purchase of equipment that better meets our regular needs. He noted that the estimated value of the items is likely in the range of $20K- $25K. Directing the board’s attention to the Non-Reverting Budget Report (page 23 of the board packet), Ms. Kirkwood noted that the line for Innertubing, which is currently showing income, will show a loss once all refunds for private parties are paid out. ACTION: Mr. Ferrettie moved to approve the Consent Agenda, including Minutes, Claims, Reports, Budgets, Disposals and New Hires. Ms. Calvin seconded. Motion passed unanimously by those present. OLD BUSINESS Red Barn Roof Repairs: Mr. Slauson directed the board’s attention to pages 13-14 of the board packet, showing Kil Architecture’s recommendation of Midland Engineering for the Red Barn roof project and the accompanying tabulation of bids received. Mr. Slauson noted that the board granted permission to award the bid at the February meeting, thus this material is for informational purposes only. He stated that we expect to receive final approval for the project funding from the County Council on April 11, with the work expected to begin soon thereafter. He noted that we will have some funds remaining which we will use to replace the roof of the Van Paris shelter at Bendix Woods County Park. The Red Barn roof repair is expected to be completed by mid-May if there are no extensive weather delays. LaSalle Trail Update/Hotel-Motel Tax Fund: Ms. Kirkwood stated that the letting date for Phase 2 of the LaSalle Trail (Darden to Auten) is April 5. She stated that Phase 3 (Auten to the IN-MI line) is targeted for 2018, however, we would like to see this moved up if a commitment for funding the local match can be secured by early May. She stated the construction schedule for the Niles portion has been impacted by the need to survey for the presence of endangered Indiana bats which affects when large trees can be felled to clear the land for the trail. We would be required to fell trees outside of the active nesting season (prior to April 1) or we would have to hire a bat biologist to check for roosting activity. (Note: County engineer Jessica Clark has subsequently confirmed that the USF&W Service has said that bats are not a concern on this stretch of the corridor.) Ms. Kirkwood stated that we currently have a shortfall of roughly $22K for the local match for Phase 2, however, the Give Local fundraising event on May 9 is expected to meet this with the Bike Michiana Coalition challenge grant and funds that match it. She stated that Phase 3 will require a $259K local match and we have asked the County Council for the $225K available through the County Tourism Development Fund from the Hotel/Motel Board that is earmarked for tourism-related projects. If we are not successful with this request and do not have another source for the local match, we will not be able to move up the Phase 3 schedule. Ms. Kirkwood stated that we will be attending a Council committee meeting on March 28 to present our case for how the accelerated completion of Phase 3 would be beneficial to tourism across the county. Ms. Kirkwood stated that, to date, the Parks have provided approximately $860K in matching funds on the project, between the original Roseland phase and Phases 1 and 2.