CITY OF SHAWNEE
PARKS AND RECREATION ADVISORY BOARD MEETING
SHAWNEE CIVIC CENTRE
March 2, 2006
Committee members present: Rebecca Bailey, Pam Cremer, Kevin Fern, Donna Sawyer,
Jenny VanLerberg, and Doris Yantis. Others present: Neil Holman, Parks and
Recreation Director and Deputy Parks and Recreation Director Lecuru.
1.
APPROVAL OF THE FEBRUARY 2, 2006 PARKS AND RECREATION
ADVISORY BOARD MINUTES.
Rebecca Bailey, seconded by Doris Yantis, moved to approve the February 2,
2006 Parks and Recreation Advisory Board minutes as corrected. The motion
carried 6-0.
2.
DISCUSSION OF PIONEER CROSSING.
Parks and Recreation Director Holman noted the sculptured panels up on the hill
at Pioneer Crossing. He stated that he and the staff were under the assumption
that those would always be brick. He stated Tim from Brickstone changed it, but
they are very detailed and should look nice. He passed around an article from the
Kansas City Star and stated the panels take it somewhat out of the contract. He
stated Tim dumped off the first set and they had discussions and got everything
situated. Tim returned home to pick up the second truck of panels and they are
doing a supplement to the contract with changes. They spoke with Tim today and
everything is fine. He will return in a couple weeks to start putting the mural
together.
Rebecca asked of what is the mural actually made from.
Neil replied it is stronger than brick. The bricks were a big block and because of
all of the detail and mud, it was going to take out a lot of the detail and look
chopped up. He stated it was decided to go with a bigger block, something like a
1½ x 2 or 1½ x 3 block to match the stone wall along there. He stated that is what
the wall and weight is designed for and they showed up with the panels which
was a little surprising. The panels now need to be attached to the wall and they
will need a structural engineer to prove to them everything will end up okay.
Neil stated it was a rather big decision for Tim to make without consulting with
them, as they had been conversing via email quite frequently, so when they
showed up with the panels it was rather surprising. He stated he is not sure if it
was cheaper or what, but a warranty is only as good for as long as a company is in
business. He stated the product is guaranteed for 50 years and is a manmade
fiberglass product stronger than brick, which was first proposed. He stated
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PARKS AND RECREATION MEETING MINUTES
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because of all the horns and elements of the wall, with the probability that kids
will end up climbing it, this product will be strong. He stated they thought some
of the panels were a little thin at around ½ inch, so Tim will put more material on
the back of those.
Jenny asked where they found this guy – has he been in business for a long time?
Neil responded that Tim and his company have done a lot of neat things around
the country.
Deputy Parks and Recreation Director Lecuru stated Tim’s company did the one
at the St. Louis Arch and is gorgeous.
Doris asked how it affects the cost.
Neil responded that it probably will not affect the cost. He stated once he signs
the contract, he has 21 days to install or there is $400.00 a day liquidated
damages. He stated they do not yet have a dedication date, as it will not be ready
for dedication on March 25 as originally planned and will take three weeks to
complete and not start for a couple weeks. He stated it will end up looking nice,
but it has been rather disappointing with a lack in commitment, in his opinion, to
the project.
Neil noted that the detail is there and they have the bronze statues - everything is
ready to go. He stated they made some adjustments on the wall this week and had
to add some to one side and cut some off on the other end. He stated it was just a
silhouette of the pioneer guy who is at the very end when they were in Virginia,
so there was a change. They cut out a lot and are having him stand alone.
Donna asked if they plan to reschedule the dedication after they get further along
in the process.
Neil replied that he would not feel comfortable giving them a specific date at this
time, because they have probably a couple months left with having to tear up the
bridge and redo the creek. He stated they have to plant and add irrigation. He
would feel uncomfortable even giving a date three months down the road as he
thought for sure they would be up and looking good right now, but that is not the
case.
3.
DISCUSSION OF WEBTRAC.
Tonya stated they have a Vermont System trainer/installer in town. She stated
they split the trainer’s trip between themselves, North Kansas City, and Merriam
to save on costs for the installation of the new WebTrac module portion of the
system. She stated they spent yesterday upgrading their RecTrac service, which is
their registration, reservation, and pass management software program. She stated
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PARKS AND RECREATION MEETING MINUTES
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having the trainer present and on site was a good thing, because there were some
major changes, improvements, and modifications made and he was present to
answer any of their questions.
Tonya stated today they installed the WebTrac module down at City Hall. It will
allow them to take registrations online for classes and pool membership renewals.
She stated once the process is installed and the look is designed and ready to go,
they will test it in limited release to see how it is going to work.
Tonya asked the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board to serve as part of that test
market. She will provide each of them some scenarios to do from their homes so
they can get a firsthand look and feel for the system. She stated some of them
might have done online purchases or registrations in the past and it will be a good
tool for them to test to see if it is easy to understand and work through things
before releasing it to the general public. She stated they will use this group and
some longtime, continuous City participants who do a lot of activities through the
Parks Department and select some of them to do testing. Hopefully be able to roll
it out silently and start using it with those few made aware of the system around
May. She stated they will do a big push and publication starting with the fall
program and get it into the CityLine, the Parks brochure, and online. Hopefully
by that time, they will have all the bugs worked out.
Tonya stated the install was completed today, which is a really complicated
process with permissions, firewalls - all kinds of stuff. She stated the IT
Department was really excited about how easily it installed and worked. She
stated they have a credit card system now and everything seemed to work just
fine. She stated the program is there, the product is there and going to work, so
now they just need to get everyone comfortable with the system and decide what
it is going to look like.
Tonya stated she may send out to the Board in the next couple weeks, links to
different websites that use WebTrac, so if any of them have time to go out and
look at those and provide their likes and dislikes, it will give them some feedback
to work from.
Kevin stated he thinks they should keep the colors consistent with whatever is
already in place throughout the City.
Neil stated they want to make it look nice, but also get everyone’s feedback on
how user friendly it is and what problems they might experience and their likes
and dislikes. He stated the Parks department is the first department in the City
taking money through credit cards online. They will need to get policies put in
place, because the City will now start looking at paying tickets and paying dog
and cat licenses on line, along with other permits. He stated all the other
departments throughout the City will be interested in this system and will need to
get their policies in line.
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PARKS AND RECREATION MEETING MINUTES
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Tonya stated this is part of the City’s E-Government initiative called Shawnee
Connect. She stated there is a shawneeconnect.org website through the City’s
web page which directs people out to the E-Government page. She stated they
currently use E-Government for their Citizen Response System, so if a person
sees a pothole or whatever, it is a way to get those complaints or requests into the
system and routed appropriately. She stated this will be the second piece of the EGovernment system, but the first portion to deal with money which is a whole
other piece.
Tonya stated if someone signs up for a class and puts in their credit card number,
it will give the option to have the system store the credit card number– Yes or No.
She stated they need to determine if that should be an option and should they store
credit card numbers in their secure server or not; there are a lot of things to work
out and determine. She stated there are some participants who are ongoing and
register every six weeks and would like to have their credit cards on file. She
stated when people think of the City of Shawnee, there is the E-Government
system and people will be provided a sense of comfort and trust. She stated they
are in middle of that process now and any opinions about online registrations are
welcome and necessary.
Jenny stated they can do the online registrations for their cars now in Johnson
County. She stated people can register multiple cars at one time and the system is
awesome.
Tonya stated she thinks there will be some big plusses with this new system and
feels a lot of people will use it. She stated after talking to Lawrence and other
cities that went to online registrations, they reported that 35-40 percent of all
registrations went through WebTrac and continues to grow.
Kevin stated in the hotel business, 5 percent of the people used to use online
registration, then it went to 10 percent, and now it is up to 40-50 percent. He
stated 800 numbers will not exist in a couple years, because they will not be
necessary. He stated it is good to start out slow and build.
Tonya stated the City has been working on an E-Government initiative since
2000. She stated some of them are still around that were a part of that process and
this is where they stand now. She stated at that time through their standards and
also through the needs assessments, Parks and Recreation was found to be the
number one thing the general public wants when it comes to online services from
their City. She stated they will eventually do pool renewals through this system
and once they are in the system can renew memberships as well.
Tonya stated people will not be able to reserve the Civic Centre rooms online, but
may be able to look at what is available online somewhere down the road. She
stated there are so many things that go to reserving a facility and so many things
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PARKS AND RECREATION MEETING MINUTES
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they have to make sure are brought to people’s attention. She stated people need
to physically see the facility and check it out. She stated there are residency
requirements, civic group requirements – so many categories to consider.
Kevin stated they need to worry about booking a room twice.
Tonya stated there are so many websites that lists the reservation rules and
regulations and then a person clicks on Agree or Do Not Agree. She asked how
many people actually read the whole thing and so many people do not actually
know the specific rules if they do it that way and fail to read the fine print. She
stated there are so many combinations with their facility (Civic Centre). The
senior room can be rented as half rooms, so there are two possible room rentals
and then they have three meeting rooms. She stated there are Meeting Rooms 1
and 2, but Meeting Room 3 can not be rented by itself, but can be added to the
Senior Room or added to Meeting Room 2. She stated they lose abilities when
they do online reservations to make those types of adjustments.
4.
BIKE MAP.
Tonya passed out the mock up bike map which includes all the corrections. She
noted the picture of the trail with the trail etiquette printed underneath.
Neil mentioned it went through the Bike Board.
Rebecca reported that the Bike Board approved the map after a lot of discussion.
She thinks it is great and thought so from the beginning. She stated she is really
excited for the maps to come out and are being sent to the printers this week and
will be ready for distribution in four weeks. They will be available at City Hall,
the Civic Centre, and in all the bike shops by the end of April.
Tonya stated she appreciates all the input she received from the Park Board and
the Bike Board and feels the maps flow nicely and are ready for print.
5.
DIRECTOR’S MONTHLY REPORT.
Neil reported on the skate park. He stated Don, the supervisor for Grind Line, ran
the job. He stated he does not know if anyone has had the opportunity to get out
there to look at it, but the park is fabulous. He stated it was definitely worth the
wait and they have done an excellent job. He called Chris today and told him
they can do their concrete anytime.
Donna asked if that was their crews in the newspaper skating on it.
Neil answered, yes. He stated he took his wife up there last night to show her and
Don was there with some other guys. He stated Don had the bowl virtually to
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himself and was going to town; he did the 360 three or four times and it was
amazing.
Neil reported that the skate park is nearly done with only a few things left to
complete. He stated they will have a walk through. Joel with Blue Moon with
Mega who is over their contractor should get the grading done tomorrow. The
plaza area should be done within the next couple weeks and the material is ready
to place. He stated they will come up with a dedication in association with Free
Ride.
Neil stated Kenny Foster keeps calling him, who is labeled as a pro BMX biker.
They had some kind of a show down at Kemper a while back with Tony Hawk
and it was a really big deal. He stated Kenny knows a lot of those guys that come
through town every now and then and may be able to get someone from the pro
level to attend, along with a DJ, for the dedication.
Neil stated a lot of the kids in the area are street skaters and that is on the west
side of the plaza. He stated a lot of the kids were doing the bowl and were
appreciative to get it. He stated it goes down to six foot, eight foot, ten foot, then
twelve foot, so the kids can learn, because a lot of the kids are not used to the
bowls. He stated they are the second city in the area to get a bowl. He stated no
one has the full pipe cradle thing in the entire Midwest, so it makes this park
really unique. He stated the kids watched Don and he would love to invite him
back, as he was just fabulous and is probably out there now skating.
Neil stated they received the final set of plans on the pool today and will go
through those next week at a meeting. The plan is: March 22, 2006 the
newspaper, March 27, 2006 the City Council, and send it out for bid the first week
of April.
Kevin asked for a projected date.
Neil replied they will probably award in May. He stated the bid will take three
weeks and hopefully they will sign a contract and start in the middle of May.
Jenny asked if it will be open for next season.
Neil answered yes – that is the plan, to open Memorial Day 2007.
Tonya reported on the summer concert series. She stated the downtown concert
has been moved to West Flanders Park, which should make a very nice venue for
this type of entertainment. She stated they are working with the church that
borders on the north side to possibly use part of their parking lot and it looks
promising. She stated some letters have gone out to the downtown businesses
asking for their sponsorship.
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Tonya stated the Stump Park concert over the past few years has been sponsored
by Country Club Bank. They have chosen to sponsor the t-shirts for the Tour de
Shawnee this year instead of that concert, so that particular concert is now open
for sponsorship. She stated they are looking for a $1,000 sponsorship and asked
the Board to let her know if they might know of any local businesses that might
want to participate.
Jenny asked if they have contacted any of the other banks out there, like Bank
Midwest right across the street.
Doris asked about Commerce Bank.
Donna asked about the new In Trust Bank.
Tonya stated they are looking into a few places out there and will advise the
Board on what they find out.
Tonya reported the Spring/Summer Recreational Brochure will go to the printers
on March 17, 2006 and will hopefully drop in the mail on April 1st.
Tonya stated the enrollment date for Swim Lesson Registration is Sunday, May 7,
2006 if any of them know of anyone who is interested. She stated if any of them
know of people who might like working with that, let her know, as she has a job
for them.
Tonya reported that Darla is conducting interviews and they have had about 40 to
45 concession positions this year and have received about 120 applications. She
stated Darla interviews all 120 of them in that age group and are still accepting
applications for lifeguards and managers.
Tonya stated Shawnee will host the All City Swim Meet this year in July and
have started development for what that event will look like, which is the big
season-ending swim meet. She stated Eric is doing very well getting all the
programs moving along and getting things done.
Tonya stated she just received an email and reported that the Sesquicentennial
cookbooks will be available on Monday.
Donna stated the cookbooks will cost $10.00.
6.
MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS.
Donna reminded everyone that the Shawnee St. Patrick’s Day Parade will take
place on Sunday, March 12, 2006 at 1:00 p.m. at Johnson Drive and Caenen. She
stated it is always a great event and they have between 40 and 50 pre-registered
entries. She stated if anyone wants to parade a float, all they need to do is show
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up and get in line. There are no entry fees and the t-shirts are really cute. The tshirts will be on sale at the Court of Appeals and will have them for sale the day
of the parade for $10.00. The ladies’ shirts and the long-sleeved shirts are $15.00
and the kids’ shirts are $8.00.
Donna reported that the Irish Reception will take place on March 10, 2006 at 6:00
p.m. at Town Hall.
Kevin stated that event is free and open to the public.
Donna stated they will have plenty of Irish food, beverages, and music.
Kevin stated Annie from Caenen’s Castle is doing the food again and it was
wonderful last year. They will announce the Irishman of the Year that night.
Donna reported that the Sesquicentennial auction went very well and was well
attended.
Neil stated on March 14, 2006 at Town Hall, the Shawnee Historical Society will
change their name to Friends of Shawnee Town. He stated this will be sort of a
new member drive. He stated there will be a vote to switch the name over and
have already had one vote, but there will be another one. He stated the bylaws
have been tweaked and Johnson County has really nice bylaws in the Johnson
County Museum. He stated they will take those bylaws and there will be nine
people on the board: himself on the Executive Board and Gay on the Executive
Board as Secretary/Treasurer, Chuck Owens will stay on as Treasurer, and Amy
Ruo will be involved along with Phil McAnany. He stated they would like to
have of those nine trustees, one Park Board member. He stated they do not need
an answer tonight, but would like one Park Board member to consider being on
that board.
Jenny asked if that would involve one additional meeting a month.
Neil stated they are creating a whole new town, so it will be a lot of work right
now and take a lot of development.
Donna asked if the Friend’s entity will be a way to raise funds and be a support
group for Shawnee Town.
Kevin replied its purpose will become more fundraising in nature than in the past,
which has been administrative. He stated the Historical Society was originally
created to be the administrators and they were the ones that had Old Shawnee
Town before the City took it over.
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Neil stated the meetings are not yet set, but will probably have bi-monthly
meetings, maybe more, to get things going. He stated there are funds that are
coming over with the Shawnee Historical Society, so they are not starting at zero.
ADJOURNMENT
Rebecca Bailey, seconded by Jenny VanLerberg, moved to adjourn. The motion carried
6-0. The meeting adjourned at 6:21 p.m.
Minutes prepared by: Cindy Terrell, Recording Secretary
APPROVED BY:
___________________________________________
Tonya Lecuru, Deputy Parks and Recreation Director