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MINUTES OF THE <br />ORONO PARK COMMISSION <br /> Wednesday, September 10, 2020 <br />6:00 o’clock p.m. <br />_____________________________________________________________________________________ <br /> <br />Page 18 of 27 <br /> <br />Roath asked if Carter proposed adding Pleasant View Park to the CIP. <br />Carter replied he doesn’t think it is necessary, noting Edwards added it to the official list of parks which <br />was good. <br />Roath said in the past five years, the Commission has made a lot of improvements and the City has spent <br />a lot of investment in parks and trails, noting Lurton, Saga Hill, East Long Lake Trail, Big Island, and <br />many good things have happened. He thinks this Commission should think about having some focus on <br />major improvements to certain parks every two, three or four years. This would help to spread it out and <br />also help them get to the parks they really haven’t touched. He said if he characterized what this CIP is <br />saying, the Commission is putting some money into trails in the near term, with Hackberry as the next big <br />park which is slotted for 2024, and there are some things to do at the Golf Course, perhaps, as well as the <br />trails in the years following up until another big park improvement in 2028. He said if this holds true that <br />is great and they’ve added two more in the next 10 years, noting a lot of work has been done on the trails <br />and many smaller projects here and there. After 10 years, the parks that would still be unfinished would <br />be French Creek, Seven Nations and Pleasant View (although that wouldn’t be a major project). He <br />asked if the Commissioners are good with this as the long-term strategic perspective. <br />Roath thanked Edwards for going through the document and although it took a while, he thinks it was a <br />good tool to introduce Keller to what the Commission is doing and to recap for everyone else what the <br />next couple of years might look like. <br />Klaahsen asked regarding the Lurton Park passes, if they determined that money would always go only to <br />Lurton Park. <br />Edwards answered yes and no; there were aspirations by the Park Commission when it was set up that the <br />Park passes be dedicated to Lurton Park, then there was direction that it go into the General Fund which <br />funds all parks, and about a year later the Council said no, they want it to go only to Lurton Park. He said <br />now the funds are collected and go directly into the Lurton Park Fund. <br />4. 2021 PARKS BUDGET REVIEW – ADAM EDWARDS <br />Edwards said there are two operating budgets that impact the parks: the Parks Operating Budget, which is <br />what they pay for the labor, routine maintenance and supplies; and the Operating Budget for the Golf <br />Course, which is tracked separately. The Parks Operating Budget right now as proposed has a 21% <br />increase. Edwards said if anyone wants line by line detail of the budget, he is happy to walk through that. <br />He noted under Personnel Services, it is partly a wage distribution which accounts for some Staffing costs <br />as well as general labor or wage increase impacts. The other line of notice is under Maintenance and the <br />increase covers higher contacted maintenance costs, and as they do more improvements on the parks, they <br />will be following up with a contracted maintenance plan, which costs money. Under Professional <br />Services, it pays for the minute-taker for this meeting and as they transition from the previous provider to <br />the new provider, that cost went up. In the Golf Course, there are increases in personal services across the <br />board regarding year to year labor and wage increases. Under Supplies and Maintenance, they shifted the <br />way they are doing chemical applications on the Golf Course, and in the past, they’ve been buying <br />materials and doing it themselves, and last year and going forward they are looking at contracting that <br />work out.