08-07-2023 Park Commission Meeting Minutes

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO PARK COMMISSION August 7, 2023 6:00 o’clock p.m. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Page 2 of 3 Roath pointed out the park also has a popular sliding hill. He said one option has been identified as the top choice, although it is still just a concept, and will be shared with the neighborhood at a meeting the last week in August. It includes a soccer field and ballfield. The playground would remain. The concept provides for drainage and parking completely off of Willow. Lemons said they have some general cost estimates for the project but since it is just a concept, formal costs won’t be calculated until there is actually a design. There is $250,000 for the project in the CIP which assumes a 50 percent grant. Rasmussen noted baseball and softball fields are different and urged that the availability of fields in the community be considered with a balance in girls and boys sports. The fields at Hackberry will be smaller than those at some of the other parks like Bederwood because they are used by the younger age programs. Roath said the next version of the plan will come back to the Parks Commission in a few months. Huddy pointed out that lacrosse is also becoming more popular. Lemons said the same field can be used for soccer, lacrosse and touch football. That field in the plan would take the place of one of the ballfields. The concept also provides for a small shed for storage. Rasmussen said she would like to see a planning process that would evaluate the success of parks. If the goal was to have a certain number of participant hours in a park the process should look at participant hours and the age groups involved so the City could know how many hours of active engagement that the Parks support for various age groups and compare to previous years. That way, over time, the City could become more sophisticated in balancing the budget and the needs of constituents, she said. 3. PARKS DEPARTMENT UPDATE Lemons said last Saturday a group of young people from Calvary Memorial Church volunteered for a couple of hours weeding large flowerbeds and that the City would plan to recognize the church’s youth group in some way. He said the Golf Course has had a couple of food trucks this summer. Interest is growing but the trucks have waived their minimum food purchase amounts to help the program get going. The minimums impact the food truck choices that are available, he said. The large pole at the golf course will be the new tree that will be used for the Christmas tree lighting event. It is a flagpole but in the winter it will be able to be used as an artificial tree and wrapped with lights. The park staff is pressure washing and inspecting playground equipment and raising tree canopies to let in sunlight and airflow to reduce mold in shaded areas. The golf course this year has been dealing with insects such as cut worms and white grubs that do a lot of damage to turf grasses, he said. He added the Golf Course is doing fantastic. For the first time in its history the course had a $100,000 month in sales in June and followed it up with $105,000 in July. He said irrigation is a supplement and not meant to water every part of the golf course. A celebration is planned next summer for the 100th anniversary. The beaches have not been having any issues. Buoys and swim platforms are holding up. Commissioners asked for an update on Lurton Park.