PARK BOARD MEETING

November 19, 2018, 5pm, O'Brien Center

They showed nice pictures of the Charles Black Community Center Opening and were pleased with the huge turnout.

The $650K "VPA in Motion" mobile recreation vehicle is being made in North Carolina and should be arriving in late January or February. 
(Elkhart makes a lot of custom mobile recreational vehicles.)

They are looking at more events they can hold at night in the parks.

In honor of Veteran's Day they showed Mr. Maurice Scott and Mr. Robert Frame and their military contributions.

They ask that people donate by buying "Bricks" for the park walks. They can do this through the website.

Since they didn't have a quorum, they couldn't vote on anything. He suggested they make a lot of the items so they could be by "Administrative Approval" and not have to go through the Board.

Aaron Perri mentioned he wants a Deputy Director position created. He wants the person to focus on fundraising. He explained they have money from the bonds to use for the next two years, but after that they are going to need to do fundraising.

He was pleased they got $100K grant from the Community Foundation.

They will not be doing ribbon cuttings until the Spring when the weather is better.

Citizen Portion:

* There was an update about the Bowman Creek Project

* Citizen wanted to know about the hockey rink size becoming regulation size. Aaron responded it would take too much to add scoreboards, lockers, etc. He said people should bug Mishawaka Parks about doing theirs. He says there are too many other places to play hockey. They will be open to hosting workshops for young kids to learn on the ice and have a friendly pickup game.

Sue Kesim suggested:

* Purchasing flowers from the local greenhouse on Western owned by a family. He responded they could buy maybe a few to use on Western from Martin's Greenhouse. 

* For arborists to get their annual renewal they be required to take a half day class about invasive trees and bushes, the latest bug infestations, soil conservation, volcano mulching, tree topping, etc. She suggested Phil Sutton, who is retired from the Purdue Extension, could teach the workshop and they could have the Soil and Water Conservation District give part of it. She further suggested this be included in the new tree ordinance they are working on.

* Use "Steppable Plants" between stones on paths and labyrinths for easy maintenance.

* Build in Sharps Disposal containers into the park bathrooms.

* Collect and recycle plastic bottle caps into park benches and tables for a WIN-WIN. She gave them the website address. It only costs $300 to make a bench out of the caps and they pay far more for benches now.   www.greentreeplastics.com/benches/

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