Rock Island Today

City of Rock Island Parks and Recreation Board met Jan. 17.

Here are the minutes provided by the board:

1. Call to Order

President Fred Dasso called the meeting to order at 5:30 pm.

2. Attendance

Members Present: Fred Dasso, Bill Anderson (virtual), Mike Foley, John McEvoy, Paul Hansen

Members Absent: Venessa Taylor

Staff Present: John Gripp, Executive Director; Todd Winter, Assistant Director; Kimberly Kruse, Parks Administrative Office Manager

Staff Absent: none

Audience: none

3. Motion to move to 11A by Mr. Anderson. Seconded by Mr. Hansen. All voted yes.

Michelle Gonzalez, RIFAC Preschool Director

Handout available on request. Preschool is now an all-day program adding a third room last fall. A new afternoon preschool program will become available fall of 2023. Michelle is very grateful for the opportunity and looks forward to her time with the department. Big kudos to the staff!

4. December Park Board Minutes

Mr. McEvoy motioned to approve the minutes; Mr. Foley seconded. All voted yes.

5. Thank you from the United Way Quad Cities and QC Pickleball Club were recognized.

6. Monthly Report from Finance Department as of November

Memberships and all other number are returning to pre-Covid-19 numbers. Golf did well even with the clubhouse expenses. Whitewater Junction will break even. The pools have been switched to liquid chlorine. RIFAC will have a jump in revenue in December as people sign up for memberships. Tax revenue has been received. The Finance Director will be asked to come in and speak later in the year when the audit is completed.

7. Approval of the Bills for the Month of December: $846,312.30

Mr. Dasso: Aye Mr. Foley: Aye Mr. McEvoy: Aye Ms. Taylor: Absent Mr. Hansen: Aye Mr. Anderson: Aye

8. Director’s Report and other reports

RFP’s and RFQ’s for all projects approved for ARPA will be going out. Year end wrap up is being done. Carryover memo is being put together. Lincoln Park work with Augustana is being discussed for a coop plan for the tennis courts as well as the bathroom renovation. The park would be maintained by Auggie and we will have a use agreement. Phase two will potentially be for the softball field areas.

Programming is up and off to a great start for the year. City has approved MLK Jr Day as a paid holiday.

As the clubhouse gets close to being completed, the cabinets, furniture and tv’s are all delivered. Tv’s will be getting hung up soon. The gutters are being done today. MidAmerican needs to hook up heat still. First Tee will have a paper wall wrap for the classroom. A donor wall is being put together. The hope is that the facility will be completed by mid-February. If ready, the next park board meeting will be held there. The cart area layout is being review and a new process is being trained with staff.

RIFAC strategic plan is being drafted. A look at trends on health and wellness clubs is being evaluated to apply to RIFAC. It has been very busy and the facility is back up to pre-Covid-19 numbers and possibly exceeded. The strategic plan is being applied to RIFAC and then will be made for other facilities as well. Fred asked if cleanliness was addressed. It has been covered with staff and also have volunteer groups that come in and do extra cleaning. Nikki has created a task list for staff. A new process has been implemented for the preschool area in that access is now closed off due to there being three classrooms and dedicated restrooms. This area will eventually have a more permanent wall/door solution to prevent people from walking through that hallway. This is for protection and security of the preschool students and also to have control points to ensure members are scanning and for fee collection of services. There has been a major increase in guest passes and pickleball since implementing this along with it becoming much busier as well. The facility is now seven days a week year round with extended building hours and pool hours. Patrons are quite happy with the changes. Montana has updated the private swim lesson process so the queue is getting caught up finally after a long hiatus.

Tree removal is undergoing at the golf courses. Bids are out for the top dress and blowers at Saukie. The lease for the golf equipment will be ending this year so a look over to choose what will be turned in is being evaluated.

Pete and Dan are working on the sports sponsorships. It is going very well with all sold out in the first week. Golf tee sponsorships are almost sold out. Carrie will be meeting with managers for each facility for their program and marketing plans. Basketball starts this weekend.

David is cleaning out and organizing the sheds at Douglas and Complex. All maintenance equipment is being serviced. Marc is working on the calendar boxes. Several shipments were damaged and so the amount are low this year which will impact the ability to do full plants for the calendar. Alternate plans are being worked on.

9. New Business

ARPA Project RFP’s Update. RIFAC will be getting locker upgrades in addition to some other areas potentially. Denkmann Park will be getting a variety of updates as it receives a lot of use from the immigrant population there.

Special Event Application – Chalk Art Fest

Mr. McEvoy motioned to approve the Chalk Art Fest as listed per staff recommendation. Mr. Foley seconded. All said yes.

Special Event Application – Fenneran Calamari Wedding

Mr. Foley motioned to approve the event based on staff recommendation. Mr. Anderson seconded. All said yes.

The 2022 Executive Summary was presented. Thank you to Carrie Roelf for the putting it together with the graphics. This will be used to gain direction from the council as well when one on one interviews are given. The council acknowledges that there hasn’t been any increase in funding to match the inflation rate. Fred asked about getting the executive summary broadcast on TV. Bill asked when this will go in front of council. March is the goal.

10. Other Business

Already discussed in the Director and Assistant Director notes.

11. Items Not on the Agenda

Thank you to Paul Hansen for donating time to being Santa for department. Motion to adjourn by Mr. Foley. Mr. McEvoy. All voted yes.

The meeting adjourned at 6:16 pm.

https://www.rigov.org/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_01172023-1090