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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPksConservBd Minutes Feb 2016 ASSEMBLY The Parks Conservancy Board held its regular meeting on Tuesday, February 16, 2016 at 5:30pm in conference room 119, 230 Government Center Drive, Wilmington NC. Present: Jeremy Wilson (Chairman), Eric Blaesing, Faye Brock, Janeth Dill, Tori Jones, Richard Lawson, Anne Murray, Kelsie Obernuefemann, Aileen Sutton and Commissioner Rob Zapple. Absent: Melissa Collins, Beth Crookham and Jamie White. Staff: Tara Duckworth, Tanya Gurganious, Andy Johnson and Janine Powell. WELCOME AND APPROVAL OF MINUTES The meeting was called to order by Jeremy Wilson who asked if there were any corrections or revisions to the minutes of the January 19th meeting. No changes were noted and the following motion was presented: MOTION: Erick Blaesing MOVED; SECONDED by Tori Jones, that the minutes of the January 19, 2016 meeting be approved. Upon vote, the MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 1. Treasurer’s Report. Janeth shared that she is now using Quickbooks for the conservancy financials. The current account balance is $18,957. The account balance includes funds raised from the Fermental raffle ($658.50), additional Food Truck Rodeo income ($320) along with $15 from Plant an Azalea. Director’s Report. Tara Duckworth shared that the Northern Regional Park (Castle Hayne) is almost finished. A ribbon cutting is planned for March. A public meeting for the Master Plan will take place on Wednesday, March 16th, 6:00pm at the Executive Development Center. A statistically valid survey has been completed as well. Additionally, an open survey site (which asks citizens what they are looking for with regards to parks and open space) will be available on February 17th. Tara asked the board to share that information with everyone they can. GreenPlay, the company putting together the master plan, will have a draft recommendation in mid-April followed by a final recommendation in June. Hugh MacRae Park playground will be completely removed and a new all-inclusive one installed thanks to a $750,000 grant from Trillium. The playground will be finished by June; just in time for when school lets out for the summer. The playground that will be removed from Hugh MacRae will be relocated to Castle Hayne Park after some modifications. There will also be a full sized basketball court installed at Hugh MacRae in front of the baseball fields. One nice feature will be an adjustable goal which can be used for smaller kids. Additionally, the basketball courts at Roland Grise will be resurfaced. Ogden Skate Park. a. Progress Update. Tara provided a handout of the Ogden Skate Park budget. She also shared pictures of how the location looks currently. The goal is $303,677 and we have $265,462 committed currently. Hoping to get the remaining funds by March 7th. You can still can click and pledge on the Conservancy website site to donate. Lots of in-kind donations have been received from area businesses. We hope to build a snake run for phase II at the skatepark. The cost of that phase would be $146,000. b. Fundraising Update. Are we still going to do the silent auction? Anne Murray shared that we may not have enough at this point to run a whole auction as we want to have a greater appeal. Suggested we bundle items and do a raffle. We currently have a stand-up paddle board, two tickets to Thalian Hall, a one-year membership to the Wilmington Children’s Museum, 4 rounds of golf at PNCC, a restaurant gift certificate and a basket of wine. Jeremy asked everyone to make an effort to secure one item for the raffle/auction.  Committee Reports/Discussion of 2016 Plans a. Fundraising & Development. Jeremy suggested a subcommittee be formed to further discuss fundraising for the Food Truck Rodeo. (Sub-committee members: Jeremy Wilson, Faye Brock, Tori Jones, Aileen (Sutton and staff member Janine Powell). Jeremy also felt it makes sense to add additional perks to the sponsorship such as a free shelter rental or passes to Airlie Gardens. Janine will send out sponsorship information. Further discussion was had with regard to the Food Truck Rodeo. Suggestions were: Charge food trucks to be there? Ask for a minimum of $50 from each food truck. Include other trucks (i.e. clothing). Kelsie also suggested having someone at next event who can provide wildlife and fishing information. Eric shared a list of food trucks currently committed to attend the next event in April. b. Volunteer. Faye reminded everyone of the realtor event which will be held in April. She also shared that she talked to the bankers association and they may put together a similar volunteer event as well. First week of April is Plant an Azalea Week. There will be a kickoff event at Hugh MacRae Park. The Cape Fear Garden Club has provided funding to allow for improvements to flower beds around the lake. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, the following motion was presented: MOTION: Eric Blaesing MOVED; SECONDED by Faye Brock, that the meeting be adjourned. Upon vote, the MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. The meeting adjourned at 6:35pm. Respectfully submitted, Tanya Gurganious Administrative Coordinator -Please note that the above minutes are not a verbatim record of the New Hanover County Parks Conservancy Board meeting.