Park & Rec Board Packet - 10/13/2014 *AMENDED AGENDA
City of Muskego
PARKS & RECREATION BOARD
Monday, October 13, 2014
5:30 PM
Muskego City Hall, Aldermen’s Room
W182S8200 Racine Avenue, Muskego WI 53150
CALL TO ORDER
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
ROLL CALL
STATEMENT OF PUBLIC NOTICE
APPROVAL OF MINUTES—September 8, 2014
Discussion, update and possible action may be taken on any or all of the following agenda items:
COMMUNICATIONS
A. Personal Appearances
1. Rick Nelson—2014 Water Bugs Review
2. Mayor Kathy Chiaverotti/Attorney Jim Korom-Parks and Recreation Department Structure
B. Written Correspondence
1. Park Vandalism—Veterans Memorial Park
2. Park Vandalism—Moorland Park (9/29/14)
3. Old Town Hall Rental Waiver of Fees—Muskego Chamber of Commerce
UNFINISHED BUSINESS:
A. Boxhorn Warehouse
NEW BUSINESS:
A. Freedom Square Parking Lot Sign
*B. Accept Warriors donation for Kurth Park baseball field improvements
ALDERMAN’S REPORT
STATUS OF PROJECTS
Park Arthur—project update
DIRECTOR’S REPORT
A. Recreation
1. Winter/Spring Program Guide—new programming for 2015
2. Gleanings
3. Recreation Registration Customer Service Surveys
B. Parks
1. Horn/Veterans Park Surveys
OTHER BUSINESS
A. Wildflower Farms—parkland/trails
COMMUNICATIONS AND MISCELLANEOUS BUSINESS AS AUTHORIZED BY LAW
Announcements only—no discussion/no action
Next Meeting Date— November 10
ADJOURNMENT
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PLEASE NOTE: It is possible that members of and possibly a quorum of members of other governmental bodies of the
municipality may be in attendance at the above-stated meeting to gather information; no action will be taken by any
governmental body at the above-stated meeting other than the governmental body specifically referred to above in this notice.
Also, upon reasonable notice, efforts will be made to accommodate the needs of disabled individuals through appropriate aids
and services. For additional information or to request this service, contact Muskego City Hall, 262-679-4100
City of Muskego
PARKS & RECREATION BOARD
Monday, September 8, 2014
Subject to Approval
Board President Whipple called the monthly meeting of the Parks and Recreation Board (Board), City of Muskego, to order
at 5:36 p.m.
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
Those present recited the Pledge of Allegiance.
The meeting notice was posted in accordance with the Open Meeting Law on September 4, 2014.
Present: Ald. Borgman, Mr. Brett Hyde (excused at 5:51 p.m.), Mr. Jerald Hulbert, Mr. “Butch LeDoux, Mr. Paul Peardon,
Mr. Toby Whipple and Director Anderson.
Excused: Mrs. Kelly Koble
GUEST: Ald. Kubacki
APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
August 11 Minutes
Ald. Borgman moved to approve the minutes of the August 11 meeting, seconded by Mr. Hulbert. Upon a voice
vote, the motion to approve carried.
Communications:
OTH Rental, partial waiver of fees requested
Director Anderson presented Mrs. Rinka’s request for waiver of additional two hours rental fee of the Old Town Hall. She is
renting the hall for her son’s Boy Scout Court of Honor ceremony. His project was putting in the paver walkway between the
Wollman House and Mill Valley School House. Mr. LeDoux moved to approve and Mr. Hulbert seconded the request.
Upon a voice vote, the motion carried.
Moorland Park Vandalism
Director Anderson reported on the vandalism at Moorland Park consisted of graffiti. It was reported by staff to the police.
Boxhorn Warehouse Garage Door
Board members reviewed the cost quote to repair the damage caused by a vehicle backing into the Boxhorn warehouse
door. It will be approximately $1000 and will be submitted to the city’s insurance company.
NEW BUSINESS:
Discuss Chapter 26 (529) Ordinance Draft
Board members were in receipt of the Chapter 26, Parks and Recreation Regulations, document for the purpose of
reviewing the proposed changes to update the ordinance. Director Anderson went over the changes and the rationale for
incorporating into the ordinance. He advised the Board that the Conservation Commission refers to this ordinance as the
Conservation Commission does not have one of its own; therefore, he has asked them to review and submit any changes
relative to their conservation lands for inclusion in this ordinance. Once these are received, he will be bringing the total
revised document before the Board for their input and approval.
Minutes, Parks & Recreation Board, September 8, 2014, page 2
ALDERMAN’S REPORT: Ald. Borgman reported that the capital budget was still being discussed by the Council.
STATUS OF PROJECTS:
Park Arthur
Some minor work on the building to be addressed yet. Need to regrade the east portion past the pavilion. There are water
drainage issues by the trail. They will be correcting these this month. Equestrian trail is being used. Bob completed the
gates, dug out some stumps and branches and mowed the grass into the sledding hill area.
Water Bugs—August Update
Police reported during the month of August, there were no complaints. They did compliance checks on August 6 and 27
and found no issues to report.
DIRECTOR’S REPORT:
Active Net Recreation Registration Software
Not receiving a satisfactory response from Active Net on reduction of fees, staff is looking into other software companies
and setting up some demos to see if they can meet the current department parameters on registration. The department
needs to make a recommendation next year and start the budgeting process with implementation of the software in 2016.
2010 Capital Budget Update
Parks capital budget items (truck and park headquarters improvements) were approved with the exception of the tuck
pointing for the parks building. Tuck pointing will be put off until 2019. Mr. Hulbert gave some historical information on the
current tuck pointing which has lasted extremely well. Park Arthur items (east trail, bleachers, dugout) were approved. Horn
building removal was approved. Pickle ball court approved. Trails were not approved. Director Anderson thought there
would still be more discussion on trails and thought the OO trail will be discussed on Tuesday.
Mr. Hulbert questioned the status of the Bluhm project. Director Anderson shared that an inquiry had been made if
LAWCON funds had been used in the development of the park. Research revealed that they had. The project is now on
hold until DNR approval is received for a land use permit and then Council approval.
Idle Isle Surveys
Results of the summer surveys of Idle Isle Park were reviewed. There were 47 respondents with 98% rating the park as
excellent and good. Respondents expressed that more parking is needed and the goose droppings need to be cleaned up.
Of the boat rinse station, 86% indicated they would use it. The department surveys Idle Isle every year along with two other
selected parks. This year, Horn and Veterans were also surveyed and these will be presented next month. Next year will be
the second year of surveying and it should be interesting to see the evaluations of the parks in the second year after
improvements have been made.
OTHER BUSINESS
COMMUNICATIONS & MISCELLANEOUS BUSINESS
Ald. Borgman mentioned another fund-raising event for the senior taxi; a dinner event on Friday, October 17, at the
Regency.
Director Anderson shared that the school district is requesting that the city pay 40% ($20,000) of the cost to repave the
tennis courts at the high school. The Common Council will be discussing this on Tuesday. He also shared that the Freedom
Square fees had been paid. Next month the Board should receive a draft of the parking lot agreement.
Minutes, Parks & Recreation Board, September 8, 2014, page 3
Next meeting date is October 13.
ADJOURNMENT - There being no further business, Mr. Hulbert moved for adjournment at 6:18 p.m. Mr. Peardon
seconded. Motion carried.
Stella Dunahee, CPS
Recording Secretary
Pc: Board Members, Craig Anderson; email: Peter Theis, Tammy Dunn; posted: www.cityofmuskego.org
MUSKEGO WARRIORS YOUTH BASEBALL
P. O. Box 131 Muskego WI, 53150
(414) 690-9711 jdp@paceelectricinc.com
October 8, 2014
Muskego Park and Recreation
W182 S8200 Racine Ave.
Muskego, WI 53150
Mr. Craig Anderson,
Sir,
The Muskego Warriors is requesting your permission to make improvements to Kurth Park. In
return for the work, we are requesting you extend our rights to Kurth Park to 2021.
Improvements to the field include over seeding the infield arc, re-grade infield, and add baseball
dirt mix and Turface to the infield. One quote is attached and we are in the process of getting
additional quote.
Thank you for working with the Muskego Warrior Youth Baseball organization and allowing us
the opportunity to improve Kurth Park.
Please call with any questions.
Thank you
Sincerely,
James D. Prusinski
James D. Prusinski
Muskego Warriors Youth Baseball – President
Muskego Parks and recreation dePartMent
GlEAnInGS
Volume 16 Issue 2
G lea nin gs is m ean t to i n fo rm t he
Alderpersons, Mayor, Department Heads and
Parks and Recreation Board Members to the
workings of the department and issues we need
help/support on that affect our department.
This newsletter will be issued two times per
year; May & September. We hope you enjoy
receiving this information. Thank you for your
continued support for Parks & Recreation.
KUDOS-DANCAS-THANKS
Our department would like to recognize and thank the
following department staff for their efforts over the
past 4 months:
At the top of our list is the Department of Public
Works staff for their installation of culverts in Park
Arthur Park and festival grounds restoration. One cul-
vert was installed in a swale so park users can safely
pass from the north ball fields to the pavilion. The sec-
ond culvert was placed to allow horses to safely pass a
low-lying, wet area on the east side of the equestrian
trail. Thanks guys!
C o n tinued thanks go o u t to the I n formation
Technology department staff for their assistance with
PCI compliance for credit card use. Also, thanks for
the work performed on researching the city-wide secu-
rity camera initiative that included parks.
We would also like to thank the Engineering staff for
all the work done with Park Arthur East/West planning
and follow-thru. Also, thanks for the
paving projects within the parks and for
recreation trails.
NEW RECREATiON REGiSTRATiON
SOfT WARE
Our current CLASS registration software will no
longer have annual technical support after November
30, 2017. Support after this date would be provided on
a “time and materials” rate. Those rates will be deter-
mined and communicated nearer to this date. CLASS
is moving to another registration software program.
This new, scalable, cloud based platform is called
Active Net.
We are in the process of finding out what other recre-
ation registration software programs are out there and
we will start putting together a list of needs/questions
for when we have software demonstrations. The nice
thing is we have time to do our due diligence. We will
keep everyone posted going into 2015.
PARKS & REC iNQUiRiES
from the main office, citizens ask us ....
Gentleman called recently regarding tax bill stating
“the only thing you don’t take is credit cards”...
referred to the treasurer.
Gentleman asked for information on the Badertscher
site...referred to Tom Zagar.
Multiple calls received on parade route...referred to
Muskegofest Web Site.
Throughout the summer, calls received on the
Muskego County Park camp sites....referred to county
at 262-549-7801.
AT&T called for the person handling the business
account...referred to IT Dept.
Gentleman living along Woods Road called asking
for someone to come out and check on what he
thought was a turtle’s domain or some thing’s domain
before he chopped it up...referred to UW Extension
Service Waukesha.
Gentleman questioned if the high school pool was
available to the public....referred to SWAT web site
and gave him the open swim times posted there.
Park Arthur Diamond w/Archery
HOW DiD WE DO THiS PAST SUMMER
Summer was a very busy time of year for us. We hada record number of participants in our summer play-ground program and our sports camps were also verysuccessful. Baseball was huge this year but was
played in a much shorter period of time due to thespring and summer wet/cool weather.
Our department served 3,294 participants this summer.Last year was our best summer ever and we weredown this year from that number. Some reasons forthis decrease is some instructors imposed a hard capfor maximum numbers due to available instructors
(Mikro Soccer) or new class locations that limited thenumber of participants (Speed and Strength classes,GAP playground). We also had some instructors notoffering classes this past summer but planning ondoing so for next year (MHS boys’ basketball camps,cake decorating, dance). We are already seeing partic-
ipant numbers increase thru the end of this year.
We saw the largest ever annual increase of games forour baseball fields. Last year, we had 492 practicesand 998 games and this year we had 672 and 1,157respectively. This is a difference of 180 more prac-tices and 159 more games! The increase in practicesand games is due to the addition of Park Arthur fields
and number of teams. Most fields were released inmid-April this year. All leagues/age groups saw anincrease in participation and are expecting more par-ticipants/teams as the years continue. Continuedthanks to the city, Muskego Warriors, and MuskegoAthletic Association, the four new fields at Park
Arthur and continued improvements really met thebaseball/softball field needs of the community.
The new class cancellation ratio for summer classeswas 29% (compared to 18% last summer). We offered14 new programs (compared to 11 last year) and 4were cancelled (compared to 2 last year). A 70% newclass cancellation ratio is the benchmark and we are
still lower than the benchmark. This still means thatMuskego residents desire more recreation programs.
Idle Isle participant numbers were up this year whencompared to last year because of the very nice week-end weather we experienced in 2014. Idle Isle wasextremely busy throughout the day and evening. Wehad 4,190 (59% from Muskego) visitors this summer
compared with 3,813 visitors last year. Last year,
usage by Muskego residents was 61%. These parkparticipant numbers are only kept track of when we arestaffed at the park on weekends.
fALL HiGHLiGHTS
This fall brings us one of the biggest changes we have
had in many years. With the loss of the Horn Park
building, we will be holding all of our preschool edu-
cational classes in our new preschool room located in
the lower level of Muskego City Hall. This is a posi-
tive change as it allows for us to house all of our pre-
school equipment, materials and supplies in one loca-
tion and provides a larger classroom for the teachers to
work. We, of course, will still be utilizing the schools
in Muskego to provide our normal schedule of athlet-
ic classes like Lil’ Brewers-Bucks-Packers, to hold our
gymnastics programs at Bay Lane, to provide adult
league basketball at the high school, and using the
cafeteria at Lake Denoon Middle School for popular
ballroom dance class. We will again also be offering
our club basketball program for boys and girls in
grades 4-8 that will use the school gyms for practices.
We have added some new programs as well like
Beginning Francais for adults, CPR/AED and Sports
First Aid classes, Small Engine Basics and a
Beginning Paracord Project class.
As you may notice, one of our more popular program-
ming areas was not included in the fall guide. After
teaching cake decorating classes with us the past few
years, we lost our instructor, April Kovara, when she
moved out of state. Because these classes are very
popular, we are on the hunt for a new instructor so that
we can provide classes in the winter/spring.
We are also making a change to our Men’s Wednesday
Basketball League program. After decline in the num-
ber of teams participating the past few years, we are
revamping the program to gather more interest in the
league. We hope to see an increase in participation in
this league and also a move towards more adult league
enrollment in other sports as well.
Moorland Park Playground
Cake Decorating
PARK SURvEyS
Every year, we survey residents for customer satisfac-
tion living in the area of two parks and then survey
park users enjoying Idle Isle Park. This year, the parks
surveyed were Horn Park, Veterans Memorial Park,
and, of course, Idle Isle Park. Notable findings from
the completed surveys were:
Horn Park
•83% rated the park as excellent or good (11 respon-
dents)
•Noted areas to improve include expanding play-
ground area, spring run-off is excessive, walking trail,
and restrooms could use updating.
Plans to address the improvment areas include a city
project that has already resolved the water issue and
paving the trail area immediately adjacent to the paved
road into Horn Park and then Racine Avenue. This has
already helped immensely. The small playground area
was originally installed for the young-aged children’s
programming. The restrooms are ADA compliant and
are built for one user at a time.
Veterans Memorial Park
•82% rated the park as excellent or good (11 respon-
dents)
•Noted areas to improve include plowing the walking
trail along Pioneer Drive, restrooms, walking trail
connecting the park to Horn Park and Muskego
Settlement, and then complaints regarding the
Muskego Festival.
Plans to address the improvement areas include seeing
what can be done to improve the trail section that con-
nects the park and settlement area. We will also be
looking at what can be done with our summer camp
staff with monitoring the bathroom use and cleanli-
ness.
Idle Isle Park
•98% rated the park as excellent or good (47 respon-
dents)
•86% indicated they would use a boat rinse station, if
it was provided
•Noted areas to improve include seaweed removal
from beach area, more parking, and goose droppings.
Plans to address the improvement areas include having
on-going discussions with the LMLD who helps us
clean weeds and place on weed conveyor. Twenty
additional parking stalls were installed with no future
expansion of vehicle or trailer parking in the future.
We have requested and have received approval for a
grant extension to participate in the goose abatement
program. Goose droppings were less this year due to
reduced numbers but there were still small numbers of
geese present in the park
In 2015, Idle Isle Park and two additional parks will
be having customer surveys done. Our goal is to
evaluate all parks and then start comparing improve-
ments made and the survey results to the benchmark
surveys for each park.
PARK ARTHUR EAST
Park Arthur East has a few punch list items left with
one being the re-grading of low areas in the eastern
section of park land adjacent to the pavilion to fix
drainage issues. The baseball outfields will have some
low areas filled with topsoil, along with being re-seed-
ed, and aerated to help promote grass growth for the
2015 season. This minor work in the outfield areas of
the baseball field will be performed early this fall.
The current Park Arthur West project is on hold
because the Muskego Norway School District
(MNSD) is positively moving forward to make syn-
thetic turf improvements to the football and soccer
field areas and concession/bathroom building. The
city may be able to partner with these improvement
costs in exchange for the usage by the city groups.
This would be a similar situation to the partnership that
was established when the baseball/soccer fields were
installed. If this were to happen, this would be a
“win/win” situation for the city, MNSD, and the two
user groups. It appears as though everyone is headed
in the right direction, together. Let’s keep our fingers
crossed…..
GAP Carnival
GAP Sand Modeling
TESTiMONiALS
What did you like the most?
Diggin’ Up Dinosaurs Preschool Camp –
My daughter loves it. I love all the take home items to
discuss. I love all of the options you offer-keep it up!!
I would have loved to enroll her in even more.
Introduction to Soccer-
Kudos to Katie. She was a wonderful teacher and very
fun. She also learned every kids name. Great teacher.
Wiggle Worms –
Organized. The instructor to child ratio, specific gym-
nastics skills taught at an age appropriate level and in
a fun way.
Smart Moves –
Love the teacher, she is great with my daughter.
Micro-soccer
Barbeque Class
RECREATiON PROGRAM iNvENTORy
About every 4-5 years, we take an in depth inventory
of the type of recreation programs we are offering and
what the trends are and programming areas that are
lacking from our diversity of offerings. We started
this initial reflection in August, and have come up
with some wonderful programming areas to explore
and offer in 2015. More analysis will be done thru
this year and next.
With census tracking showing we are getting to be an
older community, senior programs need to be evaluat-
ed. It is our thought to start up a senior’s committee
with the sole purpose of trying to find out what pro-
grams/services the senior population would like to see
offered. Pickleball will definitely need to be on the
table as we continue to hear from more, older adults
about adding these facilities to our parks.
The next area of programming to address is the
expansion of our fitness programming for all ages;
teens to mature adults. More and more of our fitness
programs have been cancelled due to low numbers.
The only fitness program going strong is Zumba.
There are opportunities for growth in this program
area but this area is very trend orientated.
Another programming area is to provide a fall recre-
ational soccer league. The city currently has the
Muskego Kickers who offer great soccer leagues.
This league would be 100% Muskego based teams
playing each other and playing all games in Muskego,
but only in the fall for about 6-7 weeks. We would
partner with the Muskego Kickers and in fact, we
have already started this discussion and they are inter-
ested in partnering with us. We may try in the fall of
2015, if facilities can accommodate this program
offering.
This late fall and early winter, we are also going to
have discussions with the appropriate school district
staff about trying to use additional facility space like
an art room, kitchen room, actual classroom, and then
possible use of gym space for soccer/volleyball camps
in the fall/winter.
Additional programs that are already planned to be
offered this next year will be expanded softball offer-
ings for co-ed leagues, dodgeball leagues, kick-ball
leagues at Park Arthur fields, very popular group,
one-time painting classes for all ages, varied Yoga
classes, and life coaching/enrichment workshops.
Over the next couple of years, it will be an excitingtime for residents participating in city offered recre-ation programs.
Fishing Clinic