Summary
- Seth Rogers, the new special projects coordinator, attended the meeting.
- Seth, Vonda, and Jon completed the Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for the Oak Ridge Outdoor Aquatic Complex Renovation Engineering and Design Services.
- Jon distributed hard copies of the RFQ for review by the board members, requesting feedback by November 10.
- The budget for the project is set at $125,000 for the current fiscal year, with the expectation that unspent funds will roll over.
- A $5,000,000 request has been made in the Capital Improvement Program (CIP) for the project
Full Text
Minutes of the Recreation and Parks Advisory Board Meeting
November 3, 2022 Regular Meeting
The November 3, 2022 meeting of the Recreation and Parks Advisory Board was convened at 7:07 pm in the Oak Ridge Recreation Center Social Room with Chairman Jake Greear presiding.
Roll Call
- Present: Mark Cantrell, Jake Greear, Alissa Jones, Kelly Mccampbell, Melissa McMahan, Dan Robbins, Michelle Thornton
- Absent: Chris Melhorn
- Also Present: Jon Hetrick, Recreation & Parks Director, staff liaison
Approval of the October 13, 2022 Meeting Minutes
The October 13, 2022 meeting minutes were approved with no changes.
Unfinished Business
- None to report
New Business
- None at this time
Board Work Plan
Oak Ridge Swimming Pool:
- Seth Rogers, new special projects coordinator attended meeting; he, Vonda and Jon met to finish the RFQ that was distributed
- Jon distributed hard copy of the RFQ for the Oak Ridge Outdoor Aquatic Complex Renovation Engineering and Design Services
- Board is to review and if you have comments or opinions, send to Jon; all information should be discussed via board meeting
- If you have input, please do that no later than 11.10
- Any large items, please advise to Jon quickly given the turnaround time for this request
- Budget is $125,000.00 for this fiscal year; no contract will be in place until probably March. It is not expected that we would spend all of those funds and it’s anticipated that the funds would roll over
- Currently have a $5,000,000.00 request in the CIP
- Currently have a bid for $93k that is going before council to resurface the indoor pool
- Typically resurfaced every 16 years, going on 20 now so definitely a need to get this completed
Capital Improvement Program:
- Nothing for the board to act on at this time
- Have not received a calendar as of yet
Greenway System:
- North Boundary Greenway
- No update at this time
- Master Plan
- No update at this time
- North Ridge Greenway discussion
- Michelle had some handouts for the board, including history of the greenway
- Open Space discussion
- Last page of the handout referenced above
- Discussion on if the board should consider making recommendations on city policy when it comes to donated land
Parks & Recreation Stewardship, Maintenance and Trail Development:
- Achievement award discussion for presentation during the tree lighting ceremony
- Nominees:
- Pat Postma
- Steve Oliphant
- Brad Spears
- Tracy Crossno
- Modifying to proceed with two versus the three from prior years
- Pat Postma and Brad Spears are the two recipients for this year
- Melissa will order these
- Jon will determine a location for the perpetual plaque
- Melissa will follow up
Secondary Objectives:
- Community Events:
- Tree lighting ceremony to be held Thursday 12.1
- Will start out at tree lighting then will transition into the pavilion
- Melissa will check with Y12 FCU to see if they will be willing to sponsor the tree lighting event
- December 3rd will host Breakfast with Santa
- Good turnout for the Halloween event
- Rails to Trails
- No update at this time
- Conference Center Update
- Awarded a contract for the water treatment plant; came in significantly over budget
- Conference center and a few other projects are potentially on hold
- Power Station near Horizon Center
- Michelle will get an update for next board meeting
- Melton Lake Park Greenway Bridge Support
- Public forum was well attended; good feedback from the community
- Second forum will be online, tentatively proposed for Friday 11.18
- Jon should get info this week to push out on the city website to publicize
- Peace Bell
- No update at this time
- Disc Golf
- Disc Golf association proposed a realignment of the course, turning 27-hole course into 18 holes
- Will have much better flow, be safer, and more effective
- Association is funding all of the work
- Course near Carl Yearwood is a smaller course, 9 holes
- Professional Disc Golf association being held next weekend
- Blueways
- Michelle provided handouts for the board
- Moving along slowly, contact with TVA regarding potential campsites that could be made available along the blueway
Appearance and Citizen Comments
- Les Hook – EQAB board
- Interest in Rails to Trails due to where he lives
- Member of Rails to Trails Conservancy
- Question regarding any state representative that would be available to help move this along
- Jon advised that he had talked to city manager regarding stumbling blocks that we’ve encountered for any guidance there
- Encourage any trails built in the future to be wider for larger bikes, passing and navigating trails
- Disc golf question regarding any new plantings
- None at this time; vegetation has increased since the golf course transitioned to disc golf so the course looks very different now
Updates and Observations (Non-Action Items)
- Dan shared that the League of Women voters held candidate forums at Roane State
- Following week was the Oak Ridge city council forum
- Both were well attended
Director’s Report:
- Offer out for manager of the Recreation and Parks facility
- Hope to be in place in December
Future Agenda Items:
- None at this time
The meeting was adjourned at 8:14 PM. The next meeting will be Thursday, December 8th.
