PARAB Minutes 09/21/2022September 21, 2022
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MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE
PARKS & RECREATION ADVISORY BOARD
Naples, Florida, .September 21, 2022
LET IT BE REMEMBERED, the Collier County Parks and Recreation Advisory
Board inand for the County of Collier, having conducted business herein, met on
this date at 2 P.M. in REGULAR SESSION at North Collier Regional Park
Administration Building, 15000 Livingston Road, Naples, Florida, with the
following members present:
CHAIRMAN: Edward "Ski" Olesky
VICE CHAIR: Joshua Fruth
Paul DeMarco
Rebecca Gibson-Laemel
Kristina Heuser (excused)
Lee Dixon (excused)
Jessica Bergel
Donna Fiala (excused)
ALSO PRESENT: Miguel Rojas Jr., Admin. Assistant, Parks & Recreation
Olema Edwards, Interim Parks Director
Brian Hodgson, Public Utilities Department
Jim Morton, Public Utilities Department
Chris Harmon, Region 1 Parks Manager
Dayne Atkinson, Principal Project Manager, Public Services
Kyle Pryce, Supervisor, Immokalee Parks Programs
David Michel, Interim,Region 4 Parks Manager
Aaron Hopkins, Region 2 Parks Manager
Randi Hopkins, Interim Region 3 Parks Manager
James Hanrahan, Interim Region 5 Parks Manager
Christina Carson, Senior Park Ranger
Eric Short, Interim Supervisor, Park Rangers
Summer Araque, Supervisor, Conservation Collier
Derrick "Rick" Garby, Superintendent, Parks & Recreation
Jeanine McPherson, Operations Analyst, Parks & Recreation
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Any persons in need of a verbatim record of the meeting may request a copy of the Zoom recording and
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PowerPoint presentations from the Collier County Parks & Recreation Department. c
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I.
Call to Order
Chairman Olesky called the meeting to order at 2 p.m. A quorum of five was established.
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II.
Pledge of Allegiance and Invocation
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The Pledge of Allegiance was recited and an invocation/moment of silence was observed.
III.
Approval of Agenda
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Ms. Gibson-Laemel moved to approve the agenda. Second by Ms. Bergel Tile motion passed
unanimously, 5-0.
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IV.
Previous Meeting Minutes
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Ms. Gibson-Laemel said the minutes were verb detailed and asked if minutes for other County
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advisory boards were this detailed.
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Ms. Edwards said she'd look into that.
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Ms. Gibson-Laemel moved to approve the August 17, 2022, meeting minutes. Ms. Heuser seconded
it. The motion passed unanimously, 5-0.
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V.
Public/Board Comments
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(None)
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VI.
Capital Projects Update [Brian Hodgson, Jim Morton, Dayne Atkinson]
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Mn Hodgson gave a PowerPoint presentation about the East Naples Welcome Center and Big Corkscrew Island N
Regional Park
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Chairman Olesky asked if he had a completion date for BCIRP.
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Mr. Hodgson said the final hang up is the aquatic center due to the amount of concrete. That's supposed to start
next week with ASTRA onsite and we'114source it from wherever we can. We anticipated October.
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Mr. Morton provided a PowerPoint presentation on Ann Chairman Olesky Park erosion control. N
Chairman Olesky asked about the rip rap. From what he understood, the Indians got involved with
the Army Corps of Engineers due to digging but check with them about it.
Mr. Morton said it was an extensive file and he hadn't heard about that, but will check.
A discussion ensued and the following points were made:
• There was concern that construction could affect rides there.
• Can work be done in phases?
• TDC money is available, about $180,000.
• The work will go out to bid in three or four months.
• Work involves digging/excavating, putting fabric down, stabilization and another cover.
• This began four years ago, so plans may have to. be changed.
• If so, we will have to meet with engineers and designers to see if there are other options.
Mr. Atkinson gave a PowerPoint presentation on Sun-n-Fun Lagoon, Golden Gate Community Park and
Immokalee Sports Complex.
A discussion ensued and the following points were made:
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• The turf and stormwater work will be done simultaneously in Immokalee.
• They're raising the fields.
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• Work is ahead of schedule.
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• A more solid timeline will be known in October.
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• Immokalee residents will lose fields for more than a year; alternatives are being considered.
• Airport Park, softball fields and others may be used.
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• Parks & Rec staff are in contact with Pop Warner and the Cobras to find a solution.
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• The County is looking to purchase more property in Immokalee.
• They need to build a fitness center; current fitness center hours were extended to handle the flow.
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• New equipment would be needed.
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• Perhaps some of the $180,000 in TDC funds could be used.
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• Corkscrew would not be a good alternative because it's a small, tight -knit community.
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• The County has roving lifeguards so they have a 360-degree view of all pools and features. Part of their
duty is to have a constant view.
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• A pool feature will be removed to create a better view for lifeguards.
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VIL Parks & Recreation Reporting Structure
Ms. Edwards reported that.
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• She asked to reorganize the regions because they have four, while they have five
commissioners.
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• Regions are set up by geographic location, except Region 1, beaches, water and boat ramps.
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• Region I Parks Manager will be Chris Harmon, the Park Ranger supervisor. He'll cover
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beaches and water, Freedom Park and sea turtles.
• Region 2 is now Aaron Hopkins, who will cover Golden Gate Community Park, Golden Gate Community
Center, adaptive -inclusive recreation and Max Hasse Community park.
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• There's some overlapping in commissioner districts because they're broken up, but when we're driving to
park, locations, they are geographically closer together.
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• Region 3 is still Randi Hopkins, who covers all of Immokalee and Corkscrew Island.
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• Region 4 interim manager is David Michel. His current title is athletic supervisor for North Collier, but he
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will now oversee all of North Collier, Veterans and Vineyards.
• Region 5 will be James Hanrahan, who used to be the recreation supervisor. He will now be overseeing
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Eagle Lakes Community Park, East Naples Community Park and Sugden Regional Park.
• The new directory covers everything you need to know about the parks system, including office and
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cellphone numbers and email addresses, the City of Naples, Everglades City, Marco Island and state parks.
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• Miguel put the directory together.
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Ms. Gibson-Laemel said the reorganization was a great idea and makes sense. When will your interim
title be removed?
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Ms. Edwards said many people now have interim titles.
VIII. Manager Updates
Region I [Chris Harmon]
A discussion ensued and the following points were made:
• They're waiting for a plan for the community center at Caxambas.
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• They have to reduce parking to get the TCO and gravel parking will be converted to grass parking.
• WiFi will be updated.
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• They're awaiting approval from the City of Marco Island on the improvements.
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Region 2 [Aaron Hopkins]
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A discussion ensued and the following points were made:
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• The Diggety Dog Festival with DAS won't feature adoptable dogs onsite, but there will be dogs there
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doing demonstrations.
• Information about DAS will be provided at the festival.
• Continuing education is offered to all Parks employees and they participate on a rotational basis, while
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managers must complete certain continuing education credits.
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Region 3 [Randi Hopkins]
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(No questions)
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Region 4 [David Michel]
(No questions)
Region 5 [James Hanrahan]
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A question was asked about the Legends events, but Mr. Hanrahan said nothing is scheduled and they have not
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received any applications.
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Operations Update [Jeanine McPherson]
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(No questions)
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Maintenance Update [Derrick Garby]
A discussion ensued and the following points were made:
• They lose lights everywhere, due to surges, lightning strikes, fuses, wiring, fixtures and other causes.
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• On some fields there are catwalks, but not here because they cost more.
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• We have good contracts, but they have to drive here and climb up poles, from 70-80 feet, to replace or fix
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light fixtures.
• There's so much water at Veterans Park now that it's difficult to do repairs.
• We're waiting for new tables.
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• The old tables can be used as scrap and reused, but they're usually discarded and go to a landfill.„
• The large dog area at Veteran's Park has a hose area without a drain and people are pouring water in there,
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which is causing erosion because people believe it's a drain.
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IX. New Business
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a. FRPA Conference
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Ms. Edwards detailed her experience at the FRPA and reported that.
• She was a mentor for the Abraham -Jones Leadership Academy and has been for the past two years.
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• She's been mentoring about 10 park professionals, helping them through business plans and working
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through issues, such as dealing with boards and commissions.
• She's part of the FRPA nominating committee, which means that she reviews applications and submits her
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recommendation for anyone nominated for a new office.
• The Parks Department is very involved with state of Florida Park and Recreation Association and is trying
to get more involved nationally with the National Recreation and Park Association.
• She urged everyone to get more involved with parks managers, to get to know them and build relationships
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because this is your leadership team and they're excited.
• We changed our mission statement: Our mission is to enrich lives of people that we serve.
• Changes can't be made overnight, but the board, staff, facilities, public utilities and capital management
teams all helped make improvements possible through your feedback.
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• If she doesn't get the permanent director position, she's fine with that because she's still part of a great
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team and is here to serve.
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Mr. Hanrahan reported:
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• He went to the FRPA as a participant of the Abraham -Jones Leadership Academy; Olema and Aaron
are grads.
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• He was part of a group of 40 who looked up to and admired their mentor, Olema.
• He came to the FRPA as a parks supervisor, but then became interim manager.
• He presented a business plan for North Collier Regional Park, the crown jewel.
• His main takeaway is that we're still relevant, very needed and necessary for the community
• We have the largest softball program in the area.
• We bring back what we learned at FRPA and apply it here.
Mr. Pryce reported.•
He learned about systematic, inventive thinking (thinking inside the box) and learned to apply it here,
such as dealing with budget cuts.
We need to keep it fresh, exciting and inventive.
We can equip our program leaders with that thinking.
A discussion ensued and the following points were made:
• Collier Parks staff have been to the state and national conferences.
• If we go to a national conference, we want to go when it's closer to home, so it's less costly and more
staff can participate.
• If the events provide a benefit to Collier County, we can justify going to NPRA.
• FRPA and NPRA are great conferences, allowing staff to interact and network with other areas' parks
employees, but the trip must be justified and bring value to the community.
• Being near a park adds 5-15% to a home's value and Collier County has state-of-the-art parks.
• Social media is tough for employees if there's negative feedback.
X. Director Highlights
(Submitted)
Xl. Adjournment
Next Meeting Dates:
Oct. 19, 2022, 2 p.m. (Big Corkscrew Island Regional Park)
Nov. 16, 2022, 2 p.m. (North Collier Regional Park)
There being no further business for the good of the County, the meeting was adjourned by order of
the Chair at 3:26 p.m.
These minutes were approved by the Board on
or as amended
Parks & Recreation Ad
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Board
(check one) as presented,
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