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PARAB Minutes 08/21/2024August 21, 2024 MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE PARKS & RECREATION ADVISORY BOARD Naples, Florida August 21, 2024 LET IT BE REMEMBERED, the Collier County Parks & Recreation Advisory Board, in and 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, 15000 Livingston Road, Naples, with the following members present: CHAIRMAN: Edward "Ski" Olesky VICE CHAIR: Joshua Fruth Jessica Bergel Lee Dixon Rebecca Gibson-Laemel Kristina Heuser Eric Kelly Donna Fiala (excused/alternate) ALSO PRESENT: James Hanrahan, Interim Director, Parks & Recreation Miguel Rojas Jr., Admin. Support Specialist II, Parks & Rec Kory Swinderman, Program Spvr., Golden Gate Community Park Monica Cummings, Supervisor, Adaptive Inclusive Recreation Randi Swinderman, Region 4 Parks Manager Said Gomez, Region 3 Parks Manager Sidney Kittila, Region 2 Parks Manager Page 127 of 201 August 21, 2024 Anyone who needs a verbatim record of the meeting may request a copy of the recording and PowerPoint presentations from the Collier County Parks & Recreation Department. I. Call to Order Chairman Olesky called the meeting to order at 2 p.m. a. Welcome by the Director Mr. Hanrahan noted no residents were in the audience so he didn't read the Parks & Recreation mission statement. b. Roll Call The roll call was taken. c. Verification of Quorum A quorum of seven was established. H. Pledge of Allegiance and Invocation The board recited the Pledge of Allegiance and observed an invocation/moment of silence. M. Approval of the Agenda (No changes) Ms. Laemel made a motion to approve the agenda. Ms. Heuser seconded it. The motion passed unanimously, 7-0. IV. Approval of Previous Meeting Minutes Ms. Laemel made a motion to approve the July 17, 2024, meeting minutes. Vice Chair Fruth seconded it. The motion passed unanimously, 7-0. V. Introduction to Golden Gate Community Park Mr. Hanrahan said this meeting was supposed to be at Golden Gate Community Park, but there was an issue in the Adaptive Inclusive Recreation (AIR) building that required work. The two supervisors who prepared the presentation will introduce you to Golden Gate Community Park and what they do. Golden Gate Community Parks supervisor Kory Swinderman detailed a PowerPoint presentation: • The park is located at 3300 Santa Barbara Blvd. • His team is: Samantha Hernandez, recreation program leader II aquatics; Edgar Zurita, fitness program leader; Sean Tegeder, athletics program leader; John Logan, aquatics program leader; park assistant Diana Cruz, who mainly helps out at the front desk; park assistant Billy McNeese, who works mainly in fitness; and Nathaly Higa, our customer service specialist II, who oversees all front desk operations and all park assistants. • Programs are aquatics, including Red Cross swim lessons for parents, children, preschoolers and youth, and adult swim lessons, 13 sessions year-round. 2 Page 128 of 201 August 21, 2024 • The pool is always busy and staff does a great job. • We offer a junior lifeguard camp to prepare people to become Iifeguards for the county and other organizations. • Sam Hernandez spearheads swim lessons, partnering with the Drowning Prevention Coalition, Grace Place and some public schools. We offer 10-15 a year and have been doing it for about four years. • He heads Pee Wee basketball and has been doing that for about four years, offering about five six -week classes a year, It's his passion. • Sean Tegeder heads Pee Wee soccer, U8 and U12 (under age 8 and under age 12), which offers six -week classes about five times yearly, usually two in the fall, two in winter and one in the summer. • We consistently have two to three weeks off between sessions. • We just started offering Friday night Pee Wee baseball clinics, U9 and U12, from 5-8 p.m. • One of our sports organizations, under a Youth Sports Facility Agreement (YSFA), takes up most of our fields in the fall and winter, with 100-125 participants yearly. • Senior softball is offered Tuesdays and Thursdays, starting in October to December and February through April or May. • Fitness classes include yoga on Mondays and Wednesdays from 11:30 a.m. to about 12:45 p.m. This summer, they're also offered on Thursdays. • We started a new a new class called Youth Agility, U9 and U12, with Edgar. There are five six -week sessions. We're trying to promote them to get people interested. • Events include the underwater Easter egg hunt, which we've been doing for about five years. We've now partnered with Eagle Lakes Park staff and offer the egg hunt on land and water. • We have a Pool Fiesta, usually in May, that attracts 100-200 participants. Ms. Laemel asked whether the swim lessons are offered after school, Saturdays or summers. Mr. Swinderman said kids come during the week after school. Ms. Laemel said it's good they're offering that. Mr. Swinderman said we've been doing that and other facilities also offer it. Mr. Swinderman continued his presentation: • Amenities include one soccer field, one baseball field, one Little League field, two softball fields. They're primarily used by our programs, rentals and Little League. • We have four basketball courts. • We have four courts each for tennis, racquetball and shuffleboard. Those were all recently redone and modified. • One kiddie pool was redone about two years ago, so it was renovated and has two new slides, which are down now but we're working on getting them back up. We have one main pool. • We have a dog park divided into two areas, small and large dogs. They're upgrading it now to put in sod and cement for benches and other areas. • We have one boat ramp, one playground and three pavilions. One pavilion is Page 129 of 201 August 21, 2024 within the pool area and two are on the outskirts of the park. They're available for rentals. Ms. Laemel asked if they're used a lot. Mr. Swinderman said they're heavily used. Mr. Swinderman continued his presentation: These photos show some renovations that were done as of January 2024— restrooms, a concession stand/restaurant and tennis courts. • (Mr. Hanrahan noted residents said it's so bright, they can see it from the street.) • They also redid the shuffleboard courts, which are hard, not soft. • We've had many renovations this year. Ms. Laemel asked if there were no pickleball courts. Mr. Hanrahan said there are none and told the PAR,4B: • They're happy about having no pickleball. It's a place where tennis players get to play tennis. Down the street, at East Naples Community Park, there are 66 courts. We want to be able to provide tennis to tennis players. • Kory has done a good job of keeping people happy and when there are questions about that, we let them know not every park can be everything to all people. • Kory has done a great job with the YSFA partnerships that use our fields. He's carved out time to allow us to do our programs. Many other parks only use fields for YSFA. • Before Sean and Kory got there, we really didn't have programs, just what the community was doing on our fields. Kory is one of the few supervisors who runs his own program. Monica Cummings detailed a PowerPoint presentation on adaptive -inclusive recreation (AIR) programming: • Her team has four other members; Ann Sancho, program leader 1; Yesenia Jimenez, Kevin Lopez and Yeiner Ramos, all recreation specialist I. They're KeyStaff (the county's temp agency) employees. • AIR offers inclusive community -based recreation activities and programs for youth and adults with disabilities and special needs. Our services are designed to empower and enhance participants' well-being, independence and quality of life through therapeutic recreation. • Therapeutic recreation is her background and her team members all have special -needs experience after working in the school system. • Our mission is to empower and educate people with special needs and disabilities through inclusion, life -changing opportunities and increasing their quality of life. • Our vision is to build a community for inclusion and equal opportunity for all. • Therapeutic recreation also is known as recreation therapy. It's a systematic process that we use to address and treat the needs of those with special needs. It's fan because it's a mix of therapy, physical therapy and occupation therapy, using recreation activities. • Instead of doing hard stuff, we take everybody's mind off that and make it fun.. 4 Page 130 of 201 August 21, 2024 • We serve 200-250 participants countywide through year-round programs that include Recycled Art, Let's Draw & Paint, Buddy Sports, Parent -Toddler Fun and Kids Night Out. • We always have different themes, such as Popcorn & Pajamas. • She also teaches a Circle of Rhythm in spring, which allows her to dance and be like a kid, not a supervisor. It's music, dance and drumming. • Our special event and one -day programs include the Easter Egg-Stravaganza, our largest day program for families with special needs kids. It was created about four years ago. We partner with local organizations, such as Golisano Children's Hospital, Topaz Assistance Dogs, and Autism Services of Florida. • We created an egg hunt event tailored toward those who need accessibility. That's been an extreme hit during the past few years. The free event serves 100- 200 families. • We offer a Cinco de Mayo Family Party, Grinch Family Night, egg decorating for youth and toddlers, pumpkin painting, Just Dance, a Thanksgiving celebration, and a New Year celebration. • Grinch Family Night was created by a staffer who died. She loved the Grinch and wanted a new event. We've done it for two years and get about 12 families. It's tailored for a small group. We wear costumes and have a good time. • [Mr. Kelly said he's dressed up as an Easter bunny and offered to dress up as the Grinch.] • We also run camps on no -school days, when kids aren't on school due to teacher planning days; spring break camp; Thanksgiving break camp; winter break camp; and summer camp. • This year, we expanded to a second location with AIR TOO, which stands for Adaptive -Inclusive Recreation Transition Out Of. That was created as a stepping stone, an extension to AIR because AIR runs a 1-to-3 ratio (one staff member per three kids) and AIR TOO operates at a 1-to-10 ratio. That's held here at North Collier Regional Park. • In February, we expanded to Big Corkscrew Island Regional Park, where we offer two programs--adaptive-sports skills and Recycled Art. `She showed photos of various events.] • When action meets compassion, lives are changed. Ms. Laemel said we're lucky to have Ms. Cumming because her career field is pretty specific. Mr. Hanrahan agreed they're lucky and told the PARAB: • The next step for AIR will be hnmokalee. We've started the groundwork there, discussed it with the County Manager's Office and commissioners are aware. • Monica is doing all this work with one staff member and three KeyStaff employees. We've focused on Golden Gate and she built the program from a handful of offerings. • She's sometimes a one -person crew and has to work on other tasks, as Kory does leading programs, organizing and supervising. • By increasing the 1-to-3 ratio to 1-to-10, the hope is that kids are comfortable, compared with a traditional summer camp, which could have a I-to-25 or I-to- 50 ratio. Collier doesn't go above a I-to-25 ratio because it wants to provide quality programs, but other camps do. Page 131 of 201 August 21, 2024 Former Parks Director Olema Edwards once asked him to supervise a kid for 40 hours weekly to ensure he didn't run away or jump off a boat. It was hard work. Photos don't do justice to the program Monica offers. During the last Board of County Commissioners meeting, there was an organization that plans to open a charter school for autistic kids. We said we'd be willing to help or partner and told them to seek funding through the Winter Wine Festival/Naples Children & Education Foundation. During questions by the PARA.B, the following points were made: • The new school received more than 400 calls from families and understands what Parks & Rec can provide. We'll see what happens in six months. • AIR provides everything for participants but parents must provide a lunch and snacks in the kids' backpacks. • AIR TOO is operated by Golden Gate Community Center staff, which receives money from an MSTU, a Municipal Service Taxing Unit that benefits that community. Staff gets creative in trying to fund what Monica needs, but we can always use more funds. • We have underfunded youth programs and want more training opportunities. We hope to find funding for training at a higher level. • When there are behavioral issues at traditional camps, they call Monica, who can identify whether they have learning or behavioral issues. She often goes to a camp to assist. • Our next step is to have a staff member trained at every location. • It's rare that parents volunteer because they like to use the AIR program as a respite, but some parents volunteer for field trips and other activities. • AIR partners with the Naples Therapeutic Riding Center and did that for the Easter event and a summer event. We mostly partner with NTRC at events. • Others use the facilities for rentals, such as sports programs. VI. New Business a. Summer Camp Recap (Randi Swinderman) Ms. Swinderman detailed a PowerPoint presentation, Summer at Collier County Parks 2024: • What's unique about our summer camps is the variety, such as a sailing camp, cotton -candy making, a Monopoly event, and a preschool summer camp at Big Corkscrew. • We had camp in 10 locations, offering AIR, AIR TOO, sports camp, two preschool camps, waterskiing and sailing. • We served over 1,000 children. Most kids go to the same camp for all nine weeks, sometimes 10 weeks. • There aren't many places that offer this variety. • We rebranded a program into AIR TOO. It was a program parents used as a convenience to drop their off kids at North Collier Regional Park. They weren't kids who needed extra low -ratio help, so we walked Monica and her team through the idea and it's been successful. • We had some growing pains, but next year, we're looking to reduce the ratio to 1-to-b because we have kids who need that help in the program. We determined 1-to-10 was probably a bit too much for what they needed. It's Page 132 of 201 August 21, 2024 still not 1-to-3, but it's progressive. • We had Blue Zones activities this summer. Monica is really good about collaborating with other groups. • The Naples Therapeutic Riding Center brought their mini horses. • The fire department came to all of our locations, except the waterskiing and sailing camps. They're a great partnership and provide talks. If your house catches fire, and you're a 5-year-old kid and see someone with a big helmet coming in, it's scary, so they get used to seeing firemen. • We instill important life skills in kids, so we have an impact on their lives. • The county Road & Bridge Division works a lot with Big Corkscrew Island Regional Park, and Waste Management loves to talk about recycling and making crafts. Vineyards does a Iot with that. They get really creative with Blue Zones, whose contract unfortunately was not renewed by NCH. They've been a really great partner to Parks & Rec over the years so we're sad to see them go. • Libraries offered a summer reading program, and the county museums staff talked about different historical subjects. In past years, kids went to Roberts Ranch to learn how to be a pioneer. • We also have cool activities with the Sheriff's Office. Mr. Hanrahan said the Sheriff's Office was at a park and brought several sheriff's cars, which prompted many calls from parents who feared something bad had happened. We told them we were just showing kids the sirens and horns. Next time, we'll warn parents. Ms. Swinderman said her heart sinks if she sees a sheriff's car or fire engine at a parks location. Ms. Swinderman continued herpresentation: • Patricia Rosen from Sugden Regional Park does an amazing job putting all our field trips together. We went to Paragon to see movies. They saw "Despicable Me 4" and "Inside Out 2," which was nice because it's air conditioned and they're not in the sun. Counselors also appreciate that. • We took kids bowling this year. Because Sun-N-Fun was closed, we went to other county pools instead. Some supervisors liked it a bit better because it wasn't so chaotic. Kory's pool got a lot of our campers this summer. Five or six camps went there. Immokalee went to Big Corkscrew, East Naples and Eagle Lakes. • We love Naples Zoo, but it's hot, but the animals don't come out because it's so hot. Big Corkscrew was the only camp that ended up going because it rained that week. • Sports camp likes to do slightly different activities. It's a more higher energy camp. They went to a baseball game and did some (mini golf) putting. • Kids played Jumanji, made cars at Vineyards and put them on scooters and rode around. • They did a talent show at the end of the summer at Veterans Community Park. Each group took a week and had to perform. They danced to different songs that went along with themes. • They had battleship week and dressed as sailors, played board games, volleyball, and AIR made crafts at Vineyards Community Park. Page 133 of 201 August 21, 2024 • Parents had a board game night so the kids could play with their parents. • The sailing campers learned to tie knots. • The Sheriff's Office visited parks. • Some camps had glow parties, pickleball lessons, played Hungry, Hungry Hippos, Uno, and dressed as characters from "Toy Story." • A Sheriff's Office crime prevention officer showed them how not to be scammed. • They had a field day like they do at the end of school. Ms. Swinderman reported on aquatics: • Sun.-N-Fun is closed. This was our first fall summer having Big Corkscrew open. We don't have previous data to show what Big Corkscrew would look like in a normal year but they averaged about 2,500 visitors weekly. • Eagle Lakes was the next highest. From Memorial Day through last Friday, we had over 57,000 people come through our gates at our aquatics facilities. • That will decrease when kids are back in school, but they're impressive numbers from June through today. • We had no drownings and had the best possible staff. Sun-N-Fun staffers worked at various locations and that helped the quality of service and safety. V11. Old Business a. U.S. Open Pickleball (James Hau rahan) • At the last meeting, Mike Dee, the new owner of Spirit Promotions, which manages the U.S. Open Pickleball Championships at East Naples Community Park, did a presentation on the April event and their vision moving forward. • The Tourist Development Council, which Ski represents parks on, unanimously voted to approve Spirit Promotions' contract extension to 2032. • The TDC approved paying up to $40,000 for a state -required study to determine whether pickleball infrastructure improvements are tourism -related. If they are, they could receive Tourist Development Tax funds. • We know the U.S. Open Pickleball Championships promote tourism. • Dee's group plans to add a waterproof cover over a new, second set of pickleball courts behind the current blue canopy. The one we have is not waterproof, just provides shade, so if it rains, which occurred two years ago during the championships, they are postponed. This would allow them to have games during rain. • U.S. Open Pickleball Championships is willing to pay up to $1 million dollars to help with costs so taxpayer/general operations money isn't used. If the study proves it's tourism -related, they can use TDC funding to pay for the canopy. • Terri Graham and Chris Evon, Spirit Promotions' and the championship's previous owners, were amazing. He's been working closely with Mike Dee and his partner, Bob Bowman, and they've been a pleasure to work with. • Spirit Promotions assumed Bob Sfrommen and Naples Pickleball Center (NPC), so Spirit will now be the concessionaire. It will be the same business, but under different management. We discussed transparency in previous meetings and how we wanted the NPC issues cleaned up. • The PARAB gave us input on pickleball contract amendments and what that means now is that he and the county manager are looking at it again since Page 134 of 201 August 21, 2024 Deputy County Manager Dan Rodriguez retired. He used to oversee that. • He's (Hanrahan) had several meetings with the County Attorney's Office and the county manager and they agree the PARAB will get to review the amendments before they go to county commissioners for a vote. It may be September or October, but we want to do it right and not rush it. • The Spirit Promotions and U.S. Open agreement is different from NPC's agreement. We have two different agreements, but we're looking at what the fixture entails. • We're excited to have approval for Dee and Bowman until 2032, when the contract will be up for renewal. • They receive $345,000 in TDC funds yearly and will reduce yearly by $50,000 until they receive nothing the last year. Mike Dee told the TDC he doesn't want the county to feel they have to put money into this event. They want the county to feel like the championships and facility are a great investment. • Commissioner LoCastro made some great points. He noted the new football club, FC Naples, now has our logo on its jersey, as well as the tourism Convention & Visitors Bureau logo, which spells out Naples, Marco Island, Everglades. Whenever they play here or at other fields, people will see that. They didn't have that before and he requested that. Ms. Laemel said Spirit Promotions must have some interesting ideas about running a pickleball program. That's a breath of fresh air. Mr. Hanrahan said absolutely and told the PARAB: • Mike Dee was in the front office for the Red Sox, Miami Dolphins, and San Diego Padres, so he sees things in a broader way. We feel there will be new and different ideas about how the park will look. • Dee's partner, Bob Bowman, worked for ESPN for most of his career, so they have a lot of major sports background. Both live here and Mike Dee lives close to East Naples Community Park, so they're really committed to Collier County. • They aren't shopping around for other opportunities. Vice Chair Fruth said Mike Dee offered to provide the PARAB with his full PowerPoint presentation with the future plans, not the seven -page version. Mr. Hanrahan said he'd ask for it. They've shown it to the County Manager's Office. He can ask Mike to give the PARAB a more in-depth presentation. If he's comfortable emailing his PowerPoint, he will ask him to. We had a meeting yesterday and he plans to come back in September, so he'll reach out to him. He saw the 25-year plan, a full remodel of East Naples Community Park. It will be beautiful. Just like we did with Pelican Bay Community Foundation, they're able to invest a substantial amount of money. He'Il ask Mike to return here September or October with that presentation. [The PARAB agreed they'd like to hear him again.] Action Item: Mr. Hanrahan will ask Mike Dee for the full 7$ page PowerPoint and provide that to Mr. Fruth, who is an engineer, and other PARAB memhers. He also will ask Mike Dee to return to the PARAB to provide a dated information. n. 9 Page 135 of 201 August 21, 2024 b. Non -motorized use on Lake Avalon/Risk Management (James Hanrahan) • At the last meeting, you advised him to work with Risk Management and come back with an update. Duke Vasey, FPTA (Florida Paddling Trails Association) Region F Director, gave us a presentation about blocking an area off for kayakers at Sugden Park, but staff had concerns. • We talked through the concerns and Ski and the board did a great job reeling it in and asking us to look at the request. • Risk Management will conduct an assessment. He hopes to that next month. • He met with County Manager Amy Patterson and Duke Vasey and Duke was able to show the county manager what they want for kayakers, while he told her about staff s concerns. • The county manager said to wait and see what Risk Management's assessment says and go from there. • Staff is willing to compromise and work with them, but safety is our priority. • We were able to keep the decorum at that meeting. • We should have an answer or update in September. Risk Management had other priorities it needed to finish first. • He spoke with Risk Management Director Mike Quigley this morning and he said it's on his agenda and priority list. VI. Public Comments (None) VII. Director's Report (Jaynes Hanrahan) • Pelican Bay Foundation will provide an update on their Veterans Community Park picklebalI plans on October 281h. • They will have two sessions, at 1 p.m. and 5:30 p.m., to show how they plan to program public courts versus Pelican Bay member courts. • Would you like the foundation to provide you with that presentation separately? He can shoot for November so the foundation can incorporate the community feedback into its presentation. [The PARAB agreed they'd like a presentation to remain involved in the process._] Mr. Dixon asked if the plans had changed, Mr. Hanrahan said they had not. Residents were concerned about noise and had questions about programing. Pelican Bay went above and beyond looking into community concerns by conducting a sound study and Iooking at construction, parking lots and parking spaces. We're in a good spot. This will be more about looking at how programing works for the public versus Pelican Bay members. Ms. Swinderman said the foundation plans to bring in top -ranked pros. Mr. Hanrahan continued with his report: • We're taking everything 30 days at a time and seethe PARAB every 30 days. • He's still interim director and since Deputy County Manager Dan Rodriguez retired, there's been a pause as far as who will take over his role and look into it. • For now, he sends everything concerning parks to County Manager Amy 10 Page 136 of 201 August 21, 2024 Patterson, Deputy County Manager Ed Finn, Chief of Staff Ian Barnwell, and Jamie French, the Growth Management director, so he covers all bases to ensure they're all informed. • There's no news about a new director. + We once had five regional managers but are down to four due to reassignments. Randi oversees North Collier, Vets, Vineyards and Big Corkscrew; Said now covers Immokalee and Max Hasse; Sid now oversees Golden Gate and Eagle Lakes, which he already had, and the Adaptive -Inclusive Recreation Program; and Michael Ossario, whose job was traditionally beaches and water, now has beaches, water, Park Rangers, East Naples and Sugden Regional Park. • We took time to look at the management to see what it would look like under four managers and staff said they could handle it. • For the superintendent of maintenance position, we received good news. They want to reclassify it to a higher level to match other departments, so that's under review by HR. That's why we haven't filled it yet. • People are realizing how big our division is. We're the largest division with the most employees and the most sites. Mr. Dimon asked where the maintenance director went. Mr. Hanrahan said Rick Garvey had a long-term plan but an opportunity came up and he had to act quickly. He's at Hampton -Sydney College in Virginia, a private men's college. He's doing what he loves on the grounds there. His wife will soon follow him. His sons live in that area, and they have a lot of land there, so he's living his best life. Mn Hanrahan continued his report. • He's wearing many hats, as interim director, assistant director and superintendent of maintenance. • If you have a question, call him. • Staff has been great. It's been tough, but we stick together and have each other's backs. • We're addressing community concerns and are ready for fall programing. • At next month's meeting, we'll do a presentation on what's coming this fall. IX. Adjournment Next Meeting Date: 2 p.m. Oct. 16, 2024 — Max A. Hasse Jr. Community Park There being no further business for the good of the county, the meeting was adjourned by order of the chairman at 2:55 p.m. rk os t} These minutes were approved by BOARD uk-'t board on 0 � , (check one) as Page 137 of 201 presented, _ or as amended August 21, 2024 12 Page 138 of 201