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Meeting Summary—Parks and Recreation Council September 1, 2021 <br /> Virtual Meeting <br /> Members Present: Haywood Rhodes (Chair),John Greeson (Vice-Chair), Andrew Landstrom,Tim Tippin, <br /> Mikki Fleming, Cecily Kritz, Gina Reyman, Chris Colvin, Greg Hughes, Xilong Zhao <br /> Members Absent: Bob Smith <br /> Staff: Dave Stancil, Beth Young <br /> Chair Rhodes opened the meeting.The June 2nd meeting notes were reviewed and accepted. Council <br /> went around and introduced themselves to new member Greg Hughes. Chair Rhodes mentioned the <br /> need to soon hold chair/vice-chair elections. Both Rhodes and John Greeson will rotate off of the council <br /> in March or April 2022. Rhodes discussed the duties of the chair and vice-chair. Elections will be held at <br /> the October meeting. Rhodes stated that there was an error in the agenda as there are no vacancies to <br /> be filled and the council will be back to a full 12 person board next month. <br /> New business: Potential Neighborhood/Mini Park Proposal -Stancil has been apprised of a <br /> neighborhood that has expressed interest in a mini park on a two-acre parcel that the County owns <br /> nearby.A meeting is being set up with the homeowners in the community to talk about what is possible. <br /> Stancil pointed out that as per the Orange County adopted Master Parks and Recreation Plan you will <br /> see that counties are not typically involved in "pocket parks" on small acreage. In cities, especially larger <br /> cities,these parks are very popular and widely used. These spaces tend to rely on high population <br /> density, public transportation, and water and sewer infrastructure that the county does not have in its <br /> jurisdiction. Chapel Hill and Hillsborough both have good examples of small parks within their limits, but <br /> counties do not typically do these. Orange County focuses on community parks, district parks and <br /> regional parks. Stancil also noted that local governments in North Carolina cannot just give away land or <br /> even necessarily sell it to a designated party. There is a statutory process for the conveyance of <br /> property that requires what is known as an upset bid.This was provided as information for Council, no <br /> action needed. <br /> Recreation Quarterly Report(written):Stancil presented Recreation Superintendent Chris Sousa's <br /> PowerPoint. Stancil explained that the Recreation Division has been down two key staff members and <br /> have done a remarkable job since the beginning of Covid pivoting to provide virtual and downsized <br /> programs. Stancil went through the slides explaining participants for each program.Tim Tippin <br /> congratulated Sousa and the recreation staff for putting on successful summer camps with no Covid <br /> cases. He stated it was really impressive and looks like folks are gearing up for fall programs with <br /> recreation using a mix of virtual and in person programs. Stancil stated that Recreation did a great job <br /> and all the precautions and measures put into place helped get campers through the summer safely. <br /> Stancil briefly discussed the vacancies in the Recreation division. <br /> Old Business: Parks& Recreation Master Plan 2030:The plan was adopted in 2014 and it is time to <br /> check in on the plan. Stancil provided a document showing an evaluation of what the county was doing <br /> as far as the plan goes. Recommendations/Progress report document: Stancil went through the nine <br /> points and graded the progress. Stancil would like for the council to go over this document before year- <br /> end and make some concrete decisions on things that the council want to pursue and try to make <br />