[1:25] We can we can look at the email.
[1:32] Oh, no problem. All right, we ready to
[1:33] get started?
[1:45] All right, I want to welcome everybody
[1:48] to the September Parks and Recreation
[1:51] Commission meeting. Uh, let's start with
[1:54] attendance.
[1:57] » Chairman Quinton Whiteside,
[1:59] » Present.
[2:01] Commissioner Samuel Ellis.
[2:04] Commissioner Canon Fletcher
[2:06] » Present.
[2:07] » Commissioner Summer Campbell
[2:09] » Here.
[2:10] » Uh, Vice Chair Shamia Woods
[2:13] » Here.
[2:14] » Commissioner Nolan Hues
[2:16] » Here.
[2:17] » Commissioner William Beetle
[2:19] » Here.
[2:20] » Commissioner Ron Puit
[2:22] » Here.
[2:23] » Commissioner Rogers Jarnell,
[2:26] » Present.
[2:28] City Director Capek here.
[2:32] City Director Andrea Lewis.
[2:35] Deputy City Attorney Simone Black here.
[2:38] We have eight commissioners present. We
[2:40] have a quorum.
[2:42] » Great. Thank you.
[2:45] Now, has everybody had a chance to look
[2:47] at the minutes? Um, they are in your the
[2:50] front page of your packet from August
[2:51] 12th, 2026. Let's just everybody take a
[2:53] minute to uh review those to ensure that
[2:56] everything that you recall about the
[2:58] meeting was was in there.
[3:06] » I wanted on the record that my name is
[3:07] Nolan with a EN a
[3:13] um
[3:14] » On the attendance.
[3:18] » Where does that say that on the on the
[3:20] Oh, right on in the attendance. Okay.
[3:21] So, we have a a motion to change Nolan's
[3:25] name from N O L A N to N O L E N. Did I
[3:30] say that accurately?
[3:32] » Yes.
[3:32] » Is there a second?
[3:35] » Second. Uh, Shamia. Um, anyone opposed?
[3:39] All right. Hearing none, we'll make
[3:41] those ch make make that change. Um, any
[3:43] other changes did anyone see on the uh
[3:47] meeting uh minutes that you'd like to
[3:49] change or alter?
[3:52] All right. Hearing none. Do I have a
[3:53] motion regarding the August 12th
[3:55] minutes?
[3:57] » I move that we accept the August 12th
[3:59] amend uh minutes with the amendment of
[4:01] Nolan's name from A to E N O L E N.
[4:06] » Great. Do I have a second? Second. All
[4:09] right. Anyone opposed? All right.
[4:11] Hearing none, the motion carries.
[4:15] All right. Next is a citizen
[4:17] communication. Uh, do we have any
[4:19] citizens out there that would like to
[4:20] communicate to the commission today?
[4:26] All right. Uh, seeing none at this time,
[4:31] we'll move on to the presentation for
[4:33] Arkansas State Parks. Do we were we able
[4:35] to
[4:38] » Uh get that mahogany? Did we ever
[4:41] confirm the state parks? Um the last
[4:43] discussion I had was that they had
[4:45] contacted you but I hadn't had didn't
[4:47] hear anything. So um unfortunately
[4:49] there's not anyone here to do a
[4:51] presentation.
[4:52] » Okay.
[4:52] » Um one suggestion though was that um if
[4:56] we do have extra time we still need to
[4:58] go over the March retreat I mean the the
[5:00] retreat um discussion.
[5:03] » Okay. So it looks like we don't have
[5:04] anyone from the uh state parks today but
[5:07] we'll put that on the agenda to keep
[5:08] working to try to get that. Um, does
[5:10] anybody have And while we're on this
[5:12] topic, does anybody have anybody that
[5:14] they would like to see
[5:16] um or hear from that we can request? I
[5:21] saw in the paper today that they have a
[5:24] new 30 crossing project manager. Could
[5:27] we make a request to her to come and
[5:29] talk to the uh commission? Katie
[5:33] » Rutled.
[5:33] » Rutled. Is that something we could do?
[5:36] Mahogany?
[5:36] » Well, yes, I could definitely make a
[5:38] request. I do want to um ask the
[5:41] director
[5:42] » Um for his guidance on that because uh
[5:44] was I believe she was just hired.
[5:46] » Yeah. So we'll give her a month. I mean
[5:52] » Or how about this? How about we schedule
[5:53] try to schedule her for the uh November
[5:56] meeting. That'd give her two months and
[5:58] then this next meeting we can have
[6:00] somebody from state parks like Suzanne
[6:02] Grommy or somebody of that nature to
[6:04] come and give us an update.
[6:06] » Yes. I I just for clarity, I reached out
[6:08] to the state. The state was open to
[6:10] come. It would actually probably be
[6:11] Katherine Andrews, the director of
[6:14] outdoor um for the state parks. Um but
[6:18] we just didn't finalize that connection.
[6:20] So, if Mahog, if you could finalize that
[6:22] for next month, that's what I would
[6:24] recommend. And um Katie literally just
[6:27] started um yesterday. So, um I'd give
[6:31] her a little time, but but I think
[6:33] that's a good call at some point. Okay,
[6:34] let's let's shoot for November. If she's
[6:36] uncomfortable with November to come give
[6:38] a five or 10 minute presentation of what
[6:40] she's been working on for 60 days when
[6:42] there's a three-year deadline, I think
[6:44] that's good.
[6:44] » I think that's okay. Uh, so and
[6:48] Katherryn Reinhardt would be fantastic
[6:49] if we were able to to get her to come in
[6:51] and talk to
[6:51] » Katherine Andrew.
[6:52] » Andrew Katherine Andrews. Yeah. Just to
[6:54] be clear, the project manager for 30
[6:56] crossing is uh housed at the chamber and
[7:00] is working as part of the working group
[7:02] for the 30 crossing. So, um, she's not
[7:05] the only one. There's the state, the
[7:07] chamber, um, the parks department,
[7:10] myself, and ARDOT, all that are focused
[7:13] on that project. So, we have a great
[7:14] team, and she's the project manager
[7:17] basically fully reporting back to the
[7:20] Bezos for their Earth fund. She's funded
[7:23] out of the Earth Fund funding uh, for
[7:26] the three-year process for the uh,
[7:28] project. So, just a little clarity.
[7:31] » Well, that's fantastic. Um, and just for
[7:33] all the new people on the board, what we
[7:35] try to do every month is have a
[7:37] presentation of something that's going
[7:38] on in the city. So, uh, within parks and
[7:41] recck, so for example, after the
[7:43] marathon, we had the, uh, the person who
[7:46] runs the marathon come in and report on
[7:48] the numbers that they had, the amount of
[7:50] money they raised, etc., uh, what they
[7:52] expect for next year. uh after the um
[7:56] Little Rock Open tennis tournament, we
[7:58] had the director of that come in and
[8:00] tell us about the successes and the
[8:02] things that they want to do better next
[8:03] year. Um and also other tennis
[8:05] tournaments around around the city that
[8:07] actually don't get as much credit, but a
[8:10] real boost to the economy. So, if
[8:12] anybody has any ideas like that, feel
[8:14] free to let us know or speak up at a
[8:16] meeting and we'll try to accommodate who
[8:18] whoever you want to see.
[8:21] We could probably do something on the
[8:25] probably November, December on the uh
[8:28] capital projects tracker that we're
[8:30] working on at a master plan. Um and then
[8:33] it could be something that we could
[8:36] refresh to you guys uh periodically
[8:39] after that.
[8:41] » Yeah, that'd be fantastic. Yeah, I'd
[8:43] really like that. Okay. Well, great. Um,
[8:47] so, uh, going on next, we have the
[8:50] director's report and within that we
[8:52] have, uh, do you want to go first,
[8:54] Leland, or do you want staff to report?
[8:56] Uh, I'll just, if you don't mind, I'll
[8:58] call them up. Um, we'll start with
[9:00] Angela and, um, then we'll go straight
[9:03] to Shuanda after that. And we'll just
[9:05] remind everybody this is just a a quick
[9:07] twominut update. And really, it's an
[9:10] opportunity for any of the commissioners
[9:12] just to ask any questions. Um, for the
[9:14] new commissioners, Angela Nelson is our
[9:17] uh deputy director over uh
[9:19] administration and she could answer any
[9:20] question about all of our processes uh
[9:23] for HR and many other things for
[9:26] administration. Uh Justin Dorsey did
[9:28] call in sick today and so he'll be out
[9:30] and be missing today. Um and if there's
[9:33] any questions for operations,
[9:35] please still ask him. I'll be happy to
[9:37] take them. So go ahead and one second
[9:41] before you get started too. If you look
[9:42] in your packet, um there's uh different
[9:45] uh reports and these are part of what
[9:48] she's highlighting just parts of her
[9:49] report. Um she Angela starts with
[9:52] administration division, I believe
[9:54] that's right. And so um August 2026, so
[9:56] you can kind of follow along with what
[9:58] she's talking about. Sorry about that.
[10:00] » Okay. Um good afternoon everyone. Just
[10:02] going to give you a brief overview of uh
[10:05] administration resources. Um I was
[10:09] fortunate to bring on um an
[10:11] administrative assistant. Um his name is
[10:14] Preston Porter. He was unable to attend
[10:16] today. Um he handles all of our payroll
[10:19] um deal with when you know work closely
[10:22] with me dealing with HR. Um and also I
[10:26] was able to bring on another office
[10:28] assistant three who is Ramona Smith.
[10:31] Ramona has worked in parks before. Um,
[10:34] she went to work in the city manager's
[10:36] office, but now she's back with me. So,
[10:39] I'm glad to have her. Ramona, can you
[10:41] come up here for a minute?
[10:49] Good afternoon, everyone. My name is
[10:51] Ramona Smith. I have been with the city
[10:54] for over 23 years plus. I actually
[10:57] started in 1993.
[11:00] And um like um Miss Angela said, I was
[11:05] um office assistant three reservations
[11:08] and then I moved to the city managers
[11:10] and came back home. So I started in
[11:14] parks.
[11:15] » Okay.
[11:15] » Nice to see you.
[11:17] » Glad you're here.
[11:21] » Okay. As you look at the report, our um
[11:24] PIT balances uh we'll continue to use
[11:27] those. Those funds really help us along
[11:30] uh to the end of the year and we do have
[11:33] a substantial amount of funds remaining.
[11:37] Also like to give a recognition uh to
[11:39] one of my team members. Uh her name is
[11:41] Michaela Miller. She's the other
[11:43] administrative uh well office assistant
[11:45] 3 that works in my area. Very consistent
[11:49] and attentive being a star player and
[11:51] inquisitive to learning. want her to
[11:53] know that I really appreciate her.
[11:57] Also for um our new hires um or the
[12:01] number of count we are improving
[12:04] throughout the entire department um
[12:07] getting these positions filled. Right
[12:08] now we're at 85% which is a 3% increase
[12:12] from last month.
[12:14] Uh front desk is always continuing to
[12:17] progress.
[12:18] Uh right now we're reviewing some
[12:20] website changes for we had some changes
[12:22] due to accuracy. We're going to check
[12:24] those. Uh we also are going to implement
[12:28] an updated special events form. Um
[12:31] according to our payroll HR section um
[12:34] always our goal is to limit our error
[12:36] errors and stay a breast on entries and
[12:39] no delay in product productivity. And
[12:43] also we're continuing to train our new
[12:44] hires.
[12:47] Moving right along to the next page. Uh
[12:49] for August we had 72 rentals this year
[12:51] compared to 2025 we had 61.
[12:55] Um and this month we also or last yeah
[12:58] last month we also had zero complaints.
[13:01] Um and we also had zero complaints in
[13:04] July. Hopefully we are that successful
[13:07] for this month.
[13:10] Um, our goal in hiring is 117 to be
[13:14] hired, which is a 90%.
[13:16] Um, we have 131 budgeted staff,
[13:19] full-time staff. For August, we have 111
[13:23] hired, 20 vacancies, which puts us at
[13:26] 85%. So, we're moving right along to
[13:29] reach that goal of 90%.
[13:32] in our department overtime usage and
[13:35] hour usage we were able to uh decrease
[13:38] that number for August
[13:41] um quite a bit also in the spending from
[13:44] 19,000 um and to end it up to 12,000
[13:51] uh revenue area um as always we track to
[13:54] improve accuracy
[13:56] um in our monthly reporting always
[13:59] trying to do audits when we can and of
[14:02] course in all areas strengthening team
[14:04] collaboration through communication. Uh
[14:06] the many department trainings that we
[14:08] have always have a mid manager meeting.
[14:11] Uh we will also be going to a conference
[14:13] in our PA conference which is in
[14:15] September to October 1st. Um also listed
[14:18] are the trainings that we have um
[14:22] attended for the month which continued
[14:25] also continued from last month.
[14:29] Looking at our budget, we have spent um
[14:32] quite a bit more than we did last year,
[14:35] but we're still holding strong. We're at
[14:36] 24%.
[14:38] Um so we hope to not be in the red by
[14:42] the end of the year.
[14:44] Going to the revenue section compared to
[14:47] August, which is comparing to uh July.
[14:51] Uh July was a little bit higher than
[14:52] August. Uh our personnel updates
[14:57] um timely submission of loss and in
[15:00] inquiries and accuracy of revenue
[15:02] reporting has led to unnecessary
[15:04] corrections and delays. Um
[15:08] sometime when it's hot we get a uptick
[15:09] in disciplinary issues but we have to
[15:13] you know handle them as they come in uh
[15:16] in a timely fashion. Um also we
[15:19] expediting receiving signatures uh for
[15:22] our time edit reports.
[15:25] Uh right now we're coming to the close
[15:26] to the end of the year. Budget is always
[15:29] critical. Um to control our spending is
[15:32] critical to monitor our areas um with
[15:35] low amounts. Uh and also focus on
[15:38] overtime spending uh and to be decreased
[15:42] when possible.
[15:45] um marketing challenges. Uh parks, we
[15:47] designed a new t-shirt. Leela might want
[15:50] to speak on that uh to promote
[15:52] visibility. I think they look really
[15:55] nice. I think they are in blue and
[15:57] beige. Yeah. Oh, green. Is that right,
[16:00] Graham? Green. Okay. I'm sorry. Green.
[16:03] Green and blue. Um and that's it. I have
[16:06] what I have for resources
[16:08] administration.
[16:09] » All right. Great. Does anybody have any
[16:10] questions for Angela?
[16:13] All right. hearing none. Thanks, Angela.
[16:15] We appreciate it.
[16:22] » I was I was talking Angela, you don't
[16:24] have to come back up here. Um I saw
[16:26] customer complaints where it says
[16:27] issues. Are those like the top
[16:29] complaints? I'd be interested in us just
[16:31] being aware of like some some of what
[16:33] the common complaints are just so we
[16:35] could be a breast and see how we can
[16:37] support you guys. But kudos to no
[16:39] complaints for the past two months.
[16:47] Okay, I'll give a quick overview of um
[16:49] of Justin's uh just real quick. Um if
[16:52] you just look at his I wasn't really
[16:54] prepared for this because I didn't know
[16:56] he was not coming in today. Um but um
[17:00] essentially looking at his report um
[17:03] there's been some trim tree trimming. So
[17:05] we have an urban forestry division.
[17:07] They've been working across the area.
[17:10] Um, looks like they've done a lot of
[17:12] code enforcement requests. So, not only
[17:14] do they do parks requests, they also do
[17:17] um code. So, if there's a street light
[17:19] that needs uh a branch cut out of the
[17:21] way or something like that, that's a
[17:22] typical for us. Um, mowing crew has been
[17:25] cycling through all of our locations. Um
[17:28] our biggest challenge there is out of
[17:29] our three major um big enclosed
[17:32] tractors, two of them have been down all
[17:34] summer due to um off and on. Um but
[17:37] mainly all summer because of
[17:39] environmental computer issues on them.
[17:41] Um that's a whole another conversation.
[17:44] Um but that slow slows our um our work.
[17:47] Um lot of lot of time with our uh
[17:50] landscape division out at our sports
[17:52] fields. We've done a lot of uh you can
[17:54] see on the next page there's some
[17:55] pictures of irrigation work, but we've
[17:57] been working on a lot of irrigation for
[17:58] our soccer fields that we lease out to
[18:01] rising. Um
[18:04] our trail crew has been really busy and
[18:06] also park. um also perceived some new
[18:09] trails and they've um we're now putting
[18:11] in a sculpture and improving some of the
[18:14] other uh trails in the other section of
[18:17] Alsa Park and they continue to do u
[18:20] maint maintenance on all of our uh other
[18:22] trails in terms of blowing and and
[18:24] cleaning and tree and and pruning back.
[18:28] Uh we now have a full uh maintenance
[18:30] support uh crew. That crew is
[18:33] essentially the ones that go around and
[18:35] fix anything from doors that are falling
[18:37] off hinges to lights to just really
[18:40] anything, signage, all kinds of
[18:42] different things. Um because you got to
[18:44] remember we all have all these different
[18:46] 12 major different facilities as well.
[18:48] Uh we do have a small construction crew
[18:50] as well. Uh they've been doing a lot of
[18:52] work at Reservoir Park. That's been our
[18:54] big uh focus for the year. Um but they
[18:56] also have done some at Murray Park and
[18:59] um we also uh they handle all of our
[19:02] sculpture installs. Um also see he's
[19:05] reporting out on Heinman. Heman has been
[19:07] um our pro shop is a big project out
[19:09] there to uh renovate similar to what
[19:12] we've done at War Memorial. Um on and
[19:15] on. Y'all can read a lot of these and
[19:17] ask any questions um
[19:20] that you may have. our senior facility.
[19:23] Um we have a planning manager Chad uh
[19:27] Fugazi who's done a a tremendous job on
[19:31] managing the um uh process of our senior
[19:35] facility. Um it's completion is coming
[19:38] up soon and we'll have event October
[19:43] what
[19:45] it's October 21st at 11:00 a.m. Uh as a
[19:50] sneak peek and y'all will all be
[19:52] invited. Um I'll just stop there. Does
[19:54] anybody have any questions on
[19:55] operations?
[20:00] » All right, hearing none. Um it's a good
[20:03] report. Yeah, let's go to Shawanda.
[20:12] Good afternoon.
[20:14] Hello.
[20:16] In the recreation division, we are
[20:20] preparing for well school has started.
[20:23] So, we are um working within our um star
[20:27] student after school program. We have
[20:29] implemented a special activity. Uh since
[20:32] our pools are still open, uh we're
[20:34] utilizing the Southwest Community Pool
[20:37] and we're uh doing water safety classes
[20:41] for our students that's in our after
[20:43] school program. Um and Southwest pool
[20:46] will be closing on September the 25th.
[20:50] Uh gym daily pool, outdoor pool will be
[20:53] closing around October the 18th. And we
[20:56] will have a dog swim uh as we do every
[20:59] year in the pool. we have to wait at
[21:01] least 5 days before we can uh have the
[21:04] the dogs to come over and swim. Make
[21:06] sure that we're um getting all the
[21:08] chemicals and things out so that the
[21:10] dogs can have a good great time in the
[21:12] pool. Uh as the as we wrap up the pool
[21:16] season at Jim Daily, uh our cooling
[21:19] centers are still open Monday through
[21:21] Friday. Uh it is extremely hot still uh
[21:25] which has caused a few issues with our
[21:28] uh flag football program. So we have
[21:31] been postponing some games and practices
[21:33] to make sure that we keep the kids
[21:35] secured from uh all those heat related
[21:39] illnesses that can happen. Uh making
[21:42] sure that they stay safe. So we are
[21:44] pushing back um our games and practices
[21:47] so that we can um take get some relief
[21:50] from this heat. So, um, another program
[21:54] we're starting at Southwest Community
[21:56] Center is a beehive beekeeping program.
[22:00] Um, it involves caring for caring for,
[22:03] managing, and inspecting
[22:05] um, honeybees colonies. Uh, it also
[22:09] includes collecting and processing honey
[22:12] as well as providing bees with a safe
[22:14] environment and enough food. So, this
[22:17] program starts September 16th and we're
[22:19] in partnership with Cows and it starts
[22:22] at 4:00. So, if you don't have anything
[22:25] to do, put a pin there and come and
[22:28] check out this new program.
[22:32] Uh the next thing I want to talk about
[22:34] is um at the Stevens Community Center we
[22:37] have STEM s well what we calling it is
[22:40] Saturday September awesome science with
[22:42] uh the Museum of Discovery and it's uh
[22:45] held on Saturdays uh from 11 to 12 and
[22:49] I've actually had a chance to go over
[22:51] and participate with the girls and guys
[22:54] and um they are really having great fun
[22:57] with different activities uh with the
[23:00] museum. Museum of Discovery. And so this
[23:02] program will be um going out to all of
[23:06] our locations um community center
[23:08] locations for those kids in those areas
[23:11] to also have opportunities to uh
[23:14] experience science with uh the Museum of
[23:17] Discovery.
[23:20] On September the 23rd, we'll be having a
[23:23] Taste of Stevens event at the at the uh
[23:27] Stevens Community Center. And it is from
[23:29] 6 o'clock to 8:30 p.m. and it's $5 per
[23:33] person. So, this is where we invite the
[23:36] community to come out and um show give
[23:40] out samples of various activities,
[23:42] foods, and things that they uh provide.
[23:46] And um well, it's mostly tasting various
[23:48] foods. And it's also uh it's a great
[23:51] event. This this actual program is has
[23:55] been selected to get an award. Um well,
[23:58] it's been nominated for an award with
[24:00] the ARPA. Um Arkansas Recreation and
[24:04] Parks Association. Uh we we'll have our
[24:07] conference next month. So um it is in
[24:10] the running for an award.
[24:14] So hopefully we we do win. We do have
[24:16] about 10 uh categories that Little Rock
[24:19] Parks and Recreation has um submitted
[24:23] for for awards for next for this year.
[24:26] So hopefully we win all 10 of them. We
[24:29] won uh three last year at the
[24:31] conference.
[24:40] We have um 72 cheerleaders signed up
[24:43] this year. It's a increase from last
[24:45] year. Uh and we're also bringing back
[24:48] our Rallycats uh tennis program and it's
[24:52] uh it's with the USA uh Arkansas USA
[24:55] here in Little Rock. Um the it teach is
[24:58] teaching the basic skills of tennis.
[25:00] It's a five-week program and they'll be
[25:03] um meeting at the Dumbar Community
[25:05] Center, Stevens Community Center from 4
[25:07] to 5:00.
[25:10] And uh the age group for that is um 8 to
[25:14] 12 years old. And that program will be
[25:17] running October the 13th through
[25:18] November the 17th.
[25:24] And if you have not had an opportunity
[25:26] to go to the Macarthur Military Museum,
[25:30] they have movies once a month. And um
[25:33] they just had a movie called The Ghost
[25:35] of Army on o on August the 18th and it
[25:39] was a record number of people there. It
[25:41] was 148 people that attended that movie
[25:44] screening. Uh and this is like the third
[25:46] consecutive month in which the record
[25:49] attendance has been set. Uh so year to
[25:52] date we have had about 721 people to go
[25:56] to the museum to watch the movie and
[25:59] look at different exhibits and things
[26:01] going on there. So, if you have not had
[26:03] the chance to experience that, please go
[26:06] by and um check out the museum and the
[26:09] movies series.
[26:12] » And this con concludes my report.
[26:14] » All right. Thank you, Shanda. Um I had a
[26:16] question. I could I know Revsman Golf
[26:18] didn't turn in a report, right?
[26:20] » I know there hadn't been any rainy days
[26:22] for them to sit around and and do one,
[26:24] but if you could ask them to send their
[26:25] reports in. I know people are always
[26:27] interested of what's going on with
[26:28] Roseman Golf. Yeah. Um, anybody else
[26:30] have any questions?
[26:32] » Um, Southwest Steppers dance workout
[26:35] class and I were talking about
[26:38] I'm really curious. Can anyone attend
[26:42] that or is there like a fee?
[26:43] » Anyone can attend.
[26:44] » Okay.
[26:44] » Okay. Thank you for that. Think that's
[26:47] it. I'm teasing Quinton. Nothing.
[26:50] » Unless you want to learn the step with
[26:51] me.
[26:52] » Anybody, Ryan.
[26:52] » Anyone can learn to line dance.
[26:57] » Thank you so much. So you may can tell
[26:58] like the recreation portion of parks and
[27:01] wreck just blows my mind. So you said 10
[27:03] awards.
[27:04] » I would you know we talking about
[27:05] presenters and I don't want to put more
[27:06] work on schwanda but how would you
[27:08] present to my neighbors
[27:11] how much we do as parks and rec
[27:14] recreationally like that is a long list.
[27:16] I would just put that as a question like
[27:18] is there something that we've already
[27:20] have as a staff that like a PowerPoint
[27:23] says here's all we do that I can send
[27:24] the folks. Um but the 10 awards would be
[27:27] my question like if you'd be willing to
[27:28] share that at some point like that.
[27:30] » Yes, I I will be sharing that. Um yeah,
[27:33] once we um I have the list available,
[27:36] but I didn't bring it with me today. I
[27:38] just wanted to mention because I was
[27:39] talking about that Stevens program that
[27:42] will be uh hopefully nominated this
[27:45] year. And also the star student banquet
[27:48] uh and um program was nominated last
[27:51] year uh for an award. And that program
[27:53] has been around about more than 10
[27:55] years. So, but I could come and present
[27:59] if you would like for me to or put
[28:01] something together.
[28:03] » I would even wonder like I kind of want
[28:05] to put together so I can learn about it,
[28:07] but if you have something I don't want
[28:08] to add more work to you on a like but if
[28:11] you have that available and that'd be
[28:12] fine. That'd be wonderful. Okay.
[28:15] » Okay. And also we do popup events
[28:17] sometime from time to time. So we could
[28:18] pop up in your area and maybe do some
[28:21] things there and talk about it while
[28:22] we're there.
[28:23] » Okay, that'd be awesome. All right, any
[28:25] other questions?
[28:27] » All right, hearing none. Thanks, Randa.
[28:28] » Okay, thank you.
[28:30] » All right, Leland.
[28:32] » Sure. I'll just wrap this up with u from
[28:34] a staff standpoint. Uh Perry is here,
[28:36] but Perry, don't come up unless there's
[28:38] any questions. um his reports in here.
[28:41] He um is in operations, but he he uh
[28:45] gives us a great uh data report on all
[28:47] of his safety ADA. Any any questions for
[28:51] Perry before we move on?
[28:55] Perry, your information is so detailed.
[28:58] There's no questions. Um so I'll just
[29:01] move into my uh quick report. I usually
[29:03] at this point too is give a little
[29:05] update on what I've been taking to the
[29:07] board. uh some major projects. So, just
[29:10] looking back, um 30 crossing has been a
[29:12] a huge project for us right now in terms
[29:15] of uh funds and and design processes.
[29:19] So, um last night on the agenda, we
[29:22] brought together to the board and
[29:24] presented a um a finalized contract that
[29:28] we'll be uh getting hopefully approval
[29:30] uh next week by the board for moving
[29:33] forward with Sasaki. And just remind
[29:35] everybody, Sasaki is the is the lead or
[29:38] the primary of that contract, but
[29:40] they'll also be um uh requesting
[29:43] qualifications from multiple uh local
[29:46] vendors and design firms and engineers
[29:49] and all kinds of good stuff to be a part
[29:51] of that project. And so, a lot more to
[29:53] continue on that. Um there's also the
[29:56] Kanes Park. Uh it's a RTP grant. Um it's
[29:59] a small grant project that uh was
[30:01] approved by the board. Um and um those
[30:06] are the biggest things. We did have some
[30:07] urban forestry bucket trucks and some
[30:09] some equipment and some golf mowers and
[30:11] stuff that were recently approved as
[30:13] well. Um so uh those that's kind of my
[30:16] report to the board. Uh does anybody
[30:18] have any questions on that?
[30:21] » Does anybody have any questions for
[30:22] Leland?
[30:24] » Do you think uh Sasaki would be able to
[30:26] give a presentation on a time
[30:28] streamlined into their time here? Um I
[30:31] think on all these presentations for 30
[30:33] crossing I think the ultimate question
[30:35] should be is what is the goal of the
[30:38] presentation. So if we want Sasaki to
[30:40] give a presentation they can they're not
[30:43] um always locally here and so it would
[30:46] be maybe a webinar base or aligning when
[30:49] they are here. We'd have to align with
[30:51] this meeting which will be challenging.
[30:53] Um, I think having somebody like the
[30:55] project manager at some point, um, or
[30:58] myself, um, or somebody from the working
[31:01] group, uh, depending on your interests.
[31:03] I mean, if it was how are we going to
[31:04] fund this park from a financial
[31:06] standpoint, uh, Jack Thomas at the
[31:08] Little Rock Chamber would be great for
[31:10] that. Uh, from a design standpoint and
[31:13] project management, I could handle that.
[31:16] Um, as well as Katie could do the, um,
[31:20] when she's, um, you know, up to speed on
[31:22] it. So there's a lot of different, you
[31:24] know, ARDOT, we're our working group,
[31:26] um, representative there is, uh, Kelly
[31:29] Willilhight, and she's great from
[31:30] ARDOT's perspective. Um and so yes,
[31:33] Assaki, but then I would say as you as
[31:36] we get farther along like in the design
[31:38] process um later this year and first of
[31:41] next year is what is your interest in
[31:43] terms of what design questions maybe and
[31:46] it might be what is that local landscape
[31:48] architect firm or that local, you know,
[31:51] whatever vendor or whatever that you
[31:53] might have an interest in and we could
[31:54] bring them to the table too. Um just
[31:57] just a little bit more. Yeah.
[31:59] » Great. Any other questions for Leland?
[32:01] Yep.
[32:03] » Yes.
[32:03] » Yeah. Hi, Leland. Um,
[32:04] » Hey, Kathy, how are you?
[32:06] » Good. Thank you. Sorry I was a little
[32:08] bit late. Let's go to the beauty parlor.
[32:10] » Uh, you look good today. The salon.
[32:15] » The salon. Okay. The men are going shut
[32:17] up and ask your question. Uh, two
[32:19] things. Uh, Dunar Gardens. So, I read in
[32:22] the dim that St. Joseph's is partnering
[32:26] with Dunbar and they'll bring back those
[32:29] uh plots where people can I guess grow
[32:32] their own vegetables. I know that's was
[32:34] it a teaching uh garden essentially and
[32:38] I think they're still up and running. Is
[32:39] that some sort of parks partnership or
[32:41] is it under your purview?
[32:42] » Um so the Dumbar community garden um is
[32:47] under Little Rock Parks and Rag. We
[32:49] actually um that's part of our PIT
[32:52] funding and we use some of our PIT
[32:54] funding to help fund one of their
[32:56] employees. I'm looking at Angela because
[32:58] she manages all that payment and I don't
[33:01] know where they actually stand with
[33:02] their employees and their their
[33:04] part-time employees. Um but we help fund
[33:07] that. That's just historically how that
[33:09] was established. I didn't have anything
[33:10] to do with that. Um in terms of what you
[33:13] read in the newspaper that that group is
[33:16] it was it St. Joseph
[33:18] » St.
[33:19] They were they have they're on my uh
[33:22] Mahogany could answer this too. They're
[33:23] on my like call back where we're
[33:26] supposed or do we have a meeting on the
[33:27] books now set up?
[33:32] » I would have to check.
[33:33] » Okay. So, they were they've been
[33:34] reaching out to me. So, um
[33:38] I I saw the newspaper article. Um I was
[33:41] not directly involved in that. Okay.
[33:43] » So, I think they've been reaching out to
[33:45] uh Dumbar Community Garden. There's a
[33:47] board that manages that and they're
[33:50] responsible for that garden. So I'm
[33:52] assuming they work directly with them.
[33:54] Angela, you don't know anything more.
[33:57] And so um they that group is now
[34:00] reaching out to me. Uh when they reached
[34:02] out to me, it was um hey, we're talking
[34:04] about doing XYZ and we'd be interested
[34:06] in some additional land in in Little
[34:09] Rock. So um we haven't had any
[34:11] conversations about Dumbar. Sorry if
[34:13] that was long answer to the short, but
[34:15] » Okay. But that Yeah. So, it's a work in
[34:17] progress. The other
[34:18] » It's a good thing.
[34:20] » Yeah. Yeah. Because I think they were
[34:21] originally going to go into Burns Park
[34:22] and then there were
[34:23] » I think they have something in Burns.
[34:26] Actually, Mahogany, it is on my
[34:27] calendar. It's I'm meeting him I think
[34:29] this week like Friday at the root cafe
[34:31] at 11:00 a.m.
[34:34] » Well, why did you Why are you going to
[34:35] the root? Why don't you Never mind.
[34:38] » I need to just confirm.
[34:40] » Okay. Next thing. Next thing. uh that
[34:43] meeting is
[34:44] » Uh excited to be about the progress at
[34:47] Reservoir Park and I was just uh
[34:49] requesting that when we get close, I
[34:52] don't know if it's the ball field or the
[34:54] playground or the restrooms or whatever,
[34:57] if we could have some sort of ribbon
[34:59] cutting like we're getting ready to have
[35:01] for the fire station number nine
[35:02] tomorrow. I mean that area people in
[35:05] Leewood I every week when when can we
[35:08] want to celebrate when can we do that?
[35:11] So, we could move it up. Um, and I'd be
[35:13] happy to work with you on that. My goal
[35:15] is to have as much completed this year
[35:17] and have something at the end of the
[35:18] year. Um, we might not want to be out
[35:20] there at the end of the year when it's
[35:22] dark and cold. And so,
[35:23] » We we might want to be out there when
[35:24] it's cold.
[35:26] » Um, but the restroom I hear is on its
[35:28] final um new construction effort. It's
[35:32] about to be completed. the playground.
[35:34] Uh my understanding the latest was the
[35:36] concrete um the contractor was going to
[35:39] finish the concrete sidewalks. Um the
[35:42] playground will be open. We just didn't
[35:44] have we weren't going to do a ribbon
[35:46] cutting until we kind of have a more
[35:47] collective. Um I'm really disappointed
[35:49] that we haven't been able to finalize
[35:51] our understanding of the ball field. Uh
[35:54] we had a successful bid for the ball
[35:55] field, but then it got held up in legal
[35:58] and I understand it had a lot to do with
[36:00] match money from an environmental
[36:01] standpoint. a bunch of other things.
[36:02] We're trying to match a bunch of
[36:04] different funds for it. Um I need to
[36:06] circle back to that, but looks like at
[36:08] the end of this year, we could
[36:09] definitely find a time to do a ribbon
[36:12] cutting. I mean, that was my my goal as
[36:13] well. So,
[36:14] » Or yeah, just but we will have some sort
[36:16] of event.
[36:17] » Yes, absolutely. I'll work with you on
[36:19] it. Yes.
[36:19] » Okay, cool. Thank you. That's all.
[36:21] » Thank you. All right. Any additional
[36:23] questions?
[36:25] All right. Hearing none. Um, looks like
[36:27] on the agenda there's a Kanes Park loop
[36:30] trail that we might have discussed. Um,
[36:32] does anybody know anything about that?
[36:34] » That's one of the agenda items that I
[36:36] brought to attention. Um, that was
[36:37] something we brought to the board for
[36:40] um, approval and our design team is uh,
[36:43] so we got a grant. It's an RTP
[36:45] recreation trails program grant. Um,
[36:48] it's it's a low amount. I think it was
[36:50] under $100,000, but you know it's still
[36:53] $100,000. And so we're extending re
[36:57] renovating the existing trail around the
[36:58] ball field out there. So currently it's
[37:00] like 8 ft wide and we're going to 14 ft
[37:04] wide to match the Tri Creek Greenway as
[37:06] part of the new basketball facility that
[37:09] was uh rebuilt there. And so uh it's a
[37:12] small trail project but it's a small
[37:15] piece in the bigger scheme of things.
[37:17] Something that I am excited about in
[37:18] terms of trails and this ties into that
[37:20] is the Tri Creek Greenway in that area
[37:22] which that is part of it which I
[37:24] mentioned. Um we did get final approval
[37:26] from ARDOT to advertise that. That was a
[37:29] grant that we received back in like 2020
[37:32] uh which was a $3 million grant. So
[37:35] we'll now be advertising um as soon as
[37:38] possible for a project of about a $4
[37:40] million trail project. And that's Tri
[37:42] Creek Greenway. Uh running from
[37:45] essentially um it's in it's in that area
[37:49] of town off of South University. It's
[37:51] connecting First T Western Hills,
[37:53] Heinman, and Brody Creek Park. So um
[37:55] it's just one of many multiple other
[37:57] projects, too. So man, that's fantastic.
[38:00] Uh any questions to Leland on Kanis Park
[38:02] Loop Trail? All right, hearing none, uh
[38:06] we'll move on to uh events. uh says you
[38:10] Cleveland or or Graham.
[38:12] » I'd love Graham to pick this up. I'll
[38:14] just share the the really highlighted
[38:16] one would be the senior facility uh
[38:18] which I've already mentioned. It'll be a
[38:20] come sneak peek the construction of the
[38:23] senior facility. Uh substantial
[38:25] completion will be done at the end of
[38:26] this month. Uh it was a a little over a
[38:29] $4 million uh renovation addition to the
[38:32] uh existing facility to make a senior
[38:34] facility. We're currently hiring and
[38:36] filling out our program and staffing and
[38:39] all that good stuff. And Shawanda and I
[38:42] and Michael Washington, who's the lead
[38:43] of that, will be uh working to get that
[38:46] facility fully up and operational before
[38:48] the end of the year with some kind of
[38:49] ribbon cutting um first of the new year.
[38:52] So, um Graham, do you have some other
[38:54] event? Graham usually has some good
[38:56] recreation events. There's some up
[38:58] andcoming races I know as well.
[38:59] » Yeah, I've got a few races. Um, Logan's
[39:02] Run is our in partnership with Little
[39:04] Rock Marathon and the Therapeutic
[39:06] Recreation Division. Um, it's our race
[39:09] for those with disabilities. So, that's
[39:11] September 26th at War Memorial Park. Um,
[39:16] so that's always a great event. Then we
[39:18] have the Squatch till you drop trail
[39:19] run. That's at All Park. This is the
[39:22] third year doing that. Um, that's a
[39:24] two-day event. One day is a 5K and then
[39:27] the next day is a believe it's six hours
[39:29] just as run as much as you can.
[39:31] » Jesus.
[39:32] » So,
[39:32] » And how how many times did that guy run
[39:34] it last year? What?
[39:36] » It was something crazy.
[39:37] » He ran past me and I think he was on
[39:39] like mile 31 or something.
[39:40] » Yeah. 30 something miles.
[39:41] » So, he was running more than a marathon.
[39:45] » Yeah. Supposed supposedly when you run
[39:48] in the woods you can just keep going.
[39:50] » Yeah.
[39:53] » All right. Sorry. Uh, all good. And then
[39:56] the creep and crawl race by Little Rock
[39:58] Marathon. That's a 5K, 10K, and half
[40:00] marathon. That's on October 31st at Two
[40:03] River Park. Um, and then we also have
[40:05] the Arkansas Salsa Festival. This is the
[40:08] second annual one at West Central
[40:10] Community Center. That'll be October
[40:13] 17th
[40:14] um at noon.
[40:16] » Is that like salsa dancing or salsa?
[40:18] » That is salsa the food. And anyone can
[40:21] » That's a legit question.
[40:22] » Great. breakfast
[40:23] » Cuz I I'll come if it's to eat, but I'm
[40:26] not going to dance.
[40:28] » And then
[40:29] » We'll also have
[40:30] » No, it's the dance. The
[40:32] » Do both.
[40:33] » It's the salsa dance.
[40:35] » No, it's it's food. It's also the food.
[40:37] You can enter to win.
[40:38] » There's a dance at West Central, too.
[40:42] » Okay.
[40:42] » There is separate dancing. Yes.
[40:44] » There's both.
[40:45] » Separate dance. Okay.
[40:47] » They do have dance at West Central.
[40:48] » Yeah, that's okay. Sorry. I thought
[40:50] that's what we talking about. Um, also
[40:53] November 7th is the fourth annual uh
[40:59] Kynis or W 6 block party that Director
[41:02] Lewis is helping put on. That'll be at
[41:04] Kanes Park at 10:00 a.m. 10 to 2. And so
[41:07] we'll have lots of vendors and food
[41:10] trucks and all sorts of stuff going on
[41:12] there. That's all I have. Any questions?
[41:16] » I went to the Kanes Park block party
[41:18] last year and it was a lot of fun. So,
[41:20] I'd recommend that to to anyone. Um, any
[41:23] other questions for Graham?
[41:26] How's our uh Instagram going?
[41:28] » It's great.
[41:30] » Getting a lot of a lot of feedback.
[41:32] » Uh, yeah. Yeah, Facebook gets a little
[41:34] bit more than Instagram, but yeah.
[41:36] » Okay.
[41:37] » Great.
[41:38] All right. Um,
[41:41] hearing no additional questions for
[41:43] Graham, let's move on to our
[41:44] subcommittee reports. And we have Parks
[41:47] Conservancy Summer.
[41:51] lot going on.
[41:53] They want to come and present to us, but
[41:55] they were not ready for this month.
[41:57] She's going to get back to me on that.
[41:59] So, they're working on getting a
[42:00] presentation together for us. Um,
[42:03] they're going to have a booth at Harvest
[42:05] Fest. So, if y'all are at Harvest Fest,
[42:07] stop by and see them and introduce
[42:08] yourself. Also, I want to talk about um
[42:11] on the I want if y'all would please go
[42:14] to their website and become a friend of
[42:16] Parks Conservancy. I think it's like you
[42:18] can do anywhere from like a $5 donation
[42:21] to $100. It's a monthly donation and I
[42:24] think that it's important that we as a
[42:27] commission be given to that. Um let's
[42:30] see the passport update. They're at a
[42:33] standstill right now. Um but they need
[42:37] to they're going to meet with the parks
[42:39] department. They're trying to figure out
[42:40] which parks to have that in. So that's
[42:44] kind of on hold.
[42:46] Um, they have a lot there's a lot of
[42:48] little things going on with War Memorial
[42:51] like different people meeting and I
[42:55] think with the 30 crossing that it kind
[42:58] of like Leland said it kind of just like
[43:00] lit a fire under people to try to get
[43:03] things done in other parks. Um, so they
[43:06] are actually meeting with Kathy Webb.
[43:09] They have been meeting. Um, her most
[43:11] promising idea is to raise money to or
[43:15] someone is going to raise money to make
[43:17] the pond fishable again, which is really
[43:21] cool. And they have a meeting this
[43:23] Friday at I don't know the time yet.
[43:27] It's either 1:30 or 2. I will not be
[43:30] able to be there because I will be
[43:31] working, but if anybody is willing to
[43:33] attend,
[43:35] it would be cool to have represent
[43:37] representation. It's this Friday at
[43:39] Boulevard in the Heights
[43:42] » At 2 o'clock. If the time changes, I'll
[43:45] I'll send out a message.
[43:48] » Great. Uh, anything else?
[43:51] » That's it.
[43:52] » All right. Does anybody have any
[43:54] questions for Summer regarding the Parks
[43:55] Conservancy? Oh, could you explain to
[43:58] our new board members what the Parks
[43:59] Conservancy is?
[44:03] » Okay,
[44:05] I I can pass this around. This is this
[44:08] is what they're going to have at the
[44:10] Harvest Fest booth. But um they're
[44:13] nonprofit. They raise money for um
[44:15] different parks and they I think it this
[44:19] commission and the parks conservancy
[44:21] need to work a little bit better
[44:22] together because I think since they can
[44:25] fund raise and we could promote their
[44:28] fundraising, we could um do different
[44:31] things for parks. So that's basically
[44:33] what they do. They have a board. They
[44:34] meet monthly.
[44:36] They're very consistent. So,
[44:40] » I I can give one little example. Uh the
[44:42] parks conservancy took on as one of
[44:44] their projects, Reservoir Park, and
[44:48] helped us with a we had a little
[44:49] fundraiser and raised uh some monies
[44:52] there. So, I've I've attended one of
[44:54] their meetings. It's a great group.
[44:56] Again, it's a nonprofit and I do think
[44:58] we need to communicate more
[45:00] » Work together
[45:02] » And and not to be uh
[45:05] rudimentary I guess about it but so the
[45:08] people can give money to the this for
[45:10] you le this question so people can give
[45:11] money so we had the fundraiser right for
[45:14] Reservoir Park they get they get the
[45:16] money I mean the money transfers from my
[45:18] pocket to their pocket right
[45:19] » And then it basically comes back to us
[45:21] » And then it come back to us as a as a
[45:24] part like how does Does it earmark? Does
[45:26] it say I want to build a playground and
[45:28] and we'll give you this money to build a
[45:29] playground. Then the city board approves
[45:31] that. Like how does how does that all
[45:32] work?
[45:33] » So you can easily um Mr. Whitesai could
[45:36] write a check for $100,000
[45:39] and
[45:42] easily give it to the uh conservancy and
[45:46] you can define it however you want. You
[45:48] could say, I define this for war
[45:50] memorial or I define it for this park or
[45:53] I want to use it just in general for
[45:54] parks and recreation. Um, typically it's
[45:57] defined um like for reservoir it was
[46:00] we're going to have a project or we're
[46:02] going to raise money and people send in
[46:04] checks and it went into an account um or
[46:06] an area for Reservoir Park. Um and then
[46:10] ultimately what would happen on most of
[46:11] that um like we did uh we had some money
[46:14] for East Little Rock Community Center.
[46:16] It's a long whole another story. But I
[46:18] showed to the um conservancy where we
[46:21] spent it was something like let's say
[46:23] $15,000.
[46:25] We spent $15,000 on HVAC and remodel and
[46:29] sheetrock or painting or whatever. I
[46:31] showed them all of our expenses and then
[46:33] they cut us a check and then I can take
[46:34] that check and put it into accounts that
[46:37] we have here to pay the bills or into
[46:39] other accounts, however you, you know,
[46:42] however it's best for that project. Uh
[46:44] so you can do however you want to do it.
[46:46] Um
[46:48] Summer did mention you can give like on
[46:50] a monthly basis. Um I know people a lot
[46:53] of people do that. Um there's also we
[46:55] were trying to start a uh we did start
[46:57] it. We just haven't been successful at
[46:59] getting this rolled out and big was a
[47:01] friends for the uh friends for the park
[47:03] program. Um and the idea behind that
[47:06] would be is if you gave a certain amount
[47:07] of money then you get certain kind of
[47:09] benefits and all this. Um, we still
[47:12] really need to circle back to that and
[47:13] make that a stronger program, but that's
[47:16] all part of that as well. Does that
[47:17] help?
[47:18] » Oh, perfect. Yes. Thank you. Okay. Does
[47:20] anybody have any questions with Leland
[47:21] on that?
[47:23] » All right. Any more questions for
[47:24] Summer? All right. Summer, thank you so
[47:26] much. Oh,
[47:27] » Something else. If anybody if the new
[47:29] people want to be on my subcommittee,
[47:31] please feel free.
[47:32] » I'm looking at you, Rogers. Please.
[47:36] » Right. All right. Yeah, that's a great
[47:38] point. You know what we're doing now is
[47:40] we're going through our subcommittees
[47:41] and everybody will be on one
[47:43] subcommittee. Um there's only three of
[47:46] them and so just pick which one that you
[47:48] think would be best for you. Um and then
[47:50] we can place you on there at our next
[47:52] meeting. So all right uh let's go on to
[47:55] marketing.
[47:56] » I'm going to defer to Nolan for the
[47:59] update.
[48:00] » All right, Nolan. So me and Graham did
[48:02] me. We're just kind of continuing the uh
[48:06] stories
[48:07] uh theme that we've been discussing as
[48:09] far as highlighting individuals andor
[48:11] groups that kind of utilize space within
[48:14] the parks uh system. Um so nothing
[48:18] really new to report. I did kind of
[48:20] quasi interview one of our
[48:22] commissioners, Sam Ellis, um down at his
[48:26] his place. And um and there's a couple
[48:29] other things going on, but I did want to
[48:31] take this time to address two parts of
[48:34] this um administration update with the
[48:38] on the marketing communication needs or
[48:40] updates, the newly designed t-shirt to
[48:42] promote visibility.
[48:44] Uh that was maybe in conjunction with
[48:46] the conservancy. Uh, is there is there a
[48:50] reason that this is on the needs or
[48:52] updates list and who's who's responsible
[48:55] for this update as far as the newly
[48:58] designed t-shirts to promote visibility?
[49:01] » I I can speak to that. Uh, Nolan, um, we
[49:04] often do um like if you can see staff
[49:07] like Perry is wearing a a logo logoed
[49:10] shirt now. We have uh different shirts
[49:13] that we uh give to staff for uniform
[49:16] basis. And so once a year we usually run
[49:20] um a a casual t-shirt for staff to use
[49:23] when they're out in the field or on
[49:25] Fridays to wear. Um and so we ran those
[49:28] this year. Uh we work with a company
[49:30] here, Native. Um just we work with other
[49:34] um companies as well. That's who we've
[49:36] worked with this time. Um Graham leads
[49:39] that process. Um we do u usually come up
[49:43] with the design kind of roughly in house
[49:44] and then work with them to finalize it.
[49:47] Um, and then this year we ran quite a
[49:50] bit of more shirts because I have an
[49:52] idea that we would like to and we've
[49:54] been asked many many times if we would
[49:56] sell them or donate them or give them
[49:58] away in different processes. Um, I have
[50:01] a working uh relationship with uh Nate
[50:04] at the uh the executive director of the
[50:07] Kyle's Library. There's a new uh used
[50:10] bookstore downtown in the River Market
[50:12] District and they were going to give us
[50:13] space down there to sell shirts. We also
[50:16] share uh sell merchandise at our
[50:19] different facilities. Uh one being the
[50:22] Resmond uh golf course and so we were
[50:24] going to try to put some down there and
[50:26] see if they sell down there as well. The
[50:28] idea behind this too is not just for our
[50:30] staff to have uh a different uh choice
[50:33] of uniform to wear on certain casual uh
[50:36] events, but also to um potentially
[50:39] generate some revenue for us uh for
[50:41] different projects, but also to generate
[50:44] um free more or less revenue, not
[50:48] revenue, uh awareness of the uh parks
[50:52] department, uh just in general from
[50:54] people wearing their shirts and talking
[50:55] about what we do.
[50:57] Okay. Uh, a follow-up question to that
[51:00] then,
[51:00] » Yeah,
[51:01] » Is who who would be responsible, I
[51:04] guess, for like inventory, selling,
[51:07] distribution, and reporting as far as
[51:09] like number of shirts sold, right?
[51:11] » Uh, you know, profitability, and it kind
[51:15] of goes to the Little Rock Outdoor
[51:17] Recreation, I guess, as a a sub
[51:20] commmittee or a subgroup. Um, I'm not
[51:24] sure where you're referring to the
[51:26] outdoor recreation. Um, there is a
[51:28] outdoor recreation coordinator position,
[51:31] but the individual that's running the
[51:33] numbers on all the shirts and all that
[51:35] is uh Graham Brown.
[51:38] » Gotcha. I'm talking about the reports,
[51:39] the outdoor recreation, they're they're
[51:41] documenting that they just hit over,00
[51:45] followers
[51:46] on Facebook and they are giving away
[51:48] shirts and I'm just trying to
[51:50] understand.
[51:50] » Yeah. So, that's a completely different
[51:51] program. Um, outdoor recreation is
[51:54] something that I started back a few
[51:56] years ago and we hired an individual
[51:58] Mike Simmons. Mike Simmons does a lot of
[52:01] uh he does one of his biggest roles is
[52:04] working with our summer playground uh
[52:06] camp day camp. But um in the summer, but
[52:10] the other thing that he does is um the
[52:12] biggest thing is getting people out and
[52:14] doing quality uh outdoor recreation
[52:17] events. He leads a uh road and mountain
[52:20] bike um bike rides throughout different
[52:25] seasons of the year. And in that, I
[52:27] think he originally started at three
[52:29] rides. Um now it's up to five because
[52:32] he's gotten a group of followers. But he
[52:35] was um we worked together to try to
[52:37] figure out ways to get people to have
[52:39] interest and knowledge and tell the
[52:40] story of of doing those rides and and
[52:43] getting people to come out. Um, by the
[52:46] way, also we have some bikes that we can
[52:47] share too for uh new newbies on that.
[52:50] But um initially it was if you did three
[52:53] rides you got one of our um uh jerseys
[52:57] uh either either you being a road biker
[53:00] or a u mountain biker and I've heard in
[53:04] fact um Mr. Whiteside here was just
[53:07] asking me about it because he's
[53:09] interested in doing it. And that's kind
[53:10] of the role of the of the reason or the
[53:12] story of the reason is because he was
[53:14] asking about these shirts exactly what
[53:16] you're talking about. And so he was
[53:18] like, "Hey, how do I get one of those
[53:20] cool shirts?" And I said, "Well, I think
[53:21] you got to go do three rides." He's
[53:22] like, "No, I think you I think now it's
[53:24] up to five rides or something." So
[53:26] » It's five. Okay.
[53:28] » Yeah. And so
[53:29] » One too. Yeah.
[53:30] » If you don't if you don't know, you can
[53:32] go out and ride a bike or um bring your
[53:35] own bike or we can help provide a bike
[53:37] to do a road bike ride or a mountain
[53:39] bike ride. And after your five rides,
[53:41] you get a jersey. Again, it's us
[53:44] promoting it. I don't know if you
[53:45] follow. Uh, so we have our Little Rock
[53:47] Parks and Wreck uh, Facebook page, but
[53:50] then he, Mike Simmons, created his own
[53:53] outdoor wreck under our purview so that
[53:56] people could follow him and get just,
[53:58] you know, direct cord um, coordination
[54:01] of when his rides are because they
[54:03] change because of weather, time, and all
[54:04] this through the seasons. Um but again
[54:07] this is um was a concept that I had at
[54:09] the very beginning is to say we have
[54:11] mountain bike trails, we have hiking
[54:13] trails, walking trails, we have woods,
[54:15] we have all these things that we offer
[54:16] that are just free to the public. But if
[54:18] you've never actually done any of those
[54:20] things, then are we really providing the
[54:22] appropriate access to these things? And
[54:24] so how do we how do we lean into that
[54:27] more? And so we can have one staff
[54:29] member that actually will take people
[54:31] out and do those. and he's actually the
[54:32] one also doing the um Sasquatch run and
[54:35] also which has become an accessible
[54:37] event. So um and he does many other
[54:40] things for the event. He's taken us uh
[54:42] canoeing uh this group the commission
[54:44] canoeing the fush uh soon um and many
[54:48] many other programs. Mike is actually
[54:50] under Shawanda. So Shaw could actually
[54:53] speak on his behalf or he could come and
[54:55] give a presentation someday. But those
[54:58] are excellent questions. I just want to
[54:59] add that if you don't know how to do
[55:02] anything outside, Mike will teach you.
[55:04] You just say to him, "Mike, I don't know
[55:06] how to do this." And Mike will set up a
[55:09] class and he will do it for you. He's
[55:11] amazing. And I love working with Mike.
[55:13] He taught me. He teaches me all sorts of
[55:15] things that I never know how to do. So,
[55:18] he's awesome.
[55:19] » Perfect. All right. What did you have
[55:20] another question? No, that is helpful
[55:22] that he's up there Shawanda and I was
[55:24] just trying to get clarity from like how
[55:26] it all works from a marketing
[55:27] perspective and the shirts and all that.
[55:28] So, thank all right. Does anybody have
[55:30] any questions for
[55:35] » The the shirts is just one now maybe I
[55:37] see from your marketing point of view um
[55:40] the shirts is just one idea like we also
[55:43] have cups logo cups and we have stickers
[55:46] and I'm always pushing Graham to come up
[55:49] with something new to to share. We do a
[55:51] lot of public events, um, many city
[55:54] halls, um, health fairs, and and people
[55:58] ask us to come pop up like Shanda was
[56:00] offering earlier for a certain
[56:02] neighborhood, we can come and pop up in
[56:03] your neighborhood or we pop up in your
[56:05] park or wherever, all these events. And
[56:07] so, um, we like to have trinkets and
[56:10] toys and shirts and stuff like that on
[56:11] our table for that starts the
[56:13] conversation, right? But, uh, from a
[56:16] marketing standpoint, if you ever come
[56:17] up with another idea, uh, I personally
[56:20] would would like it. I mean, we just
[56:22] did, um, um, we have flag polls at all
[56:26] of our locations and we were running the
[56:28] the United States American flag, but um,
[56:31] I said, "Where's the parks and wreck
[56:33] logo f?" So, we did we made logo flags
[56:36] and we have those now at all of our
[56:38] locations. So, um, anything that gets
[56:41] our story out there, um, Ryan here was
[56:44] just asking Shwanda like, "How do you
[56:46] tell your story about all the things
[56:47] that recreation does?" I was like,
[56:48] "Golly, that's going to be an exhaustive
[56:50] report." I don't think you could do that
[56:52] in one report. I mean, it would never
[56:54] end about all the different things we do
[56:56] and all the, you know, from the
[56:57] marathons to the races to the the
[56:59] marathon's a whole another division, but
[57:01] we they actually do their own racing and
[57:03] cross country racing and it's just
[57:05] endless. So, always trying to figure out
[57:08] how to get that story out there and
[57:09] showcase to the um citizens that we are
[57:12] the ones rock parks are the ones doing a
[57:15] lot of these things that you may or may
[57:16] not know that we do. So, thank you. All
[57:19] right. Uh let's move on to master plan.
[57:22] Um can
[57:28] » I'll try to be brief that I'll probably
[57:31] fail. Um
[57:34] Sam wasn't able to make it today, so I
[57:36] wasn't able to have an official meeting.
[57:38] Leland and I went through everything.
[57:40] Anyway, um
[57:44] so a couple things. Uh one, if anybody
[57:48] likes planning or
[57:50] I don't know, strategic thinking is a
[57:52] little stretch, but uh planning looking
[57:54] at bigger picture stuff, please let me
[57:57] know. would love for you uh any of the
[57:59] new people or uh old hats in the room
[58:02] that have already been in the room that
[58:04] would like to be on master plan, please
[58:05] let me know so we can uh nominate uh
[58:09] next uh meeting. Um,
[58:13] so the process is you ask,
[58:17] I'm supposed to say yes or nominate you,
[58:19] but I nominate you because you asked and
[58:22] then, uh, we vote on that. Uh, in master
[58:25] plan, um, it's been
[58:30] the three years I've been on it, I think
[58:32] we've done more meetings in the last
[58:34] four months than the previous couple
[58:36] years. Um, which is a good thing. So,
[58:40] we're we're pulling together
[58:42] uh a couple things. Um one is looking at
[58:48] just a a capital projects tracker. Uh
[58:51] the team has their own. We don't need to
[58:55] really know that. Uh we need to have
[58:57] something that sort of lives and
[58:59] breathes based off these meetings and
[59:01] the public documents that we the
[59:04] citizens, you know, have access to. Um,
[59:08] and so I took a stab at that this last
[59:12] month. Um, looks pretty good. I need to
[59:15] work on it a little bit more and then we
[59:16] can start rolling it out to this
[59:18] meeting. Um, and that's what I was
[59:21] referring to uh earlier about maybe that
[59:23] could be a presentation towards the end
[59:25] of the year. Um, and then also looking
[59:28] at a new master plan. So the uh parks
[59:33] and recck division does a master plan.
[59:36] Uh the last two, one was in 2001 is when
[59:40] it was presented uh and board approved
[59:44] and then there was one in 201 like 18
[59:47] and I think it got approved in 19 or 20.
[59:51] Um
[59:53] and so we haven't had one in a bit. Uh
[59:56] the 2020 one is more of a
[1:00:01] assessment, a categorization of things
[1:00:04] and what what might happen, what might
[1:00:06] not, but it wasn't really a a good
[1:00:08] vision uh to be blunt. And so, one of
[1:00:12] the things we're looking at is what does
[1:00:13] that process look like? Uh the our parks
[1:00:18] team is going through the national
[1:00:20] certification process. Part of that
[1:00:22] process is to have them updated master
[1:00:25] plan that you're using and whatnot. Um
[1:00:28] the most recent
[1:00:30] 2025
[1:00:32] uh five-year strategic plan is more
[1:00:36] geared towards that. That's a better
[1:00:38] look uh at what this could look like. Um
[1:00:41] and so anyway, that that's kind of
[1:00:43] things we're looking at. Um but nothing
[1:00:45] formal to bring to you all yet, but
[1:00:48] figured start at least dropping
[1:00:50] breadcrumbs of what's happening there.
[1:00:53] » No, that's fantastic and I really
[1:00:54] appreciate your time and commitment to
[1:00:56] thinking about the future. Um, anybody
[1:00:59] have any questions for Canon regarding
[1:01:00] the master plan?
[1:01:03] All right, hearing none, uh, we'll move
[1:01:05] on. Oh, somebody
[1:01:06] » Sorry, chair. Um, if I could add just
[1:01:08] one thing, a couple of things about the
[1:01:10] subcommittees real quick before we move
[1:01:12] on. Each subcommittee, we have three.
[1:01:14] They currently have two people on each
[1:01:16] subcommittee, including the chair.
[1:01:19] Master Plans chair is Canon Fletcher.
[1:01:22] Uh, CPC's chair is Summer Campbell.
[1:01:25] marketing chair is um Shimeia Woods. So
[1:01:29] um you can you can we definitely want
[1:01:32] you to designate which subcommittee you
[1:01:35] want to be on. You can sit on multiple
[1:01:38] subcommittees if you so choose. So
[1:01:41] that's all I have to add. Thanks.
[1:01:42] » No, that's fantastic. Thank you.
[1:01:44] » And the last thing we always say is you
[1:01:46] will be on a subcommittee.
[1:01:47] » Yes. Yes. Uh we like for you to pick
[1:01:49] » Nominate yourself or we will nominate
[1:01:51] you.
[1:01:52] » So be thinking about it for next week.
[1:01:54] everybody knew and uh we'll we'll work
[1:01:56] to get that put you on a subcommittee at
[1:01:58] our next meeting. Um all right, now
[1:02:01] we're going to unfinished business. Uh
[1:02:03] looks like we have our application
[1:02:06] status vacancies taken care of. Thank
[1:02:07] you, Lorac uh board. Um now we'll move
[1:02:13] on to the site visit uh dates for Fush
[1:02:16] Creek. So the tenative dates uh for all
[1:02:19] the new people uh one of our things this
[1:02:21] year was to bring uh attention to Foo
[1:02:25] Creek and to uh and apparently there you
[1:02:28] can float it. So that's what we're going
[1:02:30] to do. U the days are the October 7th or
[1:02:33] October 8th is what we've have tenative.
[1:02:35] Um hope you can make it if you can. Uh
[1:02:38] we
[1:02:40] uh will be sending out emails because we
[1:02:42] won't have a meeting between now and
[1:02:44] then. So we'll keep everybody updated
[1:02:45] emails. uh it hasn't rained in, you
[1:02:48] know, two months, but if if I'm doing
[1:02:50] something outside, it'll probably rain.
[1:02:51] So, uh just get ready to uh be able to
[1:02:55] be flexible on that uh moving forward.
[1:02:57] So, Mahogany, you're going to keep us
[1:02:59] all updated. Maybe give us an update
[1:03:01] like a week in advance and then we'll go
[1:03:02] from there. Does that work?
[1:03:04] » Yes. Um I'll uh speak with uh
[1:03:06] Commissioner Ellis um so that he can,
[1:03:08] you know, pin down which date for
[1:03:10] certain and then we'll get that
[1:03:12] information.
[1:03:12] » And all we need to do is show up, right?
[1:03:14] He's going to have like a canoes and all
[1:03:15] that. That's my understanding. Kayaks,
[1:03:18] canoes, all that.
[1:03:19] » Got to have I I was there over Labor Day
[1:03:21] weekend at Benny Craig. It got very far.
[1:03:26] We need some rain.
[1:03:27] » Okay. Okay. So, it's up. It might be
[1:03:29] cancelled. We don't know. We're doing
[1:03:30] our best to to make it work. Um and
[1:03:34] we'll just be in touch. Hopefully, we'll
[1:03:35] get We're supposed to get some rain this
[1:03:36] weekend. Uh probably not enough, but
[1:03:37] we'll just keep keep watching it. Okay.
[1:03:40] Um now we're into new business. We have
[1:03:43] nothing on the agenda, so that's
[1:03:44] perfect. And um does anybody have any
[1:03:46] agenda items they want to add for next
[1:03:48] meeting?
[1:03:50] » Um not next meeting. Do we know when the
[1:03:52] November meeting is yet?
[1:03:55] » Yes. All the dates have been set, right?
[1:03:57] Um
[1:03:58] » Do you mind reminding me? I thought I
[1:04:00] had it on here.
[1:04:05] » Are you referring to the holiday?
[1:04:07] » Yes. And
[1:04:11] » We've made an adjustment for the holiday
[1:04:13] already, but
[1:04:13] » It's November 18th.
[1:04:15] » I figured that. Okay, I'll I'll email
[1:04:17] you guys. Thank you.
[1:04:19] » All right, perfect. Any others? All
[1:04:22] right, hearing none. Uh, Director Peek,
[1:04:25] do you have any board leazison feedback
[1:04:27] for us?
[1:04:27] » I just very quick. Yeah, Leland keep
[1:04:29] bringing us things and we'll keep
[1:04:31] approving them because the board loves
[1:04:33] parks. Uh, I do have a reminder if you
[1:04:36] don't know this Saturday from 9 to 12 at
[1:04:39] Murray Park, part of Keep Arkansas
[1:04:42] Beautiful, it's Keep Little Rock
[1:04:43] Beautiful annual cleanup. Uh, if you
[1:04:46] want to join in, we'll have litter
[1:04:49] grabbers and vests. We'll be cleaning up
[1:04:51] the trails in the park. And there's even
[1:04:53] an opportunity with some watercraft if
[1:04:55] you want to do water cleanups. Uh, lunch
[1:04:58] is served water. It's a great event. Uh,
[1:05:01] and then I would like to follow that
[1:05:03] with letting you all know if you did not
[1:05:06] know Norm Burner who was had a huge
[1:05:08] impact at Fush Creek and a lot of the
[1:05:11] parks and on the pick it up litter. I'm
[1:05:13] wearing this for Norm today. He passed
[1:05:15] away about a week ago, but he was
[1:05:17] passionate about Fush Creek and our
[1:05:19] parks. So, Norm will be missed, but come
[1:05:22] clean up on Saturday
[1:05:24] » 9 to 12.
[1:05:26] » That's this Saturday, Kathy.
[1:05:27] » Yes.
[1:05:29] » Great. Uh, anything else?
[1:05:31] » Nope.
[1:05:31] » Does anybody have any questions for
[1:05:32] Director Beck?
[1:05:35] All right. Hearing none, it is past one
[1:05:37] o'clock. Uh, so do I have a motion? I
[1:05:40] don't need a motion, right? It's just
[1:05:41] over. Okay. Well, thanks everyone for
[1:05:43] coming. I appreciate it.
[1:05:44] » Thank you. Thank you.
[1:05:54] » Okay.
[1:06:11] Yeah, push it up. Sorry.