[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.

September 2026 - Parks Commission Meeting

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