[4:28] You ready?
[4:46] » All right. Good evening everyone. Uh
this is the August meeting of the um
[4:52] Smyrna Parks and Recreation Committee. I
want to welcome everyone here tonight.
[4:56] Um we are opening up at at 6:00 PM
and um hopefully we'll be closing around
[5:03] 7 or around that that time. Uh
again, I want to thank all the members
[5:09] of the uh committee who have um who have
basically uh taken their time to come
[5:15] out tonight and thank you again,
Danielle, for um all the work you do for
[5:19] us. Uh there were Danielle distributed
minutes u of the June 17th meeting. Um
[5:28] everyone had a chance to look at those
and is there a motion to approve
[5:32] minutes?
>> A motion.
[5:34] » A second. episode.
>> Then motion second to approve minutes
[5:38] from June 17th. Uh any uh
addition to that order?
[5:49] Okay. Okay, this evening, uh, as
the committee can probably see, sitting
[5:55] right up front, we have, uh, members of,
uh, Troop 1910 who are here tonight, um,
[6:02] working on a merit badge, a cruise ship
in the community. Uh, they're attending
[6:08] our meeting uh, here at 6 and then uh,
we'll be speaking with uh, Mr. James
[6:15] after the meeting. Uh if the uh this is
all part of the requirements to attend a
[6:20] some type of civic meeting. Um it could
be school board, it could be town
[6:25] council meeting, it could be something
like this one of the committees. Uh so
[6:30] it's it all works within their uh in
their requirements. So uh
[6:35] » welcome
[6:39] guys. The the board up here um I think
they introduce themselves real quick.
[6:46] Okay. Oh, my name is Rasca Ser.
[6:52] » My name is Nelson Der.
>> Hi, I'm Lisa Torbert. We're super happy
[6:56] you're here with us tonight. Thank you.
>> Thank you. Nice to meet you all.
[6:59] » Thank you, Jim.
>> Also, uh tonight, um we have Josh from
[7:04] the town who's here tonight. Um always
like his presence here. And yes, ma'am.
[7:10] I forget your name.
>> Bash.
[7:14] » Yeah. [laughter]
[7:17] Okay.
And I know we see uh Mr. Moore back
[7:21] there, Mike Moore, who's an assistant
scout master with the troop and my son
[7:26] Mike back there who is the scout master
of troop ranking today. So they're also
[7:31] here tonight. So welcome everyone. Um we
always reserve a time at the end of the
[7:36] meeting for people to speak. So uh this
is an open forum. Yes,
[7:42] » I just said we also have the town
manager here.
[7:44] » Yes,
>> he's coming out.
[7:46] » I was going to introduce him in just a
moment here. Um, he's here. Um, when I
[7:50] saw the word visitors, I'm not sure the
visitor, but you know, he's always he's
[7:56] always [clears throat] welcome here.
[8:00] » Okay. Anything anything from the members
um before we get started?
[8:07] » Okay, everybody. Summer's going okay. We
are in August now. It's, you know, March
[8:12] to go along. Schools are ready to open
up again. Uh I was hoping to see uh Dave
[8:17] Morrison here tonight, but I I haven't
seen him and um he had asked actually
[8:22] for the time of the meeting tonight. Uh
okay. So, um I'm going to change the
[8:29] agenda a little bit. Uh we have um
uh uh we have new business number six.
[8:37] I'm going to keep that there, but we're
going to add um town manager James has a
[8:42] uh has something he wants to talk over
with us. So, we add that to the uh
[8:46] agenda.
Uh now, for those who do not know, um
[8:51] one of the things that this committee
has been talking about over the period
[8:56] of the last few months um has been A and
B under old V, which is a youth
[9:02] commission and a senior commission.
these being a uh the use of SPMA in the
[9:08] surrounding area. Um and I'll get into
the surrounding area in just a moment.
[9:13] Uh we have Mayor Scott. We just walked
in.
[9:20] Um
so,
[9:25] um I know that Lisa has beening that on
that movement. And so Alicia, um what
[9:32] are where are we at right now with that?
>> Um well with the youth council um so
[9:38] that is actually ages 13 to 18 that
we're working at. I'll just give a
[9:42] little background for everybody who's
here tonight too. So we're looking at an
[9:47] opportunity for youth voice as part of
this work um with the parks and rec
[9:53] committee. So, an opportunity for you to
participate in local government and
[9:58] advocate for youth needs and and what
you want to see um and you know what
[10:06] your needs are in and the community as
far as the the parks and recreation go.
[10:11] Um and then just really a real
contributing voice about our
[10:16] recreational areas, about public spaces,
and just about our community as well.
[10:21] Um, as Mayor D always says, it's
bringing the community together, right?
[10:24] Unity in the community. So, uh, we think
what better way to um, get youth
[10:28] involved and engage in your voice also
being part of that. So, uh, we're still
[10:34] kind of in concept. We have a some draft
guidelines. We have an application
[10:39] process. We have an actual application.
We have a review process for that
[10:43] application. And there were just a
couple of things that we're waiting on
[10:48] um some approval to move forward with
with that um structurally uh from the
[10:53] town. So that's where we are right now.
>> Yeah, thank you. We will work on it for
[11:00] a while. It's an idea here. Uh now just
to
[11:05] um maybe I I'll stop there for a moment.
The purpose of this committee uh is an
[11:11] advisory capacity to the town council.
So we make recommendations to town
[11:17] council for whatever it might be um for
events or something else and um so uh we
[11:25] have um we have that capacity. Um we
don't we don't make rules. We uh we just
[11:31] recommend on different types of things
that go directly to town council. we
[11:36] have these meetings to hear from the
public um about what they would like to
[11:41] see and
uh suggestions that type of thing. So uh
[11:46] that's why um I always have everyone
speak at the uh during meeting.
[11:53] Um now we talked about the youth
commission on the other end of the
[11:58] spectrum. Um the senior commission uh
would be those folks who are not youth
[12:05] um for those folks who um are more the
senior members of our community. Um this
[12:12] commission uh we are still in the
framework process with that and uh we
[12:18] are one of our members of the committee
who was working on that um because of
[12:23] health reasons has had to step down. So
u we will be um working on that but the
[12:29] senior commission and the youth
commission this may work in conjunction
[12:33] with you. There's a lot of things that
seniors can do to help out the youth and
[12:38] vice versa. So that's something we um
and we're we're bringing it out this
[12:44] committee uh again to uh to help uh
unify the town and help bring all the
[12:51] organization together.
[12:55] Uh on the website
uh we have something called the town
[13:00] website. I'm sorry is the master parks
plan. It's a rather involved um plan
[13:06] that was uh created a few years ago. Um
it is there for your um perusal if you'd
[13:13] like to read it of what we have um what
was at that time planned for the town.
[13:19] Uh it was a seven-year plan. So um of
course what happens is with all those
[13:26] ideas and again recommendations that are
in that plan has to go before the town
[13:30] council uh because for approval
especially for budgetary considerations
[13:35] and uh just other considerations things
that may have changed since the plan was
[13:41] uh uh was written. So I want to uh um
basically say that this that plan is on
[13:48] there for for the public. It is a rather
involved um study that was done that
[13:54] counc
um by some professional who who do these
[13:58] types of things. Uh so it is it is there
um
[14:07] recommended events. Uh
we had a uh a couple events that went to
[14:15] the um town town council. uh has there
been any one of it was the like panther
[14:21] cross idea and
where are we at
[14:27] » think it turned more into the activities
that we're going to do around the
[14:30] holiday on Market Street.
>> Okay.
[14:34] the the Christmas theme or the holiday
giving um and bringing everybody
[14:39] together in one area versus trying to
have multiple groups against prom.
[14:43] » Okay.
>> Yeah, that was uh and again that's part
[14:48] of our our job here. We we we made
recommendations to the downtown council.
[14:53] that was one of our recommendations uh
that went up and uh not saying that
[14:58] we're going we'll get what we recommend
but um it's a matter of discussion and
[15:03] it's a matter of possible approval at
some date. Uh so yeah, thanks thanks
[15:08] Pabby for that uh for that update.
Um
[15:14] any other old we want to bring up right
now? Can I just add to the youth
[15:20] commission too though for young people
that are here too? You've had any
[15:24] interest in even just looking at like
where we are with the guidelines right
[15:27] now and giving some input if you just
want to you know talk to you afterwards
[15:31] for a minute or two. you can um arrange
to get you um you know some information
[15:37] just so if you want to have some input
because that's another part of this is
[15:41] really just empowering um youth and
empowering young people to have again
[15:47] the voice but also you know to be
engaged in in the things that are
[15:50] happening in the town too. So if you
have any interest, I don't know if you
[15:54] get an extra badge for it or certainly
there is one I think we can do.
[15:58] » You certainly are welcome to when we
would voice it too.
[16:04] » Thanks.
>> And again youth commission will have
[16:08] basically be an advisory capacity uh to
us and everything. Um I have researched
[16:14] youth commissions around the country. Um
they're active in many areas. most of
[16:19] the areas are active in are larger than
this areas their cities and that type of
[16:23] thing. Um they've been active for a
while. Um they have different types of
[16:28] functions and and whatnot. So um you
know it's something that uh we like to
[16:34] start here and um hope we can get that
thing uh rolling. We're going to be
[16:40] working with the school district on that
too. The the school district and other
[16:44] organizations on that. I likely see a uh
someone from every youth organization in
[16:50] town involved with it. Uh there's a lot
of youth organizations in town. I saw a
[16:56] list and thought, whoa. Um so every um
youth organization on life team had some
[17:03] type of voice on that commission. So
because they're all doing different
[17:06] things here. So um
okay. Um, I'm going to move right down
[17:14] to uh to new business and I'm going to
introduce um our town manager uh to
[17:22] James. Um, and
[17:28] uh I he
could be presenting something to us
[17:32] tonight. U so
>> yeah. So James, thank you.
[17:36] » Yep. I appreciate it. So here's
[clears throat] we talked earlier about
[17:40] this. So generally what happens is a lot
of times we get applications that come
[17:44] in. Um usually they come I have full
administrative approval for everything.
[17:48] Every once in a while I'll go I wanted
to go to the parks committee. This is
[17:52] just one of them. We've been getting
really inundated with people that want
[17:56] to give back to the community. So we've
been getting a lot of like book bag
[17:59] giveaways and stuff like this. We have a
unique one where a gentleman wants to do
[18:03] haircuts at Sunnyside Park but he wants
to start at like 7 o'clock in the
[18:08] morning.
and we don't have electric out there.
[18:13] They need electric, which means they're
going to need generators, which means
[18:16] it's going to impact the residents
at 7:00 a.m. And I'm going to be honest
[18:21] with you, I don't know that I'd be quite
happy with a generator at 7:00 in the
[18:24] morning. I did tell them 8:00, but I
said that I would like to come and bring
[18:27] it in front of you guys just to kind of
get some extra opinions on that um
[18:30] before I made a final decision. So, you
I think believe calling by the 8:00
[18:36] business hours, right? So I think
>> yeah so our talent ordinance does
[18:44] have
time restrictions but it also allows me
[18:47] to wave them.
>> What are the time restrictions like for
[18:51] noise or whatever like what is
>> it's usually 8:00 like 8 to 10 is what
[18:57] it is. So it's it's not it's not a huge
problem. I just want you guys opinion on
[19:01] it before I say yeah.
>> No, I think it's awesome. I mean,
[19:06] » I mean, also they're gonna get food out.
They're going to have,
[19:09] » you know, music and then they're gonna
cut hair and let the the young men and
[19:14] women have an opportunity to go into
school looking, I guess you say, with a
[19:18] fresh haircut. Some of us, that's just a
razor blade and
[19:22] time, right? Um, but yeah, I I think
it's a great idea, but it's
[19:28] » Yeah. So, I'm sorry.
>> Cuz the park is like the neighbors are
[19:32] like little mini road.
>> Yes. And we've all been here when
[19:36] » tensions can sometimes be a little bit
high anyway over there. So we really
[19:40] don't want to add any fuel to that fire.
>> How many times would it
[19:45] » just a one day?
>> The one day.
[19:47] » But I guess we're just debating but
whether like he would be able to do it
[19:50] at 7 or should we stick to the 8:00? Is
that what we're
[19:54] » Yeah. I mean really that's the only
thing that I'm concerned with. Um you
[19:57] know I told them everybody needs
permits. They got to make sure that
[19:59] they're compliant with everything before
they can come out. But again
[20:03] Do you know why 7 o'clock? Um what would
>> I just to try to start early and just
[20:09] generally start
>> they don't they kind of go through the
[20:13] submission and then it makes its way up
and there's several different levels of
[20:17] approval which finds it way to me it's
the final approval.
[20:20] » So
>> what day of the week is it?
[20:22] » I think it's Saturday.
[20:27] » [clears throat]
[20:34] » Yeah, people.
Yeah. And 8:00, I think, would just be
[20:39] » Yeah, they want
>> to the residents as well.
[20:41] » They want to come in at 7. They're
saying 8:00 to start, but they want to
[20:45] come in at 7.
>> Wow. And I'm kind of and it's tough for
[20:48] me to tell them no. Here I can lock
gates and don't open them up till 8
[20:53] o'clock.
>> So they wanted like an hour early to set
[20:54] up basically
>> which is not a problem.
[20:57] » Yeah.
>> But if I'm going to set up I'm probably
[20:58] going to make sure that I have
everything running at 8:00.
[21:01] » Yeah. Yeah.
>> Just say the generator can't run until
[21:07] » Yeah. If you have other things to set
up. Okay.
[21:09] » That would be okay. to January. And
since it's the week, I I thought if it
[21:13] was a week, day seven, maybe they were
trying to get before they went to work
[21:17] or something. I don't know. But that
Yeah, I think we should. [clears throat]
[21:21] » What day was that again?
>> Yeah, I think it's awesome.
[21:30] » Yeah.
>> September 7th.
[21:34] » So that's that's right before school
starts. It's like they go back on the
[21:37] 9th or 10th.
Okay. Exactly. Oh. Oh, the parking
[21:42] situation.
>> Are they going to be right there at the
[21:45] edge? I mean, here's the thing with the
parking situation. I knew the residents
[21:48] get upset and they feel that they
shouldn't people shouldn't be parking
[21:53] because public parking. There's there's
no assigned parking in front of
[21:56] anybody's residence. If so, somebody
comes out to use the park, they allow to
[22:00] use the park.
>> So,
[22:02] » and I'm sure it's not going to be like
if they go off here, they be there all
[22:06] day. So, they'll be leaving.
[22:10] I think 8:00 is there.
>> Okay.
[22:16] » Yeah. Okay. Uh,
[22:30] » it's not fair.
[22:47] Mr. James, is there anything uh tonight
about the uh the como grant or anything
[22:52] you want to go over tonight?
[23:01] » Is actually off today.
>> Oh yes, sorry.
[23:04] » She did send them to me. She's been off
for the last week. Um unfortunately,
[23:07] again, those are some of the things I
don't really deal with them until they
[23:10] get kind of to the end.
>> Okay. um for the final signature and
[23:14] stuff because she did send it to me
asked to put in for it and that was kind
[23:18] of where it ended. Um we I have had
communication with Derek over about the
[23:24] last year about coming in and doing a
few things out there and
[23:29] just kind of waiting back waiting for
them to get back with us. But one of the
[23:33] one of the projects that they're looking
for I said I think it would be a good
[23:37] idea for an email project um to
somebody. So we might once we get to
[23:42] that point we might be able to offer
pretty easy project to kind of help us
[23:47] out.
>> So good. Um
[23:52] okay. So I had to I had to ask um I
don't go swimming at Glacoma very often.
[23:58] Uh apparently has been open this this
summer. Um.
[24:02] » Mhm.
>> And there's been times, I guess I it's
[24:05] been shut down, but um as I've been
told, um in fact, Josh informed me, uh
[24:10] that um when we have heavy rain and
there's runoff from the surrounding
[24:15] properties, uh then the bacteria level
rises up into the into the lake. They
[24:20] have to close it down. Uh but other than
that, uh so yes, I'm sure Tori can
[24:26] explain to you why we actually have to
close it because the runoff is very
[24:30] minor.
But there is a bigger contributing in
[24:33] terms of
>> Oh, there is guests. It's um
[24:38] it it's it's the pond.
>> Yeah.
[24:40] » Which has
animals and different things in there.
[24:45] It comes from all of the above. Um there
less of an impact on the residents than
[24:50] it is from just naturals.
[24:57] Yeah.
A lot of it's the geese.
[25:01] that we get um that raises raises that
pH level. Um it is tested daily and that
[25:07] is generally why it gets shut down.
>> Okay.
[25:12] Yeah. Um
I I I was just talking to some folks
[25:18] about um I know we have a playground
there like uh there is u um there's I
[25:26] don't think there's a concession out
there right now, but we have the beach
[25:29] and fishing opportunities. We have uh uh
boating opportunities out there. There's
[25:35] a boat ramp there. Um
uh the uh are we do we have currently
[25:41] have any rentals out there like kayaks
or
[25:44] » we don't have any staff out there?
>> Okay.
[25:48] » When you put staff out there, you have
to be able to have the leg,
[25:51] » right?
>> We can't do that.
[25:53] » No, but I didn't know we had anything
just sitting around.
[25:58] So, um Okay.
[26:04] » Did I can I mention something? Yeah. So,
I was like looking into just a little
[26:08] bit when you sent that when Danielle
sent it to us, too. And uh one of the
[26:14] things that I notice just from from
where I live too is with that when those
[26:19] fountains are working, it really does
help a lot. And I know we've had trouble
[26:23] with a couple of them. I appreciate the
one that's been working.
[26:27] » We burn out motors.
>> What's that?
[26:29] » We burn the voters burn out about 300
people.
[26:32] between that and just stuff that gets
bugged into them and they were actually
[26:36] out there this morning about 8:00 this
morning they were out there because the
[26:40] front fountain was out. I saw.
>> So, it is it is a constant
[26:44] » it is
>> problem that we have with them having to
[26:47] replace parts and stuff like that and
they're never parts that are there's
[26:51] like two distributors that can go out
there.
[26:53] » So, unfortunately, we're at the mercy of
them.
[26:56] » Um, and you know, usually they have to
order parts and it takes time to get in
[27:00] and that's why you see them. Yeah. But
>> we're usually on top of it to make sure.
[27:04] » Yeah. And they're great. I mean, they're
wonderful and they're very good about
[27:08] community payment the town and the
town's been great, you know, when people
[27:10] c like I mean, everybody's been
wonderful about I was actually thinking
[27:14] for the grants because part of it was
like environmental too and um so I was
[27:21] actually wondering with the grant
application if there could be a request
[27:26] for like more fountains along to keep
because we only have the three for the
[27:29] whole lake and it really does seem to
like just the water around there just
[27:34] once like right outside but it really
does keep it it moving a lot. um
[27:40] » that we can look into it. I don't know.
Again, so Denmark is very
[27:45] » excited.
>> Yeah.
[27:47] » About the fact that we are the last
standing
[27:50] free swimming
lake in the state of Del. Actually,
[27:54] there was just an article that was just
put out
[27:57] » a couple days ago.
>> Yeah.
[27:59] » Like not not the other one, but there
was actually one talking about
[28:03] » how was the last one that's actually in
the entire state. So they are there
[28:08] there's a push to try to bring it back
again.
[28:10] » Yeah.
>> State bodies for other other locations
[28:13] to do that. So that is what I was
talking about the the plan earlier when
[28:17] they came out and they want to kind of
reinvest into us.
[28:22] » So you know there we as a town are going
out soon and through this.
[28:27] » Yeah.
>> Um that will be kind of going on in the
[28:30] offseason. We're getting ready to shut
down.
[28:32] » That's correct. um for this season. So,
we will be doing doing some upgrades as
[28:36] far as like the docks and and things
like that. So, that's kind of end of
[28:39] plans for this.
>> And I think the kids like the people
[28:43] that are out there like they do seem to
have a wonderful time. I don't know if
[28:47] any of you that goes out there
religiously at 6 a.m.
[28:51] » and paddles and
crew.
[28:57] » I love him. 90 years old.
>> Yeah.
[28:59] » Who's been going up there since I
started? Yes.
[29:07] » Three times the size of the car.
>> Yeah.
[29:11] » But he's diligent.
>> So one other just one other thought I
[29:15] had on the application itself too
because if we're looking at like again
[29:20] young people using that area too and I
don't know I know grants aren't easy
[29:27] input and those type of things. I've
done cope with this before. So, I'll try
[29:31] and tell anybody what to do with it, but
I think it would be great to get some
[29:34] input for some from some young people,
too, about like if we really can put in
[29:39] for improvements for that area, too.
Like what they would want to see there
[29:44] would be great to hear from them. I
mean, I don't know. I'm old. So, you
[29:52] know,
>> Denmark has now put their executive
[29:53] office there also as well as VHSS.
>> Yeah. So them being a little bit more
[30:01] eager to help us see probably
>> I think it's wonderful.
[30:06] » Yeah.
>> Try to bring them in and get as much as
[30:08] we can.
>> Yeah.
[30:10] » We have lots of them.
[30:14] » It's great. Thank you. Thanks for
>> just I'm a visitor but I live on Lake Ko
[30:18] and I was actually follow last week
about kids swimming across and
[30:23] trespassing on my property. Um, which is
I think that swim area is far too small
[30:29] for kids to swim in, but it is dangerous
I think for kids. Like there there was a
[30:34] father who brought four of his kids over
just two days ago and two of them were
[30:38] like bobbing up and down in the water.
>> So I don't I'm I'm passionate about
[30:43] this, I guess. Um I had my brick wall
was pulled down, my retaining wall was
[30:47] pulled down a couple years ago, which
was close to $1,000 in damage that
[30:50] homeowner shirts didn't cover. So that
was out of pocket. Um, so I'm I'm here
[30:56] because I support the kids having fun
and but also doing it safely both within
[31:01] the lake and then also limiting the risk
of property damage as well as hurting
[31:07] themselves when they're cutting through.
There aren't there the properties across
[31:11] the lake have fences. I I know I have
blackberry bushes with thorns. Like if
[31:15] you cut through something, you could
hurt yourself. So I just um I'm
[31:20] [clears throat] passionately happy to
help. Yeah. So, I was talking to Amanda
[31:23] and she told me to show up so I can
help. So,
[31:27] » thank you.
[31:34] » There was something that we had
mentioned here. Uh I believe back in
[31:38] June. Um we're looking at a um a little
bit of a reorganization for our
[31:43] committee. Um that is still just in the
the infant station. Uh there's a lot of
[31:51] work we have to do. Um it would be uh to
combine
[31:57] um now we have this be the Smyrna Park
and recreation committee but would be
[32:03] the Smyrna Clayton Kent um park um
recreation committee. And uh that would
[32:10] open up um participation in our
committee a lot wider. And so naturally
[32:19] um we would want someone from Kenton and
someone from Clayton uh to be on this uh
[32:25] on this committee. They currently do not
have a park and recreation committee in
[32:30] Clayton Warington. Uh so what this would
do is this would um um basically widen
[32:38] our um our band a little bit and we
could u um not only
[32:46] look over the parks here in Spur but
also what opportunities there are in
[32:51] Clayton and what opportunities are in
Kent. Uh so uh that is something which
[32:56] we uh is in the proposed um uh um it is
proposed right now. We have to look at
[33:04] town charter. We have to talk to uh the
other two towns about all this. So uh
[33:12] but that is on the plate right now. um
that we're looking at. I just said this
[33:17] would uh um this would um broaden
broaden our scope a little bit. Uh and
[33:25] um I said this two have a a park and
recreation commission. So we could we
[33:30] would also be covering Clayton and uh
and Satan uh all within the SP school.
[33:35] That's the uh that frame that brings
school into it. Um a lot more than what
[33:43] um what it could be. Uh so
um any other any comments on that? Any
[33:51] any
Okay.
[33:56] All right. Is there any other visit? I
think we brought forth um this evening.
[34:05] » Yes, I should mention um this will be my
last meeting um because of what you just
[34:11] said. So, I have lived in town my whole
life. Um and there is a town ordinance
[34:17] that if you do not live in town limits,
you cannot serve on a town committee. Um
[34:22] and I sold my home. So next week I go to
settlement and I will be a resident of
[34:27] Clayton.
So this will be my last u meeting for
[34:32] now on this committee until or you know
if if we were to merge again or
[34:38] something that's sad maybe we may for a
while hopefully we'll be going great to
[34:45] serve with you guys. So thank you for
that. Yeah
[34:47] » thank you.
>> You've been a major asset to this
[34:50] committee. Thank you. As I said, um if
we do merge uh with this with Clayton
[34:56] and with Kenton, um you would be um back
on our committee again.
[35:01] » I think Clayton is trying to get
something in the works because I saw
[35:04] something about them having a park next
meeting, but I think um Merida said at
[35:08] this point it's mostly their council
members
[35:11] » that's running it. Yeah. But maybe at
some point that will be they just have
[35:14] that one little park.
>> Yeah. And she claimed that we'd have to
[35:18] work out.
>> We do a lot with Smart and Clayton. like
[35:20] we do our parades together.
>> We do a lot of things together anyway.
[35:24] So I think it would make sense to you
know at some point
[35:29] » bring it back together because we are
essentially like our kids go to the same
[35:32] high school and similar to where each
group has their own problem. The
[35:37] difference is in Smyrna our school
district is represented by so many
[35:43] different towns. We have Townzen, we
have Blackford. All of those folks go to
[35:49] Smyrna school district. So when this
group makes a decision or makes a
[35:54] proposal, you are using town of Smyrna
money to do it. When Clayton does it,
[35:59] they are using Clayton residents money
to do it. The taxpayers need for that.
[36:04] So if you aren't a taxpayer,
we can't spend that money that way. That
[36:11] that's the way it works. That's where
those monies come from. So with that
[36:15] being said, we have to have
representation from all of that because
[36:18] the school district is so much more
broad, but the school district is 5,000%
[36:23] not part of Senna Town Council. We are
absolute separate entities. So we need
[36:29] to find out what that happy mix is. And
I'm not sure where we find that, but the
[36:33] one thing that I do not want to lose in
losing Jessica is the town cleanup that
[36:38] she and her children have so selflessly
done throughout town. And that that's
[36:45] something that we need to continue and
I'm not sure how to do that. Well, she's
[36:49] living in Clayton. She could always live
at the business center.
[36:51] » I'll take I'll take the the high school
road like Duck Craig to the park. I got
[36:55] you.
>> The young man that you brought in to
[36:57] work with us has been phenomenal.
>> Oh, yeah. I brought him a letter for
[37:01] college.
[37:06] » So, thank you, Jessica.
>> Yeah. Jessica, thank you so much. You've
[37:09] not only served on this committee but
DDD and served on anything else that
[37:14] we've asked you.
>> It's my pleasure.
[37:18] » And I like how you said until. We'll go
with that.
[37:21] » Yeah. Until
>> we voted for that down. [laughter]
[37:28] » All right. Um
[37:32] public comment. Now's the time. Now's
the time that
[37:36] uh anybody has anything they want to
bring to the committee. Um now's the
[37:40] time people are here and we will listen
to you and hopefully come up with a
[37:48] solution that maybe not.
So,
[37:56] » um I don't have a problem to bring to
you guys, but
[38:01] uh based off of what she said, I do
think expanding the swimming area and
[38:05] the comma will be great as long as
especially improving the dock because
[38:09] the dock is um those rusty nails.
I think it's missing a board actually. A
[38:16] bunch of stuff. I go every so often and
I have fun. Um I don't know how you
[38:23] could solve people for swimming over
>> because I know a lot of people do it
[38:28] just as a challenge.
Um
[38:31] so I don't know what the solution could
be for that. But I think repairs and
[38:37] increasing a swimming area and maybe
even having a separate fishing area
[38:42] because there's been times where um we
will have to try to get people to stop
[38:47] fishing in the either swimming area or
off the dock and technically it is not a
[38:52] roden area off the dock
>> um off the front of it,
[38:56] » but a lot of people jump off, swim
around it um swim near it and with hooks
[39:02] and all that around it's not safe. I
know a lot of people fish on the left
[39:08] side of this little I think maybe it was
intended to be a kiddie pool, but it's
[39:12] usually fishing spot which has very tiny
fish in it. People usually fish off
[39:18] towards the bank more, but not everyone.
And I know um there's even hooks wrapped
[39:24] around the um the ropes going on the
fishing uh area, not fishing, the
[39:29] swimming area. Um,
>> but that's all I have for that.
[39:34] » Well, thank you for all of that.
>> Yeah, that's all.
[39:37] » See, that's what I mean. Exactly. Yes.
Thank you. [laughter]
[39:41] » Yeah, but that's that's what we need
like the real experience of what what
[39:44] you all would like to do and like to
see. So,
[39:48] » what's the if you could make one
improvement, if you could dream one
[39:53] thing that to make it better, what would
you do?
[39:58] » Probably just picking a dock. That's the
major thing cuz I know my friend cut up
[40:02] on her foot on it.
She had to go to the um walking for
[40:07] that. Oh jeez.
>> And I know um
[40:11] like I said a bunch of like old boards,
busty nails sticking up, stuff like
[40:17] that.
And then the robe could be uh be done
[40:22] cuz I know a section of it's missing.
Okay. Thank you, sir.
[40:29] Oh, so along those lines, I was actually
thinking possible event. I'd recognize
[40:34] things need to go through the council,
but even having like once or twice a
[40:37] summer having like a swimming
competition where there's like three
[40:41] different buoies or something and like
who can make the swimming competition um
[40:45] with like but also helping to educate on
safety because it is a lot of kids like
[40:50] I I absolutely would much rather prefer
someone to cut through my yard than to
[40:54] try to swim across when they realize
it's too much for them. But I don't
[40:58] think it looks really close. Like I
probably the guy I could smoke myself
[41:03] and I know I couldn't and get back. So,
um I think being able to do any kind of
[41:08] public education would be a a fun thing
or even um like putting out the buoys
[41:15] rather than using the wooden pylons that
are there. putting out um more of those
[41:21] foam
like I don't foam floaty things across
[41:26] um to expand the swimming area. Yeah.
But also because kids hang on them too.
[41:29] So I think having something like that
that floats that won't be like a rope
[41:34] won't get pulled down because it was
fixed at the beginning of the piece um
[41:38] could potentially help. And I have a
long list of things too but I I don't
[41:42] want to again passionate happy to help.
That's why I'm here today. I hope I can
[41:46] join other meetings. Um, I want to be
part of the solution,
[41:57] » you know, like with that grant that
they're doing, is there a comm or do you
[42:01] know like is there a committee that's
working on that like something like
[42:07] » I don't know.
>> I don't I don't think that that's kind
[42:10] like it there was like
>> Oh, so there's not Oh, that's right. I
[42:14] think it is due like I look at like I
know the name of this month.
[42:19] » Yeah.
>> So
[42:21] » due date August 31st tonight.
[42:28] [laughter]
>> I don't think I've ever seen something
[42:30] shake their head like
>> you know what I knew what it looked like
[42:34] before I even looked.
>> I bet
[42:40] » that's an administrative thing. and
council can have a say, but the reality
[42:44] of it is if there's a whole strategic
side to it, the funding, the money, the
[42:51] maintenance, the dah,
those are all questions that will
[42:56] eventually come back to you. And if you
can't bless it, it doesn't benefit the
[43:01] town.
[43:06] That's why you're so very good at what
you do.
[43:11] » You were just saying though like a
separate from the grant thing like
[43:14] there's going to you the town already
has a plan to do some repairs out there.
[43:18] Is that something?
>> Yeah.
[43:21] » Go out things
>> like maybe the dock or something.
[43:25] » The dock is 100% needs to be redone.
>> So
[43:30] that just like these guys
here. Yeah. That thing looks like you
[43:36] did when I was 10 years old.
>> I think I remember them doing swimming
[43:41] competitions on the lake or something
like that when I was younger, too. Like
[43:45] » you I've been in charge of this
unfortunately for the last
[43:50] 10 plus years. And I used to have life
bars out there and then all of a sudden
[43:56] » yeah to the point where I actually
offered to pay for training. We still
[44:00] keep paying but nobody just they didn't
work. So, it just became more of a
[44:05] daunting task to try to figure out how
to get somebody out there. Um, you know,
[44:10] I I completely agree with you. I've been
here. I've been in the fire department.
[44:15] I've seen what happens. I've,
you know, it's a long truck across
[44:22] there. Leave them alone.
Um, and it's a safety issue. Um, so to
[44:28] answer what happens when I was a chief
of police, I would go out there. The
[44:32] problem is is I could go out there and
be like, "Hey, get out of water." And
[44:34] then they say bad words to me and they
keep on going, right? And I I had no
[44:38] reproduction to do anything. Um, when I
was a chief, it was a little bit more. I
[44:43] would go out and then I would take
everybody out, lock the gates and say,
[44:45] "Nobody comes back in, right?" And that
kind of deters people from doing it
[44:50] because then they'll be like, "Hey, he's
going to come out here and shut things
[44:52] down." Um, we do have cameras out there.
each fire. That's the police department
[44:58] advises us to kind of go out there, but
when you have a million things that are
[45:02] going on, you know, it it just is one of
those things where it's just not always
[45:06] right there in front of you um until
until it truly is,
[45:11] you know, so maybe we need to figure out
how to make that a little more of a
[45:14] priority, but understand that that takes
away from something else down the line.
[45:20] We only have so many stuck.
>> Yeah.
[45:23] » So, but we are we there will be
improvements. We go door. Let's make
[45:26] sure that we're doing some stuff. We are
planning on putting some money into it.
[45:29] It was a there's a conversation. We are
Daniel, don't cringe, but should be
[45:36] eligible for OPT again
[45:40] » next year.
>> Right. So that wasn't processing.
[45:45] » [clears throat]
>> have one of the uh one of the better. We
[45:51] also
we also possibly have a new part.
[46:13] » Okay. Any other any other uh comments
today?
[46:21] Okay. I want to announce that on
September 16th
[46:26] um at 6:00 p.m. we'll have our September
meeting of the park recreation committee
[46:31] here at uh the police station. And uh
I'd like to entertain a motion for
[46:39] German.
[46:42] Motion is so moved. Um, so we are now
journed and I want to thank everyone for
[46:49] coming and as I said uh if some of your
friends and neighbors would uh have
[46:57] questions or concerns about end of park,
please have them come on out and think
[47:04] that's all their concern here. Uh do
what we can and work together.
[47:10] Thank you.