Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee held its last meeting of the year on Dec. 21 with Jeffrey Sogge, Matt Tulis and Anne Selness present.

Minutes of the Aug. 17 and Oct. 19 meetings were approved.

Director’s Report:

• Update on Mega-10 playground upgrade and funds received to date including $150,000 from the Martha Ellen Tye Foundation and $15,000 from the Mega-10 Board.

• Iowa Valley Leadership class will be using Mega-10 as their class project for 2017.

• GTC architects from Johnston, Iowa are working on the RFQ for the Coliseum feasibility study.

• There is funding for the Futsal courts at the West End and Anne is working with John Hermanson on this project. $65,000 in the CIP for this project.

• RFQ for Wilson Circle is out and Anne and Terry Gray will meet on site with possible companies on Dec. 28.

• Special Olympics are practicing cross country skiing and snow shoeing for their upcoming competition in early January in Dubuque.

• Anne and Kristin met with library staff to upgrade their prairie garden in 2017.

• Marshalltown Parks and Rec. will be hosting the 2017 Iowa Parks and Recreation Association spring aquatics training on May 17.

• Working to move all of our facility, coliseum and aquatic center rentals online through ActiveNet for 2017 to save significant staff time and phone calls.

• There will be playground inspector training for all parks staff on April 27 presented by Todd Christianson, Loss Control Specialist with ICAP.

• Anne participated in a monarch butterfly webinar to get tips for planting milkweed in more city gardens.

• Goal setting for Dept. heads and Council members was held recently and a Parks and Recreation Master Plan will be completed in 2017.

• Anne has taken Certified Pool Operator training to be able to be Jenni’s backup for swimming lessons and during the summer as needed.

• We are upgrading Riverview campground adding 12 new gravel pads. Will be a big improvement for the 2017 camping season.

Board Terms – we have two members whose terms are up in December 2016: Ruben Rodriguez and Erika Ortiz. We discussed possible replacement for these two Board positions.

We discussed campground rules for Riverview Park and made two changes: Campers will need to register in the first hour after arrival and will need to be out of their sites by 4 p.m. to allow people to spend more time in the community during the day.

Meeting adjourned at 5:20 p.m. Next meeting is Jan. 18.