OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Columbus Parks Board Meeting - August 13, 2026

Meeting Portal — Thursday, August 13, 2026
BodyColumbus, Indiana
SessionMeeting Portal
DateThursday, August 13, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 1:38:43

Transcript — Verbatim
0:13

I got it off my chest new.

0:23

Oh, we flex.

0:24

Oh, you play expensive.

0:27

You sit there on your knees in this little bit.

0:29

You're doing it right now.

0:31

Yeah, that's good line to know.

0:39

So I'll be the first half.

1:05

Yes, I still don't know.

1:18

That's true.

1:23

Well, they say it makes sense, but also five months.

1:35

September 16th schedule one.

1:38

Yeah.

2:03

Okay.

2:03

We're all here.

2:04

I'll call the meeting for ordering.

2:07

Do you want to do staff reports first?

2:13

Okay.

2:18

So our fall league, which is close to Paul Collie, uh sold out.

2:23

It's a six season in a row.

2:24

It's been sold out 20 teams.

2:27

That started last week.

2:30

Soccer will start their games a Saturday.

2:33

We've got exactly 100 teams.

2:34

We've got over a thousand players, so we're looking forward to that.

2:36

Hopefully the weather is good for Saturday.

2:39

Uh tournaments in the month of July.

2:41

We hosted two outdoor tournaments.

2:43

Um we've talked about this quite a bit.

2:45

We host nationals.

2:46

It's the first time that nationals came back since 2018.

2:49

There's 148 teams in that tournament, so we got great feedback.

2:53

Uh it is being hosted in Evansville in 2027.

2:56

But the tournament director would like to bring it back to the Columbus from 2028.

3:00

Uh there is no contract signed yet.

3:03

Uh we are hoping uh that we get that tournament back spring in 2028.

3:08

It'll be very big for our community.

3:10

Um and then we also hosted soccer camp in partnership with Challenger Sports in the month of July.

3:15

It was very well attended.

3:17

And we got the feedback from parents as well.

3:21

And then lastly for me, golf.

3:23

Um July was a great month for golf, weather was nice for the most part.

3:27

We have almost 70,000 in gross revenue.

3:31

Very good month.

3:33

And then we also had the city tournament in the month of July in trees on the public.

3:37

Uh to Ross Pusher on his win.

3:41

He uh shot three in the park, had about 50 participants in the city tournament, so fairly well attended.

3:47

And uh is it the week?

3:52

Uh for the field house in July, just very camp heavy, so we had three camps.

3:57

Uh two of the camps were actually Nike camps, so we had a Nike volleyball camp and a Nike soccer camp.

4:02

Uh volleyball camp had 20 participants and soccer had 36.

4:07

Um, and then the other camp was another basketball camp that had 42.

4:11

Uh for the field crew, uh like I said, Mention fall soccer is coming up starting this Saturday, so the crew was uh busy painting all the fields.

4:19

Um they were also busy in July with the national tournament with just during the week and then also the cleanup afterwards.

4:25

Uh we did start aerating um in August.

4:28

Uh Blackwell should have been finished this week, but you know, all the rain is happening probably won't be finished this week, but after that's finished, they will top dress um this fall.

4:38

Just in general, I'll mention this last month, but we host the 47th annual Jack Frame Award ceremony.

4:43

Um and the two winners were Rebecca Davis and there was vocal.

4:46

Um the last couple years have been very well attended, so we're glad to see the continuous support in the people that come out.

4:53

And that's it.

4:57

Do you want to go next and then you can introduce me?

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Budget Equity Analysis█████████████████████████████████████████████46%
Parks and Recreation█████████████████████████26%
Procedural██████6%
Public Engagement██████6%
Fiscal Sustainability█████5%
Capital Projects███3%
Engineering And Infrastructure██2%
Redevelopment██2%
Housing and Development██2%
Summary of Proceedings

Columbus Parks Board Meeting - August 13, 2026

The Columbus Parks Board met on August 13, 2026, to receive staff reports, review financial updates, approve action items, and discuss future plans. Key topics included a successful summer season, encumbrances and capital projects, the 2027 budget, and a trail relocation agreement. The board approved minutes, claims and payrolls, and a trail easement agreement.

Consent Calendar

  • Minutes: Approved the minutes from the July 9, 2026 Parks Board meeting.
  • Trail Easement Agreement: Approved a trail relocation agreement for the redevelopment of the old Clarion/Holiday Inn site on State Road 46. The developer, Midland Atlantic Properties, will fund the relocation to improve trail alignment and reduce flooding. The board authorized moving the agreement to the Board of Works for final signature.
  • Claims and Payrolls: Approved claims and payrolls for the period.

Staff Reports

  • Fall League & Soccer: Fall league sold out (20 teams) for the sixth consecutive season. Soccer starts Saturday with 100 teams and over 1,000 players.
  • National Tournament: Hosted 148 teams in July; nationals may return in 2028 (no contract yet).
  • Golf: July gross revenue nearly $70,000; city tournament had 50 participants.
  • Field House: Hosted three camps (Nike volleyball with 20 participants, Nike soccer with 36, basketball with 42).
  • Fitness Center: New fitness manager Zaye Hoffman reported 90 members, new equipment delivery scheduled, turf replacement (defective, replaced free of charge), and a lead fitness coach starting tomorrow.
  • Donner (Ice Rink): July events included skateboard school (free admission with school supply donations), first glow hockey event, and a princess tea party. Summer figure skating and hockey camps wrapped up.
  • Swim Lessons: 870 children completed lessons, slightly below the usual 900.
  • Recreation: Summer program ended with a Pokemon day and gave away 80 pairs of new shoes to children.
  • Maintenance: Resurfaced four hard-surface courts (completed). Vandalism uptick noted with school back in session. Flooding and storm cleanup ongoing.

Financial Update

  • Don Hanson presented a detailed financial overview including encumbrances, 2026 capital projects, and fund summaries.
  • Encumbrances: Prior-year appropriations totaling $2.156 million remaining (across various funds). Most encumbrances are for supplies, services, and capital items. Some funds date back to 2023. The board discussed the need to track remaining balances and close out completed projects.
  • 2026 Capital Projects: Total approved capital for the year is $1.78 million, including $1.2 million for Freedom Field Playground (city general fund), $15,000 for a water trailer/truck (parks general fund), $265,000 for Hamilton HVAC units (parks non-reverting), and $20,000 for greenbelt wash pads. Additional appropriations approved: $26,521 for Hamilton HVAC and $17,000 for Blackwell irrigation pump.
  • Fund Summaries:
    • Parks General Fund: Revenues trending upward; ending cash balance $5.9 million (above 50% reserve target).
    • Parks Non-Reverting Fund: Strong golf revenues; $285,000 drawn for capital projects. Ending cash balance healthy.
    • Field House Fund: Received $140,000 of $200,000 city subsidy; other revenues (rentals, concessions) at $54,000 year-to-date, trending upward. Subsidy request for 2027 is $150,000.
    • Commons Fund: City subsidy $600,000; leases provide modest income; expenses rising due to aging building. The fund is under scrutiny; creative revenue streams being explored.

Discussion Items

  • Master Plan Update: Director Nikki reported that a culture assessment (internal employee feedback) is underway; mystery shopping completed with positive feedback. Public input sessions for the parks master plan are scheduled for September 9-10 (10 stakeholder meetings, 4 public sessions). Board members will be invited to participate.
  • 2027 Budget: Parks department reduced its proposed budget by 11% to align with citywide deficit reduction efforts. The capital request was reduced from $4.8 million to under $980,000 after capital committee review. The board noted that parks assets exceed $100 million, and the ask is less than 1% of that value. Budget hearings: August 17 (council) and August 19 (parks general fund at noon).
  • Impact Fees: Discussion on using impact fees on new development to generate revenue for parks. Director Nikki expressed interest but noted it requires administration-led initiative. Board members supported exploring the idea.

Key Outcomes

  • Votes: Approved minutes, trail easement agreement, and claims/payrolls unanimously.
  • Next Steps:
    • Trail relocation construction to begin soon; detour plan in place.
    • Budget hearings August 17 and 19; board encouraged to attend.
    • Master plan public input sessions September 9-10; board members to be contacted for stakeholder session.
    • Financial reporting will continue with enhanced detail (encumbrance summary, capital project tracking).
  • Decisions: No further action items. Meeting adjourned.

Meeting Transcript

I got it off my chest new. Oh, we flex. Oh, you play expensive. You sit there on your knees in this little bit. You're doing it right now. Yeah, that's good line to know. So I'll be the first half. Yes, I still don't know. That's true. Well, they say it makes sense, but also five months. September 16th schedule one. Yeah. Okay. We're all here. I'll call the meeting for ordering. Do you want to do staff reports first? Okay. So our fall league, which is close to Paul Collie, uh sold out. It's a six season in a row. It's been sold out 20 teams. That started last week. Soccer will start their games a Saturday. We've got exactly 100 teams. We've got over a thousand players, so we're looking forward to that. Hopefully the weather is good for Saturday. Uh tournaments in the month of July. We hosted two outdoor tournaments. Um we've talked about this quite a bit. We host nationals. It's the first time that nationals came back since 2018. There's 148 teams in that tournament, so we got great feedback. Uh it is being hosted in Evansville in 2027. But the tournament director would like to bring it back to the Columbus from 2028. Uh there is no contract signed yet. Uh we are hoping uh that we get that tournament back spring in 2028. It'll be very big for our community. Um and then we also hosted soccer camp in partnership with Challenger Sports in the month of July. It was very well attended. And we got the feedback from parents as well. And then lastly for me, golf. Um July was a great month for golf, weather was nice for the most part. We have almost 70,000 in gross revenue. Very good month. And then we also had the city tournament in the month of July in trees on the public. Uh to Ross Pusher on his win. He uh shot three in the park, had about 50 participants in the city tournament, so fairly well attended. And uh is it the week? Uh for the field house in July, just very camp heavy, so we had three camps. Uh two of the camps were actually Nike camps, so we had a Nike volleyball camp and a Nike soccer camp. Uh volleyball camp had 20 participants and soccer had 36.

SUMMARIZED BY OPENPUBLICA AI
TRANSCRIPT VIA PUBLIC VIDEO
openpublica.com