The Johns Creek Recreation and Parks Advisory Committee (RPAC) met on June 18, 2025, at 6:30 PM at 11360 Lakefield Drive. Chair Shafiq Jadavji presided. The meeting was brief (24 minutes) and included a department update, approval of previous minutes, discussion of a resident rate for city staff, and other business. A quorum was present.
Recreation and Parks Director Erica Madsen reported on May 2025 activities:
Committee members asked about the night hike location (5K staging area, mobile fire pits available for grilling) and the fly fishing pond (small pond north of the 5K staging area).
Chair Jadavji encouraged attendance at the Juneteenth celebration and acknowledged Sandra Pastorello for initiating the staff rate item. He noted that the item had been referred to RPAC for feedback.
Erica Madsen presented the request from City Council to amend the Non-Resident Fee Resolution and Recreation & Parks Fee Schedule. Currently, non-residents pay a 50% surcharge on programs and rentals. The proposal would allow City of Johns Creek staff (approximately 240 employees, only about 40 of whom are residents) to pay the resident rate. The changes are already drafted in the policy documents (Section 2, 3, and 4 of the Non-Resident Fee Policy state the fee will not apply to current staff).
Committee members expressed strong support. Sandra Pastorello noted it represents support for city staff and encourages their involvement. Chair Jadavji suggested continuing to look for similar opportunities. A show of hands indicated unanimous support.
Committee member (likely Jillian Phillips, arriving late) asked about construction at Ocee Park. Director Madsen clarified that the planned parking lot repaving was taken off the table by Council, but field improvements and quad durability work are ongoing. She emphatically denied rumors that baseball fields would be converted to cricket, noting the facility use agreement with Ocee Park Athletic Association (OPAA) runs through 2028 and that OPAA's fall schedule is unaffected.
Committee member (likely Jillian Phillips) requested name tags identifying RPAC members at public events so they can be easily recognized. The request was seconded and supported by others. Chair Jadavji said the suggestion would be considered by staff.
Thank you. Yes. Travis is going to be out. Marty. Paul. Via? Sri is out. Gillian is running a little bit late. Aaron is not feeling well. Sandra? Alan? Adam. Aaron? Did I say that right? Al Ryan. Thank you. Shafi. Paul? Kendra? And Christy. Thank you. We have a quorum. I don't believe we have public comment. So let's move on to the next agenda item. And tonight's meeting is going to be a week meeting. So we'll make sure we do have some time to spend outdoors and join us on. So we will try to keep it brief and before we sell the boards and presentations. Absolutely. I'm gonna be honest, at uh May seems a little bit like ancient history at this point. But I'm happy to tell you all the great things that happened in May. We just um summer's so busy, there's so much great stuff going on. Um Park Place continues to just bop along. There are fitness programs, there's silver sneakers, there's art programs, um, lots of stuff going on over there. Um you can see a picture of our Wednesday walkers in the middle of your agenda there. Um International Festival was the first weekend in May. Um there was a light rain, but it still was well attended. Um we also had our summer concert series with the Garth Brooks tribute band. It was a lot of fun. Um thunderstorm chased us out right at the very end, uh, but most of the show got to go on without a hitch. Um we also had our rescheduled s'mores and night hike at Collie Creek Park. So we had 30 attendees there. Um one of our recreation coordinators put that on and had uh you had several different fire pits where families could gather and make s'mores, and then they took a walk on the trail there. Um it wasn't quite as dark because it was planned for earlier in the year, um, but still everybody had a good time out there. Um we also had one of my favorite events, uh Touch a Truck out here in the parking lot, and that is always a fun time with all the little munchkins running around with safety vests and climbing on um excavators and bulldozers and all that. One of the fun things at um Collie was a fly fishing class. So they actually start that on the grass area, so in the um 5k staging area, that grass lawn. Um so they set out targets on the grass and then on dry as bone, just practice their fly fishing, and then they move up to our little pond up the way um and practice it for real. So um they had a couple clinics and then rolled that into a class where they um where they held held uh a paid class after that. Um we also continue to have good success with our free outdoor fitness. So we have um coming up uh we had our movie in the park uh last weekend.