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Record of Proceedings

Recreation & Parks Advisory Committee Meeting - November 12, 2025

City Council — Wednesday, November 12, 2025
BodyJohns Creek, Georgia
SessionCity Council
DateWednesday, November 12, 2025
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 1:12:33

Original source
Transcript — VerbatimClick a timed line to jump · ⧉ to share it
0:05

All right.

0:06

Welcome to our meeting today.

0:09

Call to order.

0:12

Thank you.

0:12

At this time, I'll just note who all is here.

0:15

Kendra.

0:16

Alan, three, Jillian, Christy, Lisa, and Sandra.

0:20

We have a quorum.

0:21

Thank you so much.

0:23

All right.

0:24

So at this time we will open up for public comment.

0:29

Seeing seeing no one has joined us.

0:33

Then we will go ahead and move on with our pretty packed agenda for today.

0:38

All right.

0:40

Could we please get a department update?

0:45

Yes.

0:46

Thank you very much.

0:46

It's so nice to see you guys.

0:48

I haven't been for a few months.

0:50

So much that I forgot there was a meeting last month, so my apologies.

0:55

We will start with our Park Place Senior Center update.

1:08

And then they had their 14th anniversary party, which was a 70s theme.

1:15

Very fun.

1:16

They had a great time.

1:17

I unfortunately missed that one.

1:20

So October events included our final summer concert series with the Johns Creek Symphony, about 1,300 attendees.

1:33

We had about 2500 attendees.

1:48

Which if you come to that, you know, is just crazy.

1:52

But it's a lot of fun.

1:54

And $13,000 collected for the public safety foundation.

2:00

For adult softball, we had a great season with uh seven teams.

2:06

The championship was held in October.

2:08

Everything went off without a hitch.

2:10

The final game was 14 to 13 or something like that.

2:13

So that was a lot of fun.

2:15

And then programming our free outdoor fitness season for 2025 ended with October.

2:23

Um and with the time change, we had 403 participants.

2:27

Um and I was just doing a report today.

2:30

And I believe for the entire um 2025 season, we had 3400, 3,400 free outdoor fitness participants total.

2:40

So that's so awesome to serve the community that way.

2:46

And then upcoming events, we have literary fair this weekend right here at City Hall.

2:50

If anyone wants to come.

2:52

Got some good authors uh to be represented.

2:54

And then the Holly Jolly block party will be December 5th, also here at City Hall, and lighting the big tree.

3:01

And probably Santa will show up and llamas.

3:06

I know they're fun.

3:09

So I'm gonna give you all a verbal update on some of our projects.

3:12

Um I've heard just questions and I didn't give you any pictures, I'm sorry, this month uh for shame.

3:18

Uh but the makerspace project is still um in the design phase right now, so um our assistant city manager is managing that project.

3:26

Um it is planned to go in.

3:30

Um again, like we're still planning in the planning stages, so we haven't gotten the building permits yet.

3:35

Um, but if all goes according to plan, it'll start construction sometime next year over at Collie Creek Park.

3:42

Um also of note um in case you missed, I don't know if it was the last work session or the one before, but Councilman D.B.

3:50

Yasi requested that staff bring back options for collie parking um again.

3:55

So um working on that with the assistant city manager as well, so I can bring back um those options for council consideration so we can potentially uh do something with that.

4:06

Um, whatever council directs us to do there.

4:08

And I also want to um direct you all, because it is of interest to this group, um, on the agenda for Monday's work session is an um item from Councilman Coughlin about um rec centers.

4:23

So please chime in for that or listen in for that um discussion.

4:27

Um he did bring that as a council initiative, so it's on the agenda as well.

4:32

Um let's see, what else have what did I miss?

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Parks and Recreation█████████████████████████████████████████████48%
Procedural█████████████████████22%
Youth Programs████████████13%
Public Engagement███████7%
Education And Youth Programs█████5%
Arts And Culture███3%
Community Engagement██2%
Summary of Proceedings

Recreation & Parks Advisory Committee Meeting - November 12, 2025

On November 12, 2025, the Johns Creek Recreation & Parks Advisory Committee (RPAC) met at 6:30 PM at City Hall, 11360 Lakefield Drive, Johns Creek, GA. Chair Jillian Phillips presided. The committee reviewed a packed agenda including department updates, the renewal of the Parks Without Borders MOU, the 2026 Special Events/Program Calendar, and the 2026 Meeting Calendar. Key decisions included recommending renewal of the MOU without football, adopting the monthly meeting calendar, and planning a December social.

Consent Calendar

  • Meeting Minutes (October 15, 2025): Approved with a correction: changed "spring adult football" to "spring adult softball" on page 1. Motion passed unanimously.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • No public comments were made.

Discussion Items

Department Update (Erica Madsen, Director):

  • Park Place Senior Center: 14th anniversary party (70s theme). October events: Summer Concert with Johns Creek Symphony (1,300 attendees), Diwali (2,500 attendees), Trunk or Treat (8,000 attendees, $13,000 raised for Public Safety Foundation).
  • Athletics: Adult softball had 7 teams; championship held in October.
  • Free Outdoor Fitness: 403 participants in October; 3,400 total for 2025 season.
  • Upcoming Events: Literary Fair (Nov 15, City Hall), Holly Jolly Block Party (Dec 5, City Hall).
  • Project Updates: Makerspace at Cauley Creek Park in design phase; construction expected in 2026. Councilman Yasi requested options for Cauley parking. Councilman Coughlin’s rec center discussion on Nov 17 work session. Bathroom access at the Boardwalk: exterior restrooms at back of City Hall are available.

Chair Update (Jillian Phillips):

  • Reminded committee of the Nov 17 work session. She will meet with mayor and city council to gather priorities.

Parks Without Borders Renewal:

  • Staff (Erica Madsen) presented a revised MOU with Alpharetta adding recreational football and cricket, and a clause for auto-renewal for 4 additional years (total 5-year term).
  • Committee Member Kendrick McWilliams strongly opposed adding football, stating it would siphon youth from existing Johns Creek feeder programs (e.g., Johns Creek High School feeder) and that no Alpharetta players had come to Johns Creek in the last five years. He noted proximity and perception as reasons families leave.
  • Committee Member Sandra Pastorello supported cricket but not football. Other members echoed concerns about football and suggested a one-year term to collect data before committing to a 5-year auto-renewal.
  • Consensus: Recommend renewal of the MOU, but exclude football; include cricket; and change to a one-year term (without auto-renewal). Staff will convey this feedback to City Council.

2026 Special Events/Program Calendar (Cara Prell, Recreation Manager):

  • Proposed changes: Easter Bunny Hop moved to the Boardwalk (upper pond) – committee noted previous bottlenecks and suggested multiple bunnies to alleviate. Independence Day (250th anniversary) could be held at the Boardwalk, doubling as grand opening, or at Newtown Park. Committee stressed the need for food trucks, children’s activities, and portable bathrooms. A member suggested including Marines for color guard.
  • Arts Festival reenvisioned at the Boardwalk; committee recommended partnering with schools and local arts organizations.
  • Diwali Celebration of Lights proposed at the Boardwalk (Nov 7, 2026) with a light walk for 6 days. Committee raised concerns about date conflict with actual Diwali (Nov 8) and suggested moving to Friday, Nov 6, or adjusting timing. Staff will consider.
  • Juneteenth: Member Kendrick McWilliams reported long food truck lines (1.5 hour wait) and dull entertainment. He recommended more food trucks and varied programming (comedians, musicians, dancers).
  • Staff will incorporate feedback and present to City Council on Nov 17.

2026 Meeting Calendar:

  • Staff proposed monthly meetings (third Wednesday, 6:30 PM) based on committee preference (versus bi-monthly). Committee agreed to keep all 12 meetings and cancel if needed. Motion to adopt passed unanimously.

Other Business – December 17 Meeting:

  • Committee decided to hold a non-mandatory social instead of a regular meeting. Location: Los Abuelos restaurant (State Bridge and Medlock Bridge) at 6:00 PM. Staff will notify absent members.

Senior Center Access:

  • Member Sree Shama raised that Alpharetta will charge Johns Creek residents $40/year starting 2026 to use their senior centers. He proposed exploring a "Senior Centers Without Borders" agreement similar to Parks Without Borders. Chair will discuss with Alpharetta staff.

Key Outcomes

  • Minutes Approved: Unanimous, with correction.
  • Parks Without Borders Recommendation: Committee recommends renewal of MOU without football, including cricket, and a one-year term (no auto-renewal). Staff will present to Council.
  • 2026 Meeting Calendar Adopted: Unanimous (monthly third Wednesdays).
  • December Social Planned: December 17, 6:00 PM at Los Abuelos (informal).
  • Next Steps: Staff will take feedback on 2026 Special Events Calendar and Parks Without Borders to Council Work Session on November 17, 2025.

Meeting Transcript

All right. Welcome to our meeting today. Call to order. Thank you. At this time, I'll just note who all is here. Kendra. Alan, three, Jillian, Christy, Lisa, and Sandra. We have a quorum. Thank you so much. All right. So at this time we will open up for public comment. Seeing seeing no one has joined us. Then we will go ahead and move on with our pretty packed agenda for today. All right. Could we please get a department update? Yes. Thank you very much. It's so nice to see you guys. I haven't been for a few months. So much that I forgot there was a meeting last month, so my apologies. We will start with our Park Place Senior Center update. And then they had their 14th anniversary party, which was a 70s theme. Very fun. They had a great time. I unfortunately missed that one. So October events included our final summer concert series with the Johns Creek Symphony, about 1,300 attendees. We had about 2500 attendees. Which if you come to that, you know, is just crazy. But it's a lot of fun. And $13,000 collected for the public safety foundation. For adult softball, we had a great season with uh seven teams. The championship was held in October. Everything went off without a hitch. The final game was 14 to 13 or something like that. So that was a lot of fun. And then programming our free outdoor fitness season for 2025 ended with October. Um and with the time change, we had 403 participants. Um and I was just doing a report today. And I believe for the entire um 2025 season, we had 3400, 3,400 free outdoor fitness participants total. So that's so awesome to serve the community that way. And then upcoming events, we have literary fair this weekend right here at City Hall. If anyone wants to come. Got some good authors uh to be represented. And then the Holly Jolly block party will be December 5th, also here at City Hall, and lighting the big tree. And probably Santa will show up and llamas. I know they're fun. So I'm gonna give you all a verbal update on some of our projects. Um I've heard just questions and I didn't give you any pictures, I'm sorry, this month uh for shame. Uh but the makerspace project is still um in the design phase right now, so um our assistant city manager is managing that project. Um it is planned to go in.

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