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Record of Proceedings

City of Norman Board of Parks Commissioners Meeting - August 7, 2025

Public Meetings & Live-Streams — Thursday, August 7, 2025
BodyNorman, Oklahoma
SessionPublic Meetings & Live-Streams
DateThursday, August 7, 2025
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 1:06:46

Original source
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0:25

Okay, we're good to go.

0:27

All right, I'd like to call to order the City of Norman Board of Parks Commissioners meeting for Thursday, August 7th, 2025.

0:35

Uh first thing we'll do is roll call, Billy Davison.

0:41

Here Christy Isaacson here, Mark Nanny.

0:45

Here Cheryl Sheriff here, Tori Ted or Laughlin.

0:49

Here, here.

0:50

Ellen Esri.

0:52

Christy Wright.

0:54

Here.

0:54

Christina Wyckoff.

0:56

Here.

0:57

All right.

0:58

Very good.

1:00

First item is consideration of approval, acceptance, rejection, admitment, and or postponement of the minutes as follows.

1:07

Board of Park Commissioners regular meeting minutes of May 1st, 2025.

1:13

Do I have a motion to approve these minutes?

1:16

I'll motion to approve.

1:17

Thank you, Christy.

1:18

Do I have a second?

1:20

Oh, go ahead.

1:22

Thank you, Todd.

1:23

Okay.

1:25

All in favor.

1:27

Any opposed.

1:29

Okay.

1:33

Approved.

1:34

Uh second item is discussion items.

1:37

Consideration of approval acceptance rejection amendment andor postponement for the special recognition to honor AIM parks subcommittee for their outstanding commitment and dedication work on the Ames Parks Recreation and Cultural Master Plan.

1:51

It's a mouthful.

1:55

I can uh take that from here.

1:58

We wanted to here here in the parks department, we just went through a two-year, might have been more than two years.

2:03

Seemed like at times it seemed like it was lasting decades, but uh we we had uh not only a plan for master uh master planning our park, which kind of outlays what we're gonna look like and what our park system's gonna look like for over the next 15 to 20 years, uh, but it was a full encompassing plan that covered everything from a land plan to stormwater to transportation.

2:27

Uh we covered so many subjects and it was a big haul for for the city.

2:32

It was a uh big hall for the parks department, and we just wanted to recognize uh the residents who dedicated their time and commitment to making this plan.

2:42

We uh as a parks department were very happy with what we got.

2:47

Uh th this uh focused a lot on arts and we wanted to make sure that when we start looking in the future and uh how we build out our department and how we build out our park system, uh arts is a big part of it, and we I think we um accomplished a lot of things then uh when the next couple generations start looking at what uh what our park system is at that point uh is gonna be a lot of thanks to the people that that spent their time um and wanted to come out here and outline how our parks department is gonna look.

3:23

So we have some uh plaques, and I know that not everybody showed up, but uh I'll call out some names, and I we have our chair, and I don't know if she wants to say a few uh words, but um she said she missed it.

3:35

Well you you can come hang out with us at park boarding time you want to.

3:39

She said she missed us.

3:41

So uh Lee Hall was our chair.

3:44

We had Amanda Prince, Dennis Bringham, Jennifer Baker, Marcus Madlock, Mark Nanny, uh Sarah Snack, Cheryl Sheriff, and we had an alternate of Roberta Pells, who uh passed away um through the process, but we wanted to take the time.

4:03

We do have awards and we have a special gift for our chair, Miss Lee, to uh and if you want to say anything, we'll um we'll pass these out to those who are here and recognize.

4:14

Uh well I just want to say thank you to the parks uh staff and um it was just a really love that um Cheryl Um so athlete represented the Parks Commission on uh the subcommittee and Mark Nanny who's now transitioned to the parks commission um has been uh a devoted supporter of what ended up being one of the number one recommendations out of the parks and master plan, which is a comprehensive trail network, which in multiple venues and multiple places, including all of the um civic engagement pieces we did for A Norman.

5:00

It was really astonishing to see how much support there is within our community to continue to look forward and make that dream come true of having a comprehensive trail network at all.

5:11

So we couldn't have done it without wonderful staff to support what we did.

5:15

So we really appreciate all of you.

5:17

So thank you.

5:24

Thank you.

5:26

If we can get our uh AIM committee who's here for social media, yeah.

5:44

It was on an item.

5:59

Fantastic.

6:18

And I just want to add again that Lee did such an excellent job in um heading up our committee and reporting back to the main committee, and uh just thank thank you for all your work that you did.

6:32

We had fun.

6:33

Yeah, we did indeed.

6:38

Looking forward to some of those being implemented.

6:42

Okay, is that all you have on that?

6:45

Okay.

6:47

Item three consideration or of approval, acceptance, rejection, amendment, and or postponement of previously approved city council items.

6:59

I'll try to fly through these real quick.

7:01

There's a lot of them.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Parks and Recreation█████████████████████████████████████████████55%
Land Use Planning███████9%
Arts And Culture███████8%
Grant Funding█████6%
Youth Programs█████6%
Procedural████5%
Engineering And Infrastructure███4%
Public Engagement██3%
Community Engagement██2%
Summary of Proceedings

City of Norman Board of Parks Commissioners Meeting - August 7, 2025

The Norman Board of Parks Commissioners met on August 7, 2025, to approve minutes, recognize the AIM Parks Subcommittee, review previously approved city council items, approve a public parkland decision for St. James Park Edition, accept a donation for the Firehouse Arts Center, receive the annual report from the Moore Lindsay Historical House Museum, and hear updates on Norman Forward capital projects and ongoing parks and recreation programs. All actions were taken unanimously.

Consent Calendar

  • Approval of Minutes: The board unanimously approved the regular meeting minutes from May 1, 2025.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • No members of the public offered comments.

Discussion Items

  • Special Recognition to AIM Parks Subcommittee: Staff presented plaques to subcommittee members for their work on the Ames Parks Recreation and Cultural Master Plan, a two-year process covering land, stormwater, transportation, and arts. Lee Hall, the subcommittee chair, thanked staff and highlighted the community's strong support for a comprehensive trail network, identified as a top recommendation.
  • Previously Approved City Council Items: Staff reviewed multiple items from June and July 2025, including:
    • The Westwood Master Plan presentation (no action taken, further presentation scheduled).
    • Adoption of the AIM master plan (June 24).
    • Amendments to contracts with RDG Design ($10,000 added) and GSB (Westwood Master Plan).
    • Final acceptance of sports lighting at YFAC (sand volleyball and pickleball courts).
    • Bid award to Downey Contracting for Bishop Creek Eco Park construction ($1 million, after value engineering from $1.8 million).
    • Lease-back of space at Irving and Whittier Recreation Centers for child care (25 years).
    • Emergency repairs at Westwood Family Aquatics Center ($75,000 for a mole issue at City Hall, and a separate leak repair at Westwood pool costing several thousand gallons per day).
    • Contract with Colton Craig Design for Westwood Golf Course beautification.
    • Interlocal agreement with the Department of Mental Health to purchase Griffin Park (including murals). Commissioners asked about a struck section on page 64 of the ordinance, a missing explanation for the Bishop Creek contract, and the ongoing Westwood pool leaks.
  • Public Parkland Decision for St. James Park Edition: Staff presented a detailed history of the St. James/South Lake edition, where the revised preliminary plat increased the total lots from 601 to 692. The required parkland increased from 3.96 to 4.5326 acres; 3.309 acres have already been collected. Staff recommended renewing the public parkland decision with the increased requirement, and to acquire additional adjacent land from the developer as it becomes available, using funds collected from nearby developments. The board approved the motion.
  • Donation for Firehouse Arts Center Jewelry Studio Renovation: The Firehouse Arts Center received a $15,000 grant from the Kirkpatrick Family Foundation, matched with $10,000 of their own funds, totaling $25,000 to renovate the jewelry studio. The renovation will double the space, allowing up to 12 students, and includes donated tools and a library from instructor Elise Bogart. Staff noted the work is a donation to the city. The board approved acceptance.
  • Annual Report from Moore Lindsay Historical House Museum: The museum reported 1,998 visitors in fiscal year 2024-2025, a 22% increase from the prior year. Programming highlights included new watercolor painting workshops and a 20% increase in children's classes. A $20,000 Arts Council grant was received (increased to $26,000 for the next two years), and a $10,000 OEC sponsorship is pending. The museum celebrated its 50th year. A commissioner asked about a high miscellaneous expense line item; the director will follow up. The board approved the report to be forwarded to city council.
  • Norman Forward Update: Staff reported $30,000 was spent on painting the silos at Griffin Park, with very positive public feedback. Other projects include Saxon Park (paused pending adjacent development), land exchange at Northeast Lions (RFP for playground to follow after acquisition), and ongoing work at Bluestem, Morgan, and other parks. The Norman Forward sales tax runs through 2030, with projects expected to continue into 2032. Canadian River Park remains in discussion with the Bob Moore family.
  • Parks and Recreation Division Updates: Staff gave updates on:
    • Educator's Day at YFAC (over 1,000 teachers served).
    • Westwood Aquatic Center switching to back-to-school hours.
    • Trey Young Academy tryouts (over 100 participants).
    • Youth volleyball league registration open.
    • Adult night at Westwood Aquatic Center (last big event of the season).
    • Labor Day Scramble at Westwood Golf.
    • Legacy Fest band auditions (battle of the bands for unsigned artists, deadline August 10, event September 13).
    • After-school program starting soon.
    • Cosmic Pickleball event (August 10, $5 for non-members, free for YFAC members).
    • Aqua Zumba with a national instructor.
    • Trey Young basketball camp at YFAC.
    • Indoor soccer open gym at 12th Avenue Recreation Center (Thursdays, 6-8 PM).
  • Park Development Update: Staff reported on:
    • Pre-work meeting for Bishop Creek Eco Park (mobilization next week).
    • Completion of rear courtyard and landscape at YFAC.
    • Community wildfire protection plan to be accepted by council.
    • Urban Forest Master Plan final draft review (to be presented next month).
    • Skate park repairs by American Ramp Company.
    • Creekside Bike Park work day.
    • Facility projects: Sooner Theater stage curtains, foundation repairs at the historic house (chimney not falling, just missing joist supports), depot sidewalk repairs, firehouse renovation and gutters.
    • Landscape renovation of Main Street medians (barren areas due to creek work).
    • Westwood Tennis Center lighting renovation (old court lights replaced).
    • Mowing schedule caught up to 7-10 day cycle; repairs to trail washouts at Sutton, Saxon, Ruby Grant.
    • Sandbur control complaints nearly eliminated.
    • Sod from OU football field donated to Adkins Crossing and Reeves Park.
    • Robotic mowers at Reeves Park performing well, with 3x weekly mowing at half the cost of contractor; annual maintenance planned; lifespan 5-7 years.

Key Outcomes

  • Unanimously approved the minutes of May 1, 2025.
  • Unanimously accepted the special recognition for the AIM Parks Subcommittee.
  • Unanimously approved the public parkland decision for St. James Park Edition with the increased land requirement (4.5326 acres total).
  • Unanimously accepted the $25,000 donation for the Firehouse Arts Center jewelry studio renovation.
  • Unanimously accepted the annual report from the Moore Lindsay Historical House Museum and forwarded it to city council.
  • No formal votes were taken on the informational updates; all items were discussed and noted.

Meeting Transcript

Okay, we're good to go. All right, I'd like to call to order the City of Norman Board of Parks Commissioners meeting for Thursday, August 7th, 2025. Uh first thing we'll do is roll call, Billy Davison. Here Christy Isaacson here, Mark Nanny. Here Cheryl Sheriff here, Tori Ted or Laughlin. Here, here. Ellen Esri. Christy Wright. Here. Christina Wyckoff. Here. All right. Very good. First item is consideration of approval, acceptance, rejection, admitment, and or postponement of the minutes as follows. Board of Park Commissioners regular meeting minutes of May 1st, 2025. Do I have a motion to approve these minutes? I'll motion to approve. Thank you, Christy. Do I have a second? Oh, go ahead. Thank you, Todd. Okay. All in favor. Any opposed. Okay. Approved. Uh second item is discussion items. Consideration of approval acceptance rejection amendment andor postponement for the special recognition to honor AIM parks subcommittee for their outstanding commitment and dedication work on the Ames Parks Recreation and Cultural Master Plan. It's a mouthful. I can uh take that from here. We wanted to here here in the parks department, we just went through a two-year, might have been more than two years. Seemed like at times it seemed like it was lasting decades, but uh we we had uh not only a plan for master uh master planning our park, which kind of outlays what we're gonna look like and what our park system's gonna look like for over the next 15 to 20 years, uh, but it was a full encompassing plan that covered everything from a land plan to stormwater to transportation. Uh we covered so many subjects and it was a big haul for for the city. It was a uh big hall for the parks department, and we just wanted to recognize uh the residents who dedicated their time and commitment to making this plan. We uh as a parks department were very happy with what we got. Uh th this uh focused a lot on arts and we wanted to make sure that when we start looking in the future and uh how we build out our department and how we build out our park system, uh arts is a big part of it, and we I think we um accomplished a lot of things then uh when the next couple generations start looking at what uh what our park system is at that point uh is gonna be a lot of thanks to the people that that spent their time um and wanted to come out here and outline how our parks department is gonna look. So we have some uh plaques, and I know that not everybody showed up, but uh I'll call out some names, and I we have our chair, and I don't know if she wants to say a few uh words, but um she said she missed it. Well you you can come hang out with us at park boarding time you want to. She said she missed us. So uh Lee Hall was our chair. We had Amanda Prince, Dennis Bringham, Jennifer Baker, Marcus Madlock, Mark Nanny, uh Sarah Snack, Cheryl Sheriff, and we had an alternate of Roberta Pells, who uh passed away um through the process, but we wanted to take the time. We do have awards and we have a special gift for our chair, Miss Lee, to uh and if you want to say anything, we'll um we'll pass these out to those who are here and recognize. Uh well I just want to say thank you to the parks uh staff and um it was just a really love that um Cheryl Um so athlete represented the Parks Commission on uh the subcommittee and Mark Nanny who's now transitioned to the parks commission um has been uh a devoted supporter of what ended up being one of the number one recommendations out of the parks and master plan, which is a comprehensive trail network, which in multiple venues and multiple places, including all of the um civic engagement pieces we did for A Norman. It was really astonishing to see how much support there is within our community to continue to look forward and make that dream come true of having a comprehensive trail network at all. So we couldn't have done it without wonderful staff to support what we did. So we really appreciate all of you. So thank you. Thank you. If we can get our uh AIM committee who's here for social media, yeah. It was on an item.

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