MINUTES
| PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION MONDAY OCTOBER 20, 2025 |
HYBRID MEETING FLAGSTAFF AQUAPLEX AND MICROSOFT TEAMS 1702 N. FOURTH STREET 4:00 P.M. |
1.
Call to Order
Chair Parsons called the meeting to order at 4:02 PM.
2.
Roll Call
Staff present: Amy Hagin (Assistant Parks and Recreation Director), Tyrone Johnson (Recreation Manager), Haley Reynolds (Events and Marketing Manager), Gino Leoni (Parks Manager), Lori Reynolds (PROSE Administrative Specialist)
| NOTE: One or more Commissioners may be in attendance through other technological means. |
| Chair Stephen Parsons, Present Co-Chair Austin Kerr, Present (Virtual) Commissioner Neil Frazier, Absent Commissioner Camile Diab, Present |
Commissioner Lisa Lamberson, Present (Virtual, 15 minutes late) Commissioner Jill Christensen, Present Commissioner Josh Stackhouse, Present Councilmember Representative: Anthony Garcia, Absent |
Staff present: Amy Hagin (Assistant Parks and Recreation Director), Tyrone Johnson (Recreation Manager), Haley Reynolds (Events and Marketing Manager), Gino Leoni (Parks Manager), Lori Reynolds (PROSE Administrative Specialist)
3.
Land Acknowledgement
The Flagstaff Parks and Recreation Commission humbly acknowledges the ancestral homelands of this area’s Indigenous nations and original stewards. These lands, still inhabited by Native descendants, border mountains sacred to Indigenous peoples. We honor them, their legacies, their traditions, and their continued contributions. We celebrate their past, present, and future generations who will forever know this place as home.
The Flagstaff Parks and Recreation Commission humbly acknowledges the ancestral homelands of this area’s Indigenous nations and original stewards. These lands, still inhabited by Native descendants, border mountains sacred to Indigenous peoples. We honor them, their legacies, their traditions, and their continued contributions. We celebrate their past, present, and future generations who will forever know this place as home.
Read by Chair Parsons.
4.
Approval of August 18, 2025 and September 22, 2025 (Joint Parks & Recreation / Open Spaces Commission), Minutes
Commissioner Diab motioned to approve the August 18, 2025 minutes, Commissioner Stackhouse seconded the motion. All commissioners present approved.
Commissioner Christensen motioned to approve the September 22, 2025 minutes, Commissioner Stackhouse seconded the motion. All commissioners present approved.
Commissioner Christensen motioned to approve the September 22, 2025 minutes, Commissioner Stackhouse seconded the motion. All commissioners present approved.
5.
Public Comment
This portion of the meeting is for items that are NOT on the agenda. The Commission cannot act on items presented during the public participation of the agenda. The Commission is prohibited by the open meeting law from discussing or considering the item until the item is officially placed on an agenda. Please limit comments to five minutes.
This portion of the meeting is for items that are NOT on the agenda. The Commission cannot act on items presented during the public participation of the agenda. The Commission is prohibited by the open meeting law from discussing or considering the item until the item is officially placed on an agenda. Please limit comments to five minutes.
Read by Chair Parsons. No comments or questions were received.
6.
Discussion Items
A.
Athletics Allocation Changes for 2026
Haley Reynolds, PROSE Events and Marketing Manager, shared with Commissioners an update on the Athletics program. PROSE staff are revamping the Athletics program beginning with field allocation for various youth sports. Historically, youth sports allocation had been based on historical precedence. This upcoming season, the youth sports groups will be allocated space based on the actual season of athletic play and registration numbers of youth. Haley explained that recreation leagues will continue to pay per child for the entire season, regardless of the amount of fields that they use. Competitive or club teams will pay per hour, per field, and for any field lighting needs. Haley added that everyone will have the opportunity to have space for themselves rather than working around other team's schedules.
Commissioners asked if there were any concerns that staff had for this new program. Haley said that what the City has identified as sports seasons does not always align with what the different sports leagues actually play - i.e. Spring sports may actually begin in late winter and require indoor fields to play on. Amy Hagin added that the City does not have sports fields that properly accommodate each sports type. There are no designated soccer fields; soccer games have been using multi-use fields. Amy acknowledged that this is a big change for the local athletic organizations and that there will be hiccups along the way, but they want to make this work better for each user group involved.
Commissioner Lamberson asked that if by adding more teams, if could the City also add more field lighting. Amy replied that while lighting is a huge budget item, they would also have to take into consideration the construction impacts that installing new lights would have on existing fields. Looking to the future, the proposed multi-purpose field at Cheshire Park would be a new field that could potentially include lighting.
There was an additional question from Commissioners on how many fields PROSE staff managed. Haley replied that there are 22 total — 17 baseball or softball fields and 4 multi-use fields. She added that this topic for Athletics focused on club use, not local Flagstaff schools. City field space has been very desirable because their rates have not changed for many years. But, this could change when the PROSE division goes through a rate study that is expected to occur in the next year as a part of the new Master Plan review.
Commissioners asked if there were any concerns that staff had for this new program. Haley said that what the City has identified as sports seasons does not always align with what the different sports leagues actually play - i.e. Spring sports may actually begin in late winter and require indoor fields to play on. Amy Hagin added that the City does not have sports fields that properly accommodate each sports type. There are no designated soccer fields; soccer games have been using multi-use fields. Amy acknowledged that this is a big change for the local athletic organizations and that there will be hiccups along the way, but they want to make this work better for each user group involved.
Commissioner Lamberson asked that if by adding more teams, if could the City also add more field lighting. Amy replied that while lighting is a huge budget item, they would also have to take into consideration the construction impacts that installing new lights would have on existing fields. Looking to the future, the proposed multi-purpose field at Cheshire Park would be a new field that could potentially include lighting.
There was an additional question from Commissioners on how many fields PROSE staff managed. Haley replied that there are 22 total — 17 baseball or softball fields and 4 multi-use fields. She added that this topic for Athletics focused on club use, not local Flagstaff schools. City field space has been very desirable because their rates have not changed for many years. But, this could change when the PROSE division goes through a rate study that is expected to occur in the next year as a part of the new Master Plan review.
B.
PROSE Master Plan Update
Amy Hagin, PROSE Assistant Director, shared with commissioners an update on the procurement process for their master plan. This process, she explained, begins with a request for proposal from consulting organizations, or groups of consultants and will begin next week when there is a pre-bid meeting for anyone responding to the request for proposals. Afterward, the proposals are due in early November. PROSE anticipates receiving strong responses. Whomever the awarded respondent is, there will be a large amount of community outreach involved, including from the commission, lasting anywhere from 12 to 18 months before completion of the master planning process.
C.
E-Sports at Hal Jensen Recreation Center
Tyrone Johnson, Recreation Manager, provided an update on e-sports at Hal Jensen Recreation Center. E-sports, which consist of electronic gaming on computers and other consols that allow players to play virtual games with other people all over the world. Currently, they are nearly finished with the installation of the new gaming system. He added that they have a meeting this Thursday with City IT to link the new computers and consols to Flagstaff's Transitional School's (T-School) pre-existing internet connection at Hal Jensen. The installation of the computers and consols will finish with the addition of gaming lounge furniture. While there is no grand opening date, they hope to be up and running sometime in November as the kids are really looking forward to using the new equipment.
Commissioner's asked Tyrone if he had anything set up that would monitor content and use, providing some oversight for restrictions on the users. Tyrone responded that certain gaming features would be blocked and that users would need to sign-up to use the equipment and that there would be time limits. All supplemental tech items, hand-held components, would be kept with staff and would be checked out by users each time. Tyrone added that staff will need to be diligent with monitoring the use of the equipment and that they are still trying to figure out incorporating waivers for use of the equipment.
Commissioner's asked Tyrone if he had anything set up that would monitor content and use, providing some oversight for restrictions on the users. Tyrone responded that certain gaming features would be blocked and that users would need to sign-up to use the equipment and that there would be time limits. All supplemental tech items, hand-held components, would be kept with staff and would be checked out by users each time. Tyrone added that staff will need to be diligent with monitoring the use of the equipment and that they are still trying to figure out incorporating waivers for use of the equipment.
D.
Upcoming Fall/Winter Parks Projects
Gino Leoni, Parks Manager, provided commissioners with an update on parks staff and their ongoing projects. They are currently in a transition period for the changing seasons and projects, too. Gino shared that he has been working on keeping staff engaged with minor upgrades and amenity upgrades to playground equipment, until the snow arrives. Other projects Gino covered are covered below:
- Cemetery expansion project (1 acre). They still have a lot of undeveloped usable space at Citizen's Cemetery. This year they received enough funding to create usable space for additional plots. Gino added that this expansion includes tree and shrub removal, some road grade work, irrigation expansion into the new plot, new sodding, then getting the new plots added online. Once each of those steps is complete, they would be about 2 years away from those plots being usable.
- Parks shop parking structure project. This project has been in progress for about 3 years, using carry forward on operational capital funding. They have been working on a new parking structure for large equipment at the parks shop in Thorpe Park. Recently, they have been working through the process of kit building for the structure. Once that is complete, they will work with a local contractor to get it built. This structure would cover where existing outdoor parking and excess playground equipment has been housed.
- McMillan Mesa playground replacement. As part of upgrading and replacing aging playground equipment, annually, parks staff are in the process of redesigning McMillan Mesa's playground equipment. Gino added that he has been working with several national playground vendors on the design and proposal.
- New dumpster enclosures. Operational capital funding is available to remove the dumpsters from their current location and place the new dumpsters by the park shop. The enclosure would consist of block fencing that included a gate and possibly also surveillance to help deter illegal dumping.
- A full rebuild of two wooden pedestrian bridges along FUTS in Ponderosa Trails Park.
- Park kiosk entryway sign replacement project. Planning to have new signage at each park. They are currently working on the design and hope to have a final design selected within the upcoming week. Signs will have park rules, universal symbology and incorporate QR codes.
- Replacing two little league scoreboards at fields 2 and 4 at Continental Park. Gino added that they have reached out to local little league group for their preferences on color selections.
7.
Reports and Updates
A.
Council Representative Report, Council Representative Anthony Garcia
Councilmember Garcia was not present to give a report.
B.
Commissioners discussed a few highlights from the September newsletter, including the upcoming Halloween events and the new weight equipment in the Aquaplex gym.
8.
Informational items to and from Commissioners and Staff
No additional information items were shared.
9.
Agenda Items for next meeting
For November's Parks and Recreation Commission meeting:
- New drone footage of the completed sports courts at Bushmaster Park. Amy shared that the planned completion date for the courts is mid November.
- Update on Heritage Square's public restroom design
- General information on planned winter events
- Haley plans to provide commissioners with a current list of permitted leagues in their athletic program.
10.
Adjournment
Chair Parsons adjourned the meeting at 5:43 PM.