Parks board approves consent items, park parking assignments, trail encroachment and tree removals; opens bids for large tree work

The Evansville Parks and Recreation Board approved a consent agenda and a series of park permits, contracts and permissions during its meeting, including parking assignments for the fall festival, an encroachment agreement for a trail project, permission for utility tree removals and the opening of sealed bids for removal of roughly 41 hazardous trees across the park system.

The board voted to approve the consent agenda, which included: permission for the Water Department to use nine spaces in the Mickey's Kingdom parking lot for Riverside Drive road repair; authorization for a park property use permit with Evansville Public Library West for a Dia de Los Muertos event; and a clean-team contract for additional cleaning at the Mesker Park Zoo and Botanic Garden. The motion to approve the consent agenda carried after a voice vote.

Why it matters: the approvals clear short-term operational needs (parking and event permits) and advance longer-term projects and park maintenance that affect multiple neighborhoods and regularly used facilities.

Board members approved fall-festival parking-lot assignments that allow volunteer and nonprofit groups to manage temporary parking at three locations and retain the fees collected. Under the approved schedule: Mesker Park Zoo docents will manage Eleventh Avenue West on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and the Evansville Parks Foundation will cover Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday; Eleventh Avenue East will be manned Monday, Wednesday and Friday by the Evansville Youth Hockey Association with a second group to cover the remaining days (not yet specified); and Casselberry Park will be manned all days by the Greater Evansville Figure Skating Club. All groups will charge $5 per car, and the board confirmed the fee will go to the organizations running the lots.

The board approved an encroachment agreement with CenterPoint Energy needed to construct the next segment of a planned trail through Weslmans and the Woodmere State Hospital Park corridor. Paul Balsman, deputy director of Evansville Parks and Recreation, described the agreement as one of four required encroachment agreements and said the version before the board is the final one allowing construction to proceed.

The board also approved CenterPoint Energy’s request to remove three trees along Winberg Avenue as part of an electrical service upgrade. According to Paul Balsman and department staff, the selected trees were determined to have structural problems; the utility will pay $750 in compensation, and the parks department generally applies a two-for-one tree-replacement policy in parks, with replants placed on adjacent properties when appropriate.

The board opened three sealed quotes for removal of about 41 hazardous or dead trees across multiple parks; the department said it will prioritize work based on available funding. The lump-sum bids read into the record were: DJ Tree Service LLC — $90,020.09; American Eagle Tree Service LLC — $68,000 (a 10% discount off an aggregate total that would have been $75,650); and a third bidder listed as Randy’s Tree Service with a lump sum of $69,200 (itemization included a $9,050 charge listed for stumps). The board took the bids under advisement and indicated staff will select items to proceed with based on priority and budget.

The board also received one proposal in response to an RFP for concessions at Swander Ice Arena. The single sealed proposal was from Legacy Hospitality and Entertainment Group LLC offering a concession agreement based on 15% of gross sales; board members noted concession agreements at the rink are structured so concessionaires pay the city a percentage of sales.

Finally, the board approved acceptance of payroll and vendor claims and adjourned after the vote.

What was not decided or remains pending: the Ice Arena concession RFP was only opened and not awarded; the department will review sealed tree-removal bids and determine which specific tree removals to fund; one manager for Eleventh Avenue East’s remaining days was “to be decided” and thus not specified in the record.

Speakers quoted in this report were identified in the meeting record as Paul Balsman, deputy director, Evansville Parks and Recreation; “Danielle,” a parks staff member presenting parking and activities updates; “Mr. Postman,” who presented the CenterPoint tree-removal request; and a staff member identified as Mr. Bozeman who opened sealed tree-removal quotes.

Votes at a glance: the record shows voice votes in favor of all motions read into the record (consent agenda; fall festival parking assignments; encroachment agreement; permission for three tree removals; acceptance of payroll and vendor claims). No roll-call tallies with member names were provided in the public record.

Clarifying details: the sealed-bid package covered about 41 trees at specified parks including Bayard Park, Aiken, Westside Nut Club, Stoplight City, Fulton, Jacobsville, Stockwell, Helfrich Golf Course, and CK Newsom; available funding will determine final work selection. Compensation for the Winberg Avenue three-tree removal is $750; parks staff said removed trees are replaced two-for-one in parks where feasible.

Next steps: staff will process the executed encroachment agreement to enable trail construction coordination with CenterPoint Energy; parks staff will select specific tree-removal items from the opened bids based on priority and budget; the concession proposal for Swander Ice Arena will be reviewed by staff for recommendation at a later meeting.