2023.11.15 PARKS RECREATION GOLF AND DOUBLE BUTTE CEMETERY ADVISORY BOARD MINUTES.PDF

Minutes of the Parks, Recreation, Golf and Double Butte Cemetery Advisory Board meeting 
held on November 15, 2023, 6:00 p.m., Hybrid Meeting- Tempe Public Library, 2nd Floor Board 
Room, 3500 South Rural Road, Tempe, AZ, and virtual through Microsoft Teams. 
 
Members Present: 
 
Members Absent: 
 
 
 
Susan Carlson – Chair 
 
Kara Espino 
Lisa Zyriek – Vice Chair 
 
Elizabeth Hatch 
Sharon Doyle 
 
Gerardo Lopez 
Thomas Klabunde 
 
Dillon Moore  
Shereen Lerner 
Dawn Parker 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
City Staff Present: 
Alex Jovanovic, Deputy Community Services Director - Parks (Staff Liaison) 
Joshua Bell, Management Assistant II 
Shawn Wagner, Deputy Community Services Director - Recreation 
 
Guests Present: 
none 
 
Upon the establishment of a quorum, meeting was called to order at 6:01 p.m. by Susan Carlson. 
 
 
 
 
 
Agenda Item 1 – Public Appearances 
None 
 
Agenda Item 2 – Approval of Meeting Minutes 
October 18, 2023 
Motion by Sharon Doyle to approve the meeting minutes of October 18, 2023, with correction made to 
add Lisa Zyriek and Dillon Moore to Ayes; seconded by Shereen Lerner.  Motion passed on a 6-0 
vote. 
Ayes: Susan Carlson, Lisa Zyriek, Sharon Doyle, Thomas Klabunde, Shereen Lerner, and Dawn 
Parker. 
Absent: Kara Espino, Elizabeth Hatch, Gerardo Lopez, and Dillon Moore.  
 
Agenda Item 3 – Outgoing Board Members 
Alex Jovanovic discussed with the board the current and upcoming vacancies as of the end of the 
year. 
• 
One current vacancy (Amanda Stewart) and one future vacancy (Kara Espino) after end of 
year 
• 
City Clerk’s Office will be contacted for current applications to be reviewed. 
Minutes 
Parks, Recreation, Golf and Double Butte Cemetery 
Advisory Board 
November 15, 2023

2 
 
• 
Board members asked questions and made comments about: 
o Is quorum based on total number of board member spots or number of filled spots? 
 
Agenda Item 4 – December 2023 Board Meeting Date 
Alex Jovanovic discussed the board’s next meeting scheduled in December. 
• 
Discussion was held at a previous meeting regarding possibly moving December meeting from 
December 20 to December 13. 
Motion by Lisa Zyriek to approve changing December meeting date to December 13, 2023; seconded 
by Dawn Parker.  Motion passed on a 6-0 vote. 
Ayes: Susan Carlson, Lisa Zyriek, Sharon Doyle, Thomas Klabunde, Shereen Lerner, and Dawn 
Parker. 
Absent: Kara Espino, Elizabeth Hatch, Gerardo Lopez, and Dillon Moore. 
 
Agenda Item 5 – 2024 Calendar & Officers 
Susan Carlson and Alex Jovanovic discussed with the board setting and approving meeting dates for 
2024. 
• 
Board can consider potential conflicts with City holidays or faith-based holidays for 2024 
meeting calendar 
• 
Board can consider months to not hold meetings, can consider cancelling meetings when 
closer to dates 
• 
Board members asked questions and made comments about: 
o Juneteenth conflict; can we not hold on the date because it is a City holiday? 
o Wait until closer to dates to consider changes 
o Regarding July, leave it on calendar for now and revisit at a later date 
Motion by Sharon Doyle to approve changing June 2024 meeting date to June 26, 2024; seconded by 
Lisa Zyriek.  Motion passed on a 6-0 vote. 
Ayes: Susan Carlson, Lisa Zyriek, Sharon Doyle, Thomas Klabunde, Shereen Lerner, and Dawn 
Parker. 
Absent: Kara Espino, Elizabeth Hatch, Gerardo Lopez, and Dillon Moore. 
 
Motion by Shereen Lerner to approve changing October 2024 meeting date to October 9, 2024; 
seconded by Lisa Zyriek.  Motion passed on a 6-0 vote. 
Ayes: Susan Carlson, Lisa Zyriek, Sharon Doyle, Thomas Klabunde, Shereen Lerner, and Dawn 
Parker. 
Absent: Kara Espino, Elizabeth Hatch, Gerardo Lopez, and Dillon Moore. 
 
Alex Jovanovic presented to the board that officers of the board are to be elected by the end of the 
year. 
• 
Officers can serve in capacity of officer two consecutive one-year terms 
• 
Chair can serve one year and then Vice Chair can become chair, or Chair can serve two years 
• 
Opportunity available to other board members currently not serving in Chair or Vice Chair role 
to express their interest for either role 
• 
Board votes in order of nominations 
• 
Board members asked questions and made comments about: 
o Lisa Zyriek and Susan Carlson expressed they would run for Chair 
o In previous years discussions have been had by some that doing one-year terms 
allowed for new agendas and interests to get attention

3 
 
o Allowing Chair to serve second year allows for projects to be seen to end, provides 
time in first year to feel out and then build on first year 
o Clarification sought for how individuals’ dates for end of their terms were determined 
 
Motion by Lisa Zyriek to approve closing of nominations for Chair; seconded by Shereen Lerner.  
Motion passed on a 5-0 vote. 
Ayes: Susan Carlson, Lisa Zyriek, Sharon Doyle, Shereen Lerner, and Dawn Parker. 
Abstained: Thomas Klabunde. 
Absent: Kara Espino, Elizabeth Hatch, Gerardo Lopez, and Dillon Moore. 
 
Motion by Sharon Doyle to approve Susan Carlson for Chair for 2024; seconded by Thomas 
Klabunde.  Motion passed on a 4-2 vote. 
Ayes: Susan Carlson, Sharon Doyle, Thomas Klabunde, and Dawn Parker. 
Nays: Shereen Lerner and Lisa Zyriek. 
Absent: Kara Espino, Elizabeth Hatch, Gerardo Lopez, and Dillon Moore. 
 
A nomination was made for Lisa Zyriek to serve as Vice Chair for 2024, Lisa declined to seek a vote 
to serve as Vice Chair for 2024.  No other nominations were made. 
 
• 
Board members asked questions and made comments about: 
o Clarification that Vice Chair becoming Chair is a tradition, not a requirement 
o Vote for Vice Chair will wait until next meeting 
 
Agenda Item 6 – Annual Report 
Alex Jovanovic discussed the current draft form of the 2023 Annual Report and if there were updates 
that needed to be made. 
• 
Board members asked questions and made comments about: 
o Updates made to statuses of strategic priorities 
o Correct Tempe Historic Preservation Foundation typo 
o Additions need to be made to attended events that had been overlooked or omitted 
from list 
• 
Annual Report will be updated for approval 
 
Agenda Item 7 – Board Operational Updates 
Susan Carlson addressed board goals and opened discussion to the board regarding any board 
goals. 
• 
Goals 
o Board members asked questions and made comments about: 
▪ 
Concern regarding what is happening at Rolling Hills 
▪ 
Concern regarding presentation and modification of holes 
▪ 
Originally voted “no” contract because some of original proposals but course is 
now pursuing some of those proposals 
o Grass Clippings would tentatively be expected to present to board in January or 
February based on tradition of having each golf course present multiple times per year 
o Grass Clippings presenting at Council Work Study Session in December 
o Board members asked questions and made comments about:

4 
 
▪ 
Discussion regarding possibly sending questions, comments, concerns to 
council for upcoming work study session as a community member, not as board 
member 
▪ 
Could Grass Clippings presentation to board be moved to next meeting? 
▪ 
Communication issue between course and golf community; speculation, rumors 
• 
Grass Clippings needs to fill gap with factual information, effective 
communication 
• 
GC uses men’s and women’s clubs as proxies for golf community but 
they are small representation 
• 
City previously did a good job of communicating, such as overseeding, 
what is involved in process; unclear what is currently happening 
• 
Interest in tours at cemetery and Rolling Hills Golf Course has been 
expressed 
• 
Get tour of cemetery on calendar 
• 
Information will be shared regarding event at cemetery on December 9 
• 
Next Steps 
• 
Opportunities 
 
Agenda Item 8 – Desert Conservation Commission Update 
Alex Jovanovic and Shereen Lerner provided an update on the current work being done by the Desert 
Conservation Commission. 
• 
Invasive weed Stinknet prevalent after wet winters 
• 
Arizona Site Steward Program managed Historic Preservation Officer, will help with reporting 
damage and vandalism to culturally sensitive sites 
• 
Desert Conservation Commission interested in developing partnerships with other boards and 
commissions 
• 
Preserve Management Plan currently in process, looking for partnerships and funding 
opportunities, first workshop just held, survey open now through November 27 
• 
Questions so far covered designation of trails, unsheltered, wayfinding signage, resources and 
funding, staff training, current projects, tribal involvement 
• 
Board members asked questions and made comments about: 
o Board member serves as liaison, next meeting December 5 
▪ 
Education is a big component, cultural and environmental 
o Is there a map of preserves? 
o How would one find out about educational opportunities? 
o Looking to create educational opportunities 
 
Agenda Item 9 – Donation/Memorial Policy 
Alex Jovanovic discussed the possibility of developing a memorial policy and discussed research that 
was done of donation and memorial policies in existence at other cities. 
• 
Discussed if board wants to entertain idea of helping to create memorial policy 
• 
Living Tree Memorial is what currently exists 
• 
Research was done on policies that exist in other cities 
o City of Mesa and City of Peoria donation based 
o Greensboro donation based, City maintains for 10 years then original donator has 
option to re-adopt otherwise city’s choice to remove or no longer maintain

5 
 
o Peekskill donation based, varying prices, also 10 year limit 
o West Hartford; initial cost, not set limit 
• 
Board policy ideas 
• 
Board members asked questions and made comments about: 
o Is it one bench per park? 
o Who decides what is engraved? 
o Is there a desire to move forward with developing a policy? 
o How often do memorial requests come up? 
o Staff would want to have input due to maintenance needs 
o Interest expressed in developing a policy 
o Is developing a policy something Parks and Recreation would want the board to do? 
o Which parks have rock memorials? 
o Developing a policy shouldn’t start from scratch, get ideas from what exists in other 
cities 
 
Agenda Item 10 – Future Meeting Locations 
• 
Clark Park Community Center and Pool identified as a location for a future board meeting 
• 
Other centers and locations will be identified and discussed 
• 
Board members asked questions and made comments about: 
o Interest in holding meetings at other locations 
o Valued having meeting at Escalante 
 
Agenda Item 11 – Future Agenda Items 
• 
Board members asked questions and made comments about: 
o Grass Clippings 
o Memorial policy 
o Cemetery tour 
o Feedback from survey for Preserve Management Plan 
 
Agenda Item 12 – Public Meeting Attendance, Notices & Announcements 
• 
Refer to events noted earlier in meeting that are to be added to Annual Report 
 
Meeting adjourned at 7:36 p.m. 
Prepared by:   Joshua Bell, Management Assistant II, (480) 350-8676 
Reviewed by:  Alex Jovanovic, Deputy Community Services Director- Parks, (480) 350-5811