Thank you. We're recording. All right fantastic. Welcome everyone. Welcome to the RPAC meeting of May 21st. It's 630. I call the meeting to order. Can we have a roll call please? Perfect. Travis. Martin. Paul. Sree. Sandra. Alan. Adam. Shafiq, Paul Nolan, and Christie. Thank you. We have a quorum this evening. Fantastic. So, I apologize that last meeting was canceled at the last moment for unforeseen circumstances. I hope that didn't create any issues for anyone. But we are happy that we have two nonprofits joining us today in regards to our continuous learning process of learning more about the nonprofits and Johns Creek. So we have the OC Park Athletic Association and the John's Creek Veterans Association joining us. Before we move on, I don't think we have any public comments. I don't see anyone that is all right. So we don't have any public comments. So before we move on to reports and presentation, I do want to welcome Marty. I know Marty, you joined us a couple of months ago, but this is your first meeting. So thank you for joining this particular meeting in this broadcast live. The reason why we use microphones is so that people who are watching live and the fact that this meeting is recorded can hear us loud and clear. So if whenever you are speaking, just make sure the light is green. But we would love to learn more about you. So if you could take a couple of minutes and introduce yourself, most of us know Marty for a variety of reasons and all good. But Marty, please. Well, this we hope they're all good. I don't know. I'm Martin Jollamy. I presently and head coach of Atlanta United's Unified Soccer team. I also run the North Fulton United Soccer Program here in Johns Creek, which thank you to everyone at Johns Creek, because it's probably one of the largest in the country for special needs. I've lived in Johns Creek for 20 plus years and have been arrested. Thanks, Marty. And again, thank you for all that you do, especially for the special needs athletes. So can we move on to reports and presentation? Absolutely. So you have a double header tonight because we have our update from March and April, which we're just discussing how March seems like ancient history, but it was a fun month full of goodness. As usual, our park place is humming. They have a lot of great programs there. They were doing, they had tax aids there to help folks with their taxes. We had some great events in March, including daffodil days, which was the children's carnival over at the athletic field. We estimate attendance there being about 3500 folks. We had rides for children. We had some performers, a petting zoo, and it was a lot of fun. Another one that's gotten to be a fan favorite is the battle of the bands. I think that was a rainy night if I have my my memory serves, but the rain cleared and they were able to get everybody, everybody playing out there. So that was a lot of fun. If you turn to the third page, you'll see some of the really great pictures from March from the boardwalk, which is the name of our park out back. I think we discussed that previously. I can't remember what meeting we discussed that at the boardwalk. The really great thing now, that top right picture is actually the boardwalk that goes down through the woods towards John's Creek Parkway and Medlock Bridge. And it's actually been poured now. So from upstairs in this building, you can actually see the boardwalk going through the woods. It's very cool. And you can also see the bottom right there. That is the overlook. I'll call it. It's the overlook structure that's over the north part of the lake. So it provides a lot of seating and it'll be a really nice place for folks to relax on. We also had Earth Day, I'm sorry, I'm moving into April now. So in April, we partnered with Autry Mill on their Earth Day celebration. We had folks from parks, we had folks from stormwater, I'm discussing stormwater and invasive species. We also had the Easter Bunny pop-ups. So the Easter Bunny visited Atre Mill Nature Preserve, Newtown Park and Colley Creek Park so people could come and take pictures with the Easter Bunny. We got 100 kids hugged and got pictures with Estimate. Free Outdoor Fitness has also been going strong so that's held at the amphitheater at Newtown Park and also at Colley Creek Park. So I really encourage folks to look into the offerings there. There's yoga, there's strength out there. We also have a Wednesday walking group. So if you'd like to do something on a Wednesday morning and you are I'm sorry, not just Wednesday morning. If you'd like to enjoy some of our free outdoor fitness, those can be found online. Moving to the next page, some of the projects that we have going on. Of course, the boardwalk keeps going. It changes shape every day. Some of the overlooked decks are being built on the far side of the pond and the area near City Hall that's that that deck is being they're starting to work on constructing that deck as well. We did a renovation project over at Shakerag which we're pretty proud of. The Story Walk Trail which is as you come into Shakerag Park there's the little playground on the restroom building there's a nice little trail through the woods there it's beenated. It was really rudy and there was a lot of trip hazards. We made it much more accessible. There's a picture of that there. We also have been working at Colley Creek Park. It's a big park and we're going to be working on that place for a long time to make it amazing. But these are just a few of the landscape improvements we've made out there on the page there. So some of our other things, touch-and-check happened last weekend. I'll send you guys pictures in our next update, but that was last weekend. An international festival was May 3rd. Both of those turned out to be wonderful events. Touch-and-check happened to be one of my favorites. And our police department, fire department, they came out and really showed off, which was fun. The police department had demos with the canines and the traffic units and the fire department had some of their equipment. So everybody had a really great time. The rain cleared out right in time for that too, so that was wonderful. So Eric got a question in regards to international festival because I know it's one of our biggest events. I know because a rain situation we didn't have much participation. Do we have an idea of how many people were there approximately? You know, I should have that in my brain. I feel like it was estimated around 2500 folks. Okay. I think, but I should check that. Because I know normally we draw over 15,000 people to that event. It has happened before it 15,000 yes. Yes it was a rainy day. It did clear up enough that we could host it so we're glad that people got to come out but it wasn't sunshiney that day. I think that covers everything. We have a lot of little projects, improvement projects going about things happening over the summer at OC Park, but that covers the big stuff. Any questions for Erica? In regards to the past two months events, upcoming, you know, end of May, June events. And, um, everybody's also put together the rentals, right, for the first quarter. Um, we talked about the fact that, you know, and then she will follow up with an email in the coming days, that, um, we may want to summarize our rentals, per sport, per park kind of a thing, it gives gives us an idea as to, hey, how much usage are we getting from our soccer fields? Because we have soccer fields in Newtown, Shake Rack, Colley Creek Park, and then each park also has multiple sports, right, especially with Newtown and Colley Creek. So we'll try to come up with a format to make it easier for people to understand that what is been used for rental and what parks are being highly used. Right? Because again, keep in mind that rental occurs if the fields are available. Right? right because our associations oversee the sports in many different parts. So the revenue that comes in will be summarized on a quarterly basis. Sounds good? I do just want to say one quick thing, sorry, Adam. The thing that most people have wanted to talk to me about in the last two months was daffodil days, which surprised me. Because it was the first time it was in that format. Everybody loved it. They wanted it. Everyone consistently across the board longer. And the lines were outrageous because so many people went. So the lines were really backed up. They had to stand in line for 30 to 45 minutes to get on a ride. And everyone I talk to you one more time. But they loved the new format. Absolutely. Thank you. Can we talk about the new format because not everyone is aware of? Yeah, absolutely. So, daffodil days was one of the cultural events that was started. I think this was our third one if memory serves. So we started as a market out in the city hall parking lot. That was in 2023, I believe. And it was sort of adult markets, eventers, things like that. And it was reasonably attended. And then the following year we sort of pivoted and we did a children's entrepreneur market. We had a partner that helped us facilitate that. And it too was moderately attended. And so we were really looking to change the format and find something fun for families to do. So we went with the carnival idea, see how it was received and heard good things about it. So it was a youth carnival. So most of the rides were for like young children. It wasn't the big like state-far state fair carnival rides. Did we do it same location or? The daffodil days this year of course is a husband field. So bigger field, more space. Right. It's just that lines were longer. That means that a lot of people were there. Maybe we'll work on it, get more so-called rides or things of that nature to accommodate. Oh, the life of the lives. Yeah, I think but it's a good problem to have. It's absolutely a good problem to have. Do you have to get a ticket to ride any of the rides? So these were all free, so there was no ticketing. Oh, okay. Come up with a methodology because you could have people going on rides multiple times while others are waiting, right? So I think we can come up with some methodology to make sure everyone gets a fair opportunity, but then we don't want to be charging. Yeah, traditionally all of our events have been free. So a paid event is just a dis... make sure everyone gets the fair opportunity, but then we don't want to be charging people. Yeah, traditionally all of our events have been free, so a paid event is just a certainly a new wrinkle and how we might do things. Okay, rolling back to park projects. I think I know the answer to this sadly. The chat is your green way. I'm assuming we're in stalemate. You just don't know. Well, actually, so they, fortunately, there was a couple of questions that were back in their court and they have been responsive. It's just they've been moving slowly. They did inform us that even their, their tradition, you know, their, their procedures have sort of changed because of staffing and funding. So it's just everything is taking longer. They are being responsive. They're still there. They're still there. They'll still talk to us. They still set our project as a priority. Okay, excellent. That's having slower. Next question is about the Koli Creek Maker space there. Yeah. Understand we got the, is. They're still there. They're still there, and we'll still talk to it. They still set our project as a priority. That's moving slower. Next question is about the Koli Creek Maker Space there. Yeah. Understand we got the, is there a plan the council has for what goes in that space yet? I mean, I know the course before the buggy, but you know. That's an excellent, you mean how it's gonna be operated? It's filled with equipment and expensive things to run makerspace? That's a good question. So at this point, what we have is a design build contract to provide basically a shell that the public can use. That is the end goal of this particular project. So what goes in and after the fact is as not yet been determined. And is this coming out of the parks and recreation budget for all this? That was a capital project that was funded in fiscal year 23, I believe. Cool, so does it. And then, the things inside of it we don't think are becoming from parks and recs either, do we? The discussion of how it will be operated in infill of being agreement is one that has not happened yet, so we don't yet know. Be treacherous if they took the old budget for that, but right off. And Adam, one of the big discussions about that is that it's not air conditioned. So that's been kind of a council discussion. It's a big problem to have with really expensive equipment. It's really expensive and I think that they're looking at it, but the most important part was to get the shell and get it going and start seeing how much it's being used and kind of go from there. No, we are conditioning. Okay. Yeah, just think of it as a phase process, right? Because I think if you look at our 12 month period, yes, we may have two, three months of hot weather, but fortunately it's not Texas hot or Florida humid kind of scenario, but it is still hot, right? So the idea is, hey, let's get this thing started, right, based on what we have set aside the funds for, and then as we go along, we'll appropriately do the next steps, right? For those of you who do not know what this maker space location is, in Collie Creek, there is a building and you will see it's a, what say, a reddish kind of clay. It's like a giant barn. It used to be a water reclamation facility. There was a lot of equipment that used to be there. That place was gutted out maybe here and a half ago or two years ago. And now the next process or the next step of that whole process is make it into a usable space. So that's the so-called plan right now. And again, it is going to be a face process. And I think once the process moves forward, we'll also get input from the community as to how they want to use the facility. Because we haven't had in John's Creek an indoor location. This will be our first true big indoor location. Yes, we have park place, but park place is really a small gathering place, not an active place, right? So I think we'll get involvement from the community as to how they want to see that location develop, which is also good in my view, I think, because you'll get community input as well, right? The other thing I want to say in regards, before I go to my updates, any thing you want to say about the rental report, Be good, basically. I just bet you can tell that our facilities are well used and well-loved. Yes. They are always in demand. They are always in demand. Especially with Collie Creek, right? As far as my update, chair updates, a couple of things. One is, Eric mentioned about the park that is under construction. There is a short drone video on Facebook, on City website. I would urge you to take a look at that. It's maybe 30 seconds, 40 seconds video, but it gives you a very good view of what's going on. And what's amazing to me is, obviously, there is no water right now because it's in the construction, but how this whole thing is coming together, that drone video shows us all the way from where it starts going to the end, right? And in the coming months, and Erica correct me from wrong here, they will be connection to the medley as well, right? That may happen down the line, but as far as this park is concerned, summer next year, we're going to be done. Yes, that's the target, summer next year. And that also aligns with the tunnel, right? So the tunnel, this park is going to be ready. So there is going to be a lot of excitement. All this dirt that you are seeing will disappear. And you'll see some water. You'll see some other excitement. So bring your dogs and bring your boats and remote control boats and make it happen. So please take a look at that video. Couple of other things I wanna mention, one, we are all blessed to have variety of talent as part of this group. We are delighted to have Marty, Marty mentioned that he works with the unified program for the Atlanta United, he does special needs program. Recently at a game, at a match, at the Mercedes Stadium, Marty was recognized for his effort that he has put in over the years for the program. So Marty, thank you very much for all that you have done and we hope and pray that you continue to do that. Thank you very much. The other thing I want to say is two meetings ago, we were discussing resident versus non-resident fee topic and Sandra had brought up the concept of what about our employees, right? And she was kind enough two city council meetings ago. She made public comments in regards to that. And at the last work session, the mayor took that on and has asked the staff to look into that, right? So, and again, Sandra, if you don't mind just giving a synopsis of what what the essence of that whole concept is because it is going to come to us through parks department in the coming days but if you could just share a couple of. Yeah sure um so if you are a Johns Creek resident you pay a certain fee to have your child play soccer football whatever it might be. If you're a non-resident you pay double the the fee. Time and a half. Time and a half, sorry. Yeah, so which is perfectly fine, but I felt that if you were a city employee that we should not charge you the time and a half, that we should charge you as if you're a resident. It's only going to promote the sense of community that we have and the opportunity for so many of our folks like that might just be getting off being police officers could go right over to Cully Creek or to Newtown and not have to race somewhere else and they can do something in their backyard to help everybody save a little bit of money or summer camps and things like that for all of the junk Creek employees. So I presented that at two meetings ago and then at this past work session they voted on it. They said they were going to take it because you have to make some changes in the fee resolution. Right, so you have to do some things that they have to write up which city manager greer is going to do and bring that back to Erica. So we're really excited about that I think it's the right thing to do and just continues to allow us to build that community Yeah, and the reason I'm mentioning this is The input that we provide Does make a difference right and sometimes we provide input that no one has thought about right? This is a topic that I don't think we discussed it in the past But it is the right thing to do. So it never has stayed to bring up topics that you believe are good for our community and right for our citizens, right? With that said, let's move on to our next item on the agenda, which is our athletic association presentation. So OC Park, representative is here with us. OC Park is one of the oldest, I would say before city was formed, that athletic association was there. So we will learn more about that particular association, what they do, why they do. Let's keep it interactive, right? Because as you know, O.C. Park is our baseball park, and they do a lot of good things. The parks department has made quite a bit of an improvement and upgrades in the recent months and years. So please welcome aboard and thank you for joining us, you know. That's the one, yeah. So you just button when you're ready. I'll just introduce this is Lucas. Lucas is the chair of the board for OC Park Athletic Association. And we cannot serve the community way that we do without our partners. And that includes OPA and JCVA and all the ones you've heard from in the past. So they're really an important part of how we serve the community. So I did ask Lucas to come and just tell us, tell you all, about how they do that, about the program, because they have been a long-term partner at OC Park. Thanks everybody for having us. Jimmy Hall actually came along as well. He's one of our board members too. Appreciate the opportunity to talk about what we do. And there's actually people in this room who've sons I've coached or people I've coached against in other sports. And so it's nice to see some familiar faces. But OC Park Athletic Association, we're a nonprofit, 100% volunteer organization. And we offer baseball from four years old up through 15 years old. All the different levels, recreation, all star and travel, all out of OC Park. And the irony of OC Park right is if you've never been out there as it's completely surrounded by Alfa Reda. So it's just an annexed little piece of land. A little bit more about our program. Our offerings for you five UT ball, then we have 6-8U, which is Coach Pitch. We have three different leagues within that, the Miners, AL and the NL. That's kind of just a way that we're able to separate the skill levels and give that different offerings for the different skill levels. We do that through assessments. Another thing to note when we do our assessments, it's with our board members and other volunteers within the community as well. So nine new, 10 new, 11 new, 12 new, 13, 14 new, wrecking the 15 new interpark are all kid pitch ages. If you don't know, I don't have it in the slide, but if you don't know about OCE Park, we have seven baseball fields out there. Plus Conclin, it was like a T-ball field and then two kind of half practice fields as well. Plus attached batting cages for all of the fields as well. We do all stars, again, as another offering. Six you through 12 you with two teams at most age groups. And then we offer travel through a partnership with the KC RUES at nine you through 14 you with an average of two teams at most of the age groups. Some of them, it's cyclical. Sometimes we'll only have one per age group. It just depends upon demand. Two is the max. You kind of see that when we talk about two all stars, travels that part of that is knowing that what we can hold, what capacity we can take with our field, with the amount of fields, the field size per age group, parking, all that type of stuff. So Lucas is okay if you ask questions as you go along, would you prefer that we wait till you don't? By our way. Right. So one question I have is different age groups and all that, how many total participants on average do you have and what's a breakdown between boys and girls? I'm going to hit the next slide because I'm coming to. So any year we do about 1300 registrants per year covering the fall rack spring rack summer all stars and travel. If you take out the duplicates, we must be doing an okay job because a lot of people sign it for multiple seasons. It's about 700 families. I do not have that statistic on boys and girls, but I could get that right. But if you were to estimate because I see most of the boys playing. Yeah, I would tell you it's probably 90-10. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. And obviously of the 700 families, it's John's Creek Alfa Reda-Roswell, and Peach Tree Corners. It's funny to listen to you all talk about the non-resident fees. We're very well versed in that. In fact, the city just invoiced us for our spring non-resident fees. So what it brings probably in about $6,000 or so per season. So they do a great job of helping us with that. Again, all board members are volunteer. Board members have multiple, most board members have multiple children participating in multiple programs. So it's kind of nice because they get this, that they're out there kind of boots on the ground, getting to experience it here back from our families and our constituents. Each board member, this is probably a very cautious of 15 hours. It depends on the Paul would know. It depends on the time of the year. Those hours can triple to that. But again, very passionate group of folks. We're extremely blessed to have them because we have business leaders from many facets in the board, which is fantastic. We've got CPAs, we've got Vice President of Mizuno. You know, people that work for Fortune 500 companies down in the perimeter, so it's really nice and helps us. And obviously, you know, as we're looking for board members up, you know, we don't get a whole lot of volunteers. We try to get as many as we can, but it is nice to try to get those folks that are engaged at the park with kids, and also can help us in terms of running the volunteer organization. Lucas, what do you think the breakdown? I mean, you guys serve a pretty big area here in Alfa Reda. What do you think the breakdown is for John's Creek residents versus non-Tree on John's Creek residents? Yeah, it's about like 60, 40, 65, 35 John's Creek residents. Yeah, I know. And again, I mean, I brought up that for a reason that, you know, the location. I mean, we get an awful lot of Alfa Reda folks. for Redifus. You're in Alpha Redifus. I'm going to leave John's Creek to get the park. You know, the running joke is like that, you know, non-residents walk through the woods to the park. Yeah. So, but yeah, so it's about 60, 40, Adam. It's a great question. Per our agreement. A question, they say, no mind. How do you determine residency? Like, when they sign up, you ask for some proof of residence. So. Yeah, so when they sign up, they fill out, obviously, they fill out their information. And within the program that we use Team Sideline, right, as the GO mapping and all that. But yes, we, because people have done it in the past, we actually require a utility bill. So, yeah. So, they have to scan it into their account and it goes in. And so, they have proof, so they have proof of residency. Thanks. and when we get their lists, we actually also do code it and do your reference and check it as well. So just keep one thing in mind, when we talk about non-resident fee, that fee goes directly to the city, it doesn't get kept by the program. So what happens is when the registration list is submitted to the city, they know exactly how many registrants are non-resident. The city confirms it and sends them an invoice saying, this is how much you owe us for the non-resident fee. So it's not just a direct pass through. It's a pass through, right? So it's not that they are incentivized to get more non-resident participants because they'll make more money. No, it's a pass through. They're just collecting it and verifying city verifies it and the funds get sent to the city. For our agreement with City of John's Creek, we are required to make a capital improvement of a minimum $25,000 per year back to the park. This is probably one of the things that myself and some of the other board members have been around a while are most proud of. We've exceeded that and matter of fact, as you see up here we've done over $350,000 in the last, Mark 7. So we've exceeded those 25,000 Mark 7 in the last eight years for a total of $350,000. Some of the more significant ones were field five, which is the little field up towards the front by the playground, partnering with the city for turfing the entire field and putting all new fencing up. And we've partnered in a lot of that stuff over the years and we take a lot of pride of that. And one of the coincidentally, ironically for me to be here right now, one of the big things that has allowed us to do that is we go in the summer when once the recreation season's over and we just have the smaller group of all stars and travel teams practicing, we partner with an outside company to run baseball tournaments there. And then we take 100% of that, any revenue of that that comes in and put it back into that capital, which is allows us to exceed that year over year and makes some nice improvements and upgrades. And again, I put on there the spring will host another six and again, that'll help us think a bit. So Lucas, when you talk about that partnership with the outside, and this is for summer program only, how much revenue do you end up generating as part of that relationship? Yeah, it depends on weather, right? Like I said, you heard you talk about the festival I was laughing, there's times when this tournament just get rained out and washed out, but it probably brings in another, I've seen it anywhere as $13,000 to $20,000, right? So it allows us to almost double our contribution year in and year out. Let me rephrase that. That's just with the tournament portion. Right. Then we bring in, because we have our concessions open, and when we mark that money for capital as well, it brings in about the same amount. It's almost a one for one. So, it allows us another 25 or 30,000 to add into the capital each year. And thank you for making a significant contribution to the improvement. Absolutely. And look, it also brings in extra money for the businesses in the area too. So don't try to go to any of the sports bars or fast food places on those days. Long lines. So that's kind of a quick summary of what we do. I've been on the board now for over seven years, we'll actually be rolling off this year. So if you don't want to throw me a retirement party, feel free. No. No. Now, you know, we've got, again, we've got a great group of people. It's been a lot of fun. It's been a great partner. It's a great partner with the city and, you know, Erica, Karen, myself and Eric Dealer, Vice President, who couldn't be here tonight. I have a monthly call to keep up with everything and really try to stay in touch about everything. I have a quick question. So what are the biggest challenges that you feel like you might have in the park? That's a great question. Biggest challenges. You know, one of the big challenges is, and I probably should have put it on the slide was Jeremy, hold me to this if I'm too far off, but we probably turn away 30 to 40 a year. We just, we don't have enough space. Interesting little tidbit of information. Statistically, when your hometown team wins the World Series, your baseball participation goes up by like 30%. R's went up by like 41%. And it's never let down since the braids won the World Series. So that's you know I think that's a challenge. It pulls at our heartstrings every year to get the emails and the parents pleading and you know what can I do can you pull some strings? Sometimes it's your neighbors right and I mean we do early registration. We try to do everything we can to incentivize folks but Jeremy how quick do quick do we fill like the six to eight you? Yeah, it fills that quick. I thought about it with the new neighborhood that's coming across the street. I'm not exactly sure how many homes are gonna be in there But you know, you know, there's gonna be families moving in there with young children and just adds to Potentially, yeah, those to 40 families, it breaks our heart to have to turn them away. Lucas, would you add parking? Parking can be a challenge. Yeah, yeah. On the weekends, but you know, I mean, you're really talking Saturdays only, but again, that has to go, field space and parking has to go into our equation of just how many registrations we allow. So Lucas, question for you, you mentioned that you have to turn away people. How many of those individuals of what percentage would you say are John's creak residents? If you were to take a guess. I would have to look at it. I would have to look at it. I mean, I, I don't have that exact. Because probably the same thing. Theoretically it would be the same thing. 65, 35, yeah. Is there a way? Because again, obviously you have your deadlines and all that. But this issue, right, because the park is for John's Creek residents, right? Yes, we collect extra money from non-resident and all that, but that's not the purpose of providing the park. Is there a way you could do like John's Creek resident registration first and then maybe give them some extra days? They are the first one to register and then non-Johns Creek residents come in thereafter Could we in theory possibly yeah, I don't have to look at the I don't look at the program because the reason I'm saying that is If we have parents who end up being in that situation often We have to be ready that they will be coming here. They'll be going to city council Yeah, and making comments about that. How is it that I can't get in my own program? Yeah, and I think there's I think there's two two things to think about there If they if they don't get an ours, they do have the opportunity to get a new town Right would be so that so they're still baseball in Johns, which tends to be, Newtown tends to be our overflow at the kind of honestly. By overseeing Newtown. We do not, we do not. So, but they do their registration on about it. And as this is by design, it just happens to work out that's why they do their, they start about two or three weeks later than us and stay open two or three later than us. So on officially, I would tell you, just anecdotally in talking to those families that haven't gotten in, they all get in over there. Okay. But there's not an official policy to your point in that. And could we have it open for, say, a week or 10 days, just for Johns Creek residents? Again, I would like to think so. We just have to look at the software and see how we would do that, right? Because they would have to provide the proof. You may get a few people that would just check the boxes, John's Creek residents. So we have to go through the data collection to make sure we're truly getting that. Yeah. Yeah. Any other questions? Yeah, I'll just go into our own. I just got a couple. I live over here. So I've actually two of my sons have played OC since we moved here about 11 years ago. So you guys do a fantastic job. I just want to appreciate all you guys hard work over there because they've always had a great time playing baseball there. So I know that's a lot of work and I appreciate it. but we have some years when it fills up we end up actually going to Sharon Springs or Peachtree Ridge because ironically it's shorter drives to those parks than it is from here to O.C. Park as much as we love O.C. Park. So it would be because we had those fields over at ShakeRag, right? You know, if we could somehow feel, find a way to utilize those even if it was all a car, you know, there are kids on this side of town that do like playing baseball, but you'll find out a lot of them do the same as we do, it was they would go to Sharon Springs. So we were baseball soft on the side of John's Creek because there's not a Cully Creek. And there's two at Shake Rack. There's a tea ball field and some of a Creek. we do is they go to Sharon's Springs. So we were baseball soft on the side of John's Creek because there's an Inoculli Creek and there's two at Shake Rack. There's a T-ball field and some one of a cricket now modified field that looks like baseball to me still. So I always feel that that's an opportunity to maybe put a team out there or have a practice out there. So just something to say, just something to say, you guys run out of field. Secondly, it might be uncomfortable ask, because you're at City Hall, but what is the number one demand for you all if money's not an option? Like is it to fix field one? I know that second, it might be uncomfortable ask because you're at City Hall, but what is the number one demand if you for you all, if money's not an option like is it to fix field one, I know that it might be one is flooding out there a little bit when it rains, like capital wise, what are you guys really wanting to get done there under which? First, turf laying field. Lying is the only field without turf and field. It's still got dirt and it services our largest age group 6U through 8U. Okay. I mean, if we could do that, and we've got some money, we would like, we would like, you got your lights. We would love to partner in that. We would jump all over that. I mean, 144, or is it more than that in the six, or eight, you group? No, it's more than that. Maybe it's 2-44. Maybe it's 2-44 of the 650 Registration's per season. So more than 30% is that age group right there. And they can play on field 5, they can play on Jacobs. They can play on any of the fields in the clock because we have the pegs that move away up, but it doesn't really fit. It's a giant field for those little kids. And so laying because of the weather just sits vacant a lot of time. So it would be out there in it. It would actually probably get another 25. It would probably clear the weight list of like 40 or, I'd say 50 to 60% of the families that get wait listed. So something for you guys. It would be significant. Excellent. What about scoreboards? Are we working okay this? the wait list of like 40 or I'd say 50 to 60% of the families that get wait listed. So something for you guys. So it would be significant. Excellent. What about score boards are working okay this year? They're okay. Yeah. Yeah. You know score boards is an interesting thing because it's kind of going away. Yeah. Everyone uses the changer. Yeah. Cloud based apps. Well, we're there two years ago when they started the delivery. Pitch forks. Did an end of season survey got feedback? Yeah. They're all functional. They've been functional. Exactly. Jeremy's project. Sorry Jeremy. Sorry about that. And then what about that one field? It's the one that faces the woods and faces the little guy field. It's flooded in the out. They have the fence out there. there but past there it's pretty wet like are you with the giant fence? Yeah, it's filled to it. Yeah, it's filled to it. Yeah, it floods on the warning track. Yeah, is there any future or something? there but past there it's pretty wet like are you are the giant fence you feel to yeah it's feel to yeah where it floods on the warning track yeah is there any future or is that a is that on your list or is it really not effective we felt like when we were out there practicing it got kind of swampy when you know we had games out there it's when erica first came on board so you have them have you been out there in the last my son didn't play this this is first year my son and didn't play baseball. Okay. So like when Eric first came on board, we had to see the city actually go out and saw that air. the last. My son didn't play this. This is the first year my son didn't play baseball. Okay. So like when Eric first came on board, we had the city actually go out and saw that area and lift it. So it's gotten substantially better. Just, this is my wheelhouse, a turf from all that. Just having grass to absorb the water has helped tremendously. Awesome. Yeah. Great job, guys. Thank you. out for you guys? They're amazing. Yes. The ice business out of our concessions, Stan, for balls hitting people in the face has gone down tremendously. We used to have to buy the Costco version of the same one, which does it block bags and we can probably just get away with one box per year now. Good. No, I think it's great that you all are doing and supporting over youth, all right? As far as that one field is concerned, obviously parks always has capital improvement projects and all that. Maybe down the line we can look into that area guy that's something. Talk a little bit about it as we're in the future. Right. Yeah. Yeah. But more importantly, it seems like the program is running well. You're getting support from the community. You're getting support from the parks, which is fantastic. Our only ask is going to be less keep our youth engaged. Right. Let's try to serve as many of our John's Creek community. I know you mentioned about 90-10 girls' boys kind of thing. If we can figure out a little more about how we can get more girls in the world, it would be awesome. And I'm going to go in your category, special needs. If we can figure out how to engage those athletes as well. Because I think we need to be inclusive in regard to our boys and girls participation. But more importantly, also for the special needs. Because those parents would love to have activities for their kids. And I don't think you need to recreate the whole process. I think you just need to team up with those who work with special needs to figure out how can we just introduce another sport. He's got some experience there. You there. I know we have the special needs program with Rossville and others, right? So there's experience there, but we would. Does AYBA do it? Is that Alfred? Is it through AYBA? It's something that we set up. Kurt actually was. It's called Big Behind the North Pole and Special Needs. North Pole Special Needs Dissociation. It's a facture. Roswell, Alfreda, Milton, John's Creek, and then the Ed Isaacson YMCA actually participates to. So if we can spend some time in that category as a initiative of some small, I think it would be a tremendous service to the families that have special needs. Yeah, and Marty. I know it is Miracle League. That's the one I know. Eric Milton I think isn't it? Yeah. Eric Milton would be one. If you put one team together you could go play Miracle League. You could have one team and that would be a interview. I kind of like our 15 year old interpark league. Yeah, it sounds like Milton has a Miracle League and then there's one other but I think it's in Cobb County. There is one in Cobb County because I know a bunch of kids will play out there. I know I know a few kids but my son's special needs to so he played in Miracle League when he was young enough. So there would be the only request that let's try to be inclusive, get other athletes involved. As a father of an eight-year-old daughter, I would love to see more girls out there. Matter of fact, if you could talk mine out of horseback riding and in the baseball, my bank account would be very appreciative. I'm all ears. Jeremy, anything from your end? Do You want to say anything? Thanks for having us. I think we'll discover it all. We're happy to run the organization. I think we've got a good thing going on. It's great partnership with the city. Great Paul. I forgot this. That's what you put nets up around 1, 2, 3, and 4 on top. I say this all the time because I've been hit. You put nets on top. I say this all the time because I've been hit. You put nuts on top. Would that be something on your wish list as well? So it's funny. You say that Eric. We've been discussing doing netting over the quad. You know, there's netting. You know, there's on top. Would that be something on your wish list as well? So it's funny, you say that, Eric. We've been discussing, we've been discussing doing netting over the quad. You know, there's netting over the playground area, just doing that whole quad area. So that's a capital project that we're looking at partnering together with as well. Matter of fact, there's a contractor coming out next week to give us a quote. Great. Thank you very much for joining us. Thanks for having us. Appreciate it. And. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. to give us a quote. That's an accent, you know that? Yeah? Yeah, yeah. Great. Lucas, thank you very much for joining us. Thanks for having us. Appreciate it. And continue to serve the city, you know. It's fun. All right. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Let's move on to our next association. We have the Johns Creek Veterans Association. and we have Keith here who is going to be joining us. And Erica, if you want to just give an intro, and then Keith can help us understand what the association does and all the good things that the organization is involved in. Yes, so this is a very different sort of partnership. These are a different part of our community. But the JCBA has been a wonderful partner. They operate out of Newtown Park and are very responsible for the the very beautiful Memorial Walk up there. They are responsible for really getting that built back when it was built. They're responsible for getting that while the heels here. They've done a lot of amazing things. And I'm always surprised when I tell people to go to Newtown Park. I'm always like, go to Newtown Park and make sure you go to Memorial Walk. It's a gorgeous place. They also are strong partners and ours in our events. Anytime we need support for the color guard, JCVA comes alongside us there. In turn, we give them space at Park Place to hold their meetings. But I'll let you talk about it more. So thanks for being here. Thank you. Well, we can't take full credit for the wall because that was a partnership between the JCVA and the City of Johns Creek. We hosted it here in 2017. It travels for five years. And during its five years, travel, it stopped in John's Creek, while I had the most visitors and raised the most money, donations. The coolest thing about it was, I'm getting real off of this, but I didn't know I could have special effects either. So, you want special effects by yourself. Well, thank you. When the wall, that was the coolest thing. When we set it up to have it visit here, when it crossed the state line coming in, it had a motorcycle escort by the Patriot Guards. And when it came through, the route through John's Creek had to go by every school. And all the students from the school, they knew what time it was coming back. They were all out in the lawn with their flags and stuff and I was at Newtown Park whenever they drove in. The motorcycle was coming in in a Corvette club and he's hard and Vietnam combat veterans coming in with tears down their eyes because they had never had a reception like that before. And then seeing the people out there, I mean, I don't know if you've heard Roger Wise tell the story. But of the person in the middle of the night, I mean, I've heard it a couple of dozen times, it still makes serious tears, Ma'am. So anyway, that guy just the leg up to bring it here and combined with the veterans Memorial Wall, combined with the wall that heals. It's the second largest privately funded Veterans Memorial in the entire country outside of Washington, DC. I think it's a very underappreciated asset within the community. Because with a little bit, I don't know how many people go to the park and they don't know what it is. They don't know what the wall is. And it's a shame because veterans that know actually were holding a memorial service for a Vietnam Marine hero in June. And the people that asked me to put it together for them, they had toured other veterans' memorials and because there's serval law across the North Ark from Peachtree corners, John's Creek, Milton, Alperetta, Roswell, and none of them compared to this one. Specialty comes to Vietnam because that wall is just something special. I'll be right there once I saw this and there's no place else to go. The other thing is in August, for the fourth year, we will be holding our annual Memorial Service for the Kabul 13. It's a joint effort by the John's Creek Veterans Association and the Knights of Columbus from St. Bridges. We're the only groups in the country that's recognized all 13 of them in one ceremony. The original ceremony that we had was filmed, it went all the way to the Commodate Marine Corps for approval and the video and plaques that we had made up from that day. We're sent to each one of the families. There's a specials. At each one of the plazas in the park. There's a way off here. There's plazas there for everything from World War I through Desert Storm, Afghanistan, Iraq, women in service, Purple Heart and POW, MIA. And at the Afghan Memorial, there's a section there where we have all 13 of the bricks that we put together, the papers and gray papers, them all together as a group. This year, I don't know all of them, I wasn't a Marine, so I don't know all of the Lingo, so hopefully they will forgive me. But I do know that of the nine, eight of the nine Marines and the Navy Cormin that were lost were all from Ghost Company. One of their platoon commanders is going to be our T-Night Speaker this year. He lives here in the area. He was at our event last year, and he graciously agreed to be our speaker this year. And I've seen there's a video on Instagram of the overall company commander of that day. And he's very honest and open with the issues that he's dealing with, PTSD, and everything from that day of seeing all those people blown up. It's very, very moving. And just for one of those guys, still the wounds are still pretty raw for them and for them to come and share their store with us. It's something very special. But the color guard, I guess, I'm Keith Buggler, I'm the president of John's Creek Federal Association. Sorry about that. I'm also captain of the color guard. And we do things with the city like on next Tuesday, the cities with the Garden Club. they're doing the captain of the color guard and we do things with the city like on next Tuesday the cities With the garden club. They're they're doing the dedication of the markers that they put in Davin Port Plaza at the entrance to the park There's a gold star for honoring the families who've lost family members in combat and then there's the blue star honoring all those who have served then we we do, with the city, then we also have the, we have the Patriots Day on 9-11, and Veterans Day in November. This year we did, and with the Vietnam War, we have an annual ceremony every year for the Vietnam War, very memorial day. Now this year was the 50th anniversary of the withdrawal of the last combat troops and the release of the last known POWs. And we had a special, big 50th year anniversary ceremony. This will work with the city, cuz we ended up having it on Friday the day before the actual service, because Saturday was a Saturday with sports day and accommodation for parking and stuff like that. Because we did take up one section because we had a static display of a Huey helicopter which for those in serving in Vietnam, that was was the work course. What's the month I have lunch with a bunch of veterans at Vickery Rose. It's a senior center overall for Highway 92 and they brought a bunch of veterans over to that event. I was having lunch with them yesterday and I didn't know until then that one of the guys, he's a good friend of mine. These's in a wheelchair from the effects of Agent Orange from 60 years ago anyway whenever they delivered to him at the park and he said his wheelchair he rolls right he's as he saw that he rolled over there with the biggest smile on his face and he started telling his stories it wasn't until yesterday at lunch that he told me that he's there, the helicopter responsible by the Vietnam helicopter policy association. He goes over and checks it out and he was a helicopter company commander in Vietnam and one of the guys that served under him that he had not seen since Vietnam. He saw again that day. It's, it's bring, we bring veterans together. We had a meeting one month and one of the guys, he's from, he was a member of St. Bridges, Knights of Columbus, and if you go out to the park at the plaza, it's dedicated for him. He's since passed, but he's telling a story about war two's on a ship in the Pacific, and it suffered tremendous damage and the ship was listing. And then another Navy ship came up and basically bumped up next to it and kept it afloat. And they went from the western Pacific all the way through the Panama Canal to New York to be repaired. He's telling the story in John's Creek, Georgia, and I'm excited to voice in the back. Another great friend of mine, who's since passed away, he said, you were on, well, I forgot. Nah, nah, I forget the membership. But anyway, he said, you were on that. He said, he was on the ship that came and saved him. And here they are in John's Creek, Georgia, 60 years later and having this story. But we do other things too. Last year, we lost a member of ours. He was a very active advocate for veterans. He got real sick, again, from Agent Orange. And he was in hospice care. And his son had been down from Pennsylvania. And he had to go back for a couple of days to work. And his wife had been there all the time. And she had just gone home because she needed a shower. She needed to do something with her hair or whatever. And while she was gone, he passed away. One of our members saw that. And she made a vow that no vet no veteran will ever dial on So we started the 11th hour squadron That we have a team of volunteers that have been trained with the Emery Johns in conjunction with the Emery Johns Creek Hospital to give them the skills To go and sit with the family sit with the veteran because like I said sometimes in the end How they want to do they want their stories and tell it to another vet is a little bit easier. And it was so impressive that one of our members has a graduate of the high school on Hudson, I mean, West Point. They have a foundation stuff that they wrote us for $10,000 check just to help fund the process. Oh, the guy I was talking about that was on the ship in the Navy that said I was on the ship that saved you that since that whenever he died his and his estate left us the money that was the seed money for our Veterans Assistance Program of which the 11th hour squadron is part of it. Veterans assistance, we do a lot of stuff, but the Veterans Assistance Program, we work with other organizations that we all work together to pull our resources to do things. One of them is Operation Rally Point. These guys, these are rock veterans, and they're dedicated to getting the homeless off the street. They will go out and find the homeless veteran. They will get them off the street, put them in a, they'll have a safe roof over their head that night, that he'll go through and find employment for them. So what happens, you gotta place a lift, you got a job, how the heck are you gonna get there? So over the last four or five years, we've given away 50 cars to veterans. We have people that will donate cars to one of the organizations. Last week, we donated one, our eight car was donated last week. They came through one of the churches, one of our members was a member of the church. The car came in. If needed, there's another member of one, the other organizations who owns a wrecking company. You'll pick up the car, take it to an auto shop, run by another one of the members of another organization. They fix it up and it's okay, this is the bill that we all go together, we pony up. And we cover the cost of the repairs and then they deliver the vehicle to the veteran. The intersting, okay, there was one story like two months ago at the meeting of one of these groups. The story came up, there was a female veteran with three kids, she was living on her car. So they needed by Monday morning, and they needed X number of dollars to get her an apartment. So we put her heads together on Sunday, we figured out how much more morning was leaving, the JCVA put up the money. You know, something happened, I don't know all the story after that, something happened, that sort of fell through, we didn't follow through with it. But there was a veteran who was living in the tent in the woods with his wife who was dying of terminal cancer. He had lost his job because she got sick so he was taking care of her, but because he was not going to work and taking care of her, he lost his job and because he lost his job, he lost his insurance and he lost his house. He's living in this tent with his dying wife in the woods. These guys find him out. So now, well, we got in, long story short, he's got, we got his six-month lease in the apartment. She has a place to die with dignity. And if it hadn't been for that, there had been two funerals. He would not have. So the things that we do, it changes lives.. And Kate, I say this with confidence on behalf of all of us in this room. Thank you for what you do. All right. For the human touch. For stepping up, not only in times of need, but being there. We appreciate all the service that everyone has performed for this country but more importantly at this juncture in their lives. I think there's more support needed to keep people happy because there are health issues, other issues that come about. I have one question. You know, we are blessed to have this wall in John's Creek as you said, second biggest after Washington, D.C. And not many people know about that, right? How closely do you work that now visit Johns Creek or Johns Creek visitors bureau to market that? Well, at one point, we had an agreement with the state that at every visitor center, whenever you come, every walk-in did you come into the state? There's supposed to be pamphlets there telling about it. And not just us, because if they talked about, if they talked about, there's the vision of the like the Northern arc of all of the veterans, memorials between Peachtree corners, John's Creek, Milton, Alpharetta of the state of the state of the state of the state of the state of the state of the state of the state of convention visitors, we're always now. Visit Johns Creek, am I correct? That's a new brand, right? But they can work with the state organizations and surrounding states as well because we need to market that, right? And I think that's an important thing. I would agree. and I wouldn't put it all on John's Creek because we're located. Our brothers right across the lake, the guys were talking about their walk through the woods from the neighbors. I mean, Alpharetta, rise well, everything I'm going to do. Do you know the restaurants and hotels and everything would benefit from our rail? Are you close to the director right now at Visit John's Creek? Do you know her? No, I mean. We talk offline. I'll make the introduction and all that. Because I think that would be a great start to get the word out. That's one thing. The other thing is, because the organization participates in a lot of ceremonial activities and all that, right? The part that is going to be completed in a year's time with the boardwalk and all that, I think will offer because there'll be outdoor concerts and other kind of things as well. I think that will also offer an opportunity as events happen at this location to educate people, right? Well, now see, that's one of the things, we found this out at the park that there's a lot of people that not only don't know it's there, but the ones who do, don't understand that two veterans at a sacred ground. It's an honored place. Now, we've been there, we had a couple years ago, we had a ceremony as we have on June the 7th this year, Saturdays where we recognize women in service. And we had, I don't forget the lady's name, but a speaker there. And there was two boys at the POWMA plaza right next to it. They've sent their belts in the ball off of the pavers up against the thing and coming back and she went over and talked to them. And once she talked to them, they did not understand because they are not getting the education in school related to the contributions and veterans of May. Now that is okay, I just took office in January and there's been some changes and some stuff that we're trying to implement. but one of the goals of this year is that we have a beautiful park. And we've got some people with some great talent on it. And we want to take the photos, video drone, footages of the park. We also have a script because we give private tours to the park. We have a script with it. My idea is to put this together in three formats. One is a 30, 35 minute version to offer it to schools, to go in and tell them what we, not only what we have here in John's Creek, but what it means. Then a longer one that could be used for promotional by the city or by the region. And then another, a very short one for Chambers of Commerce, Rotary Clubs, different things like that. And we're trying to get the word out. We sponsored a whole at the Chamber Commerce Golf Tournament on Monday at St. Oves. And there were representatives, I mean, we got a lot of interest from Boston Scientific, who's just coming in. I'm sorry, I'm going to start this whole thing off by congratulating you on the news of the world report, being the number one city, because parks and registration has to have a lot to do with that. That is true. So that's congratulations on that, and I'm sure that's going to attract even more companies to come into town, center. And if you're going to come, you're going to accompany in a new town and you want to make an impression, what better way than to support the whole country? Absolutely. No, I think the Vizagans Creek needs to get a little more involved in helping you not just market through their own websites and their marketing paraphernalias, but also connecting with other state chamber, state, of C.V.B. organizations, you know. Sandra. How many better and stewie have in John's Creek? Do you even know that? Oh, I'm really... a state of C.V.B. organizations, you know. Sandra. How many veterans do we have in John's Creek? Do you even know that? Oh, I'm really embarrassed because I've seen over there. I should have come more prepared. Because I had this whole little thing. I just talked about John's Creek rather than that. Now there's, I want to say it's like in the 15, 20,000 in just in the North Pole. North Pole. I mean, then you get into the statistics of the number of homeless veterans in the state and those that are food to problem, I mean, the statistics are, because Georgia has one of the largest veterans communities in the entire country. But we have a lot of groups that are working to address the problems interesting thing you quite a number. I heard this morning at a veterans of breakfast. I was at there so for 45,000 501c3s That say their mission is supportive veterans into country and the country how many of those do you think actually do anything? It's about 7% and all the rest of them, they've never collected a dollar, they've never paid out a dollar. So we're at least we're one of the 7%. So I have a question for you. This is something which I think one of our crown jewels, right? In John's Creek, what can we do? I mean, yes, visit John's Creek and help them promote, get more visitors to come. Can we do anything improvement of signage or anything that would help in the parks? Or, you know, because I just feel when you have something good, people need to know, right? Yeah, I'll add into that. We stumbled upon it. I felt terrible that I didn't heard about it. We're at Newtown one day and we saw it. I was just shocked that it's in our backyard. Shocked that it's not a major tourist attraction. I mean, it's- Well, okay, signage. All right, we tried for years to get assigned for to the stinguishhip between New York and Newtown Park. So they put the little thing right in the middle of it, you know, it's about half the font of the other. The other thing, sorry, I have to go, I think probably this goes back to Roger Wise's comments all the time, talk about the wall of the hills because it does serve that purpose. But even we just went to the Roswell Road Recall Sports and an Honor Air Flight to Washington, D.C. back in April. And I went on as a guardian. And to talk to these vets, there's two things that came out. Talking to vets, no, the wall of the hills doesn't register with them. The Vietnam Wall does. So if you want to change the sionis, I would change it to the Vietnam Wall and I would put it up there in equal font with Colley Park, Oc Park, or any of the others to give it equal billing. So, and also to chime in on that. So part of the effort, I guess it's been a year to now that when the CVB, we use CVB funds for the wayfinding signs at New Town Park. I mean, it was to point you like when you drive in the park, the veterans of morals that way. Like they're identified on the signs. So that was one of the efforts. There's so much in that park. But I mean, they're front and center on our wayfinding signs. Like that's where it is. Go that way. I want you to enter the park. That's true. And, you know, and we, our communications staff is always willing to push out any information from the JCBA. They don't develop it on behalf of the other associations, but we're always, you know, willing to push that out through our communication channels. And we have some new people on their staff now that are, as I like to say, their dragging is kicking and screaming into the 21st century, by updating our technology with upgrading our website and should have links into it to the city's website. Now, the second thing that came up on our trip was that whenever the paper section at the Vietnam Memorial of Vietnam Plaza was outgrew itself, they just started putting them on the sidewalk behind the wall. Now to Vietnam bets, that's not right. They think they should be in the Plaza. So I felt there were two ways to approach it. One was to put some kind of signage everywhere the papers are, the overflow papers are. But in such a way as soon as not to detract from the plaza itself, but not to be over, you know, overwhelming. But then I looked at it and I just in the day said no, they should be over there so I went and a couple weeks ago, I met with Sean and Will. And I just tell my ideas just to get their thing. And Sean said, hey, we'll take care of the materials, we'll take care of the labor or what PLM does it, whatever. They have an agreement that they're going to do the prep work. To prep the area, we want to expand the area on each side of the plaza in its enough space to bring all of the pavers from everyone. Along the sidewalk, there's 138 pavers there. Some are inscribed, some aren't. With the addition I want to do around on the expansion, it'll be about 132 there, but it's a combination of inscribed ones as well as blank ones. which should give us enough room to grow. I mean, it's been there for a while. We just had the 50th anniversary and we just got a couple of requests. I would have expected a flood of requests. We didn't get that. So we got a few. So I'm thinking that what we do this, it will be the ones that are going to get the parts to get that organized. That's done and then it leads it up to us to take care of the labor of moving the pavers from by the sidewalk over there. There's where it comes in that I've been in contact with several Boy Scout groups. We have the men's young service league. There's at least one group from Northview High School that reached out, that are different groups reaching out to the veterans to do things. So I'll put together, once we coordinate with Sean and then when they do the actual preparation, well, ideally they'll do it like on the Thursday Friday, because they can do it in part of the day. And we do it on the Thursday or Friday, so I could schedule the work day on the Saturday, so as not to leave it exposed or safety hazard. Whenever you're ready, just let us know through parks when you need volunteers, and we will aim to reach out to our circle of people and see how we can come out and help them. That would be great, but right now my goal is to get these young kids out, and I'm going to partner them up with some veterans from the different veterans groups. The young kids can do the heavy lifting and the older guys can be there to tell their stories. Just an end of way for them to interact and just build a community that way. And that's a way that's just one of the starts and then the education program to take the schools. And I use it also as a promotional tool too for the area. Good. Go ahead, Jones. Mr. Keith, to start off, thank you for your service, sir. I can only imagine the sacrifices that people you work with, the volunteer with, have gone through. To give us freedom and a life is dignified. And many of them are suffering in an undecided way. And so the scope of what you do is incredible. It's really mind-blowing. With an education background, I love your passion for wanting to work with young people. And as a former teacher and principal, I know it's difficult to convey to them what sacrifice looks like, especially in a hyper comfortable environment that we're in today. We're in the perhaps the best city in the country. So it's about as good as it gets, right? On top of that, what patriotism looks like can be very different for our young people. And one of the reasons that I was attracted to John's Creek is just how diverse our community is. And if people are putting from other countries and don't have a history of patriotism or service in this country, having a way to educate people in that way could be profoundly powerful. I expressed that myself, I lived in Korea when older generations would routinely thank me for my service and I had to tell them, no, I'm a teacher or a principal, I'm not in the military. But they still saw a foreigner and remembered what had happened 70 years ago. All that being said, I do think there's some incredible education opportunities that I love that you're hitting on. Some things that can be done almost passively that I've seen other locations do are having informational educational materials on site to help people understand and comprehend what they're looking at. But also a really attractive one are audio tours. Where if there is some kind of, for example, like a QR code they could scan, it have station one. They can stand in front of it like you at a museum. And that could be a way to kind of daughter interest as you walk by like, I don't understand what this is. What does this mean? And those could be really interesting ways to open up more opportunities to get into our schools. I volunteer a lot with our schools here. And I'm certain there would be opportunities to, if we had something in place to say, here's what the two would be like, I can only imagine interest would increase, but. The ideas are easy, execution is hard, and I've finished that by saying, thank you for what you have done already to support our veterans in our community. Thank you. On that, the idea of the audio age at each one of the stations, that was something thought up a long time ago. We don't have the visitation to justify the cost. I mean, again, if we get back to promoting it, and we get the, because other places where they have the wall, and when we dedicated the wall, we had the people from the Vietnam War Memorial Foundation is the ones that managed the wall on the mall in DC. There are several versions of the traveling wall around the country. They're only managed one of those. There's four or five of them in the country, and ours is the best presentation of all of them. However the others get better visitation. Now I asked this question once before and I never got an answer exactly in those cities, where is it placed? We're in the, now I mean it's a beautiful location but we're in the corner of a very busy parking. People walk by there and they don't know what it is. I mean we were out there when we were out there putting in the wall and lifting those heavy slate things, people come by and some of the, you know, you want to help the people, but you shake shaking your head that they're, how could you don't know that? Now as far as the schools and stuff, it might surprise you that, because we've done a lot of work with elementary schools and the different schools around here. The most patriotic are first generation immigrants. There's the ones whose parents appreciate what we have here. The ones who've grown up are like multi-generational here or forever here or whatever. They take it off and grant it. I mean that's been a surprise to me. But I mean, because that's just not the way I grew up. But anyway, I mean, that's the way it is here. But that's one thing that I like about the neighborhood. I mean, about our area here is that it's quite diverse. But there's still that since the patriotism went there. You come out the fourth of July every year. And it's a collodic cup of colors and attitudes and stuff but they're all. And as far as the boardwalk the mayor's already been taught to be about his plans for next year. He got to be finished by 4th July next year because he's already got the leave you next to you is going to make it happen. Yeah. I'm a little bit sus. I'm supposed to be out there with all the high school kids to So it's, I think it's going to be the park behind it's going to be a great addition. We're looking forward to it. Anything we can do to help. Any other questions? I was just gonna ask how work in an elementary school here. I've submitted a consideration to do field trips. Oh, please, just let us know. Could- We just went to the Civil War Museum down in- You let us know. Good. Good. We just went to the Civil War Museum, and you let us know we'll have, we'll arrange a private tour and go through, and it takes like hour and a half, and we'll answer all the kids' questions. Well, we do have big celebration for Veterans Day, every year, a better walk, and all the children that have any family member that has served or is a veteran come walk through and the veterans are there, they do as well. And a big presentation, the mayor comes. But I think you're right, like they don't, I don't think the kids get it. So I feel like if they could go somewhere, somehow we could tie it around that. I mean I've worked with second grade, third grade, fourth grade. I don't see that one particular AIDS group really kind of gets it. But if you could work that around a trip where they can actually like something tangible a little bit more, right? We love it because every year on Veterans Day, we're asked to go to multiple schools in color garden to come in and we'll present the colors and use them. They don't have like family members of the students who were served in the military to there. And we've had a couple of where we'll have sit now, they'll break us up with small groups of students with a single vet there and and I was going to kick out the questions that they asked, you know what I'm saying? The younger ones are more basic stuff, have you shot anybody or that stuff like that. But then the older ones can get very retrospective. But it's, it's, it's, and we just, we'd love that interaction with, and actually that's when I get more, most involvement of our membership is when it's an opportunity to go and work with kids. So that's something that we jump with every chance to do. Adam. Again, thank you for your service to not only our country but our city. Do you all have a website or anything? JcVets.org. And you can donate online there, guys. That far advanced. Eric I had circulated an email that the website link. So, it's a great to it, but pretty soon, we're working on getting the paper application on there. And then, there's QR code, we've got it with different events. We'll have printouts. It's sort of hard to keep track of all the hand, you know, flyers and stuff. But we're going to have displays that got a QR code. Any QR code will take you to the specific page within it, whether it's for sponsorship or donation of paper, purchase, membership, applications, everything. And we're working on that diligently. Like I said, this team has just been in place for a couple of months, so we're still working on it. It's's a heck a lot better than it used to be. And we also want to have on there a schedule of events because working with different groups like the dollars American Revolution have reached out to me for a couple of things that were planning with them. And the Girl Scouts, it's pretty cool pulling a lot of things together. But that's all just being pulled together. So we're working on it. Any other question, Ellen? You have a question? Yeah. I just want to say I love that place. Anytime I go near that park, I just walk through there. But I wonder the same thing that you, you know, why is it so quiet in this, you know, that we have most one other person, a couple of people walking there. The issue that you still want to keep it a somber place, you know, it's not a place to have a wild party and people throwing balls around and all that. To balance that with wanting, you know, more visitation, that central gazebo that you have, can you have some kind of, whether it's talks, whether it's maybe more like a smaller scale acoustic type of performance, entered, round key events, key dates throughout the year. Or even think about, we get like 5,000 people coming up in the concerts in the main amphitheatre at Newtown Park. Can you, before the concert starts, have something that you advertise, as for the first half hour, we'll have something at this gazebo. You'll only get a percentage out of that 5,000, but it's still people already there in the park. They already headed there. They're kind of coming half our earlier to beat the traffic maybe. And you know, you've funneled some traffic in there. Again, you want to balance. You don't want it to be an overcrowded kind of place. But I think you can have much more than there is. I loved it being so quiet, but that's not how we wanted to be. We really... No, we're open to all kinds of ideas. Now, one thing that we do have in the development stages is we had on our honor, on our our trip, we were visiting the actual wall in Washington. And one of our members was talking to a member of the Red Reclub, who was talking about our desires to do some upgrades to the park. And she said, hold one. So she gets on her phone and she goes, hey, I got these veterans here. They want to make their park the most beautiful in the country. Are you in? Sit, sure. He happens to be one of the largest landscapers in the country and he came out last week. Because the area, okay, at the Vietnam Wall where it comes down, there's a little roundabout area where the two wings come down. There's a little roundabout area. But after that, it drops off. And again, it's an older war with older people that remember it. So the ability to free their access for wheelchairs or at least to sit down. It's very limited and then we put them down the sides and you have the benches there and everything. So anyway, one of the things we're going to do is sort of level it out in front and expand the concrete area so we have a bigger sitting area. That gives us more room to do some of that thing, some of those things. And again, that'll be a no cost to the city. is something we're working on. It's gonna be a donation from him. Yeah, I think the idea, Ellen, that you have is how can we use existing events to draw traffic to that particular location, which I think Eric, maybe we look into that to see maybe work with Visit John's Creek and figure out because you're right. I mean, we have so many events, concerts, other things going on, and people like to come early to get parking and beat the traffic, figure out, you know, maybe 15 minutes, go spend some time there and... And we also have the like the patio outside of Park Place and that lawn between there and that's flat and more conducive because that's where we have when we have our big events like the Garden thing on Tuesday. That's the area that we have it in and that gives you an area to where you can draw a crowd be a little bit more boisterous there and still have the solemn So, it's a limited of the park right there, so you can still tie them all together. I think you are- So Tadiya, we are excited that you are the new president of the organization and you have ambitious plans and we want to help you achieve your goals. I know Ericka and team will do everything possible to market this offline. and I'll talk about connecting you to Kathy and visit John's Creek. But we do want to say thank you for educating us, right? Thank you for making John's Creek your home, right? Because at the end of the day, it's, I mean, you have so many good things in John's Creek that we should all be proud of. and this is one of those things. When I'm here, it was two lane rides, wood, wood lots, and horse forms. Right. And unincorporated. But the most immediate need right now is we got in, in part place. We got this little section of a wall as you go back into, for our stuff. We've got several members that are members of the George military veteran Hall of Fame. And we have no place to honor them on the wall. We have just a little section of a wall there. So I think one thing is, and we'll have to figure this out as this gets developed, We will need to do more branding, right, to for recognition purposes, right? Because the way I see this is not just new town park, anyone this boardwalk, I mean, you know, people are gonna walk through it, right? People will have the opportunity to see things. So I think in the coming months, there will be opportunities, there will need to actually implement in regards to branding of what we have as our key assets. And I don't think we should just limit it to Newtown Park. We should think about what's here, what's coming up in Colleague Creek, because you know, even spaces like Maker Space, right? People going to be indoors, right? We always want to promote the arts. Why not promote this as well? You know, something for us to think about. We'll be happy if we're just giving us a well-known as the dog park. All right. There's some work to be done on that part. But thank you very much. You know, the better for War Walk is built on the old, where the old dog was. We prefer the old dog. But we appreciate your service and thank you very much to your team. Thank you very much. I appreciate it. All right. Thank you. Thank you. I know we went way over time, but I think it was well deserved. And again, we have so many assets in John's Creek that we should be proud of, and this is one of those things. Any old business? Jacob, do we have any old business? No, we don't think. All right, new business. I know we have the minister approved, so hope everyone had a chance to read the minutes of March 19th. Can I get a motion to accept the minutes as presented? I see. All right, Sandra, second, whose second? Adam, second, all in favor, say aye. I approved. There's no other business. Again, I want to say thank you for, or is there other business, please. Go ahead. Were we talking about? Oh yes, we, yeah, there is one other business. As we had mentioned, when we got together for the holiday party, we would like to have a social get together during the summer months as well. So the option is one of the next two meetings, and we need to make a decision tonight. June meeting or July meeting? June meeting date is the third one, so if someone can look that up. And same thing for the July. 18th of June. So 18th of June or what's the July date? 16th. Or 16th of July. So just take a quick look at your calendar. I'm open to either one of those. Erica, what would work best for you and staff? Either is fine. Either is fine. So I know July will probably be the best. July is the first preference, so everyone is okay. July 16th. And again, we'll share the details where we're going to get together and all that, but there will be no meeting. It'll be in lieu of the meeting. So are we good with July 16th? I'm good with it. All right, so it works for you, your perfect attendance will remain in place. So thank you very much. Again, I sincerely want to say thank you for staying longer. Erica, thank you for bringing both the associations and let's continue to learn more, give more. The other thing I'll say is as we learn more, it's not just your backpack hat that you are wearing. You are also an individual, a family member who have friends and family. So please reach out to them if they can be of any service to any of the organizations, volunteering time, doing other things. The fact that you brought up about the elementary school kids, that's awesome, right? I don't think they will be appropriate for the social hour. But anyway, thank you very much. I think the meeting is adjourned at 7.58 pm. Thank you very much for your time.