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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014-10-02 TEEN COURT ADVISORY BOARD MINUTES MEETING OF OCTOBER 2, 2014 STATE OF TEXAS § COUNTY OF TARRANT § CITY OF BEDFORD § The Teen Court Advisory Board of the cities of Hurst, Euless and Bedford, Texas met at 6:00 p.m. at Bedford City Hall on the 2nd day of October, 2014,with the following members present: HURST: Phoebe Soward, Lorrie Dickerson, Jennifer Tucker EULESS: Warren Wilson BEDFORD: Jeanne Owers, Kathleen Toms, Janet Key TEEN REPRESENTATIVES: Dakota Ridgway, Trinity High School Hurst Council Liaison—Anna Holzer Bedford Council Liaison-- Steve Farco Euless Council Liaison— HEB Teen Court Coordinator—Mindy Eichorst HEB Teen Court Assistant Coordinator—Linda Stone Also present: Hurst Deputy City Secretary—Cynthia Singleton Euless Staff Liaison—Teresa Alexander Bedford Court Manager— Doug Campbell Hurst Court Manager— HEB Teen Court Clerk- Bedford Administrative Services Director- Cliff Blackwell CALL TO ORDER Chairperson Phoebe Soward called the meeting to order at 6:05 p.m. with a quorum of six Board Members present. APPROVAL OF MINUTES 1. Consider approval of the following Teen Court Advisory Board minutes: a)August 7, 2014 regular meeting. Minutes of the August 7, 2014 Regular Board Meeting were reviewed. Warren Wilson made a motion to accept the minutes and Jeanne Owers seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. 2. Introductions Two new City of Hurst Advisory Board Members were present and introduced: Jennifer Tucker and Lorrie Dickerson. Also introduced was, Dakota Ridgway, the Teen Liaison Representative for Trinity High School. OLD BUSINESS 3. Discuss ideas for fundraisers. Kathleen Toms mentioned that her granddaughter has done a fundraiser at Bedford Spring Creek Barbeque and that 90% of the proceeds for the day went to her school. Ms. Toms mentioned she has spoken with a representative of Spring Creek and will get back with them to pick a day/evening that is open. She mentioned that the Advisoory Board does not need to post a flier. The question of how often can this fundraiser be done came up and it was answered as possibly once or twice a month. Ms. Toms also mentioned that Davis Family Dental located in Bedford, Dr. Paul and Demi Davis, is willing to sponsor a table at the annual Teen Court Scholarship Banquet. She will follow-up will them at a later date. Phoebe Soward mentioned that she spoke with the Teen Court teen volunteers and mentioned a few ideas to them. One the ideas the teen volunteers were interested in was the Kona Ice Truck. Ms. Soward mentioned the Kona Ice Truck drives up to a certain location, her thought being L.D. Bell School parking lot, and sell items. There is an overhead cost of$150 and then Teen Court would receive 20% of the proceeds. City of Bedford Council Liaison Steve Farco, mentioned there would need to be approval from the schools before this could happen. He mentioned Vice-Principal Donna Paul (in charge of L.D. Bell Student Activities) and Vice-Principal Becky Ewert, Trinity High School, as contacts. Warren Wilson followed up with Showplace Lanes in Euless in reference to having a bowl-a thon there. He mentioned there were certain days and prices but the fundraiser would include two lanes for two hours and would cost $75. Mr. Farco mentioned whoever is participating would go out and get pledges per pin or a flat rate. Jennae Owers mentioned she knows the owners of the Brunswick Bowling Alley off of Rufe Snow in Watauga. She mentioned she would follow up with that bowling alley. Lorrie Dickerson mentioned that Raising Cane's Chicken located in Hurst works with the community and might be a place to look. 4. Discuss and possibly take action on a sponsorship/information flier for the Advisory Board Members. The form that Teen Court Coordinator Mindy Eichorst has used for past Teen Court Scholarship Banquets will work for the sponsorship and information flier. 5. Discuss and possibly take action on items as they relate to the 2015 annual Teen Court Scholarship Banquet. There was a discussion amongst the Advisory Board Members about holding a banquet for the teens again this year or scaling it down to a reception with heavy hors d'oeuvres. The Board Members asked the Teen Liaison Dakota Ridgway what his opinion was on having a banquet and he mentioned that he thinks the teens enjoyed attending the banquet and it was great and he looked forward to attending it. The Board Members discussed the date options and locations of having a banquet. Kathleen Toms made a motion to check into the Hurst Conference Center for availability on the dates of Thursday, April 16, 2015 (first option) and Thursday, April 9, 2015 (second option). Warren Wilson seconded the motion and this was a unanimous vote. Jennifer Tucker mentioned it was National Volunteer Week, April 12-18, 2015. Teen Court Coordinator Mindy Eichorst mentioned that a speaker option might be Texas State Justice Debra Lehrmann. Bedford Municipal Judge Murphy has been in contact with her and it will depend if the dates work with her schedule. A suggestion was brought up to have door prizes for just the volunteer teens present and also have the teens speak for a few minutes. The following Board Members have volunteered to be on the Banquet Committee: Phoebe Soward, Jennifer Tucker, Kathleen Toms, Lorrie Dickerson, and Jeanne Owers. The following Board Members have volunteered to be on the Scholarship Committee: Warren Wilson, Janet Key, and Phoebe Soward. NEW BUSINESS 6. Discuss the 83rd Regular Session of Texas Legislature and how it has impacted referrals to the HEB Teen Court Program. Teen Court Coordinator Mindy Eichorst explained that in January 2014, there was Texas House Bill 528 and Texas State Bill 393 that passed and went into effect and have had an impact on the HEB Teen Court Program. Ms. Eichorst handed out an information sheet explaining the two bills. The main impact of the bills is that citations are not being written at school or on school property by a School Resource Officer. There are not as many citations being written which in turn affects how many teens come through the program, how many teen/adult volunteers are needed, and affects the community service options and events open to the teens. Since the schools are writing referrals instead of the SRO's writing citations, there are not any reports that the teen volunteer attorneys can use if they are defending or prosecuting the teen defendants. Ms. Eichorst has explained this to both the teen volunteers and the adult volunteers since they are seeing the impact. 7. Set the date for the next Teen Court Advisory Board Meeting. The next HEB Teen Court Advisory Board meeting will be held on Thursday, November 6, 2014 at 6:00 p.m. at the Bedford City Hall upstairs conference room, 2000 Forest Ridge Drive. REPORTS Mindy Eichorst presented the Coordinator's Report and Financial Report for the months of August and September, 2014. ADJOURNMENT Jeanne Owers entered a motion for the meeting to be adjourned. Warren Wilson seconded the motion and all voted in favor. The meeting was adjourned at 7:21 p.m. Phoebe Soward, Chairperson