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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2011-01-03 Regular Meeting Parks and Leisure Services Board January 3, 2011 CALL TO ORDER The regular meeting of the Parks and Leisure Services Board was called to order at 7:06 p.m. on Monday, January 3, 2011, in the Council Chambers of the Euless City Hall building by Chairman Eric Owens. Other Board Members present: Carroll Scott, Randy Jones, John Raab, Alex Horton, Darrel Knobloch and alternates Travis Riffle and Tiffany Smith. Members absent: none. Staff members present: Director of Parks and Community Services Ray McDonald, Parks Superintendent Terry Boaz, Parks Manager Randy Smith, Recreation Superintendent Michael Davenport and Administrative Secretary Linda Lux. Visitors present: Rahim Lalani (and family), Steve and Loretta Doty, Johnnie Smith (Tiffany Smith's grandmother) and Billy Owens. INVOCATION Randy Jones gave the invocation. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Chairman Owens asked if there were any additions or corrections to the minutes from the December 6, 2010 regular meeting. Darrel Knobloch made the motion to approve the minutes with a correction to Page 4. The last paragraph in Section III read "Alex Horton inquired about the trails from Bob Eden Park", this needs to be corrected to read "Darrel Knobloch" inquired .... Alex Horton seconded the motion with the correction. The vote was unanimous. I. Board Member's Reports Chairman Owens said the new 2011 park assignments were included in everyone's packets. Carroll Scott said both Reflection and the Villages of Bear Creek parks were both in good shape on his recent visit. Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 2 January 3,2011 Alex Horton said he walked Midway Park last week and everything looked good, but noticed some playground chips had washed out from under the swing set. He said Blessing Branch Park also looked good. John Raab said both Heritage Park and South Euless Park were very clean and in good shape. Randy Jones now has Bob Eden and Trailwood parks. He said both parks were clean and looked good. Darrel Knobloch said his new parks are J. A. Carr (Simmons) and Kiddie Carr. Both parks looked good thanks to the parks department and their staff. Travis Riffle said when he walked West Park he saw lots of people out walking their dogs. This park is well taken care of but he did say the portable restrooms had not been cleaned on his visit. When he went to Wilshire Park one of the portable restrooms was locked and the water fountain at the front entrance was on. He also mentioned that the rear fountain in the pond was not working. He said this park is a hidden gem. Tiffany Smith said both the Preserve at McCormick Park and McCormick Park were in good shape and the water fountain at the Preserve was turned off. Chairman Owens said his new park is the Parks at Texas Star athletic complex and as usual this park looks great. Chairman Owens commented on the following recent Special Events held in December: • Heritage Park Christmas Celebration was again a great success • The Dr Pepper StarCenter ice skating event was held on December 17th • He reminded everyone of the Christmas Tree Recycling event which will be held this Saturday, January 8th at Midway Park • The official opening of the senior center will be held on Saturday, January 29th at 2:00 p.m. Chairman Owens welcomed our new Board Members Travis Riffle and Tiffany Smith to the Park Board. II. Volunteer of the Month Chairman Owens presented Rahim Lalani with the January 2011 Volunteer of the Month plaque. He said Rahim recently joined our volunteer family and has made a positive impact with our Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 3 January 3,2011 events. Rahim contacted fifteen students to help carry our Christmas parade banners when we were notified that a previous group would not be able to help with the parade. He completed this important task with a humble and willing attitude, and he and his members helped our city and our special event more than they may realize. Chairman Owens congratulated Rahim for his service with our special events. Rahim thanked the Board Members for the award and the opportunity to work our events. III. Business of the Tree Board Tree Board Chairman Carroll Scott reported on the following for December 1st—31St: • Total man hours - 648.00 o 159.00—Horticulture o 0 —Forestry o 0 — Storm Damage o 69.00 - Greenhouse o 420.00 - Special Projects o 0 - Water Truck o 0 - Training • 7 trees were planted and there were no tree related purchases IV. Parks and Community Services Reports a. Recreation Report—Michael Davenport Recreation Superintendent Michael Davenport commented on the following: • The gymnasium was closed during the holidays to have the floors cleaned as well as rescreening of the basketball courts. The racquetball courts were also cleaned. • There has been lots of visits to the fitness center since the remodel • There was a soft opening of the new senior center on December 20th. The center will stay open until 9:00 p.m. on Thursdays. • Today there were about 120 people at the senior center • Staff has planned a Valentine's Dance at the senior center for February 11th from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. • The R&R Program is scheduled for February 21St—27th Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 4 January 3, 2011 Randy Jones inquired about the Simmons Center and what is planned for the building? Michael said currently we are working on how the building will be programmed in the future. b. Parks Report—Randy Smith Parks Manager Randy Smith reported on the following: • The parks staff completed the landscaping at the senior center • Staff took down the Christmas tree at city hall and will be taking down the remainder of decorations this week • The water fountains in the parks are usually shut off during the winter when we are expecting freezing weather. We will make signs for the water fountains and put them out when we need to shut them off • Currently we have some major repairs at the greenhouse but they should be completed this week • Staff will be planting the spring plants within the next couple of weeks • The tree recycling event is this Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and we will be serving soda and hot dogs c. Community Services Report—Ray McDonald Director of Parks and Community Services Ray McDonald commented on the following: • Said we completed another great year with the remodel of the recreation center, adding the fitness center and now the senior center • The annual Boards and Commission Dinner is scheduled for Monday, February 7th at 6:30 p.m. at Texas Star. If you know of a business or person to nominate for the annual volunteer awards,please send your information to Betsy Deck. • The membership numbers at the recreation center continue to increase; particularly for senior memberships • Parks at Texas Star baseball registration started January 3rd and as of today we already have 54 teams registered. Last year it totaled 100 teams. • Tim Rolen in the parks department will receive his twenty (20) year pin at the council meeting scheduled for January 11th • The grand opening of the senior center will be Saturday, January 29th and Ray will send out a reminder to the Park Board • In 2008 we adopted the Parks Master Plan and we plan to start updating and revising the list of priorities. He hopes to be ready to start working with Board Members on this task in March or April. Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 5 January 3,2011 Chairman Owens thanked everyone for their reports. V. Election of Officers Chairman Owens said the current Park Board Officers are: Chairman — Eric Owens, Vice Chairman—John Raab and Secretary—vacated by Jeremy Tomkins. The current Tree Board Officers are: Chairman— Carroll Scott and Vice Chairman—Randy Jones. Chairman Owens said that each officer will be done by nomination and then voting on that nomination. We will start with Chairman and then go down the list of officers for both Park Board and Tree Board. Randy Jones nominated Eric Owens for Chairman of the Park Board. Alex Horton made a motion to accept the nomination for Eric Owens as Chairman and was seconded by John Raab. The vote to approve was unanimous. Darrel Knobloch made a motion to nominate John Raab for Vice Chairman. The motion was seconded by Randy Jones and the vote to approve was unanimous. Alex Horton nominated Randy Jones for Secretary. John Raab made a motion to accept the nomination of Randy Jones for Secretary and was seconded by Darrel Knobloch. The vote to approve was unanimous. Alex Horton nominated Carroll Scott for Chairman of the Tree Board. Darrel Knobloch made a motion to accept the nomination for Carroll Scott as Chairman and was seconded by John Raab. The vote to approve was unanimous. Darrel Knobloch made the motion to nominate Alex Horton as Vice Chairman. The motion was seconded by Randy Jones and the vote to approve was unanimous. The new 2011 Park Board officers are: Chairman — Eric Owens, Vice Chairman — John Raab and Secretary—Randy Jones. The new 2011 Tree Board officers are: Chairman — Carroll Scott and Vice Chairman — Alex Horton. • Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 6 January 3,2011 VI. Other New Business Chairman Owens reminded everyone of the tree recycling event this Saturday, January 8th and also of the opening of the Senior Center on Saturday, January 29th. VII. Input from City Council Members and Visitors There was no input from the audience. ADJOURNMENT Chairman Owens gave the benediction. There being no further business to conduct, the meeting was adjourned at 7:57 p.m. OF e'1-7 -- Chairman Attest