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Home My WebLink About2010-04-05 Regular Meeting Parks and Leisure Services Board April 5,2010 CALL TO ORDER The regular meeting of the Parks and Leisure Services Board was called to order at 7:00 p.m. on Monday, April 5, 2010, in the Council Chambers of the Euless City Hall building by Chairman Eric Owens. Other Board Members present: Carroll Scott, Randy Jones, Jeremy Tompkins, John Raab, Alex Horton and alternates Johnson Obamehinti and Darrel Knobloch. Members absent: none. Staff members present: Director of Parks and Community Services Ray McDonald, Parks Manager Randy Smith, Parks Superintendent Terry Boaz, Recreation Superintendent Michael Davenport and Administrative Secretary Linda Lux. Visitors present: Alizah Hussain, Billy Owens and Council Member Leon Hogg. INVOCATION Randy Jones gave the invocation. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Chairman Owens asked if there were any additions or corrections to the minutes from the March 1, 2010 regular meeting. Randy Jones made the motion to approve the minutes as presented and was seconded by Carroll Scott. The vote was unanimous. I. Board Member's Reports Carroll Scott said he walked both McCormick Park and the Preserve at McCormick Park over the weekend and they were both clean. Alex Horton said he walked both J. A. Carr and Kiddie Carr parks last week and both were clean. One of the fountains at J. A. Carr Park did not work but the handicap was working properly. John Raab said Bob Eden Park was very busy on his recent visit and the sand volleyball court was busy as always and there was some trash in the park. Trailwood Park was also in good shape and had lots of users on his inspection of this park. Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 2 April 5,2010 Randy Jones said he walked the Parks at Texas Star athletic complex on Sunday and as usual it was in good shape. However he did notice some broken 2 x 4's on the back side of the ball field fence. Jeremy Tompkins said Reflection Park looked good. The Villages of Bear Creek Park looked fantastic and there were lots of people in the park. He also mentioned the gabion wall in the creek looks nice and also requested if a dog park sign could be put out on Mid-Cities Blvd. since some citizens are having a hard time finding the dog park. Jeremy Tompkins commented on the following recent Special Events held in March: • Tarrant Area Food Bank was held on March 15th and there were about 40 volunteers • Easter Egg Stuffing Party was held on March 17th and there were over 150 volunteers that stuffed over 10,000 eggs • Easter Egg Scramble was held on March 27th and as always there was a great turnout of kids and adults for this event The upcoming Special Events for April are: • Texas Trash Off— Saturday, April 10th from 9:00 a.m. — Noon — Villages of Bear Creek Park Amphitheater • Arbor Daze — Saturday, April 24th from 9:00 a.m. — 8:00 p.m. and Sunday, April 25th from 2:00 p.m.—6:00 p.m. Johnson Obamehinti said Heritage Park was clean and looked very good. South Euless Park was also clean and he said he thanked three of the parks guys working at the park for all their hard work in keeping the parks clean for our citizens. Darrel Knobloch said he noticed some graffiti on the north side of the west parking lot at West Park and he also said the plastic pipe sticking out of the ground is an eye-sore. He said everything looked nice at Wilshire Park. Chairman Owens said Midway Park was very crowded with walkers using the trail and people having picnics in the park. He said he noticed some graffiti in the concrete ditch (along the east side). At Blessing Branch Park he found graffiti on the park signs. He said overall both parks were in good shape and clean. He said there has been lots of vandalism in the parks recently. Randy said he went to the dog park and the latch on the large side is still broken and needs to be repaired. Chairman Owens thanked everyone for their reports tonight. Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 3 April 5, 2010 IL Volunteer of the Month Chairman Owens said the April 2010 Volunteer of the Month award goes to Alizah Hussain. She is a new member to our volunteer program but has made an impact with her willingness to help with our special events. She has organized her Girl Scout Troop and they have volunteered for the following: • 2008 Fruits and Veggies Aren't Scary Fest • 2009 Greet the Soldiers Tarrant County Food Bank Arbor Daze Festival Heritage Park Christmas Celebration • 2010 Tarrant County Food Bank Easter Egg Stuffing Park She plans to volunteer for Arbor Daze Chairman Owens presented Alizah Hussain with her plaque and she thanked the Board Members. III. Business of the Tree Board Tree Board Chairman Carroll Scott reported on the following for March 1St—31st: • there were 688.00 total man hours o 205.00 Horticulture o 136.00 Forestry o 0 Storm Damage o 165.00 Greenhouse o 182.00 Special Projects o 0 Water Truck o 0 Training • There were 9 trees planted • There was only 1 tree related purchase • Planted 6 Crepe Myrtles, Desert Willows and Dwarf Crepe Myrtles at Redi-Mix • Removed a tree at South Euless Park • Trimmed trees due to storm damage at City Hall and in all parks • Planted 3 Mexican Plum trees at the new trail expansion at Bob Eden trail • Removed trees along resident's fence at Bob Eden Park • Cabled and braced a large Live Oak at city hall Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 4 April 5,2010 IV. Parks and Community Services Reports a. Recreation Report—Michael Davenport Recreation Superintendent Michael Davenport commented on the following: • Trash Off is Saturday, April 10th from 9:00 a.m. — Noon — Villages of Bear Creek Park Amphitheater. There will be hot dogs, chips and soda for all the volunteers. The Board Members have graciously said they would serve the lunches to the volunteers. We have about 350 volunteers to help at this event. • Tarrant Area Food Bank was held on March 15t and we had about 40 volunteers that showed up to help sort food • Egg Stuffing Party was held on March 17th and there were 150 volunteers that helped stuff over 10,000 eggs. Chick-fil-A also brought out food trays for the staff and volunteers • Easter Egg Scramble was held on March 27th and as usual there was a great turnout of kids and parents • Arbor Daze — some of the sponsors for the event are: Chick-fil-A, Dr Pepper StarCenter, Fort Worth Community Credit Union, CRES Management, Star-Telegram and Chad's Chopp `N Shop • Trout Fishing in America will be the headliner on Saturday evening • City Tent — will house the Library Foundation, Census 2010, Historical Preservation Committee, HEB Transit • Midway Recreation Center remodel is still on schedule and we hope to have it completed by mid-May b. Parks Report—Randy Smith Parks Manager Randy Smith reported on the following: • Staff has been very busy addressing the recent graffiti vandalism on signs, buildings, and Bob Eden tennis courts • The ponds (at Wilshire Park and the Preserve at McCormick Park) will be stocked with Tilapia in mid April to help keep the algae and moss down • Redi-Mix is about 95% complete and staff has done a great job with the landscaping project • Randy is working closely with Code Enforcement and the homeowner that has installed the pool adjacent to West Park to make sure the park entrance area is completed and put back to its normal condition Arbor Daze will be here in a couple of weeks and he would like the Board Members to again help at the parks concession booth. Linda has a schedule if you would like to sign up to volunteer. Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 5 April 5,2010 c. Community Services Report—Ray McDonald Director of Parks and Community Services Ray McDonald commented on the following: • The Midway Recreation Center remodel is coming along nicely and he will see if he can possibly set up a tour for the Board Members before the facility reopens. Ray said Midway should still open around May 15`h, with the fitness center opening sometime in August and the senior center should open in November. • The Parks at Texas Star league has now started and there have been three tournaments which were all full. Staff received many great comments from coaches, players and parents regarding the tournaments. • Softball World has started a new Kickball League and they are getting lots of responses and signups • We are currently working on getting a soft drink contract from either Coke, Dr Pepper or Pepsi and are still working out the details Chairman Owens thanked everyone for their reports. V. Other New Business Chairman Owens reminded the Board Members of the Trash Off scheduled for Saturday. He also asked if Linda would send the Board Members the volunteer schedule for Arbor Daze. VI. Input from City Council Members and Visitors There were no comments from the audience tonight. ADJOURNMENT Chairman Owens gave the benediction. There being no further business to conduct, the meeting was adjourned at 7:55 p.m.Chairman A •st