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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2010-02-01 Regular Meeting Parks and Leisure Services Board February 1,2010 CALL TO ORDER The regular meeting of the Parks and Leisure Services Board was called to order at 7:01 p.m. on Monday, February 1, 2010, in the Council Chambers of the Euless City Hall building by Chairman Eric Owens. Other Board Members present: Carroll Scott, Jeremy Tompkins, Randy Jones, 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: Andy and Debi Chesney (B & B Wrecker Service), Lori and Brayden Tompkins, Curtis Freeman (United Memorial Christian Church), Rayford Hamil, Council Member Leon Hogg 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 January 4, 2010 regular meeting. Jeremy Tompkins made the motion to approve the minutes as presented and was seconded by John Raab. The vote was unanimous. I. Board Member's Reports Chairman Owens stated that everyone should have received their new 2010 park assignments. Carroll Scott said his new parks are McCormick Park and the Preserve at McCormick Park. He said McCormick Park was clean. On his inspection of the Preserve at McCormick Park he noticed a broken split rail by the historic tree grove which needs to be repaired and the park was in good shape and clean. Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 2 February 1,2010 Alex Horton said his new parks for this year are J. A. Carr Park and Kiddie Can Park. At J. A. Can Park everything was clean and in good shape. He could not get the water faucet to work properly but the handicapped fountain was working correctly. On his inspection of Kiddie Can Park he said the park overall looked great. John Raab said his new parks are Trailwood and Bob Eden. Trailwood Park was clean on his visit over the weekend. Bob Eden Park was clean and in good shape. Randy Jones mentioned that his new park assignment is the Parks at Texas Star (athletic complex). He walked the park and everything was in order and looked good. Jeremy Tompkins new assignments are for the Villages of Bear Creek Park and Reflection Park. He said Reflection Park is a beautiful addition to Fuller Wiser Road and he inquired if some more mulch chips could be added. On his visit to the Villages of Bear Creek Park he said the dog park was in good shape. He did say he tried to put the trash can lids on the receptacles but they did not fit and asked if there were lids that would fit the trash bins. He also noticed a broken light over by the amphitheater which needs to be replaced. Jeremy Tompkins commented on the following recent Special Events held in January: • He said the Christmas Tree Recycling event was cancelled due to the cold weather but the parks department still accepted trees and put them into the new chipper truck and we now have lots of mulch for the parks. The Special Event for February is the R & R Program which runs from Monday, February 8th to Sunday, February 14th. This is a very rewarding experience and he invites the Board Members to participate next week and bring their families to greet the soldiers arriving at DFW Airport. Johnson Obamehinti said he visited South Euless and Heritage parks this past weekend. At South Euless Park it looked good and was clean but the creek had some trash in it. At Heritage Park it was clean but needed more chips under the swings and he noticed some erosion by the drain in the park. Darrel Knobloch stated his two new parks are West Park and Wilshire Park. He said he recently walked West Park and on the north end of the park in the wooded area he noticed lots of trash, carpeting and other items that had been dumped in the creek area. On his visit to Wilshire Park at the north end behind the car dealership pea gravel had washed down on the walkway. Also behind the homes along the west wall bricks had fallen down on the sidewalk. Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 3 February 1,2010 Chairman Owens said his parks for this year are Midway and Blessing Branch. At Blessing Branch Park there is a sign down the street but no official sign at the entrance to this park. There was a large hole under the swings and needs to be filled in with mulch. On his visit to Midway Park there was lots of construction going on with the remodel of Midway Recreation Center and he did notice that there is still some graffiti under the bridge by Field No. 2. Chairman Owens thanked everyone for their reports. II. Volunteer of the Month Chairman Owens presented the January 2010 Volunteer of the Month award to Curtis Freeman with United Memorial Christian Church. He said Curtis has led his church in their participation in the Christmas Parade of Lights. In fact, he has been the main person that has built their fabulously beautiful floats for the past several years. He has spent countless hours, formulating, sketching, preparing and following through on these projects, by leading his fellow church members, as they prepared the floats. Mr. Freeman thanked the Board Members for the award and said the award represents the entire church and all the help and volunteer hours they have given during the past years. Chairman Owens presented Andy and Debi Chesney, owners of B & B Wrecker Service with the February 2010 Volunteer of the Month award. He said both Andy and Debi have been involved with our department for many years now. In 2004, when Arbor Daze experienced a tremendous amount of rain, they openheartedly gave us the service of their wrecker company, so countless guests could have their cars pulled from the mud. Although, this took many hours to complete, they did so out of the kindness of their heart. This past December, we submitted their help in carrying our City Council in our annual Christmas Parade of Lights they cheerfully did so, for the good of their home town. It is because of kind acts such as these that we want to recognize them. Andy Chesney thanked the Board Members for the award and also thanked the city for letting them help in the community. III. Business of the Tree Board Tree Board Chairman Carroll Scott reported on the following for January 1St—31st: • there were 629.00 total man hours Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 4 February 1,2010 o 89.00 Horticulture o 17.00 Forestry o 0 Storm Damage o 211.00 Greenhouse o 312.00 Special Projects o 0 Water Truck o 0 Training • Twenty-five (25)trees were planted • There were no trees purchased • Parks transplanted three (3) Crepe Myrtles and one (1) decorative Holly from the Midway Recreation Center • Planted seventeen (17) trees at the new park on Main Street which included Red Oaks, Live Oaks, Chitalpas and Chinese Pistachios • Planted five(5) Chitalpas at the Redi-Mix facility • Transplanted one (1) Red Oak from Field No. 2 at Midway Park to the new park on Main Street • Removed a tree limb from Trailwood Park • Removed a damaged Crepe Myrtle from Westpark Way IV. Parks and Community Services Reports a. Recreation Report—Michael Davenport Recreation Superintendent Michael Davenport commented on the following: • Thanked both Curtis Freeman and United Memorial Christian Church and Andy and Debi Chesney with B & B Wrecker Service for their volunteer service in the community • This is a busy time in the recreation department with planning spring and summer programs for the recreation center • Numbers are slightly down at the TRAB (temporary recreation activity building) • We have 180 members that are working out at Stroud's Fitness in Hurst • We have 20 registered for spring break camp as of today (the maximum is 26) • Staff has been working on getting new fitness equipment for the new fitness room • A leaner board was erected at Midway Recreation Center showing the facility closed for remodeling • There have been 20 seniors participating in programs at the Simmons Senior Center • The lunch program at the Simmons Senior Center has served about 300 seniors during the month Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 5 February 1,2010 • The seniors took a trip to the new Dallas Cowboys stadium last month and have another trip scheduled for February 13t to the Grapevine Opry • The R & R Program is scheduled for Monday, February 8th through Sunday, February 14th and we encourage everyone to participate in this rewarding program • A local church stepped up and volunteered to stuff all the goodie bags for the R & R Program • Arbor Daze is just around the corner and we are starting to line up the entertainment • The Historical Preservation Committee has a new local marker system program which they plan to start in the next couple of months b. Parks Report—Randy Smith Parks Manager Randy Smith reported on the following: • Even though the Tree Recycling event was cancelled due to the weather we still chipped the trees and we had over 25 tons of trees which were recycled • Playground chips have been ordered and when they come in we will be putting new chips down throughout the parks and playgrounds. They should be here within the next six to eight weeks. • Some of the parks staff helped dig up trees from the Midway Recreation Center and were relocated to other locations until the construction is completed • The landscape at the Redi-Mix building should be completed within the next three to four weeks • At the greenhouse we have received 35,000 plugs and have started planting them as well as seedlings for planting in the spring c. Community Services Report—Ray McDonald Director of Parks and Community Services Ray McDonald commented on the following: • PATS Baseball League—as of today we have 66 "AA" and "AAA"teams registered and 64 kids registered for"A" • We heard back from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) and we were not approved for the Indoor and Outdoor grants for which we had applied for. We will keep looking for other opportunities and areas for additional grants. • Midway Recreation Center — the inside has almost been completely gutted after just one week into the remodel. The lights at Midway Park have been taken down due to the construction and we will look for opportunities to reuse them in our parks system sometime Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 6 February 1, 2010 in the future. The scheduled completion date for the Midway Recreation Center remodel is May 14th and this will give staff enough time to move everything back in and get ready for the summer programs. • The fitness center is scheduled for completion by August 1st • The new Senior Center will take 300 days from start to completion - barring any weather delays • Public Works has just completed their sidewalk project on South Mills and we will work with them to add some additional concrete in order for the parks department to extend the connection from Kiddie Can to J. A. Can park • The gabion wall is being installed in the creek off of Bear Creek Parkway by the dog park and the contractor should be finished about May. All walkers using the trail are being re- routed over by the soccer field area. Chairman Owens thanked everyone for their reports. V. Other New Business Carroll Scott said he is on the 2010 Census Committee and reminded everyone to please mail the forms back in and be counted for the 2010 Census. VI. Input from City Council Members and Visitors Council Member Leon Hogg mentioned he was on the Park Board when Midway Recreation Center was first built and is excited about the remodel. Billy Owens said our current patrons of the Midway Recreation Center will be glad when the remodel is completed because they receive a lot more attention and are spoiled a little more from our staff than from outside the city. Chairman Owens thanked everyone for their reports tonight and thanked Council Member Hogg for attending the meeting tonight. Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 7 February 1,2010 ADJOURNMENT Chairman Owens gave the benediction. There being no further business to conduct, the meeting was adjourned at 7:55 p.m. ‘ d6ezr - Chairman Attest