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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2009-09-14 Regular Meeting Parks and Leisure Services Board September 14,2009 CALL TO ORDER The regular meeting of the Parks and Leisure Services Board was called to order at 7:05 p.m. on Monday, September 14, 2009, in the Council Chambers of the Euless City Hall building by Chairman Eric Owens. Other Board Members present: Jeremy Tompkins, Carroll Scott, Randy Jones, John Raab and alternates Alex Horton and Johnson Obamehinti. Members absent: John Elder. Staff members present: Director of Parks and Community Services Ray McDonald, Parks Superintendent Terry Boaz, Parks Manager Randy Smith,' Recreation Superintendent Michael Davenport, Recreation Program Coordinator Blake Cloud and Administrative Secretary Linda Lux. Visitors present: Phyllis and Rex Kitchen, Larry and Marlene Turner, Chad Turner, Mike and Cathy Carleen and Rick Bren (Stoneleigh at Bear Creek Apartments). INVOCATION Randy Jones gave the invocation. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Chairman Owens asked if there were any additions or corrections to the minutes from the August 3, 2009 regular meeting. Randy Jones made the motion to approve the minutes as presented and was seconded by Alex Horton. The vote was unanimous. I. Board Member's Reports Carroll Scott said he walked both McCormick Park and the Preserve at McCormick Park two weeks ago as well as today. He said the new Crepe Myrtles planted at the entrance to McCormick Park are beautiful. He said the Preserve at McCormick Park was clean but some areas of the park are holding water especially around the playground. Alex Horton said Trailwood Park was in good condition when he did his inspection. The dog park is looking great with the sod repair in the big dog side. Overall both parks looked great. Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 2 September 14,2009 John Raab said both West Park and Wilshire Park were clean and in great shape. Randy Jones said both Kiddie Carr and J. A. Carr parks looked good. Jeremy Tompkins said his park is the Parks at Texas Star athletic complex and the facility was in great shape but he did notice a broken Pine tree branch. Jeremy said the August special event held was: • Texas Junior Anglers Day which was held on Saturday, August 8th from 9:00 a.m. to Noon at Wilshire Park. He said there were 175 kids registered for the event and 35 fish were caught that day. He commented on the next upcoming event: • Trails of Treasure—Saturday, September 19th—between 7:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. Johnson Obamehinti said Blessing Branch and Midway parks as usual looked good. Chairman Owens said both South Euless Park and Heritage Park looked good. Chairman Owens read John Raab's report which was e-mailed to him. "John said Reflection Park was in excellent condition. On his visit to the Villages of Bear Creek Park he said this park was also in excellent condition with lots of people in the park and the dog park was packed with dogs as usual." Chairman Owens thanked the Board Members for their reports tonight. II. Volunteer of the Month Chairman Owens said the September 2009 Volunteer of the Month is Larry Turner. He has been involved with and has helped the North Texas SNAP (Special Needs Assistance Program) which is designed to assist in the housing and transportation of those with special needs. This program also assists with educational programs, social activities, not to mention work programs. SNAP is sincerely committed to helping these individuals live, work and play in their own community. Mr. Turner has also helped his son start and maintain a business called Chad's Chopp'n Shop. This business does shredding of citizens documents in order to help eliminate identity theft. Chairman • Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 3 September 14,2009 Owens presented Mr. Turner with the plaque for all of his work with the community. Mr. Turner thanked the Board Members as well as the Parks and Community Services staff for everything they do for the community. III. Beautification Award of the Month Chairman Owens mentioned that each year from May through October we do a residential and business/civic/governmental Yard of the Month award. Chairman Owens said the September 2009 residential Beautification Award of the Month goes to Mr. and Mrs. Rex Kitchen at 1802 Kynette Drive. This yard is beautifully landscaped. The owner has planted an assortment of Black Eyed Susan, Fountain Grass, Rosemary, Sweet Potato Vines as well as Buffalo Grass in the yard. This owner takes great pride in the work that has been done in their yard. Thank you for helping to beautify Euless. Chairman Owens presented Phyllis and Rex Kitchen with their award. Chairman Owens said the September 2009 business/civic/governmental Beautification Award of the Month goes to The Stoneleigh at Bear Creek Apartments at 1401 Highway 360. They have planted a variety of Crotons, Coleus, Sweet Potato Vines and red Hibiscus at the entrance to the office. They also planted Liriope along the front of the green shrubs. This property is well maintained, manicured and green due to the hard work they have taken in making the grounds attractive for their tenants as well as the community. It is efforts like yours that make Euless a great place to work and live. Thank you for contributing to the beautification of our city. Chairman Owens presented the award to Rick Bren, with The Stoneleigh at Bear Creek Apartments and International Realty. Mr. Bren thanked the Board Members for the award and said the city does an excellent job with all the parks and this is a great selling point for attracting tenants to this area of the community. IV. Business of the Tree Board Carroll Scott reported on the following for August 1 —31, 2009: • There were 540.00 total man hours o Horticulture 152.00 o Forestry 174.00 o Greenhouse 166.00 o Special Projects 18.00 o Training 30.00 Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 4 September 14,2009 • Removed multiple dead and damaged trees throughout the city • Trimmed trees at the city hall complex • Trimmed and lifted trees on Highway 10 and 183 median • Three(3)Crepe Myrtles were planted at the entrance to McCormick Park at Joyce Court V. Parks and Community Services Reports a. Parks Report—Randy Smith Parks Manager Randy Smith gave an update on the following: • Fall color — they are growing 15,000 plants (which consists of ornamental Kale, Chard, Pansies and ornamental grasses such as Buffalo Grass) • We will start using more drought tolerant plants future landscapes • Staff will be using more drought tolerant plants along N. Main Street • Crews have been working on the ball fields and tending to past drainage issues • Open House is scheduled for Saturday, October 31d from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. for the Parks Department, Police Department and Fire Department. The Parks Department will have a demonstration on the water reclamation project they are currently using. b. Summer Camp and Aquatics Report—Blake Cloud Recreation Program Coordinator Blake Cloud gave the following report: Summer Adventure Camp • The summer camp was a tremendous success • Over 80 kids each of the 10 weeks of camp • They had a great group of new counselors with many returning for next year's camp • All the field trips were a blast! • The kids got to tour and work with other city department such as I.S.,parks, police and fire • They also had fun trips to the Fort Worth Zoo, Fort Worth Stockyards, Six Flags and NRH2O Water Park • Camp finished with a bang at the Camp Cookout prepared by Blake and Robbie Rodgers • All the campers and staff received SnoCones from Kona Ice • Summer Adventure Camp was such a success that our Winter Break Camp was full after two weeks of camp ending in August Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 5 September 14,2009 Aquatics • Had a great summer at all three pools • We were really pleased with our lifeguards and the customer improvements they made • Over 13,774 participants throughout the summer • We appreciate the work that the Parks Department and the Public Works staff did to help open Midway and keep it opened throughout the summer Blake also mentioned that Robbie programmed a half-hour of fitness each day during summer camp for the kids. He further stated that G.I.S. Manager David Allen showed the kids how to use the GIS program in the parks and how to locate objects. c. Community Services Report—Ray McDonald Ray McDonald commented on the following: • Staff has been working on modifying the winter class schedules at other locations due to the closing of Midway Recreation Center while it is being remodeled. The facility will be closed from January till May 2010. We are in the process of moving classes to the old fire station on Westpark Way and some will be relocated to the Ruth Millican Center. • Ray has inquired with the city of Hurst about possibly allowing our recreation center patrons to use their indoor walking track as well as their gym for basketball • Ray and Michael will be meeting with Express Fitness later this week to possibly use their fitness center • He also plans to check with Bedford to see if their gym can be used for adult basketball play • First United Methodist Church Euless has agreed to allow us to use their gymnasium for our Lil' Dribblers class on Saturday mornings • As Randy reported in his report we will be looking at doing more SmartScape throughout the city. If you are interested in looking at some SmartScape, then go by the Parks and Community Services facility or the Parks building. The city is trying to do whatever we can to conserve water and this is a good start by using more drought tolerant plants. • Staff will install SmartScape landscaping at the new Redi-Mix facility on N. Main Street • We were notified from the TPWD (Texas Parks and Wildlife Department) that we did not score high enough on the grant that was recently submitted • The timeline for the senior center is to hopefully start construction around January or February 2010. The construction should take about one year to complete and should open in 2011. The fitness center portion for both facilities should be open in late 2010. Chairman Owens thanked everyone for their reports tonight. Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 6 September 14,2009 VI. Other New Business There was no new business for discussion. VII. Input from City Council Members and Visitors Council Member Leon Hogg mentioned that Euless, D/FW Airport and Arlington may start receiving potable water from the new water line coming in from the Fort Worth Sanitary facility. This water would only be used for watering lawns. He also invited everyone to come out to the Texas Star and see the three new statutes. ADJOURNMENT Chairman Owens gave the benediction. There being no further business to conduct, the meeting was adjourned at 8:07 p.m. ZAVLr--- Chairman Atte