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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2009-08-03 Regular Meeting Parks and Leisure Services Board August 3,2009 CALL TO ORDER The regular meeting of the Parks and Leisure Services Board was called to order at 7:03 p.m. on Monday, August 3, 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 Elder, and alternates Alex Horton and Johnson Obamehinti. Members absent: John Raab. 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: Council Member Leon Hogg, Billy Owens (AARP), Mrs. Robbie Merritt, Pastor Larry Nunley and Patricia Nunley (Airport Freeway Church of Christ), Bradley Thomas (Associate Minister—First Baptist Church Euless, Kevin Davis (First Baptist Church Euless), Brent Schneider and Royal Ferris (Life Connection Church). INVOCATION Randy Jones gave the invocation. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Chairman Owens asked if there were any additions or corrections to the minutes from the June 1, 2009 regular meeting. Carroll Scott made the motion to approve the minutes as presented and was seconded by John Elder. The vote was unanimous. I. Board Member's Reports Carroll Scott said he walked both McCormick Park and the Preserve at McCormick Park this morning. He said both parks were in very good shape and the landscaping between both parks is excellent. John Elder said Reflection Park looks great. The Villages of Bear Creek Park was also very clean with lots of activity and lots of people at the dog park. Alex Horton said Trailwood Park looked good. At Bob Eden Park he noticed some of the faucets were not working (handicap faucet by the ball park area and the pet faucet by the volleyball court). Overall both parks looked great. He thanked staff for the great job on the Bob Eden Trail. Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 2 August 3,2009 Randy Jones said he noticed some fallen limbs and the split rail was broken on the north side of the parking lot at J. A. Carr Park. At Kiddie Carr Park the picnic tables had been removed, otherwise everything looked good at the parks. Jeremy Tompkins said his park is the Parks at Texas Star athletic complex and it was in great shape. Jeremy said the July special event was: • Movie in the Park at the Villages of Bear Creek Amphitheater. The movie shown was "Kung Fu Panda" and there was also a martial arts demonstration before the movie started. There were about 150 people in attendance. He commented on the next upcoming event: • Texas Junior Anglers Day—Saturday, August 8th from 9:00 a.m. to Noon at Wilshire Park. Johnson Obamehinti said Blessing Branch and Midway parks were both very clean and well kept. He also commented on the new park signs installed at the parks. Chairman Owens said John Raab is out of town and he read John's report. "West Park was clean and looked very good and Wilshire Park was also clean except for some trash floating in the pond". Chairman Owens said South Euless Park was in good shape, lots of kids at Splash Island and the pool was well attended. Heritage Park as always looked great. Chairman Owens thanked the Board Members for their reports tonight. II. Volunteer of the Month Chairman Owens said the July 2009 Volunteer of the Month is Pastor Nunley and the members of Airport Freeway Church of Christ. He said this group of members is new to our volunteer program. However, at this year's Arbor Daze Festival, they not only made a positive impact on our event, but they demonstrated a genuine desire to help their community. They brought thirteen (13) of their members who worked over thirty-nine (39) hours. They not only enjoyed helping with this event, but mentioned their desire to help with future events. Chairman Owens presented Pastor Nunley and the members of Airport Freeway Church of Christ with a plaque. Pastor Nunley thanked the Board Members. Patricia Nunley also thanked the members and said they are here to serve our community. Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 3 August 3,2009 Chairman Owens said the August 2009 Volunteer of the Month is Pastor Brent Schneider and the members of Life Connection Church. This group is also fairly new to our volunteer program. They volunteered at both the 2008 Arbor Daze Festival and once again helped at this year's Arbor Daze Festival. They brought twenty-six (26) members that worked a total of seventy-eight (78) hours. They have an authentic desire to help their community and demonstrated it with their enthusiasm. Chairman Owens presented Pastor Brent Schneider and the members of Life Connection Church with a plaque. Pastor Schneider and Royal Ferris said they were very excited about the award and they too enjoy serving 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 July 2009 residential Beautification Award of the Month goes to Ms. Nancy Hubbard at 1400 Shady Creek Drive. The owner has planted a variety of begonias, caladiums, ferns and other green shrubs in the yard. The lawn is green, well manicured and very attractive from the street. One look and you know the owner takes pride in the work that she has done in the yard. Thank you for helping to beautify Euless. Ms. Hubbard was not able to attend the meeting tonight but her plaque will be delivered to her. Chairman Owens said the July 2009 business/civic/governmental Beautification Award of the Month goes to Parkside on the Creek Apartments at 700 Hill Trail Drive. The apartments have added a variety of small shrubs as well as an assortment of seasonal plants along the entrance. The property is well manicured and green due to the hard work they have taken in making the grounds attractive for the tenants and surrounding neighbors. It is efforts like yours that make our city a great place to work and live. Thank you for contributing to the beautification of our city. Chairman Owens said they were not in attendance tonight but their award would be delivered to them. Chairman Owens said the August 2009 residential Beautification Award of the Month goes to Mr. and Mrs. Don Merritt at 707 Glenn Drive. This yard is beautifully landscaped. The owner has planted a variety of plants and other green shrubs in the yard as well as adding attractive borders. The lawn is green, well manicured and very attractive from the street. This owner also takes great pride in the work that has been done in their yard. Thank you for helping to beautify Euless. Chairman Owens presented Robbie Merritt with an award and she thanked the Board Members and said her husband was home doing the yard work. Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 4 August 3,2009 Chairman Owens said the August 2009 business/civic/governmental Beautification Award of the Month goes to First Baptist Church of Euless at 1000 W. Airport Freeway. The church has a variety of small shrubs as well as an assortment of seasonal plants along the entrance to the facility. The property is well maintained, manicured and green due to the hard work they have taken in making the grounds attractive for their congregation, visitors and 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 Bradley Thomas and Kevin Davis with the plaque for August. Facilities Director Kevin Davis thanked the Board Members for the award. IV. Business of the Tree Board Carroll Scott reported on the following for June 1 —30, 2009: • There were 773.00 total man hours o Horticulture 221.00 o Forestry 156.00 o Storm Damage 0 o Greenhouse 81.00 o Special Projects 315.00 o Training 0 • Removed dead trees from Parks & Community Services Administration building, Parks at Texas Star and Main Street • Removed,trimmed and cut-up multiple trees due to storm damage • Trimmed trees at the Parks at Texas Star • Planted seven (7) trees with PACS Partners group on West Pipeline Road. They planted one(1)Desert Willow,three(3)Eve's Necklace and three(3) Chitalpa. • Re-organized Pauline greenhouse to be able to grow more trees in our tree farm inventory Carroll Scott also reported on the following for July 1 —31,2009: • There were 591.00 total man hours o Horticulture 216.00 o Forestry 127.00 o Storm Damage 0 o Greenhouse 182.00 o Special Projects 32.00 o Training 34.0 Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 5 August 3,2009 • Removed multiple dead and damaged trees at Heritage Park,Villages of Bear Creek Park, and South Euless Park • Trimmed trees at the Parks at Texas Star, and medians throughout the city • Removed multiple storm damaged tree limbs • Youth group helped step-up trees and shrubs at the greenhouse at Kiddie Carr Park V. Parks and Community Services Reports a. Parks Report—Randy Smith Parks Manager Randy Smith gave an update on the following: • The Bob Eden Trail extension is coming along fine and should be completed soon. They still need to install the railings as well as the rip-rap along the bank area and do some additional clean-up. • They recently worked with the PACS Partners group at the greenhouses. The kids helped step-up the plants and learned a lot of information about the parks department. The kids also helped with the planting of trees on West Pipeline. • A new shade cover was added over the greenhouse in order to start preparing for fall color changes. Seeds were planted last week for kale and cabbage. • He also mentioned they will be helping the golf course by growing their fall color as well. Chairman Owens inquired as to the vandalism reports. Ray said that our police department has had some success in either apprehending or recovering the cost of some of the reported vandalism in the past. b. Recreation Report—Michael Davenport Recreation Superintendent Michael Davenport gave the following report: • Non-Profit Organization KaBOOM! named Euless as one of 93 "Playful City USA" communities. To honor cities and towns making this commitment to play, KaBOOM!, a national non-profit dedicated to bringing play back into children's lives, named them Playful City USA communities. These new communities created and implemented programs to positively impact childhood wellness, public safety and the quality of life. A primary goal of Playful City USA is to encourage cities and towns to share creative ideas, concepts and programs in an effort to increase play opportunities for children. Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 6 August 3, 2009 • To help celebrate the National Week in Play, Euless is holding the FabEuless Trails of Treasure Scavenger Hunt for families. The scavenger hunt is scheduled for Saturday, September 19th from 7:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The clues will direct you to 12 different parks throughout the city. Each team that participates will receive a Trails of Treasure T-shirt and a water bottle just for completing the Clue List. Once you have turned in your list to the Midway Recreation Center then your team's name will be put into a drawing for the Ultimate Family Fun Pack. • TFEA (Texas Festivals and Events Association) reported that Arbor Daze has again been recognized for excellence in festival planning and promotion. We received the following: 1. Best Educational Program—Forestry Village 2. Best Volunteer Program—"Family of Volunteer"program 3. Best Children's Program—Kidz Zone 4. Best Original Newsletter—Euless Today c. Community Services Report—Ray McDonald Ray McDonald commented on the following: • He thanked the parks staff for the quick response to the flooding issues in the parks last month. • The PACS Partners —the group of kids this summer has really been an asset with helping step-up of plants and also planting seeds for the fall color change-outs at the greenhouse • Movie in the Park-had a good attendance with about 150 people • Summer Camp—the kids have had a great time this summer with all the swimming, arts and crafts and field trips. • Swimming Pools — the parks department has been maintaining the pools this summer and Heidi and Mike are doing a great job with keeping a safe environment for the patrons • Texas Junior Anglers Day is this Saturday and we always have a large number of kids that attend this event Ray distributed a drawing to the Board Members of the proposed remodel to Midway Recreation Center as well as the proposed plans for the new Senior Center. He went over some of the amenities that will be included in the Senior Center as well as new areas for the recreation center. Chairman Owens thanked everyone for their reports tonight. Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 7 August 3, 2009 VI. Other New Business Chairman Owens said that due to the Labor Day holiday our next meeting will be moved to Monday, September 14th VII. Input from City Council Members and Visitors Council Member Leon Hogg said they just returned from the budget retreat this past weekend and said the tax rate will remain the same and there will be no service cuts or layoffs at this current time. He said the city is in good shape compared to other communities and the appraisals are also down some. Also the city has the money to do the new senior center and we will start on that in the near future. He mentioned the sales tax is down but not as much as what was reported in the papers. Chairman Owens asked if there was any input from visitors in the audience and Mr. Billy Owens said he had nothing to report tonight. ADJOURNMENT Chairman Owens gave the benediction. There being no further business to conduct, the meeting was adjourned at 8:28 p.m. /_ _ `�s � _IOW Chairman A est