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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2009-03-02 Regular Meeting Parks and Leisure Services Board March 2,2009 CALL TO ORDER The regular meeting of the Parks and Leisure Services Board was called to order at 7:01 p.m. on Monday, March 2, 2009, in the Council Chambers of the Euless City Hall building by Chairman Eric Owens. Other Board Members present: Carroll Scott, John Elder, Randy Jones, and alternates Alex Horton and Johnson Obamehinti. Members absent: Jeremy Tompkins and 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, Graphic Artist Jeff Towne, Aquatics Specialist Tim Rolen and Administrative Secretary Linda Lux. Visitors present: Helen Voss, John Voss, Billy Owens and Council Member Perry Bynum. INVOCATION John Elder gave the invocation. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Chairman Owens asked if there were any additions or corrections to the minutes from the February 2, 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 recently walked both McCormick Park and the Preserve at McCormick Park and they were both clean and he noticed lots of ducks. He inquired if some more benches could be added at the dock area. He also mentioned he is concerned with the dock railings and said a child could fall into the water between the railings. He also commented on the R & R Program and said there were lots of citizens that turned out to meet the troops. Ray McDonald said the railings are in compliance and they do meet TPWD requirements. Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 2 March 2,2009 John Elder said the Villages of Bear Creek Park was nice and clean and he noticed lots of visitors at the dog park. He said the tables had been moved at the pavilion and skateboarders had been using the tables as ramps and he asked the skateboarder to help him move the tables back to where they should be. He asked if maybe the tables could be bolted down to keep the kids from moving them. Johnson Obamehinti mentioned that Blessing Branch was clean and well kept by the residents in the apartments. He said this park does not have a park sign and inquired if one could be installed. Ray said we do have plans within the next couple of years of adding signage, a playground, a trail and more park equipment to Blessing Branch Park. Randy Jones said both Kiddie Carr and J. A. Carr parks looked good. There were lots of people playing basketball on the court at Kiddie Carr Park and he also noticed some trash which had been dumped at the back of the park. The volleyball court has been completed and looks good at J. A. Carr Park. Alex Horton mentioned that Trailwood Park appeared clean and had clean liners in all the trash cans. Bob Eden Park was also clean and in great condition. Chairman Owens said both South Euless and Heritage parks looked great. He further commented that Heritage Park is a great addition to our parks and this park has lots of Euless history for our community. Jeremy Tompkins e-mailed his report to Chairman Owens to read. The Parks at Texas Star athletic complex really gets a work out on the weekends due to soccer and baseball tournaments. The park was in fantastic shape. Jeremy Tompkins reported on the following recent Special Events held in February: • Princess Party was held on Friday, February 13th at the Midway Recreation Center with a great crowd of young Princesses that took in a movie, cake and some lemonade. There was also a craft table and a back drop of a castle for picture takers. There was a beautiful Princess that captivated the crowd. I also want to point out that the staff teamed up with the library to showcase Princesses books that can be checked out at the Euless Library. • Community Garage Sale was held on Saturday, February 28th and the Midway Recreation Center. The booth space was filled almost to capacity and I witnessed some deals being made and some tired folks with empty booths so I viewed it as a big success! There were no outside booths due to the baseball tournament play around the facility. Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 3 March 2,2009 He also commented on the upcoming events: • Tarrant Area Food Band—Monday, March 16th • Easter Egg Stuffing party—Wednesday, March 18th • Easter Egg Scramble—Saturday, March 28th • Texas Trash Off—Saturday, April 4th Chairman Owens thanked the Board Members for their reports. II. Volunteer of the Month Chairman Owens said the March 2009 Volunteer of the Month is Helen Voss. He said she has recently joined our Family of Volunteers Program in 2008 and has already made a positive impact on our programs. She is one that exerts excitement and is truly happy to volunteer. She has volunteered for the following: • Fruits and Veggies Aren't Scary Fest(2008) • Heritage Park Christmas Celebration(2008) • R& R Program to Greet the Troops(2009) • Once Upon a Princess Party (2009) Chairman Owens presented Mrs. Voss with a plaque for her commitment to our events. Helen Voss thanked the Board Members and said that Euless has such a wonderful staff and she really enjoys volunteering for our events. III. Business of the Tree Board Tree Board Chairman Carroll Scott reported on the following for February 1 —28, 2009: • there were 552.50 total man hours o 172.00—Horticulture o 43.50—Forestry o 0 —Storm Damage o 293.00 - Greenhouse o 8.00 - Special Projects o 0 - Water Truck a 36 .00 - Training Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 4 March 2,2009 • 12 trees were planted • Assisted Texas Star Golf Course with the transplanting of 3 Red oaks on the course • Planted 6 Cedar trees at Softball World • Continued to step up greenhouse plants and started planting second batch of seasonal color. Total seasonal plants are now over 15,000 • Built new tables for the greenhouse on Pauline • Constructed shade structure to allow greenhouse plants to acclimate to outside conditions • Cut back grasses and roses at the Parks at Texas Star, City Hall, Carr Park, Heritage Park, and various medians and started bed prep for spring plantings • Randy Leach, Derrick Fennell and Johnny Grubbs attended the Cross Timbers Urban Forestry Council Conference in Grand Prairie and tree trimming demonstrations provided by Bartlett Tree Services IV. Parks and Community Services Reports a. PACS Marketing Plan—Jeff Towne Graphic Artist Jeff Towne stated he does all the marketing materials for the Parks and Community Services Department. He commented on the following for the Board Members as well as showing slides of his work and designs: • Parks graphics—he does all the signage that you see in the parks • Community graphics—he does signage for Economic Development, Texas Star Conference Centre, as well as the Historical Preservation Committee • Seasonal and temporary signs — he does the big leaner boards advertising upcoming programs and/or events • Miscellaneous slogans and logos — which are used at the Parks at Texas Star athletic complex and also at Softball World • Special projects—designing the wrap for the PACS special events trailer and city banners • Advertising—Arbor Daze, magazine ads and souvenir ads • Designs and works on putting together the Euless Today magazine and other brochures • Designs all the t-shirts for Arbor Daze, Halloween, R & R Program, Christmas Parade of Lights and etc. • Also does illustrations and visualization projects for Ray and the City Manager's Office — he worked on the drawing for the proposed Midway Park Family Life Center project • • Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 5 March 2,2009 Alex Horton congratulated Jeff on being so talented and showcasing his work for the Board Members. Chairman Owens thanked Jeff for an excellent report. b. Parks Report—Tim Rolen Tim Rolen said he does the monthly park inspections in all the city parks. He distributed a copy of the Monthly Inspection Form that he uses to the Board Members. He said the parks department is the gate keeper to all the city parks and they do routinely inspect each part to ensure that the parks are safe for our citizens. Tim is a certified playground specialist and as he makes his monthly park inspections he also very carefully inspects all playground equipment to see if any repairs are needed. Should he find any broken equipment it is repaired immediately or if it needs any parts then the equipment is removed until it can be repaired and or replaced and then installed again. Johnson commended the parks department for all their inspections and how fast the repairs are done. Chairman Owens also commended Tim and the parks staff for the fast repairs in the parks. c. Parks Report—Randy Smith Aquatics Specialist Tim Rolen updated the Board Members on the recently passed Virginia Graeme Baker Act which was signed into law in December 2007. This law was named after former Secretary of State James Baker's granddaughter was tragically killed when she sat on a main drain and became entrapped. In the last twenty years over 150 people have drowned from entrapment. This new law deals with pools and the new federal guidelines for all pool drains to have covers on them to keep children and adults from drowning due to entrapment. All pool systems must also have a secondary safety system installed. This law excludes private residence swimming pools and spas. All public pools and spas must be in compliance with this new law or they cannot operate. All our city pools are in compliance and have the new drain covers on them. d. Community Services Report—Ray McDonald Ray thanked Tim, Terry and Randy for all their work with getting all the pools incompliance with the new federal guidelines. He said Tim Rolen and Dan Dearborn (both certified playground specialists) both do a great job with the safety inspections each month as well as checking on graffiti in the parks and on playground equipment. Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 6 March 2,2009 Ray said he recently received an email from a citizen reporting graffiti he found on his morning walk through one of the parks and said he reported it that very day and when he went out the next morning for his walk the graffiti had been handled and commended the park staff for taking care of the situation so quickly. Ray also updated the Board Members on the proposed Midway Park Family Life Center project. He mentioned that the two top priorities are still the indoor senior center and the outdoor aquatic center. He said the outdoor grant has already been submitted to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and we should know the status of the grant sometime in July. The indoor grant is not due to TPWD until July. Once the grants are approved then the projects must be completed within three years. Ray said he would keep the Board Members informed of these projects. V. Other New Business Chairman Owens inquired about the Board Members taking a tour of city parks that was previously discussed at the January meeting and wanted to know if the tour would be this weekend. Ray mentioned that our department has events scheduled most weekends and he suggested waiting until after Arbor Daze and then schedule a tour with Board Members. Chairman Owens said that it would be better to wait until after Arbor Daze but stated he does want the Board Members to go on a tour of the city parks in the near future. VI. Input from City Council Members and Visitors Billy Owens said it was good to be back attending tonight's meeting. Council Member Perry Bynum stated he was recently attending a function and said there were a number of people that bragged on what great parks Euless have to offer our community. He also mentioned that his number one priority is the building of a new senior center. Chairman Owens thanked the audience for being here tonight and their input. Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 7 March 2,2009 ADJOURNMENT Chairman Owens gave the benediction. There being no further business to conduct, the meeting was adjourned at 8:35 p.m. / Chairman