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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2008-01-07 Regular Meeting Parks and Leisure Services Board January 7,2008 CALL TO ORDER The regular meeting of the Parks and Leisure Services Board was called to order at 7:00 p.m. on Monday, January 7, 2008, in the Council Chambers of the Euless City Hall building by Chairman Eric Owens. Other Board Members present: Carroll Scott, Randy Jones, John Elder, John Raab and alternates Everett Hartzler, Jeremy Tompkins and Alex Horton. Members absent: Boyce Byers. Staff members present: Director of Parks and Community Services Ray McDonald, Parks Manager Johnnie Green, Parks Superintendent Terry Boaz, Recreation Superintendent Randy Smith and Administrative Secretary Linda Lux. Visitors present: Mayor Pro Tem Leon Hogg and David Brown. INVOCATION John Elder gave the invocation. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Chairman Owens asked if there were any additions or corrections to the minutes from the December 3, 2007 regular meeting. Randy Jones made the motion to approve the minutes as presented and was seconded by Carroll Scott. The vote was unanimous. Chairman Owens welcomed our two new Board Members Jeremy Tompkins and Alex Horton. I. Board Member's Reports Carroll Scott said his new parks are Midway and Blessing Branch. Midway Park was exceptionally clean, the fields are in good condition and the new trail is very nice. Blessing Branch Park had lots of trash and this park needs lots of work done to enhance it. John Raab said McCormick Park was clean and in good shape but he noticed lots of kids playing on the gabion wall. The Preserve at McCormick Park was in really good shape with lots of people in the park. He said the lights under the bridge had been broken out. Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 2 January 7,2008 John Elder said Trailwood Park was in good shape and Bob Eden Park had lots of people at the sand volleyball courts and this park was very heavily used. Randy Jones said South Euless Park look fine and he had no report for Heritage Park. Everett Hartzler mentioned that J.A. Carr Park was in good shape, clean and a very active park with lots of users. He had no report tonight for Kiddy Carr Park. Alex Horton stated that the Villages of Bear Creek Park looked good and had lots of activity. He said Restoration Church had been in the park on Saturday cleaning for the Adopt-A-Park Program. Jeremy Tompkins said West Park had recently had lights installed and the park was being used on his visit. On his visit to Wilshire Park the new addition had recently been mowed and the entrance sign had been cleaned and touched up. Chairman Owens said the Special Events for December was the Christmas Parade of Lights and Heritage Park Celebration. Chairman Owens said he inspected the Parks at Texas Star and the facility look good and there was not much activity during his visit. II. Volunteer of the Month Chairman Owens said the January 2008 Volunteer of the Month is John Peake with Starbucks. He said John has helped with several of our special events over the last several years by donating coffee at the following events: • Texas Trash Off • Texas Junior Angler Fishing • Bicycle Rodeo • Halloween • Heritage park Christmas Celebration Chairman Owens said John has also donated bagged coffee as door prizes at the last several volunteer banquets. John Peake thanked the Board Members and staff and stated that he is being transferred to another store in the Dallas area and he has enjoyed working with our staff and all the events over the last few years. Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 3 January 7,2008 III. Business of the Tree Board Tree Board Chairman John Raab reported on the following for November 22nd through December 22nd: • There were 340 man hours • There were no trees purchased • Planted 28 trees along the new trail at Midway Park • Planted 11 new trees on the Main Street greenbelt • Removed 2 Elm trees at the entrance to McCormick Park for the new maintenance gate • Set-up the Christmas tree recycle site at Midway Park • Planted 2 trees at Midway Recreation Center • Planted approximately 500 acorns for 2008 Arbor Daze tree give away • Started pruning trees along the trail at J. A. Carr Park • Started pruning Crepe Myrtles throughout the city IV. Parks and Community Services Reports a. Recreation Report—Randy Smith Recreation Superintendent Randy Smith updated the Board Members on the recent projects at the Midway Recreation Center. He said there was lots of work being done during the month of December and most have now been completed with the exception of the racquetball room walls which should be completed by the end of this week. Here is a list of the projects: • Floor replacement—completed • FRP wall board in the classroom hallway—completed • Recoat gym and racquetball courts—basketball court has been completed • Repair racquetball court walls — this is still being worked on and the panels arrived today and should be installed and completed with the week Randy also reminded the Board Members of the upcoming Registration Party at Midway Recreation Center on Saturday, January 12th from 10:00 a.m. till noon. b. Community Services Report—Ray McDonald Director of Parks and Community Services Ray McDonald thanked John Peake for all his work with our events and the great relationship that Starbucks has with our department and wished him Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 4 January 7,2008 good luck in his transfer to another location. He also thanked Randy Smith and Heidi Taylor for all the work they have done at Midway Recreation Center during the remodeling. Ray also distributed a copy of the revised Parks Master Plan to the Board Members for their review. Ray also commented on the following: • Parks Master Plan — we are still waiting on some maps and miscellaneous items and then the plan should be ready for the Board Members to recommend and submit to council. • Gazebo Project—photos in the packet show the work that Dan and his crew have done and Ray said that Kenneth will be re-doing the rose garden soon and we hope that this will now be a great looking showplace for weddings or other family gatherings. • Vandalism Reports — he wants to start including vandalism reports in the packets in order that Board Members can see what is happening in the parks and to keep the members informed as to what the department deals with. • Plans to have some of the staff start attending the meetings and give informational reports for their specific areas within the department. • Greenhouse—Kenneth has started propagating plants for our spring planting and this will be a new program for growing our own plants. Kenneth will be at the February meeting to discuss the greenhouse and the propagation program in more detail. • Town Hall Meetings—there will be a town hall meeting this Thursday, January 10th at 7:00 p.m. at city hall and he hopes the Board Members will attend and listen to issues from the public. There will also be another town hall meeting on Thursday, January 24th at 7:00 p.m. • Dog Park — we will ask for approval of the bids for the dog park at the council meeting tomorrow night. Once they have approved the bids then the contracts will be signed and the dog park should be in place between 60 to 90 days. Ray asked the Board Members if they would review the Master Plan and please get back with him on any corrections or concerns by the end of this month. He would like to have the plan ready to go before the Board Members and then to Council by April. V. Election of Officers The current Park Board Officers are: Chairman — Eric Owens, Vice Chairman — open and Secretary — Randy Jones. The current Tree Board Officers are: Chairman — John Raab and Vice Chairman—Carroll Scott. The voting will be done by secret ballots and then given to Linda to announce who the new officers will be. • Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 5 January 7,2008 The new officers for 2008 are: Chairman—Eric Owens, Vice Chairman—John Raab and Secretary —John Elder. The new Tree Board Officers are: Chairman—Carroll Scott and Vice Chairman—Randy Jones. VI. Other New Business Chairman Owens reminded the Board Members to please read through the Master Plan and give Ray any input you might have. He said Ray has worked very hard in putting together the best Master Plan yet and hopefully we can make a recommendation at the February or March meeting. VII. Input from City Council Members and Visitors Mayor Pro Tem Leon Hogg said the city is in great shape financially and we have a great year ahead of us. He mentioned the following items: • We have new retail going in at DFW by the car rental facility • The new dog park should be installed in early spring • Will be opening bids on enlarging the Texas Star conference centre and kitchen • New retail along Hwy. 121 He also reminded everyone to attend the Town Hall meeting this Thursday night. ADJOURNMENT Chairman Owens gave the benediction. There being no further business to conduct, the meeting was adjourned at 8:10 p.m. lave4." Chairman Attest