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Home My WebLink About2006-12-04 Regular Meeting Parks and Leisure Services Board December 4,2006 CALL TO ORDER The regular meeting of the Parks and Leisure Services Board was called to order at 7:03 p.m. on Monday, December 4, 2006, in the Large Conference Room at the Parks Facility Building by Chairman Eric Owens. Other Board Members present: Carroll Scott, Randy Jones, Mike Daniel, and alternates Boyce Byers, John Elder and Sonja Adams. Members absent: John Raab and Stacey Hollinger. Staff members present: Director of Parks and Community Services Ray McDonald, Parks Superintendent Terry Boaz, Parks Manager Johnnie Green, Recreation Manager Suzanne Hendrickson and Administrative Secretary Linda Lux. Visitors present: Council Member Charlie Miller, Irene Rosecrans, Billy Owens, Bill Byers and Jenni Elder. INVOCATION Chairman Eric Owens gave the invocation. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Chairman Owens asked if there were any additions or corrections to the minutes from the November 6, 2006 regular meeting. Carroll Scott made the motion to approve the minutes as presented and was seconded by Mike Daniel. The vote was unanimous. I. Board Member's Reports Mike Daniel said he had no report tonight for either Trailwood Park or Bob Eden Park. Carroll Scott said he walked both Heritage Park and South Euless Park over the weekend and both were in good condition. Randy Jones said both Kiddy Carr Park and J. A. Carr Park looked good. Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 2 December 4,2006 Boyce Byers said the Special Events for November and December were: • Friday, Saturday and Sunday, November 10th — 12th — School House Rock Live! Junior, a children's production was held at the Ruth Millican Center. This event was a great success and the shows were well attended every night. • Saturday, December 2"d (3:00 to 6:00) — Holidaze Kidz Zone — there were games, arts and crafts and other activities for the kids. Pictures with Santa were also available. • Saturday, December 2"d (6:30 p.m.) — Christmas Parade of Lights "A Rock & Roll Christmas"was held. There were 104 entries in the parade and the First Baptist Church Big Band provided the entertainment before the parade. Everything was great on Saturday. Upcoming Events: • Saturday, December 9th (1:00 to 5:00) — Heritage Park Christmas — there will be arts and crafts, choirs, train rides, Santa and tours through all the facilities. Sonja Adams said West Park was in excellent shape but someone had piled some large rocks on a picnic table. Wilshire Park was also in excellent condition and they have broken ground to build some new town homes bordering the park. John Elder said everything was beautiful at the Parks at Texas Star athletic complex on his last visit. He said the banner is torn on the batting cages. Chairman Owens said he had no report tonight for either McCormick Park or the Preserve at McCormick Park. II. Volunteer of the Month Chairman Owens presented a plaque to Irene Rosecrans as the December 2006 Volunteer of the Month. He said Irene has given a great deal of her time to helping Senior Coordinator Diane Eggers at the senior center. For the last two years Irene has led and instructed some of the seniors in a recycling program for which they have learned the importance of recycling and the proper ways to recycle products used on a daily basis. She has also taught the seniors how to crochet items using ordinary plastic grocery bags and turning it into handbags, rugs, hats, purses and much more. Irene said she is 80 years young and she enjoys teaching seniors on the importance of recycling in our community. She thanked the Board Members for letting her volunteer at the Simmons Center and said she is very grateful for the award. Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 3 December 4,2006 III. Business of the Tree Board Tree Board Vice Chairman Carroll Scott reported on the following for November: • Staff and crew put up Christmas decorations and lights at various city buildings. • They put up the large Christmas tree at City Hall. • A Christmas tree was also put up at the Police and Municipal Courts building. • Staff distributed poinsettias to all city buildings. IV. Parks and Community Services Reports a. Recreation Update—Suzanne Hendrickson Recreation Manager Suzanne Hendrickson said there are only three events remaining. Those events are: • Saturday, December 9th, 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. — Heritage Park Christmas. There will be choirs singing Christmas favorites, tours of the Fuller House, Himes Log House and the McCormick Barn, hear an old-fashioned Cowboy Band, ride the Christmas train, a blacksmith, homemade arts and crafts to purchase, a Candy Cane Hunt and everyone will receive free kettle korn and hot chocolate. • Saturday, December 9th, Noon — IceFest at the Dr Pepper StarCenter. There will be free public skating, a holiday ice show and skating with Santa. • Saturday, January 13, 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. — Christmas tree Recycling Event. Drop off your live undecorated tree at a designated area at Midway Park from December 26th until January 13th. Residents may bring their own bag to fill with mulch for their gardens or flowers. The city will host a tree mulching demonstration and will give away bags of mulch and free tree saplings to the public. Hot dogs and drinks will be available to anyone who participates in the recycling event. Suzanne also listed some upcoming projects: • Midway Recreation Center 1. new track surface installed—December 21St—29th 2. gym floor and racquetball courts resurfaced—December 22"d—29th 3. new countertops for the front office—December 26th—29th 4. new personal TV's installed for the fitness center—December 29th 5. carpets cleaned(after closing)—December 30th 6. Open House on January 6, 2007 from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 4 December 4,2006 • Parks at Texas Star 1. Two new batting cage tunnels with a concrete border will be installed over the next month(weather permitting)between Wrigley and Yankee fields. b. Community Services Report—Ray McDonald Director of Parks and Community Services Ray McDonald thanked the city staff for the great job they did on working with the parade. This was the best organized event ever and he thanked Jerry Poteet and Michael Davenport for all the hours they spent working on this event. Ray mentioned the following: • The plaque for Ed and Marie Harrison has been ordered and should be ready about mid- January. The monument for the plaque has already been built at the Parks at Texas Star. • New playground equipment has been ordered for Midway Park. • New lighting has been added on fields 3 and 4 at Midway Park. • Ray included a copy of an article in the Board Members packet - "Mandated Training and Accountability: Solving Problems in Youth Sports". When the new city baseball league starts in the spring we will require that all parents and coaches attend a "Positive Participation"meeting. We hope to obtain a dynamic speaker for this meeting. Ray thanked Mike Daniel for his years on the Park Board and also for all his hard work with the kids and being active in the community all these years. V. Other New Business Chairman Owens said the new 2007 park assignments have been distributed for next year. He wished everyone a happy and safe holiday and said we will meet next year on January 8th. He also thanked the Board Members for a great year. VI. Input from City Council Members and Visitors Council Member Charlie Miller said the Christmas parade was a great success and complimented the staff on all their hard work. He said he came here tonight since this is Mike Daniel's last meeting and said Mike has been instrumental in helping the city over the years as well as working with EAA. He told the Board Members to keep up the great work. • Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 5 December 4,2006 Billy Owens said the city does a great job with the senior lunch program and lunches are now served to seniors three times a week at the Simmons Center. He said this is a great program and all the seniors are very appreciative of the lunches they have received. Mr. Owens also mentioned that the seniors really need a new facility or at least have the building remodeled with more up-to-date features, especially in the kitchen area. Ray said Senior Coordinator Diane Eggers has seen an increase in attendance at the center especially with the new lunch program. He said a consultant has been hired to do a facility study on the senior center. ADJOURNMENT Chairman Owens gave the benediction. There being no further business to conduct,the meeting was adjourned at 7:55 p.m. Chairman Attest