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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2006-06-05 Regular Meeting Parks and Leisure Services Board June 5,2006 CALL TO ORDER The regular meeting of the Parks and Leisure Services Board was called to order at 7:04 p.m. on Monday, June 5, 2006, in the Council Chambers of the Euless City Hall building by Chairman Eric Owens. Other Board Members present: Carroll Scott, Mike Daniel, Randy Jones and alternates Boyce Byers,John Elder and Sonja Adams. Members absent: Stacey Hollinger and John Raab. Staff members present: Director of Parks and Community Services Ray McDonald, Parks Superintendent Terry Boaz, Parks Manager Johnnie Green, Parks Tree Specialist Troy Cain, Recreation Manager Suzanne Hendrickson and Administrative Secretary Linda Lux. Visitors present: Billy Owens (AARP), Alex Horton, Cassie Jones, Linda and Douglas Wright, Doris Hammond, Vicki Sahagun (Spring Valley Apartments), Byron Benoit (ECPAAA) and Council Member Leon Hogg. INVOCATION Mike Daniel gave the invocation. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Chairman Owens asked if there were any additions or corrections to the minutes from the May 1, 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 both Bob Eden and Trailwood parks were clean. Trailwood had some activity in the park and Bob Eden was very crowded with all areas of the park being used. Carroll Scott said at South Euless Park there is an area by the bridge where small children could possibly fall or accidentally slide down the embankment into the creek and said everything looked good at Heritage Park. Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 2 June 5,2006 Chairman Owens received an e-mail message from John Raab regarding his parks: • His parks are Reflection Park and Villages of Bear Creek Park. Reflection Park as always is in good shape. • At the Villages of Bear Creek Park he noticed some graffiti inside the restroom which needs to be removed. There is also some over growth across the bridge on the far side which needs to be cut back. • John also wanted to thank the parks department for replacing the old wooden park benches with the new metal benches. They look much nicer and he feels everyone will really enjoy them. Sonja Adams said both West Park and Wilshire Park were very clean. She said there was some activity at West Park. Mrs. Adams inquired if we would be installing some type of monument sign for this park. Director of Parks and Community Services Ray McDonald said Terry Boaz is currently working on a new marquee sign for this park entrance so we can advertise our events. She said Wilshire Park was very busy with swimmers and this park gets lots of usage with the walking trail. She also mentioned that the new bench in the gazebo at the Preserve at McCormick Park is greatly being used on her daily walks through the park. Boyce Byers said the Special Events for May were: • Thursday, May 4t — Troy Fuller presented the Incorporation of the City of Euless at the Library and there were about 30 people in attendance. • Saturday, May 6th—the May Day Pre Mother's Day Plant Sale & Tree Giveaway was held at the Parks at Texas Star Pavilion. The parks department sold about$3,600 in plants. • Saturday, May 13th — Family Fun Bike Ride and Picnic was held at Bob Eden Park. There were about 25 in attendance and Professor Brainius put on a great show for the kids. • Thursday, May 25th— Out of School Bash featuring Vocal Trash was held at Midway Park. There were bounce houses, activities for the kids and the swimming pool was open for everyone. They had about 750 in attendance. • June 1st—Robert Nail presented the History of the Euless Post Office at City Hall and there were 36 people in attendance. Boyce said the staff is doing a great job with all the events that have been scheduled. She also said she has visited some of the parks recently and there have been lots of kids and families using the parks in the late evenings. Randy Jones said Kiddy Carr Park was clean on his visit to the park. He mentioned the water fountain at J. A. Carr Park was broken again and there was a split rail fence that needed to be repaired. Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 3 June 5,2006 John Elder said he inspects the Parks at Texas Star athletic complex about once a week and the park is always clean. He did notice some water standing by Yankee Field and also some water by the picnic pad. Chairman Owens said his parks are McCormick Park and the Preserve at McCormick Park. He said lots of colored flowers have been planted by the entrance to McCormick Park and there was also a broken glass light by the gazebo. Everything looked great at the Preserve at McCormick Park. This is a very impressive park which gets lots of usage and there is always someone on the dock fishing. Boyce inquired if the sand volleyball courts at Bob Eden Park were rented out. Ray McDonald said the sand volleyball courts are for open play and are not for rental. Sonja asked if we are planning to build more sand volleyball courts due to the fact that they are always being used and always crowded. Ray said we could possibly add more courts but would need to see where they could be placed. II. Volunteer of the Month Chairman Owens presented a plaque to Doris Hammond for the June 2006 Volunteer of the Month. He said she has recently joined our Family of Volunteers and has worked the following events: • 2005 Halloween Event • 2006 Valentine's Dance • 2006 Brave Combo Concert • 2006 Easter Egg Scramble • 2006 Texas Junior Angler's Fishing Event • 2006 Family Fun Bike Ride Ms. Hammond thanked the Board Members for the award and said she enjoys working with the staff and other volunteers in the community. III. Beautification Award of the Month Chairman Owens presented the June 2006 residential Beautification Award to Douglas and Linda Wright at 100 Jean Lane. This yard has a beautiful landscape. The use of shrubs and bedding plants is outstanding. The lawn is well manicured and has a nice green color. One look and you know the owners take pride in their work. Thank you for helping to beautify our city. Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 4 June 5,2006 Mrs. Wright thanked the Board Members for the award tonight. Mr. Wright also thanked everyone and said they have lived in Euless for many years and this is a great community. Chairman Owens said the June 2006 business/civic/governmental Beautification Award goes to Spring Valley Apartments at 807 South Main Street. He said this is a great example of how a business landscape should look, is attractive and well maintained and catches your attention as you drive by. Apartment Manager Vicki Sahagun thanked the Board Members for the award and said her maintenance man will be very happy to receive this. She said they all work very hard to keep their property well maintained. IV. Business of the Tree Board Tree Board Vice Chairman Carroll Scott reported on the following for April 24th through May 26th: • There were 498 man hours, 4 trees planted and $374.97 for tree related purchases (all for Harwood medians). • Attended the Urban Forestry course at Texas A&M on April 26`h. • Planted a historic Fig tree at the Preserve at McCormick Park with the fourth graders. • Trimmed trees on Main Street medians and right-of-way. • Trimmed and cleaned trees on Harwood medians. • Trimmed trees along the jogging trail on the northeast side of the Villages of Bear Creek Park. • Trimmed trees and shrubs and cleaned up Westpark Way medians. • Mulched all the trees in the Mid-Cities Boulevard medians. • Ground the stump and removed roots from the Pine tree in the flower bed at City Hall; preparing for new landscaping project to begin next week by the Parks Department. • Gave away 600 trees to the fourth graders in Euless, 75 for the Healthy New Euless program, 130 at the Arbor Daze Plant Sale for a grand total of 805 trees given away. Some of the Board Members commented on how very beautiful the medians look on Mid-Cities Boulevard. Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 5 June 5,2006 V. Parks and Community Services Reports a. Recreation Report—Suzanne Hendrickson Recreation Manager Suzanne Hendrickson reported on the following: Special Events • June 24th — Movie Night at the Villages of Bear Creek Amphitheater with "Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of Were Rabbit". The movie will start at dusk and concessions will be available. Midway Recreation Center • Summer Camp has started and camp is full for the summer. • Summer Lunch Program is averaging about 75 kids per day. • Sold 362 memberships in May. Midway has 4,588 members. Randy has already deposited over$3,000 in new June memberships. Simmons Senior Center • Lunch Program began June 1st on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 11:30 a.m. We fed 46 seniors the first day of the program and 38 seniors have signed up for this week. This will be a great event for the seniors this summer. • Senior Water Aerobics began today with 23 people enrolled. Aquatics • Pools opened for the season on May 27th. • The daily admissions from May 27th- 31St were: 756 at Midway, 400 at South Euless and 289 at Wilshire. Parks at Texas Star • June 2nd—5th—USSSA World Series Qualifier AAA—8's, 10's, 12's and 14's • June 9th— 12th—USSSA Super NIT World Series Qualifier AA—7's and 14's • June 13th—22nd—EAA Invitational • June 23rd—26th—USSSA AAA State Tournament- 13's and 16's • June 30th—July 3rd—Kelley Tournament Majors— 12's and 14's • July 15th—22nd—National Tournament. Opening series is July 15th Euless LoneStars • Home Opener is Tuesday, June 6th with Mineral Wells. The game starts at 7:35 p.m. on Arlington Field at the Parks at Texas Star. Dallas Cowboy and Hall of Fame inductee Rayfield Wright will be present to throw out the first pitch and sign autographs. • Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 6 June 5,2006 b. Community Services Report—Ray McDonald Director of Parks and Community Services Ray McDonald mentioned the following: • He introduced Tree Specialist Troy Cain and said Troy does the Monthly Tree Report that is included each month in the packets. Troy previously did tree trimming for TXU prior to coming to work for the Parks Department. • He thanked Suzanne and the staff for all the great events this year. • He also thanked the Parks Department for doing such a great job with keeping our parks clean and safe for our community. • Stacey Hollinger is out tonight but is at the Parks at Texas Star preparing for the LoneStars opening game tomorrow night. Ray invited everyone out to tomorrows opening game. • Ray will be presenting to City Council the PACS budget on June 15t. He will update the Board Members in August regarding the budget requests for our department. Update for Recommendation to the Walk of Champions at the Parks at Texas Star • He said the Walk of Champions committee has recommended that both Ed and Marie Harrison be inducted into the Walk of Champions for 2006. He said the Harrison's moved to Euless in 1965 and that Ed umpired both EGSA and EAA from 1966 until 1990. Marie also kept score and payroll for umpires in EGSA. Ed also worked for the Parks Department until he retired in 1993. Ray also reported on the following completed projects: Playground at J.A. Carr Park • A new playground was installed at J.A. Carr Park. A new swing set was also in the process of being installed at South Euless Park. Landscape Updates • New landscaping has been added around the Midway Recreation Center, at the Library and City Hall buildings. Some new landscape was also added in the medians on Ector Drive. Main Street Landscaping • New landscaping has been added along the medians on Main Street as well as on the side green belt areas. Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 7 June 5,2006 Mid-Cities Landscaping • Kwik Kurb will be adding new curbing around the flower beds along Mid-Cities Boulevard and we also hope to add new curbing around the trees if there is enough money left from the project. VI. Other New Business Chairman Owens also stated that he was very excited to see Ed and Marie Harrison be recommended for induction into the 2006 Walk of Champions at the Parks at Texas Star. He said Ed worked tirelessly for the organizations by prepping the ball fields for play during all those years with the city. Chairman Owens mentioned there would be no meeting in July. He encouraged everyone to participate in all the summer activities in the parks and to enjoy their summer. VII. Input from City Council Members and Visitors Council Member Leon Hogg congratulated Doris Hammond for being selected as the June Volunteer of the Month. Congratulations also went to Mr. and Mrs. Wright and Spring Valley Apartments for being selected as the residential and business yard of the months. Council Member Hogg also mentioned that the senior lunch program is a great program and feels that this will benefit our seniors. He mentioned Council approved the bid for gas drilling in Euless at the last meeting. Billy Owens stated his concerns with the janitorial service at the Simmons Center. Ray said all departments are having a problem with the current janitorial service and said our Facilities Department is trying their best to correct the situation. We will try and keep the facilities clean until the janitorial service is back to a full crew. Alex Horton congratulated Johnnie Green, Terry Boaz and Troy Cain for the nice benches in the park. He also mentioned that Mr. George has given the city permission to use his property. Cassie Jones mentioned she is a new member of the Bike/Trails Committee and she would like to try and promote more biking and walking exercise programs in our parks. She is a recent graduate of TCU and she is into nutrition and exercising programs. She would like to bring a bike program for kids to the Board in early fall. Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 8 June 5,2006 Byron Benoit said he is a runner and our parks are very beautiful and a great asset to the community. He also inquired about the batting cage schedules. Ray McDonald said they are open during playing season. ADJOURNMENT Chairman Owens gave the benediction. There being no further business to conduct, the meeting was adjourned at 8:15 p.m. CY\ cial \CD-- Chairman Attest