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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2006-04-03 Regular Meeting Parks and Leisure Services Board April 3,2006 CALL TO ORDER The regular meeting of the Parks and Leisure Services Board was called to order at 7:03 p.m. on Monday, April 3, 2006, in the Council Chambers of the Euless City Hall building by Vice Chairman Stacey Hollinger. Other Board Members present: Carroll "Scotty" Scott, Mike Daniel, Randy Jones and alternate Boyce Byers. Members absent: Chairman Eric Owens, Sonja Adams, John Raab and John Elder. Staff members present: Director of Parks and Community Services Ray McDonald, Parks Superintendent Terry Boaz, Parks Manager Johnnie Green, Recreation Manager Suzanne Hendrickson, Special Events Coordinator Michael Davenport, Director of Planning and Development Mike Collins and Administrative Secretary Linda Lux. Visitors present: Billy Owens (AARP), Bill Byers, Alex Horton and Council Member Charlie Miller. INVOCATION Stacey Hollinger gave the invocation. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Vice Chairman Hollinger asked if there were any additions or corrections to the minutes from the March 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 Bob Eden and Trailwood parks were both clean. He said there was lots of people and activity at Bob Eden Park when he made his inspection. Carroll Scott said both South Euless and Heritage parks were in good shape. Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 2 April 3,2006 Randy Jones said J.A. Can Park was clean and in good shape. The water fountain does not have good pressure in order to get a drink. Kiddy Can Park was also in good condition. Boyce Byers said the Special Events held in March were: • March 17th was the St. Patrick's Day with Brave Combo which was held at the golf course. There were about 135 people in attendance—all having a great time. • March 18th was the Garage Sale at Midway Recreation Center. All booths were once again sold out and they had to cancel all the booths located outside due to the rain. • April 1st was the Texas Trash Off and there were about 350 volunteers helping to beautify the community. Boyce also mentioned the Easter Egg Hunt this weekend and the upcoming Junior Anglers event the end of April. She also said John Elder is not present tonight but said he did make his inspection of the Parks at Texas Star Athletic Complex and said the park is in good shape. Vice Chairman Hollinger said Midway Park as usual looks good. He mentioned that Blessing Branch Park was clean and looks good. H. Volunteer of the Month Vice Chairman Hollinger mentioned the April Volunteer of the Month Denise Feeley is out of town on business and her plaque would be delivered to her. III. Business of the Tree Board Vice Tree Board Chairman Carroll Scott reported on the following for March: • Removed hazard trees at J.A. Can Park and South Euless Park • Trimmed around new playground at the Villages of Bear Creek Park • Trimmed Blessing Branch Park • Donated 100 tree cookies to H.E.B School District. They were being charged $5.00 per cookie • Donated a hollowed out tree trunk to H.E.B. Science Department for learning how a tree is structured and develops. • Planted 40 trees in the Mid-Cities Blvd. medians • Trimmed trees around the Police and Courts building Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 3 April 3, 2006 • Removed downed trees from the last storm at the Villages of Bear Creek Park and McCormick Park • Removed the Black Pine at Building B IV. Parks and Community Services Reports a. Special Events Report—Michael Davenport Special Events Coordinator Michael Davenport reported on the following upcoming events: • St. Patrick's Day with Brave Combo was held on March 17th at the golf course and the attendance was good. • Easter Egg Hunt will be Saturday, April 8th from 11:00 a.m. — 2:00 p.m. and we have 10,000 eggs this year for the kids to find. Chick-Fil-A also donated eggs for the event. The cow and bunny will have a racing contest and there will be bounce houses and all sorts of things for the kids to do. Starling Performing Arts Group will be present to sing some of their songs from past performances. • Texas Junior Anglers Day is scheduled for Saturday, April 29th from 9:00 a.m. — Noon at Wilshire Park. • Family Fun Bike Ride and Picnic will be Saturday, May 13th from 10:00 a.m. — 1:00 p.m. at Bob Eden Park. We are trying to get kids out to be more active and this should be a fun event for them. Alex Horton will be present to lead the group on the ride and Professor Brainius will also be here to entertain the kids after they bike ride. • Out of School Bash featuring Vocal Trash on Thursday, May 25th from 2:00 p.m. — 5:00 p.m. at the Midway Recreation Center. There will also be lots of activities for the kids. • Movie in the Park will be on Saturday, June 24th at 9:00 p.m. at the Villages of Bear Creek Amphitheater and the show will be `Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit'. • Super Series National Tournament Opening Ceremonies will be held on Saturday, July 15th at 7:45 p.m. This tournament will be for 8 and 14 year olds. • Summer Concert Series on Saturday, July 22nd at 7:30 p.m. with Terri Hendrix. • Bicycle Rodeo will be Saturday, August 19th from 10:00 a.m. — 1:00 p.m. at the Parks at Texas Star. • Summer Concert Series on Saturday, September 30th at 7:30 p.m. with the UTA Symphony Orchestra performing `And God Made the Whales'. • Euless Sky Night at one of the parks with someone from the new UTA Planetarium. • Ultimate Storytellers Concert will be held sometime in October Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 4 April 3, 2006 Michael also thanked the Board Members for the Appreciation Dinner they hosted for the parks and community services employees last month. He also thanked Ray and Suzanne for all their leadership and support with the special events b. Community Services Report—Ray McDonald Director of Parks and Community Services Ray McDonald thanked Michael for his hard work and dedication to the department and community. Ray reported on the following: • Have received quotes and bids for the replacement of new playground equipment at J.A. Can Park • The poems from the fourth graders will be due this Friday, April 7th and then will be judged by a committee (John Raab is also on this committee). We will have the winner from the contest at next months meeting. The winning school and poem will be put on a plaque that will be placed at the Preserve at McCormick Park. • The May Day Plant Sale will be May 6th at the Parks at Texas Star pavilion. Boyce said there have been many great compliments on the Preserve. Ray said a big thanks goes to the parks department for all their hard work at the Preserve. c. Other Staff Reports Parks Manager Johnnie Green reported that on the Man Hour Report the water truck has used 23,000 gallons of water during March versus no truck watering last year. V. Recommendation for the Conversion of Parkland at the Texas Star Sports Complex Mike Collins, Director of Planning and Development, was present tonight to give an overview to the Board Members for the purpose of subsurface drilling and the extraction of natural gas from an off-site location for portions of the Texas Star Sports Complex. He said the city has been approached by a number of interested parties for the purpose of extracting natural gas from the Barnett Shale formation. This formation runs throughout north Tarrant County. He stated the City of Euless has contracted with JP Morgan Chase as its mineral asset consultant. In accordance with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, the city seeks to convert the subsurface areas of the Texas Star Sports Complex (approximately a total of ninety [90] acres) for the purpose of off-site gas drilling and extraction. Mr. Collins said the Texas Star Golf Course is not defined as park land and is therefore not subject to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 5 April 3, 2006 Mr. Collins said this item will be going to City Council next week April 11th and he would like to have a recommendation from the Park Board Members regarding the conversion of parkland. Mike Daniel made the motion to recommend to convert the subsurface of parkland for the purpose of off-site drilling and the extraction of natural gas from the Texas Star Sports Complex with the following stipulations: (1) there is no feasible or prudent alternative to extracting natural gas from underneath this park site; and, (2) this proposal includes all reasonable planning to minimize harm to the parkland. Carroll Scott seconded the motion and the vote was unanimous. Vice Chairman Hollinger thanked Mr. Collins for his presentation tonight. VI. Other New Business Vice Chairman Hollinger said there was no new business for discussion. VII. Input from City Council Members and Visitors Council Member Charlie Miller complimented Michael Davenport on his great report tonight and also thanked the Board Members for their support of the parkland conversion for gas drilling. He mentioned that the next update we do to the Parks Master Plan that we might want to enlarge the Fitness Center at Midway since it is getting so much use. He mentioned Billy Owens as well as Boyce and Scotty all worked the Trash Off on Saturday and he would like to see more of the Park Board getting out to work events and become more visible in the community. Council Member Miller said he was talking to an older gentleman (who lives on Meadowview Drive and has lived in Euless since 1991) recently at the fitness center and the man stated what a great city Euless is and what a great fire, police and parks departments we have. Council Member Miller said to keep up the good work and he appreciates everything staff does to make Euless a great place to live. Billy Owens thanked Jerry Poteet and Michael Davenport for all the work they do with the events and volunteers they get. We had lots of kids and groups that worked the Trash Off on Saturday and we also had at least twenty (20) people that showed up at the last minute and Jerry and Michael were very helpful and put them to work with other groups. Billy said everyone had fun and they all appreciated the pizza lunch they received. Alex Horton said there have been lots of kids and other school groups touring the Preserve at McCormick Park. He also said some ladies were out by the pond and they were doing some type of science project. He thanked everyone for doing such a great job with this park. Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 6 April 3,2006 ADJOURNMENT Vice Chairman Hollinger gave the benediction. There being no further business to conduct,the meeting was adjourned at 7:55 p.m. _Add.. Al -, _.a...,4, -,- , f\Au1/4.9 ,gc........,. ) Chairman Attest