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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2005-08-01 REGULAR MEETING PARKS AND LEISURE SERVICES BOARD AUGUST 1,2005 CALL TO ORDER The regular meeting of the Parks and Leisure Services Board was called to order at 7:02 p.m. on Monday, August 1, 2005, in the Council Chambers of the Euless City Hall building by Chairman Eric Owens. Other Board Members present: Carroll "Scotty" Scott, Mike Daniel, Glendora Waldrup, Randy Jones and alternate John Raab. Members absent: 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: Teresia Foreman (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) and other church members, Gail and Paul Olmstead, LuAnn and Stephanie Portugal, Alex Horton, Barney Snitz and Billy Owens (AARP). INVOCATION Glendora Waldrup gave the invocation. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Chairman Owens asked if there were any additions or corrections to the minutes from the June 6, 2005 regular meeting. Carroll Scott made the motion to approve the minutes as presented and was seconded by Mike Daniel. The vote was unanimous. OLD BUSINESS I. Board Member's Reports Mike Daniel said he visited the Parks at Texas Star Athletic Complex recently and the park was in great shape. The grass is green and the fields look good. While he was there he noticed a rail in the fence that was down and he also mentioned that he thought there was supposed to be no parking of vehicles by the concession stand area. Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 2 August 1,2005 Carroll Scott said he recently walked McCormick Park and the park was clean and in good shape. He did notice that a cover was missing over some electrical wiring on a light pole at the gazebo. He also walked the Villages of Bear Creek Park and noticed some vandalism; the lights were on at 10:00 a.m. and found lots of people using the new trail. Glendora Waldrup said West Park is an attractive park and in good shape with lots of green grass. She said Wilshire Park had lots of activity at the pool, the pond looks good and everything in this park looked good. John Raab said Blessing Branch Park was clean and there was no activity in the park that day. The ball fields were being used at Midway Park as well as lots of activity at the playground the day he made his inspection. This park was in good shape. Randy Jones said South Euless Park looks fine and the grass is now growing under the trees. Heritage Park also looks fine and the old barn which was recently moved to the park is beautiful. This park is always in fantastic shape. Chairman Owens said J.A. Carr Park looked good and there were lots of people out walking on the trail and everything was in good shape. There was no activity at Kiddy Carr Park and everything looked fine but he noticed the gate was open to the greenhouse. Glendora Waldrup mentioned that Trailwood Park was clean, the grass is green and everything looks good. Chairman Owens said the Special Events for the months of June and July were: (1) Airport R & R Program during the week of June 6th—June 12th was a great event with approximately 1,800 goodie bas given out to the returning soldiers, (2) Movie in the Park "The Sandlot" was shown on June 1 ir at the Parks at Texas Star t-ball field with 200 people attending the movie, (3) Trout Fishing in America concert was held on June 25th at the Villages of Bear Creek Park and also had 200 in attendance and (4) Movie in the Park "Shark Tale" was shown on July 9th at the Villages of Bear Creek Park with 300 in attendance. II. Volunteer of the Month Chairman Owens mentioned tonight we have four awards to be presented for July and August. Chairman Owens presented a plaque to the July volunteers: (1) John Peake with Starbucks —they gave free coffee to all our working volunteers at Arbor Daze 2005 and (2) LuAnn Portugal worked many hours in the plant sale and VIP tent during Arbor Daze 2002, 2004 and 2005. Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 3 August 1,2005 Chairman Owens also said that the Trinity High School Lacrosse team volunteered for Arbor Daze 2003, 2004 and 2005 in the Tree Give Away and the Forestry Village. He said since they are not here tonight that their plaque will be delivered to them. John Peake with Starbucks thanked the Board Members for the plaque. Ms. Portugal also thanked the Board Members and said she enjoys volunteering and she has taught her children to always give back to the community by doing volunteer work. Chairman Owens presented a plaque for the month of August to Teresia Foreman and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints for her efforts in recruiting forty (40) individual volunteers to work Arbor Daze 2005. Ms. Foreman and her volunteers worked 430 hours distributing maps, directing people to the different events at the festival and helping people on and off the bus at the bus drop. She thanked the Board Members and said they plan to help next year with Arbor Daze. NEW BUSINESS III. Beautification Award of the Month Chairman Owens presented Gail Olmstead at 302 Cullum with the July residential Beautification Award. Her yard is like walking through a botanical garden with lots of beautiful plants. The use of shrubs, flowering perennials and bedding plants is outstanding. A lot of time and love for gardening went into creating and maintaining this attractive landscape. Mrs. Olmstead thanked the Board Members for the award and said she has lived in Euless for twenty-nine years and loves the community. Chairman Owens presented John Peake with Starbucks at 1011 West Airport Freeway with the July business/civic/governmental Beautification Award. He said this is a great example of how an industrial landscape should look. There are many flowering plants that catch your attention and are pleasing to the eye. John Peake thanked the Board Members for the award. Chairman Owens said the August residential Beautification Award resident at 1400 Shady Creek Drive was not present tonight but her plaque would be delivered to her home. He said her yard is a landscape masterpiece with the use of shrubs, ferns and bedding plants for her shady yard. A lot of time and love for gardening went into creating and maintaining this attractive landscape. Chairman Owens also said the August business/civic/governmental Beautification Award goes to Pizza Hut at 314 Industrial Boulevard. Since there is no representative here tonight to accept the award it will be delivered to them. He said the newly renovated landscape catches your attention and is pleasing to the eye. Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 4 August 1, 2005 IV. Business of the Tree Board Tree Board Chairman Mike Daniel reported on the following for June: • 112 man hours were spent working on trees and watering • Trees were pruned that were obstructing stop signs • Work was done on the historic tree collection-pruning, fertilizing and etc. • Pruned trail trees at the Villages of Bear Creek Park • Pruned trees at the Preserve obstructing construction machinery • Removed dead trees in the picnic area at Wilshire Park • A majority of the man hours were spent watering trees Tree Board Chairman Mike Daniel reported on the following for July: • 256 man hours were spent doing tree work in the parks • Tommy Black, Urban Forester, was hired in July and will be an asset to our department • Trees were pruned which were obstructing traffic at the intersection of Glade Terrace and Glade Road • Identified tree species at the Preserve and wrote manuscripts for the trees to use on story boards and for tree identification signs • Pruned dead limbs out of a large elm tree across the street from Midway Park which was a safety hazard • Used the new stump grinder on stumps in the parks and also on street trees. Having a stump grinder will save the department money • Applied mulch to the newly planted trees at the Preserve, Villages of Bear Creek Park, along the trails, along the 183 landscape and on the East Harwood medians. V. Parks and Community Services Reports a. Summer Recreation Report—Randy Smith Recreation Manager Suzanne Hendrickson updated the Board Members on the following since Randy is out sick today: Upcoming Special Events • August 20th —Bicycle Rodeo from 9:00 a.m. to Noon at the Parks at Texas Star. The event will have the fire and police departments present as well as HEB Hospital. • September 19th—Brave Combo at 8:00 p.m. at the Villages of Bear Creek Amphitheater Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 5 August 1,2005 Summer Camp • Summer camp ends August 5th and then school starts on August 15th HEB Summer Lunch Program • The program went well. The Westdale Hills location was closed early due to lack of participation. All other locations (Midway Recreation Center, Midway Park and Oakwood elementaries)will end their program on August 5th Fall Classes and Events • The latest edition of the Euless Today was mailed out to residents last week. There are several new classes and events listed for all to enjoy Simmons Senior Center • Attendance in June was 812 and two trips were taken • Attendance in July was 956 and two trips were taken Aquatics • Wilshire and South Euless pools will close on August 14th • Midway pool will be open weekends only through Labor Day • Splash Island will remain open(weather permitting)through September 30th Awards Suzanne said the city received six awards from the Texas Festivals and Events Association: • Best Radio Promotion(ad spot or PSA)—Arbor Daze 2005 • Best Environmental Program—Tree Give Away—Arbor Daze 2005 • Best Educational Program—Forestry Village—Arbor Daze 2005 • Best Single Newspaper or Magazine Display—Arbor Daze 2005 • Best Company Image Pieces—logo—Arbor Daze 2005 • Best New Event—Bicycle Rodeo b. Community Services Report—Ray McDonald Director of Parks and Community Services Ray McDonald congratulated Suzanne and her staff for all their accomplishments this year with the Arbor Daze awards. He also thanked Johnnie and Terry and the parks staff for all their hard work these last few months especially with all the projects that they have been overseeing in the parks. He expressed his thanks to all the volunteers who have given their time to work our events. Ray mentioned that John Peake and his staff from Starbucks have volunteered to help spread gravel on the species trail at the Preserve. Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 6 August 1,2005 Director of Parks and Community Services Ray McDonald updated the Board Members on the following projects: Parks at Texas Star—Phase III • He mentioned that Phase III is now complete (except for a couple of punch list items). The parks staff is trying to get the turf grown and said that the t-ball and ball fields will be played this fall but there will still be no play this year on Veterans Field. He said he has a meeting this week regarding the dedication for Veterans Field. Ray thanked Terry and Johnnie for their countless hours of work at the Parks at Texas Star. The Preserve at McCormick Park • He said the bridge is now in and the project should be finished by the contractor by the end of September. There is still some work that needs to be done by the parks staff before it is ready to open. Ray said due to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department slashing their grant funding that it will be very competitive for cities in the future to obtain grants. McCormick Barn • The barn has now been restored and the wrought iron fencing will be extended in Heritage Park in the next budget year. Ray said he will be attending the budget work session on Friday. He also said that EAA (Euless Athletic Association)is going well. VI. Other New Business Chairman Owens said the next meeting will be on September 12th instead of September 5th due to the Labor Day holiday closing. VII. Input from City Council Members and Visitors Chairman Owens said there are no Council Members present in the audience tonight. Alex Horton expressed thanks for all the excellent work by Ray, Suzanne, Johnnie, Terry and all the staff on Splash Island, the Parks at Texas Star — Phase III, the Preserve, movies in the park, summer camp and ball games. He thanked everyone for all their efforts and results with the projects this year. Billy Owens said AARP is going good. Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 7 August 1,2005 ADJOURNMENT Chairman Owens gave the benediction. There being no further business to conduct, the meeting was adjourned at 7:55 p.m. Chairman Attest