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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2005-04-04 REGULAR MEETING PARKS AND LEISURE SERVICES BOARD APRIL 4,2005 CALL TO ORDER The regular meeting of the Parks and Leisure Services Board was called to order at 7:02 p.m. on Monday, April 4, 2005, in the Council Chambers of the Euless City Hall building by Chairman Eric Owens. Other Board Members present: Carroll "Scotty" Scott, Mike Daniel, Stacey Hollinger, Randy Jones and alternate John Raab. Members absent: Glendora Waldrup. Staff members present: Director of Parks and Community Services Ray McDonald, Parks Superintendent Terry Boaz, Recreation Manager Suzanne Hendrickson, Special Events Coordinator Michael Davenport and Administrative Secretary Linda Lux. Visitors present: Billy Owens with A.A.R.P. and Mary Ann Aguilar with the Fort Worth Community Credit Union. INVOCATION Mike Daniel gave the invocation. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Chairman Owens asked if there were any additions or corrections to the minutes from the March 7, 2005 regular meeting. Randy Jones made the motion to approve the minutes as presented and was seconded by John Raab. 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 said everything looks good, clean and lots of kids playing ball. He also went by Veterans Field and said the park looks great and will be a great addition to the complex. Carroll Scott said he walked McCormick Park last weekend and it was in good shape. He said he walked the Villages of Bear Creek Park on Sunday and there were lots of kids and people in the park, the grounds look good and there was also a birthday party at one of the pavilions. Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 2 April 4,2005 John Raab said Midway Park was very busy over the weekend and said he noticed some used fencing which had been left in the park from one of the adjacent homes. He said Blessing Branch Park was very clean and there were people in the park from the adjacent apartments. Stacey Hollinger said Bob Eden Park was well groomed and looked good with lots of activity on the soccer fields and tennis courts. He said he did not have a report tonight for Trailwood Park. Randy Jones said Heritage Park was well maintained. South Euless Park also looked good and said the new splash pad really looks nice. Chairman Owens mentioned Glendora Waldrup is absent tonight but she e-mailed her report last week to him. She said fields 1 and 2 at West Park look great with the new grass growing and said the metal fence railings have some rusted sections that need to be painted. Overall this park was neat and attractive. At Wilshire Park the picnic area had lots of green grass and there were many people out jogging, fishing and lots of kids playing on the playground equipment. She said this is also a very attractive and inviting park. Chairman Owens said there were lots of walkers and joggers at J.A. Carr Park when he toured the facility and the park was very clean. He said there were lots of basketball players using the court at Kiddy Carr Park. Chairman Owens said the Special Events for March were: (1) the Auction on March 5th at the Midway Recreation Center had lots of attendees and (2) the Egg Hunt was held on March 19th with lots of kids and parents attending the event. Chairman Owens said Glendora Waldrup is absent tonight due to her husband having heart surgery last week. She said his surgery went fine and he is now out of ICU and is now in a private room. II. Volunteer of the Month Chairman Owens presented Mary Ann Aguilar and the Fort Worth Community Credit Union with a plaque for all their participation in our special events as well as monetary donations. They have participated in the following events: • Arbor Daze 2003, 2004 and the upcoming 2005 festival • Several Holiday events including the Christmas Parade of Lights 2003 • Movies with the Stars • Holidaze KidZone 2004 Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 3 April 4,2005 • Arbor Dazzling KidZone 2004 • They have also agreed to sponsor the 2005 Bear Creek Music Series which is a set of two outdoor concerts this summer featuring Trout Fishing in America and Brave Combo. Mary Ann and the Fort Worth Community Credit Union thanked the Board Members for this award and she also thanked Ray and Michael for making her job easier with working in the community and our events. NEW BUSINESS III. Business of the Tree Board Tree Board Chairman Mike Daniel reported on the following for March: • 42 trees were planted and there were 111 man hours • pruned and cut back Lacebark elms from bleachers and the fence at the Parks at Texas Star • removed mistletoe from some Cedar Elms as well as trees along the medians • clearing back trees to the fence line and road along Mid-Cities Boulevard • removed fallen branches throughout all the city parks as well as addressing some storm damage to a large Live Oak along North Main Street • provided materials for tree transplanting project for the Preserve at McCormick Park, as well as transplanting trees with the tree spade throughout the Preserve IV. Parks and Community Services Reports a. Arbor Daze Update—Michael Davenport Special Event Coordinator Michael Davenport updated the Board Members on the following: Parking • CentrePort—visitors can park in this lot and be shuttled for$1.00 round trip • American Airlines Training Center — visitors can park in the lot and then walk over the overpass to reach the festival grounds • Should we have rain or bad weather then we will use Pennington Field as our back up plan Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 4 April 4,2005 Ticket Sales • Friday night—reserved seating for the Doobie Brothers—only 56 reserved seats remain(out of 200) • Saturday night—reserved seating for Kool and the Gang— 150 reserved seats remain (out of 200) • Sunday afternoon—reserved seating for Jazz Attack—only 48 reserved seats remain (out of 200) Unique Acts • Lumberjack Show - will have log rolling contests • VERB Anytour— will feature many games and activities that will appeal to pre-teens —the goal is to help kids increase their activity level and cut down on children's obesity Booth Update • Arts and Crafts—67 booths sold and 26 still available • Business Expo— 132 booths sold and 29 available • Lawn and Garden—9 sold—they are sold out Community Work Day • Saturday, April 16th from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. b. Community Services Report—Ray McDonald Director of Parks and Community Services Ray McDonald updated the Board Members and audience on the following projects: Parks at Texas Star—Phase III • He mentioned that Phase III is just a few weeks from being completed. The playing fields were recently sodded and the netting has also been installed. The contractor will be doing his walk through and the punch list will be reviewed and also completed. The electrical contractor still has numerous items to complete but they should be out at the facility this week working on those items. The landscaping in the common areas in Phase III will be done by the park department staff. • The Parks at Texas Star Development Committee met last week and reviewed the proposed art work that the Mayor has requested to be placed at the entryway into Veterans Field. The base of the art work will be in the shape of a pentagon with the five branches of service incorporated around the base. Sitting on the base will be a replica of the Liberty Bell with an Eagle lighting atop the bell. The proposed sculpture will set in the alcove between the stairs going into Veterans Field. Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 5 April 4,2005 Splash Pad at South Euless Park • Carter Construction has completed their work on the project except for painting the concrete surface and now staff will soon be adding landscape, a cabana and banana trees. They will also plant something along the back fence in order to provide screening from the school. Public Works will also be pouring a 5' sidewalk around the pad to prevent grass clippings and debris from being washed down into the filter system. Also Public Works will be constructing an ADA sidewalk from the parking lot to the splash pad and additional parking spaces will be added. The Preserve at McCormick Park • Ground was finally broken on this park and Carter Construction (who also did the construction for Phase III and the Splash Pad at South Euless Park) was awarded the contract on this project. The parking lot is expected to be poured this week and will be the entrance into the park from Fuller Wiser Road. Ray, Johnnie and Terry went out last week walking the entire site and marked all the trails with yellow flags. He said this project must be completed before the end of the year but staff is hoping that this park will be open by this fall. Ray and staff feel that the park will be a nationally acclaimed park and he hopes to submit the Preserve at McCormick Park as the Best New Park Design. City of Bedford—Situation • Since the City of Bedford has proposed closing down some of their facilities (Bedford Boys Ranch, library, recreation classes, swimming pool and senior center) due to the recent rollback, Ray said that we will watch to see what impact this will have on our facilities. He said that Midway Recreation Center has already received many phone calls from Bedford residents regarding usage of our facilities. Ray said that we do have a cap on non-resident memberships at Midway Recreation Center (limited to 200). He also said our athletic supervisor has been receiving calls for playing and rental fields but he has told them no. • Ray said that a new policy went into effect today stating that non-residents cannot sign-up for any classes until May 2nd. He further mentioned that our senior trips will be restricted to only Euless senior residents. V. Other New Business Chairman Owens mentioned at the March meeting that the Beautification Award of the Month would begin in April but it will officially start in May and be on the next agenda. Chairman Owens mentioned again if any Board Members would like to volunteer for the sponsor's hospitality trailer to please sign-up with Linda. Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 6 April 4,2005 Chairman Owens also said that Boyce Byers recently fell and broke her shoulder and to keep her in your thoughts. VI. Input from City Council Members and Visitors Billy Owens said there were lots of kids on Saturday for the annual trash-off and that Jerry and Michael did a great job. He said 80 kids came to help from one of the local schools. ADJOURNMENT Chairman Owens gave the benediction. Being no further business to conduct,the meeting was adjourned at 8:00 p.m. Chairman Attest r7