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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2005-02-07 REGULAR MEETING PARKS AND LEISURE SERVICES BOARD FEBRUARY 7,2005 CALL TO ORDER The regular meeting of the Parks and Leisure Services Board was called to order at 7:02 p.m. on Monday, February 7, 2005, in the Council Chambers of the Euless City Hall building by Chairman Eric Owens. Other Board Members present: Mike Daniel, Stacey Hollinger, Carroll "Scotty" Scott and alternates Randy Jones and John Raab. Members absent: Boyce Byers and Glendora Waldrup. Staff members present: Director of Parks and Community Services Ray McDonald, Parks Manager Johnnie Green, Parks Superintendent Terry Boaz, Recreation Manager Suzanne Hendrickson, Special Events Coordinator Michael Davenport and Administrative Secretary Linda Lux. Visitors present: Council Member Charlie Miller, Billy Owens with A.A.R.P., Jim Warren with the North Texas Mustang Club, Commander Sloan with American Legion Post#379 and Jan Bryant. INVOCATION Stacey Hollinger gave the invocation. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Chairman Owens asked if there were any additions or corrections to the minutes from the January 10, 2005 regular meeting. Stacey Hollinger made the motion to approve the minutes as presented and was seconded by Carroll Scott. The vote was unanimous. OLD BUSINESS I. Board Member's Reports Mike Daniel said he drove by the Parks at Texas Star Athletic Complex but they are currently closed for the season. He said there was a rail that had fallen down in the fencing and he also mentioned that Phase III is looking great. Carroll Scott said McCormick Park was clean. At the Villages of Bear Creek Park there were lots of people out walking their dogs, lots of kids out playing in the park and the park was in very good shape. Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 2 February 7,2005 Randy Jones said everything was clean at South Euless Park. He said Heritage Park was also clean and mentioned that more wood chips are needed in the playground area. Stacey Hollinger said Bob Eden Park looks good but the softball fields are worn down from all the soccer play and some new rocks had been placed by the new trail. John Raab mentioned that Blessing Branch Park was clean. Midway Park was in good shape, noticed two large piles of branches/trees which had been piled along the back side of the fence area and there was also some graffiti on the east side of the bridge. Chairman Owens said Glendora is out sick tonight but she called her report in to him. Mrs. Waldrup said both West Park and Wilshire parks looked good. Chairman Owens said the Special Events for January were: (1) the open house at Midway Recreation Center on January 15th was a great success with about 100 people attending, and (2) the annual Christmas Tree Recycling Event was also on January 15th with about 85 people attending. Everyone at the event was given a hot dog, hot chocolate and free mulch after the tree mulching demonstration. H. Volunteer of the Month Chairman Owens presented Commander Sloan, American Legion Post#379, with a plaque for their ten(10) years of participation in our annual Christmas parade. Commander Sloan thanked the Board Members for the plaque and said that Post#379 represents all the Hurst-Euless-Bedford area and that this post is also the largest post in the State of Texas. Chairman Owens also presented Jim Warren of the North Texas Mustang Club with a plaque for their nine(9) years of participation in our annual Christmas parade. NEW BUSINESS III. Business of the Tree Board Tree Board Chairman Mike Daniel reported on the following for January: (1) the annual Christmas Tree Recycling event was held and many citizens came out for the demonstration, hot dogs, hot chocolate and a bag of free mulch, (2) staff was busy digging trees which will be planted at the Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 3 February 7,2005 Parks at Texas Star — Phase III at a later date, and (3) landscape renovation has begun at the Library, the drainage problem is also being addressed and additional landscape will be added. IV. Texas Collegiate League Stacey Hollinger mentioned that he recently met with City Council and wants to bring a new event to the Parks at Texas Star. He plans to bring to Euless the Texas Collegiate League baseball team called the Euless LoneStars which will consist of eight (8) teams. This league is comprised of college students throughout the state and they will be using wooden bats during their play. Our mascot is an armadillo named "Lucky the LoneStar". Stacey said he took on ownership of the league and last year they played in Colleyville but he wants to move the league to our facility at the Parks at Texas Star. He said the citizens of Euless will now have a new league with 28 games being played in Euless. Stacey said there would be free clinics offered for the kids as well as coach clinics. He said this will be an exciting opportunity for Euless residents and there will be a weekly sports show on Fox Sports Net Southwest. College kids will stay in host homes during the summer season and if anyone would like to be a host, please let him know. Stacey said he appreciates Ray and City Council for all their support of the league and he hopes to draw lots of Euless residents to the games this summer. V. Parks and Community Services Reports a. Upcoming Special Events—Michael Davenport Michael mentioned some of the events that are coming up. • February 10th—Heritage Park tour for Harrison Lane Elementary in Hurst • February 11th—Valentine's Dance at Midway Recreation Center. This event will be in cooperation with Radio Disney. There will be games, dancing, and a donut decorating contest for the kids sponsored by Krispy Kreme and Chik-fil-A will also be present. • February 12th—Community Garage Sale at Midway Recreation Center • March 5th — Arbor Daze Premier Night — at Midway Recreation Center and the theme this year will be Mardi Gras,the Arbor Daze 2005 acts will be announced and the carnival tickets will also go on sale then. • April 16th—Arbor Daze Community Work Day—at the site • April 21St—Arbor Daze Carnival Preview • April 22"d—24th—Arbor Daze Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 4 February 7,2005 b. Recreation Report—Suzanne Hendrickson Suzanne updated the Board Members on the following: Midway Recreation Center • There were 10, 588 visits during January • 579 memberships were sold • 1,180 hours on the cardio equipment • 4,695 fitness center visits Simmons Senior Center • 1,136 visits to the center • 4 trips were taken in January Parks at Texas Star • February 18th-20th—Super Series"National"qualifier(for 12, 13 & 14 year olds) • February 25th-27th—USSSA "AAA" WS qualifier(for 10, 12 & 14 year olds) • March 4th—6th—Triple Crown qualifier c. Community Services Report—Ray McDonald Director of Parks and Community Services Ray McDonald thanked Michael for his presentation tonight and said Michael has been doing a great job with our special events. He also thanked Suzanne and her staff for all the increased memberships at Midway Recreation Center and said her staff does an outstanding job at Midway. Ray McDonald updated the Board Members on the following projects: • Preserve at McCormick Park — bids will be opened on Wednesday this week, then a recommendation will be presented at the Council meeting on February 25th for approval and then we hope to start construction shortly thereafter. • Parks at Texas Star— Carter Construction is making progress on Phase III even though they have lost many days due to all the rainy days. • Program changes at Midway Recreation Center — Ray said that our philosophy regarding early childhood development classes has changed at Midway Recreation Center. He said he does not feel it is our responsibility as a recreation department to provide a classroom Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 5 February 7,2005 setting, nor to provide educational based programs with uncertified instructors to try and prepare kid's for what they should and will be taught by the school district when the child becomes of age to attend school. Rather, we believe that activity based programs or"active living" is a way of integrating, promoting and developing a community conducive to active living. It is our belief that it is very important for us to provide these types of activity based programs for our community to achieve an active living community. Ray said he hopes the Park Board will also support these changes as well. VI. Other New Business Chairman Owens said we do the Beautification Award of the Month starting with the meeting in April and we need a couple of Board Members to volunteer who would like to be on this sub- committee. Please let him know at the next meeting which Board Members would like to help. Chairman Owens also mentioned that the Board Members would like to again host the Appreciation Dinner for all the parks and recreation staff and their families. He suggested we do the dinner at North Main BBQ on Thursday, February 17th at 6:30 p.m. VII. Input from City Council Members and Visitors Jan Bryant, Vice President of the Little Bear Estates Homeowners Association, came before the Board Members to ask for the following items: (1) trees to be planted in the medians along Mid- Cities Boulevard to soften the view of the power lines and also (2) a crosswalk/sidewalk to cross over to Bob Eden Park since many of the residents use this local park. Stacey Hollinger, President of the Little Bear Estates Homeowners Association, said Ray is aware of the situation and does have some information tonight. Ray McDonald said we do listen to the concerns of our residents. He said we hope to try and landscape the median area along Mid-Cities and also do more landscaping at Bob Eden Park in the near future. Ray said that the existing medians are not currently irrigated but we will see what we can do. Ray also said that there is currently a sidewalk at Baze Road and a tie-in will be made for a cross walk from the north side of Mid-Cities over to the south side going into Bob Eden Park by our Public Works Department. In the future, he thinks that there are plans to install a stop light with a pedestrian crossing at the intersection of Baze Road and Mid-Cities Boulevard. Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 6 February 7,2005 Council Member Charlie Miller told Ms. Bryant that these projects have been on our list to be done and they should be done in the near future. He further stated the Park Board and staff does a great job for our community. Council Member Miller also said a lady mentioned to him at the last Town Hall meeting that small kids are crossing the street from vehicles to go over to the ball fields and she feels that sooner or later a child could be hit by a moving car. She suggested that maybe a flashing light or sign could be installed to show that this is a crosswalk for children. Billy Owens said the A.A.R.P. Adopt-A-Park program is going strong at J.A. Carr(Simmons) Park. He also stated that many of the seniors are starting to walk again and they are also picking up trash as they walk. Ray mentioned to the audience and the Board Members that Doug McGrady, President of BESA, passed away on Sunday and that Doug was a great asset to our department as well as having a love for the kids. The services will be Thursday morning with burial at the National Cemetery in Grand Prairie. ADJOURNMENT Chairman Owens gave the benediction. Being no further business to conduct,the meeting was adjourned at 8:25 p.m. Chairman Attest