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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2004-11-01 REGULAR MEETING PARKS AND LEISURE SERVICES BOARD NOVEMBER 1,2004 CALL TO ORDER The regular meeting of the Parks and Leisure Services Board was called to order at 7:00 p.m. on Monday, November 1, 2004, in the Council Chambers of the Euless City Hall building by Chairman Eric Owens. Other Board Members present: Stacey Hollinger, Boyce Byers, Carroll "Scotty" Scott, Mike Daniel and alternate Jeff Sawlan. Members absent: Glendora Waldrup and alternate Dan Clark. Staff members present: Parks and Community Services Director Ray McDonald, Parks Superintendent Terry Boaz, Recreation Manager Suzanne Hendrickson, Athletic Supervisor Chris Thames,Athletic Coordinator Mark Long and Administrative Secretary Linda Lux. Visitors present: Alex Horton, Barney Snitz, Karen Freeman, Billy Owens, Council Member Leon Hogg, Council Member Linda Martin, Kevin Smith (EAA), Doug McGrady and Kaled Hamam (BESA) and Terry Kesterson and Danny Renteria(EGSA). INVOCATION Boyce Byers gave the invocation. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Chairman Owens asked if there were any additions or corrections to the minutes from the October 4, 2004 regular meeting. There being none, Boyce Byers 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 both South Euless and Heritage parks were clean and neat when he made his inspection. He did mention that the pot hole at South Euless has gotten larger probably due to the recent rains. Carroll Scott said Trailwood Park looked nice. At Bob Eden Park the tennis courts and playground areas looked good and the park was clean and had recently been mowed. He mentioned the lights were still on at 8:30 a.m. in the morning and there were some lights out in the park as well. Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 2 November 1,2004 Jeff Sawlan said West Park was in great shape, looks pristine and is a very nice park. Wilshire Park also looks great and said he noticed a broken fence rail. Stacey Hollinger said he recently inspected the Parks at Texas Star and the facility is always well maintained and neat. He also said the Parks at Texas Star—Phase III construction looks good. Boyce Byers has Special Events and said the events in October were: (1) Saturday, October 9th-the Community Garage Sale had about 500 people that attended, (2) Saturday, October 30th - the Halloween Carnival was held on the baseball field at Midway Park with about 750 people in attendance. There were games, candy, entertainment and lots of activities for the children, and (3) recent tours at Heritage Park for the local elementary students. Chairman Owens said Midway Park is always well maintained and in great condition. He further said the Parks staff does a great job in keeping all the parks clean and well maintained. II. Volunteer of the Month Chairman Owens presented Karen Freeman with a plaque for the November Volunteer of the Month. Some of the events she has worked are: (1) 2003 Heritage Park Christmas Celebration, (2) 2004 Arbor Daze Auction, (3) 2004 Arbor Daze Festival, (4) 2004 Movies with the Stars, (5) 2004 Max Stalling and the UTA Symphony Orchestra Outdoor Concerts, and (6) she has also signed up for the R&R Program at DFW Airport. Chairman Owens thanked Karen for her tireless efforts to help make our events a success. NEW BUSINESS III. Business of the Tree Board Tree Board Chairman Mike Daniel mentioned the following for the month of October: (1) planted Crepe Myrtles at West Park and South Euless Park as part of a new landscape for both parks, (2) replaced an Italian Cypress tree at City Hall, (3) started moving Arbor Daze trees to the old greenhouse for winter storage to make room at the new greenhouse for growing more trees, (4) gathered 2,000 live oak acorns for growing more Arbor Daze trees, (5) removed some trees from the Mid-Cities median that were obstructing the view into Bob Eden Park, (6) planted three Austrian Pines along the trail at Wilshire Pond and planted a Chinese Pistache tree at South Euless Park, (7) removed graffiti from 12 tree ID signs at the Villages of Bear Creek Park, and(8) sprayed the large Pecan Tree at City Hall for webworms. Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 3 November 1,2004 IV. Athletic Associations Chairman Owens said once a year we invite all the athletic associations to attend our meeting so that we can prepare for any of their needs during the upcoming year. a. EAA(Euless Athletic Association) Kevin Smith, First Vice-Commissioner with EAA distributed to the Board Members a copy of information containing a list of officers, budgets, registration numbers and dates of registration and playing season. He said EAA also issued 25 scholarships and said they have implemented background checks on all coaches. It was also mentioned that due to not having any lighted coach pitch/t-ball fields at Texas Star for night play, that we can not host any Pony League tournaments in Euless. He said they are looking forward to working with the staff again this year. b. BESA (Bedford Euless Soccer Association) Doug McGrady, President (2004-2006) and Second Vice-President Kaled Hamam with BESA distributed a handout with a listing of officers, registration numbers, and budget information. Mr. McGrady said they are looking forward to the new fields at the Parks at Texas Star. He said they could also use more practice fields and they are hoping to eventually play all their games at the Parks at Texas Star instead of the Villages of Bear Creek Park. Mr. McGrady did say that about 40%of the teams are Euless kids. c. EGSA(Euless Girls Softball Association) Terry Kesterson, Second Vice-Commissioner and Chief Financial Officer with EGSA also distributed a handout with a listing of officers, budget information and registration numbers. He said the teams practice every night except Wednesday and they are in need of more practice fields. He also mentioned they really need some type of temporary fencing at West Park when playing their games. Mr. Kesterson said they use West Park and the Parks at Texas Star for their games. He also thanked Chris Thames for all his help with their new website for EGSA. Ray McDonald said staff will work with EGSA to see if they can schedule using Bob Eden Park for their practices. Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 4 November 1, 2004 V. Parks and Community Services Reports a. Parks at Texas Star Report—Chris Thames Athletic Supervisor Chris Thames said this has been another exciting year and says things will only get better with the opening of the Parks at Texas Star—Phase III. He said they are always looking for new ways and new opportunities, as well as marketing ideas for the Parks at Texas Star. He updated the Board Members on the following: • Baseball Tournaments -there were 17 tournaments, 494 teams and 1,200 field hours • League Play—EAA played 304 games at the Parks at Texas Star and 183 games at Midway Park. EGSA played 19 games at the Parks at Texas Star and 19 games at West Park. Bear Creek played 201 games at the Parks at Texas Star and 112 games at Midway Park. There were also many private schools that also used our facilities during the season. There were a total of 1,102 games and 2,222 field hours. • Field Hours—total of 3,422 hours from both leagues and tournaments. • Projected Use for 2005 —League (2,300 hours), Tournaments (1,500 hours) = Total (3,800 hours) Chris also introduced the new Athletic Coordinator, Mark Long who started a couple of weeks ago and Mark came to us from Mesquite. b. Community Services Report—Ray McDonald Director of Parks and Community Services Director Ray McDonald thanked Chris for a superb job of coordinating all the tournaments that were held at the Parks at Texas Star. Ray said we also received many e-mails complimenting Chris for hosting such great tournaments and thanked John Ledbetter and the Parks department for all their hard work in maintaining all the fields. Ray also updated the Board Members on the following projects: • Parks at Texas Star — Phase III — the construction is progressing very well, decking has been done on the t-ball/coach pitch fields and hopefully the decking for Veterans Field will be done soon. Sodding was added three weeks ago to the north of the t-ball fields and looks great. The shade structures are now up on the t-ball/coach pitch fields as well as Veterans Field. They have been trying for the last two weeks to sod the soccer fields but it has been postponed due to the rain but they hope to sod in the very near future. He said Carter Construction is about 85% complete with this project but they have encountered approximately 50 rain dates so far. Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 5 November 1, 2004 • Preserve at McCormick Park—there is no update since we have not received the official approval of the appraisal from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department but we should receive it soon. Ray mentioned some of the projects coming up in 2005: • Irrigation will be added at McCormick and Trailwood parks. • The sand in the filters will be replaced in all three pools. • A new play feature will be added at Midway pool as well as a new portable lift for handicap citizens. • A Splash Pad will be added at South Euless and then the parking lot will be improved. • Softball World will receive new fencing, a new walk-in cooler, new netting for protection of the new scoreboards and the roof structure will be either replaced or repaired. Ray said he appreciates all the support the Board Members have given him and our department. He also thanked the Athletic Associations for being present tonight and for their support with working with our staff. c. Other Staff Reports There were no other staff reports. VI. Other New Business Chairman Owens reminded the Board Members that our December 6th meeting will be at the Parks Facility building and we will have our annual Christmas Dinner starting at 6:00 p.m. Jeff Sawlan also wanted to commend the great maintenance staff at the golf course for all their improvements with Hurricane Creek. VII. Input from City Council Members and Visitors Council Member Linda Martin said a citizen recently told her that Euless has the greatest parks around. Council Member Leon Hogg commented that the proposed lighting for any of the ball fields is really a matter of time and money, since these funds come from the car rental tax dollars. Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 6 November 1,2004 a. Trails Matching Fund Program—Alex Horton Alex Horton said he was the Chairman of the Wine Sales Committee and they had $3,600 left from their campaign. He said he would like to do a Matching Fund Program and challenge any individuals, businesses or organizations to double or triple this fund. Alex said this money will be deposited with the City of Euless in a temporary holding account and set aside to provide funds for our trails project. He said he has already spoken with the City Manager and City Attorney and this is within the state legal guidelines and they have approved the idea. If anyone has any ideas or comments on this program then please contact him by November 15th. Alex Horton also congratulated his neighbor Karen Freeman on receiving the November Volunteer of the Month award. Stacey Hollinger again mentioned that he would like to see EGSA be furnished with more practice fields possibly at Bob Eden Park. ADJOURNMENT Chairman Owens gave the benediction. There being no further business to conduct,the meeting was adjourned at 8:45 p.m. Chairman Attest