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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2004-05-03 REGULAR MEETING PARKS AND LEISURE SERVICES BOARD MAY 3,2004 CALL TO ORDER The regular meeting of the Parks and Leisure Services Board was called to order at 7:03 p.m. on Monday, May 3, 2004, in the Council Chambers of the Euless City Hall building by Vice Chairperson Glendora Waldrup. Other Board Members present: Mike Daniel, Stacey Hollinger, Boyce Byers, Carroll "Scotty" Scott and alternates Dan Clark and Jeff Sawlan. Chairman Eric Owens was absent. Note: Carl Miller resigned from the Park Board last month. 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: Council Member Leon Hogg, Mark Cauto, Eugene Cauto, Alex Horton and Terry Trewitt. INVOCATION Stacey Hollinger gave the invocation. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Vice Chairperson Waldrup asked if there were any additions or corrections to the minutes from the April 5, 2004 regular meeting. There being none, Stacey Hollinger made the motion to approve the minutes as presented and was seconded by Boyce Byers. The vote was unanimous. OLD BUSINESS I. Board Member's Reports Jeff Sawlan said both West Park and Wilshire Park look good. He did notice some erosion by the fencing in the park. Dan Clark said he walked J. A. Can Park recently and there were lots of kids out playing, the park had recently been mowed and the rose garden was in bloom. He said the creek looks bad and had lots of trash and debris in it from the recent rains. Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 2 May 3,2004 Boyce Byers said she has Special Events and said that Arbor Daze was rained out for the first time in sixteen years but we did manage to get at least Friday in. She said a lot of work went into the preparation of the festival and staff should be commended for all the work they did. Stacey Hollinger said there was lots of activity at the Parks at Texas Star Athletic Complex when he made his inspection. The park looks good and the construction of Phase III is really coming along. Vice Chairperson Glendora Waldrup said McCormick Park is a very clean and pretty park. The gazebo could use some paint, there is some creek erosion and the trash cans are holding rain in the bags. She said Villages of Bear Creek Park is also a beautiful park and had lots of residents the day she made her inspection. She said there is also some creek erosion in this park. Carroll Scott said there was lots of mud and debris by the playground area at Trailwood Park. At Bob Eden Park the grass was in good condition and the tennis courts were being used by local residents. He said he noticed a broken light globe, the port-o-let cleaning schedule was not up-to- date and the gate to the men's restroom was unlocked. Mr. Scott mentioned that the trail from the park to Main Street had three low lying areas which were filled with water and mud. Ray McDonald said the trails should be completed within the next two or three weeks. Mike Daniel said he had no report this evening. NEW BUSINESS II. Beautification Award of the Month Vice Chairperson Waldrup presented Mark and Eugene Cauto, Performance Leasing, with a plaque for the Business Beautification Award for April 2004. She said the eye-catching landscape is highly visible from the road and is an asset to our city. Mark Cauto said his brother Eugene is the one who does all the landscape and maintenance at their building. They thanked the Board Members for the award. Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 3 May 3,2004 III. Business of the Tree Board Tree Board Chairman Mike Daniel mentioned the following: (1) 1,500 trees were given away during Arbor Daze, (2) tree debris is still being removed from the TX DOT trail construction areas, (3) the majority of man-hours were spent prepping the grounds for Arbor Daze, (4) the Star- Telegram did an article on our Historic Tree program and (5) we are planning a post Arbor Daze tree give-away and plant sale to be announced at a later date. IV. Adopt-A-Park/Trail Program Vice Chairperson Waldrup asked Ray McDonald if he would give a brief review of the proposed program. Director of Parks and Community Services Ray McDonald said he presented the program to the Board Members at the last meeting and ask them to review the program. Ray said both the City Manager and City Attorney have approved the program for implementation. He said this program would consist of volunteer groups and/or individuals who would adopt a park and/or trail and maintain their designated area at least once a month by picking-up trash, bagging and then setting aside for the parks department to pick-up. This program will help cut down on the amount of time the parks department staff has to spend cleaning each of the parks. Ray said the City of Grapevine has this program, it is very successful and they have a waiting list for groups who want to participate in the program. Vice Chairperson Waldrup asked if there were any questions or discussion regarding this item. Dan Clark said the program and the placement of signage recognizing the volunteer groups is a good idea but said volunteers do like recognition and suggested recognizing them at either City Council or Park Board meetings. Mike Daniel mentioned the agreement states that the groups must do their designated areas at least six times a year not necessarily once a month. Ray McDonald said they suggest the volunteer groups maintain their respective parks and/or trails at least once a month but the minimum is six times a year. He said the groups would be required to come before the Park Board and designate which park they would like to maintain and how many volunteers they would have in their group. The Parks and Community Services Department would agree to provide safety vests and trash bags for the volunteers to maintain their respective parks. A liability waiver would be signed by each volunteer group and each member of the group as well as the agreement. • Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 4 May 3,2004 Mike Daniel made the motion to approve the program as presented and was seconded by Boyce Byers. The vote was unanimous. V. Parks and Community Services Reports a. Recreation Report—Suzanne Hendrickson Recreation Manager Suzanne Hendrickson gave the following updates: • Summer Day Camp registration was held Saturday at Midway Recreation Center with 50 kids being signed up and there is still room for 20 more kids. She said most of the camp leaders have been hired and we are looking forward to a busy summer. • Swim and Summer Class registration is looking good with lots of people registering through the internet registration program. • Summer Feeding Program — this will be a partnership with HEB/ISD to provide free lunches for children up to eighteen during the month of June and the lunches must be eaten at Midway Recreation Center. • Parks at Texas Star continues with league play and BESA soccer ends this week. • Aquatics — almost all staff has been hired for the pools and Midway Pool has started its lifeguard classes this week. • Community Work Day (April 17th) was a great success with lots of people helping wrap trash cans,put out parking lot signage and roping off all the parking lots. • The Summer Musical will be discontinued and replaced with Movies under the Stars (at Villages of Bear Creek and Bob Eden parks and also at Midway Pool) as well as some fall concerts at the Villages of Bear Creek Park. • Arbor Daze Plant Sale — will be held at the Parks at Texas Star pavilion on Saturday, May 8th from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Plants, salsa and Arbor Daze t-shirts will be for sale. Free trees will also be given away to patrons. b. Community Services Report—Ray McDonald Director of Parks and Community Services Ray McDonald said Parks Ground Maintenance Foreman John Ledbetter is the May Employee of the Month. John has been employed with the city for twenty years and is credited with prepping and maintaining all the ball fields throughout the city as well as all grounds maintenance. Also Park employee Chris Hurst got married this past weekend. Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 5 May 3,2004 He updated the Board Members on some of the projects: • The TX DOT trail has been seeded and the contractor will be striping it later this week. • Preserve at McCormick Park— he and Bryan Klein with ION Design Group went to Austin last month regarding the grant. He said they hope to show the proposed plan/design at the June meeting and then hope to bid out the project sometime in June with completion towards the end of this year. • Parks at Texas Star — Phase III — this project is going extremely well, the concrete forms have been poured, the irrigation continues and the contractor hopes to complete this project in August for opening in 2005. • Arbor Daze — he said everyone involved in the preparation of the festival was very disappointed in the weather this year. He said he was especially proud of how everyone pitched in to help the sponsors and vendors do whatever they could to make the situation better. Ray said the decision to cancel on Saturday due to the rain and then again cancel the festival for Sunday for the safety of citizens and patrons. He said Arbor Daze will be back next year better and stronger than before. Vice Chairperson Waldrup thanked the staff for all their efforts and work during Arbor Daze. VI. Other New Business Vice Chairperson Waldrup said there was no new business for discussion. VII. Input from City Council Members and Visitors Council Member Hogg commended staff on doing everything possible to help the vendors and sponsors during the festival. He said he will have some dated Arbor Daze t-shirts for sale on May 8th at the Parks at Texas Star pavilion. He also mentioned the Main Street project should be completed in September and Council has also been looking at a design for the West Pipeline Road project. Terry Trewitt said he is a bicycle rider and inquired if there is a master plan to connect Euless and Grapevine. He suggested a trail could run along the high lines which run from Euless to Grapevine joining both cities. He further mentioned there is no way for citizens to cross busy Mid-Cities Blvd. from the new homes on the north side over to Bob Eden Park and ask if there was any plans to do a crossover. Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 6 May 3,2004 Stacey Hollinger told Mr. Trewitt that he has been requesting a cross walk be installed from the north side (where he lives)over to Bob Eden Park. Alex Horton wanted to thank all the staff for their hard work with Arbor Daze and said they did a great job. He said he is also a bicycle rider and mentioned there is a very dangerous curve/turn at Bob Eden Park which could be bad for any small kids who are not familiar with the sharp curve. He said they could be thrown into the water and hurt themselves in the fall. He told staff to keep up the good work they do. ADJOURNMENT Vice Chairperson Waldrup gave the benediction. Being no further business to conduct,the meeting was adjourned at 8:15 p.m. Vice Chairperson Attest`-