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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2004-01-05 REGULAR MEETING PARKS AND LEISURE SERVICES BOARD JANUARY 5, 2004 CALL TO ORDER The regular meeting of the Parks and Leisure Services Board was called to order at 7:04 p.m. on Monday, January 5, 2004, in the Council Chambers of the Euless City Hall building by Chairman Eric Owens. Other Board Members present: Mike Daniel, Glendora Waldrup, Stacey Hollinger and alternates Carroll "Scotty" Scott and Dan Clark. Board Members Carl Miller, Boyce Byers and Jeff Sawlan were absent. Staff members present: Director of Parks and Community Services Ray McDonald, Parks Manager Johnnie Green, Parks Superintendent Terry Boaz and Administrative Secretary Linda Lux. Visitors present: Michele and Dan Burger, Don Tharp and Ralph Williamson (Historical Preservation Committee Members), Alex Horton 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 December 1, 2003 regular meeting. There being none, Mike Daniel made the motion to approve the minutes as present and was seconded by Glendora Waldrup. The vote was unanimous. OLD BUSINESS I. Board Member's Reports Chairman Owens mentioned that the Board Members should have received their new 2004 park assignments. Mr. Daniel said his new parks are South Euless and Heritage Park. He had no report for South Euless Park this evening. He said Heritage Park is a beautiful park and very clean. Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 2 January 5, 2004 Mr. Clark said his new parks this year are J. A. Carr and Kiddy Carr. He said he walked J. A. Can Park and it is well kept except for the creek area at the rear of the park. Along the creek bed area he noticed some type of seepage from a pipe coming from B & B Body Shop, some car tires, grocery carts and trash from the adjacent apartment trash dumpster. Ray McDonald said he will notify Code Enforcement and Public Works regarding the condition of the creek, and to see if they can begin working on a future plan to clean the creek together with the Parks Department. Mr. Clark said he would like to see the area cleaned up, feels this is a health issue and maybe a sign should be erected in the park stating "Code Violation for Dumping" and maybe this would help with the situation. Mr. McDonald further mentioned that some of the trash problems come from upstream. It was suggested that a subcommittee be formed and that additional pictures be taken of this park. The subcommittee will consist of Dan Clark and Mike Daniel and they will present their findings to the Board Members at the February meeting. The subcommittee will also get with Ray McDonald and city staff to check on possible grant funding and any available resources to help clean the parks. Mrs. Waldrup did not have a report for McCormick Park this evening. She said there were a few people at the Villages of Bear Creek Park and the park was very clean. The amphitheater looked good, soccer fields looked nice with the large boulders placed around the soccer area and she also noticed some erosion close to the fence. Mr. Hollinger said his new assignment is the Parks at Texas Star athletic complex and there was no activity due to the facility being closed for the winter. Mr. Scott said Trailwood Park is in good shape but he did notice a lamp post was out. At Bob Eden Park he walked the new loop trail and said it is very nice and further mentioned that the TxDOT trail to Main Street is almost completed. He said this trail will be a very nice attraction to this park when it is finally finished. Mr. Scott also said the new parking lot has been enlarged and looks good. Chairman Owens said the Special Events during December included: the Parade of Lights, IceFest at the Dr Pepper StarCenter, Heritage Park Celebration and the Children's New Year's Eve Concert. He said his kids really enjoyed the blacksmith at the Heritage Park Celebration. He also mentioned that the annual Christmas Tree Recycling demonstration would be this month. Ray McDonald said there were 360 tickets sold to the Children's New Year's Eve Concert and this was the largest audience ever. Johnnie Green mentioned a Euless vendor will also be attending the Christmas Tree Recycling event and will have his tub grinder which will grind a larger amount of trees at a time. Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 3 January 5, 2004 II. Volunteer of the Month Chairman Owens presented the Historical Preservation Committee with a plaque for the January 2004 Volunteers of the Month. This group has given many hours of time, effort and expertise in their efforts to preserving the City of Euless. Their goal is to preserve the culture, genealogy and archives of our great city. They meet monthly to review and recommend ways to preserve historical matters, document the physical, verbal and ethnic heritage of Euless as well as to establish and encourage public participation in Euless' historical organizations. Michele Burger thanked the Board Members and said for 2004 the Historical Preservation Committee, as a group, wants to give and do more as volunteers to the city as well as to the Parks and Community Services staff. She said volunteering is very important and people can volunteer even if they do not live in Euless. To also receive the plaque with Michele was her husband Dan Burger, Ralph Williamson, Don Tharp and Park Board Member Dan Clark. NEW BUSINESS III. Business of the Tree Board Chairman Owens asked if Mr. Scott would give the Tree Report due to officers Boyce Byers and Carl Miller being absent tonight. Mr. Scott reported that nine trees were planted during December and the majority of the man hours were spent doing irrigation and landscape renovations at City Hall. He also mentioned 3000 Red Oak acorns were potted for the Arbor Daze Tree Giveaway as well as propagating 1500 Desert Willow cuttings to be given away during the festival. The Tree City USA and the Tree City Growth Award Re-Certifications were completed and mailed for processing through the state for 2004. Mr. Scott inquired if the Parks Department staff would be doing the landscape along N. Main Street? Mr. McDonald said all landscaping will be designed by city staff and the maintenance will be added to the city mowing contract. The installation of the landscaping will be contracted out. IV. Parks and Community Services Reports a. Recreation Report— Suzanne Hendrickson There was no report from Recreation Manager Suzanne Hendrickson due to being out sick. Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 4 January 5, 2004 b. Community Services Report—Ray McDonald Director of Parks and Community Services Ray McDonald said there was a celebration for the Parks and Community Services department with Johnnie Green being selected as the 2003 Employee of the Year at our recent employee's luncheon in December. He said Johnnie has been very helpful to Ray and the department due to all his expertise and knowledge from the many years of working with the city. Mr. McDonald said he wanted to give the Board Members an update on some recent projects: • Contract was awarded for the Softball World Irrigation project — they will be redoing all four ball fields, new scoreboards will be added and some building repairs will be made to the facility. We will almost have a new facility when Softball World reopens the end of February. • The irrigation bid for Westpark will be on the January 13th City Council agenda. The entire park will be irrigated. • The loop trail has been completed in Bob Eden Park and we hope to reopen the park within the next week or so. There was a short delay in construction of the area where the trail crossed the drive of the house on the west side of Main Street but the engineer that designed the trail from SRA (Schrickel, Rollins and Associates) is working out the details with TX DOT and it should be worked out shortly. • Ray said he and Mr. Hennig recently met with Mike Cramer of Southwest Sports Group regarding the Parks at Texas Star — Phase III project. Mr. Cramer stated they will not be able to help with the funding of the new youth ball field in this project due to the losses Southwest Sports Group has encountered during the last year with the Texas Rangers. Ray is asking that the Park Board Members show their support for this project by attending the council meeting next Tuesday, January 13th. He will recommend to the City Council that we continue the project as designed and to supplement the shortfall through additional funds. • Midway Recreation Center will be closed due to re-surfacing the gym floors and the racquetball courts as well (this must be done every three years). Midway will reopen this week for patrons but the gym and racquetball courts will be closed until Saturday, January 10th. • The Champion City video was shot during mid-December and he should receive a rough draft of the video the end of this month. Some of the footage shot included: City Hall, Parks at Texas Star, Golf Course and Conference Center, Softball World, local businesses, new housing construction, Wilshire Pond, Old Iron Bridge and Heritage Park. Ray said he will try and get a copy of the final video for the Board Members. Ray said the footage will be shown on TV but he does not currently know the date when it will be aired. Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 5 January 5, 2004 Ray said he also made some changes in the Parks Department and Johnnie Green was promoted to Parks Manager and Terry Boaz was promoted to Parks Superintendent and congratulated them for all their dedication and hard work. Chairman Owens said he encourages all the Board Members to attend the City Council meeting next week in support of the Parks at Texas Star—Phase III agenda item. V. Election of Officers. Chairman Owens mentioned it was time to elect new officers for the Parks and Leisure Services Board. The 2004 newly elected officers are: Chairman — Eric Owens, Vice-Chairman— Glendora Waldrup and Secretary— Stacey Hollinger. Chairman Owens also stated it was time to elect new officers for the Tree Board. The 2004 newly elected officers are: Chairman—Mike Daniel and Vice-Chairman—Boyce Byers. VI. Other New Business Chairman Owens said the Board Members usually host an appreciation dinner for the parks department employees and their families at North Main Barbecue. It was suggested that we schedule the dinner for Thursday, February 12th at 6:30 p.m. VII. Input from City Council Members and Visitors Billy Owens with AARP thanked the Park Board Members and staff for all their support for their organization. He said they had 70 people that attended their annual Christmas Dinner and they also had some new members join the organization. Alex Horton said the Park Board is doing a great job and urged all the Board Members to be present at the City Council meeting next week and said he will also be there to support the Parks Board and Ray McDonald regarding the Parks at Texas Star — Phase III. Alex also congratulated Johnnie Green and Terry Boaz on their recent promotions. Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 6 January 5, 2004 ADJOURNMENT Chairman Owens gave the benediction. Being no further business to conduct,the meeting was adjourned at 8:50 p.m. -Zs60d41' 9 J Chairman Attest