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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2003-06-02 REGULAR MEETING PARKS AND LEISURE SERVICES BOARD JUNE 2, 2003 CALL TO ORDER The regular meeting of the Parks and Leisure Services Board was called to order at 7:03 p.m. on Monday, June 2, 2003, in the Council Chambers of the Euless Municipal Building by Chairman Eric Owens. Other Board Members present: Glendora Waldrup, Boyce Byers, Mike Daniel, Stacey Hollinger and alternates Carroll "Scotty" Scott, Jeff Sawlan and Dan Clark. Board Member Carl Miller was absent. Staff members present: Director of Parks and Community Services Ray McDonald, Recreation Manager Suzanne Hendrickson, Community Services Finance Manager Gary Yakesch, Graphic Artist Jeff Towne and Administrative Secretary Linda Lux. Visitors present: Alex Horton, Doyle, Audrey and Chad Brown, Barbara Scoggins, Youth Group from St. Michael's Tongan Lakaki Group. INVOCATION Stacey Hollinger gave the invocation. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Chairman Owens asked if there were any additions or corrections to the minutes from the May 5, 2003 regular meeting. There being none, Stacey Hollinger made the motion to approve the minutes as presented and was seconded by Glendora Waldrup. The vote was unanimous. OLD BUSINESS I. Board Member's Reports Mr. Daniel said he did not walk either J. A. Carr or Kiddy Carr parks but said there has been lots of activity during the month with walkers at J. A. Carr Park. Mr. Scott said Trailwood Park is in very good condition, the trash had been recently emptied but he did notice a few broken branches. He asked if the fields at Bob Eden Park were still closed? He said the pavilion was in good condition and the park had been recently mowed but the area by the Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 2 June 2,2003 "S-curve" needs some cleaning. Ray McDonald mentioned there would be a re-grand opening sometime after the renovations and trail system has been completed. Mrs. Waldrup said there was lots of activity today at South Euless Park. The pool was open with lots of patrons, the bridge looked good and she said there were no problems at the park. At Heritage Park the grounds were recently mowed, trimmed and the park looks good. The garden is growing, playground equipment looked good and she did notice some graffiti. Mr. Hollinger said Westpark was mowed and looked good. Wilshire Park was clean and had lots of activity around the pond area. Mrs. Byers said Midway Park was very busy and there is now construction along the eastside of the park along N. Main Street due to the street widening. New mulch had been added under the swings at Blessing Branch Park. She said these two parks are very nice and beautiful parks. Mr. Clark said McCormick Park looks great and the playground equipment was in good shape, top of the gazebo is broken and he noticed a broken light fixture. Everything looked good at the Villages of Bear Creek Park. He noticed minor graffiti at the amphitheater, lots of trash in the creek and much activity in this park. Ray McDonald said Johnnie Green is obtaining some quotes for getting the gazebos repaired at J. A. Carr and McCormick parks. Mr. Sawlan said he recently walked the facility at the Parks at Texas Star. He also said there were no soap or paper towels in the rest room by the batting cages and some of the batting cage doors are still accessible and he was able to get inside one of the cages. There was no soap in the rest room at the main concession building and the clock above the building is showing four different times. II. Volunteer of the Month Chairman Owens introduced Doyle Brown as the May Volunteer of the Month and said Doyle has given many hours helping with the Super Series Baseball Tournament as well as the Dixie Major World Series. Doyle was also instrumental in getting ten members of the Trinity High School Rodeo Team to work during Arbor Daze this year. Chairman Owens also introduced the youth group from St. Michael's Catholic Church and St. Michael's Tongan Lakaki Group. The youth group has given many hours to help with the following events: 2002 Christmas Parade of Lights, Arbor Daze Auction, Easter Egg Stuffing Party, Easter Egg Hunt and Arbor Daze. Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 3 June 2,2003 Chris Walley, President of the youth group said the group consists of twenty-five (25) members and he thanked the city for the opportunity that has been given to the kids. They do cultural shows for the community as well as conducting bible study classes. NEW BUSINESS III. Business of the Tree Board Tree Board Chairperson Boyce Byers said the urban forestry staff has been trimming and removing some trees throughout the city in the parks, right-of-ways and one in an alley. They have also been pruning trees along the trails and playground areas in the parks. The water truck has been used to water any trees that are not irrigated as well as watering the tree farm at the Villages of Bear Creek Park weekly. IV. Beautification Award of the Month Chairman Owens presented Barbara Scoggins at 601 S. Mills, with a framed letter of recognition for the June Residential Award. He also presented a framed letter of recognition to Precision Orthodontics at 700 South Main Street for the June Business/Civic/Government Award. Boyce Byers said the property on South Main had been a dance studio for many years and it is now a very beautiful piece of property. V. Parks and Community Services Reports a. Graphic Artist Report-Jeff Towne Graphic Artist Jeff Towne stated he has been with the city for two years and he does most of the marketing material for the department. He does leaner boards for advertising upcoming events, all the signage in the parks, all the directional signage and banners for Arbor Daze. Jeff will also prepare flyers with the necessary logos for coupons and newspaper advertisements. He prepared the Arbor Daze Auction brochure, ads for the Texas Star Golf Course, as well as logos for the Parks at Texas Star T-shirts. He prepared posters for displaying at the Recreation Center and other city offices for the Dixie World Series, Valentine Dance, Easter Egg Hunt and fall musicals. Jeff also designed Euless' 50th Anniversary Ornament which are for sale. Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 4 June 2,2003 Jeff said his summer project is to design a six-fold brochure that would include the parks system, trails system, locations of all the parks and description of amenities in each park. He mentioned that this would be a great marketing tool for new residents and developers doing business in Euless. b. Games of Texas and Summer Recreation Updates— Suzanne Hendrickson Recreation Manager Suzanne Hendrickson distributed a brochure for the 2003 Games of Texas which will be held July 24-27, 2003. The opening ceremonies will be held on Friday, July 25th at 8:00 p.m. at Pennington Stadium in Bedford and all the Board Members will receive an invitation and pass to attend the games. The Board Members will also be invited to the Games of Texas VIP Reception scheduled at 6:30 p.m. at the Pat May Center prior to the opening ceremonies. The Games of Texas will be hosted by the cities of Bedford, Colleyville, Euless, Grapevine, Hurst and North Richland Hills and the events will be scattered throughout the cities. There will be a total of twenty-one (21) venues and Euless will host eight (8) venues which include baseball, bowling, fencing, golf, ice hockey, sand volleyball, soccer and softball (Men's D). Suzanne said the pools opened Memorial Day weekend with lots of kids ready to swim. A new slide was installed at South Euless Pool. Summer Camp started today with a total of 666 kids enrolled throughout the individual weeks for camp. The summer track program has 72 kids enrolled, 149 kids are enrolled for the sports camp, 270 participants have signed up for swimming lessons and there are 1,422 presently enrolled in classes and activities. Suzanne said her and Ray were introduced to all the part time staff and she also mentioned staff is working on lots of new programs and classes for fall. Suzanne also expressed her appreciation and mentioned that Graphic Artist Jeff Towne does a great job with all the marketing he does for the recreation staff. c. Arbor Daze Update—Gary Yakesch Community Services Finance Manager Gary Yakesch distributed a handout showing the revenue and expenses for Arbor Daze 2003. He said we made $120,000 more than last year but after expenses were paid we netted $57,000 and this goes into the fund for any unexpected catastrophic problems during Arbor Daze 2004. Ray McDonald said we had a three-year contract with the current carnival owner but that has now expired as of Arbor Daze 2003 and we can negotiate with the carnival for next year. Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 5 June 2, 2003 d. Community Services Report—Ray McDonald Director of Parks and Community Services Ray McDonald congratulated all the Beautification Award winners and appreciates all their work and efforts in beautifying our community. Our Community Relations/Special Events Supervisor Deitre Burns resigned and moved the end of May due to her husband being accepted to medical school in College Station. Ray and Suzanne will start working on a replacement for Deitre but in the mean time Volunteer Coordinator Jerry Poteet will help out until a replacement is found. Ray congratulated Suzanne and her staff for doing a great job with getting all the part time people ready for the summer season. Ray also congratulated Graphic Artist Jeff Towne for all his creativity and ideas and said we are very lucky to have him working in our department. Ray said the parks department staff has been working in the courtyard area at city hall and has been repairing irrigation and will be laying new turf due to the poor condition of the turf that was there and also due to the remodeling of Building "A". Ray thanked Gary Yakesch for his Arbor Daze report. Carroll Scott inquired if lights will be installed along Mid-Cities Boulevard? Ray said lights will be installed at the new entrance to Bob Eden Park but he is not sure how far down lights will be placed along Mid-Cities Boulevard but said he would inquire with Public Works and then contact him with an answer. Stacey Hollinger said he would like to see Bob Eden Park go back to Euless residents instead of being used for soccer purposes. e. Other Staff Reports There were no other staff reports. VI. Other New Business Chairman Owens reminded the Board Members that there would be no meeting in July. Ray McDonald mentioned that July is "National Recreation and Parks Month". Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 6 June 2,2003 VII. Input from City Council Members and Visitors Alex Horton said he and many of the local citizens are excited about the new (bike) trail system project and hopefully construction will start in July. He hopes the Park Board Members will promote the trail system and suggested that maybe the Board Members would do a groundbreaking picture of the trail system when construction starts. ADJOURNMENT Chairman Owens gave the benediction. Being no further business to conduct, the meeting was adjourned at 8:25 p.m. ‘01(f24.-- Chairman Attest