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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2003-05-05 REGULAR MEETING PARKS AND LEISURE SERVICES BOARD MAY 5, 2003 CALL TO ORDER The regular meeting of the Parks and Leisure Services Board was called to order at 7:00 p.m. on Monday, May 5, 2003, in the Council Chambers of the Euless Municipal Building by Vice Chairman Glendora Waldrup. Other Board Members present: Boyce Byers, Mike Daniel (arrived at 7:08), Stacey Hollinger, Chairman Eric Owens (arrived at 7:30) 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, Parks Superintendent Johnnie Green, Public Works Manager Chris Barker and Administrative Secretary Linda Lux. Visitors present: Dave Robinson (Principal of Euless Junior High), Mary Ann Berthiaume, Terry Cheek(Schrickel, Rollins & Associates) and Pack 371 Wolf Den I Boy Scouts. INVOCATION Glendora Waldrup gave the invocation. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Pack 371 Wolf Den I Boy Scouts led the pledge of allegiance. Vice Chairman Waldrup thanked the Boy Scouts for their presentation tonight. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Vice Chairman Waldrup asked if there were any additions or corrections to the minutes from the April 7, 2003 regular meeting. Boyce Byers made the motion to approve the minutes as presented and was seconded by Carroll Scott. The vote was unanimous. Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 2 May 5, 2003 OLD BUSINESS I. Board Member's Reports Mr. Scott mentioned at Bob Eden Park all the fields had recently been mowed but there is an area at the rear of the park that needs mowing. Everything looked clean, the net on the tennis court was torn and the trash had not been emptied. At Trailwood Park a bolt was still missing on some playground equipment and there is a pile of limbs behind Harold Samuels home. He also noted a cracked light globe and some lights were out in the park. Mrs. Waldrup said South Euless Park looked fine, the playground had new chips and she noticed an area at the rear of the park that needs to be cleared. She said the parking lot at Heritage Park was being re-surfaced today when she toured the park. The flowerbed in the front of the Ruth Millican Center needed weeding. Mr. Hollinger said Westpark looked nice but a table had been moved over towards the creek area. At Wilshire Park the water fountain was not working but the park looked good. Mrs. Byers said Midway Park was being mowed today and the park was busy. She also noticed a tree by Milam and Midway that looks bad and needs looking at. At Blessing Branch Park it was nice and a very quiet place to walk in. Mr. Clark said McCormick Park was well groomed and no one was in the park and said this park is not used very much except for the surrounding homeowners. There was a light pole that was overgrown by trees; some rusting on the iron fencing and it looks as though lighting had damaged a tree possibly. Villages of Bear Creek Park is a well-utilized park and the parking lot is always full. He noticed some growth along the bridge, a drinking fountain was stopped up and also noticed some poison ivy/oak along the trail. He said three tables were located on the northwest side of the park but there were no trash receptacles in that area and suggested that maybe one could be moved to this area of the park. Mr. Sawlan said the Parks at Texas Star athletic complex was being mowed today and the baseball fields looked first class. The pavilion was clean, volleyball court was in good condition but he noticed the clock tower had not been reset since the time change. Mr. Daniel said J. A. Carr Park is well utilized and has heavy use daily. At Kiddy Carr Park he noticed the lid was missing form a ground utility box and the creek bed is still in bad shape. Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 3 May 5, 2003 Mr. Hollinger inquired as to the status of the creek at Villages of Bear Creek Park. Johnnie Green said he contacted Public Works and they did a water sample of the creek to see why the fish have died and they will contact him when they have the results back. II. Business of the Tree Board Tree Board Chairperson Boyce Byers said that Arbor Daze was a great success and 10,000 free trees were distributed to the patrons of Arbor Daze. The free trees included Red Oaks, Live Oaks and Pecans. The children really enjoyed potting a tree of their own at the Forestry Village. The Parks Plant Sale at Arbor Daze was slow on Friday but business picked up on Saturday and Sunday. NEW BUSINESS III. Beautification Award of the Month Vice Chairman Waldrup presented Mary Ann Berthiaume of 903 Chestnut Oaks, with a framed letter of recognition for the May Residential Award. She also presented a framed letter of recognition to Dave Robinson, Principal of Euless Junior High at 306 Airport Freeway for the May Business/Civic/Government Award. IV. Parks and Community Services Reports a. Community Services Report—Ray McDonald Director of Parks and Community Services Ray McDonald said that Arbor Daze 2003 was a tremendous success with about 250,000 people in attendance and we had the best coupon sales ever. He said there were many departments involved this year and he appreciated all that they did to make it the best festival ever. Ray said he wanted to personally thank Johnnie Green and Suzanne Hendrickson for all the hard work and leadership during the festival and said that all the staff worked together this year better than ever before. He further thanked the Park Board and City Council for all their support with Arbor Daze and also thanked the Board Members for volunteering during the festival. Ray stated that the Hero's Celebrity Baseball Tournament scheduled for August has been canceled and the tournament will be held at the new facility in Frisco. Staff is also gearing up for the Games of Texas that will be held in July and the press conference is scheduled for this Thursday, May 8t. The Board Members will receive an invitation Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 4 May 5, 2003 to the ceremony in July. Chairman Owens congratulated Ray on being promoted to Director of Parks and Community Services. Ray said Mr. Hennig made the announcement on Friday. b. Other Staff Reports Parks Superintendent Johnnie Green said his department has been busy with Arbor Daze cleanup of the site. He mentioned the water truck usage is up from last year due to not receiving any rain this spring and said all the ball fields are mowed and fertilized by his staff. His department has also installed irrigation at the city hall complex around Building "D". V. Approve the Design Concept for the Parks at Texas Star—Phase III Terry Cheek with Schrickel, Rollins and Associates said he has had many meetings with the committee and they have looked at numerous other city facilities in order to get an idea of what will go into the next design phase. Proposed for Phase III will be a new ball field, soccer field and two t-ball fields. The proposed new ball field will have a new entrance that will face north toward South Pipeline Road and will be used by the 12 and younger age groups and will also have an elevated covered bleacher area. The two t-ball fields will also have a covered bleacher area and can also be used for t-ball or coach pitch with an 8' to 10' fence. There is a championship soccer field proposed on the eastside of the ball field that can also be used as three smaller fields when necessary. At the present time the design concept does not include lighting except around the baseball field. The proposed conceptual design plan will cost about $1.46 million. Mr. McDonald stated that if the Park Board approves the design tonight then this item would go to the City Council for their approval at the next meeting scheduled for May 13th. Ray thanked Terry Cheek for his help and vision with this project. Stacey Hollinger ask Ray if he would check with Athletic Supervisor Chris Thames on the field dimensions for possibly hosting future coach pitch tournaments on the new proposed t-ball fields. Chairman Owens asked for a motion to approve the design concept. Stacey Hollinger made the motion to approve the conceptual design plan for the Parks at Texas Star and recommend to the City Council. Mike Daniel seconded the motion and the vote was unanimous. Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 5 May 5, 2003 VI. Trails of Euless Presentation Public Works Manager Chris Barker distributed a handout of the Trails of Euless to the Board Members. He said this is also a Schrickel, Rollins and Associates project and is also referred to as the ISTEA Trail by TxDOT (Texas Department of Transportation). He said the project will begin at Bob Eden Park and extend 1.2 miles east to McCormick Park and has been approved by TxDOT but is awaiting its final letting day of May 7`b. The parking lot at Bob Eden Park will be increased from 81 spaces to 168 parking spaces and also additional lighting will be added in the parking lot. This part of the project will be done "in-house". The estimated cost of the trail project is $665,000 and there will also be areas of renovation to meet ADA/TDLR requirements. He said after the letting of the project in May that construction should begin in June or July and should be completed in the fall/winter of this year. Chris said a new entrance marker would be constructed on Mid- Cities Blvd. The trail will run by the tennis court, past the ball fields, and then run along Mid- Cities Blvd. and then down under North Main Street and connect to McCormick Park. A bridge will be constructed where the trail crosses Bear Creek near the existing ball field. Carroll Scott and Dan Clark were both concerned about the safety issues of running the trail under a dark bridge and suggested that some lighting be installed for the safety of those using the trail. Chris said the issue of lighting and safety will be incorporated into the project since he expects a high usage of this trail system. Mr. McDonald thanked Chris for his presentation tonight and ask that he be notified once TxDOT has approved the project for letting later this week. VII. Other New Business Chairman Owens thanked Glendora Waldrup for starting and conducting the meeting this evening. He also said the July meeting would be canceled due to the Fourth of July holiday VIII. Input from City Council Members and Visitors There was no input from the audience. Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 6 May 5, 2003 ADJOURNMENT Chairman Owens gave the benediction. Being no further business to conduct, the meeting was adjourned at 9:00 p.m. — D!:L- ---' , ,/ / ' 70•alliMill. Chairman Attest