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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2002-11-04 REGULAR MEETING PARKS AND LEISURE SERVICES BOARD NOVEMBER 4,2002 CALL TO ORDER The regular meeting of the Parks and Leisure Services Board was called to order at 7:02 p.m. on Monday, November 4, 2002, in the Council Chambers of the Euless Municipal Building by Chairman Eric Owens. Other Board Members present: Boyce Byers, Carl Miller, Glendora Waldrup and Stacey Hollinger. Board Members absent are: Bruce Ebert and alternates Mike Daniel and Carroll "Scotty" Scott. Staff members present: Assistant Director Ray McDonald, Parks Superintendent Johnnie Green and Administrative Secretary Linda Lux. Visitors present: Julie Callahan, Billy Owens, Kevin Smith, Doug McGrady and Misty Dvoracek. INVOCATION Stacey Hollinger gave the invocation. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Chairman Owens asked if there were any additions or corrections to the minutes from the October 7, 2002 regular meeting. There being no changes Boyce Byers 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. Miller said both Westpark and Wilshire parks looked very nice. He also said the pond is looking very nice at Wilshire Park and inquired as to how often the pond is stocked with fish. Mr. Green said the pond has been stocked twice and the fish are fed once a week by his department staff. Mr. Miller also asked if the clocks at the Parks at Texas Star were working? Mr. Green said the motors had arrived and the clocks are now working. Mrs. Waldrup said both Bob Eden and Trailwood parks looked nice and both had recently been mowed. Mr. Hollinger said both J. A. Carr and Kiddy Carr parks looked nice and were recently mowed and manicured. Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 2 November 4, 2002 Mrs. Byers said both Heritage and South Euless parks looked fine. Chairman Owens said Midway Park has had lots of activity with fall ball but the fields should look good for spring. He said the Parks at Texas Star looks good as always. Mrs. Byers said the Special Event last month was the Halloween Thing at City Hall. There were many in attendance and the kids and parents had a great time with all the activities. She mentioned the IceFest will be November 30th, Parade of Lights is scheduled for December 7`h, Heritage Park Celebration will be December 14th and the children's New Year's Eve concert December 30. II. Volunteer of the Month Chairman Owens introduced Julie Callahan as the November 2002 Volunteer of the Month and presented her with a plaque for her volunteer service. Julie helped with both Halloween events (2001 and 2002), 2002 Texas Trash Off as well as the 2002 Arbor Daze festival. NEW BUSINESS III. Business of the Tree Board Tree Board Vice-Chairman Miller said there was only one tree planted (Crepe Myrtle) during October and it was to replace a Bradford Pear tree that had died last summer. He also mentioned Jimmy Beck had attended the Texas Tree Conference in Waco during the month of October. Jimmy and his staff have started gathering acorns for growing trees for Arbor Daze and suggested using the old greenhouse for this purpose. IV. Athletic Associations a. EGSA (Euless Girls Softball Association) Chairman Owens stated EGSA would not be present tonight but would bring their reports to Ray and Suzanne this week. Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 3 November 4, 2002 b. BESA (Bedford Euless Soccer Association) Doug McGrady, BESA president, thanked Ray, Suzanne and Johnnie for all they do for the association. He distributed a handout with a listing of officers, field needs and dates of field play. He said the fall season started in September and ends November 16t. He stated BESA requires background checks that are done by the North Texas State Soccer Association. Background checks are required for any person helping with BESA and the State Soccer Association also does all training sessions for BESA. Doug also said they are requesting as many lighted multi-purpose soccer fields with no permanent bleachers for their use and he does feel that soccer is a growing sport. Chairman Owens commented that BESA has been a good partner with Euless and they have been willing to help whenever possible. Mr. McDonald mentioned he saw Mr. Van Riet recently and asked if he had given permission to other organizations and/or cities to use his property as soccer fields. Mr. Van Riet told Ray that Euless is the only one who has permission to use his property and he has had a long-standing agreement with Euless and their athletic associations for using his property. Chairman Owens stated he wants all athletic associations to go through Ray McDonald and his staff for any field usage requests. He thanked Mr. McGrady for representing BESA tonight and his information on field requests. c. EAA (Euless Athletic Association) Kevin Smith, First Vice Commissioner with EAA, distributed to the Board Members a copy of information containing budgets, current officers, registration numbers and their dates of play. Kevin mentioned his major concerns are lights for t-ball fields and not enough meeting space for all the associations during registrations. Kevin said EAA also does background checks using NYCA (National Youth Coaches Association). Kevin said he appreciates all the work that Ray and his staff do to help with the associations. Chairman Owens said he appreciated all the information that was given the Board Members tonight and thanked Kevin for being here tonight. Ray McDonald said all the associations are great partners and also great to work with. Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 4 November 4, 2002 V. Parks at Texas Star Development Committee Update Chairman Owens stated the last committee meeting was held on October 11th and the committee saw three conceptual plans. They also received rough cost estimates of the three plans. A new proposed ball field will be incorporated into the park on the north side between the T-ball field and the Dr Pepper StarCenter facility. The proposed Dr Pepper field will be in conjunction with the Rangers at the Ball Park and will keep the same look and amenities as the present park. Chairman Owens mentioned that Chick-F-La will be partnering with The Parks at Texas Star and the concession area has already started selling some of their products during games. The needs at the complex are for more T-ball fields, parking and soccer fields. The proposed concepts will include T-ball fields at the north end of the complex (keeping all T-ball fields together) and another multi- purpose lighted soccer field on the eastside. They are looking at the parking situation and will see if possibly additional parking could be incorporated on the south side of the complex. Chairman Owens said the goal of the Master Plan is to centralize all activities to The Parks at Texas Star and then turn all the remaining parks back to practice fields for the local neighborhoods. Ray McDonald said once a conceptual plan is decided upon the process would be about six months. Also the plan will depend on the 2003 Games of Texas needs. He said in order to build another T- ball field on the north side of the complex, the sand volleyball court would have to be moved to another more highly visible area of the city. Mr. Miller inquired as to the parking situation. Ray said the cost for a parking space is around $2800 and we will need to study the plan some more to see if maybe we can possibly do some of the work in-house. Chairman Owens said he hopes to try and get more information on costs and a final plan and then recommend to the City Council in January 2003. VI. Parks and Community Services Reports a. Park Project Update—Johnnie Green Parks Superintendent Johnnie Green said his department recently planted rye grass and the grass is getting very thick. All the median flowerbeds have been changed to winter plantings. His staff has been doing grade and landscape work at the new Fire Administration facility (Bldg. "D"). Johnnie said Wilshire Pool is now in ADA compliance and there is a new port-o-let enclosure at Carr Park. The clocks are now working at The Parks at Texas Star and his staff also replaced fence slats throughout the park area. Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 5 November 4, 2002 Mr. Miller complimented Johnnie and his staff and said they have been very helpful and accommodating whenever South Euless Elementary has needed their help. b. Community Services Reports—Ray McDonald Assistant Director of Parks and Community Services Ray McDonald reminded everyone of the upcoming holiday events. The events will consist of IceFest 2002 (November 30th) at the Dr Pepper StarCenter, Parade of Lights (December 7th), Heritage Park Celebration and Euless' 50th Anniversary Kick-off(December 14th) and the Kids New Year's Eve show with Trout Fishing in America(December 31st) at Texas Star. Mr. McDonald also thanked the Board Members for attending the recent Volunteer's Appreciation Dinner and said Jerry Poteet did a great job and Jerry appreciated and thanked all the Board Members for attending. He also said his staff has been interviewing applicants for the Recreation Programmer and Special Events positions and hope to have these positions filled by the end of the month. Mr. McDonald further mentioned there was a recent tour of The Preserve at McCormick Park by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and they were very impressed with the proposed park as well as all the other city parks. He also mentioned our department has a good working relationship with all the athletic associations and thanked them for being present tonight. VII. Other New Business Chairman Owens reminded the Board Members of the Christmas Dinner in December and said the next meeting and dinner would be held at the Parks Department building. VIII. Input from City Council Members and Visitors Billy Owens thanked the staff for letting AARP sponsor a booth at the recent Halloween event. Chairman Owens reminded the Board Members of the Boards and Commission Dinner scheduled for Monday,November 11th at 6:30 p.m. at the Texas Star Conference Centre. Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 6 November 4, 2002 ADJOURNMENT Chairman Owens gave the benediction. There being no further business to conduct,the meeting was adjourned at 8:50 p.m. Chairman Attest