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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2002-08-05 REGULAR MEETING PARKS AND LEISURE SERVICES BOARD AUGUST 5, 2002 CALL TO ORDER The regular meeting of the Parks and Leisure Services Board was called to order at 7:10 p.m. on Monday, August 5, 2002, in the Large Conference Room at the new Parks Facility Building at The Parks at Texas Star located at 1997-C South Pipeline Road by Chairman Eric Owens. Other Board Members present: Carl Miller, Boyce Byers, Stacey Hollinger, Glendora Waldrup and alternates Carroll "Scotty" Scott and Mike Daniel. Board Member Bruce Ebert was absent. Staff members present: Assistant Director of Community Services Ray McDonald, Parks Superintendent Johnnie Green, Recreation Manager Suzanne Hendrickson, Jimmy Beck, Tim Rolen and Administrative Secretary Linda Lux. Visitors present: Chris Green, Paul Hickey, Elaine Green and Mrs. Pete Allen. INVOCATION Boyce Byers gave the invocation. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Chairman Owens asked if there were any additions or corrections to the minutes from the June 3, 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 Wilshire Park looks very good and was well maintained. Wilshire Park also looks very nice with the new sod and he feels this park with the new trail system will be one of the nicest parks in the city. Mrs. Waldrup said she drove through Bob Eden Park and it was in good shape. She said Trailwood Park was mowed and very neat. She noticed the water fountain was stopped-up and also the man- made drainage ditch in the Trailwood area has stagnant water and she feels this is a mosquito breeding area. Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 2 August 5, 2002 Mrs. Byers said South Euless Park looked great and had lots of kids in the pool. She said part of the fence was down again at Heritage Park, the corn is now dying in the garden and everything looks good at that park. Mr. Daniel said he and his wife are now walking and they walk through McCormick Park. He said there are many people using the Villages of Bear Creek Park and this park and trail is in good shape. Mr. Scott said the Special Events during July included the weeklong birthday celebration at the Library and he also attended the Dixie World Series opening ceremony this past Friday night on August 2nd. He said both events were well attended. Mr. Hollinger said he had no report this evening. Chairman Owens said he attended the Dixie opening ceremony and it was a great success. The tournament will run through Thursday and said the fields looked good at The Parks at Texas Star. II. Volunteer of the Month Chairman Owens introduced Chris Green and presented her with a framed award for the July 2002 Volunteer of the Month. He said Ms. Green who is with the Home Depot Expo was the sponsor for the Celebrity Chiefs Cooking Theater during Arbor Daze 2002. Ms. Green was instrumental in obtaining items which were donated (grills, products, tools and miscellaneous merchandise) for the cooking demonstrations. Ms. Green said she is very honored and looks forward to being involved in Arbor Daze again next year. Chairman Owens introduced Paul Hickey and presented him with a framed award for the August 2002 Volunteer of the Month. He said Mr. Hickey has given many volunteer hours this year for the Heritage Park Christmas Celebration, New Year's Eve, Arbor Daze and the Super Series National Baseball Tournament. NEW BUSINESS III. Business of the Tree Board Tree Board Vice-Chairman Carl Miller stated during the month of June the Parks Department made tree trunk protectors out of flex drainpipe which was a cost saving to the city and said the protectors would be installed around all the trees in the next few months. Mr. Miller said during the month of Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 3 August 5,2002 July the Parks Department sprayed for bagworms that had infested many of the bald cypress trees by using an insecticide. He said the trees are now looking much better. IV. Beautification Award of the Month Chairman Owens presented Super Value Pharmacy with a framed letter of recognition as the Business/Civic/Governmental Beautification Award for July 2002. Mrs. Pete Allen was present and thanked the Board Members for the award and said they are very honored to receive this award. Mrs. Byers mentioned the Beautification Committee does try and select from different areas in order that the whole community is recognized and not just one certain area of town. The other three recipients were not present for the meeting. V. Parks at Texas Star Development Committee Update Chairman Owens said the committee toured athletic parks in Hurst, Southlake and Coppell on June 8`h. He said the facilities toured were also designed by Schrickel, Rollins and Associates and they are hoping to help develop Phase III of the Parks at Texas Star. Mr. Daniel stated that all the concepts that were seen were very good and said he was really impressed with the outdoor roller park in Southlake. Chairman Owens commented that we need more ball fields and soccer fields and hopes to continue the "Walk of Champions" at the athletic complex. Mr. McDonald mentioned that the Dixie officials want Euless to host the 2005 tournament for the 13 and 14 year olds and if we did then we would need the future expansion. VI. "The Preserve at McCormick Park" Grant Update Mr. McDonald said that he and Rick Herold both drove to Austin on Wednesday, July 31St to hand deliver the park grant to the Texas Parks and Wildlife office. He said while they were there they visited with Elaine Dill who oversees the grant applications and she seemed to think that our application was in order and we should fare well on the scoring. Ms. Dill said she was very appreciative of Hoover/Klein and in how thorough their grant applications are presented. Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 4 August 5, 2002 Chairman Owens said he appreciated all the help that the Board gave on working on the Master Plan and he feels the preserve would be a great entity to our complex VII. Parks and Community Services Reports a. Summer Events and Upcoming Activities—Suzanne Hendrickson Recreation Manager Suzanne Hendrickson said we hosted the Celebrity Baseball event in June and it was a great success and they are considering doing this possibly again next year. There were also a couple of state tournaments as well as the National Super Series the first week of July. Ms. Hendrickson said the economic impact in June was very large to the city from all the events held. She also said the summer musical was again a great success and there were many in attendance. Also Anicia Brown has resigned to open her own performing arts theater here in Euless and she hopes to work with our department to do the musical next year. Ms. Hendrickson said we have also applied for a grant through the Arts Council and hopes to hear something before the next Board meeting. The pools have been very busy and all pools will be closing on Sunday, August 18th except Midway pool will stay open through Labor Day. There have been numerous rentals of facilities and many athletic programs that include men's church teams, ladies basketball and the summer track team. The Games of Texas 2003 and 2004 will be held in Bedford, Colleyville, Euless, Grapevine, Hurst, and North Richland Hills. The CPT (Collegiate Players Tour) will start on August 11 and continue through August 15th at the Texas Star Golf Course. The Taste of Northeast will be held at the Dr Pepper StarCenter on Thursday, August 15th. b. Parks Update—Johnnie Green Parks Superintendent Johnnie Green said the water usage is down this year compared to last year due to all the rain in the early spring. More trash has been generated this year due to all the extra events being scheduled compared to last year. Mr. Green said all the ball fields have been used excessively and they really need a good rest before the fall leagues begin. He also briefed the Board on the sod that was recently put in at Wilshire Pond and said the area is now very nice and Wilshire Pond would probably be the best looking park area by next year. c. Community Services Report—Ray McDonald Assistant Director Ray McDonald invited everyone to the Dixie Championship game scheduled for Thursday at 6:00 p.m. at the Parks at Texas Star. He also mentioned there would be a CPT reception on Sunday, August l lt'with a dinner for the players at the Texas Star Conference Centre. Mr. McDonald said Euless received two 2002 marketing awards from TFEA (Texas Festivals & Events Association) for Arbor Daze for the Best Environmental and Best Education for large Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 5 August 5, 2002 festivals. Softball World employee Larry Cook was chosen as the August Employee of the Month. Also the small playground at Lakewood Elementary (corner of Ash and Lakewood) will be released back to the school district and the equipment will be removed as soon as the school district is notified and the city will no longer maintain that piece of property located on the school ground. VIII. Other New Business Chairman Owens said there was no other new business for discussion. IX. Input from City Council Members and Visitors There was no input from the audience. ADJOURNMENT Chairman Owens gave the benediction. There being no further business to conduct,the meeting was adjourned at 8:30 p.m. Attest hairman