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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2000-10-02 REGULAR MEETING PARKS AND LEISURE SERVICES BOARD October 2, 2000 CALL TO ORDER The regular meeting of the Parks and Leisure Services Board was called to order at 7:01 p.m. on Monday, October 2, 2000, in the Council Chambers of the Euless Municipal Building by Chairman Eric Owens. Other Board Members present were: Stacey Hollinger, Carl Miller, Glendora Waldrup and alternates Carroll "Scotty" Scott and Mike Daniel. Board Members absent were: Boyce Byers and Bruce Ebert. Staff members present were: Director of Community Services Rick Herold, Parks Superintendent Johnnie Green, Superintendent of Recreation Suzanne Hendrickson, Special Events/Projects Manager Ray McDonald, Special Events Coordinator Glenda Hartsell, Graphics Artist Johnny Rodriguez, Volunteer Coordinator Jerry Poteet and Administrative Secretary Linda Lux. Visitors present were: Mayor Pro Tem Leon Hogg, Council Member Veva Lou Massey and Brian Klein with Hoover/Klein Group. INVOCATION The invocation was given by Mike Daniel. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Chairman Owens asked if there were any additions or corrections to the minutes from the September 7, 2000 regular meeting. There being no changes 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 stated he had no report this evening for the Athletic Complex but did mention his neighbors said the tee-ball fields were in great shape. Mr. Scott said at Trailwood Park there was some graffiti and the swings had not been installed as of his last visit to the park. At Bob Eden Park there were some missing benches and the table in the pavilion area was missing a bolt. Mr. Green said the swings at Trailwood Park would be installed by the end of the month. Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 2 October 2, 2000 Mr. Hollinger said Midway Park is in good shape and he has no report for Blessing Branch. He thanked Johnnie Green and his staff for putting up the fence at the Parks at Texas Star. Mrs. Waldrup said the gazebo, xeriscape area and rose garden looked good as well as the playground. She said the new bridge which crosses the creek at Kiddy Carr Park looked great and said there were guard rails and posts which had also been installed. Mr. Miller said both McCormick and Villages of Bear Creek parks were both well maintained. He also has noticed many dead trees in all our parks and said this is a big issue of concern with him and asked if something could be done to remedy the problem. Mr. Green stated he has four pages of dead trees throughout the city which need to be removed and the dead trees have been marked for removal in the coming months. Chairman Owens stated the fall concert series have begun. Mr. Miller said South Euless Park looked very good. He further stated the large dead tree had been removed and he had also noticed a large hole torn in the net on the tennis court. Chairman Owens said Mrs. Byers had called her report in and is as follows: Wilshire Park looked good with no activity recently and Westpark looked great with lots of work being done and the new fencing was also being installed. II. Volunteer of the Month Chairman Owens stated the Volunteer of the Month for October was not able to attend tonight. NEW BUSINESS III. Business of the Tree Board Tree Board Vice-Chairman Miller said six trees were planted at the Dr. Pepper StarsCenter to replace the ones that had died. He also mentioned Horticulturist Jimmy Beck and Arborist Ralph Klein had attended the recent Texas Tree Conference in Waco the end of September. Mr. Green also mentioned the staff had started spreading rye seed on all the athletic fields. Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 3 October 2, 2000 IV. Parks Master Plan—Hoover/Klein Group Brian Klein with Hoover/Klein Group was present to update the Board on the progress of the future Parks Master Plan. He mentioned another survey should be mailed out to the citizens within the next 30 to 60 days in order to complete the plan. Mr. Klein also advised the Board that the proposed CARA (Conservation and Reinvestment Act) legislation should hopefully be passed by the state legislature within the near future, which would help with the state grant process. If passed, this act would possibly change how the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department will review submitted park grant applications with grants being due thirty days before January 1st and July 1St of each year. V. Parks and Community Services Reports (1.) Announcement of Award for Suzanne Hendrickson Mr. Herold announced that Superintendent of Recreation Suzanne Hendrickson received the "Young Professional of the Year" award at the recent TAAF Conference (Texas Amateur Athletic Federation). He said TAAF governs all sports in Texas (i.e. baseball, swimming &etc). Ms. Hendrickson said Euless also received the "Gold Medal Award" for the most teams being registered with a city. She also has been involved in TAAF since 1990 as well as being an officer on the education and legislative committees. She advised the Board that TAAF is 75 years old and the oldest organization in Texas. (2.) Ray McDonald, Special Events & Projects Manager and Staff Special Events & Projects Manager Ray McDonald said he has been employed for seven years and his department does all the special projects and events during the year. He previously was the Manager at the Parks at Texas Star Athletic Complex but now he is over all special events. He said his department is called "Community Presence" since they are hoping to get more of the community involved in the special events which are held throughout the year (i.e. concert series, Dixie World Series, Arbor Daze, summer musical& etc). Volunteer Coordinator Jerry Poteet said he has been employed for eight years and recently started this position for which he tries to obtain volunteers for the needed events. He had 10 volunteers for the summer musical "West Side Story", 41 volunteers and 30 teen court kids for the Dixie World Series and he is currently working on volunteers for the concert series, Halloween event and the Parade of Lights. Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 4 October 2, 2000 Special Events Coordinator Glenda Hartsell said she is working to come up with new ideas and events as well as coordinating events with the recreation department. She will continue to do the members functions for the Texas Star Members. Ms. Hartsell said she is presently working on the Christmas Parade of Lights, tree lighting and necessary entertainment for this event. She is also trying to coordinate a tour of the Fuller House and log cabin with the Chilin' with Santa& Rudolph dinner at Heritage Park in order for more citizens to see the new log cabin. Graphic Artist Johnny Rodriguez said he is the man behind the scenes and he does all the artwork for the city. He has been employed for four years. He has painted all the outfield fences at the Parks at Texas Star Athletic Complex, does all the golf tournament banners and all signage at the city parks. He has also done the artwork for Arbor Daze each year and he is also developing a marketing logo for the new Dr. Pepper StarsCenter. (3.) Johnnie Green, Superintendent of Parks Parks Superintendent Johnnie Green stated his department has been very active in the parks for the last month with over seeding the athletic fields and upgrading the picnic area at Wilshire Park. The contractor is completing the new fencing at Westpark and the ball fields are being upgraded. At South Euless Park the basketball court has been completed. Irrigation is also being installed along Trojan Trail by the Police Department and along the medians on Raider Drive. (4.) Other Parks and Community Services Staff Reports Director of Community Services said we are now in the new budget year and thanked the Park Board for all their support this past year. He also thanked Mayor Pro Tern Leon Hogg and Council Member Veva Lou Massey and City Council for their support during the recent budget process. Mr. Herold said the Parks and Community Services departments are very excited about the new parks department building which will be built by the golf course maintenance barn at Texas Star. Also the recreation department will move to the building next to facility maintenance on Royal Parkway once the building is renovated about May or June 2001. Mr. Herold said the first year for the irrigation project was funded as well as the budget for the senior citizens budget requests. He also mentioned the rentals are at an all time high, Midway Recreation Center is overflowing with users, soccer season has started and there was a large turnout for the American Heart Walk. Mr. Herold reminded the Board of the City Council meeting on December 12`h at 4:00 p.m. to hear Dr. John Crompton with Texas A&M speak on the impact recreation has on out community. He also mentioned the surveys again would be going out within the next two weeks regarding the Parks Master Plan. Chairman Owens thanked all the staff for being here tonight and for their hard work that is being done for the departments. Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 5 October 2, 2000 VI. Other New Business Chairman Owens reminded the Board of the Work Session scheduled for Monday, October 16th at 6:00 p.m. in the large conference room in Building "A" to discuss contractual needs for the local athletic associations. VII. Input from City Council Members and Visitors Council Member Veva Lou Massey thanked everyone for all their hard work. Mayor Pro Tern Leon Hogg congratulated Suzanne Hendrickson on her recent award from the TAAF (Texas Amateur Athletic Federation) Conference. He said he attended the recent South Euless Open House on September 30th and there was a large attendance. He also said the construction of the Police Department in coming along, Burger King has purchased the land on the southwest corner of South Main and West Euless Boulevard and Verna's Café will be relocating to the property which was formerly TC's Diner. ADJOURNMENT Chairman Owens gave the benediction. There being no further business to conduct,the meeting was adjourned at 8:08 p.m. Chairman Attest dr