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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1999-02-01 REGULAR MEETING / / OLE PARKS AND LEISURE SERVICES BOARD _ February 1, 1999 CALL TO ORDER The regular meeting of the Parks and Leisure Services Board was called to order at 7:00 p.m. on Monday, February 1, 1999, in the Council Chambers of the Euless Municipal Building by Chairman Eric Owens. Other Board Members present were: Bruce Ebert, Glendora Waldrup, Carl Miller, Boyce Byers, Stacey Hollinger and alternate Mike Daniel. Members absent were alternate Thomas Jenkins. Staff members present were: Director of Community Services Rick Herold, Parks Superintendent Johnnie Green, Leisure Services Manager Julia Wakeley and Administrative Secretary Diana Ryan. Visitors present were: Council Member Leon Hogg and Casey Ryan. INVOCATION The invocation was given by Boyce Byers. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Chairman Owens asked if there were any additions or corrections to the minutes from the January 4, 1999 regular meeting. There being no changes Carl Miller made the motion to approve the minutes as written and was seconded by Glendora Waldrup. The vote was unanimous. OLD BUSINESS I. Board Members' Reports Mr. Miller said his parks are Ruth Millican and South Euless. Ruth Millican is excellent and has had very high usage and cars are parked every place. South Euless the construction is going great, putting up the new fence around the tennis courts,they have dug the trenches for electricity for the tennis courts and the new basketball court. They have put in a new retaining wall in to hold the sand in around the playground. Said everything is looking good and he can't wait until its done. There will be a lighted tennis court and lighted basketball court, new playground and possibly a new jogging/walking trail. Mrs. Waldrup stated she has Special Events. On the calendar she had received showed the seniors had a dance on January 30th with 97 seniors attending. There will be another dance in Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 2 February 1, 1999 February and lots of other activities for the seniors. Arbor Daze is just around the corner in April. She said she recently spoke with Golf Pro Duff Cunningham and he stated there was lots of activity at the golf course. They were staying very busy and there's been many improvements made to the course. Mr. Daniel said his parks are Midway and Blessing Branch. He finally found Blessing Branch and there was no activity but there had been lots of activity at Midway Park with the recent Christmas Tree recycling program. Mrs. Byers said her two parks are McCormick and Villages of Bear Creek. She said both parks looked good and there was lots of activity at Villages of Bear Creek over the weekend. Mr. Ebert stated his two parks are J. A. Carr and Kiddy Can parks. He stated Kiddy Can Park is difficult to locate and there is a lack of recreational facilities at this park. There is a path which goes from Kiddy Can Park over to J.A. Can Park with a stream running along the way. There seemed to be trash and other debris which had been thrown back in this area along the stream bed. J.A. Can Park is an very attractive park which had been neatly trimmed and mowed. The gazebo has some rotting wood. Jogging trail sign needs to be refurbished and the lamp posts were either bent or had broken globes. He spotted some trash around the picnic tables probably from recent groups which had been using the facility. This park has a very nice playground area and looked very good. He suggested that the road leading into the park might be repaved or resurfaced in the near future. He also noted that J.A. Can Park(Simmons Center) has a lot of activity with the senior citizens. Mr. Owens stated his parks are Westpark and Wilshire Park. At Westpark the new roadway is very impressive and the fields are in good condition considering the time of year and the recent road construction. He went by Wilshire and the surrounding area is still under construction and he said staff could update the Board on the status of this park. Mr. Owens said he knew Mr. Jenkins would be absent tonight so he went by Bob Eden and Trailwood parks. Both parks were in good condition. He did notice a rock corner post by the Bob Eden Memorial which was broken. Trailwood park had lots of neighborhood activity. He participated in the Christmas Tree Recycling which was held on January 9th and said there was lots of mulch for the local residents. He also attended the Lakewood Town Hall meeting and there was a great turnout of residents from this area. He further stated the city has a web site(www.euless.org)which will be good for any travelers coming to the local area. Mr. Owens was also able to attend the Texas Recreation and Parks Society breakfast in Austin honoring the 76th Legislature and had a very nice time. He said Rick Herold, Julia Wakeley and Billy Owens were also in attendance. The City of Grapevine was the host for this event. Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 3 February 1, 1999 NEW BUSINESS II. Consideration to set date for park facilities tour Chairman Owens suggested the Board tour the facilities on Saturday,March 13, in the morning sometime. A time will be discussed at the next meeting. III. Discussion of preliminary studies to South Euless Park Chairman Owens mentioned staff has provided two preliminary studies and cost studies for the South Euless Park Loop Trail. This item was on the half-penny project list which was approved last year and to also have an engineer design study for the Board to consider. Mr. Miller asked if staff had discussed with the school district for Option A? Director of Community Services Rick Herold stated there are some liability issues and staff wanted to show both options to the Board Members. The study was done by Schrickel, Rollins and Associates, Inc. and they incorrectly showed on both plans a four(4) foot wide trail. Mr. Herold stated the city does not build four foot trails and staff recommends eight (8) foot trails instead. By having the trails wider than the proposed width, it would double the cost of the trail. Mr. Herold will be meeting with the Director of Development to discuss all the trail systems. Parks Superindent Johnnie Green stated Option A trail system is 4/10 of a mile and Option B is 3/10 of a mile less the retaining wall. He also mentioned the proposed trail system would stay away from the creek due to the slope of the property. Mr. Miller also mentioned some new homes are being built around South Euless Elementary as well as the proposed nature trail system and this trail system would greatly benefit the school and the surrounding subdivisions. He further mentioned the school is being rebuilt on the present site and this will greatly decrease the amount of playground area for the school children. Chairman Owens asked if the trail system could be built on school property or on the adjacent city property? Mr. Herold mentioned these issues would have to be discussed with the school district and the school board. Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 4 February 1, 1999 Mr. Miller also mentioned the school district has halted the construction on the South Euless school site due to being over the projected costs. He also suggested continuing discussions with the school district. Mr. Herold suggested staff would have more information on tying in with the surrounding neighborhoods and potential funding problems with the city. Chairman Owens suggested this item be continued at the March meeting. IV. Discussion of preliminary study to the proposed Sulphur Branch Park Chairman Owens stated he would open the floor for any discussion on the preliminary proposal to the proposed Sulphur Branch Park. Mr. Ebert stated this is a much more acceptable proposal which would help beautify this area. Mrs. Byers said she has asked herself if the Morrisdale association should do this and not have the city involved in this proposed park. Chairman Owens stated he is still concerned with the safety issues along S. Pipeline and the fast vehicular traffic along this road. He does not feel a city maintenance truck would be able to enter safely into this area for maintenance concerns. Council Member Hogg stated the land was purchased by the city in order to park equipment on while working on Sulphur Branch. Mr. Ebert said this area is presently being mowed by the city. He also mentioned the Morrisdale Association maintains the two medians within their subdivision and he isn't anticipating a lot of cost for the planting of seasonal plants for the proposed adjacent park. Mr. Miller asked if irrigation was accessible to this proposed park. Mr. Green said it would be possible to tap water from Pipeline. He also mentioned he has spoken with Public Works and this area would have to have electrical power for the pumping. He stated the projected cost for the design, irrigation and labor would run about $9,000 which would include battery operated or solar power panels for electrical needs. Mrs. Waidrup said in order to trim costs the Morrisdale Association should be made responsible for the seasonal coloring. Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 5 February 1, 1999 It was suggested that Mr. Ebert bring these issues up at the Morrisdale Association meeting for additional feedback regarding the maintenance of the proposed park. Chairman Owens suggested this item be continued at the March meeting. V. Comments and revisions to the proposed Needs Assessment Survey Mr. Herold stated the last survey which was done in 1992 had a 60% response of surveys mailed out randomly to the community. After some discussion the Board made some changes to the proposed survey. VI. Recommendation to approve the Needs Assessment Survey Carl Miller made a motion to approve the Needs Assessment Survey with the noted changes and was seconded by Mike Daniel. The vote was unanimous. The survey would be mailed out on February 15th with a return date of March 15th. VII. Business of the Tree Board Bruce Ebert, Chairman of the Tree Board, asked Parks Superintendent Johnnie Green to give the report. Mr. Green said 11 more trees had been planted at Midway Park, 9 additional trees were planted at The Parks at Texas Star and they had also planted 5 trees along the Harwood medians. VIII. Parks Report Johnnie Green, Parks Superintendent, said the playground unit for South Euless Park was ordered and should be delivered about five weeks. He said the trash and debris along the creek area at J.A. Carr Park has been cleaned. He also stated they received many nice compliments at the Lakewood Town Hall meeting which was held on January 11th. Mr. Miller said he was concerned with signage and suggested"Reward Signs"be posted to report any vandalism and "No Alcoholic Beverages Allowed in the Park" signs also be posted at South Euless Park due to the park being so isolated. Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 6 February 1, 1999 IX. Leisure Services Report Julia Wakeley, Parks and Leisure Services Manager, stated she attended the Texas Recreation and Park Society 76th Legislative breakfast with Representative Todd Smith on January 28th in Austin. She said Representative Smith took her, Rick Herold, Eric Owens and Billy Owens on a complete tour of the capitol building. She also stated The Star brochure is scheduled to go out this week Councilman Hogg will be teaching a class for Heidi during the spring. Arbor Daze is April 23th, 24th and 25th. The new weight equipment is scheduled to come in during the week of February 8th. X. Community Services Report Rick Herold, Director of Community Services, stated the city recently discovered that one of the city's major taxpayers is actually located within the city limits of Grapevine. The City is still looking into all the details. This will have an impact on the half-cent budget. Mr. Herold also mentioned City Manager Tom Hart will be leaving on March 1st to become the City Manager of Grand Prairie. The official announcement will be made in the near future. He has also been working with the City Manager's office the last couple of months on a future project dealing with the Dallas Stars Hockey team regarding a possible future site location in Euless. He stated he would keep the Board informed as to the progress of this possible project. Mr. Herold thanked Administrative Secretary Diana Ryan from the Deputy City Manager's office for taking the minutes at tonights Board meeting. XI. Other New Business Chairman Owens stated there was no new business to conduct. XII. Input from City Council Members and Visitors Councilman Hogg stated he had nothing to report this evening. Parks and Leisure Services Board Page 7 February 1, 1999 ADJOURNMENT Chairman Owens gave the benediction. There being no further business to conduct,the meeting was adjourned at 9:10 p.m. Chairman Attest