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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1996-07-01 REGULAR MEETING PARKS AND LEISURE SERVICES BOARD JULY 1, 1996 CALL TO ORDER The regular meeting of the Parks and Leisure Services Board was called to order at 7 : 00 p.m. on Monday, July 1, 1996 in the Council Chambers of the Euless Municipal Building by Chairman Richard McNeese. Other board members present were: Eric Owens, Glendora Waldrup, Stacey Hollinger, Bruce Ebert and Carl Miller. Staff members present were: Rick Herold, Julia Wakeley, Johnnie Green and Anicia Wiltshire. Visitor present was Councilman Leon Hogg. INVOCATION Invocation was given by Bruce Ebert. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Chairman McNeese entertained a motion on the minutes from the June 3 , 1996 regular meeting. Mr. Owens motioned that the minutes be approved as written, Mr. Hollinger seconded the motion and the motion carried. OLD BUSINESS - Board Members Reports Mr. Hollinger stated he had no report on Trail Lake Park but that construction had begun on the sidewalk. He stated Bob Eden Park looked good, the new sign on the hill is impressive and that the memorial looks good. Mr. Miller stated there was no change in the condition of South Euless and Ruth Millican parks. He also mentioned it looked like work on the Fuller House had stopped. Councilman Hogg stated the Historical Preservation Committee was in the process of getting vinyl work into the budget and getting bids. There was discussion on this subject. Mr. Owens stated J.A. Carr and Kiddie Carr Parks looked fine earlier in the month, even though they seemed dry because of the weather. Mr. Ebert stated Westpark receives a lot of use during the day and that there might be a problem with the drainage. He reported at Wilshire Park, the log play gym had been taken down and replaced. The swing set has new sand around it and the new sign on the bath house and the bath house itself looked good. The dressing rooms still need help, the pool needs to be sandblasted when drained. The park looks great. Mr. Green stated the equipment needed to strip the playground structures would be in this week. He also stated the estimated cost to repair the Wilshire and South Euless pools was $25,000.00. There was discussion on the council budget process. Mr. Ebert made a motion that the Board strongly recommend to Council for the full turnkey repairs as needed to the Wilshire and South Euless pools. PALS Board Mtg. 070196 page 2 There was discussion on actual necessary repairs to the facilities. Mrs. Waldrup seconded the motion and the motion carried. Mrs. Waldrup stated Blessing Branch looks inviting and that the new or repainted sign looks good. She reported Midway Parks looked clean and the equipment looked great. Chairman McNeese stated there was no update on the Athletic Facility. He mentioned the tour of the existing parks in June and stated that July 18th is the estimated date for the bid opening for the Athletic Complex. NEW BUSINESS I. PARKS REPORT Mr. Herold reported the following: Council has only one meeting in July (22nd) to consider bids for the athletic facility. He described the flexibility of the bid process and how Softball World was purchased through revenue bonds. The batting cages would operate under the same process. The golf driving range would be allotted to the Golf Course. The new library, the first project under the 1/2 cent sales tax, opened today. He described the budget process and the division of funding between departments. Because of the 1/2 cent sales tax, some new projects are being done without taking from budgeted items. Arbor Daze has its own line item budget. The Park Board, in the past has been the support arm and watchdogs for Council. On the Parks department side, part time money is important to reducing benefits costs to employees or to leasing employees from other corporations (such as Odyssey. ) He then described the relationship between Parks Department and Facility Maintenance and the frustration of prioritization of requests behind safety oriented departments. In reference to the Morris Estate, from the staff's point of view, the Council will look at the financial feasibility of purchasing the Morris Estate property. Mr. Ebert and Mrs. Wilcox made a presentation on the estate at the pre-council meeting. Councilman Hogg described the condition of the house and the layout. Chairman McNeese stated he was impressed with the property. Mrs. Waldrup asked about the feasibility of budgeting for maintenance if the property was purchased. Mr. Herold stated staff had not evaluated that yet, but it would probably not be a maintenance burden. Mr. Ebert spoke of possibilities of getting private organizations to help fund or lease the property. Mr. McNeese entertained a motion on the Morris Estate. Mr. Miller motioned to strongly recommend to Council to seriously consider purchase of the Morris Estate. Mrs. Waldrup seconded the motion and the motion passed unanimously. PALS Board Mtg. 070196 page 3 • II. LEISURE SERVICES REPORT Mrs. Wakeley reported the following: She addressed the weekly attendance graph of the South Euless Youth Program and pointed out that the weather was an impact on attendance. Last weekend, Jerry Poteet had 20 track teams involved in a regional meet and that first and second place awards had been received by some of his participants. The swimming pool attendance for June was as follows: 4178 at Midway, 2324 at South Euless and 1725 at Wilshire. In reference to the senior citizens, 28 people are in water aerobics. Diane Eggers has planned a health Fair with a free lunch. The fair will be sponsored by Heritage Southwest Medical Group. The Police and Fire departments will hold a safety program during this event. This month is National Recreation Month and in conjunction, William Rumuly is holding a Health Fair and other projects. There will be a free preview performance of some of the musical numbers from "Hello, Dolly! " on Sunday, July 21 at 2 - 4 p.m. at the Midway Recreation Center. Mrs. Wakeley will be attending a Keep America Beautiful Conference next week. Mr. Herold and Mrs. Wakeley visited with the Odyssey Group to talk about Arbor Daze '97. III. BUSINESS OF THE TREE BOARD Chairman McNeese reported the 1+1=2 total comes to 41, 859 and that the in-kind support expenditures for 1996 comes to $53 ,700.00. Mr. Herold stated Rodney Morris of the Keys Learning Center has helped with tree planting for Arbor Daze by arranging for the students of Keys to work with Parks in potting seedlings and that their work was tremendous. Chairman McNeese entertained a motion to recognize the Keys Learning Center students for their work. Mrs. Waldrup made a motion to do so, Mr. Owens seconded the motion and the motion carried unanimously. IV. OTHER NEW BUSINESS A. Westpark Field Usage Chairman McNeese stated that this item would be added to the August 5 agenda. V. INPUT FROM CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS AND VISITORS Councilman Hogg stated the City of Euless was involved in judging the Festival Poster Contest and that the National PALS Board Mtg. 070196 page 4 Convention for Texas Festivals will be held in Grapevine this month. Councilman Hogg also stated the Lions Club is planning to pay for a free day of swimming at the area pools in August, right before school starts. Mr. Green stated the National Arbor Day Foundation Convention held in Nebraska City was informative, had good speakers from all over and that he was the only Texan in attendance. He stated three cities received their 20th year award as Tree Cities . He described the hall of the conference center and stated that it was very impressive. Mrs. Waldrup and Chairman McNeese thanked Mr. Herold and Mrs. Wakeley for the tour of the parks. ADJOURNMENT Chairman McNeese gave the benediction. There being no further business to conduct, the meeting was adjourned at 8: 35 p.m. . /Orr C airma testy