Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout1987-01-05 Regular Meeting Park and Recreation Board January 5, 1987 CALL TO ORDER The regular meeting of the Park and Recreation Board was called to order at 7 : 05 p.m. , Monday, January 5 , 1987 , in the Council Chambers of the Euless Municipal Building by Chairman Zahn. Other members present were Mrs. Helen Lightbody, Mrs. Mary Lib Saleh, and Messrs. Marland Ernest, Ron Henson, and Leon Hogg, alternate member. Also present were Julia Wakeley, Recreation Director; Rick Herold, Interim Park Superintendent; K. B. Fuller, Director of Community Services; and Diretha Crockett, recording secretary. INVOCATION The invocation was given by Mrs. Helen Lightbody. VISITORS Visitors attending the meeting were Mrs. Alice Ernest, and Miss Lori Greco. MINUTES The minutes of the regular meeting dated December 1 , 1986 , were approved as written. OLD BUSINESS I . AREA AND FACILITY REPORTS Mr. Henson, liaison for Midway Park, reported that while visiting the park during the holidays, there was not much activity. The playground equipment and the fields, looked to be in good order. Mr. Ernest, liaison for special events, reported that there had been a lot of activity at the gymnasium since it reopened. He added that the Senior Citizens had their Christmas Luncheon on December 11 , 1986 , and it was quite a success. Chairman Zahn, liaison for J. A. Carr Park, Kiddie Carr Park, and Oakwood Terrace, reported that the work appears to be completed around the jogging trail (it has been built up with stone or crushed rock) and the lights are back on at. Carr Park. He added, even when the weather is cold and windy, there is still a lot of activity on the jogging trail . Mrs. Lightbody, liaison for West Park, reported that there had not been much activity at the park during the time she was there. She stated that the fields looked alright, but the driveway entering the park had some potholes. Regular Meeting, Park and Recreation Board, January 5, 1987, Page 2 Mrs. Saleh, liaison for McCormick Park and Bear Creek Park, reported that McCormick Park is generally clean and most attractive of the parks, but the most difficult park to locate. There is new fencing around the children' s play area that certainly is a wonderful plus for it, because the play area surrounds a ditch. Several loads of gravel have been dumped where a poor drainage area had been before, which is a great help to the park, but unfortunately some of the gravel got on the hiking trail , (about 10 feet of the hiking trail is covered in gravel) a bicycle on the gravel or even a jogger, it would be very dangerous. She noticed that both of the large drainage ditches are filled with water and debris, and are very dangerous , especially if a child should fall into one of them. Also, several of the small plants around the entrance, by the gates, are dead and need to be removed or replaced. Mrs. Saleh stated that at Bear Creek due to the progress of the Mid- Cities Boulevard, the entrance to the park is unsightly (a lot of trees from the building of that boulevard, have been dumped on the side of the entrance) . She further stated that she was sure the progress on the Mid-Cities Boulevard, from week to week was amazing, they really are putting a lot of effort into that. She would imagine a lot of the people building that boulevard, are using that parking lot to have lunches and to park there, because the parking lot was more littered this time than ever before. The trash cans are overflowing in the parking lot, but not in the park itself. Mrs. Saleh asked about the tennis courts, and if they were suppose to be closed in the winter time. Some people have put metal spikes between the fences, so if you had to get in the tennis court, you would have to jump over it, and the metal is all rusted. She went on to add that the facilities at Bear Creek, the water is working in the rest rooms, but one of the ladies commodes is filled with fliers. The new fence that was put in (last fall) has been vandalized. Chairman Zahn suggested a work session to judge some posters (from the elementary schools of Euless for Arbor Day) and to discuss the objectives for each Board member, the date was set for January 13 , 1987 . II . STATEWIDE RECOGNITION OF CITY OF EULESS Discussion centered around the conversation between Mr. Ron Henson and Mr. Tom Hart concerning a statewide recognition of the City of Euless. Mrs. Julia Wakeley suggested that in February the A and M Extension Service is having a workshop on festivals and special events, and that maybe some of the board members would like to attend. Mrs. Lightbody suggested that we consider all the things discussed, continue to pursue them, and see if we can come up with something that will be effective. Chairman Zahn agreed we should pursue this for the time being, maybe some ideas from this workshop, and see what kind of festivals Regular Meeting, Park and Recreation Board, January 5, 1987, Page 3 and events the other cities in the state are having. Then, each of us explore any ideas, thoughts, or avenues that we might have and at the next meeting see where we go. NEW BUSINESS III . RECREATION DIRECTOR' S REPORT Mrs. Wakeley reported that the overall attendance at the recreational centers was 4 , 152 (Ruth Millican Center - 1 , 612; Simmons 1, 253 ; Gym - 1,287) . The Senior Citizens went on their Christmas shopping trip to Target on December 9 , 1986 (there was a total of 24 seniors attending) . This is where the store opens an hour earlier and keeps the public out an hour later, so the senior citizens and handicap citizenry can come through and do their shopping, get their gifts wrapped, and coffee and doughnuts, free. The Senior Christmas Luncheon was held December 11 , 1986 with seventy- five to eighty people attending. The City Employees Christmas Luncheon was held December 18 , 1986 (where city council buys lunch for all the city employees) we had around 200 attending, and its always such a nice treat. A new thing this year was pictures with Santa Claus, which was held December 13 , 1986 , at the Ruth Millican Center, we took 76 pictures in a two hour period. Next year we will make plans for it to double or triple that amount. The Recreation Department does own a Santa Claus suit now, the money we would normally use to rent a suit; instead, we took and made one, then we bought the beard and wig. The Christmas Party for preschool children was December 19 , 1986 , with fifty children and parents attending, the children also had pictures taken with Santa Claus. Another new thing was Santa' s call to the children. We had eighty- five mail-ins (some families had more than one child) . In all, we talked to. about 127 children. The class registration started December 22 , 1986 - January 9 , 1987, with classes beginning January 12, 1987. We had a Turkey Shoot December 20 , 1986 in our gymnasium, about 25 participated. A Euless resident, Mr. Jay Gallop, won with nine points. Our 2 on 2 Basketball Tournament, we had 16 teams entered, and the L.A. Connection from Euless was the winner. Basketball registration started today, and we've had some action there. Regular Meeting, Park and Recreation Board, January 5, 1987 , Page 4 This is what you can expect in the future, besides our regular scheduled classes, we will be starting bridge classes and umpire classes. We're having a Country and Western Dance, a one time affair on Saturday, January 31 , 1987 , from 7: 00p.m. - 12 : 00 a.m. , at the gymnasium, Rick Herold will be our MC. IV. PARK DIRECTOR' S REPORT Mr. Rick Herold reported the Parks Department has started sub-dividing their work hours into a more precise breakdown. Hours expended: Ballfield Maintenance 21 , City Assistance 141 , Clerical/dispatch 147 , Equipment Maintenance 162 , Fixture Maintenance 303 , Grounds Mainte- nance 288 , Greenhouse 75, Horticulture 72, Irrigation 45, Parks Betterment 686, Safety Inspection 46 , total of 1, 986 hours avail- able man usage time in December. At Midway Park, the Parks Department has started the replacement of the park entrance signs , using universal signs to show what facilities are available at each park. We are continuing with our parks maintenance program, especially in the areas of safety. At Carr Park, the swinging bridge (play- ground equipment) has been replaced with a solid bridge. We have removed from the parks all damaged picnic tables and benches for repair. At Carr Park they have completed the repair of the jogging trail with hauling in 40 yards of dirt to raise up the end close to the street (which erosion and time had taken its toll on) and then put 32 tons of crushed rock screenings on top of it. There are a couple of low areas we 're still working on, we also put some metal siding around the lowest area, for erosion purposes, the whole project cost about $400. 00 to complete. In connection with Bob Phillips and. the growing nursery, they have dug holes for and planted four large Live Oaks at City Hall (one will be used for the Arbor Day Celebration) . Our crews will be down by the bridge at South Euless, cleaning and clearing out the area which was creating a water flow hazzard. They have completed a comprehensive pesticide spraying of the trees at both City Hall and the parks. We have continued in the maintenance of all the park department equipment and shop facilities, and a few other things we have been working on. We' re also doing a feasibility study on some additional equipment for next year. He went on to say that some soil samples had been collected from various parks in the city, for analysis by the County Extension Service. These results will further enable us to make more efficient use of our fertilizers and chemicals. Mr. Vincent Menino will be here Friday, January 9 , 1987 , at 10: 00a.m. , if any of the Board would like to meet him. Regular Meeting, Park and Recreation Board, January 5 , 1987 , Page 5 V. INPUT FROM CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS There being no input from Council Members, Chairman Zahn proceeded to the next agenda item. VI . INPUT FROM VISITORS Mrs. Alice Ernest reported on the BEE activities and two of their major projects: 1) Adopt Main Street - She did get a opportunity to have an audience at City Council , and share this program with them. They seemed very helpful and cooperative, there will be some information about Adopt Main Street in the Mayors Newsletter. She went on to say, she felt like what we need is publicity and public awareness of the project. There was a headline article in the Mid-Cities Daily News. Also, in the newspaper that is published twice a week, there is an article. 2) Preparations for Arbor Day - BEE is involved with the Arbor Day Festivities, along with the City, the Parks Department, and a lot of people working together. This is a statewide celebration, and its quite an honor for the City of Euless. Mrs. Ernest announce that they also have a new costume, (a Bee costume) to help in their public awareness. We want people to connect beautitication with our Busy Bee. Mrs. Helen Lightbody made the motion that the Park and Recreation Board ask the City Council to review the reassignment of Bob Phillips . Mr. Marland Ernest seconded the motion, and the vote is as follows : Ayes: 2 Nays: 3 Chairman Zahn declared the nays have the vote. Mr. Leon Hogg suggested that since we are the Tree Board, that we consider having a living Christmas tree for next year. Mr. Hogg gave an up to date report on the Volunteer Program, with 10741 hours for 1985 , and 43144 hours for 1986, a total of 5388 3/4 hours at $4 .00 per hour, savings to the City a total of $21 ,555 . 00 . The Volunteer Program has increased 400% in one year. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to conduct, the meeting adjourned at 8 : 55 p.m. , with a closing prayer by Chairman Zahn./ Ckrirman ._ ! / 1 _ ,.� �s.. attest //��JJ