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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1986-11-03 Regular Meeting Park and Recreation Board November 3 , 1986 CALL TO ORDER The regular meeting of the Park and Recreation Board was called to order at 7: 00 P. M., Monday, Novem'er 3 , 1986 in the Council Chambers of the Euless Municipal Building by Chairman Zahn. Other members present were Mrs. Helen Lightbody, Mrs. Mary Lib Saleh, Messrs. Marland Ernest, Ron Henson, Richard McNeese, and Leon Hogg, alternate member. Also present were Julia Wakeley, Recreation Director; Bob Phillips , Park Director; and Diretha Crockett, recording secretary. INVOCATION The invocation was given by Mr. Marland Ernest. VISITORS Visitors attending the meeting were Mayor Pro Tem Carolyn Park, and Mrs. Alice Ernest. APPROVAL OF MINUTES The minutes of the regular meeting dated October 6 , 1986 , were approved as written. Chairman Zahn had received a piece of correspondence from Mrs. Willie Mae McCormick, which he passed around for all board members to read. OLD BUSINESS I. AREA AND FACILITY REPORTS Mr. Ron Henson, liaison for Midway Park, reported he had been through the park several times, and there was plenty or activity, ball playing, and the park is in good shape . Mr. Marland Ernest reported he had visited with Julia, and every- thing is going great at the recreation centers . The best news is that the gym is open again. The weight room will be opened later this week. He also made mention, that the seniors will be having their Thanksgivings Luncheon, November 20 , and how nice it would be if some of the board members could attend. Mrs. Julia Wakeley remarked how much the seniors enjoyed having visitors, especially from the Board. Regular Meeting, Park and Recreation Board, November 3 , 1986 , Page 2 Chairman Zahn reported he had not been to Carr Park. He had spent Saturday, at Oakwood Terrace , and it was busy with young children, the leaves are falling, and the park is in good shape. Mr. Richard McNeese stated he had had a lot of idle time and had tried out the picnic tables and equipment, in all the parks he represents. At South Euless several months ago, we had a problem with glass breakage around the playground equipment, Bob and his crew went in and put sand and dirt and a retaining wall in there. There is an on going problem with the slope on the east side , (the lower side) , its starting to lose dirt and wash out on the retaining wall. With the last rain, and a couple more rains , we could lose a section of the retaining wall. He further stated where they put tar paper down on the front and put the dirt back on that, but somehow water has got down there in one spot and there is no dirt under the cross tyes. Some of the playground equipment is in need of repair , one of the chains on the swing was broken. On the left side of the slide, one of the steps (about half way up) is loose. At the top of the slide, the wood is weathered, the screws holding the retaining rails , are sticking out. The pool looks fine the only thing is as always, vandals or kids, have got in there and disposed of one of our picnic tables in the shallow end of the pool. The grounds look Great except for a lot of fallen leaves. It is very pleasant walking at the creek. There is a washing problem in that park, and it is very hazardous walk- ing the area. The tennis courts are the least usable, the stripes have faded away. At Lakewood the tennis courts are the best he has seen in the city. Although as Bob has mentioned in the past, there are two areas on the court that continue to have a chipping problem. Mr. Bob Phillips replied, that we now have money to redo that tennis court. Mr. McNeese went on to say, the playground equipment looked fine, although there was some profanity written on some of the equipment, that needed to be removed. The sign on the street that identifies the park area, a good strong wind would take it down. There is very little trash at both parks, the parks are well kept. At Wilshire, we have three picnic tables (all wood) , and two of them are unusable, the wood has rotted away. Regular Meeting, Park and Recreation Board, November 3 , 1986 , Page 3 The lavatory area at the Wilshire pool, apparently can' t be locked, every year Bob goes in there and cuts the water off (the facilities , actual toilets remain) and kids go in there with cans , rocks , chunks of cement and crammed it down the appliances . Even if it was locked, they could go over the top, but both of the gates were open. Mr. Bob Phillips replied both the gates were suppose to be locked with a chain, and those appliances haven' t been used in two or three years. Mr. McNeese stated that Wilshire Park being his favorite of the parks to go into, you have to be real cautious. There is a drain as you go around,there are two potholes, and your car will actually bottom out. At the Wilshire tennis courts, the problem is of getting close enough to the fence with a weed eater, to get the grass out. As a result we mow around the facility, there is six to eight inches of grass , which makes it less attractive. There are no trash cans for the people to put their trash in, so they put it at the back end of the court. Maybe we could get a trash can there and help the problem. At Euless Jr. High, the area probably has as much activity as some of the other areas , because of the cheerleading groups and the pep groups , they use it to do their jumps because it is level there on the grass (the court itself was clean) . While walking around he noticed one area on the West side (at the edge of the court) there is soil erosion of about four or five feet across , and there is about a three foot hole under the slab. He went on to say all the grounds look good except for the heavy leaf coverage. All the grass looked fine. Chairman Zahn inquired if we ever got any money allocated for care of play ground equipment. Mr. Bob Phillips replied that they inspect playground equipment once a week and they make a record of them once a week. Mrs. Helen Lightbody liaison for West Park inquired about the parking lot being leveled at some point. Mrs. Mary Lib Saleh reported visiting McCormick Park, and it being a truly beautiful park, but not much activity because of only six cars can park in the parking lot, which is a shame because it has such a nice walking trail. She went on to say, while walking down the trail, there were two or three very large trees with some broken limbs in them, probably from a recent storm. She voiced her concern about the open drainage ditch with out a fence around it, as far as the liability. She also made mention that another entrance to the park was needed. Its really a private park for the people in that one little area Regular Meeting, Park and Recreation Board, November 3 , 1986 , Page 4 there, if the city is maintaining it, it must cost a certain amount, that more people should be able to use it. She stated it seemed a little unfair for the citizens of Euless paying to maintain a park, and they don' t have access to it. Also, she didn' t know how long a builder has the authority to limit an entrance to a park with only six parking places . The picnic tables are so far away from the entrance to the park. There was very little if any litter at the park. At Bear Creek Park she visited the day after Halloween, and it looked like there had been lots of parties , with a lot of damage done. There was litter and vandalism everywhere. She stated one thing that concerns her is Mid-Cities Boulevard (which is adjacent to the park) which she reported on last month. The entrance and exit ways to the Bear Creek Park are very hazardous. Mr. Bob Phillips replied he would try to find out what the engineers plans are for that exit ramp, they are working on it now. II . DISCUSSION OF OBJECTIVES FOR PARKS ANS RECREATION AREAS Discussion centered around the objectives for Parks and Recreation Areas , and two new objectives were suggested for the Board members. Chairman Zahn stated that he would bring this up at the next board meeting, and they could discuss it further. That way, Mary Lib will have an opportunity to better understand all of the objectives , and maybe formulate an area that she would be comfortable with. III . DESIGNATION AS TREE BOARD Chairman Zahn stated the intent of this area on the agenda was for an open awareness by all of us as to what now are our responsibilities , since the City Council has appointed us as the Tree Board. He went on to say, its pretty well defined under Section IV, of the ordinance. Chairman Zahn further stated he thought we each should maintain the ordinance, understand it, and we should move forward as a Tree Board, and go forward in its efforts. With further discussion, it was suggested that we should say the Park Director would be the agent. Discussion centered around the tree at 510 Simmons Drive, and the concern for the citizens using the J.A. Carr Park, and their safety as they try and exit the park. Chairman Zahn stated it has been requested that this Board prepare a letter to the City Council requesting that the tree at 510 Simmons Drive be removed. IV. STATEWIDE RECOGNITION OF CITY OF EULESS Regular Meeting, Park and Recreation Board, November 3 , 1986 , Page 5 Chairman Zahn remarked the intention of this agenda item was the reference was made in the last meeting of the area such as Tyler and its Rose Festival , and such that something, that would develop into a permanent recognition fo the City of Euless , statewide. He opened for discussion this area for any thoughts or ideas that one might have. Mr. Ron Henson suggested a Police Olympics, for a statewide recognition. He will converse with Mr. Tom Hart, and have more information at the meeting next month . NEW BUSINESS V. RECREATION DIRECTOR' S REPORT Attendance at the Ruth Millican Center was 1 , 516 , Simmons 888 , Haunted House 382 , and Golf Tournament 137 , total of 2 ,923 . Mrs. Julia Wakeley reported that two of our Park and Recreation Board members played in our Golf Tournament, (Chairman Zahn and Mrs. Helen Lightbody who won 1st place in 3rd flight) . We had 106 participants in the golf tournament. At the Haunted House, we had 382 people going through there. We couldn' t have done it without all the other departments of the city. Mrs . Helen Lightbody helped with the carnival section. The Senior Citizens will be going on their Fall Trip, November 6 , 1986 . They are going to Keller for lunch, antique shopping, and bingo. About forty seniors are expected to go, so they will be taking both the senior vans, and Julia' s van. Flag Football returns to Euless , we' re starting a mens league November 22nd. There are 2 Murder Mysteries scheduled for November 8th and November 22nd. She went on to say that one of the latest things coming up for the Yuppies of Euless , will be the Great Scavenger Hunt. Other events coming up will be the Golf Club and the Euless Walking Club (which is in existance now) . The class registration is over 60o from our last registration. We have not received a report from Fall II registration. VI . PARK DIRECTOR' S REPORT Mr. Bob Phillips stated they do have an inspection of the parks , playgrounds, and equipment, (they actually slide down the slides) once a week, and they do have a file on it. Regular Meeting, Park and Recreation Board, November 3 , 1986 , Page 6 He added that at the growing nursery they have repaired and increased the capacity of the drip irrigation. Recently repotted in 15 gallon containers (from 5 gallon containers) in the nursery were: 257 Bald Cypress , 258 Sweet Gum, 330 Red Oak, 265 Crepe Myrtle and 17 Live Oak. Also, repotted in 5 gallon containers (from 1 gallon containers) were: 135 Red Oak, 367 Live Oak, 516 J. Ligustrums. There were 807 Lantanas returned from beds and placed in 1 gallon containers for Winter storage. Mowing in the parks , at city hall, and all the other complex continues as usual. The water truck is continuing on its usual route. The clean up and maintenance at all parks is continuing to be maintained. He went on to say , they have continued to pick up paper and litter on Highway 10 , and mowing our right of way and median strips, and about two times last month, the flower beds were weeded and cleaned. At the Harwood soccer fields , several holes have been repaired along with the placement of parking signs for the safety of the players. Several of the fields had washout areas , and they brought in about sixty yards of top soil from a medial strip, (off of Main Street down in Little Bear Creek Park) . The nets have been replaced at the tennis courts at Bear Creek Park, due to the vandalism. On Halloween night, at Bear Creek Park, vandals had broken eggs on the tennis court, pavilion, sidewalks , everywhere. The Parks Department had two men working all day to clean it up. The cold weather had taken care of the flowers at the berm, across from City Hall. They had to replace the flowers with 90 yellow mums , due to some pictures to be taken. Jimmy Beck and his crew added about 120 pounds of rock, it really looked good when they got through. They have planted rye grass along the Airport Freeway across from City Hall Complex, and at West Park on the soccer fields. VII . INPUT FROM CITY COUNCIL There being no input from Council Members , Chairman Zahn proceeded to the next agenda item. VIII . INPUT FROM VISITORS Mrs. Alice Ernest reported that the Beautify Euless Everyday �- Committee had decided, as a Board, to do this year, to emphasize anti-litter (which they are doing on Highway 10 now) along with the beautification, they are picking up litter. They have voted on, Adopt Main Street, from Pipeline South to Regular Meeting, Park and Recreation Board, November 3 , 1986 , Page 7 Glade Road North. They have drafted a letter which will be mailed to every business and every resident who backs up or faces Main Street in that distance. They will be given the opportunity to participate in the Adopt a Portion of Main Street. This program is more than just picking up litter , it is to make people aware , first of all, that there is a problem. The purpose is , so we will have a clean city, it will greatly enhance our image and will draw people into our city. She also stated she would like to converse with Mr. Leon Hogg about the Adopt A Park Program, to get the younger children involved, not planting but just picking up litter. She further stated she would like to pursue this with the Board. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to conduct, the meeting adjourned at 9: 45 P.M. , with a closing prayer by Chairman Zahn. Chairmany //2 Attest