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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1982-09-13 • Regular Meeting • Parks and Recreation Board September 13, 1982 CALL TO ORDER The regular meeting of the Parks and Recreation Board was called to order at 7:00 p.m., September 13, 1982, in the Council Chambers of the Euless Municipal Building by Chairman Billy Owens. Other members present were Mrs. Carolyn Park, and Messrs. Kerry McCombs, Bobby Baker, Jack Hill, and alternate D. R. Hawthorne. Alternate Ron Henson attended the meeting. Also present were Recreation Coordinator Julia Wakeley, Parks Coordinator Bob Phillips, and Recording Secretary Julie Harmon. VISITORS Mayor Pro Tem Willie Mae McCormick, Jim Hackett, Dennis DeGuire, Paul Calhoun, Jim Harder, Ron Tipton, Jimmy Sell, Joe Hennig, George McKinney, Leon & Jan Hogg, Sue & Jim Carr, Dana Patterson, and Gail & Grant Simons. INVOCATION The invocation was given by Mrs. Carolyn Park. APPROVAL OF MINUTES The minutes of the regular meeting dated August 2, 1982, were approved as written. YOUTH SPORTS Chairman Owens stated that the primary objective is to think of the kids of the community, with the adults coming second and the visitors to the parks, third. Mrs. Julia Wakeley introduced each association in- dividually and they replied as follows: (1) Boy's Baseball - Paul Calhoun, Pres. and Jim Harder, past Pres. and over Umpire Association. Mrs. Wakeley stated that this is a sport for young men between ages 6-16, and the newest addition to Boy's Baseball is T-Ball. Mr. Calhoun gave a brief history of Boy's Baseball and stated it went from a very few kids to approximately 600 kids last year. Mr. Calhoun further stated that they did have rules whereby each player would play at least three (3) innings of the game and in T-Ball they bat in a line, whether or not they played in-field did not matter. Page Two, Regular Meeting, Parks and Recreation Board, September 13, 1982 Mrs. Wakeley mentioned that ,the Baseball Association did participate in their Coach's Clinic. Mr. Owens stated that the Recreation Office did not have any bylaws or rules. He asked if the associations would submit a copy of their bylaws and a list of officers so they could start a Historical Record of each association and so the Board could better work with all the associations. (2) Little Dribblers - Dennis DeGuire gave a brief history of Little Dribblers and stated that it is basically for kids that will never get to play basketball again. At this time, they are anticipating about 550 kids. They support 56 teams (16 of which are girl's teams). They require that each player play one full quarter from start to finish. In 1974 they became a full member of the National Little Dribblers. Mrs. Wakeley made the comment that Little Dribbler's has the hardest time finding practice space for the teams. (3) Flag Football - Ron Tipton, past President and acting Treasurer. Relatively new organization and includes 1st thru 6th graders. Mr. Tipton stated that Flag Football was originally a spin-off of the Mid-Cities Tackle League. Mr. Tipton further stated that his league is unique due to the fact that it is based different than a lot of the associations - they try to register their kids on a local school concept basis. Their teams are built from the boys at a certain school. Mr. Tipton stated that their biggest problem is getting parental support. Mrs. Wakeley referenced the ratio of player to coach in this organization is 4 to 1. Mr. Tipton described the team's uniform and also stated that each participant receives a "participation trophy" at the end of the season, regardless of their standing in the league. Mr. Owens stated his appreciation to the associations for turning in the questionnaires sent to them by Parks & Recreation. He stated that by being able to refer to these questionnaires the Board would be able to do some planning that would help the associations. Mr. Ron Henson, an alternate to the Parks & Recreation Board, was introduced. Mr. McCombs asked Mr. Tipton if they ever have any injuries in Flag Football. Mr. Tipton stated that, generally, they do not. He further stated that their league is based on speed and quickness, but they do have some body contact. However, they have taken steps to eliminate as much contact as possible. (4) Soccer - Jim Hackett, President. Mrs. Wakeley stated that Soccer had the largest number of participants. Mr. Hackett stated that his association was known as the Bedford-Euless Soccer Association. They have increased-from 60 players in 1974 to 1,260 in 1982. He stated that they anticipate approximately 3-4,000 players by 1987. Mr. Tipton stated that the staff is totally voluntary and that they pay for only the equipment. He stated that Texas was the second largest Soccer Association in the United States. He felt that their biggest contribution was the number of kids that Page Three, Regular Meeting, Parks and Recreation Board, September 13, 1982 • Soccer encompasses. Mr. Tipton mentioned the ratio between Bedford and Euless players is about 3/5 of the players are Bedford Residents. He stated that the ages of kids this year range from 8-11 years of age. Their season begins in September thru May (actual playing season). There is a 10-week season in September and an 8-week season in the spring. Mrs. Wakeley asked Mr. Hackett to comment on his dual-season. Mr. Hackett stated that due to the heat it is necessary to split their season. Mr. Tipton stated that their biggest upcoming need is irrigation to keep the fields in shape. Mr. Phillips stated that the City does not have water at the Harwood Soccer Complex. Mr. Owens asked Mr. Tipton about their schedules overlapping adult soccer with softball on the Westpark field. Mr. Hackett stated that they would be abandoning Westpark field two days a week. Mr. Owens stated that what the Board would like to do is have the associations come and meet with them and try and iron out problems between Staff and the associations. Mr. Owens further stated that they would like to assign a Board member to come to the meetings so that the Board would be able to work with the associations. Mr. Calhoun, Boy's Baseball and Mr. Tipton, Soccer, stated that they would not mind any Board members attending their meetings. (5) Girl's Softball - Leon Hogg, President. Mrs. Wakeley stated that Girl's Softball was unique in that they have a scholarship fund for a graduating senior. Mr. Hogg introduced the Board Members of the Girl's Softball League. Mr. Hogg stated that the team plays at Westpark and that they are trying to get the parents to donate shade trees to completely line the ball field. Mr. Sustaire made the comment that Euless provides 90% of the fields used for the various sports and only 40% of its participants, specifically soccer. Mr. Phillips stated that vandalism was a big problem in the parks and would like for the associations to work with us in preventing this vandalism. Both Mr. Calhoun and Mr. Hogg stated that they appreciate the job the City does in keeping up their parks. Page Four, Regular Meeting, Parks and Recreation Board, September 13, 1982 • BEAUTIFICATION OF PUBLIC LANDS Mr. George McKinney with Texas Power & Light (TP&L), presented for the approval of the Board, an awards program that the Governor gives for the appearance of a City - Governor's Community Achievement Awards Program. This program entails the beautification of the City of Euless by individuals, associations, or groups to get behind their City and make improvements wherever they deem necessary, such as planting trees, flowers, cleaning up an area, etc. Mr. McKinney also stated that a slogan would be needed to get this program on its way and to get the people behind it. Mr. Owens stated that Mrs. Parks would serve as the liason between the Parks & Recreation Board and the City. Mr. Phillips stated that several spots have already been selected to plant shrubs, etc. - Bear Creek, Midway Park, area around City Hall, etc. Mr. Phillips stated that they would like to have some organizations to donate some time so that pictures could be taken of their participation in this program. Mr. Baker made a motion to recommend for approval to the City Council the beautification program of the City of Euless. Mr. McCombs seconded the motion and the it was unanimous. Mr. McKinney summed up the Governor's program by stating that all they do is to give recognition to people who are doing things to improve their community. III. PARKS & RECREATION FACILITIES REVIEW, City Staff Mr. W. M. Sustaire gave a brief history of the Parks & Recreation Board. He mentioned that in 1975 the City of Euless had 60 acres of park land owned by the City and today the City has 122.25 acres and an additional 48 acres of park land will be available within the next five years, subject to the development of the area. Mr. Sustaire stated that their biggest problem is ingress/egress into Bear Creek Park and hopes that it will be corrected with a land donation to carry the park all the way through to North Main Street. Mr. Sustaire mentioned a few of the developments in North Euless: Carlisle Pines, Quail Run I & II, Sagepoint, McCormick Farms I & II, Bear Creek, Cinnamon Ridge I, North Glade, Spain Addition and Lucas Addition. Mr. Sustaire further stated that there are 1,117 Single Family and 825 Multi-family residences. He further stated that with these additional subdivisions the City of Euless would increase by an additional population of 7,330 people and the ratio of children would be approximately 1,653 school age children with the next five years. Page Five, Regular Meeting, Parks and Recreation Board, September 13, 1982 • • IV. RECREATION COORDINATOR'S REPORT Mrs. Julia Wakeley stated that they had 96 adult softball teams this fall with 1,536 participants. The swimming pools have been closed and after seventy-six days of operation and 16,028 in attendance, the City had another safe summer. Mrs. Wakeley also stated that attendance was up from last year. V. PARKS COORDINATOR'S REPORT Mr. Bob Phillips introduced Mr. Kevin Smith, an employee of the Parks Department. The creek at Carr Park was cleaned out, and some of the areas that have been washing out were filled in. The soccer and flag football fields are ready to go. The creek has been cleaned out in Westpark and a lot of debris had been removed. With regard to irrigation, there has been a lot of repairs with vandalism and the dry weather. At Kiddy Carr Park banisters were replaced with chain and concrete poles. The mowing crew has been operating at a 100% taking care of the City parks and right-of-ways and City Hall. Mr. Sustaire stated that if Euless was to ever be more than a spot in the Mid-Cities, something has to be done to improve Euless' appearance as individuals drive through town. He further stated that if we can make Euless attractive so that when someone drives through they feel this is the place for them to live or to locate their businesses, it will take us as a Community to do this. The question of more City dumpsters was brought up and Mr. Sustaire stated that the City was seriously considering removing the dumpsters due to abuse of the ones we already have. VI. OLD BUSINESS None VII. NEW BUSINESS None ( Page Six, Regular Meeting, Parks and Recreation Board, September 13, 1982 Mr. D. R. Hawthorne suggested that the Parks & Recreation Board establish some goals and make every effort to follow through on these goals, i.e. beautification program and the Master Plan for the Board to continue to review and support it. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business before the Parks and Recreation Board, the meeting adjourned at 8:55 P.M. Atet 7. (-)----X.!../e;1"-`2)- Chairman •