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HomeMy WebLinkAboutFBMINUTES030508Friends of West University Place Parks Fund, Inc. Board Meeting Minutes March 5, 2008 Friends of West University Place Parks Board met on Wednesday March 5, 2008, at the West University Place City Hall at 3800 University Blvd. The following were in attendance: Board Members Executive Director Others Staff Joni Fichter Donna LaMond Chuck Guffey Tim O'Connor Vicki Grams Dorothy Kaldis Susan White Judy Bouillion Diane Cain Sue Jensen Vernon Tyger Lynne Goddard Kim Wilson Susie Boyce Leah Ragiel Sue Hanna Susan Sample Joni Fichter called the meeting to order at 11:40 a.m. Chair's welcome - Joni Fichter • Forever Green PLB was simply fabulous!! Thanks to all of you for helping with set-up, clean-up, and during the event. Thanks for attending, getting tables together, encouraging underwriters and donors, and securing auction items. Thanks to staff for their work with check-in, delivery and pick-up, parks corner, and more. Dorothy and Diane were wonderful chairs and we have one last gift of thanks for them. (Scrapbooks and copy for Friends Office) • We had great pre and post-press coverage for PLB in Village & SW News, Examiner News Group, Chronicle This Week City Currents, etc. • Congrats once again to our board for your outstanding work as we have been honored by Recreation & Parks Society as their regional winner. This region includes Texas, NM, OK, Arkansas, and Louisiana. We will now a nominee to receive the national award. The regional award will be accepted for us by Tim and Susan while they are at their meeting then council will hold a presentation at one of their meetings. ■ John LaMond is now doing his Eagle Scout award and requested funds for his park project. $100 was sent from our board. • I will pass around this thank you note from Tim O'Connor who is appreciative of our efforts and that we asked the city to set-up parks corner to educate our audience. • City Council is looking to the future with a bond election task force and working on ideas for the Rec Center. We have $1 million in reserved funds for this purpose. I talked with Linda and Phil Lewis about their thoughts at the Recreation Center and one common thought between the city and them is a covered pool of some sort. • Thanks to the city for providing a yummy lunch from Edloe Deli which is now owned by long time parks supporter George Boehme and partner, Adam Harris. Approval of the Minutes and Sign-In Sheet - Judy Bouillion A motion was made by Lynne Goddard and seconded by Vicki Grams to approve the February 6, 2008 Minutes after making correction to date to January 7, 2008 instead of January 7, 2007. The motion carried. Executive Director's Report - Donna LaMond • PLB08 - It has been a pleasure to work with Diane Cain and Dorothy Kaldis on this ball. "Best ball ever" is a compliment that I have heard repeatedly since the event on Feb. 9. People loved the ZaZa and they loved the flow of the rooms. Currently, our numbers are $145,992 in underwriting and $57,166 from the auction. Our estimated net is $127,517.00. Our attendance was around 450 people. I am working on collecting the remaining underwriting monies, around $9500 yet to be collected. I am also working on collecting monies and distributing items sold and not picked up the night of the ball. Things are going smoothly and people are paying and picking up. I also have some bid sheets here today for items that did not sell at the ball. Depending on today's results, we may hold these items to the April 18 Guild meeting at Vicki Gram's house and set out bid sheets there also. • Turned in some great pictures and submitted an article for City Currents the Monday after the PLB. ■ PLB09 - I have several venues holding dates for us. I have Feb. 7 being held at the ZaZa and the Houstonian, and the ZaZa also on hold for Feb. 21, 2009. The Junior League Charity Ball is Feb. 5,6,7, so I do not think we should schedule for the 7th. I cannot find any place that has Saturday, Feb. 14 available so far. The 2009 Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo starts on Tuesday, March 3 and goes through Sunday, March 22, 2009. The BBO cookoff usually starts the Thursday before, so that should not be a conflict for us if we go with Feb. 21, 2009. 1 think that people will be disappointed if we do not go with the ZaZa again. I am currently working on recruiting 2009 ball-chairs as well. I am hopeful that we can get the chairs on board pretty quickly so that we can get started earlier this year. ■ The annual Meet The City/Arbor Day/Easter Egg Hunt is scheduled for Saturday, March 15th from 11:00 - 2:00 p.m. at Colonial Park. In the event of inclement weather, the event will be moved to the West U Recreation Center. While Friends have elected not to do pictures with the Easter Bunny this year, Friends will still have a booth that needs to be decorated and manned by us. We could have 3 one-hour shifts, with two people per shift maybe. I have a sign up sheet here and will ask Leah to forward to the Friends Guild to complete the sheet if needed. ■ The garage sale is next on the event list and Susan Sample will report on that. Once the 2008 ball is wrapped up, and 2009 ball chairs and venue are secured, I will focus on membership and reviving our newsletter, the conflict of interest statement and review of our by-laws. I also have some paver orders to complete. • The Friends website, www.westuparks.org, has been updated to reflect the underwriters for PLB08. It will be updated with garage sale information as soon as details are finalized. ■ Planning for the next Fathers & Flashlights event scheduled for Oct. 4 will be starting up soon. Daryl and Aaron Hoover and Jennifer Gatto are chairing it again. ■ We are looking for new potential members for the Friends board. Please forward any names to Donna. Board Reports Park Lovers Ball - February 9. 2008 - Diane Cain & Dorothy Kaldis Underwriting 145,992 Auction $57,166 Total Expenses - 75,640.28 Net Total - $127,517.72 PR/Marketing & Development Committee/Garage Sale Event - Susan Sample Garage Sale will be held Saturday, April 19'n t the Rec Center, in the gym. Vernon Tyger will co-chair the garage sale with Susan Sample. The Rec Center will accept items from April 15 -18t' from 4-9pm. Heavier items will be accepted only on Friday, April 18"'. We request help from the Guild on Friday, April 18. Hangers are needed. Spread the word to housekeepers. Resident Decorators/Special Proiect/Wish List/Giving Tree - Maria Elena Herbst & Vicki Grams - No report. Business Partners and Stork Proiect- Lynne Goddard - Will present the Stork Project at the Guild Meeting on Apri11 8 . Friends Guild - Leah Ragiel. The last guild meeting for the year on April 18"' at the home of Vicki Grams. Tim O'Connor will present the proposals to renovate Weir Park. Looking for Guild members to handle leadership roles such as president, membership & project liasons. Kim Wilson suggests recruiting the former Friends members to work on with the Guild and get them reinvolved. Fathers & Flashlights - Darvl Hoover & Jennifer Gatto - No report. Parks & Rec Report - Tim O'Connor Tim presented a 5-year park renovation plan. A motion was made by Sue Hanna and seconded by Susie Boyce to accept the proposed 5 year renovation program of the parks and agrees to fund the Weir Park renovation as is in 2008 and will take subsequent renovations under review on an annual basis. The motion carried. Park Planning Project: The Park Planning Sub-Committee has been meeting regularly and in concert with PGAL, Carter & Burgess and staff, will be presenting a preliminary conceptual redevelopment plan to City Council on March 10, 2008. Staff is developing a preliminary Business Plan, in anticipation of the redevelopment of the Colonial Park Recreation Center & Swimming Pool and the West University Recreation Center & Swimming Pool, including projected operation & maintenance budgets, staffing levels, facility schedules and a long-term capital replacement plan. City Wide Tree Maintenance Project: Phase II of the program is being developed, with the City Forester taking the lead. Project is completely funded through the WUP Tree Trust. Parkland Acquisition Sub-Committee: Russ Schulze will be presenting an update at the March Parks Board Meeting. The Park Acquisition Sub-Committee met twice during the month of February. Colonial Park Drainage Project: Work began in early January and was completed on February 19th. Project Cost: $5,800.00 Friends of West University Place Parks Inc. approved fully funding the expense and City Council authorized the expenditure The new turf will require being undisturbed, no foot traffic, for approximately thirty days. Park will be 100% accessible by March 15th Eagle Scout Project @ Whitt Johnson Park: ■ Renovate the Gazebo - inclusive of power-washing, staining and resealing the structure. ■ Plant a "butterfly garden" at the entrance of the park, to the immediate of the inside of the front gate. • Re-Plant the large cast-iron planter at the entrance to the park. ■ Enhance the plantings on the landscape island at the corner of Carnegie and Wakeforest, around the utility boxes. • Facilitate a general park clean-up, inclusive of power-washing the sport courts. ■ Eagle Candidate John LaMond has finalize his plans and funding. Project is scheduled for completion on March 8, 2008. Two Saturdays have been dedicated to this effort and scheduled for Saturday, March 1 and Saturday, March 8. Friend's: • The 2008 Park Lovers' Ball, conducted Saturday, February 9th at the Hotel Za-Za, was a resounding success. ■ Most of February was dedicated to matters associated with the Ball ■ Estimated Net Funds raised: $130,000.00 ■ Friends Guild is growing and efforts have improved the overall effectiveness of the Friends many efforts. • Five-Year Playground Renovation Plan is very close to completion, staff worked with T.F. Harper and Associates, out of Austin, Texas, in developing the plan and identifying actual costs. Plan will be presented to the Friends Board and Parks Board on March 5, 2008 • The planning for the 2008 Friends - Fathers & Flashlights Event is underway. Tentative date is October 4th. Parks & Recreation Operations: ■ The pool water heating system is fully operational and has been functioning properly since early February - thank goodness for the early arrival of Spring! ■ All classes, swim lessons and public swim programs are slowing returning to normal attendance levels and subsequently the revenues are on the rise. ■ The repair and re-painting of the Judson Park fence began in mid February and is scheduled to be completed by mid March - weather permitting. ■ The Rental Caretaker Program began January 1, 2008. We have filled almost all of these positions, but are still using existing personnel until the necessary positions are filled. • Staff continued work on preparing a DRAFT of a Parks Naming Rights Policy for review by the Parks Board, which we anticipate going before City Council for approval in the Spring of 2008. A Parks Board Sub-Committee was appointed to assist with this effort and it is anticipated that they will move forward with that effort in March. ■ The remodeling of the Fire Department kitchen and dining areas has been postponed until early March. • The 2008 summer edition of the Leisure Guide is being prepared and will go to the printer on March 17th, with plans for mailing to arrive to residents the first week of April. ■ All Summer 2008 Camps are currently posted on the website and registration for all camps is set to begin on March 7th. • Wooden swing and slide landing have been renovated and reinstalled at Colonial Park, with the concrete play bumps having been scheduled for late March or early April. • Preparations underway for the Annual Meet The City/Arbor Day and the 2008 Eggstravaganza, to be conducted at Colonial Park on Saturday, March 15th. • A total of 63 Case-Tracker Work Orders were facilitated by the Facility and Park maintenance Division. • Mowing schedule will be back on a weekly cycle beginning March 20th, with the color beds being re- planted and re-mulched, all grass areas being treated with a "weed & feed" and the first phase of fire ant remediation all scheduled for the month of March. • Staff is continuing investigating the process and costs for installing a water sensor system in all of our irrigation applications. Currently we are irrigating at a rate that is not prudent, as the systems are on timers and do not take rainfall into consideration. ■ Preparation is underway for the May through August 2008 edition of the Senior Newsletter - Hi- Neighbor. Will be sent to printer in March and mailed in mid April. Other News! Kim Rottet, Recreation Specialist with our Senior Services Division, has tendered her resignation effective March 7th. Kim has accepted a position with Texas A&M University at Corpus-Christi. Kim was with us for over two years, made many wonderful contributions to the City and she will definitely be missed. The position has been posted and staff is very optimistic that we will be able to recruit and hire the right person to fill the position by mid-April. We were contacted by the National Recreation and Parks Association and notified that the Friend's of West University Place Parks Inc. has been selected as the top parks and recreation related civic organization by the Southwest Regional Council. Friend's nomination was selected out of multiple entries from New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas. I was also informed that the Southwest Regional Council will be forwarding the Friend's nomination along for consideration of receiving top National Civic Club Award! This competition will involve the review and selection from a group consisting of each of the six NRPA Regional Council's top Civic Club Award recipients. Treasurer's Report - Sue Hanna - Distributed reports City Council Report - Chuck Guffey - No report. Old Business - None New Business -Talked of having a past PLB Chair parry. It would be a good way to reconnect and keep them involved. A motion was made that Friends will allow Donna LaMond to turn in her cell phone expenses on a monthly basis. The motion was made by Leah Reigel and seconded by Sue Jensen. The motion carried. It was proposed that Joni Fichter and Donna LaMond receive Friends "debit cards" for Friends business expenses. Debit card charges will not exceed $1000. Receipts must be turned in for each transaction. The Board agreed. City Council has directed the Parks Board, who has a committee and is responsible for naming parks, to define policies for naming rights will be identified. Is Friends participating in this? Next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, April 2nd at 11:30 at the West U Rec Center unless otherwise posted. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 1:20 pm. Respectfully submitted, Judy Bouillion Secretary 0