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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPRBMinutes110409WUP Parks and Recreation Board MINUTES NOVEMBER 4, 2009 6:30PM CITY HALL-CONFERENCE ROOM TYPE OF Monthly Meeting MEETING CHAIR Russ Schulze SECRETARY Teresa Edmondson Russ Schulze, Janine Schueppert, John Cadena, Kevin Boyle, Sona West, Leah ATTENDEES Ragiel, Teresa Edmondson, Brittany Bakes (staff), Tim O'Connor (staff) VISITORS Diane Wells, Chuck Guffey Call to Order: The meeting was called to order at 6:35 pm by Chairman Russ Schulze. II. Review and Approval of Minutes of the Oct. 7, 2009 meeting: Approved III. Citizen Comments: Diane Wells asked that we maintain an exception on pool fees for seniors as many are on fixed incomes. Janine Schueppert mentioned that income level does need to be taken into consideration, but that exceptions should not be automatically granted for all Seniors. IV. Recreation & Leisure Programming Sub-Committee Update: Janine reported that the Focus Group conducted for the parents of elementary-age children went very well. Tim added that the ideas that were generated have been outstanding. The next scheduled focus group is for parents of toddlers. Janine requested that if anyone wants to host or lead a group, let her know. She plans to set dates for meeting with Adults before the Christmas holidays. V. New Recreational Facilities Fee Schedule: Russ reported that the sub-committee had met to look at ways to simplify fees. The sub- committee hopes to have a recommendation for the Parks and Recreation Board in December. Russ indicated that he was excited about the ideas that were being discussed. VI. Friends Board Report: Leah presented a CD presentation showing highlights from the Fathers & Flashlights event. The CD will be presented to Sponsors as a "thank you" for their support. John suggested that a "Ladies & Lanterns" event be considered. Leah reported that new Friends Board members were recently elected. The Friends Board has identified some "specific needs" and are targeting specific area business for potential donations/grants. Examples of identified needs include: - Refurbishing tennis courts at Colonial Park - New Playground equipment - Gazebo at Judson Park - Redecking at Colonial Park Area businesses such as HEB and CostCo may have funds that can be tapped for these kinds of projects. Leah discussed the importance of the Council finalizing the guidelines for Naming Rights. The Friends Board needs definite guidelines & parameters so they can determine how to best handle qifts/naminq riqhts opportunities with potential donors. Leah distributed Underwriter's Packets for the Park Lover's Ball to each member of the Board. Leah also passed around an Auction Item "wish list" and asked Board members to let her know if they have ideas/contacts for acquiring needed items. A request was made to include information on the "Stork Program" into the meeting notes. The following information was supplied by Donna LaMond, Executive Director of the friends of West U Parks Fund, Inc.: A 5-foot hand-painted stork (with optional keepsake blue or pink star personalized with your baby's name, birth date and birth weight/length) placed in your front yard to announce your baby's arrival home, Optional keepsake personalized stars to announce the new role of siblings (i.e., "Max is a Big Brother"), are available for an additional $15 per star/sibling Stork Yard Signs are available for $50 for a five-day rental period and $70 for a seven-day rental period. One-day Stork Yard Sign rentals are available for $35 to welcome guests to baby showers. All proceeds from Stork Yard Sign rentals support West U's neighborhood parks. To order, please contact the Friends office at 713-662-5396. In the near future, storks can be ordered on the new Friends website. Leah encouraged Board members to sign up their Randall's Remarkable cards to benefit West U Parks. She also indicated that they are looking for someone to Chair the garage sale this Spring. Leah shared the Financials from the Friends Board VII. Staff Reports: Tim provided an update on the Recreation Facilities. He indicated that a walkthrough of the facility was conducted last week, and that the construction work is on-schedule. All mechanical and infrastructure is in place, and all drywall will be completed in 2 weeks. The facility will be ready to open April 1. The athletic field will be rough graded in April and will be ready for use in the fall of 2010. Colonial Park is 2 1/2 - 3 weeks behind schedule due to rain delays. It is anticipated that we will still meet the Memorial Day opening date, but the decision was made to draw upon contingency funds to pay for the overtime work required to get back on schedule. Tim indicated that they are preparing the final scope of specifications for the remodel of the Senior Center. Tim reported that the Council approved the budget recommendations, which included transferring facilities maintenance to Public Works. This allows the Parks & Recreation staff to dedicate more time to getting ready for/planning the opening of the new parks. Janine asked what kind of kitchen facilities were being discussed for the Community Building. She indicated that there was interest in offering cooking schools. Tim indicated that he had visited with a couple of chefs about potential ideas for creating a cooking class environment. Janine suggested that he consider investigating the cooking school set-up at Central Market or at the Rice Epicurean on Fountainview. Tim reported that they clock at Friends Park is out of synch and that they had tried to fix it, but had to outsource repairs. He indicated that it would be fixed by next week. Tim suggested that we consider moving the "Meet the City/Easter Egg event in March to the new Recreation Center and stage it as a "soft" opening (ie, have guided tours to encourage people to view the new facilities.) He indicated that staff has concerns about keeping this event at Colonial Park unless we bring in PortaPotties, but also is concerned about asking TriSport to give up their playing fields during the event. Sona asked for a status update regarding the ice skating. Tim committed to getting more information about the various options/pricing available. Janine expressed concern that the surfaces are made out of plexiglass and that they can be rough - potentially cutting you if you fall. Tim agreed to research further. VIII. Board Reports Sona asked about a manufacturing defect in the Astroturf at Huffington Park. Tim indicated that he was already addressing this issue and that the defective material was being replaced. Sona reported that the Whale looks great; gravel was put down to address the mud issue and to help the ground recover. She indicated that there were a few ant piles and indentations in the grass where kids were tripping. Tim indicated he would address. Sona also report that someone brought kid's chalk and wrote on the columns. Kevin reported that he is picking up garbage everyday at Weir Park. He asked if we could put up bi-lingual signage to encourage people to pick-up their trash. Tim said he would look into this. Kevin also proposed that we consider putting hand-sanitizers at the Parks. Janine indicated that this was difficult to do because of the concern that teenagers will drink alcohol-based sanitizers. Tim said he would look into non-alcohol, foam, antibacterial sanitizers. Concern was expressed that Mutt-mitts were disappearing as quickly as they are stocked. John indicated that the Movie Nights were a big hit and requested that we do more of them. However, he recommended that PortaPotties be brought in, and that ant killer be applied a week or so before each event, as fire ants are a problem. John also asked if we should consider buying a screen to reduce costs, or look for an underwriter to fund this activity. John suggested that if we had our own screen, we could show Friday night movies at the Pool and call it "Flick and Float". Janine reported that the iron fence at Friends Park may already be rusting. Tim agreed to check on this. Russ reported that the Park Land Acquisition committee will meet next week. Lot 6706, located behind the ball fields has become available, and Russ suggested this would be ideal to annex with the Recreation Center. Neighbors to the available lot have been very vocal that they don't want a concession building there, but would be amenable to using the lot for storage or as an open space. It is anticipated that the cost to extend the fence line to include the lot would be minimal, however, re-zoning may be required. Teresa made a motion to convert Lot 6706 to part of the overall Recreation Center footprint. John seconded. All approved. IX. New Business - Scheduled Tour of Parks & Facilities A tour of the new facilities is scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 5th at 9:00am. The tour will start at City Hall and will take approximately 3 hours to complete. Transportation for Board members will be provided, and the tour will include a walk thru of Colonial Park and the Recreation Center. Tim reminded Board members that we were still in mid-construction and to refrain from wearing high heels. If Board members cannot make the Dec. 5"' tour, Tim offered to schedule Private Tours as needed. Tim offered congratulations to Janine for being selected as Citizen of the Year by the West University Rotary Club. Board members applauded Janine and expressed appreciation for all of her efforts. Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 7:50 pm. The next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009 at 6:30 pm in the Bill Watson Conference Room.