HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014 10 Friends MinutesFriends of West University Place Parks Fund, Inc. Board Meeting Minutes October 8 , 2014 11:30 AM Friends of West University Pl ace Parks Fund, Inc. (Friends) B oard met on Wednesday, October 8 , 2014 at 11:30 AM at the West University Place Recreation Center , 4210 Bellaire Boulevard, West University Place , Texas , 7702 5. The following were in attendance: Board Members Executive Director Mark Prescott Donna LaMond Ting Bresnahan Kristine Martinez Staff Christi Young Tim O’Connor Michelle Huth Kara Sch aefer City Council Susie Boyce Dick Yehle Megan Morris Advisory Board Anna Stewart Sue Hanna Robin Murray Debora Connelly Piccolo Guests Judy Cheng Dee Dee Gilder Adrienne Vanderbloeman Kelly Butler I. Call to Order The meeting was called to order at 11:35 AM. II. Welcome, Opening Remarks and Approval of Minutes (Mark Prescott) Welcome to all and to our two new est board members , Anna Stewart and Robin Murray. Sue Hanna, Advisory Board member and past long -time Friends Board membe r and Treasurer was introduced. Sue and her husband, Gary, are the PLB 2015 Honorary Chairs. Congratulations to all on another fantastic Fathers & Flashlights. This year’s event was spectacular in every way, including the weather! It was a sell -out succes s and our event co -chairs, Dee Dee Gilder and Judy Cheng will provide the exciting details in their report. The Cheng and Gilder families will be receiving Star Citizen Awards from the City at the annual luncheon hosted by the City next May.
A motion to approve the September 10 , 2014 board meeting minutes was called by Megan Morris and seconded by Christi Young . The minutes were approved by unanimous vote. III. Treasurer’s Report (Donna LaMond for Chri stine Parker -absent ) Balance Sheet and Profit/Loss statements for January – September, 2014 were distributed (see attached). IV. Fathers & Flashlights 201 4 (Judy Cheng and Dee Dee Gilder ) The 8th annual Fathers & Flashlights was a huge success and raised a net of $91,000. 500 children and 257 dads par ticipated with the volunteer help of 257 moms. The temperature was fantastic and the food and activities have been highly praised. We are thankful to our sponsors and underwriters. Also, thank you to the City of West U , in particular the Parks and Rec Dep artment, for their hard work and , of course , Donna LaMond . We are now working on passing the event over to Kelly and Sean Butler, Kristine and Joaquin Mar tinez and Kara and Curt Shaefer for 2015. V. Park Lovers Ball 2015 (Christi Young ) Underwriting l etters will go out this week . Our underwriting team has begun reaching out to previous sponsors and prospective sponsors . If you know of anyone who may be interested, please let us know. Direct Energy is no longer our corporate sponsor ($50,000) so we ar e looking for a new Friends corporate sponsor . Yard signs are in and we ask that everyone take one for their own yard and additional signs for others. Thanks to Kristine Martinez for underwriting the cost of our yard signs. The Photo Contest has been lau nched, please help us talk this up. We placed flyers in the Fa thers & Flashlight bags and it is being written up in the Village News, West U Email, and POMS photography. We are continuing to work on auction acquisitions. Of particular interest are trips, travel, restaurants, concert and sporting tickets, hotel stays, etc. Our Whiskey Toss fund raiser is scheduled for Monday Night Football on October 27th at the Marquis II. BBQ sandwiches and drinks will be served . The p aperless post invite went out yesterd ay , please watch for it and attend. VI. Parks and Recreation (Tim O’Connor) Colonial Park Turf Rehabilitation Unfortunately, there were some areas where we experienced undesirable results with the initial planting. Staff determined the original contra ctor would not be able to perform the required mediation on the new turf replacement project and has engaged the services of another licensed contractor. We are in the process of negotiating the repayment of services rendered with the original contractor, in hopes of recovering costs for the replacement areas. No additional funding request will be made of Friends for this project, as we have some contingency funds to cover any additional expenses incurred. The circumstances were not extraordinary in nat ure in our requiring the removal and replacement of the failed turf. I can further assure you that Friends dollars will not be
required in funding the cost of the replacement, as a good portion of the cost of the work is being negotiated with the installe r. Project Timeline : Initial Installation Began July 14, 2014 Replacement Installation Timeframe (Wednesday, October 1 –Wednesday, October 8) Estimated Reopening: The park will temporarily reopen from October 17 -19 and 24 for Full Moon Fest, Movie Night, and previously scheduled pavilion rentals. To allow enough time for the turf to become established, the park wi ll be closed until October 31. Judson Park Tennis Court Replacement Project Demo of the old asphalt court began on April 12, 2014 Fencing ins tallation began on June 30 and was completed on July 3 Musco Lighting installation began on June 4 and was completed on July 15 New court installation began on April 21, and after the curing and surfacing process it reopened for play on August 29. Unusuall y large amounts of rain in July and August delayed the surfacing portion of the project. The concrete moisture levels must be extremely low for the surfacing to properly adhere. Pending items include : Backboard is on backorder, and the installation is scheduled to be installed by mid -October. Minor court repairs are scheduled to correct bubbling issues. After recent heavy rainfall, a few bubbles were discovered on the court surface and initially reported on September 2. HDR’s Project Manager is overse eing the remediation. American Sports and Concrete (ASC) soaked the court on October 3, to make the bubbles rise. The issue appears to be moisture related, and they were able to inject a bonding agent avoiding a patched appearance. On October 7, we not iced that 5 small bubbles have reappeared. ASC will repair the issue, and staff will continue to closely monitor the court to ensure there are no other issues. WUP Recreation Center Playground Fencing Project The aluminum fencing will be installed aroun d all four sides of the playground, and there will be two entry gates – one on the south side and one on the north side. The fencing will be the same color and style as the existing fencing surrounding the West U Recreation Center facility. In addition, a gate will be installed on the southwest end of the property off of Bellaire to secure to current opening. The fencing has been ordered and is scheduled to be installed b y mid -November. VII. Other Repor ts and Announcements (Donna LaMond) F & F 2014 - Since our last meeting, everything has revolved primarily around Fathers & Flashlights and getting that event wrapped up. We have a final wrap up meeting scheduled with staff and the incoming chairs for tomorrow, October 9, 2014. We cannot thank the Chen g and Gilder families enough for all of their hard work on the Fathers & Flashlights camp out. It has been such a pleasure to work closely with them on this event for the past two years. Pictures are posted via a link on the home page of the Friends webs ite. The pictures tell the story. The chairs for next year are Kelly and Sean Butler, Kristine and Joaquin Martinez, and Kara and Curt Schaefer . I have no doubt that they
will continue the tradition of creating another fabulous, fundraising family event for our community. PLB2015 - As the PLB2015 chairs’ report states, everything is moving along smoothly. The Auction Tracker data has been uploaded to the remote server allowing access for the event chairs. Anna Stewart has agreed to help train the acqui sitions team on inputting the auction items into Auction Tracker. The big thrust this week is getting all of the underwriter letters out. We are mailing to the past three years of underwriters. We need your input for new prospects for underwriting and s ponsorships. Please remember that all Friends board members are responsible for bringing in at least five auction items valued at $100 or greater each and helping put together a table at the ball, and, of course, attending the ball. Wine or whiskey donat ions can serve as part of your donation for the auction, or some prefer just to write a $500 check payable to Friends and the chairs will use that money towards acquiring auction items, such as airline tickets, etc. If you have any questions or concerns a bout your contributions, please let me know. We are continuing to search for a 2015 Corporate Sponsor. As previously stated, if we cannot find a company to do the entire $50,000 sponsorship, we can break it down per event…$30,000 for PLB Lead Sponsor wh ich will be a six month sponsor arrangement, $10,000 for the Party on the Patio sponsorship in June 2015, and $10,000 for Fathers & Flashlights 2015. We are looking for prospects for any of the above scenarios and need the Board’s help. Please contact me with your suggestions. Christi Young, who wears many hats for the Friends board, came to me last week with a suggestion about going to a new, more user friendly format for the Friends website. We are looking into the possibility and will report back to t he board on our findings. Councilmember Update (Dick Yehle ) Construction at the US – 59 Southwest and Buffalo Speedway intersection will close all but one lane of both North and South bound lanes for 30 days. Houston’s Metropolitan Transit Authority has taken the proposed Weslayan Street bus route #48 off the table after receiving feedback from West U residents and West U City officials regarding traffic and safety concerns. The latest proposed route takes the bus through West U via Richmond Avenue to Bu ffalo Speedway continuing east on University Blvd. VIII. Adjournment The next meeting of the Board is sch eduled for Wednesday, November 12 , 2 014 at 11:30 AM in the Rec Center Conference room. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 12:2 0 PM. Respectfully submitted, Debora Connelly Piccolo Advisory Board Member