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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014 11 PRB MinutesWUP Parks and Recreation Board MINUTES NOVEM BER 5 , 201 4 6:30PM REC CENTER – CONFERENCE ROOM TYPE OF MEETING Monthly Meeting CHAIR Melissa Pifko ACTING SECRETARY Tim O’Connor ATTENDEES Melissa Pifko, Susan Reeves, Moya Varner , Mark Prescott , Tracy Larson, Wayne Franklin, Don Armstrong T im O’Conn o r (Staff) VISITORS Mark Knysh and Ramsay Elder , W est University Place resident s I. Call to Order: The mee ting was called to order at 6:3 5 pm by the chair Melissa Pifko . II. Approval of October 1 , 2014 Meeting Minutes : Motion to approve minutes made by M oya Varner and seconded by M ark Prescott . Motion approved. III. Friends Overview : Mark Prescott. Friends enjoyed a very successful 2014 Father s and F lashlight s event , grossing in excess of $90K. Planning for the 2015 Park Lovers Ball is well underway . February 7, 2015 – Omni Houston Hotel . Event Co -Chairs: Michele and Charles Still, Adrienne and William Vanderbloemen, and Christi and John Young. Mark asked any members of the Parks Board who has a lead for potential corporate sponsors for the 2015 Party on the Patio Concerts Series, 2015 Fathers & Flashlights event or the 2015Park Lovers Ball to please forward him that contact information. Friends meet s at 11:30am on the second Wednesday of each month . IV. Board Member U pdates and Committees : Weir : Melissa reported that on Sunday, November 2 nd , the irrigation system activated during normal park hours – there were park patrons on site when the system activated. park had and Moya stated that is look ed great. New trees look really nice. Wayne aske d whether the city was going to construct the wooden picnic deck on the southwest corner of the park and Mark reminded the group that Friends has implemented a moratorium on all non -emergency park project s until the 2015 Parks Master Plan is adopted by City Council. Huffington : No report. Whit J ohnson : No report . Friends : No report . Colonial East : Don reported a possible water leak in the southwest corner of the east end of the open green space that has created a muddy spot around the irrigation head closest to the flag poles. Judson : Wayne reported that all appeared to be in order at the park Parks and Recreation Board Minutes page 2 Colonial Park Pool Concession Concept : Wayne stated that he and his family, along with many of his frie nds and neighbors who patronize the Colonial Park Pool, would like to see healthy food and beverage options offered. He suggested that the city consider contracting with local food truck operators to determine if they would be interested in setting -up at Colonial during the lunch and dinner hours on Saturdays and Sundays. The concept involves the truck(s) setting up on Westpoint, by the large service gate on the west side of the park. The board felt the concept had great merit and suggested that staff lo ok into the possibilities further and report back to the Parks Board at the December 2014 meeting. V. Staff and City Council Updates: Council Update : No Report Staff Update : Park M aster Plan Update : Melissa reported that the October 23 rd PMP Town Hall Meeting went well. There were approximately thirty (30) residents in attendance, a majority of whom were older residents ( 50+ ), with approximately half of the group providing constructive input. Melissa then presented a written meeting summary of the October 29 th PMP Task Force Meeting ( attached ). Melissa reported that the second PMP Town Hall Meeting will be conducted on Thursday, November 20 th @ 6:30pm at the Community Building. She asked each parks board member to please strive to invite at least five (5) of their friends and neighbors to attend/participate , with an emphasis on inviting a younger demographic so the PMP Task Force can gain insight on what the youth and younger adults of the community would like to see included in th e plan. Susan R. suggested that in light of the Long Term Facilities Master Plan Town Hall meeting being scheduled for Monday, November 17 th , that the city hold sending the e -blast informing residents of the November 20 th PMP Town Hall meeting until at le ast November 18 th , out of concern that residents may confuse the two meetings. Tim stated that signs informing residents of the 11/20 meeting were placed at the entry points to all WUP parks and recreational facilities on 11/5 and that the same message w ould soon be posted on the three (3) city owned electronic marquee’s, along with several social media meeting notification launches. Melissa also reported on the City Debt report that the City Manager presented at the Town Hall meeting – slide attached. Tim handed out the city’s official response to residents regarding the West University Long Range Master Planning process – document attached . PARD Personnel Update : Tim reported that there was now a vacancy in the Recreation Division, due to recreation Spe c ialist Heather Whitty accepting a position with the City of Friendswood – that position is currently posted and staff anticipates having it filled by the first of the new year. The City Council approved a new Parks Maintenance Technician position that is currently posted. Staff interviewed two well qualified candidates and anticipate making an offer of employment within the next week, in hope of having the position filled by December 1, 2014. This new position will allow for weekend care and maintena nce to be facilitated at all WUP parks. PARD Operations Snapshot : Tim handed out the updated Operations Snapshot document, developed for staff and all citizen boards benefit in the areas of customer service and service delivery. Tim asked all parks board members to please review and provide him with any edits they feel would be beneficial - document attached . Parks and Recreation Board Minutes page 3 Little Foodies Program : Dr. Tracey Ledoux, Assistant Professor – Department of Health and Human Performance / University of Houston, inquired as to the possibility of the City of West University Place Parks and Recreation Department partnering with the University of Houston to deliver and test the Little Foodies Parent Education curriculum. Dr Ledoux created the 6 -week curriculum based on the latest research in eating behavior development, obesity prevention, child development and Attachment/Responsive parenting theory. She is currently running two classes with 14 parents on the UH campus, with the program being far more successful than she had imagined. Dr. Ledoux and her team have not analyzed the outcome data yet, but during the classes parents from a wide variety of economic, educational, and racial backgrounds are reporting gaining insights and perspectives from the class that are t ranslating to improved family meals and child eating behaviors. Dr. Ledoux has grant funding to pilot this program on another 16 families (2 classes of 8) of children ages 1 -4 and is looking for a host. The UH campus is too inconvenient for most paren ts. The program is 6 weeks with 60 -90 minute classes once per week. During classes they cover one topic a week, discuss specific issues parents are having, and use a technique called video feedback to learn about child appetitive cues at meals. Topics they cover include picky eating, nutrition, responsive feeding, how to introduce new foods, and promoting healthy habits. I inquired as to her thoughts regarding the participation of those in a high socio economic category and she stated that she is finding t hat higher SES families are very anxious about picky eating and getting their children to develop healthy eating habits. They know the nutrition bit but there are a lot of myths about HOW to feed them and this is what they focus on in this class. In the 2 classes she is currently teaching she has several participants who were UH faculty members (had PhDs in a variety of fields) and they learned a great deal in the class. All participating parents receive a $30 gift card for completing pre and post program assessments, for a total of $60. Brittany and I have discussed the program and we feel that it would be a wonderful educational opportunity for our residents with toddlers. We will arrange for meeting space at the WUP Recreation Center and provide a ba bysitting service at no -charge for any WUP resident enrolling in the program. Dr. Ledoux has stated that she is 100% flexible in regard to the time of day the program is offered. Staff would like to offer the program anytime between 9:00am and 4:00pm on weekdays. The attachments and following link are intended to provide more insight. http://www.uh.edu/torc/projects_programs/ Parks Board approved the PARD moving forward with facilitating the progra m. VI. Citizen’s Comments: Mark Knysh: Thanked the board for inviting him to attend the Parks Board meetings. He attended the recent PMP Town hall meeting and spoke on behalf of a number of his and his wife’s friends who regularly use WUP parks. Mark inquired about fencing the playground at the WUP Recreation Center and Tim reports that project is scheduled to begin on Monday, November 10 th . Ramsay Elder: Expressed his concern that the city has intentionally neglected the expressed need for addi tional parkland on the east side of the city. He stated that he felt there was deception involved in how parkland has been and will be funded. Melissa asked him if he had any specific properties in mind and encouraged him to provide the parks board with that information – no response . VII . New Business: Tim reminded the board that the city will be hosting the First Annual West U Arts and Jazz Recess on Saturday, November 8 th at Colonial Park from 10:00am until 2:00pm, and encouraged them to please stop by. Wayne’s wife , Rachel McNeill, will be serving as the M aster of Ceremonies . Parks and Recreation Board Minutes page 4 VIII . Adjournment: Motion by Moya with second by Susan to adjourn meeting. Motion passed and m eeting adjourned at approximately 7:5 0 pm . T he next meeting is scheduled for December 3 , 2 01 4 @ 6:3 0 pm .