HomeMy WebLinkAbout17 10 PRB MinutesWUP Parks and Recreation Board MINUTES OCTOBER 4 , 201 7 6:30PM REC CENTER – CONFERENCE ROOM TYPE OF MEETING Monthly Meeting CHAIR Peter Billipp SECRETARY Nina Pilson ATTENDEES Members: Peter Billipp , Brett Bingham, Jeffrey Chen , Stephen Damiani , Maryann Lio Grahmann, Tracy Larson, A. Scooter Lerner, Spyros Maragos, Mary McCulloch, and Nina Pilson Staff: Susan White Council Member: Mardi Turner VISITORS A lida D r ewes I. Call to Order : After the Board members signed Officer Statements and received their Oath of Office delivered by Council Member Turner; t he mee ting was called to order at 6 :30 pm by C hair Peter Billipp . II. Approval of July 18 , 2017 Meeting Minutes : Motion to approve the m in utes was made by Mark Prescott with a second from Peter Billipp . Motion passed unanimously. III. Public Comments : Comments by Alida Drewes. Again expressed concerns regarding use of Colonial park and its fencing limitations. Stated that it should not be under lock and key to enable everyone to use the fac ilities specifically the green space. Also stated to quit increasing fees and that other residents outside of West U are using our tennis courts (which should be not allowed) and Bellaire parks are much nicer and more efficiently run with residents there u sing their facilities more often with high attendance. IV. Welcome & Introductions: Parks Board Chairman: Peter Billipp explained the role and participation of the Park and Recs board with feedback from Mardi Turner and Susan White. Nina Pilson asked fo r clarification on board’s role in passing or approving park issues. Mardi Turner stated that funding is usually the differential factor. Billipp passed out a sheet where each member signs up to visit and report back on each West U park with any issues or concerns pertaining their specific park. Mark Prescott from Friends was introduced and explained his role on the board and within the Friends of West U Parks. He detailed the upcoming Fathers and Flashlights event and general fundraising answers. Parks and Recreation Director Susan White: Walked board through the material given to each member at the beginning of the mtg: board packets, weekly reports, operational snapshot (clarifying the administration budget being high due to a recent retirement), 2015 master plan and by laws. Susan further explained that the bylaws needed to be revised and updated as they had not been since 2004 with several changes already noticed. The idea of visiting all the parks as a board during the next mtg (or splitting this int o Dec mtg) with an earlier start time was proposed. Everyone agreed this was a good idea and Susan said she would follow up with an email on start time and potentially using Senior Services bus to do the tour. V. Motion to Approve Vice Chair and Secretary: Peter motioned to elect a Vice Chair and
Parks and Recreation Board Minutes page 2 Tracy Larson had already volunteered for the position. The description for Secretary was also explained and Nina Pilson volunteered to transcribe the minutes. VI. Friends Overview : Included u nder Welcome & Introductions. VII. B oard Member Updates . Mark shared an on -going issue with the gates at Wier Park. Susan White explained that Parks Maintenance staff has tried several types of gates and latches, and due to the high usage at Wier Park, the ga tes are regularly misaligned. She will meet with staff to work towards a permanent solution. Mary McColloch shared concerns regarding lane lines near the alligator and climbing wall areas at Colonial Park. Susan will investigate and report back on both issues . VIII. Staff & City Council Update . Council Member Turner and Peter explained and handed out the most recent rendering of the Hughes project and where the proposal stands as of now. Council Member Turner asked for support at Monday’s city council meeting as preliminary design has been agr eed on but the budget and details plans have not been voted on. After much discussion it was agreed that all we are looking at was a basic plan that was agreed on by a Hughes family representative, Parks board, City Council and Task Force. 2018 Budget - Susan White passed out changes to the 2018 budget which mainly fall in membership increases and Stephen Damiani asked for clarification on what was being increased: membership dues or Rec Center classes. Only non -discounted memberships and daily fees are being increase to directly recover increased staffing costs for lifeguards. IX. Adjournment . M eeting adjourned at 7 :3 3 pm .