HomeMy WebLinkAbout18 10 PRB minutesWUP Parks and Recreation Board
MINUTES OCTOBER 3, 2018 6:30 PM REC CENTER – CONFERENCE ROOM
TYPE OF
MEETING Monthly Meeting
CHAIR Peter Billipp
SECRETARY Nina Pilson
ATTENDEES
Members : Spyros Maragos , Maryann Grahmann , Mary McCulloch , Jef f rey
Chen, Nina Pilson , Sami Morrison, Scooter Lerner, Maryann Grahmann , Tracy
Larson
Staff: Susan White
VISITORS Brooks Smith (Parks Maintenance Manager)
I. Call to Order : T he mee ting was called to order at 6:3 3 pm by Peter Billipp .
II. Approval of September 5th 2018 Meeting Minutes : M otion to approve the m in utes was
made Nina Pilson with a second from Peter Billipp . Motion passed unanimously.
III. Citizen Comments : none
IV. Council Update: no C ouncilmember present. Susan provided an update on the budget
process.
V. Staff Update: Susan White
1. Introduction to Brooks Smith and welcoming him to the meeting. He will be a good
resource as we discuss park redevelopment.
JEH Park: All of landscaping is in, grading is complete and final touches are being finished.
A lot of rain has delayed some things but scheduled final walk through with architect and
building team for substantial completion is on 10/15. Tues 10/30 is the official R ibbon
Cutting C eremony.
2 . Subcommittee Updates : P rogramming – the Subcommittee will be meeting next week
and we will do a comprehensive programming review . Brittany Bakes should have
something to report at by next meeting .
The recycling committee doesn’t have a lot of updates. The recycling containers at JEH
will be the new standard for all recycling containers at parks going forward. In the Parks
Fund budget, we have requested funding (from the 2016 -2017 Fun Run) hopefully will be
able to purchase containers to replace all park containers for 2019 .
2019 Budget and Fee schedule is going to stay the same as proposed . There is a budget
increase of $208K due to an operational change of the discontinuance of special use facilit y
permits w ith two aquatics programs – this change allows more control and oversight of
programming . The revenue we are recovering more than offsets this change.
Parks and Recreation Board Minutes page 2
Miscellaneous – October is a busy month…
Movies in the Park
Festival of the Arts
Full Moon Fest – could use more teenage volunteers
Fathers and Flashlights
Halloween Dash
MOU – These are Memorandums of U nderstanding that go before Council for approval
annually : Tri -Sports MOU includes payment of ($125K through 2019; reevaluated before
2020 MOU ), W est U Piranhas , and West U Baptist Church (WUBC utilize s the C ommunity
Building for Sunday school activities and the parking lot behind the building is utilized by
the city for senior program and class participants at the Community Building.
Potential Hike and Bike Trail on the CenterPoint Easement - Susan said the city was
c ontacted by Houston Parks Board , which has a successful bayou greens project. They are
requesting a letter of support to mak e a path on west side of West U railroad track (Bellaire
side). Additional information has been requested, but staff sees no issue as long as there
will be safe crossing areas and the trail will be properly maintained . They are submitting
for an HGAC grant and it looks like a 10 yr project ed completion .
VI. Friends Update: Chair Sami Morrison : Sami introdu ced herself as new Chair of Friends
of Parks board taking over for Mark Prescott who resigned as Chair on 9/12 . Mark raised
$2.5 million for the Board and won a citizen award from the city. Sami discussed rest of
board positions and new people in each position . Fathers and Flashlights is 10/20 and we
are crossing our fingers for no rain. Park Lovers Ball is coming up and some slight changes
to host committee (non West U ) for 2/2 at Hilton America s with a French g arden theme.
VII. Parks Redevelopment Plan Discussion: Chair Peter Billipp stated that n ow that JEH is
somewhat of a closed issue, we are looking at updating our current park inventory. Spyros
reviewed 4 target parks and gave us a detailed ov erview of major issues at each park.
Whitt Johnson – Sami mentioned that there is a lot of shade but also a lot of insects.
Maryann feels that the mulch is the issue (engineered wood fiber mulch that never dries
out) and added that there are also quite a few fire – ant mounds. Susan mentioned that the
playscape is older and it may make sense to ch ange the layout of the park and remove
gazebo. Peter mentioned re -configuring courts but some resistance to that because it wou ld
change who is playing and how much. Peter also talked of changing the play structure and
re -use the old structure in another park? And put a smaller play structure where gazebo is?
Mary also mentioned making a true walking perimeter with signage on dist ance so it
becomes a more of an exercise track.
Colonial Park East – Peter mentioned the volleyball court as the main issue. Also
everyone agreed the structures seem disjointed and sort of random. Ideas for the volleyball
space : zipline type equipment th at kids can race each or ninja warrior type course. Brooks
mentioned grassing over the sand and making it an open play space. There are many
surfacing options for this type of area as well. Susan also mentioned sprucing up the
pavilion (originally built in 2000). Jeffrey re -imagining track as inner circle of cement and
an outer circle of track material. Also putting in a soccer net at one end Byron and another
at Case so you create true field for soccer and football. Susan mentioned that the field is not
me ant to be at a level field but sloped to discourage organized play . Susan that mentioned
th at the lighting on the track need ed to be updated.
Huffington – Scooter asked a few moms at the park and they were surprised that there was
Parks and Recreation Board Minutes page 3
talk of redoing the park. Insects are an issue as well. Nina mentioned the need to change the
shaded seat structure is strange and needs to updated. Susan mentioned that it is also over -
pl anted as well which may be the reason for the mosquito issue. Scooter mentioned the
dedication bench as it has some serious wear and tear.
Judson – Tracy mentioned that we lost a tree in little kids area so we need to replace with a
good shade structure. Susan mentioned Brooks got a quote for $13K. Sami asked about the
usage of the grills and who it is bringing in? We need to update the bbq grills. Also the rock
wall – is it too dangerous? It replaced much more standard equipment. Is there too much
space btw the two areas. Spyros mentioned that he likes that the park is spaced out well .
Maryann mentioned installing the water bottle fountain structure in some parks and Susan
said Weir and Colonial are next to be installed. Peter discussing next steps to ge t the parks
updates rolling and Spyros asked what the typical budget for this overhaul would be. Peter
said he estimated the amount to be around $250K.
The first step before presenting to the Council is agreeing upon the Redevelopment order,
before we delve into each park.
VIII. Park Ambassador Reports and Advisory Remarks :
• Colonial Park East (Jeffrey)
• Colonial Park West (Maryann)
• Colonial Park Pool (Mary)
• Friends Pocket Park (Spyros)
• Huffington Park (Scooter)
• Judson Park (Nina)
• Recreation Center Playground (Steve)
• Whitt Johnson (Brett)
• Wier Park (Mark)
IX. Adjournment: Meeting adjourned at 7:45 pm