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HomeMy WebLinkAbout20 02 PRB MinutesMINUTES FEBRUARY 12, 2020 6:30PM REC CENTER – CONFERENCE ROOM TYPE OF MEETING Monthly Meeting CHAIR Peter Billipp SECRETARY Mary McCulloch ATTENDEES Members Present: Peter Billipp, Will Bertron, Mary McCulloch, Jeff Chen, Mardi Turner, Brett Bingham, Sami Morrison Members Absent: Maryann Grahmann, Nina Pilson, Lindsey Swiger, Laura Turley Staff: Susan White, Brooks Council Liaison: Mayor Pro Tem Kevin Trautner VISITORS Alida Drewes; Texas AgriLife Extension Survey Development Team: Dr. Jamie Rae Walker, Kelsey Coats and Thomas Croft I. Call to Order: The meeting was called to order at 6:32 pm by Peter Billipp. II. Approval of January 15, 2020 Meeting Minutes: Mardi made a motion to approve with Sami seconding the motion. The minutes were approved. III. Citizen Comments: Alida Drewes was present. Dogs need to be socialized. Every class teaches this and it’s not just that she “feels” they need to be socialized. The survey should separate seniors and parks. There are so many issues with seniors that you won’t know if their food is being contaminated or if they are being abused, etc if their survey is combined with the Parks & Rec survey. City Council says seniors can have their trash picked up in the back yard, but they actually must get their trash out to the front yard. City Council is lying about this. People want open green space. You all want to clutter up the open green spaces with children’s play equipment. It’s wrong to waste tax payer’s money. Don’t waste our money. Stop wasting our money. IV. Survey Preparation: Dr. Jamie Rae Walker Draft of the West U Place Parks & Recreation & Senior Services Citizen Survey 2020 distributed and explained to the board for comments. Park and map numbering will be redone to eliminate the confusion about the ball park and Scout House. Edits included removing the gazebo from Whitt Johnson and adding Gaga Ball; adding BBQ grills to Colonial. Jeff brought up adding a question about dog water fountain feature. Discussion about making this a universal feature along with the bags for dogs if the survey shows citizens want it. Probably best to evaluate this on an individual park basis as needed. The dog friendly question was talked about at length to consider sensitivity of the costs and maintenance of a separate dog park, which has historically been a hot topic. Will suggested changing the word “spaces” to “amenities” or something similar. Tennis courts may need to receive fresh attention and address concerns from some who don’t believe they are being used all of the time. Might be time to look at the data again and see how much they all are utilized. All agree that creating a survey question about the tennis courts without the potential for leading the responses will be tricky so it was removed. Dr. Walker explained that specific items occurring within the comment section will be grouped into themes and this may be another way to identify any issues. Susan noted that tennis will be discussed with the Board as future parks are evaluated for updates. Parks and Recreation Board Minutes page 2 Senior services section should be completed by all residents to get a complete community view of the senior services. (For example, people that will be seniors in 10 years and family that cares for a senior.) Mardi wanted to clarify the difference between the Senior Center and the Community Building. Mardi also had Good Neighbor changed to Good Neighbor Team. Mardi questioned the line item about emergency services because they are a different department but all agreed to keep it. The Participation and Demographics sections were talked about at length. Everyone is trying to determine the best questions for the survey that will result in changes or additions to existing Parks and Rec that improve the community’s overall experience. Various edits for typos and grammar were addressed. Note this survey will be online primarily, so format will be slightly different. Real estate on these surveys is very valuable so we need to keep it short and limit unnecessary text. Current draft takes approximately the same amount of time, maybe even less, than the 2014 survey where there was an excellent response rate. V. Friends Update: Sami Morrison Park Lovers Ball was an enormous record setting success. Still confirming dove hunts $490k gross. Auction set a record at $213k. Donna and the Chairs knocked it out of the park! November 8, 2020, is the date for Fathers and Flashlights. VI. Council Update: Mayor Pro Tem Kevin Trautner Study on water treatment plant will need a lot of work. Traffic study on speed and safety. Bee ordinance is finalized. VII. Parks & Rec Update: Susan White 1) Colonial Park Pool – the new green slide looks great. Finishing touches are being put on. Pre-party to test run the new features. 2) Fees – research and prep are going into the 2021 fees. We seem to on target with other cities. Does not look like we will be recommending any increases. Staff will be interested in hearing the results for the survey regarding affordability. VIII. Park Ambassador Assignments:  Colonial Park East (Will): Investigate placing waste receptacles on the north side of the park.  Colonial Park West (Nina)  Colonial Park Pool (Mary)  Friends Pocket Park (Sami)  Huffington Park (Maryann)  JEH Park (Laura)  Judson Park (Jeff)  Recreation Center Playground (Mardi)  Whitt Johnson (Brett)  Wier Park (Lindsey) No issues reported. IX. Colonial Park East – 2020 Improvements Overview of challenge course option presented. Two benches and two trees will be relocated in the new space for the challenge court. The Gaga court would be placed near Parks and Recreation Board Minutes page 3 the existing 5-12 play structure. Video of the challenge course shown. The timer is recommended. It’s also possible to write “start” and “finish” into the turf. Floating boards, agility pods, U-turn ramp, sway steps, traverse wall, etc. were all covered. Vault walls versus agility trainers were discussed. Feedback will be solicited from Colonial User Group. The 2-5 year old area has some suggested updates too. This is 20 years old so options are limited. This will be updated with fresh slides and play walls. The sand area for the 2 -5 year olds includes multiple elements like a boat and a play bait house. Sami pointed out the expense for both of these and the possibility of just one. The fossils and diggers are also a significant cost. We will need to consider space constraints if all of the elements are crowded. Options were provided for 2 see-saws as well. Potential revamp of 5-12 year old play structure includes climbing wall and a roller slide. We will be investigating need to replace engineered wood. Pavilion will be repainted. Updated lighting drawing was presented. Brooks said solar should save ~ $135/year in electricity costs. It’s also the environmentally friendly thing to do, especially avoiding digging up near trees for electric conduit. Staff will need to get approval for taller lights than the park is zoned for and Brooks will asked about the timing and percentage of power for the lights. Will asked about the flexibility to program the lights according to need. Sami brought up the cost of the Gaga ball and Susan pointed out that quote included new borders in the playground too. There was discussion not to include the Gaga with all the other improvements being added to the 5-12 year old area. Gaga could easily be added at a later time. X. Adjournment: Meeting adjourned at 8:45 p.m. Next meeting is scheduled for March 4, 2020.