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HomeMy WebLinkAbout20 12 PRB minutesMINUTES DECEMBER 2, 2020 6:30PM TELECONFERENCE TYPE OF MEETING Monthly Meeting CHAIR Peter Billipp SECRETARY Mary McCulloch ATTENDEES Members Present: Peter Billipp, Will Bertron, Mary McCulloch, Mardi Turner, Maryann Graha mann, Laura Turley, Nina Pilson, Lindsey Swiger, Members Absent: Brett Bingham, Jeff Chen, Sami Morrison Staff: Susan White, Will Thompson Council Liaison: Mayor Pro Tem Kevin Trautner VISITORS I. Call to Order: The meeting was called to order at 6:33 pm by Peter Billipp. II. Approval of November 4th Meeting Minutes: Mardi Turner made a motion to approve with Laura Turley seconding the motion. The minutes were approved. III. Citizen Comments: None. IV. Friends Update: Sami Morrison Not present. V. Council Update: Mayor Pro Tem Kevin Trautner Wrapping up ongoing items. VI. Parks & Rec Update: Susan White 1) COVID-19 Update – Not many changes. Resumed pilates & jazzercise, some additional tennis & swimming lessons. Continuing to monitor operations and adjusting accordingly. 2) Colonial Park East Update – Closer to finalizing. Engineered wood fiber is getting ready for next week. High scores on existing allows us to just top off. Solar lighting is delayed. Challenge course had delays due to last minute changes, but holidays are now having impact. The $50,000 sponsorship from Children’s Memorial Herman needs to be recognized. Considering opening everything besides the challenge course so residents can begin using the space. 3) Survey Update – A&M notified that their institutional review board finalized the survey. Letters written by the Mayor will be going out next week with unique code for the secure online survey. Signage on parks and a reminder postcard will be used to encourage responses. 4) Misc. – Virtual tree lighting will be December 7th live streamed at 6:30pm. Coloring contest winners will turn the lights on. Santa will leave the tree lighting and follow a map planned tour of the major streets and some parks. If successful this could become an annual event. The laser light show will be at the Rec Center on December 17th. Register 48 hours in advance for one of the 4 time slots. Mardi asked if the show will be videoed to be able to watch live. Susan will check into this. Mardi will receive the advocate of the year award for all of her ongoing service and dedication. Nina asked who is doing the laser light show. Parks and Recreation Board Minutes page 2 VII. Huffington Park Update Discussion (2021): Peter Billipp Demo the arbor and remove the game tables – this is the general comment that is most notable from the user group feedback. Mardi was confused by the art wall and the east fence. Susan explained that one user group had suggested moving the iron (east side / College) fence out to gain some square footage and the existing sidewalk; however, there would still need to be a pedestrian walkway along that street and it would be too close to traffic. A lot of the south fence is in bad condition, but Mardi thought she saw the homeowner along the corner replaced their fence line which would be city property and cause an issue with the art wall concept. Mardi, Peter and Nina voted “no” to extending the fence line along College. Many of the neighbors do not have duel sided fences so there are concerns to consider when replacing it. It does hold a lot of moisture with having the ivy covering it. Now is the time to look into replacing it. Will suggested a first pass at this including removing the arbor, excess trees and ivy on the fence. Can we get city staff to come in and start removing things so the group can visualize the way we should go with this? Susan pointed out that we usually present one concept for one council approval but that doesn’t mean we can’t try doing it in 2 phases. We could demo the arbor, remove the pavers that support it, remove the game tables, remove the ivy and remove unnecessary trees. Peter thinks removing the arbor to help visualize would be helpful as long as it does not create any issues for residents to use the park due to cleanup, etc. Will agreed not to disrupt park usage by removing these items. Mardi suggested moving the parking sign. Susan explained that this park had issues with small party gatherings when it first opened, which led to the parking signs so neighbors could get in and out. Guidelines for paver replacement and memorial plaques are being worked on with Friends board. Improvements for the entrance area include stroller parking and benches for sitting outside the main play area. Idea for a continuous surface path is costly. Various estimates from 2019 are expensive. Will reiterated the concept of using less joints for the concrete is the differentiating factor and it is not a bad surface to consider. A focus group member mentioned standing water by the pet pickup station on the College side. General drainage issues will be corrected when the artificial turf is replaced. The alternative option of wooden decks are expensive and high maintenance. Connection swing by Burke is a possibility, as well as a more unique option called “Expression Swing” but that needs its own bey. Will had some safety concerns about siblings/friends using the Burke swing. Lindsey thought the “Expression Swing” looked safer with more of a bucket seat for infants. Quotes will be researched for these swings in various configurations, including stand-alone options in another area of the park. The existing belted seats for swings need to be where they are for spacing/tree clearance requirements. Susan is interested in art wall feedback and guidance. Mardi commented on free play art being a cleaning issue on city staff and Will commented on using panels for more of a permanent art design through a fundraiser. For example, 10 panels @ $1,000 each = $10k for Huffington. Mardi is supportive of this as it would eliminate the maintenance problem. Maryann doesn’t feel a chalk wall would be a maintenance concern. Why wouldn’t a parent be able to just wipe it off themselves? Nina wondered if this is a chalk board or a cement wall? Since we don’t know yet, the aesthetics are the concerned. Lindsey pointed out the reason this came up was to lighten up the back fence and suggested a mix of materials and combination of permanent or hands on art. Free standing, tilting panels could be explored, Parks and Recreation Board Minutes page 3 Susan suggested. Mary, Nina and Mardi agreed to put the art wall conversation on hold until the items suggested above are removed to help visualize a plan. Questions about too much sun if we remove the arbor and myrtles. Will talked about Colonial Park East having a similar layout and it works well. Lindsey commented on being able to see across the entire park. Mary said JEH park has the open area as well and it is a good thing for seeing children. Will wanted to know more about the earthquake shaker that had negative feedback from the user group. Susan explained what it was and that it could be removed. Will and Mardi were concerned about any climber options being considered for this young age group focused park. Note: Friends has approved “up to $200,000” for this improvement project. VIII. Park Use Policy Discussion: Will Thompson & Susan White Will Thompson and team has been looking at a whole approach because this really does touch on a lot. Will has been doing research on policies for field use, tennis courts, etc. Have also reached out to peer groups. Field use and personal trainers / instructional profit are a common concern not unique to West U. Having something in writing to point to that makes field use equitable for all citizens helps. No person can offer services for monetary gain unless they have an agreement with the city. A permit system could be used (private instructors would need to apply with the city). This would be a new revenue stream for the city but also would provide more control over those amenities and ensure availability to the entire city. This would also allow the city and staff to hold instructors accountable in the event there is an issue. We could also expand the current contract model to all private instructors using park facilities. This would be a uniform policy for swimming, tennis and field use. In addition, these options would give more data to the city to develop future use accordingly. Mix of instructional and recreational use is important to ensure the parks can be used by all residents. Staff is also consulting with the city attorney for more clear enforcement and guidelines. Mardi is concerned about enforcement. Will said how much is proactive and how much is reactive and needs to be thought about in terms of the role of our police or Daniel or other staff. Will explained that the contractor system can use RecTrac or the Click West U might be something that can be used. There is not one clear answer for this. The Rec Center is more cut and dry with policies, but some other parks do not have an actual policy to point to. Laura supports studying this and having a thoughtful approach. Mary asked about leveraging the policies around rental facilities for parties. Will Thompson will continue working on this subject. Susan gave a reminder that the Tennis Committee is working on this from their perspective as well. Legal and contract concerns also. IX. Park Ambassador Assignments: • Colonial Park East (Will) • 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) Parks and Recreation Board Minutes page 4 • Whitt Johnson (Brett) • Wier Park (Lindsey) – Nina mentioned an ongoing drainage issue on the street X. Order of Business: Peter Billipp Mardi wanted to remind everyone about the composting event on Saturday. She also wanted to ask for contacts at the boy scouts or girl scouts to help with Christmas tree light recycling. XI. Adjournment: Meeting adjourned at 8:14 p.m. Next meeting is tentatively scheduled for January 6, 2021.