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HomeMy WebLinkAbout21 04 PRB MinutesMINUTES APRIL 7, 2021 6:30PM TELECONFERENCE TYPE OF MEETING Monthly Meeting CHAIR Peter Billipp SECRETARY Mary McCulloch ATTENDEES Members Present: Peter Billipp, Will Bertron, Mardi Turner, Brett Bingham, Maryann Grahamann, Laura Turley, Mary McCulloch, Lindsey Swiger, Sami Morrison Members Absent: Jeff Chen, Nina Pilson Staff: Susan White Council Liaison: none VISITORS I. Call to Order: The meeting was called to order at 6:34pm by Peter Billipp. II. Approval of March 3rd Meeting Minutes: Will Bertron made a motion to approve with Mardi Turner seconding the motion. The minutes were approved. III. Citizen Comments: None. IV. Friends Update: Sami Morrison The Park Lovers Golf Ball. About 80% sold out. Still room to participate. The whiskey putt will replace a popular whiskey pull event at the PLB. The online auction that coincides with the tournament will go live this Friday at noon and close next Friday at 6pm thru qtego. About 35 items are being auctioned off. House in Breckenridge or Telluride, summer or winter stays and good for 2 years! A trip to the US Open Golf Tournament at Torrey Pines. Beautiful jewelry. West U favorites include VIP parking at Colonial, Fathers & Flashlights and ride to school in the firetruck! Social media and Constant Contact will be used to send out the links to the auction. Mardi asked about the puppy and Sami said a number of people have asked, but not this year. Will asked if there has been any thought about pushing back the time for the end of the auction since it coincides with people finishing golf. Sami went through the timeline and thinks it will be okay but she will look into it. She said it is not too late to change that and they haven’t set a specific time. Thanks for the suggestion. Laura was happy to hear about the auction because she overlooked it in the email about the golf tournament. Sami explained that the focus is now shifting from sponsorships and registrations to promoting the auction. The wine wagon in February was a big hit. Thanks to Kristine Martinez for sponsoring it. V. Council Update: Mayor Pro Tem Kevin Trautner Not present. VI. Parks & Rec Update: Susan White 1) Huffington Park Improvements Timeline – all orders are in with the discount pricing. Park closure will be May 24th and last 8 weeks. Jeremy has created a parks update page Parks and Recreation Board Minutes page 3 for neighbors to see progress. They have been notified about the new fence and they are all excited. 2) COVID Operational Updates – Chief Taylor is the emergency management coordinator. He is presenting Parks and Rec updates to the Council. Outdoor rentals are beginning again. West U Rec Center on Mondays and Wednesdays will be opening at 5am. Racquetball court use is expanding to include different households. Senior transportation and programming is starting again. Planning for first in-person movie in the park (April 30th). Swim Team starts in May. 125 capacity limit at Colonial Pool and lounge chairs will be back. Social distancing numbers for indoor rentals as they resume. Group swim lessons will start. Potential for Party on the Patio. July 4th is celebrated on a Saturday if it falls on a Sunday due to the morning activities. This year it will be July 3rd – more information TBD. Maryann asked about when Colonial Pool opens and when we can sign up. May 1st the pool will open on weekends and Susan said we can get our memberships now. Capacity and reservations may be adjusted as the season progresses. Mary asked about schedule. Susan said there will be a modified schedule until HISD is out. Other Events TBD: Father’s & Flashlights, Full Moon Fest, Halloween Dash 5K & Kids’ Fun Run, Christmas Tree Lighting Event. 3) Strategic Planning – 2022 Budget Process – Kudos to this council and city manager for the strategic planning process. The Field Use Policy and Pickleball idea are going to be put into this kind of process. The Judson Park tennis court is the highest use this is not a good place for Pickleball. After checking on costs Susan said it is not inexpensive. 2 side by side courts would be $68,000… Something more cost effective would be better. Suggestions for renaming the Senior Center. “EngAGEment Center” has been contemplated. Revenue is down so much that they are looking to rent out more spaces, like Judson Park deck or rooms in the Rec Center. Peter asked about the funding for Tri-Sports, which has been brought up to him. He is wondering if any amount is being provided to Tri-Sports. Susan explained the city provides in-kind services like room use, irrigation, electric and priority field use with no charge. Cash subsidy of $125,000 was removed in October 2019. The new MOU is for 5 years, not annual. 4) Colonial Park East – the grass is being addressed. Despite the freeze, the space has been getting high use. Fertilizer with herbicide will be applied this Friday. Seed next. Specialty grass will be put on the hills that matches the rest of the field. Clover is more noticeable right now because of less frequent landscape service for winter months. 5) The survey is out! Good data to review for Judson Park. Still waiting on qualitative data because there was so much of it and A&M is going through it to find trends. Peter commented on the results from reviewing the reports. He thinks they are fantastic. Susan gave summary of the minimal comments about Judson on the survey. The residential aluminum fence is not doing well. Turf needs to be addressed. The last time it was renovated was geared towards older kid use. The final equipment selection received some negative feedback. Originally the forestry staff said there should not be turf put in there but now they are saying it may be okay with approved subbase. It’s 4,000 sq. ft. though and the pricing would be significant compared to the engineered wood. Not a ton of improvements needed at the younger side either. With funding down due to COVID and Weir Park is next, which is huge and will need a lot of funds, a minimal approach is recommended. Mary commented on Judson being great for the field, that it is fenced, etc. … Will said it might be good to add the same kind of solar lighting / LED ballasts that were put in at Colonial East. Feedback for the lighting at Colonial has been positive and could be considered as a good add-on to park Parks and Recreation Board Minutes page 3 renovations going forward. Susan said that’s a good point because the lighting at Judson could be considered for improvements/replacement. 6) Miscellaneous: Updates to the fee schedule for 2022 proposed. These include setting rental rates for the Judson Park deck, West U Recreation Center Rooms etc. The Bunny Parade was a big success. Laura pointed out how great it was that the staff was able to do an event like this and others during COVID. Kudos to all! The Parks and Rec summer guide is coming out soon. Priority registration for previous registrants will include 2019 and 2020 due to COVID. Susan pointed out that two trees by City Hall had to be removed and there may be room there for a new tree to be used for the Christmas tree lighting. VII. Park Ambassador Assignments: • Colonial Park East (Will) • Colonial Park West (Nina) • Colonial Park Pool (Mary) – Mary brought up the GaGa pit addition at West U Elementary SPARK park. Susan pointed out that she has gotten us on a special list for cities with parks that residents can walk to within 10 minutes. • Friends Pocket Park (Sami) • Huffington Park (Maryann) – everything great. She confirmed with Susan that there will be a water bottle filler in the new renovation. • JEH Park (Laura) – Mardi asked if the water feature had been turned off. Susan confirmed that it had been clogged and needed to be repaired. • Judson Park (Jeff) • Recreation Center Playground (Mardi) – Brett confirmed everything is great there. • Whitt Johnson (Brett) – Brett confirmed Whitt Johnson is also great. • Wier Park (Lindsey) – Lindsey said it is looking good. VIII. Order of Business: Peter Billipp Susan said part of the Colonial East renovation includes a water bottle filler with a doggie fountain too and it will be done soon. Will brought up that “doggie poop” receptacles around Colonial Park stink during the summer and it may not be a good location for the water bottle filler to be right next to one. Peter said maybe it would be easier to move the dog receptacle than the water fountain if it’s a perfect location for the fountain. Mardi checked in on a water fountain at Wier Park to confirm that it is fixed. Mardi also said on May 1st at City Hall will be the election, shredding event and closing day for Little League. Peter discussed New Business – send over Judson user group suggestions. IX. Adjournment: Meeting adjourned at 7:43 p.m. Next meeting is tentatively scheduled for May 5, 2021.