Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutParks Board Minutes April_3_2024 1 MINUTES WEST UNIVERSITY PLACE PARKS AND RECREATION BOARD MEETING, April 3, 2024 ______________________________________________________________________________ Loca�on: Recrea�on Center Chair: Stephanie Magers Secretary: Richard Cunningham Board members present: Stephanie Magers, Richard Cunningham, Rebecca Brownlie, Ryan Firth, Stephen Damiani, Laura (Lulu) Lopez, Maryann Grahmann, Lauren Griffith, Arlene Wells. Board members absent: Sami Morrison, Sarah Barret Staff: Susan White Council members: (none) Visitors: (none) Call to Order: Stephanie Magers called the mee�ng to order at 6:36 p.m. Ci�zen Comments: (None) Approval of the minutes from February 7 mee�ng: Lulu Lopez moved to approve and Lauren Griffith seconded. Unanimous approval. Council Update: (Council member Shannon Carroll was unable to atend.) Susan White suggested that board members check the update on the Facili�es Master Planning page. Council has added more informa�on about the Community Building / Seniors project. There will soon be a �meline. Susan sent link for board members to sign up to receive no�fica�ons. The Capital Improvement Project (CIP) will be going to City Council the week of April 11. The first project on the list is the Recrea�on Center’s jogging track. Others include upgrades to Friends Park, the Rec Center playground, and Liberty Hill. Friends Update: Susan White updated the Park Lovers’ Ball results. The 2024 total net is $432,000. Susan noted that this year’s ball was unusual due to the number of specific items that donors were asked to consider. There were ten park benches, for example. There were also picnic tables and a bike rack, and a large swing. A dona�on for the swing alone was $25,000. Altogether, such individual items accounted for $114,000 of the total received. Susan suggested that in the future it would be good to consider specific dona�on items to include at the ball. Most of the specific items from this year’s ball will have plaques or some other way to iden�fy the donor. The next Park Lovers’ Ball will be February 8, 2025. 2 Parks & Recrea�on Update: The Wier Park upgrade is con�nuing. Crews are currently working to grade (level) the ground. The drainage system is also being improved, par�cularly on the Belmont side. The playground equipment has been repainted. Next week there will be some addi�onal grading before the ar�ficial turf is laid. Once the turf is installed, the fitness equipment will go in. The seat wall along the Belmont entrance and the sidewalk that leads to the tennis courts will also be installed. Susan said that unfortunately, some of the playground equipment that included a built-in shade structure does not meet the city’s wind load specifica�ons. While this is disappoin�ng, she is s�ll exploring other ideas to provide shade over the 5-12 swings. Wier Park is scheduled to open near the end of May. The contractor, Jerdon Enterprise, L.P., says the project is on track. Susan hopes to plan a grand opening celebra�on. (Wier Park construc�on photos from April 18.) The Fee Commitee, which includes Ryan Firth, Rebecca Brownlie and Laura Turley recently met with Susan via Zoom to discuss poten�al fee increases. One op�on is to increase daily fees, which have been $6.00 since 2019. That may increase to $8.00. Non-residents currently pay $12.00 per day and that may increase to $16.00. This is low, Susan explained, compared to Bellaire. The new fees, if enacted, will match what Bellaire currently charges. 3 Colonial Park memberships may also be raised to cover increases in pay for part-�me employees. The increases, however, will not be great. “Couples” memberships at Colonial may be eliminated altogether. Individual memberships are currently $270.00. A couple is $350.00, but most other facili�es have only individual fees. “Family” memberships will be retained at Colonial Park, but the Rec Center may have a different set of users. Not many families come together to the Rec Center. Staff members have suggested keeping only the individual memberships for adults, with a 50 percent discount for children under 12 and seniors over 65. The Fee Commitee is considering these changes, but it wants to study the data further before making a final recommenda�on. Staff’s goal is to get the first dra� of their report to the Fee Commitee by April 22. Parks Board members will get to review the proposed changes ahead of the next Parks Board mee�ng. Laura Turley will bring it to the Senior Services board at their mee�ng on May 9 as well. The goal is for the Parks Board to approve a recommenda�on to City Council at the June 5 Parks Board mee�ng. Discussion followed regarding fee waivers for economic hardship. The Parks Department will meet with its so�ware company on April 11 to address Electronic Fund Transfers (EFTs) and automa�c dra�s. The goal is to make the process smoother and more user-friendly. Any changes will roll out in January, along with new fee adjustments. Another issue that will be discussed on April 11 is the recovery of credit card fees, which currently run about $30,000 annually. Do we need to charge a processing fee for credit card payments? The city atorney said there was nothing to prohibit this. The Spring Fes�val was March 23. The weather was excellent. About 900 people atended. (photos from March 23) The next big city gathering will be the Centennial Fes�val on May 4 at Colonial Park, 4:00-8:30 p.m. The pool officially opens the following day. The Centennial Fes�val will have entertainment for all ages. There will 4 also be representa�ves from all city departments. The city’s Communica�ons Manager, Bianca Cuccerre, is organizing the event. Park Ambassador Reports: Colonial Park West playground and decks – Lauren Griffith Edloe Street Pathway – Richard Cunningham noted that the u�lity pole which had been blocking a por�on of the new pathway has been relocated. Susan added that three more holly trees have been added along the pathway near Sunset. Huffington Park – Ryan Firth Friends Park – Sami Morrison Judson Park – Stephanie Magers Recrea�on Center – Rebecca Brownlie noted that the fence has holes big enough for soccer balls to pass through. Steve Damiani added that the soccer field is heavily used on weekends by groups who are not necessarily authorized to be there. Susan will look into it and talk to people at Tri-Sports, the organiza�on that maintains the field. Colonial Park East – Maryann Grahmann Colonial Park Pool – Stephen Damiani encouraged parents that their children might enjoy joining the Piranhas swim team. Registra�on is open now. Tryouts are in about two weeks. Piranhas is for ages from five to 17, but most are under 12. Wier Park – Lulu Lopez. Stephanie, who lives across the street from Wier noted that work starts promptly at 7:00 a.m. each day and that the work is progressing well. Jennie Hughes Park – Sarah Barret Whit Johnson Park – Arlene Wells Old Business: (none) New Business: (none) Adjourned: 7:40 p.m. Unanimous.