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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPRB 2000-10-02 Minutes MINUTES OF THE PARK AND RECREATION BOARD OF THE CITY OF NORTH RICHLAND HILLS, TEXAS, HELD AT THE NORTH RICHLAND HILLS PRE-COUNCIL CHAMBERS LOCATED AT 7301 NORTHEAST LOOP 820 October 2, 2000 ATTENDANCE Present: Board: Dwayne Leslie Chairman Scott Turnage, Jr. Vice Chairman Mark Haynes Board Member Andrew Wolff Board Member John Lewis Board Member Brenda Cole Board Member John Pena Board Alternate Absent: Kyle Appling Board Member Present Staff: Jim Browne Director of Parks and Recreation Vickie Loftice Assistant Director of Parks and Recreation Christina Lopez Administrative Secretary Kelly Preston Parks & Recreation Secretary Chris Swartz Aquatic Park Manager Bill Thornton Assistant Director of Parks and Recreation Greg Vick Managing Director of Community Services and Facilities ITEM 1. CALL TO ORDER Mr. Leslie called the meeting to order October 2, 2000 at 6:03 p.m. ITEM 2. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES APPROVED MOTION: Mr. Wolff made a motion, seconded by Mr. Haynes, to approve the minutes of the August 7, 2000 meeting. Motion carried 5-0. ITEM 3. RECREATION, ATHLETICS, SENIOR ADULTS, TEENS AND TENNIS CENTER REPORT Ms. Loftice updated the Board on the following: Revenue for class registration increased 18% for the month of August at the Recreation Center. This increase is due to the addition of two Program Coordinators and one Cultural Arts Program Coordinator. Staff was able to increase the fall session of classes by 8.3% The North Richland Hills Health and Wellness Fair will be held on Saturday, October 21 St, from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. The event will be held at the Recreation Center and will offer a number of free to nominal cost health tests from North Hills Hospital. Area agencies will also be there with information on family health issues. Boo Bash will be held on October 31 St from 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. at North Hills Mall. Carnival booths will be set up for children to enjoy. There will also be a costume contest with mall gift certificates being awarded as prizes. Staff is looking for a volunteer to help judge the costume contest. Dates are being set for the Spring Concert Series, which is scheduled to begin March 16, 2001. The Prevent Blindness Association of Texas visited Bursey Senior Center and offered free glaucoma and field vision tests on September 18th The Dan Echols Senior Center will have an Open House on October 20'h from 9:00 - 11:30 a.m. Dan Echols Senior Center will also be hosting their annual Craft, Bake and Rummage Sale on November 3~d and 4t". Fall adult softball leagues began September 25th with 55 teams participating five nights a week. North Richland Hills received two state awards from the Texas Amateur Athletic Federation during the annual conference in Austin. The awards presented were the "Presidents Award" and the "Bronze City Award". The "Presidents Award" was presented for hosting the Girls Fast Pitch State Softball Tournament, the largest tournament in T.A.A.F.'s 75-year history, with creative, innovative, and progressive attitude. The "Bronze City Award" was presented for outstanding team and individual participant registrations of 245 teams. Mr. Leslie introduced the new Park and Recreation Board member, Ms. Brenda Cole and the new Secretary for the Parks and Recreation Department, Ms. Kelly Preston. Park and Recreation Board Minutes October 2, 2000 2 The first Friday Night Out for this school year was a huge success with approximately 400 teens in attendance. The portable building for "the edge" at Smithfield Middle School received a"teen face-lift". When the students returned after the summer break they were greeted by an assortment of bright chairs, bean bags, along with pictures making the portable building look like a place they can call their own. The fall season for USTA and TCD for men, women and mixed doubles started September 7t" There are 13 teams calling Richland Tennis Center "home". Richland Tennis Center hosted a Mid Cities Circuit Tournament September 9'h with 116 juniors participating. Richland High School held varsity matches on September 8th, 12tn and 19th, junior varsity held matches on September 7th and 25th and middle school matches were held on September 21 St TTAC (Tarrant Tennis Advisory Council) will be hosting the BMW Combo Tournament at RTC on September 30th - October 1 St Richland Tennis Center will be the site for the USA Tennis Competition Training Center with practices beginning in October. Revenue is up 6% at Richland Tennis Center through August. Mr. John Lewis requested an update on the Cultural Arts Ad Hoc Committee. Ms. Loftice said she would prepare the update for the next meeting. Mr. John Pena inquired if the Recreation Center offered any Spanish Classes. Ms. Loftice said they may offer that and she will look in to it. ITEM 4. PARK OPERATIONS AND CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM STATUS REPORT Mr. Thornton updated the Board on the following: Preliminary plans have been submitted to TxDOT for review for the Calloway Branch Trail. Staff is awaiting comments from TxDOT and then will proceed with the acquisition of easements from BISD, TXU and Kimberly Clark prior to securing bids for the project. Staff has been waiting on approval from TxDOT for the bike route signs in lieu of TxDOT Highway Standards. They believe they have a tentative approval as of 10/2/2000. Staff anticipates going out for bid in February 2001. Plans have been submitted to TxDOT in May for the Cottonbelt Trail. Staffing is waiting for TxDOT's approval prior to bidding the project, which should be after the first of the year. Park and Recreation Board Minutes October 2, 2000 3 The project agreement with TxDOT for the Walker's Creek Trail and Bike Transit Station was approved by City Council at their August 14'h meeting. Staff can now proceed with consultant selection for the design of the project. Cross Timbers Park and Thornbridge Park are substantially complete with the contractor working on punch list items at this time. Staff has resubmitted the grant application for the Brandonwood Neighborhood Park. The last granting cycle was very competitive. A few minor revisions were made to the proposed park to help the project score better in the granting process. These revisions include the addition of a 3-hole disc golf course, horseshoe pit and washer pit. The announcement for the award of grant will be in January 2001. City Council awarded the construction contract to Artographx for the installation of seven entryway signs and installation of uniform park signs at their September 11`h meeting. Both projects were bid together. The Spring Tree Planting project is complete. The contractor will be replacing any trees that died during the summer. Mr. Lewis commented that on a visit to Thornbridge Park he noticed that the swings are to high for small children. Mr. Thornton commented that the pea gravel has not yet been installed at that park site and that should help with the height of the swings, but staff will check in to it. Mr. Turnage wanted to know why tree planting projects and city entryway signs fall under Parks and Recreation. Mr. Browne commented that it usually falls under Beautification and is a Quality of Life issue. Staff is also working on the City Image Study. Mr. Pena wanted to know where Artographx (who was awarded the bid for installation of city entryway signs and uniform park signs) is from? Mr. Thornton responded that their office is in Roanoke and that already have the models in their computer for the signs, which helped keep the cost down for the projects. Mr. Leslie wanted to know when we anticipate opening Cross Timbers Park? Mr. Browne commented that staff is waiting on the announcement of the Gold Medal Award and that the opening of the park and the celebration of the Gold Medal could possibly be tied together. ITEM 5. AQUATIC REPORT Mr. Swartz updated the Board on the following: NRH2O posted their highest attendance ever at 260,500 for the 2000 Season. This is an increase of nine percent from last season's attendance of 239,420. Park and Recreation Board Minutes October 2, 2000 4 As of September 25`h, NRH2O collected park revenues were in excess of 3.1 million. NRH2O continues to be a strong financial performer. Staff will bring a more complete season report at a later Park and Recreation Board meeting. During the 2000 season, Jeff Ellis and Associates (NRH2O's aquatic risk management firm) audited NRH2O three times. These unannounced audits included video surveillance of the lifeguards perForming their duties, an evaluation of the lifeguard's ability to successfully manage an emergency situation and an evaluation of the facility as a whole. NRH2O is very proud to announce that they will receive the "Gold" rating for these audits. ITEM 6. PARK USE POLICY UPDATE Ms. Loftice reviewed the Park Use Policy changes with the Board. The following comments were made: Mr. Pena would like to see the leash length changed from 6 ft to "leashed". Ms. Loftice will check the Animal Ordinance for clarification. Mr. Leslie expressed concern about RV's being parked in parks all week. Allowances could be made if the department is hosting a several day athletic event. Ms. Loftice will keep an eye on it so it doesn't happen unless approved by staff. Mr. Wolff commented about park use for "for profit" requests. He doesn't want to allow anyone to go into parks "for profit". The Board would like to see the inclement weather refund requests changed from 48 hours to 72 hours. Mr. Wolff would like to see the wording changed regarding Portable Toilets to read "Ten percent (10%) or a minimum of one of the portable toilets must be wheel chair accessible". Ms. Loftice also informed the Board that Gary Fore, Richland Youth Association and Jim McCaghren, North Area Youth Association, received letters requesting proposals regarding the use of Cross Timbers Park. The proposals are due to staff by October 27th and will be brought before the Board at the November 6th meeting. The youth associations will be allowed to make a presentation to the Board at this meeting. Mr. Wolff wanted to know if they could get the proposals earlier than the day before the meeting. Mr. Browne stated that staff will not ask the Board to make a decision at the November meeting, but will bring this item back at the December meeting for action by the Board. ITEM 7. OTHER INFORMATIONAL ITEMS Mr. Pena commented that there is a lot of information in the packet regarding skate parks. Mr. Browned responded that they try to include items in the packet that staff identifies as trends to keep the Board updated. Park and Recreation Board Minutes October 2, 2000 5 Mr. Lewis provided information to the Board regarding the YMCA and bike racks. Mr. Lewis is working with the YMCA in trying to raise public awareness of the need for bike racks at local businesses and to encourage people to ride their bikes more often. Mr. Lewis said he found someone in our community to build the bike racks and that TCC would create the graphic arts and marketing literature. This is just an FYI item at this time. Mr. Pena wanted to move forward to consider building a regular outdoor swimming pool at the new Recreation Center. He is looking for something like what the YMCA has. Mr. Browne stated that staff and Council has evaluated the prospect of a regular outdoor pool and made a decision not to pursue that type of facility due to the complete subsidizing of that type of facility. NRH2O offered water aerobics and open swimming the first season that they were open and the program was not very successful. Mr. Browne reminded the Board that the new Recreation Center plans include swim facilities. ITEM 8. EXECUTIVE SESSION The Park and Recreation Board entered into closed Executive Session to discuss the following: Deliberation Regarding Real Property as Authorized by Government Code §551.052 Park Land Acquisition ITEM 9. ADJOURNMENT Mr. Turnage made a motion, seconded by Mr. Wolff, to adjourn the meeting at 8:30 p.m. Dwayne Le lie - Chairman ATTEST: _ ~ Christina A. Lopez - Admi ist ' e Secretary Park and Recrearion Board Minutes October 2, 2000 (