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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPRB 1999-11-01 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 NOVEMBER 1, 1999 ATTENDANCE Present: Board: Dwayne Leslie Chairman Scott Turnage, Jr. Vice Chairman Mark Haynes Board Member Kyle Appling Board Member John Lewis Board Member Jeff Arwine Board Member John Pena Board Alternate Absent: Andrew Wolff Board Member Present Staff: Jim Browne Director of Parks and Recreation Vickie Loftice Assistant Director of Parks and Recreation Christina Lopez Administrative 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 November 1, 1999 at 6:03 p.m. ITEM 2. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES APPROVED Mr. Turnage made a motion, seconded by Mr. Haynes, to approve the minutes of the September 21, 1999 meeting. Motion carried 6-0. ITEM 3. RECREATION, ATHLETICS, SENIOR ADULTS, TEENS AND TENNIS CENTER REPORT Ms. Loftice updated the Board on the following: The 1 st Annual Health & Wellness Fair was held on October 27 with a total of 20 different organizations participating in the daylong event. Sponsors included North Hills Hospital, Kimberly Clark, Fort Worth Star-Telegram and Signs Now. The 9th Annual Boo Bash was held at North Hills Mall on October 30 with approximately 10,000 people in attendance. The mall was very pleased with the turnout. Bursey Road Senior Center Gad-A-Bouts will be traveling to Branson, MO on November 18- 22. They also have a Christmas Lights/Casino Trip planned for December 5-7. The exercise and dance class continues to grow at Bursey Road. For the month of September, 179 participants were involved in these classes. Jane Burleson, Senior Center Supervisor at Bursey Road, announced that she will be retiring at the end of December. Dan Echols Senior Center celebrated their 8th Anniversary on October 9. They celebrated with an Open House with the guest of honor being Mrs. Dan Echols. One hundred and ten guests were in attendance for the event. Dan Echols hosted their annual their "Crazy Style Show" on October 20. The latest fashions included a"print dress" made from the latest edition of the Star-Telegram and a"tea length gown" draped with tea bags. Eighty-six teams are participating in the Fall Softball League which plays five nights a week. The total number of adult teams participating in softball is 254 compared to 230 in 1998. North Richland Hills has been awarded the 2001 TAAF State Championship for the Men's 6ft and Under Basketball Tournament. The City was also awarded the 2003 & 2004 Games of Texas. The Games of Texas were bid jointly with Grapevine, Hurst, Euless and Bedford. The next Men's Basketball season is scheduled to start in November. Registration is currently underway. Twenty-one teams are participating in the third fall season of adult volleyball. Plans are underway with city officials from Hurst for the TAAF Fast Pitch Softball Festival to be held in July 2000. Staff is working with hotels in blocking rooms in anticipation of over 150 teams converging from all across Texas. The tournament will be held at six different venues and include Walker's Creek Park, Fossil Creek Park and Northfield Park. Park and Recreation Board Minutes November 1, 1999 2 Melissa Johnson has been selected as the new Youth Outreach Coordinator. Melissa holds a bachelor's degree in psychology and has worked extensively in the area of human services. Melissa most recently was working with the Wesley Center as a Case Manager and prior to that she served as a Director of Child Development with the YMCA and managed 10 after school program sites. The North Richland Middle School drama class performed "Fairy Tales Goes to Court" on October 25. The drama class is apart of "the edge" after school program. An Open House will be scheduled in November for the Smithfield Middle after school program. The Open House is planned for parents to become informed about what the after school program is and what is offered. The Richland Tennis Center has been selected as a USTA Area Training Center. Charlotte Wylie was also selected as Head Coach for this program. A FWTA Super Major Zone Championship for juniors was held at RTC on September 18-19. Three hundred juniors from across the state participated. RTC revenues for 1998/1999 exceeded their original estimate by $49,183 or 31 Actual revenues totaled $208,726 and were originally estimated to be $159,543. Mr. Turnage expressed concerns about the widening of Loop 820 and its impact on the Tennis Center. Staff feels there will be more of an impact on the Recreation Center. TxDOT has not released the plans for the freeway expansion, but staff is monitoring the situation very closely. Mr. Turnage also inquired about any plans to upgrade or improve the lighting at Northfield Park. Staff responded that when the park was initially designed in 1985 the height of the light poles was not sufficient. Staff feels the field conditions have improved dramatically over the years. Some improvements are planned for the park and include berming, fencing, curbs and gutters. The asphalt has been resurfaced. Should the park ever be redeveloped the adult softball program would need to be relocated to another site (which we do not currently have) until the redevelopment is completed. ITEM 4. PARK OPERATIONS AND CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM STATUS REPORT Mr. Thornton updated the Board on the following: Staff met with representatives from North Hills Hospital regarding the North Hills Mall Multi-Use Trail. They are waiting for North Hills Hospital and the proposed North Hills Mall plans to make a decision on the redevelopment. The trail alignment has been revised for the Cottonbelt Trail according to DART's requests. Once DART approved the alignment the plans will be submitted to TxDOT for their review. Park and Recreation Board Minutes November l, 1999 3 Staff is waiting for TxDOT approval on the professional services contract for the South Electric Trail. Several grant applications have been submitted for the TEA-21 Grants. Staff should hear something in mid November to see how the projects have been ranked. Construction continues on Cross Timbers Park. The buildings should be going up soon. The plans and specifications have been completed for Thornbridge Neighborhood Park. Staff will meet with the Thornbridge neighborhood architectural review committee to review the plans. As soon as we receive verbal approval from TPWD the project will go out for bid. Staff attempted to bid out improvements to Northfield Park which include berms and fencing. The bids were not successful. Staff will be grouping a number of smaller projects together and resubmit the project for bid. The Linda Spurlock Park restroom building is nearing completion. Mr. Turnage wanted to know if staff waived liquidated damages. Staff responded that no they were not waived and the contractor is currently in liquidated damages. Mr. Turnage commented that Walker's Creek Park looks great since the sod was redone. Mr. Pena commented about all the projects that are done "in-house" and wanted to know if staff knows the dollar amount of cost savings. Staff responded that Dalan Walker and Patty Moos do an outstanding job on the "in-house" projects. The Board inquired about the City Entryway Signs. TxDOT is working on new policies that will help address entryway signs. Also staff will be addressing Entryway Signs in the City Image Study currently under development. ITEM 5. AQUATIC PARK END OF SEASON REPORT Mr. Swartz reviewed the 1999 Season Report for NRHZO with the Board. A copy of the report was included in the Board packets. Mr. Turnage wanted to know what the capacity of the park is. Mr. Swartz responded that according to deck space and queuing lines the park could hold approximately 3,000 people at one time. So far our highest "on park" capacity has been 2,500. There are 500 paved parking spaces available with an additional 200 in overflow parking. Parking is also available at TCC. Mr. AnNine inquired about on park injuries. Staff responded that Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT's) are on park at all times when NRHZO is open, this is above what state code requires. Several NRH2O staff members are certified EMT's. Fire Station #3 is close by and calls can be dispatched within 2.5 - 3 minutes. Also the first aid station is stocked like a BSC Ambulance. Park and Recreation Board Minutes November 1, 1999 4 The Board also inquired about the water quality system. Mr. Swartz explained how the Strantrol System 5 works. Mr. Swartz introduced Ms. Dette McElroy, Marketing Specialist and Dena Pierson, Office Coordinator for NRH2O. The Board reviewed the End of Season Report and commented that it was very well put together. ITEM 6. PARKLAND DEDICATION ORDINANCE APPROVED Mr. Thornton updated the Board on the Parkland Dedication Ordinance Article 12. He also reviewed the Council questions and responses. Mr. Pena was concerned about the appeal process and wanted to make sure that was included in the Article or the Planning & Zoning Ordinance. Staff will research this to see if it is included in the Zoning Ordinance. Mr. Lewis wanted clarification on what City Council approved on September 27`h regarding the Parkland Dedication Ordinance. Mr. Browne clarified that City Council approved for Article 12 to go back to the Park and Recreation Board and then on to Planning & Zoning to set a public hearing date. MOTION: Mr. Turnage made a motion seconded by Mr. Arwine, to submit the Parkland Dedication Ordinance Article 12 to the Planning & Zoning Commission for their review and a public hearing, and that staff review the Zoning Ordinance to be sure there is an appeal process available. Motion carried 6-0 ITEM 7. PARK SYSTEM MASTER PLAN MATRIX RESULTS Ms. Julie Perkins, with Carter & Burgess, Inc., presented the results of the Priority Ranking Matrix for the Park System Master Plan. The Board reviewed the top 10 items, which are not in any particular order. These items included an indoor pool/aquatic center, picnic shelters/tables, playgrounds/play equipment, additional recreation center, hike/bike/walk trails, lakes, nature center, natural areas and open spaces. Park and Recreation Board Minutes November 1, 1999 $ The results of the Priority Ranking Matrix will now be taken to the Mayor and City Council for their recommendation on what order these items should be in. The Park System Master Plan should be complete by mid January. Mr. Leslie thanked Ms. Perkins for her presentation. ITEM 8. OTHER INFORMATIONAL ITEMS Staff handed out the new Hike/Bike Trail maps to the Board. Mr. Pena inquired about City Entry Way signs. He wanted to know what an average cost is per sign. Staff responded that lighted masonry signs cost approximately $25,000 each. They will also have a ballard attached so that banner's can be hung from the signs. ITEM 9. ADJOURNMENT Mr. Arwine made a motion, seconded by Mr. Turnage, to adjourn the meeting at 8:15 p.m. Q ~.a, Dwayne Leslie, Chairman ATTEST: Christina A. Lopez, Adm is ive Secretary Park and Recrearion Board Minutes November 1, 1999 6