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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPRB 1998-10-05 Minutes MINUTES OF THE PARKS 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 5, 1998 ATTENDANCE PRESENT Board: Rick Work, Chairman Sharon Battles Board Member Dwayne Leslie Board Member Sherry Milano Board Member Ann Perchard Board Member John Pena Board Alternate Staff: Jim Browne Director of Parks and Recreation Christina Lopez Administrative Secretary Patty Moos Park Planning and Construction Superintendent Chris Swartz Aquatic Manager Monica Sue Walsh Assistant Director of Parks and Recreation ABSENT: Sherry Christensen Board Member Pam Jackson Vice Chairwoman ITEM 1. CALL TO ORDER Mr. Work called the meeting to order October 5, 1998 at 6:02 p.m. ITEM 2. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES Ms. Perchard made a motion, seconded by Ms. Milano, to approve the minutes of the August 3, 1998 meeting. (Motion passed 6-0). ITEM 3. RECREATION, ATHLETICS, SENIOR ADULTS AND TENNIS CENTER REPORTS Ms. Walsh updated the Board on the following: Camp NRH concluded with over 350 children participating in day long activities such as NRH2O, tennis lessons at Richland Tennis Center, archery, field trips, pottery, self enrichment activities and sports. The camp was expanded this year to accommodate more children, but we still had 30-50 names on the waiting list each week. The Recreation Center began using ESCOM Registration and Facility Booking Software on August 3. The Recreation Center celebrated their 10t" Year Anniversary with a Registration Party that was held on August 8th. Activities included a bounce house, clowns, class demos, meeting instructors, a DJ to entertain and 25¢ hotdogs and drinks. The Recreation Center offered a Family Trip to Glen Rose on September 19th. The trip filled completely up on the first day of registration. A whole family, including grandpa, grandma, sisters, brothers and cousins booked the trip. The trip consisted of transportation to Glen Rose State Park to view dinosaur tracks, a short hike on the trails, picnic lunch and a driving tour of Fossil Rim Wildlife Ranch. They all had a great time. The Head for the Hills Family Festival is scheduled for Saturday, October 17th. The festival will be from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. with entertainment throughout the day on three stages. Staff is seeking volunteers to work the event in two-hour shifts. This is the second year to combine with the Economic Development Department on the event. Boo Bash is planned with North Hills Mall for Saturday, October 31, from 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. Staff is Iooking for volunteers to work this event also. Bursey Road Senior Center held a Health Fair on October 1St with 85 people coming through for flu shots. All Saints Hospital sponsored the event. Bursey Road Center will hold an Open House on October 8th from 4:00 - 7:00 p.m. Refreshments will be served. Kimberly Clark Company donated seven computers each to Bursey Senior Center and Dan Echols Senior Center. Dan Echols Singers visited two assisted living centers. Dan Echols Swingin Seniors visited four different sites. The newly formed "Hula Honey's & Company", Dan Echols hula dancers, visited three different sites. Park and Recreation Board Minutes October 5, 1998 2 Bob Hagin and Jim Browne attended the Texas Amateur Athletic Federation Annual Conference, in Corpus Christi, to bid on the Girl's Fast Pitch State Softball Tournament for the year 2000. North Richland Hills, in partnership with the City of Hurst, was awarded all divisions of the tournament. The tournament will be held July 11-14, 2000 and will use fields in Hurst: Hurst Athletic Complex and Chisholm Park, and fields in NRH: Walker's Creek Park, Northfield Park and Fossil Creek Park. This is the first time all divisions will be at one location and will have over 120 teams from across the state converging for this softball festival. Mr. Browne stated that after the North Richland Girl's Softball League's current season is complete the infields will be replaced at Walker's Creek Park. Currently staff is performing maintenance free for the fall season due to the condition of the infields. The contractor will be given the opportunity to fix the problem. If the contractor does not correct the problem, staff will work with the bonding company to finish the project and back charge the contractor. Staff has been in contact with the Girl's Softball League and explained the situation. Approval is expected at the next BISD Board of Trustees meeting in October for a Teen After School Program at Smithfield Middle School. Upon approval, the program is expected to begin in January 1999. Pizza Parties were held at North Ridge and North Richland Middle Schools in September and October. Papa John's Pizza provided 20-25 pizzas for each event free of charge. Friday Night Out was held in September with over 400 in attendance. The next Friday Night Out is scheduled for October 30, 1998. The Teen After School Program has added two new programs, free tennis and golf lessons. Staff transports the kids to Iron Horse Golf Course or Richland Tennis Center for the free lessons. The NRH Parks and Recreation Department will be hosting the TAAF Adult Co-Rec Softball Tournament on Saturday, October 24. The Fort Worth Tennis Association used Richland Tennis Center as a playing site for the FWTA Adult Major Zone tennis tournament August 15 - 16. Richland High School began their Varsity and Junior Varsity practices August 11th with 64 students participating. Richland Tennis Center is coordinating a league for employees at Motorola. They will play on Tuesday and Thursday evenings with 26 people participating. Enrollment for September group lesson programs was 166 versus 130 a year ago September. League enrollment also increased from 66 a year ago to 110 for the same session this year. Park and Recreation Board Minutes October 5, 1998 3 ITEM 4. PARK OPERATIONS AND CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM STATUS REPORT Ms. Moos updated the Board on the following: Newman, Jackson, Bieberstein, Inc. is continuing design work on Calloway Branch Trail. North Electric Trail is substantially complete. Work yet to be completed is hydro-mulching, plantings and striping of the trail. Little Bear Creek is in the design phase. A draft of the trail system route map was passed around to the Board for their review. The map has been submitted to TxDOT for final review. Preliminary design work continues on the North Hills Mall Multi-use Trail. Staff is working with TxDOT, North Hills Mall and the Hospital regarding easements. The contractor is working on punch list items for the Girl's Fast Pitch Softball Complex. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department are reviewing the plans and specifications for the 100 Acre City Park. Staff hopes to hear from them soon. The Standard Park Signage project is complete. NRH2O Improvements are substantially complete and staff will be making final payment to Brinkley Sargent Architects. Mesa Design Group is working on site survey and preliminary designs for the Cottonbelt Trail. The citizen survey, for the Park System Master Plan Update, is under review. Should the Park and Recreation Board have any questions they would like to see added to the survey, they were asked to get them to Jim within the next two weeks. The Richfield Playground Renovation is complete and open for use. Mr. Work wanted to know if there was anything going on at Richfield Park in the way of improvements? Mr. Browne responded that we couldn't do field improvements until we get the 100-acre park site built. The athletic fields are used year round. Richfield Park was poorly designed to begin with and sits entirely within the flood plain. To correct it would take full redevelopment. Staff would need to relocate use before we can do any improvement of a permanent nature. Park and Recreation Board Minutes October 5, 1998 4 ITEM 5. AQUATICS REPORT Mr. Swartz updated the Board on the following: Attendance for the 1998 season is 243,007. This is up from the 1997 season total of 202,957 or 19.7%. This increase is attributed to the addition of the Green Extreme and the hot dry summer. Citizens of North Richland Hills made up 25 percent of the total attendance. As of September 28, unaudited revenues were more than $3 million dollars, which is an NRH2O first. The Gift Shop has over $290,000 in sales, Food and Beverage generated over $325,000 in sales and Group Sales generated over $300,000 in sales. As guests stay longer, they spend more money in the park. The Gift Shop increased by about $200,000 from last year due in part to the Beanie Babies sales. NRH2O will receive the "Gold Elite" overall rating from Jeff Ellis and Associates, our Aquatic Risk Management Firm. This rating is based on three unannounced audits conducted throughout the season. These audits include video surveillance of our lifeguards performing their job duties, an evaluation of our lifeguard's ability to successfully manage an emergency situation and an evaluation of the facility as a whole. NRH2O has certified instructors on staff who train all the lifeguards. NRH2O's goal for this year was to increase the average length of stay and size of average groups visiting the park. They succeeded with the average length of stay increasing to 5.182 hours from 4.824 hours and the average group size increasing from 4.478 to 5.664. NRH2O staff has revised some operating procedures due to the E-Coli breakout that occurred in Atlanta, in June of this year. While attending the World Water Park Symposium and Trade Show in Orlando Florida this past October, staff visited with representatives from the Center for Disease Control from Atlanta, as well as representatives from the park where the E-Coli breakout occurred. Prevention of occurrences such as these support NRH2O's high levels of training requirements. NRH2O has three Certified Pool Operators on staff as well as three Aquatic Facility Operators. Ms. Milano wanted to know how many staff work during the winter? Mr. Swartz informed her that 6.5 staff works year round, which include: Aquatics Manager, Operations Coordinator, Revenue Coordinator, Office Coordinator, Group Sales Representative, Maintenance Supervisor and '/2 of the Marketing Specialist. Mr. Browne added that we are actively recruiting for the Group Sales Representative at this time. Mr. Leslie wanted to know if the park turned a profit. Staff responded that the park does turn a profit, and that new expansions will be paid out of the net revenue. Staff is also looking at expanding the maintenance program. Ms. Milano commented that it is incredible that we have maintained the quality of the park. Mr. Pena wanted to know if we were open as many days as we planned? Staff commented that we lost the last weekend due to the thunderstorms and one day during the summer due to the windstorm that damaged some of the funbrellas. Park and Recreation Board Minutes October 5, 1998 5 iTEM 6. CITY COUNCIL AND DEPARTMENT GOALS Copies of the City Council Goals and Parks and Recreation Department Goals for the 1998/99 Fiscal Year were included in the packet for the Board's review. The City Council Goals were adopted at the August 1998 City Council Meeting. Staff is very excited that the Parks and Recreation Department plays a role in six of these goals. A meeting will be scheduled with the Mayor, Council and Park and Recreation Board to discuss these goals. ITEM 7. DISCUSSION OF REGULARLY SCHEDULED PARK AND RECREATION BOARD MEETING At the last Park and Recreation Board meeting discussion was held regarding a possible change of the regularly scheduled meeting day for the Park Board. At this time the only days available are the 4th Tuesday or any Wednesday. It was the consensus of the Board to continue to meet on Monday's until after the first of the year and see if any other days become available after the completion of the Ad Hoc Committee meetings. ITEM 8. TOWN CENTER PROJECT UPDATE Mr. Browne updated the Board on the current developments in the Town Center Project. The Park and Recreation Board has been invited, and encouraged, to attend a few "Design Charrette Workshops" for the Town Center Project. The workshops will be held at the North Hills Mall Theater on the following dates: Tuesday, October 13 - Public Design Review Forum Thursday, October 15 - Public Design Review Forum Saturday, October 17 - Public Design Review Forum Monday, October 19 - Final Presentation The Board has especially invited to the meeting on Saturday, October 17, at 7:00 p.m. Mr. Browne met with Randy Moresi, CEO of North Hills Hospital, about a possible public/private partnership in the new recreation center. This is just one of the many possibilities to evaluate and look at. ITEM 9. OTHER INFORMATIONAL ITEMS Mr. Pena asked about the on the Recreation/Athletics monthly report. Ms. Walsh responded that the Recreation Center has recently gone to the new ESCOM system and they have not been able to separate out the revenues to the separate accounts as of yet. Staff is working on the situation and should have it corrected soon. Park and Recreation Board Minutes October 5, 1998 6 Mr. Work wanted to know how the background checks were progressing. Ms. Waish responded that all coaches have been through the background checks. The Board also inquired about the National Gold Medal Award. Mr. Browne responded that the Gold Medal went to Champaign, Illinois this year. Due to the fact that Illinois and Colorado have "Park Districts", with their own taxing and policy authority, they have an advantage and basically lead the Nation in facilities and services. Staff is disappointed, but not discouraged. This does not take anything away from the Department and we will try again. Being named a"Finalist" the past three years demonstrates that we are consistently regarded as one of the top four departments, serving populations of 50,000-100,000, in the United States. Mr. Pena introduced a guest he invited to attend the meeting, Mr. Eric Seebock. Mr. Seebock, who is an architect with Carter Burgess, was involved in the Colleyville City Park Project, wanted to see what was going on in North Richland Hills. ITEM 10. ADJOURNMENT Ms. Battles made a motion, seconded by Mr. Pena, to adjourn the meeting at 7:35 p.m. , ,~"~°~7 ~ _ - , ~ ~~Y~ Rick Work, Chairman ATTEST: Christina A. Lopez, A ' trative Secretary Park and Recreation Board Minutes October 5, 1998 7