Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutPRB 2008-06-02 Minutes MINUTES OF THE PARK AND RECREATION BOARD MEETING OF THE CITY OF NORTH RICHLAND HILLS, TEXAS HELD IN THE PRE COUNCIL CHAMBERS LOCATED AT 7301 NORTHEAST LOOP 820 June 2, 2008 Present: Brad Greene Chairman Marty Kusmierski Vice-Chair Jay Crane Board Member Mike Filis Board Member Tom Lombard Board Member Marlin Miller Board Member Tracye Tipps Alternate Absent: Ricky McElroy Board Member Staff Members: Vickie Loftice Director of Parks and Recreation Sharon Davis Assistant Director of Parks and Recreation Bill Thornton Assistant Director of Parks and Recreation Chris Swartz Waterpark Manager Christina Lopez Administrative Secretary A-1 CALL TO ORDER Chairman Brad Greene called the meeting to order June 2, 2008 at 6:03 p.m. A-2 APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES OF THE April 7, 2008 MEETING APPROVED Motion: Mr. Lombard moved to approve the minutes of the April 7, 2008 Park and Recreation Board meeting. Mr. Filis seconded the motion. Motion to approve carried 6-0. A-3 LIGHTING AT TIPPS CANINE HOLLOW CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROJECT (Tabled from the April 7, 2008 meeting) FAILED This item was tabled during the April 7, 2008 meeting until more Park and Recreation Board members could be present to discuss. Removed from table. At the February 4, 2008 Park and Recreation Board meeting, Marlin Miller requested that the lighting project at Tipps Canine Hollow be placed on the April 7, 2008 agenda for discussion by the Board. Ms. Vickie Loftice provided background information on the Lighting at Tipps Canine Hollow Park Amenity Request and the establishment of the Dog Park Association - Tipps Canine Hollow Park Pals. A Park Amenity Request was received in November 2006 from David Cole, a resident of Hurst, requesting lights at Tipps Canine Hollow. The request was placed on the February 5, 2007 Park and Recreation Board Agenda for consideration in the 2007/08 Parks Capital Improvement Program Budget. After discussion, the Park and Recreation Board recommended including the project in the FY07/08 CIP Budget with the caveat that the users of the park and those requesting the lights provide partial funding through fundraising events. The recommendation was forwarded to City Council and approved in the CIP Budget in September 2007. Sharon Davis, Assistant Director of Parks and Recreation has been working with park users to establish a dog park association. Six meeting have been hetd with an average of three people attending the meetings. The first fundraiser "FidoFest" was held on Saturday, May 17, 2008. About 1,000 people attended FidoFest which raised $1,488 for the dog park association. The dog park association has been very slow in foRning - usually dog park associations are established to help solicit support for a dog park, but since NRH built the dog park first then is attempting to establish an association, the need may not be there. Since the Park and Recreation Board requested to reexamine the Board's original recommendation to City Council, staff requests that the Board consider the following: • What level of commitment is expected from the dog park association in raising funds for lights? • Does the Board want to specify a spec~c dollar amount that the dog park association should raise for the lights? • Do lights continue to be in the best interest of the park in regards to extended use and overuse of the park? • Should the project be extended into FY08/09 so that additional funds can be raised? • Should the City fund the entire cost of the lights regardless of any fundraising efforts? Discussion was held. Mr. Lombard stated that the Park and Recreation Board's original recommendation did not stipulate a dollar amount for the dog park association's contribution. Mr. Miller dces not want to wait until the dog park association raises enough money to contribute because the cost of the lights will keep rising. Ms. Tipps wanted to know if we could scale back on the number of lights to help cut down the cost. Mr. Fitis asked what the lights would cost the city on a monthly basis. Mr. Thomton responded that it would be a fairly nominal cost. Mr. Crane stated that the interest for the lights may not be as important as they thought, since Parlc and Recreation Board Minutes June 2, 2008 2 there were no other requests for lights and only two people attended Parks and Recreation Board meetings when the lights were discussed. Mr. Filis is concemed with spending the $120.000 on lights for a park that is already built and not being able to fund another project. Mr. Lombard understands and respects everyone's views and past history but his concerns are regarding the sales tax and feels that we could absorb the $120,000 for the lights. Mr. Greene suggested taking the $120,000 and building another dog park in the southern end of the City. Ms. Tipps commented that she is not a big fan of the lights and would rather see the $120,000 go towards a donation to the animal shelter to save dogs lives. Mr. Filis wanted to know if spending $120,000 on dog park lights would impact any other projects. Ms. Loftice responded that the project would be paid from the sales tax fund and that there have been some pretty lean years in the past but feels the fund could probably absorb $60,000. With the addition of the lights and increased usage staff will not be able to maintain the turF at its current level. Mr. Thornton also noted that while he and Gary Bechthold, Parks Superintendent were attending a conference in Portland, Oregon they toured a number of Portland's dog parks since the area is known for their dog parks. None of the dog parks had lights, and only one of the dog parks had grass, all the others had a small amount of grass and wood chips. He felt that Tipps Canine Hollow is far superior to these dog parks. Staff also commented that the Adopted 2007 Park, Recreation and Open Space Master Plan does show the need for another dog park south of Loop 820. Motion: Mr. Lombard moved to forward a recommendation to City Council to release the funds allocated for lights at Tipps Canine Hollow and to use the dog park associations $1,400 to help fund the cost of the lights. Mr. Miller seconded the motion. Additional discussion was held. Mr. Lombard amended the motion by adding: not using the dog park associations $1,400 and that City Council fund the entire dollar amount. Mr. Miller seconded the amended motion: Motion to approve failed 2-4. Ms. Loftice asked if there were any other motions that the Park and Recreation Board would like to make at this time. There were none. Ms. Kusmierski commented that should a large group of park users express the need for lights and attend a Park and Recreation Board meeting indicating that support, she would vote in favor of having the lights added with out participation by the dog park association. Park and Recreation Board Minutes June 2, 2008 3 B-1 UPCOMING PARKS AND RECREATION RELATED CITY COUNCIL AGENDA ITEMS Ms. Loftice presented a brief overview of several items that are scheduled to be presented to City Council during the month of June. Award of Bid for Aquatic Park Chemical Supplies Award of Bid for Playground ad Bleacher Shade Structures Award of Bid for Northfield Park Playground Improvements Proclamation 31 days, 31 ways - Celebrate July as National Recreation and Parks Month B-2 CURRENT CAPITAL PROJECTS IN PROGRESS Mr. Bill Thornton updated the Park and Recreation Board on the status of several Capital Improvement Program Projects. Staff met with Barbara Grygutis, the commissioned artist for the Grand Avenue Plaza, and acquainted her with the City of North Richland Hills and the projects conceptual master plan. La terra is proceeding with design development, probable opinion of cost and construction documents. Staff has been exploring alternative construction materials (recycled asphalt) for the additional parking at Tipps Canine Hollow. Staff has met with LBL Architects several times to discuss the progress and theme of the NRH2O Third Phase Attraction and Restroom/Hopper Expansion. Staff is working with the City's insurance company on the damage to the Ace Park artwork. Staff is looking into possibly doing a digital poly resin image of the artwork which is a vandal resistant solid material. B-3 NRH2O FAMILY WATERPARK UPDATE Mr. Chris Swartz, Waterpark Manager, updated the Park and Recreation Board on activities at NRH2O. Revenue and attendance are up. New this year is fireworks on the third Saturday of each month during the summer - June 21, July 19, and August 16. NRH2O celebrated their 14th Birthday on June 2 from 2:00 - 4:00 p.m. Admission was lowered to $14 for the entire day. In attendance were the Mayor and o~cials from Atmos Energy who donated $15,000 for the purchase of fifejackets to ensure that every guest visiting NRHZO has the opportunity to borrow a lifejacket during their visit. Channel 5 also came out and interviewed Elizabeth Copeland, Marketing Specialist. Park and Recreation Board Minutes June 2, 2008 q Mr. Lombard inquired about sales at Cup and Chaucer located in the Library. Staff commented that sales are not great, but they are working on adding daily speciais to include, Dip n' Dots and promoting the Starbucks coffee, which they are limited on promoting due to logo restrictions. Ms. Kusmierski commented that the coffee is less expensive than at a regular Starbucks. B-4 RECREATION, CULTURAL ARTS, ATHLETICS, SENIORS AND RICHLAND TENNIS CENTER PROGRAM UPDATES FidoFest was held on Saturday, May 17 with approximately 1,000 people in attendance. Thirteen vendors participated and donations were accepted for future park improvements. The NRH Recreation Center has partnered with ATI Training Center on their personal fitness trainer program. Students will complete an internship at the NRH Recreation Center by shadowing one of our personal trainers and assist staff with basic center needs. Training was held May 19 - 22 for our Summer Day Camp Counselors. Camp staff was trained in CPR, safety, team building activities and policies and procedures. The camp counselors also attended the Physicians of Phun on June 7 where they learned many new games and activities for the summer. The Sounds of Spring Concert Series came to a close on May 9 with Brave Combo and fireworks. This year the concert series has over 4,350 peaple in attendance. The third annual Quad Cities Family 4th will be held at the Wiley G. Thomas Stadium on Friday, July 4th. The fireworks will begin at 9:30 p.m. The Cultural Arts Division is offering over 20 Artsploration ctasses this summer including field sketching, mask making, Digital Minds Project, Missoula Children's Theatre and many others. Twelve youth sports camps are being offered this summer. Dan Echols held Game Nights on the second and fourth Thursdays from 5:00 - 8:00 p.m. Participants enjoyed playing cars, dominos, nammikub and socializing with their friends. The Annual Spring Fashion Show was held at Dan Echols on May 21 with Marlin Miller providing entertainment on his keyboard. Dan Echols has their annual Garage Sale scheduled for June 13 & 14. Bursey Road has their annual Garage and Bake Sale scheduled for June 27 & 28. Richland Tennis Center hosted the NRH Adult Open on May 9-11 with 210 entries. The Richland Tennis Center is honored to have nine women's USA Team Tennis teams advancing to the local playoffs. Park and Recreation Board Minutes June Z, 2008 5 C. OTHER INFORMATIONAL ITEMS No other items. D. ADJOURNMENT Mr. Lombard moved to adjourn the meeting at 7:10 p.m. Mr. Crane seconded the motion. Motion to approve carried 6-0. /~.~i~- Brad Greene, Chairman ATTEST: . Christina Lopez, Administ t' ecretary Park and Recreation Board Minutes June 2, 2008 6