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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPRB 2009-04-06 MinutesMINUTES 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 April 6, 2009 Present: Tom Lombard Chairman .Marty Kusmierski Vice-Chair Ricky McElroy Board Member Brad Greene Board Member Jay Crane Board Member :Mike Filis Board Member Marlin Miller Board Member Tracye Tipps Alternate Absent: Staff Members: Vickie Loftice Director of Parks and Recreation Bill Thornton Assistant Director of Parks and Recreation Adrien'Pekurney Recreation Center Manager Chris Swartz Waterpark Manager Christina Lopez Administrative Secretary Tina Earle Marketing/Special Projects Coordinator 1. CALL TO ORDER Chairman Tom Lombard called the meeting to order April 6, 2009 at 6:00 p.m. 2. CITIZEN COMMENTS There were no citizen comments. 3. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES OF THE FEBRUARY 2, 2009 MEETING APPROVED MR. GREENE MOVED TO APPRttiVE THE MINUTES OF THE FEBRUARY 2, 2009 PARK AND RECREATION BOARD MEETING.`MR. MCELROY SECONDED THE MOTION. M0710N TO APPROVE CARRIED 5-0. Chairman Lombard took the opportunity to congratulate Board Member Brad Greene on his election to the BISD Board of Trustees. Brad announced that he will also remain serving on the Park and Recreation Board. Park and Recreation Board Minutes April 6, 2009 Page 1 of 6 Chairman Lombard asked Vickie Loftice to explain the award that was recently presented to Adrien Pekurney, Recreation 'Center Manager. Adrien was presented the "Young Professional Award" from the Texas Recreation and Park Society. This is a very coveted and competitive award and is presented to young professionals .who make a lasting and significant contribution to their city and the Texas Recreation and Park Society. Vickie said that Adrien is one of our "superstars". Chairman Lombard and the rest of the Board congratulated Adrien. 4. RECOMIVIENDTION TO READOPT THE YOUTH PROGRAMS STANDARDS OF CARE ORdINANCE APPROVED Adrien Pekurney, Recreation Center Manager presented this item. Each year staff brings the Youth Programs Standards of Care Ordinance to the Park and Recreation Board. Since the Recreation Center. offers day camp programs for children ages five to thirteen, they are required by the Texas .Legislature to meet day care licensing requirements or file for an exemption of the Child Care Standards of Regulations of the Texas Human Resources Code. The NRH day camp program meets, and in some areas exceeds, .many of the standards listed in the state's Child .Care Standards and Regulations. City Council holds a public hearing and adopts the Youth Programs Standards of Care Ordinance on an annual basis. MOTION: MR. MILLER MOVED TO fORV11ARD 7HE YOUTH PROGRAMS STANDARDS OF CARE ORDINANCE TO CITY COUNCIL FOR THEIR CONSIDERATfON. MS. 'KUSMIERSKI SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION TO APPROVE CARRIED 5-0. Mike Filis present at 6:15 p.m. 5-a PRESENTATION`OF YOUTH ASSOCIATION'S ANNUAL REPORTS The Parks and Recreation Department .provides athletic facilities for three youth sports associations.. Each year the youth associations are required to make a presentation to the Park and Recreation Board outlining the programs and services they provide and the status of their association. The North Richland Girls .Softball League and the Richland Youth Association made their presentations to the Board at the'February 2, 2009 meeting. Darren West, President of the Birdville Area Youth Futbol Alliance, made his presentation at the April 6, 2009 meeting. Included in Mr. West's presentation were several items of concern; the need for a fence between the fields and the parking lot to prevent people from driving on and using ..the fields during inclement weather, damaged and stolen sod and possibly reconfiguring some of the fields so more playing time can be scheduled. Mr. West will be :meeting with Vickie Loftice, .Bill Thornton and Gary Sechthold to discuss his concerns and possible bring a recommendation back to the Park and Recreation Board regarding the use of Green Valley Park. Park and Recreation Board Minutes April 6, 2009 Page 2 of 6 Mr. Greene asked about blocking the gates when it rains; Bill Thornton commented that in his experience prohibiting people from getting into the park also prevents police from getting in. He also said that we have experienced a lot of cars driving off road damaging the turf at several of our facilities. Mr. Miller asked if we have a running figure on the amount of damage caused yearly bypeople driving off road. Bill will get that information for Mr. Miller. 5-b. COMMITTEE FOR PARKS AND RECREATION`FUNDRAISING At the February Park and Recreation Board meeting, Ms. Marty Kusmierski requested that this item be placed on the agenda for :discussion. She would like to explore the possibility of forming a committee `to develop and implement fundraising ideas for the Parks and Recreation Department. Ms. Kusmierski asked if anyone was interested in meeting to brainstorm ideas. Ms. Tracye Tipps volunteered to meet. Vickie asked to be notified of their meeting date and time. 5-c. SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES AS A MARKETING TOOL Tina Earle, Marketing/Special Projects Coordinator presented the item. The Parks and Recreation Departments' recent initiatives in social networking include Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Social media :.marketing are websites where interaction is user participant generated. The :Athletic .Division established a Facebook page enabling information about upcoming athletic leagues to be more readily available. Facebook allows "fans" to register to receive updates of our Facebook :page. Twitter allows staff to .put micro blogs announcing upcoming events, notices `and or comments; such as "Check ouf .Sounds of Spring this Friday, the Killdares are playing". We currently have 25 people who #ollow our Tweets. We receive "retweets" whenever anyone takes our information and reposts it to their Twitter page. Tina #racks he Tweet 'fleck which searches Twitter and notifies us when someone searches for NRH or any other keyword we have in our search list. We launched a channel on YouTube, a video sharing site in February. YouTube allows us to control our message and share videos of special events ar programs such as Art iin Public paces, Signal Art Program and other events. All of these sites are listed on each email that is generated from Parks and Recreation. There arealso four or five different ways to get to this information from the City of North Richland Hills s website. _ All of these sites only cost staff time and are very beneficial in helping the Parks and Recreation Department get our message out. The Parks and Recreation Department also continues to do traditional marketing 6-a. '.DIRECTOR'S REPORT Ms: Vickie Loftice,'Managing'Director of Community Services presented the report. .August Park Board Elections- Vickie congratulated Chairman Tom :Lombard on his election to City Council. Elections for Chairand Vice Chair for the Park and Recreation Board will be .held in August. According'to Roberts Rules, in the absence` of the Chair the Vice Chair will assume the duties of the Chair until the next election. Park and Recreation'Board tVlinutes April 6, 2009 Page 3 of 6 Update on the Recreation Center -'.The location for the new recreation center has not been confirmed yet but staff expects to have a site selected within '30 days. Brinkley Sargent Architects has been selected to design' the new center. Staff will present an update at the April 13 City Council Work Session to state the development process. At this time there are two general public input meetings scheduled as well as various focus groups meetings. Parks and Recreation ::Department Awards -The Texas Recreation and Park Society held their annual conference in February and presented three awards to the Parks and Recreation Department. • ....Promotional Award -The City's Green Initiatives • Arts and Humanities Award -~ Art in Public Spaces Program • Adrien Pekurney-Ygung-Professional Award FY2009110 Budget Preparation -- `Due #o the current economic situation the City of North Richland Hills has implemented a portion of the budget contingency plan for FY2009/10. Staff has identified several different levels of reductions should additional steps need to be taken. Vickie commented that even though same budgets are being affected, we still have a lot of things to be exited about such as the expansion of Loop 820 and the rail site developments. Outdoor Loaned Art Program - "The Outdoor Loaned Art Program received three new installations along Bedford-Euless Road; the 1,000 pound Armadillo, Bling (a kinetic piece) and Flower Box. 5-b. ASSISTANT DIREC70R'S REPORT ON LASTED ITEMS CURRENT PROGRAMS AND SERVICES Ms. Adrien Pekurney, Recreation Center Manager presented fhe report. Companies in Action bowling is scheduled for April 18 at Brunswick Watauga Lanes. The first two events were scheduled to begin in February, but due to ack of enrollment they have been rescheduled for early September. Staff is currently finalizing the 2009 Summer Discover Brochure which will be distributed at the end of April with program registration beginning on May 1. The "Killdares" kicked off the 2009 Sounds ' of Spring Concert Series on April 3. Approximately 500 people were in attendance. The annual Senior Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon will be held on Thursday, April 23 at the Recreation Center. The luncheon will begin at 11:30 and is sponsored by the Wellington. Park and Recreation Board Minutes April 6, 2009 Page 4 of 6 5-c. ASSISTANT DIRECTOR'S REPORT ON LISTED ITEMS PARKS CAPITAL PROJECTS Mr. Bill Thornton presented the report. Several projects are included in the parks infrastructure maintenance for 2009. They include the replacement of the stairwells at Cross Timbers Park, replacement of fall zone material at various parks and the resurfacing of the tennis courts at Richland Tennis Center. Bids were received for the tennis center resurfacing but are being rejected and will be rebid. Shade structures are being installed over the playground at Dick Foram Park, and Norich Park as well as `the wooly mammoth and saber tooth tiger at Norich Park and over the bleachers at Walker's Creek'Park. Bill showed a short video on he progress made on the Third Phase Attraction at NRH2O. He also commented .that the contractor has done a fantastic job. Substantial completion is scheduled for May 39 The Little Bear;Creek and Calloway Branch trails are progressing. A number of issues have delayed the project but staff is closer to being able to pick backup the design and then begin the review process .with TxDOT.-This project began in 1994 and due to the delays concerns were raised about the grant funding from TxDOT; Bill talked with TxDOT and assured staff that the funding is safe. 5-d. .AQUATIC PARK MANAGER°S REPORT ON LISTED ITEMS Mr. Chris Swartz presented the report. NRH2O had great attendance at their job fairs which enables them to choose the best team members. Chris is very optimistic for the 2009 season. Six Flags had record attendance and the Fort Worth Zoo set attendance :records during spring break. Due to .the economy, most families may take "staycations" instead of traveling long distances this summer. Also, NRH2O has already surpassed their season :pass sales compared to lasf year.... The ribbon cutting for Beachside Bay is scheduled for June 2, at 6:00 p.m. (The ribbon cutting date has since `been' revised to tuesday, June `9 at 6:00 p.m.) The park will close at 6:00 p.m. for the ribbon cutting. NRH2O purchased a new projector for their dive in movies. Some families with small children had to leave before the end of the movie but the new projector allows staff the ability to start the movie sooner so families can stay until the end. Mr. Miller asked if we-have a lot ofi rehires Chris responded about 40%. Page 5 of 6 6. INFORMATIONAL ITEMS Mr. Miller asked 'if there was going to be another FidoFest this year. Staff responded that it would be held on Saturday, May 2 from 10:00 a.m. #0 12:00 Noon. 7. ADJOURNMENT Chairman Lombard adjourned the meeting at 8:20 p.m. ATTEST: hristina iopez, Admi 'st ve Secretary - - Park and Recreation Board Minutes ApPil 6, 2009 Page 6 of 6