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HomeMy WebLinkAbout07/11/2000 - Regular Minutes - Parks BoardfT P Baud CITY OF COLLEGE STATION PA S & RECREATION BOARD Workshop/Regular Meeting Tuesday, July 11, 2000 Parks Conference Room 1000 Krenek Tap Road 5:30 p.m. kshol(53(1) pan.)*** Steve 1ecreatiin Supervisor; Kris Startznian, Bar Secretary; Eric Ploeger, A—istant Director of Parks and Recreation; Mara Roa1ers, Senior Services Coor iaitor; oss Albrecht, Forestry Superinte- ent; Curtis Bing am, P rks Operations Superintendent. Chris Barzilla, Chair (aniv d late); Gcorge Dresser, Co - Chair; Glen Davis; 1ili D is; GlennSchroeder; Jon Turto JohnNichols (arrived late); John Crompton, Alternate; Laura Wood, Alternate. achy. Director of Parks and Recreation; T ny Scazzero, Gueatm Glenn Brown, Assistant City Ma La . ViEgon Larry Farnsworth, 4012 Hunter Cre k, College Station, Texas. Calll to order, The eethig was called to order t 5:45 2, Upda,te, dfoculloanon, mud posdblle, couilviderrzttorth reprdin City Coma Straitegk lionea: Steve feels th t it is important to bring the Boards up ti date n the City Council Strategic Plan and the action steps that will he used to acc mplish the plan. He s id that discussin the piawith the Roards w uld help assure that 1oards and the Council are w rkin t ward the s rne goals. Steve went over the draft of the City Council Strategic He mentioned that it was only dra and would still necil to be ipprtved. He also me ti ned that with cha gin timelines, it wo id be a "living" document and would have to b updated on a re u r basis. Steve went over the C Tamil vision statements as they reekrektte to Irksa Recreation, and theft strategies as they relate to the overall State ic Pia Vision Statement 4 (Cultural Arta mad Recre ortunities). #1 More emp sis n m king parks more interge erationa #2 More intPracti n between the P rks an.1 Recreati n Zo ang Ccmrnissi4n, and the City Council© #3 Contiue to pdate the Corn. rehensive Plan re arding park syste #4 C nectivity between greenways and arks. • Parks & Recreation Board Regular Meeting Tmsday, July 11, 2000 Page 1 of 6 d, the Planning and #5 Continued emphasis on park -e intenance to quality standards through the budget process. #6 Develop progne' s and facilities for senior citizens. • Vision Statement tt; (WrilPlanne* Neighborhoods). #1 ,"olicy emphasis to prevent residential decline and im-rove neighborhoods. Steve will eike a copy of the plan for the loard once the City Co- 'cil has approved it® This was an informational item, and no motion was made. ***Regular Meeting (7:00 pm.)*** Hear Visitors; No visitors spoke at this time Parchin — Consider requests for absences of members from meeting: All members were present at the meeting. 3. Ait!troval of minutes from June 13, 2000: Glenn Schroeder made a motion to approve the utes fro,n June 13, 2000. Chris arzilla seconded the motion. All were in favor, and the motitn passed unanimously. 4. Discussion, and p+ssible consheration co • ApToval of Ge ByLaws for the Senior Advisory Committee: Senior Advisory Coordinator, Marci Rodgers, had established the Senior Advisory Con in ittee witl iii the last year. It is their intention to become a co,' ittee iii,der the Parks and 7ecreation Board. The group had prepared constitution by-laws for the Parks and Recreation Board's approval. Jon Talton made a motion to approve the constitutional by-laws for the Senior Advisory Committee. John Crompton seconded the motion. All were in favor, and the motion passed unanimously. • Alpointment of committee members to serve on the Senior Advisory Committee: Marci passed out a member listing (see attachment) with recommendations for committee members for the Senior Advisory Co: n iittee. Jon T. i ni.fe a motion to approve the member listing for the Senior Advisory Committee. John C. seconded the motion. All were in favor, and the motion passed unanimously. Report, discussion, and possFle colsideration concerning alcohol usage at Central Park: This item is directly related to an item that was on the J ,e 13, 2000, agenda wherein a citizen, Steve Smith, inquired as to the alcohol usage at the Central Park softball complex. Steve Beachy said that the Department has researched the situation, and that there are two parts to this item: • The legal aspect: Steve had asked the City Attorney what options the City had in the event that the Board wanted to change a policy regarding the possession and consumption of alcohol on the Central Park softball fields. The Parks&Recreation Board Regular Meeting Tuesday,July11,2000 Page 2 of 6 response from the City Attorney was that the City could not legislate what people co ld do in regards to any place other than the central business district of a City. In College Station, the central business district is defined as the Northgate area. Therefore, the exemption would not apply to Central Park. However, he explained that the City could state a rule that no one could possess or consume alcohol in a particular area of the park. In other words, the City could not legislate a nonalcoholic bevera.e ordinance for Central Park, because it is the jurisdiction of the state, although, the City could have a le that states that one would not be able to possess or consume alcohol in a certain area of the park. The rule would not be enforced by an alcohol ord* unce. However, it would come a i ttter of a trespass g issue—if someone were to bring or consume alcohol in a designated area, it would be a matter of the City filing a criminal trespassing complaint against that person. • Observation of the situation: Tony Sc, ero, Recreation Sulervis r, and his staff have monitored the situation over the last month. He said that there has been some drink g in the park*eg lot, but there haven't been many people drinking at the actual softball facility. Steve said that the staff's recouuiiencjation to the Board is that the tepartment not try to * *tiate any type of rule or legal erocess to restrict alcohol from the park; rather it suggests working with the coaches and leagues to try to control the situation® John Nichols asked if thedepartment could put a question on their next team Siey asking if there has been any chante in.the positive e, viro meut at the softball complex. Steve replied that the epartment could ask this question. The Board agreed to see the results of the tei Iii survey before taking any action. No motion was made on this item. The Department will send Steve Smith a letter explaining the Del): ment's intentions and the Board will receive a copy of the letter. 6. Corn in ittee Reports (Continue.!): • College Station ecreation and Sp rts Corn rnittee: Glen Davis gave a report on some of the accomplishments the Committee hopes to achieve for the year: • Establish a master calendar for recreation s orts activities utilizing College Station facilities. • Review the mission statement an. up,'ate the by-laws. • Define and possibly expand the scope of the Cor in iittee. • Formalize memberships (voting/nonvoting). Glen also passed out info riir.,tion regarding the epartment's surcharge fees for user groups for the year 2000. During discussion of the fees, the fact was brought up that the youth soccer teams were delinquent in paying their fees. John C. made a motion that a letter be sent to the youth soccer teu is that have not paid the surcharge fee, requesting that they pay the fee as n.indated i.y the Parks and Recreation .oard. Chris B. seconded the motion. All were in favor, and the motion passed unanimously. Parks&Recreation Board Regular Meeting Tuesday,July 11,2000 Page 3 of 6 • Wolf Pen Creek oversigiz t Committee: Steve stated that the Wolf Pen Creek Oversight Committee is composed of representatives from the Parks and Recreation ', o*cd, the PlannTng and the Tax Increment 17: Ice Comniittee, the City's Design Review Committee, and two City Council members. The Co,i u iittee has been meeting on a monthly basis. There will i.c a full Uesign chard in October 2000 at the Conference Center. Steve gave a brief upd ite of the Coip :r!ittee's progress and what it hopes to accomplish in the future. (Note: For more information about the Wolf Pen Creek Oversight Committee, please refer to the attached meeting minutes). 7. ,Appointment of a Parks and Recreation tkcard memiter to serve ox fie Wolf Pen Creek Oversight Corn Steve stated that two members of the Parks and Recreation Board serve on the Wolf Pen Creek Oversight CorP r,iftee. The purpose sf this ite,;1 is to replace S*!ah HArkhold as the prim p:ry Board representative (George presser serves as an alternate). Glen D. made a motion to appoint Glenn Schroeder as the primary Board representative to the Wolf Pen Creek Oversight CorPfpittee. Chris B. seconded the motion. All were in favor, and the motion itassed unanimously. George D. will remain as an alterntte. tiscussion and pssh.ie colsideration of ,I;evelo,:tint an u r4;a4 forestry plan for the Cir of College Station: John C. stated that this item has been one of the Parks and Recreation Dep*rment's goals ftr the last three years. He stated that currently, there are only three emloyees working in Forestry (the same number of employees that the ie*artment had 20 years 4igo). ie went on to say that the three employees are now also ch*,ged with several other responsibilities that they didn't have 20 years ago. He stated that the City of College Station and Texas A&M University don't have an urban forestry program. He would like '''ark staff to come up with a ,ft; nt progr, ,; to start 4fn ban forestry plan. If the grant is not successful, he would like staff to look into the possibility of asking the City Manager for siscretionary funds. Ross Albrecht responded that the Texas Forestry Service has a grant oitportunity t they have made available for the past four or five years. The grant is a 50/50 ,4tclr, therefore, the City would need funding up front V. do the project. Ross explaine* that the grant application deadline for this year's cycle has passed. However, he feels that there is a pretty good chance that there will still be some funds available the Texas Forestry Service usually does not allocate all of their funds *ue to not having enough requests on * yearly basis. Ross suggested keeping this item as a goal and coming ui. with some ideas in-house to fmd funds through either the budget process or through discretionary funds. John C. asked Steve to come up with a scope of work mI move forward with this item, ioss stated that he would talk to the Grant Coordinator with the Texas Forestry Service to see if there have been other municipalities that hve used this grant process for an urban forestry plan. George D. asked if this project is something that a graduate class at a university could work on. Ross said that could be researched. George D. requested that this item be placed on the September 2000 agenda to discuss before the joint meeting with the Parks and Recreation Board and the City Parks&Recreation Board Regular Meeting Tuesday,July H,2000 Pse 4 of 6 Council on September 28, 2000. This was an info ational item and no motion was nide. 9. Discussion and possible consideration of conducting a feasibility study to build a skiteboard *ark: kiln C. had requested this item to be on the agenda, due to the fact that there had been $150,000 placed in the Parks Department's fiscal year budget to build a roller hockey r*, Eric Ploeger stated that these funds were in tins fiscal year's budget, but have been rolled over to the next fiscal year until the City deter ,es what to do with t,em. Steve stated that at the present time, the department has no plans to pursue this item The problem right now, is that that there isn't a clear location to put a rink. Laura Wood said that she would talk to some of the college students tIat she knows in the coin- unity that are interested in the sport, to see what their views and ide,.s are. Jo' n C. asked the staff to rese 'ch this ite t and to put together a co.mi nittee of people t, it have knowled:.e of this sport to develop ideas and bring them to the Parks and Recreation loard for consideration. The board agreed. No motion was mide on this item. 10. Discussion and possible consideration of a resolution of support regarding CARA (Conservation and Reinvest,t,ent Act): Steve stated that C . is federal legislation that passed through the House of Retresentatives and has now moved to the Senate for approval./This is money that is used to fund the Water Conservation Fund, the Urban Park Ienewa1 Fund, and other conservation-related national initiatives. Some of this money used locally to build several College Station !'arks was ad, ii nistered tnr ough t,le Texas Parks rid Wildlife Department. Currently, there is more money funded at the state level as opposed to the federal level. If this legislation [-asses, it would effectively double the an iount of federal grant funding available f cities to participate in. John N. made a motion to adopt the resolution and forward it to the Senate. Jon T. seconded the motion. All were in favor, and the motion passed unanimously. 11. liscussion and possible c,,nsiteration of a resolution of support regarding a special venue tax project: This item (whether the City should increase the hotel/motel tax rate by 2% to help ! ind Veterans Park and Athletic Complex) has been discussed during previous meetings. In order to use this special venue tax, it has to be self-supporting without the aid of id valorem taxes, although sales taxes can be used. John C. said that Park staff had conducted a feasibility study and determined through cost estimates for the development of thc softball facilities at the park that this t ,g source would not fully support the development and operation of the softball complex. John C. asked the Board to review a draft letter to the City Council requesting them to consider alternative funding to support the facility. He suggested that this would be a good topic to discuss during the joint workshop meeting between the Parks ,,c1 Recreation Board and the City Council on September 28, 2000. George D. feels strongly that this request should be sent to Council prior to the joint meeting to give them a chance to review it, George D. mide a motion to send the letter to the City Council for review. Glen D. seconded the motion. All were in favor, except for till D., who abstained from the motion. The motion passed 6= Parks&Recreation Board Regular Meeting Tuesday,July 11,2000 Page 5 of 6 12. Report, discussion and possible consideration of the Crowley Tract park land dedicatiof: 171's item is in reference to whether a developer would have to abide by the ..t,revious Park I and Dedication Ordinance or the revised one, due to the fact t 4 it has been awhile sPce any development had oecn rued. Steve said that the Planning and Zoning Con n ission would review this item after the joint meeting with the Iarks and '!ecreation !sioard on July 20, 2000. This was ,tt mfornrttional item, and no motion was made. 13. Discussion and possiirle consioieration of a joint meeting with the Planning ad Zoning Commission to discuss ity Council Issues with neighborhood rtarktt n July 24, 2001: Steve it. informed the loard that there would tc a nt meeting between the 'arks an Recreation Board and the Plan E:ng and Zo'l;rs Cow nission on Thursday, July 20, 2000. He informed the Board that they would receive inrther notice with a location and agenda prior to the meeting. This is part of the City Council's Strategic an 18. Discussion and possible consideration of a special workshop meeting with City Council on September 28, 204141: Steve info med the 13,,ard that there would be a special workshop t!eeting between the City Council and the Parks and Recreation Board on Thursday, Seirteit4er 28, 2000. This is part of the City Council's Strategic !"lan. 13. Consent Items: Capital Improvement rrojects Report: Steve sal* that he h i.I gotten word that the Department is being recommended for approval of approximately $80,000 for a trails grant for Lick Creek Park the total project is estimated at approx'mately $120,001). The Department worked on this grant with the helis of Dr. Scott Scht.&fer from the Depi.ir Anent of Recreation, park, ani Tourism Sciences at Texas A&M University. John C. suggested that once the Department receives official approval of the grant, it would be appropriate for the Board to pass a resolution thanking Dr. Schaefer for his efforts on the project and fo-P-ard it to the City Council. No motion 'vs made on this item. Discussion of next meeting date tttnd agenda: The next Parks and Recreation 13(y'rd meeting will be held on Tuesday, August 8, 2000 at the Central Park Con: rence Room. John C. would like a report on the Kids Klub and Teen Center surveys th ,t were conducted. lot. Adjourn: The meeting adjourned at 9:40 *cm. Parks&Recreation Board Regular Meeti,g Tuesday,July 11,2000 Page 6 of 6