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HomeMy WebLinkAbout05/09/2000 - Regular Minutes - Parks Board City of College Station Parks and Recreation Board Regular Meeting/Public Hearing City Hall Council Chambers May 9, 2000 7:00 13.111. Staff Present: Steve Beachy, Director of Parks and Recreation; Eric Ploeger, Assistant Director; Curtis Bingham, Parks Operations Superintendent; David Gerling, Special Facilities Superintendent; Lance Jackson, Lincoln Center Supervisor; Linda Waltman, Recreation Superintendent; Pam Springfield, Senior Secretary; Kris Stattzman, Board Secretary. Board Members Present: Chris Barzilla, Chair; George Dresser, Co-Chair; Glen Davis; John Nichols; Susan Allen; Bill Davis; John Crompton, Alternate. Board Member Absent: Sarah Birkhold. Visitors: Glenn Schroeder, 1384 Auturrinwood, College Station, Texas Mike Littlejohn, 4413 Kingsdale, Bryan, Texas Steve Pursley, 251 Merrimac, College Station, Texas John Arnold, 34 Linda Lane, College Station Terry Hix, 1814 Hondo, College Station, Texas Bob Rudder, 9987 North Dowling Road, College Station, Texas Jan McMurrey, 3400 Mustang, College Station, Texas Stephen Salsas, 3625 Wellborn, #1207, College Station, Texas Larry Farnsworth, 4012 Hunter Creek, College Station, Texas 1. Call to order: The meeting was called to order at 7:01 p.m. 2. Hear Visitors: No visitors spoke at this time. 3. Pardon — Consider requests for absences of members from meeting: There were no excused absences during the meeting. 4. Approval of minutes from Regular Meeting/Public Hearing of March 7, 2000: John Crompton moved to approve the minutes with minor editorial changes. Bill Davis seconded the motion. All were in favor, and the motion passed 7-0. Parks and Recreation Board Regular Meeting/Public Hearing Tuesday,May 9,2000 Page 1 of 6 5. Public hearing, discussion, and possible consideration of the Veterans Park and Athletic Complex Master Plan: Eric Ploeger took the floor. He talked about the history of the development of the Master Plan. He said that the Parks and Recreation Board had elected a subcommittee of the Board to begin work on the Plan in December 1999. The Parks and Recreation Board held a public hearing on February 1, 2000, to present the Master Plan. Several alternate versions of the Master Plan were created as a result of that meeting. Those alternate plans were presented to the subcommittee and representatives from the soccer and softball communities who came up with the final proposed Master Plan. Eric talked about some of the differences between the original and the final proposed Master Plans. He said that the plan hasn't changed much from its original version. The Board briefly discussed several concerns: • The archaeological study • Entrances at both Highway 30 and Highway 60 • Controlled access to the park • Spill-over lighting from the park Chris Barzilla opened the floor to the public hearing. Steve Pursley — He hopes that by having more softball fields, it will help to eliminate some of the late night games. Glenn Schroeder — Glenn stated that he thinks that the proposed Master Plan shows a good balance between soccer and softball and thanked the Board for their work on the Plan. Jan McMurrey—Ms. McMurrey stated that the College Station Soccer Club has been involved in the project from the beginning. She said that the bond issue for Veterans Park and Athletic Complex might not have passed, had it not been for the interest of the soccer community. She also stated her concern that the number of soccer fields has been decreased from the original version of the Master Plan and would like more soccer fields. Chris Barzilla reminded her that it was never the intention of the Board to make Veterans Park and Athletic Complex a total soccer complex. He said that the object of the Master Plan was to meet the needs of the entire community, and not just of one sport. Bill Davis moved to accept the proposed Veterans Park and Athletic Complex Master Plan. John Nichols seconded the motion. All were in favor, and the motion passed 7-0. Parks and Recreation Board Regular Meeting/Public Hearing Tuesday,May 9,2000 Page 2 of 6 6. Discussion and possible consideration of a development by Hartzell Elkins: Steve explained that a developer (Hartzell Elkins) has proposed a residential development south of the Southwood Valley Athletic Complex. He has in mind an approxime 300-resident development (200 are multi-family duplexes, and 100 of them are single family). Steve and Eric have reviewed the proposal and there are two options that the Board could chose from. The first option would be to take the park land dedication requirement of 2.5 acres with a development fee of $77,500. The second would be to take a cash option of$114,700. Eric said that staff recommends the second option because the proposed development is located close to a number of other parks. Eric went on to say that the only property that Mr. Elkins has really proposed dedicating is a detention and drainage area. Therefore, staff recommends accepting the cash option instead of land. Eric went on to say that if the Board decides to accept the cash option, those funds would be used for enhancements in any of the parks in that park zone, as long as they are neighborhood-type developments. John N. inquired about the access from the back of Southwood Valley Athletic Park into the new subdivision area and asked if the City could design a pedestrian/bike trail into the park with the money accepted through the cash option. Eric responded that the City could. Eric stated that the park is right across a gravel road from the proposed development. John N. asked if there were any plans to develop the gravel road that connects to the park. Eric said that Development Services would work out those issues, but doesn't know if it will be a paved street. John C. made a motion to approve the second option. Glen Davis seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion passed 7-0. John N. suggested that the street co ecting to the park be finished so that the City could make the south side of Southwood Valley Athletic Complex an attractive neighborhood entrance. Steve noted John's concern and said that it would be passed on to the Development Services Department. Glen inquired about the Park Land Dedication Ordinance only being used for neighborhood park purposes (Southwood Valley Athletic Park is an Athletic Complex). Steve mentioned that in the past, park land dedication funds have been used in athletic parks to serve the needs of neighborhoods and not the athletic fields. He used as an example park land dedication funds that had been used to repair playground structures at Bee Creek Park. The rational was that Bee Creek Park served neighborhood park purposes. He reminded the members that discretion would have to be used with park land dedication funds, and that they can only be used for"true"neighborhood park purposes. 7. Update, discussion, and possible consideration concerning the special venue tax for sports facilities: This item (whether the City should increase the ad valorem tax rate by 2% to help fund Veterans Park and Athletic Complex) has been discussed during previous meetings. Steve said that he had asked Parks staff Parks and Recreation Board Regular Meeting/Public Hearing Tuesday,May 9,2000 Page 3 of 6 to prepare cost estimates for development of the softball facilities and to prepare estimates for the operation and maintenance of those facilities as well. Steve said that the Fiscal Services Department had also prepared an estimate for the potential amount of money that would be generated by the tax increase. Steve said that when the numbers were added up, it appeared that there would not be sufficient funds to fully support the development and operation of the softball complex through this taxing source. Note: In order to use the special venue tax, it has to be self-supporting without the aid of ad valorem taxes. Steve mentioned that a meeting had been set up with John C., Glenn Brown (Assistant City Manager), and himself to discuss the venue tax and other possibilities for funding. Steve said that if ad valorem taxes could not be used, there was a possibility that other taxes may be potential sources to assist in the funding effort. Steve asked the Board to delay taking any action on this item until City staff could provide a full range of options. 8 Update, discussion, and possible consideration concerning FY2001 Fees: Steve explained that this item was for the annual review of Park's fees. He stated that a subcommittee of the Board had been fo ed to review the fees. Steve mentioned that the Department was not offering any drastic changes this year, but he feels that it would be worthwhile to review the Fees Policy sometime before the next fiscal year. Linda Waltman presented the proposed FY2001 fees for the Recreation Division and for pavilion rentals. Linda said that the Department is proposing a $10 per person increase in Youth Basketball due to the fact that it is now hiring coaches for the program. This year, Youth Basketball will go over budget by approximately $8,000 and the proposed increase will help recover the loss. She went on to say that survey results revealed that most parents were in favor of hiring coaches. Bill asked if the survey had indicated that the fees would increase. Linda responded that it had not. Steve suggested holding off on making any changes to Youth Basketball fees to allow Linda time to prepare some proposals for the program for FY2001. David Gerling presented the proposed FY2001 fees for Special Facilities. Steve said that all fees will be submitted with the Department's overall budget process. Glen Davis made a motion to approve the FY2001 proposed fees, without changing the Youth Basketball fees. Bill Davis seconded the motion. All were in favor, and the motion passed 7-0. Parks and Recreation Board Regular Meeting/Public Hearing Tuesday,May 9,2000 Page 4 of 6 9. Discussion and possible consideration of Lincoln Center Advisory Committee officers: Steve said that this item pertained to the officers that the Lincoln Center Advisory Committee has recommended. John N. made a motion to appoint the following members: • Chairman—Carolyn Williams • Co-Chairman—Joe Dan Franklin • Treasurer—Barbara Clemmons • Secretary—Cathy Watson Susan Allen seconded the motion. All were in favor, and the motion passed 7-0. 10. Report on Brothers Pond Park playground replacement project: Steve said that this item was related to the 1998 bond issue, in which money was approved for neighborhood park improvements. The improvements to take place are mainly due to safety issues. He mentioned that before the Parks and Recreation Department makes any changes in neighborhood parks, public meetings will be held to hear any issues or concerns that residents may have. Eric said that the Department held a public meeting on May 2, 2000. The purpose of the meeting had been to present design options to replace the playground structure at Brothers Pond Park to comply with new safety standards. Notices were sent out to residents around the park and posted in the newspaper, and signs were posted in the park. Two playground design options were presented to residents and one was selected. Also, several concerns for future changes to the park were voiced: • Area lighting • Pond cleanup • Benches This was an informational item and no motion was made. 11. Consent Items: Capital Improvement Program Project Report: John N. asked about the progress of the cemetery site acquisition. Steve responded that the title had been completed on the project, but that the property owner declined to sell the property. The City is now looking at potential acquisition of other land in the same area. This item will be placed on a future agenda once more information is obtained. Chris asked about the progress of the proposed interlocal agreement between the College Station Independent School District and the City of College Station to construct tennis courts on the Willow Branch campus. Steve replied that the project was put out to bid by the School District, but it had only received one bid. The project will be re-bid and the Board updated at a later date. Parks and Recreation Board Regular Meeting/Public Hearing Tuesday,May 9,2000 Page 5 of 6 Discussion of next meeting date and agenda: John C. would like to discuss the possibility of initiating an urban forestry plan. He would also like to discuss the feasibility for creating a skateboard park. 12. Adjourn: The meeting adjourned at 9:00 p.m. Parks and Recreation Board Regular Meeting/Public Hearing Tuesday,May 9,2000 Page 6 of 6