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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01/10/2006 - Regular Minutes - Parks Board (3) PARKS AND RECREATION ADVISORY BOARD CITY OF COLLEGE STATION MINUTES REGULAR MEETING Al 7:00 PM Tuesday, January 10, 2006 The EXIT Teen Center 1520 Rock Prairie Road • College Station, Texas Staff Present: Steve Beachy, Director; Eric Ploeger, Assistant Director; Peter Vanecek, Senior Park Planner; Peter Lamont, Recreation Superintendent; Pamela Springfield, Staff Assistant Members Present: Jodi Warner, Chair; Jeannie McCandless; Gary Erwin; Harry Green; John Crompton; Gary Thomas; Kathleen Ireland; Glenn Schroeder Members Absent: Carol Blaschke Visitors: None 1. Call to order. Jeannie M. called the meeting to order at 7:01 p.m. Jodi W. and Glenn S. would be arriving late. 2. Possible action and pardon concerning requests for absences of members. One request for absence had been submitted by Carol Blaschke. Kathy I. moved to approve the request submitted. Gary E. seconded. All were in favor and the motion passed unanimously. 3. Hear visitors. Hearing none this item was closed. 4. Consideration, possible action, and discussion of minutes from the regular meeting of December 13, 2005. John C. moved approval of the December 13, 2005 meeting minutes. Kathy I. seconded the motion. The vote was called and the minutes were unanimously approved. 5. Report, possible action, and concerning 2006 Athletic tournament schedule ," Peter Lamont. A list of upcoming tournaments had been included in the member's packets (attached). Peter L. went over the list. The Budweiser softball tournament would be a private rental. The items in parenthesis were the organizations or individuals responsible for organizing the tournaments. Several questions were asked. Glenn S. arrived at 7:10 p.m. • Eric P. stated that a prestigious youth tennis tournament had been awarded to College Station for the next two years. The tournament, previously been held in Waco, would be June 2 - 8, 2006 and the city would be funding the banquet. The Page 1 first year would be the most important year because they would probably be voting on where the tournament would be held for the next twenty years. 800-850 tennis players would be participating and bringing their families. Staff had yet to meet with the group organizing the tournament but those meetings would be beginning soon. • The weekend of April 22nd the Brazos Valley Senior Games will be held. Parks and Recreation staff will be helping with the competitions. Seniors age 55 and older are allowed to participate. • On April 22nd the city will be hosting the "Running with the Wolves 5K" on the trails at Wolf Pen Creek. Staff is trying to get 5k runs going again. The Earth Day celebration will be later that day with a free Starlight Music Series concert that evening. • The city will be hosting a Girls Class "A" softball tournament in 2007. Jodi W. arrived 7:23 p.m. This was an informational item only. 6. Review, possible action, and discussion regarding public appearance issues and the City's Streetscape Plan. At the last meeting Kathy I. had asked that this item be placed on the agenda. There was no staff presentation - this was intended to be an open discussion for the Board. Kathy I. said she wanted to know why some businesses such as Home Depot, had not been required to install the trees as stated in the City's landscape ordinance. Steve B. said that what went in on the Highway 6 right-of-way was governed by the state and the Parks Department did not really have any responsibility in this area. Some older businesses would probably be grandfathered as to what has to go in according to the current plan. Steve explained that the correct avenue to approach those type issues would be through the Parks Board subcommittee working with the Planning & Zoning Commission. The subcommittee would meet again on January 23rd. No action was required on this item. 7. Report, possible action, and discussion regarding the merits of requesting a student liaison to be appointed to the Board. John C. had asked that this item be added to the agenda at the last meeting. He stated that when he had last served on the board, there had been a PhD student who had been very active and a great asset. He wanted to know if there was a policy regarding student liaisons. Steve stated that there was nothing in the By Laws regarding this. The Board could request that the By Laws be amended or at the next go-round of appointments, Council could be asked if one of the nine members appointed to the Board could be a student. Ric said that the student John was remembering had been appointed by council as an alternate member and had not served as a liaison. Glenn S. moved that the Board be proactive and invite the A&M student government councils (undergraduate and graduate) to see if they can get students interested in applying to serve as Board members. Discussion followed as to whether the student should serve either as a liaison or to serve only a one-year term. Glenn suggested that they serve as a full member or the By Laws would have to be changed. The Board asked that before a motion was made, Steve B. explore the legalities and bring the findings to the next meeting for further discussion. Kathy I. moved to table the motion until the next meeting when staff would have more information and Gary E. seconded. Page 2 8. Report, possible action, and discussion regarding future public hearings related to park development projects. Steve stated that three projects would be coming up for review by the Board that would require public hearings and would go through the design process. Steve explained the public hearing process, concept presentation, and the development of the master plan based on the entire process. The three sites coming up were the: • University Park site 10-acres in Park Zone 2 on the far north end of town off of Spring Loop and Autumn Circle (behind the Hilton). The site is next to the water treatment plant and there are some challenges to overcome but currently there is no park to serve the residents in that zone. The budget to develop the park is $400,000. This will be the first of the three to be developed. The first public hearing will be held on January 24th at City Hall. A second public hearing will be at the regular Board meeting on February 14th. • Edelweiss Gartens Park site ry This six-acre site is in Park Zone 10 off of Victoria and Graham Road on Eagle Drive. There are already people living all around the site. The park starts a section of greenbelt which will run down to Spring Creek. The first Edelweiss Gartens public hearing will be on March 7th and the second one will be held on April 11th at the regular Board meeting. • Southwest Park site — This 9.4-acre site is adjacent to the Woodlands of College Station, off of Southwest Parkway and Wellborn Road in Park Zone 6. There were no dates currently set for the public hearing(s). There was not enough money available to develop the entire park up front. This was an informational item only and no action was required. 9. Review, possible action, and discussion concerning Board and Departmental Goals and Objectives, and City Council Strategic Plan. • The review of The Recreation, Park, and Open Space Master Plan has begun. Ric, staff and a subcommittee of the Board will be working through that process. • An agency profile had been created with very basic facts about the department, staff, and budget. A schematic map and a park inventory listing had been included to create an overview of the department and what, as an agency, it provides in resources. • John C. stated that he would like to see a history of the department put together - not just facts - but a decent history. Steve stated that the department has the resource guide which talks about each park - when it was acquired, who it was named for, etc. John C. commented that the undertaking was not something for amateurs to do and suggested going to A&M and getting a History Masters student to write it, He said he would contact the History Department and bring something back to the next meeting. This item will be put on the agenda for the February meeting. • The quarterly Park Maintenance Standards Report was passed out. Steve explained that one of the department's goals was to keep the standards met at 90%. Some of the ponds however, were bringing the score down. Hearing no further discussion this item was closed. Page 3 10. Report, possible action, and discussion concerning the Capital Improvement Program. • Current Capital Improvement and Park Land Dedication Project Lists — Lists had been included in the packets. A few projects have been finished with good progress being made on others. The Wolf Pen Creek Multipurpose Buildings project budget had been increased for the two separate buildings. The project could go out to bid mid February or early March, with a groundbreaking possibly being held in April. Construction on Steeplechase Park would be starting soon. • Veterans Park & Athletic Complex: Bids for this project would be opened on January 23rd. There had been a lot of interest from contractors on this project. The fields should be ready for play by fall of 2007. Staff will send the members an e-mail after the bids have been opened to let them know a cost estimate. The project should go to City Council about ten days after the bids open. 11. Discussion of calendar, future meeting dates, and possible agenda items: A planning calendar had been put together and copies were distributed. • January 24, 2006 Public Hearing regarding University Park development • February 21, 2006 " Next regular meeting. Kathy I requested that the meeting be moved since the 14th was Valentines Day. Jodi said she would like to push the meeting back a week and keep it on a Tuesday. The regular meeting and second public hearing (if one is held) will be on February 21st. • These items will be added to the next meeting agenda: — Zone 9 community park site discussion; — Information on the student liaison; — Information regarding the history project; A Neighborhood Park Improvement report will be given at the March meeting. • January 17 2006 eu Attorney General Open Government training A case history was passed out. Training on this was a state requirement of all elected and appointed officials, as well as appointed boards and commissions. • The regular March meeting had been moved back a week because of spring break. Hearing nothing further, this item was closed. 12. Adjourn. John C. moved to adjourn and Gary T. seconded. The vote was called. All were in favor and the meeting adjourned at 8:43 p.m. Page 4