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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04/08/1997 - Regular Agenda - Parks BoardCITY f {`F C LLEGE ST, ,;.TI I� PARKS AN REC 1,.: E, ATION BOA •t' ' REGULAR MEET j° G L 8, 1997 7:00 P®M® CENT L PA 'z C NE TAP ROA 1 AGENDA 1. Approval of Minutes: March 18, 1997 2. Hear Visitors 3. Discussion of the Wolf Pen Creek Master Plan Workshop Results 4. Discussion and Consideration of Sports Advisory Committee 5. Discussion of Teen Center and Youth Programs 6. 1997 Board Goals Report 7. Capital Improvement Program Report 8. Board Concerns/Other Business 9. Adjourn This building is wheelchair accessible. Handicapped parking spaces are available. Any request for sign interpretive services must be made 48 hours before the meeting. To make arrangements call 409-764-3547 or (TDD) 1-800-735-2989. CITY OF COLLEGE STATION PARKS AND RECREATION BOARD REGULAR MEETING APRIL 8, 1997 -- 7:00 P.M. CENTRAL PARK CONFERENCE ROOM 1000 KRENEK TAP ROAD MEMBERS: Elizabeth Cunha, Vice Chair; Debra Anderson; Bob DeOtte; Carol Reynolds; and Mike Manson Ron Gay, Chair; and Gary Halter Steve Beachy, Director; Eric Ploeger, Asst. Director; Curtis Bingham, Operations Supt.; Bridgette George, Staff Assistant A&M Students: Carre Huber, Mike Gilbert, Jessica Hath, Melissa Rollerson, and Ethan Beeson MEMBERS ABSENT: STAFF: VISITORS: The meeting was called to order at 7:08 p.m. 1. Approval of Parks and Recreation Board Minutes: March 18, 1997: Bob asked that the following sentence be added under Board Concerns/Others Business: The board expressed a desire to have an abatement plan developed and implemented. The minutes were approved as amended. 2. Hear Visitors: No comments. 3. Discussion of the Wolf Pen Creek Master Plan Workshop Results: Bob mentioned that the total number of points on the "number one" ranked statement was higher than it should have been had everyone voted for an item only once. Steve stated that unfortunately some people did not follow the instructions given at the workshop and this problem was not discovered until later. The results of the workshop were presented to the Tax Increment Finance Board for their review. Councilman Dick Birdwell commented that the original plan would require more money than is presently in the TIF fund and he thought that if it was put on a bond package, if would not pass. The workshop results will soon go to the Planning and Zoning Commission then to the engineering firm for possible revision, and then back to the Parks Board. 4. Discussion and Consideration of Sports Advisory Subcommittee: Nothing to report. 5. Discussion of Teen Center and Youth Programs: Steve reported that the Teen Advisory Board meets on a regular basis. They are concentrating on getting a teen center opened by this summer. The most promising location is the Home Store located on Southwest Parkway behind the Park Place shopping center. The Boy's and Girl's Club has the potential to get a grant of $50,000 that could be used with the budgeted $50,000 for this project. Texas Parks & Wildlife also has grants that may be requested for this project. The grant would have to be filed by June 1. Another possible site could be the t-ball fields located at Southwood Athletic Park. Steve mentioned that the center could include items such as video games, play areas such as basketball, and study areas. The teens has mentioned they would like a place similar to Sweet Eugene's. 6. 1997 Board Goals Report: Complete acquisition of the athletic park site and develop a master plan: Steve mentioned that the next meeting with all the affected agencies would be the following Monday. Wayne Smith Park Master Plan: Ric mentioned that the city acquired another site. The board planned a trip to Lick Creek Park on Tuesday, April 22, at 4 p.m. 7. Capital Improvement Program Report: Wayne Smith Park -- Ric mentioned that there is a deteriorating sewer line, that serves all the houses in that area, that was going to be abandoned, but it was discovered that it also services the Chinese restaurant on Wellborn. Therefore it will be revamped during this process. Madely Property — Ric mentioned that there are two contracts out in regards to the surveying of the property. 8. Other Business/Board Concerns: Bob stated that he would like to take a look at the Wayne Smith Master Plan. He also mentioned that the information given out on the soccer rain -out numbers and the information shown on the soccer website are different. Ric stated that he was aware of that and mentioned that city staff were having problems accessing the website in order to change information. Elizabeth stated that she was contacted by two teachers about little league games being held the nights before the tests. Steve reminded her that we do not schedule those games and their concerns should be directed to the Little League Board. Bob mentioned that the water testing at Brothers Pond Park could possible by done by Robin Autenrith with Texas A&M University. Curtis stated that he would check into it. Steve mentioned that the City Council approved the donation of the Madely property. 9. Adjourn: The meeting adjourned at 8:27 p.m. Parks & Recreation Board 4/8/97 Page 2 CITY OF COi GE STATION Post Office Box 9960 1101 Texas Avenue Coliege Station, Texas 77842-9960 (409) 764-3500 MEMORANDUM April 3, 1997 TO: Parks & Recreation Board FROM: Steve Beachy, Director of Parks & Recreation SUBJECT: Items of Interest 1. The Wolf Pen Creek Amphitheater opened its 5th season on March 30th with an Easter service sponsored by A&M United Methodist Church. The "Easter at the Creek" event had over 3000 in attendance and truly was a exceptional event. The program began with a mini -concert at 9:30 am that featured the Freedom Worship Band, Zion Jubilee and the A&M United Methodist Church choir. Despite the threat of rain the skies stayed clear for the spectacular event. 2. Spring Girl's Softball is in full swing. As of April 3, 261 girls had registered, making a total of 23 teams. The largest group of girls was the 8 81' Under with 84 girls registered. The following is a comparison of seasons to number of girls registered: 1997 season - 261 1996 season - 246 1995 season - 206 1994 season - 132 1993 season - 104 Several positive changes have been made to league operations: 1) Teams are placed on fields that are correct in base and pitching distances for their age; 2) Equipment replacement and additions have been accelerated due to the age of existing equipment and the increase of players/teams; 3) The number of games for each division has increase; 4) A post season tournament has been added to the 10 and 12 age groups; 5) The 14 & Under teams are playing the St. Joseph's and Allen Academy teams; and 6) Kids are playing with their correct age groups and no age groups had to be combined to create teams. 3. Hurricane Polly Hits College Station! This annual event, put on by the Texas Department of Public Safety - Division of Emergency Management, helps local communities test their skills and resources in the event of a hurricane. The College Station Emergency Operations Center (EOC) was Home of Texas A&1 UnBversity activated for four hours while the Mayor, City Manager, and department heads worked to solve many of the problems that arose during the exercise. Some of the problems that were developed to test local resources and responses included several tornadoes that spawned from the hurricane and touched down destroying neighborhoods, as well as collapsing the roofs of two middle schools. Phone communications were lost for a 30-minute period which enabled city officials to utilize local radio amateurs who are scheduled to be at various locations during such emergencies. EOC personnel were in contact with the Brazos Center, which serves as the Reception Center for Brazoria County evacuees, as well as the Bryan/Brazos County EOC during the entire exercise. 4. _Wolf Pen Creek Master Plan Revision Project: The initial part of the public input process has been completed. Forty-five citizens participated in the workshop conducted on March 25, which discussed the vision of what they thought the city should do. The next step in the process is the review by the Parks and Recreation Board, the Planning and Zoning Commission, and the Tax Increment Finance Board. Once the results of these meetings are known, a final recommendation will be made to the City Council in late May. 5. Our annual Arbor Day Celebration will be held at Pebble Creek Elementary School, 200 Parkview, on April 25 at 2:00 p.m. The program will include: Presentation of an Arbor Day flag to the school by Mayor Lynn Mcllhaney; presentation of the city's twelfth Tree City U.S.A. award; the planting of a tree on the school grounds, and several songs and a poem presented by the 2nd grade classes. City Manager Skip Noe will be present at the celebration for the Welcome and Closing Remarks. Copies: Skip Noe, City Manager Tom Brymer, Assistant City Manager PARD Superintendents CITY OF COLLEGE STATION PARKS AND RECREATION DEPARTMENT CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS PROGRAM PROJECT STATUS REPORT APRIL, 1997 1. WAYNE SMITH BASEBALL COMPLEX Project Number: PK9505 Budget: $1,230,000 - 1995 Bond Contract Amount: Design $84,490 Project Manager: Eric Ploeger Project Design: HSI Consulting Architects Comments/Status: After review of 16 proposals by Architectural firms, the staff recommended HSI Architects of Bryan to the City Council. The City Council approved this selection. The contract was signed in early February 1996 and the initial meeting with staff took place on February 27. The project has moved to the final design phase with cost estimates completed in late September. Completion of land acquisition is expected by late May allowing bids to be let. Task: Project Design: November 1996 - April 1997 ( Advertisement & Award: May 1997 i Complete: October 1997 2. MADELEY PROPERTY DONATION Project Number: Budget: N/A Contract Amount: Project Manager: Eric Ploeger Project Design: Parks and Recreation Department, Planning Comments/Status: This is a 5,16 acre tract that Edward Madeley intends to donate to the City for a park to be named for his wife. A property description and a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment are being prepared so that a title search can be performed. Task: Project Design: Advertisement & Award: Complete: CIP Report 4/3/97 Page 1 of 2 PARKS PLANNING CIP SUPPORT PROJECTS 1. COLLEGE STATION LIBRARY LANDSCAPE AND IRRIGATION DESIGN Budget $40,000 Comments/Status: Parks Planning is providing the design for the exterior landscaping and irrigation design. Construction on this project began in March 1997, 2. COLLEGE STATION ARE STATION #1 LANDSCAPE AND IRRIGATION DESIGN Budget: $8,000 Comments/Status: Construction began in June 1996, The Forestry Division will install the plant material. The project completion is expected in April 1997. 3. THOMAS PARK SIDEWALKS SIDEWALK DESIGN Budget: Comments/Status: $53,000 This is a Development Services project to put sidewalks on both the east and west side of the south end of Thomas Park, Parks Planning will provide design drawings for the project. Construction to begin the week of March 17. Completion is expected by the end of April. 4. WOLF PEN CREEK MASTER PLAN BASE MAP REVISION Budget: N/A Comments/Status: This is an effort to develop a base map containing updated information on the WPC corridor. This will assist in the master plan updating process. The first meeting for this process will be February 25, CIP Report 4/3/97 Page 2 of 2 3012 Jennifer Drive College Station, TX 77845 Phone: (409) 696-2369 E-mail: egc@mail.myriad.net March 18,1997 RE: Brothers Pond Park Mr. Stephen Beachy Parks and Recreation Department City of College Station P. O. Box 9960 College Station, TX 77842-9960 Dear Mr. Beachy: For the most part, Officer T. L. Sheets' report of February 13, 1997, is an accurate representa- tion of a conversation that we had when she came to pick up a bicycle that was left in front of my house. I would like to correct one important point, however: I do not advocate more lighting in Brothers Pond Park nor do I believe that additional lighting is a solution to what may or may not be a security problem in the park. It has been more than a year since we first met at Brothers Pond Park to discuss several mat- ters related to the management of park resources, including the removal and replacement of functional exercise equipment with essentially unused Miracle gymnastics/exercise equipment and deterioration of the part 's wooded areas. Sorry to say, the basic conditions and concerns that we discussed at that time, and later at a meeting of the Parks and Recreation Board, have not been addressed or corrected in any substantial way. The consensus among those with whom I have talked about the new section of rail fencing on the eastern side of the park is that it is attractive, unobtrusive, effective in controlling foot and bicycle traffic through the immediate area —and unfinished. Hopefully, construction of that short length of fence is an indication that the entire park will be similarly fenced in conjunction with an overall plan for im- proved management of park resources. Since you mentioned in your letter, and previously, the placement of "limbs and other natural materials on wom areas" as a method for preventing further deterioration of resources, some of us have looked specifically and unsuccessfully for indications of that being done. It would be useful for you to arrange a time to meet with us in the park to show us the application of that technique and demon- strate its effectiveness in preventing further damage. I mentioned to you in a previous letter that the gathering of natural materials for that purpose is probably counterproductive and inadvisable with the park in its present condition. Although you do not acknowledge the impact of bicycles and bicycle riders on park resources and other park users, it is a recognized problem in many other park systems. Enclosed is a recent arti- cle from the Houston Chronicle describing efforts by the Houston Parks and Recreation Department to deal with this situation in one of their parks. It might be a good idea for the College Station Parks and Recreation Department to become better informed about the dimensions of this problem and altema- tives for its management. Recent rains have shown the ineffectiveness of efforts to control and manipulate drainage in the park. For example, a concrete washover near the basketball court was poured about two inches above grade. This creates a damming effect that diverts runoff and causes erosion in a nearby section 0 Page 2 March 20,1997 of the jogging track. Meanwhile, there is no apparent effort to control severe and continuing erosion at both ends of the new rail fencing and elsewhere. In the 1997 calendar of College Station Parks and Recreation Department events that you sent me, I note a general absence of outdoor recreation (excepting the Youth Fishing Derby), nature and environmentally oriented activities and programs. This is a major area of program development that would be of interest and benefit to many in the community. It would also provide better opportuni- ties for using the park system's limited but important natural resources. Finally, I would like to ask about two specific items: (1) the status of the management plan for Brothers Pond Park that was authorized by vote of the College Station Parks and Recreation Board on May 14,1996, and (2) the results of water tests that Curtis Bingham was having done on the pond. If you will send me that information, I will pass it along to others in the neighborhood. Sincerely, Enclosure (1) cc: Ms. Lynn Mcilhaney, Mayor Mr. George K Noe, City Manager CITY OF COLLEGE STATION Post Office Box 9960 1101 Texas Avenue College Station, Texas 77842-9960 (409) 764-3500 April 3, 1997 Mr. E. G. Carls 3012 Jennifer Drive College Station, Texas 77845 Dear Mr. Carls: Thank you for your recent letter regarding Brothers Pond Park. We contacted 28 other Parks and Recreation Departments throughout Texas to determine if they had individual management plans for their parks. None had a document of this type and most operated under provisions of established policies and procedures that apply to all parks within their systems. This is the same approach that is utilized by College Station. The water testing has not been accomplished at this time. We are still contacting sources for this type of service and developing cost estimates. We will complete this project once the type of tests that need to be done are determined and the availability of funding is verified. We will continue to maintain Brothers Pond Park at the same level of service as other parks within the system. This service level will not change unless there is a direction from the City Council to do so. I acknowledge your dissatisfaction with the operation of Brother's Pond Park in particular and the overall management of the Department in general. I will state that we operate under the direction of the City Manager with advice and guidance from the Parks and Recreation Board. Also, we have to meet specific service levels and performance measures throughout the year that have been approved by the City Council as a part of the annual budget process. Furthermore, both the City Council and Parks and Recreation Board have stated goals that have been prioritized and given to the Staff for implementation. These two criteria form the basis for our daily operations as well as our long range planning efforts. I understand that this does not meet the concerns that you have stated in your. letter. However, I hope that it does provide additional insight into our operational procedures. Steve Beachy Director, Parks and Recreation of iJersity By T.J. MILLING Houston Chronicle Environmentalists and bicy- clists have reached a compromise on allowing the bikers to ride on a Memorial. Park nature trail. The so-called Ho Chi Minh Trail has been the subject of controver sy for more than two years. Envi- ronmentalists feared the bikers would tear.up what they called a fragile ecosystem. The bikers, ,lured by the excitement of the rough terrain, argued their sport should receive the same status as golf and other uses of the park _. The Houston Parks and Recre- ation Department brokered the deal that sets aside part of the area for bikers but requires them • to buy permits, $50 per year or $15 for a consecutive three-day pass. . The money will go toward mainte- nance and security of the trails. The bike riding area is south of Memorial Drive and east of a railroad track and will be open by May 1, department spokeswoman Tanuny Lynn Feldstein said. "This a compromise pure and simple," Feldstein said. "We be- lieve this is striking a perfect balance." The warring groups, the Memo- rial Park Advisory Committee and See BIKE on Page 15A. •Continued from Page 13A. the Houston Area Mountain Bicycle ,Riders Association, were moderate- ly enthused about the deal. "It's probably a good compromise because neither side is 100 percent happy with it," committee member Claire Caudill said; Caudill said the, department had promised to develop other biking _trails to ease the strain on the park Association board member David Smith said people had been riding bikes on the trail and probably would have continued, legal or not, so some agreement was necessary. "We want the whole thing open. They want the whole thing closed," Smith said, "and I think (parks department Director) Bill Smith, in his infinite wisdom, saw it was two legitimate user groups. "People were going to do it any- way, and it was going to be difficult to prohibit, so ultimately all the parties realized they should com- promise." II Houston Chronicle Section A, Page 13** Thursday, Jan. 2, - 1997 TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY �€ Department of Recreation, Park & Tourism Sciences Office of the Department Head March 27, 1997 Steve Beachy College Station Park & Recreation Department P.O. Box 9960 College Station, TX 77842-9960 Dear Steve: On behalf of the faculty, staff and current students of the Department of Recreation, Park and Tourism Sciences, I would like to thank you for taking time from your busy schedule to meet with the Accreditation site visit team. Your input into the process was most helpful. The team commented on the enthusiasm of former students and current employersfor our program, the good working relationships we seem to have established with professionals in our community, and the general support for the program shown by everyone they talked to. Many of your suggestions and comments will help move the program forward. All of us have many competing demands on our time. We appreciate you finding the time in your schedule to undertake this important task. Sin er A. Witt Department Head Rm 106 Francis Hall v College Station, Texas 77843-2261 ® (409) 845-7324 o FAX (409) 845-0446 Xtra Education WEEKLY CLASS REPORT Spring 1997 Services A. Courses Conducted Week of March 17 - 22 New classes made this week: 7 Total classes made this season: 77 Classes cancelled this week: 2 Classes cancelled this season: 22 Percentage of weekly service: 77.78% Overall service percentage: 77.78% Total new individuals served: 45 Total individuals served this season: 588 B. Class Participation Enrollments & Revenue Generated by Category rql Class Title Number Enrolled Fee Per Student Total Income Fee Paid to Instructor Frofit Drawing for Kids SK 6 $ 15.00 $ 90.00 $ 48.00 $ 42.00 Self Defense 6 $ 45.00 $ 270.00 $ 108.00 $ 162.00 Excel 10 $ 45.00 $ 450.00 $ 108.00 $ 342.00 Flower Arranging 5 $ 20.00 $ 100.00 $ 108.00 $ (8.00) Drawing for Kids OW 3 $ 15.00 $ 45.00 $ 48.00 $ (3.00) Bass Fishing 3 $ 35.00 $ 105.00 $ 90.00 $ 15.00 Texas Hunters Education 12 $ - $ - $ - $ - Totals per week 45 $ 1,060.00 $ 510.00 $ 550.00 Seasonal Totals 588 $ 17,833.00 $ 8,660.00 $ 9,173.00 c:\danaxtra\xreportxls revised 10/07/96 TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY 9i Department of Agricultural Engineering Marty D. Matlock Assistant Professor / 303 D. Scoates Hall March 24, 1997 409/862-7476 m-matlock@tamu.edu Steve Beachy Director College Station Parks and Recreation PO Box 9960 College Station 77842-9960 Steve, I am new a faculty member in the Agricultural Engineering department at Texas A&M. I am teaching a course in Stream Hydrology for Environmental Management, and would to develop several stream sampling stations in College Station for use in my class. I am particularly interested in Bee Creek and Wolf Pen Creek. Would your department have any objections to my class sampling water quality at these parks? We intend to work with the Texas Watch program, and will sample using their protocols. We will be sampling for benthic macro -invertebrates, habitat, and stream stability. B st regrds, M rty Matlock, h.D. of" ,..galria.c 201 Scoates Hall a College Station, Texas 77843-2117 0 (409) 845-3931; FAX (409) 845-3932