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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06/10/2003 - Regular Minutes - Parks BoardStaff Present: Eric Ploeger, Assistant Director; Peter Vanecek, Senior Park Planner; Ann Marie Hazlett, Secretary; Judy Downs, Greenways Coordinator Board Members Present: John Nichols, Chairman; Don Allison; Larry Farnsworth; Bill Davis; Glenn Schroeder; Glen Davis; Jodi Warner Board Members Absent: All members were present. 1. Call to order. Chairman John Nichols called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. 2. Pardon — possible action concerning requests for absences of members from meeting. All members were present. 3. Hear visitors. Hearing none, this item was closed. 4. Discussion, consideration, and possible approval of minutes from the Shenandoah Park Public Hearing of May 6, 2003, and the Regular Board Meeting of May 13, 2003. Glenn S. made a clarification on the minutes from May 13, 2003, on page 2, the second bulleted item. It currently reads "the parking lot behind the Baptist Church ". Bill D. replied it should be the "parking lot behind the Baptist Student Center" instead of the Baptist Church. In addition, John N. asked that a sentence be added for clarification to page 5, item 8, second paragraph, stating "Bill D. and Glenn S. accepted the change as part of the original motion." Bill D. moved to approve the minutes from May 13, 2003 as corrected. Larry F. seconded. All were in favor, and the motion carried unanimously. Regarding the minutes from May 6, 2003, Larry F. asked that his name be corrected. Glenn S. moved to approve the minutes as corrected. Bill D. seconded the motion. All were in favor, and the motion carried unanimously. 5. Report, discussion, and possible action on Greenways Programs. Judy Downs updated the Board regarding the Greenways Program. The Greenway Plan is the City - calculated floodplain and not the FEMA floodplain. The City had passed a bond issue for $3.64 million dollars for the greenways program. Approximately $1.48 million has been spent or encumbered, and $1.76 million is available to purchase. There are seven acquisitions that have been achieved in which the City owns fee simple title to (see attached handout " Greenway Program Update'). Parks & Recreation Advisory Board Regular Meeting Tuesday, June 10, 2003 Page I of 5 Acquisitions pending or on hold: • City Center (Bee Creek) • Academy Sports (Wolf Pen Creek) — There is nice connectivity to Raintree Park • Wolf Pen Creek (Drainage and Trails) • Swoboda Overflow (Bee Creek) — An individual offered to purchase the whole overflow area (approximately 55 -57 acres) for considerably more than the appraised value. The main problem with the City not obtaining this property is public access. • Cashion (Wolf Pen Creek) — Offered to purchase this property for the connectivity to Raintree, and the appraisal came in rather low. It is all floodplain, and has no services to it. Mr. Cashion said that he would wait to see if the City had a plan, and then he would talk to them. However, for what the City was offering, he was not interested in selling at this time. • O.D. Butler (Bee Creek) — This piece next to the high school, would make a nice connection from the high school to the Lincoln Center, however, Mr. Butler wants three times the appraised value. • Ritchie (Lick Creek) — City has made an offer to purchase the largest part of his property. • Paul Clarke (Alum Creek) — The City has a $200,000 grant to purchase property in this area because of the Navasota Ladies Tresses. This property would also provide a good connection to Lick Creek Park. Dedications and Rezoning: Judy D. explained that there has been some inconsistency in the way dedications and rezonings were coming in as far as greenways. When someone comes in with a rezoning, they bring in maps that typically show the areas dedicated as a greenway and park. The City does not get the greenway until after the final plat is filed and then the areas are coming in labeled as "common area ", "drainage easements ", "stormwater detention," "open space ", "additional park land" etc., and not greenway, therefore it can't be maintained as greenway. She would like to see some kind of uniformity when the plats come in. The UDO has not addressed drainage or the subdivision sections yet. Current Projects: • Greenway Master Plan Update — Anticipates that this would be mostly mapping with little narrative. • Storm Water Master Plan is being worked on. • Bee Creek Stream Restoration — The City has a US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) permit and needs a condemnation for this property, which is located near the substation on FM 2818. The owner of the property does not want to talk to the City at all. John N. asked about the City Council voting to buy some land, not condemnation, at the end of Langford as part of this project. Judy replied that the remainder of the property that is needed for this project and the City is buying it Fee Simple. • Wolf Pen Creek Stream Restoration — This project will be between Texas Avenue and George Bush Drive East behind Redman Plaza. The City will apply for a Corps Permit to do the stream restoration there and put a trail on top of it. Gran tsm ansh ip /Collaboration : • Safe Route to School — This was the first year for this funding and it will come up every year. The proposal had shown only a little piece of school district property. The committee said it was not eligible, and the City's application was denied. Parks & Recreation Advisory Board Regular Meeting Tuesday, June 10, 2003 Page 2 of 5 • Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Active Living By Design — The City's application was denied. This grant had 966 applications and only 38 were selected. • Section 6 USFW Recovery Land — This is the Elm Creek Project with Paul Clarke. • USACOE Section 206 — The City has applied for this grant for the Wolf Pen Creek Stream Restoration. Events: • National Trails Day — This was held on June 7, 2003. This event did not have the crowd that was expected, but it was still a nice event. • Walk to School — This will be held in October. The City is trying to get Former President Bush and Barbara Bush to become involved in this event. Bill D. asked how the communication between Public Works and other departments was, with regards to developers proposing what will be dedicated to the City. Judy D. replied that she tries to go to the pre - development meetings when the developers come in with their master development plans. The frustration is that there are no rules and regulations, so once the developers come in with their plat, the only way that the City can get some of the property, is to negotiate with the developer. John N. asked who established the priorities of acquisitions and rezoning /dedications. Judy replied that those priorities were set before she came to work for the city. However, those priorities do not necessarily mean that property will be purchased in that order. For instance, there might be an opportunity to purchase a priority 4 before there is an opportunity to purchase land labeled priority 1. Jodi W. asked about the status of the Fraehling greenway dedication. Judy stated that Fraehling has said that he would dedicate the greenway, but he has not done so yet. The hold -up is that he has to build a road. The Board would like to meet with Judy D. semi - annually to update them on greenways issues. Judy D. agreed that would be a good idea. John N. asked what the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board can do to assist Judy D. in her work and to try and achieve the greenways objective. Ric offered to relay the boards' concerns to the Development Services Director regarding making a more definitive decision points in the greenways dedication process. John N. agreed to work with staff to write a draft memo to City Council, the Mayor, and Development Services expressing the board's interest in the greenway troubles. 6. Discussion, consideration, and possible action regarding Park Zone 1 demographics and issues. Glen D. suggested that the Board see what plots are available in Park Zone 1, see if it makes sense, and purchase that land and make it a park before the money is no longer available. John N. recommended that the board take the demographic information that was given at the meeting, and find out what the need is in that zone for a park (what kinds of things would make sense to put in a park in that area). Jodi W. added that the Board might need to look at the fact that this park might not need to be the "standard" park. This park might need to be something different. Glen D. made a motion to encourage staff to pursue viable park land in Zone 1 and bring recommendations to the Parks Board. Bill D. Parks & Recreation Advisory Board Regular Meeting Tuesday, June 10, 2003 Page 3 of 5 seconded the motion. All were in favor, and the motion passed unanimously. Jodi W. suggested that the Board take a tour of Zone 1. 7. Discussion, consideration, and possible action regarding recognition of past Board member. Glen D. thought that Dr. John Crompton should be acknowledged for all of his work with the Parks Board and the Parks & Recreation Department over the years. Ric asked about what type of recognition the board like to see given to him. John N. replied that if a trail was to be included in Phase II of Veterans Park and Athletic Complex, it would be nice to name that trail after Dr. Crompton. The board would like for Steve B. to compile a list of things that Dr. Crompton has accomplished that helped the Parks Board and the department. John N. also asked that Dr. Crompton be invited to a meeting in the fall to report on the status of the proposed regional park. This was a discussion item only, and no motion was made. 8. Discussion, consideration, and possible action concerning park land dedication requests for: • F.S. Kapchinski Subdivision — Replat (Park Zone 6): Don A. moved to accept the park land dedication request. Larry F. seconded the motion. All were in favor, and the motion passed unanimously. 9. Report, discussion, and possible action concerning the Capital Improvement Program. Ric P. stated that the Capital Improvement Priority list had been presented to Planning & Zoning. Apparently they were disturbed that it did not contain many streets, if any, on the priority list. Glen D. asked about the Bee Creek Lighting project. Ric P. replied that the project is all designed and ready to bid, and should go out to bid at the end of the summer or the beginning of September. Glen D. asked about the completion date of October 30, 2003 for the Jack and Dorothy Miller playground and if the target date should be before school starts. Ric P. stated that it would be nice to have it completed before school starts, however, it would probably not happen. Since the site is used for the CSISD summer day camp, no matter when the project is done, it will inconvenience the school. This was an information item only. 10. Review, discussion, and possible action concerning Board and Departmental Goals and Objectives, and City Council Strategies. Bill D. suggested that one of the goals should be to establish shade cover over playground equipment because that is the one thing that makes playgrounds usable all year round. John N. pointed out that goal #1 states "develop a long -term replacement schedule for playgrounds, court surfacing, and other key facilities ". Bill D. stated that "shade covers" should be included in this item. Glen D. mentioned that new board members will be appointed to the Board soon, and the goal process will begin again. He asked that the people remaining on the board start thinking about goals for the board. Parks & Recreation Advisory Board Regular Meeting Tuesday, June 10, 2003 Page 4 of 5 11. Discussion of next meeting dates and possible agenda items. The next meeting will be on July 8, 2003, at 7:00 p.m. at The Exit Teen Center. • The Parks Master Plan will be on City Council's agenda for June 12, 2003. John N. will be there to represent the Board in case there are any questions. • Larry F. would like to discuss the field redevelopment fee and if different user groups will have input on how those funds are spent. • John N. would like to discuss how the board feels about Richard Carter Park. He stated that possibly the board could get together with Brazos Beautiful to see if this park was something that they view as a wildflower park. • Jodi W. would like to discuss the resolution regarding the Alexandria subdivision. She felt that the neighborhood should be made aware that land is not available, and that park development efforts will be in Shenandoah or Westfield subdivisions. Glen D. suggested that Steve B. could possibly draft a letter to the Alexandria Neighborhood Association. 12. Adjourn. John N. made a motion to adjourn. Jodi W. seconded the motion. All were in favor, and the meeting adjourned at 8:57 p.m. Parks & Recreation Advisory Board Regular Meeting Tuesday, June 10, 2003 Page 5 of 5