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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1st Quarter (January-March)MINUTES OF THE PARKS & RECREATION BOARD OF THE CITY OF THE COLONY HELD ON JANUARY 13, 1999 A REGULAR SESSION of The Parks & Recreation Board of The City of The Colony, TX., was called to order at 7:30 p.m. with the following board members present: John Sanders Chairman Mark Shaw Member Jim Cottle Member Donna Baggett Member Laura Bickerstaff Member Susan King Member and with member Lewis absent; thus a quorum was established. Also in attendance was Pam Nelson, Director of Parks & Recreation and David Swain, Recreation Supervisor. CITIZEN'S INPUT. Donna Baggett, 4901 Pemberton, The Colony - Donna spoke as a representative of the High School Swim Team Booster Club. She informed the board that the booster club would like to handle the concessions at the upcoming TAAF basketball tournaments the city is hosting. The booster club would like to do this as a fundraiser. Ms. Nelson responded that we were planning on getting some volunteers and operating it internally so we could get all the profits. She told Donna that we may be able to work something out because there will be two tournaments that the city is hosting in March. 2. ELECTION OF NEW BOARD OFFICERS. Chairman Sanders said that since his term as Chairman of the Board had expired, it was time to elect a new chairman and vice-chairman. Member Bickerstaff nominated Member King. Member King declined the nomination. Member King nominated Member Bickerstaff for chairman. Member Bickerstaff declined the nomination. Member Baggett asked why Member Cottle didn't want the position. Member Cottle responded he has a conflict of interest. Member King nominated Member Baggett to be chairman. Member Bickerstaff seconded the nomination. Ayes: All members present voted aye. Noes: None. Member King nominated Member Bickerstaff for vice chairman. Member Cottle seconded the nomination. Ayes: All members present voted aye. Noes: None. Member Baggett asked where it is written that you can't be chairman for more than two years. Member King responded that it was written that way in the Charter. Member Cottle asked what the legalities of the board is since we are appointed members and also stated that we can't make appointments in executive session. Chairman Sanders responded the information in regards to the legalities of the board is in the meeting packets, and said also that appointments can be made as long as they are in an open, public forum. Member Bickerstaff asked about executive session in regards to re-interviews conducted for board members. Ms. Nelson said re-interviews were done in executive session in the past, but now the meetings would be called work sessions or special sessions. Chairman Sanders added that meant the minutes of the meeting would be available for anyone who wanted them, but in executive session they are not. 3. DISCUSSION OF ASSISTANCE NEEDED FOR UPCOMING STATE BASKETBALL TOURNAMENTS. David Swain informed the board that the city is hosting two TAAF State Basketball Tournaments - a Men's 6 Ft & Under and a Girls 8U, 10U, 12U. He came to the board tonight to give them some background on the event and to ask them to be available to assist in any way they can. David told the board he was at a tournament in Texas City and was very impressed with the number of staff they had available during the tournament. He said there will be approximately 20-24 men's teams and we are estimating 500- 600 participants and visitors for that tournament. For the girls there are approximately 55-65 teams and we're estimating 2,200-2,500 participants and visitors for that tournament. We will use the gyms at Griffin, the high school, Lakeview, and the Rec. Center - so we will have 5-6 gyms in 4 locations. The men's games will probably be played only at the high school. David informed the board he will need help selling drinks in the concession stand, monitoring the gyms, selling souvenirs, taking door money, and scorekeeping. The souvenirs we're planning on selling are t-shirts, cups, magnets, pennants, little rubber basketballs, and beanie babies that have our tournament on them. David said he would be recruiting some help from the youth basketball coaches. The Special Events Board will be going to restaurants in the city to get their support and David will put them on a map if they make a financial donation of $25.00 for example. Member King suggested that David should also try to get some coupons from the restaurants because they go over very well with people. Ms. Nelson suggested that David come back to the board at the next meeting on January 27`x' or the first meeting in February with a more detailed list of what he needs. She told Member Baggett that she would discuss the possibility of the high school swim team booster club being involved with the concessions as a fundraiser at another time. She added that because this event will be such a big revenue generator for the Parks & Rec. Dept. also, we need to talk about it in more detail at a later time. David said if there are some high school kids who want to be scorekeepers, that job will pay $5 - $6 per hour. Ms. Nelson suggested that instead of paying the high school kids for working, pay the amount they would earn to the organization. Ms. Nelson told the board their assistance would be in need during the next few months while we are getting everything for the tournament put together. She said we know that Budget Suites won't be open in time, but we are hoping that Comfort Suites will be open. David told the board that he went to both hotels before he went to bid for the tournaments and told them he was going to try to get these tournaments and would they be open by the time the tournaments took place; they both said they would be open and Comfort Suites said they'd be open January IS` 4. UPDATE FROM DIRECTOR. Ms. Nelson distributed the new brochure about the dining hall at Hidden Cove Park. She said we're trying to reach out for more corporation uses for the dining hall. The dining hall will now be called the Conference Center to give it a different image. We're trying to get more daytime and wintertime use out of it. She said these will be mailed, with a map, to some corporations on Legacy so they can distribute them to their planning and events personnel. David Swain informed the board that some renovations have been done in the hallway at the Rec. Center that has greatly improved the appearance. He also told the board that soccer registrations are going on - 2 week nights at the library and 3 weekends at the library. Ms. Nelson said the little league is also having registrations and they are going to start their season early so they can get some play in before Easter. David also informed the board that the Youth Basketball is midway through the season with 582 kids which breaks our record again this year. Ms. Nelson said we're putting together the Spring Fun Times brochure. Ms. Nelson updated the board in regards to Ridgepointe Park - She said we will be applying for the grant in the July cycle. We need to get support from the 4B Board for matching funds for whatever we end up needing. She said there was no way we could get a meeting with them and a Public Hearing before the January cycle. We will shoot for July and if we get the grant it won't effect the timing on it. If we had done the January cycle, it would have been approved in August - doing the July cycle, they approve those grants in January - so either way we wouldn't have gotten started on the project until Spring 2000 anyway. Member Baggett asked if the board had a priority list for this year and should we start thinking about what month we need to be doing things. Ms. Nelson responded that we have submitted a project list to the 4B Board. They have gone out for proposals for consultants to put together a Master Plan for development for them in addition to upgrading our Parks Master Plan. She said that City Council has given us approval for going out for RFP's. Member King said City Council has only given approval to the 4B Board to advertise for a Park Planner, they did not give approval to the 4B Board for spending money to hire one. Ms. Nelson said at this point, the submittals are due on Monday, January 18f. There will be a review and selection process and we will have to go back to City Council for their approval. Ms. Nelson said she thinks there's some hesitancy about moving forward on any projects until that plan has been put in place. Member Baggett asked if we had any other fund money for any of the parks left or was it all gone. Ms. Nelson answered we may have some, but not enough to do anything big. She said she had just gotten a donation from a sorority who had Friendship Park - they had folded and emptied their bank account and gave us about $1,000 to use in that park and we will put that money toward ADA sidewalks at Friendship Park. 5. ITEMS OF CONCERN TO THE BOARD. Member Cottle said he read in the Dallas Morning News that Stewart Peninsula is offering free lifetime memberships, green fees if you buy a house in this quarter. Ms. Nelson said there is a $2,500 lifetime membership you can pay up front then you pay monthly maintenance fees to be involved in that. She said she thought they were rolling that into the cost of a house. The money is being paid to the golf course whether it is coming from the owner or the builder. She also said this is being offered to everyone in The Colony. Member Baggett welcomed new board member Mark Shaw and said she thinks he will be a good member. Member King informed Ms. Nelson of an incident involving two young girls playing on the new volleyball net. She said Ms. Nelson might be getting a phone call from the parents. Member King said she rather loudly told the girls to stop playing on the net, but she didn't realize they were so young, otherwise she wouldn't have talked so loudly. Member King apologized for her actions. Chairman Sanders asked about the progress on getting electricity to Bill Allen. Ms. Nelson said we were still waiting on TU Electric - they are working on the easmon paperwork, and that takes a while, but we think we will be ready for the Summer season. Member King asked if there was going to be new bathrooms at Stewart Creek Park this Summer. Ms. Nelson said Sam is working hard on making that happen. She said they're working out more details on the sewer line plans and exactly how they want to do that. She said progress is being made. Chairman Sanders asked about the playground at Stewart Creek Park. Ms. Nelson said she called about that a few months ago and found out there were some family problems. She said they were still planning on doing it and they had even raised some of the money. There being o further discussion, ' was unanimously decided to adjourn the meeting at 8:07 p.m. -ig Kat y Neal, ecord retary John ers, Chairman MINUTES OF THE PARKS & RECREATION BOARD OF THE CITY OF THE COLONY HELD ON JANUARY 27TH, 1999 A REGULAR SESSION of The Parks & Recreation Board of The City of The Colony, TX., was called to order at 7:33 p.m. with the following board members present: Donna Baggett Chairperson Laura Bickerstaff Member Susan King Member Mark Shaw Member John Sanders Member and with members Cottle and Lewis absent; thus a quorum was established. Also in attendance was Pam Nelson, Director of Parks & Recreation. 1. 2. CITIZEN'S INPUT. None. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF JANUARY 13TH, 1999. Member King made a motion to approve the minutes from January 13, 1999. Member Sanders seconded the motion. Ayes: All members present voted aye. Noes: None. DISCUSSION AND APPROPRIATE ACTION OF GOALS TO ACCOMPLISH IN 1999. Ms. Nelson said everyone should have a copy of the goals she submitted for the Parks & Rec. Dept. She said if you want to add to them or set up a separate set for the board, that is o.k. This is just to give everyone an idea of the type of goals from a departmental view. If you want to take some of these goals off this list and focus on them, that's fine. Chairperson Baggett said the board should review the goals and see what we would like to do. Member King stated that under cooperative efforts, Ms. Nelson has - work with LISD to expand facility use agreement - she asked if we could look into working the CFA into some type of shared use facility with one of the middle schools where they are relieved of some of the cost burden. The CFA got a bill from Griffin for $750 for the five games that they played. Member Shaw said LISD does not let CYFA use their fields except for the Cougar Bowl and they have to pay for that. He said any team that uses the fields has to pay; there's a difference between a recreational league and a private league and we do like the city does in that respect. Ms. Nelson said LISD is taking the same approach as the city is to the select leagues. She said we can't provide facilities for everyone; we have to provide facilities to leagues who allow anyone to participate where it's not a select tryout system - if you're not good enough, you don't play. Member Bickerstaff asked if the fees are standard for anyone who uses a facility. Member Shaw answered they are not the same because LISD does not charge non-profit organizations like PTA or the boy scouts for example. When an organization for profit uses the facilities, then LISD charges them and the fees are determined by the kind of organization you are, but there is a sliding scale. Ms. Nelson said we are looking into the rental policy for our fields because there is beginning to be such a high demand from outside organizations that need facilities and there is revenue to be generated from that. Member King asked if when we talk to LISD, can we explore the possibility of upgrading Lakeview's facility from the city standpoint and from a 4B stand point. This would be for CFA and CYFA because CYFA has such a lack of lighted facilities. Ms. Nelson responded that our primary goal would be to light our facilities before we start trying to do improvements on someone else's facilities; but ultimately, that is our goal to try and do some cooperative efforts with LISD. She said there are backstops at every school but the turf is not maintained and they do have some land available adjacent to the schools. Member Shaw said LISD currently has an agreement with Flower Mound. He said the city runs the fields, but the land belongs to LISD; we're basically leasing the land. Ms. Nelson said we have talked about doing that for years, but we haven't had the financial resources available to do it; that will end up being a 4B project. Member King asked what CIP and Strategic Plan was. Ms. Nelson responded CIP is Capital Improvements Plan, which is projects, and Strategic Plan is organizational structure - positions. Member Sanders said he would like to see a couple of additions to the outdoor recreation goals. He is in the process of revising the Adopt-A-Park program and hopes to have it at the next meeting. He wants to start heavily promoting the program to see if we can't get some organizations and businesses in the city to start adopting a park to upgrade them, and maintain them. They can send employees to do maintenance and clean up the park or they can come up with an improvement schedule and agree to finance projects as they are developed. Presently, we only have a single level of the Adopt-A-Park program, but I've gotten it broken down into 4 different levels. He would like it to be on the agenda for the next meeting. Ms. Nelson said we've already established in the Master Plan, a project list that we want to use in each of the parks, so it will be easy to take that information with us when you approach a business. She said we could make a booklet about the parks and include a picture of the park also. Member Sanders wants to explore the possibility of expediting the process to get electricity to Bill Allen Park so it can be used for special events. Member Shaw asked what Ridgepointe Park is called. Ms. Nelson explained what has been taking place with Ridgepointe because Member Shaw was not a member of the board. She said we've held 2 public hearings. The first public hearing we held was 18 months ago with about 40 people in attendance and 35 of them said they did not want a park; these were people from the first phase. The second public hearing we sent out notices to all the residents inviting them to attend or if they could not attend, to send us their thoughts in writing or by fax. There were about 75 people in attendance and we also had several written and faxed responses. At this meeting there was a more positive result. Our objective is to apply for a grant to fund the development of the park and we will ask 4B to match the funds for the grant. The next grant cycle is July 31, 1999. We will know if we are awarded the grant in January, 2000, then we can move forward. Member Baggett asked if anything was going to be done at Hidden Cove Park and Stewart Creek Park this year. Ms. Nelson replied we have approval and funding for a swim beach area and a courtesy dock, and we have the funding for a boat / RV storage area, but we probably won't get the approval from the Corp for that. She said at Stewart Creek Park we are getting the bathrooms fixed up and the area we added at the end of the parking lot has been asphalted. Member Sanders made a motion to adopt the goals for 1999 of the Parks & Recreation Department with the amendments discussed tonight. Member Shaw seconded the motion. Ayes: All members present voted aye. Noes: None. 4. UPDATE FROM DIRECTOR. Ms. Nelson informed everyone that there has been a request to eliminate the fees at Stewart Creek Park for city residents. It is going to the Fees Committee and she will recommend that it also come before the Park Board. There are many issues involved, it's not just a matter of maintenance and operations, but of losing control over who and what goes into the park. It is the only facility that pays for itself, including capital improvements. The mayor has requested it to be on the Council agenda for discussion. Thursday night the 4B Board will begin interviewing consultants for upgrading the Master Plan. We have received proposals from 6 firms, each of which is of high caliber. This will be a very difficult decision and she recommends that everyone attend the interviews. Member King added that each firm will be given 45 minutes to make their presentation and there will be 15 minutes for questions from the board and audience, and it will be televised on channel 6. Ms. Nelson, David Swain, and Elise Know will be in Colorado for a week attending a revenue school. We are working on getting the state basketball tournaments put together. We will allow outside organizations to handle concessions and we will give sites out on a fast come first serve basis and we are not soliciting for this. We will also need scorekeepers. 5. ITEMS OF CONCERN TO THE BOARD. Member King asked if at the Chili Cook-Off, Bob can do some kind of a business competition by getting the businesses in The Colony to challenge eachother and maybe this would help increase attendance. She asked if the Special Events Board is helping with the basketball tournaments and if they are can they do something like a barbecue at Stewart Creek Park. Ms. Nelson said they will be helping, but we wanted to try to encourage people to go to Hidden Cove Park. She said the Leo's Club is trying to set up some carnival games for the kids and they are also trying to recruit a blue-grass band. Member Sanders asked if David Stanwick is still proposing the Kidfish event go through. Ms. Nelson said Dr. Wilborn has taken that over and he is supposed to be at the next Park Board meeting to go over all the details. Member Sanders said also that we have also had an absent member for 5 months. Ms. Nelson responded that Rich has not decided to resign. She said if the board wants to take action, that is their option. There are guidelines that say 3 consecutive unexcused absences, but I don't know if there have been 3 consecutive ones. He has had health problems, knee surgery, and some other things come up. Member King suggested Donna speak to him as president. Chairperson Baggett asked why Susan King's name was mentioned in the paper regarding secret meetings. Member King explained the situation. The Mayor asked Gene Ramsey to have 4B, John Sanders, and Pam Nelson at a meeting to meet with a water technology company that builds outdoor water parks. Gene did not post it as an official meeting. Chris Coil from the paper was at the meeting and that's who noticed there were 4 members present. She said that we found out you have to pay $10,000 for a feasibility study, $25,000-$35,000 for a market study, pay for all the parking lots and infrastructure, donate the land for them to build on and 4B also has to back the bonds even though they are revenue bonds, but their information did not tell us any of that. They also wanted a guarantee from our residents that they would buy advance year passes for $700 - $800 per year, plus everytime you go, you pay an entry fee. The Mayor asked them to come. There being n further discussion, it w unanimously decided to adjourn the meeting at 9:30 p.m. r Kathy eal, Reco ding Secretary Donna Baggett, Chairperso MINUTES OF THE PARKS & RECREATION BOARD OF THE CITY OF THE COLONY HELD ON FEBRUARY 24TH, 1999 A REGULAR SESSION of The Parks & Recreation Board of The City of The Colony, TX., was called to order at 7:33 p.m. with the following board members present: Donna Baggett Chairperson Susan King Member John Sanders Member Rich Lewis Member Larry Henderson Member Laura Bickerstaff Member and with member Shaw absent; thus a quorum was established. also in attendance was Pam Nelson, Director of Parks & Recreation, Lanny Lambert, City Manager, Dr. Bob Wilborn, and Luther & JOAnn Bernstein. 1. CITIZEN'S INPUT. None. 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF DECEMBER 9TH, 1998 AND JANUARY 27TH, 1999. Member Sanders made a motion to table Approval of Minutes of December 9 h, 1998 and January 27`h, 1999 until the next meeting or until there is a quorum. Member King seconded the motion. Ayes: All members present voted aye. Noes: None. Member Bickerstaff arrived to establish a quorum to approve the minutes. Member Sanders made a motion to approve the minutes of December 9`h, 1998 and January 27 h, 1999. Member King seconded the motion. Ayes: Members King, Bickerstaff, Sanders, Henderson, Chairperson Baggett. Noes: None. Abstain: Member Lewis. RECEIVE PRESENTATION FROM DR. BOB WILBORN ON THE KIDFISH EVENT TO BE HELD AT LIONS CLUB PARK. Dr. Bob Wilborn informed the board on the Kidfish Event being hosted by the Lions Club. The event will take place on Saturday, March 27 h, 1999 at Lions Club Park. From 8:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. will be for handicapped kids to fish, all other children will begin fishing at 9:00 a.m. The event will run from 8:00 a.m. until noon. The pond will be stocked on Friday night with 500 farm raised adult catfish. We anticipate about 200-250 children to participate in the event. We will have t-shirts, medals and trophies for the kids. We have a budget of $3,384.00 and the Lions Club has already raised $3,125.00 but there are still some outstanding contributions that we have not yet received. We still need donations. Our main concerns were - 1. Having enough t-shirts for the kids - we have 100 and they cost $400. 2. Having enough fish so we would not get fished out early - 500 fish cost $800. 3. Increase the prizes - Kidfish provides prizes, we are getting a savings bond from the bank. Kidfish encourages catch and release, but if there are any left over fish, the pond will be able to sustain them. We will have registration forms at the schools in 2 weeks. The Leo Club will have the food trailer at the event. The money raised by the Leo Club will be used towards transportation to send handicapped kids to camp. We are getting a list of handicapped kids so we can send them a special invitation to the event - LISD is helping us with that. This is a rain or shine event; no alternate date has been planned. We will call the church to make sure we can use their parking facilities. We still need volunteers. The boy scouts and The Colony Bass Club will be helping. We would like to make this an annual event. In fact we already have some sponsors for next year. This year Dodge is the title sponsor donating $1,500.00. 4. DISCUSSION OF PROPOSED ROLLER SKATING FACILITY TO BE LOCATED ON PARKLAND AT PAIGE AND MEMORIAL. Lanny Lambert informed the board that Luther & JoAnn Bernstein want to locate a roller skating rink in The Colony. They have the money to back him to pay for the structure and the facility, but they could not pay for the land, therefore they approached the city for help. Lanny said when he was in other cities, they had taken parkland and leased it for either a cut of the gate or for a nominal fee for a facility we classified as a joint city - whatever to provide recreational opportunities. This has been done in The Colony several times - we have leased land we acquired from the Corp of Engineers for Stewart Peninsula Golf Course and Wynnewood Peninsula Golf Course. We're leasing 600 acres of land for a cut of the gate for both facilities. We lease the land at the driving range for a cut of the gate. Luther's goal is to get as close to HWY 121 as possible because his market is Carrollton and Plano. He'd like the land we acquired from JNC. The city attorney said it is legal and we would have to competitively bid. We would specify a lease and specify construction. Lanny has informed Luther that if we participate in any way in reducing the cost of his development through the land, we will expect a first class facility on that land because in the long run, it would be ours once the lease is up. Luther addressed the board. He built his first rink in 1970 and has been involved in 14 different rinks. He did not plan on doing another rink. He sold rinks in Arlington in May and Josey Skateland. He sold his part in Skatetown because he didn't get along with his partner. Presently he has only one rink, which is Interskate in Lewisville. It is 18 years old and he recently bought his partner out because she retired. Jack Cox, a realtor, asked Luther if he wanted to build a rink in The Colony. Luther came to the city and met many people. He was shown a map of the city and the park ground. He was told there were 35 acres on Paige that just became park ground and that is where he wants to be. He does not want to be on HWY 121 because there is too much traffic. This is his market area. He said when he does discount tickets through the schools he does not get a big response from The Colony, he gets Highland Village and Flower Mound. He believes the small return from The Colony is because it is too far to drive, but there is a market out here that has not been tapped into yet. He said he looked at the old Winn Dixie building 4 years ago. Because there are poles in the building you can't skate, and you also can't get liability insurance. He is aware of someone looking to put a 26-lane bowling alley there. He sold his rink in Arlington because some people from Slap Shot Hockey in Richardson wanted to make a hockey rink and spent $250,000 converting it. Luther said Interskate's profits are up 30% because of in-line skating. The ages of kids that use the facility range from 5 - 15 years. He said if he does a new rink, Lewisville will remain open unless someone makes him an offer to buy it. Luther is asking for 3 acres of land but it depends on the parking and how the city says he should locate it. He met with Harry Persaud and he told Luther his main concern is having parking available to be used by another facility. Luther said the facility would be 30,000 square feet - 100 x 300 to be located close to HWY 121. He wants to be as close to HWY 121 as he can. He believes there is a good possibility to get traffic from West Plano because of Plano Parkway and Paige. He said if you are on Main Street or Paige, North Carrollton will come to you. Member Sanders said there is going to be some requirement for building the infrastructure around the park. He asked Luther if he would be responsible for that or if the city would. Luther responded Harry thought if there is something you would like to be done, he would do a conceptual plan for the board, but Luther said he would like to be anywhere along Paige. Member Sanders also said Memorial Dr. is going to have to be developed and built. He asked Luther if he would take care of that or if the city would be responsible for that. He informed Luther there is a city ordinance in regards to this. Luther answered the city would be responsible because he is not in the street building business but that would have to be worked out with the city. Luther also said he did not have any objection to being at another location on Paige instead of that corner. Member Sanders stated that Luther keeps referencing how much money he continues to make, so why does he need our help. Luther responded that he couldn't afford the land. He said it's not possible to pay $10 per foot and make it work for a roller skating rink. He said Jack Cox came to him regarding this venture. Luther said if someone is going to build a rink close to his, he wants to be involved in it. He said there wouldn't be a rink in The Colony unless someone has $300,000 - $500,000 to pay for the land. Member Sanders asked Luther if a location at Wynnewood Peninsula has been presented to him. Luther said he was not sure because of all the different maps he had seen, but if it was, he kept saying he wanted the location on Paige. Member Lewis said we have a lot of needs, and a roller rink is one of them, but it is not on the top of our list of priorities. He said our recreational land is at a minimum, and he has a problem with giving up a portion of our prime land. Member Bickerstaff asked Luther who Jack Cox was and how did he find him. She also asked what his interest or connection is to the city to approach Luther. Luther replied Jack Cox is a real estate man who is just trying to do something. He said he approached him 3-4 months ago and he is with Caldwell Banker - Romo Realty. Member Sanders asked Luther if he would be approaching the 4A and 4B Boards for financial assistance. Luther replied that someone had talked to him about it. He said he has talked to a bank in Arlington who has financed other rinks of his and they said they wanted to try to make a loan based on his experience and credit. Chairperson Baggett said that location is like a gateway to our city and roller rinks are really not attractive. Lanny added that would be part of the negotiations. The board would say where it is located on that land. Chairperson Baggett asked Lanny if the city has the right in 5 years to say that we don't like the way he's upkeeping it and he has to meet some requirements? She also asked if he leaves and we're left with a metal building, are we setting ourselves up for light industrial? Lanny answered that it depends on how you word the lease. Luther added that it is not going to be a metal building and the city will tell him what to do. Chairperson Baggett asked Luther if he couldn't get this location, is he going to give up. Luther answered no, not really. He said Lanny, the Mayor, Gene Ramsey, and people in the city have told him they want him here and they will find a way to get him here. Member Sanders said the board does not want to give the impression that they don't want him here, the problem is it's prime parkland. Member King asked Luther what attracted him to The Colony other than the free land and what was his vision of what the building will look like. Luther answered that the community attracted him. He gets kids to his facility through the schools. Luther showed the board 2 pictures of what the facility would possibly look like. One picture resembled the Interskate facility in Lewisville and the other had a castle-like appearance. He said he is going to meet the cement man and the man from Tyler Building on Friday at the piece of land he'd like to build on. Member King requested to see a list of his rinks. Luther named some of them - in Austin there was Skate Ranch and Hot Wheels, Redbird, Duncanville, Roller World in Grand Prairie, Big Wheel and Skate Ranch in Arlington, Josey Skateland in Farmers Branch, Interskate in Lewisville, Garland Skateland in Garland, Hurst Skateland, there is one in southwest Fort Worth, the mid cities, Irving, and he leases Thunderbird in Plano. Member King asked if the lease amount had been discussed with the city. Luther said he would have to borrow $800,000 - $950,000, try to lease for $1 per year for 5 - 10 years, after that it would escalate, and after 20 years it would be considerably more. Member King asked if he would give the board an estimate of what his annual gross revenue would be based on Interskate. Luther said he did not think that was something he wanted to share with the board. Member King asked if he was going to be a full time owner-operator, or just build it and have someone else come in and run it. Luther said he will have a manager, but he won't have a partner. Member Sanders asked Luther how long before he would be open if he gets approval to do this. He also asked him if there is the possibility of him selling out if he decides he doesn't want to do this anymore. Luther said he would be open in 4-6 months depending on the contractors, and there is always the possibility of selling, but he doesn't know. Member King said the 4B Board is bringing in a consultant to update the city's Parks Master Plan but that will take some time. She said after that is completed, we could say you could put the facility at this location. She asked Luther if it would bother him to wait another 2-3 months while work on a Master Plan for that park is being prepared and would that be a deal-breaker. Luther said the ideal time to open a rink is in September. If he could approval by May 1St-15th, he would have a chance to open the rink in September. Lanny said a Conceptual Plan is needed for this park before you decide where anything goes. He said it should be separate from the 4B Plan though. Lanny said the process we propose is to go out for RFP's, negotiate a contract, location, terms, finances and appearance of the building, and put it in the contract and the lease for that park. Member Sanders asked Luther if he had another choice of location if this is turned down. Luther said he had been shown the land by the driving range on 423. Lanny said the owner of the driving range would like to have Luther locate next to him because it would be good for his business. He has a 7-year lease and pays the city a cut of his gate, which is $250 per month. Ms. Nelson said there is a very high demand for an in-line hockey skating rink in our community. She said this is on our Master Plan list and this might be an opportunity for us to create a collaborative effort to meet that need. Kids have taken over the tennis courts to meet that need. She believes this is a bigger demand and need for this community other than just a roller skating rink. If the programming and identity is geared in that direction it would meet our needs better and she thinks this is the trend in the industry. She asked Luther is he would be willing to gear his facility toward an in-line hockey skating rink and maybe create a dual use of the facility by having in-line skating as the primary use and roller skating as the secondary use. Luther responded that a roller skating rink is a recreational facility. It offers children a place to go as an alternative to school activities like dances, it offers a place for people and organizations to have birthday parties and private parties, PTA functions, and all night lock ins. There is presently nothing for the kids to do. Lanny asked Luther if he would be interested in doing some kind of a partnership with an in-line hockey facility or allowing a portion of the rink to be used on a rotational basis. Luther replied he wants to do a roller skating rink first. He said he knows some people who would build a hockey rink. His facility can't be used for both. He said before he goes any further, he wants the board to give him an opinion. Member Bickerstaff said Luther has only given them one option to consider - it's that land or no land, and that limits our response without us doing any research on our own. Ms. Nelson said the board will meet again on March 10th and they will make a decision at that time if they want you to proceed. Luther said he does not want to be on 423 by the driving range because you would not see his building and he does not want to be out at Wynnewood. Chairperson Baggett said this would be put on the next agenda. 5. DISCUSSION AND APPROPRIATE ACTION OF ADOPT-A-PARK POLICIES. Member Sanders informed the board that he has developed a multi-level plan. He said many of the items from the original plan have not changed. You would still be responsible for maintaining the park and keeping the board informed about what you are doing. This plan offers some options to help get more of a response. Member King said this will help get a better response from groups like the scouts or the honor society so they could get some community service hours. Ms. Nelson added the original plan required too much time. Ms. Nelson said some of the wording in the Business or Corporate Adoption section should be changed. She thinks there needs to be an option for funds, equipment, materials or supplies. She said someone might not donate funds, but they may donate product, equipment or materials to benefit that facility. She said it also states provide labor to implement those improvements - she implied that maybe what the business is adopting - maybe an irrigation or landscaping company coming in and providing the manpower to maintain irrigation in a park for a year. Ms. Nelson said we also need to consider how we recognize the groups - maybe doing a sign if they do a level 3 for example. Ms. Nelson said other than those items she was very pleased and impressed with the plan. She said to rework the business portion and bring it back for formal approval at the next meeting. Member King made a motion to table the Adopt-A-Park Policy until the next meeting. Member Bickersatff seconded the motion. Ayes: All members present voted aye. Noes: None. 6. UPDATE FROM DIRECTOR. Ms. Nelson informed the board that there is a timesheet for them to fill in to be volunteers at the girls state basketball tournament. She said they would be selling tickets and souvenirs and could sign up for the high school, Lakeview, Griffin, or the Rec. Center, Friday night through Sunday afternoon. She also said we need scorekeepers. Chairperson Baggett said the swim team booster club would be working at the tournament doing concessions. The Chili-Cook Off is * March 19'' - 21" with judging beginning at 2:00. *The Chili Cook Off is March 20`h The $1,000,000 check is in the bank. The light poles have been replaced at the tennis courts, and Bridges, and they were working on BB Owen today. The Fun Times Catalog was mailed out last week. Ms. Nelson said she went to the 4B Board to ask for funding for Ridgepointe Park. They agreed to support the funding of the project for *$100,000 estimated for the development of it. She said since that meeting, she has told them she will hold off until the Master Plan is completed. She said they need to tell her how much they want to fund in phases - do they want to build in phases or do it all at once. She will still apply for a grant and use that as a matching source of funds. *They agreed to support the funding of the project for $500,000 estimated for the development of it. Ms. Nelson said a resident informed us about a problem at BAMP. We discovered that Stonebriar Golf Course has a 5-acre retention pond that has built up quite a bit of silt. They have some dredging equipment that they have been using to pump out the silt into an open field, but they didn't build any kind of a burm along the backside of the field. The contractor told them the silt won't soak into the ground. The silt is running off of the field into the creek and filling it up with silt. Some fish have died because of this, but we haven't gotten a toxicology report back yet to see if there is anything other than just oxygen deprivation because of the silt. We have asked TNRCC, Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission, to step in. They regulate drinking water. We have contacted the Corp of Engineers and contacted Texas Parks & Wildlife because we also found a dead beaver. They have not started the clean up but they have stopped the pumping. They did commit to cleaning up to the railroad trestel, east side of BAMP. They have not agreed to come over to our side, but this is not resolved yet. Sam and I have taken pictures of everything. There is silt sitting on the fields. We are hosting a Dallas/Fort Worth area Directors Meeting, Parks & Recreation Directors from all over the area. We have asked the police department to do a presentation on the bike patrol program. 7. ITEMS OF CONCERN TO THE BOARD. Member King said she spoke to Bill Sheveland last week. She saw a signed contract between Bill Sheveland and Lanny Lambert, and one clause dealt with purpose. The clause said the land shall be used exclusively for public park purposes. She called Bill Sheveland to see if he doesn't want us to lease the land to a business. He said no, that is illegal and will fight it if that is what we intend to do. This was an agreement that was done when it was only 20 acres, but it never got approved from council because the land kept changing. Ms. Nelson said the conveyance has not been finalized because there has not been an agreement made on who is going to pay for what as far as the infrastructure and drainage improvements that cross that land. We should not have to absorb a very high cost for crossing under Paige Road because our portion of the property will abut Paige Road. We should only absorb the cost for the amount that we contribute to that drainage. They're trying to work out a pro-rata share of the infrastructure cost. Member King said Bill Sheveland told her that private business will not benefit his development of the Legends, public parks will. Member King said she is fine with Luther building a skating rink in the city, but not on that land. She is offended that he thinks we should give him our most prime piece of parkland we have ever owned. Chairperson Baggett said the board needs to remain open-minded as to whether we want it in the city, and if we do, do we want to recommend another location, if we don't want this location. Member Bickerstaff said she didn't think Luther did much preparation on this presentation. He made a lot of statements, but he did not have facts. He does not know how many facilities he has had. He's been doing this for 18 years and has one open facility, this is not a track record for success. He said he has turned his skating rinks into hockey facilities because of the profitability. I don't think we can make an educated decision on the information he gave us. He tried to pressure us into a decision. She said she still doesn't know who Jack Cox is, Luther never gave me a response to that question. Member Sanders stated that the Eastvale issue is causing some problems with some people - they don't want to give it to Johnny, why? Ms. Nelson said there's some concern that we shouldn't give control away of that parkland in case there's some things we want to do. But if we can use someone else's money to create the same type of things we would want out there, why wouldn't we use anyone else's money. Ms. Nelson said if the issue of free access to the lake is pushed, she will recommend it be done through Eastvale Park. Ms. Nelson said the fees committee will meet next Thursday to discuss the removal of fees at Stewart Creek Park. Member Sanders said he is working on doing a kite festival in The Colony. He is getting information and contacting people about doing this. There is a kite festival in Lewisville that he will attend. Member Henderson said he is glad to be a part of the board. Ms. Nelson said he will be a great asset Member Lewis said Luther did not answer our questions directly. He wants everyone to keep in mind that the JNC property is still available. There being no her discussion, ' yvas unanimously dec%Daggett, n the meetin at 10:00 P.M. r Kathy Ne 1, Recording Secretary Chairperson Dear Parks & Recreation Board I wanted to express my concern over the possibility of The City of The Colony starting a precedence of financially supporting private enterprise. Plainly stated, I do not support the city providing two acres of land to someone wanting to put in a skating rink. If this business believes they cannot afford to purchase the land they need, then I believe they do not have a sound business plan. Additionally, I have the following concerns. What will happen if the skating rink defaults on the loan for the building? Will we have a bank owned building on city property? Would the city be required to pay for it? Will the bank be allowed to sell it to anyone they want? Is any bank really going to finance this given the possible restrictions the city should want to place on the resale of the building? What are the ramifications of a taxable building and it's contents being on non-taxed property? I have heard that the city will get the building in 25 or 50 years. What will our city do with a 25 or 50 year old skating rink? A 25 or 50 year old building will need major renovations and updating. If the city approves this project, it better be prepared for other businesses to line-up wanting 2 acres. I've owned a business in The Colony since 1986 and I have yet to receive even one acre. I could easily put up a beautiful building for less than the rent I am paying now - provided the land it sat on was free. JNC was forced to donate property to the city for use as parkland. We should not turn around and devalue the rest of JNC's property by giving this land to a business who rightfully should be purchasing two acres from JNC or one of the other landowners in town. Bottomline: Don't Do It - It will be the second biggest mistake this city has ever made. Thank you for your time. Susan Blethen 5053 Ashlock Drive MINUTES OF THE PARKS & RECREATION BOARD OF THE CITY OF THE COLONY HELD ON MARCH 10TH, 1999 A REGULAR SESSION of The Parks & Recreation Board of The City of The Colony, TX., was called to order at 7:35 p.m. with the following board members present: Donna Baggett Chairperson Laura Bickerstaff Member Susan King Member Mark Shaw Member Larry Henderson Member John Sanders Member Rich Lewis Member and with no members absent; thus a quorum was established. Also in attendance was Pam Nelson, Director of Parks & Recreation, Lanny Lambert, City Manager, John Dillard, Luther & JoAnn Bernstein, and Jack Cox. CITIZEN'S INPUT. Ralph Thompson - 5068 Lakeshore - He is here to make an appeal on behalf of Little League. He has been a coach for 5 years. The problem we've always had is having a place to practice that is not dangerous. Once the season starts, there won't be anywhere else to practice. It's tough to get 2-3 weeks of good practice in, then have no where else to practice when the season starts. He does not care where a new master complex is built; he is here to stress the need for it. For the next 2-3 years we are going to have the same problem, nowhere safe to practice. Chairperson Baggett read a letter submitted by Susan Blethan, a citizen of The Colony, in regards to the possibility of having a roller skating rink locate in The Colony. The letter will be attached to the official minutes. Martha Cipielawski - 5641 Usher - She has lived in The Colony for 8 years and is friends with the person who tried years ago to put a rink in The Colony. She said you have to go everywhere else for things and believes whatever it takes to get things located in The Colony should be done. Liz Ripperger - 5909 Stewart Blvd. - She agrees with the letter submitted by Susan Blethan. She also is a business owner in The Colony. She does not feel the city should give taxpayer land away. She grew up in Lewisville and went roller skating, but stopped. She feels funny about giving land away, especially there, and wonders why not another location. Kim Stratten - 5909 Sandhill - She is a senior at The Colony High School and does not believe there is much interest in a roller skating rink for kids in the middle schools through high school ages. She believes ice hockey has more interest and roller skating is obsolete. She believes the majority of high school students are interested in ice hockey. A facility that would house a variety of things other than just roller skating would be more practical. Julie Park -5045 Parker Dr. - She is the secretary for the Youth Advisory Council. Luther spoke to their group about the roller skating rink, and they were very excited. She believes it would benefit the high school kids here and there are other things that Luther can offer like pool tables. There is nothing for kids our age to do; you have to go to Lewisville or Plano. Chris Farmer - 5509 Gates - His son is 8 years old and plays on a hockey team 2 nights a week and every Sunday they go to Interskate in Lewisville. They always have to drive to other cities. If there were something in our town where you could drop your kids off and feel safe, that would be a great benefit to The Colony. Ralph Thompson - 5068 Lakeshore - He has lived in The Colony for 5 years. He lives across from flood plain and believes there must be something that could be done with that land. Throughout the metroplex, there are athletic facilities that are built in flood plains. He asks why would we use the highest value of retail property we have for a non-income- producing park. He says that does not make any sense. If we use that land for a park, the income is dead. It seems like there are plenty of alternatives and if we have 26 parks in the city, it seems like we are not utilizing them properly. Andy Andleman - He is also on the Youth Council and said that everyone already thinks a roller skating rink is coming and is excited about it. He believes loitering is a problem here. Vicki Briggs - She does not like giving the land away. She thinks roller skating in O.K. and if the young people are still interested in it, then it's a good thing. 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES FROM MARCH 10, 1999. Ms. Nelson stated that in the Update section, the date of the Chili Cook-Off is March 20th, not March 19th - 21 St. She also said the funding for Ridgepointe Park says the 4B Board will support funding of $100,000 and it should be the 4B Board will support funding of $500,000. Member King made a motion to approve the minutes of March 10, 1999 as amended by changing the date of the Chili Cook- Off to read March 20th, and the 4B Board will support funding in the amount of $500,000. Member Bickerstaff seconded the motion. Ayes: Members King, Bickerstaff, Shaw, Henderson, Lewis, Sanders and Chairperson Baggett. Noes: None. DISCUSSION AND APPROPRIATE ACTION FOR CONSIDERATION OF A PRIVATE ROLLER SKATING FACILITY TO BE LOCATED ON 35 ACRES OF PARKLAND. Luther Bernstein began by saying in order to make the rink successful in The Colony, it will have to draw people from Carrollton and it needs to be as close to Carrollton as possible. If it's far down in The Colony, it won't be very accessible. It will be hard to convince the bank to loan him the money on a location that's not a good location nor has the demographics to make the business successful. JoAnn Bernstein added that they couldn't just depend on The Colony to keep the doors open, although they are doing it for The Colony. She said unless the rink is somewhere where it is visibly seen, it would be hard to attract other communities. She continued by saying that what they would build is more of a FunCenter, not just a roller rink. It would be something for everyone - skating rink, pool tables, laser tag. Member Shaw asked Luther if he would put the Laser Tag into the contract. Luther answered that he was not certain about doing laser tag because he was not sure if he could get a loan to install that. Member Lewis asked Lanny that if we agreed to this, and we had to have a competitive bid, how long would that take and how do we go about doing it. Lanny said Luther is here because of him. Luther told him he wanted to place a skating rink in The Colony, but based on the economics he could not build the building and purchase the land, and would the city help him. Lanny said if the board declares the public purpose for this, this facility could legally be put on public land. He added just as we did on the golf course, we declared it a public purpose and we leased the land to the golf course for a cut of the gate. He said the board needs to decide if you want this to be a public purpose, then you would have to go out for RFP' S and Luther would have to bid and be the successful bidder. After the bid was awarded, then we'd negotiate the contract that would state location, building size, construction material, and the terms of the lease. An RFP would take 1 - 2 months. Member Sanders asked Lanny why the land the city owns out right that is not parkland was not considered. Lanny answered that Luther was shown everything the city had, including Wynnewood, but Luther said he liked the JNC land the best. Member Lewis said that Mayor Watts said the developer would have to be responsible for any improvements to that intersection at Paige & Memorial to save the city the cost of that work. He asked Luther if he was aware the Mayor stated that. Luther answered he was not aware of that statement. He said Lanny had told him he would have to negotiate something at some point, and that is something that he would negotiate on. Member Lewis asked Luther why Jack Cox came to him with this venture and what was in it for Mr. Cox. Jack Cox responded that he wanted to bring something to The Colony for the kids. He called Luther to go with him to a meeting with the city and he gets paid for helping. His premise is to find a need and fill it and there is a need here for recreation for the children. He is not at liberty to discuss any other business pursuits, but said he is working on a couple. When he brought Luther to town, he was shown some privately held land, but if you build the building and buy the land, you don't have the people in the city to support the investment. Member Lewis asked Lanny if we would get any financial statements. Lanny answered yes, that the city requires all kinds of public disclosures on the legitimacy of the applicant. The contract would not be awarded if the city did not feel the applicant was legitimate. Member Lewis asked Luther how much he knew about The Colony. Luther said it is in LISD and he is familiar with a number of people in the schools. Jack added that Luther is a businessman. He said they have discussed the growth we think we will have and along with the growth, we think there is a need for recreation for the children of The Colony. Member Sanders asked Luther what kind of population does he think he will need to draw on to make this facility self supporting and if he draws from North Carrollton, Little Elm, The Colony, and Frisco, will that make it self supporting. Luther responded a minimum of 75,000 people. He said you're probably 3-5 years away from having enough population base to support a skating rink. Member King stated that this is the first land we've had donated to the city per our Park Dedication Ordinance. That ordinance very clearly states on the first 2 pages, that the purpose behind that ordinance is the dedication of land for recreational facilities as met by parks. It doesn't say anything about businesses or private businesses, it says parks. If we start giving away our parkland to private business, we are taking from our children what they most desperately need. She added that we don't even have a land use plan in place for that land right now and we have not looked at what we want to do with it, what would be the best use of it, and how we want to facilitate that growth. Member Bickerstaff reminded everyone of a point made at the previous meeting, that Luther was not interested in any other land. She asked him if he had reconsidered his position to help give the board more of an opportunity to give a more educated thought to his facility rather than to say this land or not at all and she also asked Luther if he considered the length of time for the RFP and the fact that he would have to competitively bid for that. Luther responded that Lanny told him there were 26 park locations in the city and he did not think the ones he was shown were very attractive. He added that if his bank is going to loan him the money, they are going to make sure it will work. If he has to move 2-3 miles down in The Colony, somewhere off the main street, he does not know what he or the bank will say. Member Henderson asked Luther what his ideas of making the building environmentally sound were and what were his thoughts about safety for the kids and protecting them once they are in his facility. Luther said there are very strict laws on the landscaping - how much landscaping has to be left like it was and how it will look and how it will preserve the look of the land. JoAnn added that a good staff, like the staff at Interskate in Lewisville, would be hired. She said the children are well protected - no one leaves the building without permission and they don't leave without a parent who comes in the building to pick them up. Luther carries liability insurance with full coverage. Member Lewis stated that we have had a lack of parkland to do things for kids. Luther is asking for a 20-year lease and for us to give him the land without having any guarantee that he will be involved. He is concerned about the possibility of Luther selling out to someone and he continued that he has a problem in giving away prime parkland. He said we have to be careful in the way we go about solving that issue. Member King stated the objective of the Park Ordinance is to obtain recreational facilities as provided for by parks. That was written in the ordinance so we could plan for future park needs of the city. She said we need to project for 20 years from now or we won't have an adequate amount of land to serve 76,000 people and everyone knows that splitting up a facility costs more to run and maintain. Member Sanders made a motion with a preface. The preface being, that we have just accumulated this 35 acres of parkland after a long and grueling negotiation period. If someone comes to us and says they want us to give them something, then they do not have the right to dictate to us what we are going to give to them. City Council has denied us the ability to purchase additional parkland for the city. I am not willing to hand it over to anyone who comes to us and asks for it. It is not what we were empanelled to do. We are here to advise City Council on this to utilize and develop our park plans. Providing free land from a site like JNC properties is not my idea of what we are stewards of. I encourage Luther not to think that we do not want him here, but to pursue an alternate location. I am also concerned about the deed restrictions that were put into the dedication of the land to the city and whether we might be opening ourselves up to a lawsuit by providing this land. I make a motion that we deny the use of the JNC properties for commercial development but encourage Luther to find alternate locations within the city. Member Shaw seconded the motion. Member Lewis questioned how the motion was worded because it did not read like it was posted on the agenda. It did not say specifically the JNC property, but 35 acres of parkland. Member Sanders amended his motion to say that we deny the use of the 35 acres of land referred to on our agenda and encourage Luther to find an alternate location within the city. Member Shaw seconded the motion. Ayes: Members King, Bickerstaff, Sanders, Shaw, Henderson, Lewis, Chairperson Baggett. Noes: None. Chairperson Baggett adjourned the meeting for a break at 8:45 and resumed the meeting at 8:55. Lanny stated that he wanted the board's input in regards to the facility proposed by Luther Bernstein. He said he could negotiate with Luther to put in an in-line hockey rink and use his money to get something we need. Lanny said he would encourage Luther to go to the 4A & 413 board. 4. DISCUSSION AND APPROPRIATE ACTION OF ADOPT-A-PARK POLICIES. Member King made a motion to approve the Adopt-A-Park Guidelines as amended in the business and corporate adoption section. Member Bickerstaff seconded the motion. Ayes: Members King, Bickerstaff, Sanders, Shaw, Henderson, Lewis, Chairperson Baggett. Noes: None. 5. UPDATE FROM DIRECTOR. Ms. Nelson informed the board that we still need help with the state basketball tournaments. She said the volunteers will be selling souvenirs and tickets. The men's tournament is this weekend, the girl's tournament is next weekend and that's when we'll need a lot of help. There is a volunteer's meeting next Wednesday night to explain what volunteers will be doing. Next Friday night there is a coaches meeting and our staff will be busy with that. Saturday, March 201h, is the Chili Cook Off at Hidden Cove Park. Saturday, March 27`h, is the Kid Fish event at Lions Club Parks, and opening day of Little League. Saturday, April 3`d, is the Easter Egg Hunt at Hidden Cove Park at 10:00 a.m. John Dillard stated that he came to this meeting to get information. He had heard about the skating facility but had mixed emotions about the whole deal. He said the board acted properly with their decision. He believes there are other avenues we can pursue and he thinks the board did a very good job. Ms. Nelson said the toxicology reports for Bill Allen came back negative. The only problem over there is the silt build up and we are still negotiating how that will be cleaned up. 6. ITEMS OF CONCERN TO THE BOARD. Member Henderson asked if the board can come up with a format and questionnaire to have prior to any presentations made to the board so they can speak to us about what we want to hear; that way we dictate the questions that are important to us. Ms. Nelson responded that is how we normally handle presentations. She said whenever anyone approaches us with an idea or presentation of any kind, she has them give it to her in writing so she can review it and make sure all the pertinent information is in it, then it's included in your packets. There being no f rther discussion, it was unanimously decided to adjourn the meeting at 9:30 p.m. CAj Kathy eal, Rec rding Secretary D na Baggett, Chairperson