Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout4th Quarter (October-December)MINUTES OF THE PARKS & RECREATION BOARD OF THE CITY OF THE COLONY HELD ON OCTOBER 13TH, 1999 A REGULAR SESSION of The Parks & Recreation Board of The City of The Colony, TX., was called to order at 7:40 p.m. with the following board members present: Donna Baggett Chairperson Mark Shaw Member John Sanders Member Rich Lewis Member Susan King Member and with members Bickerstaff and Henderson absent, thus a quorum was established. Also in attendance was Pam Nelson, Director of Parks & Recreation, David Swain, Recreation Supervisor and Peter Brody. CITIZEN'S INPUT. Peter Brody came to tell the board about a concept called Blue Sky Sports Center. He has quit his job of 20 years in the consumer goods - soft drink, wine, and liquor industry, to pursue this endeavor. His goal is to have a family - community sport oriented facility in The Colony. He has put together a business plan and has done a lot of research with the Dallas Burn to find out what is going on in the soccer industry - both indoor and outdoor. During his research, the Dallas Burn became very interested in his plan and gave him the impression they wanted to be associated with the facility. They want to be associated with a family, community, youth sports oriented facility. Peter met with many bankers before he found one in Highland Village that would give him a couple hundred thousand if he could also come up with a couple hundred thousand. In January, the Dallas Burn said if he does this now, they will make a commitment to him - if he does this facility, they will use it as a practice facility. The Burn will have a dedicated field and Peter will help to build some locker rooms. Huge interest began to filter in from the soccer community - the Hawks, Texans, and Sting soccer clubs. He put together plans for the building; we will have the same type of turf as in Reunion Arena. A lot of money will be spent on the bathrooms. In the fall season we will have flag football indoor, volleyball, weight room, a coaches room, a concession area with Anton's Subs out of Dallas, a small soccer field inside for smaller kids. The bank said if he could come up with $500,000, they would. The town of Hickory Creek said they thought this is a great idea and wanted to be involved in it. They said they would give some parkland that the facility could be built on and he can help run it and do some things in the community. Some citizens heard about the idea and they did not like it. The town passed it and decided to move forward. Then those citizens got the Corp of Engineers involved. The Corp thought there was too much controversy and was going to require the city to do an EIS that would cost $500,000 and take 2 years to complete. He said no to Hickory Creek. At the same time, he was considering buying land in Flower Mound but decided against it because he was not comfortable with things going on in the city. He found out the project was pre- approved for a loan for whatever the cost. He had the financing. The indoor facility will be 300 feet long by 130 feet wide. The Burn will have offices, locker rooms and trainer's rooms. There are men's and women's locker rooms with changing areas, a baby changing station in the men's and women's rooms, food area, warm up areas, children's play area and SONY wants to place video monitors throughout the facility so people can see what's going on everywhere. The Burn will be leasing space and the major league soccer's field people will help do the fields. The outside area will be planted with trees, have a wildflower garden, play area, and picnic area. The Bum wants to have an area where people can have a picnic while they watch them practice. The Burn also wants to have some exhibition games at this facility instead of the Cotton Bowl. He is approved for the loan and he does have some investors who are going to put some money in to help get it started. He plans on having tournaments and there will not be any recreational leagues on the outdoor fields. The fee to rent the field for practice will be $5 - $10 per hour. There has already been huge interest from coaches and the schools are even getting excited about this. It will enable them to host indoor events like track meets or other events. He has already heard from the North Texas Square Dancing Association about having square dancing in the facility. The Hawks Soccer Club, which has 23 teams and is based in Lewisville, would like to see this facility in The Colony. It is a central location. The Bum also supports The Colony as the location for this facility. The Burn and the Hawks have offered to do a series of free camps for clinics. He will offer a significant discount to teams that play in The Colony and will encourage The Colony Soccer League to host tournaments on the fields for free. This facility will be community oriented. Right now he is prepared to buy the land but the land is not for sale at a price he can afford. Ms. Nelson said JNC would sell 15 acres of land for $980,000. She asked the board for a consensus about bringing Peter and his concept to The Colony. Member Sanders said he gives his full support to bringing Peter to The Colony. Member King said she is behind him 100%. Members Shaw, King, Sanders, and Chairperson Baggett want Ms. Nelson to continue to try and bring Peter to The Colony. Member Lewis did not give his support to the concept. 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF SEPTEMBER 8TH, 1999. Member King made a motion to approve the minutes of September 8t', 1999. Member Sanders seconded the motion. Ayes: Member King, Sanders, Shaw, Lewis, Chairperson Baggett. Noes: None. 3. REVIEW AND CONSIDERATION OF CRITERIA FOR RFP'S FOR CONSULTANTS FOR THE MASTER PLAN OF THE COMMUNITY COMPLEX. Ms. Nelson said because the board has already interviewed several consultants, she does not think we need to go out for RFP's. She stated that Dennis Sims is very familiar with The Colony. He has done our master plan, he's doing an update of the master plan, he is involved with the 4B master plan with Brinkley/Sargent and has been involved in a lot of the public hearings we have had. There has also been a lot of interest in Shricknel/Rollins who did the Texas Star Complex. She thinks Dennis would be the best choice because of his knowledge and familiarity with The Colony and she has heard a lot of good things from vendors about him. The board gave their consensus to choose Dennis Sims as the consultant for the master plan of the community complex. UPDATE FROM DIRECTOR. Ms. Nelson informed the board that ground has been broken for the bathrooms at Stewart Creek Park. The Barbecue Cookoff was very successful. There were 13 cooks and the weather was a little threatening. She attended the TAAF State Conference with David and Matt to bid on 2 state basketball tournaments for 2001. We got the Girls State Tournament. David said we made a profit of over $10,000. Ms. Nelson added that the economic impact around the area was $350,000. We beat out Houston and Lancaster for this tournament. We hosted the TAAF Regional meeting today at Stewart Peninsula Golf Course. We bid on hosting the Regional Tournament for the boys and girls, divisions 1,2 and 3, and all age groups and we got that. We'll have the Regional Tournament in March 2000 and the State Tournament in March 2001. The operational budget was approved as submitted. We got approval to transform the meeting rooms into a fitness area. We'll be doing renovations at the front desk, putting in a new gym floor, security lighting at BAMP, shade structures at Kids Colony, security lights at Kids Colony, lights for one of the football fields and the extension of the courtesy dock at Stewart Creek Park. Youth basketball registration is going on. The Haunted Hayride is next weekend and we still need volunteers. She will be at the NRPA Conference in Nashville next week and there is a TRAPS Regional Meeting November 5`h at the Convention Center in Dallas. 5. ITEMS OF CONCERN TO THE BOARD. Member Sanders has been told by some people at the football fields that CFA is trying to reserve Bridges Park Monday through Friday from 6-9 for their practices. Ms. Nelson responded that they will be at another location. Little League will have the fields on Tuesdays and Thursday, and CYFA will have the fields on Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays. Member King said the results of the Turco Survey will be made available on October 21 Member Baggett said the swim team is upset with Elise because she wanted to charge them for use of the pool for their Cougar Classic. Because of that they are having the event at another location. It has always been held at the Aquatic Park. Ms. Nelson said she will talk to Elise and get an explanation. There being no further discussion, it was unanimously decided to adjourn the meeting at 8:50 p.m. Kathy Neal, R cording Secretary `Yl V1 onna Baggett, Chairperson MINUTES OF THE PARKS & RECREATION BOARD OF THE CITY OF THE COLONY HELD ON OCTOBER 27TH, 1999 A REGULAR SESSION of The Parks & Recreation Board of The City of The Colony, TX., was called to order at 7:45 p.m. with the following board members present: Donna Baggett Chairperson John Sanders Member Susan King Member Laura Bickerstaff Member and with members Henderson, Shaw, and Lewis absent; thus a quorum was established. Also in attendance was Pam Nelson, Director of Parks & Recreation, and Sam Fitzgerald, Lake Parks Manager. CITIZEN'S INPUT. None. 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF OCTOBER 13TH, 1999. Member Sanders made a motion to table the approval of minutes of October 13th, 1999. Member King seconded the motion. Ayes: Members King, Sanders, Bickerstaff, and Chairperson Baggett. Noes: None. 3. DISCUSSION OF PROPOSED SUBLEASE OF EASTVALE PARK. Ms. Nelson informed the board that this contract is an exact copy of the lease agreement the board has already approved with Tomlin Properties. The only difference is the dollar amount has changed. Even though the board has already approved the contract from Tomlin Properties, she still had to present this additional contract to the board and she will also have to present it to City Council. Since the last meeting, there have been some serious discussions with Peter Brody regarding the Blue Sky Soccer Facility and Eastvale Park as a possible location. This may be the best location because we won't have to take any acreage away from the sport complex. Shared use of the facility was also discussed. Ms. Nelson said there are some things that need to be considered - I . The amount on the contract is higher than the amount on the contract from Tomlin Properties. Johnny said he is willing to make up the difference. 2. The possibility of Blue Sky becoming part of Johnny's development plan for Eastvale. 3. Enter into an agreement with Blue Sky for Eastvale Park and remove this proposal and Johnny's proposal and work directly with Peter in development and maintaining the park, which Peter is willing to do. Ms. Nelson has already spoken to Johnny and he thinks this is a viable option. Peter and Johnny have not met to discuss anything yet. She recommended that the board could tell Johnny they see this as a very beneficial development for this park, it will be well maintained and it will meet the goals he is trying to achieve. She said the option is to talk to Johnny about submitting a letter of withdrawal in favor of Blue Sky being the development. Ms. Nelson said Blue Sky needs to start quickly. The Dallas Burn has made a commitment to Blue Sky and they want a practice facility for the Spring. She added that we don't have a master plan completed yet for the 35 or 80 acres of land and we don't even have the 80 acres in hand yet; so we can't make plans on how that land will be utilized until that is completed. There was also discussion of using the indoor facility for things like concerts and other activities. Member Sanders said he would like to see us do whatever it takes to get Peter Brody to come to The Colony. Member Bickerstaff said she would like to see something positive in Eastvale. Member King suggests talking to Johnny to see how he feels. 4. UPDATE FROM DIRECTOR. Ms. Nelson informed the board she had attended the NRPA Conference in Nashville. There were over 9,000 delegates attending the conference. She attended a session about a youth golf program promoted by the PGA. There is grant money available for this program and we will be looking into it. Another session she attended was about dog parks. These are becoming very popular. You fence off some land which allows the dogs to be let loose to play or to exercise. In this area there are also water sources for the dogs and humans and picnic tables. The other session she attended was about skate parks, which scored high in the Turco Survey. The Youth Basketball League games begin on the first Saturday in December with the practices beginning in the middle of November. The Christmas Parade will be held on Saturday, Nov. 27. It will be an evening parade - The Parade of Lights. It will start at the high school and end at the new City Hall. The tree lighting ceremony will be after the parade. The TRAPS Workshop is Friday, November 5 h at the Dallas Convention Center. Sam told the board the Haunted Hayride was a success even though the attendance was down about 300 people from last year. The weather was great, there were no complaints, and the scenes were not too scary. The cost of the tickets has increased, but it's still cheap compared to other Halloween events. 5. ITEMS OF CONCERN TO THE BOARD Member King said people in Ridgepointe are anxious for their park. She said we need to get Dwayne to realize this is a high priority. She said we should get a phase in project started and get it to Dwayne. The Ridgepointe residents invited John Dillard to come and talk to them about the park. He feels the best thing to do is to phase the park in. Ms. Nelson said we could put in a playground and parking first and that could be done quickly. There being no further discussion, it was unanimously decided to adjourn the meeting at 8:25 p.m. 4Katyeal, ecording Secretary Donna Baggett, Chairperson MINUTES OF THE PARKS & RECREATION BOARD OF THE CITY OF THE COLONY HELD ON NOVEMBER 17TH, 1999 A REGULAR SESSION of The Parks & Recreation Board of The City of The Colony, TX., was called to order at 7:48 p.m. with the following board members present: Laura Bickerstaff Vice Chairperson Susan King Member Larry Henderson Member Mark Shaw Member and with members Lewis, Sanders, and Chairperson Baggett absent; thus a quorum was established. Also in attendance was Pam Nelson, Director of Parks & Recreation. 1. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF OCTOBER 13TH, 1999 AND OCTOBER 27TH, 1999. Member King made a motion to approve the minutes of October 13'', 1999 and October 27', 1999. Member Shaw seconded the motion. Ayes: Members King, Henderson, Shaw, Bickerstaff. Noes: None. 2. DISCUSSION AND APPROPRIATE ACTION REGARDING PHASING OF DEVELOPMENT FOR RIDGEPOINTE PARK. Ms. Nelson informed the board the 4B Board has approved funding for Ridgepointe Park but because their funds are limited, they want us to consider phasing in development of the park. She said we need to give them our prioritized list and they will tell us what they can afford. Ms. Nelson suggested the parking area and 2 separate playground areas should go in first. Some irrigation will have to be put in around the playground area for landscaping and hydromulching and we should also put in at least one picnic shelter. Member King suggested having a picnic shelter, 3 benches, and 20 trees. The total for all of these items will be approximately $129,950.00 - $85,200 for playgrounds, fibar, and parking, $25,000 for a picnic shelter, $9,250 for 3 benches and 20 trees, and $10,500 for irrigation and hydromulching. Member King said if we do not go out for a grant from Texas Parks & Wildlife, we will have to go back to 4B for more money to cover the other items we have on our list. Ms. Nelson added that in the Parks Master Plan, we have a priority list that Texas Parks & Wildlife will be looking at to see if the item we are applying for is the number one priority item on our list, so we will need to decide if we want our grant application to be for Ridgepointe or would we rather apply for the grant for the sport complex if we're planning on breaking ground for that next year. Member King said things like benches and playgrounds do not score well with Texas Parks & Wildlife, therefore the chances of us getting a grant are not high, so if we wait a while to apply, maybe we could get more money. Ms. Nelson said that would be possible as long as we don't develop any more of the park or do anything to improve the rest of the park, including mowing. Member King made a motion to approve the preliminary phase one cost of the development of Ridgepointe Park. Member Shaw seconded the motion. Ayes: Members Shaw, Bickerstaff, Henderson, Shaw Noes: None. 3. DISCUSSION AND APPROPRIATE ACTION REGARDING EASTVALE PARK. Ms. Nelson informed the board that she is still pursuing the Blue Sky Soccer Complex for Eastvale Park. She met with Johnny Smith to tell him what our plans were and showed him a preliminary layout; there won't be any room for Johnny to put anything in. He was very understanding and said this is a better deal for the city. She has spoken to Peter about the terms of the lease, and he has offered to pay $1,000 a month for the first 2 years, and then we would start getting a percentage of the gross. She had a meeting with the Corp about this project and they were very supportive of the project. We will have to go through a small EA process - we have to go out for public notification that is 30 days. Peter is working on a 5-year development plan that will have to be submitted to the Corp. Peter is also reviewing the lease agreement. In the lease he will include an exhibit that will show what the benefits to the community are - the percentage discounts to Colony residents, number of hours per year CYSA uses the facility, and the free camps and clinics that will be offered. The only problem we've encountered is the Dallas Burn using the fields on Corp of Engineer property. This has never been done before and it will have to go to Washington. The Burn is a private business and they're not real sure about it. Peter is willing to move forward on the project and will handle the Burn as a separate agreement with the lease until we get approval from the Corp. If the Corp does not approve the Burn, he is willing to go forward without them. Peter said Paul Mott from the Dallas Burn told him they still want to come to The Colony and he is being pursued by the city of Euless to go to the Texas Star Complex. The next part of the process is to get the development plan and lease agreement to the Corp for their review. While they are reviewing them, we can go out for public notification. It should be 60-90 days to get everything approved. 4. UPDATE FROM DIRECTOR. Ms. Nelson said the walls are going up on the new bathrooms at Stewart Creek Park. The Christmas Parade is December 5`h at 5:30 p.m. We have hired a new center supervisor. Her name is Jennifer Robertson. She is from the Houston area, is a graduate from Southwest Texas State, she was student branch president for TRAPS, has a great personality and will be a great asset to us. Her major was on therapeutic recreation. 5. ITEMS OF CONCERN TO THE BOARD. Member King asked why we couldn't have Update from Director on the agenda anymore since we are just an advisory board. Update from Director is the best way to keep up with what is going on and she would not like to see it taken away. Ms. Nelson said she would get clarification. Ms. Nelson reminded the board there is a 4B Work Session tomorrow night. It is very important the Park Board be there because they will be prioritizing the list of things that need to be accomplished by 4B and we need to give them our input. There being no further discussion, it was unanimously decided to adjourn the meeting at 8:20 p.m. r Kat y Neal, ecording Secretary Lau a c staff, airperson