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Home My WebLink About11/13/08 CDC MINUTES THE COLONY COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION REGULAR SESSION NOVEMBER 13TH 2008 PRESENT: Don Beckel- President STAFF: Stephen Sohn - Treasurer John Sanders - Vice President TeRon Lawrence - Member Debby Short - Secretary Pam Nelson Keith Helms Kathy Neal ABSENT: Lisa Leary - Member Dan Mahle - Member COUNCIL LIAISON: Allen Harris 1. CITIZEN'S INPUT - Representatives from the American Legion Holley-Riddle Post #21 Bill Longo, Joe McCourry and Dewey Fambry, spoke to the board There was a great turnout at Five Star for the Veteran's Ceremony. The Legion would like the Memorial to be expanded so they could sell bricks again to be placed at the Veteran's Memorial at Five Star. Many people wanted to purchase bricks so they could be placed at the Memorial. Some suggestions on how to do that are to move the walls back in the flower bed at the Memorial or to make a path of bricks along the sidewalk leading to the Veteran's Memorial. The Legion is generating a lot of interest in The Colony and it is growing. Pam recommended that representatives from the American Legion work with staff to see what can be done. 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF OCTOBER 9TH 2008 AND NOVEMBER 3RD 2008 - New member Dan Mahle did attend the Nov. 3rd meeting but he was not listed in the minutes as being present. Motion to approve the minutes of October 9th and the minutes of November 3rd with the correction - Lawrence; second - Sanders; motion passes. 3. RECEIVE PRESENTATION FROM HALFF and ASSOCIATES AND DISCUSS UPDATE OF THE CDC MASTER PLAN - Francois de Kockfrom Halff and Associates gave a presentation to the board They received 145 completed surveys from the public meetings - Easter Egg Hunt at Five Star, focus group meetings and open house. They received 755 completed surveysfrom the water bill mail out. The response from the public meetings and the water bill mail-out are very similar. Below is a summary of the results from the public meetings - . People do go to other cities - Piano and Dallas - to visit/use their facilities - parks, trails, and performing arts - top 3 . Most important amenities - hike/bike trails, playgrounds, park restrooms - top 3 . A large percentage of people said they would use pedestrian/bicycle routes that connected neighborhoods, schools and recreation areas instead of driving . Preserving natural areas is very important . Many people would like to have the school district and CDC work together to develop programs that encourage learning about and appreciation of the environment, performing arts and local history . The goals of The Colony should be - to attract new businesses to the city, city beautification, and improving the city's image . What people like most about The Colony - friendliness/hospitality, education/schools, housing . What people like least about The Colony - employment opportunities, shopping, arts/culture . Summary of results from the water bill mail-out- · People do go to other cities - Piano and Dallas - to visit/use their facilities - parks, trails, and performing arts - top 3 · Most important amenities - hike/bike trails, park restrooms, picnic pavilions · A large percentage of people said they would use pedestrian/bicycle routes that connected neighborhoods, schools and recreation areas instead of driving · Preserving natural areas is very important · Many people would like to have the school district and CDC work together to develop programs that encourage learning about and appreciation of the environment, performing arts and local history · The goals of The Colony should be - beautification, improving the city's image, and revitalizing city parks · What people like most about The Colony -friendliness/hospitality, education/schools, housing · What people like least about The Colony - employment opportunities, shopping, arts/culture He reviewed levels of standards relating to parks and levels of service at various facilities based on NRP A standards. The next step is to make their recommendations, develop an implementation plan based on priorities, and identify funding opportunities. A draft will be presented to the board in December or January. 4. REVIEW AND CONSIDERATION OF THE CITY'S INVESTMENT POLICY - Motion to approve - Sohn; second - Sanders; motion passes. 5. DISCUSSION AND CONSIDERATION OF A NAME FOR THE INNER CITY TRAIL- The term "Inner City Trail" was used as a way to identify this portion of the trail; it is not the official name of the trail. There was discussion about using the word community in the name or naming the trail based on the city's history. Suggestions givenfor a new name include - Cross-town Trail, Central Park Trail, Bridges Trail, and Park Loop Trail. Trail users can access 13 other city parks by using this part of the trail. Motion to table this item until the December meeting - Lawrence; second - Sanders; motion passes. Pam instructed the board to think about a name and to send their suggestion(s) to her, Keith or Kathy. 6. REVIEW AND CONSIDERATION OF THE TREE ORDINANCE- Items to be clarified - Page 4 - Urban Forest - should read - Urban Forest shall mean all trees, vegetation, and wildlife in the city and it's e. tj. and strike out in our cities, towns or municipalities, i. e. anywhere people live, work and play. Page 5 - Sec. 13-118 -A "period" will be added after the phrase right-of-way. The next sentence will start with "Trees shall be trimmed at a minimum. . . " The Texas Forest Service wants clarification on the responsibilities of the Tree Board and the Parks Dept. There is some concern about the overlap of duties between them. The Forest Service makes recommendations to the Arbor Day Foundation. Motion to approve the Tree Ordinance subject to recommended changes from the Texas Forest Service- Sanders; second - Sohn; motion passes. In order for us to receive the Tree City USA designation, Pam said we need to find out if a Tree Board needs to be appointed when the application is submitted or if the board can be formed afterwards. If the board is required at the time the application is submitted, then we have to recommend that City Council appoint the 4B Board until a new board can be formed 7. DISCUSSION AND PROVIDE DIRECTION TO STAFF ABOUT EXPANSION OF THE FRISBEE GOLF COURSE - Plans for an additional 9 goals have been made by some of the guys from the Park Maintenance Staff. A board member suggested they make a presentation to the board about their ideas. If the board does this with them, they would do this after hours and on weekends, so Pam would like to have money set aside in the budget for overtime in case they do this. 8. DISCUSSION AND CONSIDERATION OF TRAIL EXTENSION TO LOCAL RESTAURANTS- There is a lot of community interest and support for this. Residents want to access the restaurants via the trail from their homes. The restaurants think their parking lots will be taken up by people using the trail leaving no room for their customers to park. Pam said there were discussions with the restaurants about making their location a trailhead and promoting it as a trailhead Pam will meet with representativesfrom the restaurants and ask them for a written letter supporting trail extensions to the restaurants or not supporting trail extensions. Motion to table this item until the December meeting - Sanders; second - Larwrence; motion passes. 9. RECEIVE UPDATE FROM STAFF AND DISCUSS THE FOLLOWING ITEMS- FINANCIAL STATEMENTS- The board reviewed the financial statements. Sales tax was up. HISTORICAL BRIDGE - We received the final costfor the handrails. The epoxy paint cost is $3,100, Trex Decking is $3,000,4 bollards - 2 on each end $1,800, a 42" safety rail on each side is $13,200 which includes a powder coat finish, Keith is waiting on a price for the epoxy paint for the railings, and a 12ft. wide concrete approach slab on each side of the bridge is $1,800. TRAILS - A portion of the Inner City Trail is formed and the contractor is ready to pour concrete. This should be done in a couple of weeks. The geoweb has been easy to install. TREES - LIONS CLUB PARK- We are working with Fannin Tree Farm to replace some trees that were planted earlier this year. We'll put some by the playground and some by the sign. KALEIDOSCAPES - SCULPTURE BASES - The bids came in higher than we anticipated and higher than the amount LAF gave in their presentation to the board Christie Martin with the Lakeside Arts Foundation will get some more bids. If the bids are cheaper, we could do afunding agreement with LAF for the amount the board approved to put toward the project. NORTH COLONY COMPLEX MASTER PLAN - Pam and Keithjustfound out that the power-line easement that runs adjacent to the Little Leaguefields and a portion of the easement adjacent to Griffin Middle School was conveyed to the school district several years ago before City facilities were built, but then Fox & Jacobs conveyed the same portion to the City. Pam will contact LISD to discuss what needs to be done. 423 SOUNDW ALLS - Pam and Keith reviewed some design concepts, but did not like them. They have another meeting next week to see some more concepts. Keith hopes to have something he can take to City Council in December. Keith is also expecting a proposal for landscape design of the whole corridor which includes landscaping in the medians and parkways, and suggestions for lighting and signage. CHRISTMAS SPECTACULAR- Keith had a pre-construction meeting with the electrical contractor. There is some concern with a mound that has some concrete sticking up. There may be some concrete under- ground, so they will dig 2 trenches from where the box is going to sit and branch off from there to take care of the remaining electrical. The contractor has ordered the enclosure box but it takes 20 days for delivery, so it probably won't be here until the end of the month. The transformer has been set, but we need to get the meter base in and inspected Volunteers are needed to help work on the lights - Saturdays 8:00 - 5:00, Sundays 1:00 - 5:00. SALUTE AMERICAN HEROES EVENT - The event was not very well attended, but it was still a good event. The new stage was used for the first time. Attendance was good for the ceremony at the Five Star Veteran's Memorial. The fireworks were great. UPCOMING SPECIAL EVENTS - The Parade of Lights and Holiday in the Park are on Dec. 6th. RECREATION CENTER- Staff recently met with a private company that does public/private partnerships for recreation centers. They have built one facility in California and they want to build one in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. The city builds the facility, they manage and operate the facility and pay the city a portion of their gross revenue. We have another meeting with them in a couple of weeks. They really like our area and they like being close to 121. There being no further business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned at 9:30 p.m. #e';{dJ Kathy N~eCOrding Secretary E.~ ~. --f?J on Beckel, President