Parks & Recreation Advisory Committee

MINUTES Parks and Recreation Advisory Meeting Brownsville Recreation Center Conference Room September 7th, 2017 Present Dillon Vanderford - Chairperson Myrta I. Garza – Member Anisa Gonzalez – Member Nathan Burkhart – Member Esli Ceballos – Member Jose A. Escobedo – Member Jerry Hatley - Member Damaris McGlone – PARD Director Carlos Velica – Parks Staff Nayade Garza – Administrative Supervisor 1. Meeting called to order by Parks Chairperson, Mr. Dillon Vanderford at 12:05 p.m. ********************* 2. Pledge of Allegiance: United States Pledge * Texas Pledge • The pledge of Allegiance and the Texas Pledge was led by Parks Chairperson Mr. Dillon Vanderford. ********************* 3. Approval of minutes • Minutes of last meeting (June 15th, 2017) Mr. Burkhart wanted the minutes to reflect that he was not absence for that meeting. There was a typo error on the minutes; corrections were made to reflect that Mr. Burkhart had been present for the meeting. ********************* 4. Chairperson’s Report • Reported on receiving positive reviews for the summer programs held at the Recreation Center. Have been hearing concerns from citizens with the recent issues of Oliveira Pool, the understanding is that the Oliveira pool will need to be replaced completely. Commented on the next step to changes needed that were discussed at the Strategic Planning workshop in June, which the Parks Board members attended. 5. Discussion Period (15 minutes) • Board member commented if there were any discussions on the West rail project? Parks Chairperson commented that was on Cameron County. ********************* 6. Discussion of wooden boxes that are at Oliveira and Veterans Park (Jose A. Escobedo) • Board member commented that there are some wooden boxes at Oliveira and Veterans park and all they had inside the boxes was dirt, no plants, wanted to know if there was irrigation there to water them. Parks Director commented that there is irrigation there but a lot of the plants probably got stolen, she will follow up with Keep Brownsville Beautiful organization since they are involved with it. ********************* 7. Director’s Report (Damaris McGlone) • Passed out a memo from her recent travel explaining what she learned at the Greater & Greener Conference she attended, gave information on Zika, the Monarch, basic volume, Historical Battlefield Trail, Belden Trail, etc. • Brief update on how Directors for the City of Brownsville prepared for Emergency Operations Command center for Hurricane Harvey. • Reported on the summer season programs ending and doing an analysis report for the Aquatics and Recreation Divisions. Also reiterated on hoping to have year round Aquatics programs open. • Gave a brief update on the status of Oliveira Pool and on the playgrounds for Riverside, Garfield and Ruiz parks, getting quotes to work on them. • Reported on being in the final stages of the turf getting install at the Brownsville Sports Park. • Things in progress; a Paseo project to install a second playground near the trail by Morrison and Hudson Blvd. • Update on budget for this year, will get about the same amount from last year. • Reported that one of her travels was cancelled due to Hurricane Harvey. • The installation of the carpet at the Brownsville Events Center was completed. • Parks Chairperson wanted to know the status on the Quasum hut by 6th & 7th street, Parks Director reported that the city is working on a lease with the Brownsville Farmer’s Coalition or the Mitte Cultural but nothing is official yet. • Planning department has a design for the Tres Angeles project; it is a very simple design. • Gave a brief update to the new Parks Advisory Board members of all the divisions that are under the Parks department. ********************* 8. Safety Concerns (Parks Dept.) • Some safety issues were discussed earlier, as per Parks Chairperson. • Parks Director commented that there are some funds available to repair some of the trails. ********************* 9. Public Comment Period: PLEASE NOTE The Public Comment Period is Designated for Hearing Concerns Regarding City of Brownsville Public Policy or City of Brownsville Business that is not on the agenda. • No public comment period. ******************** 10. Adjournment – meeting was adjourned at 1:03 p.m.