Parks & Recreation Advisory Committee

MINUTES Parks and Recreation Advisory Meeting Recreation Center Conference Room October 10th, 2019 1. Determination of Quorum: Present Myrta Garza – Parks Chairperson Joe Lee Rubio – Co-Chairperson Mike Leinart – Member Adrian Delgado – Member Benjamin Del Angel – Member Damaris McGlone – Parks Director Nurith Galonsky – Commissioner Nurith Galonsky Pizana – City Commissioner Juan De La Fuente – TSC Maria G. Beltran - TSC Carlos Velica, Jr. – Staff Absent Esli Ceballos – Member Jorge Santoy - Member 2. Meeting called to order by Parks Chairperson, Mrs. Myrta I. Garza at 12:17 p.m. ********************* 3. Pledge of Allegiance: United States Pledge * Texas Pledge • The pledge of Allegiance and the Texas Pledge led by Chairperson, Mrs. Myrta I. Garza. ********************* 4. 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. • On a motion by Mr. Joe Lee Rubio, seconded by Mr. Adrian Delgado to move Public Comment period to item number 4, so the board is in compliance with house bill 2570, motion carried. Board members also acknowledge Mr. De La Fuente and Ms. Beltran their presence at the board meeting. Both Mr. De La Fuente and Ms. Beltran commented that they were in attendance to observe how board meetings were conducted as a research for their class.  ********************* 5. Approval of Minutes • Minutes of last meeting (August 8th, 2019) approved on a motion by Mr. Mike Leinart, seconded by Mr. Joe Lee Rubio, motion carried. 6. Safety Concerns (Parks Dept.) • Mr. Rubio commented if the safety issues discussed at the last meeting had been taken care off, referring to recent incidents with a bicyclist being attack along the trail and perhaps adding call boxes along the trail, sidewalks along the trail needing repairs, etc. Parks Chairperson reiterated that Brownsville P.D. is monitoring the trails more often now. Parks Director commented that adding call boxes is highly expensive and may need to look for grants, partnerships, etc. Also the department will work with engineering department to put something in place. Mr. Delgado commented that the sidewalk issue near the aquatics center was repaired. ********************* 7. Discussion Period & Possible Action (15 Minutes) a. Discussion, Consideration and Action to vote for a Commission for Accreditation of Parks and Recreation Agency (CAPRA) Standard as the first of ten (10) standards to assess, draft, review and adapt in order to seek agency accreditation (Damaris McGlone) Parks Director gave a brief presentation on what CAPRA stands for and its purpose (see attachment). The first 10 standards are to access, draft, review and adopt, in order to seek agency accreditation, which would be good for 5 years. Director would like to know if the board would like to participate in reviewing some the goals. Board members ask if Director could send them more information and perhaps a power point on CAPRA. Director said she would draft something for goal # 1 and present it to them for review and approval. b. Discussion, Consideration and Action to approve the City of Brownsville & the Brownsville Beautification Committee to sponsor up to 7 murals or lights installations at the 14th street plaza located in historic downtown Brownsville (Damaris McGlone) Gave a brief update on the murals at 14th St., had already achieve this project through volunteers via emails, so far everything going well. c. Discussion, Consideration and Possible action to support & possibly appoint a liaison to the planning group of the new Brownsville Birding Center (Joe Lee Rubio) Mr. Rubio commented that they are converting the old Brownsville Golf Course into a birding center. If any board member is interested in being part of the planning group to let him know, so they can be added to the list. Parks Chairperson Mrs. Garza asked to be added to the list. d. Discussion, Consideration and possible action to support & possibly appoint a liaison to the planning group for the Montezuma Cypress Interpretive Center & Park. (Joe Lee Rubio) Parks Director commented that area is now park property and it still in phase II with planning department. The next step is get grants; nothing has been decided but is still in progress working with Texas Parks & Wildlife as well. It is a 5 year project. e. Discussion, Consideration and possible action regarding the rewrite of COB codes (Joe Lee Rubio) Mr. Rubio wanted to know if there was anything the Parks department needed to do in regards to the new COB codes. Parks Director commented that the department should be incompliance with the codes.  f. Re-open for Discussion, Consideration and Action on having Parks Advisory Board meetings move to a quarterly or monthly basis (Myrta I. Garza – Parks Chairperson) Parks Chairperson and board members discussed on moving board meetings to quarterly or monthly. Parks Director reiterated that it would require by law & an ordinance change to be approved by City Commission. Board discussed of two options, either go back to the 1st week of the month and the 2nd week. After a brief discussion, it was decided by the Board to continue having it on a monthly basis. ********************* 8. Director’s Report (Co-Chairperson Mr. Rubio) • Gave brief updates on the City Park Alliance workshop being held on Wednesday, October 16th at the Ringgold Civic Pavilion. If any board member would like to attend they can but will need to register online. • Discussed with the board members the FY20 PARD Goals & Objectives (see attachment) • Commented on the upcoming Halloween events being held at the Brownsville Sports Park and the Haunted Trails event being held at the Resaca De La Palmas hosted by the Parks and Recreation Department. • Board member Mr. Del Angel complimented the Parks department for painting the lines along the trail. • Board member Mr. Delgado had a concern with people feeding ducks along the trails, if something could be done to prevent this. Parks Director said she would check with Parks Manager on the status. ********************* 9. Adjournment – meeting was adjourned at 1:14 p.m.