Frisco Park and Trail Naming Committee Meeting

FRISCO PARK AND TRAIL NAMING COMMITTEE MEETING THE GROVE AT FRISCO COMMONS 8300 MCKINNEY ROAD FRISCO, TEXAS 75033 6:00 PM WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2020 MINUTES CALL TO ORDER The Frisco Park and Trail Naming Committee was called to order at 6:03 p.m. 1. ROLL CALL Council Member Tim Nelson Present Council Member Bill Woodard Present Parks & Recreation Sean Merrell Present Board Member Parks & Recreation Chris Fields Present Board Member FCDC Member Wren Ovard Present FCDC Member Ed Mahoney Present Heritage Association Tracie Shipman Present Member Representing Staff: Rick Wieland, Assistant Director of Parks and Recreation; John Chalfant, Arts, Culture and Special Events Manager; Rayna Alam, Heritage Park Administrator CITIZEN INPUT No one citizen input. Page 1 of 4 REGULAR AGENDA 2. Approval of Minutes from the October 19, 2020 Meeting of the Frisco Park and Trail Naming Committee. After a brief review, Heritage Association Member Tracie Shipman moved to approve the October 19, 2020 Meeting of the Frisco Parks and Trail Naming Committee as amended. Parks and Recreation Board Member Sean Merrell seconded. The motion was approved 7-0. 3. Discussion and review by Staff and the Committee regarding input from the November 2, 2020 City Council Meeting. Assistant Director Rick Wieland and other Committee Members, who were present (Council Members Bill Woodard and Tim Nelson, Parks and Recreation Board Members Sean Merrell and Chris Fields) for the City Council Work Session on November 2, 2020, provided the remaining Committee Members an overview of what took place and input provided at that time. As a result of Council direction at that time, the Committee has been asked to review the names for The Frisco Square site, as well as The Grove development site. 4. Consider and act by the Committee regarding the naming of the park site located within The Grove Development, at the southeast section of Main Street and Independence Parkway. Assistant Director Rick Wieland introduced John Chalfant, Arts, Culture and Special Events Manager and Rayna Alam, Heritage Park Administrator, to the Committee. He also informed the Committee that the Heritage Museum Staff will begin the process of researching names for potential park and trail sites, which ultimately will go before the Committee and Council; and will act as a keeper of potential names and histories regarding the names for future use and consideration. For the area near The Grove, there were both potential family names that are associated with this area, such as the Gartner family and others as well as geographical references mentioned. Staff also informed the Committee Members that this area of the City was well known for its higher elevation in relation to other nearby areas, as well as the common site of buffalo traveled this area regularly in the mid to late 1800s and early 1900s. The Committee discussed these various options at length before Heritage Association Member Tracie Shipman moved to reconsider the name Freedom Park and change the recommendation to Buffalo Ridge Park. Parks and Recreation Board Member Chris Fields seconded. The motion was approved 7-0. Page 2 of 4 5. Consider and act by the Committee regarding the naming of the park site located in the southeast section of Frisco Square. There was considerable discussion by the Committee regarding the Frisco Square park site. Heritage Association Member Tracie Shipman mentioned that the Frisco Heritage Association did not have a list of potential names for the area that Frisco Square lies in. The Committee mentioned several railroads variations but did not find a specific example that it could recommend. Heritage Park Administrator Rayna Alam informed the Committee that historical documents of early Frisco identified various types of flora and fauna and found reference to a certain fruit tree that was commonplace and popular in Frisco. This fruit tree, the Persimmon was in place in an area not known for its trees, especially in an area known for its farming. With no further discussion on this, FCDC Member Ed Mahoney moved to reconsider the name Heritage Center Park and change the recommendation to Persimmon Park. Heritage Association Member Tracie Shipman seconded. The motion was approved 4-3, with FCDC Member Ed Mahoney, Heritage Association Member Tracie Shipman, FCDC Member Wren Ovard and City Council Member Bill Woodard voting in favor, and Council Member Tim Nelson, Parks and Recreation Members Sean Merrell and Chris Fields voting in opposition. 6. Updates from Staff on revisions to the Park and Trail Naming Policy and current timelines for park and trail sites in process. Parks and Recreation Director Rick Wieland provided a brief overview of changes in the park and trail naming policy, as a result of the City Council Work Session and provided the Committee with a revised timeline for both the parks that were considered this evening, as well as the First Street Park and the Northeast Community Park site. Staff will try to have the Council consider the parks that were tabled at the November 2, 2020 Meeting and try to get these before the Council during the December 1, 2020 Meeting. 7. Consider and act upon possible future meeting dates for the Park and Trail Naming Committee to meet. No action was taken on this item. ADJOURN Seeing no other business before them City Council Member Bill Woodard moved to adjourn the meeting at 7:05 p.m. FCDC Member Wren Ovard seconded. The motion was approved 7-0. Page 3 of 4 ATTEST: _______________________ ______________________ Board Chairman Board Secretary Please note these are preliminary results and are not official until approved at the next scheduled meeting. Approved/signed minutes are available at https://agenda.friscotexas.gov/OnBaseAgendaOnline/. Page 4 of 4