Keep League City Beautiful Citizen Committee

Meeting Minutes September 5, 2023 Keep League City Beautiful Citizen Committee 6:00 PM The meeting was called to order at 5:58 PM by Jackie Liddell. Present were Richard Williams, Frank Zgonc, Beth Sears, Jackie Liddell, Jill Reason, and Dave Bowman. Also present for the meeting was Director of Communications and Community Engagement Sarah Osborne and Parks Coordinator John Orsag. During the citizen comment portion of the meeting, professional artist Doug Hiser addressed the committee for several minutes on a proposal to create a gallery of 100 bird paintings to be created by local artists and installed at the Civic Center’s Public Art Gallery in April during Spring Migration. A special open house with the artists and a public-ticketed event would be held during FeatherFest to encourage attendees to visit League City and learn about our birding hotspots. There would be music, food, beer, wine, a plein-air painting of live birds, several silent auction items, and attendees could purchase any of the 100 bird paintings. The committee agreed that the idea should be explored further, and that the City should contact a representative from FeatherFest to see if they would support the idea. A motion to approve the minutes from the August 1 meeting was made by Dave Bowman and seconded by Richard Williams. All present agreed to approve the minutes. Osborne gave an update on the Art Gallery that had just opened. The title of the Art Gallery is First Impressions. The Gallery will run from September 1 - November 26. The opening night reception on September 1 went well and over 100 people were in attendance. Osborne then gave an update on city art projects. There will be a potential large mural painted on the side of the Dollar Tree building at the corner of I-45 and FM 518. This large mural needs City Council approval and will be on the next meeting agenda on September 12. Committee members are encouraged to attend the meeting and speak during the public comment section in favor of the project. The traffic box on the corner of SH 96 and Bay Area Boulevard was completed in late August, and the traffic box on the corner of SH 96 and Landing Boulevard was completed in early September. Additional details were provided regarding the upcoming wrap contest. Phase 2 of the mural project at Lynn Gripon Park at Countryside under the Bay Area Boulevard bridge is progressing quickly. Liz is off to a fantastic start on the large mural underneath the bridge walls. Orsag next told the group about nature and conservation projects and events. The Chimney Swift Bird Tower Eagle Scout project is completed and ready to be painted along the Magnolia Creek hike and bike trail. Another Eagle Scout project that was recently installed is the Pollinator Garden at Hometown Heroes Park. This is located next to the educational tree exhibit that was provided by Texas- New Mexico Power. Some upcoming conservation and clean-up events will be coming up this Fall. September 9th will be a clean-up event at Lynn Gripon Park at Countryside and along Clear Creek and local hike and bike trails. October 4th will be a conservation event with the Galveston Bay Area Master Naturalists at the Dick Benoit Prairie Preserve. Then on November 4th, there will be another conservation event at the Dr. Ned and Fay Dudney Clear Creek Nature Center with the Galveston Bay Foundation. This will be the Fall Sweep event for 2023. It was also discussed that Eco Fest will be held on September 16th at Hometown Heroes Park. The Keep League City Beautiful Committee and the League City Patrons of the Parks and Arts Foundation will both have booths at the event. Several members of the Committee then provided comments to the group. Richard Williams asked who would be filling the position on the Committee that was vacated by Nina Makepeace. That then turned into a brief discussion about everyone’s terms and when they expire. Dave Bowman informed the group about the dates of the upcoming Clear Creek Cleanup Event in January and February of 2024. Dave also asked the group if anyone knew who was working on the irrigation improvements along the SH 96 medians. Dave finished by talking about the stormwater work being completed at the Bayridge Pond. The meeting was adjourned at 7:32 PM.