Parks and Recreation Advisory Board

The Parks Advisory Board met in regular session on Wednesday, July 8, 2020 at 6:00 p.m. in the City Hall Annex. MINUTES Board Members Present James Hailey Kim Houston Amber Kunes Board Member Absent Kathy Boswell Mandy Edwards City Staff Present Andy Tarkington Parks and Recreation Superintendent Terrie Ortiz, Parks and Recreation Clerk Stormy Smith, Recreation Coordinator Guest Present None AGENDA ITEM 1.0 Call to Order James Hailey called the meeting to order. The meeting began at 6:00 pm. AGENDA ITEM 2.0 Approval of Minutes James Hailey called for motion to approve the June minutes. Kim Houston made a motion. Amber Kunes seconded his motion. The minutes were approved by unanimous vote. AGENDA ITEM 3.0 Parks and Recreation Report Andy Tarkington read the report and informed the board of the activities that have been going on because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Andy let the board know that as of June 8th we opened the gym. As of the June 12th the Governor said gloves were no longer required for the weight room. And let the board know that the gym and the pool had to shut down for the second time due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Before the shutdown, the participating numbers at the gym went up 1 significally. We had been having higher numbers of daily admissions at the gym playing basketball. We were not yet permitting organized practices due to the number of daily admissions rising. The weight room has been steady with weight lifters. The equipment is getting wiped down regularly. Andy informed the board that we had to shut the City Gym doors and closed the pool again on July 3rd. Tracy McCloud became a certified lifeguard in case we need a back-up lifeguard. Terrie Ortiz, Autumn McKennon, and Jill Davis have been helping Tracy at the Ft Wolters area on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. The Aquatic Center opened for open swim June 19th. Morning and evening aerobics started June 22rd and 23rd. The Mineral Wells Swim team were holding practices due to the second shut down those were cancelled. We were going to do swim lessons, but they were going to be taught from the deck for preschool and parent taught I and II classes. These classes were going to have to assisted by the parents. Due to the spike in COVID-19 the decision was made to shut the City Gym and Aquatics Center down for two weeks and the first session of swimming lessons had to be cancelled. Parks Department continue to mow the West City Park and Southeast Park. Melvin Flores and George Cliett cut down a tree at West City Park, George mowed and weedeated the commons, library, the Hwy 180 median, Crystal Canal, the north median, the east median and Martin Luther King Blvd. Andy informed the board that Melvin and George reset the basketball goals and sand volleyball net up. As of July 3rd they had to take them back down. Andy told the board about Melvin and George fixing the irrigation system in the downtown area. Andy also informed the board that Melvin and George cleaned up the flower beds at City Hall and they have been watering the flowers by hand. Andy told the board that Melvin and George put in a new ramp at the skate park. Andy informed the board that Gary Christian painted the deck, fixed a light and replaced the PA system at the pool. Tracy McCloud mowed the ball fields and entrance to Ft Wolters area, memorial at Ft Wolters, and road ways of Ft Wolters. Tracy also fixed the sprinklers at ball field one and two. James Hailey asked how they got damaged. Andy informed him that it was just old equipment. Kim Houston asked about the lights at the ball fields. Andy informed the board that all the lights work at both fields. Autumn McKennon and Jill Davis went out into the field for the two weeks that the City Gym was closed to help Tracy, George and Melvin. Andy also read the Fossil Park report to the board. Andy informed the board that the Fossil Park is still a big attraction. and we receive a lot of out of state calls. The calls are to make sure that the park is open. Andy told the board that we recently had a call from Kentucky. Some of the calls are from east Texas. Andy told the board that most of the calls we receive are from the Dallas/Ft Worth area. Andy told the board the hours of the park are still 8am to 3:30 pm during the week. The hours for the weekend are 8am to 7:30pm. If there are people in the park the Parks Department doesn’t shut the gate. James Hailey commented that the Fossil Park is a good trip to take during the COVID-19 pandemic. AGENDA ITEM 4.0 Additional Update on Covid-19 Reopening Parks and Recreation Facilities From Closures Related to Covid-19 Pandemic Andy informed the board that the City Manager and the Mayor had a meeting July 2, 2020. Due to the rapid increase of the positive cases of COVID-19 virus, the gym and pool were closed July 3, 2020. Andy told the board that June 15 we had 17 cases in Palo Pinto County, and now we are 2 up to 71 cases. Andy let the board know that was 54 cases in a three week time period. Andy informed the board that the City Manager wanted to get control of what we operate. We have shut down all activity center rentals, pavilion rentals, pool rentals. The city gym and pool were also shut down. Shut down the pool on Friday, July 3rd. Andy informed the board that it was creating a nervousness on our part due to having to tell twenty people that they don’t have a job right now. Andy let the board know when we come back in two weeks, we may not have twenty people, or enough to open the pool. Andy told the board that the basketball goals and volleyball net at the parks were taken down. Kim Houston asked if the surrounding cities are doing the same thing that we are having to do. Andy informed the board that some of the cities are completely shut down. NRH2O has closed, the City of Austin, Saginaw, and the City of Boerne have shut their doors. Andy told the board that some cities didn’t even open their pools at all. Kim said she understood the pools of some cities not opening at all, but was wondering if they had to close in the middle of the season like we did. Andy informed the board that the cities of Stephenville and Graham had to close due to employees being exposed to the virus. Andy also told the board that we had some guards that were exposed but their test results were negative. Andy and Stormy Smith informed the board that the test have been taking up to 8 to 10 days for results. Andy told the board that it was hard to argue with the rise in the numbers of COVID-19 cases. Because of the rise Andy thought the gym would close but not the pool. Mr. Criswell and the mayor felt it was in the best interest of the health of the employees and patrons to close for two weeks. Kim Houston asked if the rise of the numbers were people in Palo Pinto County or people in Mineral Wells. Kim wondered if the reports were confirmed cased or just cases that were being tested. Stormy Smith told the board that the reports were cases that are positive cases that are in the Palo Pinto County area. Andy told the board that Stormy is an EMT as well as the city’s Parks and Recreation Coordinator. Andy informed the board that swim lessons had to refund about 50% due to the closing for two weeks. Andy told the board that as soon as we open back that Stormy would start the second session of swim lessons. Andy said that Parks and Recreation Department would like to offer more sessions but due to school starting back up there may not be enough life guards. AGENDA ITEM 5.0 Park Improvements from March 2020 to July 2020 James Hailey asked Andy if there was something specific about park improvements that he would like to share with the board. Andy informed the board that he had some pictures that he would like to present to the board of the improvements that have been done to the parks. Andy informed the board that some of the programs we had going on, some finished and some got shut down. Our youth volleyball program had a record 39 teams. In the middle of the season, due to COVID-19 pandemic, was shut down. T.A.A.F which our program feeds into for play offs, they cancelled the regionals early. T.A.A.F ended up cancelling the state, then we made the decision to cancel our program, we wouldn’t have been able to finish until July. We lost eight weeks when we decided to cancel. Andy informed the board that we thought people may have other obligations to other programs. Andy told the board if we would have continued we would have had to cancel for a second time and that may have been worse. 3 Andy informed the board that the Aquatics Center is required by the Texas Department of Health to have an emergency phone. Andy told the board that an emergency phone is now at the Aquatic facility. Andy asked the board if they remember the talk about the legs of the sand filters. Andy told the board that the legs were sanded and painted and we were told they would hold up for the rest of the season. Andy informed the board that the Aquatic center held three lifeguard training classes. Andy told the board that the water aerobics has been a huge success. Stormy informed the board that the morning class had about 30 participants, the evening class had about 20 participants. Andy told the board that we planned to resume water aerobics after the two week shut down. Andy informed the board that we did get to finish our men’s basketball league. Andy showed the board pictures of the champion and runner-up teams. Andy informed the board that we would have had softball registration going, but due to the COVID-19 we had to push the date back. Andy showed the board the improvements done at West City Park. The parks crew replaced the wood border around the playground area. Andy also showed pictures of the shelter at West City Park. We had gutters put on the shelter to extend the life of the roof. Andy showed the board the added feature at the Skate Park. There has been another ramp added to the Skate Park. Andy told the board that during this whole COVID-19 pandemic, the Skate Park has had more than normal activity. AGENDA ITEM 6.0 Discussion of Future Agenda Items James Hailey asked Andy about the future agenda items. Andy informed the board that if they have something they would like to put on the agenda to let us know. Andy said he would like the board to have input on the agenda item. James Hailey asked Andy about some of the plans that have been presented during past meetings. James asked if he had seen plans that were presented from Firecracker Field, Optimist Park. Andy asked if James was talking about the concept plans to Southeast Park. James informed Andy that there were other plans that were being talked about and he would bring them to Andy so he could see them. Andy let the board know that he wasn’t familiar with the concept plan of other projects. Andy let the board know that the plans may help with the Parks and Open Space plan. James let Andy know these plans were discussed in the past and would they be able to add them to the future plans of the Parks. Andy informed the board that the concept plan for Southeast Park was going to be considerably more than what they were told. Andy told the board that adding handicap accessibility would be for the whole park not just part of it. Andy informed the board that the grants are very competitive. Andy told the board that he heard they were raising the value to $750,000, he doesn’t know if it will be this year or not. James asked where the grants come from, Andy informed him that the grants are from the Texas Parks and Wildlife. Andy informed the board that we will have to match what we ask for. Amber Kunes asked Andy what is the protocol for raising money for the park. She wanted to know if there were any restriction for an individual or group to raise funds for the parks. Andy told the board that we could establish a donation fund. James asked if there were any barriers with the city council to allocate money for Parks and Recreation Department. Andy told the board he would just need to get with finance to establish a place for people to donate. Amber Kunes asked 4 if there was a way to show citizens a model or presentation so that people can see what Parks and Recreation is trying to do to improve the parks and make them functional for all citizens. Amber asked if the $50,000 that was set aside for Southeast Park able to be used for a visual plan for Southeast Park. Andy informed the board that due to the COVID-19 the city’s budget is only being used for essential items. Andy told the board that we would have to see how sales tax for the city has done for the year to move forward for City Council to approve the budget for a Parks and Open Space Plan. AGENDA ITEM 7.0 Other Business James asked if we could add the other plans that he discussed from the past on next agenda. Andy informed the board that the city has a Comprehension Plan and we can incorporate that to the Parks and Open Space Plan. Amber want to make sure that we could get a visual to show the citizens and maybe they will see that Parks and Recreation is trying to better the parks for the citizens. AGENDA ITEM 8.0 Adjournment James Hailey asked for a motion for adjournment. Kim Houston made the motion. Amber Kunes seconded the motion. The parks board meeting was adjourned at 7:00 pm. 5