Parks and Recreation Advisory Board

The Parks Advisory Board met in regular session on Wednesday, November 11, 2020 at 6:00 p.m. in the City Hall Annex. MINUTES Board Members Present Amber Kunes Mandy Edwards Kathy Boswell Kim Houston Board Member Absent James Hailey City Staff Present Andy Tarkington, Parks and Recreation Superintendent Terrie Ortiz, Parks and Recreation Clerk Guest Jack Thomas, President of the Mineral Wells Youth Sports Association Amanda Chavira, Basketball Commissioner of the Mineral Wells Youth Sports Association AGENDA ITEM 1.0 Call to Order Kathy Boswell called the meeting to order. The meeting began at 6:02 pm. AGENDA ITEM 2.0 Approval of Minutes Kathy Boswell called for motion to approve the October minutes. Mandy Edwards made a motion to accept the October minutes as written. Kim Houston seconded his motion. The minutes were approved by unanimous vote. AGENDA ITEM 3.0 Discuss and Consider Recommending Approval of a Proposed Facility Usage Agreement between Community Christian School and The City of Mineral Wells Kathy Boswell asked Andy Tarkington to go over the contract for C.C.S. Andy told the board that the City Gym has been renting space for Community Christian School (C.C.S.) for a number of years. Andy explained that in the 1990’s, the gym rented $15.00 per hour for half court and $20.00 per hour for full court. Andy told the board that he did not know when it changed, but Terrie Ortiz reported that for the past 13 years, the fee has been $20.00 per hour for half court and $40.00 per hour for full court. Andy told the board that if the school goes past the hours of operation for the gym the school then pays for a gym attendant to be present. Andy explained to the board that the only new items on the proposed contract this year are the COVID-19 protocols. All other provisions of the contract are the same as last year’s contract. Andy told the board that he will make the protocols an addendum to C.C.S.’s contract. Andy gave the board a checklist to operating youth sports that the Governor has put in place. Andy explained to the board that since we started our youth volleyball program we adopted the U.I.L. guidelines that the schools have put in place. The participants do not have to wear mask. Andy told the board that we have been making the spectators wear masks. Andy told the board that we have expanded the seating area for our youth volleyball, trying to get people to be socially distant. Andy informed the board that we have pulled out all of the bleachers on the spectator’s side of the gym and two of the end bleachers on the players sided of the gym. Those bleachers are for people with medical conditions. Andy told the board that when C.C.S. uses the facility, we will do the same for them. Andy told the board that from now on, all contracts concerning the City Gym will now go before the board for their recommendation and then through city council for final approval. Kathy Boswell told the board that the contract looks the same as years before, only thing different was the COVID protocols. Kathy asked the board if they have any concerns or questions to ask Andy about the contract. Kathy asked the board to recommend approval of the contract as it is written. Mandy Edward made a motion to approve the contract as written. Amber Kunes second the motion for approval of the contract as it is written. The contract was recommended to city council for approval by unanimous vote. AGENDA ITEM 4.0 Discuss and Consider Recommending Approval of a Proposed Facility Usage Agreement between the Mineral Wells Youth Association and the City of Mineral Wells Kathy asked the guest at the parks board meeting to introduce themselves. Jack Thomas, President of the Mineral Wells Youth Sports Association and Amanda Chavira, the Mineral Wells Youth Sports Association Basketball Commissioner introduced their selves. Andy told the board about the Mineral Wells Youth Sports Association approaching him about using the gym for their program of youth basketball on Saturdays. They asked for more than Saturdays but with our programs and C.C.S. starting their basketball season we do not have the space available during the week. Andy told the board that our youth volleyball season will start back up on February 13, 2021. When the youth volleyball teams sign up they will start practicing. Andy informed the board that we will be offering adult basketball, a men and a women’s league. Andy told the board that Monday night would be men’s league night and Wednesday night would be women’s league night. Andy inform the board that during the week would be difficult, after youth volleyball is over C.C.S.’s basketball practices will go until 5:00 pm. C.C.S. also will have games during the week, which will be held after 5PM. Andy told the board that he left the price off the contract. The members of the Mineral Wells Youth Sports Association came to plead for a lesser fees, and or have the fees waived. Amanda Chavira pleaded to the parks board that the Mineral Wells Youth Sports Association is a non- profit organization. She went on to tell the board that all of the people that work with them are all volunteers. Amanda told the board that give all the money they raise back to the kids. She told the board that last year they had 280 kids participating in their youth program. Amanda told the board that they were able to use the Mineral Wells High School gym last year. She informed the board that due to COVID-19 pandemic, the Mineral Wells Youth Sports Association is not allow to use the Mineral Wells High School gym this year. Amanda told the board that Millsap had to shut their program down because the Millsap Independent School District is not letting outside programs use their gyms due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Amanda told the board that last year Millsap had 89 teams in the program. The Millsap Youth Sports Association is also looking for a gym to play games in. Amanda told the board that after they pay for referees the M.W.Y.S.A. cannot pay $40.00 an hour for gym use, especially since they are playing several Saturdays. Jack Thomas told the board that “not only are we a non-profit in cases we do profit we always give back. For instance we gave out $5,000 in scholarships to seniors last year.” Jack informed the board that the M.W.H.S. let them use their gym for free during their basketball season and because of that they made a profit to be able to update their football equipment. Jack told the board M.W.Y.S.A. tries to make it safe for the kids to play sports with updating the equipment when needed. Jack went on to tell the board that the M.W.Y.S.A. is not looking for a hand out. Jack told the board if the M.W.Y.S.A. could get the bottom dollar it would greatly benefit the kids. Jack told the board they were not in this to make money. The M.W.Y.S.A. is not saying that C.C.S. is. The M.W.Y.S.A. and C.C.S. have a good working relationship with the use of the Miller Stadium Football field. Jack told the board if they could possibly cut the fees that would be greatly appreciated, but they do not expect it, but it would help out the M.W.Y.S.A. greatly due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Jack informed the board that the pandemic is very straining on the M.W.Y.S.A and there have been a couple of outside communities that are allowing the M.W.Y.S.A. to use their facilities for a limited amount of time. Jack informed the board that they have been able to get several kids and several different surrounding communities to get involved. Jack told the board that there are tons of kids are not getting to get out and be active due to the pandemic. Jack told the board that he feels that the kids that want to get out and be active is healthy for them mentally and physically. Jack told the board that the M.W.Y.S.A did go up in price for basketball season because it helps with soccer. Jack told the board that they do not make any money off of soccer. Jack told the board that basketball season helps them through and they are going to see a hit due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Jack told the board that before they consider the fees for M.W.Y.S.A. he wanted to thank them for considering to cut the fees. Jack told the board that he can assure them that the kids get all the benefits. Jack informed the board that they have been making changes with their organization. He told the board that they transitioned from the Optimist Club to the Mineral Wells Youth Sports Association four years ago. They also give back to the community as last year they gave over $2,000 to the angel tree. Mandy Edward informed the board about Upwards basketball league using the gym a few years ago and they did not pay any fees. Kim Houston told the board that in the Upward program, none of the kids had to pay to play. Mandy told the board that in the e-mail that was sent to the board, one of the concerns was C.C.S. was having to pay fees and no other organization does. Mandy told the board that she did not think C.C.S. had an issue with Upward not paying a fee. If C.C.S. did have an issue, the board did not hear about it. Andy told the board that he was not here the year Upward played out at the gym, so he does not know what happened. Andy told the board that Upward approached him last year for the use of the gym for one Saturday but he never heard anything else from Upward and they did not use the City Gym last winter. Kathy Boswell asked the M.W.Y.S.A. representatives why they are not being allowed to use the high school. Amanda explained to the board that she spoke directly with the Superintendent of the Mineral Wells School District, Dr. John Kuhn. Amanda told the board that he said as of right now, parents are not allowed to have lunch with their kids while in school. Amanda told the board that the M.W.Y.S.A. offered to pay for the company that has been sanitizing the schools to sanitize the school after their use so they could use the gym at the high school. Dr. Kuhn told her that the school district will still not allow M.W.Y.S.A. to use school facilities. Dr. Kuhn told her they are not going to allow any outside programs to use in the schools. Jack told the board that Dr. Kuhn’s main focus is to take every precaution the schools open. Jack went on to tell the board that it is ten times more valuable to make sure students are in desk at school. Andy had a couple of questions that he wanted to ask the youth association officers. First question is, if they knew what percentage of the kids that registered for their program were Mineral Wells residents. Andy told them that he needed the information to help the city council. And parks board to make their decisions. Jack told Andy and the board that the association usually has two to four teams per age group. The age groups are from 1st grade up to 6th grade. Jack informed the board they have about 160 from Mineral Wells, and smaller counties, like Palo Pinto, will bring teams in. Amanda told the board the percentage of Mineral Wells players was about 65% to 70%. Jack and Amanda told the board that this year it will be about 50% of Mineral Wells teams and 50% of teams from surrounding counties, due to the fact that no one has gyms to use. Jack told Andy and the board that there are a couple of towns outside the city that are going to allow the M.W.Y.S.A. to use a gym for games so they will be spread out. Most of the Mineral Wells teams will play at the City Gym before they would put another team in that spot. Andy’s second question was, has the youth association had a chance to look over the contract. Andy told Jack that he put in almost all of the same provisions as in the contract as was in C.C.S.’s contract. Andy asked Jack and Amanda if they were going to be able to have people to monitor spectators about the rules of our facility. Andy asked if they could provide someone to monitor for mask, food and drinks. Jack told Andy and the board that they would be able to provide someone to monitor. Kathy Boswell asked Andy if Upward was going to be using the gym this year. Upward asked about the use of the facility for one Saturday last year, but never confirmed a date. Upward’s participation number were not as high as they anticipated, therefore, all of their games could be held at First Baptist Church. Kathy told the board and the members of the youth association that things are different now. There is going to be a lot more cleaning and disinfecting which is going to need more people to achieve this. The City gym has two people that work in the evenings and they were out due to the COVID-19 virus. Jack asked the board what was the reason for charging additional for after operating hours. Andy answered that an employee that works after the normal hours would have to be paid at an overtime rate. Jack asked what was the absolute minimum charge that could be charged during operating hours. Andy replied to Jack that he figured up what the City Gym would be losing in an eight hour period on a typical Saturday based on past Saturday revenues collected by being closed to the public. The city gym would be losing about $160 with them renting out the facility on a Saturday and the members of the gym not being able to use the facility. Amanda told the board that she had a suggestion for the loss of revenue. She went on to tell the board that people are asking her where they can practice at. Amanda told the board that she does not know where they can practice, because there are no gyms available. Amanda told the board that she has a good relationship with Dunbar and they let her have one practice a week there. Amanda told the board that she has recommended that people go get memberships at the gym, she told them they could not have an organized practice but they can shoot around. She told the board that she let people know they don’t have to have a gym to practice, they can work on plays anywhere, and they do not need a basketball court to shoot, or dribble. Amanda told the board that she knows several teams that are planning on getting memberships just so their kids can get some practice in. Kathy told the board that some of the out of town teams could pay for memberships that might help with loss of revenue for the gym. Amanda told the board that she did not know if there would be at least one night a week that a Mineral Wells team could come out and practice at the city gym. She went on to tell the board that there are some of the Mineral Wells teams are not signing up because they feel they cannot compete with teams that are getting to get some practice in. Andy told the board that he did not bring the C.C.S. schedule in, but there is so much going on at the gym that there is not a lot of time for others to come in and use the gym. C.C.S. is practicing every day until 4:30pm after youth volleyball is over they will practice until 5:00- 5:30pm. Andy went on to tell the board that C.C.S. also has games throughout the weekdays as well. Andy told the board that the City Gym was also offering an adult basketball league, men will play on Monday night and Women will play on Wednesday night. Andy also told the board that adult volleyball is on Wednesday night. Andy told the board that he asked C.C.S. to work around our league nights, so they schedule their games Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. Amanda asked Andy since there is nothing to set up for basketball could a team get a practice in Monday and Wednesday 5:30-6:30pm. Andy told Amanda that he would have to figure that out when they have a schedule for adult games. He also told Amanda and the board that we have been swamped with calls from teams wanting to practice. Andy told Amanda and Jack he did not want to get into a situation of offering space and then there is no times available. Jack and Amanda understood that. Jack asked where the contract goes from the parks board meeting as far as finalizing pricing. The board told Jack that it has to go before the City Council. Jack asked the board what would be the possibility of have some if not all of the fees waived. Jack told the board the reason he was asking because the M.W.Y.S.A. did not get their grant from the city this year due to COVID-19. That is $5,000 that the M.W.Y.S.A. is not going to receive this year to help with their funding. Jack told the board that the city helps with grants in their funding. Jack asked the parks board if they could substitute the fees for helping with their funding since they are not getting grant funding from the city. Andy explained to Jack that the parks board is going to make their recommendations, but it still has to go through the City Council. Jack asked what he needs to do to get a request to the city council to have the some or all of the fees waived. Jack told the board that they could pay the overtime, but it would help them if they did not have to pay the $20.00 an hour for the gym. Jack told the board that they M.W.Y.S.A. is non-profit and they are open with their books if anyone would like to see them. Jack went on to tell the board that Joe Ruelas, M.W.Y.S.A. treasurer, keeps detailed records of where the youth associations money goes to. Jack told the board that the M.W.Y.S.A. does not get any funding from the city or county to stay afloat, so every little break that the M.W.Y.S.A. can receive will help them tremendously. Andy told Jack that anything below the $20.00 an hour that he has figured up, he is charged with making a certain amount of money as revenue to offset our expenses. Jack asked Andy if he has not met that, Andy told Jack no, we never do as far as total expenses. Andy told Jack that there is a figure, about $40,000 to $50,000 of revenue, Andy went on to explain that if we lose the opportunity to make that money on the members, then that is money away from our city budget. Mandy asked how many Saturdays would the M.W.Y.S.A. be playing at the gym. Jack told Mandy it would be four Saturdays. Amanda told the board that the M.W.Y.S.A. would need January 9th, 16th, 23rd and 30th. Andy told Jack and Amanda that February 6th was also available, so five Saturdays were available. Amanda told the board that the M.W.Y.S.A.’s cost after they pay referees and gym fees would be $1,160.00 and that is a lot of money for them. Amanda told the parks board that they tried to run the numbers for total profit, and if they do not have any snags they are looking a little bit more than breaking even. Amanda told the board that normally there are a lot of kids that cannot afford to pay they try to help with scholarships. Jack told the board that normally they have a concession area, this helps compensate some of the cost in different areas. Jack informed the board that the schools let them have a concession area. Jack told the board they did not think they could have a concession at the gym and if they did all they could sell would be water. Andy told Jack they could set one up in the foyer, but the patrons would have to eat and drink in the foyer. Jack told the board they would lose money on the concession. Jack told the board that if the answer is a no the M.W.Y.S.A. would walk away and deal with what they have. Jack went on to tell the board that if the M.W.Y.S.A. could get any type of break he is willing to put himself out there and he normally does not do that. Jack told the board that this has been a very difficult season, and the M.W.Y.S.A. books have stayed very steady. Jack explained to the board that they have a budget where they are prepared for issues to happen, he told the board they were good stewards with their money. Jack told the board that it would help tenuously if the board would give them a cut in the fees. Andy asked Jack if they charge by the member or by the team, Jack told him they charge by the team. Andy asked Jack how much do they charge for each team, Jack told him $350.00. Kathy asked Jack if they played on Sundays. Jack and Amanda told the board they normally play on Saturdays, last year they had to play on two Sundays because U.I.L. games on Saturday took precedent over them. Kathy asked Andy if Sundays were an option for the M.W.Y.S.A. to play. Andy informed her and the board that the overtime charge would be required for the whole day. Amanda told the board that if they would pay the after-hours fee on Sundays if that was all that they had to pay and there was no usage fee, it could be an option. Kim stated that Upward was starting registrations and asked if they reached out to the churches for rentals. Jack stated he spoke with them and there is nothing available, Amanda stated Southside Church of Christ and one by VFW said no. First Baptist Church was an option, however Upward will be using the facility so it is not available. Jack stated with the second wave of COVID, they are social distancing and are barely able to meet. Andy stated if the City Gym is shut down due to COVID -19as it was March through May of 2020, we will not be open for rentals either. Discussion was held about using the junior high school and elementary schools and it was determined that Dr. Kuhn stated no schools could be used. Kathy spoke about using the outdoor courts at the park for practice. Andy asked if anyone had any more questions. The board had no other questions. Kathy stated she was glad they were willing to pay for something. Andy stated when the Parks Board recommends a fee, it will printed be on proposed contract for the City Council’s approval. Kathy asked Andy what Mr. Criswell thought and the consensus was too keep the rate the same, however the reduced rate seemed to be an option. Discussion on the non- profit rates for the activity center versus this what was the difference. Kathy stated we did discuss the fact that we don’t want to just give everything away to anyone that calls and not everyone agreed with the decisions. Amber asked if they can charge a fee at the games. Discussion on their budget and the $5000 grant from the city was possibly cut. Kathy asked what was thought, stated they charge to get in, they charge a fee, discussion on how many teams, 50/50 on in town vs. out of town teams. Did discuss about not giving stuff away due to budget of parks and rec. Mandy asked if they pay $20 and pay overtime would that cover the costs. Andy stated that $160/ day for 8 hours would cover the money lost from the members and guests. They asked for free rent because they were not paying the schools. Mr. Criswell’s concerns were also if word got back to C.C.S. that they would want the same deal. Discussion on C.C.S. having their own gym at some point. Terrie stated that upward used only half the gym when they used the gym. Discussion on upward charging and losing kids and discussion on upward using the facility for last year. Kathy started discussion on different rates for citizens and non-citizens if we could charge that rates, however it would be difficult to determine with a mixed league. Kathy confirmed the price of the facility and Andy confirmed $20/ hour half court, $40/hour full court and attendant if outside hours at $30/hour. Discussion was brought up about the parking and use of gym attendant during activity center rentals. Discussion on a reduced rate for the kids. Andy stated we would be losing $20 per hour if we cut it in half and not using practice facilities. Discussion on what we are doing for kids at Christmas with open gym. Kathy asked Andy what he was comfortable with as far as pricing and it was determined the board needs to make the decision on the pricing. He also agreed with Mr. Criswell’s concerns on reducing the rate for the M.W.Y.S.A. vs. C.C.S. More discussion on C.C.S. saying they do not believe they would be upset with the rate differences. Andy stated that Mr. Criswell asked him to ask the board, Kathy stated the revenue loss and Andy confirmed we did not make our projections this past year. Discussion on the recommendation if they made it higher that council would knock the prices down. Kathy stated we could send mixed messages as well, being that it was a business and we could lose revenue if we were to drop the prices. Kathy stated we are all in a pickle financially especially Parks and Rec, We don’t need people losing jobs. Discussion was made on the recommendations to use and proceed with. Andy stated that most parks and rec facilities are a service and they do not make money. Recommendation was made by a motion from Mandy Edwards Seconded by Kathy and all in favor to reduce the pricing for this year due to the circumstances to recommend $20/ Hr. for games, $20/Hr. for Practices and $30/Hr. for after hour attendants. With the option to re-visit the contract next year. AGENDA ITEM 5.0 Review the Presentation Submitted by David Rushing of Whirlix Design, Inc. for Options for an All-Inclusive Playground Design Andy reminded the board of the Kraftsman presentation and spoke about visiting the Fort Worth Dream Park and he sent the board the pictures. Andy met David Rushing from Whirlix on a Tuesday morning at 11am and stated there were over 200 kids on the playground, it was incredible and he encouraged the board to visit if they could. He sent a link to the board of landscape structures to look at the options they have to offer, this was the company Mayor Johnson recommended. Andy asked the board to look at these and decide how they wanted to proceed and even find more options if needed. Kathy asked about cost, which came in around $400,000 and stated the one in Fort Worth was well over $1,000,000. Andy stated most of all their fall areas are rubber or turf, discussion was held on the structures and features of the playgrounds. Andy asked if the board would like to hear from the companies or would they like him to get another option. Discussion was held on the bid process and how many companies were needed, and what bid we had to take on the best value or lowest bid. A discussion on a splash pad addition was added and which park it would be at as well. Discussion was held on which company they would like to speak with, the board determined they would like to speak with Kraftsman and Whirlix both. AGENDA ITEM 6.0 Consider and Possibly Take Action on Making a Recommendation to the Mineral Wells City Council Concerning the Completion of a Parks and Open Space Plan Kathy stated moving into Agenda Item 6.0 by doing the parks and open space plan that would help with this group because we are trying to get the money. The City Manager was very positive that we had lots of money or we could get the money. Discussion was held on the fact that a plan was needed before moving forward on the plans in Agenda Item 5.0. Kim made the motion to recommend the council take action on a parks and open space plan. The motion was seconded by Amber and it passed unanimously. AGENDA ITEM 7.0 Consider and Possibly Take Action on Making a Recommendation for the Location of an All-Inclusive Playground and Making a Recommendation for the Future Development of Southeast Park Chairperson Kathy Boswell said the consensus of the board was to table this item until the next meeting. AGENDA ITEM 8.0 Consider and Possibly Take Action on the Location of the All-Inclusive Playground and Park Amenities Chairperson Kathy Boswell said the consensus of the board was to table this item until the next meeting AGENDA ITEM 9.0 Hear the Presentation of the Parks, Recreation and Fossil Park Reports Andy read the attached reports. The board had questioned Andy about whether the water aerobics program was still going on. Andy stated we had completed water aerobics for the year. Andy addressed the board about the area at the little league park was washed out that he was asked about at the last meeting. Andy reported that he spoke with Melvin Flores and Melvin said we could do railroad ties or concrete steps. The board stated that they would like concrete steps. Kathy Boswell stated that three or four steps would be necessary to cover the area. The parks department may get help from public works, if needed, but likely the work could be done by the parks maintenance crew. Andy Tarkington reported that either way, the repair will be completed before the spring baseball season. AGENDA ITEM 10.0 Hear Parks and Recreation Board Ideas for Future Agenda Items Kathy would like to discuss the bridge that was taken out at West City Park between the Skate Park and the rest of the park in West City Park. Put the location of the inclusive park on the agenda as well from a discussion with James Hailey. The board debated whether to hold a December meeting. The meeting date would be December 9th, if they wanted to have a meeting. The consensus of the discussion was to not have a meeting in December. The board voted unanimously voted to cancel the December meeting and have their next meeting in January. AGENDA ITEM 11.0 Adjournment Kathy asked for a motion to adjourn. Mandy Edwards made the motion. Amber Kunes second the motion. The parks board unanimously agreed to adjourn the meeting at 7:29 p.m.