Parks and Recreation Advisory Board

The Parks Advisory Board met in regular session on Wednesday, May 12, 2021 at 6:00 p.m. in the City Hall Annex. MINUTES Board Members Present Kathy Boswell Mandy Edwards James Hailey Amber Kunes Board Member Absent Kim Houston City Staff Present Andy Tarkington, Parks and Recreation Superintendent Terrie Ortiz, Parks and Recreation Clerk Guest Present Anna (O’Shield) Perez AGENDA ITEM 1.0 Call to Order Mandy Edwards called the meeting to order. The meeting began at 6:08 pm. AGENDA ITEM 2.0 Approval of Minutes Mandy Edwards called for motion to approve the April minutes. James Hailey made a motion. Amber Kunes seconded his motion. The minutes were approved by unanimous vote. AGENDA ITEM 3.0 Presentation of 2020 T.A.A.F. Male and Female Athletes of the Year Award Andy told the board that he started giving out the T.A.A.F. Athlete of the Year awards in the ‘90’s. He told the board that somewhere in the 2000’s they quit giving out the T.A.A.F. Athlete of the Year awards. Andy informed the board that since he came back he has reinstated giving these awards. Andy said he felt like these athletes need to be recognized for their athleticism for participating in our leagues, and plus we pay our dues to T.A.A.F. Andy told the board that in 2019 our recipients were a youth track athlete and a swimmer from Mineral Wells Swim Team. Andy explained to the board that in 2020 we did not have any youth sports other than youth volleyball. He went on to tell the board that in the first season it got cancelled due to COVID- 19, the second season we did finish but it is difficult to pick a youth athlete because there are so many. The track athlete and the swimmer were picked by the leaders of those organizations. Andy told the board that he and Stormy Smith decided to pick from the adult leagues. We had adult co-ed volleyball and men’s basketball. Andy told the men’s basketball did not have a dominate player, so they chose from the co-ed volleyball leagues. He and Stormy chose a male and a female athlete for this year. Andy presented the Female Athlete of the Year to Anna O’Shield Perez. Andy told the board that she was always at the games, was dominate player for her team and helped her team become very competitive. Andy presented Anna with her plaque. Andy told the board that the Male Athlete of the Year was Thomas Johnson. Andy also told the board that he was a dominate player for his team. He was not present to accept his award, so Andy let the board know that we would present him his award later. Andy and the board thanked Anna for her participation. AGENDA ITEM 4.0 Discuss invitation By the City Council to discuss Park Playground Replacement Playground Recommendations and for the Park Board to Present Their Request to Fund a Parks and Open Space Plan Andy told the board that at the last Parks and Recreation board meeting they requested to address the City Council members about having a Parks and Open Space plan. Andy let the board know that he had made that request for them. Andy also let the board know that when he made the request the City Manager, Randy Criswell, asked if he could have an update on what the Parks Board has been working on for the playground. Andy informed the board that he has reached out to David Rushing of Whirlix and he was coming to do a presentation for the City Council. Andy told the board that he was going to give the presentation that he gave them but add West City Park. Andy told the board that if they remember he gave the City Council members the park board minutes back in December about the Parks Board addressing the issue about a Parks and Open Space plan. Andy inform the board that with David Rushing coming to the City Council meeting it would educate the council members about what it would take to build and update the parks, plus show them the need for a Parks and Open Space plan. Andy asked the Parks and Recreation board members if they could make it to the City Council meeting Tuesday, May 18, 2021 at 6:00 PM. Andy inform the board that if all five of the Parks and Recreation board members show up that it will show the City Council that they all support funding the Parks and Open Space plan. The Parks and Recreation Board members were unanimous in going to the City Council meeting. Andy told the board that he would like to put the splash pad at the Southeast Park, because we need a new recreation element at each of the parks. Southeast Park would have the splash pad and West City Park would be an all-inclusive park. Andy informed the board that his concern with the splash pad being at West City Park vs Southeast Park. West City Park already has the pool, and it seems more logical for the splash pad to be at Southeast Park. Andy told the board that he felt that the splash pad would be competition for the pool at West City Park. Andy informed the board that splash pad would be free and the pool admission is $3.00 per person. Andy let the board know that the planned design at Southeast Park if just over $700,000. He also told the board that it will speak volumes if the board members as a board and citizens of Mineral Wells addressing the City Council would be better than him standing up and speaking for them. Andy asked the board members if they would be available to address the City council on May 18. Mandy Edwards, James Hailey, and Amber Kunes said they would be available. Kathy Boswell had not made it to the meeting yet. Andy told the board that he was impressed by this company because most playground companies just put in the playground equipment. Whirlix is going to re-surface the basketball court, replace the soccer goals and nets, and add to Southeast Park. Mandy told the board that she liked how Whirlix splits up the playground equipment by age groups. Amber asked if the parks were going to be set up like Dream Park in Ft. Worth is. Andy told her it would not be exactly, maybe on a smaller scale. Mandy asked if Randy Criswell has been updated or when he sees this presentation that will be his update. Andy informed her that yes, he would see this update as well as the city council. Andy told the board that he did send Mr. Criswell the information that they saw at the last board meeting. He was sure that Mr. Criswell has not been able to review everything. Andy told the board that plus David Rushing was adding the West City Park to this presentation. Andy informed the board that David would be presenting West City Park as an all-inclusive park. David will also be explaining why West City Park should be the all-inclusive park instead of Southeast Park. It is due to the parking and sidewalks, the board, Andy and David felt like an all-inclusive playground would be a better fit at the West City Park. Amber Kunes asked about Whirlix putting in a restroom at Southeast Park. Andy told her that restrooms are not Whirlix’s expertise but he could call a restroom company and not a pay markup price for going through another company. Andy told the board that we may be able to get the Public Works Department to help with the engineering for restrooms at Southeast Park. AGENDA ITEM 5.0 Hear the Presentation of the Parks, Recreation and Fossil Park Reports Andy read the reports for the Parks, Recreation and Fossil Park. Andy informed the board that the youth volleyball tournaments were very competitive and they all went to the “if” matches. Andy told the board that he just found out hours before the Parks and Recreation meeting that the T.A.A.F. State tournament has been postponed until October 2021. Andy went on to tell the board that the city of Denton cancelled the tournaments just three weeks before they were scheduled, therefore there was not enough time to find enough gyms for the as many that could host the tournament. Andy told the board that we will still pay for the 1st place team to go to state. Amber asked Andy what weekend the state tournament would be on because tournaments for school basketball will be going on. Andy looked it up and told Amber that the tournament would be October 2nd and 3rd. Amber told Andy that she may can schedule school games around the T.A.A.F. tournament. Kathy Boswell asked Andy about the girls that will go up in age before the T.A.A.F. tournament. Andy told Kathy the teams will not have to worry about that. He informed her and the board that the teams will have to be the team they ended with just as if they were going to the tournament in June. Andy informed the board that we are looking for a new gym attendant, Ivan Aguaya quit. Andy went on to read the rest of the reports of Parks, Recreation and Fossil. Kathy Boswell got to the meeting and Andy asked her about going to the City Council meeting on May 18th. Kathy told Andy that she will attend the meeting. The Parks Board members elected her to speak at the meeting. AGENDA ITEM 6.0 Hear Parks and Recreation Board Ideas for Future Agenda Items Kathy Boswell and James Hailey asked if the board could see the budget priorities that Andy would present to the City Council. Additional discussion was held on other topics such as going to City Council meeting on May 18th, parks and open space plan for the parks, and David Rushing’s presentation for the Parks board and City Council. There was also a discussion about the light fixtures at the Little League fields and the pool lights and the West City Park’s bridge that has been out for over 10 years. AGENDA ITEM 7.0 Adjournment Kathy Boswell asked for a motion to adjourn. Mandy Edwards made the motion. James Hailey second the motion. The parks board unanimously agreed to adjourn the meeting at 7:15 p.m.