Parks and Recreation Advisory Board

The Parks Advisory Board met in regular session on Wednesday, September 8, 2021 at 6:00 p.m. in the City Hall Annex. MINUTES Board Members Present Kathy Boswell Mandy Edwards Kim Houston Board Member Absent Amber Kunes City Staff Present Andy Tarkington, Parks and Recreation Superintendent Terrie Ortiz, Parks and Recreation Clerk Lee Morehead, Parks and Recreation Coordinator Guest Present David May, President/CEO of the Chamber of Commerce AGENDA ITEM 1.0 Call to Order AGENDA ITEM 2.0 Kathy Boswell called the meeting to order. The meeting began at 6:00 p.m. Approval of Minutes Kathy Boswell called for motion to approve the August minutes. Mandy Edwards made the motion. Kim Houston seconded the motion. The minutes were approve by unanimous vote. AGENDA ITEM 3.0 Hear Proposal Presentation from Joseph Russell of Flying High Tire Bicycle and Larry Colvin of the Weatherford Bike Club for Constructing a Mountain Bike Trail Through Part of West City Park and Take Action, if Necessary Joseph Russell and Larry Colvin were not in attendance, so the board decided to postpone this agenda item until the November 10th meeting to hear their presentation. . AGENDA ITEM 4.0 Hear Report from the Parks and Recreation Superintendent about the Fiscal Year Budget Meeting, the City’s Proposal Fee Schedule and Memorial Bench and Tree Policy Andy distributed to the board about the budget message that was in the budget book at the final council budget meeting. Andy informed the board that Parks and Recreation were approved for new playground equipment at Southeast Park and a restroom. Andy went on to tell the board about all of the budget packages for Parks and Recreation that the City Council approved. He told the board about the City Council approving and keeping the pay increase for the lifeguards and pool managers. Andy informed the board that the Parks and Open Space master plan was also kept in the budget. Andy told the board that Mr. Criswell, the City Manager, has agreed to have an engineer come and assess the sand filters at the pool. He went on to tell the board that if the engineer determines that the pool filters need to be replaced there is a budget for those items. Andy told the board that Parks and Recreation Department budget went from over $800,000 to nearly $1.4 million with the newly approved capital items. Andy let the board know that the budget for Parks and Recreation is looking better. Kathy Boswell asked Andy if the $380,000 was not going to do what the board had talked about for the all-inclusive playground. Andy to Kathy and the board that it was the site work for the restroom at Southeast Park. He explained that we would have to run utilities to the restroom. Andy went on to tell the board that it is going to be a restroom like at West City Park. Andy told the board that it will be a prefabricated building that can just be placed in the park, but we have to have all the plumbing. Andy went on to tell the board that it is also the site work for the piece of playground equipment because we have to remove the other piece of equipment in house. Kathy asked if the new playground equipment was going to basically replace that one piece that is not repairable. Andy told the board it was and that the new piece of equipment was going to cost about $178,000. Andy told the board it was part of the billows playground that they had seen previously from David Rushing’s presentation. Kathy told the board and Andy that getting the old playground equipment removed was a start to a better playground at Southeast Park. Andy wanted to let the board know that the action they took on the fee structures, the City Council has decided to postpone implementing. He told the board that the fee structure would be implemented at later time. Andy wanted to talk to the board about the memorial bench and tree policy they had approved. Andy told the board that the policy was ready to go to council. Andy told the board that he got in contact with Mr. Weaver, the gentleman that presented the memorial idea. Andy told the board that Mr. Weaver does not know if he wants the memorial at Zappe Park or the Randy Nix development. Mr. Weaver just told Andy that he wanted it in the downtown area. Andy told the board that he explained to Mr. Weaver that the only park that Parks and Recreation Department in downtown has is the Zappe Park. Andy told the board that Mr. Weaver spoke with Myndi Muncy, Mineral Wells MainStreet Manager, and indicated to her that he wanted with the Randy Nix development. Andy explained to the board that Nix’s development is going to be years down the road. So now Mr. Weaver does not know where he wants to put his memorial. Andy told the board since he is not sure about the place he wants to put the memorial he was not going to take it to council at this time. Kathy Boswell, Kim Houston, and Mandy Edwards feel that the tree and bench memorial is a great idea for the city’s parks. Andy told the board that if Mr. Weaver decides to put his memorial at Zappe Park then he would present policy to the City Council. Andy let the board know since they have the memorial policy on record and it has been voted on and approved it is ready to be addressed. Andy told the board that if anyone else decides they would like a memorial at any of the parks he would present the policy to the City Council. Kathy told Andy that she would like it to be for our parks only. Andy informed her and the board that the memorial will be for only our parks. AGENDA ITEM 5.0 Hear the presentation of the Parks, Recreation and Fossil Park Report Andy read the report to the board and discussed the Crazy Fossil Dig. He told David May, the CEO/President of the Chamber of Commerce that we have also been posting the time and date of the Crazy Fossil Dig. Andy informed the board that the Recreation Department will be sending four 1st place teams to the TAAF state volleyball tournament in October. He told the board that he had reached out to the teams for 4 months and only 2 teams had responded. Andy also let the board know that Shawn Gatewood, water aerobics instructor, was now teaching aerobics at the Activity Center. He told the board about a new Jiu Jitsu class that was at the Activity Center as well. AGENDA ITEM 6.0 Consider and take Appropriate Action of the Cancellation of the October 2021 Parks and Recreation Board Meeting Andy informed the board that he and possibly Mayor, Regan Johnson will be going to Minnesota. He and Mayor Johnson will be going on a tour of the Whirlix playground factory. Kathy called for a motion to cancel the October meeting. Mandy made the motion. Kim seconded the motion. The cancellation of the October meeting was made unanimous by vote. AGENDA ITEM 7.0 Hear Parks and Recreation Board Ideas for Future Agenda Items Andy told the board that he would look into the expenses for the Little League. He told the board that he would Little League to provide the improvements to the fields. Andy told the board about a gentleman that was wanting the softball fields at Ft. Wolters in October. Andy informed the board that he told Jason Swindle (the person holding the tournament) he needed to present a letter to the board to have fees waived. The Weatherford Mountain Bike Club wants to make a presentation to the Parks Board. Andy told the board that he would like to add to the agenda for the next meeting a presentation for Athlete of the Year. Kathy asked Andy due to the Parks and Recreation Board meeting being moved to November 10, will he be making a presentation of the Whirlix facility that he is touring. Andy informed her he would. AGENDA ITEM 8.0 Adjournment Kathy asked for a motion to adjourn. Mandy made the motion. Kim second the motion. The parks board unanimously agreed to adjourn the meeting at 6:38 p.m.