Park Board Minutes - 04/25/2002Wichita Falls Park Board Meeting
April 25, 2002
Municipal Auditorium
City Council Conference Room
1:35 p.m.
Presiding:
Members Present:
Members Absent:
Staff Present:
City Council Representative:
RECEIVED IN
CITY CLERK'S OFFICE pp
Date
By Time ohs
Gary Patrick/Chairperson
Gary Patrick, Kenneth Haney, Al Norris, Mark Howell,
Ed Godsey, William Barnes, Steve Chaney, and Elmer
Emory.
Barbara Green, Clark Waters and Matthew Bohlen.
Jack Murphy, Glenn Jamison and Genice Wilson
Johnny Burns (absent)
CALL TO ORDER:
The minutes of March 28th meeting were put before the board. Motion was made
by Mark Howell to accept the minutes and seconded by William Barnes. Approved
unanimously.
DEPARTMENTAL REPORT:
April 25, 2002 is the end of the 90 -day period the Park Board gave to the Dog Park
Group to present a financial statement and an indication that they have non - profit
status. We have not heard from this group as of yet, but Jack Murphy expects to
hear from them sometime in the near future. Hopefully we will have those two
items on the agenda for the May meeting.
Jaycee name change was not on the agenda for the City Council at the last
meeting. The City Manager thought it would be better to put it on the agenda after
the election was over. It will be on the May 7th meeting agenda.
The Lake Wichita observation hill project is proceeding, about four days ago it
was 28 feet high. We have several more sources of dirt coming in. The dirt from
the Wood Memorial Park Pond excavation of about 6,000 cu. yards and the
Cypress Water Treatment Plant excavation dirt are designated for this site and we
think the construction for the secondary reservoir off Fairway may have another
5,000 cu. yards for this site. The Jasper Street water treatment plant expansion
may have a little bit of dirt we can have. Mr. Murphy thinks that 50 feet is a
reasonable height. Once it is finished it should be an exciting place to visit.
The gravel trail is at a halt right now because of the raw water pipe line
construction. People are already using parts of this trail.
Wood Park Pond excavation bid will open the first week in May. We are hoping to
get low enough bids so we can have extra money to do some concrete edging.
Our engineers are doing the Holliday Creek connector trail final design. The
estimate may be close to $330,000 dollars and we only budgeted $285,000 so if the
bids come in at the higher estimate we will go back to the 46 for the balance of the
funds. Parking for this area has been put in the budget and Mr. Murphy was not
sure how much land the city already owns for parking, so some land may have to
be acquired. This is between the Lake Wichita dam and Midwestern Parkway. Mr.
Patrick asked Mr. Murphy to please check into this and let the board know at the
next meeting.
Summer flowers should start to be planted in about three weeks.
For the CDBG annual request for federal funding, we will ask for about $400,000
dollars to be used at Ben Donell, Bridwell, Jalonic, Lamar, Lincoln, O'Reiley,
Scotland, Spudder and Williams parks. The Wichita River Trail to Holliday Creek is
another place where improvements are needed. A reevaluation of the park pond
in Williams Park is another possibility.
Summer Camp registration will be this Saturday, April 27 from 10:00 am to 4:00
pm. Knowing how quickly these camps fill up each year, we expect a lot of
parents for registration.
The Brochure for the Spring /Summer recreational programs came out in the
newspaper on April 22. We have had lots of response.
OLD BUSINESS:
A. Annual evaluation of Park, Recreation, and Open Space Plan priorities:
After a discussion on what needed to be changed Mr. Patrick suggested the
board members study the Plan and come back to the next meeting with
some ideas on what changes need to be made. Most of the board feels that
our priorities are still the same as was originally stated. Since there is the
money factor on the larger projects they feel that we could start working on
things such as the enlarging the Softball Complex, making Lake Wichita
Shoreline improvements, including the acquiring of land and maybe even a
Roller Blade ramp somewhere. Mr. Patrick asked Glenn Jamison to give us
a plan on how to go forward with this and discussion will be continued at
the next meeting.
B. Boat ramp area property acquisition status.
There was a long discussion on the importance of acquiring this land
before we can go forward with several other projects. Mr. Murphy said that
Pat Hoffman is negotiating with the owner right now but it is going very
slowly. Four other vacant lots were identified for possible acquisition. The
boat ramp has been getting lots of use especially since the weather has
been warm.
C. Discussion of tax credits available to donor of land to the City for parks and
open space.
Mr. Murphy checked into this and found that the City gives a tax deduction
not tax credit for any land donated to the City.
NEW BUSINESS:
A. Request by Councilors Williams and Esther to review non - resident
restriction on rental of Lucy Park Log Cabin.
This was discussed and decided to leave as is for now.
B. Discussion and recommendation of naming a facility in Jaycee Park in
recognition of the Junior Chamber of Commerce's brush clearing work
done along Lake Wichita Shoreline in the 1950's.
Mr. Gary Patrick read a letter requesting some kind of recognition for the
Jaycees. Kenneth Haney made motion that the Park Board recommend
that a plaque be put at the picnic shelter by the lake in honor of the
Jaycees. It was seconded by Ed Godsey and approved unanimously.
OTHER BUSINESS:
The Park Board adjourned at 3:55 p.m. to go on a trial ride in the new Trail Tram train.
ADJOURNMENT:
THERE BEING NO FURTHER BUSINESS, THE MEETING WAS ADJOURNED AT 3:55 P.M.