Park Board Minutes - 11/03/2005Wichita Falls Park Board Meeting
November 3, 2005
Municipal Auditorium
City Council Conference Room
1:30 p.m.
Presiding:
CITY CLERK'S OFFICE
Date _ -Q 1 - �j
BY ----60,—,Time -
Walter Tyndale /Chairperson
Members Present: Walter Tyndale, Gary Patrick, Peg Marquardt, Elmer
Emory, Mary Ward, Penny Miller, Eric Bogaards and
Alan Donaldson.
Members Absent: William Hinkle, Dennis Kays and Gary Diehm.
Staff Present: Jack Murphy and Genice Wilson
City Council Representative: Lanham Lyne (absent)
Visitors: Kari Langford (concerned citizen)
CALL TO ORDER:
Meeting was called to order at 1:30 p.m. The minutes of September 29, 2005 were
put before the board. Peg Marquardt made the motion to accept the minutes as
written. Gary Patrick seconded the motion. Approved unanimously.
DEPARTMENTAL REPORT:
• On our tour this afternoon we will be seeing the new Mobile Stage that was
picked up in San Antonio at the NPRA meeting.
• We are continuing to work on leases with the YMCA and Boys & Girls Club.
Jack Murphy has gone over the leases with the City Attorney and City
Manager, next step is to send it to the City Council. We should have the
leases completed and we will discuss them at the December meeting. The
December meeting will be on Thursday, December 1t.
• The Fall/Winter flowers have all been planted. Elmer Emory wanted to
know what the spring/summer flowers were that were planted in Kiwanis
Park by the entrance sign. The flowers covered up the sign and it couldn't
be seen. The flowers planted there were called Copper Leaf. The parks
department will see if they can plant something next spring that will not
cover the sign. (The pansies just planted will not be a problem.)
NEW BUSINESS:
Discussion of citizen safety concerns regarding the hill in Lake Wichita Park.
Early in October Waiter Tyndale received an e-mail from Karl Langford with
some concerns about the hill in Lake Wichita Park.
Carry Langford was introduced to the board. She wanted to know what the
purpose was for the dirt hill in Lake Wichita Park. Her daughter and class
mates were on a field trip at Lake Wichita Park and after lunch they decided to
go up the hill. On the way back down her daughter lost her footing, tripped
and rolled a ways down the hill. She received scraps, bruises and a broken
bone. Mrs. Langford went with her daughter after the incident to see where
her daughter had fallen. Karl Langford's concerns are:
1. What is a tali dirt hill doing in a Park,
2. There are coke cans, pipes and broken glass buried in the dirt on the
hill. These can cause injury, and need to be removed.
Jack Murphy explained that this is a project that started about 3 - 4 years ago.
The goal is to get the hill to 100' or more. We plan on putting a trail leading up
to the top with a small picnic shelter on top. The sides will be landscaped
with grass, trees and bushes.
The Parks Department has placed four signs around the hill that say, "Use
Caution When Climbing Hill." The staff discussed putting a fence around the
hill until it was completed, but that was rejected. We will have the Parks
maintenance crews remove dangerous objects on the hill and hopefully make
it a safer place.
The board also discussed having the Parks Department put up additional
signs describing possible future plans for development of the hill.
Gary Patrick also added that the original reason we put the hill in was to put
terraces on the south side and possibly have a Recreation Outdoor Concert
Theater there. (This is only one of the many possibilities for development of
the hill in the future.)
Bus Tour of Parks: v
The Park Board went on a bus tour and saw the New Mobile Stage. They went
by Tesco Park and discussed the Softball fields that will be removed to
accommodate the upcoming new roadway. Then they went out to the Lake
Wichita Boat Ramp area next to the Spillway. There was a discussion of
possibly purchasing lands in this area for City Parks by the lake and the
concern that the lots may be sold before we could act on this.
OTHER:
ADJOURNMENT:
THE MEETING WAS ADJOURNED AT 3:00 p.m.
Signature:
Walter Tynd a /Chairperson