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Park Board Minutes - 10/28/1999• j Wichita Falls Park Board Meeting October 28, 1999 Memorial Auditorium 1:30 p.m. Presiding: Gary Patrick/Chairperson Members Present: Gary Patrick, Al Norris, Barbara Green, Mark Howell, Bob McBee, Kenneth Haney and Kitty Wilson. Members Absent: Don Graham, Bill Barnes, and Clark Waters. Staff Present: Jack Murphy and Genice Wilson City Council Representative: Dan Shine, absent Visitors: Claude Miller, Soccer Association CALL TO ORDER: Gary Patrick called the meeting to order at 1:35. Al Norris informed the members that Bill Barnes was not able to attend the meeting. Bill had call and said he noticed the swings were broken in Grant Street Park. The 1:30 p.m. starting time was brought before the board as the time for future board meetings. It was agreed that 1:30 would be the time meetings would begin in the future. Bob McBee introduced Claude Miller with the Soccer Association to the board. Mr. Miller told the board a little about the Soccer Association and about the problem they are having with too few practice fields. The board discussed different additional fields that might be utilized for soccer practice. Jack Murphy asked if there was a part of town that was in greatest need for practice fields? The majority of complaints come from the southwest part of town. The football fields used by the Boys Club for football would be perfect for Soccer practice. It was discussed that during seasons when the Boys Club was not using these fields if it would be possible for the Soccer Association to use for practice? Ken Haney ask if there could be a contract put together like the City has with the YMCA that gives the Soccer Association the privilege of using these fields for practice? Maintenance of these fields was discussed and the possibility of the Soccer Association taking the reservations. Bob McBee made the motion that the Greater Wichita Falls Soccer Association be approved to use Jaycee Park's three football fields with conditions set by the Parks Department regarding reservations, lighting and maintenance from such time that the Boys Club finishes their football season in late- November until about mid -May. Any further improvements would be at the expense of the Soccer Association rather than Parks. Second by Barbara Green. Approved unanimously. The Board encouraged further discourse for other fields such as the south end of Jaycee Park or the fields North of the softball complex. The September minutes were put before the board and accepted. Barbara Green made the motion to approve and Al Norris second. None opposed. DEPARTMENTAL REPORT: The contractors have not started the Lake Wichita boat ramp, parking lot and access road, but the City has accepted a bid. There was a request from a citizen at Burkburnett to get permission to build a ladder to get on the pier from his boat. This is being checked into since the pier does seem higher than it needs to be from the water. Al Norris was under the impression that there were to be handrails on the pier. The Plum Lake north shore line project is almost complete, and the south shore KidFish grant project will go out to bid soon. The landscape improvement to circle at Martin and Speedway is in the mill and should be done by the end of the year. ISTEA Phase II trail in Weeks Park is going well. We do want to raise about 70 thousand dollars so we can extend it from where it will end on the north side of Midwestern Parkway at Hamilton Tennis center and extend it about half mile to the large parking lot at Hamilton for the trail head. We planned all along for it to end there, but since it was started, the price has increased and more funding is needed to extend it. A bid has been accepted to go on south of Southwest Parkway to Old Lake Road. The CDBG linear sidewalk project along the Wichita River is ready to go to bid, with construction hopefully completed sometime next year, maybe by summer we will have another 1.1 mile trail that will connect the two systems we have now. These are the Lucy Park, O'Reilly system to Williams Park and Eastside Drive. We are working on the 1.1 -mile from O'Reilly Park to Williams Park. Temporary work is being done by the Parks Department on the Golf Course. We are making some repairs and improvements on the Golf course that should be finished shortly. All 18holes should be open and playable. Damage to an ornamental structure at Sheppard Main Gate median is being investigated by the City's Risk Management Department. It seems an airman from Sheppard had a wreck and seriously damaged the structure. Parks Maintenance is in the process of repairing it. Due to the drought impact on irrigation, we cut back 50% on our irrigation. The tree irrigation is going well and the turf, where we made most of the cut back, is doing OK. We are working to keep the water from running off. We are experimenting with new sprinkler heads to get a lower volume sprinkle. We are working with the Traffic Department on the lights at the football /soccer practice fields in Jaycee Park. We are requesting that a mobile stage might be purchased with the extra money from our recreation programs. We are proposing a schedule for possibly renting this stage also. The stage will reduce the manpower required in setting up for events. We just heard that the Regional Texas Recreation Parks Society Awards Committee is giving us an award for the tree transport trailer that we invented. The board is invited to attend Arbor Day on November 10, 1999. This is on Wednesday at 10:00 a.m. at the Weeks Park Golf Course. If you plan on going please meet Jack Murphy at 9:45 a.m. in the Pro Shop. OLD BUSINESS: a. The five -year plan and review of park and recreation facility inventory and standards was discussed. Gary Patrick and Jack Murphy plan to meet with the city manager soon to discuss it. A list of park facilities that the Parks and Recreation Department have was given to each member of the board. The board decided that they needed to get an inventory of what the private sector has also. It was suggested that a form be sent out to the school district, churches, Boys Club, YMCA, etc. to get an idea of what type of facilities are available other than City owned. Once these forms have been returned and a list of inventory has been made it can be presented to the board and more discussion on the facts at hand will be made. b. Skateboard facility cost. It was found that a concrete facility of this type could range from $50,000 to $200,000 dollars depending on size and type. NEW BUSINESS: a. Ideas from NRPA Annual Meeting in Nashville, TN. This was attended by Jack Murphy and several ideas were presented on what the City and the Private sector provides for the Adults, children and Senior Citizens of different communities. OTHER BUSINESS: The second floor of the Library construction should be bid in November or the first of December. It is about 99% drawn up. The Citizen Advocate for Parks and Recreation meeting is November 5th at the Convention Center Ramada downtown. THERE BEING NO FURTHER BUSINESS, THE MEETING WAS ADJOURNED AT 3:30 P.M. THE NEXT BOARD MEETING WILL BE HELD ON THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 18. 1999 IN THE CITY COUNCIL CONFERENCE ROOM.