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2007-10-18 PEARLAND PARKS, RECREATION AND BEAUTIFICATION BOARD REGULAR MEETING MINUTESMINUTES — REGULAR MEETING OF THE PEARLAND PARKS, RECREATION AND BEAUTIFICATION BOARD, OF THE CITY OF PEARLAND, TEXAS, HELD ON THURSDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2007, AT 8:00 A.M., IN THE PARKS AND RECREATION DEPARTMENT CONFERENCE ROOM, AT 2947 BROADWAY STREET, PEARLAND, TEXAS L CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at 8:16 a.m. II. BOARD MEMBER ROLL CALL Tom Gibbs Chairperson Ben Carranza Vice -Chairperson Laura Austin Board Member Joe Miller Board Member Ed Miller Board Member Jon Branson Parks and Recreation Director Michelle Smith Parks and Recreation Superintendent Ed Grossenheider Parks and Building Superintendent Randi Wyatt Parks and Recreation Office Coordinator III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES — September 20, 2007 Mr. Joe Miller made a motion to approve the minutes as presented. Ms. Austin seconded the motion and the motion carried 5 to. 0. IV. DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION REGARDING GREEN BUILDING POLICY Mr. Branson started by saying that at the last meeting he introduced a draft Green Building Policy that City Council is looking at adopting. This Monday, City Council will discuss the policy again with the Planning Department and Parks and Recreation. Once the board approves the draft policy it will be provided to the Council for consideration. Council will adopt a policy for the City of Pearland that outlines the general guild lines and recommendations for a Green Building. Mr. Grossenheider provided a listing of the different categories, a Project Check List, for the boards review at the last meeting. This checklist breaks down into different categories that are included in the evaluation policy when you are going for certification. This policy states that any new projects built by the City or any renovation projects that the City takes on, would require at least the minimum certification. Mr. Branson discussed a few minor changes to the draft policy since the last meeting. A discussion also ensued identifying which credits the board considered were important to include in order to quality as a Green Building. Mr. Branson stated that the City would set the standards and the goal, as in Section 4: Requirement Section the language could be: A) Minimum Lead Certification: It is the goal of the City to reach the highest level possible for the project, with the minimum certification being the requirement. Mr. Joe Miller suggested the contractor work off of a point system. The contractors could be creative in designing the project striving towards the highest level possible on each particular project. Mr. Gibbs suggested that the longevity of the building be tied into the rating system. The City could project the life of the building, perhaps a building with the life expectancy of twenty years be at a minimum level, a building with the life expectancy of thirty years be at a higher level and so on. Move to accept the Green Building Policy with specific changes was made by Mr. Carranza: requiring the credits relating to Light Pollution reduction, Optimize Energy Performance, Enhanced Refrigerant Management, Construction Waste Management, Regional Materials. Sustainable Sections, Credit 1 and 8 Energy and Atmosphere, Credit 1 and 4 Materials and Resources Credit 2.2 and 5.1 The board would like Council to consider these specific areas as requirements. The motion was seconded by Mr. Joe Miller and carried 5 to 0. V. DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION REGARDING ATHLETIC FACILITY AND FIELD USAGE POLICY Mr. Branson stated that currently the Parks Department does not have an approved policy through Council that outlines the use of Athletic Facilities and/or Fields for various user groups. Again a recent request was made at the City Council Meeting from a user group to move forward with this policy. This policy will specify who can use the fields, when the fields can be used, associated fees, etc. The City is going to have several new sport complexes built in the future where this type of policy is needed. Mr. Branson proposed a policy that will define a Primary User Group. Primary user groups are a local group that the Parks Department makes responsible for scheduling the use of the facilities. 2 The Primary User Group is the single largest resident user group that participates in a sport. The procedure would be that this Group would be in charge of scheduling games at this facility and take the Parks Department out of the loop. A second user group would contact the Primary User Group for scheduling, if a problem occurred, second user group would then appeal to the Parks and Recreation Director. If the complainant did not like the decision the Director made, then they could schedule a hearing with the Parks Board. Mr. Branson advised that there are several different ways to go about setting these policies. One way would be that the Parks Department handles every usage request in house, which is what happens now. A second way would be to create a board, a sports committee that has a representative from each user group; all usage requests would be submitted and reviewed by the committee. However, due to Mr. Branson's experience a Primary User Group is his proposal. Included in the policy, Mr. Branson added that coaches would be required to attend a Coaches training in sportsmanship provided by the Parks Department. This way the Parks Department can set the standard of conduct and dictate the type of behavior expected on the fields. Mr. Carranza made a motion to approve the Athletic Facility and Field Usage Agreement with the added language, If the Primary User Group violates the policy then the Primary status could be revoked at the discretion of the Parks and Recreation Director. Mr. Joe Miller seconded the motion and the motion carried 5 to 0. VI. DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION REGARDING ELECTION CHAIRMAN AND VICE CHAIRMAN Mr. Branson advised that according to the proposed bi-laws, it is time to vote for Chairman and Vice Chairman. Nominations made by the board. Ms. Austin nominated Ben Carranza as Chairman and Joe Miller as Vice - Chairman. No other nominations were made. The position of Secretary has been removed from the bi-laws and was not proposed as a position due to the Parks Department having a staff member present at the meetings to take the place of the Secretary. A motion to nominate Mr. Ben Carranza as Chairman and Mr. Joe Miller as Vice -Chairman for the term, November 2007 — October 2008 was made by Ms. Austin. Mr. Ed Miller seconded the motion and it carried 5 to 0. 3 VII. DIRECTOR'S REPORT Mr. Branson received a letter from the Pearland Historical Society regarding the naming of Orange Street Park. Council approved the conceptual drawing for Orange Street Park, and Mr. Branson sent out a proposal yesterday to begin creating the plans and specifications. Therefore, this recommendation comes at a good time. The Historical Society has sent a recommendation to name this particular park after the Hunter Family. The letter goes into detail about the Hunter Family and why this Park is associated with this family. This is not an action item on today's agenda, however it needs to be discussed and will be placed on the agenda at a later date. Mr. Branson advised that the design of signage for all the parks in the City of Pearland maybe recommended in next years budget. Mr. Joe Miller suggested that the history of the family be placed on a plaque in the park. In this current year's budget, the Parks Department was approved for an Assistant Director position. As of Monday, Michelle Smith has been promoted the Assistant Director of the department. Mr. Branson provided the board with a Organizational Chart to give an overall view of the department's responsibilities. Mr. Grossenheider gave a quick update on the Tree Farm at SWEC. The Tree Farm is a joint effort by the Parks and Recreation Department and Keep Pearland Beautiful. The Parks Department along with KPB constructed the farm and KPB is going to maintain the farm. Mr. Branson advised that the Interlocal Agreement between the City of Pearland and Pearland Independent School District was approved by the City Council two weeks ago. Now the agreement is scheduled to go before the PISD's board meeting next Tuesday. He expects to start Plans and Specifications in January 2008. Mr. Grossenheider stated that the trail has been defined and cut out at Woody Street Park. Currently, clean up of the site is taking place. Mr. Grossenheider advised that the Bark Park at Independence Park is almost finished. The obstacle course has been shipped and will be put in place as soon as it is delivered. He intends the park will open November 9, 2007. Mr. Grossenheider stated that the irrigation project at Pearland Parkway and Oiler Drive has been completed. He will begin landscaping the area as an in-house project to save funds rather than contract the work out. Mr. Grossenheider advised that the landscaping project at Kirby Drive is also complete. M Ms. Smith gave a quick overview of the upcoming events for the Parks and Recreation Department. The Trick or Treat Trail on October 31, 2007 looks like it is going to be an successful event. Kid Fish Fest will be on November 10, 2007 at Centennial Park. It is a free event to expose kids to fishing opportunities. Ms. Smith advised that City Council proclaimed October 21 through October 27, 2007 as National CHARACTER COUNTS! Week. The department will be doing several small activities to celebrate the proclamation. For Halloween, staff will be dressing up as construction workers. Staff will be wearing shirts that read " Building Character, One Child at a time". Mr. Branson reminded the board that this past year the Parks and Recreation Department adopted its Vision, Mission and Strategic Goals. An all -department staff meeting was held in May to Kick -Off the program. Last Wednesday, the department had the first Quarterly meeting, which we talked about our Vision and our Mission. Mr. Grossenheider gave a speech, "What is a Leader" and Ms. Smith spoke about, "What Quality Means". Out of the Vision, Mission and Goal's, the Leadership team came up with an Employee Recognition Program, which they presented to the staff. Ms. Wyatt explained the Employee Recognition Program to the board. The program is designed to unite the department and recognize individual achievements. This program gives employees satisfaction in their work, which in turn helps the department stay in line with the Vision, Mission and Goals. There are two award levels to the program in which one can receive the award by following the "Core Principle of the month" for the department. There is also a "Highlighted Employee of the month" that provides a quick biography in the monthly newsletter and also an "Everyday Hero" section where you can list nice comments about your co- workers throughout the month. Mr. Branson would like to have the next quarterly meeting after a Parks Board Meeting so that the Parks Board can be introduced to the staff. Mr. Miller informed the group that an Interpretive Garden is being put in at the Recycling Center. New Hope Church will be assisting this weekend with the development of the garden. KPB had their Fall Time Luncheon last week at the Westside Event Center. The luncheon went very well with over 115 people in attendance. Mr. Grossenheider advised that the Parks and Recreation Department is partnering with Keep Pearland Beautiful on recycling efforts. The department is increasing the recycling efforts at the parks and at all City events. 5 VIII. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 9:50 a.m. These minutes respectfully submitted by: t Randi Wyatt t Parks Office Coordinator 1�Iinutes approved as submitted and/or corrected this C� _�\' day of �' r.'`;y r i✓�'w 12007. Thomas GibN� Chairperson Co