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2022-01-13 PEARLAND PARKS, RECREATION AND BEAUTIFICATION BOARD REGULAR MEETING MINUTESMINUTES — REGULAR MEETING OF THE CITY OF PEARLAND PARKS, RECREATION, & BEAUTIFICATION BOARD, HELD ON THURSDAY, January 13, 2022, AT 8:30 A.M., AT PEARLAND RECREATION CENTER & NATATORIUM. CALL TO ORDER A motion was made by Heather Baker to appoint Pro Tem Chair Jeff Webb to act as chairman for the meeting. Heather Campo seconded the motion. The motion was approved. Board member Jeff Webb called the meeting to order at 8:36 a.m. II. BOARD ROLL CALL Jeff Webb N ancy Bankson Heather Campo Heather Baker Carry Capers Kevin Carter S amira Areshia Brandon Torres Araceli Bravo Richard Vaughn Board Member Board Member Board Member Board Member P arks & Recreation, Director P arks & Recreation, Assistant Director P arks & Recreation, Executive Assistant P arks & Recreation, Athletic/Aquatics Manager P arks & Recreation, Adaptive Recreation Specialist Forever Parks Foundation III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Minutes were presented to board for review. A motion was made by Heather Baker to approve the December minutes, Heather Campo seconded the motion. The motion was approved IV. BOARD REPORT Heather Campo — attended the lighting of the tree and was appreciative of the church for their support during the event. N ancy Bankson — was not able to get out into parks events and daughter was trying to have birthday party at the park as well but they were unable to do both things due to busy schedule and COVID concerns/issues. Richard Vaughn — attended the city council meeting; asked for more information about how many employees Parks & Recreation has, only 54 FTE, 97 Part Time Employees. Jeff Webb provided Vaughn with additional insight about lifeguards and their positions. Vaughn asked if the City Council is going to wait until next October to make these decisions because he believes that those decisions are needed to be made now with the n umber of the parks the city has. Extra work hours are going to be needed due to all of the tourism Pearland is pulling in and the recently signed 8 softball tournaments. He is happy that more tourism is coming in and the additional economic benefits such as hotel/motel taxes He had talked to some people who were working out and using the n ew machines in the Recreation Center and says it is better equipment and that we are blessed to have such equipment. Jeff Webb — went to Independence Park on Christmas Eve with his dogs and wife and walked around outside and went through the light tunnels and saw the gingerbread ✓ illage He thought it was wonderful and was great to still see people walking around at 7pm on Christmas Eve. It was well done and mentioned how the partnership with church was appreciated. He had some discussions with the members on the Forever Parks Foundation Board and made good progress against the fundraising goal and reached the target. In talks with Mayor Cole who wants to do an event to help raise money to help support the inclusive playground project. He mentioned that there has been lots of great progress there and it's exciting and it's amazing to look back and see the effort and dollars that have been raised over the course of a little over a year. Progress is being made with the Pearland disc golf to make renovations to the Pearland Disc Golf Course. Heather Baker — spoke about the Hometown Christmas Lights and how several people told her that they took their families and commented on how great of an experience it was and encouraging others to go attend. She attended one of the nights but couldn't stay for long. Gave kudos to partnership with the church and putting it all together. She spoke about the city council meeting and how Carry did a fantastic job and she took a lot of notes as the council members were responding, asking questions, and providing their feedback about different things. She said that almost every single one of them mentioned our request for additional staffing and she believes it resonated with them. Everyone was complimentary of the Parks Department. There were a few things that they had brought up about their support. She learned new things such as about funding for various projects. She also mentioned the survey that was just posted on social media. She provided her encouragement for citizens to encourage each other to fill out the survey to tell the city what they like and want more of such as the nature trails, more natural things Brought up the oil analogy that she had used at the City Council meeting when she said adding less than necessary oil to a car because you think they can get by and compared that to the Parks Department and to not do that to them. V. DISCUSSION & POSSIBLE ACTION - PARKS & RECREATION POLICY UPDATES Carry presents Parks & Recreation Policy — Final versions. Asked for consideration and approval of the policies. Chairman Pro Tem Webb asked for any comments or questions about this policy. There was not additional discussion. Motion by Nancy Bankson to adopt policy. Heather Baker seconded the motion. The motion was approved. VI. DISCUSSION - SPORTS COMPLEX SHADOW CREEK RANCH PHASE 2 GRAND OPENING Brandon Torres, Parks & Recreation Athletics & Aquatic Manager and Araceli Bravo, Parks & Recreation Adaptive Recreation Specialist presented information about the grand opening and programming plans for the Sports Complex Shadow Creek Ranch. Torres discussed plans for the concession stand, extra parking, cricket fields, miracle field and its tentative opening date of late February. Once event plans are finalized more details will be shared with the Board Tentative plans include a 3-day celebration miracle league, rugby, and cricket, with a day dedicated to each of those. Friday will be ribbon cutting with city leadership and keynote speakers. Araceli has gathered 14 participants for the exhibition. Julio our volunteer coordinator, has been recruiting volunteers as it is a critical part of the program. They started working with a vendor to have complimentary popcorn throughout the ballpark on this day On Saturday, they are going to be working/partnering with Brazona Spartans, who are a recreational Rugby group, and they also have an adult side as well. Day will close out with a Movie at night with sports related family friendly movie on miracle field with popcorn vendor possibly being invited out again. On Sunday, they will have Cricket games, clinics, and entertainment Araceli Bravo discussed how this was one of the few cities who has an adaptive recreation program. The City s goal is to provide social or physical activities for those with disabilities. A Miracle league is a rubber field that can be used by anyone including those with wheelchairs. Most miracle fields are offsite and secluded but this is the first one that is incorporated with other sports fields, truly inclusive and allows players to watch/play around other kids. The Miracle League will open on March 26th and will run for 6 weeks on Saturday mornings with two season per year, fall and spring. All equipment will be provided to the athletes, staff and volunteers will help accommodate the players, and participation will be free. 75 participants have registered already surpassing the registration goal by 50%. This will bring inclusivity and awareness in our community and for many, this will be one of the first times they get to see themselves as athletes. Richard Vaughn asked, how long the games will be. Bravo replied 1 hour each. Jeff Webb asked how do we volunteer? Bravo replied, volunteer information will be available on the website. Webb asked how close are we to doing the groundbreaking for miracle field? Capers informed the board that the Foundation is waiting on the grant application to be approved by Texas Parks and Wildlife, which can take up to 45 days. DISCUSSION - ANNUAL NATATORIUM MAINTENANCE CLOSURE Brandon Torres shared information about the details of the Closed facility. Yesterday was first day for the closure Pool plaster stripped and then applying the new plastered. Taking this time to clean up pool, organize office space/storage clean bleachers Closed u ntil February 2' but January 27th competition pool will open to public and then the other half will be closed. DISCUSSION - NRPA AND TRAPS MEMBERSHIP BENEFITS There was a typo on the agenda — it should have been NRPA, not NPRA. Capers shared information about each professional association and informed the board that the department s agency membership includes Board Members Membership includes great resources like webinars a diversity equity and inclusion tool kit, data, studies and surveys. Capers also shared that the TRAPS East Region Workshop will be held at RCN o n Tuesday January 18th from 8am to 4pm. The TRAPS State Institute will be on February 18th in College Station. VII. DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTIONS - FY 23 STAFFING OUTLOOK/WHITE PAPER Capers requested to postpone this agenda item to the next meeting. VIII. DIRECTOR'S REPORT Capers reported on the following: Hometown Christmas Festival of Lights — 7,000 people were in attendance the first night at the Tree Lighting Ceremony. Second Baptist Church volunteers were onsite counting attendance each night. The volunteers tracked an additional 40,689 people came out to ✓ iew the festivities. Citizen Survey - Parks & Recreation has launched a survey to collect more information about how our residents value our park system and what amenities they value most. The S urvey is available on pearlandparks.com and on the department's Facebook page Deadline for the survey is March 30th P arks & Recreation Strategic Retreat — January 26 & 27 all full-time Parks and Recreation staff will be engaged in a two-day offsite development retreat. This year's theme - shaping our culture — will focus on transparency and the sphere of influence we have through our leadership. Staff will develop 2022 Strategic Plans and evaluate the impact of the programs and services provided to the community Additional sessions will include effective decision making, developing data driven budgets, and equity and inclusion. Grand Openings — Be on the lookout for event grand opening information for the West Pearland library Ivy Park and the Clear Creek Trail at Shadow Creek Ranch, Fire Station #4, and the Animal Shelter. Bilingual Pay - Staff meeting the program requirements are eligible to receive $75 a month on paychecks. Carter reported that the Forever parks has been working closely with the departments Natural Resources team on the development of a mountain biking trail. Woody Park has been identified as a possible location. IX. ADJOURNMENT Baker made a motion to adjourn. Campo seconded the motion. Motion passed. Chairman Pro Tem Webb adjourned the meeting at 9:46am. These minutes respectfully submitted by: Carry Cape , irector — (transcribed initially by Samira Areshia) Minutes s submitted and/or corrected this j J day of n, Chairman 2022.