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2023-02-09 PEARLAND PARKS, RECREATION AND BEAUTIFICATION BOARD REGULAR MEETING MINUTESMINUTES — REGULAR MEETING OF THE CITY OF PEARLAND PARKS, RECREATION & BEAUTIFICATION BOARD, HELD ON THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2023, AT 8:30 am, AT PEARLAND RECREATION CENTER & NATATORIUM. I. CALL TO ORDER Chairman Dennis Jackson called the meeting to order at 8:35 am. II. BOARD ROLL CALL N ancy Bankson Heather Baker Heather Campo Dennis Jackson Dennis Allen Carry Capers Kevin Carter Richard Vaughan STAFF Amy Coykendall Lindsey Taylor Kelly Moody Board Member Vice-chairman Board Member Chairman Board Member Director Parks & Recreation Assistant Director Parks & Recreation Forever Parks Foundation Executive Assistant S pecial Events Coordinator S pecial Events Manager III. Citizen Comments N o Citizens attended. IV. Approval of Minutes Heather Baker motioned for approval of minutes. Heather Campo seconded. V. Board report N ancy Bankson- Very much looking forward to the Inclusive Playground. Dennis Jackson- Not too much to report. Went on a walk with dad through the nature trail. After the presentation last month, you look at the area differently. Heather Baker- Told her husband about the prairie preservation area and had her husband drive by it. Looking through the Inclusive Playground and Spring Fest. Wants to look into way to help out the animal shelter with adoptions, possibly at Spring Fest. Heather Campo- Looking forward to Spring Fest. Richard Vaughan- Looked at the inclusive playground and it is going to be amazing- looks like the pictures. He walks here quite often on the track He discussed a lady he met that walks the track as well and how walking the track has helped her lose weight. The RCN has made a big impact in his life. Dennis Jackson said he brings his son here for swim lessons, Dennis Allen- He is very impressed with the progress of the inclusive playground and time at Independence Park When he talks to people at he parks, he likes to introduce himself and offer up a chance to ask questions about the parks and so he can bring up concerns to the board if needed. So far, everyone has had nothing but good things to say VI. Staff Presentation- Kelly Moody Carry introduced Kelly as the new Special Events Manager. Kelly discussed the updates for the Ed Thompson All -Inclusive Playground- how the construction is going the grand opening, and ribbon cutting. Grand Opening and Ribbon Cutting has been moved due to weather and custom elements of the playground equipment- new date to be announced at a later time. When it gets closer to the new grand opening time, Kelly will the consultants from Inclusion Matters do a presentation for the Board and what went into the design of the park. Heather Baker asked fi there will be a message going out to the public. Kelly and Carry both stated that the message will be going out today. Kelly asked that the board share the update. Once the elements will are in and completed, the park will open up to the community and a new ribbon cutting will happen. Heather asked if the delays would affect the cost. Kelly stated that it will not, but hopefully will include a discount. Kelly gave a background on the park and how the discussions started over 10 years ago There is interest in the surrounding ISDs in the park and the adaptive programs- Friendswood, Alvin, Pasadena VII. Staff Presentation- Lindsey Taylor Spring Fest marketing has gone out on social media. Lindsey asked that the board shares the information out. March 4th- Big Top Events- Wrist bands are required for most but not all. Entrance is free, but rides that require a wrist bands will have a sign. Sales for the wrist bands started online yesterday, sales will also happen on site. Free parking is at the high school. ADA parking will be on site as long as they have the appropriate sign. Parks board will be provided 4 free wrist bands each. Ruff Runner- year 3 of the event- March 25th- four legged friend not required. Onsite parking will be available for everyone until they have to close for the safety of the runners on the course. Offsite parking is at the high school. Roads will be closed for the race Lindsey will reach out to see if the animal shelter would be interested in attending at ruff runner and spring fest Dennis Jackson asked what happened with the HEB sponsor with Ruff Runner Carry explained that there has been a lot of change with the event, and due to the changes, the numbers just are not the same as prior to rebranding and independence park construction. The event just did not meet the qualifications/metrics for HEB sponsorships. HEB will be sponsoring concerts in the park this summer. Epic Plumbing is excited to be the presenters of the Ruff Runner event this year. Pearland half marathon with Irun- Saturday March 26th at Independence park. Irun will be donating 5% of registration fees to the Forever Parks Foundation. Circus Espana will be attending Spring Fest for strolling and pictures. The shows will be from March 9-19 at Independence Park. First time to be back since COVID started. They will be camping at the park Houston Folk Festival- April 1- first time event. They will have music and craft market. Galentine's will be held for the first time on February 11 (sunset cinema) at Southdown park - scheduled for 6 pm. 10 Things I hate About You will be shown. The community voted for the movie they wanted to be shown for the event Carry talked about joining the Special Events team in their January planning meeting. She is looking forward to all the ideas that came about and what is in the works for the coming years. Heather Baker asked if there was any challenge in front of the Special Events team that the board can help with Lindsey said a common statement that came up was not keeping concerts in the park only at Independence, maybe something simultaneous. Funding is an are that they could help with. Carry said that if the board comes across individuals that are interested in volunteering time and joining in the discussions, that would be welcome. Kelly said any ideas or events they see in other cities, please let them know. Denis Allen asked if there will be awards/medals for both runners AND walkers for the 10k Half Marathon and Ruff Runner Lindsey said that they encourage the walkers to join the 3k in Ruff Runner. Nancy Bankson stated that with 10ks and 5ks that there are time limits and it is not possible to walk the entire way and that there are usually pacers at events like this that will move you off the course if not in the time limit Kelly asked Dennis if he was curious if there will be a separate walking course that he wanted to walk He wanted clarification for the community as there are large walking groups, and some are at race speed. Heather Campo asked about changes to traffic for the event and asked if there is information that goes out to the public. Carry stated that messages go out the week of the event and the electronic message boards are put on the streets that state closure dates/times and to anticipate delays. VIII. DISCUSSION- Kevin Carter, Splash Pad Operations During last year's conversation regarding splash pads operating season, they discussed increasing efficiency, decreasing the season dates and the cost- Is there a value to the community vs the cost it takes to run the splash pads. Cameras were placed at the splash pads to see the traffic and how many visitors there are. Data being shared in the meeting is incomplete The week days did not increase or decrease during the timeframe they looked at in changing for opening/closing seasons. During the week days the numbers did not change for the times they were looking at changing. Opening date is April 1st through September 1st but looking to change dates to opening Memorial Day and ending Labor Day. April numbers- total 817 (Southdown. 482, Centennial: 355) Kevin shared the improvements/efficiencies made to the splash pads. Kevin recommends keeping the splash pad opening dates the same to track the improvements and counts for the season to compare to last year. Dennis Jackson asked if there was a benefit to opening in May but closing at the end of September as April is kind of a throw away month, would it be a benefit to us to have additional maintenance done in April Kevin explained how the splash pad system ran once started and what happens if they are shut down due to weather. Kevin stated that if splash pads opened at the same time this year, we can get more accurate numbers and be able to make a more informed decision. Carry stated that the operating cost was approximately $1000 and maintenance cost was approximately $1600, and with the costs will be significantly lower. It would be a benefit for the community to be opened in April. Heather Baker agrees with the recommendation that keeping the same dates this year to have two years information to look back on as last year was abnormal, and then review at the end of the year. To be put on docket to discuss in the fall when we have the numbers back. Heather Campo asked if the hours are listed on the calendar. The dates are not published for splash pad opening/closing dates. Put on the agenda for the month of November, or January if numbers are not ready. IX. DIRECTOR REPORT City council meeting Monday night will be finalizing bonds, with hickory slough and independence park phase 2 both being included in the bonds. Once the language has been finalized the city will be putting together a FAQ sheet and it will be shared with the Parks Board. Parks board is encouraged to share the information and to help bring people to the ballot in May. Lifeguard pay has been updated and with the change, there has been more interest in applicants. Carry discussed the Aquatics Manager open position. Richard Vaughan asked what the new rates for the lifeguards are. PT Lifeguard (16+ age)- level 1 $10.70/hour, now $13/hour WSI (18+ age)- $12 38 to $16.23; Head Guard $11.23 to $14.34. City Manager position will be posted today. Strategic retreat happened a couple weeks ago. Carry discussed the theme of Bold Leadership. CAPRA accreditation requirements are 154 standards: 36 fundamental, 112 non - fundamental. Every 5 years there is a re -accreditation and this is our second year. March 3rd is deadline for self -assessment. After that there is a virtual visit. At the NRPA conference there will be an announcement on getting the accreditation. All board members have a membership to NRPA. Kevin provided project updates: • Woodcreek park bridge replacement- approved Jan 23rd. Waiting for pre - construction meeting. He is interested in the plan for delivery of the new bridge into such a tight section of land. • Knapp Center improvements- Outdoor pavilion in the courtyard to extend the outdoor programming for the KAC Currently in process of the RFQ and hoping to get bids in for contractors and designers soon. • Shadow Creek Ranch turf renovation- two fields have been stripped and limed. Other two fields will be stripped next week. All infrastructure and ground work completion goal is about the end of March beginning of April. The turf will be synthetic from the dugout/Homeplate to the traditional outfield line. The fields will have the ability to run softball games and baseball on the fields. Mound that can be changed out has been ordered. • Centennial park restrooms- painting being done now; waiting on the dividers to be delivered. Anticipating mid to end of the month to be completed. Dennis Allen asked about the type of dividers. Kevin explained that the traditional stainless -steel dividers that are seen at other parks are what will be installed. • Storage building at Centennial- plans have been 100% reviewed by city staff. Waiting on engineer to do final drawings to get the final budget dollars • RCN Chillers- Swapped out. Completed two weeks ago. Boiler replacement still on track. • Dectron discussion- Still in design. Looking into an early purchase packaging, early ordering to get the same pricing/early order pricing locked in. Still about a year out from getting started. • Park maintenance building- In the programming stage. They have approved a contractor to come in and look at building Fleet and Parks moving to the Hill House location, which is a more centralized location for Parks staff. • RECAP Irrigation- They have been at Hickory Slough the last two weeks; then will be moving to Centennial and then Shadow Creek Ranch. • Shade structures- Awaiting final approval for the PO process. Southgate playground- replacement from vandalism. Quote is in, getting ready to submit order, and it will be an insurance claim. Heather Baker asked what happened. Kevin explained that the park was burned down about November 2022 due to teenagers burning down the structures. A homeowner was able to catch the incident on camera, which helped to catch the kids. Looking at capitalizing on the situation, to expand the play opportunities for the park, even with more expense on our end. Could be about 6-8 weeks before any work can be started. Richard asked when the turf will be placed in the inclusive playground. Kevin stated that it will be done in stages, and it will be strategically done Last feature is estimated to come in about the same time they will be finishing the fence. Heather Baker asked about updates on the freon leak. Kevin provided information on what happened Friday and on Monday. Contractors could not locate a leak; alarms going off could be due to something faulty within the alarms. Waiting for the full report from TDI Facilities is working on a temporary fix if it does completely fail. Heather Baker asked if this was related to deferred placement. This directly relates to the early purchase of the equipment. X. ADJOURNMENT Motion to adjourn by Nancy Bankson. Seconded by Heather Campo. Meeting adjourned at 10:00 am. These minutes are respectfully submitted by: n 9„, p._ i i u ), - - - - - - - - Carry Cape Director Minutes approved as submitted and/or corrected this 9th day of February 2023. ticigli„ Heather Baker, Vice Chairman