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07-25-2011 (Parks & Recreation) Agenda Packet Parks Recreation Board F wcitit Meeting Agenda Monday,July 25,2011 —6:30 p.m. Wylie Municipal Complex—Council Chambers 300 Country Club Road, Building 100 Wylie,Texas 75098 Anne Hiney Chair Brandi Lafleur Vice-Chair Dan Chesnut Board Member Cristine Price Board Member Gary Robas Board Member Matt Rose Board Member Jim Ward Board Member Robert Diaz Board Liaison Nancy Williams Board Secretary In accordance with Section 551.042 of the Texas Government Code, this agenda has been posted at the Wylie Municipal Complex, distributed to the appropriate news media, and posted on the City website: www.wvlietexas.2ov within the required time frame. As a courtesy, the entire Agenda Packet has also been posted on the City of Wylie website: www.wylietexas.gov. The Chairman and Board request that all cell phones and pagers be turned off or set to vibrate. Members of the audience are requested to step outside the Council Chambers to respond to a page or to conduct a phone conversation. The Wylie Municipal Complex is wheelchair accessible. Sign interpretation or other special assistance for disabled attendees must be requested 48 hours in advance by contacting the City Secretary's Office at 972.516.6022. CALL TO ORDER Announce the presence of a Quorum. CITIZENS PARTICIPATION Residents may address Board regarding an item that is not listed on the Agenda. Residents must provide their name and address. Board requests that comments be limited to three (3) minutes. In addition, Board is not allowed to converse, deliberate or take action on any matter presented during citizen participation. BUSINESS ITEMS 1. Consider and act upon approving the Minutes from the June 27, 2011 meeting. 2. Elect new Board Officers (Chair and Vice-Chair) for 2011-2012 term. DISCUSSION ITEMS 3. Discuss Planet Kidz Youth program. 4. Discuss the City's application for certification as a Tree City USA. ADJOURNMENT CERTIFICATION I cent fy that this Notice of Meeting was posted on this 22nd day of July 2011 at 5:00 p.m. as required by law in accordance with Section 551.042 of the Texas Government Code and that the appropriate news media was contacted. As a courtesy, this agenda is also posted on the City of Wylie website: www.wvlietexas.gov. Carole Ehrlich,City Secretary Date Notice Removed Parks and Recreation citycy1 1 Ll .... ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... Meeting Minutes Monday,June 27,2011 —6:30 p.m. Wylie Municipal Complex—Council Chambers 300 Country Club Road, Building 100 Wylie,Texas 75098 CALL TO ORDER Announcing the presence of a Quorum, Chairwoman Anne Hiney called the meeting to order at 6:34 p.m. Board Members present: Dan Chesnut, Cristine Price, Gary Robas and Matt Rose and Jim Ward. Absent was Brandi Lafleur. Staff members present: Robert Diaz, Board Liaison and Park Board Secretary, Nancy Williams. CITIZENS PARTICIPATION No citizens addressed the Board. BUSINESS ITEMS 1. Consider and act upon approving the Minutes from the May 23, 2011 meeting. Board Action Board Member Robas made a motion, seconded by Board Member Rose to approve the minutes from the May 23, 2011 meeting. A vote was taken and passed at 6-0. Member Lafleur being absent. 2. Consider and act upon approving the Minutes from the May 31, 2011 special joint work session with City Council. Board Discussion Member Rose noted there was a correction on the first line under "Work Session" on page one it states "Bids were received for Founders Park" it should read "Community Park". Board Action Board Member Rose made a motion, seconded by Board Member Chesnut to approve the minutes from the May 31, 2011 special work session as amended.A vote was taken and passed at 6-0. Member Lafleur being absent. 3. Consider and act upon Wylie is HOPE vendor registration to sell crafts at the Olde City Park September 17, 2011 (or October 29, rain date) for Wylie Rodeo Weekend to fundraise for Wylie is HOPE. Board Discussion Superintendent Diaz reviewed the board report and asked for any questions on the vendor application noting that they are coordinating with the Wylie Women's League as they schedule their calendars. Chair Hiney asked if Wylie is HOPE is coordinating their event with the Rodeo. Superintendent Diaz indicated that his conversation with Candy Erickson led him to that conclusion. Board Action Board Member Chesnut made a motion, seconded by Board Member Robas to approve the vendor registration to sell crafts at the Olde City Park September 17, 2011 (or October 29, rain date) for Wylie Rodeo Weekend to fundraise for Wylie is HOPE. A vote was taken and passed at 6-0. Member Lafleur being absent. 4. Consider and act upon Wylie Women's League vendor registration to host the Wylie Women's League Fall Festival to sell crafts in Olde City Park on October 22, 2011 (or June 27,2011 Parks and Recreation Board Meeting Minutes Page 2 of 4 November 5th rain date), to fundraise for WWL scholarships. Board Action Board Member Rose made a motion, seconded by Board Member Price to approve the Wylie Women's League vendor registration to host the Wylie Women's League Fall Festival to sell crafts in Olde City Park on October 22, 2011 (or November 5th rain date), to fundraise for WWL scholarships. A vote was taken and passed at 6-0. Member Lafleur being absent. DISCUSSION ITEMS 5. Presentation by Wylie Economic Development Corporation regarding the construction of parking to benefit Olde City Park. (Presented by Sam Satterwhite, Executive Director WEDC) Board Discussion Mr. Satterwhite identified a .2 acre tract in downtown owned by the First Baptist Church that the EDC was interested in purchasing located south and adjacent to Boyd Studio on Ballard Street to accomplish the following goals: 1. Participate in the redevelopment of that side of town. 2. Facilitate additional parking downtown. 3. Facilitate additional parking for Olde City Park. Unable to accomplish the first goal due to the church's unwillingness to sell the property. EDC determined they could meet the second and third goals by construction of the parking on that lot with 35 parking spaces and to be reimbursed a portion of those expenses by the church after a certain number of years or a complete reimbursement if the church sold the property to a third party. Mr. Satterwhite acknowledged that this is spending public funds on private property which can be touchy if not done properly. The EDC is looking for the Board's feedback on the project as well as feedback from the Downtown Merchants and the City Council. Should any of the three groups express the opinion that it is not in the best interests of the City; the EDC will drop the project. Costs are estimated to be between $35,000 - $45,000. Chair Hiney asked what would happen with the parking lot when public events are held. Mr. Satterwhite stated that it would remain public parking and there would be indicating signage. The church would be responsible for maintaining the lot. They are also open to the "punch through"to the church parking lot in the design. Member Price inquired into the construction costs. Mr. Satterwhite said the costs were estimated at approximately$1000 per space. She indicated that the bid for the parking at Community Park project parking is about$1700 per space. Mr. Satterwhite indicated if that were to be the cost it was doubtful if they could move forward with the project. Member Ward asked if the church would sell back to us if we could deduct the cost of construction from the sales price. Mr. Satterwhite said that was a valid question and he would find out. The way the agreement is formulated is that if they sell EDC gets 100% reimbursement of expenses; if after 10 years they do not sell, the EDC is reimbursed 75% and the lot remains public parking if they removed the public parking designation at any time, the reimbursement is 100%. Member Chesnut suggested if the project is completed that striping be put on the street to indicate it is a pedestrian area. The Board informed Mr. Satterwhite that they supported the project. 6. Discuss sizes of trails and sidewalks in residential and commercial development. Board Discussion Superintendent Diaz said the kick off Trails meeting included discussions with Chris Hoisted, City Engineer with regard to width of sidewalks as related to the trails. Members Robas and Ward were in attendance at the meeting and had questions for Mr. Hoisted and Charles Lee, Senior Planner in this regard. After the meeting Mr. Lee sent follow up information to all in attendance at the Trails meeting. For further clarification Charles Lee from the Planning Department was invited to answer any other questions. Mr. Lee first gave his educational background then his background in Planning. He then explained the role the Planning Department takes in City development. Along with traffic connectivity, pedestrian connectivity is very important to the department, and they look at all proposals whether residential or June 27,2011 Parks and Recreation Board Meeting Minutes Page 3 of 4 commercial from both those aspects. Wylie is 36 square miles and has almost half of that in the flood plain. On the sustainability programs, a great deal is done by volunteerism on behalf of the developer as they want traffic in their locations. In the neighborhoods they look at the connectivity and making it work as best as they can. They sometimes offer different types of incentives to the developers to encourage wider walks or more trees. Zoning ordinance with regards to pedestrian traffic states a requirement of a 30 foot buffer with an 8 foot wide trail to rear of the open space perpendicular to the 30 foot wide exit street. This is the base standard for walking trails. In a residential development the requirement is for 5 feet sidewalks on both sides of the road, for commercial property the requirement is 4 foot sidewalks on both sides of the street. These are the base requirements. They also require connectivity to open space. In a planned development there may be exceptions that are approved by City Council. He reminded the Board that changing our minimum requirements in zoning may cause a domino effect in other areas that may make it difficult to complete some of our capital improvement projects. Developers can always exceed our requirement, and we encourage that. Member Ward asked that if a development was to be proposed and we desired an 8 foot trail in an area that only required 4 foot, could we reject their proposal? Mr. Lee said that would be at the discretion of the Planning and Zoning Board. Chair Hiney asked if she was correct in her summation of the ordinance that if an area was designated as trail then the minimum width would be 8 foot but even and if it was next to a major road the minimum width was 4 foot. Mr. Lee confirmed her conclusion. Member Ward asked Mr. Lee how the Board can make sure that the Master Trails plan overrides minimum standards when an area is designated for trails. Mr. Lee assured Member Ward that the Planning and Zoning does try to follow those guidelines on a case by case basis. He also cautioned changing one ordinance can end up causing other ordinances to be changed causing a domino effect. Giving the example during a major project when right-of-way is necessary then the sidewalk widths are affected by right-of-way size, road width, etc. Pedestrian connectivity is very important to the Planning and Zoning Department. Member Chesnut commented in his neighborhood the 4 foot sidewalk plan will not work in an area with several parks and a school. Chair Hiney expressed safety concerns over 4 foot sidewalks next to 6 lane roads in areas with schools. She felt it is necessary to address these issues now if it's not too late. She said they understood the ripple effect but felt if it was understood they were looking at it from a safety standpoint things would be more likely to change. Mr. Lee suggested they speak with the City Engineer and Council. Member Ward asked Mr. Lee his advice to the Board as to what to do if ordinances weren't change to avoid the ripple effect that might cause problems elsewhere, the firm designing the Master Trails plan designs the trails to be 8 to 12 feet in some areas that we don't end up with many sections of different widths because someone put in the base requirement, someone else put in the desired width, etc. How can we ensure that will happen if it is not written in the ordinance? Mr. Lee advised the Board to look at things from a residential neighborhood standpoint, i.e. the Safe Route programs which allow communities to get funded through grants to provide safe routes to schools. For the commercial side he advised to allow development to continue to comply with the current ordinances and let them be evaluated on a case by case basis and when they include trail areas, the would be required to be built to trail specifications. Mr. Lee acknowledged that would not address the City's CIP projects putting in 4 foot sidewalks but that it would address future projects if the networks were addressed on the Master Trails Plan. Member Robas commented that his neighborhood had a safe route project to the school right next to FM 1378 on a 4 foot sidewalk now that busing has been discontinued the children will have to walk right next to this major road or be driven by their parents. Mr. Lee said the City cannot require the school districts to build in specific areas or require busing, they are independent. Member Ward inquired once the Master Trail Plan is completed if they could require part of the process when an area is developed if they are not going to comply with the Trail Plan that they come before the Parks and Recreation Board to explain why they want to reduce the size of the trails or eliminate one? Mr. Lee said that could become part of the informal process to project approval. Mr. Lee thought that would June 27,2011 Parks and Recreation Board Meeting Minutes Page 4 of 4 be a good idea. Chair Hiney asked if we could be part of the approval process. Superintendent Diaz reminded the Board that they are part of the process on residential development but there just hasn't been any new development lately. Member Ward indicated it wouldn't be necessary for commercial unless the wanted to vary from the Master Trails Plan. Superintendent Diaz suggested it would be a good opportunity to address these issues when the completed Master Trails Plan is presented to Council at the end of the year. Mr. Lee also reviewed the Neighborhood ACTION plan that was adopted by City Council. Older established neighborhoods are evaluated and sidewalks are a large focus as the City is installing sidewalks where none exist and replacing some of the smaller sidewalks. The ACTION plan also Includes installing rubber material that prevents the older trees from being removed and the sidewalks from cracking due to the roots. He mentioned this due to its tie in to trails to parks. Chair Hiney inquired how the Trails kickoff meeting went. Member Ward said it went well with discussions with the consultants, the City Engineer Chris Hoisted, and Mr. Lee from Planning and Zoning. Most of the trails are the standard 8 foot but there was some mention of 10 and 12 foot trails. Member Ward said he was going to push to keep them all at 8 foot due to feasibility and cost with some possible exceptions. Member Price asked if prior to project starting that a minimum standard trail width and offset should be set. Ward informed Member Price that the minimum of 8 foot standard is all ready set and the offset is dictated by space allowances and that there is nothing we can do to change that at this point. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business a motion to adjourn was made by Board Member Chesnut and seconded by Board Member Rose. The meeting was adjourned at 7:52 p.m. by unanimous consent. ATTEST: Nancy Williams, Park Board Secretary Anne Hiney, Chair ' arks do ar.CITY OF Y LIE Meeting Date: 7/25/2011 Item Number: 2 Division: Parks and Recreation (Board Secretary's Use Only) Prepared By: Nancy Williams Account Code: Date Prepared: 7/22/2011 Budgeted Amount: $ Exhibits: Subject Elect new Board Officers (Chair and Vice-Chair) for 2011-2012 term. Recommendation n/a Discussion In accordance with the Parks and Recreation Board Bylaws elections are to be held at the first regular meeting following appointments. See below: ARTICLE III Officers Section 1. The officers of the Board shall be a Chairperson, a Vice-Chairperson and a Secretary(City Staff member will be serving as Secretary). Section 2. Officers shall be elected and take office at the first regular meeting after new Board members have been appointed and sworn in. Approved Initial Date Department Director MS 7/22/11 Page 1 of 1 Parks and Recreation Board CITY OF WYLIE AGENDA REPORT Meeting Date: July 25, 2011 Item Number: 3 Division: Parks and Recreation (Board Secretary's Use Only) Prepared By: Robert Diaz Exhibits: Date Prepared: July 22, 2011 $ Subject Discuss Planet Kidz Youth program. Recommendation N/A Discussion Current status: Staff conducted a work session with the City Council to review the Board recommendations regarding the Planet Kidz program at the June 28, 2011 meeting. Council gave staff direction to do the following: contact WISD to see if they would be interested in a cooperative program in a WISD facility and consider adjusting recreation center hours to reflect adding hours lost due to closing early on Saturdays to operate the Planet Kidz program. Staff would like some direction from the Board on some recommendations to bring back to the Council regarding the Planet Kidz Program. Previous information regarding Planet Kidz Program: Staff has been discussing the Planet Kidz youth program with the owner, Dale Oakes, for approximately three years. Staff waited to bring this item to the Board and Council for review until the Wylie Recreation Center was completed and there was a place available to accommodate the program. Planet Kidz is a program for children in 3-8th grades held on Friday or Saturday nights during the school year. The program is held in area school gyms, YMCA's, and municipal recreation centers throughout Texas. The program is from 7pm-11pm and features live dj, sports, dancing, tournaments, contests, celebrity apprearances, crafts, educational demonstrations,prizes and giveaways. The admission is $10 per child plus the cost of concessions. From the $10, the recreation center(City)would receive $2 per child. Potential attendance could be 4-500 children per event. The events are held weekly during the school year. This program achieves two important goals: a program specifically aimed at youth in grades 3-8 and a steady revenue stream for the recreation center. The challenge to getting this program started at the recreation center is accommodating its hour of operations. The recreation center currently is opened until l Opm on Friday's and 8pm on Saturday's. Set up for the program at the recreation center would need to start by 6pm on either Friday or Saturday. Therefore hours of operation would need to change to accommodate this program. Staff recommends closing early on Saturdays because of the potential increase in rental revenue on those days when Planet Kidz is not operating (summer months). Approved By Initial Date Department Director RD April 20 2011 Page 1 of 1 Parks and Recreation Board CITY OF WY I AGENDA REPORT Meeting Date: July 25, 2011 Item Number: 4 Division: Parks and Recreation (Board Secretary's Use Only) Prepared By: Shohn Rodgers Account Code: Date Prepared: July 14, 2011 Budgeted Amount: $ Exhibits: Subject Discuss the City's application for certification as a Tree City USA Recommendation n/a Discussion The Tree City USA program is administered by the Arbor Day Foundation, and recognizes cities across the nation who has demonstrated a commitment to preserving, caring for, and celebrating trees. Some of the benefits of becoming a Tree City USA are: encouraging better care of community forestry, increasing public awareness of the social, economical, and environmental benefits of urban forestry practices, contributing to community pride, and telling visitors, through signage, that this is a community that cares about its environment. There are four standards which a community must meet to be certified for this program, and yearly re- certification is required. The four standards are: 1) a tree board or department which is responsible for the care and maintenance of public trees, 2) a tree care ordinance, 3) a community forestry program with an annual budget of at least $2 per capita, 4) an Arbor Day observance and proclamation. The Parks Division has worked with the Texas State Urban Forestry Coordinator to refine our application materials and make sure we will meet the standards. Staff is currently working the City Attorney on wording for a draft tree care ordinance, but it has been reviewed by the State Forestry Coordinator, and has been deemed sufficient to meet the standards. It also serves to establish the Parks and Recreation Board as the official Tree Board for the City, and provides for an annual Arbor Day observance. Staff will review the process for applying for the Tree City Status and answer any questions the Board may have on this process. Staff will bring the draft tree ordinance and proclamation for a recommendation by the Board for the August meeting. Approved By Initial Date Department Director RD 7/22/11 Page 1 of 1