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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMin - Parks and Recreation Board - 1996 - 03/18 - RegularA MINUTES PARKS AND RECREATION BOARD REGULAR CALLED MEETING MARCH 18, 1996 - 6 P.M. MEMBERS PRESENT Jim Waldbauer, Vice -Chairman Dan Turner Mark Stout Leah Magruder, Secretary Byron Nielsen Mike Rippe MEMBERS ABSENT None GUESTS PRESENT Art Evans, ASA Softball Commissioner STAFF PRESENT Rhoda L. Savage, Director of Parks and Recreation Tim Dentler, Parks Superintendent Larry Kirk, Program Coordinator Sandy McGowan, Special Activities Coordinator Sue Witkowski, Secretary I. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at 7.35 p.m., by Vice -Chairman, Jim Waldbauer. Chairman, Lonnie Thomas was appointed to the Allen City Council at their Regular Meeting on March 7, 1996, and therefore effective immediately is no longer on the Allen Parks and Recreation Board. PAGE 2 PARKS AND RECREATION BOARD MEETING MARCH 18, 1996 II. CITIZENS COMMENTS There were no citizens present wishing to speak to the Board. III, APPROVE MINUTES FROM FEBRUARY 12, 1996, REGULAR CALLED MEETING MOTION: Mark Stout moved to accept the minutes from February 12, 1996 Regular Called Meeting as presented. Dan Turner seconded, the Motion carried 6 for, 0 against. IV. GRAND OPENING OF JOE FARMER RECREATION CENTER UPDATE Jim Waldbauer reported that the grand opening festivities are on schedule with the luncheon plans as well as public tours and entertainment plans. Jim asked available Parks and Recreation Board Members to serve as ushers in the "VIP Seating" section. This will entail greeting guests while welcoming them to the Joe Farmer Recreation Center. Plans were reviewed for the VIP Parking and shuttle service from Vaughn Elementary, beginning at 4 p.m. V. CONSIDER FOR APPROVAL HOURS OF OPERATION AT JOE FARMER RECREATION CENTER Sandy McGowan, Special Activities Coordinator, presented the Board with a plan to keep the Joe Farmer Recreation Center open during the following hours: Monday, Wednesday, Friday .. 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday 12 Noon to 10 p.m. Monday and Tuesday (leagues from 6 to 10 p.m.) Saturday ... 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday ... 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. Sandy informed the Board that the four full time permanent people could work these hours, and cover vacations and other off-duty times with part-time personnel. Following a brief discussion, it was determined that these hours would be used on a trial basis and adjusted according to the demand and needs of the public after opening of the center. It was also questioned whether the adult league play was PAGE 3 PARKS AND RECREATION BOARD MEETING MARCH 18, 1996 an appropriate use of the facility on Monday and Tuesday evenings. Also. Saturday Night Live programs will be run out of the recreation center on three Saturday evenings each month. These evenings will be by age groups, and one Saturday evening will be left open for special programming events. Sandy indicated that her staff was pleased with the proposed hours of operation. MOTION: Leah Magruder moved to accept the proposed hours as presented. Mark Stout moved to second and the motion carried 6 for, 0 against. VI. CONSIDER FOR COUNCIL APPROVAL A FEE POLICY FOR PARKS AND RECREATION PROGRAMS Director Rhoda Savage gave the Board a brief background on the Ordinance that establishes fees to be charged by the Department for services offered. She also reviewed the procedure for updating those fees: fust to Parks and Recreation Board for presentation and recommendation, then to City Council for presentation and approval. She is recommending a fee policy be developed that would take these fees out of ordinance, and place the responsibility for setting fees annually with the Parks and Recreation Board. She also recommended doing a 25-75 % split if on a contractual basis (programs at recreation center, etc). Following a discussion, it was determined that a subcommittee from the Board would be appropriate to work with staff on the development of this policy for presentation to the City Council. Rhoda would like to have the policy in place for the fall of 1996. Leah Magruder and Mark Stout volunteered to work with staff in the pursuit of this policy VII. CONSIDER FOR COUNCIL APPROVAL A REQUEST TO CHARGE ADMISSION TO TOURNAMENTS SPONSORED BY ASA GIRLS SOFTBALL Mr Art Evans, ASA Softball Commissioner, presented a request that had originally been made to the Allen City Council regarding the request to charge $2 per day for adults and $1 per day for children to attend girls softball tournaments scheduled for Ford Park this year. This request had been made by Mr Mark Stout, ASA President and Parks and Recreation Board Member. During this process, the City Manager had requested a statement from the Director regarding Ithis issue PAGE 4 PARKS AND RECREATION BOARD MEETING MARCH I8, 1996 Rhoda indicated that while she very much supported the ASA and tournaments being held in Allen, her preference would be to accept donations, rather than charge admission. The background she provided the Board included information regarding a tournament which took place last year in which a parent became upset with the City because ASA had failed to obtain proper permit from Council to charge admission, and his son had been asked to pay admission at Ford Park. A lengthy discussion followed in which several alternatives were discussed. The overhead for the ASA and ways ASA could host tournaments and not loose money was discussed. The tournament facility rental fee charged by the City was discussed, and the possibility of waiving that fee for non-profit organizations such as ASA. The Director indicated that would be preferable to charging admission. Mr. Evans felt that would be taking money away from the City, and wanted visitors to Allen to pay the gate fee rather than ask for a waiver of the $30 per team fee charged by Parks and Recreation for field rental. Rhoda indicated that at this time she needed the Board to make a decision on the direction they wanted to take regarding the closing of public facilities for private use. Mark Stout, ASA President and Parks and Recreation Board member emphasized that they needed to break even and that they were in fact, losing money without the ability to charge a gate fee. He indicated that the Allen ASA Girls Softball Program would be hosting 5 tournaments this year and that all other Cities (except Plano) charge a gate fee for spectators at these same type of tournaments. He indicated that the people attending these tournaments expect to pay this gate fee, and that they are 95 % out of town people, not taxpayers in Allen. Dan Turner asked Art Evans what difference he would foreseen in charging a gate fee vs accepting donations, he indicated that he felt it would not make that much difference, that the people that were going to be there to watch the tournament would probably pay the donation. He felt the parents bringing their daughters to the tournament are used to paying and would therefore pay no matter how the request was made. Jim Waldbauer indicated his concern with the new recreation center coming on line that people would be wanting to charge admission to various functions in the center, and the decision tonight could be setting a precedence. I PAGE 5 PARKS AND RECREATION BOARD MEETING MARCH 18, 1996 Mike Rippe inquired as to the feasibility of raising the tournament fee to cover expenses, and was told that they would not be competitive if they were to do so, and teams would go to other cities for their tournaments. MOTION: Leah Magruder moved to recommend Council allow donations to be accepted at these tournaments sponsored by ASA Girls Softball. Mike Rippe moved to amend the Motion by including the statement that the hosts of the tournament would work with City Staff and City Staff would approve the signage to be displayed at these events regarding the acceptance of donations. Byron Nielsen seconded, and the Motion carried 5 for, 0 against. Mark Stout abstained from voting due to a conflict of interest as he is the ASA president and hosting the tournaments. VIII. SOLICIT INPUT REGARDING SPRING PLANNING SESSION WITH CITY COUNCIL Rhoda indicated that for the fust time, the Board Chairmen were invited to present to the Allen City Council during their Spring Planning Session. She indicated that this Spring Planning Session is a pre -budgetary meeting of Council, Staff, and this year, involves various Board and Commission Chairs. Rhoda told the Board it was a great opportunity to present various long-term and broad issues to the Council. Some of the suggestions were as follows: Facility Useage - non-profit vs profit Corporate Sponsorship Maintenance Budgets for Existing Facilities Empowering of the Parks and Recreation Board Update of Comprehensive Plan Regarding Definition of Buffer Between Development and Floodplain and Tree/Creek Lines 1995 Issue - Cottonwood Creek Historical Dam 1995 Issue - Define Neighborhood/Community Parks IX. UPDATE ON HALF CENT SALES TAX ELECTION Rhoda announced that the 'hc Sales Tax Election would be held on May 4, and encouraged all Board members to work toward the successful passage of this election. Other cities have benefited greatly from the passage of this issue, and PAGE 6 PARKS AND RECREATION BOARD MEETING MARCH 18, 1996 Allen can move ahead much faster with the additional revenue generated. Much of the money generated would be from sales made outside the City of Allen by companies such as Photronics, TRW, and DLM, etc. XI. ADJOURN There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 9.44 p.m. These minutes read and approved this 8th day of April, 1996. k-11 G& Jim aldbauer, Chairman 11 I Secretary