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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes_PAREB_05.15.1997CITY OF GEORGETOWN Parks & Recreation Board Amended Minutes May 15,1997 MEMBERS PRESENT: Mr. Tom Swift, Chair Ms. Sarah Ruth, Vice Chair Ms. Cheryl Mize Ms. Joyce Gadison Mr. Wesley Kidd MEMBERS ABSENT: Ms. Ronda Seagraves Mr. Ben White Ms. Joan Sukup Ms. Debbie McGarry OTHERS PRESENT: Randy Morrow, Director of Parks & Recreation Kimberly Garrett, Administrative Assistant Kathryn Stallard, Citizen Leslie Rosestein, Citizen J.C. Johnson, Citizen April Olivares, Richarte Student Camille Hightower, Richarte Student Christopher Frost, Richarte Student Gerardo Chairez, Richarte Student Jacqueline Titus, Richarte Student Lauryn Steenken, Richarte Student T.J. Lierman, Richarte Student Judy Bledsoe, Richarte Social Studies Teacher I. APPROVE MINUTES FROM MAY 15, 1997 Motion was made by Sara Ruth to accept the April 10, 1997, minutes. Wesley Kidd seconded the motion and it passed by unanimous vote. II. CITIZENS WISHING TO ADDRESS THE BOARD. Kathryn Stallard and Leslie Rosestein of San Gabriel Heights spoke to the board about concerns in their neighborhood. They are here concerning Agenda Item V. San Gabriel Heights was one of the neighborhoods that was identified as being park deficient on a survey done a few years ago. It has no park and is a large neighborhood. It is close to the Junior High School, but a person would have to cross 5 lanes of traffic to get there. There is 19 %2 acres at the end of Inwood Cul -de -sac that the neighborhood thought was always going to be river access. The City was offered the land in the early stages of development, but did not purchase it for a park. In the 80's the developer went broke and the land went to the FDIC. In 1994 an individual purchased the land and was offered a handshake deal where the City would grant him a variance (let him build 2 houses, instead of 1) in exchange for river access. The owner went away and never did anything with the land. The land has recently sold and the new owner has proposed the variance deal the first owner was given. There has never been any discussion on the variance. Planning and Zoning have approved the proposal, but it is still pending because of two items, one was the variance and rezoning. What Kathryn and Leslie are asking is that when this item comes before City Council, Parks and Recreation will support denying the variance and rezoning unless access is provided. Another issue is to what extent does that neighborhood want a park. If the City buys and maintains the property, it will be a public park or access. The neighborhood wants access to the river. There is a San Gabriel Heights Neighborhood meeting on Saturday and they will discuss the issue. There is really no other access points to the river from the neighborhood. The citizens were also discussing putting together a neighborhood association to purchase the land themselves. A motion was made by Cheryl Mize to table action on agenda item number 5 until the appropriate time on the agenda. Joyce Gadison seconded the motion and it passed by unanimous vote. J.C. Johnson representing the Heritage Society and the Palace Theater Board spoke to the board concerning a request to have a guided tour in IOOF(International Order of Odd Fellows) Cemetery. This tour would point out interesting persons in Georgetown's past buried in the cemetery and have people dressed up in costumes representing the deceased. This would be an all day tour, possibly a few days. He is asking permission from the Parks and Recreation Board and possibly the City Council to have this tour in the cemetery. Tom Swift asked that the families of the deceased be involved in the planning as much as possible. Tom Swift said that J.C. Johnson and the Heritage Society needed final approval from City Council. III. PRESENTATION ON OLD GEORGETOWN CEMETERY Students from Richarte High School gave a presentation on their project with the Old Georgetown Cemetery. The project was called Richarteville. The seven students gave a report on their findings, what they did, and what should be done next. The students did actual hands on work. Some of the things they did were survey the cemetery and do rubbings on some of the headstones in the cemetery. They gave Parks and Recreation one of the rubbings to display. The students from Richarte compiled a list of recommendations. They include 1.) Form a task force composed of people from local historical groups, neighborhood groups, and /or interested persons to create a plan for conservation of the area. 2.) Replace current fence with an appropriate style that would encompass all areas of cemetery. 3.) Move historical marker to a more prominent position. 4.) Remove and store in a safe place all loose stones after a photographic record is made so no further damage will occur. 5.) To insure future recognition of the area, investigate the feasibility of registering the cemetery as a National Historical Site. 6.) Investigate resources of moneys to restore and maintain cemetery. 7.) While providing access to promote interest, rules and regulations including times of operation and behavior of visitors need to be established. Randy Morrow mentioned that we are in budget process. He suggested the students give the presentation to City Council. IV. FOLLOW UP REPORT ON BLUE HOLE RESTROOMS Present at the meeting on Saturday, April 26, 1997, were Wesley Kidd, Tom Swift, Sara Ruth, Ben White, Randy Morrow, and Marvin Dorsey. The members looked at different options on where to build a restroom. There was some discussion about building a restroom at the corner of Rock Street and 2nd Street, the location where trees are planted down by the river, where the trail starts at Blue Hole, and by the picnic tables. There was concern about having access to restrooms closer to Blue Hole. A large restroom on Rock Street and a smaller restrooms inside the park would be ideal. Randy is still working on the fmal plans. V. INFORMATION ON SAN GABRIEL HEIGHTS Kathryn Stallard and Leslie Rosestein spoke earlier on this item. The options are to look into purchasing a strip of land for access or a 5 acre lot to develop a park with access. Another option is pursue buying land in a near area to allow access to the river. Cheryl Mize said she was sympathetic to the residents, but did not think the board should force the new owner to uphold a verbal agreement made by the previous owner if a consensus could not be reached. She encouraged the board to pursue exploring other options that are reasonable and consistent with the Century Plan, but to be cautious because we did not know how many people were interested in doing the park or did not want to demand access if other options were available in the subdivision. VI. FOLLOW UP ON NAMING OF PARK FACILITIES Joan and Joyce are pulling together information on Winifred Bonner and Mike McMaster so that a presentation to City Council can be made. Joyce said that she was going to get with Randy and work on the project. Tom asked if she could give a report at the June 12th meeting. VII. APPOINTMENT TO CITIZEN'S ADVISORY COMMITTEE TO POLICE DEPARTMENT Tom Swift is the current liaison for the Parks and Recreation Board to the Citizen's Advisory Committee (CAC) to the Police Department. They meet the same time and date as the Parks and Recreation Board. The liaison would bring back concerns to the board and let the police department know of any of the Parks and Recreation Board concerns. Tom suggested Cheryl Mize take over the responsibility. Cheryl agreed to be the Parks and Recreation Board liaison to the CAC. VIII. INFORMATION FROM BOARD MEMBERS AND DIRECTORS Joyce Gadison was walking on the trail and had many positive responses from people using the trail. She also suggested expanding the rails on the smaller bridges so that people would not go down under the bridge. Cheryl Mize asked about ownership of the Playscape. Randy said the City of Georgetown owns and maintains the playscape. She asked about the maintenance and why it has not been properly treated. Randy said an eagle scout was going to do the project and decided against it. The mulch is raked every morning and he is trying to get some money to put some more mulch down. The Playscape is supposed to make a payment to the City every year to help pay for some of the costs of the maintenance. Cheryl is willing to meet with the three officers of the Playscape Committee to see about them turning over guardianship to the Friends of Georgetown Parks. Wesley Kidd said that the rocks at Blue Hole need to be moved back into place to prevent people from parking in the grass. Randy Morrow said that the parks department will be finishing Blue Hole soon; Project Graduation will be using the Community Center; still working with Marvin Dorsey on the restrooms; and the new fields at the athletic complex are going to be sodded this weekend. Sara Ruth mentioned scheduling a tour of the parks for the board. Tom Swift said we would explore the two options for San Gabriel Heights. One would be to make a offer on lot 2 or look at purchasing other land for river access. IX. ADJOURN Motion to adjourn was made by Cheryl Mize and seconded by Joyce Gadison.