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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes_PAREB_06.15.2000CITY OF GEORGETOWN Parks & Recreation Board June 15, 2000 MEMBERS PRESENT: Mr. Ben White, Chair Mr. John Philpott Mr. Douglas Blackard Ms. Tracy Dubcak Ms. Jean Houck Mr. David Rinn Mr. Wesley Kidd Ms. Brenna Nedbalek MEMBERS ABSENT: Mr. Jim Atencio, Vice Chair OTHERS PRESENT: Randy Morrow, Director Kimberly Garrett, Administrative Manager Jerry Richey, Citizen Greg Pfluger, Citizen Fred Attaya, Citizen Bill Knodle, Citizen Scherri Kroeker, Citizen Elliot Lawrence, Citizen Lara Ingalsbe, Citizen I. APPROVE MINUTES FROM May 11, 2000 MEETING A motion was made by Jean Houck to accept the minutes from the May 11, 2000, meeting. Brenna Nedbalek seconded the motion and it passed by unanimous vote. II. DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION ON GEORGETOWN VILLAGE PLAYGROUND REQUEST — SCHERRI KROEKER Scherri Kroeker said currently that there are no accessible playscapes on the west side of IH35, with the exception of the playscape that will be located in Emerald Springs Park. There is a playscape at the Village Elementary School, but it is not available during the school year until after 6:30 pm. The playground is also in full sun and is very hot to play on during the summer. Georgetown Village would also be centrally located to other neighborhoods in the area that could use the playscape. Scherri said there are currently 42 children in Georgetown Village between the ages of 0 -13 and that shows a need in that area. A playscape in Georgetown Village would also be a selling point for the neighborhood. Ben asked if Scherri was representing the neighborhood as a whole. She said that most people she spoke to were very interested in a playground. There are three III. parks in Georgetown Village that have already been dedicated to the City where a playscape could possibly go. One is Summer's Green Park, where there are no large trees and that location would leave the playscape in the sun. Westbury Park is favored by most residents because it has the most trees. The last park is the land by the pool. Tracy asked how many playscapes were on the west side of 1H35 that are not in schools. Randy said the only one would be Emerald Springs Park when that one is complete. Randy said a request has been put in the budget for 2000 - 20001. The City did put in a playground at the Village Elementary school when it opened. 3 1 Bill Knodle, President of Georgetown Village PID, said the park on Westbury Lane is an ideal location for a playscape. It is approximately %z acre in size. This park could be an area for small children because there is not room for soccer fields or baseball fields. This park is incomplete right now, but people outside the Georgetown Village are using the parks inside the subdivision. If the City can fund more than one playscape, he believes the Georgetown Village would be a good choice. Randy said the only problem he has is that there is already a playscape in the area at the. elementary school. A playground for smaller children would be a good option. John said there may be a need for a playscape for smaller children in this area. He would like staff to review different playscape options and look at costs associated with each before making a decision. Doug said this is a good excuse to revisit the Century Plan since the Georgetown Village is not included in that document. Randy said one selling point would be to build a playground for smaller children. Ben said this item would be deferred to staff to look into and report back at the next meeting. DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION ON GIRLS FASTPITCH SOFTBALL PROGRAM — GREG PFLUGER Greg Pfluger has been involved with Girls Fastpitch Softball for the past few seasons. He has seen a drop in the number of girls participating in girls fastpitch softball after age 12. He said there is no post season play after May 2 °d. He said there are girls ages 13 -16 playing together. He is asking to seek sponsors to form all stars teams and do improvements to the equipment. Greg believes forming an association is what needs to be done to keep girls in the program. He would like to join up with a strong association like GYBA and umbrella with them and play girls fastpitch. He would need use of the VFW fields for this program. Greg said he does not see the program growing without a competitive league. Lara Ingalsbe said that the growth in Georgetown would allow for the competitive and the non - competitive teams to both do well. She is asking that they be allowed to use the fields since there is a competition for use of the fields. The City only does recreation leagues, not select or traveling teams. Ben asked that Greg and Randy meet and try to work out an agreement for the program and report back at the next meeting. IV. DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION ON GEORGETOWN YOUTH BASEBALL ASSOCIATION ISSUES — JERRY RICHEY . Jerry Richey came and spoke to the board at the last meeting and expressed some concerns he had with the Georgetown Youth Baseball Association Board. He made three recommendations that he thought would help solve some of these problems and he went to the GYBA Board. The GYBA Board listened to his recommendations and semi - agreed that there should be some kind of public announcements of the meetings. GYBA said the newspaper refused to cooperate with printing the board meeting notices, but Mr. Richey said the newspaper would be more than happy to print them. Scheduling the meetings in the Recreation Center is also an option that is being looked at in order to accommodate a more open meeting environment. The third recommendation was electing the board members. There were various comments regarding the election of board members. The way the board members are selected are part of GYBA's by -laws and would require a change of the by -laws. Mr. Richey said that GYBA is meeting 2 out of the 3 recommendations for the most part. Jean said that as long as the by -laws are being followed, there is not much you can do. Elliot Lawrence spoke that he is very pleased as a parent with the GYBA program. He believes Mr. Richey has some valid concerns. He knows you cannot please everyone but he is proud of what is going on. Ben asked about changing By -Laws. David said they are in the process of being reviewed and can be changed. David said there are 15 voting board members. Brenna said that 2 out of the 3 problems are being addressed and believes that is a step in the right direction. The last problem would require a change of by -laws. Doug suggested letting City Council know that the Parks and Recreation Board was approached with concerns regarding GYBA. Tracy Dubcak made a motion recommending that a letter be sent to City Council stating that the Parks and Recreation board has tried to assists with the first two issues and the last issue involves a change of by -laws. Brenna seconded the motion and the vote was 7 for with Rinn abstaining. V. UPDATE ON FRIENDS OF GEORGETOWN PARKS — FRED ATTAYA Fred Attaya updated the board on his efforts to organize an organization called Friends of Georgetown Parks. This organization would be classified as a 501c3 when all the paperwork has been completed. Fred is trying to solicit names of people who would be willing to serve on the board. The board should be up and running by July 15th with 10 members. This number will increase after January 1, 2001. Fred is working on a joint mentoring program with GISD and a group called Eureka Mill Center, Inc. which is out of Jonah. This is an example of what can be done with Parks and Recreation. Friends of Georgetown Parks will be able to solicit donations of labor and materials to help the Parks and Recreation Department accomplish projects. There has been no formal recommendation or approval from the City endorsing the organization. Randy said he does not want that organization in competition with the parks and recreation board. He also does not want that organization representing them as part of the City. The Library has a similar board and information on their board needs to be reviewed. Tracy suggested that staff look into the Friends of Library and how it works. Fred said the purpose of incorporation is to raise funds and solicit support for the City of Georgetown Parks and Recreation Department. Fred will come back to the next meeting to report any new information on the topic. VI. UPDATE FROM PARKLAND DEDICATION SUBCOMMITTEE A committee meeting was set for June 29, 2000, at 6 pm at the Georgetown Recreation Center. VII. ADJOURN Brenna Nedbalek made a motion to adjourn the meeting.