HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes_PAREB_08.09.2018Minutes of the Meeting of the
Parks and Recreation Advisory Board
City of Georgetown, Texas
August 9, 2018
The Parks and Recreation Advisory Board met Thursday, August 9, 2018 at 6:00 pm at 1101 N.
College Street, Georgetown, TX 78626.
Regular Session
(This Regular Session may, at any time, be recessed to convene an Executive Session for any
purpose authorized by the Open Meetings Act, Texas Government Code 551.)
A Call to Order — Katherine Kainer, Parks and Recreation Advisory Board Secretary
The meeting was called to order by Katherine Kainer at 6:00 pm.
B Roll Call — Katherine Kainer, Parks and Recreation Advisory Board Secretary
Present: Katherine Kainer, Larry Gambone, Wayne Byer, Michael Simpson, Danelle Houck
Absent: Jim Hougnon, Scott Macmurdo
Staff present: Eric Nuner, Jill Kellum, Robert Gaylor
C Introduction and Presentation of Parks and Recreation Intern, Blane Chambless - Eric
Nuner, Assistant Director of Parks and Recreation
Robert Gaylor introduced Blane Chambless and Eric Nuner explained our intern program. He
stated we normally have a summer intern and August is usually their finally project. A
requirement from the Parks and Recreation Department is that they give a presentation to the
Parks and Recreation Advisory Board. Blane Chambless explained he worked with Camp
Goodwater this summer and he stated he went to Texas State University, part of the OWLS
program; Occupational, Workforce and Leadership Studies program. It is an Arts and Applied
Sciences degree plan. He designed a program on what he is wanting to do and his interest is
going into teaching PE. He stated he worked at Frost Elementary in Georgetown last year and
this year he will be at a charter school in Leander. He is wanting to encourage healthy
behaviors in children and adolescent; mainly physical activity and some nutrition as well. He
stated he was a camp counselor at Camp Goodwater. He was wanting to observe the kid's
physical activity levels, nutrition and their attitudes toward physical activity. He wanted to
make them aware of not just the quantity of the years of life but the quality of those years. He
stated the lower camp; the younger kids were more willing to participate in physical activities.
They had more energy and were more excited. There were only a few complaints and mostly
about the heat. They did the energizers in the morning. The upper camp had lower
participation. They had a bad attitude toward any outdoor activity; they wanted to be inside.
In observation of the lunch; he was surprised that most of the kids had healthy lunches. He
stated a lot of the kids skipped breakfast. He encouraged kids to eat breakfast and get
physically activity. Eric Nuner asked what Camp Goodwater could do in future years. He
stated more of a physical activity routine such as morning energizers. Also, come up with
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activities when gym space was available. He stated that kids don't think they enjoy physical
activity because they don't have a lot of people around them doing the same. If they have
friends or family participating as well they will have the encouragement. He stated there are a
lot of physical activities in the camp already, but he would like to see a variety of activity. He
also encouraged an interactive health class. It was asked if the kids were able to go to the pool
and he stated they were.
D Introduction and Presentation of Parks and Recreation Intern, Cameron Speegle - Eric
Nuner, Assistant Director of Parks and Recreation
Robert Gaylor introduced Cameron Speegle. Cameron Speegle was our Parks and Recreation
intern and his internship was to give him broad exposure to the entire department. Cameron
Speegle has worked for the City of Georgetown as a lifeguard, head guard and pool manager
and he already had a lot of skill sets that the department utilized. He goes to Texas A&M and
will graduate in December. He explained some of his duties in the Parks department. He was a
camp counselor for Camp Goodwater and Tennis Camp. He also helped with the Aquatics
department with pool maintenance. He actually got to see how all the pools operate. He also
helped with the grounds crew lining fields. He also helped the Special Events Marketing
Coordinator with the Sunset Movie Series. He was in charge of organizing the Pirate Party at
the Georgetown Recreation Center, Cameron Speegle thanked the department and board for
allowing him the internship.
E Presentation and discussion of the City's 2030 Comprehensive Plan Update Process —
Nat Waggoner, AICP, Long Range Planning Manager (1:15:13)
Eric Nuner introduced Nat Waggoner to present the 2030 Comprehensive Plan Update. Nat
Waggoner asked the board, what does the park system looks like in 2030. Board members
stated the trail system and connectivity in Williamson County and to Austin, Westside Park, a
2nd recreation center as the community grows and being able to serve all the community, more
parks and keeping up with the maintenance of current parks. Larry Gambone stated he hates to
see green space black topped over. The more parkland the city can get the better. He states he
is also concerned about water. Nat Waggoner stated his second question is, what is the
connection to the transportation system and it was discussed about the bike trails and
connectivity between cities. He also stated at the most macro view this is about setting a vision
for the city by 2030. That is what comprehensive plans are supposed to do. 2008 was the last
comprehensive plan and in 2014 the council said to update what was done in 2008 and there
was no need to recreate the wheel and they had certain aspects they wanted to focus on. He
stated it was still aspirational for the goals that were set in 2008. Those goals are not off limits in
terms of Open Space, Preservation, Efficient Transportation, Cultural and Historical
Preservation. There are internal staff that are the lead for this project and there is also a
consultant and another group of volunteers that are helping from an awareness and outreach
perspective. There is a group of people helping with Outreach and Awareness Perspective.
There is a land consultant; and the city is directing them away from a generic plan but a more
defined plan. There is a housing market consultant; looking at housing market and what that
means for the future growth of the city. They are also looking at the retail market and
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healthcare perspective. Wayne Beyer as about the Emergency Response Team. Nat Waggoner
explained that this has been discussed with Chief Sullivan and his efforts on how they relate to
Emergency Response Team and also his efforts as he deals with the Commission on Aging.
There is an initiative called Aging Communities, Livable Communities and that is an AARP
statistic that looks at how livable your city is for everyone. That is not a direct effort of this
project, and the city charter, which is the same charter that called for our parks and open space,
it also calls for a health and human service component and this has been identified as a need
that needs to come next. He stated they are also working with the Georgetown Police
Department as they go out into the community for National Night Out as part of this public
input process.
These are the groups that are leading the project:
Technical Advisory Committee
Steering Committee
Joint Sessions P&Z/Council
General Public
Nat Waggoner stated there are 6 sessions with these groups about very specific policies and the
general public. The idea is to start W ith one group to the end and work back around. They start
with very technical data and share that with the public. There the public feedback is brought all
the way back through to the technical side of things. He stated there are 14 major tasks that are
associated with this.
Some of the Major Tasks:
• Alignment — what is the parks master plan need from the overall city growth plan and
vice versa.
• Updated Demographics — age, income, education level, disabilities
• Housing Elements Update — this is a crucial component. What we are facing in
Georgetown is no different than what we are facing in Central Texas and the Nation.
Cost of living is increasing and part of that is housing and median wages are staggered.
The question posed by the City Council was, what is the housing situation for the low
income, for our work force and for our seniors. This is where the parkland dedication
process comes in and where we plan our neighborhood parks is important.
• Housing Toolkit — this is policy decision. After the housing situation has been described
they will present to the different groups and ask now what do we want to do about it.
• Gateway Development Strategies — There are 14 different ways that have been identified
in the city that you can travel; IH 35, HWY 29, Williams Drive. What are the goals and
strategies for this project? It was discussed about when the growth going to stop.
Danelle Houck stated that on the steering committee the majority moved here within the
past 5 —10 years. She stated that the members on the committee did ask when the
growth would end but how to have responsible growth. Nat Waggoner stated the city
now has a new tool called the Fiscal Impact Model. It is a cost serve; everything from
the number of trucks it takes to service the Parks to the number of Police it takes to
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respond to emergencies, we now have a tool where we can look at the cost of a project
specific to the city and it also allows us to look overall at the city. The city will use that
tool for the Growth Scenarios.
• Williams Drive Subarea Plan
• Growth Scenarios - The questions are how much should we grow our residential
subdivisions and how much should we grow our commercial tax base. This goes back
to responsible growth. We do have policies to how we manage our growth.
• Future Land Use Map Update — Another thing that we have that relates to how we grow
and whether or not that track should have been residential is the Future Land Use Map.
This Map shows how we want to look at 2030. It is different than zoning. This is not a
regulatory document. At the end of the 2030 plan, this map will change.
• Public Engagement
• Implementation Strategies
• Adoption
Nat Waggoner explained that we have a city charter and that is like a constitution that says you
have to have a plan to regulate and manage the future development. A comprehensive plan is a
visionary document; not a regulatory document, not the final answer. It does set forth a lot of
"dominoes". It sets forth how we do our capital improvement plan; where we spend money on
roadways, parks. It sets forth expectations for developers. It was asked if the plan includes
schools, fire stations and hospitals. Nat Waggoner explained that reserving land in this map,
no, only reserving types of categories hospitals would go into. It may be appropriate in certain
areas designated on the map for institutions or community commercial; but there is no
guarantee that it will go there. It was stated by a board member that it might be a little short
sighted. It was stated by another board member that hospitals are getting bigger but there are
more and more clinics. It was stated that the market will drive it. Nat Waggoner stated that the
charter does require a health and human services element and so us further defining what those
future needs might be, be a result of that study and as we look at these demographics and how
our population is going to age in the next 12 years and forecast some of those needs. I think we
should be drawing some very serious conclusions about what that means for our population
that wants to stay here and not want to move somewhere else because their services are not met
from transportation, or access to medical or recreation.
Nat Waggoner stated this plan supports the boards and commissions and sets policy for
consideration by the city council. He stated we work closely with the school district and their
forecasting of their needs from a demographics and land use stand point. The city has grown
40% since the time this plan was done. Nat Waggoner stated we have new goals and strategies
that the council has developed and they need to own this plan. He stated that he knows it is a
public input plan but council has to have ownership of it because they make some real decisions
every day that are driven by this. He stated it has to have a lot of public input and make sense
in terms of the numbers and we have to be able to report on our progress every year.
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He stated from a technical standpoint, when looking at the Parks masterplan we will be looking
a new data points. He stated speaking to Eric Nuner and Kimberly Garrett that we want to be
more engaged with the community and what they need from an outreach standpoint. Nat
Waggoner explained that we are hamstrung on bonding from a debt capacity standpoint. We
have a great plan that the voter's approved but then you have to compete with the tax rate.
This hamstrings the ability to get grant funding. Eric Nuner added that the city manager's
budget has moved through the process and in that on the Parks CIP side it was reduced
somewhat from what was planned so the masterplan has moved into 2020. Mike Simpson
stated that the 2030 Plan is not very long from now and they need to be looking beyond that.
He gave input on the water needs and educating people on xeriscaping and the San Gabriel
Rivers that run through the city and protecting them and being able to enjoy nature and
wildlife. He also expressed concerns about housing, parks, and mobility. He asked to be
looking past 2030 and that is not looking far enough. Wayne Beyer stated it needs to be looked
at from a county view; a plan for the county. He stated we need to look at the other cities in
Williamson County and what they are doing. Jill Kellum asked if there was a survey being
done from the higher dense communities such as Austin and why people moved out of the
area; was it due to transportation or they couldn't afford to live there any longer. Nat
Waggoner stated that we are not directly surveying other cities, but some of the housing stuff
they are looking at is historic and they are looking at trends in the real estate market from
surrounding cities in the Austin metro area and trends specific to Georgetown too. They are
looking at literature from a national standpoint. They have some good data related to property
tax and they can know look at, this is the median income, this is how much they pay in property
taxes and take the trend date, what does that mean for that median income. Wayne Beyer
added another thought is the city looking at people that live here on a partial time basis and the
footprint that leaves here. Nat Waggoner stated in 2008 they didn't look at the density of
homes. He stated we are seeing a lot more units per acre now. From that the city will draw
some conclusions to lot size and density related to the types of product. He stated they will
present some data to help draw some conclusions on what the housing stock is and what
housing type is.
Nat Waggoner continued stating the city is engaged with the real estate community and have
had a round table event already and will have another one in the spring. The economic
development plan is from 1986 and the urban design plan is from 1986. Those are the efforts
they have to date and this is the alignment and time to update some of these things. The
participation plan from 2010 will be changing the model. There is nothing on the books for
historic preservation, health and human services, or conservation and environmental resources.
There are some things related to water conservation but not a plan. He stated this will be
important as council said to align all of our efforts and if our city charter requires it we should
be doing it. Wayne Beyer stated you don't see large companies coming in and asked do we
want to see that. Nat Waggoner stated, I think we do and stated we recently completed
strategic plans that target industry and target work force. Also, completed the recruitment and
retail strategy from a commercial development standpoint. He stated we want high paying jobs
that are in the IT field and professional classes and also identified manufacturing as a target
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industry but all asked where are those manufacturing jobs going to live and we have to be able
to support the mid to low wage workers.
• Utility demand
• Align council goals
Nat Waggoner also stated there is a good website that has the goals of the entire project, and
there are goals in how we are engaging the public. You can register to get updates from the city
and you can request someone speak to your organization. There is an engagement event called
On the Table. To get more information you can go to the webpage: 2030. Georgetown.org. They
are working with the Georgetown PD National Night Out. He stated they are going to council
the end of August, visiting with the Youth Advisory Board and then the National Night Out on
October 2, and then the first time to sit down and talk to council about policy is the end of
October or the first part of November.
F Update from the Friends of Georgetown Parks and Recreation - Danelle Houck, Parks
and Recreation Advisory Board member
Danelle Houck stated the Friends of Georgetown Parks and Recreation met. They are having
their general meeting Monday, 9/17/2018 at 7 pm. They are doing their Daddy Daughter Dance
10/27/2018 and are looking for volunteers. They were busy this summer with assistance with
soccer registration. It was asked how many Boys and Girls Club members have they served
since they started Georgetown Swims and they have taught over 500 and they have passed
through the level 1 and 2 swim lessons.
Legislative Regular Agenda
G Consideration and possible action to approve minutes from the July 12, 2018 meeting
- Jill Kellum, Administrative Supervisor
Motion made by Danelle Houck second by Wayne Beyer to approve the minutes from the
July 12, 2018 meeting.
Approved:
5-0-2
Adjournment
Motion made by Katherine Kainer second by Larry Gambone to adjourn the meeting. Meeting
adjourned at 7:57 pm.
Approved 5-0-2
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Katherine Kainer, Secretary
c--__ ;4,
jijj5kellurn, Board Liaison
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