HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes_PAREB_07.11.2019Minutes of the Meeting of the
Parks and Recreation Advisory Board
City of Georgetown, Texas
July 11, 2019
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 - Jim Hougnon, Parks and Recreation Advisory Board Chair
The meeting was called to order at 6:03 pm by Scott Macmurdo, Vice Chair.
B Roll Call - Jim Hougnon, Parks and Recreation Advisory Board Chair
Board members present: Katherine Kainer, Michael Simpson, Larry Gambone, Danielle Houck,
Scott Macmurdo, Jim Hougnon
Board members absent: Wayne Beyer
Staff present: Kimberly Garrett, Robert Gaylor, Jill Kellum
C Parks and Recreation staff member introduction and presentation - Kimberly Garrett,
Parks and Recreation Director
Kimberly Garrett introduced Robert Gaylor, Recreation Superintendent. Robert Gaylor stated
he has been with the City of Georgetown since March 2009 and started as a Recreation
Supervisor and in the last 3.5 years has served in the Recreation Superintendent capacity. He is
over the Recreation Center, Pools and Athletics; programs and operations at all those facilities.
He graduated from Texas State University in 2006 with his undergrad degree in Psychology and
in the last three years decided he wanted to go back and get his master degree in business. He
stated he saw a shift in Parks and Recreation to more of a business model. He stated he
supervises the Aquatic Supervisor, Program Supervisor, who runs camps at the Recreation
Center, Recreation Center Supervisor who is over operations and a Recreation Center
Supervisor over Athletics and Fitness. All these individuals are Robert Gaylor's direct reports.
Robert Gaylor stated staff looked at the maintenance at the Recreation Center and states staff
takes pride in this wanting to make sure everything is running well and are doing all the
upgrades and preventative maintenance that needs to be done. He stated over a period of a
year staff recognized that certain areas were being closed for maintenance. Staff spoke to other
recreation centers and decided that it would be in our best interest to close for a certain duration
of time to complete everything. All the contractors would be hired at once instead of piecing it
throughout the year. He explained that an annual facility closure will start this year and it is
scheduled September 1- 8 for the recreation center and the indoor pool will be closed
September 1 -15 and will require a little extra time. All the contractors are being coordinated
and this gives staff time to tell the story of all the improvements that are being done and the
maintenance that is being done to the facility so it can be the best facility that it can be. For the
future, the overall department has a cost recovery goal and staff will dive deeper into this and
make sure all the programs are doing their best job as far as what we are offering and what the
public wants and we are not keeping programs over a long period of time that are not
successful that are taking up spaces in the recreation center. Staff wants to make sure they are
doing the best job they can to offer what the public wants and needs but being financial
stewards of taxpayer dollars and being frivolous with that. In addition, Quick Tap surveys are
at all the entrances at the Recreation Center. This is a way to gauge everybody's satisfaction
immediately. In the past surveys were sent out and now the focus is on getting immediate
feedback. There have been 5,000 — 6, 000 responses so far. There is a 97% - 98% satisfaction rate.
It was asked if there was something that stands out either being good or bad. Robert Gaylor
stated that the most thing that comes out that is negative are things that are a little bit out of our
control such as space being occupied or pool sharing. The positives are for the staff; the
welcoming nature and good customer service. He stated the recreation center is working on a
customer service standards initiative. Every three months they bring up a new topic for
everyone to focus on. Robert Gaylor stated there is a brief gap at the end of summer when
programs slow down and there are constant programs going on at the recreation center. They
picked this time for closure as it is least impactful. He stated they paired it up with Labor Day
weekend as the recreation center would be closed one day anyway. The major repairs are the
gym floor replacement in the 2nd gymnasium, indoor pool plaster and indoor pool deck.
Kimberly Garrett stated there will also be a deep clean done. She stated when people enter the
building they will be able to tell the difference. Robert Gaylor stated that other centers they
spoke to said it was beneficial and as long as they did a good job reinforcing the reason behind
it and what was completed, overall they got positive feedback. He stated the library does this
as well for inventory and restocking purposes. He stated he anticipates the initial shock factor
but overtime it will be valuable. It was asked what the revenue hit would be or would you
overall see increased cost because of having to shut down. Robert Gaylor stated that staff will
be working on the deep clean and it will not be all contracted out. He stated there will be a
financial hit but feels in the long run it will be beneficial in keeping the equipment up and not
inconvenience members by doing the different projects throughout the year. Kimberly Garrett
stated most members have annual memberships and we might lose a little revenue from the
monthly memberships and people that walk in. She stated Williams Drive Pool may be open
during this time to provide an alternative. Robert Gaylor stated there will still be staff to
answer phones and clients can register for programs and rentals. It was asked what the
percentage of online registration was vs. walk in. Robert Gaylor stated it depended on the
programs; with camps it is about 40% online and memberships are done mostly in person
because they are already there. Kimberly Garrett stated we will learned from the process this
first year. We want people to notice that there was work done and improvements made.
D Update from the Friends of Georgetown Parks and Recreation - Danelle Houck, Parks
and Recreation Advisory Boardmember
Danelle Houck stated there have been some camp sign up but this is the busiest month for
Georgetown Swims. Normally they only do lessons on Tuesdays and Thursdays with the Boys
and Girls Club. Now, on Mondays and Wednesdays, at River Ridge, they also do lessons with
EGA who represent individuals with a range of disabilities. There are 15 participants in this
program and there are 4 instructors. There is a waitlist for the EGA program.
The annual meeting of the Friends will be in September. It was asked about the Heritage
Community Garden and the Friends group working together but nothing has happened yet.
E Project Updates and Staff Report - Kimberly Garrett, Parks and Recreation Director
Kimberly Garrett stated the San Gabriel Park Improvements Phase II is winding down. Staff
did a really hard push before the 4th of July to get a lot of the items completed. The restrooms
are 98% complete. The parks maintenance workers installed all the 2 playgrounds and swings
prior to the 4th of July event. She stated the springs are almost complete. There is site cleanup
being done. On the Katy Crossing Trail, we did receive the paperwork on the grant to start the
project and on Tuesday the City Council accepted the grant. The contractors were given notice
to proceed and they are ready to start. Kimberly Garrett stated she didn't expect it to take more
than 90 days from start, but you never know. It will be a 10 foot wide trail. The grant is
$200,000 which account for almost half of the cost of the trail. Kimberly Garrett stated at the last
meeting, Dave Melaas talked about the trail reconstruction, the ADA work and staff was
looking at different options on how to bid a project not knowing how far the money is going to
go. The Berry Creek Neighborhood Park that we are calling Golden Bear, the playground is on
order and hope to have this project finished by late fall. Kelley Park is on hold with ownership
issues.
F Update on the July 9th council workshop CIP sizing exercise. - Kimberly Garrett,
Parks and Recreation Director
Kimberly Garrett stated she thought City Council was going through the CIP projects but they
went through and talked about the City's revenues, tax rate and debt. They went through a
scenario on property values and how much was still in protest. The city manager will go over
the CIP during Council workshop next week on the budget. She stated there was much talk
about Heritage Gardens. The other project that has come up is the Tennis Center pool closure
and demo. Kimberly Garrett stated she has worked with staff to come up with a FAQ about the
Tennis Center pool and is it on the parks and recreation website. The masterplan was favorable,
in addition to the trail behind Wolf Crossing, the design of San Gabriel Park Phase III, and
continuing the ADA improvements.
Legislative Regular Agenda
G Consideration and possible action to recommend approval for replacement of indoor
pool plaster and renovation of indoor pool deck to Progressive Commercial Aquatics
of Manor, TX using Buyboard contract #533-17 in the amount of $114,897. - Kimberly
Garrett, Parks and Recreation Director
Background information: The plaster at the Recreation Center Indoor Pool is over 11 years old
and is the original plaster that was installed in 2008. It needs to be replaced to ensure no
unscheduled pool closure occurs due to failure. The typical lifespan of plaster is 8-12 years.
Additionally, the existing pool deck coating has begun to chip and flake and needs to be
replaced. The deck coating has proven not to be a viable long term option due to the nature of
the indoor pool environment. Progressive has provided a proposal to remove the existing deck
coating and stamp the concrete to provide a slip -resistant and ascetically pleasing alternative to
the existing coating. This process adds texture and slip resistance to the existing pool deck and
does not rely on coatings or additives. As a result, there is no impact from the indoor
environment.
Jam s HougnorW3dChair
Katherine Kainer, Secretary
Ji ellum, Board Liaison