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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Parks And Recreation Advisory Committee - 06/09/1999 �r `lel PARK AND RECREATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE Regular Monthly Meeting Wednesday.June 9, 1999—5:00 p.m. City Hall Committee Room - 1201 Leopard Street. Cornus Christi, Texas Members Absent Staff John Dunn Joe Ochoa Robert Gross Tony Cisneros JoAnne McNeill Vic Menard Robert Ibarra Dan Whitworth Marvin Spears Mae Milligan Adelle Ives Gerardo Alvarez Billy Olivarez CALL TO ORDER: Chair Vic Menard called the regular June 9, 1999 meeting of the Park and Recreation Advisory Committee to order at 5:04 p.m. ROLL CALL: Roll was called, and the recording secretary announced a quorum was present. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES: Chair Menard called for the approval of the minutes of the May 12, 1999 regular meeting. Mae Milligan moved to approve the minutes as written. John Dunn seconded, and the motion carried. ACTION ON ABSENCES: Chair Menard called for action on absences for the May 12, 1999 regular meeting. The recording secretary reported there were no absences to be acted upon for the regular May meeting. (Chair Menard rearranged the order of business to have "Hear from the Public"as the next item of business.) HEAR FROM THE PUBLIC: Sandra Billish, 13866 Hawksnest Bay, addressed the Committee. Ms. Billish reported on the status of funds on the development of Gypsy Park. Ms. Billish also gave an update on the irrigation system. Ms.Billish reported that she had attended a meeting of the Padre Isles Business Association to seek their support. Ms. Billish presented the Committee with a copy of an article she would be writing regarding the plans for the development of Gypsy Park. Ms. Billish commented she was trying to generate neighborhood youth activity in the park. Ms. Billish also reported to the Committee that seismic testing would be addressed in the article. Ms. Billish stated she would like to see a community center for the area. Chair Menard stated that since the 2% tax increase failed in the polls, it is unlikely funding for such a center would be possible. Ms.Billish stated she had acquired matching funds for such a project. Mr. Cisneros,staff liaison and Director of Park and Recreation,reported that a state grant request that included outside matching funds could only come from the city or another governmental agency as the principal sponsor. Ms. Billish questioned whether seismic testing could be performed on park land. Dan Whitworth stated that staff would be contacting the contractor doing the testing to insure city procedures were being followed, and the proper permits were issued. (Gerardo Alvarez arrived at 5:14 p.m. Chair Menard reverted back to the order of business as noted on the agenda.) r^. c'N r ^ a r'e Park& Recreation Advisory Committee Regular Meeting—June 9, 1999 Page 2 CONSIDERATION OF COMMITTEE VACANCY RECOMMENDATIONS: Tony Cisneros referred to the list of candidates for the Park and Recreation Advisory Committee mailed to current members. Mr. Cisneros called for recommendations from the floor. John Dunn requested Anne Baker be the Committee's selection for recommendation to the City Council to fill the vacancy left by Mr. Hinojosa who recently left the Committee to sit on the Human Relations Commission. Marvin Spears seconded, and the motion unanimously carried. Chair Menard requested that staff send a memorandum to City Council with the Committee's recommendation of Ms. Baker. PRESENTATION OF CORPUS CHRISTI PARK AND RECREATION DEPARTMENT SUMMER YOUTH RECREATION PROGRAMS: Tony Cisneros and Dan Whitworth, Assistant Director of Programs, gave a presentation to the Committee regarding the Summer Youth Recreation Programs being offered by the city. Discussion and questions were heard by the Committee regarding the programs offered by the Park and Recreation Department. DISCUSSION AND ADOPTION OF COMMITTEE RULES AND REGULATIONS: Mr. Cisneros presented the Committee with a draft of the "Rules and Regulations for the Park and Recreation Advisory Committee". Mr. Cisneros requested input from the Committee regarding the draft. Chair Menard called for discussion from the Committee on any of the items on the draft presented to them. Discussion was heard on the draft presented. Based on the draft,the consensus of the Committee was to keep the meeting time at 5:00 p.m. Chair Menard questioned Mr. Cisneros on Article 8,regarding the issuance of handbooks to new members. Mr. Menard requested the statement be changed to reflect all members would receive handbooks. Mr. Spears moved to accept the draft of the "Rules and Regulations for the Park and Recreation Advisory Committee"with changes that reflects the time changed to 5:00 p.m. and the issuance of handbooks to all Park and Recreation Advisory Committee members. John Dunn seconded, and the motion carried. DISCUSSION AND ADOPTION OF COMMITTEE POLICY ON ABSENCES: Chair Menard requested members to review the "Absence Policy for the Park and Recreation Advisory Committee". Discussion was heard on Item D in the Excused Reasons for Absence section. Marvin Spears felt that the term"prior notice"should be deleted with regard to absences due to"unavoidable professional work with prior notice". Discussion was heard on this topic. Chair Menard asked that "Item E" in the Unexcused Reasons for Absence section be changed to reflect both in and out-of-town business. `0 Park&Recreation Advisory Committee Regular Meeting—June 9, 1999 Page 3 Joe Ochoa moved to adopt the Absence Policy with the changes under"Excused Absences"to reflect "prior notice" would not be necessary when members are absent due to unavoidable professional work, and an absence would be excused for both in and out-of-town business. JoAnne McNeill seconded, and the motion carried. DISCUSSION ON PARK AND RECREATION FEE SCHEDULE FOR FY `99-'00: Mr. Cisneros discussed the current fee schedule and suggested to the Committee that a subcommittee be formed to review the fee schedule for FY 99-00. Discussion was heard on this topic. Joe Ochoa asked whether Corpus Christi was within the fee range of other Texas cities of the same size. Mr. Cisneros stated that Corpus Christi was within the State's average but emphasis was in public programs. Mr. Cisneros reported that fees were not keeping up with expansion. Vic Menard asked what the percentage of recovery fee would be feasible. Mr. Cisneros stated he would have to research this topic and get back with Mr. Menard at the next meeting. Mr. Ochoa also requested Mr. Cisneros also look into a percentage analysis between adult and youth services. PRESENTATION ON SPECIAL EVENTS SCHEDULE GUIDELINES: Mr. Cisneros presented to the Committee the City's Special Events Policy and introduced Ms. Chris Barnes,who handles all Special Events occurring within the city. Ms. Barnes gave the committee a recent Special Events Calendar that includes both public and private events on city property. Ms. Barnes also gave the Committee copies of the Alcohol Permit forms used when scheduling a special event and explained the requirements of using the permits also including insurance requirements. Ms. Barnes gave a complete overview of her division's services. Ms. Barnes also gave the Committee an update on several upcoming special events such as the "Artscapade," which will consist of vendors and artists scattered throughout the downtown area sidewalks. Ms. Barnes announced that a full-scale theater production, "Shakespeare in the Park," would be performing at the Cole Park Amphitheater on June 16 from 8:30 to 10:30 p.m. Ms. Barnes also reported annual special events such as the Arts Market, Noontunes and Bayjammin'would be ongoing this summer. Questions were heard from the Committee. Mr. Ochoa questioned whether an evaluation process was done on city-sponsored events and non- city-sponsored events. Mr. Ochoa also requested whether a cost analysis of events impacting the city was prepared. Mr. Ochoa requested this information for the next meeting. Mr. Ochoa questioned whether Ms. Barnes had done any fundraising for special events with the possibility of the city recouping costs incurred by the events. Mr. Cisneros responded that with community sponsorship for special events, some of the cost is recouped. Mr. Cisneros stated he would bring back to the Committee an update regarding this topic. v. d Park &Recreation Advisory Committee Regular Meeting—June 9, 1999 Page 4 Vic Menard questioned whether a special event site for the city would be considered sometime in the future. Mr. Menard also inquired as to whether guidelines or policies were in effect to govern special events, including a listing of penalties when guidelines or policies are not followed. Mr. Menard stated that since so many agencies were involved in coordinating special events, he felt a set of comprehensive guidelines would be in order. Mr. Menard felt that in paragraph 2 of the Special Events Policy a change was required so that anyone who rented the gazebo would not be required to rent the Coliseum as well. Ms. Barnes stated that section of the policy was a legal matter and was required by the city attorneys with reference to parking use. JoAnne McNeill moved and recommended that staff look into changing this point within the Special Events Policy. Billy Olivarez seconded, and the motion carried with Joe Ochoa abstaining due to a conflict of interest. DIRECTOR'S REPORT: Mr. Cisneros gave members a copy of legislative action being taken with respect to the Littleton, Colorado tragedy. Mr. Cisneros passed this information on to the members in order to make them aware that legislators in Austin are aware of what is going on within the United States. Mr. Cisneros also informed the committee that Kidsplace was currently undergoing renovations due to the efforts of the Junior League of Corpus Christi and the many community volunteers that helped with the project. Mr. Cisneros also reported that the General Fund Budget would go before City Council on Tuesday at the workshop. Mr. Cisneros wanted to inform the Committee of cuts that impact the city as a whole. Mr. Cisneros reported that an 11%cut would occur. Chair Menard wanted a report at the next meeting on how it would specifically impact the Park and Recreation Department. Mr. Menard would also like an update on the type of violence that has occurred at Park and Recreation facilities. Mr. Ochoa asked that the Committee be updated on any crisis plans for Park and Recreation facilities for staff on procedures. SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS: Billy Olivarez reported on the Greens Subcommittee activity. Mr. Olivarez reported that 160 youth attended a golf clinic. Mr. Olivarez reported that food was served to all youth and parents. Mr. Olivarez also stated that an article regarding this event appeared in the newspaper. Mr. Olivarez felt that more youth would be participating at the next event. CURRENT CONCERNS: Mae Milligan asked the status of hurricane preparedness for park and recreation facilities. Mr. Cisneros stated that the city is not opening shelters to the public during a hurricane. Mr. Cisneros stated any city facilities used as hurricane shelters would be for city employees designated as essential personnel and their immediate families. 111 Park &Recreation Advisory Committee Regular Meeting—June 9, 1999 Page 5 Chair Menard stated he had been contacted by the Padre Isles Association regarding the statue located at the Padre Island entrance. Mr. Menard requested that staff reply to their concerns. Mr. Menard requested a status update on Hans&Pat Suter Park. Mr. Cisneros would look into that information for the next meeting. JoAnne McNeill reported that she would not be attending the next month's meeting. ADJOURNMENT: As there was no further business, Chair Menard called for adjournment. Joe Ochoa moved to adjourn. Marvin Spears seconded, and the motion carried. The regular meeting of the Park and Recreation Advisory Committee meeting adjourned at 7:10 p.m. AJa Q Marco A. Cisneros, Director Park and Recreation Department