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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Parks And Recreation Advisory Committee - 12/09/2020    PARKS AND RECREATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE Regular Meeting * Wednesday, December 9, 2020 5:30 p.m. Webex MINUTES I. Call to Order by Chairperson Alissa Mejia at 5:30 p.m. II. Roll Call of Members  Present: Alissa Mejia, Twila Stevens, Lawrence Heatley, Florence East, Casandra Lorentson, Howard Schauer, Jacob Dryden, Hannah Husby, Amy McCoy  Absent: Mandy Cox, Diego Solis  Quorum was met. III. Public Comment  Larry Beaver posed the question, “How do the individual area development plans integrate with the City's Parks Master Plan? Which plan takes priority? I see there are two different consulting companies.” IV. Adoption of Minutes  Regular Meeting – Adoption of Minutes from November 11, 2020: Minutes from November 11, 2020 were passed unanimously. V. Police Department Report  Police Department Report – Captain Weldon Weber: There were issues with the homeless population camping behind the basketball court at Ben Garza Park. They’re currently coordinating with HEB to return shopping carts that were found. Transients at Cole Park were sleeping in the public bathrooms and causing damage. They cleared out the bathrooms and are monitoring them to ensure no further issues arise. Five officers made an arrest at South Bluff Park for delivery of methamphetamines. At the park located at HWY 286 and Agnes officers discovered a large collection of methamphetamines, heroine and crack. At Blucher Park, the group Tacos Not Bombs are feeding people behind the station church which is resulting in trash ending up in Blucher Park. Resolutions are currently being researched. At Waters Edge Park, there are problems with overnight camping and racers doing donuts in the parking lot. The recommendation is for the parking lot to be closed at 10:30 p.m. We’re advising that we need more dog stations and skate stoppers on benches along the sea wall on Peoples Street. We’re currently dealing with racers wrecking the roads on the way to the barge docks and looking at potentially closing down that road until a solution can be found.  Twila Stevens: Is closing down the Waters Edge Park parking lot at 10:30 p.m. something that would need a motion from PRAC? Or is the City entertaining taking action?  Tracey Cantu: We’re currently looking at a potential ordinance to close all City park parking lots at the same time as when the parks close. Legal is currently reviewing this ordinance and we can bring it forward to PRAC for review as well.  Florence East: Are we seeing more transients because of the cold weather?  Weldon Weber: That could be a potential factor.  Alissa Mejia: The skate parks at Cole Park and Wranosky Park occasionally have an officer sitting in their cars. Is this a preventative measure or has there been activity at these parks?  Weldon Weber: I’m not aware of any ongoing issues at these parks. However, we do have officers that patrol those parks in their downtime. VI. Old Business and Possible Action  None VII. New Business for Discussion and Possible Action  10-Year Parks Master Plan Presentation by HALFF Associates – HALFF Associates: Presented the plans for both the 10-Year Parks Master Plan and the Bill Witt Site Plan. Discussed the scope of work and strategic considerations. Overview of the scope included the vision and goals for the parks system, measuring community preferences, park and facility distribution and access, recreational     programming needs, facility condition and adequacy, operational analysis, and the resilience of the parks system. The City’s parks, recreation, and open space master plan will address the changing demographics of Corpus Christi, the level of services provided for park land and facilities, the development and maintenance of facilities, park land equity, access and resilience, programming preferences for recreation, recreation partnerships, and funding from capital improvement programs, grants, etc. The overall plan is to develop the vision for upcoming projects during the winter season of 2020-2021, begin assessing the proposed projects going into spring of 2021, develop blueprints for the projects during spring and summer of 2021, and ultimately commit to these projects between summer and fall of 2021. Stakeholder meetings with community representatives will be held during January 2021 and outreach will be had via Town Hall meetings and other in-person meetings, physical and digital surveys, virtual meeting rooms, and a project webpage. The public will be solicited for comments, reviews and participation. The Parks and Recreation Department vision will be focused on healthy lifestyles, life-long learning, community building, quality neighborhoods, an attractive and sustainable environment, and economic vitality. VIII. Committee, Liaison/Staff Reports –  Island Strategic Action Committee (ISAC) – Liaison Twila Stevens: The showers at Zahn Road had an update. The Parks and Recreation Department is working with the Utilities Department to handle those issues. Utilities is activating the water line and Parks will then connect to it. There was a small discussion regarding the Packery Channel restoration. Packery will have a new report at the next meeting. Materials were sent to the Island for the area development plan, but there wasn’t enough time to have a full discussion about the project.  Watershore & Beach Advisory Committee – Liaison Howard Schauer: The Je’Sani Smith Foundation Taskforce reported that they are working with Melissa Huffman from the National Weather Service to create a computer modeling system that will help to better determine developing rip current issues. The goal is to connect the lifeguard contact in Corpus Christi with Nueces County and Port Aransas to be able to report actual conditions on the ground to modify their algorithms that monitor and determine rip current development.  Flour Bluff Advisory Committee – Liaison Florence East: The development plan is coming along well. There are some park issues that they will include in their area development plan, but nothing is developed enough to discuss at this time. IX. Director Reports – Tracey Cantu, Interim Director  Introduced new Assistant Director Kevin Johnson and introduced a name change request for the Bayfront Park fountain to the Mary Fisher fountain. Becky Perrin, Assistant Director  The Ben Garza Gym floor is currently being replaced. The old floor has already been removed and the new flooring should arrive by December 19 for installation. Programs for seniors are continuing to expand including scavenger hunts, curbside bingo and Santa’s Workshop. A youth event will be held via curbside at Salinas Park on December 19 for children to drop off letters for Santa Clause and pick up packs of cookies to leave out for Santa. Kevin Johnson, Assistant Director  Introduced himself as the new Assistant Director for the Parks and Recreation Department and expressed his eagerness to work for the City of Corpus Christi and with the Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee.  X. Committee Member Comments/Announcements/Agenda Requests  Kevin Johnson and Becky Perrin: Briefly discussed the name change request for the fountain in Bayfront Park to the Mary Fisher fountain and the repairs being performed for the fountain. We will have everything ready for discussion for the next meeting.  Alissa Mejia: Is erosion still a topic we will discuss in an upcoming meeting?  Tracey Cantu: Yes, we will definitely talk about that soon. It will be addressed as part of the 10-Year Master Plan and we can bring some additional information to you for the next meeting.     XI. Adjournment at 7:16 p.m.