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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes_PAREB_05.10.2007Minutes of the Meeting of the Parks and Recreation Board City of Georgetown, Texas Thursday, May 10, 2007 The Parks and Recreation Board of the City of Georgetown, Texas, met on Thursday , May 10, 2007. Members Present: Barbara Owens, Bob Mathis, Kay Cobb, Kent Buikema, Mark Ramsey, Mike Simpson, William Mateja Members Absent: Staff Present: Randy Morrow, Kimberly Garrett, Jill Kellum Regular Meeting 1. Call to Order The meeting was called to order by Mark Ramsey at 7:00 pm. 2. Roll call 3. Presentations from consultants regarding Parks, Recreation, and Open Space Master Plan Garrett introduced Halff Associates for a presentation of the Parks and Recreation Open Space Master Plan. Garrett stated that they were selected from their statement of qualification to give a presentation. Mateja asked for clarification from staff on this process. Morrow stated that Halff Associates is doing a presentation about their organization on their qualifications of doing the master plan for the City of Georgetown Parks and Recreation Department. Morrow stated that after their presentation the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board will decide if they will be the company to do the master plan. Morrow explained that staff researched all the requests for qualifications and picked out the top companies and selected the top one from that group to give their presentation. Morrow explained the process this company will go through to develop the master such as perform a survey from citizens of Georgetown to see what they would like to see in the City of Georgetown Parks and Recreation Master Plan. The master plan will tie in with the Garey Park master plan, show ideas for future parks, and what the needs are for the City of Georgetown. Mateja asked if there was a prescreening process for the requests for qualifications. Morrow stated that all the requests for qualifications were reviewed by himself, Garrett, and the Assistant City Manager and that Halff Associates was the top one out of that group. Buikema asked if they would have anyone to compare them with. Morrow stated another company could be brought in if they voted Halff Associates down. Jim Carrillo continued with a presentation about Halff Associates. Jim Carrillo explained that there are not many firms nationally that are specialized in this type of master plan where you take an entire parks system and then really try to see where it will go in the future. Halff Associates has been in business for 55 years. They are a Texas based company and there is a local Austin office. Jim Carrillo stated that when they look at a master plan they not only look at the facilities but what you do with the facilities and how you keep those facilities in great condition. Jim Carrillo explained that the survey process and the public input process are real important to developing the master plan. He stated that this plan is not what Halff Associates wants for the city but what the citizens of Georgetown want in their system in Georgetown. Jim Carrillo stated that their company has 2 groups that have received the highest awards in Texas for park plans; he explained this shows their quality of work. He stated they have done plans for large cities and for cities that have the same growth characteristics as Georgetown. The cities that are growing rapidly and have good systems must address the needs of the new systems while making sure the existing parks keep the level of quality that has been established. Halff Associates want to give each area a vision for how it should grow and be for the next 10 — 20 years. Jim Carrillo stated they have done a lot of park and trail designs. They did the award winning trail plan for the City of Round Rock about 3 years ago. He explained that type of plan will help show how the current trails in Georgetown will tie in to new trails and add additional trail as new development comes to Georgetown. Jim Carrillo stated that a master plan has 2 purposes. It has to be a guiding document, but also has to be more specific in certain areas such as projects and projects completion time. He feels that the new master plan will lean towards being a more specific document since so much has been done already. Jim Carrillo explained that parks and recreation master plans go to Texas Parks and Wildlife and it becomes a gateway to grant funds. If there is not a plan on file, a grant application can be submitted but the credit points will not be awarded simply because there is not a plan. Additionally, if there are top priorities in the plan additional points are awarded. Jim Carrillo explained the different types of surveys they perform. They perform telephone surveys. They get information about how parks are being used and what perceptions are for future use of the parks. He passed out data from a survey they performed in another city. Owens asked about the phone surveys and how beneficial they are since people now use cell phones instead of residential phones and the numbers are not listed. Jim Carrillo addressed this by explaining the other ways they obtain public input. The first way is the telephone survey. The second is through on line surveys. He stated that the downside to these are that a specific item could be swayed by having a group of people go on line give all the same input to influence the outcome. The third method that they use is direct citizen input by going to a store front and obtaining a 3 question survey. Some questions might be: do you live in Georgetown, the E.T.J., or are you a visitor, what do you like about the parks, which is your favorite park, what would you like to see in your park system that is missing. The fourth method they use is to talk to school aged children. They go into the schools and survey 4th graders, 7th graders, and 10th graders. The teachers administer the 5 minute survey. At the end of the day they want to make sure they have contacted as many people as possible. He stated that public meetings are not as effective because people are busy with other activities and it is hard to break away for them. Ramsey asked if all four surveys would be performed. Jim Carrillo stated that a variety of different methods would be used. These surveys are also done by sectors of the city, such as downtown and faster growing parts of the city. He state they will see different needs but the overall picture tends to be fairly balanced. Jim Carrillo stated that after they get the results from the surveys they work with workshops and come up with ideas and sit down with staff members, committees, the City's planning department, and other stakeholders such as the Chamber of Commerce, and leagues that use facilities to get their ideas on where they think the systems should go and what some of the issues are with the system. Then public meetings will be held. Halff Associates set these up differently than other group as they will set up a store front. They will set up illustrations and plans in public places such as the library or Wolff Ranch and ask people to come at their convenience to give their input. These could be set up for 2 — 3 weeks. There will be surveys they can fill out to give input. They will also post this information to a website where citizens can give input. Ramsey asked if the questions where specific to Georgetown. Jim Carrillo explained there are major categories with different variations. He then explained the implementation process; coming up with a plan, the actions that need to be taken over the next years, and the funding sources. He stated that GIS will be helpful with the master plan. He explained the operations of the master plan as far as staff requirements and how to take care of the new parks and keep the existing parks up to standard. Jim Carrillo stated that a master plan means nothing unless the citizen's latch on to it and say this is what they want, otherwise it is just a book that sits on the shelf and it has not accomplished what it needs to accomplish. Jim Carrillo added that Halff Associates received an award for the best master plan in Texas; the Excellence and Planning Award awarded by Texas Recreation and Parks Society. They have won this award 3 out of the last 5 years in Texas. They recently won the Excellence and Planning award for the El Paso Master Plan, from the National Association Recreation Resource Planners. Mateja asked what current contracts they had working with master plans. Jim Carrillo stated they have contracts with the City of Abilene and City of Weslaco. Buikema asked if we had a grant. Garrett stated that we need a master plan before we can apply for a grant. Garrett stated the master plan can not be over 10 years old. Garrett stated that all the priorities of the current master plan will be met once the indoor pool is complete. Morrow stated the reason Halff Associates stood out was that they have a vision of a live, working document. The current master plan did not "sit on the shelf", every element has been done. Morrow feels we have a great parks department now and feels they have a vision that can take us to the next level. He stated that Halff Associates had the extra spark that would do a variety of surveys, presenting information at Library or Wolff Ranch, and also tie in the arts in the parks that will connect with the Arts and Cultural Board. Mateja asked when the last master plan was created. Garrett stated the last master plan was adopted in February 2002. Mateja asked if it was city charter to do a new master plan. Morrow stated that all the objectives from the last master plan have now been met. There needs to be a new plan to meet new objectives. Council has given money for a new master plan, and in order to receive grant money a new master plan must be in place. Buikema asked how long it would take to create the master plan. Jim Carrillo stated that the plan would take 8 -12 months and the reason for that is the public input process takes additional time. Buikema asked what the duration of the master plan would be for the City of Georgetown. Jim Carrillo stated that technically with Texas Parks and Wildlife it is a 10 year plan. He added that they set up the plan so there are goals for 5 years, 10 years, the next decade beyond that and perhaps the following decade. Morrow asked if they would be ready for a bond election in November 2008. Jim Carrillo stated they could have it ready. Simpson asked about new and unique elements that may be up and coming to add to Parks. Jim Carrillo stated that they look at trends nationally and locally. He stated that people have less and less leisure time and we want to be instantly stimulated, so new features would focus on that need. Jim Carrillo stated that trails are always a feature people look for. Owens asked about the trails and how they would tie into the regional trails. Morrow stated the trail system would be tied into the regional plan; with Round Rock, Cedar Park, and Williamson County's master plan. Mateja asked if Halff Associates interview the individual board members of the Parks Board to give their thoughts, wishes, and contingencies. Jim Carrillo stated they do hold stakeholder and personal interviews. He added they have done the interview as a group and also individually. Garrett stated currently the City of Georgetown is doing a city wide comprehensive plan that encompasses land use and city limits. The city's comprehensive plan ties directly into the parks master plan. 4. Discussion and possible action on recommendation of consultant for Parks, Recreation, and Open Space Master Plan — Garrett Mateja asked why Morrow felt so strong about this company. Morrow stated that they had a unique plan with the public input and their idea of a working plan. They understand that a working plan is what is being sought and also their vision of taking this parks department to the next level. They also showed art in the park in their statement for qualification which can be tied into the Arts and Cultural Board. He also liked the trail regional master plan and how it will tie in to the City of Georgetown's trail system. Garrett explained that the other top choices from the request for qualifications were out of the area and the cost to bring them in to show their presentation would be a large expense. Mateja asked for clarification on the number of plans that Halff Associates were currently working on. Garrett explained that these companies have other projects they are working on but master plans only come up every 5 —10 years so they will not have many master plans at one time. Garrett stated that feedback from other organizations that have used Halff Associates for services have been good. Morrow stated that if the board would like to see other companies that submitted requests for qualifications that can be arranged. Cobb asked how this will work with the Garey Park master plan. Morrow stated that they would incorporate the Garey Park master plan with the new Parks and Recreation master plan. Garrett stated that Halff Associates showed a timeline and inventory of all parks and when they were acquired. This will show which parks are next to be developed. Morrow stated that when taken to council for budget purposes it will show which parks are next in line to be updated or developed. Buikema made a motion for staff to proceed with negotiations with Halff Associates and Mateja seconded the motion. This passed by unanimous vote. 5. Update on Dog Park — Simpson Garret and Morrow showed a drawing of the dog park. They explained the area such as entrance and parking. Garrett stated the parking lot by the McMaster Complex will be finished. There is money in the budget this year to finish the parking lot. Mateja asked about the letters in the paper and if there was an organized group to keep the dog park out. Morrow stated staff has not received any calls on it and the opposition is sporadic. Morrow stated that the fence will be the first part of the construction. Garrett stated that the Urban Forester has looked at the area and there is money in the budget to prune the trees to raise the canopy. Morrow stated the drinking fountains have been delivered. Garrett stated the trash cans have been ordered. Mateja asked about the signage. Garrett stated there is a sign that says McMaster parking and that will be changed to Dog Park. Garrett stated there is a new sign policy adopted from City Council. Garrett stated that the opening will be in July. 6. Update on Recreation Center Expansion — Garrett City staff and Council members have interviewed 5 firms to do the construction of the recreation center. The companies will come back with pricing. Recommendation will be taken to Council on May 22nd and they will determine who will be the construction manager at risk. The target date is to start in October or sooner. Morrow stated there will be some issues with the football stadium parking. Garrett stated she relayed her concern about keeping the facility open during construction and very little down time and also keep the public up to date on what is going on with the construction. She stated that the construction companies that were interviewed had some good ideas about how to keep the public aware of the construction progress. Cobb asked if the childcare area will be larger. Morrow stated it would be and Garrett stated that all areas will be larger so there will be a need for more childcare. 7. Approve the minutes from April 12, 2007 meeting Simpson made a motion to approve the minutes and Cobb seconded the motion and it passed by unanimous vote. 8. Future agenda items Mateja would like a timeline of the Parks, Recreation, and Open Space Master Plan. 9. Adjourn Buikema made a motion to adjourn the meeting. The meeting adjourned. Attest: Mark Ra . ey Cha Parks and Re�reatic�n Board Barbara Owens, Secretary' Parks & Recreation