- Time is 12.32, I am Frances Punch.
I am the chair for the Denton Parks and Recreation Board
and welcome to the November Parks
and Recreation Board meeting.
Today we have two absences, one excuse and one pending.
Do we have any outside calls?
Or members from the public?
- We have no calls and no comments on the online form.
- Okay, thank you so much.
First item is consideration of the minutes
for October 12th, 2020.
Do we have any questions, concerns, discussions?
May I have a motion to approve the minutes?
- Aye.
- I'll motion to approve the minutes from October.
- May I have a second?
- I'll second.
- All in favor, raise hand please.
- Aye.
- Aye, Denona.
- Okay, anyone oppose? No one opposed?
The ayes have it, the motion carries.
First item, we're gonna receive a report
and hold discussion and give staff direction
regarding the amendment to the code of ordinance
as modified by ordinance 192866.
And so Gary, who's doing that?
- Eddie, Eddie was gonna, that's the item he was working on.
- Okay.
- So based on just a quick history,
last month we are revisiting the ordinance
for the boards and commission absenteeism.
And part of that process, from the last time,
we basically ended up tabling it
to talk more in depth about this amendment
to the code of ordinances.
And between that time, Frances Punch
was able to create a memo.
I don't know if you all have seen the attachment for that.
It's on your backup.
And it basically discusses the two things
to add onto the ordinance.
One of them is family emergency, is that correct?
I don't remember.
- Family responsibilities.
And another item that should be also in discussion
is part of the issue I think we're running into
is that normally we would meet for park board meetings
after six o'clock p.m.
And because of COVID-19, we're doing it during the daytime.
So I think one of the discussions that should be talked about
is how you guys wanna approach it
in the respect of COVID-19,
because right now you guys are all flexing your times
to get to these park board meetings during business hours
and also family responsibility as well.
Does that sum that up, Frances?
- Yes, sounds good.
- So I guess we're trying to get input
from all of you and what your thoughts are.
I think our next steps after this
is we're gonna try to put it on the City Council agenda
for them to basically talk about it.
And you guys are holding a stand
on what you wanna provide to City Council.
And we're gonna move this memo forward
to City Council as well.
- The floor is open for discussion, questions and concerns.
- We talked about this last time and there was like,
personal business, if we have personal family time
was one of the ones we brought up.
There was another one.
It's not coming to me off the top of my head.
Anybody?
- The question is, do you have any opposition
or to adding or requesting the amendments?
- I don't know.
Requesting the amendments to the ordinance.
And we are trying to move forward
and request addition, those two additions,
family responsibilities.
And I think it's a pandemic, emergency situations,
something of that nomenclature.
- I agree to move forward with that.
And thanks, Frances, for doing it.
- Yeah, it's family responsibilities
and then pandemic/world events/emergency situations.
- Thank you, Gary.
- I think it's great.
Also, I think the family piece that you have amended
gives us a little broader scope.
And I know we all feel like family members should be first
just in our day to day.
So I think those are some good verbiage
to make it all encompassing
when it comes to our family members.
And as far as putting the language in there
about the pandemic and just working in general,
I think it's harder for people to get together
because we do work during the daytime.
I know personally, I took off today.
So I'm gonna try to take off
so I can be at these meetings
because some positions are a little bit busier
than the others.
And mine is one of those where I've got a ton of folks
just in my face constantly.
So I think these are some good suggestions.
- Mr. Emory.
- Well, that was the second Gary read off
when I was looking for it.
Thank you.
And I agree with this.
I think we should move forward on this.
So it's definitely a large hole in the excuse column
that should be there.
Absolutely.
- Okay, so Eddie, do I am?
At the last meeting, I didn't know the correct procedure.
So what's the procedure from here?
'Cause this isn't, I don't see that this is an action item
but everybody's in agreement to move forward.
- This is an action item.
You guys have this one.
You're moving, what you're voting for is that memorandum
and that you all agree to it as a stand.
So we can go to boot this forward to city council
for their discussion on how they wanna proceed
on adding possibly these two items.
And I think I think that, you guys are taking a stand
on how they need to discuss this
because what the pandemic world situation
and also what more clarity with family responsibilities
is something that you guys have concerns about.
- Okay, so may I have a motion to move forward
with the memo as stated?
- I'll motion to move forward.
- Second.
- I'll second.
- All in favor.
- Okay, motion passes.
Next item.
Receive a report, hold a discussion
and give staff input regarding an update
of the city of Denton Parks and Recreation Department
COVID-19 response.
- Gary Pack and Director of Parks and Recreation.
Just to kind of give you a high level
and then kind of bring it down to a little more detail.
As of right now, we have our North Lakes Recreation Center
and MLK Junior Recreation Center that are open.
The natatorium is open as well
with modified hours in limited programming.
Based on our current protocols,
we're maintaining those facilities open to the public
for programming or for fitness related
or for specific swim programs.
DISD is using the natatorium as well.
We have been looking at reopening originally.
Our reopening plan was to have DENIA open
roughly December, January,
and then the senior centers open up after January 1
or when everyone comes back from the holidays.
We were looking at possibly opening the senior center
three days a week from roughly eight to one,
morning hours at the end of November
based off of requests that we've had.
And then DENIA would open up following that.
We've had some discussions within the organization
and we had some this morning with staff
and we're gonna be meeting with city manager's office
as well as public affairs and library later this week
to talk in a little bit more detail.
But I think we're going to probably push
some of those reopenings of the new facilities
back a little bit more
and anticipate a later opening
because of the cases that are going up.
And then we're also revisiting some of our protocols
to make sure that we're cleaning the facilities
as frequently as we can
and keep everybody as best we can safe.
We've had a lot of challenges like every business does.
You have people that do get sick.
We do have people that may have been exposed
and they're out for a period of time
and they're getting tested.
Kids at school that are possibly exposed
or getting tested or have been exposed and tested positive
that kind of create a ripple effect
throughout the families and businesses.
So the other thing, not just keeping people safe
but it's also trying to keep our staff safe
and the more facilities we open,
the thinner our staff gets
and the thinner amount of people we have.
So it's been a challenge.
Staff has done a tremendous job keeping up with everything
and trying to provide programs to the community
and we're doing the best we can.
But I think what we're probably gonna do
after we have discussion
is just delaying some of our reopenings.
So we're gonna have some more discussion this week
with city management and the library
in regards to what they're gonna do as well.
So I would anticipate some sort of press release coming out
maybe at the end of the week with an update
in regards to our next steps.
Any questions about our operations related to COVID?
- Thank you so much.
- Have any companies reached out about asking...
Can you hear me?
- Asking about what?
- No.
- Yes, we can.
- We can hear you, yes.
- Any companies reach out and ask about,
would you be able to do COVID testing?
I know they have COVID testing
like on some of the corners at the mall,
but have any companies ever asked to come in
and provide COVID testing?
- I haven't heard any in regards to the rec centers.
I know the county does have the ones at the mall,
but we haven't had any specific requests
that I'm aware of for parks and recreation.
- You can get a speed one at...
You can get a speed test over at CVS
on Teasley and Billy Miller.
Drive in, they test you,
and then you know the results within a day.
- Do you guys have any plans set up already
just based on the statistics of closing down playgrounds,
not parks, and just kind of what number percentage,
like if it hits this, we expect to do this,
or is that what you're saying?
We'll hear later this week?
- Yeah, we're looking at two things.
One, the future expansion of reopening,
and then kind of what we're currently offering.
So we're pushing that reopening of new facilities,
new programs out further.
So that's kind of our initial thought.
And then the existing programs that we do
are the things that we need to shore up
in regards to cleaning protocols,
elevate them at this point in time.
There are certain hours that we want to maybe cut back on.
Maybe certain programs that may be higher risk
that we may not wanna do.
So we're looking at those things right now.
I don't know of a number of cities
that have started closing down tennis courts
and basketball courts and playgrounds like they had.
I think there's been some discussion.
There was one city that decided
they're not gonna have any events until May of 2021,
and they threw out some dates there.
So the school districts are obviously the big,
kind of the gorilla in the room
in regards to what they're doing.
And I think that'll kind of have a trickle down effect
onto us as well.
And we have seen some of the smaller schools close,
but that's a struggle too,
because not everyone can be home with kids
and we experienced that.
So it's a really tough position for everybody.
And the last thing we wanna do is close down
the programs and services we provide to people,
'cause that's really an outlet for them.
So we're gonna do our best
to try to keep everybody safe as we can,
and then continue, try to keep our parks open
for everyone to go out and enjoy and exercise,
get away from the computer
and get out and get some fresh air,
and we'll adjust as needed.
Hopefully we don't have to go to that extreme again.
We're getting close to 4,000 active cases
if you look at the Denton County website.
We're almost a thousand cases
above the high point in the summer.
So it is definitely worse and more challenging
than it was early this summer.
But I think people are tired
and they wanna get back to normal life.
We're just not there yet.
- We'll say that we're near the RECA park here
and I'll tell you that trail there
is highly, highly utilized every day, every morning.
So the good news is the trails are being definitely,
and I think also Katie Trail
knows a lot more people out there on their bikes.
So the trails have been a savior in all of this.
- They are getting a lot of use for sure.
- Yep.
Okay, if there are no additional questions or concerns,
we will move to the next item.
We are gonna receive a report, hold a discussion
and give staff input regarding the Denton Parks
and Recreation, Beautification, Education
and Event Services Division
and Clearcrete Natural Heritage Center.
- Okay, Autumn is gonna talk about this.
I'll bring up the presentation
and unless Autumn, you wanted to bring it up.
- Actually don't.
- Okay, I'll do it.
So just to kind of give everybody an introduction,
Katie B joined us, I guess to write a little over a year ago
and came over to Parks and Recreation
and has been a great fit for our organization
and hopefully a great fit for what they do.
There's a lot of overlap
and we feel it was a seamless transition
in regards to the services they provide
and how we can support them as well.
And then this summer with COVID,
we are looking at ways that we could streamline
a lot of our business.
We centralized our mowing practices and Drew's team.
So we're mowing and maintaining the land
for all city assets except for like the landfill and drainage.
So that was a seamless transition.
The other thing that we looked at was Clear Creek
in regards to programming that we provide there
and obviously our park maintenance that we do.
So that was moved over earlier this summer
and that's moved into a new group that we took Katie B,
the Civic Center and all the internal
and external events that we do in Clear Creek
and created a new group.
So that's what Autumn is here to share with you.
So let me go ahead and bring that up.
(mouse clicking)
Let's see, it's a page.
Okay.
Can you guys see that?
- Yeah, perfect introduction, Gary.
All right, like you mentioned, I'm Autumn Natale,
I'm Program and Events Manager.
You're in the department and he mentioned
one of the major changes that came out of this
was Clear Creek Natural Heritage Center.
Sorry, something's happening with my screen.
There we go, sorry about that.
As you all mentioned, one of the real benefits
during this pandemic was people getting out to the trails
and that's no exception at Clear Creek Natural Heritage Center
and that transitioned over to our department
to help with the maintenance
but we saw a lot of synergy there with the outdoor efforts
and educational aspects we could bring to it
as well as hosting events there.
So we are looking at improving that overall
and look forward to a overall master plan
coming in the next year.
- Can everybody see my screen?
- Yes.
- Autumn, can you see it?
It says Clear Creek Natural Heritage Center?
- Yes.
- Okay, all right, we'll make sure everyone can see it.
- Yeah, you can go ahead and advance to the next slide.
- Okay, okay.
- Thank you.
So one of the other exciting opportunities is our new team
which is BEES for short.
It's Beautification, Education and Event Services
that brings all of those areas
that were kind of off on an island on their own
all together to collaborate
and so far it's worked out really well
and we've had a lot of overlap
but the very first section that BEES
is the beautification piece
and I believe that's on the next slide.
Thank you.
So this is where the KDB
Keep Deton Beautiful Initiatives will continue.
I'm sure you heard that Keep Deton Beautiful Inc,
a nonprofit, is in the process of dissolving
and handing over all management and funding to the city side.
That has been a pretty seamless transition so far
and I see it continuing that way
with continuing the tree plantings,
beautification and mural projects
and of course our city-wide litter programs
and volunteer projects have not slowed down
since the pandemic hit.
We've been out there.
You probably have seen our volunteers hard at work.
There's a lot of very undentened
so that allows for social distancing
and we've seen a lot of increase in PPE littering
so we wanna make sure we get out there
and still keep our community clean
because we're seeing with our residents going outdoors
for more litter and we wanna keep our parks
just as nice for people to keep those litter free.
The other aspect is environmental education.
So this is where the education component comes in.
Sustainability is a division
within the utilities wastewater department
and previously for years they had managed a couple programs
and the main piece being the sustainability workshops.
So those are coming over
as well as the Denton Sustainable Schools Program
which was previously managed.
Alana, you're familiar with this
by Solid Waste and Recycling.
Those are valuable programs
that keeps us connected with Denton ISD.
It helps us attract people out to Clear Creek
and it keeps sustainable education going
and supporting the Simply Sustainable Citywide Master Plan.
And then the last piece is event services.
You're very familiar with our events
that we're missing so much right now.
A few of them are listed there.
Right now we're working on converting those to virtual
and trying to still enjoy extravaganza and egg hunt
in a safe way coming this spring.
But we also manage the rentals at the Civic Center
and all of the community events.
We partner with them to make sure that they're,
they have what they need to host events within the parks.
So that's our new exciting division.
It's one of the really great things
that came out of a tough time.
Does anyone have any questions?
Yes, I can see James' hands up.
- Yeah.
You want me to say?
- No, I'm gonna take this down.
- Yes, thank you.
I was about to request that.
- Anyway, good question.
Who do we contact if schools want,
the students want our schools organized
to take people out to the Clear Creek Reserve?
Who do they contact here?
You?
- Yes, that would be me.
I'll go ahead and get my email to each of you.
But any school presentations would come through us
if you wanted a guided hike out at the trails.
The trails are open for anyone to use.
We've already had school groups
going out there on their own.
But if you wanna be connected with a guide,
then that would be our group.
- Okay, that'd be great.
- Autumn, I was curious if you guys had any programming
or specific area that focused on making sure
that we were getting all different types of people
to the parks for inclusivity,
if you had something specific in regards to that.
- Yes, yeah, we're actually working
with our education coordinator right now
in developing a program that's linked to the book
Black Faces, White Spaces.
And so that's encouraging minority groups
to come out to the outdoors
and identifying the things that might be limiting them
from those opportunities.
But specifically partnering with TWU
to have school groups come out and,
sorry, university groups come out
and do either a guided hike or a diving trip.
And we've looked at an overnight camping trip.
- Thank you.
- So you know I probably have questions
about different sustainable schools.
So what is the plan with continuing that program?
Is it gonna be like where it used to,
like schools would participate and get money
from the recycling fund for the school
to do environmental programs?
Like how is that gonna be?
It's kinda like what's the form of it now?
- Right, so the form is pretty much the same.
We're gonna provide presentation support
and guidance and resources.
But the funding aspect, that previously came
from solid waste and recycling.
And I understand that that was tied to funds from Pratt.
And with the decrease in commodities,
they're seeing a decrease in that funding.
So that department has decided to cease funding
for at least this year.
And we're looking at potential incentives for the schools,
whether that be some kind of award or recognition
that's not monetary.
But we're open to suggestions if anyone has them.
But we are going to continue with the same support
that we provide for the schools
with the exception of the monetary.
- So y'all will still be like working
with their custodians and the administration
to ensure that there is recycling infrastructure
in the schools and they have everything they need
to have more sustainable infrastructure all around.
- Right, so our piece in this is providing
the educational resources and connecting people
to the right person in the city.
For the recycling aspects, for the waste audits
and increasing those recycling rates,
that will fall to the recycling education coordinator
that's still within the sustainability division.
Currently that position is vacant,
but there are two staff members
who are addressing that right now.
- Just to understand where the division between
what we're doing and what sustainability is doing,
the easiest way is all the regulatory items
is still staying within sustainability.
All the programmatic things that they used to do
came over to Parks and Recreation.
That line is still a little wiggly
on some of the things that we do and they do,
but that's the easiest way to explain the split from that.
So from a programming standpoint
and from a park maintenance standpoint,
that's what we're doing with the sustainability programs
and what Autumn just talked about
and then from a park maintenance standpoint, obviously.
But all the regulatory things,
whether it's air quality, all those types of things
are still being done by sustainability.
- Autumn, I'm curious, what is the gap in funding
that exists that you would have been giving out
as incentives?
- So I don't know that piece.
I haven't seen the actual numbers.
I know that Solid Waste had stepped in
and it changes from year to year on the commodities.
So I don't know what the numbers are
for this past year that they didn't fund,
but I could find out and get that information.
- Yeah, that would be awesome.
I'd love to talk to our board
and see if there's potential or funding grants
that could help fund the program.
- I have a question.
So you said earlier, like all the educational stuff
for internal and external pretty much for sustainability
is gonna be like funneled through the bees.
What is the plan for educating the internal parks
and rec staff about sustainability?
Because I know like when you hire people
who are maybe an expert in one thing
and then transition them into like a new way of thinking
or a new position, they might need a little training
to understand fully what sustainability is
and how that impacts each job and division.
- Right, yeah, so sustainability is a big piece
of our strategic plan in the department,
but citywide, we've got a city green team
that just started back up last week.
And we have, I think four or five parks and rec staff members
a part of that green team.
And that's one of the things we're discussing
is how can we can take the information in those meetings
and bring it back to our own departments.
So that may be a future presentation
for the whole department to allow for all staff
to be familiarized with sustainability initiatives,
but how they can implement them now at the different rec centers
or out at the parks.
- One of the challenges we do have,
and Drew can attest to this, is our garbage cans.
Our park system, we have, I don't know,
I'm gonna guess here a thousand of the 55 gallon drums,
and we have a blue and green one right next to each other,
and they're contaminated all the time.
So we do need to look at a way
that we can have better containers
that make it easier for people to self-identify
where they're supposed to be putting items.
The problem is, we went out and looked at some prices
probably a year ago, a year and a half ago,
and it was a million dollars to replace all our trash cans.
And on the list of priorities, I don't know where that sits.
It's a hard pill to swallow
to spend a million dollars on trash cans.
But that's an issue for sure.
And so it's not just staff, it's still the general public
in trying to get them to not contaminate, you know,
one can across the entire organization of the park system.
- I definitely am familiar with that issue.
- But I thought it had something to do with two cans.
If they get corrupted, or what do you call it?
- Contaminated? - Contaminated.
- Yeah, why even bother with two cans?
- We want to still try, right?
So, I mean, we don't wanna lose the effort
for trying to recycle in our community.
And that's something that we're gonna continue to work on
with the educational factor, you know, really,
I know Alana probably had, you know,
she's got experience with it.
You start young, you know,
if you get the word out in the school system
that, you know, this is the benefit of recycling,
then they take that home,
and then that continues to carry on.
So, you know, Autumn and I have already talked about this,
that we really want to start
that kind of educational factor again,
and really get into the focus of getting back
into the schools to educate children on recycling,
'cause, you know, they're there at the parks
with their parents,
and then when something goes to go in a can,
they can say, no, you know, Mom and Dad, you know,
your water bottle goes in the blue can,
and your regular trash goes in the green can,
and this is why.
So it's something that we'll continue to work on,
or are gonna continue to work on.
- Brooke, if you can find us a million dollar grant
for trash receptacles, that'd be fantastic.
- You know how I feel about our trash cans through the parks?
- Yeah, they are ugly.
- These are the worst trash cans.
- Yeah, they fill up with water.
It's just, yeah, they're not attractive.
- Of course, like right around the trash can
is just like everything that should be in it,
and I genuinely don't think people are like,
I'm so lazy, I'm not gonna stretch my arm.
Yeah, I'll work on that one.
- Any additional concerns, comments, questions?
Well, thank you all for the input,
and thank you, Autumn, for being so thorough.
- Thank you.
- It's a new group, so we're looking forward
to what it can be down the road,
and the Clear Creek Master Plan was done in 2014.
So every five years, you typically wanna address that
and just kind of relook at it.
So we are going to council, we've been negotiating
with a, evaluating, negotiating a firm
to come help us finish the Master Plan for the park system.
Since Glenn left, and then COVID,
it's been on hold outside of the trails.
We talked about the past couple meetings.
We are gonna integrate Clear Creek into that,
so we can get that updated
and try to continue to move forward.
It's such a major hidden diamond
in our system for the city.
We wanna get more people out there,
and there's gotta be a balance.
We can't have too many people go out there,
'cause then you kind of start a negative impact,
but the more people we can get out there
starting utilizing that resource,
the better for the entire city.
- I have actually a couple of questions
regarding Clear Creek.
One is, I've been out there in a couple of weeks,
but the last few times I went out there,
the porta potty that's available for people
was just in really bad shape,
and it was quite smelly.
- When you went out there, was there one porta potty or two?
- Just one, it was kind of like pushed back.
- Was it gray or red?
We're getting specific.
The reason why. - No, there was only one.
- There was only one, okay. - It was by the parking area.
- And the reason why is because I took to council
a contract to get rid of UnitedSite Services,
and now we have Five Star Rentals.
Five Star Rental is a Denton company.
- Yeah, I know, I would-
- And they're very customer-oriented.
They've been great to us so far.
They're the ones that help come in
whenever COVID first hit, and we had the laundry trailer.
We helped open up the restrooms.
They had the hand-washing stations.
They've been very good.
UnitedSite Services is no longer with us as a contractor,
but we're having issues with them coming to get their cans.
- See, that's what it seemed like.
It seemed like it wasn't supposed to be used.
- We- - Yeah, that makes sense.
- I have tried since September weekly,
Carlotta sends an email out,
and I try to follow that for them to come
and get the rest of their cans.
We're trying to move up the chain with UnitedSite Service,
but we haven't had any luck
actually getting to the top lately.
So hopefully they will come and get theirs
because they are very bad.
But Five Star Rental does have a new porta potty out there.
It's very clean, and they keep it clean.
So that is something that we've worked on
trying to get UnitedSite Service out in Five Star-
- What happens if they don't come?
Like, do you have to-
- We will eventually make sure it's gone,
but we'll take them.
We've already gotten, we already have two or three
at the service center that we've removed
because of those reasons,
and we're just waiting for them to come get them also.
- That's just terrible.
- Okay, Drew, are they locked,
or can people actually enter them?
- You can enter them,
but they haven't been cleaned since probably September.
- We probably should go ahead
and just put a lock or something on it
so people don't even bother opening it.
- Yeah, so-
- 'Cause they're thinking that we're not maintaining them
when we're trying to encourage the company
to come pick them up.
- The last time I was there,
you could smell them down the trail.
- Okay.
- It was pretty bad.
- All right.
- We'll look to go-
- I don't wanna talk about it anymore.
- Sound like a new diet plan to me.
- Alaina, your second question.
- Oh, yes, thank you for reminding me, Princess.
I totally forgot.
When will the rest of the little trails be open?
'Cause you can't, like, I know sometimes it rains,
and that causes an issue.
But it seems like even when it's dry,
you can't do the full loop out there,
and I was just wondering when I could expect
to be able to do that full loop.
- So we have- - Like the big one
that goes by Elm Fork.
- So our master naturalists are constantly,
in fact, they're there today,
and they're normally there on Mondays and Thursdays
helping get our trails open,
whether that's helping us clear trails,
helping to make sure that they're closed
when they need to be closed due to the weather or rain.
But as you know, it was great this summer when it was hot.
Most of those trails are shaded,
so you get a little beat of the heat out in those trails.
That does cause an issue for them to dry.
They don't dry in there as quickly
because they don't get the sunlight
that some of our other trails do.
So we are working on that.
Gary, myself, and Autumn, we've gone through and looked at,
like we said, it's in parks now, park maintenance,
and it's going to help make sure that we can kind of
update those trails and get them
to where we can get those open quicker.
I can't give you an answer right now,
but I can look at that and send you an answer next Monday
on when we anticipate those trails opening up,
especially we've had quite a bit of dry weather lately.
- The one issue was the constant flooding
of some of those trails.
And I guess it could be a point where
I don't know if the dam clearing
made a significant impact on that or not.
But we've talked about even elevated trails
if we have to in certain areas.
That's obviously a long-term,
that's probably a grant project.
You can add that to your list, Brooke,
but that's the most expensive trail that we can build
in that, or trying to open up the air above the trail
to try to get some more sunlight on it.
So that's a challenge on some of those trails
with how low they are.
And obviously we haven't been able to open up
the 380 parking lot too.
- Do you have a question for you specifically?
Did you work on the River Legacy Park
when you were in Arlington?
- That was not my area.
Park maintenance was a different AD.
I did have some, we did programming out there
and we did do the paddling trail
that is at River Legacy as well.
But yes, that was part of our park inventory.
There was a nonprofit that ran the Science Center
and they handled that and they did some of their own camps,
but we did all park maintenance and programming
within the park itself.
And that entire park would flood
and be under six, eight feet of water once or twice a year.
It would be up to the roofs on the pavilions
and we'd have to shut it down for a week or two
and then go back in there and clean it up.
So there was a significant amount of water in that park
when we had major rainstorms.
- Actually, I grew up going to that park.
We grew up in Ulysses, right next to it.
- Yeah, it's definitely a destination park.
I think the President Bush had been out there a few times
riding the mountain bike trails.
- That's cool.
Okay, I have one last comment and I'll stop you guys.
I just wanted to say, I recently saw the Quarry Trail.
I guess it's almost finished or it is finished.
It's awesome.
They did a really great job with that one.
Those of you who don't know what the Quarry Trail is,
I'll let y'all explain it,
but it's, what is it the Master Naturalist put it in?
I'll stop, go ahead.
- Just to add to that,
the one thing that we are looking to change
is the North parking lot.
There's a restroom facility up there
and a gravel parking lot.
And that for the most part, it's been closed and locked.
We wanna get into a routine where that's open
on a regular basis as well.
And that restroom facility is open as well.
We're speaking of restrooms.
And across the street, there's 240 acres,
230 some acres that we have the ability to utilize
through our utility department.
And we're currently building mountain bike trails out there
that will be dedicated for mountain biking.
When we open up that parking lot on the North side,
we're gonna have the mountain bikers park there.
And then there'll be a trail to go up across the street
where they can get in and start the mountain bike trail.
So we had a group of volunteers go out
and start marking it two weeks ago.
And we marked about two to three miles of trails.
And then we have another marking day on the 20th,
which is the Friday of this week to go out there
and mark some more trails.
It'll probably take us two or three more days
to get everything done.
We're somewhere around seven miles of trails
that we envision out there.
And then it'll be a community build.
So we'll be depending on volunteers to go out there
and help clear the areas for the mountain bike trails.
We have a few of our master naturalists
helping on it as well,
as well as some of our mountain bike enthusiasts
that we've been working with on our focus groups
and some of our store owners as well are helping.
So we don't have a dedicated funding source for it.
So it's what equity is what's gonna build that.
But so that's also gonna help us maintain that restroom
and improve that parking lot area too,
'cause it doesn't get as much use as it should.
And now that we have that open,
that should open up those trails on the north side too,
'cause there's some nice trails north of that parking lot
that you can go out and enjoy that are just grass trails
that are out in the open.
So that's expanding really our programming opportunities
for that park.
- Okay, I got a question about-
- Yes, Brooke.
- So we were just out there and I was curious
if you had any plans on building little bridges
that cross over like some of the little
creek ways that come through.
I don't mind crossing them however my dog does
and he gets very wet.
- Are you talking about Clear Creek
or at the mountain bike?
- Yes, yes we do.
We're working with a master nationalist now.
We do have a Boy Scout,
two Boy Eagle Scout projects going on.
One is almost complete.
The other one just got started
and then the master naturalist is gonna build another bridge
to cross some of those wet areas.
Yes, the south side of the lake,
I guess that one got washed away.
- Yes.
- Okay, and Autumn, I thought of a question.
The tree giveaway, is that still an event that will occur?
- Yes, we just hosted the tree giveaway last month
on the 24th that we talked about
that being a COVID ready event.
There were very few adjustments that we had to make
but we see that continuing
and we've even discussed the possibility
of maybe hosting a second one in the spring
depending on funding.
But seeing as how that's a drive through,
distanced, great way to get people trees to plant,
we will continue that.
- I usually receive an email
'cause I have been on the list,
but I did not receive one.
Do I need to re-register?
What's the process for people to find out about the trees?
- I can check on that for you and send you an email, Frances.
I'm sorry that you didn't receive that.
- I'm actually also someone,
I've gotten a tree like four years now
and I did not get one this year
because I had no idea that it happened until afterwards.
- Okay, yeah.
So we've scheduled registrations
then every year on October 1st,
but I will check on both of your registrations
or subscriptions to our newsletter.
You should have gotten it.
Unless you randomly hit unsubscribe,
that sometimes happens.
I will say, I did get it.
So I did not get a tree,
but I did get it.
Thank you, Autumn.
- Utility, don't they send it in with the utilities?
- They do.
- You get your utility bill and you get that newsletter.
I saw it in there and remember long ago,
but I have seen it in there.
- Yeah, it was in the Citizen Connection
that you're talking about in the resident update
that went out as well.
But definitely we wanna make sure
that you guys are getting those direct emails from us
so we have the best, most accurate information.
- Autumn, can we just,
can we see if we can get all of the park board registered?
Just make sure everyone is on that list.
It was very successful this year and fun, so.
- I have one question.
Everybody's talking about the trails
and I think they're awesome.
Is there any way on the website,
when you click on the trails
on the park, Denton Parks and Rec website,
it's not really user friendly
for someone who's not from Denton, like me.
You've got a lot of people moving to the city
from California and all over the country.
So maybe a map that talks about the walking trails
and the bike trails that are,
that the city offers.
- It's on our list. - On the website.
- Yeah, we-- - And maybe even
in visitor center.
- That's been on our list.
We've been talking about it for the past year
to get that updated.
We actually, earlier this summer,
we had a couple of volunteers go out
and ride all of our major trails
with their bike with a camera.
So staff's been editing that
and I saw the first proof last week
where it's kind of going fast forward along the trails
and then it gives you little tidbits of information
and facts as you're riding.
So you can kind of see
and it shows you a map where you're at.
So that should be coming out real soon.
So that's good timing on the question,
but we do have it on our list of things to do
is improve the website with our trails.
- Bike sales are up.
That's all over the news. - Absolutely.
Yeah.
- Bike sales and kayaks.
- I love your idea.
The trail, what they did in the environment
was pretty clever.
They had actually some boy scouts
and I think even a girl scout or two got involved
and they put, not only did they put a map together,
but they put it so you could get to GPS court
and so you can put your cell phone and follow the trail
and it shows you where you're going in real time on a GPS.
So that's pretty cool.
And they just got kids to do it for them.
You'd be surprised what these kids can do today.
- Yeah.
- Okay, anything else before we move to the next item?
All right.
Thank you again, Autumn.
Next item, receive a report, hold a discussion
and give staff input regarding the naming applications
for parks and trails as submitted by residents,
local developers and the parks and recreation department.
- Okay, let me go ahead and bring that up.
(pages rustling)
I don't have a PowerPoint,
but I'm gonna open up the AIS that we can follow.
I'm sure you remember we've talked about it a number of times
over the past year in regard to updating the policy
for the naming within our park system of parks and facilities.
And during the past year, we've had a number
of community groups and developers reach out to us
about naming of a few of our parks and fields.
During this process to get the policy approved,
we asked them to hold off and submit it
once it was completed.
So once it was finalized,
we did reach out to everybody that had talked to us
over the past year and asked them to go ahead
and resubmit or actually submit an application.
And that was part of the process
is to get an application together that they could fill out
and turn into the city.
So we have received a total of five applications
from the community.
And we've submitted parks and recreation
a number of submittals as well.
So the process, if you remember,
is that the application submitted goes to the city manager's
office or the department.
I've turned those into the city manager's office,
and the next would go to city council.
So we plan on going back to city council
after the first of the year to present the applications
and walk through that process.
City council have to create a ad hoc committee.
There would be a member or two from park board
because that's the most impacted department.
And then council would form that subcommittee,
they would go through the applications
and then provide recommendations
back to the park board and city council.
So that's the process.
It's the first time we're gonna go through it as a group.
So there may be some learning opportunities during this,
but we're gonna wait until the entire city council
was seated.
So we kind of took that first step with the formal council
that would be in place for the next two years.
But applications that were submitted from the community
was for the Carnegie Ridge property,
and that was provided by the developers.
They wanted to name it Patrick Park after their father,
who was a local teacher.
Baseball fields one and two at Evers Park
were submitted by Denton Baseball Association.
And those were two names after,
and I can make this a little larger
so it might be easier for you guys to see.
And that was Austin Jackson and Javi Guerra,
I think is the pronunciation.
They were both former Denton ballplayers.
They played through the program and they both played in MLB.
Guerra was actually on the Washington nationals
two years ago when they won the world series.
So they asked to name the fields after those players.
And then Industrial Street Park used to be
Wolf's Hardware Store, Grocery, I'm sorry, Grocery.
And actually was submitted by one of our employees
who's a family related to that family, so that property.
So that was a real interesting kind of tie back
to what that property was used at one point in time.
And then Razor Ranch property was submitted
by the developers to name that park Razor Ranch Park.
So those are the five applications
that came from the community.
And then the ones that we submitted,
the Mills property is planned to be a city park.
And that's typically a park that's 50 acres or more.
And we were trying to come up with a theme
for all our city parks to be named after something,
Direction Lake Park and North Lakes Park, South Lakes Park.
And this one would be East Lake Park
to obviously give you the geographic location
and kind of set that brand of,
oh, that's a lake park,
that must mean it's something of significance.
There's roughly a four acre pond there, a body of water.
So that was the rationale for East Lake Park.
And then all of the trails, well,
we haven't formally named all of our trails.
We thought it would be good
while we're working through the master plan
and we're calling these trails certain things
to go ahead and get them formally adopted
and then work into some of those trails as they're built.
Bonnie Bray is already under construction.
Cooper Creek already has some trails completed.
Hickory Creek is under construction right now.
Mayhill is, for the most part, completed.
Mingo is in portions of that are in the planning stage.
Same with Pecan Creek.
University Trail is gonna have a section east of Mayhill.
That's gonna be worked on by Textot over to the bridge.
And then Vintage Trail is under construction
and Wildflower Trail already exists.
We weren't sure if that was formally adopted or not.
That's in North Lakes Park.
So we wanted to just go ahead and formally request that.
This doesn't mean there's not more trails
that we could be adding to that,
but we wanted to try to get a critical mass
of applications together at one time
since an ad hoc committee has to be created
that we weren't going back piecemeal
a little bit at a time
and that process is gonna be cumbersome
to try to do a number at one time.
So that was the thought process
in regards to taking these all to the committee
and to you and the city council,
but wanted to get your feedback on any of these
if you have any questions or concern.
We still have to move forward with city council
and we'll definitely include any reluctancy
or concerns you have with any of these names
and the rationale based on direction
from the board as a whole and kind of go from there.
- Gary, I have a question.
Can you stop sharing so we can see each other?
- Oh yes, yep.
- The Industrial Street Park,
I would love to hear additional information
behind the family, the Wolfs.
I would just love to hear the history.
- Okay.
- We used to receive this information,
but I know since COVID, everything has kind of changed,
but we really, I think the board really needs
to continue to get information.
And I understand why you had to put it on hold
and put them all together.
I do understand that.
But I do would like additional information
about the Industrial Street Park name being changed to,
what was it, Wolfs?
- Wolfs, on the attachment that's in your packet
on page 10, there's a summary of the history of Wolfs.
It was a food store from 1947 to 1997.
The store was located at 109 Industrial,
Wolf's food store was named after Robert Wolf
who opened the store in 1947.
The store then changed ownerships
from Robert to Walter Wolf in 1948,
and then to Paul Wolf in 1951.
In 1959, Grady Gandy bought the store
from his father-in-law, Paul Wolf.
Grady kept the store name of Wolf's food store
to avoid any confusion.
Many customers continued to call Mr. Gandy, Mr. Wolf
as he bought the store.
Many in the community still remember Mr. Gandy's smile,
laugh and witty humor.
He was known as a bit of a jokester
and loved to make people laugh.
He was a huge part of the Denton community
and helped many people simply giving advice,
food or a part-time job.
Grady Gandy enjoyed being a part of the community
and never asked for anything in return.
He was extremely genuine and loved his neighbors.
Wolf's food store was featured many times
in Denton Record Chronicle highlighting the longtime success
of the small grocery store in a time
where big box stores were moving into the city.
Whether the store's success was due
to Mr. Gandy's unstoppable work ethic
or his contribution to so many lives in Denton
and surrounding towns, he had an infectious energy
to anyone that knew him.
The store centered on the Wolfs and Gandy's family,
but Wolf's customers were considered
Mr. Gandy's extended family.
This was shown in his unwillingness
to let people give up themselves,
to let people give up, not to give up on themselves.
He was a model of what hard work and love is
for his community could produce.
Mr. Gandy was never a rich man in terms of financial wealth,
but was rich in family and friends.
The community felt the absence
when he unexpectedly passed away in February, 1997.
Although he is gone,
his love and laugh will never be forgotten.
So that's in your packet on page 10
as part of the application that was submitted.
- Yes, I see that now.
- And then one other thing,
when John and I met with the DWI group,
they mentioned Wolf's Food Store
whenever we spoke to them about Industrial Park.
And they talked about meeting there
and getting things to eat and having lunch together.
So it was good to hear about that place,
especially knowing we were coming before you
to maybe future change the name.
- So, any feedback in regards to any of the proposed names?
- Are we going to receive information from the public?
- So, obviously this is the first time we've done this.
So we'll be putting an ad hoc committee together.
They'll review the applications.
We definitely could have a public meeting.
It probably is a good recommendation to have that
during that review process.
So people could chime in
and people could actually come and present their pitch
if they wanted to in regards to the name
and kind of go from there
and use that as part of the consideration.
So we definitely could do that.
- I think that's a really good idea.
Yeah, I like that idea.
- Thank you.
- We will incorporate that.
- One of the ideas that we had years ago
was that the small pocket,
I'm not talking about the bigger parks.
I think the process here is a good one in general,
but like for pocket parks that are where local neighborhoods
could be a playground,
it's mostly going to be utilized by the local neighborhood.
One of the things that worked really, really well
was to go out and get, go around the neighborhoods
and get nominations for the names for naming the park.
You get the whole,
that way you get the whole community involved
in actually being part of the process
by just going out and asking door to door.
And anyway, so I just, this is a suggestion.
And then once the nomination, you get the top one,
vote on which ones people like the best
and the second round.
And then eventually they come up with a name
for the park that they named
and then it's part of their park.
But that is a bad news.
We actually have people who,
one of the daycare brought their kids over
and the people try to chase them out
because they said that this is our park.
You know, we got a little too possessive, but that's okay.
- That's a good point.
The one thing that we are not sure of
is what parks have been officially named or not.
So we have a staff member
that's gonna be working with the library
and a city volunteer that Heather had worked with
during this process of the policy development,
that they were reaching out to her
to see if she would be interested in helping
and going back and doing research
on the parcels that we already have.
Our gut feeling is that some of these properties
were named by staff.
Just as they were kind of going, hey, this is on this road
and we'll just call it that kind of as a placeholder.
And we've had a little bit of a discussion
about this in the past.
And all of a sudden it just became Sherman Open Space
where there was no,
'cause it just was on Sherman Drive or road.
And so those names just stuck.
So we need to go back and see
if some of those have been formally adopted
so we could say these X number of parks
are available in the future for the community to consider.
The ones that were suggested are basically new parcels
or new things that are coming together.
So I can't give you or we can't give you a clear list
of what is available to the community
outside something that might be brand new.
So we're going back to try to find that.
So once we get to that point, we definitely could say,
here's a list of all the parks that are available.
And if you have somebody that lives in that neighborhood
or we're just an important person in Denton,
then you could suggest naming for that parcel.
But so we need to kind of go back
and do a little bit of research to see what is available.
And that's something that we're trying to get started up
with the library.
- Additional concerns, questions, comments?
Okay, if you can add our concerns, Gary,
to your presentation, we'd greatly appreciate it.
- Okay.
- Next item, receive a report, hold a discussion
and give staff input regarding the potential leasing
of a 3.5 acres property at 308 Bradley Street,
the former site of Veterans Village
and Bradley Street Apartments.
- Okay, I'm going to bring up the PowerPoint
that we presented originally in June of 2019
and use that as a reference point.
I'm not sure if everybody on the committee was here
at this time, but I'll just go through real quick.
So this parcel is on Bradley, Bradley Street,
just off of Oak, used to be a Veterans Village.
And most recently it was an apartment complex.
In relation to some other parks,
you can see where McKenna Park is,
it's pretty much a large block or two or three blocks away.
And then Razor Ranch property is just a little bit
to the Northwest.
Some general facts, it's 3.5 acres.
It is the former site of Veterans Village
and I'll show you what that looked like.
It was used for temporary housing during World War II,
after World War II when the veterans came back for school
and there were 50 hutments,
there were small homes that were on that property.
This is what that property looked like at the time.
You could see these little buildings here,
that's where the veterans,
the students that came back where they lived.
Campus is over in this area.
This is what it looks like right now.
It was being used as a lay down area
for some construction activity off of Bradley.
There's a chain link fence and just some open space
that people could go out there and utilize.
We'd come up with some draft kind of concept plans
with the loop trail, taking the existing parking
and putting some trees in there.
Very minimal improvements,
maybe a pavilion at one point in time.
We have to make sure it's ADA compliant.
So we integrated some Monarch Way Stations,
pollinator gardens,
working with volunteers and the Historical Association
to help even with trail development
and trying to get some veterans out there
to help build the trails.
Original concept was about $80,000 or so
to do some of those improvements.
This was, I guess, probably two years ago
at this point in time.
It did not include the lighting, irrigation,
those types of things.
It was just really the core basics.
A pavilion of this nature, a crushed granite trail,
all pending on volunteer assistance,
and then maybe an interpretive panel
about the history of that space with the Hutmans
and World War II veterans coming back.
At the time, we were talking to UNT
and they were trying to figure out
what their long-term plan is for that property,
and they're still working on that actually.
And after the first of the year,
Public Affairs is gonna be working with them
to figure out how they can get community input
on that process before they made any decisions.
So I think I have a meeting later this week
to meet with Public Affairs on next steps
in regards to that.
So that's gonna happen after the holidays.
So until then, there really isn't gonna be any movement
until they go through that process.
We did take the proposal to City Council,
not this fiscal year, but the fiscal year prior,
and that wasn't funded.
So the project was kind of just put on hold
since there was no funding allocated.
And then this year, COVID hit
and we didn't submit anything.
I think we had one supplemental that we submitted
since the budget was a concern.
So it's been on hold since that point of time,
but Park Board asked for an update.
So that's where the project is as of right now,
waiting for final decision
on the long-term use of that property.
Originally, we had talked about a 10-year lease with UNT,
and that's where that property stands to date.
- Thank you, Gary.
Questions, concerns?
All right.
The next agenda item and the last one
is to receive a report, hold a discussion,
and give staff input regarding the placement
and status of public art projects.
- Okay, let me bring up a presentation for you.
Just to kind of introduce this,
public art was in parks and recreation,
and it was moved over to economic development
probably in early 2018, late 2017, that timeframe.
And it was an economic development up until this summer,
actually late fall, early fall.
So it was moved back to parks and recreation.
It's part of an overall plan that has a landscape architect
and a park planning manager
as new positions within the park system.
Those staff members report to Drew
as part of our parks planning and operations team.
We're trying to get those positions hired as we speak.
But in the meantime, John Whitmore, who's our program area
manager oversees our aquatics division,
hired himself to help us, or maybe was voluntold himself,
to help us with the public art projects.
We had a number that were on the books
but needed to get started.
And he's done a great job
in kind of pushing those efforts forward.
So we can go through and give you an update
kind of where things are.
The original request was what's the process
to get art into the parks?
When we started the tennis center
and the dog park in Vela,
we went to the public art committee
and asked them if they'd be interested
in putting art in those facilities.
A number of park systems will have X number of dollars
dedicated towards art, maybe on a construction project,
which the city has in the past.
Or they just find a way to put some piece of art out there
just to kind of add to the culture of the facilities.
So that was kind of some of our thoughts.
And we have a couple of ideas,
but we'll go through the presentation
and then just open it up for discussion if that's okay.
John, would you like to lead this
or would you like me to, or Drew or I?
- I think we can all contribute, I'm sure.
- Okay, okay.
- So economic development put together a map
of where all the art is.
And this was just a snapshot of that
to give you a sense of where it is.
There's obviously a large cluster of art
in the downtown area,
but we do have it in various areas
within the park system as well.
South Lakes, North Lakes, being two of them the airport.
And then we have some that are just a little off the map here
at the Natatorium as well.
So ultimately the thought is to start spreading those out
throughout the city.
So it's not heavy in one area,
but obviously with downtown being what it is,
there's gonna be a cluster of art there.
So definitely trying to get art in new locations
is definitely a part of the mindset.
The blue are sculptures and the red are murals of sorts.
North Lake Dog Park, this is a project
that John has been working on.
We built this pad at the middle of the three circles
of the dog park to put a piece of art on there.
We were in the middle of construction,
but we didn't have the piece of art yet.
So that is still being worked through the subcommittee
of the Public Art Committee to get selected.
And John is working on that RFP right now as we speak.
The Vela Athletic Complex, we had put a pad in this pad
right here, this little cube during the construction process
with the anticipation of putting a piece of art out there.
And we met with the Vela family and with Dr. Vela
being a biologist at UNT and loved community
and loved soccer, they asked if they could have that theme
kind of tied into the piece of art.
So we put together an RFP and sent it out and it came back
based off of the theme that you're asking for
and the size, basically the scope that it wasn't feasible
with the budget we had.
So we did have some extra money left over
from the Vela Athletic Complex of $65,000.
Got $1,000 from the Park Foundation
to go towards that project.
And John put together the RFP again, resubmitted
to the selected artists that the pack had selected.
And this is what he came back.
And it's basically a trophy with the molecules
as the brass, the balls in the center.
There's a star in the middle that you can't see for Texas.
And then the frame of the molecules
is actually the panels of a soccer ball.
So they were able to tie that all together.
It's polished stainless steel
and then some brushed stainless steel as well.
John, is there anything you'd like to add to that?
- That's just a very impressive interpretation
of what the public art subcommittee wanted to have happen.
So it's really very nice.
I think some of the later pictures that you've got
helped to show it in perspective,
looking through the entrance area there.
- So when you walk through the arch at the building,
this is what you would see as you approach the playground.
And it'll be reflective with different colors
and the sun coming off the balls.
They designed it so kids couldn't climb on it.
We have talked about maybe putting some flower pots
or something around the base of it,
just to soften it up a little bit
'cause there's a lot of concrete in that space
along with the building.
So that was the proposal.
The public art committee was excited about it
and we're trying to get it on the agenda for city council.
The tennis center, we have bond or hot funds,
hotel occupancy tax allocated for this project.
We haven't done anything with this one to date
just because we're trying to get the tennis center out
and it wasn't a huge priority to get the tennis center
out to bid and we're focused on the other priorities
they had for sculptures.
So this one was purposely put on hold
and we're gonna start getting this one going.
Location would probably make most sense
if it was near the pro shop where the largest amount
of gathering will be by people, but that's still to come.
And we have $35,000 for that.
That may not be enough either,
but we'll have to figure out and work on that budget.
The fire station had some bond funding money
for a piece of art and there was some discussion about it
being a fence where the fence itself was art.
After deliberation between the public art committee
decided that a fence is not art.
So they're putting up their fence as part of the construction
of fire station number three
and that the public art committee will go out for RFPs
for a piece of art that will be placed in landscaping
adjacent to the fire station.
(mouse clicking)
Foundations of our history is a mural
that was actually painted on Bonnie Bray a couple of years ago
and that building was sold and is gonna be torn down.
So there was discussion on trying to save that mural
with council, specifically council member.
And we looked at it and the cost was gonna be
probably a little bit less than half
of what this total budget is.
And the mural was painted on vinyl siding
and the vinyl siding was old and it wasn't great in shape.
So we were concerned that just removing it from the building
was gonna start to fall apart and then putting it in storage
and to figure out what we're gonna do with it long-term.
So we actually came up with the idea
and this was a project that was phase two
of keep them beautiful plan after they did the mural
on Dallas drive to actually paint this underpass area.
And if you see it today,
it's been vandalized a number of times.
The mural that was painted on Dallas hasn't been.
We also put a clear coat over that mural too.
So if someone does something to it,
we can go back and wash it off and protects that artwork.
So we have all four kind of the panels on the bridge
are gonna be painted with foundations of our history,
the ladies that were instrumental in the community,
specifically in Southeast Denton.
And then the areas directly under the bridge
are gonna be this kind of rust color
because we still get some rust and water
that comes off the bridge
and we didn't want that going over the mural.
So that's designed to kind of blend into that.
So Autumn, if you're still with us,
did you have any comments to add to that?
- Yes, I'm still here.
- Okay, I couldn't see my screen.
I'll have all my, all the video.
- No, you did.
You provided a good summary of the projects,
but like Gary mentioned,
it is part of a larger project of beautifying that
one of the main entrances into Denton
into the downtown area.
So we're slated to start this project next week
and get painting.
So keep an eye out as you drive past.
- So that's that one.
The MLK Junior Recreation Center is a project
that's been going on for a few years.
And the Public Art Committee selected an artist
and she's known for creating the integration
of places to sit and relax and congregate
with people as well and figures of people.
So she came up with this design
that the Public Art Committee
and City Council approved.
It's under construction as we speak.
It's slated to be installed in September of next year.
We went over with staff and the artist
and looked at locations and presented them
to both council and the Public Art Committee.
And what we're gonna do is re-landscape this area
and move this flagpole over closer
to the entry sign to the rec center
and make this an area so kids can congregate
or families while they're waiting.
Specifically, we're thinking as good place for kids
when they're waiting for their parents to pick them up.
This is not, you don't have to cross the road.
It's right by the front door.
Staff can kind of still pay attention to them.
And that'll go in this area.
And this is something that Drew's guys
are gonna be working on.
And then additionally, we looked at a way
to really beautify and soften up the building.
If you go out there, it's just a lot of grass and brick.
There's no really landscaping outside of this
to really soften it up on both sides.
So we're gonna try to address up the area
in front of the gym in the area
on the far left side of the building
with some additional landscaping
to really tie those three areas together.
We don't necessarily have funding for that,
but we're gonna try to do that
after this piece of art is installed
with some Texas native, you know, drought tolerant plants,
maybe some river rock type thing,
give it a little bit of a flare to it.
- I have one thing to add there, Gary,
that the Madeline Wiener is the artist
and that the sculptures are called bench people
and they're made to sit on.
So they're actually wide enough
that two people could probably sit side by side
in the laps on these particular ones.
So when he said that it's a gathering place,
it's literally benches that people can sit on.
And I enjoy that area.
And the next one I'll let Drew or John talk about.
He spent a lot of time on this one here.
This is Denton Women's Interracial Fellowship.
- You'll hear this also called the DWIF monument.
And it's all about the group of women
through the early '70s that they had formed
to do a lot of different things.
One of them was to have actual roads paved,
but another was to be able to help the schools
integrate much more effectively.
And so it was a group of both black and white women
that formed together for this particular purpose
and they did a fantastic job.
And so to be able to honor this particular group,
we put out a scope of work
and an RFP for people to come in
or the artists to come in and do the bid.
This one here stood out among all of them.
The others were quite traditional.
And this one was very colorful
and it's using a type of glass,
very heavy duty type of glass, not easily broken.
And each has a picture of the different people
that are involved in the DWIF.
And it's very interactive.
It'll use a program on your, an app on your phone.
And when you just take a picture of it or have it there,
it automatically calls up the information
about that person, about what they did,
their background and various things about their lives
that will be able to tell the story.
So this is a destination type of piece.
This is where they'll have,
we are pretty sure that school buses
and other groups from the schools
will come out and take a look at it.
This one is currently proposed to be in industrial park.
They had a couple of locations,
but after meeting with all the ladies
that had about a dozen people,
either online or in person,
they unanimously wanted it in industrial park
and not over in Fred Moore park.
And so that's the, what we're proposing through.
And there's some other things
that I know Drew will be able to talk to you a bit more
about doing other things in industrial park
to make sure just like the MLK sculptures
that will have something to help dress up the park a lot.
There were other plans, I know that were available for it.
Two quick items on that to just add to John's description.
We did get a grant from the state for this project
and it was tied to the entertainment district for downtown.
So it has to be within that area,
within the downtown area.
So we're really limited to Quaker Town, Industrial Street,
Fred Moore, and I think that was it from a park space
or it could have been on the sidewalk
or in a parking lot type thing.
But from a park space,
we're fairly limited in regards
to where we could use that money.
So those were kind of the options to start.
So that's why it wasn't going in any other general areas.
And they wanted in a location
where it's gonna get a lot of traffic
and industrial streets gets more foot traffic
than Fred Moore does.
And then other locations for art.
This is Dallas and Teasley on the left
and Eagle and Elm on the right.
And Eagle and Elm has had a few iterations.
So this one's gonna change a little bit.
But the Dallas and Teasley one is pretty much what you see.
We did have a piece of art planned in there.
That's what that kind of little white,
whitish gray circle is for.
And then we're gonna place something in Eagle Drive,
Eagle and Elm.
So those two artwork have not been identified yet.
And then Carroll Boulevard has a trail on it.
It's part of our trail plan to expand.
But we thought that would be a good location
to put trail sculptures that could be leased
or on loan for the park system.
So we could have those change maybe every three years
just to provide a little bit of variety.
So that was the mindset there that we could have
three to five pieces of art along Carroll Boulevard.
And that gets a lot of traffic as well.
So that was another location
that we considered for future art.
And at that point, I'll go ahead and stop sharing
so we can have some discussion.
So there is a master plan that was identified
and we're gonna go back and look at that
as part of our master plan process as well
for art placement and go back
and make sure the inventory is up to speed
and have that map public facing
so they could see where all that is.
What John had talked about with the technology
on your phone, similar to a QR code,
apps now can recognize images.
So the thought process is that it could be all of our art,
whether it's a mural or a sculpture.
And then we could also even do that at our cemeteries
where you could go and scan a headstone
and it would give you a bio on that person.
Our historical society is working on our veterans right now
to do bios for those people and identify those soldiers
and even some founders of Texas.
So that's a long-term project.
But eventually, when people come in for a burial,
they could have an option to write a bio about that person.
So that person's history is kind of preserved
and you can put it on a website similar to Find a Grave.
And when you brought up your phone,
your camera would recognize that
and link you over to Find a Grave
where that data could be stored.
And it doesn't cost anything to do that.
So that's another way that we thought
that we could take our historical cemeteries
and really bring them back to life, you know, literally,
and preserve the history of the people of Denton.
You know, obviously it's impossible to go back
and get history on all those people,
but we can do our best with the people
that may still have family members here.
So that we thought that was kind of an interesting project
that we could have interns, library staff,
whoever work on that in the general public as a whole
help us preserve that history.
- Thank you, Gary.
I broke, I see your hand.
- So I don't have a question.
I have a great announcement.
We got the $9,000 and 10 cents from DVL
to help fund the DWIF sculpture.
So we got fully funded on that one.
So now I can get this down to individual donors.
So that's a good news.
- So you said $9,000 and 10 cents?
They had some change in their pocket
they needed to get rid of?
- I'm in DVL, so I knew they had 10 cents extra.
So I rolled it into my application.
So it works like a charm.
- It pays to know details, I guess.
So that's great news.
That's first time we've heard of that too.
So fantastic.
So the thought, so if you remember Industrial Street Park,
we came to the park board with a number of designs
and we went to council and at the time council decided
they wanted to kind of hold off on that development.
So I guess the overall master plan that Drew's thinking
is that we would design the sculpture.
The sculpture and the grant has a timeline to it.
It has to be done by August or we lose the grant.
So the sculpture would go in
and then phase two would be to do the other improvements
to enhance the park itself.
So it wasn't just a sculpture sitting
in the middle of a grassy lot.
So we have to kind of go back a little bit
and look at those designs to figure out
how we could incorporate some of the existing design ideas
that we had with the sculpture itself.
And one part of the design for Industrial Street
had a small stage on that property
that people go out there and have a one man, two man band
playing a saxophone or whatever it would be
for some of the activities.
So the brainstorm that we had was to use that sculpture,
if you remember the disks, almost as a backdrop
for the stage and the band could face forward
with the sculpture behind them to play entertainment.
But then also you could use it as an outdoor classroom
where the kids could sit on the stage and face the sculpture
and have someone talk to them about whatever the topic is.
It could be about the DWF ladies
or it could be about Denton history.
It could be about anything.
Or you could have a presenter stand on the stage
as you would with the musician,
facing the grassy area with camps or adults
learning about a topic or whatever,
and use it as an opportunity to kind of,
an outdoor teaching area,
similar to what we envisioned the nook being.
So that was kind of our early initial thought process on that.
We're in the process of trying to sketch that up
and just kind of hand draw it
and kind of come up with some concepts.
But I'll kind of leave it there for discussion.
- Elana.
- Hi, so I didn't put these together
before we were in the naming rights
or when we were doing that item earlier.
And I just, when we were discussing the name change
about for Industrial Park to Wolf,
I didn't put it together
that this sculpture was gonna be in that park.
And I really think it should be considered when naming it
because I don't see how naming at Wolf Park
has very much to do with that incredible sculpture.
And I just feel like the name of the park
should represent the meaning
and everything that goes into that sculpture.
So that goes into, I would like to have that added
to the item about the naming of the park.
- And then when we met with the ladies,
their comment was they spent a lot of time there
and that's one of the places
that they would go and meet at or go and get lunch.
And then, you know, either walk over to the square
or walk somewhere in that area and have lunch.
So they all remember, you know, Wolf's Food Store.
And that was one of, that was just one of their areas
that they would either cross pass at or, you know, meet.
I don't know if they really had meetings there
but they would kind of cross pass.
And I think, John, if you remember their conversations,
they talked about it very highly and with a positive manner.
So.
- Yeah, and so I just think it's another good place
to have community input outside of just like a small group.
- Yeah, that's great.
That's a great point.
So we can definitely ask them to maybe write
a summary letter kind of with support
or against, you know, the concept
since that's a major piece of art that's going in there.
So that's a great, great idea.
Thank you.
- Gary, I have a concern about the vandalism to the art
and I'm just gonna say it,
it seems to be any art that has a face that is black.
Vandalism occurred with Pops Carter statue
in Quaker Town Park and then had to be relocated.
And now there's been multiple vandalism
with the ongoing art.
So what plans or is there any plan to prevent vandalism?
- Yeah, it really is an issue throughout our park system.
Unfortunately, it's something we deal with
on a regular basis.
I understand that this could be targeted specifically.
The mural is an easy one
because we can put a clear coat on that.
And then if you paint over top of it,
we can literally wipe it off.
So that's something that we'll be applying
on a regular basis in addition to,
and I think Autumn can comment on this,
is murals tend to get less vandalism
because they don't seem as like an empty canvas
for someone to do something with.
So it kind of deters vandalism a little bit in that sense,
but we are going to be putting clear coat
on the murals for sure to preserve those.
We have expressed to the artists the concern
about that glass and whatever that product is
that it can't be vandalized
and what it's gonna take to get those either vandal proof
or less susceptible to vandalism
and then replacement as well.
So I think that's discussions that we're still having.
John, I don't know if you have any updates on any of that.
- Nothing other than these are coated too.
And most of the rods you see are very strong,
stainless steel type rod that goes through it.
All the glass pieces that you will actually see
are lenticular type glass, very thick, very difficult.
But just like any other sculpture,
if somebody takes a sledgehammer to it, it's gonna get damaged.
- Yeah.
- Have you thought about most of these structures
have lights near them?
Have you thought about security cameras attached
to the already existing lighting?
- Yes, right now, of course, with our conversations
we've had in the last several months,
and we did tell you that we are working
on looking at different security cameras.
We're testing several right now
to see which ones are working the best
and which ones have the clearest picture
on top of where we can place them
to where they're also out of vandalism's reach
because sometimes they either get vandalized
or they get stolen.
So we're testing out several different types right now.
So, and with industrial, if you remember that park,
it did have lights there.
And we've already spoken to the artist
that we showed her different renderings
of what industrial kind of, and what was envisioned before.
And part of the vision was light.
So if you remember that amphitheater was kind of oval shape
and then having lights coming up from underneath
where it's lighting from the ground
and lighting from the air from on top
to be able to really emphasize that space
and now that sculpture.
- I mean, it's very unfortunate.
I mean, we have people vandalize our cemeteries
all the time and go push over monuments
that are a hundred years old
and can't be replaced and fences.
So it's part of what we deal with, unfortunately.
And it's something that we'll budget for
and anticipate it happening,
but do our best to try to deter it.
- Okay, I see two hands.
Mr. Amberg was first, Burke you're next.
- Oh, okay, I was gonna let say ladies first.
- Well, okay, I'll gladly go first.
I was just gonna say on that note, Gary,
I was wondering if there was any more discussion
on potential for a graffiti park.
I come from the idea of provide them a space for it
and it lowers the rate.
- Yeah, I haven't, we haven't really talked about it much.
We're trying to get these other projects done
that have been on hold, but Brooke's idea was,
and there's some cities that have them as graffiti parks
kind of similar to Cadillac Ranch
where you can go over there and spray paint something.
So maybe we can get some Peterbilt's that are old
that we could put in a ground
and have people go out and paint them somewhere.
But that was an idea that maybe we could provide that
as an opportunity for people to maybe burn off some energy
in a better, more productive way.
- Mr. Amberg.
- Yeah, I was gonna suggest kind of taking off
from what Gary was saying, soften around the artistic piece
would be to kind of like put holly bushes,
low holly bushes around because they'll definitely keep people
from trying to climb, it does it in a very subtle way,
but also makes it look nice.
It softens it up and makes it look better.
- Part of the artist's design of this is for you
to actually interact with it.
So get up close to it, read it, see the images.
So we'd have to make sure that whatever we do,
we work with them.
And so you could scan it with your phone
and hear an interview with that person
or be pushed over to a photo of that person
or a bio or whatever it would be.
There's more to learn with this piece.
And the piece is really the engagement part
to get people interested in, oh, what's that?
And going over there and exploring.
So this one's supposed to be made to be interactive
and pull people into it.
And the sphere that's in front of it
actually has images and words on it.
So when you walk around it, it changes.
Is that a good explanation of it?
So it kind of changes as you kind of walk around it.
So the piece is intended to be interactive with people.
So that's one consideration we have to consider.
- Mr. Amrick, did you have an additional comment?
- No, I was pretty much it.
I just make a suggestion where we have interactive thing,
obviously you couldn't use the bushes
except for maybe behind the back where you're not.
But the camera sounds good and the only thing
I heard in here was to light it up a little more too.
- There's a couple of trees we might have to take out.
They are secondary trees, but the thought process
would be to replace those and whether it's there
or somewhere and that would provide a little bit
of openness to help detract some of that
and make sure that we get lighting in those areas.
So that'll be something that we'll be looking at
through the design process.
- And the art piece, which you didn't actually see
in the PowerPoint, there's other light elements
that are like would line a walkway,
have the same type of a lenticular glass.
Right now they're proposed to be solar powered,
but they could be powered otherwise too
because solar power may not get between those two buildings
on either side really well to keep it wet real well for those.
- Well, thank you for the information.
I am really pleased to see that Industrial Park
may be the final resting place because this was a concern
that came from the community and their words are,
their words were, it seems if it's black art,
it goes to the perceived black part of town.
And so they asked me to bring it to the table and so I did.
And so it's really glad to know
that it will hopefully be in Industrial Park.
- Yeah, thanks to John.
He worked with Lenny McAdams to get a list of everybody
and reached out.
I think he personally called everybody and organized it
for an in-person socially distanced meeting at MLK.
And we had a couple of people online and it was good
'cause we got just about everybody together that we could
and got feedback from them.
There was some earlier discussions,
I think that happened, maybe not as a group.
And the information that was provided to us,
the Fred Moore would be a good location for that,
but it was good to get that consensus
from everybody in that support.
- Thank you. - We presented both locations.
- I'm sorry, John, say again.
- We presented both locations and they were 100%
for Industrial Park.
Well, actually, no, one person, I think,
in maybe the park or the public art committee
wanted a different location,
but that's the only dissenting vote
of anybody that said anything.
- Thank you, thank you so much.
And Gary, before the Denton growth boom and COVID,
we used to get updates about where the art was going
and parks is, if we could add that back
as a regular agenda item,
that would be greatly appreciated.
- We sure can do that.
- All right, can you repeat that again, Francis,
for minutes purposes?
- We used to receive, before the Denton growth and COVID,
we used to receive updates of art going into parks.
I'm just requesting that be added back as an agenda item.
- We're not gonna have an update every single month,
but as things happen, we'll definitely provide that for you.
- Yes, thank you for clarifying that.
- You're welcome.
- That's really what I meant.
- I just wanted to make sure.
- Speak then, that leads us right to,
any additional concerns, comments on this topic?
That leads us to next meeting.
Do we have any items we would like to discuss
for our next month's meeting?
- I'll be able to provide an update next month.
- Okay.
- Eddie, is there anything that we have on the list
that we either have coming forward
or that we need, we owe the board
that didn't make this agenda?
- It was the wildflower.
- Okay, that's right.
So Drew's working on a wildflower plan,
kind of a master plan that would implement wildflowers
throughout the city to help reduce our mowing efforts,
improve air quality and then add to beautification
that he's been researching on other cities.
So he's gonna present that next month
and then go to City Council.
- And goes to City Council the eighth.
- Yeah, so right around the same timeframe.
- We might have a COVID update
that we may just put that on there as a placeholder.
And if we have any changes,
we can provide that to you as well.
- Ms. Danberg.
- All right, sorry about that.
I was meeting myself here.
To take two issues, one was questions, I guess.
A lot of people have been asking about where we stock.
I'd like to see if we can get an update on that,
where we stock ponds and waterways in the city of Denton
for fishing purposes, of course.
And that would be the one.
And your question was asked was over at,
there on Wilson Street.
I'm having a brain fight here.
The park there at Wilson Street, what's that called?
Anyway, the park at Wilson Street.
They were asking about,
there used to be a building here
with the American Legion and it got torn down.
- Fred Moore Park.
- Fred Moore Park, thank you.
Boy, brain fight.
I know it off the top of my head
and all of a sudden I couldn't even remember it.
So the Fred Moore, they were asking about that.
And I wanted to see where we're at on that,
that building, status or update on that.
- Yeah, we could definitely provide an update on ALH
to maybe even just Fred Moore Park as a whole.
The item similar to the stocking of the pond,
is that something that we could provide to you
through a Friday report or just an email
to share you with an update on that process?
Or is that to a point where you want a full agenda item?
- Well, I think it would be tough
that they could be out there to get out to the public
so they never to go fish, basically.
- Okay.
- So there's one caveat to that.
So normally it is published.
Texas Parks and Wildlife asks us to take that down
and in the end of April, or excuse me,
end of March, 1st of April, they still are stocking.
We only stock one pond
through the neighborhood fishing program.
They asked for us to remove that
from our publicized websites
to make sure that they could continue to stock,
but there wasn't an influx of people at the ponds
while they were stocking, or right after they stocked.
That way people could still social distance.
So.
It normally is publicized on our websites
and our social media, but we did stop that in March.
- I wouldn't maybe back that off a little bit
and not say, okay, here's where we're stocking today,
we're stocking that kind of thing,
but rather here's places where people fish.
- Okay, yeah, we can do that.
- In the city of Denton, here's where you can fish.
- Yeah, I talk to people weekly about where to go fish
and what's there, so yes, I can do that.
- Yeah, that's, yeah.
- So did we decide, is it an agenda item
or is it via email?
- I'll do an agenda item, I'll do a presentation.
- That'd be perfect, yeah,
and then we can make it public, yeah,
we talked about, right?
- Thank you so much, Alana.
- I just have a quick, I don't know what you'll call it,
there's a strong possibility that we might,
COVID cases are increasing really fast
and I don't wanna say this,
but what if a lot of the gyms and yoga studios,
places like that, they begin to close again,
would the parks department be willing to maybe discount
or waive the fees for a small yoga studio
or Pilates studio or I don't know what,
like athletic small businesses in town
to have classes in the park
so that they can be socially distanced,
but not at the normal rates because they are struggling
and it might be just something that could be provided
in case we go back to a situation
like we were in in the spring.
- So we do have fitness groups that do planned rentals
in the facility that we have a contract with,
so we'd have to work through those details
and figure out how that's kind of balancing everybody
in a fair manner, the issue there is,
how many people are showing up for that,
so those are all factors we'll have to look at,
plus we're hitting winter here soon,
so that is a little bit challenged too,
but that's something we can look at,
hopefully we don't go in that direction,
but we can put that on our list to consider
if we get to that point.
- Other concerns, items for discussion for next month?
And Eddie, the only one that was left over was wildflowers.
- You're on mute, yes, that is the only one that we had.
- Yes, that is the only one and also adding in
the Denton Parks Foundation back on to the list.
- Could you repeat that, I'm sorry.
- Wildflower and adding a Denton Parks Foundation
back to the list.
- Very good.
- Eddie, just one, I guess quick thing,
do you remember what the status of the wildflowers
and the status of the boards and commissions is?
- I'll get the city secretary,
I believe if there's gonna be a change over or an update,
I believe it's gonna be the beginning of the year.
- Beginning of the year, okay.
- Yeah, I believe January, but don't count me on it,
I just need to get more information,
hopefully I'll get that by the next
park board meeting in December.
Typically everyone's either comes on or rolls off
depending on when they were due to expire
in August timeframe, but with the delayed voting,
everything was pushed back and that's why we're voting now.
So I guess anybody that was set to term off or change
that would take place in January rough timeframe,
so we can provide some more information
as city secretary's office gets that finalized.
If worst case scenario as well to interject on that,
I mean, I can send all of you an email as well
by find further information before the park board meeting.
- Yeah, if we could maybe just provide
the updated board sheet, not everybody may even know
how many years or how many terms they have so far.
So I'll make a big good reminder.
All right, if there are no additional comments or concerns,
may I have a motion to adjourn the meeting?
- Unless everyone just wants to hang on,
we can keep talking.
- Please, please may I have a motion
to adjourn the meeting?
Okay, Atlanta made a motion and Mr. Emmerich second.
All in favor?
- Aye.
Okay, the ayes have it, meeting is adjourned, 224, Eddie.
- All right guys.
- Thank you.
- Thanks, all those can leave that don't wanna meet, right?
- Bye everyone.
- Bye. - Bye bye.