04.14.2016 Parks & Rec MinutesPISPER
OWN OF
Prosper is a place where everyone matters.
1. Call to Order / Roll Call.
Minutes
Regular Meeting of the
Parks and Recreation Board
108 W. Broadway St., Prosper, Texas
Town of Prosper Municipal Chambers
Thursday, April 14, 2016, 6:00 p.m.
The meeting was called to order at 6:02 pm by Vice Chair, Mandy Goddard.
Roll call taken by Mandy Goddard. Board members present: Vice Chair, Mandy Goddard;
Secretary, Jennifer Severance; Bobby Atteberry; Amy Bartley; Jeffrey Hodges; and Keith Yellin.
Staff present included: Hulon Webb, Executive Director of Development and Community
Services; Will Mitchell, Parks and Recreation Manager; Paul Naughton, Landscape Architect;
Brennon Peltier, Park Planner; Julie Shivers, Recreation Coordinator; Matt Furr, Parks
Superintendent; and Patty Kendzie, Senior Administrative Assistant, Parks and Recreation.
Also present: Prosper Youth Sports Commission (PYSC) President, Drake Dunn; and Prosper Youth
Sports Association (PYSA) President, Tripp Davenport.
2. Consider and act upon approval of the minutes from the January 14, 2016, Parks and
Recreation Board meeting.
Motioned to approve by Severance, seconded by Hodges. Approved 6-0.
3. Comments by the Public.
None.
4. Consider and act upon the approval of the Frontier Park North Field Improvements
Project Preliminary Site Plan.
Naughton gave a progress report on the Frontier Park North Field Improvements project. Naughton
provided the original plan, approved last year by Town Council, developed by Dunaway Associates.
Regarding the status of the process, Naughton said the topographic survey and preliminary design are
complete and the project is moving into the design development stage. Earlier this year, RFPs were
sent out for a Construction Manager at Risk (CMAR). The contractor who will be selected will have
experience in the park construction field, will be involved during the design process, and then publicly
bid the scope of work. Naughton said designs should be finished by Fall 2016, with construction
following soon after. Target opening date is Fall 2017, dependent on weather.
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Naughton then presented a proposed preliminary site plan, pointing out items that had moved or
changed in response to PYSC and Town Council feedback. Council gave direction to pursue enlarging
the northwest field outfield to 300 feet to allow for expanded use, depending on need. PYSC desires
to enlarge the southwest corner field to provide for more flexibility to accommodate growth trends and
maximize the space. The architect who worked on the original Frontier Park also worked on this
concession area, which has similar architectural features and aesthetics (stonework, breezeway).
Hodges asked if any consideration was given to foul balls, as home plates are located behind the
playground. He asked if the shade feature would cover most of it. Dunn said foul balls are not really
an issue.
Naughton summarized the input from PYSC: add onsite storage facility for PYSA leagues; incorporate
a lacrosse ball wall on the south side of the storage building for practicing reps (needs to be 9-10 feet
tall); add bullpens in the outfields to better utilize the space for practice; add scoreboards to the multi-
purpose fields; add netting in front of bleachers; add a water filling station near the multi -use fields; and
add a press box for the large multi-purpose field. Dunaway has come up with rough costs for most of
the items, with the exception of the press box, which is forthcoming.
Naughton said staff needs were to add an onsite storage facility to house park maintenance equipment
and also to add dumpster enclosures.
Naughton described the medium-sized pavilion initially planned for the site. With the fields potentially
being enlarged, the pavilion has been relocated near the waterfront. Dunaway suggested placing a
waterfront fishing area in front of the pavilion to provide a pavilion area with the flexibility to walk to
the waterfront. Mitchell added it was a feature that would connect to the trail around the lake.
Yellin excused himself from the meeting about 6:30 pm.
Severance asked about the parking situation. Naughton said that when the fields were enlarged, parking
did go from about 250 parking spaces to 160-170. However, other areas may be able to be utilized and
there has also been discussion of adding gravel parking, about 200 spaces, to the east on the school side.
Bartley asked if artificial turf is planned for all the fields. Naughton answered, yes, stating professionals
in the artificial turf industry will be employed, as a proper drainage system is key.
Goddard asked if soccer fields were being taken away. Naughton said no soccer fields will be lost;
soccer is played on the south side. The new fields are being added to vacant land. Furr said soccer does
not utilize that area; the multi-purpose fields will provide additional space for football and lacrosse.
Naughton said the Frontier North Park Improvement plan was brought to the Board tonight for their
input on both the base programming and the additions. Representatives from PYSC and PYSA are on
hand to answer any questions the Board may have.
Mitchell added that additional options will be presented to Council as to the location of the league
storage facility.
From the lacrosse perspective, Davenport said it's important to have a place to store goals. Currently,
they are tied to a pole outside at Rogers. An onsite storage facility would be great.
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Dunn thanked the staff for giving PYSC the opportunity to sit down with Dunaway to define the true
needs of the youth leagues in Prosper. It was a really good meeting with good information shared; this
plan will solve a lot of things that were missing. To the parking question: that was discussed and it may
appear it will be a farther walk. Given the enhancements to the pond, now it will be a nice walk along
the trails into the alternate entrance to the field. The additional parking in the original Frontier Park has
served the park very well. By bringing this parking down to the pond, it actually adds a little more
parking to the original Frontier Park.
Dunn continued stating that PYSC is on board with the new plan, even given the loss of some parking.
He expressed appreciation to the Town for exploring artificial turf, weighing the additional cost with
the benefits of less maintenance. Artificial turf would mean no rainouts. That's huge. Baseball space is
getting really tight.
He said PYSC was formed to talk about how to carve up the space so that everyone's needs would be
met. The reason bigger fields, and even the ball wall were brought into the discussion, is because these
areas are lacking. Space is really lacking for the older kids. Bigger fields will give the opportunity to
play recreational baseball and softball in a great space and to grow these divisions. You can put younger
kids on bigger fields, but you can't put bigger kids on smaller fields.
Davenport, primarily representing football and lacrosse, said those leagues now use various PISD fields,
including Rogers and Rucker. He said the new facility will be a blessing, a huge opportunity, as Rogers
will not be as accessible as it has been. Lacrosse is probably the fastest growing sport in this community,
with 110 registered for spring. (In comparison, Southlake is much larger and has 300 kids in their
program.) He expressed appreciation for the opportunity to have the dialogue with the staff early on.
Cottone asked if it makes sense to combine the two storage facilities into one structure with separate
access. Dunn said the reason two structures came about is that staff has a ton of equipment and also the
location of the PYSC storage facility needs to be closer to the fields (for moving goals, portable pitchers
mounds, etc.).
Hodges asked what is zoned to the west. Naughton said single family housing. Hodges asked if it was
possible to set aside park space there for parking. Naughton said there is a creek that is between Frontier
Park and the development to the west, so adding parking at that location probably would not be a viable
option.
Severance asked about restrooms. Naughton showed the location of one new restroom facility.
Naughton said the Frontier Park North Field Improvements Project Preliminary Site Plan, including
the suggested additions that were not part of the base project, will be presented at the Town Council
meeting for approval on April 26, 2016. Also at that meeting, the CMAR contract will be an agenda
item for approval.
Cottone asked if there were any further questions or comments.
Motioned to approve by Goddard, seconded by Hodges. Approved 6-0.
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5. Informational items.
a. Recreation Update
b. Park Development Update
c. Park Maintenance Update
Mitchell commended Shivers and Kendzie for their work on the IT'S TIME TEXAS Community
Challenge (ITTCC). It started with a call from Mayor Smith, Mitchell said we would try, and Kendzie
got on the phone. We were out ahead for much of the contest. Shivers did an excellent job coordinating,
getting the Town and staff excited. At the end, Lancaster began to encroach, so Shivers jumped in and
worked with the school district to earn an additional 50,000 points on the last day. Great job.
Mitchell talked about establishing a partnership with students from the Job Corps (ages over 18) who
need hours/experience in trades, such as landscaping, painting, brick laying and concrete work. A
partnership potentially could save tens of thousands of dollars in labor costs. The Job Corps also sees
the benefit of a partnership as a win/win.
Shivers presented the Recreation Update. She received word from the ITTCC on Tuesday that Prosper
officially did win in the small population category. She and Kendzie are planning to attend the trophy
presentation at the State Capitol in Austin on May 13, culminating three months of hard work.
Shivers described summer marketing efforts, stating Recreation will again partner with the Library to
share print and mailing costs. Programs are up and running; registration is open. Archery II starts next
week; adult softball is going on now with six teams; tennis is busting at the seams with 80 kids; and
Camp Gladiator registration is near 100. The next promotion is National Park and Rec Month in July.
Regarding tennis, Bartley asked if the Town is allowed to use Windsong Ranch or the schools and if
there is any sort of agreement. Mitchell said there are no agreements at this point and David is doing a
great job keeping Prosper residents in Prosper. Headway had been made with the previous Athletic
Director about possible use of their high school courts. If the program keeps growing, it may be
necessary to talk with PISD.
Shivers said the Christmas Committee had its first meeting. The date for the 2016 Prosper Christmas
Festival is Saturday, December 3.
Naughton gave the Park Development Update. He spoke about the grant received from Texas Parks and
Wildlife. He thanked the Board members for their letters which increased the points Prosper needed to
be competitive. Letters were also sent by the school district and the Chamber of Commerce. Cottone
said the Master Plan completion was very helpful. Mitchell added there are very few grants awarded
and Prosper is fortunate to receive one. Naughton said they are preparing to write another grant for the
Collin County Assistance Program to pursue more funding for Frontier Park North.
Naughton said the Preston Lakes Park (along Prosper Trail) project is on hold; however, staff met with
the HOA and received positive feedback on the new playground location.
Naughton presented an updated hike and bike trail map showing where trails have been constructed.
There were 14 miles of trail last year; there are more than 22 miles as of January of this year. Windsong
has added trails; internal trails have been added to the eastside of Prairie Park; Whitley Place is finishing
out their development, so trails have been extended out to their property line; and some commercial
developments, including Kroger, have built trails.
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Furr gave the Park Maintenance Update. It's that busy time of year of baseball, soccer and lacrosse.
Staff is dealing with rain while maintaining the fields for practices and games and also cleaning up from
storms. Town Council has approved moving forward on the First and Coit landscape, which will mimic
Prosper Trail. All the Mexican petunias are in. More rain is in the forecast.
Severance said staff does a great job. Cottone also said the staff is doing a great job and the progress is
unbelievable. Thank you for all you do; it's not said enough. You all are appreciated.
6. Adjourn
Motioned to adjourn by Atteberry, seconded by Hodges. Approved 6-0. Meeting was adjourned at
6:49 pm.
A)" &XM20LL
Jen ifer Sev ance, Secretary
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