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2012-11-12CITY OF SOUTHLAKE PARKS AND RECREATION BOARD MEETING: November 12, 2012 LOCATION: Southlake Town Hall — City Council Chambers 1400 Main Street Southlake, Texas TIME: 6:30 p.m. Parks and Recreation Board Members present: Chairman John Slocum, Vice Chairman Tina Wasserman, Secretary Sherry Berman and Board Members Elaine Cox, Gregg Formella, and Lori Palmer Parks and Recreation Board Members absent: Chad Patton Staff present: Director of Community Services Chris Tribble and Deputy Director Kari Happold Agenda Item No. 1. Call to order. Chairman Slocum called the meeting of the Parks and Recreation Board to order at 7:03 p.m. Agenda Item No. 2. Boards and Commission Orientation — City Manager Shana Yelverton presented orientation material and distributed the Boards and Commissions Handbook to Parks and Recreation Board members. Board members were asked to complete necessary online training and to turn in the required forms included in the notebook to the Office of the City Secretary. Agenda Item No. 3. Consent A. Approve minutes from the regular Parks and Recreation Board meeting held September 10, 2012 — There were no corrections to the minutes. B. Absence of Parks and Recreation Board members — The Board considered the absence of Board member Patton from the September 10, 2012 meeting. A copy of the attendance log was distributed in the meeting packets. A motion was made to approve the consent agenda as presented. Motion: Cox Second: Formella Ayes: Berman, Cox, Formella, Palmer, Slocum and Wasserman Nays: None Abstain: None Vote: 6-0 Motion Carried. City of Southlake Values: Integrity ♦ Innovation ♦ Accountability ♦ Commitment to Excellence ♦ Teamwork Minutes of the November 12, 2012 Parks Board Meeting Page 2 of 5 Agenda Item No. 4. Public Forum. No one was present during Public Forum to address the Board at this meeting. Agenda Item No. 5. Consider: There were no items for consideration at this meeting. Agenda Item 5. Discussion: A. Allocation of City Athletic Field Space — Director Tribble provided a presentation on the facilities utilization agreement (FUA) utilized by the City to manage field allocations with the various sports associations. The Board was asked to provide staff feedback of their expectations for the FUA going forward in light of recent developments and requests for fields by organized sports teams, clubs and organizations. Currently, the City and CISD handle specific field allocations on a season -by -season basis for all Southlake athletic associations based on the direction of the 2010 FUA Task Force and revised FUA approved by the Parks Board and City Council in 2011. Occasional requests by individuals and non -organized groups such as churches and businesses, that do not operate under an FUA with the City, to use unused field space are accommodated by staff depending upon space availability and the field maintenance schedules. Chairman Slocum asked for public comments on the item. Parks and Recreation Board member Gregg Formella recused himself from his position on the Board so he could address the Board in the capacity of a Southlake citizen. Gregg Formella, Southlake resident, initially noted that: (a) in recusing himself, he was not representing any organization and was speaking only in his personal capacity as a resident; and (b) he did not have a conflict of interest on the issue but had nevertheless recused himself simply out of respect and courtesy toward the Chair. In response to the agenda item as characterized and presented by Director Tribble, he spoke about his concerns regarding the intent and interpretation of the facility utilization agreement (FUA) language regarding the use of City fields by organizations other than those that have FUAs with the City. He referred to his concern that certain language in the FUAs that called for Associations to work in "good faith" with the City to try to accommodate Southlake non-profit organizations that wished to access unused field space apparently had not been followed earlier in the year, and that certain "good faith" language possibly had been removed from recently -revised FUAs. He mentioned the non-profit Southlake Saints Soccer team had recently had difficulty getting field space. He also mentioned the City's FUA with Grapevine Southlake Soccer Association (GSSA) that allows GSSA priority to fields. Mr. Formella said he could not find any City document that says a Southlake non-profit organization without an FUA with the City is precluded from using unused field space or is required to dissolve in order to obtain field space. He said the field allocation City of Southlake Values: Integrity ♦ Innovation ♦ Accountability ♦ Commitment to Excellence ♦ Teamwork Minutes of the November 12, 2012 Parks Board Meeting Page 3 of 5 problem the Saints had been experiencing earlier in the year was, as a practical matter, resolved for the past few weeks prior to this Board meeting, since, during those weeks, members of the team were able to obtain field space as individual citizens, which is allowed, whereas the Saints as a non-profit entity was denied. Mr. Formella suggested the field allocation issue relating to the FUAs be resolved with consideration for the "good faith" intent written into the prior FUAs, so that Southlake non -profits would not be effectively locked out from access to unused field space. He also mentioned his recollection that representatives of the Saints organization had been told at a Board meeting about two years ago that there was an intention by the Board that their request for access to field space would be accommodated to the extent there was field space not used by the GSSA. At least one Board member expressed disagreement with Mr. Formella's recollection. However, Chairman Slocum noted that, about two years ago, he had a discussion with a Saints representative about their desire, at that time, for unused field space to accommodate two Southlake teams. Chairman Slocum also noted the Saints then only had two teams and apparently now had 12 teams. John Snook, Southlake parent, spoke about the Saints situation and their desire for field space. He clarified the Saints have paid all fees and membership dues to GSSA and that they believed until earlier in the year that they were regarded as operating in accord with whatever was needed with GSSA in order to be eligible for field space. The Saints have grown over the past couple of years — from two teams to about 12 teams. Given that the Saints have paid the fees and dues but, starting earlier in 2012, were no longer being allowed access to field space, he asked the Board to provide clarification on what else is required for an organization to be regarded as joining or being a "member" of the Association in order to have access to unused City field space. Members of the Board suggested a meeting with GSSA to receive clarification regarding their membership policy or practices. Park Board was asked by Director Tribble to consider two (2) issues during their discussion: 1) Is it necessary at this time to revisit the FUAs for redundancies and issues to ensure FUA provisions reflect the intent of and actions by the FUA Task Force, previous Park Board and City Council? 2) Should other entities be included in FUA agreements and what impact additional agreements would have on City facilities and staff? City of Southlake Values: Integrity ♦ Innovation ♦ Accountability ♦ Commitment to Excellence ♦ Teamwork Minutes of the November 12, 2012 Parks Board Meeting Page 4 of 5 Members of the Board confirmed they would like to continue supporting requests for field space from individual citizens, church groups, businesses (non - organized) for occasional, informal pickup games, contingent upon availability of unused fields and staff constraints. They agreed the FUA language may need to be enhanced to better define this provision since the intent is not to allow organized practice. Members of the Board agreed the FUAs should not be expanded to accommodate additional sports associations at this time. The field inventory is sufficient to support the current five associations' field space requirements if used efficiently. It was confirmed that the Saints organization has never had an FUA with the City in all their years of existence. Mr. Snook had spoken during Public Forum at a 2010 Park Board meeting, requesting field access for Saints practice a couple of times a week for about two hours. Members of the Board emphasized that any sports organization, club or team seeking field space, must join with an existing association that has an FUA with the City and suggested the Saints join with Grapevine Southlake Soccer Association or suggested they might seek field space from The Clariden School or CISD. Staff informed the Board about recent field rentals to individuals that when verified, were organized team groups not part of one of the existing FUA associations and is prohibited. Such incidents have been logged by staff. A suggestion was made to have on the field request form a section where the applicant must attest the rental is not for team or league purposes. Members of the Board confirmed their support of staff's management of field requests and enforcement of the provisions in the FUA. Following the Board's discussion, staff was directed to put an item on the December Park Board meeting agenda to clarify the intent and language of the facilities utilization agreement to insure the policy is clear. Staff may meet with GSSA to better understand each situation. Parks and Recreation Board member Gregg Formella resumed his position as a member of the Parks and Recreation Board. B. Construction Management Report — The Construction Management Report was included in the meeting packet. This item was not discussed at this meeting. C. Southlake 2030 Plan Components Update — This item was not discussed. D. Miracle Field Update — This item was not discussed. City of Southlake Values: Integrity ♦ Innovation ♦ Accountability ♦ Commitment to Excellence ♦ Teamwork Minutes of the November 12, 2012 Parks Board Meeting Page 5 of 5 E. City Sponsorships — Director Tribble provided an overview of each section of the Policy adopted by City Council on September 18, 2012. He reviewed the guidelines that were established in the Policy and responded to the Board's questions. The Park Board was asked to help identify opportunities for sponsorships and will discuss this further at their December meeting. Agenda Item 6. Adjournment: A motion was made to adjourn the meeting at 9:07 p.m. Motion: Cox Second: Palmer Ayes: Berman, Cox, Formella, Palmer, Slocum and Wasserman Nays: None Abstain: None Vote: 6-0 Motion Carried. Joh Slocum ir, Parks & Recreation Board Lz�k- Cks'Tirib-616' Director, Community Services Dept. A recording of this meeting is available upon request from the Office of City Secretary and may be viewed at www.citvofsouthiake.com /Video On Demand. City of Southlake Values: Integrity ♦ Innovation ♦ Accountability ♦ Commitment to Excellence ♦ Teamwork