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OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD

Record of Proceedings

Mansfield City Council Regular Meeting: Parks Master Plan Update and Executive Session Actions, November 10, 2025

City Council — Monday, November 10, 2025

BodyMansfield, Texas

SessionCity Council

DateMonday, November 10, 2025

StatusFILED

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Speaker 1

2:40

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.

2:42

I want to call to order the meeting for Monday, November 10th, twenty twenty five to order at two PM.

2:50

Are there any citizens' comments?

Unassigned speaker

2:52

No, Mayor.

Speaker 1

2:53

All right.

2:55

Council comments, uh, Mr.

2:56

Brosh.

2:58

All right, Mr.

2:59

Tenora.

Unassigned speaker

3:01

Mr.

Speaker 1

3:01

Simmons.

3:02

No,

Unassigned speaker

3:02

sir.

Speaker 1

3:04

Sir, Mr.

3:04

Newsom.

Speaker 2

3:05

Yes, sir.

Speaker 1

3:06

All right, now for me.

3:07

All right, we'll begin our work session.

3:10

Twenty twenty parks and recreation master plan update.

3:14

And I believe Miss Ann is gonna lead us off.

3:18

Comes at this time.

Speaker 3

3:21

Good afternoon.

3:23

Make sure this right.

3:24

Okay, good afternoon, Mayor and Council, and Beck Marketing Communications, uh, for parks and recreation.

3:30

I'm thrilled to be here today.

3:32

I know your time is valuable.

3:33

I know Matt has a lot of really important stuff to get into.

3:36

Um, so we want to get right to it, but of course, before that, I'm gonna start with story time.

3:41

So uh when the first park board formed in 1973, the city only had two parks and about thirty acres.

3:49

They knew they wanted to maintain and grow the park system, but you know, they never really defined what the goals were more than that.

3:57

Most of their time was actually spent on routine maintenance and managing projects that just sort of fell in their lap.

4:03

They actually had a huge issue with people cutting down trees in the park for Christmas trees for a while.

4:08

So, you know, problems have changed, times have changed.

4:12

Um, but either way, they worked really hard, but uh just like this.

4:16

There we go, this quote says, if you don't know where you're going, you'll work really hard and end up nowhere.

4:22

They cared a lot, they worked really hard, but they didn't actually make any progress.

4:37

Also, for the record, these photos look really old.

4:39

These are both from the late nineties.

4:41

That's 97 and 99, so

Unassigned speaker

4:43

it's

Speaker 3

4:43

not as old as you think.

4:45

Uh, but there you go.

4:46

The first 40 years of a parks and recreation board, and that is what we had right there in Mansfield.

4:51

Uh so go back to the mid-1980s, we had a new crop of city leaders, and they had a vision for what they called Mansfield Central Park.

Unassigned speaker

5:00

They wanted a hub in the middle of all the growth that would connect their fast growing city.

Speaker 3

5:04

This portion here that you see actually opened in 1989 as James McKnight Park.

5:09

You can see the softball fields right there.

5:11

But the park really wanted more, right?

5:14

They wanted to connect the entire city.

5:16

So in 1992, they formed the Linear Park Committee and came up with a vision for a trail that would run alongside Walnut Creek and go from city limit to city limit.

5:27

All the pieces were there.

5:28

They divided the project into seven manageable chunks.

5:31

And you know, it was 1992.

5:34

There were 40,000 residents, most of the land was available.

5:37

Actually, most of the land for the projects at the time was donated, not even purchased.

5:42

So it should have really worked.

5:45

But we all know a goal without a plan is just a wish, right?

5:49

They didn't actually have the steps in place to make these things happen.

5:53

So despite all those big dreams and best intentions, it took them 15 years to open the first segment of the Walnut Creek Linear Trail, and almost another 15 until we got the next segment.

6:07

Planning a city is hard work.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting

Parks and Recreation█████████████████████████████████████████████63%

Public Engagement█████████13%

Procedural████6%

Senior Programs████5%

Budget Equity Analysis███4%

Engineering And Infrastructure███4%

Public Works██3%

Public Transportation█2%

Summary of Proceedings

Mansfield City Council Regular Meeting: Parks Master Plan Update and Executive Session Actions, November 10, 2025

The Mansfield City Council met in regular session on Monday, November 10, 2025, at 2:00 PM in Council Chambers, 1200 E. Broad St., Mansfield, TX. The meeting opened with no citizen comments, included a work-session presentation on the 2020 Parks and Recreation Master Plan update, a recess into executive session at 3:07 PM, and action on real estate/eminent domain items, subcommittee minutes, and the consent agenda. The Council adjourned at 5:04 PM.

Public Comments & Testimony

No citizen comments were made during the citizen comments period.

Discussion Items

2020 Parks and Recreation Master Plan Update: Ann, a consultant with Beck Marketing Communications, opened with a historical overview of Mansfield parks. Matt Young, Executive Director of Community Services, presented the five-year update to the 10-year plan adopted October 2020. The update was done in-house and included two public meetings, eight in-person engagement opportunities, ten online/Facebook feedback posts, and an online survey. Survey results showed 94% of residents agreed or strongly agreed that parks are important to quality of life, 84% rated maintenance quality positively, and 80% said parks were a deciding factor in choosing where to live. The most highly requested missing amenities were a pool/aquatic center and a recreation center.
Inventory and needs: About 5% of city land is dedicated to parks; 40% of residents now live within a 10-minute walk of a park, up from 23% five years earlier. Council members questioned coverage gaps in the northeast quadrant and Somerset; staff explained that some HOA/developer parks are not yet reflected on the Trust for Public Land mapping and that much of the northeast is built out, making new parkland difficult to add.
Trails: The city has approximately 8 miles of trail. Voters approved $10.5 million in May 2022 for Walnut Creek Linear Trail and Pond Branch work; five miles of trail have been added in five years. Staff and the MPFDC have set a goal of adding about 2 miles of trail per year, with new trail signage planned for 2026.
Athletic fields: Staff reported nearly $3 million invested in ball fields over the last three years and $12.5 million in improvements at Fields of Station 63. The $55 million bond program from the master plan was unsuccessful in 2022. Staff outlined a 'domino' plan: build Southwest Community Park Phase 1, relocate soccer and football fields, then redevelop Skinner Sports Complex, Chandler Park, McKnight Park, and Moody Park with additional amenities.
Recreation/aquatics: Mansfield currently has no family aquatic center, no recreation center with fitness, and no dedicated senior space. Benchmark comparisons with Allen, Richardson, Cedar Hill, Burleson, and other cities showed Mansfield behind on indoor recreation and aquatics. The proposed multi-generational center/library/aquatics from the 2022 bond effort was estimated at $78 million in 2022 dollars and approximately $94 million today. It would have included 125,000 square feet, a 75% cost-recovery goal, and an estimated $855,000 annual subsidy. By comparison, the existing Mansfield Activity Center has a 39% cost recovery and an MPFDC subsidy of roughly $750,000.
Council discussion: Several council members voiced strong support for a multi-generational center, with one saying he was '100% for this' if it could be done without raising the tax rate and another supporting public-private partnerships. The Mayor said the Council would not rush the decision and expected further discussion at the January strategic workshop. Staff estimated construction cost escalation of 5-10% per year, with aquatics the most expensive component.

Executive Session and Subsequent Actions

The Council recessed into executive session at 3:07 PM under Texas Government Code Sections 551.071, 551.072, 551.074, and 551.087 to discuss pending litigation, real property, personnel, and economic development negotiations. After reconvening, the Council took these actions:
- Authorized the City Manager or designee to negotiate, execute, and close the transaction at 405 Industrial Boulevard.
- Authorized a final bona fide offer of just compensation for approximately 0.045 acres, described as Lot 9, Block 9 of Shannon Creek Addition, for a permanent drainage easement; if not accepted, authorized eminent domain proceedings.
- Authorized eminent domain proceedings for approximately 4.875 acres, described as portions of John Robertson Survey Abstract 1317, Tracts 2B6 and A421, under Resolution R.E. 4457-25. Each motion carried 6-0.

Sub-Committee Minutes

The Council approved 2-0 the October 27, 2025 Local Transportation Issues Sub-Committee minutes, with only the two present sub-committee members voting (Chair Tonore and Council Member Fresquez; Council Member Bounds was absent). The minutes covered a roadway capital project update, a public projects dashboard, and Kingsway Drive/Holland Road north of U.S. 360.

Consent Calendar

The Council approved the consent agenda 6-0, including:
- Memorandum of Understanding with Texas Livestock Protection Association for animal cruelty investigation services.
- Memorandum of Understanding with American Humane Association d/b/a American Humane Society for first responder animal rescue services.
- Ordinances updating public swimming pool/spa and food service sanitation compliance standards.
- Grant resolutions for a multi-agency motor vehicle crime prevention task force (up to $963,937), a FY26 catalytic converter grant, and modular vehicular barriers (up to $98,940, no match required).
- Ordinance amending Chapter 153 Impact Fees to comply with SB 1883 Capital Improvement Advisory Committee requirements.
- Approval of the October 27, 2025 Regular City Council meeting minutes.

Key Outcomes

The Council received the final draft 2025 Parks and Recreation Master Plan update; no vote was taken. The plan is scheduled for MPFDC adoption the week of November 17, 2025, and City Council adoption on December 8, 2025.
All three executive-session real estate/eminent domain actions were approved.
The subcommittee minutes and consent agenda were approved.
The meeting adjourned at 5:04 PM.

Meeting Transcript

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. I want to call to order the meeting for Monday, November 10th, twenty twenty five to order at two PM. Are there any citizens' comments? No, Mayor. All right. Council comments, uh, Mr. Brosh. All right, Mr. Tenora. Mr. Simmons. No, sir. Sir, Mr. Newsom. Yes, sir. All right, now for me. All right, we'll begin our work session. Twenty twenty parks and recreation master plan update. And I believe Miss Ann is gonna lead us off. Comes at this time. Good afternoon. Make sure this right. Okay, good afternoon, Mayor and Council, and Beck Marketing Communications, uh, for parks and recreation. I'm thrilled to be here today. I know your time is valuable. I know Matt has a lot of really important stuff to get into. Um, so we want to get right to it, but of course, before that, I'm gonna start with story time. So uh when the first park board formed in 1973, the city only had two parks and about thirty acres. They knew they wanted to maintain and grow the park system, but you know, they never really defined what the goals were more than that. Most of their time was actually spent on routine maintenance and managing projects that just sort of fell in their lap. They actually had a huge issue with people cutting down trees in the park for Christmas trees for a while. So, you know, problems have changed, times have changed. Um, but either way, they worked really hard, but uh just like this. There we go, this quote says, if you don't know where you're going, you'll work really hard and end up nowhere. They cared a lot, they worked really hard, but they didn't actually make any progress. Also, for the record, these photos look really old. These are both from the late nineties. That's 97 and 99, so it's not as old as you think. Uh, but there you go. The first 40 years of a parks and recreation board, and that is what we had right there in Mansfield. Uh so go back to the mid-1980s, we had a new crop of city leaders, and they had a vision for what they called Mansfield Central Park. They wanted a hub in the middle of all the growth that would connect their fast growing city. This portion here that you see actually opened in 1989 as James McKnight Park. You can see the softball fields right there. But the park really wanted more, right? They wanted to connect the entire city. So in 1992, they formed the Linear Park Committee and came up with a vision for a trail that would run alongside Walnut Creek and go from city limit to city limit.

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Mansfield City Council Regular Meeting: Parks Master Plan Update and Executive Session Actions, November 10, 2025

Public Comments & Testimony

No citizen comments were made during the citizen comments period.

Discussion Items

2020 Parks and Recreation Master Plan Update: Ann, a consultant with Beck Marketing Communications, opened with a historical overview of Mansfield parks. Matt Young, Executive Director of Community Services, presented the five-year update to the 10-year plan adopted October 2020. The update was done in-house and included two public meetings, eight in-person engagement opportunities, ten online/Facebook feedback posts, and an online survey. Survey results showed 94% of residents agreed or strongly agreed that parks are important to quality of life, 84% rated maintenance quality positively, and 80% said parks were a deciding factor in choosing where to live. The most highly requested missing amenities were a pool/aquatic center and a recreation center.

Inventory and needs: About 5% of city land is dedicated to parks; 40% of residents now live within a 10-minute walk of a park, up from 23% five years earlier. Council members questioned coverage gaps in the northeast quadrant and Somerset; staff explained that some HOA/developer parks are not yet reflected on the Trust for Public Land mapping and that much of the northeast is built out, making new parkland difficult to add.

Trails: The city has approximately 8 miles of trail. Voters approved $10.5 million in May 2022 for Walnut Creek Linear Trail and Pond Branch work; five miles of trail have been added in five years. Staff and the MPFDC have set a goal of adding about 2 miles of trail per year, with new trail signage planned for 2026.

Athletic fields: Staff reported nearly $3 million invested in ball fields over the last three years and $12.5 million in improvements at Fields of Station 63. The $55 million bond program from the master plan was unsuccessful in 2022. Staff outlined a 'domino' plan: build Southwest Community Park Phase 1, relocate soccer and football fields, then redevelop Skinner Sports Complex, Chandler Park, McKnight Park, and Moody Park with additional amenities.

Recreation/aquatics: Mansfield currently has no family aquatic center, no recreation center with fitness, and no dedicated senior space. Benchmark comparisons with Allen, Richardson, Cedar Hill, Burleson, and other cities showed Mansfield behind on indoor recreation and aquatics. The proposed multi-generational center/library/aquatics from the 2022 bond effort was estimated at $78 million in 2022 dollars and approximately $94 million today. It would have included 125,000 square feet, a 75% cost-recovery goal, and an estimated $855,000 annual subsidy. By comparison, the existing Mansfield Activity Center has a 39% cost recovery and an MPFDC subsidy of roughly $750,000.

Council discussion: Several council members voiced strong support for a multi-generational center, with one saying he was '100% for this' if it could be done without raising the tax rate and another supporting public-private partnerships. The Mayor said the Council would not rush the decision and expected further discussion at the January strategic workshop. Staff estimated construction cost escalation of 5-10% per year, with aquatics the most expensive component.

Executive Session and Subsequent Actions

The Council recessed into executive session at 3:07 PM under Texas Government Code Sections 551.071, 551.072, 551.074, and 551.087 to discuss pending litigation, real property, personnel, and economic development negotiations. After reconvening, the Council took these actions:

Authorized the City Manager or designee to negotiate, execute, and close the transaction at 405 Industrial Boulevard.
Authorized a final bona fide offer of just compensation for approximately 0.045 acres, described as Lot 9, Block 9 of Shannon Creek Addition, for a permanent drainage easement; if not accepted, authorized eminent domain proceedings.
Authorized eminent domain proceedings for approximately 4.875 acres, described as portions of John Robertson Survey Abstract 1317, Tracts 2B6 and A421, under Resolution R.E. 4457-25. Each motion carried 6-0.

Sub-Committee Minutes

The Council approved 2-0 the October 27, 2025 Local Transportation Issues Sub-Committee minutes, with only the two present sub-committee members voting (Chair Tonore and Council Member Fresquez; Council Member Bounds was absent). The minutes covered a roadway capital project update, a public projects dashboard, and Kingsway Drive/Holland Road north of U.S. 360.

Consent Calendar

The Council approved the consent agenda 6-0, including:

Memorandum of Understanding with Texas Livestock Protection Association for animal cruelty investigation services.
Memorandum of Understanding with American Humane Association d/b/a American Humane Society for first responder animal rescue services.
Ordinances updating public swimming pool/spa and food service sanitation compliance standards.
Grant resolutions for a multi-agency motor vehicle crime prevention task force (up to $963,937), a FY26 catalytic converter grant, and modular vehicular barriers (up to $98,940, no match required).
Ordinance amending Chapter 153 Impact Fees to comply with SB 1883 Capital Improvement Advisory Committee requirements.
Approval of the October 27, 2025 Regular City Council meeting minutes.

Key Outcomes

The Council received the final draft 2025 Parks and Recreation Master Plan update; no vote was taken. The plan is scheduled for MPFDC adoption the week of November 17, 2025, and City Council adoption on December 8, 2025.

All three executive-session real estate/eminent domain actions were approved.

The subcommittee minutes and consent agenda were approved.

The meeting adjourned at 5:04 PM.

Meeting Transcript