Pflugerville names residents to city boards, panels

The Pflugerville City Council on Tuesday made new appointments to city commissions and boards, including for the library and Parks and Recreation Department.

Residents can apply each fall to serve on commissions, committees and boards to help the city as it grows.

Library Board

The council approved unanimously the appointments of Hollie Griffin, Larissa Brazener, Laura Goettsche, Rosie Riddick and Lisa Sparkman to serve on the Pflugerville Public Library Board. The board is made up of a total of eight members, including one alternate. Sparkman will serve as the alternate member.

The board submits a five-year comprehensive library plan every year, makes recommendations concerning library policy and procedure, programs, services, grants, and fundraising.

Regular members serve for two-year terms while the alternate member serves a one-year term. The newly appointed member will begin their terms Jan. 1.

Griffin was re-appointed as a regular member in the board.

"I am excited about the growth of Pflugerville ... and what that might mean for the library and the facilities that we can provide as we continue to grow," she said.

Riddick, who served on the board about five years ago, said the library is a "place of knowledge. It is a place where dreams can be realized." Goettsch said that as a lawyer she knows the importance of libraries and librarians, and wants to help it as it grows.

Sparkman, who has lived in the city for 40 years, said she has seen the growth of the library and how it has helped the community with its programs such as plant swaps and its own comic-con. Having recently retired she knows she will now have the time to serve the community and help the library grow.

Brazener said her interest to serve on the board came from her time in public libraries with her daughter and the understating of how they help to serve the community.

"I see the role of the public library as being essential to education," Brazener said. "Public libraries also provide a much-needed learning space for community members that isn't found elsewhere.

The board meets the second Wednesday of every month at 6 p.m. at the Pflugerville Public Library, 1008 W. Pfluger Street.

Parks and Recreation Commission

The council also appointed four members to the Parks and Recreation Commission.

The panel is responsible for submitting a five-year comprehensive plan each year, making recommendations regarding the management, maintenance, use and improvement of all parks and public recreational facilities owned or controlled by the city; and making recommendations regarding recreational programs and events.

The council voted unanimously to approve Amy Rabb, Lisa Ely, Chelsea Burkett and Stanley Taylor to the commission. Taylor will serve as an alternate member. Ely and Rabb were re-appointed to the board and Ely currently serves as its president.

Regular members serve two-year terms while the alternate member serves a one-year term. Newly appointed members will begin their terms Jan. 1.

Rabb said Parks and Recreation is her favorite city department because it helps provide affordable activities to do with her children.

"I want to help make (Parks and Recreation) even better," she said.

Ely, a resident of 16 years, said she wanted to continue serving the community to ensure the department can get "as much as we can for the money and space that we have."

Burkett said she wanted to join the panel to contribute to the community, after having moved to the city three years ago. She said she wants to help create sustainable infrastructure and a master plan that represents the heart and soul of the city.

"It's really incredible the infrastructure Pflugerville has in place here," she said. "I think it's really unique. It's beyond what most of the surrounding cities have."

Taylor, a resident of 25 years, said, "I'd like to serve the community by helping deal with continuing challenges of growth."

The commission meets the third Thursday of each month at 7 p.m. at the Pflugerville Recreation Center, 400 Immanuel Road.

Deutschen Pfest Committee

The council also appointed Melissa Call, Miriam Moorman and Kelley Weitkemper to the Deutschen Pfest Committee. Call was re-appointed to the board.

The committee helps to host the annual community festival to provide family fun and recreation to celebrate the community's German heritage.

Call has been on the committee since 2014 and lived in the city for 33 years. She said she has truly enjoyed the process it takes to book musicians, calling herself an "Excel spreadsheet queen."

Moorman said that with her background experience in hotel management, she is a good fit for the committee.

"Deutschen Pfest is the first thing I loved about Pflugerville," she said.

Weitkemper, a resident of 17 years, said that because she is recently retired, she knows she will have the time to participate on the panel. She said she has not missed a Pfest since living here.

"I feel the need to serve," she said. "I want to serve."

Membership of the committee is made up of one Parks and Recreation Commission member, either the chair or their designee and eight appointed residents who serve two-year staggered terms. Rabb currently serves on the Deutschen Pfest panel.

Newly appointed member will begin their terms Jan. 1. The committee still has two vacant seats.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Pflugerville names residents to city boards, panels