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HomeMy WebLinkAboutParks And Recreation Board - Minutes - 04/29/2021 PARKS AND RECREATION BOARD TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR Date, Time: Wednesday, April 28, 2021, 5:30pm Location: Zoom meeting 03/24/2021– MINUTES Page 1  1. CALL TO ORDER  Catherine Carabetta called the meeting to order at 5:31pm. 2. ROLL CALL  BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT o Catherine Carabetta –Chair o Mary Carlson – Out sick, excused absence o Ken Christensen – Co Chair o Shari Heymann o Jesse Scaccia o Bob Kingsbury - Secretary o Jeff Haber o Mike Novell o Mike Tupa  STAFF MEMBERS PRESENT o Aaron Harris – Interim Recreation Director o Rob Crabb – Sr. Manager, Parks o Kendra Boot – Sr. Manager, Forestry o Nina Bodenhamer – Director, CityGives o Suzanne Bassinger – Civil Engineer III, Park Planning and Development o Stephanie Whall – Business Support III/Board Support o Will Lindsey – Specialist, City Planning o Christine Holtz – Sr. Coordinator, Forestry 3. AGENDA REVIEW  No changes to the agenda 4. CITIZEN PARTICIPATION PARKS AND RECREATION BOARD TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 03/24/2021 – MINUTES Page 2   Electric Skateboards on Trails – Tim Alig o Goal: Allow skateboard users to access paved trails where e-skateboards are currently prohibited (i.e., most paved trails in the City). o Scope: Paved trails that are currently open to Class 1 and Class 2 e- bikes but not open to e-skateboards (e.g., Poudre trail, Spring Creek Trail). o Initial proposal: E-skateboard pilot program uses the 2019 e-bike pilot program as a benchmark for fair and successful evaluation of e- skateboards. It would include things, such as:  Restriction of top speed via programming (as with e-bike policy)  Standard safety policies for trail use (e.g., courtesy speed limit, communication) o Feedback from the Board:  Consider educating the public on correct trail etiquette, safety is of utmost importance with electric vehicles on trails.  Keep in mind biases that exist against skateboarding in the public, and do not let them cloud the progress of this initiative. We should encourage research-based decisions. o Assistance Needed from the Board: In the future, the P & R Board can help this initiative by writing a letter to council in support of this topic. 5. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Bob Kingsbury moved to accept minutes as presented, and Shari Heymann seconded. March 2021 minutes were approved. Motion passed 8 approved, 0 opposed. 6. UNFINISHED BUSINESS  Park Donations and Naming Rights – Nina Bodenhamer o Works as a charitable giving facilitator through CityGives o Park Naming –  Current Process: The Park Planning & Development (PPD) Department, in conjunction with the communications group, create possible names for parks through public outreach and research. PPD then brings preferred names forward to City Council, ultimately the naming decision of parks sits with City Council. Parks are no longer named after people, per City Council’s guidance.  Philanthropic Naming – The city allows for philanthropic donations for features only (not parks), and the donor must pay for at least 75% of the feature. However, even in such a case, City Council reserves the right to decide on the name of the feature. o City Gives – City Gives is the philanthropic arm of the City. When PARKS AND RECREATION BOARD TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 03/24/2021 – MINUTES Page 3  residents want to provide donations to the City, they work through City Gives. Currently there are 3 City Gives projects related to Parks:  9-11 Memorial at Spring Park: This campaign is being driven by the Poudre Fire Authority. Concern was voiced from the Board surrounding the possible incitement of unnecessary fear mongering that this memorial might promote. However, it was mentioned that the focus of the memorial will be on education, not on terrorism.  Showmobile Build – The showmobile is a portable sound stage that serves non-profits. It belongs to Parks and is in need of a refresh.  Tree Canopy – Residents can donate trees to assist in building back the tree canopy of Fort Collins that is being severely impacted by the Emerald Ash Borer beetle. o Feedback/Action Items from the Board -  The Memorial Bench Program is discontinued, but Mike and Nina are working to develop a similar memorial program with guidelines for residents.  The Board’s goal should be to leverage connections in the community to help promote City Gives opportunities. Nina will return to inform the Board of opportunities on a quarterly basis. 7. NEW BUSINESS  Emerald Ash Borer – Kendra Boot o Christine Holtz is senior coordinator, taking the lead on EAB. o Emerald Ash Borer is an invasive pest, that is very difficult to detect and will eventually kill the Ash trees it infests. o Ash trees make up about 33% of Ft. Collins’ urban canopy of trees. o To prepare for the EAB infestation, Ft. Collins Forestry stopped planting Ash trees on public property in 2000s, enacted an i-Tree ECO Ft. Collins Tree Canopy Assessment 2016 and created an Emerald Ash Borer Management and Response Plan 2016 o Primary goals in managing EAB: Keep the community safe, slow the spread of EAB, maintain the urban tree canopy and preserve significant trees. To fulfill their goals, Forestry is using a combination of Cultural, Mechanical, Chemical and Biological Management Options. o EAB Wood utilization: we are repurposing wood from EAB and converting it into mulch and mill-able logs. o To learn more about it visit: www.fcgov.com/forestry/emerald-ash-borer o Feedback/Action Items from the Board –  You can burn contaminated wood if it is within the community in which it was found. Avoid bringing contaminated wood elsewhere. PARKS AND RECREATION BOARD TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 03/24/2021 – MINUTES Page 4   Forestry is partnering with neighboring communities to keep open communication and similar messaging surrounding EAB issues.  It was confirmed that the urban canopy contains diverse trees, no other tree species exceeds 10% of the total urban canopy of Ft. Collins.  The Board is eager to help support Forestry with this process, by writing a letter of support for more funding of this if deemed necessary by Forestry in the future.  Wireless Master Plan Update – Will Lindsey o Intent: complete a comprehensive analysis of wireless telecommunication opportunities, issues, service gaps and constraints.  This plan aims to develop a new strategy, process and guidelines for implementing wireless towers across the City to improve wireless coverage across Fort Collins.  The importance of purposeful placement of towers in relation to parks was discussed. If towers are to be placed in parks, the Board requests that they are camouflaged in with the scenery and that funding from those towers goes back to the parks in some way. o The Board would like Will to return for May’s meeting to review the draft plan. 8. BOARD MEMBER REPORTS  FC Bikes – Mike Tupa: o CO Safety Program proposes that bicycles can treat stop signs like yield signs, while a red light means a definite stop (they are working to get it on the statewide ballot). Visit www.BicyleColorado.org for more info. o NPO is looking for signage along Poudre Trail on North of town, you can tell them where you want signs to go.  Super Issues meeting – Catherine Carabetta: o They covered the city budget process overview (www.ourcity.fcgov.com to get more info on this) and reimagining boards and commissions in which they presented new term length for boards. 9. OTHER BUSINESS 1. Recreation Update: We are working to expand our hours. The Senior Center Pool is scheduled to open October 4th. City Park pool is the priority to open for the summer. Summer camp registrations are up to 50% to capacity already. Summer registration day for the Recreator is May 14th. 2. Park Planning Update: The Poudre River Trail at I-25 will be completed when CDOT completes their construction, then PPD can connect the trail. We are PARKS AND RECREATION BOARD TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 03/24/2021 – MINUTES Page 5  working with GOCO to extend our grant for this section of trail. PPD is working on finalizing the scope for the Water Supply Master Plan, which would be included in a Request for Proposal when the project is ready to be initiated. 3. Parks Updates: a. Tony Benevides has taken over the Senior Park Ranger role, so we are now hiring for Tony’s replacement. Also, we are asking for a 3rd regular Ranger. b. Trail Counts Q1 2021 are 20K less than 2020 Q1 counts due to the March snow storms. c. Hughes Limb Drop Site has been operating since the last week of March. This coming weekend is the last weekend it will be open. After this weekend, all branches will be ground to mulch and used in parks, and then offered back to the public for free. d. Spring Parks Prep – starting up already! 4. 6 Month Planning Calendar a. Nothing for culture or recreation 10. ADJOURNMENT Motion to adjourn the meeting by Mike Novell, seconded by Shari Heymann. Meeting adjourned at 8:20pm.