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HomeMy WebLinkAboutParks And Recreation Board - Minutes - 06/23/2021 PARKS AND RECREATION BOARD TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR Date, Time: Wednesday, June 23rd, 2021, 5:30pm Location: Zoom meeting 06/23 /2021– MINUTES Page 1 1. CALL TO ORDER • Catherine Carabetta called the meeting to order at 5:30pm. 2. ROLL CALL • BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT o Catherine Carabetta – Chair o Mary Carlson – Excused absence o Ken Christensen – Co-Chair, entered at 6:50pm 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 Mike Calhoon – Parks Director o Craig Kisling –Landscape Architect, Park Planning and Development o Stephanie Whall – Business Support III/Board Support o Victoria Shaw – Community Services Financial Manager o Kendra Boot – Forestry, Senior Manager 3. AGENDA REVIEW o Introduction of Victoria Shaw, Financial Manager for Community Services o Update on Community Services Director replacement process  Seve Ghose, starts in July 12, 2021 4. CITIZEN PARTICIPATION PARKS AND RECREATION BOARD TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 06/23/2021 – MINUTES Page 2 o None 5. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Shari Heymann moved to accept minutes as presented, and Mike Tupa seconded. May 2021 minutes were approved. Motion passed 6 approved, 0 opposed. 6. UNFINISHED BUSINESS Budgeting for Outcomes Update – Mike Calhoon o BFO results teams are reviewing the offers (2nd round) and will be submitting their rankings and a summary memo to the budget lead teams shortly. o Adhoc Parks & Rec Advisory Board Group will write a letter of support and present it to City Council on behalf of the larger board to support the Parks and Recreation BFO offers. o Adhoc group will include Catherine Carabetta, Bob Kinsgbury and Jeff Haber o This group will work together to decide what topics are important for the Board to support and write about. Then they will review those topics with the rest of the Board for their approval. And finally, develop a letter of support and present it directly to City Council within the next 2 months. o The group will have 2, 1-hour meetings outside of normal Board meetings. Community Track at Blevins Middle School o PSD met with CityGives to discuss the option of working together to update the Blevins running track for PSD and shared community use. This project will have a fundraising aspect to it. Fort Collins Running Club is a partner in this effort. The track will be on Blevins property, but will be open to the public. o Questions:  Will track be open during school hours? To Be Determined (TBD)  When will this happen? TBD  Who will be responsible for maintenance of this area? PSD 7. NEW BUSINESS o Hammocking in Parks – Jesse Scaccia o Spoke to the importance of having hammocking areas in parks to foster a friendly environment in which all residents are welcomed. o Kendra Boot presented what current city policies are regarding slacklining guidelines to protect trees in our parks, which will relate to the guidance for hammocking in the future. (i.e., Slack Lining Tree Protecting Guidelines in Parks, https://www.fcgov.com/forestry/slacklining/)  A protective barrier between the tree and the slackline is necessary to protect the bark of the tree, its only defense against disease and outside irritants/bacteria.  CSU and Ft. Collins have worked together to provide consistency between PARKS AND RECREATION BOARD TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 06/23/2021 – MINUTES Page 3 the guidelines they both have regarding slacklining and will do so with hammocking also.  Currently there have been no tickets given for not following slacklining guidelines, only redirection guidance.  Jesse Scaccia voiced concerned that we need our parks to be inviting to all people, including hammockers. Mike Calhoon assured him we are trying to find both environmentally- friendly and safe ways to allow both slacklining and hammocking in parks.  Craig Kisling mentioned that the new park in the Bucking Horse neighborhood will have a dedicated hammocking area. • There is one more neighborhood meeting for this park that will be held in late summer.  Mike Calhoon will come back with Guidelines for hammocking to the Board when they are created. o Board Representation in Public: It was discussed that before speaking on behalf of the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board, a board member needs to get agreement from all the Board members on the topic or action under review.  Note: Posting Board meeting Zoom invites on social media will result in a reported security breach to the City’s IT department. This will require the Zoom meetings to be rescheduled. o East Park District Maintenance Facility Update – Craig Kisling o The last price estimate for design of the facility has increased significantly due to steel and lumber price increases. Now the project is at least a half a million dollars overbudget. o There was a suggestion to place the project on hold, but per City Manager direction, the project will move forward with the understanding that an appropriation request will come before Council due to the unforeseen cost increases. o . o If we get the money, the facility would likely to be open in the Fall of 2022. o Maintenance facilities allow Parks staff to stay efficient in maintenance (i.e., snow removal, etc.) and are highly utilized. 8. BOARD MEMBER REPORTS • FC Bikes – Mike Tupa: o FC Bikes meeting is next week, nothing new to report. 9. OTHER BUSINESS 1. Continue with Zoom meeting? a. 6 Board members agreed that pursuing a hybrid model for future Board meetings. Those who feel comfortable appearing in person may, those who PARKS AND RECREATION BOARD TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 06/23/2021 – MINUTES Page 4 do not, may attend via Zoom. b. Location of Hybrid Meetings: i. Location TBD (Mike will investigate this.) ii. Future location (after summer) can be the Foothills Activity Center. c. Mayor Arndt will be at the July meeting. 2. Recreation Update – Aaron Harris o Ft. Collins is not facing massive staff shortages like other Northern Colorado cities. However, the city is dangerously close to having to do some strategic closures due to staff shortages. o Paul Thibert retired, had worked for the city for 34 years. He was the ice supervisor. o Recreation is in the final stages of hiring a sports supervisor. o Camp enrollment is up 50% from last summer. The city is maxed out for childcare in City owned facilities. o Do we pay our staff competitively compared to the private sector? • We pay slightly lower than the private sector due to the need for Council approval for increases in wages for City workers. Also, when the city does raise wages, the private sector also raises their wages, so the City’s pay raises are obsolete again. However, the city can compete by providing longer duration jobs, than private sector seasonal jobs. 3. Park Planning Update – Craig Kisling o Oak Street Plaza Fountain - will be testing the new fountains tomorrow (6/24/21). Hoping to have the plaza up and running by late next week. o Bucking Horse Park – 2nd neighborhood meeting was last month. It was virtual and very successful. Park Planning and Development (PPD) are working on solidifying design with subconsultants. A 3rd neighborhood meeting will be the later part of summer. o Traverse Park – under construction, started last month. Will be done in the fall 2021. o Hand that Feeds – Community members are partnering with CityGives to fundraise to put this art piece and plaza in Sugar Beet Park. Construction is slated to start in late July, early August. Anticipated completion date will be October 9th. 4. Parks Updates – Mike Calhoon o Whitewater Park: The trestle upstream of the park got plugged with debris left from the March storm. The city had to close the river due to the high flow and debris levels. The railroad company was responsible for cleanup of this area. • No programming is currently allowed in the Whitewater Park due to unknown factors in flow and debris levels of the river. PARKS AND RECREATION BOARD TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 06/23/2021 – MINUTES Page 5 o 98% of the annual flowers are planted Downtown. o Parks is prepping for the 4th of July event, including a motorcade, Firecracker 5k, Golf and drive-up fireworks at the Ranch in Loveland. There will be food trucks and music at the Ranch. o Parks is following up with Disc Golf representatives to discuss the future course layout at Edora. o Forestry has mostly completed the cleanup from the March storm in just 34 months! The total direct cost was only around $300K! o Treatment of Ash Trees against EAB has begun the first phases of response. o Vandalism: Twin Silos Park has suffered a lot of vandalism. Someone is cutting through the fence by Power Trail and caused a significant amount of damage. Parks is working to remedy these situations. 5. 6 Month Planning Calendar o 6-22 Mid-Year Review of City Manager, City Attorney and Chief Judge o 6-29 Council Retreat Follow up Meeting o 7-6 Community Report: West Nile Virus Update o 7-20 Tourism Improvement District • Hughes Stadium City Structure Plan Map Amendment o 7-27 Civic Center Master Plan Phase 1 Update o 8-24 2022 Recommended Budget Preview o 9-14 2022 Recommended Budget Work Session #1 o 9-21 2022 Recommended Budget-Public Hearing #1 o 9-28 2022 Recommended Budget Work Session #2 o 10-5 2022 Recommended Budget-Public Hearing #2 o 10-12 2022 Recommended Budget Work Session #3 o 11-2 2022 Budget City Annual Appropriation Ordinance 1st Reading o 11-16 2022 Budget City Annual Appropriation Ordinance 2nd Reading o 11-29 Water Resource Matters in the Fort Collins Growth Management Area 10. ADJOURNMENT Motion to adjourn the meeting by Jeff Haber, seconded by Shari Carlson. Meeting adjourned at 7:08pm.