HomeMy WebLinkAboutParks And Recreation Board - Minutes - 09/22/2021
PARKS AND RECREATION BOARD
TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR
Date, Time: Wednesday, September 22nd, 2021, 5:30pm
Location: Hybrid meeting: Zoom & 413 S. Bryan Ave.
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1. CALL TO ORDER
Catherine Carabetta called the meeting to order at 5:37pm.
2. ROLL CALL
BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT
o Catherine Carabetta – Chair
o Mary Carlson
o Ken Christensen – Co-Chair
o Shari Heymann
o Jesse Scaccia
o Bob Kingsbury – Secretary
o Jeff Haber - Absent
o Mike Novell - Absent
o Mike Tupa - Absent
STAFF MEMBERS PRESENT
o Aaron Harris – Interim Director, Recreation
o Mike Calhoon – Director, Parks
o Kurt Friesen – Director, Park Planning and Development
o Kyle Lambrecht – Engineer, Park Planning and Development
o Stephanie Whall – Business Support III/Board Support, Park Planning and
Development
o Seve Ghose – Director, Community Services
o Richard Thorp – Lead Specialist, Watershed
o Jill Oropeza – Director, Watershed
o Sydney Phillips – Technician, Watershed
o Sara Mendez – Interim Manager, Recreation
3. INTRODUCTIONS
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o Introduction of Richard Thorp, Jill Oropeza, Sydney Phillips
o Introduction of Kyle Lambrecht – new Park Planning Senior Trail Planner
4. AGENDA REVIEW
o No changes to agenda
5. CITIZEN PARTICIPATION
o None
6. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Ken Christensen moved to accept minutes as presented, and Bob Kingsbury seconded.
August 2021 minutes were approved. Motion passed 6 approved, 0 opposed.
7. UNFINISHED BUSINESS
O BFO AD HOC COMMITTEE UPDATE-CATHERINE CARABETTA, KEN
CHRISTENSEN, BOB KINGSBURY, JEFF HABER
The Board discussed updating the Ad Hoc letter. Some minor edits were
made to the letter.
All Board members approved of the letter.
Catherine will speak at the October 5th, 2022, Recommended Budget Public
Hearing #2, on behalf of the Board.
8. NEW BUSINESS
O -MANAGING WATER QUALITY IN CITY-OWNED LAKES – RICHARD THORP
Presentation Purpose: to provide a status update on urban lakes and gather
feedback on the proposed policy approach.
- Urban lakes are a very important resource in Fort Collins (wildlife
habitat, stormwater, etc.)
- The city has experienced challenges managing the lakes and clarifying
which lakes are owned by city and which are private.
- The proposed policy aims to establish water quality management
jurisdiction, objectives and actions for city owned lakes within the
growth management area.
o This policy excludes private waters, drinking water reservoirs
and the Poudre River.
- Timeline for Project: the goal is to have policy adopted by Q3 of 2022.
- The policy will exist as a technical document and as a geodatabase
with GIS software
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- The City owns 304 lakes, Parks manages 55 of those lakes.
- Currently, the outreach approach for the project is using tools such as:
social media, webpages, surveys and workshops.
- The policy will combine policy outreach data with subject matter expert
surveys interviews, and Advisory Boards’ feedback to help inform and
draft the policy itself.
Board/Staff questions:
- What are the different types of lakes?
o Retention ponds (holds water) & standing bodies of water
(ponds, lakes and reservoirs).
- Do we offer accessible fishing docs at our lakes? We do.
- How many square miles or acres of water do we have? Answer to be
provided.
- How many acre-feet of water do we have in our lakes? Answer to be
provided.
O AGE POLICIES AT THE SENIOR CENTER – SARA MENDEZ
Current policy states that you must be 18 years old and up to use the senior
center
Past exceptions (with staff permission) to this age limit include: swimming
lessons, youth sports, badminton and table tennis
Proposed Policy: welcome all ages to the facility, those under 18 will need a
guardian with them at all times of a visit. No drop offs will be permitted
Board/Staff questions/comments:
- What makes it a Senior Center if all are allowed in?
- Is there a value of having a location dedicated solely to seniors?
o Most seniors use the center between the hours of 6am-2:30pm.
Most usage from younger users would be after this time.
- There was concern voiced about having unattended children running
around the Senior Center. However, this policy will ensure that all
children under 18 must always have an adult with them.
- There have not been any complaints with the current child lessons at
the Senior Center that have occurred for the past 5 years.
- The policy is aiming for equity. Ft. Collins has smaller facilities spread
around town, so in order to provide ease of access to all residents this
facility needs to open its doors.
- The P&R Board recommends that no little children be allowed in the
hot tub.
O EAST MAINTENANCE FACILITY (EDMF) APPROPRIATION - KURT FRIESEN
Maintenance facilities provide localized equipment to perform daily
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maintenance tasks. Fort Collins has facilities spread around the community.
EDMF would serve Bucking Horse Park, the Archery Range, East
Community Park, Stewart Case Park, English Ranch Park, Harmony Park,
Twin Silo Park, Radiant Park and the trail system.
Park Planning is seeking Board support for the project in order to submit an
additional funding appropriation request to Council due to significant price
escalations in costs of construction materials.
Construction began Fall 2021. Estimated completion: Summer/Fall 2022
The Board supported this request. Ken Christensen provided a motion of
support to increase the overall East District Maintenance Facility project
budget by $1.2 million, Shari Heymann seconded it. Motion passed 6
approved, 0 opposed.
O 2022 WORK PLAN DEVELOPMENT
The Board and City Staff reviewed, edited and updated the current workplan.
Stephanie will compile the workplan edits and the Board will review and
approve the edits at the October Board meeting, to turn in by the end of
October.
9. BOARD MEMBER REPORTS
o None
10. OTHER BUSINESS
1. RECREATION UPDATE – Aaron Harris
o The Recreation Director search begins in early October, with a goal to hire by the
end of the year.
o Currently hiring the Senior Center supervisor.
o The ice rank has mechanical issues with its cooling system. Major maintenance is
planned for May and June.
o Recreation is still short staffed in many areas. They are currently upstaffing for the
January 1st start of extended hours in facilities.
2. PARK PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT UPDATE – Kurt Friesen
o Hand That Feeds – the plaza work is almost done. On Oct. 9th, at 11am, there will
be an unveiling event at Sugar Beet Park for the sculpture. The Board is invited to
join.
o Pickleball Complex – PPD is working with advocates who will be doing some
fundraising in the future for this complex. The first step is to evaluate where we can
put in a pickleball complex.
o Disc Golf – PPD is working with local disc golf associations to improve the disc golf
course at Edora.
o Traverse Park – construction is proceeding well, aiming to open later this Fall. Still
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dealing with legal issues surrounding easements on the park.
o Mail Creek Trail – PPD is actively pursuing grant opportunities to help fund this
project.
o Veteran’s Plaza – PPD is getting feedback from the veteran’s group that has been
actively involved in the making of the plaza.
3. PARKS UPDATE – Mike Calhoon
o Twin Silo Park vandalism has not improved. Parks has increased security with
police assistance, however, it’s still a huge problem.
o Twin Silo Hop Harvest: on September 29th at O’Dell’s at 4pm, there will be a release
party/fundraiser showcasing the beer “Hops & Rec” from the Twin Silo hop harvest.
Half of the money raised will go to the Recreation scholarship program and half will
go to the Gardens on Spring Creek.
o Parks is currently in Phase 3 of the lifecycle assessment program.
o Golden Meadows playground construction is underway.
o We have more pickleball courts than tennis courts in Fort Collins.
o Hammocking – the social media campaign has started for this.
4. 6 MONTH PLANNING CALENDAR REVIEW
September 28th-BFO Work Session-Safe, NLSH and HPG outcomes.
October 5th-2022 Recommended Budget-Public Hearing #2 – Catherine is
attending the meeting and representing the Board
October 12th-BFO Work Session
November 2nd-2022 Budget 1st Reading
November 16th-20220 Budget 2nd Reading
February 22nd-2022 Strategic Plan Review and Update
5. Board and Director Get Together: Seve proposed a “Board and Director Get
Together”, the Board liked the idea. It will likely occur around the 1st of the year, more
information to come.
11. ADJOURNMENT
Motion to adjourn the meeting by Bob Kingsbury, seconded by Ken Christensen.
Meeting adjourned at 7:40pm.