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HomeMy WebLinkAboutParks And Recreation Board - Minutes - 10/27/2021 PARKS AND RECREATION BOARD TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR Date, Time: Wednesday, October 27th, 2021, 5:30pm Location: Hybrid meeting: Zoom & 413 S. Bryan Ave. 10/27/2021– MINUTES Page 1 1. CALL TO ORDER • Catherine Carabetta called the meeting to order at 5:34pm. 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 Mike Novell o Mike Tupa - Absent • STAFF MEMBERS PRESENT o Aaron Harris – Interim Director, Recreation o Sarah Olear – Senior Recreation Coordinator o Kendra Boot – Senior Manager, Forestry o Jen Torrey – Senior Landscape Architect, Park Planning and Development o Stephanie Whall – Board Support, Park Planning and Development o Dave Dangler- Snail Trailers RC o Jaye Hernandez - Snail Trailers RC o Eric Keselburg – Snail Trailers RC o Josh Pierce – Student at Front Range Community College 3. INTRODUCTIONS o Introduction of Sarah Olear – Senior Recreation Coordinator, next Board Support Representative 4. AGENDA REVIEW PARKS AND RECREATION BOARD TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 10/27/2021 – MINUTES Page 2 o No changes to agenda. 5. CITIZEN PARTICIPATION o None 6. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Ken Christensen moved to accept minutes as presented, and Mary Carlson seconded. September 2021 minutes were approved. Motion passed 7 approved, 0 opposed. 7. UNFINISHED BUSINESS O BFO SUMMARY  Work sessions and council feedback have all taken place. The next step is the first budget reading.  Recreation: - All the restore offers were accepted to operate in pre-pandemic levels - Funding was received for the reduced fee program - The Mulberry Pool offer was not accepted, but Council supported an aquatic needs assessment which will be completed in about 60 days  Parks: - Library Park irrigation was funded. - Rolland Moore ball field lights were funded. (As the lights caught fire last Friday night, this happened just in time!) - $100K was approved for large diameter pruning for Forestry. - The Park Rangers staffing offer did not get approved, but they will try to get funding for it again next year.  Park Planning: - City Park did not get funded. - A Special Projects fund of $50k wasn’t approved. - Other BFO updates to come next meeting.  An online summary of accepted BFO offers should be online as of October 28th, 2021. 8. NEW BUSINESS O JEFF HABER RESIGNATION  Due to a change in his professional situation, he had to leave the Board. O REMOTE CONTROL CAR DEMONSTRATION  The Snail Trailers RC club presented to the Board to request feedback and PARKS AND RECREATION BOARD TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 10/27/2021 – MINUTES Page 3 answer questions.  Snail Trailers RC: - Fort Collins needs an RC Crawler Park, as northern CO has a growing scene. There is no dedicated RC park in Colorado. - The speed of RC Cars is a crawl. - This activity is a more affordable way to enjoy off-roading. - The club would like some areas within existing parks to have a place to drive and/or a dedicated area for riding. - Possible areas to consider: o Open to suggestions o Whitewater Park o Bob Kingsbury suggested the possibilities of the Poudre River Reach 4, part of Edora Park or Eastside Community Park - Snail Trailers RC may be interested in fundraising for this idea. - Things to Consider: o There will need to be signs and policies specifying vehicle, battery size and speed limits. o Learn from what other nationwide communities do. - Has a dedicated RC Crawler park ever been constructed before? o Yes, but out of state, not in Colorado. Snail Trailers RC wants to be the first in Colorado. o However, they don’t need a park, just want a place to go play. - The Board supported Snail Trailers RC’s efforts, as long as the appropriate perimeters were in place, and large events didn’t overshadow any one area. - City Attorney’s office is in support of the idea also. The next step is to establish parameters/permits around this. O 2022 WORK PLAN FINAL APPROVAL FOR SUBMISSION  Ken Christensen moves to accept the Work Plan as written, Shari seconded. 7 in favor, 0 against. O 2022 ANNUAL RREPORT, REVISION 1 REVIEW  The Board edited the Annual Report, and will review and approve it in the December 1st meeting. 9. BOARD MEMBER REPORTS o None 10. OTHER BUSINESS PARKS AND RECREATION BOARD TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 10/27/2021 – MINUTES Page 4 1. RECREATION UPDATE – Aaron Harris o Active Modes Department: All agreed to Mike Tupa representing the Board through the Master Planning process. o The Recreation Director position posting closes November 9th, and the goal is to onboard someone before end of year. o Recent vacancies filled: There have been 4 vacancies in the Recreation staff that have been recently hired. o Hourly Staff Shortage: Recreation is very short staffed in aquatics, childcare, building and operations in regards to hourly staff. Full-time staff are currently life guarding 20 hours a week.  The hourly rate for Recreation Hourly staff is $12.50-15/hr. Not seeing much interest from high school or college students with these positions.  Advertising for these positions hasn’t changed, but interest is down. o Since October 4th, the Senior Center pool has opened. The only challenge is trying to keep it staffed. 2. PARK PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT UPDATE – Jen Torrey o EPDMF: PPD and Engineering needed additional funds appropriated to this project due to rising construction costs. o Hand That Feeds: The October 9th ceremony was a success! o Pickle Ball Complex: The pickle ball community wants to raise funds to have a complex added to Fort Collins.  PPD has been working on a site feasibility study.  Currently, the best parks for a pickle ball complex include: Fossil Creek Park, City Park and Rolland Moore Park - Fossil Creek: If the multiuse facility isn’t placed at Fossil Creek Park, pickleball would be a good option there. - City Park: This option assumes train won’t be funded. It’s a secondary choice because it is a much tighter fit, with a lot of trees and utilities to work around. o Mike Novell asked if Fort Collins can keep the train and use it in a different park. Jen responded that the voter approved ballot initiative had specific language for the train at City Park only. o Ken Christensen mentioned his preference for the City Park tennis courts to move out of the center of City Park over to the lit sports area (per the City Park Refresh Plan), as there will likely be an issue with moving pickle ball to the proposed area in City Park, due to highly congested parking in the summer months. - Timing of the Project: This would be funded 100% through fundraising, so PPD needs to develop cost estimates for the fundraisers. The project could be a couple of years out depending on funding availability. PARKS AND RECREATION BOARD TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 10/27/2021 – MINUTES Page 5 - Mike Novell mentioned that if it was between having the Southeast Community Center at Fossil Creek Park or pickle ball courts, the community center is preferred. o The community center is funded, and currently, the primary site identified for the park continues to be Fossil Creek Park. However,the City is working with Poudre School District to see if there is a better site. We will know more by the end of the year. o Bucking Horse Park – There have been 2 neighborhood meetings so far. The project is currently in the design phase. After the development review process, PPD will go back to the neighborhood for a 3rd neighborhood meeting or share/advertise information about the park online. o Traverse Park: This will be newest neighborhood park in Fort Collins. Construction is 80-90% complete. The playground equipment is delivered and installed. It will be seeded before winter. o Spring Canyon Dog Park Pond: The water quality was an issue, but with the grant monies received, the City is able to do restoration work on the pond. Construction will begin in November. 3. PARKS UPDATE – Kendra Boot o Twin Silo Park hosted the Colorado state BMX qualifier. o Irrigation and restrooms across the City are all getting winterized. o The cost after the March snowstorm was reallocated into the Forestry budget. The Hughes site is all cleaned up. o The Holiday Lights Ceremony will be on November 5th, 5:30-7pm. o All staff who needed certifications for CPR and First Aid are recertified. o O’Dell’s released Hops and Rec Pale Ale which included all the hops harvested from the Gardens on Spring Creek and Twin Silos. Proceeds were donated back to Parks and the Gardens on Spring Creek. o Forestry: Large scale pruning is happening on Mulberry.  The team applied for a Nature in the City grant to get 50 trees planted in underserved areas. 3 neighborhoods were interested and got the trees!  Ralf Zentz received the Gene Eyerly Award through the International Society of Arboriculture Rocky Mountain Chapter for his influence on urban forestry regionally over the past 36 years. It was a great honor! 11. MONTH PLANNING CALENDAR REVIEW o November 2nd – 2022 Budget 1st Reading o November 16th – 2022 Budget 2nd Reading o February 22nd – 2022 Strategic Plan Review and Update 12. JOSH PIERCE QUESTIONS – STUDENT FROM FRONT RANGE COMMUNITY PARKS AND RECREATION BOARD TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 10/27/2021 – MINUTES Page 6 COLLEGE o Josh inquired about what items were on the City’s BFO offers, the Board referred him to the City’s webpage to see all the offers, as there are many. o Josh requested insight into the budgeting process. Ken Christensen broke down the process for Josh. Kendra referred him to ourcity.fcgov.com o The Board’s role with the City budget was clarified. This Board advises City Council on how to spend the budget, but the Board doesn’t spend anything. o Josh inquired how much the Board works on environmental concerns in Parks and Rec and preservation within Parks?  The Board and staff responded that it is a large part of each department’s process (Park Planning, Parks and Recreation). Each department works hard to reduce water consumption. They use a lot of native turf and use raw water for irrigation purposes. Additionally, they try to provide wildlife habitat through planting, increase pollinator habitat and limit construction waste in park development, among many other things. o The Board advised Josh how to get involved in the community and with his city council member. 13. ADJOURNMENT Motion to adjourn the meeting by Ken Christensen, seconded by Mary Carlson. Meeting adjourned at 7:11pm.