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HomeMy WebLinkAboutParks And Recreation Board - Minutes - 12/01/2021 PARKS AND RECREATION BOARD TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR Date, Time: Wednesday, December 1st, 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 5:33pm. 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 • STAFF MEMBERS PRESENT o Aaron Harris – Interim Director, Recreation o Sarah Olear – Senior Recreation Coordinator o Mike Calhoon – Director, Parks o Matt Day – Senior Landscape Architect, Park Planning and Development o Jen Scott – Board Support, Parks 3. INTRODUCTIONS o None 4. AGENDA REVIEW o No changes to agenda. 5. CITIZEN PARTICIPATION o None 6. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Mike Tupa moved to accept minutes as presented, and Mary Carlson seconded. November 2021 minutes were approved. Motion passed 8 approved, 0 opposed. 7. UNFINISHED BUSINESS O BFO SUMMARY • The BFO process is complete, it passed on 11/26/21. o Council found $1.2 million in additional funds. ▪ $100,000 for large tree pruning ▪ $100,000 for irrigation at Library Park PARKS AND RECREATION BOARD TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 10/27 /2021 – MINUTES Page 2 ▪ $1,000,000 to replace lights at Rolland Moore o Asset management was a Council priority. o Restoration offers were all restored. o There is momentum at the Council level to move forward with long term financial needs. o Park Planning’s offer for design work in existing parks was not approved. o The Mulberry Pool offer not accepted. The study for improving the pool (by Counsilman Huntzinger) is on a fast track to be completed in January. ▪ A Board suggestion: Can we leverage CSU PHD and Masters students to have experiential education opportunities for design aspects? School of the Mines does this with their bridges. ▪ A program like this exists at CSU, but usually partners with low- income communities. o Park Planning can work with potential interns from CSU and can discuss that idea as well. o The next BFO cycle will reappear on agenda in 3 to 4 months. 8. NEW BUSINESS O BOARD RECRUITMENT UNDERWAY ▪ Some Board members terms are coming to end. The City re-opened applications for the Parks & Recreation Board. • The City has options for 1, 2 and 4-year term lengths. A Board member’s total limit is 8 years. However, a person is allowed to do 2 terms, take a 1-year break, and then can serve again. • Can we promote the Board to CSU Recreation degree? o All Board members must have 1 year residency. • To choose the Board, the City Council selects from viable applications sent from the County Clerk. ▪ The goal is to have a full Board by January. O 2021 ANNUAL REPORT ▪ No recommended changes. ▪ Shari Heymann moved to accept the 2021 Annual Report as presented, and Bob Kingsbury seconded. The 2021 Annual Report was approved. Motion passed 8 approved, 0 opposed. 9. BOARD MEMBER REPORTS o Mike: FC Bikes ▪ Safety Stops were turned down by the state legislature. PARKS AND RECREATION BOARD TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 10/27 /2021 – MINUTES Page 3 ▪ If no traffic, bikes can roll through stop signs. (This is not allowed in Fort Collins.) • Speed limits and street closures were discussed ▪ The team looking at trail locations and configurations to provide wider bike lanes. ▪ Spring Creek Trail needs realignment ▪ Mail Creek trail connection where it crosses the tracks is a hazard • Park Planning is currently designing an overpass at this location. They are exploring options to reuse bridges in the design. o The bridge must be fully enclosed. • The Mail Creek Trail Timberline Road crossing will be an underpass. ▪ Spin Program - seems to be successful. Devices are all over town. Planning to assess the program within next 2 years. − Bike counting is ongoing ▪ Type 1 and 3 E-bikes are allowed on the paved trail system (not type 3). 10. OTHER BUSINESS 1. RECREATION UPDATE – Aaron Harris o Recreation hired 2 new coordinators ▪ Carrie – Aquatics Coordinator ▪ Taylor – ARO Coordinator o Athletics Coordinator search closes 12/13/21 o Recreation Director search is currently occurring. Final interviews are scheduled for the week of December 13th. o RESTORE offers were all approved ▪ Recreation is struggling to find staff to cover all the hours needed - The front desk has 120 additional hours to fill 2. PARK PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT UPDATE – Matt Day o Traverse Park had a soft opening 2 weeks ago ▪ All positive feedback so far ▪ Currently putting finishing touches on restrooms ▪ Will do planting in the Spring o Bucking Horse is at 50% complete in the Design Phase o Mail Creek slope rework project ▪ Bank restoration in design and construction o GOCO Centennial Visioning Grant ▪ It’s a 2-part grant. ▪ The first grant (Visioning Grant) is to assist with master planning and engagement efforts. PPD is requesting $150,000 in this phase. PARKS AND RECREATION BOARD TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 10/27 /2021 – MINUTES Page 4 ▪ If you get the first grant, then you can apply for the 2 nd part of this grant, the implementation part, for up to $13 million. ▪ PPD is applying for this grant for the Reach 2 and Reach 4 river areas. ▪ Parks and Recreation Board will assist by providing a letter of support for PPD 3. PARKS UPDATE – Mike Calhoon o Ready for snow removal o Young trees and turf may have some issues and may need to supplement on watering. ▪ Parks is still awaiting the snowpack report for the first of the year. There is snow in the high country, but none in middle, lower, or plains areas. o Holidays are in full swing o Holiday Lights are on! o Ice skating rank o Santa’s house o Winter plantings o Coyote decoys are on the fields o Need to be moved every 3 days o Working on Goose Management Plan ▪ Can shoot noise shells (Hazing permits) • Once geese are on a nest, due to Water Fowl regulations, one cannot haze the geese. o May try to introduce egg addling ▪ This reduces reproduction to flatten population ▪ Must work with CO Parks and Wildlife for permits and management o Vandalism at Twin Silos o Not as extreme o Utilizing new security company ($800 per weekend) seems to be reducing vandalism o Police support when possible o There has been an uptick in camping at Buckingham Park o Legality of camping code enforcement ▪ If there are no rooms in the homeless shelters they cannot write a camping violation ▪ Parks has asked police to write tickets for trespassing in parks after dark with compassion and sharing of resources (Space at shelters) PARKS AND RECREATION BOARD TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 10/27 /2021 – MINUTES Page 5 o Pruning project from Mulberry (College to Shields), Forestry has removed 4 large trees o Recreation and Parks were present at 2 CSU games o Lots of positive public engagement o Job shortage continues o Advertising with virtual job fair at EPIC o For every 1 dollar an hour we go up in the Parks department, the budget increases $1,000,000 o Natural Areas Director has been selected. o Katie Donahue from National Parks starts on 10 th of January o Stakeholder forum will be on the evening of the 13th, for Recreation Director o Recreation Director should be known by December 15th o Pilot project: Pass for youth from 0 to 16, access to any community facility during summer months o Goal is to keep up youth engagement in the summer 11. 6-MONTH PLANNING CALENDAR REVIEW o January 25th: Work session wireless telecommunication master plan land use code strategies o February 1st : State of the City. City manager position posted nationally on Friday for 1 month. o February 22nd: Strategic plan. Basis for the BFO offers, guiding document. 12. MISC o Recreator Articles o The Board needs a better system to ensure Recreator article dates are met o The Secretary of the Board will work with Valarie Van Ryn to coordinate 3 dates for submission of articles, so as not to miss any article dates in the future. o Special Recognition o Mary Carlson’s Contributions ▪ First term was in 1980, during that time Park Planning was breaking ground with Roland Moore Park. ▪ Mary was on the Board for the construction of 4 of the 7 community parks ▪ Thank you for your service! 13. ADJOURNMENT Motion to adjourn the meeting by Ken Christensen, seconded by Bob Kingsbury. Meeting adjourned at 7:03pm.