HomeMy WebLinkAboutLand Conservation And Stewardship Board - Minutes - 05/11/2022
Land Conservation & Stewardship Board
Regular Meeting\May 11, 2022
05/11/2022 – MINUTES Page 1
1. CALL TO ORDER: 5:40 pm
2. ROLL CALL: Joseph Piesman, Cole Kramer, Ross Cunniff, Mike Weber, Denise
Culver, Andrea Elson, Elena Lopez, Alycia Crall joined shortly after role call.
Excused: Vicky McLane
NAD Staff/Other: Kelly Ohlson, City Council Liaison, Alynn Karnes, Julia Feder, Katie
Donahue
3. AGENDA REVIEW: Chair Elson reviewed the agenda with no changes
4. CITIZEN PARTICIPATION: None
Kelly Ohlson, City Council Liaison spoke to the Board and provided an update on City
Council items and work for the remaining year. Kelly feels very fortunate to be on City
Council and asked Board members to feel free to ask any questions or inquiries related
to City Council. Some of those items included timeline for the upcoming ballot initiatives,
any items that LCSB might need to be aware of, changing trash hauling process in the
city, transit, climate action, affordable housing, parks refresh and maintenance as some
of City Council priorities. Safety and health are also being discussed. Chair Elson
asked about the 1041 and if Kelly had any updates on that. Kelly reported it’s on his list
for the following week to ensure it’s moving forward.
Kelly shared his concerns about the discussion of last month’s meeting minutes
regarding NAD hiring a recreation planner. He wanted to ensure that we are not turning
natural areas into a park system and expressed he would not support it in any budget
requests. Katie explained that this is an industry standard term; however, the intent of
this position would be to protect ecological values by better understanding the pressures
in this area. NAD staff heard the feedback from LCSB and made adjustments to the
offer.
5. APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
Member Piesman made a motion to approve the April LCSB meeting minutes.
Member Weber seconded the motion. The motion was unanimously approved 8 -0
6. ACTION ITEMS
Zoe Shark, Public Engagement Manager is requesting support for a resolution that is
scheduled to be considered by City Council on June 21, 2022. The resolution would
help bird species recover by supporting the celebration of World Migratory Bird Day and
applying to be certified as a Bird City. Zoe described the application as a lengthy
process that includes four City departments (Natural Areas, Environmental Services,
Gardens on Spring Creek, and Parks) and several community organizations (Bird
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Land Conservation & Stewardship Board
Regular Meeting/ May 11, 2022
05/11/2020 MINUTES Page 2
Conservancy of the Rockies, Audubon Rockies, and Fort Collins Audubon). Required
application elements are celebrating World Migratory Bird Day and a resolution by City
Council. The Bird City application is on track to be submitted by the July 1 deadline.
Member Cunniff made a motion that the LCSB support City Council in approving
a resolution and related actions to help bird species recover by supporting the
celebration of World Migratory Bird Day and applying to be certified as a Bird
City. Member Lopez seconded the motion. The motion was unanimously
approved 8-0
Bobcat Ridge Natural Area Dump Clean-Up
Aaron Reed, Senior Supervisor presented the Bobcat Ridge Natural Area Dump
Clean-Up which included and summarized a remediation history, the two-management
options NAD were offered to address the issue, final steps of remediation and the
clean-up costs.
Discussion:
Julia Feder shared that any future acquisitions would include remediation projects of
any hazardous material up front and be done immediately versus waiting until
notification was sent directing NAD to clean up. Member Coleman applauded NAD’s
completion of the clean-up, estimated at $1.3M and done for $510K. Member Cunniff
asked if the same would apply if there were diesel contamination at Hughes Stadium.
Aaron confirmed NAD would have to mitigate it. Typically, a Phase I Assessment is
done on any new acquisitions to ensure that NAD knows what the property holds.
Apparently, a Phase I was done when Bobcat Ridge was originally purchased over 15
years ago, however the owner alluded to a dump but couldn’t remember when it was
done, but the owner claimed it only contained a lower level of materials. Over many
years the materials went undisturbed and there was no need for mitigation. The
Cameron Peak Fire was considered a disturbance so after the fire, we had to deal with
the materials and overall mitigation steps.
Information Sharing/NAD Metrics
Katie Donahue, NAD Manager reviewed how natural areas measures success. She
shared a sample of metrics tracked by the city for each of the seven community
outcomes, with specific details referring to Natural Areas Department. Katie reviewed
how Natural Areas tracks accountability in numerous ways to include education
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Land Conservation & Stewardship Board
Regular Meeting/ May 11, 2022
05/11/2020 MINUTES Page 3
program participation, volunteer hours, conditions of trails as well as other indicators.
Total land conserved in 2021 was 207 acres with .13 acres per capita. Natural Areas
Department also measured improved habitat, Poudre River health and instream flows.
Kestrel Fields Field Trip June 8th
Julia Feder, Environmental Planning Manager opened discussion with Board
members about a field trip to Kestrel Fields Natural Area to observe the conservation
agricultural project. Julia described the parking and distance to walk to Board
members. She offered to open the barn area for the Board meeting. A presentation
could also be available to be hosted at the Nix Farm. Board members agreed to hold
the meeting in the barn, at Kestrel Fields Natural Area if possible. Julia will send out
parking instructions and work with staff to make the meeting available to the public,
Land Conservation Updates
Alynn Karnes, Natural Areas Specialist reported on the property acquired 414-acre
Buckhorn addition to Bobcat Ridge Natural Area. Onboarding of the property will start
May 23, 2022. Senior staff will take a visit there to identify the next step s. NAD has
also made a purchase offer to another landowner for a potential land acquisition.
7. BOARD MEMBER REPORTS
Bicycle Advisory Committee (BAC) Update
Member Weber reported on the last BAC meeting he attended the committee lightly
discussed funding North Metropolitan Planning Organization update on trails,
connectivity, new bike lane on Pitkin. SPIN is doing a new public dashboard so you can
visually see metrics on scooters and e-bikes. Member Weber discussed whether the
Stop as Yield on and whether that affects the bike only infrastructure. Anything that is
signed a “bike only” infrastructure is not affected by this. The Active Modes Plan will be
open for public comment from mid-June to mid-July. Courtney would like to come back
to the Board in August with those results.
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Land Conservation & Stewardship Board
Regular Meeting/ May 11, 2022
05/11/2020 MINUTES Page 4
1041 Update
No meetings but will got to City Council Work Session in June.
Meeting adjourned: 7:36 pm
___________________________ ____________________
Andrea Elson, Chair Date
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7/14/2022