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Home My WebLink AboutPARKS AND RECREATION BOARD - MINUTES - 05/22/2024 Park and Recreation Board Meeting May 22nd, 2024 Twin Silo Park – 5552 Ziegler Rd. Fort Collins, CO 0 5/22/2024 – MINUTES Page 1 1. CALL TO ORDER Nick Armstrong called the meeting to order at 5:44pm 2. ROLL CALL • List of Board Members Present Nick Armstrong Meghan Willis Josh Durand Paul Baker Mike Novell John Mola Lorena Falcon • List of Board Members Absent Ken Christensen Marcia Richards • List of Staff Members Present Mike Calhoon – Director, Parks LeAnn Williams – Director, Recreation Jill Wuertz – Sr Manager, Park Planning & Development Kendra Boot – Sr Manager, Forestry Ernie Wintergerst – Sr Supervisor, Forestry Kevin Williams – Sr Supervisor, Parks Rachel Eich – Business Support III 3. AGENDA REVIEW • Introduction of new board members (John Mola and Lorena Falcon) 4. CITIZEN PARTICIPATION • No citizen participation 5. APPROVAL OF MINUTES • Meghan Willis moved to approve the April 2024 minutes as written at 5:47pm, Josh Durand seconded, all in favor Parks and Recreation Board TYPE OF MEETING – Hybrid Meeting 0 5/22 /2024 – MINUTES Page 2 6. UNFINISHED BUSINESS • Urban Forest Strategic Plan Update o Kendra Boot and Ernie Wintergerst began presentation on the high level status of the Urban Forestry Strategic Plan update. o Urban Forest is defined to include the trees that grow within the built environment, parks, golf courses, cemeteries, etc; also includes private trees o The UFSP is looking at all trees in the growth management area to steer the direction for the department moving forward. o Why plan? ▪ For strategic planning and adaptive management, we have to understand what we have and do not have ▪ Helps to answer the question for how we are doing o What do we have? ▪ City wide canopy cover is at 13.7%, with 12.6% if the GMA is added. • 80% of canopy cover is on private property o Public Tree Inventory ▪ The City Forestry team manages roughly 60,000 trees • 60% are less than 8 inches in diameter • Managing trees at different age classes takes different resources o Community Engagement ▪ 3 public meetings (October 2023 & March 2024) ▪ 8 different community events ▪ 1 community survey (971 responses) o Themes: ▪ Trees are an integral part of Fort Collins, infrastructure ▪ People love trees on public property ▪ People would like more resources for how to manage trees on their private property ▪ Concerns around development and trees o The draft plan includes 8 recommended strategies ▪ Continue to invest and grow the urban canopy ▪ Create a planting plan (for both public and private property) ▪ Complete the shift to proactive management of Fort Collins’ trees ▪ Strengthen City policies to protect trees ▪ Collect data to track changes over time ▪ Sustainably grow the division to keep pace with need Parks and Recreation Board TYPE OF MEETING – Hybrid Meeting 0 5/22 /2024 – MINUTES Page 3 ▪ Deepen the engagement with the community around tree stewardship ▪ Expand the network of the Forestry Division’s partnerships o Requesting feedback from the board by May 31st o Questions from the Board ▪ From the survey, people are concerned around development, is that because people think trees are removed in development? • Staff heard that people would like to see more regulation around tree protection and development (50%), others would prefer to just have education and outreach (50%) ▪ Is there a plan to hiring more staff? • Hiring will be part of the plan for sustainable growth • Hiring is challenging because of the BFO (Budgeting for Outcomes) conversation ▪ Are there limits on staff training? • There is a need for a feeder into workforce development • Urban Forestry Planner would help with the bigger policy and bigger picture ideas ▪ How specific is the tree planting plan? • Priority planting area is focused on canopy coverage in block groups o Looks at social, health, and environmental variables ▪ Knowing that most of the canopy is residential or private, how much opportunity does the City have to proactively influence and help people plant the best trees? • A lot of opportunity through development, but have not always been able to keep up with it due to staffing capacity ▪ Is the idea to point private property/residential owners to the existing resources (i.e., Front Range Tree List)? • Private property owners will be pointed to that list, as well as specific resources on the City website (Street Tree List) 7. NEW BUSINESS • Twin Silo Park o Sr Supervisor, Kevin Williams, presented on the maintenance and unique features of Twin Silo Park o Park is staffed by two technicians, one crew chief, and one worker 1 ▪ Team also manages Radiant Park o Features include: ▪ Interactive play feature in the creek Parks and Recreation Board TYPE OF MEETING – Hybrid Meeting 0 5/22 /2024 – MINUTES Page 4 ▪ Pickleball courts ▪ Award winning playground ▪ Hop gardens and raised planting beds ▪ Dog park o Playground feature is 10% of playground maintenance cost for the entire system (highly custom) o Vandalism ▪ Restrooms are regularly closed during the local school’s lunch hour to prevent vandalism ▪ 2022 had $100,000 worth of vandalism o Collaboration with PSD to share the tennis courts and high school parking lot on weekends o This park enhances the need to match our design with what our level of maintenance capabilities are. 8. BOARD MEMBER REPORTS • John Mola (disc golf) o Information pulled from U disc on disc golf involvement in the City o At this time last year, there were nearly 2,000 rounds a month played at Edora (1,000 rounds prior to the redesign) o More rounds had been played in the month of March this year than at the peak of July in 2023 (interest is growing) • Meghan Willis (Leadership PSD) o Application to open for interested parties in the City • Nick Armstrong reported on involvement in the STP Community Working Group • Super Issues Board Meeting coming up on June 10th 9. OTHER BUSINESS • Recreator Article o Josh and Nick met with Bridget Brownlee – article due 24th • Recreation Updates (LeAnn Williams) o 2025/2026 BFO Offers ▪ Used to have more ongoing offers, but have since been combined into one to create transparency ▪ Adaptive Inclusive and Reduced Fee programs have been pulled out to show the work that is being done in those spaces. ▪ Enhancements focused on Recreation project planning and design (often in partnership with Operation Services) • Proactively appropriating funds to address the aging facilities needs that will be coming Parks and Recreation Board TYPE OF MEETING – Hybrid Meeting 0 5/22 /2024 – MINUTES Page 5 • Recreation equipment replacement ▪ Converting part time teacher positions to full time due to the universal preschool program ▪ Fees raised to fund Katie’s position with inclusion and intake into the ARO program ▪ SE Community Center offer scaled down to only the CCIP money that was dedicated for the project o SE Community Center Update ▪ Project charter completed with an RFP set to be released in July ▪ Staff will also bring on a sustainability consultant to reach the LEAD Gold requirements (aiming for net zero) o City Park Pool is open o Recreation Software Update ▪ Completed an internal LEAN process to help identify what aspects of the software need to be prioritized – top priorities include: • Mobile compatibility through an app • Transitioning to Cloud based server • Credit card processing • Park Planning & Development Updates (Jill Wuertz) o 2025/2026 BFO Offers ▪ Most offers sit within asset management or capital projects. ▪ Recreational Trail Development offer • Develop next steps for the STP • Fund predevelopment work ▪ Neighborhood Park Development offer • Most likely focus will be Mosaic Neighborhood Park ▪ Community Park Development offer • Preparation work at both future park sites (Northeast and East) ▪ Bringing in the Infrastructure Replacement Program through an ongoing asset management offer o Strategic Trails Plan update ▪ Draft proposed trails map is being developed, will launch in mid July o Pickleball update ▪ Over 1,000 individuals had taken the survey in 2 weeks o Infrastructure Replacement Program ▪ Staff is currently replacing the tennis court at Westfield Park ▪ Gearing up for 3 different offers for 2024 (including staffing) • Parks Update (Mike Calhoon) o 2025/2026 BFO Offers Parks and Recreation Board TYPE OF MEETING – Hybrid Meeting 0 5/22 /2024 – MINUTES Page 6 ▪ Seven ongoing offers • Parks and Facility Maintenance • Parks Trail Maintenance • Downtown offers (general fund, DDA focused) • Streetscape Maintenance • Park Ranger Program ▪ Seven enhancement offers • FTE staffing ▪ Golf • 1 ongoing offer, 1 enhancement offer ▪ Forestry • Regular ongoing offers • Discussing the opportunity for additional staffing (Planner) o East Park Maintenance Shop awarded LEAD Gold certification o Planting and irrigation work at Spring Park in preparation for the ribbon cutting of the 9/11 Memorial o Ballfield renovation completed at Rolland Moore Park o Downtown flowers and furniture upgraded at Oak Street Plaza • 6-month Planning Calendar Review 10. ADJOURNMENT Nick Armstrong adjourned the meeting at 8:00pm