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HomeMy WebLinkAboutParks And Recreation Board - Minutes - 08/25/2004• • Call Meeting to Order: Jessica MacMillen called the meeting to order at 5:35 p.m. Jessica MacMillen recognized two council members; Bill Bertschy and Kurt Kastein. She asked Kurt if he was attending as a representative of Silver Oaks neighborhood, which borders Spring Canyon Community Park (SCCP) on the east, or as a councilmember. Kurt replied he was there as a citizen and not as a councilmember. Agenda Review: No changes. Items of Note: Dean Hoag was not able to attend tonight's meeting but did submit an opinion on Spring Canyon Community Park design. Citizen Participation: There were several citizens in the audience with concerns regarding Spring Canyon Community Park (SCCP). Jessica explained that the Board allows 20 minutes for citizen participation. The following citizens spoke of the current design plans for Spring Canyon Community Park: Kathy Fischer — Recited a poem that was included in the City of Fort Collins1995 Community Choices document that championed the sanctity of nature and sought to preserve the options for future generations. She indicated from this poem that the City might be hypocritical in their design of SCCP versus their public stance on preserving, and living with, open space. She also said that she believes there is no language for a sports complex in the initial ballot, or in the City Clerk's office, yet Sports fields are very predominant in the design of the park. She does not feel that citizen feedback is being considered. She hopes that we can preserve the options for future generations and that they will look back and say we chose well. Randy Fischer — Passed out a statement to Board members and summarized the highlights: • he feels there is evidence that Park Planning staff is not listening to citizen input and that the process is broken • has several suggestions to remedy process before it goes too far in the wrong direction; recommends we put trust and credibility back in the process by having staff listen to citizen input and prove they are listening by providing drawings that accurately reflect citizen input • doesn't feel the current process is a substitute for a legitimate public process and that it engenders mistrust and cynicism in the public, and makes it difficult to get capital funding projects in future Parks and Recreation Board Minutes August 25, 2004 Page 2 • feels the designs need to be scaled back with less fields, less parking space and no recreation center ■ feels it is untrue that there is a voter mandate to fill this site up with sports facilities ■ does not think there was consideration for the buffer zones to Spring Creek or the Pineridge natural area, and that the park will destroy the wildlife migration habitat on western side. ■ he thinks the City should be held to higher standards than private developers, and does not feel the flood plain issues were taken into consideration ■ he feels the City is pushing everything away from one neighborhood and putting them toward the natural area. Anita Wright — Feels citizens are being misled in the designs. Does not feel there is a true voter mandate. Believes that the comments from the open houses are not being put in the designs. Feels the planners are ignoring what the community wants, which is no youth sports complex. Questions the actual use of ball fields as she sees many not being used, and thinks there are many tennis courts already in town. Would like to see these sports facilities placed in Rolland Moore Park or in the Ross Natural area. Feels citizens are being misled. Chris Haase - Feels frustrated because she doesn't think their voices are being heard. Concerned that both plans show more facilities than previous plans. She feels passionate because it is a gorgeous piece of land and it represents all things that are quickly going away in Fort Collins... quality of life. It shouldn't just be for the ballplayers. Doesn't feel citizens are • receiving any options to make a difference. Samantha Nash - Eleven years old, member of Sports Alliance, has played soccer since age of five. Has seen shift in the plans during the process from passive green areas to a super Wal-Mart concept. Current plans have over 400 parking spaces. Invited all to redirect attention to the unique area of park and wildlife sanctuary. Asked to be listened too more closely. Does not want a Disneyland. Randy Rye - Feels the area is unique and that something special should be done with it. Feels the City is putting in too much density, and that the City is not listening. Thinks all of the community needs to be served; there is a need for ball fields and natural space. Feels lucky to live in a community that put up the money. Would like us to think long term, and have a little bit of space for each. Wants to make sure we take advantage of the uniqueness of the space. Asked what is special and unique in the current plans. Thinks the special features of the property are; it is a transition to open space, it has a natural waterway going through it. Current designs are embarrassing and look like a rubberstamp park. Feels there is plenty of land out by the interstate to build all of these facilities. Said these plans are not what they want. Jim Davidson - Feels the foothills, water and wildlife give us a unique opportunity to build a different kind of park. Ball fields can be placed anywhere. His family plays organized sports and hikes in open space, and understands the difficulty staff and the Board has in trying to balance everyone's needs. The uniqueness of this location cries out for honoring its uniqueness • and its transition to the open space. Feels lights would harass the wildlife and intimidate them from moving through. Feels we have a unique opportunity here and we are missing it if we just put in the same standard irrigated, paved, lit features that you can see in any ballpark in America. Parks and Recreation Board Minutes August 25, 2004 Page 3 • Shielded lights are a good improvement. He urges council, Board and staff to look at plans 1 and 3 because they protect the open space. Dave Haase - Feels the park will cause additional traffic congestion regardless of what plan is used for the design of the park. Said there are no do-overs, once it is in we cannot take it out. He feels we have the land, so take the time to do it right. Kurt Kastein - Said he is not speaking as council member tonight, but as member of the Silver Oaks neighborhood. Mentioned that there are varying opinions in Silver Oaks, and he is not representing the only opinion for them. Recognizes that staff and consultants are trying to find a balance between the Community Parks Master Plan and citizen input. Mentioned that the City has been raising the money for 10 years, and that we need to be faithful with the money we raised to put a park in place that matches both of these drives. He agrees that it is a more natural area of town and the park should reflect that. He feels the latest designs do reflect some of the opinions that were in the public meetings. He did not like plans 1, 2 or 3 because most of the activities were squeezed in to the southeast part of the park backing up to their neighborhood. Feels the new plans keep the activities in the middle of the park away from Pineridge Natural Area and their neighborhood. Reminded everyone that there is a hill before you get to Pineridge, so Pineridge is still fairly secluded. He said he would be fine with a less intense park. His bottom line is that his neighborhood should be treated as sensitively as the areas to the west. • Ann Randall - A wildlife biologist and mom, currently living in Quail Ridge. She brought a petition with her concerning the speeds on Overland Trail. There is a stretch from Drake to Cottonwood Glen Park that is used for drag racing; she has clocked 50mph speeds. The City has told her that Overland Trail is an arterial roadway and that there can be no consideration for speed bumps. Wants traffic to be considered when planning parking. She also mentioned that parking is already backing up into the neighborhoods and into the edge of the open space. She is excited at the concept of her sons getting to be able to go to the park without crossing major roadways, so she does appreciate the City's efforts to create recreation. She feels that there are more creative solutions than what we has been presented and bigger issues that have not been addressed. She has also seen an increase in vandalism at Cottonwood Glen Park. She feels it will increase because of the secluded area. Barb Massey — Feels there is a safety issue in the southeast comer where the side dirt trails come into the park. She feels the activity on the trails will increase which will make it more dangerous. She said that the dirt trails are not encouraged to be used due to the way they are plotted out, but with the increased use of bicycles, feels we will see a lot more problems. She would like to see the dirt trail pronounced more, and see bicycles forced to walk through the area. She also has concerns about people parking in their neighborhood as they already have a parking problem. Jessica thanked everyone for their comments. She expressed that they were valid and that they have been heard. She explained that the meeting would now proceed and citizens were welcome • to stay, but that there would be no interaction between the Board and the public. Parks and Recreation Board Minutes August 25, 2004 Page 4 Approval of Minutes: On a motion by Greg Miller, seconded by Del Price, the Board voted unanimously to approve the minutes of the July 18, 2004 meeting. Update on Clean-up of Old Fort Collins Heritage Park Site Craig Foreman and Margit Hentschel of Natural Resources presented the update on the clean up at Old Fort Collins Heritage Park. Margit is the City's lead person for the clean up. Craig presented an overview map showing the site, where the contamination is and where the contamination is moving. Excavation of the river was performed last year and cleanup will begin in October. He said the problem now is removing the contaminated material from the river. As the contaminated matter is pulled from the river, it will be brought up to the turf area, analyzed and moved off site. Some of it may be able to be reused if not contaminated. The Public Service Company (PSCO) will be going down approximately 20 feet into the bedrock and pulling out approximately 15,000 yards of material. This will expand to approximately 30,000 yards once it hits the air. PSCO will then put in a retaining wall along the southwestern bank of the river to capture the bulk of the remaining contamination still moving toward the river, to prevent further contamination. They will then put in pipes and gravel along that wall to collect the water and • sludge, then pump it up to a temporary site on the western edge of the property. The sludge will be analyzed for a year, then moved to a permanent building for treatment. PSCO will build the structure on the eastern edge of the property. That operation will stay in place for 30 plus years. The EPA is overseeing the clean up. Currently, there is an existing Weld County water line they will be moving in order to build the retaining wall. PSCO will put in a replacement water line further back through the turf area. In December, the tree removal and riverbank repair will begin. From December I", to April 1" they will begin digging out the area for the retaining wall, installing sheet piling with the collection system behind it, and then put the river bank and river back together. The collection pipes will be put in during this process. The impact on the City will be: ■ the soccer field will be taken out for the rest of the summer and fall • the trail will be shut down to Linden Street ■ the trail will be detoured to the Power Plant, over to Jefferson Street to Linden Street Once they are done with the clean up, they will re -stabilize the river bank, and re -vegetate both sides. The riverbank will meet all of the requirements of Storm Water. Jessica asked how deep the retaining wall would be, Craig replied that it will be 20 feet into bedrock, in order to go deeper than the sludge. Lance wondered how big the building would be • and what it will look like. Craig said it is size of small one-story house and that the City could have input on the design. The Board wanted to be sure the building fit well on the site and was attractive. • Parks and Recreation Board Minutes August 25, 2004 Page 5 Jon asked what other part of the treatment process would be visible. Craig and Margit said nothing would be visible, but that there would be some minimal noise from the pumps bringing up the sludge because they will run 24 hours a day for 30 years. The pipes will not be visible. Del wondered why they are placing the pump house on the upstream section, and Craig explained it was because they wanted it out of the way of all other parts of the site. Jessica asked if there would be an odor, and Margit explained that there is odor control designed in to the technology. She said that this has been done before in other locations around the country, so it is a successful, tried and true technology. Craig added that there would be quite a few dump trucks during the initial clean up to haul the debris. Craig said that PSCO, with initial prodding by the EPA, has been quite cooperative. It is a showcase project for them in our community and they want to do a good job. Jon asked if PSCO would be providing money for the recreation center. Margit said that this was a four party arrangement between Shrader Oil, PSCO, the City, and the EPA, and that trying to get anything extra at this point was not likely. She said it has been hard enough to get to this point, but that they think the result will be very good. The City has hired a consulting team for the restoration portion. Jessica asked if the clean up would need to be done if we were not building a new Northside • center, and Margit said yes, as the driving force is need to stop the flow of contamination into the river. She said the EPA has been very been helpful in pushing forward, otherwise it would probably be another year or two before they would be able to get PSCO and Shrader to participate. Jessica asked if this clean-up process would fix the contamination problem. Margit said it would but it would take a long time. She said it could go on much longer than 30 years. The EPA's minimum commitment to monitor the site is 30 years, and the EPA would revisit the site during that time to determine if a longer time is needed. Jessica also asked if they found any contamination toward the Northside Center. Margit said that there was a pocket of material right beneath the new building footprint, but it was several feet below the surface. They have been doing air monitoring and risk assessment, and those do not show any concern for building on top of the site, or for public use. Lance asked if this would cause any construction issues when drilling for the piers. Margit said the cost for that is part of the ongoing negotiation. They are trying to get that included in current negotiations so they would be protected for the future use of that land. They said it is safe, and that they have assurances from the EPA for the use of the site. Jessica, asked if this was still a good site for this center. Marty, said that this is a significant undertaking, but the end result should be that we have a good site to build on. He added that there might be some extra costs, as they had already discussed, from removing material that may come up when caissons for the foundation of the center are drilled to the bedrock. There might • also be some costs associated with the ventilation systems for the new center. They are going to have an effective mitigation planned to clean it up, there is no indication that we should not proceed with the recreation center. • Parks and Recreation Board Minutes August 25, 2004 Page 6 Marty said that he respected the Board's healthy nervousness about the project and that the City was doing their best to make sure the new recreation center is a great success. Marty said the issue would have to go before the City Council coming up at the next regular session to get permission to grant the easements and property interests to allow the whole project to move forward. Spring Canyon Community Park Design Craig said that the purpose of tonight's presentation is a discussion on design elements of the park with the intent to move toward a preferred design option to show the public and the Board in September. He introduced Roger, Russ and Bruce from BHA Designs, and Kathleen Benedict of the Park Planning Department. Kathleen began with a review of the public comments that were accumulated at Monday night's open house. (Copy attached) Kathleen reviewed the positive and negative comments of the design concepts, including the responses to the questions posed regarding the parking lots crossing Spring Creek, and the lighted ball fields. She felt that there was a positive tone in the comments, with many people expressing excitement about the future park, an appreciation for being given the opportunity to share their comments, and thanks for incorporating their • comments into the designs from previous meetings. She concluded by thanking the public for participating in the open house. Craig followed up by saying that Liz Lancaster, a public process coordinator, would be putting all of the comments together, and will be placing a full listing on the City's web page. Marty then reviewed the staff recommendations for the Board. In general, the staff recommendations were: 1. Three ball fields with no lights — staff settled on not having lights in order to preserve the uniqueness of the site. Provide two full fields and one practice diamond because practice needs are our most critical need. 2. Three soccer fields — turf fields are the most utilized fields for a variety of sports, they are good park spaces when not being used for sports, and add a nice aesthetic quality to the space. 3. Non program turf area for informal play — staff thinks it is critical and that there is not enough of it in our system. They feel an interesting non -programmed space could be created on this site. 4. Three lighted tennis courts and three lighted basketball courts — would like to allow room for two more tennis courts in the future if possible. They feel they will get more use out of lit courts, and the new technology incorporated in the 20-25 foot lights will be very attractive and not intrusive. 5. One lighted roller hockey rink — necessary for us to meet our obligation to provide enough sporting elements for a youth sports complex, plus it is a popular sport. The bike trials and the bouldering facility will also help us meet this requirement. Parks and Recreation Board Minutes August 25, 2004 Page 7 6. Walking/running paths - feels these are very critical as walking is a popular activity. The running community has wanted a facility for a 5K. 7. Fully accessible playground 8. Parking facilities within close proximity for ADA accessibility — felt there are some trade- offs for going too far in to the park, but they must remain sensitive to citizen's physical limitations. 9. Dog park with water — feels they are very popular and successful. 10. Shelters and Restrooms — three are appropriate, given the park size. Reserveable shelters are in huge demand within the whole park system. 11. Bocce ball — small extra thing that will get a lot of interest 12. Sledding hill 13. Skate park- it will help meet our youth sports complex requirement and should be very popular. 14. Maintenance facility — the satellite concept of maintenance facilities is important as a cost saver for us because we can put crews at the facilities to take care of the whole park as well as area neighborhood parks. 15. Recreation center — the philosophy behind including a site even though we don't have the money to build it now is that as the city builds out we are going to need land for these centers. We do not have money right now outside of our community parkland money to provide space for these recreation centers. In 20-30 years, we are going to be able to pay for them, and we want to have the space. We need to protect the land in order to be responsible • to the future. We are also trying to provide recreation for those who cannot afford to be in a health club. 16. Amphitheater — nice if small scale. 17. Trail junction with plaza — three trails intersect here. It will be a nice area for a community - gathering place. 18. Restoration of Spring Creek — we need to keep this to be sensitive to the wildlife corridor and it will be a nice park amenity. 19. BMX — we are not recommending one. The Board members chose to hold their comments until they heard the design presentation from BHA. Roger Sherman of BHA Design told the Board that they are doing their best to be good listeners and respond to the citizen comments they have received. Roger reviewed designs 4 and 5, and spoke about how they were different and then took questions from the Board. Jessica liked the concept of not having lighted fields, and liked the look of the trail going over water is design 4. She thought the parking should be kept in a confined area. She asked if the ball field had to be fenced. Roger said they could explore the concept of not having fencing, or perhaps having removable fencing that could be kept in the maintenance area. Lance added that laying out the fields for multi -use would be more beneficial overall. There was some discussion about this, and Roger added that they would probably need to add a little more out field to • accommodate the multi -use. Marty inquired about the O&M expenses incurred with taking the fences up and down, and it was determined that input from Recreation was needed to consider this option. Parks and Recreation Board Minutes August 25, 2004 Page 8 Several members of the Board then discussed whether our current fields are being as fully utilized as they could, and what the impact of PSD fields was on availability. Marty offered to have the scheduling staff provide information to the Board at a later date. Lance said he felt these park concepts were definitely a start in the right direction and that it looked like staff had modified them to accommodate citizen concerns. He agreed that it should not have ball field lights, that two entrances were reasonable, that moving activities away from the neighborhoods on the east was good, non -obtrusive roads were good, the redevelopment of Spring Creek was good, and that they were doing a good job buffering the natural area. He felt they still needed to solidify the location of the activity areas. He felt the Board must decide that at the next Board meeting. He would also like to see the field taken out of the northern end and leaving it unprogramned. He expressed interest in the top part of design 2. Del preferred design 4 because of field placement. Jon liked design 4 due to the open corridor going up the north side. All Board members agreed that they would need to discuss how the activities in the park would be grouped. Jessica wants to look at the number of parking spaces. Maybe consider alternative parking that is not paved. Marty said that the number of spaces relates to the number of fields, so having fewer fields would reduce the parking. Jon asked if using the ball fields for multi -use fields • would fulfill the requirements for fields. Mark liked being able to walk across the lake, and taking the northern field and pushing it down toward the southern fields. Greg asked about the recreation center site. Roger said the space could be used as a transition to the open space for now, or they could treat it as irrigated until the center is built. Jessica suggested building a berm as a buffer for residents on the south side to hide the cars. Del suggested using it for overflow parking. Mark inquired whether or not the center would be obtrusive to the view that the neighbors on the east side currently enjoy. Roger said they could tuck the building below the ridges of the peaks. Ann inquired about the flood plain, and Roger said it was primarily on the northern side of the site but that it could impact the recreation center location. Del then read the highlights of Dean's memo. (Copy attached) Marty asked for more input from the Board on Lance's concept for multi -use outfields. Everyone agreed that they were interested. Del also wanted to look at different way to surface the parking areas. Lance questioned if these changes would please the citizens in their interest to preserve the uniqueness of the land questioned what "unique" meant; did it mean a secluded area? He also suggested that perhaps they could run the concrete trail around the northern area instead of through it, to preserve the area. The Board also liked the idea of the canyon. 9 Parks and Recreation Board Minutes August 25, 2004 Page 9 • Ann expressed that to keep the uniqueness there would need to be compromises and that we would need to cluster the activities. Lance suggested moving the parking further south. Jessica wanted to be sure to examine the safety factors, vandalism, and emergency vehicle access. Marty asked the Board about the lights on the tennis courts and the basketball courts. Jessica felt they were fine and did not think they would be heavily used. Ann felt they would be used because it is too hot during the day to play. Lance felt they needed the lights, but maybe they shouldn't go past 10:00 p.m. Jessica did not think the lights would be obtrusive and three courts were adequate. Mark thought they were fine because the poles were not that tall. Lance thought the bike trials were a good thing to bring to the park. Del liked the climbing boulders and bocce ball because it gave the park a different dimension. The Board applauded staff for coming up with these ideas. The Board also discussed the possibility of volleyball courts in the southern part of the park and most Board members were interested. Mark suggested frisbee golf, but Marty didn't think it was a good idea and explained the issues this sport has caused at Edora Park. Marty asked if BHA wanted any other information from the Board. Roger asked if they wanted three ball fields. The Board said it was fine as long as they consider multi -use. Jessica said that in reviewing the August 12, 2004 memo from the southwest area neighborhood • groups that she feels the Board has really tried to listen to every one of their needs. She also believes that they have met the needs on their non-negotiable list, and that she wants them to understand that they have made more concessions on this park than they have ever made on any other park. Jessica added that it is primarily because of their input, and the location of this piece of land. She also complimented BHA for their work in coming up with different concepts. She also thought that the Board discussions have been very good, and they everyone knew going in to this that there would be compromises from everyone. She feels they are getting to the place where they meet the needs of the surrounding area and the community in providing active and passive activities. Bill Bertschy then complimented the Board on the discussion and the comments that were made. He agreed that it is a very unique piece of property, has some exciting challenges built into it, and he was glad to hear people talking about it. Del inquired about the theme of this park. Marty confirmed that it would be a canyon theme. Roger said it would include geology, and Indian lore. He said these aspects would be reflected in future drawings. Project Updates Craig reviewed current projects: Parks and Recreation Board Minutes August 25, 2004 Page 10 ■ Replacing bridge on Spring Creek Trail at Taft Hill. The fill and footers were placed in the floodway so they are replacing the 25' bridge with a 45' bridge. They will be able to reuse the 25' bridge. ■ Clean up at Old Fort Collins Heritage Park. He said it is taking a lot of staff time because it is a big project. ■ Rossborough Park — Craig will be sending out a letter to the neighbors to get their input on building a restroom and creating parking on the east side of the park. He said they have funding in 2005 from new residential construction in the area, if the neighbors are interested in either of these items. ■ Trail system — Currently in the bid process for putting up fencing on the Power Trail from Horsetooth Road to Harmony Road next to Collindale golf course. They are talking to the golf course to see if they can provide netting to protect against stray balls. ■ Received some compliments on the crusher fine trails. ■ Removal of asphalt and installing concrete on the Poudre Trail along Link n Green golf course, under Lemay Avenue and over to Nix Farm. Forestry is currently taking out hazard trees to allow the expansion to a 10' concrete trail from an 8' asphalt trail. The total section • being renovated is 2 '/2 miles. The Board discussed the lack of trail head parking in this area, access under Lemay Avenue so citizens would not have to cross Lemay Avenue, temporary signage in this area until access can be completed, and handicapped access in the same area. Craig said he would look into these items. Soft Gold Park — Currently open, it is a great park site, the grass is coming in good, the theme turned out great. ■ YAC Gym Project —Currently under construction, it is on schedule and under budget. ■ Pooch Plunge at City Park Pool -very successful, 351 pooches, 700 people. Maybe an annual event. Other Business Changing September Board meeting to September 29`h due to conflict with CPRA conference. Both Craig and Kathleen will be gone and we need them to review the Spring Canyon designs. Greg made the motion to change the date to September 29`h, and it was seconded by Lance. All were in favor but Mark and Ann who would be out of town. Marty will send Mark and Ann a preliminary copy of the park designs in order to get their feedback before they begin their outreach to citizens. Marty said they would like to be able to present both citizen and Board • feedback to Council at the Study Session on October 26`h. All Board members approved the change. 11 Parks and Recreation Board Minutes August 25, 2004 Page 11 Board Member and Staff Comments Bill Bertschy came forward to let the Board know about a current issue. Council received a petition to remove sales tax from food. He said that right now the only part that is taxed is the base city sales tax, not the additional taxes, so the City would lose roughly 6 million dollars a year. He said the impact on the City would be tremendous. He added that they just went through last year cutting 5 million dollars from the budget. He said they could not take another cut like that without cutting staff, continue to freeze raises, cutting services, and shortening hours. This would be required to avoid cutting basic services. He said Council had been excited because thought they were going to have some additional funds to allow some raises, and open the new fire station. They were disappointed to think these things may not happen now. Bill added that they would have to look at funding primary services first and then secondary services. He said the dilemma is in the Charter. They can have only one special election a year and that was in August for Collective Bargaining, so they had planned to put it on the April election. However, the dilemma for Council is that was going to be the Building on Basics ballot initiative and they did not want to put both on the same ballot. Now they are looking to put it on the November ballot, but they have to say it is a council initiative so we are trying to find a legal way to say it is a council initiative at the request of the petitioners. Bill wanted to bring this up so the Board would be aware of it. • Correspondence None Adjournment: The Board unanimously agreed to adjourn at 8:55 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Vp(C M6DYe-- Kelly Moore Administrative Support Supervisor Board Attendance Board Members: Lance Freeman, Ann Hunt, Mark Lueker, Jessica MacMillan, Gregg Miller, Del Price, Jon Sinclair Staff: Kathleen Benedict, Craig Foreman, Marty Heffernan, Margit Henschel, Kelly Moore Guests: Councilmen Bill Bertschy and Kurt Kastein (Kurt attended as a representative of the • Silver Oaks neighborhood), Kathy Fischer, Randy Fischer, Anita Wright, Chris Hasse, Samantha Nash, Randy Rye, Jim Davidson, David Haase, Ann Randall, Barb Massey, Sharon Ohmann, Parks and Recreation Board Minutes August 25, 2004 Page 12 • Howie Dorsher, Loren Engel, Deborah Flynn, Rachel Olbrys, Michael Desch, Steve Desch, Samantha Desch. Several other guests were present but did not sign the guest register. LJ