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HomeMy WebLinkAboutParks And Recreation Board - Minutes - 05/26/2004PARKS AND RECREATION BOARD Minutes of Regular Meeting May 26, 2004 215 North Mason Community Room 5:30 p.m. Council Liaison: Bill Bertschy Staff Liaison: Marty Heffernan224-6064 President: Jessica MacMillan Phone: 495-1270(work) 407-8896 (home) Call Meeting to Order: President Jessica MacMillan called the meeting to order at 5:35 p.m. Agenda Review: No changes to the printed Agenda. Items of Note: Greg Miller called to say that he will be late this evening. Citizen Participation: None Approval of Minutes: On a motion by Ann Hunt, seconded by Lance Freeman, the Board voted unanimously (6-0) to approve the minutes of the April 23, 2004 meeting. Draft Land Conservation and Stewardship Master Plan Mark Sears, Natural Areas Manager, met with the Board. He said that the Natural Resources staff will take the Natural Areas Program —Land Conservation and Stewardship Master Plan to Council for adoption in July. Mark said that his main reason for attending tonight's meeting was to answer any questions the Board has regarding the Plan. He pointed out the addendum to the Plan, included a new map to insert replacing the one on Page 19. He reminded the Board that they approved the overall Land Conservation Framework and focus area map that Natural Resources staff took to Council in December. At that time, the plan was divided into two five- year frameworks. One-third of the funding was dedicated to regional conservation, one-third local, and one-third community separators. They have decided to rework the plan and divide all the acquisitions into thirds for each year. Therefore, they have equally divided the funding into thirds that will address all the land acquisition from 2004-2018. The stewardship chapter of the Master Plan articulates what the department needs to do to manage and operate the natural areas. This chapter states exactly what the staff does to maintain the natural areas. There is no discussion in this regarding recreation. That will be addressed at a later date when the Natural Areas Management Guidelines are completed. City Council directed staff to address recreational use and amenities in the Management Guidelines. Mark will return to this Board in the fall to discuss how the plan relates to recreation amenities. He explained the overall Master Plan explains the vision for the program. Under that they will implement the long-range plan, study each site they acquire, and will review it with this Board. They will bring the management plans for 13 different sites to the Parks and Recreation Board for review. Parks and Recreation Board Minutes May 26, 2004 Page 2 Lance referred to page 6, maintenance and restoration and expenditures over a nine-year period. It states that it will cost over $1,000,000 for maintenance and $1,000,000 for restoration annually. He doesn't think that is an accurate dollar amount for the amount of land that Natural Areas will manage and as the land base increases are these portions of the pie going to grow? Mark said that we are doubling the landmass, but only will probably hire two more people to the existing 25 staff members. For example, the Natural Areas staff has gone from managing 10,600 acres to 24,000 acres. Mark said that public improvements will increase, but at some point we will build all the public improvements that we need to accommodate the users and then we will be working in a maintenance mode. Lance asked after 2030, where will the money come from for the operation and maintenance? Mark said at that point we will have to go to the taxpayers for additional funding. Dean asked does the ballot language address how much you are allowed to spend on maintenance? Mark explained that the ballot language reads that Natural Areas has to spend 80 percent on land acquisition and restoration and of the 20 percent, one -quarter of that needs to be made available for Transportation Capital. In other words, if we acquire a piece of property and Transportation constructs a new road adjacent to it, we have to pay our share of the road improvements. Then the remaining 15 percent is earmarked for maintenance and other needs. In addition, the Natural Areas has the County sales tax that helps with the operation and maintenance. Lance said in looking how the funding is going we should look at a conservation easement as we don't have to maintain it. Mark said you can't make a mistake either way. If we purchase a conservation easement, then we can always purchase it in the future. For example we get to 2030, and we can't afford to maintain some of the lands we acquired, the City could sell some of it and the funds go back into the Natural Areas fund. Jon Sinclair said that if people aren't using it then it doesn't cost to maintain it, but if people are using it, it's obvious that the City should find funding to maintain it. Mark said it's predicted that our population in Larimer County will double in the next 20 years. Mark Lueker asked what is the ballot language for the procurement of the land acquisition and is it for recreation or preservation? Mark explained that it states we will conserve in the GMA. When the "Open Space Yes" was passed, Council asked the staff to study the land conservation on a larger scale past the GMA. The public is very supportive of the regional plan. Council adopted the plan and added the word "regional" to the plan. There is a good support in the community for the 10-year plan. Mark Lueker asked if the general public's perception was that recreational amenities would be available on these lands or just separators? Mark Sears explained that the ballot language does state that the funds will be used for acquiring lands for separators, conservation, and on a case -by -case basis develop recreational opportunities, specifically trails. When the County surveyed the public they were equally split for recreational opportunities and for land conservation with no public access. He said we are getting pressure from people wanting public access. We are going to remedy that fairly quickly with the Bobcat Ridge Natural Area in 2006. They are working with the County to open a trail from the Devil's Backbone in Loveland to Indian Creek. The trail will extend from Lory State Park to the Devil's Backbone. Within three years we will double the trail access. Lance asked for a clearer definition of the distance of the Upper Poudre (refer to Map on Page 19). Mark said it extends as far as Gateway Mountain Park. Lance complimented Mark and his staff on the plan. Parks and Recreation Board Minutes May 26, 2004 Page 3 Ann Hunt asked Mark to point out the recent purchases. He pointed out the Soapstone Ranch, 12,500 acres in Northern Colorado. The land is leased to grazing associations and they will have to renegotiate this land lease with the City. Jon asked if that will be compatible with trail use. Mark said yes. Jon asked when Mark thinks this will be open for trail access. Mark said we would like to see minimal access by 2006. He said they are going to offer tours in the near future. He said there are some roads that could serve as a trail through the property. Ann asked if there are particular areas on this property that they know people will want to recreate on. Mark said there are some fairly good roads across Soapstone that could be used for trails. Marty asked what is the fundamental philosophy in purchasing land with Open Space and Natural Areas funds? Is it to preserve the natural beauty or is it to have people get out there and enjoy it? Mark said it will all be addressed when they do the management plan for this area next year. He explained that as opportunities occur, we look at that demand. Mark said the City's Utilities owns the Meadow Springs Ranch, a 25,000-acre property, and we are working with them to co -manage this area. He said Natural Areas could provide public access on the Meadow Springs property in exchange for them to be able to apply bio-solids on the Soapstone property. Mark explained there are large portions of Meadow Springs that lend itself to unique experiences. Natural Areas staff is working with GOCO and they contributed $1,000,000 towards the purchase of the Roberts Ranch. A conservation easement will be placed on 4,500 acres of land that they are purchasing tomorrow. We could have up to 70,000 acres in conservation easement by next year. Mark Lueker asked if there's any problems with easements regarding the DO W or State regarding all the conservation easements? Mark said that they will work with the DOW regarding hunting as the Bobcat Ridge is adjacent to the Forest Service property; staff will also have to determine if hunting will be allowed on Soapstone. Mark said that Natural Areas will spend over $12,000,000 in land conservation in the next year. They have contributed to the trail from LaPort to Lyons. They just helped the County obtain Indian Creek Trail, which will open in 2006. There are many exciting purchases this year. Jon Sinclair asked what are the guiding principles about how the balance would be between recreation and protection. Mark said it will vary from site to site depending on the sensitivity of the site. Jon asked what's the methodology? Mark said when Natural Resources staff studies the area, they meet with the public and determine what their requests are for that piece of property, then a management plan is written. More than likely there will be lands that will be conserved for protection. The ultimate goal is to balance the need of protection and public access. Mark said they are working with Park Planning staff to develop a list of recreation needs for the community that are not met. Lance said in the future we need to know on our agenda if we are going to vote on an item that is up for discussion. If that is the case we could vote on it next month. Jessica said that on the education piece, what venues have they used to educate the public? Have they met with clubs and organizations, i.e., Rotary? Mark said they haven't made any attempts to go out and pursue those opportunities. However, when organizations invite staff, they attend their meetings and Parks and Recreation Board Minutes May 26, 2004 Page 4 speak. They have met with a couple of organizations, along with the Chamber of Commerce, and Legislative Affairs Committee. Jessica said it would be beneficial to the program. She said the general public doesn't understand what will be accessible and what will not be accessible and what is regional and what is in the UGA and the intent on the purchase. Mark replied that staff has a huge outreach on the ecological education with almost 100 master naturalists, who present programs for us. They also train the PSD teachers for their classes. Lance asked if there is any "open space". He doesn't understand the terms "Open Space" versus "Natural Areas". Mark explained that the land acquired so far is either natural areas or community separators. Marty explained that "Open Lands" as defined in City Plan, include natural areas, community separators, cultural lands, lakes, streams, ponds, wetlands, ridgelines, parks, trails, and doesn't include golf courses. Mark said that the resource recovery farm property is defined as open land along I-25. Lance noted that if the Soapstone Ranch is identified as a Natural Area and we're running cattle on it, that's a contradiction. He said that he doesn't see the natural areas program purchasing land that would be used for softball fields or a golf course, but things like kite flying, bird watching, and trails should be allowed where appropriate. Mark said staff will come back to this Board with their management guidelines. Mary Carlson said the definition and explanation has to be included in the education of the public. Dean Hoag said that the ballot said "Open Lands Yes" and now it's all referred to as natural areas. He said the community voting on open lands imagined it was land that was going to be open to the public. Mark responded that when surveying half the public would say make it community separators and land conservation; and the other half saying make it open lands. Marty said that when you look at the laundry list of recreational needs where do you envision them just on community separators? Mark said that most of those recreation requests could be met on the open lands, which could include natural areas. Jessica pointed out on page 40 "passive recreation" and would like it changed to "appropriate recreation". Mark said they have tried to take "passive recreation" out of every mention in the document and replace it with "appropriate recreation." Jessica said that we are not ready to vote on this plan tonight and will vote on it at our next meeting. The Board thanked Mark for his presentation. Sprine Canyon Park Update Craig Foreman said that the first open house for the neighbors will be on June 16 from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m. at Cottonwood Glen Neighborhood Park. BHA has been hired as the design consultant. Craig invited the Board to attend the public meeting and meet the consulting team. At that time, the consulting team will take all the public input and then begin to design the park. Marty said that the SWAN group is requesting an exclusive meeting with the design team. Staff is encouraging them to first attend the Open House, but staff and the design team are willing to meet with SWAN after the Open House if they still have unanswered questions or just to listen to their concerns. Lance agreed. Lance said they should not be allowed to meet with the design team separately before the Open House. Marty said that if they felt they have not been heard, then we would meet with the design team and the concerned group. Marty explained that we Parks and Recreation Board Minutes May 26, 2004 Page 5 need to listen and hear everyone's concerns. We want a true and honest public process. Marty said what he is hearing from the Board is that no special meeting should be accommodated for the SWAN group before the Open House. The Board said yes. Greg Miller said that there is also a special interest group, the Inspiration Group, requesting the playground in the park. Flyers for the Open House will be mailed to the Board as a reminder. Project Updates Craig Foreman updated the Board on the following projects. Iron Horse Neighborhood Park— It is located at Vine and Timberline near Plummer Elementary School. Transportation is considering moving Vine Drive and if so the road would go through the proposed park. The plan is stalled at this point. The City may consider selling the park site and move it north. Housing development in this area is slow. The park site was to be designed in 2005, however, we will delay the design and construction. Soft Gold Neighborhood Park —Craig explained that the construction is underway. The playground will have three depressions that represent beaver ponds; the restroom will have the adobe stucco look to it. The park will also have a bike course, multi -use concrete pad, and ballfield. It should open by July. Laporte Trail Connection— The new 1.7-mile trail will open on Friday Capital Improvement Plan City Council in study session yesterday reviewed the plan entitled Building on Basics 2005 (BOB). Marty distributed the capital projects list. The list that is being recommended by staff to Council amounts to $228,000,000. Council thought it was a comprehensive list. From a Parks and Recreation standpoint we submitted the Recreation Center at Fossil Creek Community Park, Neighborhood Park upgrades and enhancements and Community Park upgrades and enhancements, as well as the Fort Collins Senior Center Expansion. The postponed information and outreach campaign summary was also agreeable to Council. Staff also asked Council if they would be interested in asking the public if they would be willing to support an additional one -quarter cent sales tax to fund some of these projects. They were alright with asking the public. They also asked staff to provide operation and maintenance costs to fund these projects. They are looking for operation and maintenance funding options. There was also discussion on separating quality of life and transportation on the ballot. They want the middle one -quarter cent that has traditionally gone to street maintenance to continue to fund street maintenance. Mark Lueker asked that GIS map the projects, color -code them with the cost associated. He said the information for the public needs to be a visual. Parks and Recreation Board Minutes May 26, 2004 Page 6 City Plan Update Marty explained that the changes the Board worked on were accepted. The Council approved the plan, including many of the issues the Board addressed. Northside Aztlan Community Center Site Marty has been working with the EPA and it looks like Public Service is taking responsibility for the clean up. The analysis is the contamination has been leaking for over 100 years. They will likely have a collection facility near the river. Jon asked how it will affect the trail? Craig will work with them for location. The trail will remain in the same place. We still intend to build the Northside Center on that site. The EPA will plan their mitigation around our construction schedule. The only unknown is whether the source of the contamination on the Schrader site will have to be cleaned up. The EPA can force the clean up and still be on our timetable. They will attempt to get Public Service to pay for our additional project costs that are related to the contamination. We received the approval from the City Manager to proceed with our project. We will proceed with design as soon as we receive the green light from the EPA. Board Member Comments • Lance said that he walks over to City Park every night and it is just beautiful and he hears many positive comments. He asked why the aerators are not working? Staff will look into it and report back to the Board. Secretary's Note: Bob Loeven, Manager of Parks, informed me that they are aware of the problem. A new electrical system was installed this winter that does not interface with the aeration system. Stormwater will participate with Parks in the water quality maintenance of the lake. The problem will be resolved within the next week or two. • Fossil Creek Community Park Tennis Courts: Jessica said that one of the nets is gone from one of the tennis courts. Craig said that the surface is damaged and we are working on repairing it. She also asked if there were going to be fences dividing the courts; and Craig said yes. • Mark Lueker has a concern about Fossil Creek Community Park climbing wall and the danger of the access from the top. He is concerned about the possibility of a child wandering from the picnic shelter located above the climbing wall and falling. Craig said there is a fence in place to deter children from running from the shelter area to the top of the wall. Staff will review the design of the playground with the consultant. Parks and Recreation Board Minutes May 26, 2004 Page 7 Adjournment: The Board unanimously voted to adjourn at 8:10 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Jackie Rael Executive Administrative Assistant Meeting Attendance Board Members: Mary Carlson, Lance Freeman, Dean Hoag, Ann Hunt, Mark Lueker, Jessica MacMillan, Greg Miller, and Jon Sinclair Staff: Craig Foreman, Marty Heffernan, Jackie Rael, and Mark Sears