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HomeMy WebLinkAboutParks And Recreation Board - Minutes - 08/24/2005PARKS AND REC:RLATION DUARV Minutes of Regular Meeting August 24, 2005 215iNorth Mason Community Room 5:30 p.m'. Call Meeting to Order: Jessica MacMillan called the meeting to order at 5:44 p.m. Agenda Review: Marty noted that they would be switching the order of items 7 and 8. Items of Note: None. Citizen Participation: None. Approval of Minutes: On a motion by Jessica MacMillan, the Board voted unanimously to approve the minutes of the July 27, 2005 meeting. Building on Basics (BOB) Update Marty stated that the Building on Basics capital program went to Council three weeks ago for final action. Kelly Ohlson brought up the idea to Council of considering an extra $500,000 for park improvements, but Council's discussion was at a point that they already had a 7-0 vote in favor of the package, sohe did not push the topic. He did not want to bring conflict to the discussion because the package will need strong Council support when it goes to a vote in November. Marty explained that Parks and Recreation did get $1.52 million for the community park/neighborhood parks/cemetery improvements, as well as $45,000 a year for O&M. He added that we would not see it until later in the 10-year process because there are other projects that need funding sooner, such as some transportation projects, and the North College Avenue road improvement work. If it gets a positive vote in November, it is estimated that $5.6 million will come in every year. Also accepted in the package was the Discovery Science Center and Museum project. BOB will provide $6 million dollars. The DBA will be bringing in approximately $1 million and the Science Center will be raising approximately $2.6 million. It will be buil on the east end of Lee Martinez Park, and early conceptual designs show a trail that goes down to the river, parking behind the building, and a possible bus drop off and turnaround. Again, it won't go forward unless we get a positive vote in November. Marty would like to move forward on the cemetery improvements sooner, so he will try to negotiate and see what he can do with that. The improvement will include an office at Roselawn Cemetery and an updated irrigation system. Another major portion was $4 million for the Senior Center. The original proposal was $9 million but it was cut back to $4 million. This would build a two story exercise annex west ofour existing Senior Center. Each floor would be 10,000 square feet, but we would only have enough money to finish one floor plus the outside landscaping, and the fitness trail. The top floor will be a fitness facility, and the bottom floor will eventually become a dance studio or pottery studio. Parks and Recreation Board Minutes August 24, 2005 Page 2 Marty added that by not getting the extra $500,000 we will not be able to do the full master plan for City Park. Council has given us the flexibility to do a little less in the neighborhood parks if we feel it is more important to put some more money into the community parks, but we would neat to make sure the money gets spread around so it would benefit all of the communities in the City. At any rate, it will be five years before the money for City Park would be accessible. There will be impact fees from infill development that we will have available to add to this money for improvements if need be. Budgeting for Outcomes Marty reviewed the latest budget information with the Board. The City Managerwill be recommending the budget to Council on September 2, 2005. It should be in the paper a short time after that. Council will then begin working on it at their work sessions and regular Council meetings in order have it adopted by November 15th. Marty told the Board that since the last Board meeting CLRS was hit again for approximately $1 million dollars. Still on the list is the closure of the YAC in 2007. The gym will remain open, but under the terms of our lease, General Growth could buy us out of the gym if they are interested. Parks was reduced by another $245,000 and there were additional reductions in Park Planning and Recreation. In order to generate more revenue to offset the cuts; Recreation is looking at installing a big slide at the City Park pool to help make the pool self-sustaining, and raising the skating fees at EPIC. The second sheet of ice at EPIC continues to do well. Jessica asked if EPIC is paying for itself. Marty stated that it is not self- sustaining, but they do cover approximately 90% of costs through fees. He added that pools hardly ever pay for themselves, but the ice program revenue has been good. The goal in 2004 was for the ice programs to bring $1 milion in fees, and while they did not make it last year, they are on track to see that this year. Marty also said that by substantially reducing the amount CLRS was originally asking for from the general fund (a reduction of $1 million in 2006 and $1.6 million in 2007) CLRS was able to sell nearly every offer it proposed. He added that by making all of that work, they were able to save the Horticulture Center, Mulberry Pool, the Adaptive Recreation Program, and Spring Canyon Park Marty explained that the overall City budget is looking at a $7 million to $8 million budget reduction, so a number of programs and divisions throughout the City were not funded. Some of those programs were in Engineering and Current Planning, so the City Manager had to find money to cover those areas. To do this, he pulled an additional $400,000 out of Parks Maintenance, $65,000 out of Downtown Maintenance, approximately $200,000 out of Recreation, and $250,000 from the Library. Marty stated that they have been scrambling to make it all work. In this last cut, the results teams gave Marty the categories to follow and then Marty came back to them with the best ideas possible working with the magnitude of the cuts. CLRS was able to avoid devastating cuts by suggesting that county open land'/< cent money be used for trail Construction. The idea was to put that money into trail construction and then take the Conservation Trust money away from trail construction and use it for park and trail maintenance. The Conservation Trust money comes out of the lottery. So, there was the open lands money to fund the trails, and the Conservation Trust money for parks maintenance, which then frees up general fund money normally used for park maintenance. The end result is that $350,000 of county open lands funds will be used for trail construction and $450,000 in Conservation Trust money will be used for park and trail maintenance, if all of this holds. Council may not like seeing all this open lands money going to trails, so we don't know how it's all going to come out. Marty stated that Natural Resources took a lot of criticism for buying the Soapstone property, but he feels that they are running a good program, and he has a lot of respect for them. He Parks and Recreation Board Minutes August 24, 2005 Page 3 added that they did not give us a hard time at all when they saw what we were up against. Without the money from open lands we would be devastated. Jessica asked about the future. Marty said that Council is showing some interest in at least learning more about alternative revenue sources. They want to learn more about a transportation maintenance fee, a 1/4 cent tax for health and safety, and library districts. There was also some talk about a tax for scientific and cultural facilities. Council may say theydon't want to increase taxes, but they have asked to be informed about those things. Jon asked about raising recreation fees. Marty said that part of the difference between our initial offers and our final offers is that there were a lot of fee increases. Some of them would have been increased anyway because we have a program where we increase fees incrementally, but they will go up more now. We are raising fees about $320,000 over a two year period. We are hoping for new services to bring in additional dollars like the new 150 foot slide at the outdoor pool. Projections show that it will produce enough revenue to make that pool self-sustaining. Ann askedhow much the slide costs. Marty responded $300,000. He added that to reach that cost we have Recreation reserves, we are going for a GOCO grant, and we are exploring other grants. Greg asked if there will be additional capital to work on the regional trail system. Marty stated that we have money from Building Community Choices for our regional trail system. Some of that money went to the Laporte Trail and some was set aside to build the trail out to our urban growth area boundaries. The Wellington one has too much right of way to get out there right now so wehave to wait for it to catch up with development. Windsor, Timnath, and Greeley are working hard to come our way and we are working hard to meet them. We are also working on the Power Trail to eventually get to Loveland in a few years. Craig is looking to have most of trail system completed in next 10 to 15 years with some of the underpasses taking another five years. It all depends on not getting cut too much more on the construction part of the trail program. The current cuts will slow us down and if they keep taking money it will keep pushing it back. Jessica asked if Gateway Park was going to be affected by the recent cuts. Marty stated that Gateway is being reduced a few thousand dollars in maintenance, and they will have less hourly help. The park cannot be closed or we would have to give back the GOCO grant. Marty added that it does not get as much use as they were originally thinking it would. He also stated that at this point ParksMaintenance is at an additional $245,000 deduction. So we are going to have two park tech positions cut, a park scheduling position, and a few other things that Marty could not talk about at this point in the process. The affect of all of this is that the overall quality of the maintenance in the park system is going to go down. We are thinking about having to close restrooms in the community parks during the winter time and putting in portajohns. Trash pick-up in neighborhood parks will be done just once a week instead of daily, there will be less aeration, less fertilization, and we'll be cutting back in the downtown area Jon asked about reducing the turf areas. Marty said they are already doing that with new parks, they are designed with a lot less grass, but that we can't close too much turf down in existing parks because of turf sports. The Board had a broad discussion regarding the decision to close the YAC, running YAC programs at the schools, moving the YAC to a cheaper facility, trash pickup in parks, and using volunteers. Marty explained that the Parks currently has a trash and volunteer program in place, and that staff has done a good job exploring options. Case Park Update Matt Day from Park Planning reviewed three Stewart Case Park designs with the Board. He stated that there would be an open house tomorrow, August 25 h, at the park from 4:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. to review the final design phase. The first open house was held seven weeks ago, 40 neighbors attended, and they Parks and Recreation Board Minutes August 24, 2005 Page 4 received good feedback and ideas. The designs he was showing tonight reflected that feedback, and they would be showing the neighbors these designs tomorrow night. He said the neighbors were interested in creating separate activity areas in the core area of the park that met the needs of all age groups, including climbing features geared toward older kids. They also requested an informal area for relaxing with an open view, and open areas for turf activities. One of the primary features that all three designs share is using pedestrian walkways through the park to tie each area together. The park will also have plenty of grass and boulders. Matt said it is important to the neighbors to separate the look of the park from the school that adjoins the property. Information about Stewart Case will also be integrated into the design. Currently, they are thinking of putting in boulders that are engraved with Mr. Case's educational philosophies and a plaque infDrming citizens about who he was. Matt described the first design: the main entrance leads into the first area designed for 3-5 year olds. From there, pedestrian walkways lead to the inline skating area. A climbing wall will be placed by the multi use court to create a high energy area designed for teenagers There will also be climbing boulders, basketball, and a skateboard park. The high energy area will be located by the water retention area, and the toddler play area will be placed away from the water area and to the north by the entrance. They are still working with the school district to place part of the multi -use court on school property to make better use of the site. They are also trying to enhance the area around the pond to make it look better than just a detention pond. There will also be benches in open areas around the pond. A top concern from the neighbors was the ongoing use of the park by high school students that hang out at the shelter and smoke cigarettes. Matt said they are working with the school district to keep the visual areas open so there won't be hidden areas. The school currently has a sidewalk that directs foot traffic from the school to the pond area, so the design will add on to that. It will loop around the pond and direct the school kids toward the high energy area at the climbing wall. The neighbors also don't like the kids walking behind their houses, so the design limits the sidewalks behind the houses. Matt added that the City has an agreement with the school district that the school property rules also zpply to adjoining park property and that school officials can enforce those policies on park property. Jessica asked about parking. Matt said that neighbors did not want off street parking because the streets were too narrow. Red Mountain was the biggest problem during baseball and tennis events because it was designed as a narrow street to slow traffic down. There were also site distance problems on Pine Cone Circle and Vermont Drive. Parks Planning is still working with transportation on those issues. Jessica then asked how close the school parking lot is to the park. Matt stated it was to the west of the soccer field, within walking distance. Greg asked if the parking lot discussed at an earlier meeting was still a consideration. Matt responded that the neighbors were not interested in a parking lot within the park because they did not want to take away activity space. Mark inquired about the trees in the park. Matt said there are currently just coniferous trees in the park that offered no shade. The new trees they are planting will blend in with the back yards of the homes that back up to the park, but still not obstruct the view of the mountains. The neighbors did not want to lose their view. Matt then mentioned that the other two designs, Plan B and Plan C, had the same features as Plan A but they are arranged differently on the site. He added that Plan C has more walking areas. Gregg commented that the park gets huge sports usage and they neighbors don't want to lose that. Gregg lives in the area. Matt confirmed that that neighbors do not want to loose the play areas. Craig stated that the park should be completed by the end of summer 2006. Spring Canyon Park Update Parks and Recreation Board Minutes August 24, 2005 Page 5 Craig presented an update on Spring Canyon Park and passed out contour maps of the park that showed grading plans. He briefly reviewed again the location of the activity areas in the park. He then pointed out the canyon area north of the playground. They narrowed the mouth of the canyon for affect so parks users south of the canyon neck cannot see all the way into the north turf area. The canyon walls are 4-6 feet tall. There will be a shelter by the canyon. Spring Creek Trail will turn south on the west side of the park and eventually meet up with Fossil Creek Trail to the south. On the north end of the park, they have moved the road to the west so it would feel like a parkroad instead of an extension of Overland Trail. The parking lot at the end of that road will be connected to the park by a bridge. Also on the north end, they are working with Stormwater to get 40 acre feet of water storage. They will be putting in a rock wall to give them that storage because they need a vertical boundary to get the capacity needed for the 100 year flood issue. The bike course on the north side will contain obstacles to ride on that are like teeter totters and logs. There will also be a soft path that runs alongside the trail. The trail will go around the entire park. Storm water is bringing up to $700,000 to the storm water program. They will pay for the water storage area on the northern end of the park as well as the crossing that controls the water on the northwestern side of the park. Craig also mentioned that they will be talking to Natural Resources about the vegetation in the creek channel, and he brought pictures of what the hogback areas on the west side of the park will look like. Craig stated that there will be an administrative hearing on Spring Canyon Park at City Hall in order to complete the Developmental Review process. The review process is for code questions only. Marty asked if there were any further concerns from the surrounding neighbors. Craig said they have not heard anything. He stated the neighbors did accept the entrance on the south side of the park, because it takes a whole neighborhood to bring consensus in putting in a speed bump. Craig added that they would see how it develops. Jessica asked about the traffic issue on west Drake Road. Craig said they spoke to transportation and that they will monitor the situation and see how it develops. Mary asked if there were any areas where the trail crossed the roads in the park. Craig said trail users will have to cross the path only once on the west side and on the south side they could cross on the surface entrance or go under through the tunnel. Craig closed by stating that construction will take place 2006 through the fall of 2007. Northwest Area Plan Craig presented a map of the Northwest Area Plan. The map showed red lines around a neighborhood in the northwest area of town that is in Larimer County. The red lines reflect the City's growth management boundary and the grey area reflected current City limits. The area is approximately 4.3 square miles and the City is studying growth, land use, annexation, storm water, parks use, and road use within that area. By City Code, all land within the growth management area will eventually be annexed into the City. There is about 780 acres within the area that is currently vacant. The City structure plan will put zones on the land. This plan should be completed in 2006. Craig explained that if all of the current property owners came in to the City, we would need almost five acres for a park. City fees are only collected if developers build homes on land that adjoin City property. If they don't adjoin City property, the developer can go through the County process instead. There are no City parkland fees on County property so if there are not enough properties paying City fees we cannot build a park. Fortunately, the 8.6 acre Heidekooper Park serves this area of town. He feels that between Heidekooper Park and City Park, it covers the acreage needed in the Northwest area of town to meet City Plan requirements. He added that they do not want to buy property for a park if the surrounding property goes County because then they would not have enough money to build the park. Craig feels they have to be very careful when it comes to the planning processes that no one writes in mom parks than the City can afford. Parks and Recreation Board Minutes August 24, 2005 Page 6 As far as trails, they were looking to put in some connectors to the Poudre Trail, but there were several problems: 1) the user would have to cross streets every block or so, and 2) it would be difficult to get public access easements because the neighborhoods do not want traffic coming through their neighborhoods. There are quite a few gates and barricades. Craig also said that some people ask why the County doesn't just take the area in to the County. The answer is that sometimes the County does not have these areas in their infrastructure loop for water or sewer, so they can't necessarily take care of it. Craig closed by stating that all area plans have to go through City Council and County Commissioners. So the Board will be hearing more discussion about the plan. Aztlan Center Marty said that they had an internal working session with affected interest groups and architects on August 16s'. He said it went well, they identified a variety of different issues, everyone likes the design, and the project is moving along well. They like the design build team; they are very responsive, they know the local site and process, and they were very receptive and helpful with all the local feedback. They also discussed how they would work with the development to the east of the property, there are some lofts going in. They want to use some of our property to do their street frontage. They also need some of our land for storm water detention, so we will work through that, and they also want to do a walkway from Lincoln to the Recreation Center. Marty feels it will all work out, but wants to make sure it doesn't detract from our needs. Board Discussion on Visit to Parks and Trails The Board discussed their visits to the Parks and the locations of Rabbit Brush and Provincetown as they were more difficult to locate. Cathy felt they looked good. Craig stated that Provincetown has been pushed back to 2008 because of the BFO process. Greg felt that Fort Collins has a great parks and trail system. Jessica felt that in the last decade the City has given the community a tremendous recreational opportunity with number of parks opened, the extension of the trails, and the Recreation centers. Jessica felt Craig and Marty have done a great job. Marty said that we are fortunate that Council created a funding mechanism through impact fees to build our parks and has devoted Conservation Trust money to our trails. Jessica does feel that the City needs to be more creative in public andprivate sponsorships. Marty added that the City has a nice relationship with the school district and had a good experience with the fundraising campaign for the gym and the YAC. Miscellaneous None Other Business Cathy asked which City department citizens would call if sidewalks are blocked by trees or bushes. She was given the number for the Forestry Department. Jon asked when the asphalt section of the Poudre Trail between Shields Street and Taft Street would be completed. Craig said maybe next summer or fall. Board Member and Staff Comments None Correspondence None Adjournment: The Board unanimously agreed to adjourn at 7:49 p.m. Parks and Recreation Board Minutes August 24, 2005 Page 7 Respectfully submitted, &(� mwe-- Kelly Moore Administrative Support Supervisor Board Attendance Board Members: Mary Carlson, Ann Hunt, Cathy Kipp, Mark Lueker, Jessica MacMillan, Gregg Miller, Scott Ohm, Walt Peeples, Jon Sinclair Staff: Matt Day, Craig Foreman, Marty Heffernan, Kelly Moore Guests: None