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HomeMy WebLinkAboutNatural Resources Advisory Board - Minutes - 09/15/1999MINUTES CITY OF FORT COLLINS NATURAL RESOURCES ADVISORY BOARD REGULAR MEETING 281 N. COLLEGE September 15, 1999 For Reference: Randy Fischer, NRAB Chair - 491-6303 Bill Bertschy, Council Liaison - 484-0181 Susie Gordon, Staff Liaison - 221-6265 Board Members Present Randy Fischer, Kelly Ohison, Don Rodriguez, Jan Rastall, Phil Murphy, Reagan Waskom, Bill Miller, Nate Donovan Board Members Absent Rick Harness Staff Present Natural Resources Dept Terry Klahn, Susie Gordon, Mark Sears Guests Sally Craig, Planning and Zoning Board Jay Hardy, Downtown Development Authority Agenda Review • Tom Shoemaker's presentation on the Resource Recovery Farm/East Rigden Resource exchange has been postponed. • Bill Miller would like to talk about a joint meeting with the NRAB and the Larimer County EAB. Election of Vice -chairperson Bill Miller was unanimously elected to serve as the vice -chairperson of the NRAB. Minor League Baseball, Jay Hardy Randy Fischer introduced Jay Hardy saying he was here to give a presentation on the status of a minor league baseball stadium, as well as for an opportunity for the board to give their perspective on issues the DDA is involved in. Hardy began by giving a history of the stadium project, where it came from, where it is now, and where it's going. In early spring there was a proposal from the Helena, MT Brewers to look at coming to northern Colorado. There were discussions with the County and the Chamber of Commerce to see if there might be an opportunity. At the same time, Rob Owens (owner), asked if there would be any interest by the DDA in a Natural Resources Advisory Board September 15, 1999 Page 2 downtown location. The County went through a project analysis and eliminated this as a potential item for their project selection. This project has a tight time -line. Some communities have the opportunity for a transition facility. We would be starting from scratch and building from the ground up. Most of the research is being patterned after a ball -field in Ogden, UT. It is a community, multi- use facility. The cost of Ogden's facility was 3.9 million dollars, excluding land. In today's dollars that would translate to approximately 4.3 to 4.5 million dollars. A project analysis was done to see if it made sense for the stadium to be in Fort Collins, and specifically the downtown area. The site analysis began with five privately owned sites. A request was made to add the Northside Community Center (Aztlan) site to the analysis. The other five sites in the analysis were Block 33, Oxbow, Alliance Construction (Triangle), Link-N-Green and the NE comer of Lincoln and Lemay. A total of 12 things, everything from financial packaging, area support, willing sellers, environmental impacts and other criteria was analyzed. As point totals were assigned to each site, 5 of the 6 eliminated themselves'. Northside received 87, out of a possible 120 points, the next closest was 61. The looked at physically attaching the Northside Center to the stadium. There would be a great deal of multi -use cost share and good interactive possibilities. The setback from the river would be about 200', can't get to 300'. There must be 1,200 parking spaces identified within a quarter mile. There has been a lot of discussion about the Poudre River implementation plan. There are some major hurdles. Council was asked to identify the City's issues and they created a working document that outlines most of the issues. Now the project will move to the community input phase. The'DDA feels this is a good community project, as well as a good downtown project. Discussion • Rodriguez: This is a pretty nice ballpark, has there been any attempt to attract the minor league to play in City Park, or another park? Do we know we would attract 3,500 people? What we have done is modeled it after communities with similar demographics. City Park and CSUfacilities don't meet the requirements of baseball. We're running our `pro forma" at 2000 in terms of average attendance. • Rastall: Does the new design reflect the City's needs? That's what they want to try to determine. Our architects have five community centers under construction elsewhere. • Rastall: How would the ball park impact the use of the Northside Center? We would have the ability to do shared use when only one is in use. Yhey can both be in use at the same time too. If there's an event and the kids want to use the center, what are the requirements? We would earmark about 200 parking spaces, it would be busy when there are shared events going on. • Fischer: I noticed there is no evaluation of environmental impacts on any sites. There's not a categoryfor it. • Fischer: It seems the site selection criteria were weighted toward the development side. Yes it does, thus our name. Part of what we do is identified in the Poudre River Natural Resources • isory Board • September 15, 1999 Page 3 Development Plan, and is stated as appropriate. That's one category that is a big part of our mission and can be a catalyst — what does it do in a location that needs some help, does it offer an opportunity? • Murphy: You talked about demographics in communities similar to Fort Collins. It's hard, and not fair, to compare Ogden, UT to Fort Collins. Fort Collins is close to Denver where every major league sport is available. I have to question those kinds of analyses. When CSU's baseball team and the womens' softball program went away there was no public outcry. • Murphy: Of all the things you, the DDA, can look at — why baseball? That's a good question. As is the case with our policy and process, any project that anyone brings to us, it's our responsibility to look at. Ae initial phase dealt with process, tf someone walks in with a project we look at it. What else could go in, many other things, there are four other projects in that area. The piece we're responding to is the opportunity to revitalize. • Rastall: How do you define "revitalize"? When I think of the number of people driving down to Old Town, accessibility would be a huge issue. There's no good arterial. It seems like traffic is such an issue, driving is a pain. It would reflect a negative, instead of revitalization. I would ask you to take a half-step back and put it in perspective. A baseball audience of 3500 people, marketed toward families and groups would probably have less impact than the Thursday night concerts. It's 1120 the size of New West Fest and the same size as the Thursday night concerts. This facility would add some forty events a year, and to have weekend users is a positive. Sunday is not normally a busy day in the downtown area. • Waskom: When do they play? Weekday evening games are played at 7: 00 p.m., and weekend games are at 1: 00 and 3: 00 p.m. We'd be looking at 36 games, starting the I" week in June and ending the Is` week of September, about 10-12 events a month. • Fischer: To break even this facility would have to be used about 70 days a year. Our ' pro forma" is based on 55 events, 19 outside of baseball. It could be used as much as 100 times. Probably not, the private investors would love it if it got to 70, that would be pretty hard to do. We've been working our numbers with 55 to 60 events. • Waskom: Will they practice here? Yes. • Rastall: Where would the soccer fields be? Ogden uses the outfield as a soccer field, we wouldn't endorse that. We've proposed with the City to do redevelopment at other locations. • Craig: What about security issues and fencing? How will they work it so the kids can use the skate park at any and all times? We haven't worked out those individual issues. • Craig: What is the residential land -owners' response to this? We haven't done the community outreach pieces. We've talked to Schraders, Poudre Feed and some property owners. • Rodriguez: Is that railroad spur an active spur? Yes, it's brand new. • Murphy: If this thing gets built I would hope there's some mechanism that the public end of things doesn't get pushed out of the way. That would be the responsibility of the land -lease agreement. Natural Resources Advisory t3oard September 15, 1999 Page 4 • Murphy: What is the history of these teams staying in a location for a period of time? The good part of this is the ownership of the team never changes. • Fischer: What kind of public process has been talked about? We're in the dark as to when we can weigh in. This is our first opportunity to get the full story on things. Do you have any public meetings or open houses? There will be a minimum of two, maybe three. The timeline will come very quickly. Should be able to say within the next two weeks if this thing has a chance to work through. Don't want to go through open houses if it's not realistic. • Rodriguez: That's a critical piece. We don't currently have a demand for this type of thing, a performing arts center would be meeting an existing demand. We can't really gauge that, because we've never had it. • Fischer: Sometimes the NRAB is viewed as an obstruction to get around on projects. I don't really have any concerns with redevelopment south of the river provided the development is appropriate and consistent with our values. This stadium is a major violation for what I'd like to see. The existing use is perfect, it meshes with my values. The board doesn't have a real problem with growth or development, you'll find we are willing partners in the redevelopment of downtown, we've been working very hard on it, along with Timothy Wilder, drafting a recommendation to Council on the Downtown River Corridor. This is really a forced fit. • Miller: The one concern I have is the Gustav Swanson natural area. It's valuable for birds. There's no doubt about it that human intrusion and activities are not compatible for nesting. When we look at the area I just described, it's as important to us as it is to you. This is an area we all treasure, the beauty is that you can walk to it from an urban environment. • Fischer: We look forward to being involved in public comments. Easement Process Review, Mark Sears Sears said that since he's new to this position he hasn't gone through many easement processes. Karen Manci has handled them for the past seven years. She will still be the prime contact for people wanting easements. The other avenue is the development review process, Kim Kreimeyer is the development review person for the Natural Resources Department. Developments proposing to cross natural areas are handled by Karen, Kim and the rest of the Natural Areas team. Tried to document the process as best I could in generalities. Each easement has its unique situation and different issues that need to be dealt with. The first contact is with Karen to discuss why it's necessary to cross a natural area and not other locations. Then a field trip is usually scheduled to review any options for crossing the natural area, and if it's necessary, where is the best location. Following the field assessment the proposal is submitted to the Natural Areas staff for their review. Depending on the severity and/or sensitivity, it would then be brought to the NRAB Natural Areas committee, or the whole board, for review. If it's brought here your comments would go with staff recommendation to Council for approval or disapproval. Haven't seen any without a staff recommendation for approval. Another thing is to prepare a rough draft of conditions they would have to meet, such as restoration work. A number of environmental studies and permits could be required. Natural Resources Advisot, t3oard September 15, 1999 Page 6 Fischer asked if there is any information on the Natural Areas update that needs to be in the packet ahead of time. Sears said the idea is to present where we were in 1992 and where we are now, a rough projection of how much land we need to acquire, what the costs would be and over how many years. We need to communicate that it's a viable program that's doing well, one that needs to be maintained and sustained. Kelly Ohlson requested a copy of a memo from about four years ago that listed acquisitions in terms of low, moderate and high priorities. Review Action Log Remove: Revisit issue of minimum size of prairie dog colonies Draft LOCO strategic plan Wildlife sanctuary designation Outstandine: Memo on Community Separators Follow-up: BMP's, move up on calendar Kelly Ohlson requested staff to find out how many, if any, of the NRAB's budget recommendations are in the City Manager's recommendations Draft Board Recommendations Downtown River Corridor Implementation Plan — need comments to Randy Fischer by September 21. Budget Priorities — comments to Fischer by October 5, for distribution in the October 7 Council packet. Help Preserve Open Spaces — comments to Fischer by October 5, for distribution in the October 7 Council packet. Committee Reports Natural Areas Committee, Don Rodriguez The committee met on September 9th . The first item discussed was wildlife sanctuary designation. Tom Shoemaker was concerned about adding another layer of designation. The thoughts from the committee were that it might be possible to broaden the perspective a bit to include wildlife sanctuary nomenclature in signs and interpretation because there is much more name recognition in wildlife sanctuary. The second item discussed was the minimum size of prairie dog colonies. The minimum is currently 50 acres. When the question was asked if there are any areas of less than 50 acres that should be considered, Tom Shoemaker responded no, the priority should be on additional acquisitions rather than the remnant colonies that are left. The third item was the GOCO strategic plan and a brainstorming session on where we might tie in to the next round of GOCO monies and RFP's. Looking at some research on open space and our natural areas and why people value open space in our community. The Natural Areas committee has established a standing meeting for the second Wednesday of each month, at 12:00 noon. Natural Resources Risory Board • September 15, 1999 Page 7 Trails Committee The Trails Committee met with Jim Miller and Mark Sears at Arapaho Bend. Miller had preliminary ideas of where to place the trails. The committee came up with suggestions that may make it possible to keep the trail further away from the River riparian area. Most of the traffic will be fishermen. Craig Foreman has plans to route a bike trail through there. Possible alignments were considered. Need to address horse and bike access to that area. There will be another Trails committee meeting on Tuesday, September 28 at Red Wing Marsh. Announcements Bill Miller spoke about a joint meeting between the NRAB and the Larimer County EAB. It will be at least a 4 '/z hour meeting. John Barthelow is putting together a straw agenda. Ben Alexander won't be available, Barthelow is trying to find a representative from the City to discuss water quality issues. Five of the eight NRAB members polled will be attending. Kelly Ohlson suggested inviting the media. Randy Fischer asked if anyone would mind if the Water Board was invited. Don Rodriguez requested a board update after the meeting. Adjournment The meeting adjourned at 10:00 p.m. Natural Resources Advisory Board • September 15, 1999 Page 5 Then they would have to address any issues and concerns, obtain studies and permits and submit the legal description. We would then ask the City's real estate manager to determine compensation. Once the agreement was completed, the real estate manager would prepare an agenda item for Council. This would include staff's report, impacts, mitigation, and if we support it or not. If it had been presented to this board it would reflect the board's comments. Discussion • Fischer: Is this a new policy? No, this is the approach Karen has used. Can you envision a situation where we would not grant an easement? If there are legitimate options to going around a natural area we might go to Council with a staff recommendation not to approve. • Waskom: Approximately how many requests a year are there? Half a dozen at the most. We have a lot right now, they're in various stages. Through the development review process there might he a few more. • Murphy: I would say the chair should be alerted to any easement requests. Then, the chair can make a determination if it needs to come before the board. • Fischer: Maybe it would be a good idea to bring requests to the Natural Areas committee on a monthly basis. Review Council's Six Month Planning Calendar • September 21 — Purchase & Sale of Property to Horticulture Center Site; Don Rodriguez said the word he has is there's no reason to be concerned. Randy Fischer said it would be nice to know if it's going to be on consent and if it's necessary for a board member to be there. Rodriguez will be there anyway because of his involvement with the task force. • The schedule for considering the flood plain regulations could be impacted pending a ruling from the City Attorney. • Randy Fischer said he heard the budget wasn't discussed at the Pingree Park meeting and that the meeting was not taped. Review Future Agenda Items October 6 - Cities for Climate Protection, Lucinda Smith (goes to Council Nov.16) Boxelder Project, Tom Shoemaker October 20 — Gateway Park, Craig Foreman Update on Natural Areas long term planning (goes to Council Oct. 26). Kelly Ohlson asked why the BMP discussion was moved to January. Sears responded that right now anything that comes under City Plan is requiring extended detention to treat stormwater. Everything right now is being done with the BMP's, even though the manual is not done yet. Thought it would be good to bring the completed manual. Ohlson said he would like to get it early enough to put his two -cents worth in.