Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutNatural Resources Advisory Board - Minutes - 04/05/1995NIINUTES CITY OF FORT COLLINS NATURAL RESOURCES ADVISORY BOARD REGULAR MEETING 281 CONFERENCE ROOM - 281 N. COLLEGE AVE. APRIL 5, 1995 For Reference: Phil Friedman, NRAB Chair - 493-2959 Chris Kneeland, Council Liaison - 221-2950 Tom Shoemaker, Staff Liaison - 221-6263 Board Members Present Craig McGee, Bill Miller, Don TIM, Phil Murphy, Lisa Steffes, Katy Mason, Arlene Blum and Tim Johnson. Phil Friedman arrived after the approval of the minutes. Board Members Absent None. Staff Present Tom Shoemaker, Sally Maggart, Karen Manci, Environmental Planner, and Virgil Taylor, Parks Manager The meeting was called to order at 7:02 p.m. by Bill Miller, Vice Chair. Introduction of Guests Will Harper, interested citizen Approval of Minutes Phil Murphy moved and Don Tidd seconded the motion to approve the minutes of the March 1, 1995 meeting. Miller noted that the Poudre River Land Use Framework was an action item from the last meeting. Tom Shoemaker said that he had nothing further to report except that it is no longer scheduled for the April council meeting. He noted that the concerns of the board were conveyed to Mike Powers and the framework will come back to the board for approval. Shoemaker also noted that there were several items not covered at the retreat on March 26; a portion will be covered tonight and the rest will be included at the May meeting. Natural Areas Philosophy and Goals - Follow-up to Board Retreat, Tom Shoemaker and Karen Marti Shoemaker presented a slide show to give the board a general sense of the Natural Areas Policy Plan. He handed out a summary of the natural areas acquisition and mitigation status and noted that Greenstone, Inc. closed yesterday. Shoemaker displayed a map of the natural areas and explained that the focus on acquisition has been to the south because of the development pressure, but is now turning to the Poudre River. Natural Resources Advisory Board Meeting April 5, 1995 Page 2 Phil Murphy wanted to know what will happen when the 1/4 cent sales tax expires in 1998. Shoemaker answered that POST 2001 is working on a proposal for the November ballot asking for a county -wide sales tax that would allocate acquisition funds for the different entities. He added that if there were no more funding, there would be a reduction in acquisitions but the maintenance and improvement areas would go forward. Johnson asked about the GOCo funds. Shoemaker said there is a May 8 deadline; proposals are being prepared for work that needs to be done along the river as well as development along the Fossil Creek Reservoir. He noted that the next round of acquisition funding will be in June. Lisa Steffes inquired about the acquisition status of the area to the north of the city. Shoemaker said that most of the natural areas to the north could be protected through the regulatory and planning process. He noted there is a need to piece together some of the larger areas and the Natural Resources Board, the Parks Board and the community will be asked to identify and re - prioritize acquisition sites. Arlene Blum asked if Loveland was acquiring land in the corridor. Shoemaker responded that they are not yet acquiring land, but they are developing a policy plan and looking at a couple of parcels along the Big Thompson River. He explained that Amendment 1(passed in 1992) put a cap on spending that requires voter approval for excess fund expenditure. Loveland received voter approval in November for the use of excess funds for acquisitions. McGee wanted an explanation on the foothills acquisition listed on the first page of the summary that shows a cost of $28,000 for a street oversize funding obligation. Shoemaker noted that the existing obligation went with the land; the city showed it as a separate cost so other acquisitions would not view a higher per acre cost. Friedman noted that when the Foothills Natural Area (Swanda) was purchased, it raised the issue of whether or not lands should be pursued outside of the urban growth area. He wanted to know if there is a mechanism to reconcile this so that when the question is posed, there is a way to defend the expenditure of city money. Shoemaker explained that the 1/4 cent tax is not limited geographically to the UGA. Karen Manci, Environmental Planner, introduced Virgil Taylor, Parks Manager. She explained that she and Taylor are members of an interdepartmental team, Open Spaces and Natural Areas (OSNA), that meets weekly along with the storinwater, forestry and park planning departments. She presented the finalized general management guidelines of the city -owned open spaces and natural areas. Natural Resources Advisory Board Meeting April 5, 1995 Page 3 Manci explained that some of the management plans for the small sites will be grouped together. She said there are 16 site management plans proposed. Friedman asked if the management plans will be evaluated on a periodic basis. Manci answered that they are based on a five year plan in order to provide data collection and review. Katy Mason asked how long it will take to complete all of the plans. Manci said that it may take five years to complete the first plans for all of the sites. She said it took longer to do the Cathy Fromme Prairie Management Plan than anticipated because it was a very sensitive area. She noted that the general management guidelines were also developed during that time. Virgil Taylor noted that combining the properties, like the Foothills, could speed things up. Mason asked why the Park Planning OSNA team members take the lead and not the Natural Resources Department. Manci explained that city teams establish one person as a leader for coordinating meetings and writing agenda items, but all members work together on decision making. Draft of Cathy Fromme Prairie Management Plan, OSNA Team Taylor and Manci explained that they are seeking questions, comments and board approval on the management plan. They said an open house was held in February for public review, and there was a mailing to over 500 citizens. Manci said the comments received were supportive of the team approach in developing a site management plan and the format was well received. She said initially the Ridge neighbors were opposed to a trail on the north side of the prairie, but there was not any opposition to this in the response to the management plan. Manci presented a map on the proposed trail that showed the recreation and habitat restoration features. Johnson asked if the report addressed bikes leaving the trail. Manci answered that the team is hoping that the interpretive signs explaining the sensitivity of the area will control that problem. Taylor explained that someone with good communication techniques is needed to patrol the area. McGee asked for an explanation of the reference made on Pages 6 and 7 of the plan regarding poisoning the prairie dogs along the canal because their burrows can create a significant water loss. Manci explained that prairie dogs can burrow 14 feet down and this can cause a washout of the canal. Steffes asked about the method of poison used to kill the prairie dogs. Manci responded that a poisonous gas is used to kill everything in the burrow; it does not affect animals above ground and care is taken to avoid areas of snakes, badgers and burrowing owls. Johnson referred to Page 32 on signage. He recommended using numbered posts and a color coded system for different animals. Natural Resources Advisory Board Meeting April 5, 1995 Page 4 Miller asked how stringent the 5:00 a.m. curfew enforcement would be. He noted that a lot of people like to go out before sunrise for photography. Taylor said there would be selective enforcement by the police. He explained that if individuals were not bothering anything and dogs were on leashes, trespassing would not be strictly enforced. Miller noted that Kevin Cook stated at the board's retreat that he firmly believed it is not realistic to expect every open space to satisfy every need. Miller recommended taking a hard look at being more restrictive and reserving some areas for a specific purpose (like wildlife). Manci explained that horses will be allowed on wide shoulders along the trail. Mason asked if horses are allowed on city trails. Taylor said they are not disallowed, but travel is restricted. Friedman said he is concerned about bicycle damage. Steffes asked if there was any herbicide or lawn runoff in the Westridge development. Manci said that gullying is taking place from the newly constructed homes, but once the area is more established, there shouldn't be a lot of damage. Johnson stated a concern regarding maintenance funds. He asked if the parks department would be overburdened; it appeared in the plan that they have the most financial responsibility. Shoemaker said that he and Taylor are working out an approach to handle the routine maintenance with joint funding. He noted that as more plans are completed, and with an increase in restoration, the demand for maintenance staff could be increased. This would be funded from the Natural Areas tax. Friedman asked for last comments before calling for a vote on the plan. He said he felt it was a great precedent setting effort. He thought it would be good, once the trail is finished, to patrol the area. Friedman asked if the county would incorporate the landfill acres into the Cathy Fromme Prairie once the landfill is closed. Shoemaker answered that the landfill plan states that post -landfill use is as open space to the extent feasible. McGee felt the document gave a clear depiction of the action implementation plan. He strongly endorsed the trail to be located on the north side of the prairie. Miller said the plan was well thought out and he appreciated the time and effort expended by the team. He said he was in favor of no dogs being allowed on the trails. Johnson seconded the "no dogs" aspect. He felt the ranger is going to be a requirement and thought it would be practical to use people from the neighborhood. Taylor noted that the city is concerned about the liability involved in using volunteers. Miller suggested identifying a desirable person through the master naturalist program. Natural Resources Advisory Board Meeting Aprils, 1995 Page 5 Tidd said he felt the team did a good job. Blum said she felt this was a good model that other communities might use. Mason said she was impressed with the format. She added that the signage should be very clear about the rules and expectations. Steffes referred to the cabin issue on Page 33. She suggested locating it by Harmony Road along the edge of the prairie and building an interpretive center next to it. Murphy asked what the philosophy is on attracting wildlife artificially. Manci said that only native plants would be used unless there is a need for buffering. She said every exotic plant won't be eliminated because of the need to maintain the ecosystem of the area. Murphy asked what the rationale was for the paved trail. He suggested putting in more of a natural trail in order to make it more difficult for bike riding. Taylor noted that this will be part of an extensive trail system and there will be less erosion problems with a paved trail Manci added that handicap access is easier on a paved trail. Tim Johnson made a motion to approve the plan and Phil Murphy seconded it. The motion passed unanimously (7-0). The board thanked Manci and Taylor for their presentation. Recycling and Solid Waste Program Changes, Tom Shoemaker Shoemaker noted that the board had previously recommended not to take the recycling package to council until the package was complete. He presented the draft of the Agenda Item Summary that he would like to take to council on April 18, with the board's approval. Shoemaker explained that there are two options to be considered. Option B includes a feasibility study to explore districting and the city forming a solid waste utility, with the actual work being done by private contractors. He noted there is $50,000 in a reserve account that could be used for the development of the RFP to design and install a composting facility and develop a marketing plan for recycling. Shoemaker explained the main changes on the ordinance involve bundling recycling and waste collection and requiring true volume -based changes. He said that the actual procedure used on the volume -based rate was left flexible and not restricted in order to explore available systems. Shoemaker noted that some of the ordinance changes also are housekeeping items, e.g., require weekly service without the monthly option, increase the license fee to offset some costs of the program, and require haulers to provide information more consistent with the goals. Shoemaker said that there are also two proposed changes to the Land Development Guidance System. He noted that one would require that new developments incorporate covenants requiring Natural Resources Advisory Board Meeting April 5, 1995 Page 6 consolidation of services and the other would require providing sufficient space for recycling and trash collection in commercial, industrial and multi -family units. Shoemaker said that the effective date for the ordinance change would probably be four to six months from approval in order to provide trash haulers the necessary time to change their system. Don Tidd asked if the administrative changes to the ordinance were delineated. Shoemaker answered that they are clarified on page 4, Section 5 of.the ordinance. Bill Miller asked about the mixed usage of volume, specifically the gallon size container vs weight. He questioned if the trucks are weighed. Shoemaker responded that the recyclables are weighed daily and reported in tons. Craig McGee asked if the city reviews the portion of Section 3 in the ordinance regarding the placement of recycling containers. Shoemaker said that there have been no complaints brought to the attention of the city; this portion of the ordinance has been in place from the beginning. McGee noted there is not much commercial regulation in the ordinance. Shoemaker said the requirement that service be provided is the same for both residential and commercial customers; recycling will be part of the basic service. He explained that volume collection already occurs on the commercial and multifamily side so there is less regulatory change here. Miller asked if council asked for Options A and B. Shoemaker responded that at the worksession council clearly said that they did not want to move ahead with the feasibility study. He noted that further discussion by the board and others provided direction to give council the two options. Miller asked if the board can state a preference. Katy Mason noted that the preference was stated at the December meeting. Shoemaker noted that the staff recommendation will be for Option B. Tim Johnson moved that the board recommends to council approval of the Option B Resolution and the two ordinances that relate to the recycling changes. Katy Mason seconded the motion. Phil Friedman asked for comments. McGee expressed concern about the consultant study. He thought there would be a lot of costs not now recognized if the city creates a utility. Tidd asked what was budgeted for the consultant fee. Shoemaker said that it would cost $25- 30,000 to do the study. Miller asked if Waste Management would be required to report what they take to their own landfill. Shoemaker said that they are voluntarily reporting that now but this would make it mandatory. Natural Resources Advisory Board Meeting April5, 1995 Page 7 There being no further discussion, Friedman called for a vote on the motion to recommend council approval of the Option B Resolution and the two ordinances that relate to the recycling changes. The motion passed by a vote of 7-2, with McGee and Tidd dissenting. Shoemaker asked if the dissenting votes were in opposition to Option A or Option B or to the ordinance. Tidd and McGee both said it was opposition to Option B and that they supported the ordinance changes. Friedman recommended that staff draft a letter to council for board approval. Committee Reports RECYCLING: No report. NATURAL AREAS: No report. EDUCATION: Friedman noted that the school portion deadline of the Environmental Awards is April 14. He said the committee needs to meet between April 15 and the May meeting of the board to determine the finalists for board approval. He suggested that the board members stay after adjournment to schedule a meeting time. GROWTH MANAGEMENT: No report. Other Business Miller said that the Larimer County Advisory Board is implementing an environmental awards program modeled after the city's program. He said the biggest thrust will be identifying the value of the environmental criteria related to wildlife, pollution, wetlands, etc. He said he will be contacting'Edith Felchle for more information. Tidd announced that he has recently become a grandfather for the fifth time and will not be at the next meeting as he will be out of town. Mason said that she and Johnson met with Bruce Hendee, Chip Steiner, Jeff Lakey and an intern to discuss the river walk. She said there was a lot of common ground and interest in working with the Natural Resources Advisory Board. She added that Johnson will follow up with the group and will report back to the board. Johnson noted the need to give the new council a shortlist of items to be included on the agenda for their retreat. Mason suggested that committee members call in recommendations to the committee chair; the chairs can then give the comments to Sally. Natural Resources Advisory Board Meeting April 5, 1995 Page 8 Johnson suggested May 19 around 5:00 p.m. as the date and time for a Water Treatment Plant #1 tour. He would like to invite council members. Sally will arrange for a bus. It was announced that the GOCo meeting will be at the University Holiday Inn on Wednesday, April 12, from 5:00-7:00 p.m. Murphy, Johnson and Friedman will try to attend. Friedman asked if the board would be interested in Kevin Cook attending a meeting in May or June to discuss specific species issues. He said Cook had offered to attend a meeting as a concerned citizen. Shoemaker said he will give Karen Manci the background information and it will be discussed further at the May meeting. Friedman noted that Edith Felchle will be at the May meeting to discuss her portion of the retreat presentation on the general perspective of environmental education. Friedman said he received an e-mail from Will Smith and a memo from Mike Smith regarding the Joe Wright controversy, a special use permit and a joint meeting with the Water Board. He said the water department decided not to join the Water Congress and Will Smith asked if the Natural Resources Board has a problem with this. Friedman suggested board members call Mike or Will with their comments as to whether the city should be involved with the Platte River Recovery Project. Adjournment The meeting adjourned at 10:00 p.m.