HomeMy WebLinkAboutNatural Resources Advisory Board - Minutes - 04/06/1994I
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MINUTES
CITY OF FORT COLLINS
NATURAL RESOURCES ADVISORY BOARD
REGULAR MEETING
281 CONFERENCE ROOM - 281 N. COLLEGE AVE.
APRIL 6, 1994
For Reference: Bill Miller, NRAB Chair - 493-7693
Chris Kneeland, Council liaison - 221-2950
Tom Shoemaker, Staff liaison - 221-6263
Boardmembers Present
Bill Miller, Hal Swope, Phil Friedman, Don Tidd, Phil Murphy, Lisa Howard,
Tim Johnson, Katy Mason
Boardmembers Absent (excused)
Craig McGee
Staff Present
Tom Shoemaker, Julie Bothwell, Karen Manci, Randy Balok, Kellan Duncan,
Susan Duba-Hayes
Guest Present
Jim Greuel, Martha Punderson, Ann Yang
ADDroval of Minutes
It was moved, seconded, and unanimously approved that the minutes of
the March 2, 1994 NRAB meeting be accepted with the following change: Page
4, paragraph 5, second sentence should read, "Last summer, the landowners
around the area tried to exterminate the prairie dogs in the area and
several staff members of Light and Power met and decided to try and
preserve a small colony of prairie dogs along the bike trail."
Proposed Prairie Dog Management Studv
Kellan Duncan, Light and Power Utility, presented the Prairie Dog
Management project at the March 2, NRAB meeting. He was present tonight to
get final feedback from the Board. The proposed Prairie Dog Management
Plan for station 300 was included in the Board's packet.
Johnson stated that he was impressed by the project and that the plan
had some good recommendations.
Shoemaker commented that with respect to the Natural Areas Policy Plan
this plan addresses management needs to meet objectives of maintaining some
large colonies of prairie dogs in the community and to learn more about
urban wildlife management. He explained that the reason he committed to
spending some of the natural areas fund on the project is that he feels
that it,is consistent with the goals of helping accomplish larger goals.
Swope commented that the Management Project was good work.
Friedman stated that regardless of the outcome of the project the
document could serve as a good framework for this type of approach to other
prairie dog areas or other areas where there is potential urban interface
to a natural area.
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Johnson moved and Swope seconded that the NRAB recommend the Prairie
Dog Management Plan to Light and Power.
Miller suggested besides sending a letter to Light and Power one
should also be sent to Council.
Friedman made the amendment of, "The Board recommends the study to
Light and Power Administration under the consideration that if it is
approved that it be given further consideration by Council." Johnson and
Swope accepted the amendment. The motion was passed with Tidd opposing.
Staff will write the letter.
Susan Duba-Hayes, Stormwater Utility was present to discuss the
drainage channel design for the Foothills Basin North Tributary Project.
Hayes stated that what generated this project was all the development
occurring in the area. Hayes stated that Natural Resources agreed to use
some of the Natural Areas funding to help enhance this project in various
ways and has already contributed funding to analysis to see what kind of
design changes can be made.
Hayes stated that their original design in the master plan was having
a low flow pipe. All the water that is there now was going to be piped all
the way to the ditch and then there would be an overflow channel so that in
large storms the water would overflow and go down the channels. She
explained that would have ended up with a dry channel. Staff did not want
to put the water in a pipe, they wanted to keep the natural flow. By
keeping the natural flow it would also help them meet their criteria for
stormwater quality.
Hayes stated that when Stormwater presented the plan to Natural
Resources Division they suggested varying the bottom width more and adding
more wetland vegetation. Natural Resources also suggested that in certain
areas the channel could be widened to make ponds and wetland "pods".
Stormwater did look at the ideas and found that could build a channel more
cheaply this way. There is a lot of fall in that area and the original
plan required 8 to 9 drop structures; making the channel wider and adding
more vegetation would allow more steepness to the channel and reduce the
number of drop structures to 3.
Hayes said that the vision for the channel was developed by looking at
the natural channel in the Fromme Open Space Area, only with less willows.
The intent is to keep it low maintenance with minimal mowing. The major
maintenance they would plan on doing is to dredge some of the ponds and the
spill energy dissipaters downstream of drop structures when they fill with
sediment. Also, they are trying a soil cement type of drop structure
instead of a rock rip rap so it will be more the color of the native
landscaping and will look more like sandstone.
Hayes stated that the project design is very doable and feels that it
is going to be a great amenity. They are in final design at the present
and do not have .the detail numbers of the cost, but feel that it is
appropriate for Stormwater Utility to pay for what is fundamentally needed
for the drainage aspects and for the Natural Resources Division to pay for
the areas where there is an obvious enhancement to take the channel way out
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in order to add extra etlands. Natural Resources will pay for the
additional excavation, vegetation, and right-of-way needed.
Shoemaker stated that Natural Resources Division is also looking at
purchasing some pockets of additional upland areas adjacent to this site to
plant upland vegetation to provide more buffer from development.
Hayes said that they plan to begin construction this summer.
Friedman asked when construction on the project will be completed.
Hayes answered that staff expects a six-month construction period to finish
in the fall. They hope to do the seeding in the fall, but may have to wait
until the following spring to do plantings. They will then have a two-year
maintenance period by the contractor and then the City will take over.
Hayes invited the Board to tour the site with the Storm Drainage Board
in August or September.
Update on Proposal for Public Use of Water Treatment Plant 11
Randy Balok, Parks Planning and Development, was present to update the
Board on Water Treatment Plant #1 (WTP1). He distributed a letter that was
sent to Council regarding the project.
Balok stated that there was a focus group of interested agencies to
study the project of opening WTP1 for public use. Interested agencies were
Colorado Division of State Parks, Division of Wildlife, US Forest Service,
Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District, NRAB, Parks and Recreation
Board, Friends of the Poudre, Water Utility Department, and Larimer County
Parks.
The focus group found out that to make WTP1 useable by the public the
access road will have to be rebuilt. The State Highway Department says
that to have a public use facility, the access needs to be more
accommodating (needs to be wider, have better turning lanes, etc.).
Balok stated that a few years ago, Colorado Division of Parks budgeted
money to have Colorado Department of Transportation do the plans to widen
the road. The plans are completed and were submitted to the focus group
and the focus group has reviewed them. The plans have been approved by the
State and are ready to go.
The project will cost $656,000 and Balok said that Gary Kimsey,
Friends of the Poudre, volunteered to prepare a grant request for some
ISTEA money. With the grant request you can request 80% from ISTEA if you
can match 20% locally, which meant that local match needed to be
approximately $131,000. Local funds to cover the 20% needed are available
except for about $31,000.
Will Smith and Gary Kimsey presented the grant to the Upper Front
Range Transportation Council in Greeley and Mayor Azari presented the grant
to the Northern Front Range Transportation Committee in Fort Collins and
the reception of both Councils was good. The Councils will reconvene in
early May and will compare notes on all the requests that were presented.
Balok stated that one of the strategies of presenting it to both Councils
is it could be a joint or even a two-year funding process. After the
Councils reconvene they will send out a letter to all of the grant
submittals with their priorities and their recommendations on how their
funding will be distributed.
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Balok stated that the focus group decided not to meet again until they
know what the two Councils have said. If the grant is approved, the group
will look for the extra $30,000-40,000 to make up the 20% local match.
Beyond that the focus group will start working with the Colorado Department
of Transportation to schedule the project and prepare lease arrangements
with Colorado Division of State Parks who will probably be the managing
agency. If the grant does not get approved the focus group will reconvene
and begin to brainstorm other alternatives.
Proposed Changes to City Weed Ordinance
Karen Manci, Natural Resources Division, was present to review
proposed changes to the City Weed Ordinance. She presented a slide show of
various weeds.
Manci stated that the Weed Code Team is made up of staff from
Stormwater, Water and Wastewater, City Attorney, Poudre Fire Authority,
Natural Resources Division, Streets, Parks, Forestry and Lloyd Berry,
Larimer County Weed Supervisor. The team began to meet in early November
to examine the various weed codes of the City. The Ditch Task Force saw a
need to have a variance for the height of grasses that can grow along
ditches and the Open Space/Natural Areas Management Team (OSNA) wanted to
add a variance to the City Code to allow grasses in natural areas to grow
taller so that they can produce seeds for birds and other wildlife
benefits. The OSNA wanted to: add some exotic non-native weeds to the
list; take off some species that were native to the area; and improve some
general clean-up issues with the codes.
Manci stated that the Weed Code Team recommended to change the
definition of "weed" to read as follows: "Weed shall mean an aggressive,
non-native plant detrimental to native plant communities or agricultural
lands, including but not limited to: 'the list of weeds ', and any other
type of noxious weeds designated by the Colorado Weed Law or Larimer County
Weed District."
Manci stated that in Colorado there are approximately 1,300 plant
species and 10% are exotic non-native. The number of exotic species in the
Fort Collins area is a little higher percentage because of the urban
environment.
Some of the noxious plants that are going to stay on the list are:
Leafy Spurge, Canada Thistle, Russian Knapweed, Bindweed, Yellow Toadflax,
and Dalmatian Toadflax. Some plants that are going to be removed from the
list include: Native Sunflower and Showy Milkweed. Non-native plants that
are going to be added to list include: Purple Loosestrife, Saltcedar,
Spotted Knapweed, and Diffuse Knapweed.
Manci stated that one of the public comments, and from Tim Buchanan
(City Forester) was to add Russian Olive to the weed list. However, due to
the fact that Russian Olive is so common in Fort Collins, and a tree -size
shrub, the Weed Team felt that it did not seem practical to add this to the
weed list and require landowners to keep this plant at a height of 611 or
12" . Also it would be very expensive for landowners and the City to cut
down all the Russian Olives to this height. The Team felt that it might be
better off inserting the "herbaceous" term into the definition of a weed
and limiting their list to only herbaceous weeds, which would mean taking
Saltcedar off the list, as well. Saltcedar and Russian Olive will be
handled through the revisions to the tree code proposed by the Forestry
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Department that would prevent the planting or importing of Russian Olive
i and Saltcedar and through volunteer programs that would provide financial
assistance for substitute tree purchase or tree removal.
Swope commented that even though the proposed changes in the woody
vegetation codes would prevent the planting or importing of Russian Olive
and Saltcedar, there is an advantage to having Russian Olive included as a
weed, even if it is not required to be kept at 6 or 12 " , because it lets
the public know that the City thinks of it as a bad plant.
Friedman asked if the proposed changes would cause people to use more
herbicide? Manci responded that probably not that much more with the
addition of the few species and deletion of others. With some weeds, such
as Leafy Spurge and Loosestrife, spraying may be necessary to control the
spread of these weeds. It is better to keep these species under control
now, rather than allow them to spread, which would require more use of
herbicide in the future because these species are very difficult to
eradicate on a large scale without the use of herbicide.
Manci stated that staff is adding two variances to one of the codes to
allow grasses to grow taller on certified natural areas and on certified
xeriscapes. Natural Resources Division will be handling certifications for
natural areas and Jim Clark, Water and Wastewater, will be handling the
certifications for xeriscape.
Swope moved and Johnson seconded to approve the proposed changes to
the City Weed Codes. The motion was passed unanimously.
Recommendations on Proposed Short-term Growth Management Actions
Mason distributed a letter that she drafted regarding the short-term
Growth Management Actions that were discussed at the March 2, NRAB meeting.
Shoemaker stated that Council's Growth Management Committee will meet
April 12. There will be a worksession with the P&Z Board to discuss
feedback from various Boards, the focus group, and public open houses on
the short-term measures and then Council will decide whether to put it on
their May 3 agenda.
Swope stated that he was glad Mason put emphasis on determining the
cost of growth. He asked if there is a need to define the cost of growth.
Mason answered that the measures that the Growth Management Team have
proposed are short term measures and they looking to do a much broader
growth management plan in the future. At that point the Board will have
input and can then discuss cost of growth.
Tidd expressed concern about the idea of increasing residential
density before alternative transportation is provided. Shoemaker explained
that without better public transit and use of alternative modes, the air
quality situation is improved by dispersion. However, from experience
around the country you do not get to approach effective public
transportation until you get certain levels of density.
Friedman commented that if we try to increase the densities before the
transportation is there than you have a large cost of adding the
transportation after the fact. If we try to put the transportation systems
into effect before the density is there you have large cost because the
transportation has to be subsidized to make it viable.
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Johnson stated that one of the things that needs to be addressed is
that often developments are done in multiple phases. While the whole
development may meet the minimum density of 5 units per acre, early phases
are often built at low density and then the later higher density phases
come back for revision at lower densitities, so the high density never
happens. So, we never end up with anything that approaches 5 units per
acre, it is always the low density. If development proposes 5 units per
acre than it should be built out to that. He suggested that fees be based
on the 5 units per acre minimum, and if the development is built at 2 or 3
units per acre then they would have to pay 2 1/2 times as much to cover
City services. Fees should b based on a per unit area basis.
Swope moved and Friedman seconded that the letter be sent to Council
The motion was passed unanimously.
Natural Areas Acquisition Proposal
Shoemaker presented two natural area acquisition proposals to the
Board for their recommendation to Council.
Wren Pit
This is a 35 acre site that is a gravel mine owned by the Landon
family and operated by Western. Mobile. Staff would like to recreate an
oxbow type situation and reduce ponding to minimize the need for
evaporative loss augmentation.
Shoemaker stated that the City would buy the property for $1,000 per
acre. A cooperative reclamation program continues and Western Mobile has
done all that they are going to do. The City's obligation would be the
tree and shrub planting in the future.
Wester Mobile would remain the operator for approximately a year for
two reasons: 1) if there is a need to regrade in the pit, the Corps of
Engineers treats the area as an active mining area, not a wetland, as long
as Western Mobile is the operator; and 2) To get a final handle on what
the augmentation need will be because we cannot get a final inspection from
the State Engineer until after it is done and established. Staff estimates
that it will be less than one acre. The City will buy the water and
Western Mobile will handle the costs of water court.
Johnson moved and Howard seconded that NRAB recommend that the City
purchase the Wren Pit property. The motion was unanimously passed.
Fossil Creek Wetlands
This proposal concerns a 152-acre parcel of land at the corner of
Trilby and Timberline owned by the partnership that developed Paragon Point
and a 143-acre parcel of land owned by the City at the corner of Trilby and
LeMay. The private parcel has upland habitat, floodplain, and a nice
wetland habitat. The City -owned property is part of a failed Special
Improvement District, and includes about 72 acres of development ground, 33
acres of wetland and floodplain along Stanton Creek, and about 38 of upland
habitat east of Stanton Creek.
Shoemaker stated that staff's objective on the private parcel is to
protect the wetlands and maintain as much of the upland habitat as
possible. West of the railroad tracks, the objective is to maintain the
open area to the east of Stanton Creek, protect wetlands, and maintain a
corridor along Stanton Creek that would connect with the corridor that has
been maintained with part of the Greenstone development.
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The land west of the railroad tracks, known as the MCKendry S.I.D., is
in City ownership, but is controlled by the Finance Department which is
charged with recovering the City's investment in the property. So the
policy that exist with respect to SID properties is that City departments
who may have needs for land receive first shot, but have to pay fair market
value.
Shoemaker explained that he first worked to acquire all of the private
land east of the railroad tracks, but the cost was $1.1 million. So, the
approach is to exchange properties with the intent of maintaining a large
block of the most important natural habitat. Areas shown in green on the
map would end up in City ownership in the natural areas program. This
would include everything east of Stanton Creek in the SID property, plus 99
acres of the Paragon Point partnership's property. Paragon partners would
develop 25 units on 57 acres in the northeast corner of their property.
Shoemaker stated that areas shown in light green would have split
ownership. Paragon Point partners would purchase the property, but the
City would retain a conservation easement on the area shown. A
conservation easement would require protection and/or enhancement of the
wetland, native vegetation, and no development in a corridor along Stanton
Creek ranging from 100-150 feet. The developer would then only be allowed
to put in some ponds and would like to create a linear park feature of
approximately 8 acres that would allow some separation between active
development and the more natural setting. (area outside the wetland).
Shoemaker stated that the (orange) area would be private ownership that
would be developed according to whatever City rules are in place at the
time.
Shoemaker stated that the SID would be paid in full at market value.
The Natural Areas program would end up with 133 acres in fee (green area)
and 33 acres in conservation easement. The total cost to the Natural Areas
Program equals $388,619.
Tidd moved and Johnson seconded that NRAB recommend that the Natural
Resources Division purchase the proposed natural areas at Fossil Creek.
The motion was unanimously passed.
Poudre River Vision
Johnson distributed to the Board a letter that he drafted to Council
regarding the Poudre River Vision based on the Board's previous
discussions.
The Board agreed that a statement be added to bring closure to the
Landscape Opportunity Study and to reflect that they would like Kari
Henderson to be the outside consultant on the Poudre River Vision project.
Friedman moved and Swope seconded that the letter be presented to
Council with the corrections. The motion was passed unanimously.
Environmental Action Awards
Friedman announced that the deadline for school submittals to the
Environmental Action Awards is April 15. The committee currently has one
submission and one is pending. After April 15, the Education Committee
will meet and review the applications.
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Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 10:20.
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City services, programs, and activities and will make special
arrangements for persons with disabilities. Please call the
Resources Division at 221-6600 for assistance.
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