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HomeMy WebLinkAboutParks And Recreation Board - Minutes - 02/28/1996CITY OF FORT COLLINS CULTURAL, LIBRARY, AND RECREATIONAL SERVICES PARKS AND RECREATION BOARD City Council Liaison to the Board: Bob McCluskey, Jr. Board President: Diane Thies 495-7359 (work) 225-6236 (home) Staff Support to the Board: Jackie Rael, Administrative Aide II Minutes: Regular Meeting -- February 28, 1996 Call Meeting to Order: The regular meeting was called to order at 6:44 p.m. by Board President Diane Thies. Agenda Review: No Changes to the printed agenda. Approval of Minutes: The minutes of the Regular Meeting of January 24, 1996 were unanimously (9-0) approved on a motion by Marilyn Barnes, seconded by Mary Ness. Citizen Participation: No citizen participation. Natural Areas Acquisition Tom Shoemaker, Director of Natural Resources, gave the Board an update on the natural areas that have been purchased so far and is asking the Board for approval on the acquisition of Redtailed Grove, located on the west side of Highway 287 opposite of Fossil Creek Meadows. This 39.62 acre property is priced below market and will cost $800,000, which is comparatively high for natural areas acquisition. Staff is recommending that this site deserves a high level of protection, and feel it is worth exploring Alternative 1 to sell a portion if the buyer develops the property in a manner that is compatible to the remainder of the site. Roger asked if this purchase would defer another purchase. Tom replied that to date we have $3,900,000 in this account. Mary Ness asked if there is an opportunity of expanding this land west of the railroad tracks. Tom said there is a possibility. Jessica said that this looks like a critical piece of property for the trail system. On a motion by Marilyn Barnes, seconded by Sylvia Cranmer, the Board voted unanimously (9-0) to recommend that staff proceed with full acquisition, and to allow staff to look at possibilities of sale for a portion of this Parks and Recreation Board Minutes February 28, 1996 Page 2 land, and would consult with both the Natural Resources and Parks and Recreation Boards prior to any sale, exchange, or lease of any portion of this property. Foothills Natural Areas Management Plan Karen Manci, Natural Resources, is a member of the Open Space Natural Areas (OSNA) management team. Randy Balok is the team leader who gave credit to the team members: Edith Felchle, Rod Albers, Dave Mosnik, Jim Miller, Virgil Taylor, and Ralph Zentz. Karen gave the Board a view of the sites comprising the Foothills Natural Areas via a slide show, and updated the Board on the 400+comments received so far on the proposed management plan. Over 100 people attended the open house meeting. She then distributed a copy of the Natural Resources Board's sub- committee's recommendation. Karen explained the biggest controversy is to leash/not leash dogs on these sites. She further explained that the City Ordinance mandates that the dogs be leashed on City -owned properties. Marilyn Barnes said that the management plan has been well organized in that it is people friendly and preserves the natural area. Sylvia commented that the plan isn't clear. Marilyn suggested a ranger program using CSU students for internships; Sylvia added, volunteer patrol rangers. Diane had a question on ADA and if the trails will be handicap accessible. Randy said we will have a difficult time getting the grade for wheelchairs from Spring Creek to Dixon Reservoir. Marty Heffernan said that we need to provide a "like experience" for the disabled population to provide a reasonable accommodation. Diane asks that this just be looked at. Citizen Tim Johnson said that in order to get more people participating in long-term care of our trails, we need to get volunteers involved in building the trails. It is a good way to have people attach themselves to the natural areas. He sees the use of mountain bikes as a problem. Some of the areas need to be just walked and bikes need to be parked where they will hamper the natural area. Dogs need to be enforced through Animal Control. He suggested that the Board make the decision up- front. Citizen Connie Stone stated that all of the five dogs she has owned have been off leash and they were trained and didn't chase wildlife. She likes Pineridge to run her dogs, and although she has noticed an increase in population, she feels the four areas shouldn't have been lumped together. There is no city property where a dog is allowed off leash. It is a matter of being a responsible citizen. Randy Balok said that there is an existing City Ordinance and City Council would have to make an exception to the rule. Sylvia asked why this should be any different than any other City park. Response from Connie Stone is that her dogs are under control "off leash" and Pineridge is an open area that you can see a problem approaching. Marilyn said it is a matter of perspective. Sylvia asked if the wildlife is in danger because of the dogs running. Karen replied that a raptor will not feed in an area where there is traffic (people and/or dogs). Question was raised as to whether there have been any calls about dogs attacking or pestering people hiking in these areas? Edith said that there were 21 comments of such. Question was raised as to what the difference is for open space and natural areas. Parks and Recreation Board Minutes February 28, 1996 Page 3 Karen said they are very much the same and all are natural areas. We are going to get away from the term "open space". Connie said she had a number of comments about Pineridge and she said there's 9, 800 licensed dogs in Fort Collins. She feels the City needs to provide a few places where those dogs can run. Pineridge has historically served that purpose. It has also served the purpose of sledding. It is close enough to the City and it should be a place to connect to nature and shouldn't be restricted. All the rules should not apply to all the areas. Question was asked how do you restrict frisbee tossing? Karen said a ranger would explain the restrictions to the offenders. Diane said we are looking at two issues: one is do we want to keep this as a natural area or do we want to keep this as a passive recreation area? She asked Karen if this is an area that needs sensitivity? Karen said we are at a point that we are seeing degradation. Diane asked if there are areas that could be designated for dogs off leash? Karen said we couldn't. She asked about the Redtail Grove natural area, and would that be available for unleashed dogs? Karen said, no because it is City property. The Natural Areas Policy Plan was adopted by City Council in 1992 and this plan follows general management guidelines that were approved by Council. Roger said staying on the trail is going to be hard to manage. Karen said it will be an opportunity for the ranger to educate the public and have jurisdiction. Citizen Mick Scarpella agrees with both sides. He said that sledding in Pineridge has gone on for several years. He said that the prairie dogs have more rights than people, and when the natural areas becomes more important than the people using the land, something is wrong. Sylvia said the Federal Government has a good plan to designate the lands that have guidelines that are most of the time clear. She doesn't think the plan presented is clear. Mick Scarpella asked if there could be a designated area where we could have dogs run free. Tom said that the Natural Areas Tax is to be designed for its intent and could not legally be used to purchase a "dog run area". Connie said in the plan it states that in the buffer zone, the prairie dogs will be controlled if they approach neighbor's land. She asked why can't the residents be responsible for that and why spend tax dollars on that. Virgil replied that we need to balance this and it is more sensible for the City to eradicate the prairie dogs and we need to protect that zone between the two. After much discussion, Diane said we need to put a more positive emphasis on the things we can do and need to find areas for passive recreation and the natural areas is not intended for this purpose. Roger said that the signs need to be reworded and changed to focus on what we want to get across to the public. Virgil read a brochure that Boulder has made available at their trailheads that has a positive connotation and explains why the rules are made. Roger said it is a matter of respecting the land. Mary said if we buy it, it needs to be used. He feels the sledding hill could be groomed; it is a matter of over legislation where this plan is concerned. Jessica said the intent of the plan is very good. Mary said there's no special interests groups on the committee. Mary said there's a lot of people out there Parks and Recreation Board Minutes February 28, 1996 Page 4 with special concerns. Sylvia said that if we are going to reject the plan, then we need to make recommendations. Eric asked about looking at restrictions by individual sites. Mary said each site should be restricted by its own. Diane said we need to look at each site individually. She further added that we need to listen to the people who use Pineridge and ask them what they want to see. Jessica wants the people here tonight to come up with their plan and look at how they think the plan should be managed. Eric asked if we allow certain activities to happen do we need to change the guidelines? Jessica said it's a trade off. Karen said we are not going to make all citizens happy, but we are trying to do the best thing for the property. Marilyn Barnes made a motion for the Board to accept the plan with the exception of revisiting the use of Pineridge, seconded by Rich Feller, the Board voted unanimously (9-0) to accept the Foothills Natural Areas Management Plan as submitted by staff with the exception of Pineridge. Other Business Mike Powers said that the City of Fort Collins was invited by GOCO to apply for the $10,000,000 grant for natural areas trail along the Poudre River. Mike also advised the Board that the City was not awarded the GOCO grant for matching funds for the fields at Lincoln Junior High. This would have been a three-way matching grant with the Colorado Rockies field that will still be built for $50,000, the City's portion of $50,000, and the GOCO grant for $50,000. On a motion by Mary Ness, seconded by Sylvia Crammer, the Board adjourned at 10:00 pm. 7 Rael, Administrative Aide II Meeting Attendance e Board Members Staff Guests Diane Thies Mike Powers Tom Keith, EDAW Marilyn Barnes Sylvia Cranmer Rebecca Chavez Rich Feller Jessica MacMillan Mary Ness Eric Reno Roger Tarum Marty Heffernan Jean Helburg Virgil Taylor Terry Keith Dave Mosnik Janet Meisel Craig Foreman Randy Balok Tom Shoemaker Karen Manci Jana McKenzie Connie Stone Tim Johnson Mick Scarpella C, • Parks and Recreation Board Minutes February 28, 1996 Page 5 Edith Felchle Rod Albers Jackie Rael • CITY OF FORT COLLINS CULTURAL, LIBRARY, AND RECREATIONAL SERVICES PARKS AND RECREATION BOARD WORK SESSION City Council Liaison to the Board: Bob McCluskey, Jr. Board President: Diane Thies 495-7359 (work) 225-6236 (home) Staff Support to the Board: Jackie Rael, Administrative Aide lI Call Meeting to Order: The work session to discuss the Parks and Recreation Policy Plan was called to order at 5:10 p.m. by President Diane Thies. Minutes: Work Session Meeting -- February 28, 1996 Parks and Recreation Policy Plan (Master Plan) Park Planner Janet Meisel opened the discussion by stating that last night at City Council Work Session the Cost of Services Team presented their plan to Council. Staff received direction from Council that they would support a community parkland funding fee. It would be based upon the plan for the neighborhood parks for future needs on new homes only. Jessica MacMillan is opposed to taxing the new homes only and thinks it should apply to new and existing homes. She said everyone enjoys the parks so why just the new homes. Diane Thies agrees with Jessica. Mike Powers said the only reason we add more parks is because we have more new people moving to Fort Collins. Diane said that we are affecting affordable housing and since everyone uses the parks then everyone should pay the fees. She asked if we have a population ceiling in Fort Collins in mind? Janet replied that by the year 2015 the projected population will be 150,000. Janet said we are projecting a need of three new community parks by 2015 (Fossil Creek, Southwest Community Park, and one additional park). Jessica asked if the Neighborhood Parkland Fee will be assessed on new homes only also? Reply: yes. Eric Reno said the house is the impact, anything beyond the impact will be considered a tax. Janet said it is directly related to an impact on the community. Roger Tarum agrees that the people who are already here have paid the fees and where there is new development that should pay. Note: At the March meeting, the Board will vote on all Parks and Recreation Policy Plan financial issues that we will discuss tonight. Neighborhood Parkland Funding; Virgil Taylor said parks maintenance costs would increase from $40,000 an acre to $67,000 an acre annually if we go to additional "mini parks" in neighborhoods versus one neighborhood park every square mile. A new dwelling unit would pay around $2,200 for parkland fees. That would have the cost of living increase based on the Denver/Boulder CPI. Parks and Recreation Board Work session Minutes February 28, 1996 Page 2 Comments: Diane asked if the neighborhood would be asked what they want (several small parks or one larger neighborhood park). Jessica said that we should partner with the neighborhood and if they want more than one park, they should help share the costs. Marilyn Barnes asked why we are even looking at smaller parks instead of one larger neighborhood park? Janet said that this is what we are hearing in the City Plan meetings and voices from the public. Diane said the parks could be linear trails that connect to a larger neighborhood park. She would like to see a lid on neighborhood park costs and, and have the neighborhood work within a budget, asking what amenities do you want in your park within this budget? Eric asked if the placement of the park is the discretion of the developer? Janet said that is the old model and the Council wants to make the decisions where to place a park within a development. Council will determine lot sizes in new developments through the City Plan process. Marilyn asked about an apartment complex of 200 units and does the developer get charged $2,200 for each unit? Mike said that Council is looking at a sliding scale and the larger the home, the more the development fees. Jessica asked if our Parks Policy needs to be revisited. In light of the types of development that is occurring, i.e., Greenstone, Paragon Point, and SouthRidge, should we feel obligated to build them a park since the density is so low? Mike replied that if we collected money, we need to provide a park. If Council makes a commitment to charge each home a certain amount of money, then the neighborhood needs to live within that budget for their park. Jessica said that if a developer wants to develop a particular piece of land, then the developer/homeowner should pay for that park. Conservation Trust: Civil Engineer Craig Foreman explained that Conservation Trust money comes from the Lottery scratch tickets. The City Council policy states we can spend that money on trails and open space only. We have a new one -quarter cent tax from the County open space tax for trails and open space. Therefore, staff is thinking of redirecting some of the Conservation Trust money to other recreational needs. This will not impact the trails construction. We received over $800,000 last year. The one - quarter cent from the Larimer County Tax could be directed to the Open Space and Trail program. Sylvia asked about the Natural Areas Fund and how that could impact the trails? Tom Shoemaker explained that the regional, recreation trails, and natural trails are all a part of this. Jessica asked what is identified as unfunded recreation items? Janet replied, southside recreation, outdoor pool. Jessica said that the funds should be specially targeted. Sylvia said in 1982 when the Council designated this money towards trails and open space was where the money needed to be directed and now it needs to shift. Marilyn said we shouldn't take any money away from trails and open space and that should always be a first priority. Diane disagrees and said that if money is needed elsewhere it should go to fund that program. Jessica agrees with Marilyn and says that as a consumer the trails can't be built soon enough. Marty Heffernan said that the County Open Space Lands funding of approximately $2,400,000 annually has to be used for trails and open space, and if we could redirect the Conservation Trust money to fund the needs of the community in recreation facilities, then we need to do that. • 0 Parks and Recreation Board Work session Minutes February 28, 1996 Page 3 The work session concluded at 6:35 p.m. S:cskpieRael, ectf^ull`y, ^su d, Administrative Aide II Work session Meeting Attendance Board Members off Diane Thies Mike Powers Marilyn Barnes Marty Heffernan Sylvia Crammer Jean Helburg Rebecca Chavez Virgil Taylor Rich Feller Terry Keith Jessica MacMillan Dave Mosnik Mary Ness Janet Meisel Eric Reno Craig Foreman Roger Tarum Randy Balok Jackie Rael Guests Tom Keith, EDAW Jana McKenzie, EDAW