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HomeMy WebLinkAboutParks And Recreation Board - Minutes - 01/27/1988CITY OF FORT COLLINS PARKS AND RECREATION DEPARTMENT PARKS AND RECREATION BOARD MINUTES: Regular Meeting - January 27, 1988 President Karen Schubert called the meeting to order at 6:35 p.m. Jerry P. Brown introduced Deputy City Manager Skip Noe who will serve as Acting Director of Cultural, Library, and Recreational Services. It was noted that this is a sad time regarding H. R. Phillips, but all will go on as usual. Agenda Review: Jerry asked to add discussion of advertising and scoreboards as part of the EPIC update. MINUTES: The minutes of the last regular meeting of October 28, 1987 were approved unanimously as submitted. Citizen Participation: J. D. Murphy and Jeff Taylor of local health clubs were again present. They wanted an update of the EPIC health equipment and master plan with regards to our intent to enter into the health/fitness market in competition with the private sector. Jean Helburg answered that the plans are to make EPIC a multi -use facility. Jeff King said that the new equipment to be purchased is Paramount brand and will have 11 stations plus bike and rowing machines. It will cost approximately $24,000. Jean expects it to be available by summer. Jerry said that the competition question will have to be solved in the future with the master plan as a guide. J. D. noted they want to stay in touch with the Board and be involved in the process of decision making. CHOICES 95 Process Jerry explained the CHOICES 95 process. The City Council appointed committee on Parks and Open Space will be asked to review all proposed Capital projects through 1995 and make recommendations to the Executive Committee and eventually to Council for final decision. Staff prioritized 26 unfunded projects for the Parks and Open Space Committee to review, and we anticipate several more projects will be added through citizen input, etc. Skip said the Board will be able to provide input. Council will also review service level needs and decide if and how we can provide additional funding for 0 & M of projects. A community citizen survey results will also be used. Jerry said that the committee is not designed to be an advocate for projects and that the Board can serve in that capacity. EPIC Update Jean shared the several awards won by the City for EPIC including the Facility of Merit Award, and Engineering Excellence Award. Jeff King then gave a detailed report of the statistics for the first year of EPIC operations noting that the percentage of revenue recovery was higher than expected and participation was excellent. The economic impact to the community because of EPIC is important. Jeff mentioned the major events of the year as well as some proposed programs/events for 1988. Rick Ramirez asked about the bad publicity regarding teen night. Jeff explained our actions. Karen Schubert asked about the tile repair problem and Jeff noted repairs could possibly be made May through July. Karen asked if keeping the ice open during the summer was cost effective and Jeff said yes. Jean then noted that swimming in Fort Collins increased 200 percent in the first six months of EPIC operations. Jeff responded to the letter of complaint from JoAnne Jensen. Ann Schroeder suggested we have 'welcomers' for EPIC and Mike ImMasche suggested a separate reception and phone area from registration. Advertising Policy/Scoreboard Jeff distributed a proposed addendum to the policy as it related to advertising of alcoholic beverages, etc. He mentioned that a corporate sponsor such as Coors or Anheuser-Busch would probably be willing to fully fund a scoreboard, and he said participating groups are receiving sponsorship financial help from such companies. Skip asked the Board to think about this issue. There was much pro and con discussion. Karen asked the members to come back at the next meeting with policy recommendations related to beer and wine advertising. Citizen Participation George Lemos came late to the meeting and requested to speak to the Board about the need for improvements to Buckingham Park. He said there is neglect and vandalism and that parking is inadequate. He said that the lighting is poor and that homeless people live there. He says it is not a good example of the Choice City for visitors to the park, especially tournament teams. Mike ImMasche noted that a neighborhood park is not designed for tournaments and parking. Virgil Taylor said he may need to move his programs to Martinez Park. Jerry said there are currently no dollars identified or available for Buckingham Park and that maybe the CHOICES 95 process could be a place for this to be discussed. He asked Mr. Lemos to please put together a conceptual proposal of what he wants so staff can put some numbers to it. Karen said she would visit Buckingham and meet with Mr. Lemos. Park Curfew Issue Within the last year, we have had problem in City Park and Moore Park with people in the parks at night making excess noise and leaving debris, etc. Vandalism has resulted in many locations. Virgil Taylor feels a curfew is needed and he is willing to do a survey to see if it works in other communities. The Police Department feels that enforcement of problems would be easier if we had a curfew. There was much discussion on the issue and we will continue to talk about this next month. Skip said staff will prepare a draft ordinance for review of proposed language and we can have a representative from the Police here if desired. Other Business Bill Loy brought up his concern that 8th and 9th graders must try out and be cut from school basketball teams before they can play on Parks and Recreation teams. He feels this is humiliating. The Board agreed this is wrong. Jean Helburg will look into this problem. - Karen wants to respond to the Coloradoan Editorial Column written by Roger Hawthorne on the master plan. It is obvious he never read the master plan. The Board agreed with her. - Jean mentioned that there will be no charge on Saturday and Sunday at EPIC for our first anniversary. Sunday at 12:30 there will be a brief ceremony. The meeting was adjourned at 9:30 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Bob Aukerman, Board Secretary Meeting Attendance Board Members Staff Guests Karen Schubert John Rabun Bob Aukerman Bill Loy Mike ImMasche Ann Schroeder Roger Tarum Rick Ramirez Skip Noe Jerry P. Brown Jean Helburg Virgil Taylor Jeff King J. D. Murphy Jeff Taylor George Lemos