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HomeMy WebLinkAboutParks And Recreation Board - Minutes - 12/10/1986CITY OF FORT COLLINS PARKS AND RECREATION DEPARTMENT PARKS AND RECREATION BOARD MINUTES: Regular Meeting - December 10, 1986 President Cathy Mulcahy called the meeting, held at the Collindale Golf Course Clubhouse, to order at 6:40 p.m. Councilman Horak was able to attend the first hour of the meeting then had to leave. Agenda Review: No changes to the printed agenda. Minutes: The minutes of the last regular meeting of October 29, 1986 were approved unanimously, as corrected. Karen Schubert noted that the name "Buckaroos" was misspelled on the bottom of the first page. Citizen Participation: No citizen participation. Proposed Veterans Memorial Project Wally Bujack, Chairman of the Veterans Memorial Project Committee, spoke for a few minutes explaining the background of the project. Their committee examined 21 sites and chose Edora Park for the location of the memorial. The final memorial will consist of four large stones, flags, and a small garden area. The memorial will remember the Larimer County Veterans who died from World War I, World War II, the Korean War, and Vietnam. The project should cost around $80,000 and funding methods are being established. Larimer County Commissioner Chairman Courtlyn Hotchkiss committed $10,000 to the project. H. R. Phillips said the memorial is projected for location on the hilly area off Stuart Street west of EPIC. He sees no problem with the location. He also said Parks and Recreation will not be responsible for maintenance of the memorial. The model of the memorial was brought to the meeting later in the evening. After further discussion the Board voted unanimously (8:0) to approve the location of the Veterans Memorial project in Edora Park. Fossil Creek Park Master Plan Project Manager Craig Foreman briefly explained the status of the master plan process to date. He introduced Steve Olt of Resource Consultants, and Axel Bishop and Rob Layton from Design Concepts of Boulder, the sub -consultants. They presented the background information on the project. They showed slides of the site and incorporated the comments received by citizens and staff into charts and maps of the site. The basic elements of this community park revolves around the water amenity (Portner Reservoir, Fossil Creek and Mail Creek) aspects and the natural terrain. There are several biomes on the site, but very few trees at this time. There is minimal historical value on the site. The engineering of the dam and the water flow is the primary concern and a plan will be sent to the State Engineer in the next few months for approval. The main points of the consultant's presentation included Parks and RecTeation Board December 10, 1987 Page Two the potential recreational uses identified through citizen meetings and staff input. There was some discussion on the potential for a natural amphitheater, and Councilman Horak noted the possibility of an amphitheater near the Power Plant which should be considered. Several Board members asked questions and made suggestions to the consultant. A major concern raised was financing the construction in the future. Councilman Horak also asked questions related to water levels in the lake. The consultant will return to the Board with the final conceptual master plan in the next few months. Public Meeting on the Master Plan for Parks and Recreation in Fort > This is the second of three public meeting's on the Department Master Plan. Project Manager Leslie Beckmann briefly explained the status of the project and the mailing to the Board of the survey results, etc. The Consultant, Frank Grosnik of EDAW, recapped some informational background and presented new data for consideration. He used charts showing the elements of typical parks and overhead slides with much comparative data. His survey shows Fort Collins has 4.6 acres of developed parks per thousand population and 2.9 acres of undeveloped parks, for a total of 7.5 acres of total parklands per thousand of population. This compares favorably to other Colorado communities such as Boulder, which has 8.1 acres per thousand. The national standard is 10 acres per thousand. Using our existing "standard" of 10 acres/thousand and existing of 7.5 acres/thousand, he projected parklands needs through the year 2000. A discussion ensued as to whether or not we should reduce the local standard to 8 acres per thousand population. The Board generally agreed to maintain the 10 acres/thousand standard. We will need 400 more acres using the 8 acre figure, and over 700 more acres using the 10 acre figure. The major shortage will be in larger community parks rather than in neighborhood parks. Board members and citizens in the audience provided input, including the consideration for more youth baseball fields and adult soccer fields. The potential for financing the future improvements will be discussed at the third public meeting to be held in February. We will have a worksession with City Council on January 21 on the Master Plan. Discussion with FAST Representatives Several members of the Fort Collins Area Swim Team (FAST) were present to discuss their concerns about the approved fees for swimming in 1987. President Wayne Peak started the discussion explaining the background of their organization and why they feel the large increase in fees is unreasonable at this time. Basically, fees for affiliated groups such as FAST are going up from $2.50 per lane/per hour to $4.00 per lane/per hour in 1987. This is for EPIC as well as the Downtown Community Pool. The increase of 60 percent seems high, however, EPIC Manager Jeff King pointed out that our costs for this service are increasing 52 percent. Ann Schroeder, Karen Schubert, and Bill Loy expressed dissatisfaction with the new fee structure and suggested a lesser rate might be more appropriate. There was some discussion about other youth groups fees and whether or not they were 'subsidized' as much as the FAST Parks and Recreat• Board • December 10, 1987 Page Three organization. Jeff noted that if we reduce the rates for FAST that Youth Hockey and others would expect reductions as well. Bob Aukerman agreed with Jeff, stating that the general public youth would also want a reduction. H. R. pointed out that the philosophy is for users' fees to be equitable and charged to all users. Recreation must recover at least 50 percent of the total division costs from generated revenue, and 60 percent at EPIC. There was some lively debate by people on both sides of the issue. The FAST people have received some misinformation on various issues which need to be corrected. However, they feel the new fee rates are prohibitive for their organization to be successful. They would like to have the new fees significantly reduced so they can have one year at EPIC to increase their membership and prove their worth. Staff disagrees with their assessment of the financial situation. Board Members, Staff and FAST representatives discussed the issue further. Then Karen Schubert made a motion, seconded by Bill Loy to recommend to Council to reduce the 1987 swim fee from $4.00 to $3.25 per lane. The motion failed on a 4 to 4 vote, with Karen Schubert, Bill Loy, Ann Schroeder, and Ricki Slack voting yes, and Cathy Mulcahy, Bob Aukerman, John Rabun and Mike ImMasche voting no. After the vote, FAST representatives were told by Board members that they could take their concern to City Council. H. R. suggested the City staff and FAST representatives sit down and try to work out a compromise. Lottery Situation Update Staff previously distributed much written material on the status of the Lottery in the Colorado Legislature. After the first of the year, we will probably start up our lobbying efforts again. Other Business Craig Foreman reported that a blacktop bike access ramp had been installed in the Edora Park west ballfield parking lot over the curbs to get to the trail, as suggested by the Board last year. The meeting was adjourned at 10:00 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Bob Aukerman, Secretary • Parks and Recreation.Board December 10, 1986 Page Four Meeting Attendance Board Members Cathy Mulcahy John Rabun Bill Loy Bob Aukerman Mike ImMasche Ricki Slack Karen Schubert Ann Schroeder H. R. Phillips Jerry P. Brown Randy Balok Virgil Taylor Leslie Beckmann Craig Foreman Jeff King Steve Budner Paul Thibert Barb Schoenberger Jackie Rael sts Councilman Horak Wally Bujack Leslie Haynes Wayne Peak, F.A.S.T. Don Donahoo, F.A.S.T. Penny Waites, F.A.S.T Karen Wagner, Fort Collins Tennis Association Frank Groznik, EDAW Steve Olt, Resource Consultant Paul Barken, Resource Consultant Axel Bishop, Design Concepts Rob Layton, Design Concepts Al Litzan Amy Finch -Williams Karen Crompton Pattie Blanchard Michelle McDonald Carrie Moyes Carrie Naylor Jeff Dawson Kari Tinsley Mary Beth Bennis N. A. Tobey Cheryl Bassett