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HomeMy WebLinkAboutParks And Recreation Board - Minutes - 03/28/2001224-6064 reeman Call Meeting to Order: Vice President Paul Van Valkenburg called the Regular meeting to order at 5:35 p.m. Tour: The Board toured Northside Aztlan Community Center's skate park improvements. Agenda Review: No changes to the printed agenda. Items of Note: Board Members Mike Gavin and Lance Freeman called to say they would not be able to attend tonight's meeting. Citizen Participation: No citizen Participation Approval of Minutes: On a motion by Ross Cunniff, seconded by Jessica MacMillan, the Board voted unanimously (6-0) to approve the minutes of the Regular meeting of February 28, 2001. Note: Paul Hudnut joined the Board after the minutes were approved. City Park Management Plan Preliminary Design Craig Foreman gave the Board an overview of the preliminary plan for City Park. He said that Hetty Bixby, Landscape Architect, prepared these drawings. The Wilkinson Trust donated $100,000 for the improvements to the north shore of Sheldon Lake. Staff discussed additional parking near the golf course, removing the road through the park, and replacing it with a walking path. Craig explained the need for a direct route for the Fire Department through the park. Staff is working with them regarding safe entry and exits. Del said his preference is to not have the pedestrian and road traffic together. Ross asked if we could not open the park roads to the public, but only open to the fire trucks and emergency vehicles? Marty asked if it would be a Parks and Recreation Board ..-mutes March 28, 2001 Page 2 good idea with the Board to have handicap access parking and Fire Department/emergency vehicle access only for roads through the park. The Board all liked that idea. Craig said that they visited with the neighbors and they didn't get any detailed negative feedback, but he will visit with them again. The Board all agreed that if we could get cars out of the park, it would be more pedestrian friendly. Craig showed pictures that Hetty Bixby took of the zones in the park and Craig showed a conceptual drawing of improvements. Jean Helburg asked if we could eliminate the road north and south through the park. Craig said that it is needed and it defines the difference between the programmed and non -programmed areas. Twice the Ice Update Jean Helburg said that an additional sheet of ice was part of Building Community Choices package. Twice the Ice, the fundraising group, has been working for three years trying to raise enough money to build a full sheet of ice. The group also hired a marketing coordinator that has done a good job getting money from charitable foundations. They received a grant from Stryker - Short Foundation and thus far have raised approximately $900,000. They are getting very close to having enough money to build the original plan. Marty added that we are hoping that we can build a larger rink and have just the rink and no other added features. However, it will be difficult financially to build what Twice the Ice would like. The Board's role will be to advise if we should build a smaller size arena or a full-sized rink with few amenities. Mary Carlson asked if we build a full size rink now, could we add seats later? Response: Yes Jean added that when the budgets were done for these projects, the City estimated only 4 percent rise in construction costs, but the costs have increased at a higher rate. Jean showed the Board the conceptual plan. Mary asked if they could use the existing changing rooms? Jean said that we possibly could. She added that if we didn't build the additional amenities, it would save us about $500,000. We are looking at options and working closely with the City Manager. Jessica said that if we didn't build the additional amenities, it would max out the facility's existing infrastructure. Dean asked what is the estimated cost for the full-size sheet of ice? Jean said a very preliminary estimate is approximately $6,000,000. The estimate on the smaller facility is $4,200,000. Marty said that the City would not be able to fund the additional money from Building Community Choices. If it is more than the amount appropriated, it has to come from other sources. Paul Hudnut said that it is not a priority. Ross agreed that it wouldn't be a priority, but both agreed that the Youth Activity Center is the most important priority. Mary asked if we built the studio size arena, could we add the large sheet later? Jean said it is possible, but probably not practical. Jessica doesn't think the studio rink will pay itself back like a full size rink could. Jean said we could run private lessons full time on the studio sheet of ice. Mary said that when EPIC was built in 1987, it was only a month after opening when the community realized we could use an additional sheet of ice. Jessica asked when we could realistically see construction? Jean said it depends on private funding, but Building Community Choices funding is scheduled for 2002-2003. Ross asked how many people use ice time at EPIC? Jean said approximately 12,000 people in the ___ ^'t-. mil. Cho S2,r7 P i[io � V,ac _ c gnt1�. I_eF ac mm� ,.P rq L.n�ke �oame Parks and Recreation Od Minutes • March 28, 2001 Page 3 such as CSU use that facility. She explained there are many kids wanting to play hockey. Our "Learn to Play Hockey" programs are full, but the kids can't get on a team. Paul Hudnut asked if we could raise our user fees? Jean said that the ice arena does recover all of its operation and maintenance fees. Jean said the figure skater parents pay a huge amount of money for their kids to skate. Paul Hudnut said that we need to recover our costs of doing business. Jean said that we recover all of our direct costs in Recreation. Jessica asked if we have raised fees for recreational skate? Jean said we have raised them annually. Year 2002-2003 Budget Priorities Marty distributed a copy of a letter from City Manager John Fischbach asking for their recommendation on the 2002-2003 budget. At next month's meeting, the Board will prioritize their list of projects they would like to see the City fund. Marty gave the board a list from the staff s input as follows: • Union Pacific Trail Completion -- Paul Hudnut suggested doing a soft trail with crusher fine and then retro fit it with concrete trails. • Operation and Maintenance for Fossil Creek Community Park -- We will need $500,500 to maintain that park. Board members asked how that amount is figured. Marty responded that we break it down on a per acre basis. The Board asked how many full-time staff will be responsible for Fossil Creek Community Park? Marty responded that we will hire a crew chief, two park technicians, and seasonal employees. • Increase Maintenance of the Downtown. We are proposing that Parks could maintain all of College Avenue in the downtown area, including power washing, snow removal, and trash removal. • Operation and Maintenance for new parks and trails: — Harmony Park — People of the Clouds Park (Ridgeview Subdivision --west of College and south of Trilby) — Soft Gold (Hickory) Park — Huide Koper Park — Horticulture Center Mini Park — Poudre River Trail — extending to Overland — Pickle Plant Site — interpretation — In line Rink at EPIC • Operation and Maintenance for a new YAC. We will need more money to operate and maintain a new facility. 0 Operation and Maintenance for second sheet of ice — including a new recreation coordinator Parks and Recreation Board .-.nutes March 28, 2001 Page 4 • Funding for the 4`h of July— $30,000 to help pay for the event • Funding for Therapeutic Recreation Program Jessica asked about Miramont Park? Marty said we have money for it. Ross asked if capital projects get funded from other sources? Response: Money to implement the community park plans has not been fully funded. Jean said that in a budget process, there is usually ongoing money and one- time money that is available to spend. Paul Van Valkenburg asked if there are other capital projects that are included in replacing facilities? Marty said that we have a life cycle program that is partially funded. That is another area that we need extra funding. We will bring that list to our next meeting. The Board mentioned City Park Pool replacement. The Board would like to see some life cycle information next month. Paul Hudnut would like to see more trail information and said downtown beautification is not a high priority and should be Streets responsibility and not Parks and Recreation. Jessica said that the purpose is correct and the City needs to improve it. Jessica said we do park design, park planning, and park maintenance very well and should stick to that and not downtown maintenance. Paul Hudnut said that it would be a lot easier to make recommendations if we had a guideline of how much money we have to work with in the budget cycle. Capital Projects Priorities Marty distributed copies of the capital projects sun -unary sheets for Parks and Recreation. This prioritization of the Board is due to the City Manager in June. The list consists of funded and partially funded projects. The Board's job is to choose the top five projects. Trails rehabilitation is funded out of the Conservation Trust. If you have any questions on these projects, please feel free to call or E-mail staff. Youth Activity Center Update Marty said that the Board has been focused on this project. The City is in negotiations, but the location and all aspects of it are confidential. Staff is meeting with the City Manager tomorrow and hopefully will be able to report to the Board next month. Gateway Mountain Park Update Craig Foreman updated the Board on the park as follows: • We hired Paul Burkholder, from Kansas City, as the Park Ranger. He has a good handle on the resources and has a great balance between outdoor recreation and protecting the resources. He is very outgoing and gregarious. • Construction continues on the road and utilities. We submitted our designs for the byway grant and they were approved. • Staff met with the City of Greeley personnel and worked out their concerns for the utility road. " Parks and Recreation I*d Minutes • March 28, 2001 Page 5 • The park is scheduled to open in July. Other Business • Marty talked about the Ramp Jam. It was rescheduled to this Saturday. At 2:00 Mayor Martinez, Councilman Bill Bertschy, and City Manager John Fischbach are scheduled to speak. The event will run from 10:00 until 5:00 p.m. with competition for all levels. Board Members and Staff Comments • Dean Hoag asked about Hickory Park and questioned if there are plans to build a school adjacent to the park? Craig said yes. • Paul Hudnut asked in the management plans is there anything about stream flows in the winter in managing for recreational values along the Poudre? Marty said that these water issues are very complicated and expensive. It is unrealistic for this next budget cycle. It should be part of the downtown river corridor plan. • Paul Van Valkenburg said he and Lance Freeman went to the ground breaking for the Horticulture Center. He commends Jim Clark for his hard work on this project. He wanted to thank Jim for getting it to this point. He said the fundraising group was there and is very anxious for the project to come to fruition. Adjournment: On a motion by Mary Carlson, seconded by Jessica MacMillan, the Board voted to adjourn at 7:50 p.m. 5es ctfulply sub itte , ie NcC- 1eRael, Executive Administrative Assistant Meeting Attendance Board Members: Mary Carlson, Ross Cunniff, Dean Hoag, Paul Hudnut, Jessica MacMillan, Del Price, and Paul Van Valkenburg Staff: Matt Day, Craig Foreman, Marty Heffernan, Jean Helburg, and Jackie Rael Guest: Joe Martin