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HomeMy WebLinkAboutParks And Recreation Board - Minutes - 02/28/2001Call Meeting to Order: President Lance Freeman called the Regular meeting to order at 5:35 p.m. Agenda Review: No changes to the printed agenda. Items of Note: Board Members Paul Hudnut and Mary Carlson called to say they would not be able to attend tonight's meeting. Citizen Participation: No citizen Participation Approval of Minutes: Ross Cunniff said he had a correction to the minutes of the meeting of January 24, 2001 referring to Page 2 ... Ross Cunniff abstained because of his membership at the Timberline Church... On a motion by Mike Gavin, seconded by Dean Hoag, the minutes of the January 24, 2001 meeting were unanimously approved after the correction was noted. Horticulture Center Update Tim Buchanan and Jim Clark gave the Board an update on the Horticulture Center project. Tim reviewed the schedule of construction that will start in September. Ground breaking will be Thursday, March 22, at 1:00. Jim said that the construction will start in the fall with opening in the summer of 2002. After the opening, private fundraising will begin for additional gardens. He spoke about the budget stating that one benefit was the land trade with CSU. We have been able to use some of our operation and maintenance costs for design. There have been additional costs because the project is in a flood plain. We are moving the ditch and putting 250 feet of it in a box culvert. We are finalizing the cost estimates and will give the Board that budget at next month's meeting. Jim said that the building will be the highest priority in the first phase. There will be a significant need for private fundraising. Jim stated staff has organized a Friends Group. The purpose of this group is to provide a community connection and to advocate for and ut are . torary. finis group mtgnt nave a uatson mat wouia occasionauy come to mts boara. its main focus will be to develop and manage memberships. This 10-person group will serve a ,-/ Parks and Recreation Board Minut February 28, 2001 Page 2 support role. The Parks and Recreation Board thought this Horticulture Friends group will be a good advocate for the Horticulture Center. Name of the Facility -- Jim explained that we have been calling it the Community Horticulture Center. Staff decided that if we are going to change the name now is the time to do it. A common name with other horticulture centers has the word "garden" in it. Spring Creek Gardens is one of the names we have thought of. We will suggest this to the public for input. Jessica MacMillan asked if someone would make a huge donation, would we name it after them? Jim said that is a possibility, and we are thinking of naming gardens after donors, also. Paul Van Valkenburg said that the people who have worked on this for the past 14 years should make the recommendations on the name. Paul Van Valkenburg asked if the membership would include every event that is offered or will it be limited. Jim replied that our main focus on offering memberships is to encourage people to become involved in the Horticulture Center. Northern Colorado Sports Alliance Amy Snider, Dave King, and Tami Agne-Moehur representing sports in Northern Colorado, spoke to the Board about their alliance. Amy said their focus is to provide a collective voice for the recreation community. They explained that their purpose is to help address the needs of the recreation community in Fort Collins. Jessica asked how they became organized? Amy said that she began with the contacts of the user groups through Parks and Recreation and the School District. They had their first meeting in November. Dave said that they felt as a group they have done little to participate in City government as they were only interested in their own issues. The group felt they weren't represented as a community. Dave said that they will be there for the planning of recreational facilities in the community. The facilities they are sharing are very hard to access and need upgrading and more construction. As a group, they are advocates of passive and organized sports in our community. Jessica noted there isn't anyone representing ice skating and tennis. She added that we know that our facilities are not adequate. Our Park Planning Division does an excellent job with the funding that is allocated. A significant issue we have is that there are so many hours in a day and neighborhood surrounding these parks. Dave King said that there are occasions where groups would speak out against a project and they weren't there to support it, but they will be in the future. Tami Agne-Moehur said that they will be an advocate and as a group will support the recreational needs for the community. Jessica said that it is important for this group to be involved in government issues and what Council can do with the allotted funding. David King said that this group is here to apologize for not being in the forefront representing the recreational needs of the community. He added that there are 15,000 families in the community that are willing to champion the recreational causes in Fort Collins and will be the recreational voice. Paul Van Valkenburg said that the public could bring projects to the elections as a community msreaa or one parx, one sneer or ice, ana tnose wouta oe aerearea ana nor get enougn community Parks and Recreation Board &es • February 28, 2001 Page 3 support. The Board thanked the group for coming to voice their support for recreation in our community. Gateway Park Craig Foreman reported that the road construction will start next week. He explained that we've had some problems with retaining walls. He introduced Jeff Lakey, who is our Project Manager on Gateway Park. Jeff explained that the plan is to begin the park improvements in April and open the park in July. Funding from the Scenic Byway grant for $180,000 will be implemented next month. Jeff refreshed the Board's memory on the preliminary designs and how some of the details will look. He showed the zones of the park. The plan shows the river access and picnic facilities. There will be a fishing pond for the kids in a later phase. The first house will be used as a residence for the Park Ranger, the second houses will be used for an office for the Ranger, and the last house will be demolished. Jeff showed drawings of some of the old water equipment that will be on display with interpretations. The first phase will include two picnic shelters, information kiosks, restore the stone walls, entry gate, and restrooms. Jessica asked if the park would be closed in the winter time? Craig said it would be open. Mike Gavin said it would be a great winter hiking area and we don't have to maintain it as we do in the summer. Mike asked who would maintain the road? Craig replied that we would. Ross asked about the number of busses that will be allowed? Craig said that the Forest Service has a control as to the number of people that the rafters can put on the river at one time. Del asked if we are going to charge people to enter the park before/after their rafting? Craig said yes, they will be on site causing some impact to the park. Lance said we need to be cognizant of the amount of busses in and out of there. Craig said we are going to monitor that. Mike Gavin said that there will be private citizens bringing trailers up there and using some part of the park. Jean asked how a person gets from the shelter to the river in a wheelchair. Jeff said that some areas will be ADA accessible and there are some areas where accessibility will be a problem. Jessica asked if there are dogs allowed in the park? Reply: Yes, on leash. Funding: Craig explained that the funding we have allocated will do the improvements we have shown tonight. Phase II will be behind the treatment plant, and Phase III will be more complicated reshaping the terrain and is estimated to cost $300,000. We will evaluate Phase II and III after we have opened the park and have input from the users. Del asked if we are going to provide for overflow parking? Craig replied that there will be areas for some overflow. Youth Activity Center Mike Powers and Jean Helburg updated the Board on the YAC. There are other sites that staff has been looking at and evaluating. The committee met last week and had a good discussion with the Mayor and are waiting to see what the Council decides. Jean said the committee was pleased that this Board took some action with their memo to Council. Del said that the Mayor is supportive of this. Lance said he will talk to Bill Bertschy regarding our resolution. Mike Gavin said that it is a youth issue and a public safety issue. It is a support to the primary line. He suggested that the Board Members attend the forums and talk to the Council candidates. Jean said that the Youth Committee is planning on attending these meetings. They should be Parks and Recreation Board Mput February 28,2001 Page 4 asking these candidates if they are going to support the replacement of the Youth Activity Center. Staff will mail the Forum schedule to the Board. Ross asked about the timing of the eviction? Jean said we have a letter from CSU stating that December 31, 2001 will be our last day in the building. For scheduling purposes, we need to know by the first of September if we are in or out. The CSU staff is very supportive of us, but they have to move forth. Trails Lance distributed copies of the minutes of the subcommittee meeting. Paul Hudnut's idea of structuring trails as Level 1 -- main trails, level 2 trails -- the foothills trails and Coyote Ridge, Level 3 -- interpretive trails that take you to some destination as a passive trail with interpretation along the way. It has been a positive group and informative to all. Issues: accelerated funding for some of the trails in the future and Southwest Community Park. Jessica asked about closing some of the "social trails" to re-establish the natural area. Lance and Craig agreed that there is a need for that. Twice the Ice Mike Powers said that this second sheet of ice will probably be done sooner than expected. The community needed to raise $900,000 and they are close to that with some in -kind commitments. Assuming that we are trying to construct it sooner than 2003, we could design this year, and break ground winter of 2002. It would take 9-12 months to construct. Lance asked about the size of that rink? He recalls it as a studio rink, which would be a regulation -sized rink, but not a large arena. It was originally priced at $3,500,000 in 1996 dollars. Staff is meeting on March 8 to determine what a full size sheet of ice would cost. In the original plans, we had hockey change rooms, 200 seating and the rink. We are pricing it out in phases. Jean said that when we did the original plans for EPIC, we had plans for a "studio" rink. Lance said we need to stay with the original plans for financial reasons. Initially, we need to just have the rink. Jessica asked that if we build it, can we include a full-sized arena? Jean said there isn't enough land to do that. Ross said we need to be careful to not go beyond the ballot language. Jean said absolutely we will stay within the ballot language. Year 2002-2003 Budget City Manager John Fischbach has asked for the Board's input on the budget. This will be due to the Budget Office on April 30. The Board talked about issues we need to discuss. The Board agreed that the Board and staff would introduce their lists next month and approve it the following month. 2001 Work Plan (Revised) Jackie Rael explained the changes on the 2001 Work Plan as suggested by Councilman Bill Bertschy. We added the Board's purpose and function in the beginning and added more detail on the Board's involvement on each of the projects. On a motion by Jessica MacMillan, seconded by Del Price, the Board voted unanimously to accept the revised 2001 Work Plan. Parks and Recreation Board Ones • February 28, 2001 Page 5 Other Business Jessica MacMillan spoke about the lack of indoor tennis centers in Fort Collins. The community only has four indoor private tennis courts. She would like to research how much it would cost to bubble over five of our outdoor courts. She feels that is an aspect of recreation that we need to provide for winter -time players. Lance reported that CSU did a cost estimate to bubble some of the courts by the recreation center. Lance said it was very expensive. Mike Gavin said he would like to know how much it costs and what percentage of people in the community would use it. Dean Hoag said someone asked him about swimming laps after work? This citizen feels that there are no facilities for the after work hours to swim laps. Who does he need to contact? Jean said that we could get him a schedule of lap swim. We also have swim teams at that time. Jean said she would be happy to speak to this person. • Jackie Rael reported that the YAC staff would like to host next month's Parks and Recreation Board meeting. The Board agreed that would be fine. NOTE: THE MARCH 28 MEETING WILL BE HELD AT 281 NORTH COLLEGE DUE TO THE TOUR OF NORTHSIDE SKATE PARK IMPROVEMENTS. Adjournment at 8:30 p.m. ,fully submi�`�-� "'-- P,(Lf1Z, - Rael, Executive Administrative Assistant Meeting Attendance Board Members: Ross Cunniff, Lance Freeman, Mike Gavin, Dean Hoag, Jessica MacMillan, Del Price, and Paul Van Valkenburg Staff: Tim Buchanan, Jim Clark, Craig Foreman, Jean Helburg, Jeff Lakey, Mike Powers, and Jackie Rael