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HomeMy WebLinkAboutParks And Recreation Board - Minutes - 05/26/1999Call Meeting to Order: The Regular Meeting was called to order at 6:30 p.m. by President Lance Freeman. Agenda Review: Marty Heffernan added: Update on Horticulture Center under Other Business Items of Note: Jessica MacMillan called to say she would be late tonight and Mary Ness called to say he would not be able to attend tonight's meeting. Approval of Minutes: The minutes of the April 28 meeting were unanimously (6-0) approved on a motion by Marilyn Barnes, seconded by Dean Hoag. Note: Rebecca Chavez joined the Board after the vote was taken. Citizen Participation: No citizen participation City/PSD BCC: Marty Heffernan updated the Board on the City/PSD Building Community Choices $600,000 funding for a joint project. The Liaison Committee, at their meeting of May 18, recommended that the money be used to build a softball field at each of the three schools — Poudre High School, Rocky Mountain High School, and Preston Junior High School. They further recommended building lighted softball/baseball fields on Colorado State University Property southeast of Hughes Stadium; and if there is money left over or if one of the above projects is not feasible, upgrade the ballfields at Webber and/or Blevins Junior High Schools. Dean Hoag asked what type of timetable are we planning. Marty said that we have $300,000 at this time and the remainder of the money will be available in 2000. Craig Foreman said we could design in 2000 and build after that. The City will ask CSU for a 50 year lease on the rodeo property. Jean Helburg will send a memo to the Liaison Committee and the proposal will state Parks and Recreation Board Minute, May 26, 1999 Page 2 that the fields on the school grounds will be maintained and programmed by the School District. These will be shared fields with both entities. Diane Thies asked if we anticipate any neighborhood negative impact? Craig said that we can only put one field at Preston Junior High because it is a neighborhood park and we need to keep the 60/40 (active and passive). Gateway Park: Paul Van Valkenburg said that Marty has done a great job facilitating this group and getting them to the table to talk about the issues of the park. Paul illustrated on a map the area that the City owns and showed what the State, Federal, and City of Greeley owns. Lance asked who will manage this site? Marty said this is unknown at this time. We are putting together two cost scenarios — one with the City of Fort Collins operating and one with the State operating. We need input from Council once we get the cost scenario on this and go from there. We have to work through some issues with the City of Greeley for Seaman reservoir to be accessed with non -motorized vehicles, and with the DOW for right of way. Craig explained that Jeff Lakey, Landscape Architect, has taken the lead on Gateway Park design. Del Price made an observation on the zones. He asked what recreation will be offered? What kind of experiences do we want to offer the public? He further said to remember this is a park. Essentially, we need to remember that this is for people to have a recreational experience. He said don't cloud the issue. Marty said we are sensitive to both the natural resources and the recreation sides. It is primarily zoned for all different uses. Marty said that when we discussed the transportation issue to the park, many people on the committee were interested in the shuttle service to the park. Paul said the question is how do you manage the traffic? We need a way to shuttle kiackers and other users in the area. Shuttle service could keep the nature of the environment in tack. Marilyn Barnes referred to the Bear Lake Shuttle service. She thinks the shuttle works fine for Bear Lake and would work equally as well for Gateway Park. Diane said she agrees with Del that when planning these zones always keep the human aspect in the plans. The committee needs to build a mission statement stating this park is for the enjoyment of people. Diane said that when she reads the minutes of the Gateway Park, she feels that all the representatives have their own agenda. Craig Foreman said we received a grant for $180,000 from the Scenic By -way for enhancements for Gateway Park. As we design the park, we will determine the best use of the grant money. Park Planning and Development Projects Update Craig Foreman reviewed the Park Planning and Development projects (referring to the memo sent to Mayor and City Council dated April 22). Parks and Recreation BoardMinutes • May 26, 1999 Page 3 Neighborhood Parks: Case Park — Construction on the park this summer will include a soccer field, sidewalks, restroom, picnic shelter, playground, and passive areas in addition to the existing ballfield and pond. Marilyn asked about the trail through the park? Craig said it is planned for Phase 3. Cottonwood Glen Park — The construction contract is being awarded at this time and the park should be open for use in 2000. Craig explained that we have to line the two -acre pond at the time of the park construction. Lance said that maybe we should revisit Southwest Park when we construct the ballfields at the CSU property. Craig said that there is so much demand for fields, and we need to lighten up the programming on the neighborhood parks. We need to next concentrate on Fossil Creek Community Park. We will revisit Southwest when the time comes for development. Blevins Park — A restroom and shelter are being added to this park. Neighbors are happy to see these features in the park. Huidekoper Park — adjacent to Lincoln Junior High. This will be a neighborhood park for the northwest section of the city. This has been a cooperative project with the School District, as it was owned and maintained by the School District since it was donated. We will add a playground that was removed when the Walker field was constructed. Spring Park Restroom — We are creating a new restroom on the site because the existing one adjacent to the fire station is not ADA accessible. Community Parks: Fossil Creek Community Park — Design process will include public input process, hiring a consultant for the design of the park, and construction. Construction funding will be available 2000 through 2002. Jessica asked how much will Fossil Creek Community Park architectural design cost? Craig said $500,000. Jessica asked if bidding will be open to local architects? Craig replied, yes. Trails: Fossil Creek Trail West of Taft Hill Road — The trail west of Taft Hill Road to Luther Lane is nearing completion. Fossil Creed Trail East of College Avenue — Right -of -Way acquisition and trail design of the Fossil Creek Trail between College and Lemay will begin this year and will be coordinated with the development of Fossil Creek Community Park. Del asked about the underpass at College for Parks and Recreation Board Minutt., May 26, 1999 Page 4 the Fossil Creek Park. Craig said that the Red Tail Hawk is still nesting and we cannot approach within 300 yards of the nesting site. Union Pacific Railroad Trail — The right-of-way for this trail along the power line from Edora Park to south of Harmony was obtained. Construction for the first phase of the trial from Edora Park to Drake will occur in the fall. Regional Trail to Boyd Lake — Right -of -Way acquisition and trail design of the regional trail to Boyd Lake began in 1998. This is a cooperative project with Larimer County and the City of Loveland. Our project is planned to County Road 32. The next mile south Larimer County will construct, and then south to Boyd Lake Loveland will construct. Sheldon Lake Restoration — 700 trees and shrubs were planted last week. New shoreline was added around 90 percent of the lake to protect the existing infrastructure. A new sidewalk has been constructed on the east side of the lake. This project is funded by a Great Outdoors Colorado grant, private funding, and City sales tax revenue. We submitted an aeration system grant requested through Fishing for Fun. They requested that we up our matching funds to $43,000. We can match with funding and it looks positive for us to receive this grant. Skateboard Park — Staff has applied for a Great Outdoor Colorado Grant for a skate park at Edora Park. If successful, we will start this project in the fall to be completed in the spring of 2000. We will have a major focus on youth involvement. We will have help from the Youth Corp. Disk Golf — We have been reviewing zones at Edora Park and have determined that the disk golf is going through our passive zones. The railroad has granted us right of way to use the land for 9 holes of golf. Therefore, we will move the 9 disk golf holes onto the railroad property. Poudre River Boat Chutes — The irrigation diversion dam at the old power plant on College Avenue at the river requires a second drop structure. This structure will complete the boat chute and fishing ladder. This project will be completed this summer. Rebecca asked about temporary restrooms at school sites. Craig said that after we complete the phase of projects we have now, the next generation of projects will be to look for funding sources for restrooms adjacent to the schools. Budget Supplementals Follow -Up Marty Heffernan said that he and Lance talked about taking this document to the next step. Lance was asking if the Board wants to take on an advocacy role to speak to Council about our projects. The two Council sessions are September 21 and October 5. The Council will also discuss the budget at study sessions on June 29, September 14, and October 12. Parks and Recreation Board Minutes May 26, 1999 Page 5 Lance said that we need to have someone from our Board representing us. He thinks it would be good to have a representative so that Council knows that we are there and we can advocate our own ideas. We need to be more proactive on our projects. Discussion was raised on delaying Fossil Creek Community Park and the City could save $400,000. Marilyn Barnes said when you are dealing with kids, the time is of the essence. If we sit at a stop light for 8 minutes, it's better than depriving kids a park and the amenities that go along with it. Diane argues for the health and wellness of the community. It has a broader impact than one realizes. Lance said that if you are going to build a park in 2000 then the money should be in place for the operation and maintenance at that time. It needs to be budgeted at that time. It is a flawed system if the operation and maintenance is not ready when the park is constructed. Marilyn said that construction of Fossil Creek Community Park was voted on by the people because the people of Fort Collins want the park. The traffic lights were turned down by the voters in the community because the people obviously didn't think they were needed to the tune of $4 million. Listen to the people. GOCO Leeacv Grant We received an additional $2,500,000 for the Legacy grant expansion. Marty explained the money will be spent for open space, trails, and the Environmental Learning Center. Del suggested that the open space land purchases be reviewed by this Board. Lance asked staff to forward our request to Tom Shoemaker. Other Business • Horticulture Center Update — Marty updated the Board on the negotiations. Gerry Bomotti and John Fischbach met and discussed the negotiations. They came to agreement. The general concepts are that we will do an exchange for the High School Park and the Horticulture Center land. The extra 10 acres will be sold to us at $2,500 an acre. An additional 3 acres will be purchased at $4,500 an acre. We expressed interest in buying 100 feet on the north side of Spring Creek for the trail. Staff will negotiate for the additional land of 2 acres using our trail money. Board members agreed that this will be a wonderful win - win situation. Jessica questioned if they will do a border between the sidewalk and the flower displays at High School Park. She thinks people will drive by and throw garbage and trash into the garden areas on College Avenue. Marty suggested that she call CSU Horticulture Center with her suggestions. Parks and Recreation Board Minutes May 26, 1999 Page 6 Diane asked about the intergovernmental agreement with the Horticulture Center. Marty said that Tim Buchanan and Jim Clark will work on this agreement. Marty said that Board Members Lance Freeman and Del Price need to be commended on their hard work in this project. • Lance received an E-mail from a citizen complaining about Lee Martinez parking. The neighborhood is concerned about temporary parking at Martinez during the housing project construction. Lance said that the ball players can walk across the road to play ball. • Jessica asked about the Art in Public Places display of art in the downtown area. They have selected a very contemporary piece of art on the poles. Jessica feels this is a bad suggestion. DDA voted it down and it doesn't belong down there. Marty said that the artist is working with the Art in Public Places Board and they will revisit the whole project for the same reasons Jessica voiced. • Diane said the City needs to look at fees and charges when looking at the budget. Everyone should have a fair chance to participate. • Cooperation between Park Maintenance and School District was noticed in the monthly report. Board comments were that this is great. • Paul questioned if we have data as to how many people use the parks? Marty said that with the parks we know how many scheduled activities we have and how many spectators. Drop in park usage is harder to get numbers on usage. We do have some figures and the numbers are large. Once we have process completed, we will share those numbers with the Board. • Rebecca, referring to the monthly report, asked to see the comparison of youth statistics for Northside Aztlan Community Center. • Diane asked about Twice the Ice. How is the funding going? Marty replied not well. Jessica asked about the usage of the Windsor facility. Craig replied that it is well used. • Change of Meeting Time: Jackie Rael asked if the Board wanted to continue meeting at 6:30 p.m. or change their meeting time to 5:30 p.m. as some have requested. On a motion by Rebecca Chavez, seconded by Jessica MacMillan, the Board voted unanimously to hold their regular meetings at 5:30 p.m. Adiournment: On a motion by Diane Thies, seconded by Dean Hoag, the Board voted to adjourned at 8:50 p.m. n Parks and Recreation Board Minutes May 26, 1999 Page 7 Meeting Attendance Board Members Staff Marilyn Barnes Rebecca Chavez Lance Freeman Dean Hoag Jessica MacMillan Del Price Diane Thies Paul Van Valkenburg sub Administrative Assistant Craig Foreman Jean Helburg Marty Heffernan Jackie Rael