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HomeMy WebLinkAboutParks And Recreation Board - Minutes - 02/22/2006Minutes of Regular Meeting February22, 2006 215 North Mason Community Room 5:30 p.m. Council Liaison: Kelly Ohlson I Staff Liaison: Marty Heffernan, 224-6064 1 President: Jessica MacMillan Phone: 495-1270 (Work) 407-8896 (Home) Call Meeting to Order. Jessica MacMillan called the meeting to order at 5:43 p.m. Agenda Review: Addition: Park Maintenance Fee to be added under Other Business Items of Note: None Citizen Participation: None Approval of Minutes: On a motion by Mark Lueker, seconded by Michael Chalons, the Board voted unanimously to approve the minutes of the January 25, 2006 meeting. Parks and Recreation Policy Plan Update Craig stated that he and Marty wanted to continue the conversation from the last meeting to get more of the Board's ideas on the future of Parks and Recreation in Fort Collins. He started with the questions from the previous meeting: • What are the key issues that should be addressed by the Policy Plan update? • What is working well with our system of parks and trails and with our recreation facilities and programs? Where can we improve? What are we missing? • Envision the Fort Collins community 5, 10, and 20 years from now. How will we be different? Will our recreation needs have changed? Will the parks, trails and recreation facilities we plan to build meet our future needs? Are we missing anything? Craig added that in the last meeting wellness was a central theme, and asked if the Board had any other thoughts or comments. Marty asked if the Board felt we had a good system in place, and if we were moving in the right direction, and if there were any significant issues we should be paying attention to. He added that staff feels we have a good system to get us into the next 10 years or so, but wants to check and make sure we don't need to change direction. Mark stated that people are seeing that Fort Collins is a great place to retire which will tum the City into a great retirement community instead of an industrial complex. We might find a shift of more affluent older age citizens, but still have a segment of younger people drawn in by the college which could create a nice balance. This could increase sports like tennis and golf. Jessica and Jon agreed with Mark that we will be seeing a shift to an older population, and there was discussion as to what the average age is currently in Fort Collins. Marty stated that the current trend shows a prominent interest in sports and younger children, so they will still be a chief customer. He also agreed that the older population is going to become a larger population, Parks and Recreation Board Minutes February 22, 2006 Page 2 with different parks and recreation needs, and that CSU will still be a large impact. He feels we have to look at our role of serving the transitory population and what that impact will be on our citizen base. Michael suggested obtaining population data from Advanced Planning to see how things have changed from the 2000 census data. He feels population information should be a part of the Policy Plan update. Jessica said we should also see what information Poudre School District has on the population base. Cathy added that the elementary schools are full so we can't ignore that there are a lot of young families moving in. Mary stated that she sees middle income and upper middle income families moving out because it's too expensive to live here. They are moving to the outer areas like Windsor and Milliken. The Board then discussed the current legislative attitude toward farm land, the limited available land within City limits, and the renovation of the older neighborhoods in Fort Collins. Jon feels there are many parallels to Boulder as far as the outlying communities, and we should look at what they are doing. He added that there might need to be more cooperation with Natural Areas to get recreation opportunities on their land. Marty said that we have always looked to Boulder, but that our situation is somewhat different. They have about 22 square miles of land; we have about 44 square miles. They also grew quicker and were cutting -edge with growth management. He feels they are suffering for that because they don't have a good library or a performing arts center, and while they have good outdoor facilities, they don't have good indoor facilities. He also added that he could get the data Michael was referring to, but suggested we focus on how we build out if we do get an older population. Ann added that she thought the discussion was about outdoor activities within the City vs. indoor recreation opportunities. She added that the Board already discussed that we don't have a lot of money to put into building recreation centers, so the question is, even if you think it's a good idea to have them, will they get used? The Board then discussed that older people would want things that stimulate their mind, and if that was a need perhaps CSU could fill that gap. Cathy added that Bill Bertschy ran an elder hostel program that sponsored educational field trips. Cathy then asked what was driving the library district, and how would we get one going for the Parks Division. Marty responded that the library district has been discussed at Council for several years because the Library has been under -funded for a long time. They were looking for ideas and liked the library district idea partly because it will cause the people who use the Library but live outside the City to help pay for the use of it. The Library district would generally follow the lines of the school district. The goal is to take the Library off-line so it is not supported by the general fund. It would open up $3.5 million dollars to help fill a $2.6 million dollar budget gap. The Library district received support at last Tuesday's Council meeting, but it will still need to go to the voters. Marty added that they have discussed a parks district in the past but staff feels a parks fee would be better way to fund park maintenance. The fee would be residential based and include only community park maintenance. Neighborhood parks will continue to be funded through the General Fund. Council likes the idea because it would not have an impact on businesses. Council wants to promote business, and economic vitality, so a Parks fee seems more desirable than a transportation tax which would affect businesses. It would be desirable to have a designated $2.1 million dollars that could grow as the community grows. The Parks Division would then not need the general fund for community parks, so it would be a $2.1 million dollar solution to a $2.6 million dollar problem. If Forestry was added in it would go up to $3 million. If just Community Parks are included it would cost citizens about $3.00 per month, if Forestry was included is would go up to $5.00 per month. As of a week ago, Council was very interested in the idea. Cathy stated that she biked the idea as well and felt it should go into the Policy Plan. Ann asked if the only way of funding projects was through programs like Building on Basics. Marty stated yes, that the Conservation Trust dollars are devoted to the trail system although we have diverted it some in the last budget for Spring Canyon maintenance. As the trail system builds out it will need to be Parks and Recreation Board Minutes Febnia y 22, 2006 Page 3 determined if the trail system we have planned is enough, or if we want it to be greater. Once the trail system builds out the funding source will still be coming in, so that money could be saved up for a recreation center. However, they then might feel a push from outside sources to use that money to back fill the general fund budget gap. There is a chance they would never get to use it for infrastructure needs. Council does see the value of the trail program and it is an open question whether that money can be substituted for the general fund. Conservation Trust money cannot be used for O&M or staffing, but could be used to build recreation centers. Marty asked the Board if he was hearing them say that they want Parks and Recreation to look at recreational needs of seniors. The Board said yes, if the demographics reflected the same information. Mark pointed out that as Fort Collins builds out we will see towns like Timnath and Wellington explode, so we will see citizens from those towns coming to Fort Collins to use the facilities. Jon asked how those communities solve the same problems. Marty stated that typically the communities will build their own facilities. He feels it could be managed through a residential fee system so the cost could be captured. Michael stated that Wellington is looking at park fees and a recreation center with a pool. Mark pointed out that if Timnath builds out to 2,500 houses, it is a straight shot over to Fossil Creek Park and that added population at the park might wear things out faster. Marty asked the Board what other topics they might want to explore. The Board requested an overview of demographic information such as birth rates from the hospital, and Poudre School District data The Board also discussed obtaining information directly from citizens through surveys. Methods mentioned were the newspapers, going into the parks and malls, schools, online surveys, mail -in surveys, and perhaps surveys in the Utility bills. Marty added that part of a public outreach like that would be determined by how much money there was to spend. Craig added that with everything going on, we would need to determine the most effective and affordable methods, but that it would be money well spent. He added that they know of a company called Greenplay that specializes in this area. Craig then reviewed the next steps in the Policy process: • Request for proposal for Consultant (how does it all blend together) • Survey (discover community needs) • Recreation trends (are we focused in the right direction) • Demographics (identify trends and their associated age groups) • Large event needs, where • Sports complex need, where • Public process (open houses, City web page, newspapers) • Recreational fees Craig added that the hiring consultants would bring the process validation and they would also be involved in the public process. He felt it would be difficult for the Parks staff to set up every public meeting, so the consultants will be able to walk in and already have a history of how to set up. The consultant could also work on fees, by looking at what other cities are doing and bring in new philosophies. Marty stated that this would be a good time to talk about Recreational fees. He feels we need to find a fee policy that is relevant, and we need to determine if we should be social services based, or emphasize one program over another. Jon asked how an outside agency could tell what we need, when we have staff that knows the community. Marty stated that we do know our price point when people stop coming. Jessica said she doesn't understand why our current fee policy is not effective any more. Marty responded that the current policy constrains our ability to raise fees but we need to have this ability because we need the fee revenue for programs and facilities, especially because of the recent general fund cuts. Ann clarified that the programs can't be subsidized without raising fees, and Marty confirmed that was correct, we are Parks and Recreation Board Minutes February 22, 2006 Page 4 doing it out of need, not policy. He added that we have to recognize our new reality, utilizing the fee side of revenue to provide the best programs we can in lieu of general fund support. He added that we have to address it soon, and have Council approve a plan that will give us the flexibility to manage our resources in the future. Craig gave the example that adult softball has been subsidizing our youth program, but now adult participation is dropping and affecting that same program. He added that we want someone to help us see if these trends are going to continue. The consultant will be able to tell us the methodologies of other areas and then we can pick and choose what we need. Marty stated that there is also a constant need to provide a place for larger events or a sports complex, so we will want to decide if we need a complex or not. He added that most communities want sports complexes, but many that have tried them have found they don't pay for themselves. They end up renting them to vendors, and often are big money losers unless they sell alcohol. Mark suggested partnering with the Chamber of Commerce if they think they can sell the city to international sports. Marty stated that we do that now but with the Fort Collins Convention & Visitors Bureau, and they are emphasizing sporting events right now. Currently, we have a Russian National baseball team coming in March, and we have a national softball tournament coming in this summer. This Council in interested in focusing on economics and marketing ourselves, so we will want to include that desire in our new Policy Plan. Michael asked what was happening with the amphitheater downtown. Marty responded that it was Pat Stryker's personal project and she was not going public with information at this point. Michael asked how that fits in with the Lincoln Center. Marty stated that we are working on a Cultural Policy Plan similar to this one and that it could play into large event issues which would be relevant to this Board. It could facilitate a lot of festivals and events. He added that we want to provide things that appeal to a broad spectrum of people. Sorin¢ Canyon Community Park Craig informed the Board that seven contractors qualified for the project but only two bids were submitted. One came in at $14 million, and the other at $15 million. The contractor names were Environmental Concerns and American Civil Contractors. Some of the local companies that were going to bid on the park teamed up with these two companies. The contractors were asked why it was so high and they said the cost of steel, concrete, PVC, and the cost of fuel over 1.5 years. In order to drop the low bid down to the original estimate Craig wants to cut the original projections in the following areas: $498,500 Irrigation in non -play turf areas $219,750 Cut back on tree sizes, numbers, $553,000 Skate Park (will re -bid separately to lower price) $ 69,615 Dasher boards on hockey rink (will bring significant savings but still functional for kids) $ 14,612 Maintenance yard fence (wood) $248,646 Rock from Gateway Park ($2,000 per ton too high) $ 10,293 Solar air pump (this was taken out completely) $ 66,069 Storage sheds (this was supposed to be $25,000-$30,000 so it was taken out) $1,680,485 Craig stated that they still have approximately $800,000 from Storm water funds for the detention ponds, and approximately $10,700,000 in community parkland fees plus $800,000 from ACT for the playground. Craig feels they have a nice contingency to work with, so they will continue with value engineering and bring the above items back in as they can. Parks and Recreation Board Minutes February 22, 2006 Page 5 Some of the Board members were concerned that the bid should have been broken down into smaller bids. Craig explained that there was nothing wrong with the bid itself, and that Fossil Creek Park was bid out this way and it worked fine. Craig added that the expectation of the public is that the park will open next year so they want to keep the current timeline and going out to bid again will put it out another year or so. He did not feel they could go back and pay to have the designs broken up into four pieces, and they did not feel it made sense to take that course. Craig felt we would look at bidding out future parks in smaller segments if we see a tough bidding climate as it may result in a lower price. Oak Street Plaza Park Update Park Planning estimated the cost of the park at $900,000 and received two bids, one for $959,000 and one for $960,000. It was awarded to a very good company out of Greeley with excellent references. The contractor working on the tile is the same one doing the Old Town alley. Construction will begin in 2-3 weeks and finish up in June or July. Proiect Updates 287 Underpass by Discount Tire - Right now the contractor is cutting down to the underpass and putting in footers. It should be completed by May or June. The underside work will be completed by April because they have to be out before the high water comes in. Asphalt Concrete Conversation - The bids open tomorrow for North L.emay to Nix Farm, and the Power Trail to Golden Meadow. Matt is running the project and he has quite a bit of interest from groups wanting to bid the project. Other Business Marty stated that the Parks Maintenance fee topic was covered earlier in the meeting when the Board was discussing the Policy Plan. He asked if the Board had any other questions; they did not. Jessica reminded everyone that the meetings start at 5:30 p.m. and requested that everyone be on time for future meetings. The downtown ice rink is closing at the end of February. It received good usage, over 5,000 skaters during the holidays. The old town businesses reported that their sales were up I I%. It was not determined if it was related to the rink or not. Board Member and Staff Comments None Correspondence None Adjournment: The Board unanimously agreed to adjourn at 7:35 p.m. Respectfully submitted, 1� -� Kelly Moore Administrative Support Supervisor Parks and Recreation Board Minutes February 22, 2006 Page 6 Board Attendance Board Members: Mary Carlson, Michael Chalon, Ann Hunt, Cathy Kipp, Mark Leuker, Jessica MacMillan, Walt Peeples, Jon Sinclair Staff.• Craig Foreman, Marry Heffernan, Kelly Moore Guests: None