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HomeMy WebLinkAboutParks And Recreation Board - Minutes - 05/26/2010Parks & Recreation Board Meeting – May 26, 2010 Page 1 of 9 BE A GOOD STEWARD: Protect & Respect your Parks, Trails & Recreation Facilities Call Meeting to Order: Jessica MacMillan called the Parks & Recreation Board meeting to order 5:40pm. Agenda Review & Items of Note: Agenda Review: Discussion: Board would like to know about Parks & Recreation’s view on being bundled with Transportation, Police Services and Poudre Fire Authority on the ballot for the 1 cent sales tax increase. Board would like an update of the water feature closures. Staff – we can discuss both items during Staff Updates. Items of Note: None Approval of Minutes: Discussion: Board felt that a key thought that Brian Warner shared, wanting to have continued suggestions and input from the P&R Board to Colorado Water Conservancy regarding the NISP project was missing on the minutes. Carol will add this to the minutes before submitting them to the City Clerk’s Office. Motion to approve the Parks & Recreation Board minutes of April 28, 2010, by Greg Miller, 2nd by Danna Ortiz – Minutes approved 7:0 Citizen Participation None AGENDA ITEMS: 1) Community Scorecard Natural Areas is asking for support to develop a set of sustainability indicators that can be used by the City as a whole so each department is measuring sustainability in the same way. Discussion: Board – As we move down the road with sustainability, it would be beneficial to be looking at the same information across the board. Board – Do we want to support this effort? Board – Rob Cagen moved to support the development of sustainability indicators, Brian Carroll seconded – Board members voted 7:0 in favor of supporting Natural Areas in the effort. PARKS AND RECREATION BOARD Minutes of Regular Meeting Wednesday, May 26, 2010 413 S. Bryan Avenue – Park Shop 5:30 p.m. Council Liaison: Kelly Ohlson Staff Liaison: J.R. Schnelzer, 221-6301 Craig Foreman, 221-6618 President: Jessica MacMillan & Phone: 407-8896 (home) 660-9023 (work) Danna Ortiz 303-884-4850 (home) 407-8794 (work) Parks & Recreation Board Meeting – May 26, 2010 Page 2 of 9 2) BFO Update Results Teams now have until June 6 to check over the submitted offers, and return them to the sellers to be refined if necessary. Marty will be speaking with the Results Teams to answer any questions they may have on the CPRE offers. Once this process has happened, the offers will go to a Budget Quality Control Team from July 6-8. Once the offers are public, we’ll bring them to the Board for review and show you where the offers landed on the drilling platform. Parks has an enhanced offer to maintain one additional alley in 2011 and two additional alleys in 2012. The maintenance will be funded by the DDA so we feel this will be an accepted offer. Board – What will be done to these alleys? Staff – They will be functional for deliveries during certain hours, but open to pedestrian traffic. They’ll be modeled after the alleys in Old Town Square. Board – Will these be difficult to maintain with snow removal? Staff – We will not be doing snow removal on these alleys. Board – What about big trucks and oil drips on the pavers? Staff – The alleys will get power washed, and the pavers will be on top of concrete, so they should be able to handle the trucks. Recreation has been asked by the results teams if we can raise fees, to increase revenue and possible close on Sunday’s as a cost savings. We responded that we’ve looked at these possibilities before and our fees are at a level that are competitive, but still affordable so increasing them could actually reduce the level of participation and closing on Sunday’s doesn’t save enough money to be worthwhile. Board – Seems that the fees for the EPIC Ice are high, what about a donation box? Staff – For the pools and ice rinks the fee is $4.00 for drop-in, but we do have a super pass available which equates to $3.20 per visit. Board – What about basketball at the YAC? Staff – There is no drop-in at the Youth Activity Center (YAC ) is all programmed so they pay a fee. Board – Since there is now a charge at the Archery Range, could we charge the people to play at the Disc Golf Courses? Staff – It would be difficult to find a way to charge and monitor this at the disc golf course. Board – If they charged for disc golf, then would they have to charge the tennis players, etc.? Board – What about a donation box? Staff – Not sure it would bring in enough money, and logistically we don’t have enough staff to monitor a donation box appropriately; however, this is something that could change in the future since the demand on the Disc Golf Course causes stress on the Park. We will be charging a fee at the Gardens in the future. Board – It would be upsetting if I voted for a 1% sales tax increase and then was asked to pay to go to the Gardens. Staff – The Denver Botanic Gardens charges a fee, and they get funding from many sources. It will be a while before we do charge at the Gardens because we have to have more venues. Board – How do you think the public would respond to being charged for the Gardens when they’ve only had to donate? Staff – The Farm use to be donation only and about five years ago we decided we needed to charge. We thought we might have issues, but the attendance has remained strong. We did do an outreach process when we decided to start charging. Board – I understand charging for the programs, but it’s nice to be able to just wander the Gardens without a charge. Staff – The Gardens will be more like the museum. People are coming up with all types of ideas for funding, but Parks should be available for everyone. We’re taking a look at everything. Parks & Recreation Board Meeting – May 26, 2010 Page 3 of 9 Staff – If the 1% increase is not passed, we’ll be having very different discussions. 2011 doesn’t look great, but 2012 will be really bad. The projections are very conservative. Sales tax is up, but it’s relative to the stock market, which is down. If we see a big decline in stocks, peoples spending habits will decline. 3) Plan Fort Collins There was an article in the Coloradoan on May 26 regarding Plan Fort Collins. Ken Waido will have a meeting on June 29 and 30 at Drake Crossing; staff will be on hand to collect the information from the community. Discussion: Board – Do they have more focus groups scheduled? Staff – On June 22, they will be releasing a completed outline of Plan Fort Collins and then they will have another work session on July 27. Board – When is the City submitting ballot language? Staff – In June the Council will have to indicate that they want to put an item on the ballot. In August, the wording for the ballot needs to be finalized. Staff – We asked Ingrid Decker, Assistant City Attorney, what the Boards role is in Resourcing Our Future (ROF). She provided the following: Until there is actually a formal item on the ballot all the Board really needs to worry about is working within their functions as defined in the Code. Among other things, they can “advise and make recommendations” to the Council about budgetary matters related to Parks and Recreation, so if the Board wants to recommend to the Council that it submit ROF to the voters it can certainly do that by, for instance, passing a resolution in support of the agenda item, or by sending a representative to address the Council during public comment on the item at the meeting. If ROF is placed on the ballot, a whole new bunch of election/campaign laws kick in, but we can talk about that further in the June meeting if Council votes to move forward with putting ROF on the ballot. Ingrid will come to the June 23 P&R Board meeting. Board – Would a letter to the Council from the Board be good? We could work on something through e-mail and then submit a formal letter. Board – We mentioned months ago that Parks should be in the forefront of the ballot language since Parks & Recreation are popular, and let the other departments follow. Board – It seems that the Council wants the bundling, but we want specific wording. Staff – The ballot wording will more than likely be broad not specific. Board – Could we offer support for specific wording? The Council wants the wording to be broad, but Natural Resources was able to get their funding passed because the wording was specific. Board – Could there be wording on the ballot to have some of the Natural Resources tax money to go toward Parks O&M? Staff – That would probably make the ballot too convoluted, and needs to be a single topic. This option is not being considered. Board – It seems that the streets are in poor condition and we need to have the streets repaired. There is some discussion about making sure that wording conveyed that Transportation was not busses. Board – Have Police Services and Streets done a study to show public support statics? Staff – There are statics in the Community Scorecard, but not regarding public support. Board – Since the public does support Parks, this would be another reason for Parks to be listed first on the ballot. Board – What if the ballot asked for ½ % to go to Parks/Streets and ½% to go to Police/Fire? Parks & Recreation Board Meeting – May 26, 2010 Page 4 of 9 Board – I think people would be apt to vote only for the ½% they felt strongly about, what if only Police/Fire were given the ½%? I think it would better to have all the departments combined because no matter whom the public supports, they’ll have to vote for all to support their cause. I do think it will depend on the wording. Board – We should write a letter with the statistics from the scorecard and read it at a Council meeting. Board – The tax increase is a vote yes or no, it’s not a department vs. department issue. I think if things are too complicated, voters will say no to a tax increase. Staff – If you want to formulate a letter to Council it can be sent earlier, and presented at the June 15 Council meeting. Board – I don’t see Council changing their position on the ballot at this time. I’m not clear on what we’re trying to tell the Council. Board – I think we should focus on strategies for different options, if the tax increase fails. Board – We talk about fees, but aren’t other departments thinking the same thing? I think we should work together as opposed to fighting among departments. Board – I think we offered solutions a while back. Forcing departments to make cuts with their backs against the wall in 2012 and I think negligent on the Council not to listen to the Boards. Staff – Council has to make tough decisions. I think they know how important it is to have good quality parks, trails and recreation facilities. Board – I just feel the Council is being close minded and don’t want to hear the Boards opinions. Board – Do we want to write a letter and present it to Council? Board – What are the issues we’re all in support of? • 1% tax increase – Yes • Bundling – Yes, as long as money is designated. Staff – You are not trying to write the ballot language. You should be asking the Council to support Parks & Recreation in the 1% increase. Council can then take your request for support under advisement. Ingrid will be here in June to talk about ballot issues. Board – Can we agree that we would like to write a general support letter to Council? Board – Yes, and we should be in attendance on June 15., Board – Is it okay if we write a letter as an individual? Staff – Yes. Updates Park Updates A budget cut we had to make in Parks was to not turn on the water features at Spring Canyon and Fossil Creek Parks. Parks has been making a lot of cuts. The attached documents show all the cuts that have been made and the list of possible cuts still on the table if the economy doesn’t improve. The budget lead team accepted $200,000 from the $400,000 listed reductions. If we would have to reduce the $50,000 set aside for our seasonal staff, the seasonal staff would be laid off through the winter, which would then cause overtime for the full staff with snow removal; and delays with converting equipment. Discussion: Board – Could you use grant money for the water features? Staff – Grants can be used for building, but not for operating & maintenance of facilities. Board – What if they didn’t operate every day? Staff – The start-up and shut-down would cost the same even if they didn’t run every day. It costs approximately $100.00 per day, so if it only ran on Saturday & Sunday the savings would be about $7,000. Board – What about trash and restrooms? Staff – This year we are keeping the restrooms open and keeping trash cans available. However, it is a possibility to close the rest rooms in the neighborhood parks and just keep a port-a-let available as we do in the winter. This would be a significant cost savings. Parks & Recreation Board Meeting – May 26, 2010 Page 5 of 9 Board – It might be a good idea for some of us to go to Colorado Springs to see how their parks look with all the various cuts they’ve made. If the parks become run down, they can become an invitation for vagrancy and crime. Board decided to support the City Manager’s position of closing the water features for the season. Recreation Updates There are a couple of Art in Public Places projects being looked at; one would be on the handball wall at Northside Aztlan Center and the other would be a bronze sculpture at EPIC near the flagpole. Board – Does the Board have any say on where they put the bronze sculpture? The area at the flagpole seems overcrowded, it’s hard to picture how that would look. Staff – We can bring a picture of the area to the next board meeting. Board – Why is there no Colorado Flag at EPIC? Staff – They get stolen. The other good news for Recreation is that with the Lincoln Center Closing, we have been given the Adventure Cinema Series which we’ll show at Senior Center. We’ll be getting this information out to the current ticket holders. City Park Outdoor Pool will be open on May 27. The new financial person in Recreation compared our current revenue to 2009 and we’re up $11,000 Park Planning Updates Business as usual. WatersWay Park will be under construction this summer hoping for a fall completion. Registry Ridge is about a month behind. We’re hoping that Staley Park and Huidekoper Park will have O&M funding by 2012. There will be an open house at Richard’s Lake on June 3rd at 4pm. Board – Are large parks a priority over small parks? Staff – No Project Updates The CSU Board of Governors has given the go ahead for the disc golf project to move forward at Hughes Stadium. A landscape architect will be working with CSU on this project. Once this course is open, the course at Edora will be downsized. Board Work Plan Updates Bicycle Advisory Board Liaison, Dawn Theis reported that they talked about Plan Fort Collins. It was an interesting perspective on how this group sees the bike trails. They look at them as trails, but also as transportation for commuting. They would like to redesign some of the trails to accommodate more commuting. They also talked about wanting a velodrome, but finding funding and space is hard. Another thing they would like to design is a “bike safety town” in one of the playgrounds. Board – What’s happening with the BMX track in Edora? Staff – We have to wait to remove the cross-section where FEMA has concerns to see how removing the dirt will affect the flood plain. Once this has been established, most of the dirt will be removed and grass will go in. Parks & Recreation Board Meeting – May 26, 2010 Page 6 of 9 Other Business Danna & Jessica met with Maya Jairam, with the Human Relations Commission. Maya didn’t feel the HRC was being recognized by the other Boards and Commission as a resource, so she was reaching out to the other Boards to see how we could interact. With some of the cuts being made, they felt the HRC could be helpful in seeing how these cuts would impact the community. She also was wondering if Parks and/or Recreation partnered with CSU students. Staff – Both Parks & Recreation actually hire a lot of students for summer work. They also use the student volunteers through CSU Slice. Adaptive Recreation may be a possible cut in the future, so CSU might be a good option to see if student can assist with this program. Board – The HRC is having growing pains, but it’s great to see them reaching out. It might be nice to meet with some of the other Boards as well. Perhaps we could meet with the Natural Resources board in the fall. The Youth Advisory Board might be a good board to meet with also. Board – Would you like to rotate the meetings to different facilities? Board – It’s nice to see some of the other areas. Board – We’ll meet at Northside in June; the Farm in July, the Senior Center in August and the Gardens in September. Correspondence: None Adjournment: Meeting adjourned 7:40pm Respectfully submitted, Carol Rankin Carol Rankin Administrative Support Supervisor Parks Department Board approved minutes Wednesday, June 23 – 9:0 Board Attendance Board Members: Rob Cagen, Brian Carroll, Shirley Christian, Jessica MacMillan, Greg Miller, Danna Ortiz, Dawn Theis Staff: Craig Foreman, J.R. Schnelzer, Peggy Bowers Carol Rankin Guests: None Parks & Recreation Board Meeting – May 26, 2010 Page 7 of 9 Parks and Recreation Board April 28, 2010 Park Planning and Development work items: Plan Fort Collins (City Plan): Plan is into the second phase with interactive focus groups, best practices information from other communities, etc. Policy Plan: Environmental/Sustainability Best Management Plan Manual is about 90% written. Budgeting for Outcomes: 2011/2012 BFO, Sellers Offers due by May 9th. (New) PP&D will have offers as follows: Neighborhood Park Development 2011 and 2012, Recreation Trail Development 2011 and 2012, and possibly a Recreational Trail Impact Fee in 2012. BOB Park improvement funds – 2009 funds to Roselawn Cemetery for improvements. Park improvement funds in 2015. NISP: Supplemental EIS may not be ready until maybe 2011. Park items: 1. Waters Way Park: Contractor should be starting in May. 2. Tennis court plan as to how many courts and where are they located to be a 2010 work item. 3. FCCP: DOW will work with the City to get the lake restocked. The City will fund this expense over three or more years. 4. Registry Neighborhood Park: Final design phase underway. 5. (New) Richards Lake Neighborhood Park: The HOA is interested in seeing if the City could develop a small playground on the park site this summer. The park’s full development may not occur until 2013. The HOA has indicated they would fund the $1,000 yearly operation and maintenance expense for the playground. Staff is looking at this option and has funding available for the playground construction. Homes were first constructed in 2001/2 and paid their parkland fees. Trails: 1. Poudre Trail at Nix Farm: Staff will be developing the tree resting area for construction in the spring. 2. Poudre Trail at Lincoln Avenue: Forestry pruned the trail area downstream of Lincoln Avenue in preparation of the trail reconstruction. Construction plans should be ready for bidding in April. 3. Power Trail: Construction nearly completed. Keenland underpass of the UP in approval process and in the second step approval. May take into 2010 to receive approval. 4. Fossil Creek Trail: Trilby Road to Carpenter Road. Design and Stormwater permit completed with bidding to be in May for summer construction. 5. Poudre Trail at Lemay: Mulberry Bridge to be replaced by CDOT. Design effort starting this year. The design team has incorporated our trail bridge needs downstream of Lemay into the floodplain analysis. We’ll know shortly if the new trail bridges cause any flooding impacts that can not be mitigated. 6. Fossil Creek Trail and underpass at Highway 38E: Project is moving into the final phase of design with the project still on line for summer/fall construction. 7. Poudre Trail to Timnath: Preliminary design in 2010 with the intent of understanding CDOT, stormwater, environmental issues, etc. 8. Staff will start to work with CSU for an easement for the trail to extend to Drake Road. 9. County Road #11 BOB project and trail underpass on hold due to limited Street Oversizing funds. Miscellaneous: 1. Veteran’s Plaza at SCCP. Info can be obtained at the web page of the Community Foundation of Northern Colorado, News and Events section, and into Veteran’s Plaza page. 2. Disc Golf: Course layout to CSU; (New) The Hughes Stadium plan is completed and the Board of Regents will be reviewing in May. The disc golf course is part of the plan. 3. Water Craft Course – NISP impact unknown at this time. On hold. 4. BMX course is being moved to the Southeast Community Park site. 5. North Shields Street Bridge – The County will replace this bridge in 2013/14. Staff is working with the County to see if there is the potential for any short term parking solution for trail and river users. And, long term solutions with the new bridge design. 6. Old Fort Collins Heritage Park stake park lights – Group of users are attempting to find funding to supply lights at the skate park. 7. Jason has been helping the DDA with their Alley Project. Parks & Recreation Board Meeting – May 26, 2010 Page 8 of 9 PARKS GENERAL FUND BUDGET CUTS 2003 THROUGH 2010 PARKS Community Neighborhood Cut Parks Parks Other 2003 153600 25300 15000 Cut Fossil Creek equipment replacement and lifecycle $193,900 Eliminated Sheldon Lake Microbial program, reduced fertilizer program, reduced botanical program, cut commodities and contractual 2004 63500 56050 111756 Cut New West Fest, River Fest, and 4th of July day activities, $261,306 reduced equipment replacement, lifecycle, Tennis lights, horticulture in neighborhood parks, mowing trails, trash on trails and at facilities, reduced pet waste program and fertilizer, reclassified Admin Secretary. 2006 149523 70477 35000 Closed community park restrooms in winter, reduce trash collections, $255,000 reduce Gateway maintenance, reduce athletic field maintenance, reduce turf care, reduce lifecycle, reduce equipment replacement 2007 Moved Gateway Park and Picnic Rick to Natural Areas $114,500, cut 4th of 366623 151827 161756 July Celebration $37,000, reduced equipment replacement $35,000 reduced lifecycle program $20,000, reduced seasonal workforce, conference and training $226,500 518450 $20,000 2009 Parks - Project Reapproptn Requests Eastside Playground $41,000 one time City Park Shelter Renovation $50,000 one time Fossil Creek Fountain Renovation $50,000 one time Spring Canyon Dogpark Pond $25,000 one time Parks - Median Contract Service $30,000 one time Parks - Fuel Enhancement $60,500 Parks - Overtime $10,000 Parks -4th of July Entertainment $10,000 Parks - Conferences $10,000 $286,500 2010 Lifecycle Reduction 100,000 Cut Hourly Staff 50,386 Reclass Positions to Golf 29,635 Reduce Weed control 30,000 Eliminate Trash pickup at Recreation facilities 10,000 Recreation pays for program field preps 20,000 Reduce General Fund support of Archery Range 10,000 $250,021 2010 Additional cuts Fuel 22,000 Turn off Fossil Creek and Spring Canyon fountains 20,000 Lifecycle 50,000 $92,000 Total Parks Budget Cuts $1,565,227 Reinstated Cut in 2008 Median Maintenance 30,000 Seasonal Wages (Cut again in 2010) 50,000 Weed Spraying (Cut again in 2010) 30,000 Trail Mowing 5,000 115,000 Net Budget Cuts 1,450,227 Conservation Trust backfill (Not included in budget cuts) 440,000 Total reduction in General Fund 1,890,227 Parks & Recreation Board Meeting – May 26, 2010 Page 9 of 9 Parks $400,000 Budget Cut Recommendation 2010 Eliminate 2010 Climate Tree Planting offer. This reduction will reduce the amount of trees planted for enhancing the City tree canopy and reducing carbon emissions. This was an accepted enhancement offer. $35,000 General Fund contribution to Soft Gold Park This reduction will return the unspent balance of General Fund money that was contributed for the construction of Soft Gold Park. These funds were to be used for improvements to the park that will now be funded through park impact fees. These improvements include… $52,000 Close neighborhood park restrooms for the season. Restrooms in neighborhood parks will not be opened in 2010. These restrooms are usually opened in May and closed by October 31 each year. This will effect 24 parks and quality of service within these parks. A port-a-let will be provided at each park site. $70,000 Remove trash cans in all neighborhood and pocket parks. All trash cans will be removed and citizens will be asked to take their trash with them when they leave the parks. This cut will significantly reduce the level of service within the parks. The parks will not be as clean and well kept, especially heavily programmed parks. $100,000 Turn off decorative water features. The interactive fountains at Spring Canyon Community Park, Oak Street Plaza and Fossil Creek Community Park will not be turned on in 2010. This cut will reduce the over enjoyment of these sites. ($10,000/feature) $30,000 Further reduce the Parks minor capital improvements program. This cut will further delay needed repairs to park infrastructure. The Parks minor capital improvements program budget will have been reduced from $650,000 down to $250,000 or 60% if this cut is accepted. This reduction will continue to degrade the overall quality of the City’s park system. The following projects will not be completed. $100,000 7. Reduce fuel budget. $13,000 Total Reduction Requested $400,000