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HomeMy WebLinkAboutParks And Recreation Board - Minutes - 03/23/2011Parks & Recreation Board Meeting –Marh 23, 2011 Page 1 of 9 BE A GOOD STEWARD: Protect & Respect your Parks, Trails & Recreation Facilities Call Meeting to Order: Michael Chalona called the meeting to order 5:35pm Agenda Review & Items of Note: Agenda Review: Add to the Agenda  Brian Carroll to speak on Land Conservation Board  Bruce Henderson to speak on work plan focus  Michael Chalona to speak on subcommittee, communications Discussion: None Items of Note: None Discussion: None Approval of Minutes: Danna Ortiz made the Motion to approve the Parks & Recreation Board minutes of February 23, 2011, with the amended addition of text for Board Member Role vs. Staff Roles, seconded by Rob Cagen – Minutes approved 9:0 Citizen Participation Two citizens to speak:  Mark Musgrave regarding the Fossil Ridge Trail expansion  Sandy Lemberg regarding the mural at the Creamery building Mark Musgrave Mark lives at the corner of Hylands West Drive and 38E, and has some concerns about the amount of outreach that was done on this project. There was a open-house meeting in August 2010 at Front Range where citizens could voice their opinions and concerns, but that was the extent of the meetings until they received a postcard in March stating that the project would start on April 1. His three main concerns are: 1) safety for bikes and handicap access; 2) lack of response to concerns voiced in August; and 3) financially is this the best project to pursue. Safety: Mark stated that with the volume of traffic and speed along 38E, trying to turn east or west is difficult, and people currently drive past the stop sign just to see down the road because of the poor visibility. Mark’s concern is that in doing this the cars will be straddling the bike path that will be crossing Hylands West Drive. They will be putting up signage and stripping the bike path to alert the traffic. Mark said they didn’t want to see a lot of signs. With the underpass being close to Hylands West Drive, he feels bikes will be coming quickly whiles drivers waiting to turn are watching for traffic. He was wondering if an at grade crossing over 38E would be better than an underpass. PARKS AND RECREATION BOARD Minutes of Regular Meeting Wednesday, March 23, 2011 5:30 p.m. Council Liaison: Kelly Ohlson Staff Liaison: J.R. Schnelzer, 221-6301 Craig Foreman, 221-6618 President: Michael Chalona Phone: 970-490-2335 (home) / 970-472-8954 x1 (work) Parks & Recreation Board Meeting –Marh 23, 2011 Page 2 of 9 Response: Mark had concerns about the possible increased bike traffic. The riders have used his front yard as a staging area, and park in front of his house. They are not using the parking area at Cathy Fromme. Financial: Mark was also concerned that even with money available to construct the path, was there money to maintain the path. Additional Concerns: Mark also thought there might be more noise and trash. He was also concerned that if the underpass was lit, it could be disturbing. Discussion: Board: Do you have any recommendations for mitigation? Mark: Reduce the speed on 38E, would be better overall; and a better way to link the paths. Board: You had mentioned an at grade crossing over 38E, why would you feel this was safer than an underpass? Mark: I think it would be safer for them to cross at Foxhills Rd, which is what they’re doing now and put up an on-demand light. It doesn’t seem that an underpass goes with this part of town. Board: Are you concerned with the underpass or the lane crossing Hylands West? Mark: Both. I’m not sure it’s financially good. Board: An underpass is a safer option. Mark: Approaching the crossing at Hylands West from the underpass is what’s not safe. Board: This project is actually a Larimer County project. The City is involved as it is part of the trail system, but since this is all County right-of-way, I’m not sure the City has any say. Mark: They said they were in a reactive role. I’m here to put a proactive spin on this. I’ve seen accidents and close calls over the past 10 years. Cars would need to slow to at least 5 mph to turn onto Hylands West with the new guard rail that they are putting in. Board: I can appreciate your perspective living there, but something to keep in mind is that it’s hard to know the use and what will happen so that’s why they have post-project reviews. Board: Can you provide us with something in writing that we can review? Mark: Yes. Sandy Lemberg Sandy would like to preserve the painting that is currently on the Creamery building, which is being deconstructed. The painting was commissioned 5-10 years ago for the farmers market. Sandy held a dance in the parking lot last summer, and Ken Mannon, Director of Operations Services, told him at that time that the building was coming down. Sandy has been working since that time to preserve the painting. He contacted JR about it, and JR said that Parks had no jurisdiction over the painting that it would be an Arts In Public Places concern. Sandy did go to the Art In Public Places meeting to visit with them about preserving the art and possibly displaying it on the outside of Club Tico. He also talked to the artist who said he would be available to touch up the painting. Steve Seefeld, the project manager, told Sandy that he will take the piece down and store it, but if another location could be found, it would be best to take it to that location to store until it can be put up. Sandy feels that Club Tico would be a great place, because they could continue to hold outdoor dances at the pool, under the mural. Marty Heffernan didn’t feel Club Tico would be the right place for the mural, but that Art in Public Places would need to adopt the project and find a place for the mural. Sandy thought the Armadillo would be another possible location, but the management didn’t want it on that building. Discussion: Board: When is the building coming down? Sandy: The first part of April. Board: Thanks for coming with some solutions. Staff: The Parks Department has no authority over this type of project. Operation Services Facilities oversees the all the buildings in the City and Art in Public Places would be the group in charge of this type of project. Parks & Recreation Board Meeting –Marh 23, 2011 Page 3 of 9 What Sandy is asking is out of the realm of what we can do. Art in Public Places would work with Facilities if the mural was to be put on a City building. Sandy: Is it possible to have a letter of support? Staff: Any art on public display will be through Art in Public Places, it would be up to them to find the best place for this. Art In Public Places would decide on a place and then approach that department and then that department would become involved in the process. Sandy: I don’t see anything keeping it from being in a public place. Board: Are you talking about having a dance inside the fence at the pool? Sandy: It would be the fence area that is cement. Staff: The area he’s talking about is where the wading pool use to be. Board: What about the Friday night movies at the pool? Sandy: Who does that? Staff: Recreation does this. Mike McDonald is the supervisor in charge. Sandy: When you wait you miss out on things. Staff: You’re going in the right direction, but you need to have Art in Public Places involved to get the ball rolling. Board: Do we want to offer our support? Staff: I’m not sure of Marty’s position. Board: Can we look into it? Staff: You, as the Board, can take a position, but Operations Services and Art in Public Places are the areas involved. Board: I’m not sure that the area proposed for dancing would be appropriate, so I’m not sure this is easily solvable. Board: Would we support Art In Public Places in finding a place for this piece? Board: I think we should wait to see what Art In Public Places will do, and then offer support if necessary. Board: Would staff find out if the City commissioned and paid for this mural? If yes, then I would say it’s okay to offer support, if not, I’m not sure it would be appropriate. Board: Why not? Board: It just opens up the question, “Why this piece of art”? Board: What about a Motion instead of a letter. I don’t think we need to get involved with a letter when a motion in the minutes would suffice. Motion: A motion was made by Rob Cagen: The Parks & Recreation Board finds value in the swing dance mural and would support Art In Public Places Board in finding a suitable location. Seconded: The motion was seconded by Shirley Christian Vote: 9:0 – all voted in favor No Discussion AGENDA ITEMS: Staff Updates Special Note: Council does a periodic review of the Boards. The Board needs to complete a questionnaire to be discussed at the April meeting and then the Chair will present to Council at the July 12 Council Meeting. Parks & Recreation Board Meeting –Marh 23, 2011 Page 4 of 9 Park Updates  Regarding the ADA Policy for use of Electronic Personal Assistance Mobility Devices, sent to the P&R Board (attached), the staff is against anything gas powered. We are researching other communities since we’re all in the same process. We will monitor and adjust the policy as time goes by. We need to allow devices, but not leave the door wide open; we need to be protected somewhat. Board: Compliments to the staff for creating this with a short turn around time.  We hired the four Park Technician positions, so we are now fully staffed now, except for season staff Recreation Updates  We are hiring two new front desk customer service positions. One will be at the Senior Center and one will be at Northside Aztlan Community Center.  We will also be hiring for the Recreation Director position sometime this year. Park Planning Updates Board: Can we talk more about the trail extension? Staff: Regarding the new underpass: This is a County road, so we have to work with the County on the road safety issues. The County put a guard rail close to the intersection to avoid people cutting the corner. They will also be stripping across the street and adding bumps and vehicle crossing signs on the trail and a yellow bike sign will be on 38E. Discussion: Board: I live in the neighborhood and you do have to stop beyond the stop sign to see down 38E. Will there be removal of any of the trees so the site line is better? Staff: Yes, there will be some removal done. Board: What about yellow blinking lights on the yellow sign making drivers more aware of the bike crossing? Staff: Again, this is a County road, so we can pass on the suggestion to them. Board: As far as budgeting goes, projects can’t be built without maintenance money included, correct? Staff: That is correct. Mark: We heard that neighbors might have to help with water and trash? Staff: With the new foliage there was some discussion about help with water, but regardless the new plants will be watered. Board: Can the underpass be on the other side of Hylands West Drive? Staff: No, an underpass could not be built in that area. Mark: Will the grade of the underpass be ADA compliant with a 5% grade. Staff: Yes Board: What about the speed limit? Staff: We can ask again, but the answer the last time from the County was no change is planned. Again, the Board can inquire with staff and staff can talk with the County. Mark: I did talk with Rusty McDaniels at the County to share my concerns, and he was going to take them to traffic, but I haven’t heard back. I’m afraid it may take a problem to make a change. Board Work Plan Updates Board: When we had John Litel here, I think we need someone for Parks. Board: With a sub-committee on communication, we can send our ideas to John. Staff: A marketing person would be great, but it’s a long process to get someone hired. It took two years to re- hire John’s position without funding. We also have to go through the BFO process which won’t take place until next year. We are having a meeting to discuss John’s workload and expectations. He does so much work for everyone we need to figure out how we can support him and his office. Board: How about an intern? Staff: We use interns now. Parks & Recreation Board Meeting –Marh 23, 2011 Page 5 of 9 Board: As the communication subcommittee chair I have been working on a chart to capture topics, our desired audience, results, and the Board members who is working on the topic. John sent us a list of things we could sign up for and I signed up for all of them to see how it works. I’ll send this out via e-mail to the Board Members. Note: Brian, Rob and Shirley are all interested in being part of the sub-committee. Board: Does this include working with other Boards? Board: The City Clerk asked the others Board chairs if they wanted to allow other Boards to be involved and they said they felt it was better to just review the minutes. Perhaps we could review their agendas and attend if something pertained to what we’re working on. Board: After attending the Land Conservation Board, I’m not sure an agenda would be enough. They talked about Urban Gardens and had a discussion about it but it was not part of their agenda. Maybe we should try to hold some joint meetings. Staff: You may want to try to do this internally this year, perhaps meeting with the Golf Board or Friends of the Gardens, this might be good for sharing thoughts. Board: We need to know our own goals first, so we’re more productive in our own meetings. Board: Maybe reading some minutes of other Boards could be a roles of the Vice-Chair. Board: What’s the goal here? What is our focus on? What do we need from other board? What are we trying to gain? Board: I think it is a way to identify overlaps and being able to respond and cooperate in reaching a common goal so we’re not traveling in parallel paths. Board: Maybe we should brainstorm various interests and then go to other boards. Board: If we started to discuss Poudre River Trail and talked about the Park & Recreation Plan how would Natural Areas know? Board: The Women’s Advisory Board had an idea to select three key topics they discussed and bullet point them to share with other boards. It would need to be compiled by one board member, from each board, and then shared with the other members of their respect boards. Board: I think we need to relook at our Work Plan. Board: Our focus the last few years was on funding, but now that 2B passed, this is not as big an issue. When we start into the 2013/2014 budget we’ll be asked again to provide help. I think we still need to find other funding sources for parks and recreation, but it doesn’t have to be our main focus. Staff: With the 2B money, we will have 10 years of funding, so we should be able to grow and maintain the parks and recreation facilities. Board: Where are we with City Plan? Staff: City Plan has been adopted. Board: Rob, did you talk with your contact at Poudre School District regarding the Recreator? Board: He believes there are tables in each school where information can be placed for people to pick up, but too many items could be overwhelming. He suggested we approach individual schools to see if the Recreator could be placed on the tables. Board: Is stewardship in communication? Board: I think stewardship should be separate. It’s a big issue and could be another sub-committee. Board: Can we reach out to PSD students and youth football teams about stewardship? Board: We need a program of what we want to discuss with the kids. The standard way government interacts with youth may not work, we need to make them engaged, not think it’s a waste of time. Board: Maybe some CSU interns could help bridge the gap. Staff: Marc Rademacher, our Sports Supervisor, does talk with all the coaches about stewardship. Board: Having kids interact with the maintenance and design of the parks may be helpful. Board: This could be an agenda item in the future. Board: Can citizen participation be longer than 20 minutes? Parks & Recreation Board Meeting –Marh 23, 2011 Page 6 of 9 Board: No, if they go any longer it would need to be an agenda item, so there is public notice. We can always invite citizens back to discuss their topic further as an agenda item, but citizen participation has to be limited to 20 minutes. Bicycle Advisory Board Liaison Update No Meeting in March Board Bullet Items  Participate with Women’s Advisory Committee program of bulleted items to share with other Boards.  Safety concerns with 38E underpass and Fossil Creek Trail extension  Stewardship of Parks and Recreation  Supported relocation of swing dance mural. Adjournment: Selena Paulsen made a Motion to adjourned meeting, Seconded by Danna Ortiz – meeting adjourned 8:30pm. Respectfully submitted, VtÜÉÄ etÇ~|Ç Carol Rankin Administrative Support Supervisor Parks Department Board Approved the minutes, of March 23, 2011 – 9:0 Board Attendance Board Members: Rob Cagen, Brian Carroll, Michael Chalona, Shirley Christian, Bruce Henderson, Greg Miller, Danna Ortiz, Selena Paulsen, Dawn Theis Staff: JR Schnelzer, Craig Foreman, Steve Budner, Carol Rankin Guests: Jason Phol, CSU student, observing for Journalism Class Mark Musgrave, citizen, speaking regarding the Fossil Ridge Trail Extension Sandy Lemberg, citizen, speaking regarding the mural on the Creamery Building Parks & Recreation Board Meeting –Marh 23, 2011 Page 7 of 9 Parks and Recreation Board March 23, 2011 Park Planning and Development work items: Policy Plan: The draft of the Environmental/Sustainability Best Management Plan Manual has been completed and staff is reviewing. Budgeting for Outcomes: The 2013/14 BFO process will begin in the spring of 2012. Building on Basics (BOB) Park improvement funds – 2009 funds to Roselawn Cemetery for improvements. Park improvement funds will be available in 2015. NISP: Supplemental EIS may not be ready until 2011/12. Park items: 1. Waters Way Park: Under construction. 2. Tennis court plan as to how many courts and where are they located is being processed with Poudre School District to include their court plans. 3. Registry Neighborhood Park: Project is out to bid for construction this year. 4. Staley Neighborhood Park: Park is in the pilot program for The Sustainable Site Initiative program. First public open house is March 23rd from 4:00 to 7:00 at Zach Elementary School (Only open date at the school, or we would not have picked a Board meeting night). We normally meet outside on the park site; but were concerned about the weather this time of year. Trails: 1. Poudre Trail at Nix Farm: Staff will be developing the tree resting area design. Natural Resources has seeded the area with native grasses (the crested wheat has been cut). We are sensitive to this costly effort and will plan our construction of the tree resting area for a later date to minimize disturbance to the new grass. 2. Power Trail: Keenland underpass of the UP in approval process and in the second step of the railroad approval process. 3. Fossil Creek Trail along Stanton Creek north of Carpenter Road planned for summer/fall 2011 construction. 4. Poudre Trail at Lemay: Mulberry Bridge to be replaced by CDOT. The design team has incorporated our trail bridge needs downstream of Lemay into the floodplain analysis. Latest from CDOT is they are planning for construction to start in the fall of 2012. The MPO has awarded $368,375 toward the construction of the $530,000 trail project. 5. Fossil Creek Trail and underpass at Highway 38E: Project is about to start construction. The full closure of County Road #38E for the installation of the trail underpass is tentatively scheduled for early May. GOCO grant. 6. Poudre Trail to Timnath: Scoping of the project in 2011. 7. Staff will start to work with CSU/Environmental Learning Center for an easement for the trail to extend to Drake Road. 8. County Road #11 and trail underpass on hold due to limited Street Oversizing funds. 9. Spring Creek Trail east of Centre Avenue to the railroad tracks. R.O.W. is working with CSU (CSURF) about the new trail easement process. We hope to acquire the easement in 2011. Miscellaneous: 1. Electric bicycle process to determine if they should be allowed on the trail system occurring in 2011. (New) Bike demo ride at City Park on March 26th from 10:00 to 12:00. 2. The Department of Justice has new rules that will allow “power-driven mobility devices” to be used on trails by “individuals with mobility disabilities”. Basically, any power-driven device that is used by an individual with mobility disabilities, including golf cart, Segway, all-terrain vehicle, motorcycle, etc. is allowed on trails. Staff has formed a team from the City Attorney’s Office, Parks, Park Planning and Natural Resources to look into this issue. The rule takes affect on March 14, 2011. 3. 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. Construction to start on the project in March with completion set for May. 4. Disc Golf: The Hughes Stadium design effort starting. The disc golf course is part of the plan. The design of the course holes is just about competed. We are proposing using Conservation Trust funds for the development of the course and are hopeful the disc golf community can find grants and help with construction. The GOCO grant was submitted. 5. Water Craft Course – NISP impact unknown at this time and fund raising very slow. 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. Discovery/Museum Center – we are coordinating on this project. Parks & Recreation Board Meeting –Marh 23, 2011 Page 8 of 9 Parks & Recreation Board Meeting –Marh 23, 2011 Page 9 of 9