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HomeMy WebLinkAboutParks And Recreation Board - Minutes - 01/23/2013Parks & Recreation Board Meeting – January 23, 2013 Page 1 of 5 BE A GOOD STEWARD: Protect & Respect your Parks, Trails & Recreation Facilities Call Meeting to Order: Bruce Henderson called the meeting to order 5:31pm. Agenda Review & Items of Note: Welcomed the new P&R Board members: Scott Sinn & Jessica MacMillan The Board & Liaisons introduced themselves. Jessica MacMillan has previously been a P&R Board member for 16 years. She took a couple years off and decided she wanted to participate again. Scott Sinn is a landscape architect, has lived in Fort Collins for 12 years and is looking forward to working with the P&R Board. Citizen Participation: Two citizens attended to observe only: Cherri Thompson and Bob Kingsbury Approval of Minutes: Discussion: None Michael Chalona made the motion to approve the Parks & Recreation Board minutes of December 5, 2012, seconded by Jessica MacMillan – Minutes approved 7:0 Meeting Summary • The Board welcomed new Board members, Jessica MacMillan and Scott Sinn. • The Board reviewed the Recreational Trail Study that was presented to City Council on December 11. City Council had requested that staff undertake a trail study and develop a long-range plan for the paved trails. The purpose was to identify issues, problems or concerns that should be addressed in the Trail Plan. The data revealed useful information such as; the importance of the trails to resident’s quality of life and that more trails are desired and people want the gaps in the trail system finished. Detailed information regarding the Trail Study is at: http://www.fcgov.com/parkplanning/trailplan.php • Impact fees have not been reviewed or updated in many years. The City hired a consultant to review the fees and has made recommendations. The proposed new fees in the community park section would pay for community parks and trails. This new trail impact fee will help offset the monies that the trail program will be losing from Natural Areas in 2015. The Finance Committee has reviewed the information and has given it a preliminary okay. This fee may only be used for construction of parks and trails. The Board motion and vote of 7:0 was in support the proposed fees. • Reviewed and finalized the 2012 Annual Report for the Parks & Recreation Board for submission to the City Clerk’s Office by January 31. • Assigned work plan items to Board Members to provide focus on all the topics and ensure the Board is keeping on task with their work plan. PARKS AND RECREATION BOARD MINUTES Regular Meeting Wednesday, January 23, 2013 5:30 p.m. Acting Board Chair: Bruce Henderson, Vice Chair 2012 Council Liaison: Kelly Ohlson – kohlson@fcgov.com Staff Liaisons: J.R. Schnelzer, 970-221-6301 – jrschnelzer@fcgov.com Craig Foreman, 970-221-6618 – cforeman@fcgov.com Bob Adams, 970-221-6354 – badams@fcgov.com Parks & Recreation Board Meeting – January 23, 2013 Page 2 of 5 Full Minutes AGENDA ITEMS: Regional Trail Study City Council had requested that staff undertake a trail study and develop a long-range plan for the paved trails. A team was created that included Transportation, Community Services, Natural Areas and the Bicycle Coordinator. Trail counters were set a11 locations along the trail system, and volunteers performed trail intercept surveys at 10 locations on six different dates. The purpose was to identify issues, problems or concerns that should be addressed in the Trail Plan. The data revealed that the trails are important to resident’s quality of life, there is a high satisfaction with our trail system, the trails are not generally congested, the 10’ concrete trails work well, and the trails are well maintained. In addition, we found out that more trails are desired and people want the gaps in the trail system finished. The users would also like to have more over/under passes of busy roads and that the trails are scenic and close to nature. Additional information can be found at: http://www.fcgov.com/parkplanning/trailplan.php Our next steps will be to present the results for various City Boards to gain their support and finish drafting the Trail Plan including future trails, funding options and action items; and then bring the Plan back to Council for possible adoption. We will be drafting the Trail Plan in March/April and bring it to the Board in May for review. Discussion Board – Where the trail goes through CSU, do you have to get any special permits in order to widen the trail? Staff – No, we work with CSU for easements for the trail. Board – Did the questionnaire ask users where they felt the need for expansion was? Staff – Yes, that’s why we’re focused on the area through CSU; and other top ranked projects. Board – What about northeast Fort Collins, what’s the time frame for the trail build out in this area? Staff – We follow development; the build out of trails in this area will take some time and some of the delay will involve how to get traffic safely on Lemay Avenue with a new separated crossing of Vine Drive and the railroad tracks. Board – What if you used the Redwood trail that ends on the north side of Vine at the Linden intersection and routed around Andersonville up to Conifer and across Lemay there? Staff – We can certainly look into that as an option. Board – Do you think there will be any issues in waiting to bring the Trail Plan to Council with the Parks & Recreation Policy Plan update in 2014? Staff – I don’t think there is great risk in waiting because the Trail Plan validates the needs and supports the Policy Plan. Board – Are you considering the paved trails recreation trails or commuting trails? Staff – They are recreation trails used by people commuting; which actually is a good blend. Board – What is the policy on adding lighting along the trails especially if there are safety concerns? Staff – We wouldn’t consider this because many of the trails are through residential areas and natural areas, and it’s not really a need. It would also be extremely expensive. Board – I think the question of the trail being crowded is subjective because a person may consider it crowded if they wanted a peaceful walk and encountered five other users. Board – One of the action items was to encourage youth in using the trails; what was this? Staff – We found a mix of users between the ages of less than 18-75, but only about 2% of the users were under 18. We’re not sure if they just didn’t complete a survey or if they are not using the trails so we want to find out. We also want to find out about senior users as well. Impact Fee Impact fees are growth paying its way. The fees have not been reviewed or updated in many years, so a consultant was hired to review the fees and has made recommendations. The proposed new fees in community park section would pay for community parks and trails. This new trail impact fee will help offset the monies that we will be losing for trail development from Natural Areas in 2015. The Finance Committee has reviewed the information and has given it a preliminary okay. This fee may only be used for construction of parks and trails; so it will help to get the trail system completed. Parks & Recreation Board Meeting – January 23, 2013 Page 3 of 5 Discussion Board – There is a bit of a concern that the smallest residence at 700 sq. ft. is paying the highest rate. Staff – There isn’t a definitive answer to this, a smaller residence could indicate a lower income family; but it could also be an older person who is downsizing and is in the upper income bracket. In addition, the fee is a one-time fee that, for example, would be a very small amount over a 30-year mortgage. Compared to the region, these fees are about in the middle. Board – Does this fee impact remodels or just new construction? Staff – Only new construction. A remodel would only be impacted if they created additional units within the dwelling. Board – How does this fee relate to the fee we were trying to include on the Utility bill? Staff – This fee is on new construction. The fee proposed to be included on the Utility bill was for operation and maintenance. Motion Made Bruce Henderson: The Parks & Recreation Board supports the trail impact fee included in the community park section of the updated capital expansion fees. Second – Jessica MacMillan Vote: 7:0 in support P&R Board Annual Report The Board reviewed the 2012 Annual Report and wanted to include the bullet point in Communication – Participated in the oil and gas meetings as a representative of the Parks and Recreation Board – to the Sustainable Practices section as well. They also wanted to add the following two bullet points to the Trails Section - Explored funding options for trails, due to the loss of subsidy from Natural Areas in 2015 - Advocated for study of e-bikes for inclusion in the overall trail study. Motion Made Michael Chalona: The Parks & Recreation Board approves the 2012 Annual Report to include the additional items discussed. Second – Richard Barnhart Vote: 7:0 in support STAFF UPDATES Parks Updates • Parks use 80% non-potable water for irrigation and are continually looking for ways to reduce water use. We are prepared with a drought plan for this coming season; but we have already purchased $50,000 in flowers for the downtown that we’ll need to maintain. Hand-watering is an option, and a lot of what we do in the downtown area anyway. • We were contact last month and informed that we will need to vacate the downtown park shop as it is being razed late summer for new construction to take place in early 2014. Unfortunately, we were not given any alternatives, and we have no money to lease or pay for a new building. We will have 30 employees displaced, as well as numerous pieces of equipment; so we have concerns about how this will affect our level of service downtown; as well as an increase in fuel consumption in having to trailer our equipment for use in the downtown. We are working with Operations Services to find a solution. • We are in the process of working on the Park Ranger position. We are working with Natural Areas, but with our different expectations and needs for the Ranger in Parks the position will work directly for Parks. We are looking into the possibility of hiring a full-time Ranger making that a lead position and then hiring a seasonal Ranger. • The Cemetery Office has purchased a new software program that will allow them to digitally store all their historic data. • Gina Mohr’s classes will work with us again performing intercept surveys at the community parks this April. We have asked that they collect data in the mornings, afternoons, evenings and weekends to get better overall data. • There have been five port-a-lets burned to the ground and currently no one has been caught. Parks & Recreation Board Meeting – January 23, 2013 Page 4 of 5 Recreation Updates • Recreation has the same issue with being displaced from the building downtown. We have a lot of equipment stored in this building. • The Mall redevelopment will also be displacing the Youth Activity Center (YAC). We are looking for alternatives to place the programs at the YAC at other facilities. Options include the Senior Center, Club Tico, and the Farm at Lee Martinez but we need a gym. We’ve also talked with PSD and CSU, but their scheduled use of their gyms is tight. - What about some of the empty retail space by Kmart or the Square? - Many of the kids that go to the YAC use the bus, so easy access for the bus is important - What about space by the Drake Center? These are good suggestions and we’ll look into the possibility. • The Southeast Recreation Center & Cultural Facility Study was approved in the BFO process and the proposals are due February 1. We have several contractors that will be interviewed and we’re hoping to award the bid by February 25. • Working on the Recreation Strategic Plan by ranking programs community vs. individual benefit and cost recovery rates • We are in the process of improving our branding and image City-wide with logos on the buildings, developing criteria for entry ways to look more professional, etc. • Recreation is working on the 4th of July parade with the help of Parks. It will start at City Park and go down Mountain Ave to downtown. The theme is Independence Day and we’re hoping to represent Police Services as they are celebrating their 100 year anniversary. • The consultant reviewed the air quality and bulkhead at EPIC and we will need to make some safety updates and they may be expensive fixes. We will be focused on the safety issues first, but Operations Services is in charge so we’re not sure of the timeline yet, but it will need to be done in the near future. • The new Recreation fees went into effect on January 1, and we have had mixed reaction. The area of most complaint is the higher “drop in” fitness fee. We did this because we want to encourage people to sign up for the class and attend all sessions; which overall is less expensive per class. • The Senior Center Expansion RFP went out for design bids. We are in the process of rating the bids, and are hoping to have the list narrowed to a final three next week, and have a contractor on board by April 1, so we can have drawings available by April/May to start getting citizen input. The Senior Center expansion group has raised about $95,000 so far. Park Planning Updates • The Woodward Governor project at Lincoln Greens is at P&Z (Planning & Zoning) for approval. There is a public open house on January 30 at 6:00pm at the Streets Department. Craig will send out a design when they are ready. • Utilities will be moving a utility line as part of the Mulberry bridge replacement project. Starting in mid-February thru mid-May the Poudre Trail will be closed between Lincoln Ave & Mulberry St. Trail users will be advised to follow a posted detour route along Lincoln Ave & Lemay Ave. • Where the Poudre Trail is tight to the River on the east side, we will be bumping it out to help Natural Areas mitigate this area to allow for better river flow and vegetation; and a spur path will be designed for access to the river and a “quiet spot”. Bicycle Advisory Board Liaison Update – Bruce Henderson Fort Collins is currently at a Gold Level for a bike friendly community through the League of American Bicyclist. http://www.bikeleague.org/ . This ranking was done four years ago, and the application is due for renewal this year. Molly North, the interim Bike Coordinator for the City will be submitting the application and is hoping for the higher ranking of platinum or diamond. Part of the ranking process through the League of American Bicyclists looks at how many people from the community review the applications. If you’re interested in helping Fort Collins to obtain the higher ranking, please go to http://www.bikeleague.org/programs/bicyclefriendlyamerica/communities/getting_started.php Parks & Recreation Board Meeting – January 23, 2013 Page 5 of 5 Board Work Plan Items - Assignments The Board reviewed their work plan items and members selected areas of interest that they will focus for 2013. • Budget – Bruce Henderson • Communications – Jessica MacMillan & Dawn Theis • Sustainable Practices – Scott Sinn • Parks – Todd Galbate & Michael Chalona • Trails – Ragan Adams & Brian Carroll • Recreation – Richard Barnhart • Other Projects/Programs o Natural Areas – Brian Carroll o River & NISP – Scott Sinn o Great Lawn & Community Gardens – Bruce Henderson Schedule of Articles/Calendar Dawn Theis created a spreadsheet for the 2013 articles. The Board came up with ideas to write about each month and who would write the article. The spreadsheet is a guideline to ensure articles are written every month, but is subject to change if necessary. Dawn will be sending out the spreadsheet to the other Board members. Notes of Interest: • Reminder - Election of Officers occurs at the February Board Meeting. • Found out that the Council members have not been reading the articles in the Coloradoan submitted by the Board Members because they do not get the Coloradoan. It was decided that the 2013 articles will be emailed to City Council. Bullet Points • Reviewed the results of the Trail Survey. http://www.fcgov.com/parkplanning/trailplan.php • Craig Foreman explained the new proposed impact fees that include trails. • Reviewed the Parks & Recreation work plan and members selected areas of interest for focused attention http://www.fcgov.com/cityclerk/parks-rec.php Adjournment: Meeting adjourned 7:55pm. Respectfully submitted, VtÜÉÄ etÇ~|Ç Carol Rankin Administrative Support Supervisor Parks Department Board Approved the minutes, of January 23, 2012 – 8:0 Board Attendance Board Members: Richard Barnhart, Brian Carroll, Michael Chalona, Bruce Henderson, Jessica MacMillan, Scott Sinn, Dawn Theis Staff: Craig Foreman, JR Schnelzer, Bob Adams, Carol Rankin Guests: Citizens – Cherry Thompson & Bob Kingsbury