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HomeMy WebLinkAboutParks And Recreation Board - Minutes - 04/28/2010Parks & Recreation Board Meeting – March 24, 2010 Page 1 of 8 BE A GOOD STEWARD: Protect & Respect your Parks, Trails & Recreation Facilities Call Meeting to Order: Danna Ortiz called the meeting to order at 5:30pm. Agenda Review & Items of Note: Agenda Review: Discussion: Shirley would like to speak regarding Budgeting for Outcomes, and there is an update on the Bicycle Advisory Committee. Items of Note: Discussion: Mike McDonnell will do a tour of EPIC for anyone interested. Citizen Participation: Brian Werner, Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District Regarding the NISP project Board – Some of the Boards concerns related to NISP are the impacts to the Poudre River and how NISP will affect recreation activities, wildlife and the economy. Brian – Our relationship with the City of Fort Collins goes back 75 years; we built Horsetooth reservoir. Glade or NISP has been talked about for 26 years. With the water rights we could used Glade to capture water for Northern Colorado communities. There are many groups asking for water and Glade would meet the needs of Northern Colorado. Fort Collins would also benefit because many of the residents in south Fort Collins actually get their water from Loveland-Fort Collins water district and they are a part of this project. We have been working for about 10 years to get our permits for this project. There is no guarantee that there won’t be impacts from this project, but we are working hard to mitigate impacts and address all the concerns when the reservoir is built and how the Poudre will flow through Fort Collins. We have a mitigation draft explaining what makes since to Fort Collins to lesson the impact. We have an obligation to address these concerns and ensure that there will not be an impact to the Utilities in Fort Collins or the flow of the Poudre River. The only time we would pull water off the Poudre would be when the Cubic Feet met the need; we would not dry up the Poudre river. We will put bypass structures in place, but these are just in the planning stages. We need input from people so we can talk through the issues. At build out, NISP would take care of 45% of the community. Discussion Board – Is ELCO part of the NISP project? Brian - No, ELCO is not part of NISP because they have their own storage. Board – Are there requirements in place that farms who get can’t sell off the water they get from NISP? Brian – The first right of refusal is with the ditch companies to make exchange work. Board – Are you making any progress with City officials? PARKS AND RECREATION BOARD Minutes of Regular Meeting Wednesday, April 28, 2010 1801 Riverside - EPIC 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 – March 24, 2010 Page 2 of 8 Brian – Yes, we’re talking with them and addressing the concerns they brought us after they read the draft. We want input from everyone. There has been a lot of analysis with NISP and the City. The Feds felt they needed to review whole project and this is on-going for the next year or so. We’ll be on hold until we hear back from the Feds. CORP wants the agreement to be airtight, but we feel that we’ll eventually get the permit. We think we can work through the issues. Board – There were many places in the draft where there were no guarantees that NISP wouldn’t be held responsible. Have these been addressed? Brian – When we get to details they will be specific as to what we have to do; like planting trees, etc. adaptive management. Board – Are you anticipating recreational activities on the reservoir similar to Horsetooth? Brian – Yes. But I’m not sure what. Larimer County would manage the recreation. Brian - All of this is on the table for discussion and we would encourage any one to contact us. The Colorado Water Conservancy would appreciate continued suggestions and input from the Parks & Recreation Board regarding the NISP project. AGENDA ITEMS: RESOURCING OUR FUTURE - Mike Freeman – City of Fort Collins, CFO About a month ago, City Council hosted individual meetings with their districts to discuss City needs. Is there common support to increase sales tax or fees to increase revenue by $21,000,000? There is a real need to have an increase in revenue. Parks, Recreation, Police & Fire put together have a need for $21,000,000 to provide basic services. We’ve cut almost $24,000,000 in General Fund over the last 5 years. There is nothing left to reduce except major reductions. We’ve eliminated 225 jobs, there have been no raises, how we pay benefits has been reduced, and we’ve cut overhead. We’ve done everything from a business standpoint without taking dramatic actions, such as shutting down facilities. Currently, our Economic Development Department is working to bring business to Fort Collins. Retail is very challenging trying to keep those here – here. We’re doing what’s appropriate to support the economy. We’ve done all the things we can to reduce expense, what are the options if these reductions don’t work? It’s hard to ask for an increase in taxes or fees in this economy, but it’s a reality. Millions of dollars have come out of Streets’ budget, and now have a backlog of road repairs, but again we’ve had to cut $2,000,000 out of Streets which would have been used for repairs. It will take $6.5 million to maintain the main streets as they exist currently. Rankings for streets are A-F and we’ve typically been at about a B- now we’re at a C going into a D. We have over 60 bridges in Fort Collins, some of our bridges can’t carry the weight anymore; and we actually had one collapse last year. It’s very expensive to fix the bridges. Police are 50 officers short to deal with issues in neighborhoods, noise, animals, etc.; and Poudre Fire Authority (PFA) needs a minimum of 3 officers per truck; they currently only have 2 officers per truck. In addition, they are short in middle management. They only have one Battalion Chief for the entire City; they should have at least 2 for a city our size. The bad news is that the City’s insurance rating for fire services was downgraded due to the lack of personnel which means each of us will have our insurance rates increase. Board – If they get the personnel, will the rating change? Mike- Yes, but not until the next rating cycle, which won’t be for a couple of years. Parks & Recreation Board Meeting – March 24, 2010 Page 3 of 8 Mike - A quarter cent sales tax increase would generate $21 million, but there is so much still not covered with this increase, especially in Transportation. So, asking for a one cent increase would be a better option. Board – Why not ask for a fee? Mike – A sales tax increase is better because 1) we get about quarter of our revenue from non-city resident through tourism and import sales tax and 2) not a disadvantage from economic standpoint, even if we increase by one percent we’re still below most cities tax base. 3) In addition, property tax increase and fees create a competitive disadvantage. Transportation fee can be very high for volume of business and Chamber and business community would be upset. 4) A Park fee only hits residents which would only provide $4 million through fee and you want $2 million to cover immediate needs and you want more to cover additional maintenance needs. Discussion Board – It might be helpful to change wording from Transportation to pavement management because people hear Transportation and think buses. Mike – That would understate the whole need in Transportation. Board – Is there accepted benchmarking for Police and Fire staffing for cities of a certain size? Mike – Yes, if you look at page 21-24 of the 2009 Community Scorecard, the benchmark is based on response time, and offers per capita, not officer per people that doesn’t always make sense. All cities are different. Board – Does the City factor in the CSU police force? Mike – Not really, their first response is on campus, not at a residence. Board – Who collects data for Police? Mike – Police do detail bench markings and ICMA comes from variety of sources. Board – Benchmarking bothers me, seems that Police are overstaffed. Mike – We benchmark against other cities with colleges and include many other factors to come up with numbers. There is Police Executive Research on analysis they’ve done you can get this information at http://citydocs.fcgov.com/?cmd=show_related&vid=72&dt=SUMMARY+AGENDA&rid=Aug-14-2007 . You might do a ride along as well. It can be very eye opening. Board – If PFA responds to more medical issues than fire, why to the take out the large truck? It seems that it would be a savings if they had a smaller vehicle for this type of call. Board – PFA has to take truck in case they get another call, they need to be prepared. Board – Are you getting positive feedback from the meetings? Mike – Most groups are very neutral – no one has made a decision, they are struggling with issue of asking for a sales tax increase. If the increase is not passed, it will be pretty dramatic. Turning things off or shutting a facility down is the only option left. This is not a threat, but a reality. Board – Would the tax increase be time limited? Mike – No, this increase would be hard to drop when it will be used to increase staffing in some areas. Board – What do you think will happen with everyone asking for money at the same time; Larimer County, PSD, etc. Mike – It’s hard to say. Board – Is there a problem with a Mill Levy? Parks & Recreation Board Meeting – March 24, 2010 Page 4 of 8 Mike – A Mill Levy wouldn’t produce enough revenue, and with Gallagher it puts a disproportionate increase on business. We also don’t want to compete with schools. Approval of Minutes: Discussion: None Motion to approve the Parks & Recreation Board minutes of March 24, 2010, by Greg Miller, 2nd by Jessica MacMillan – Minutes approved 9:0 AGENDA ITEMS -Continued BFO UPDATE Park Planning – We have put in our neighborhood park offers. We have an enhanced offer to ask for a trail impact fee. This is a one time fee on new homes to generate money for trail development. This could replace the Library fee that Council removed when the Library became a district. We don’t have exact numbers with residential development, but we’re hoping the fee could generate about $250,000 to $350,000 per year. Natural Resources has been helping to fund the trail program; but will be unable to do so in the near future. An Impact fee would help offset the lost Natural Resource funding. Board – Don’t we have separator land already? Craig – The Natural Areas program has more separators identified in their plans. There is a push to have Lottery ConTrust money go to funding education for 1 year. This would not be good for parks and trail maintenance because $730,000 goes into parks and trail maintenance, which is already compromised. This would need the vote of the citizens to change funding source. Parks - We have an enhanced offer for the alley ways downtown, which will be funded from DDA for 2011- 2012. We have an enhancement for horticulture to hire a manager – which will probably be withdrawn. Basically the offers are the same as 2009-2010 based on the budget. Forestry is also the same. Recreation - Projects increased by 1%, expenses by 2%, we have a $7 million budget but that’s just for the status quo, basic services. We have done a 5 line budget outlook going out for 5 years. If revenues do not change, Recreation will be out of money which is causing concern, and we may need to make cuts as early as next year. We’re not sure how programs will be affected. Discussion Board – Well established Recreation programs keep youth busy, and kids with nothing to do could become an issue for PD which affects the quality of life in Fort Collins. Recreation has to be funded. Staff - Council agrees, but when there are needed cuts they look to CPRE because other areas are worse. Board – Why is there Art in Public Places instead of Recreation programs? Staff – The funding source for Art in Public Places is erratic, so it’s not a good source to fund Recreation. Board – Can the open space money not being used, be given to Parks & Recreation? Staff – That would have to be a referendum. Board – Do people living along the Poudre give City first right of offer if they sell, or can they sell to anyone? Staff – They can sell to whoever wants the estate. Board – There was an article recently, stating that Parks was going to close restrooms. This is wrong, citizen need a restroom facility in the parks. Parks & Recreation Board Meeting – March 24, 2010 Page 5 of 8 Staff – The restrooms in neighborhood parks close in the winter but we put have port-a-lets available. We have looked at possibly closing the restrooms in the neighborhood parks this summer leaving the port-a-lets in place. This is a $70,000 savings. However, we are not yet at that place. Board – We need to guard against not maintaining weeds, trash, etc. at parks. Staff – We have reduced some services, but we are still keeping the Parks clean. Board – Are we collecting enough from private entities, is our fee structure set up to cover costs? Staff – We’re competitive with other communities and we’re not looking to make a profit. Board – Maybe the Recreator could have an article about the need for a sales tax to fund O&M. Staff – The City would not be allowed to do an article as a sales pitch. Board – What if it just talked about the facts, as they are in stated in the 2009 Community Scorecard? Staff – We might be able to do something like this as long as it was just factual information. A Board member can write an article to editor as long as it’s factual; a “Did you know” type article. The Board can also speak to clubs and at neighborhood meetings promoting Parks & Recreation and explaining budget needs. Board – What about adding something in the newsletter with the Utility Bill? Staff – It would need to be about Resourcing the Future addressing the needs of all General Fund, so it would be difficult. Staff may be able to produce a fact sheet to give to Board Members that they could share. PLAN FORT COLLINS UPDATE We’re getting ready to bring these topics out to the public; not to solve problems or issues, just to see if they are good topics that should be discussed. We did have a good turn out at a large public process in May. We can discuss now or you can email issues/thoughts. Please keep in mind that we don’t want to re-visit plans already done, like Parks Plan, Cultural Plan or Natural Areas Plan we don’t want to erode the plans that are already in place. Plan Fort Collins is about Fort Collins as a whole. It’s been 10 years since we’ve looked at where we are and where we’re going as a City, let’s not trip over ourselves but see what’s missing. Take a look at the plan and send any comments to Carol for compiling. This will be consolidated when it goes to public. Updates Park Updates Parks Working on BFO offers. The Parks reorganization to hire 3 supervisor positions has started. We have a job description in for approval, and we’re hoping to interview and have these positions hired by the first 2 weeks in June. We’re having a good spring, but we’re not doing early weed control due to budget, so we’ll probably get calls. Because of the low numbers in January, we were asked to cut another $400,000. To save around $20,000 we have decided to not activate the water features at Spring Canyon and Fossil Creek. Golf We're still behind last year’s revenue. January and February we didn’t get much play, but we’re having a strong April. We’re hoping with a good summer and fall we’ll be able to meet our revenue goals. We are working on getting electric golf carts at Southridge. Horticulture Center The new rock garden will be stunning, and this was all done through donations and volunteers. It has an international draw. We’re hoping to have the kitchen ready for demos in the Garden this summer. Parks & Recreation Board Meeting – March 24, 2010 Page 6 of 8 Recreation Updates Working on BFO offers Overall the spring recreation programs are even or up from last year. With people staying home, they are using the facilities. We are saving energy costs by reducing lamps in overhead panels and we’re saving in solid waste disposal. Park Planning Updates Richards Lake Park on North Turnberry Road stalled out about four years ago. The HOA contacted us and they raised $20,000 to have a playground installed at the Park site. Since we had the money to build the playground, we said we would build it if they agreed to fund the $1,000 per year for 5 years for the operation and maintenance cost, which they have agreed to do. We’re hoping to get this installed this summer and have the entire Park developed by 2013. Discovery/Museum on College and Cherry will have one floor with walk-up to a conference area and patio. Parking will include a bus drop and turn around. The trail will be widened for fire trucks. Work will start in July looking for completion by late 2011 or early 2012. We are working on more parking. Board – Are they saving the trees in that area? Staff – Some Elm trees will not be saved, but there are trees that have been moved to the other side of the railroad tracks. Waters Way Park – It will cost about $900,000 for park itself. We had 7 bids and Walsh Construction got the bid. The development to the west of the site will vacate old stormwater drainage easement to make a better easement for flows through the park. There was a letter sent to Marty from a Disc Golf player thankful for that Craig is working with CSU to develop a new 18-hole course at Hughes Stadium. However they felt there was a need to have another course in the City. Marty explained that the existing course at Edora Park may be downsized as the Park is at carrying capacity, and with the damage to trees, turf and wildlife disc golf has an impact on the Park. It may be time for a private entity to develop a course. Project Updates See the attached Park Planning Updates Board Work Plan Updates Dawn Theis will be the new liaison from P&R Board. It’s a nice way to bring the perspective of the trails and sidewalks through parks to the bike community. Correspondence: None In June or July the Board will try to have a tour of Waters Way and Richards Lake. Parks & Recreation Board Meeting – March 24, 2010 Page 7 of 8 Adjournment: Motion to adjourn – Michael Chalona, seconded by William Pickering - Meeting adjourned 8:05 pm Respectfully submitted, Carol Rankin Carol Rankin Administrative Support Supervisor Parks Department Board approved minutes Wednesday, May 26 – 9:0 Board Attendance Board Members: Rob Cagen, Brian Carroll, Michael Chalona, Shirley Christian, Jessica MacMillan, Greg Miller, Danna Ortiz, William Pickering, Dawn Theis Staff: Craig Foreman, J.R. Schnelzer, Mike McDonnell, Marty Heffernan, Mike Freeman, Carol Rankin Guests: Brian Werner Parks & Recreation Board Meeting – March 24, 2010 Page 8 of 8 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.