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HomeMy WebLinkAboutParks And Recreation Board - Minutes - 07/28/2010Parks & Recreation Board Meeting – July 28, 2010 Page 1 of 7 BE A GOOD STEWARD: Protect & Respect your Parks, Trails & Recreation Facilities Call Meeting to Order: Jessica MacMillan called the meeting to order 5:38pm. Agenda Review & Items of Note: Agenda Review: Discussion: – Bridget Brownell, Recreation Supervisor at the Farm has a two-minute presentation highlighting The Farms 25 anniversary; this agenda item will be added prior to Resourcing our Future. – J.R. Schnelzer will speak about the 19 trees vandalized at Spring Canyon Park during staff updates. Items of Note: Discussion: Jessica wanted thank the Board members who attended and Danna Ortiz for speaking at the Council meeting on July 27. Danna included information from the article about Colorado Springs and what we’re facing. The Council passed the vote by 4:2 to put the Resourcing our Future tax increase of .85% on the ballot. The Board pledged to Council to help promote and support Resourcing our Future. On August 6, Rob, J.R., Marty and Craig will go to Colorado Spring to see first-hand what is happening to their parks and recreation facilities. Rob will take pictures to share with the Board. Board – Can we write letters to the Editor? Staff – You can always voice your personal opinion. But, be careful if you’re speaking as a Board member to only offer facts. Have Ingrid Decker review any written correspondence. Board – Why is the Chamber not backing the tax increase? Board – They feel that businesses are not affected. Board – If we need to attend another Council meeting, let’s all try to go. Approval of Minutes: Motion to approve the Parks & Recreation Board minutes of June 23, 2010, by Rob Cagen, seconded by Danna Ortiz – Discussion: None – Minutes approved 6:0 Citizen Participation None PARKS AND RECREATION BOARD Minutes of Regular Meeting Wednesday, July 28, 2010 The Farm at Lee Martinez Park 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 – July 28, 2010 Page 2 of 7 AGENDA ITEMS: The Farm at Lee Martinez Bridget showed a brief video highlighting The Farms 25th anniversary. When Council asked what the demographic was for The Farm, staff replied cute; cute animals, cute kids. Discussion: Board – Do you charge a fee? Staff – We do charge a $2.50 gate fee and there is a fee for classes. Board – When you started charging a fee did you see a drop in participation? Staff – We started charging in 2006 and thought there might be a drop, but there was no drop in participation. Most participants were surprised we had charged before. Board – Where do you get the hay? Staff – We get some from the City’s Stormwater department. Board – How much does it cost to maintain the Farm? Staff – It costs about $250,000. We generate about $200,000 in revenue from gate fees and special events. Treatsylvania makes around $20,000. The remaining funds needed, come from the General Fund. Board – Why does the cow seem so thin? Staff – Our young cow did have a calf in March and developed milk fever. They can’t process milk like they should. We’ve been working closely with a veterinarian, giving her every chance because we’d like to keep her here; but we may have to sell her and get a new cow. Board – Why do the pigs seem “stiff”? Staff – As pigs get old, they do get stiff. We sell the older pigs and get piglets because we try to portray the reality of farm life. Board – Does the Mayor pardon the turkey on Thanksgiving? Staff – No, but interestingly enough on our 25th anniversary he open his feathers up for the first time. Resourcing our Future The Council will be adding a .85% tax initiative on the November ballot. If the tax increase passes, Parks & Recreation this would get approximately $2.50 million. Now that Resourcing our Future will be on the ballot, be careful what you say as a Board member and if you have any question, ask Ingrid. Discussion: Board – What happened with Ben & Wade at the Council meeting? Board – Wade wanted to only do a 5% tax increase taking away $10 million out of existing programs and reallocating those funds. Ben asked what $10 million he was talking about, and Wade didn’t have a response. Board – It’s important to ask, “what don’t you like”; something like this is much more emotional than logical. Board – Our current sales tax is 6.7% http://www.fcgov.com/salestax/tax-rates.php (State tax 2.9%, Larimer Cty tax .8% and the City tax 3% = 6.7%) so with a .85% increase we’ll be at 7.27%. Greeley’s current sales tax is 6.36% (State tax 2.9%, City tax 3.46%) and Loveland’s sales tax is 6.7% (State tax 2.9%, Larimer Cty tax .8% and City tax 3%) this website will provide additional tax rates for Cities in Colorado. https://www.taxview.state.co.us/QueryTaxrates.aspx?selected=1 The following web site provides more on the PIF/RSF fee collected in Centerra http://www.ci.loveland.co.us/finance/salestax/PIF_RSF.htm Board – Thinking about Colorado Springs, it seems short sighted to let parks run down in a few years, which devastates a community. Fees go up, and it will cost more in the long run. Board – At the Council meeting, most people didn’t seem to have an issue with the 11% of the .85% to be allocated to the Council’s discretion. You need money for emergencies. Parks & Recreation Board Meeting – July 28, 2010 Page 3 of 7 BFO Update Darin Atteberry is going through the final piece of the budget process. We will hopefully be able to show you our final packages in August. Parks and Recreation were both asked to prepare information on what it would look like to cut an additional 15% from their budgets. It will be pretty devastating. Board – If the sales tax passes will you have to continue with these cuts? Staff – We’re not sure. Board – What if the cuts involve a facility or program funded from GoCo? Staff – We would have to pay back the money and they will not be as apt to help us out in the future. Board – This could be a dire situation that the community doesn’t really understand. Board – The Council needs to be leaders to explain why the tax is important. Board – The downtown looks great, when that goes away no one will want to be there and the merchants will suffer. Board – There seems to be a disconnect with plans being shown with medians all done up nicely, but who and how are they suppose to be maintained? Staff – Currently the median streetscapes are a City standard, so the standard would have to be changed. In 2012 parks will acquire an additional 169,000 sq feet in medians. Currently, we contract this maintenance out to a private contractor because it is very dangerous work. We try our best to keep them maintained, but we do get a lot of SARs (Service Area Requests) on medians. Board – Can we use other avenues to get the word out besides letters to the editor; like Facebook? How does the City educate the public? Staff – Craig will talk with Kelly DiMartino. Board – There is a private citizen’s group made up of business people who meet at the Armstrong Hotel Monday evenings at 6:00pm. This is a grassroots group encouraging the tax increase. Plan Fort Collins Plan Fort Collins will check in with Boards mid-October with community events for the third round of focus groups. On October 26 they will have a work session to talk about sustainability and transportation. One of their transportation topics concerned electric bikes on trails. However, it’s not clear if this would mean widening the existing trails, creating two trails, or if the design would need to change on streets for varying lanes to accommodate various modes of transportation. Discussion: Board – I think this is a good process to discuss these options. In Minneapolis they had a trail around the lake, and it became so crowed with various modes of transportation that a lady was killed by a person on a bike. Since that time, a second trail was developed - one is for pedestrian use and one is for bikes. Board – Another thing to look at would be available parking for smaller vehicles like mopeds. Updates Park Updates We had vandalism done to 19 trees in Spring Canyon Park. It will cost around $9,500 to replace. We did bring in Police Services, but there are no leads. We are hopeful that with the publicity about the vandalism that someone will hear something and call Police. We also had irrigation heads broken so in all we sustained about $11,000 in damage. Parks & Recreation Board Meeting – July 28, 2010 Page 4 of 7 Recreation Updates We’re having a pretty good year at the City Park pool. We’re up 93% from last year. We’re working to promote programs. We are winding down our summer programs and closing our major facilities (Senior Center, EPIC, and Northside Aztlan Center) for cleaning. Discussion: Board - Are any programs cuts this fall? Staff – No Board – Do you offer gift certificates for Christmas? Staff – Yes, certificates are available. Board – With the change in the Recreator’s format, have the advertisers changed? Staff – No, they like the change and the money we receive covers the cost of the Recreator. Board – Do you see the philosophy changing with allowing sponsorship? Staff – Recreation does a lot with sponsorship already at the Senior Center and EPIC and with some of our programs like Treatsylvania. Board – The Tour-de-Fat raises money, does any of it go into bike programs? Staff – Craig will check with David Kemp. Park Planning Updates The Mulberry bridge project should be underway May 2013. The funding should be in place by 2012. We did speak with the HOAs at WatersWay and Registry Ridge and they understand the need for the delay. We could possibly fund these through ConTrust, but we want to wait to see what happens after the election. Bike Advisory Board Liaison –Update They talked about where scooters and electric bikes fit in on trails or streets. They are working on safety and education programs. Discussion: Board – Have they talked about speaking in public about the tax? Liaison – They are not as involved, so I filled them in on what we’ve done. Board Work Plan Updates Shirley & Rob went to Richards Lake and asked what they wanted; they would like a trail. Rob talked with them about the sales tax and the people he spoke with were surprised it wasn’t a full 1%; they were all supportive of the tax increase. They understand that without money, they won’t get a park. Other Board – Why are there no recycling bins in old town square downtown? Staff – Old town square is not City property. The DBA did not want our recycling bins in the area, and are working on finding recycling bins that are more esthetically pleasing. Board – What’s happening with the Discovery/Museum? Staff – They will be breaking ground in August. Board – What’s going on with Staley Park? Staff – Staley Park will be a neighborhood park slated for build in 2013. Board – Won’t that be too close to the southeast community park? Staff – The southeast community park is slated for build in 2016 and the fees have been collected for both parks, so it will be a similar situation like Spring Canyon and Cottonwood Glen parks. Parks & Recreation Board Meeting – July 28, 2010 Page 5 of 7 Message from Jessica In September, my board term is up; so if you have someone in mind for the board, please encourage them to be a board member. Staff and Council need a strong Parks & Recreation Board, so it would be helpful if the person had a background in budgeting, planning, maintenance or recreation. We only have four more meetings until the end of the year. Please try to make these meetings. With the November elections, we may need to attend one or two more Council meetings. It’s important that as many of us attend as possible. When you’re on a Board, it sometimes means attending more meetings than just the Board meetings. Discussion Board - Al Minatta would be a good choice for a Board member. Board – A liaison from the Youth Advisory Board might be a good idea as well. Jessica – It might be a good idea to have a few “combo” meetings with other Boards. Correspondence: None Adjournment: Jessica MacMillan adjourned meeting 7:30pm. Respectfully submitted, Carol Rankin Carol Rankin Administrative Support Supervisor Parks Department Board approved minutes Wednesday, September 1 – 7:0 Board Attendance Board Members: Rob Cagen, Shirley Christian, Jessica MacMillan, Greg Miller, Danna Ortiz, Dawn Theis Staff: J.R. Schnelzer, Craig Foreman, Bridget Brownell, Peggy Bowers, Carol Rankin Guests: None Parks & Recreation Board Meeting – July 28, 2010 Page 6 of 7 Parks and Recreation Board July 28, 2010 Park Planning and Development work items: Plan Fort Collins (City Plan): In between public outreach. Web-page can be viewed to obtain current information. Policy Plan: Environmental/Sustainability Best Management Plan Manual is about 90% written. Budgeting for Outcomes: 2011/2012 BFO, Offers at Darin’s level. PP&D did offers as follows: Neighborhood Park Development 2011 and 2012, Recreation Trail Development 2011 and 2012 and 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: construction on hold, HOA informed of the decision. 2. Tennis court plan as to how many courts and where are they located to be a 2010 work item. 3. Registry Neighborhood Park: construction on hold, HOA informed of the decision. 4. Richards Lake Neighborhood Park: Second Open House on July 22, 5:00 to 7:30pm. 5. (new) Staley Neighborhood Park: Park is in the pilot program for The Sustainable Site Initiative program. Staff is working through input into the Site Selection criteria section. Trails: (New- trail construction projects on hold awaiting Darin’s approval to proceed) 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 next year to minimize disturbance to the new grass. 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 construction this fall. We’ll stage construction to avoid the MS Walk that occurs in late August. Corps is reviewing the plans since they will be taking the levee into their system. 3. Power Trail: Keenland underpass of the UP in approval process and in the second step approval. May take into late 2010 or early 2011 to receive approval. 4. Fossil Creek Trail: Trilby Road to Carpenter Road. Design and Stormwater permit completed with fall construction planned. 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. Latest from CDOT is they are planning for construction to start in the fall of 2011. 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 starting construction in the fall. Project being coordinated with Larimer County Engineering when they need to so culvert work on #38E just west of our project. 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. 10. (New) Spring Creek Trail east of Centre Avenue to the railroad tracks. R,O.W. is talking with CSU (CSURF) about the new trail easement process. Field trips planned in the next few weeks. Parks & Recreation Board Meeting – July 28, 2010 Page 7 of 7 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: The Hughes Stadium design effort starting. The disc golf course is part of the plan. Staff will now work with CSU staff on how to jointly work on the disc golf course along with their development for efficiencies and cost savings. We are proposing using Conservation Trust funds for the development of the course and are hopeful the disc golf community can find grants, etc. for development and maybe adopt to help with O&M. 3. Water Craft Course – NISP impact unknown at this time. On hold. 4. 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. 5. Old Fort Collins Heritage Park stake park lights – Group of users are attempting to find funding to supply lights at the skate park. 6. Jason has been helping the DDA with their Alley Project. 7. Discovery/Museum Center – we are coordinating with them as the project starts construction.