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HomeMy WebLinkAboutParks And Recreation Board - Minutes - 01/25/2012Parks & Recreation Board Meeting – January 25, 2012 Page 1 of 24 BE A GOOD STEWARD: Protect & Respect your Parks, Trails & Recreation Facilities Call Meeting to Order: Michael Chalona called the meeting to order 5:32pm Agenda Review & Items of Note: Agenda Review: Dawn Theis requested to add Disc Golf Rob Cagen requested to add CSU new stadium Items of Note: None Citizen Participation: Josh Quinn, member of the 2012 Northern Colorado Disc Golf Josh said there should be communication between the Disc Golf community and the P&R Board. Vince Castillo is the new president of Northern Colorado Disc Golf and we plan to be regular faces at the Board meetings. We want to move disc golf forward in the community. The new course at Hughes Stadium is great, but downsizing Edora will be unfortunate for the disc golfers. We have ideas for the future, and we just want our opinions heard. Board: You are always welcome, and we would encourage your ideas. Josh: Thanks we plan to be at every Board meeting. We are speaking for the masses and disc golf is a huge sport and growing. We appreciate you having us. Approval of Minutes: Discussion: None. Bruce Henderson made the motion to approve the Parks & Recreation Board minutes of December 7, 2011, Shirley Christensen seconded – Minutes approved 9:0 AGENDA ITEMS: Welcome New Member – Ragan Adams Ragan has lived in this area since 1987. She lived on Mountain Avenue, but has moved to the corner of Grandview and Mountain. The reason she applied for the P&R Board was because she had gone through City Works and wanted to find time to give back to the City. Her children participated in the Recreation programs, and played at City Park. Ragan is a veterinarian. The Board members introduced themselves and welcomed Ragan. PARKS AND RECREATION BOARD Minutes of Regular Meeting Wednesday, January 25, 2012 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 – January 25, 2012 Page 2 of 24 Annual Report – Craig Foreman The Board reviewed the 2011 Annual Report, as presented by staff. Discussion Board – It seems like a summary, is that all that is necessary? Staff – A summary is all that is necessary, we go back through the minutes to pick up information for the report. Board – I think we should add that we amended our bylaws. Board – We should also add that we worked with other Board and something about the bullet points on our minutes. Board – The wording seems passive, we need to show how we debate issues, and reviewed and recommended actions. I think the Annual Report should reflect that we do more than just sit here, it should be more narrative. Staff – That would be great, it’s probably time that it was in a fresher format. Board – We need to add information about e-bikes, Plan Fort Collins, show what we did outside the Board meetings. Board – Could there be information about people who come to speak, citizen issues? Board – Danna Ortiz will work on the enhanced format and share it with the other members via e-mail. Once the Board has approved it, via e-mail; the Annual Report will be forwarded to the City Clerks Office by Carol Rankin. This needs to be done by January 31. CSU – New Stadium – Rob Cagen Rob sent an e-mail to Diane Jones, Deputy City Manager, asking to be kept in the loop regarding the proposed new stadium. CSU will be having a meeting on February 3 which is open for the public to attend, but not comment. Would anyone from the Board be able to attend this meeting? Discussion Board – Shirley will try to attend, where is it at? Board – Not sure, I believe it’s at Lory. Board – This could really be impactful to the Gardens on Spring Creek if the one proposed location off of Shields is decided upon as it is just down the hill from the Gardens. This might cause issues for them with the development of the Great Lawn. Disc Golf – Dawn Theis There has been an e-mail commenting about Edora remaining 18-hole course. Shirley has had discussions with Council, and they are asking for our thoughts and position on downsizing the Edora disc golf course to 9-holes. We had recommended that Edora disc golf course would be downsized due to concerns of safety and the over utilization. Do we have any change in our recommendation? Discussion Board – I think we need to stay the course. We got the GOCO Grant to develop the 18-hole course at Hughes Stadium in part because of our concern and need to downsize the course at Edora. The reduction of the course at Edora once the course at Hughes was built has always been represented as part of the plan. Board – What is Council expecting from us? Staff – I believe they just want something for their packets. It can be as simple as a letter supporting your previous position. Board – I just don’t think we need to re-open this issue. We’ve been talking about for over two years. Board – I know we don’t need to revisit the whole issue, but if there’s an economic impact can it remain an 18- hole course for two year while Hughes gets more established, and then phase Edora down to 9-holes? Board – What about the people that are expected to have their park back? Board – What about the disc golfers, it’s their park also. Parks & Recreation Board Meeting – January 25, 2012 Page 3 of 24 Board – The Disc Golfers now they have a new 18-hole course, and will still have a 9-hole course at Edora which still a benefit. Board – But the level of play won’t be compatible. Board – I use and live by Edora and currently it’s unsafe if you want to just walk through the Park. Some of the players are abusive and don’t watch for other people. I’ve witnessed them climbing the trees, breaking branches and trampling vegetation. All of this is part of why it’s being reconfigured. In two more years, how many more trees and vegetation will be destroyed. I would like to see more opportunities for walkers. Board – All arguments are valid, but I feel it’s been through the process and all of these issues could have been brought up all last year. Board – We’re not against the disc golfers, we’re just trying to get the park back. The Club has been in full agreement with reconfiguring the park, and now there is an outcry, not sure why. Board – Is the problem that disc golf needs are not being met? Hughes is not mature yet, so it’s not as challenging and Edora has been here for awhile. Board – The problem is that Edora is a victim of its own popularity. Safety should trump everything. Board – Actually, Brian is correct, the process trumps everything. Sometimes government has hard decisions and if we don’t adhere to the decisions then no issue will ever be done. During the process, safety was a strong issue, but we’ve done the due diligence and now we should stay the course. To re-open the issue would not be supportive. Board – I agree. We worked with staff for two and half years on this issue. We’ve gone through the process, and our minutes from January 2011 supported the reconfiguration and so does the Policy Plan. Board – Should we do a full letter, summation or would a motion be appropriate. Motion Made – Rob Cagen The Parks & Recreation Board reaffirms the previous position taken. We support the process for the new disc golf course at Hughes Stadium and reconfiguring Edora. Amendment by Michael Chalona I think we need to include that this was studied and resolved, so I would suggest. The Parks & Recreation Board support the development of the new disc golf course at Hughes Stadium as previously studied and resolved; and would re-affirm our position that the disc golf course at Edora Park be downsized and reconfigured. Rob Cagen supported amendment Seconded by Shirley Christian Vote Taken – All Board Members in Favor 9:0 Additional Discussion Board – Is there money available to possible add more trees at Hughes Stadium? Board – Maybe disc golf could come forth with money for trees. Discuss Possible Meeting Locations for 2012 Are there any places you would like to meet for 2012? Northside Aztlan Center, Archery Range, Gardens, Spring Canyon Shelter, Senior Center, Club Tico, EPIC, the Farm Carol will look into the possibility of meeting at these locations. Parks & Recreation Board Meeting – January 25, 2012 Page 4 of 24 Note – Michael Chalona In February the Board elects officers for the year. Please be thinking about the possibility of being an officer, I have been Chair many times through my years with the Board and I don’t mind being the Chair, but if someone else wants to be Chair that’s fine with me. Also, we’re coming into a budget year so we’ll be involved in BFO discussions. Since this is the “Year of the Water” there may be more discussions on NISP. STAFF UPDATES Parks Updates Introduced Bill Whirty, Manager of Parks Bill presented a PowerPoint reviewing Park accomplishments in 2011 (attached). Parks Department oversees, Parks, Golf, Cemetery, Gardens and Forestry Divisions. In looking for efficiencies, we reorganized and created three supervisory positions. The supervisors oversee Parks, Cemetery and Golf maintenance operations. Parks Division objectives for 2011 included: o Customer Service - Parks developed an e-mail survey sent to Large Event coordinators and shelter users to evaluate customer service. What we found was a way-finding issue and this is being addressed. o Sustainable Practices – We monitor our fuel, irrigation, solid waste division, and various recycling methods. o Audubon Status – All six of our community parks are now Audubon Certified. We are working toward having the three golf courses certified. o Volunteers – We continue to find ways to create volunteer opportunities. Recreation Updates o The new Recreator is out. o The communication division of Recreation is going to focus more on Parks & Recreation. o Northside Aztlan had some flooding, so unfortunately 2/3 of the flooring will have to be replaced. We’re hoping this will be done by March 10. Marc Rademacher has done a great job in getting the events rescheduled to other times or facilities. o Attached is Recreations overview of our BFO offers and how the KFCG funding has helped. o We’ll continue to see improvements this year. o We were able to create a volunteer coordinator position at the Senior Center. o We’ve been working on customer service at Northside Aztlan. Discussion Board – The customer service has improved, when I called in for a program, they were great. Board – I noticed more Recreation flyers in the schools. Board – Maybe we can do more than one article a month, and have one for Parks and one for Recreation? Board – Are we able to replenish reserves in Recreation? Staff – I don’t know that we’ll ever have “reserves”, but we will have better planning on how the money is spent and define it better, so we can show why we need the money. Board – Who is responsible for replacing the floor at Northside? Staff – That will be an expense of the Operations Services Department. Parks & Recreation Board Meeting – January 25, 2012 Page 5 of 24 Park Planning Updates o The GOCO grant with Larimer Count River Grant was not approved as there was too much design work. However, they are interested in Legacy Park, so we want to come back to GOCO for a final design/construction. o We are looking to connect the trail and open space to Windsor. We want to bring the trail from Horsetooth under I-25 and tie into Timnath which connects into Windsor; we are partnering with Greeley. This should be a strong Grant due mid-March and awarded in mid-June. We’ll be looking to the Board for a support letter. We have about $1.7M budgeted and asking for about $900,000 from GOCO. We are working with Natural Areas as part of the Grant to go through the Natural Area. The project should start in 2013 thru 2015. o City Plan: Action item regarding trail system; commuter vs. recreator. We have people walking the trail system checking for concerns, looking at right-of-way issues. We are hoping to gather information so when trails need to be replaced we can hopefully come up with a better design. Right now, we’re just working through the process and gathering information. Discussion Board – Who comes up with where the trails go? Staff – Craig Board – Are there conflicts with commuters and recreators? Staff – At first blush, there doesn’t appear to be many issues, but if we were to make a trail straighter it could create an issue with a higher speed. Board – Will the Spring Creek trail by the culvert under the tracks on the south side be fixed? Staff – Staff has plans to adjust the trail between the railroad track and Centre Ave and is working with CSU for an easement to make that happen. Communication & Stewardship Sub-Committee Update Dawn created a spreadsheet as a place to capture ideas for articles. She would like to have a few topics decided on for the next several months, so Board members have an opportunity to research and write their article. As a reminder the article needs to be 525 words or less, submitted the Wednesday prior to the first Monday of the month, and will appear on the first Monday of the month. Articles should be promoting accomplishments, stewardship and familiarity of Parks and Recreation. Discussion Board – Throw out your ideas. Audubon and volunteerism Golf Adaptive Recreation Adopt-a-Park Program Memorial Benches Trees – how they tie in with the 100 Year Celebration Parks as a place of Education (i.e., bike town, arboretum, cemetery stroll) Water Wildlife (duck migration) Lee Martinez, (Tree-Hinge, labyrinth) Northside’s 3-sided handball wall Archery Leagues Lights at Gardens/Downtown Parks & Recreation Board Meeting – January 25, 2012 Page 6 of 24 Board – The spreadsheet of articles is as follows (subject to change): Dec 2011 – Edora – Rob Jan 2012 – Dog Waste – Selena Feb 2012 – Ice Skating Indoor – Shirley Mar 2012 – Safety – Brian Apr 2012 – Archery – Shirley May 2012 – Disc Golf – Dawn Jun 2012 – Trail Signs – Bruce Jul 2012 – Audubon & Sustainability – Danna Aug 2012 – Education in Parks – Selena Board – Can we have a link to the articles on the web page? Staff – We’ll check into it to make sure they are no conflicts, but otherwise yes. Board – Are we going to continue to do bullet points? Board – Yes. Board – What are the bullet points? Board – It was a way, suggested by the Women’s Commission, for Boards to highlight the meetings, so if another Board was looking at their minutes, they wouldn’t have to read through the whole document, they could check the bullet points and then proceed. Board – Does Parks have smoke-free areas? I was at an event where the smoking was really bad. There are other municipalities going in this direction. Staff – Our buildings are smoke-free, but there are no smoke-free areas in parks. Board – Maybe it can be a possible future agenda item. Board – We went to City Council Meeting to speak on behalf of e-bikes. Council discussed, and decided they wanted a full trail study first. We received a lot of thank you for showing up and making a presence. This would have been a time when working with other Boards could have been beneficial. Bicycle Advisory Board Liaison Update In case you haven’t heard, DK is leaving. This will be a big loss. They are looking for someone to replace him, and DK leaving will probably affect the Bike Advisory Committee. Transportation is reviewing the Committees value; the consensus is yes, but the size of the Committee may be too large. Rich Price is running a survey on bike priorities. The Bike Committee is not necessarily supporting this survey, but if you’re interested in looking at the survey it’s at: niumbikeplan.bloggpot.com Other Work Plan Items None discussed at this time. Bullet Points o Parks & Recreation 2011 Reviews o Success of KFCG on 2011 Funding and Expenditures o P&R Board reaffirmed Disc Golf Position Parks & Recreation Board Meeting – January 25, 2012 Page 7 of 24 Adjournment: Rob Cagen moved to adjourn, Bruce Henderson seconded. Meeting adjourned 9:00pm. Respectfully submitted, VtÜÉÄ etÇ~|Ç Carol Rankin Administrative Support Supervisor Parks Department Board Approved the minutes, of January 25, 2012 – 7:0 – with minor corrections made (i.e., typos, Board attendance by Ragan Adams, remove Greg Miller, and change to original board responsible for bullet points from Youth Advisory to Women’s Commission). Board Attendance Board Members: Ragan Adams, Rob Cagen, Brian Carroll, Michael Chalona, Shirley Christian, Bruce Henderson, Danna Ortiz, Selena Paulsen, Dawn Theis Staff: Craig Foreman, JR Schnelzer, Bob Adams, Bill Whirty, LeaAnn Haisch, Carol Rankin Guests: Josh Quinn and Vince Castillo Parks & Recreation Board Meeting – January 25, 2012 Page 8 of 24 Parks and Recreation Board January 25, 2012 Park Planning and Development work items: New: The City was not asked to submit a grant application for our Poudre River from Shields Street to Linden Street Project for the Great Outdoors Colorado River Corridor Initiative. Larimer County was asked to submit a grant on their trail and river access project. This project includes our Poudre River Trail from the east end of Horsetooth Road to the east side of I-25. The grant is due in March with hopefully notice of award in June. Construction would then occur in years 2012, 2013, and 2014. Policy Plan: The Environmental/Sustainability Best Management Plan Manual is complete and will now be implemented. 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: Staff is anticipating the Supplemental EIS to be ready in the spring of 2012? Park items: 1. Waters Way Park: Construction is nearly complete with grass to be established in the spring. 2. Tennis court plan for neighborhood courts is being reviewed by management. 3. Registry Neighborhood Park: Construction is nearly complete with grass to be established in the spring. 4. Radiant (was Staley) Neighborhood Park: Park is in the pilot program for The Sustainable Site Initiative program. The park design is nearly complete with drawings and specifications being prepared for the bidding process in February. Trails: 1. Poudre Trail at Nix Farm: Staff will be developing the trail user resting area design. Natural Resources have seeded the area with native grasses. We are sensitive to this costly effort and will plan our construction of the 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 is under construction as weather permits. 4. Fossil Creek Trail at east Trilby Road: The project for the trail along Trilby Road east of Lemay Avenue to a new trail underpass of Trilby Road and then new trail south to the Stanton Creek trail section is in the design phase. The project will also join the Power Trail to the Fossil Creek Trail at the new Trilby Road trail underpass. Staff is submitting this project into the fall State Parks/GOCO trail grant cycle. 5. 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 2013. The MPO has awarded $368,375 toward the construction of the $530,000 trail project. The City is working to add funding to the bridge project to create a “gateway” affect in this area. 6. Poudre Trail to Timnath: Scoping of the project in 2011. Staff will start to work with CSU/Environmental Learning Center for an easement for the trail to extend to Drake Road. The City is a partner with Larimer County for their GOCO River Corridors grant. The grant is for new trail and land acquisition for the trail in the Timnath/Windsor area. We are included in this grant for the trail on Arapaho Bend Natural Area and the trail underpass of I-25. 7. Engineering has the funds to reconstruct County Road #11 including our new trail underpass (our funding) to be constructed in 2012. 8. 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 2012. 9. Staff is working with the City Bicycle, Natural Resources, Communications Office and Park Maintenance staff on a plan to update our trail signage. 10. Plan Fort Collins action item – Trail Design Standards Amendments in 2011 and 2012. Update bicycle/pedestrian trail design standards to address use of trails for commuting/transportation purposes without impacting the recreation value of the trail system. Designate which trails these new standards would apply to and avoid impacts on environmentally sensitive areas. Staff has started a process for gathering user counts on the recreational trail system. 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. The final phase involving the installation of the monitors should happen in 2012 if needed funding is obtained. 2. Disc Golf: The course at Hughes Stadium is now open. We plan on having a grand opening for the course in May. The course at Edora Park will be adjusted after a final tournament in March. 3. Water Craft Course – NISP impact unknown at this time and fund raising very slow. 4. Old Fort Collins Heritage Park stake park lights – Group of users are attempting to find funding to supply lights at the skate park. 5. Bike Safety Town location determination process continues with PSD input. 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