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HomeMy WebLinkAboutParks And Recreation Board - Minutes - 06/24/2015Parks & Recreation Board Meeting – June 24, 2015 Page 1 of 4 BE A GOOD STEWARD: Protect & Respect your Parks, Trails & Recreation Facilities Call Meeting to Order: Bruce Henderson call the meeting to order 5:31pm. Agenda Review & Items of Note: None Citizen Participation: None Approval of Minutes: Discussion: None Scott Sinn made the motion to approve the Parks & Recreation Board minutes of May 27, 2015, seconded by Mary Carlson – Minutes approved 5:0. Meeting Summary • The P&R Board was presented with Utilities Water Efficiency Plan for 2017. This was an informational only presentation as another outlet to educate and inform the public on the proposed updates to the Plan. The Plan’s focus is shifting from being indoor conserving to a focus on outdoor efficiencies. • The P&R Board discussed communication strategies with John Litel, Public Relations Coordinator with Recreation, and decided to have an article published from the Board in the quarterly Recreator in order to help them achieve one of their work plan item to regularly promote parks and recreation. • The P&R Board was presented with the City’s Naming Policy and potential amendments/enhancements to the Policy asking the Board for feedback prior to going to Council on July 21. City Staff has identified several areas that City Council might consider in amending the existing City Code, which will also align better with the Streets Naming Policy. 1) Pre-approved list of names; 2) Code Clarification to better define current language on qualifications; and 3) Allow donors to propose name to encourage donations to the City. • The P&R Board was shown a new on-line training program for coaches that was developed by Aaron Harris, Recreation Supervisor, http://prezi.com/6wh6mmgunrbq/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy&rc=ex0share. PARKS AND RECREATION BOARD MINUTES Regular Meeting Wednesday, June 24, 2015 5:30 p.m. Board Chair: Jessica MacMillan, Chair 2015 jessica.macmillan@greatwesternbank.com Council Liaison: Gino Campana – gcampana@fcgov.com Staff Liaisons: J.R. Schnelzer, 970-221-6301 – jrschnelzer@fcgov.com Kurt Friesen, 970-221-6618 – kfriesen@fcgov.com Bob Adams, 970-221-6354 – badams@fcgov.com Parks & Recreation Board Meeting – June 24, 2015 Page 2 of 4 Full Minutes AGENDA ITEMS: STAFF UPDATES Communication Strategies – John Litel, Public Relations Coordinator Recreation The Board asked John to come to the meeting to visit with them about possible communication strategies to help them with their work plan item to regularly promote parks and recreation. The Board was writing monthly articles that were published in the Coloradoan, but the Coloradoan opted to discontinue this section of the paper so the Board is exploring new opportunities. John suggested that the Board continue to write articles which could be linked to the Parks and Recreation Web Pages and/or pushed out to social media sites. Another suggestion was to write an article that would be featured in the Recreator; which is published four times per year. Discussion Board – What’s the lead time to get an article into the Recreator? John – About 2 weeks prior to going to print, a schedule can be provided so you would have lead time. Board – How long can the article be, the Colorado asked for 500 words or less? John – It would be about the same. Board – How many people see the Recreator? John – It’s available on-line, but we do mail it out to all new home owners as well as those who’ve signed up to receive it through the mail and it goes to the elementary schools. Board – I think writing an article for the quarterly Recreators would be good because it would give us time to write a more in-depth article. If we find these get a good response we can look at writing more articles again in the future. Board – When is the next Recreator being published? John – The fall Recreator is getting ready to go to print now. Board – Would we still have time to get an article to you? John – If you can get it to me by July 2. Board – What if we used an article from a while back? Is there one that would work for fall? Board – Mary wrote an article on the City Park Arboretum that would seem appropriate for the fall addition, we could even find a good fall picture. Board – Mary do you still have the article, would you be will to resurrect it and get it to John? Mary – Sure, I do still have the article. I’ll review it and send it out the Board for review as well. Motion: Brian Carroll made a motion for the Board to write articles to be featured in the quarterly Recreators. Discussion: None Second: Kenneth Layton Vote: Approved 9:0 in favor John will provide the Board with the schedule or publication dates. City’s Water Efficiency Plan – Renee Davis, Water Conservation Specialist Utilities The Water Supply & Demand Management Policy provides a framework to allow the City to plan for appropriate water supplies to meet demands during a drought without having mandatory restrictions. Part of that Plan is the Water Efficiency Plan which looks at long-term demand activities. These Plans are regulated by the State Water Conservation Plan which requires we update our Plan every 7 years. Currently, we have focused on water conservation and we’re getting really good at that. Now we want to shift the focus from conservation to efficiency which includes saving water so we’re still conserving, but looking at alternative water supplies. Part of this new focus consists of a five step plan. 1) Profile of existing water supply system; 2) Profile of water demands and historical demand management; 3) Integrated planning and water efficiency benefits and goals; 4) Selection of water efficiency activities; and 5) Implementation and monitoring. We also will incorporate Colorado best management practices for water conservation, make sure the public has an opportunity to review the plan and get stakeholders involved. With that we had a Community Issues Forum in April and have other community events planned, we’re meeting with various Boards & Commissions and we have an on-line survey. Our goal is to have a final Plan adopted by City Council by February 2017. Parks & Recreation Board Meeting – June 24, 2015 Page 3 of 4 Discussion Board – Can the public get information on issues at our residences so we would know if there was an issue like an underground leak? Staff – Yes, there are ways to flag information with a new tool called Monitor My Use http://www.fcgov.com/utilities/sustainability-leadership/advanced-meter-fort-collins/monitor-my-use and Utilities also calls if we see something unusual. Board – Are the City Pools on this system? Staff – They may be already on this through Operations Services, but if not we would be able to get them setup and we can help with an assessment. Board – Is there a bonus for residents that really conserve? Staff – Probably not, because you pay for delivery of water, not volume, so rates tend to go up with conservation. That’s why we want to focus on water efficiencies. Board – What are some upcoming changes? Staff – Mostly there is a shift from the focus being indoor conserving to a focus on outdoor efficiencies. Board – Will you come back when there’s a final draft of the Plan? Staff – Sure, there’s no need for the P&R Boards approval or recommendation, this was just informational to get the word out, but I would be happy to come back. City’s Naming Policy – Dan Weinheimer, Policy & Project Manager The City is reviewing the Naming Policy to ensure there is a consistent and understandable process and will be going to Council on July 21 for their consideration of the proposed amendments. Currently, the objectives for naming are: 1) fairness and appropriateness, 2) easy identification and location of City facilities, 3) encouragement of the dedication of lands and donation of funds. Staff has identified several areas that City Council might consider in amending the existing City Code, which will also align better with the Streets Naming Policy. 1) Pre-approved list of names 2) Code Clarification to better define current language on qualifications 3) Allow donors to propose name to encourage donations to the City. Discussion Board – At what point does an historian review the list of pre-approved names to ensure the name has a positive historical background? Is there a Board in place that will review the names? Staff – We would probably use the same type process that Street’s does with a citizens committee. Board – How many times a year does the City have to name something? Staff – Maybe once or twice a year. Board – Do you see groups asking for donors as a way to get their name on a project? Staff – Not really, I still see this as a committee decision with additional criteria needing to be met. Board – That’s good, because I would hate to see someone with “bucks” getting to have a park named after them without any other community significance. Board – Is there any concern on the length of name? Staff – No. Parks Updates • Realignment of Parks with Marty and JR retiring. • The no-smoking ordinance will go into effect for Parks, Trail and Recreation Facilities staring on September 1. We are working on a branding logo which will be placed on the park entrance signs. • We’re working through the Fugitive Dust Policy, many of Parks best management practices already address this issue they just need to be documented. Recreation Updates • We’ve put in an RFP for the EPIC Pool renovation. • We’re creating quick-start tennis courts at Rolland Moore Park for a USTA program for 10 and under which are smaller courts that teach kids the fundamentals of tennis. Parks & Recreation Board Meeting – June 24, 2015 Page 4 of 4 • The Senior Center celebrated a 20th year anniversary. • Aaron Harris, Recreation Supervisor, developed an on-line program for coaches to access for basic information on coaching strategies, developing plans for practice, etc. Board – Can you get to this from a phone? Aaron – Yes Board – How do you measure the effectiveness of this tool? Aaron – Retention of coaches and athletes Board – Why are coaches’ volunteers? Aaron – Because we have enough people interested and it helps keep costs down. Park Planning Updates No Updates – Kurt Friesen out. Bicycle Advisory Board Liaison Update Laurel Street pilot project http://www.fcgov.com/bicycling/laurel-street.php is taking place to test various innovative bike lane corridor options to improve safety and comfort for the users. Board Work Plan Items No Updates. Schedule of Articles/Calendar The Board decided that they would produce four articles a year to be published in the Recreator, and if these are well received they will find ways to expand. Since the fall Recreator will be going to the publisher on July 2 they decided to resurrect the article that Mary Carlson wrote on the City Park Arboretum in order to meet the deadline. John Litel will send the Board the schedule for the Recreator so the Board will know when articles need to be ready for submission. Bullet Points • Board was presented with Utilities Water Efficiency Plan for 2017. This was an informational only presentation as another outlet to educate and inform the public on the proposed updates to the Plan. • Board discussed communication strategies and decided to have an article published from the Board in the quarterly Recreators. • Board was presented with the City’s Naming Policy and potential amendments/enhancements to the Policy asking the Board for feedback prior to going to Council on July 21. • Board was shown new on-line training program for coaches that was developed by Aaron Harris, Recreation Supervisor, http://prezi.com/6wh6mmgunrbq/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy&rc=ex0share. Adjournment: Meeting adjourned 7:34pm Respectfully submitted, Carol Rankin Carol Rankin Administrative Supervisor Parks Board Approved Minutes 7/22/15 - 7:0. Board Attendance Board Members: Mary Carlson, Brian Carroll, Bruce Henderson, Kenneth Layton, Scott Sinn, Kelly Smith, Dawn Theis Staff: Bob Adams, JR Schnelzer, Carol Rankin, Mike Calhoon, John Litel, Renee Davis Guest: 3 members from Colorado Fencing Club (observing)