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HomeMy WebLinkAboutParks And Recreation Board - Minutes - 06/26/2019Parks and Recreation Board TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR Date, Time: 6/26/19, 5:30pm Location: Senior Center, Prairie Sage 1 6/26/2019 – MINUTES Page 1 1. CALL TO ORDER Jessica MacMillan called the meeting to order at 5:35pm. 2. ROLL CALL • Board Members Present o Jessica MacMillan – Chair o Ragan Adams o Ben Burnham o Rob Cagen o Sam Houghteling o Bob Kingsbury o Mike Tupa • Board Members Absent o Catherine Carabetta – Vice Chair (excused) o Mary Carlson (excused) • Staff Members Present o Susan Gutowsky – City Council o Mike Calhoon – Director of Parks o Bob Adams – Director of Recreation o Kurt Friesen – Director of Park Planning and Development o Salina Hemmen – Business Support III/Board Support o Janice Saeger – Financial Analyst, Recreation 3. AGENDA REVIEW • Move Recreator articles to the top as Ben Burnham needs to leave early. Winter Recreator article due 9/6, Jessica volunteers to write. Topic: Gardens on Spring Creek reopening. 4. CITIZEN PARTICIPATION • Linda Gentry – Longtime Senior Center member 5. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING ON APRIL 24, 2019 Mike motions to pass minutes Jessica second Motion passed 6-0 Ragan abstained from vote as she was not present at April meeting. 6. UNFINISHED BUSINESS Parks and Recreation Board TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 6/26/2019 – MINUTES Page 2 White Water Park Construction Update - Kurt Friesen Still on track for September completion with a 10/12 tentative grand opening. There has been a big push to get the river work done before the water rises. The park will feature two white water features and two control structures, this will also include the only ADA access along the entire river. Features can be added in the future to change the flow of the water. There is also a web cam on the site that can be viewed through the parks webpage: https://www.fcgov.com/parkplanning/poudre-river-park There will also be art features, one will be done by Adam Albuquerque. It will be a “Wave Shelter” with white water serving as the inspiration. The second piece will be from the Cache La Poudre National Heritage area and will emulate grasses on the river’s edge with the three circles representing agriculture, industry and recreation. Board: How did you divert water to get to the riverbed and build the features? Staff: Steel pile. A quarter of the river was moved into the channel at a time to allow work, then the steel pile was removed. Board: How do you close the river so people don’t in go there? Staff: Signage, we can’t really put anything else there. Council: How do you respond to those who say, “You can’t keep me off of the river”? Staff: It is a widely held belief that the river is public property. However, the laws vary from state to state. Legal counsel says that in Colorado it is legal to block access to this part of the river. Plus, it helps us that both sides of the river are an active construction zone. However, there have been a few trespassers. We are worried that when people see kayakers on the water for test day, they may think that it is ok to go in the water. There is a high presence of contractors in hopes of minimizing this. Board: When is test day? Staff: July 2nd. Sugar Beet Park Construction Update – Kurt Friesen Park is still on track for August/September completion. Currently repurposing the old City Park Train rails to be sliding benches. There will also be a shelter, restrooms, pollinator garden and the sugar beet play structure. The beet structure was on display at the museum but has now been moved to the park and is currently under cover so it will not be played with. Board: Are you getting feedback from the neighbors? Staff: No complaints so far, we held public meetings regarding the park beforehand and the overall feeling is that people are happy to be getting this park. 7. NEW BUSINESS Parks and Recreation Board TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 6/26/2019 – MINUTES Page 3 Reduced Rate Program Overview – Janice Saeger In late 2017 the Recreation Department implemented changes to the reduced fee program that clarified reduced rate benefit options, aligned discount consistencies among all recreation programs, and created easier access to recreation facilities and programs for income- qualified participants. During 2018 applications for the program increased by over 8%, reduced fee passes allowing unlimited drop-in visits to most facilities increased nearly 40%, and youth enrollments in activities increased to 4,372. Board: Is the increase in enrollments having an issue on spacing or capacity? Staff: There used to be 100 enrollments, now there are over 1200. While enrollment has grown, we are still not at capacity. Board: Are you getting people from the south side? Staff: We only have info on passes purchased by zip code. However, the passes used to be more heavily focused on the northside of town while that has now shifted to the central part of town. This helps us provide better data to residents and city council. Board: What is adaptive recreation? Staff: Inclusion support for those with special needs. Board: How do you establish low income? Staff: It is based on 185% of the federal poverty level. The easiest way to provide proof is to show a free/reduced lunch letter from PSD. Or to show other proof of State or Federal assistance. 8. BOARD MEMBER REPORTS Bicycle Advisory Committee – Mike Tupa The recent meeting discussed the climate action plan. The goal of that is to reduce c02 emissions to zero by 2050. There is also a new App coming out that people can use to check the condition of trails, however the city does already have a website for that called NoCo Trail Report. Today is the 35th anniversary of Bike to WorkDay. There were over 70 stations set up around the city for those riding in this morning. 9. OTHER BUSINESS Staff updates Parks Department Memorial Day events were held at Edora and Spring Canyon parks. Over 250 cubic yards of mulch given away over two days for Free Mulch Day. 200 trees were also sold to residents at a reduced rate, this encourages species diversity. We are about 30 hourly positions short. This is the first year we are not fully staffed before July Parks and Recreation Board TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 6/26/2019 – MINUTES Page 4 4th. This may have to do with the low unemployment rate or the ACA. July 4th celebrations coming up. All regular activities will be scheduled. Jessica will be on the judge’s platform during the parade. Grand Marshall is Curt Cameron, a 97-year-old D-Day veteran. Curt will have 3-4 generations of his family walking behind him along with the All Veterans Honor Guard. Board: How often do you replenish mulch? Staff: Mondays and Wednesdays and it goes fast. Board: Does this come from the trees that are cut down? Staff: Yes, no trees go to a landfill unless they are diseased. Board: Can you provide us an update on the Emerald Ash Borer? Staff: We are considering dropping the quarantine because it is difficult to enforce and has not yet migrated our direction. Board: How many total Ash trees are there? Staff: About 14,000 or 33% of the canopy. Recreation Department PR Board Update 6-26-19.doc Mass registration was in May, $257,000 worth of registrations. 10% increase from last year. Kids in the Park on May 19th, about 2200 people showed up. Weather was not ideal, but we still had lots of great comments, will continue next year, hopefully the weather will be better. The Willow St. closure has impacted participation at Northside. The same thing happened at EPIC with the Riverside Ave closure. Mulberry Pool was also closed for 3 weeks due to a fallen ceiling pipe. City Park Pool has had a dismal season since opening on May 25th. Out of 32 days of operations, 8 days have not been above 65 degrees, 5 days the opening was delayed because of low air temps, and 5 days they closed early because of lightening. City Park Pool is a big revenue generator for the city and there will be an impact because of this. Numbers begin to go down after July 4th. Board: Can you keep the pool open for the last weeks of August? Staff: Numbers go down to zero at that time because kids are going back to school. Therefore, we usually do maintenance on our facilities during this time. Father’s Day 5K was held on June 16th. The event had over 650 participants with proceeds going to ARO and youth scholarship programs. Valerie VanRyn was recently hired as the Lead Marketing Specialist. Will try and have her Parks and Recreation Board TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 6/26/2019 – MINUTES Page 5 come to next month’s meeting. CAPRA update: We met 149/151 criteria but cannot say if we have the award yet. Awards ceremony will be in Baltimore in September, Darin Atteberry is also trying to attend. Park Planning and Development Department PPD PR Board Updates_June 2019.docx A neighborhood meeting is planned on 7/18 for Rossborough park. First United Methodist Church is currently fundraising for the Eastside Park improvements. City Park refresh exhibit was moved to the Senior Center for a month. This gave us a lot more feedback. Originally, we had plans A, B, C, and D, now we are down to plans A and D. Board: What are plans A and D? Staff: Plan A has the train by the ballfield area and Plan D has the train in the center of the park. Trail projects; Power Trail extension has been completed as well as the Lincoln Junior High trail. Board: Does Park Planning monitor the potholes on trails? Staff: We monitor major things on trails and the Parks crew handles minor things like pothole maintenance. Board: Are there any trails where tree roots are a problem. Staff: Yes, if needed we will go out with a cutter and replace sections of the trail or re-plan a section with Park Planning. Council: In Edora Park, what is the purpose of the pond? Staff: To irrigate the park, eventually the pond will be taken offline of the creek. 6-Month Planning Calendar - 7/23 - Climate Action Plan update - 8/13 - Sports Complex Feasibility Study - 9/3 - Wood Recycling Presentation - 10/8 – Homelessness Update - 10/15 – Montava (Community Park Implications) - 11/12 – City Park Improvements Implementation Other Business On Monday 6/24, Jessica, Rob and Bob attended a meeting regarding impact fees. Board: What staff and council are doing is ignoring the fact that there is not enough money for parks and recreation to operate, they say, “They should find a way to get more money”. Parks and Recreation Board TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 6/26/2019 – MINUTES Page 6 Board: The impact fees go to new things, not old. It is much harder to fix things up than it is to build new things. Staff: One thing going for us is, in Streets, they are funded to a certain level of service. There is a model as opposed to letting it all go. Next meeting will be held in City Park, in the shelter near the ballfields. Will move to Park Shop if the weather is inclement. 10. ADJOURNMENT Meeting adjourned at 7:50 pm