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HomeMy WebLinkAboutParks And Recreation Board - Minutes - 12/02/2020PARKS AND RECREATION ADVISORY BOARD TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR Date, Time: Wednesday, December 2, 2020, 5:30pm Location: Zoom meeting 1 2/02 /2020 – MINUTES Page 1 1.CALL TO ORDER Jessica MacMillan called the meeting to order at 5:34pm. 2.ROLL CALL 1.Board Members Present •Jessica MacMillan – Chair •Catherine Carabetta – Vice Chair •Mary Carlson •Ken Christensen •Shari Heymann •Bob Kingsbury •Mike Novell •Sam Houghteling •Mike Tupa 2.Staff Members Present o Mike Calhoon – Director of Parks o Rob Crabb – Senior Manager of Parks o Aaron Harris – Interim Director of Recreation o Kurt Friesen – Director of Park Planning & Development o Shanae Core – Business Support I/Board Support 3.AGENDA REVIEW •No changes to the agenda 4.CITIZEN PARTICIPATION •No citizen participation. 5.APPROVAL OF MINUTES •Sam makes a motion to approve the minutes. Mary seconds. Motion passes 9-0 6.UNFINISHED BUSINESS 1.P & R Master Plan – Work Session Update - Kurt Friesen We are currently reviewing, editing, and revising the 30-page Executive Summary as a team. We are also incorporating public comments. We have not received very many public comments, but there have been a few regarding interest in a community track. The PARKS AND RECREATION ADVISORY BOARD TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 12/02 /2020 – MINUTES Page 2 next step is to make the final edits and then it will go before the City Council at the beginning of 2021 for adoption. We are also finishing up the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) portion of the project. This lays out capital expenditures for Park Refresh, Life Cycle, and the new parks. We will not make this public, but we can share that with the Board. Board: When in January is the City Council reviewing this? Staff: It will be on January 5th at the City Council Resolution Reading. This will be considered a resolution, so it only requires one reading instead of two. 2. Budgeting for Outcomes (BFO) 2021 Update – Mike Calhoon The budget is now approved and made it through both readings. There were no real significant changes from what you have seen in past Parks and Recreation Advisory Board meetings except for the slightly modified Conservation Trust Funds. They reduced that money down for trail development. The short fall for parks maintenance was covered out of our reserves and by using a one-time fertilization program. So, in total, we took about $350,000 reductions from Parks, Cemetery and Golf. It was not a bad hit, but we are looking to do some restorative offers for 2022 to help lift the burden from the team. We will begin the BFO process again in March 2021. 7. NEW BUSINESS 1. 2021 Annual Report Development – Mike Calhoon Board and Staff discussed and developed the 2021 Annual Report. The Annual Report is attached and will be uploaded to the Board’s webpage. 2. Archery Range & I25 – Mike Calhoon The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) is currently widening I-25 from 4-lanes to 6-lanes. As CDOT is finalizing the plans for I-25 across the Poudre River and the Arapahoe Bend Natural Area, they have realized the need to acquire an additional ROW near the Archery Range and from ABNA on the east side of I-25 to construct the bridge. The Archery Range has a very small amount of property that CDOT needs for permanent right-of-way. It is .028 acres, and they will also require a temporary easement of .012 acres for the duration of the project. The easement will be put back to prior status. There are no environmental impacts, because the temporary and permanent right-of-way dedication is a dirt or gravel road and/or grass area. They asked us to expedite this process and we do have the City’s Real Estate Service Department involved to negotiate with CDOT for square foot pricing. They will be paying for the right-of-way and easement. The Archery operations will not be impacted, obstructed, or have interrupted service during any of this project. We did vet this with the archery club and there were no concerns. We are asking PARKS AND RECREATION ADVISORY BOARD TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 12/02 /2020 – MINUTES Page 3 that the Parks and Advisory Board make a recommendation of support to encourage the City Council to approve the ordinance, so that we convene to the CDOT those various interests in our City owned property. Shari made a motion to approve that the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board recommends the City Council approve an ordinance authorizing the conveyance to the Colorado Department of Transportation of various property interests on City-owned property at the Archery Range. Ken seconds Motion passed 9-0. 8. BOARD MEMBER REPORTS • FC Bikes – Mike Tupa No report. 9. OTHER BUSINESS • Recreation Update – Aaron Harris On November 25th, Larimer County moved from the yellow phase to red which impacted the Recreation programming in a significant way. We went from an allowance of 25 people in one space to 10 people. We are now allowing the public to sign up for recreation activities through a variety of online options. Childcare is still being offered for those children of essential workers, families of low income and assistance is being provided for those families in great need who have limited internet access. The pool usage for this month shows that they are being heavily utilized. The Epic pool has a 95% usage rate, and the Mulberry Pool is standing strong at 96%. The management of swim - time requests is being maintained through sign-up genius. This allows the pool users to view available times and open lanes. We were also able to offer a Virtual Dinner and Movie event through our Adaptive Recreation Program. They also completed a trivia night event shortly after. It was a big success and gave these individual’s a chance for virtual socialization after several months of limited social interaction. • Park Planning and Development Update – Kurt Friesen The City Park restroom is moving along. We did have to reject some steel and are hopeful that the pandemic does not slow this portion or schedule of the project down. We noted it had some challenges with tree roots within the sanitary sewer system, but overall, it is going well. We are projected to have this project complete by the end of 2020 or early 2021. We are coordinating with CDOT on the Poudre Trail project. There was a misquote in PARKS AND RECREATION ADVISORY BOARD TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 12/02 /2020 – MINUTES Page 4 The Coloradoan in the recent week that mentioned the Poudre Trail would be open and available for public use next year in 2021. That is not correct. At the earliest, it would be available sometime in 2023. There are some challenges ahead of us with CDOT and the Poudre River Bridge. We are also working on negotiations with a private landowner. We do have a grant with GOCO that will be expiring in 2022. It is not uncommon for us to get an extension, so that funding source is not a major area of concern. The 9/11 Memorial, located at Spring Park in midtown Fort Collins, is a project that has been in the works for a few years. We are still working on the fundraising campaign and looking at design. The CityGives program has launched a full fundraising effort for this project. We are hopeful to have this completed by September 11, 2021 and open to the public for a groundbreaking on September 11, 2022. Trailhead Park we are still working on the raw water supply challenges. The available water for this park is coming from a well which is not suitable. We are exploring options for this and are hoping to potentially begin on this in Spring 2020. There are concerns in regard to budget, but we are looking at cost, long term maintenance and requirements from the Parks Department and other factors that will impact this position. We are also interviewing for a vacant Business Support III position. We received around 175 applications and are narrowing it down. • Parks Department Update – Mike Calhoon We have been in full winterization mode and completed all expectations. We currently have 6 restrooms that are left open. We are happy that they have not shut down the restrooms or amenities during this new phase. We are ready to make modifications as directed by the County. We have finished all the winter responsibilities. We have also ordered all the annual flowers for next year along with designs. We are currently working on the fireworks contracts right now for 2021. We do have a very serious vandalism problem at Twin Silos. We are working closely with the Chief of Police. We have looked at specific areas and are currently getting a plan together to be more intense with our approach. We are also trying to rally the neighbors and we have been able to act on a few of the videos and photos collected from the cameras there. PARKS AND RECREATION ADVISORY BOARD TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 12/02 /2020 – MINUTES Page 5 We will be having an open Senior Park Ranger position in January 2021 and looking at filling this position soon after. The Mayor assisted us with a virtual, soft lighting ceremony and proclamation for the holiday lights downtown. The Parks team worked closely with the DDA and contractor to ensure a COVID-19 sensitive approach to that lighting ceremony. • 6-Month Planning Calendar o 12/15 – Montava Development Request for Augmentation Water o 01/05 – P&RMaster Plan Adoption One Reading Resolution/ Staff Report PRWWP o 01/12 – Visit Fort Collins Destination Master Plan o 01/26 – Reimagine Boards and Commissions Update o 02/01 – State of the City The next meeting for the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board will be held Wednesday December 2nd, 2020 at 5:30pm via Zoom call. The details will be out on the next Agenda. 10. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 7:22pm.