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HomeMy WebLinkAboutParks And Recreation Board - Minutes - 06/23/2004PARKS AND RECREATION BOARD Minutes of Regular Meeting June 23, 2004 215 North Mason Community Room 5:30 p.m. Council Liaison: Bill Bertschy I Staff Liaison: Marty Heffernan, 224-6064 President: Jessica MacMillan Phone: 495-1270(work) 407-8896 (home) Call Meeting to Order: President Jessica MacMillan called the meeting to order at 5:45 p.m. Agenda Review: Marty Heffernan added to Other Business: Update on Aztlan Community Center; Gardens on Spring Creek; and BOB Capital Projects. Citizen Participation: None Approval of Minutes: On a motion by Mary Carlson, seconded by Greg Miller, the Board voted unanimously (7-0 ) to approve the minutes of the May 26, 2004 meeting. Sports Alliance Update Amy Snider, Tami Agne-Moehle, and Al Minatta are members of the Sports Alliance representing sports groups in the community. They attended the Board meeting to provide input on Spring Canyon Community Park. The group thinks the original voter intent to include a youth sports complex in the park should be followed and carried out. It is important to have facilities and fields in our community. Al Minatta said that there is a need for more programmed play in the community parks. Jessica MacMillan asked if they feel that the Parks and Recreation Department hasn't met their needs. Al responded, no, however they have lost space in the 60/40-community park scenario as the park capacity has been diminished. There isn't enough space in the community for practices. Amy added that any space we get will be helpful and will be needed for youth sports. Al said that the Soccer Club manages about 10,000 participants annually. The fields in town are used by the younger kids and the complex by Budweiser accommodates adults. There are many times there aren't enough fields for all the needs. Fossil Creek Community Park won't be available until fall when the grass is mature. Tammy said her biggest challenge for field hockey is finding fields. Her program continues to grow and they need fields. There is interest and motivation, but not enough space. Mary Carlson asked what they have done to coordinate with the School District. She said PSD has been great, but there just isn't enough green space. There are 72 kids in her program (field hockey) right now and the program would grow if there were more fields available. Jessica asked what is the percentage of growth over the past year? Al said that they have plateaued over the past two years because they can't grow the program any more due to a Parks and Recreation Board Minutes June 23, 2004 Page 2 shortage of fields. Lacrosse and field hockey have been growing. The more demand that is placed on the fields, the more protective the entities become. PSD said their school activities come first, then club after that. Lance Freeman said the drought has also restricted the use at CSU. Del Price said the school programs are expanding and they are finding it difficult to find space. Del asked how many fields are needed in the community? Al said that he has given that number to the Parks Division. The demand is there. Amy closed by saying that they would like to see Spring Canyon Community Park include a youth sports park. She said that we need to accommodate the ball diamonds, along with accommodating soccer and other field sports. She suggested constructing multi -use fields. SWAN (South West Area Neighborhood) Ideas for Suring Canvon Communitv Park Randy Fischer representing the neighborhood group spoke to the Board, along with Kathy Fischer and Emily Hammond. They have been before the Board previously the Fishers have lived next to this park site for many years. They want the Spring Canyon Community Park to be an award -winning park. He wants to emphasize that they are pro park. Their attitude is that the park already exists. They are not anti -sports. People are already recreating on this park site. Their only concern is that the park be made appropriate for the park site and neighbors. The site is the most unique park site in Fort Collins. They think if done properly it could be an award winning facility. He distributed a flyer that portrays what they would like to see and not see in the park. He thinks they represent the community at large and the neighborhoods surrounding the park site. They are dedicated to collaborate with the Park Planning Staff and the Board. He said the SWAN group met with the Sports Alliance group to discuss a sports complex. They looked at the Resource Recovery Farm and the property next to Budweiser, but neither of them are feasible. He said that we need to partner with the surrounding communities for a sports complex. Kathy Fischer said that their vision is to attract people from 1 to 100. A rough sketch plan for the park was created by a volunteer member of SWAN who is a landscape architect. Randy shared the sketch with the Board and Parks and Recreation staff and noted it was not really a plan, but just ideas for the park. Emily Hammond lives in Quail Ridge. She said that people are using the park to walk, hike, run, and ride horses. The kids play at Cottonwood Glen Neighborhood Park. She thinks the area has been seen as very special. People from all over the city use the park site and she questions what will happen to that site. She said it is a gift to the community as a "special park" with environmental learning opportunities. It has historical background regarding the Overland Trail and is a gateway to Pineridge. Randy said that the features SWAN wants to see are listed on the sheet they distributed. Equestrian use is highly valued; the dog park is a huge draw. He said they (SWAN) will not Parks and Recreation Board Minutes June 23, 2004 Page 3 accept the lighted ballfields or tournament -scale fields. The lights are a huge concern. They would not want it to be an automobile centered park. They want the parking to be minimal. Greg Miller asked if the road bisecting the park has been put to rest. Marty said that our staff met with Transportation staff to discuss this issue. From a park -planning standpoint, we do not plan to include a public road through the park in the design. Transportation staff feels a road through the park would help traffic flow problems in the area, but the road is not on the Master Street Plan and they do not foresee that changing. It would be detrimental to the park. Jon Sinclair asked if there would be an emergency paved road? Marty said yes, we have to have an emergency/maintenance road through the park. Del asked Randy if their position has changed on the ballfields? He replied they labeled areas indicating uses. Del asked if they would be agreeable to turf areas and diamond fields. Randy said yes, but let's make it appropriate. Del asked for names and addresses of their members. Randy said that would be around 150 people. Del asked Randy to send his list to Marty. Jessica asked if these are all people who live around the park. Randy said yes. He said they distributed about 500 flyers prior to the open house. Marty asked the Board after visiting the open house what are their concerns and ideas for the park. Dean asked how was the ballot language worded? Marty said the Choices 95Report and the information that was sent to the voters stated the funding was to purchase land for a community park that was referred to as Southwest Community Park/Youth Sports Complex with defining ballfields, soccer fields, and tennis courts as examples. We have been advised that we have a responsibility to include a youth sports complex in this park. Lance said that we addressed several items. Re -channeling the creek, buffering the natural areas, and there are some items we need to discuss such as the lights. He feels we can have a good mix of recreational facilities and enhance the site's natural resource values. Mary Carlson questioned if we construct ballfields, tennis courts, restrooms, shelters, and the Inspiration Park, will it be difficult to put all these amenities in the park? Marty said that we have about 90 acres of developable land. The consultant and the park planners feel we have room for many amenities in this park. Mary would like to preserve the wildlife in the area. Dean agrees with Lance that we can buffer the natural areas and accommodate the sports needs of the park. Marty said they have been working with the All Children Together (ACT) group and we are working on a letter of understanding with them and they will raise $400,000 for the playground. The playground will be larger than Fossil Creek's. Ann asked how long will that surface last and who will pay to replace it? Marty said Parks will maintain it and we hope to use replaceable soft surface squares to reduce replacement costs. Craig said the playground will be about one-half acre in size. Dean asked what is the need for lighted fields? Marty said our staff has done a lot of homework on this prior to the design. When people want to practice, there are not enough fields in town. We are turning away some of the less traditional sports, ie., rugby, field hockey. We have pushed a lot of our turf sports into our neighborhood parks. These parks were not meant for that Parks and Recreation Board Minutes June 23, 2004 Page 4 use. We've done a good job providing space, but we can't accommodate it all. We have a need for turf fields and for diamonds. Jon asked about the lights. What's the window when the lights are on. Marty replied that the parks are open until 11:00 and the lights are off at 11:00 p.m. Jon asked is there enough demand for lighted fields? Marty said that we have to go through the initial design and get input from the user groups. Lance said we should discuss lights later. We need to discuss the designs and then discuss the lights, but not now. Jessica thanked SWAN for coming tonight and that the Board appreciates their input. Del has been involved in managing many community -wide church athletic programs. He feels there is a lack of fields and more turf and diamond fields are needed. Marty said that there is a demand for these fields and he asked the Board to review the Parks and Recreation Policy Plan for Community Parks. We have the ability to create something wonderful with this park. Natural Areas Master Plan Recommendation Mark Sears said at the last meeting we discussed the Natural Areas Program in detail and he is asking for the Board's recommendation of the plan tonight. Del asked what is the management philosophy for the large regional lands. Mark showed the land conservation area map. As they acquire property, they will study the area, and then develop a management plan. Del said it appears that the intent is to lease the land out to ranchers. Mark responded that the Soapstone purchase was done to protect wildlife habitat and to develop the partnership of Mountains to Plains preservation. He explained that large areas of the ranch would be leased for grazing. Del said it concerns him that it will be costly to manage and maintain these areas. He said he is concerned costly staffing will be needed to manage these large areas because environmental and grazing capacity studies will be needed. John Stokes understands the grazing concerns Del has. He said he hopes they will get help from other agencies. He thinks they can put together a range management plan and have an ecological study done without great costs. He is optimistic in managing the grazing. His long-term concern is managing the grazing and the recreational amenities. Staffing needs are really speculative at this time. Lance is concerned about the recreation element. The operation and maintenance long term costs will be a huge burden to the City. What is the philosophy on these lands? Mark responded that we will open lands to the public that have already been acquired. We are not going to double or triple our land in the next 10 years. We had a unique opportunity to purchase this large parcel of land and we bought it primarily for conservation. We had the resources to accomplish it. Soapstone doesn't lend itself for recreational needs at the moment. It is a long- term visionary purchase. John Stokes said that this will be a catalyst for other organizations to conserve lands. John shares Lance's concerns. There isn't any answer right now as to how future operation and maintenance costs will be covered once the Open Space Yes! Money is gone. We will seriously have operation and maintenance costs in the future. When we devise a Parks and Recreation Board Minutes June 23, 2004 Page 5 management plan for this area, we will have to study the operation and maintenance for each piece of property and try to manage them within our means. Del said he spent 30 years working for the Bureau of Land Management. He doesn't think it (Soapstone) is going to be used. John said he would have to disagree with Del and to look at the web site and Natural Areas staff would be willing to take the Parks and Recreation Board on a tour of the property. Del said the citizens should know what the management of these lands is going to cost in the future. Mark said they are predicting that operation and maintenance costs will be approximately $200,000 annually. Jon Sinclair asked how would you involve public input for use of this property? Mark said we would seek input from DOW, the Grazing Association, the Natural Resources Board, the public, surrounding property owners, invite people to open houses. On a motion by Greg Miller, seconded by Lance Freeman, the Board recommended to Council that the Natural Area Master Plan be adopted. The vote was (7-1). Mary Carlson, Lance Freeman, Dean Hoag, Ann Hunt, Jessica MacMillan, Greg Miller, and Jon Sinclair voting yes; and Del Price voting no. Project Updates Craig Foreman updated the Board on the following projects: • Soft Gold Neighborhood Park is being seeded and will probably open in August. • Larimer County Youth Corp is constructing a crusher fine path on the Poudre Trail • At City Park, the moss rock wall near the pool area has been completed. • Poudre Trial (east) toward Timnath is our next project. We are working with CDOT to use a tunnel under the road for the trail. Since we have easement to get to I-25, we will hopefully get a trail through there by 2006. • At the last joint Trails Subcommittee Meeting, the neighborhood association from Shields and Horsetooth came to our meeting. They are concerned about the grove of trees (south of Horsetooth) are in very poor shape and the Association has to maintain the trees. Forestry is looking at the trees to determine their condition. The trail will go through this area. The subcommittee will go out there next month and look at it. Jessica asked if those trees have to be removed, will they be replaced? Craig said we can work it out. Other Business • Ann said she compliments the staff for their diplomatic attitudes at the Spring Canyon Community Park Open House. She said the staff was very professional. Marty said one of our challenges is to hear from the entire community. Dean asked when the next open house will be held. Staff will let the Board know. • Mary suggested putting horse trailer spaces on the north side of Spring Canyon Community Park. Jessica suggested that the neighborhood adopt an area of the park. Parks and Recreation Board Minutes June 23, 2004 Page 6 • Marty explained that the Gardens on Spring Creek received a $200,000 grant from GOCO for the Children's Garden and they raised $100,000 in other grants. We are still somewhat short ($75,000). We are very pleased about that grant. EDAW is designing the garden. • Northside Aztlan Community Center: Marty said that we will refer to it as the new Aztlan Community Center. We are still waiting for the EPA's report, which will tell us exactly how much more mitigation will be needed. Operation Services sent Marty a schedule outlining the construction schedule to open the new recreation center in the summer of 2007. • Capital Improvement Campaign (BOB 2005) scheduled open house is as follows: July 28 from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. at Harmony Library August 2 from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. at the Lincoln Center Marty explained that the City is sending post cards to 3,000 community members. There will be newspaper coverage, along with the City's web site. This will provide opportunities for the public to see the projects. • YAC Gym groundbreaking will be on Wednesday, June 30, at 4:30 p.m. • Lance spoke about the operation and maintenance costs that need to be considered in BOB 2005. Marty said that at the Study Session for Capital Improvements, the Council asked how are we going to maintain these projects once we build them. Staff is working on this issue. • Del recollected that at a previous meeting with SWAN, they wanted more of a buffer between the park and the natural area. He said the ridge is the buffer in itself. He hopes it doesn't become an issue and that we don't have to build another buffer. Marty said that when we purchased the land for the park, the buffer for Pineridge was purchased at that time. Adjournment: The Board unanimously voted to adjourn at 8:15 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Jackie Rael Executive Administrative Assistant Meetin¢ Attendance Board Members: Mary Calson, Lance Freeman, Dean Hoag, Ann Hunt, Jessica MacMillan, Greg Miller, Del Price, and Jon Sinclair Parks and Recreation Board Minutes June 23, 2004 Page 7 Staff: Craig Foreman, Marty Heffernan, Jackie Rael, and Mark Sears Guests: Amy Snider, Al Minatta, and Tami Agne-Moehle representing Sports Alliance; Randy Fischer, Kathy Fischer, and Emily Hammond representing SWAN