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HomeMy WebLinkAboutParks And Recreation Board - Minutes - 03/22/1995CITY OF FORT COLLINS CULTURAL, LIBRARY, AND RECREATIONAL SERVICES PARRS AND RECREATION BOARD CITY COUNCIL LIAISON TO THE BOARD: Councilman Bob McCluskey, Jr. STAFF SUPPORT TO THE BOARD: Jackie Rael, Administrative Aide and Jerry P. Brown, Assistant to the Director Regular Meeting -- March 22, 1995 CALL MEETING TO ORDER: The regular meeting was called to order at 6:30 p.m. by Board President Roger Tarum. Rich Feller called to say he would not be able to attend tonight's meeting, and Eric Reno called to say that he is participating in the Congress of Neighborhoods and will try to join the Parks and Recreation Board meeting after that. AGENDA REVIEW: No changes to the printed agenda. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: The minutes of the Regular Meeting of February 22, 1995 were unanimously (6-0) approved on a motion by Jessica MacMillan, seconded by Diane Thies. The minutes of the Special Meeting of March 1, 1995 were unanimously (6-0) approved on a motion by Diane Thies, seconded by Sylvia Cranmer. CITIZEN PARTICIPATION: No citizen participation. SOFTBALL TOURNAMENT POLICIES Parks Manager Virgil Taylor started the discussion by stating that we don't allow softball play from November to spring as cool season grasses can't regenerate quickly enough. Our Park goal is to provide quality fields and don't feel we can have quality fields during playing season if we allow year -around use. In addition, restrooms are closed and drinking fountains are turned off during winter months. He showed slides of a damaged field at Boltz Junior High after a winter tournament. The City has a joint maintenance agreement with Poudre R-1 at Boltz where they furnish the ballfields and the Parks provides the maintenance. Jessica asked if this was normal use or abuse. Virgil said that if the field was dry we wouldn't have this problem. The person at Poudre R-1 who authorized the field use did so several days before the tournament. The day before the tournament we had a snow storm and the users Parks and Recreation Board Minutes March 22, 1995 Page 2 should have used common sense. Mary said that if the City authorized this tournament and there was a field supervisor on duty there wouldn't have been this problem. Recreation Program Administrator Terry Keith explained that the Youth programs should take priority and our City league is second priority. Terry said that we can't allow as many tournaments this year as in previous years because of the shortage of fields. He has asked the various user groups to give him data on their programs and the shortages and how they affect the programs. He said we get numerous calls from people asking for a field for drop in play for the weekends, and Terry feels that we should keep one field open on the weekends for families, church groups, and reunions. Mary asked if there is an alternative for off-season tournaments? He said that there is a need for a place to play and suggested raw land, i.e., undeveloped parks. Terry said that liability wise, we can't do that. Vince Laso said that his point was not to do damage to any of the fields and he said that during pleasant weather, when the fields are playable, there should be play allowed. Denver allows "snowball tournaments" during the winter. He said Greeley and Loveland do allow play during the winter months when the fields are dry. Sylvia asked how do you handle the restroom closures? He said it would be the responsibility of the tournament director to bring in porta-johns. Eric Reno joined the Board meeting at this time. Virg said that people like to come to Fort Collins to play because the fields are top level fields. Terry said that from November to March are the times we prep the fields for April 1. Sylvia asked about the winter drop -in play and does that affect the fields? Virg said it does to a small degree, not like the tournament play of 12 or more teams. Vince said that we are not talking about using the high quality fields such as Rolland Moore, Martinez, or City Park, but other fields that are not so highly scheduled. Roger asked if there is anything the Board needs to do before the meeting on the 28th with the softball players. Jean Helburg said that every year we work this out with the users and we will work it out this year. Mary said he represents sports in Fort Collins, both adult and youth. He hopes that the next meeting will be able to iron out some problems. He feels that the fields should not be a show case but need to be well maintained and be played on as much as possible. Parks and Recreation Board Minutes March 22, 1995 Page 3 Vince asked about youth versus adult? He said that by offering softball tournaments, he is providing a service that the City does not provide. He is giving the adult players a chance to play on the weekends. He said that last summer he ran 13 tournaments. Mary said the City should run tournaments on the weekends when the youth are not using the fields. He said that the City made revenue on the tournaments. He thinks the City could pay for a tournament director and still have money to maintain the fields from the tournament revenue. CATHY FRObM PRAIRIE SITE MANAGEMENT PLAN Karen Manci previously sent the Board a draft plan of the Cathy Fromme Prairie site management plan. She is asking the Board for their input and approval on the plan tonight. She said one of the issues is that the Ridge neighborhoods didn't want a paved trail. Jessica said that she agrees there should be a buffer between the neighborhood and the open space area. Jessica said on Page 27 of the Plan under Recreation Management: She doesn't want to see several dirt trails through this area. Karen explained where the dirt trail would be allowed. Virgil added that if there are not some trails provided, people will make their own trails through the property. Karen said that the trails will be limited, and some native vegetation established. Jessica asked what kind of recreational structures will there be? Karen replied, park benches, but not playground equipment or picnic tables. Jessica said it should be left as natural as possible. She then referred to Page 29 -- Distance from the homes. What is too close for the neighbors? Karen said that Craig Foreman talked with these neighbors who don't want it adjacent to their homes. Craig said 200 feet or more and on the south side of Burns Tributary. There will be some berms built to soften it as much as possible and we will be sensitive to the neighborhood's requests. Jessica asked about the placement of the cabin? Karen said that Historian Carol Tunner, said that it shouldn't be kept too close to the traffic, but keep it along the trail for historical value, but keep it locked. Jessica said the interpretive sign is better than brochures. She agrees that there should be brochures in various areas in the City facilities, but not on the site. On a motion by Jessica MacMillan, seconded by Rebecca Chavez, the Board voted unanimously (7-0) to accept the Cathy Fromme Prairie Site Management Plan as presented by staff. Sylvia Cranmer left the meeting at this time. Eastside Neighborhood Park Parks and Recreation Board Minutes March 22, 1995 Page 4 Craig Foreman gave an overview of the history of the Choices 95 appropriation of this park funding for $680,000. The site is adjacent to Laurel Elementary School. This two -acre site is smaller than any other neighborhood park. This park will be unique with a new architectural twist where it will blend into the older neighborhood. Consultant Jana McKenzie said she has worked with the school to reconfigure the existing playground and T-ball area. The picnic shelter resembles a "porch" and the kids at the school were surveyed as to what they want for the park. They wanted hills to roll down. The area will have natural grass and not manicured blue grass. Jean Helburg asked about the location of the restrooms? Jana said that it is only a two -acre site so the restrooms are closer than they look on the conceptual plan, and are in the area where the neighborhood would access the park. The development will be approximately $400,000, which is under budget. Roger asked how it addresses Council's concerns about this area? Mike said this is the best we can do with the integrated plan with other affected departments (Transportation and Stormwater). On a motion by Eric Reno, seconded by Jessica MacMillan, the Board voted unanimously (6-0) to accept the plan as presented by staff and the consultant. MASTER PLAN Janet Meisel said tonight staff will discuss with the Board the financial plans, the parkland fee issues, how do we fund community parks, and life cycle of the parks. Last night at the citizen advisory meeting, the group was asked if they thought community parks should be funded through parkland fees. The committee felt it was viable and should be considered. They talked about a portion of the parkland fee be used as an endowment for O&M. She asked the Board their feelings on community parks being funded under parkland fees. Diane said that there seems to be confusion on parks and sports complexes. Roger asked if there is a problem with funding O&M in the past five years? Virgil said that we have been fortunate to receive money for O&M when the newest parks have been built. However, there is a need for renovation of the older parks for capital improvements. Janet said that the parks we will build from this point to the end of the century we will be replacing in 15 to 20 years. Eric Reno asked if there is anything that would preclude the capital projects with O&M money. Roger said we need to pursue some mechanism to address this. Jessica said she doesn't want to take too much from the Parkland Parks and Recreation Board Minutes March 22, 1995 Page 5 Fee so that there isn't money to purchase parks. She also said the Lottery funds should be restudied. She said it has been 13 years since its inception and should be reviewed. Referring to the handout entitled Alternatives for Funding Parks, Operations, Maintenance, Capital Outlay, and Infrastructure Maintenance and Repair, Virgil explained that the need for life cycle on an annual basis is over $400,000 annually. Diane asked how much do we receive from lottery annually? Craig responded that last year we received $700,000, but prior to last year it was approximately $500,000. Mary Ness left the meeting at this time. Mike Powers said that we are presenting the Master Plan to City Council at a work session on March 28, and asked if there are any Board members who are interested in attending. Jessica suggested a local "lottery" Jana questioned User Fee for out of town fees? Roger and Jessica agreed that we need to look at this for tournament play. It could do two things: one is that it could discourage out-of-town users and/or open time slots for the local residents. The Board agreed that we need to look outside the boxes and not use "sales tax" for this funding. Diane Thies said that the user fees need to be restructured so that seniors who can afford to pay full rates don't get the discounts. OTHER BUSINESS Jean Helburg is giving a tour of the Senior Center on Friday, March 23 at 3:30 p.m. if any of the Board members are interested. The meeting was adjourned at 9:05 p.m. submit Rael, AdminVstrative Aide II Parks and Recreation Board Minutes March 22, 1995 Page 6 Meeting Attendance Roger Tarum Mary Ness Eric Reno Jessica MacMillan Diane Thies Rebecca Chavez Sylvia Cranmer Mike Powers Jean Helburg Randy Balok Craig Foreman Janet Meisel Terry Keith Dave Mosnik Virgil Taylor Jackie Rael Jana McKenzie Vince Laso