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HomeMy WebLinkAboutParks And Recreation Board - Minutes - 09/27/2000Call Meeting to Order: President Lance Freeman called the Regular meeting to order at 5:40 p.m. Agenda Review: • Marty Heffernan requested that after Item 6, we add "Update on Impact of the September Snowstorm" by City Forester Tim Buchanan. • Budget Item -- Mike Powers was unable to attend tonight's meeting, and therefore Marty will talk about this. • Lance Freeman said that he would like the flexibility to hold the election of officers prior to Paul Hudnut having to leave at 7:30. Items of Note: Mike Gavin called to say he was at a meeting in Denver and would probably not be able to attend tonight's meeting. Paul Van Valkenburg called to say he had Back to School Night and would not be able to attend the meeting also. Citizen Participation: No Citizen Participation. Approval of Minutes: Jackie Rael said that Mike Gavin asked for the following correction to the minutes of August 23. On Page 7, -second paragraph, ... "neighbors of Cottonwood Glen Park" needs to be corrected to "neighbors of Southwest Community Park." On a motion by Dean Hoag, seconded by Del Price, the minutes of August 23, 2000 were unanimously (7-0) approved as amended. SWAN Bruce Henderson, a member of the South West Association of Neighbors (SWAN) made a presentation to the Board on his group's design of Southwest Community Park. His group wants to work with this Board when design begins. They looked at Pineridge open space and feel it is Parks and Recreation Board Minr September 27, 2000 Page 2 over used. They have spoken to the neighborhoods adjacent to Southwest Community Park regarding their proposed plan. The group has a landscape architect on their committee who drew some designs for the park. Their concept is to keep active use in the front of the park and graduate to passive use as it gets closer to Pineridge Open Space. Their ideas are to have the following features: Multi -purpose trails that would include nature interpretation, bikes, fitness, jogging, walking, an exercise course; kids playground; sledding hill; cross country skiing; community picnic areas/shelters; an informal sports area; wheelchair accessible trail; Xeriscaping from community picnic area; water feature; and overland trail historical path. Bruce explained why this is important. The proximity to the open space lends itself to a natural feel and the group doesn't want it overrun with people and dogs. Sensitive features in the park such as Bells Twinpod, prairie dogs, skipper butterflies, red fox, and deer are some of the reasons this group would like the park to be more passive. They are concerned about the transportation infrastructure and are concerned about the concentration of traffic at one time. They feel their plan could be much cheaper to maintain than a sports complex. They want something for all people of all ages. Jessica MacMillan asked about the design of the park and how they relate to the existing facilities in the Cottonwood Glen Park? Mary Ness asked what their definition is of active sports? Response: They are looking at more drop -in use and not organized sports. They don't want to see floods of people in the park. Lance asked if there are any organized sports in this park? Response: No. Jessica said there was a great deal of money spent on the land and there is a need for a youth sports complex in this community. In our Parks and Recreation Plan we have requirements for community parks and there has to be 40 percent active and 60 percent non - active use in the park. Bruce said active use and organized used does not have to be compared. He referred to Taft Hill project and how the City didn't follow their plan, but went with the needs and wants of the neighborhood. Jessica said there is a need for organized sports in this park for the community. She said that when the park was purchased the attractiveness of the park was because of the natural area behind the park. Ross Cunniff asked Jessica what she means by active and if she is thinking in the terms of Rolland Moore Park? She said no, it is not what she is thinking. She explained it will have to have some active organized use to meet the needs of the community, but not necessarily as heavily programmed as Rolland Moore. Bruce asked how the City is forecasting the needs of the future? Marty Heffernan addressed Bruce's question by stating that we haven't built a community park since Rolland Moore in 1984 and we have grown 40 percent since then. Construction of Fossil Creek Community Park will begin next year on the southeast side of the City to begin to address our large deficiency in community parks. We use the school demographics and census data and it is obvious that our infrastructure is behind. Del Price said that we have soccer fields being constructed by I-25. There are as many kids in the southwest neighborhoods that play baseball, soccer, and basketball. He further stated that it is not fair to the kids within the four square mile of that area not to have a community park. He said he has problems with the SWAN theory. Bruce's point is that Parks and Recreation Board Ones . September 27, 2000 Page 3 parts of the City. Bruce said it is not a good financial decision to design a park with this much formal sports when there are alternatives. Del says if the City doesn't build the organized sports here, then they have to go elsewhere. Bruce argued the point that it should be an integrated solution. Jessica said that if we don't put the community park in this location, then we have to find another location. Mary said that he was on the Choices 95 selection committee and he says it (Southwest Community Park) was purchased as a youth sports complex. Marty said the ballot language and Choices 95 voters information requires a youth sports complex to be included in the park. Mary said that he likes the design, but if you construct fields as drop in they will eventually be programmed. Ross said he sees Rolland Moore in this same area of the city and there is a plethora of sports usage in that park and perhaps we could look at a more passive use for this park. Dean Hoag said there is such a need for ballfields and soccer fields in our community that this youth sports complex is needed. Paul Hudnut said that he likes the buffer zones and how we could balance the use. Marty concluded the discussion by thanking Bruce for his presentation. He said that right now the projected timeframe for beginning construction of this park will be 2004. Our intent is to do the public input and design in 2003, and hopefully have an approved plan in 2003, construct in 2004-2005, and open in 2006. Our typical process is to have open houses and have input from all the community. We will look forward to their input at that time. Lance asked if their only purpose is to lobby for this passive park. Bruce replied yes. Canal Importation Plan Susan Hayes spoke to the Board about the Canal Importation Plan and how it affects City Park. She made a presentation to the Board at their April meeting. She explained that the major drainage corridor is in the northern portion of the basin, located in the west central part of Fort Collins and is subject to flooding. This master plan identifies projects to reduce flooding. She explained that the City is developing a plan that will have no structural damage with storms. The consultant has worked with the Parks and Golf staff to develop the best plan that will work around our uses. We are trying to get as much water into Sheldon Lake as possible. We need to dredge Sheldon Lake, take it down approximately 18 inches, and put the aeration system back into the lake. There will be a submerged box culvert into the lake. We could enhance the shoreline of the lake with this project. Another key component is there is a local drainage problem in the ballfields, and the Stormwater Department will correct that during the project. There was a question about the schedule. Susan replied that it has been pushed back because of financing. We are looking at doing this as #11 on our list and is scheduled after 2005. Ross asked if the funding is from Stormwater fees? Susan said, yes. Overland Park, Avery Park, City Park, City Park Nine Golf Course will benefit from these Stormwater improvements. The construction project will only affect City Park and City Park Nine Golf Course. She then asked the Board for a recommendation to adopt the plan as it relates to the parks. Dean Hoag says the Parks and Recreation Board Mier September 27, 2000 Page 4 overall project is needed. He doesn't know how this affects other basins within the City. Susan said Council will review the projects and address the basins in priority. They review the budget each year and determine what projects are most imperative at the time. She said that Virgil and Craig can attest that Parks and Recreation staff is up-to-date on all of our projects. Marry added that Stormwater works well with our department. Ross asked if there is a plan for the shoreline. Susan said that could be part of the master plan and it is a concern to restore it. Marty said that Parks and Recreation has received a $100,000 grant to do improvements on Sheldon Lake. Susan said that this project will not be detrimental to the improvements we have made to Sheldon Lake. Susan said we are looking at lowering the water surface 18 inches to two feet and whatever shoreline gets exposed it will be rehabbed. The project would do the rehab. When we get to the final design we will work closely with staff. Jessica asked where do you take the sludge? Susan said that is a good question and we are in the process of studying that and it depends on what is in the sludge and if it is toxic or not. Marty asked when you lower the surface will the dredging be greater than that so the lake capacity is increased? Susan said that Stormwater will dredge out only the depth we need. Staff needs to think about the big picture. Marty said his hope would be to bring the lake back to its original condition. The aeration system might help the quality of the water extremely. Del said that we would have a strong interest in the dredging plan. We don't want to lose any of the capacity we have now. We want to end up with a viable lake without weeds growing up everywhere. Lance said we are questioning if we are dredging sludge or the land below the sludge. Virg said that we have hauled in several tons of rip rap to stabilize the banks. Del asked about the surface area of the lake and what is our objective? Ross Cunniff made the following motion: The Board is not endorsing the entire Canal Importation Plan because the entire plan is beyond the scope of the Board's jurisdiction. The Board is endorsing the portion of the plan that impacts City Park and Sheldon Lake on condition that the implementation of the Plan is not detrimental to the condition or aesthetic quality of the park or Sheldon Lake; that the water quality of the Lake is not negatively impacted and that the cost of achieving these objectives is paid for by the Stormwater project. The motion was seconded by Jessica MacMillan, and passed unanimously (7-0). Update on Impact of the September Snow Storm on our Urban Forest City Forester Tim Buchanan said that this was the 41' worst storm for tree breaking in the past 25 years. It is moderately severe, however, had a big impact on our department. Parks, Forestry, and Cemetery people started clean up on Sunday. Estimate is that it will take 10 weeks to do the corrective pruning at a cost of $100,000. Approximately 70 City trees will be removed and replaced. Total City costs are approximately $400,000, including Streets Department and our costs. The decision was made by City Manager John Fischbach that the City will not remove private property tree limbs. Tim explained that this is not a devastating blow to our trees. We have rented two more aerial trucks from Denver as there wasn't any breakage in the Denver area. No one was hurt or killed by this storm. Jessica MacMillan asked where are the trees that have to be taken down? Tim replied City Park area encountered the most damage. Parks and Recreation Board ates • September 27, 2000 Page 5 Election of Officers Marry said we received a call from one Board member nominating Lance Freeman for President. By unanimous vote the following officers were elected for the year 2000-2001: Lance Freeman, President; Paul Van Valkenburg, Vice President; and Jessica MacMillan, Secretary. Lance thinks that the Vice President should be interested in taking his position when he steps down next year. Ross asked Lance how many hours a month he spends on Parks and Recreation issues? He said approximately 15 to 20 hours a month. Martinez Park Management Plan Craig reviewed the Martinez Park Management Plan as designed by Park Planning and Development Landscape Architect Alison Brady. Marty said that when we walked through the park with this Board and the Natural Resources Board, we discussed the plan and issues. Craig illustrated the plan showing the improvements in the park and the walkway from the Justice Center through the park. The trailhead parking will be more functional to the ballfields and more accessible to the downtown area. Plans are to expand non programmed areas for free play. One of the areas to expand is the wet (low) area north of the ballfields into a free play area. They identified two areas where the outfall comes through and staff would like to make it an ADA accessible area to the water. He showed some examples of the paving through the park that have a historical look. There was discussion regarding the trail through the park with the Natural Resources Board members who were present for the tour. Marty added where the old tree dump was we would want to make that an esthetically pleasing area. He said that moving the parking was a good idea, but there would be no access to the river. Craig said that we could use the access to the river from Legacy Park. Legacy will not be developed as a neighborhood park, but rather an access to the river. Lance said there aren't any immediate plans for these improvements. What he would like to do is give the Martinez subcommittee (Dean Hoag, Del Price, and Lance Freeman) the plan and bring it back to the Board with suggestions. The Natural Resources Advisory Board has a subcommittee that is working on this park plan. Our subcommittee will look at this plan and then present it to the NRAB. Mary asked that we incorporate Legacy Park into this plan. Marty said we should do two separate plans and incorporate Legacy's access to the river. Dean would like to incorporate Legacy Park into this plan. In the process they will present the plan to the staff, bring this to the Board, and speak to the NRAB. 2001 Budget Process Marty Heffernan said there were not many changes to the budget since we are in the second year of the biennial budget cycle. We had asked for money for Gateway Park and the City Manager is suggesting approval for $140,426 ongoing, and $81,850 for one-time; the round -about maintenance, $30,000; use of Recreation reserves $386,000 one-time. Parks and Recreation Board Mini, September 27, 2000 Page 6 Marty gave the Board the schedule of the budget discussions that Council will have between now and the end of November. They are September 26, October 10, first reading on October 17 and second reading and adoption on November 21. We did not get funding for a computer technical person. We are trying to address that. The consultant's recommendation was that we have four people to do the job our one computer person is performing. Other Business • Lance said that if we have another presentation like the one with SWAN, we need to set some ground rules. This could have gotten into a debate. Jessica said they did a lot of work, but didn't provide any solutions for the shortfall we have in ballfields and soccer fields for the youth. • Staff distributed a revision of the Board and Commission attendance policy. • Work Plan for next year. Staff will prepare a meeting schedule and work plan for 2001 for the Board's review at the October meeting. Adjournment: The Board adjourned at 8:20 on a motion by Jessica MacMillan, seconded by Dean Hoag. Oe,ctfully submi ed, Administrative Assistant Meeting Attendance Board Members: Ross Cunniff, Lance Freeman, Dean Hoag, Paul Hudnut, Jessica MacMillan, Mary Ness, and Del Price Staff: Alison Brady, Craig Foreman, Marty Heffernan, Jackie Rael, and Virgil Taylor Guests: Randy Fischer, Bruce Henderson, and Bill Miller, SWAN, and Eric Bamburg