Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutParks And Recreation Board - Minutes - 04/22/1998Call Meeting to Order: The meeting was called to order at 6:30 p.m. by President Marilyn Barnes. Board Member Mary Ness called to say he would not be able to attend tonight's meeting. Agenda Review: No changes to the printed agenda. Approval of Minutes: On a motion by Diane Thies, seconded by Jessica MacMillan, the Board voted unanimously (8-0) to accept the minutes of the March 25, 1998 meeting. Citizen Participation: No citizen participation. Building Community Choices Mike Powers gave a background of the site selection process for the five sites for Building Community Choices which are: performing arts center, replacement for Northside Aztlan Community Center, horticulture center, main library, and police station including the Request for Proposal process through the City's Purchasing Department. After the proposal sites were received, staff held outreach meetings and an open house for the community to make suggestions. Tonight the Board will make a formal recommendation to the City Council for the site selection on the horticulture center and Northside Aztlan Community Center replacement. On May 19, at the formal Council meeting, they will be asked to make a decision on the sites. Both projects have money to purchase the land and build the projects. A. Community Horticulture Center Tim Buchanan and Jim Clark gave the Board an update on what has occurred since the open house on April 2. Referring to the handouts that they gave the Board at the last meeting, the committee informed the Board at their last meeting of the sites and priority. The six -member committee ranked the sites and met as a group to discuss. All six committee members, individually rated the Lee Martinez Park site as their top site. Jim distributed a copy of the comments stating favorable comments and comments opposed to the sites. Lee Martinez Park received the most favorable comments (27) and the most comments Parks and Recreation Board Minutes April 22, 1998 Page 2 opposed (10). The woodland slough part of the site is an environmental concern. There is some concern that there is already quite a bit of activity in the park and not to add any more. The committee met following the open house and felt there continued to be strong support for the site and no new concerns were raised. Lance Freeman reiterated what Jim said that the committee thinks this is the best site. The concerns from Natural Resources can be addressed with a preliminary site design. Jim distributed copies of pictures of the site showing where the site is proposed with the trail. The horticulture site will be fenced. Rebecca Chavez asked what area would be fenced? Lance replied that at this time we are uncertain and we will study the wildlife habitat and then design around that. The committee would like a consultant to prepare a site design to determine if problems can be resolved. He would like the Board to recommend that City Council accept the Lee Martinez Park site for a preliminary site design. Paul Van Valkenburg asked what are the other concerns besides the movement of the trail and the wildlife? Lance replied the placement of the trail, the impact of the woodland slough area, and there was some talk about the loss of the natural area by the river. Diane asked if this is a concern about the ratio of scheduled activities and passive activities in the park? Jim said the he spoke to Park Planner Janet Meisel and she said that some of the Horticulture Center would be considered programmed space. There would be admission into the site. This would probably be a 13 to 15 acre site. Even with this addition, the park would meet our active/passive guidelines. The site plan would give us options for size and where the fencing, trail, natural areas would be located in proximity to the horticulture center site. Marilyn said the location is good because there would be people at the park participating or observing other activities and would then visit the horticulture center. Del said one of the pluses in this area is its proximity to downtown. He said one of the concerns is the herons nesting in the cottonwood trees. The existing road is adjacent to the trees and that hasn't disturbed the wildlife. We could improve by directing traffic away from the natural area. Jessica asked about parking spaces. Jim said it would probably be the same amount that the farm currently has. Lance said that the preliminary design could improve the present site. Jim said another issue is that this is a stormwater outflow from Shields Street and their plan has it flowing directly into that woodland slough. It is hoped that this would be an asset and use vegetation to enhance the wetlands. Jim Klett and Tom Kehler spoke representing CSU. They had submitted a proposal for a three - site plan on CSU's property. This is a collaborative effort between the City and CSU to develop a garden area and horticulture center. They feel this could be a shared opportunity. This would take advantage of the University and the City for staffing. One site is the PERC (Lake Street), which is a 15 acre site. The second site would be the City's Fort Collins High School Park. Marilyn said she thought that there are deed restrictions on this site. Jim Klett replied that it is a site that could be workable. The third site is south of Prospect (behind the Holiday Inn). The more intense programming would be located at the PERC site and the CSURF site would be the Parks and Recreation Board Minutes April 22, 1998 Page 3 gardens and food crops. Marilyn asked about the public parking at the Lake Street site? Tom's reply was that there is a parking lot on the southwest side of the campus. Jim Klett said that there are more similarities than discrepancies for this joint project. They explained that all three of these sites are in the center of the desired location. Marilyn said if the horticulture site is in all three sites, it would be a problem of staffing. Jim Klett disagreed. Dean Hoag asked how they expect it would work with the two entities running it? Tom Kehler replied that it would be a not for profit, operated by a Board. There would be an establishment of a Board from the two entities and community members. This Board would be a decision making body. The University would own the land and if the City built the horticulture center at the PERC site, it would have a lease for the property and that would be an up -front one time cost to the City. On the CSURF site, it would be $159,000 for the property and at the PERC site, a one-time lease of $125,000. CSU wants to build a horticulture center on the site. The University is thinking this way in the long-range plan according to Tom. Del asked what would happen if the University wanted to expand? They responded that there is quite a bit of space in that area and it would not present a problem even if the campus grew to accommodate 40,000 students. Jim said the number one draw to Fort Collins is the University. The price he quoted the Board is an estimate and the final determination would have to be made by the State Agriculture Board. Diane said she feels that the top two sites are Lee Martinez Park and the CSU site and thinks the Board should determine how to make this work jointly. The high cost for the land is an issue we have to look at. She thinks we need to look always at partnering if possible. Marilyn said she has a problem with making improvements on other people's property. Dean asked what is the price for the Lee Martinez property? Jim Clark said there would not be cost for land, but the site would require additional stabilization expenses. Diane asked if there is a way to partner with CSU if we don't use the CSU property? Would CSU share the costs? Tim Buchanan said that we would welcome any funding from CSU. Marilyn asked if the Board is in agreement with proceeding with a site design for Lee Martinez Park? Diane would like to see the preliminary design and would also recommend partnering with CSU. Jessica asked if all three sites would have to be used? She is concerned about the amount of confusion it would cause in the community. Jim Klett said that the College Avenue site at Fort Collins High School Park would be the focal site. Del said the site behind the Holiday Inn would have flooded during this summer's flood and would have been devastating if we had the horticulture center there. Lance Freeman said that after the open house and weighing all the sites, he made a motion to have the Board request a preliminary site design for the Lee Martinez Park site for the community horticulture center. The motion was seconded by Rebecca Chavez. Diane Thies made an amendment to the motion that we could explore partnering with CSU even if the project is located on the Lee Martinez Park site. The motion unanimously (8-0) passed. Parks and Recreation Board Minutes April 22, 1998 Page 4 B. Northside Aztlan Community Center Jean Helburg referred to the March minutes that included how the three members of the subcommittee rated the sites with the current site as their first priority. Their second choice was Vine and College. At the public open house people had the opportunity to voice their opinions. The current site was again chosen as the first site and the second choice was Vine and College. Peggy Bowers spoke of the property of Vine East of Lemay is zoned for T (transition) and will be reviewed for Low Density Mixed Use. This means no buildings over 20,000 square feet without a variance can be constructed. At the last Board meeting, the Board asked about the North Vine property between College and Lemay. Jean said there is an access from Vine and building roads would take money away from the project. Marilyn asked if the project would be responsible for the development of entrance, and the answer is yes. Pricing of land goes from $12,000 to $25,000 an acre, except the property north of the proposed Walmart site at Lincoln and Lemay is $137,000/acre. Marilyn asked how much was budgeted for the land? Jean estimated approximately $350,000 or actually $312,000. Lance asked Jean what area staff is looking at? The current site is the best so far, but staff suggests looking at other sites, including other sites not submitted through this process. The Hickory Park site may be part of the dry creek rerouting. Rebecca said the committee didn't use price as a criteria. She would like to look at everything. She would personally like to look at each site knowing what we know now. The three top sites that were chosen were approximately $13,000/acre. Jessica said the current site is in a great location, it's just the building that is falling apart. Rebecca said the train is a downside on the site. Jean said that at the last meeting the Board talked about how the new building would fit on the current site. She said the building would be built in phases. Jessica asked if we could knock down the existing building, and ask the community to wait a year until the new building is constructed? Jean felt it would be difficult to tear it down and displace service before replacement occurred. Rebecca Chavez made a motion to direct staff to continue to look for new sites for replacement of the Northside Aztlan Community Center. The Board does not have a specific site in mind, but want it in the northside location. If no other property meets the criteria, then the Board recommends the current site. The motion was seconded by Del Price. Paul Van Valkenburg said that all the sites were in one geographic area, could we look in a larger area? The Board requests staff to now seek properties that were not proposed in the RFP's. The motion passed unanimously (8-0). Request for Regional Meeting with Parks and Recreation Boards In accordance to the Parks and Recreation Board's 1998 Work Plan, the Board requested a joint meeting with the Parks and Recreation Boards from Loveland, Greeley, and Windsor. It was suggested by staff that the meeting be held at Gateway Park since this was a collaborative effort from the Northern Colorado cities. The Board unanimously agreed that a joint meeting at Parks and Recreation Board Minutes April 22, 1998 Page 5 Gateway Park for the regularly scheduled June meeting was very favorable and directed staff to coordinate such a meeting. Recommendation by the Natural Resources Advisory Board Concerning Funding for Natural Areas with in Building Community Choices Projects. Mike asked the Board to refer to the City Council Resolution 98-62 that was in their packets. This is a resolution reaffirming City Council's commitment to the Natural Areas Program and the Acquisition of land through that program. In accordance with the ballot language for the Building Community Choices projects, excess tax revenue, would be added to the natural areas. Council said that they don't want to enhance the Building Community Choices projects beyond their budget. The Natural Resources Advisory Board has some issues with the resolution and wrote a letter stating their concerns. Marilyn Barnes, as President of this Board, wrote a letter to Council asking that they postpone consideration until this Board has an opportunity to review. Council agreed with Marilyn's letter and scheduled this item for a Study Session on April 28. Marilyn will represent the Board at the Study Session, along with the Chair person of the Natural Resources Advisory Board, on April 28. The Board is invited to attend this study session. Mike Powers explained the issues are whether there should be any changes to the funding structure to the projects such as Fossil Creek Community Park, regional trails, the Horticulture Center, and natural areas. If so where does the money come from. The second is the wording that says the issue will be defined by the ballot. The ballot's intent was not to limit the amenities in the park to only those spelled out in the ballot. It is our intent to deliver a project within budget. Fossil Creek does have a design that has been approved, but will probably change somewhat at the time of construction, but will still be within the allotted budget. Del said that the budget for the natural areas acquisition is $27,000,000. Mike said that one issue discussed was that an inflator was computed for the Fossil Creek Community Project, but the natural areas did not have an inflator built in. Del said they couldn't hedge the $27,000,000. This figure was raised from the original figure of $20,000,000. Lance does not have any concern with the Agenda Item Summary for the Resolution. However, he does have a problem with the Natural Resources Advisory Board's recommendations. The City Council still has the final say on the projects. The Council has the ultimate veto authority to approve the funding on these projects. All these projects are separate and should not be judged all together. Parks and Recreation Board Minutes April 22, 1998 Page 6 Citizen Kelly Ohlson said that he has some information that would be helpful to the Board and he feels that the Board has a misunderstanding. He said he has a long history of supporting Parks projects when he was on council. He said he was the one who initiated the tax for natural areas. He stated that as it was presented to staff we could live with $27,000,000 plus overage. Inflation factor is 4.3% for all the projects except Natural Areas. He questions how the Fossil Creek Park is inflated to $9.8 million. Half of the $27,000,000 for natural areas is scheduled in the last two years of the funding. He has a huge concern regarding the overage and inflation factor. They (Natural Resources Advisory Board) want a resolution stating that the overage should go to the natural areas. He said he might support the price of the park if needed at $12,000,000. The next $2.2 million, however, should come from other sources and not taken from natural areas money. The victim is the natural areas money, not the parks. There wasn't any money for natural areas acquisition until the citizens took it upon themselves to initiate the tax. Lance asked Kelly if he is representing the Natural Resources Board or his own comments? Kelly said that he is representing the Natural Resources Board. Marilyn asked if there is any property that they have not acquired that they wanted? Kelly said that he picked up the packet on a Tuesday and didn't know it (the resolution) was coming to the Council so he got on the phone and called concerned citizens and Board members. Lance said there deals being made and the Boards are not aware of these projects. He said Kelly took it to the Natural Resources Advisory Board and questioned why didn't they advise the Parks and Recreation Board? Lance said he feels that Kelly thinks we contrived something and we didn't. Diane said this is the first our Board has seen this. Kelly said that if Council would honor the ballot and the development of Fossil Creek Community Park escalates, then the money should come from other sources and that the overage does not come from natural areas money. He said the City of Fort Collins is "flush" with money. Paul asked Mike Powers why the resolution was necessary? Marilyn said that there is sufficient money for the Natural Areas to purchase whatever they want and they will undoubtedly do well. She added that the tax projections are good for the next few years. Kelly said this Board is creating enemies and he will be on the Parks case from now on. Lance said he is comfortable with the resolution as it stands and doesn't see a problem with it. He feels Natural Resources has money to purchase land through this funding and the county natural areas money. Marilyn said that the resolution is fine, but to tie the hands of future Councils is not a correct approach. She added that if in "Fossil Creek" they find a fossil bed that costs money to preserve it, the Council can use more money to preserve that and develop the park in another location on the site. Kelly said that he will now push for inflationary money for natural areas. Lance suggested that we write a letter to Council saying that we agree with the original version of their resolution. The Board asked Mike how much is the total amount in the one -quarter cent package over the eight years? Mike figures it would be $41,300,000. 0 Parks and Recreation Board Minutes April 22, 1998 Page 7 Del says, we the citizens of Fort Collins, said that we guarantee $27,000,000 for natural areas and if we change that then we are violating the charter. Marty clarified that these projects were actual dollars in 1996. He added that Council can change the funding, but cannot alter the essential character or remove components of the projects. Mike explained that the Finance Department was given the question of what this tax would generate over 8 years. They projected our projects over the years. After that amount is subtracted, there is $25,000,000 for natural areas. In order to get the natural areas money to $27,000,000, a cut of $1,000,000 from Fossil Creek Community Park was made and$500,000 taken away from the Horticulture Center. Lance said that the optimum thing would be to come to consensus with the Natural Resources Board. He doesn't have a problem with the $27,000,000 plus the overage, but not inflation. Paul Van Valkenburg made a motion that Resolution 98-62 supports the spirit of the ballot language for Building Community Choices and that President Marilyn Barnes will support this in its original form at the Study Session on April 28. The motion was seconded by Del Price, and passed unanimously (8-0). Other Business • Jessica asked if the museum director has been hired? Mike said staff held interviews yesterday. Correspondence • Marilyn Barnes received an invitation to the Poudre River Symposium on May 30, from 8 a.m. until noon. This will be a discussion on the portion of the Poudre River as it flows through downtown. The objective is to find common ground. Del and Marilyn will attend. Jackie Rael will send in their registration. Adjournment Meeting adjourned at 9:30 p.m. ectfully su , i Ja ie Rael, Administrative Aide II Parks and Recreation Board Minutes April 22, 1998 Page 8 Meeting Attendance Board Members Marilyn Barnes Rebecca Chavez Lance Freeman Dean Hoag Jessica MacMillan Del Price Diane Thies Paul Van Valkenburg Staff Peggy Bowers Tim Buchanan Jim Clark Marty Heffernan Jean Helburg Mike Powers Jackie Rael Guests Jim Klett, CSU Tom Kehler, CSU Isabel Garity, Citizen Kelly Ohlson, NRAB