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HomeMy WebLinkAboutParks And Recreation Board - Minutes - 01/26/2000Call Meeting to Order: President Lance Freeman called the Regular Meeting to order at 5:45 p.m. Agenda Review: No change to the printed agenda Approval of Minutes: On a motion by Jessica MacMillan, seconded by Dean Hoag, the minutes of December 1, 1999 were unanimously (7-0) approved. Citizen participation: None Update on Parks and Trails Projects Craig Foreman updated the Board on three special projects his group is working on. Gateway Park, Fossil Creek Community Park, and the Skate Park at Edora Community Park. Gateway Park — Preliminary timeline: Conceptual plan goes public — February Road design — spring/summer Public survey process and design — summer Begin road construction - late fall Completion of road — 2001 Open for business — 2001 A display of the park will be set up at the library and other public venues for the public to view and comment. Craig said the public outreach might take longer than the planned timeline, but Marty pointed out that the information will also be available to the public on the City's web page and that there will be ads in the Coloradoan about the web page. Del wondered when the plans would be accessible to the advisory group. Craig stated that he did not know the exact time but assured them that they would have access and, in addition, they would take a site tour at that Parks and Recreation Board i utes January 26, 2000 Page 2 time. Marty commented that he thought the planning advisory committee had done an excellent job, and confirmed that they would be kept in the loop during the process. There were questions from the Board regarding any significant changes in parking flow and whether there would be commercial rafting drop-offs. Paul Hudnut stated that he had spoken to some of the paddling community and that they were happy if there were enhancements included as long as there was nothing permanent, or artificial looking. He also stated that the group was especially interested in having some temporary ability to get in there in the May time frame. Craig stated that he was in the process of meeting with that section of the community as well and they were still trying to figure that aspect in. Marty commented that he had previously heard that there was a lot of interest toward having a bigger paddling area. Again, Paul Hudnut stated that they wanted to be able to train but have no permanent structures. Fossil Creek Community Park — Preliminary timeline: Preliminary design - March Public process — March through July Design completion — August Building begins — 2001 through 2002 Maintenance begins — 2003 Craig stated that there would be a four -day charette with the consultants to work out further park details. Again, the public process will include information on the web site and ads in the paper. The Board will be updated on the park's process as it develops. Several Board members were interested in knowing what items in the park might be controversial and how Craig would handle it. Craig stated that the ballfield lights will obviously be controversial, parking may be an issue, and some of the water areas might be. He felt some of the controversy might be minimized because the conceptual plan included these items and has been available for a few years. The Board members wanted to be assured that they would be involved early in the discussions revolving around any issues. Marty assured them that they would, but that he did not feel there would be large areas of conflict as the creek and lakes were natural areas already in place, and that there would be plenty of areas for passive use. Lance Freeman inquired about the maintenance of the park and stated the importance of having a south - side satellite shop to lower transportation costs. Craig returned that the maintenance shop has been in the plans since the original conception in 1996. Skate Park at Edora — The Skate Park will be located below the hillside area off the parking lot (southeast.) Its size is being planned at 80'x 150' to 180' (typical size.) The City has hired a skate park consultant who has proven qualifications and they will allow input from the kids who participate in the sport. Craig feels that this project is coming along nicely; we have a good site that fits into the Edora setting and a competent person to design it. He further explained that these parks have to be exact in their proportions so the kids will enjoy using it. He detailed additional features of the skate park; colored concrete, lights for night use, set in ground behind the hill to be less obtrusive to neighbors. Parks and Recreation Ad Minutes January 26, 2000 Page 3 Jessica MacMillan asked why Edora was picked for the Skate Park? Craig stated that they wanted to keep a project this large in the Community Parks. He further stated that there is a multi -use pad in one neighborhood park and that they would be putting in additional multi -use pads in other neighborhood parks sometime in the future. Additional projects were mentioned as follows: Case Park and Cottonwood Glen are being completed, Miramont Park and Harmony Park are in the design process (Harmony Park is two months behind Miramont Park). Trail System — Construction has been started on the Union Pacific Trail. There will be a tie in to Spring Creek Trail. This trail will be located on the backside of EPIC, will be 10' wide with a 5' walking path next to it. The trail, to Drake Road, will be completed in the spring. The Spring Creek Trail underpass at Taft will be a 2001 project. The trail will end up at Cottonwood Glen and eventually tie into Fossil Creek Trail. It was pointed out that the Spring Creek Trail was started in 1980, was built over the last 20 years using lottery money and that these final projects will wrap up the Spring Creek Trail. Lance Freeman questioned why natural areas money is not used for trails as well as lottery money. Marty stated that Natural Resources and Craig Foreman had been discussing trail needs and that Natural Resources willingly pitched a plan to fund $100,000 for our trail system for each of the next five years. The Natural Resources Board approved it just last week. There was further discussion about ballot issues and trails and there was a conclusion that this money from Natural Resources was a good start. Del inquired about the trail projects Natural Resources was most interested in, and Craig responded that they were the Arapaho Bend area, Red Tail Grove, and relocating a portion of the Poudre Trail to the north bank. Further trail issues discussed were Fossil Creek from Shields to College; maintenance on trails costing $12,000 per mile; funding sources for older trails; use of asphalt vs. concrete; Fossil Creek easement, Boyd Lake Trail; paved vs. non -paved trails, developing the trails by CSU and the Center Avenue adjustment Neighborhood and Community Parkland Fee Increase Craig started the discussion by restating some of the information listed in the memo he sent to the Board regarding this issue. The fee was established in early 1986 and an adjustment in 1996 brought it up to the current fee level. The first item noted was the raw water charge. Water Utilities is now charging us for the full cost of water for our parks. He noted that we needed to address the fairness issue and carry our load. He stated that it would be a huge ticket item. Water shares are $3,00044,000 per share. He stated that we are starting to include this in our 2000 budget for the parks coming on-line. There was further discussion on what factors the City used to determine prices per park. The second item was irrigation ponds. The State engineer now requires us to line ponds or buy water to replace lost water. He stated that we have good numbers on the cost to line the pond at Parks and Recreation Board P utes January 26, 2000 Page 4 English Ranch. Jessica MacMillan asked if we would have to go back and assess. Craig stated that we could not go back. The third item was costs for ADA improvements. Craig noted that the fourth item was like the first item except domestic water instead of raw. Tap fees have to pay for the raw water and add a'/. inch tap. Item five was listed as Art in Public Places program. Craig noted that we have enjoyed success with this program. He went on to explain how the cost is developed. He stated that we would want to confer with the Home Builders Association and give them a heads up so we can see what affect the fee increase will have on them. The Home Builders Association wanted to make sure they had some lead time so they could put the cost up front and pass it on. Lance Freeman questioned who would be opposed to this. Mike Powers stated that it would be people who were against paying taxes. He also stated that the hardest part about something like this was getting everyone to understand the impact of these fees. Paul Hudnut asked what the average cost would be when city fees were added up and how park land fees weighed next to other fees. There was further Board discussion on new development paying initially, questions about new owners picking up the cost if original owners sell, owners moving out of the City, but still using the parks. It was confirmed at the end of this discussion that this was simply informational, and that it would be presented to City Council, pending the City Manager's approval. Edora Park Management Plan Marty gave a summary of how the Management Plan was developed. He stated that the need for management plans was identified in the Parks and Recreation Policy Plan. We are currently developing plans for community parks but will eventually have plans for neighborhood parks as well. The management plans will help determine the needs of the customers, show what direction that park is going and indicates where steps might need to be taken to modify the particular park in the future. PRLT could find no other communities that had developed plans like this for their parks. Craig Foreman developed the plan of zones to analyze existing parks and how they are used. The zones give the reader a clearer vision on what they are used for and how they work together. From these facts, a determination could be made if the park is meeting the needs of the customer. A rating criteria (Zones A, B, and C) was then developed to determine the effectiveness of each zone..Customers were also interviewed for a first-hand view. It was known that if a park becomes too crowded or over -programmed, the experience would be diminished for the customer, so these Management Plans provide guidance so everyone in the park can have an enjoyable experience. The plan shows that most of the Flora zones are in good shape. Action items were determined, prioritized and cost was associated with each. Disc golf is disrupting everything because it was added to the park later and became much more popular than originally thought. Significant items from the Plan are to reduce disc golf to nine holes, and build nine new holes to the east of the Parks and Recreation Ad Minutes • January 26, 2000 Page 5 park; consolidate where soccer is going to fit in, more parking, including additional handicapped spaces. The Board discussion revolved around where disc golf would be moving and the reasons for that decision, losing greenery, lack of passive use at the park and use of horseshoe courts. Del Price felt that the Management Plans were very good in the way they focused on zones and examined different recreation experiences. He felt PRLT had done a good job. He also mentioned that we would eventually want to look at limits of acceptable change. Further discussion focused on the decline in tennis court use, water facilities at Edora, curfew, and using EPIC parking instead of building more parking spaces. Martinez Park Management Plan The Martinez Park Management Plan is still in development, but Marry passed out a map for everyone's review and discussed the zones in the park that have been initially identified. He also stated that there were still history and maintenance issues with this plan. Nine recreational zones have been identified: softball/baseball was rated as level C, soccer was rated at B, tennis was rated at B, special sports (basketball courts) were rated at B, core area (shelter/playground) was rated as a B, non -programmed parkland area at C, non -irrigated zone at a B, natural feature area at a B. Baseball was rated as C because of problems with parking and access for disabled. There was much discussion regarding the use of the east end of the park. Pulling the parking lot back to Cherry Street or extending it further north for river access, developing a nicer entryway into the park at the east end, additional soccer areas or additional passive use areas. Craig added that the existing parking on the east end of the park is not particularly safe because there is no lighting. Paul Hudnut suggested that kayakers could put in the river by the east parking lot if it was not moved back too far toward Cherry Street. Craig stated that if we did pull it back, we could put in lights, but then discussion flowed to the conflict of lights in natural areas. Lance introduced conversation about the North College frontage area. Many Board members felt that trying to acquire some of the land east of the park and along College and tying this area into the Poudre river area in the park, as well as the east side of College, would be an attractive gateway to the City. Discussion then continued concerning the various zones in the park. The tennis courts were determined to be in good shape, but that a small sidewalk from the parking area was needed. Drainage around the courts was also discussed and Craig explained that the area was flat and that it was hard to move water in that area. He added that there was an ongoing study to make the drainage in that particular area work. The basketball area was just reconstructed this last year consisting of new surfaces and lights. Improving the existing shelter and possibly building another was discussed due to the bird -nesting problem in the current shelter. It was acknowledged that non -programmed areas were small and that the drainage from the new housing affected what space there was. Craig explained that the drainage issue was being looked at and that there would be an eventual solution found for that area. Marry indicated that the Martinez Park neighborhood group was very involved and that it was important to keep the community perspective in mind. Parks and Recreation Board P '" lutes January 26, 2000 Page 6 Discussion then moved back to the area in the park that runs along the river. Particularly the neighborhood's desire that it not be heavily developed, working with Natural Resources on ways to enhance the area, ways to improve the zone and enhance the river environment, education facilities, wildlife habitat, pathways, and natural shelters. Del Price pointed out that the area had a tremendous amount of potential and that it could be an area that compliments the downtown area. Everyone agreed with him and it was decided that there would be discussion about this area in the future. Pro -active Projects for 2000 Marty started the discussion of what projects the Board wanted to focus on for 2000. He stated that it was important to determine these projects so the Board could be pro -active and informed instead of reactive. The projects the Board chose were: - Fossil Creek Community Park - Poudre River Corridor - Oxbow project - Lee Martinez park - Southwest Park - New home for Northside Center - Youth Activity Center - Gateway Mountain Park - Trail extensions and expanding footpaths - A joint trail committee with Natural Resources. The Board would like to participate; in addition, it would help aid communication. - Developing a philosophy of communication with Council Approval of the Parks and Recreation Board 1999 Annual Report On a motion by Del Price, seconded by Paul Van Valkenburg, the Board unanimously (7-0) voted to approve the Board's 1999 Annual Report as submitted. Other Business Mike Powers informed the Board of the following: • Oxbow is still in negotiations, the appraiser has not completed his work. • Mike informed the Board Marty Heffernan would be assuming the role of Director of Parks and Recreation. Marty's official title will be Assistant Director of CLRS. Everyone on the Board thought this was good news and supported the move. City/Poudre R-1 Joint Capital Projects: Mike informed the Board that the Poudre R-1 Board of Education approved the project list unanimously (7-0). Mike stated that it will be presented to City Council in February. Parks and Recreation Ad Minutes • January 26, 2000 Page 7 - Council Work Session on changes to Boards and Commissions. Mike noted the following changes. There was no change in numbers for boards or for commissions. Residency: No Board can have a majority of members residing in the urban growth area. Urban growth area residents can be officers. Appointments are changing from July to December 31. Adjournment: The Board adjourned at 9:00 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Kelly Moore Operations Support Supervisor Meeting Attendance Board Members: Ross Cunniff, Lance Freeman, Dean Hoag, Paul Hudnut, Jessica MacMillan, Del Price, Paul Van Valkenburg Staff: Craig Foreman, Marty Heffernan, Mike Powers and Kelly Moore