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HomeMy WebLinkAboutParks And Recreation Board - Minutes - 06/16/2006Parks and Recreation Board Minutes October 25, 2006 Page 1 Call Meeting to Order: Jessica called the meeting to order at 5:42 p.m. Agenda Review: None Citizen Participation: None Councilmember Kelly Ohlson was present at the meeting to discuss any issues or concerns the Board may have. Cathy said she was pleased to hear Council was considering the Parks and Recreation Fee. Kelly informed the Board that first reading of this item will take place on election night. Jessica asked about the change in the amount of the proposal. Marty explained that Council's last action was to split the fees to make each of them 1.7 million which increases the fees to about $2.3042.40. John asked if Council received any Public Input. Kelly said there was some negative feedback. He feels neighborhood parks may be more of a legitimate connection between people paying the fee. Jon believes a Park Maintenance Fee would be beneficial and it is a practical approach to meet the budget deficit. Kelly explained that he struggles with every household being charged the same amount, but having a rebate program makes him feel more comfortable with it. He mentioned the Transportation Maintenance Fee and said that there is more of a connection to transportation for the public than parks. He said that there is still a debate about the TMF including churches and non-profit organizations. Kelly explained that only residents will pay the Park Maintenance Fee and residents and businesses will pay for the Transportation Maintenance Fee. He believes there is a possibility of neither fee passing if the Library District passes. If the fees are kept on, Kelly suggests keeping the fees low. Marty explained that it becomes a more difficult decision for Council to consider fees if the Library District passes because $3.5 million will come back to the General Fund. Council will then be faced with the situation of determining if those fees are necessary. Kelly said that with the cuts the City has made and with the unpredictable sales tax we may still face some issues. He feels that the City has cut as responsibly as we can. Jessica stated that we can always undo a fee later on if necessary. Parks and Recreation Board Minutes October 25, 2006 Page 2 Approval of Minutes: On a motion made by Greg seconded by Michael the Board approved the July 26, 2006 Minutes 6:0 Northwest Sub -area Plan City Planner, Timothy Wilder attended the Parks and Recreation Board meeting to discuss the Northwest Sub -area Plan. He reminded the Board that he provided them with a copy of the proposed plan. He said that he would appreciate a motion from the Board for their approval of the plan in regards to Chapter 4: Open Lands and Trails in order to provide it with his AIS (Agenda Item Summary) for City Council on November 21, 2006. City Council Member, Kelly Ohlson stated that a motion or input from the Board is helpful for City Council. He said that they are interested in their ideas for suggestions or changes. Timothy showed the Board the boundaries of the plan and he explained the reasoning for a Sub -area Plan. He stated that the area is mainly unincorporated county land and this raises some interesting issues and challenges. He said that the County is not an urban service provider so they don't provide parks or trails. Because of this they have to determine how much the City is going to provide in those amenities. Timothy informed the Board that they have held public meetings and the community has commented on liking the country feel of the area and they expressed interest in informal types of recreation like equestrian trails versus formal parks. He said that a lot of the area is already developed so they are planning on retaining low density in order to retain the character of the area. He said that there have been some requests that they consider some park space for this plan; however the area doesn't meet the demand to provide a new neighborhood park. He stated that no new public park space is recommended in this area; however there is the potential for a developer -provided park north of Vine Drive and west of Taft Hill Road. He said that Huidekooper Park and City Park are close to the area. He also informed them that there is an extensive trail system proposed for the area that is comprised of community trails that would be implemented by the City and informal trails would be initiated by residents or as part of new development. He said as development is occurring in this area the Stormwater Department is acquiring areas for stormwater channels. With this project they would like to make it function more as a natural feature by restoring the habitat and possibly installing a trail. Mary asked if horse properties would be allowed in the area by Michaud Lane, West of Overland Trail. Timothy explained that both county and city regulations for horse properties allow 1 horse per''/2 acre. He stated that some people have expressed their concerns about the annexation and he believes they addressed those concerns. Kelly asked if the Board was familiar with this plan and Timothy said that Craig Foreman has briefly discussed it with the Board. Marty said that Craig has been heavily involved in the process. Marty stated that from a staff prospective we are comfortable with the plan and it appears that the park and trail issues have not been controversial through the public process. Michael asked if they would collect a Park Impact Parks and Recreation Board Minutes October 25, 2006 Page 3 Fee for those residents if they aren't going to build parks and if it is collected then what will the fees be used for. Craig Foreman said that if the area is developed in the County than we do not collect a fee. Timothy said that the County doesn't have a Neighborhood Parkland Fee. Michael asked if they could use those fees for Huidekooper Park and City Park. Marty said that at this point we feel the best thing would be to use the fees is to improve the existing parks in the area because we don't feel we'll have the funds available to build a new park. He said that we can't use the fees for maintenance but we can use it to add new features. Jessica was concerned with commercial buildings going in because the area may not be the best location and they wouldn't generate enough business. Timothy said that they are not adding new commercial areas; there are existing commercial buildings in the area. Kelly asked when the area may be annexed. Timothy said it's not going to happen all at once and they can kind of determine when certain properties may come in. Michael asked if there were infrastructure problems in the area. Timothy said there are some constraints to development in the areas as far as water and wastewater, but he doesn't feel it will make it un-developable. He said that the majority of the area is serviced by the City. Timothy asked Kelly if he felt it was necessary to get a motion from the Board and Kelly suggested that he attached the Board's comments to his AIS. Jessica voiced her concern about the number of homes in the area because it doesn't seem very open with 1,900 homes coming into that area. She believes they should have fewer lots and larger homes. Mary also agreed that it would be too many homes and she is concerned with the open space being consumed. Timothy said that they are trying to fit within the existing characteristics of the area and he showed the Board slides of existing subdivisions surrounding remnant pieces of agricultural land. He said that the proposed Framework Plan did not increase the allowable densities in the area and that there was considerable agreement from residents over the Framework Plan densities. Mary asked what Urban Estate meant and Timothy said that Urban Estate just indicates the lot size, not the type of home. Greg stated that the vision statement Timothy provided captures tonight's discussion. Parks and Recreation Policy Plan Craig Foreman informed the Board that they have hired Green Play to help with the update of the Parks and Recreation Policy Plan. He said that this company has nationwide experience. Marty said that Green Play is planning on attending the November Parks & Recreation Board meeting. Marty said that they would like to get the Board's thoughts on various issues. Michael asked if they had specific questions and if they could provide them prior to the meeting. Marty said they would contact them and if that's a possibility the information would be sent out prior. Jon asked who Green Play has worked with and Craig went over the cities and what they provided for those areas. He said that they did look at the fact that they have worked with places closely related to Fort Collins. Jon asked what the cost was. Craig said it was around $50,000. To put that charge Parks and Recreation Board Minutes October 25, 2006 Page 4 into perspective Marty informed the Board that they just hired a consultant to do our Cultural Facilities Master Plan and it cost over $100,000. Marty feels like we don't have major issues so hopefully we can get a good plan for a fair cost. He mentioned that he asked what their opinion was of the current plan and they said it was good for when the plan was done but the thinking has come a long way over the last ten years. He said he also asked what their opinion was of our park system and they said it was good but there are places that are doing better. Marty said the November meeting will be a good time for the Board to give input. 2007 Budget Update Marty informed the Board that Council has spent a great deal of time on the Budget and he wanted to update them. He said that $174,000 has to be cut from the library. Cathy asked what happens if the Library District passes. Marty said it would no longer be part of the City and the cuts would not be made. Marty said that $125,000 of Conservation Trust Lottery money that goes to fund trail construction had to be shifted to fund trail and park maintenance and the General Fund money for trail and park maintenance is being taken to balance the budget. He said that some Council Members have inquired about redirecting even more Con Trust money to maintenance and backfilling trail construction with Natural Areas money. He reminded them that's what they did during the last budget cycle. If Council chooses to do this it will free up more General Fund money. Staff was looking at Con Trust funds to build a new recreation center, do park improvements, and for other recreation capital projects once the trail system is built out. Council has asked staff to get together to determine if it's legal to move more of the Conservation Trust money into maintenance and what the impact of that would be to Parks and Recreation and Natural Areas. Marty said that it's a significant issue and one that the Board may want to take a position on. He said that they would be giving that to Council in the next couple of weeks. He mentioned that the Budget would be adopted November 21 st. Marty said there is some concern that if the money is shifted to maintenance it may be hard to shift it back. Jessica asked how it affected the Regional Trail System. Marty explained that they would take more Conservation Trust money away from trail construction and they will back fill it with Natural Areas money. Staff doesn't think it's going to harm the trail system any more that it's already been slowed down. The concern is that when we're done there's going to be less money in Conservation Trust money that can be used for some other capital project. Greg suggested discussing it at a later time. Marty said that Council may make a decision soon. The Board then chose to provide Council with a memo expressing their concern of the potential risks this may have on future recreation capital facilities by moving too much of the money to maintenance. Marty reminded the Board that Gateway Mountain Park will be operated and maintained by the Natural Resources Department. The cost to maintain it is about $96,000 a year. Jessica said that she feels they will do well maintaining it. Marty said that $50,000 in neighborhood park maintenance and $40,000 in community park maintenance is being cut. This is basically equipment replacement and life cycle repair money. They are cutting about $49,000 Parks and Recreation Board Minutes October 25, 2006 Page 5 from Recreation. The 214 North Howes facility is closing and they are doing some staff consolidation when the new recreation facility opens. Marty said they thought they were going to lose the Senior Trip program at the Senior Center but that was saved. He explained that some of his salary would be shifted over to Park Planning. The Recreation at Your Door (RAD Van) is being reduced by $19,000, but he feels we can make up for that with donations. The Gardens on Spring Creek has to cut $5,000. Spring Canyon Park Update Craig showed some photos of the area and explained where the park facilities would be located. Jessica asked if the park was still scheduled to open in a year and Craig said that was still the projection. He stated that the non -irrigated areas would be planted soon, the more natural grasses that will need the winter moisture to germinate. Jessica inquired about the amount of grass seed that would be used. Craig said there would be a lot and he also mentioned that there would be a large number of trees in the park that will have a drip system in case of a drought. Jessica asked if that would be run throughout the winter. Craig said it wouldn't be and if there were drought conditions during the winter months they would bring out the water trucks. Jessica asked if it would be better to plant all of the trees in the spring. Marty explained that the contractor has to guarantee the trees and if they choose to plant them this fall and they do not make it through the winter it would be there responsibility to replace them. Craig explained that certain trees need to be planted at certain times of the year. Greg asked what the comments were from the neighborhoods. Marty said that there were a few negative comments about the dust but that was resolved. Overall the responses from the neighbors have been positive. Project Updates Craig provided the project updates: Spring Canyon Community Park (ACT) Contribution Jessica asked what ACT (All Children Together) has raised for the inspiration playground. Craig said that they will be at the November 21st City Council meeting with $720,000. Marty said the Board was invited to attend. He said that they are trying to fundraise more for the shelter, but they will have $720,000 that night. Power Trail Craig said that they will get a GOCO grant this fall for the Power Trail. He then went over the grant criteria. Parks and Recreation Board Minutes October 25, 2006 Page 6 Case Park The contract has gone out to bid, which is the last piece of Case Park. Sidewalks (BCC Funded) The last of the Building Community Choices money will be used for sidewalk improvements at Edora, Rolland Moore, City Park and Lee Martinez. Other Business Jessica suggested adding some more color to Oak Street Plaza. She asked if any more planters would be provided. Craig said that they added the planters that were in the design. He said that the Parks staff added a variety on plants in the planters, but he would mention it to them for next year. Michael asked if staff was concerned with kids slipping on the stones. Marty feels they should ruff up the stones with out under -minding the artist's intentions. Jessica was concerned that the chairs and tables could be stolen. Jon likes the park and the informal feeling. Michael asked if it were a possibility to install a surveillance camera. Cathy asked about the advertising for a P&R Board vacancy. Jessica said she and Michael have resubmitted their applications and Jon will not be submitting one. Correspondence None Adjournment: The Board unanimously agreed to adjourn at 8:05 p.m. ect lly submitted � /� J Administrative Aide Board Attendance Board Members: Mary Carlson, Cathy Kipp, Jessica MacMillan, Greg Miller, Michael Chalona, Jon Sinclair Staff: Craig Foreman, Marty Heffernan, Timothy Wilder, Dawn Worth Guests: Councilmember Kelly Ohlson