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HomeMy WebLinkAboutLand Conservation And Stewardship Board - Minutes - 03/09/2011MINUTES CITY OF FORT COLLINS LAND CONSERVATION & STEWARDSHIP BOARD Regular Meeting March 9, 2011 DATE: Wednesday, March 9, 2011 LOCATION: 215 N Mason Street, Conference Room 1-A TIME: 6:00 p.m. For Reference: Linsey DeBell - 217-7436 Aislinn Kottwitz - 692-9915 Mark Sears, Staff Liaison - 416-2096 Board Members Present Juli Germany, S. Kathryn Grimes, Trudy Haines, Linda Knowlton, Linda Stanley Board Members Excused Linsey DeBell, K-Lynn Cameron, Michelle Grooms, Paul Mills Council Liaison Aislinn Kottwitz Staff Present Natural Resources / Natural Areas Department: Daylan Figgs, Karen Manci, Geri Kidawski, Jen Shanahan, Justin Scharton, Mark Sears Guests Brian Carroll, Resident of Fort Collins, Member of the Parks and Recreation Board, City of Fort Collins Master Naturalist and City of Fort Collins Volunteer Ranger Assistant Public Comments  Carroll talked about the Straus Cabin on Straus Cabin Road adjacent to Arapaho Bend Natural Area. He mentioned that as a Master Naturalist he participates in historical talks at Bobcat Ridge Natural Area. Carroll explained that the Straus Cabin (built in 1864 by George Straus) has historical and cultural significance in the City. It was destroyed in 1999 by an arson fire. Also, at this location was a council meeting site for the Arapaho Indians, which should be maintained as a significant cultural site. Carroll said that there is the possibility of Larimer County transferring the property to the City of Fort Collins, and he encouraged the Board that if they are approached to accept the transfer of the property that they do so in the affirmative. Land Conservation & Stewardship Board Wednesday, March 9, 2011 Page 2 of 7  Haines: Is the Historical Society interested in working on this site or being a resource?  Carroll: This is the type of thing that they would do.  Grimes: Did you say that the Arapaho Indian council site was also on this site?  Carroll: It was on the original Straus property, which I understand was about seventeen acres. Reports are that the Council tree was 100 yards south of the railroad tracks. Agenda Review  Sears: Karla Smith, City Clerk’s Office, sent the Boards a “Communication between Boards and Commissions survey”, which I would like to go over with the Board at the end of this evening’s meeting. Review and Approval of Minutes Overview of Poudre River Natural Areas Management Plan  Shanahan: The Poudre Plan is complete and staff is preparing the document for the final public review process. This process will include an online link where the general public, interested individuals and other City departments will be invited to read and provide feedback on the draft Poudre Plan. Members of this Board are also invited to review the plan and provide feedback. Shanahan briefly explained the Plan table of contents. o Part I – All Poudre River Natural Areas o Chapter I – Purpose, scope, and process o Chapter II – Physical setting of the Poudre River o Chapters III – The Ecological Setting and IV – Human Dimensions, has the background information and will serve as a good reference o Part II – Unit and Site Action Plans  Stanley: At the previous presentations did we see most of this?  Shanahan: Chapters III and IV were not as well developed when we did the presentation.  Stanley: Did the planning units, which we saw in the presentations, stay the same?  Shanahan: Nothing has changed since last fall.  Haines: The on-line comments page, will there be maps and pictures for the public to view?  Shanahan: In the documents there are maps and pictures. We are providing thirteen pdf chapters in thirteen separate links, but also we created posters for our open house last fall, which can visually help people and those are available also.  Haines: When a press release comes out could you get an article in the Coloradoan with maps and pictures. Stanley approved the February 9, 2011 meeting minutes as written. Knowlton second. It was unanimously approved. Land Conservation & Stewardship Board Wednesday, March 9, 2011 Page 3 of 7 Review of Natural Areas Proposed Agricultural Position Statement  Figgs: This is a draft document intended to initiate conversation. The Draft City of Fort Collins Natural Areas Program Agricultural Position Statement articulates the value of agricultural lands to the Natural Areas Program (NAP) as well as provides some clarity to how the Position Statement will be applied to agricultural activities on Natural Areas. This draft position statement will be discussed and input and direction sought from the Land Conservation and Stewardship Board. Figgs showed the Board a PowerPoint presentation, which included: o Mission, Goals, Principles and Policies o Facts o Purpose o Natural Areas Program Role o General Policies o Agricultural Practices o Traditional Farms o Urban Farms o Community Garden  Knowlton: You would consider grazing for food production?  Figgs: All of our grazing is managed and driven by conservation goals. In addition to that if we can incorporate local food production, and meet the other two criteria, we can have a managed grazing program that’s driven by conservation goals.  Knowlton: We need to be careful with the public that they do not expect us to raise agriculture on natural areas.  Figgs: I agree, and that is why we always go back to the core mission statement rules.  Haines: These are other folk’s animals on our properties, how does that relate to us?  Figgs: We do not choose to own the animals under this policy. However, if the Grazing Association at Soapstone would like to market their animals as grazed on conserved land we may be able help provide that mechanism through other partnerships we are forming.  Haines: Is there a way to write in that land sold with a conservation easement has to follow a conservation easement?  Sears: There have been several scenarios over the years where we did buy land and had no intention of putting a conservation easement on it, and then sold it, this was unusual. It is highly unusual for us to purchase a piece of land that we didn’t have intentions of keeping or putting a conservation easement on and then selling it.  Haines: Is there a way to put a safety net on this.  Sears: This Board and City Council is the safety net.  Knowlton: Someone asked about an urban farm and would the City have space for this and the answer was maybe and the answer for a community garden was no. Land Conservation & Stewardship Board Wednesday, March 9, 2011 Page 4 of 7  Sears: I’m not convinced that the natural areas program couldn’t afford to spend a little on a public amenity for a community garden. If we need to put in a water tap for 20 or 30 thousand dollars that would be our water tap and then we rent the water or they pay the water bill. If the garden goes away we sell the water tap.  Knowlton: I’m uncomfortable with that because once you open the door to put in irrigation for someone the requests can get bigger from there.  Sears: I see opportunities for the natural areas acquiring a vacant lot that does not have a natural resource value at all; it could be anything the children in the community that surround the vacant lot want it to be. Does the natural areas program participate in any of the development cost? On Red Fox Meadows, it was in the $100,000 range or more to build the parking lot and an outdoor classroom. Our ballot language goes way beyond wildlife and the vacant lot sits very well. What we are about is connecting people to nature, getting a child outdoors, whether in a vacant lot or garden or a natural area.  Stanley: I think the program is not all about connecting people to nature, the mission is about what the natural areas is about, and we may have to keep people off the natural area to protect it. I’m not against urban farms etc., but to have that become part of the natural areas program I think is not right. We have the ballot language, which to me is clear about what the program is about. I could see the natural areas program going in on a community garden, giving money or a grant to some other group that provides most of the finances and effort. This could be a major drain on natural areas program resources if we tackled these ourselves. How do we know that the people working these gardens will be good stewards?  Knowlton: Any garden is unnatural; crops don’t grow on their own so you have to modify the land.  Scharton: Whether it’s primary or secondary or just bypassing effect connecting children/people to nature we need to keep in mind as a community what portion of the community we’re connecting with. In the spectrum of connecting people throughout the community and to nature what I may think of as a fantastic natural area doesn’t fit for others in the community. A community garden can be a special place to those who have had little to no contact with the natural world.  Haines: I like the idea of buying land, and I like the idea of a community garden if there is a way for natural areas to purchase the land and give it to other organizations. I’d love to see the City take a proactive roll in community gardens funded by utilities. I think it fits with the Parks department.  Grimes: Could one get information from The Garden on Spring Creek it is a very well run community garden. They could oversee a community garden project.  Stanley: Are there models from other cities, building community gardens?  Figgs: Boulder and Boulder County have a much more aggressive urban farm. They are building community gardens and homes and now leasing to a third party to manage the areas.  Germany: I’m in support of community gardens and anything that gets people out in natural areas. What I’m hearing from this conversation is that, what is the place of the natural areas program? If there are conversations among other departments of the city all this will naturally come together, and then we can Land Conservation & Stewardship Board Wednesday, March 9, 2011 Page 5 of 7 figure out where our boundaries are with one another because it will take more than just us to do something like this. I think it is good to initiate the conversation and start thinking what our boundaries will be.  Stanley: We have a limited amount of resources, how do we allocate those? I can see having a limited roll here in terms of limited resources.  Haines: Are there cross conservations going on in different departments?  Sears: The Parks department is heavily involved and Stormwater to a certain extent, and when you look at our matrix there are very few locations that fit the criteria for a community garden, and that we would even consider. It would be ideal if there was one central clearing house and management. Department of Justice Ruling on ADA Regulations  Manci: Effective March 15, 2011, the Department of Justice (DOJ) revised rules regarding the use of “other power-driven mobility devices” to be used by “individuals with mobility disabilities” in public places such as City Natural Areas trails and facilities. We have a team that has been working on addressing this new ruling and we’re also talking with our lawyers. I’ve been working closely with Craig Foreman, in Park Planning Development, because he has to develop the same type of criteria for the paved trails. Manci went on to describe the new Department of Justice Rules on Electronic Personal Assistance Mobility Devices (ADA) trail use to the Board, along with the draft copy of the “Use of ADA City of Fort Collins Natural Areas Trail & Facilities”.  Sears: The ruling from the Department of Justice is gray, and we are trying to interpret it the most conservative way to protect our natural areas. However, we could get challenged on this.  Figgs: What about trails that are less than 32 inches?  Manci: We’ve gone over the assessments of all of our trails and for example at Soapstone Prairie Natural Area where the width of the trail is 12 -24 inches, the ADA devices will not be allowed on those trails.  Grimes: Are we required by law to change access to trails to accommodate these devices?  Manci: We are not required by law, at this point, to change our access to every trail except for wheelchairs.  Knowlton: You did a good job reviewing all the possibilities? Do you have to post these regulations?  Manci: We must post them where the public can obtain the information. The information is available on the City web site, and although not required, we may put some information regarding ADA’s at the trail head of some natural areas.  Knowlton: How did you come up with the 900 pounds limit?  Manci: The State department has a limit of 900 pound limit on vehicles on their ATV trails. Encroachment Policy Update Land Conservation & Stewardship Board Wednesday, March 9, 2011 Page 6 of 7  Sears: We are partnering with the City’s Code Enforcement department to help us enforce the encroachment policy. Code enforcement has a device with GPS, which can help us locate properties that are in violation. The Natural Areas Rangers may be able to use these devices on the weekends. We will do a soft start beginning in April or May by monitoring the encroachment in one or two natural areas and send out letters and see how people respond.  Grimes: Won’t they get fined?  Sears: Eventually they will. Communication between Boards and Commissions Survey Sears reviewed the four survey questions with the Board and there was a discussion regarding the third question “If your board/commission currently coordinates/communicates with other boards/commissions, are you satisfied with the current level of communication ”. The Board felt that they are satisfied with the current level of communication with other boards, and that there are times when a joint meeting between boards is essential. Land Conservation Updates and Announcements  Sears o Million conservation easement - closed on the purchase of 99 acres on February 18, 2011. o Trained 24 new Volunteer Ranger Assistants last month, providing 19 hours of new recruit training in coordination with Larimer County Department of Natural Resources. o Our crew is working on a restoration project restoring the river bank around McMurry and Salyer natural area and the Shields Street Bridge. o Crew cleaned up work at Running Deer removing Russian Olive trees, hauling away 260 dump truck loads of mulch created by grounding up the trees. o The Natural Areas Department hired Catherine Dillon to be our Service Learning Educator o Susan Schafer completed the draft of the new Volunteer Policies and Procedures manual and a Best Practices manual for staff. It is currently being review by Human Resources. o The annual report is done and will be distributed by April 15 o Zoe Whyman submitted a grant application to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Urban Bird Treaty for $70.000. The grant would fund efforts to reduce hazards to birds, environmental education, a citizen science bird monitoring program and more. o Zoe is serving on the review committee to select a consultant for the “GOCO” Pilot consulting Services for Youth, Families and Outdoors Analysis. o Continually moving forward on the Wellington Separators, we amended our grant to close on July 31, 2011, the previous deadline was March 31, 2011. Land Conservation & Stewardship Board Wednesday, March 9, 2011 Page 7 of 7 Adjourn The meeting adjourned at 8:30 p.m. Submitted by Geri Kidawski Administrative Clerk II Approved_______________________________________________________________