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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2011 - Parks And Recreation Board - Annual Report2011 P&R Board Annual Report Page 1 of 3 PARKS AND RECREATION BOARD 2011 ANNUAL REPORT The City of Fort Collins Parks and Recreation Advisory Board held 11 regular meetings in 2011 at various park and recreational facilities throughout the city. The 2011 Board Members were Rob Cagen, Brian Carroll, Michael Chalona, Shirley Christian, Greg Miller, Danna Ortiz, Bruce Henderson, Selena Paulsen, and Dawn Theis. The Board elects its officers annually in February, and Michael Chalona was elected as Board President along with Rob Cagen as Board Vice President and Dawn Theis as Secretary. Kelly Ohlson served as City Council Liaison to the Board in 2011. Craig Foreman, Park Planning & Development Director, and J.R. Schnelzer, Director of Parks, served as Staff Liaison to the Board, with Carol Rankin, Administrative Support Supervisor, providing staff support. The Board achieved the majority of its 2011 work plan. 1. Communication and Stewardship Explore ways to regularly promote Parks and Recreation. Board members discussed public outreach/awareness processes currently used with staff to determine if more time could be spent increasing the public’s awareness for Parks and Recreation on February 23rd. John Litel shared some of the communications highlights for 2010 to make the board aware of staff’s progress:  Awarded the 2010 Marketing Campaign of the Year by National Recreation and Parks Association for the "What moves you?” campaign  Launched a Social Media Plan and Policy for Recreation and Golf  Significantly reduced costs and helped increase revenue and participation with the Recreator relaunch  Recreator printing completely paid for by advertising sales  The 2010 Community Survey ranked the Recreator the most utilized publication or news resource The Board and Staff discussed opportunities that the public can utilize to stay connected including: Recreator (sign up to receive it online or via email), Recreator digital publication, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and the Recreator Extra Newsletter and stressed the importance of promoting parks as well as recreation. Develop recommendations to increase cooperation/communication with external entities. The Board discussed how to cooperate with the school district to advertise recreation programs and scholarships considering the district’s policy. The new Recreation Director Bob Adams, who began attending board meetings in July, only days after being hired, made considerable progress on this in the last half of 2011. Recreation is now working closely with the School District to be able to have a partnership to get the Recreator into the hands of the elementary students, be able to attend back to school nights and create some joint wellness partnerships. Improve communication with other Boards to achieve common goals. Board representatives attended two breakfast mixers sponsored by the Women's Commission to discuss how boards and commissions can support each other's work and shared goals. The Board now sends the other boards/commissions a three-bullet summary of the monthly meeting highlights. The Board requested interaction with other Boards to discuss common issues. They held a joint meeting with the Golf Board at Collindale in April to discuss common threads of service between golf and parks and how staff is working to be more cohesive in sharing equipment and maintenance best practices. In June, the Board met at the Gardens on Spring Creek to see how it has contributed to the city’s culture and economy. The Board voted to encourage Council to fund development of the Great Lawn and the Garden’s Master Plan. 2011 P&R Board Annual Report Page 2 of 3 In September, the Board met with the Senior Center Advisory Board at the Senior Center. Recreation Supervisor Barbara Schoenberger spoke about the proposed senior center expansion and the growth projections for the city’s senior population. Review environmental best practices manual. The Board reviewed the Parks and Recreation Environmental Best Practices Manual in October and encouraged Staff to finalize it by the year’s end. Develop and outreach/marketing/education/stewardship program. The Board discussed staff’s dedication to the stewardship of Fort Collins’ Parks and Trail system and hard work on graffiti and vandalism abatement. The Board deliberated about the potential of developing a stewardship program for primary school students to encourage them at an early age to protect our resources. This lead to the Board successfully changing their by-laws to include a communications section so that they might communicate to the public the qualities and stewardship of the Parks. A board representative coordinated with Poudre High School leaders about how to improve students’ stewardship of parks. The school created a poster campaign to affect awareness of personal responsibility for the trash students create wherever they may be. There was also a video on the PHS news about it. However, there has not been much improvement on lunchtime trash in nearby parks. The Board will continue to work on this in 2012. 2. Parks and Trails Review development of disc golf course Staff discussed efforts to collaborate with CSU and the disc golf community to secure a GOCO grant and construct the new 18-hole course at Hughes Stadium. Review e-bike regulations After myriad debates about the pros and cons of e-bikes on trails and the impact they may have on parks operations, the Board unanimously recommended that City Council approve the use of e-bikes on trails on a three-year trial basis with annual reviews, with the use of e-bikes on limited portions of the trails to be defined by Staff with analysis. Review location and construction of new trails/advocate for expansion of certain trails Poudre Trail The Board was informed of the preliminary planning effort to develop the trail from the historical Strauss Cabin area to Timnath including an underpass of I-25. Fossil Creek Trail Staff updated the Board on the trail development segment south from Spring Canyon Community Park with the underpass of County Road #38E. The Board visited the project site on August 24, 2011. Plans for connecting the Power Trail to the Fossil Creek Trail at East Trilby Road were discussed. This trail segment will include an underpass of Trilby Road and will complete the trail to Carpenter Road. Bike Safety Town After reviewing Staff’s matrix, the Board recommended that Beattie Park be the primary choice for a bike safety town that will educate children and young adults in bike safety practices. Trail Signage Program The Board was informed about the trail signage program being done with the bicycle community to improve trail safety, informational, and way finding signage. 2011 P&R Board Annual Report Page 3 of 3 Review park planning, development and maintenance projects and programs Staff provided monthly updates on projects and programs occurring in Park Maintenance, Park Planning and Development, and Recreation, this included the reorganization of the Parks Department and the efficiencies created as well as budget issues that impacted the department throughout the year. Staff kept the Board apprised of how Resourcing Our Future and KFCG funds were spent. Audubon Sanctioning The Board congratulated Staff on becoming the first park system in the world to obtain Audubon Sanctioning for every community parks. Waters Way and Registry Neighborhood Parks Board members were kept apprised about the development of these parks and visited the park sites on August 24, 2011. Staley Neighborhood Park The preliminary design and public process were completed in 2011. The Board was informed of the neighborhood meetings and updated about the project preliminary design. 3. Recreation Review strategic plan and scholarship fund Board members were informed were the current cost recover rate is and the 10 year goal is to close that gap and become more self sufficient. In addition to presenting “Recreation Monthly Accomplishments Reports,” to the Board, Staff kept members apprised of key maintenance projects such as the installation of UV lights at EPIC, Mulberry Pool’s electrical issues and key FOB access at the Youth Activity Center and staffing, including the customer service positions for the Senior Center and Northside Aztlan Community Center and the new Recreation Director, whose position was funded through KFCG. City Park Pool Presentation Suzy Danford Recreation Supervisor gave presentation on City Park Pool to the board. She gave an overview of the 2010 budget, special events, movie nights, new coin operated lockers and hours of operation for 2011. In addition, she updated the board on the compliance VGB Act for new drain covers. Club Tico Presentation Barbara Schoenberger Recreation Supervisor gave presentation on Club Tico how the Wilkins Trust will help fund the remodel to the board. 4. Other Review NISP The Board discussed the need to ensure it is informed about the different perspectives on NISP as it considers this project going forward. Review Museum/Discovery Science Center development Staff regularly informed the Board about the museum construction. Review Plan Fort Collins where it affects Parks & Recreation The Board actively participated in the public workshops for Plan Fort Collins in 2010. In January 2011, it reviewed all aspects related to parks and recreation and moved to support the Plan. Staff told the Board about the trail standards study that it will undertake in 2012 to determine if the existing trail standard needs to be adjusted to meet future needs.