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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOUNCIL - AGENDA ITEM - 05/21/2002 - SECOND READING OF ORDINANCE NO. 045, 2002, AUTHORI AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY ITEM NUMBER: FORT COLLINS CITY COUNCIL DATE: May 21, 2002FROM• Craig Foreman SUBJECT: Second Reading of Ordinance No. 045, 2002, Authorizing a Grant Agreement with Colorado State Parks and Appropriating Unanticipated Revenue in the Conservation Trust Fund Trail Acquisition and Development Project. RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends adoption of the Ordinance on Second Reading. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Ordinance No. 045, 2002, was unanimously adopted on First Reading on March 19, 2002. The Parks and Recreation Policy Plan (adopted by City Council in 1996) identifies trails that link Fort Collins to surrounding communities, including Laporte. The Laporte Area Planning Commission supports the trail connection. Residents of the Laporte area have expressed support for the trail as a needed recreation facility and as a pedestrian/bike friendly route to access Fort Collins. Existing roads in the area have very limited shoulders and create safety concerns for pedestrian or bicycle use. Members of the Parks and Recreation Board and the Natural Resource Advisory Board met on site to review trail options. The NRAB also discussed these issues at their May 1, 2002 meeting. Minutes are attached. Both boards are supportive of Council accepting this grant from Colorado State Parks. Per recommendations from the Natural Resources Advisory Board, staff will be exploring alternative routes for the trail on the Hyde Natural Area and the private land to the west. Efforts will be made to find a route that minimizes the impact to the sensitive area along the river. Staff will work with Natural Resources staff and the Natural Resources and Parks and Recreation Advisory Boards. A preferred trail alignment with Board recommendations will be presented to Council for a decision before construction starts on the trail. The acceptance of the Colorado State Trails grant does not mean a decision has been reached on the final trail location. The grant has a project completion date of December 31, 2003. The City can apply for an extension in the unlikely event the project is not completed by this date. The Poudre Trail presently ends at Taft Hill Road. The Laporte Trail connection will start on the west side of Taft Hill Road where the trail will follow the abandoned rail line north and west for +' about 3/4 of a mile. At this point, the trail will enter the Hyde Natural Area. The trail right-of- way along the rail line will be nearly 100-feet in width and will allow for the trail to meander and provides room for landscaping. AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY ITEM NUMBER: 13 FORT COLLINS CITY COUNCIL DATE: March 19, 2002 STAFF: Craig Foreman SUBJECT: First Reading of Ordinance No. 045, 2002, Authorizing a Grant Agreement with Colorado State Parks and Appropriating Unanticipated Revenue in the Conservation Trust Fund Trail Acquisition and Development Project. i RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends the adoptio of the inan o first Re g. FINANCIAL IMPACT: The City of Fort Collins has been awarded a grant of$90,000 from Colorado State Parks for the development of the Poudre Trail from Taft Hill Road to Lions Park in Laporte. The total project cost for the 1.5-mile trail is est' at is 't In able for the City's share of the project in the Conserva ' Tnt nd. h it an es receiving a Great Outdoors Colorado Legacy grant of$31 000 on the p e compl and which will be used to offset City appropriated funds. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The City's Parks and Recreation Policy Plan identifies the extension of the Poudre River Trail to Laporte as an important extension of the Ci 's trpsstem. Efforts to build this trail have been ongoing since 1985. Recent7nit- -waY [he City to build the trail in 2002-2003. The Parks and Recreation Policy (adop ed by996) identifies trails that link Fort Collins to surrounding communities, including Laporte. The Laporte Area Planning Commission supports the trail connection. Residents of the Laporte area have expressed support for the trail as a needed recreation facility and as a pedestrian/bike friendly route to access Fort Collins. Existing roads in the area have very limited shoulders and create safety concerns for pedestrian or bicycle use. The Poudre Trail presently ends at Taft Hill Road. The Laporte Trail connection will start on the west side of Taft Hill Road where the trail will follow the abandoned rail line north and west for about 3/4 of a mile. At this point, the trail will enter the Hyde Natural Area. The trail right-of- way along the rail line will be nearly 100-feet in width and will allow for the trail to meander and provides room for landscaping. DATE: March 19, 2002 2 ITEM NUMBER: 13 The trail will enter the Hyde Natural Area and will be located along the south and west edge of the natural area to minimize disturbance to the 20-acre site. The City was able to purchase the Hyde Natural Area through a funding partnership between Park Planning and the Natural Resources Department. Trail funding in the amount of $60,000 was added to the Natural Resources funding to accomplish the acquisition. The site provides an important link for the trail from the rail line to private land adjacent to Overland Trail Road. From the Hyde Natural Area, the trail will cross the Poudre River from the south bank by means of trail bridges to the north bank. At this point, the main trail will go under the north abutment of the Overland Trail Road Bridge and terminate at Lions Parks. Access from Overland Trail Road will be made to the trail gpeasksi e The trail will be 10-foot wid ncretek dj ent 5-fo ide gravel path. The trail width will allow for safe usage by wa ik d roll des. The trail will also be ADA accessible. The gravel path will be available for walkers, runners, bikes, and equestrian use. The concrete and gravel trails allow for users to "spread out" and minimize conflicts. The Parks and Recreation Board reviewed the Laporte Trail Connection, and expressed support for the trail. Minutes of the February 27, 2002 Board meeting are attached. By adopting this Ordinance, Council authorizes the Mayor to enter into a grant agreement with Colorado State Parks and appro a he 000 Prant foLJWs trail project. C P Y -1 0 COPY i I I � • MINUTES CITY OF FORT COLLINS NATURAL RESOURCES ADVISORY BOARD REGULAR MEETING 281 N. COLLEGE May 1,2002 For Reference: Randy Fischer,NRAB Chair - 226-5383 Ray Martinez, Council Liaison - 416-2154 Michelle Pawar, Staff Liaison - 221-6263 Board Members Present Kelly Ohlson, Steve Ryder,Nate Donovan, Don Rodriguez, Arvind Panjabi Board Members Absent Linda Knowlton, Randy Fischer, Reagan Waskom, Phil Murphy Staff Present Natural Resources Dent: Terry Klahn, Mark Sears, Michelle Pawar, Edith Felchle, Doug Moore Parks Planning: Craig Foreman Advanced Planning: Pete Wray Guests Eric Hamrick, Councilmember Jerry Kaltenhauser, citizen Brian Peterson, CSU student Jerry White, Larimer County Open Lands Charlie Gindler, Larimer County Open Lands Agenda Review Sears: I would like to talk briefly about Hidden Valley, located at the base of Devils Backbone. NRD Staff Introductions Rick Bachand, Dave Irwin, and Todd Kettner provided brief professional background information, and detailed the responsibilities of their positions. Liaison Change Announcement,Michelle Pawar Michelle Pawar will replace Mark Sears as staff liaison to the Natural Resources Advisory Board. Rimrock and Kerbel Conservation Easements, Edith Felchle . Rimrock: Felchle said she is looking for the boards opinion on the IGA, which is pretty Natural Resources Advisory Board May 1, 2002 Page 4 • Ohlson: Some of us fought long and hard for some of those very parcels. I�e s ook for solutions other than giving up land. I would have at it was the only op ' I'm all for the City putting up resources t and money to help achieve that goal, as e're not held up b utant forces of profit. • Sears: I just wanted to put this on a so you could be thinking about it. • Ohlson: Is it fair to sa ount being as the land is beyond any rational appraisal? Th ernment can't get in the business o exorbitant prices. Th a whole spectrum of solutions rather than a swap. I woou aingte`ok at those. The City ought to be a big and generous player. Follow-UP on Poudre River Trail Alignment, Craig Foreman Foreman thanked the members who attended the field trip and walked the site. Sears said Craig and his predecessors have worked on this for 18 years. They thought they had an incredible breakthrough when they got this little sliver of right of way. After we went out and walked the area,Rick Bachand and I looked at it and thought this may be as good as it gets in the way of trail alignment. Rick went out with several of our staff members and did some extensive research, and found it's a little more sensitive than we anticipated. Sears said the only ideal route is going across the Delahoy property to the edge of Overland Trail, and using the sidewalk that exists on the east side of the bridge. The only way that will work is if the Delahoy's are willing to sell the entire property to us. We've never asked. Another scenario is to cross the stream in an area that is less sensitive, and closer to the bridge. We're trying to set a meeting with the Delahoy's next week. If those options don't work,than I think we're back to the alignment Craig is proposing. Sears said he'd like to suggest to the board that they allow Council to approve the 21 reading of the ordinance to accept the GOCO grant,and proceed with design and construction of the trail. • Ohlson: Does that in any way, shape or form put anything into motion that makes these other alternatives more difficult? • Foreman: If we sign it, and this thing falls apart,we go back and say we didn't get what we thought. We'd have to turn the grant back in. The money needs to spent between now and December 31,2003. • Donovan: Is Council approval just to accept the grant? • Foreman: Yes. • Ohlson: It is going to be made clear to Council? I'm worried about the two week timetable. • Foreman: We'll put a hold on the rest of the analysis till we talk to the Delahoy's • Ohlson: Pretend you give this an A+effort, and it doesn't work, does approving this grant mean we're back to placing the trail in the river? • Pawar: Internally we're committed to working to exercise everything we can before Natural Resources Advisory Board May 1, 2002 Page 5 we get back to the conversation of placing the trail in the river. The concern we have on May 2 1"is to get the grant secured. Once we have it, losing it is much harder. • Ohlson: Are we fully utilizing the science and data that is available, like from the National Heritage Program? • Panjabi: Is there still the fallback of putting a trail through a S 1 community? • Pawar: I wouldn't call it a fall back. We're committed to working through all alternatives. • Ohlson: If the board agrees we could say we don't have a problem with it going forth on second reading, but we have very serious concerns and questions. We're signing off on the grant proposal, not the trail placement. We want it communicated we're not signing off on any trail, and that discussions continue. • Hamrick: We need to make sure Council is aware of how sensitive that area is. If we can't get the land, it's not really life or death,the trails just won't meet. date on the East Mulberry Corridor Plan,Pete Wray,City of Fort Collins and Ru ell Leg,Larimer County Kelly son said he would appreciate staff providing specific board con ms and commen from the previous meeting where this item was discussed, elaborate on the changes. D g Moore said there was concern about trail placement ere was also concern about eiker Drive crossing Cooper Slough. • • Ohlson: Is there chance staff might be able to go bac d see what our concerns and questions were, d do a follow up memo? • Panjabi: Have the back ound checks been done th the Heritage program? • Moore: There was an inch inventory from a Aping standpoint. • Leg: The County's inventory flects the N onal Heritage database. • Wray: Some of the things that mr the of the action are if the Cooper Slough warrants a resource management pl and whether that would include reassessment of the conditions out there. We're of yet. • Ohlson: Are there any changes r tweaks t this board would find more objectionable than before? anything gon in a worse direction from our viewpoint? • Wray: We've made a cision on Weiker Drive. w it's our charge to go to all the boards and open in ings. Our plan reflects the maxi um buffer. • Ohlson: They're of actually maximums. We've got to b areful about saying that, they can go le in City Code,they can also go higher • Moore: It' and to get more than the 300 foot buffer,but there allowances to do that. • Wra . We're entering the implementation phase. I would suggest we me back in J for Board comments. We're scheduled to go to adoption in late Au t. • eg: We will have another public open house. Ohlson: We appreciate that you come and check in. What's the support for this right