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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1991-03-18 - MinutesPRAB REGULAR MEETING MARCH 18, 1991 The meeting was called to order by Mark Robertson at 5:30 p.m. in room 326 of the City Administration Building. Members Present: Park Staff Present: City Staff Present: Media Present: Guests Present: BUSINESS: II. Palmer: Crosson: Anderson: Alexander, Anderson, Einert, Jenkins, Palmer, Robertson, Waselues Clark, Cox, Edmonston Kevin Crosson Tom Sissom, Ron Wood Mike Faupel, Mr. and Mrs. Parsons MOTTON:RTNRRT/ALRXANARR The minutes from the February 4, 1991 meeting were approved unanimously 6-0. MOTION: ALEXANDER/EINERT The minutes from the March 4, 1991 meeting were approved unanimously 6-0 with the following exception under item III: Sororities should read Panhellenic Council. Einert asked that in the future the names of the graduate students attending be in the minutes. NATURE PARK Kevin Crosson, Administrative Services Director, r'epprt'ed'•. that the $487,500 for the police station in 1995 as: available in the CIP as a possible funding sourde-forahe,. proposed nature park. An appraisal of the,property yr11 be available mid April. The nature park proposal on the City Board of Directors first meetig in April: Crosson asked for any discussion on the na£ure park: Is this recommendation for a park to be..based.on the property, or to purchase the park at .this price, or both? That is up to the PRAB on how they wantto phrase` the recommendation, but the City Board wants. to knohif. the PRAB supports the land being park property. I don't think the appraisal matters. We..• are discussing the funding, just whether it should :be. purchased or not. 1 PRAB Page 2 Robertson:We should express our need or desire to purchase the land and leave the price up to City Staff. Palmer: .I still think the price should be an issue. On other park property, the PRAB knew the price before making a decision on the purchase. Jenkins: I do not understand why we would not address the price. Edmonston:Would this purchase affect currently prioritized items? Crosson: I do not think so. I would not recommend it. There is a water line item that could be rearranged. Palmer: Crosson: Einert: Clark: Waselues: Jenkins: Einert: Palmer: Einert: Palmer: Anyone would agree to a new park, but the price is the issue. The PRAB could recommend it at "a reasonable cost." Is the appraisal on residential land? Bert Rakes was not certain, but the current zoning is probably what it will be appraised at. I just finished four park evaluations and many things needed repaired. I think current facilities need to be maintained with the money we have instead of purchasing more land to be maintained. I have had many people express to me this same opinion. Many people have also told me that the money should be used for other things, not new park property. Everyone at the public meeting wanted the park. They seemed to be the most concerned in Fayetteville since they came to the meeting. It seems like the neighbors of the property want the purchase of the land, other citizens of Fayetteville seem like they do not want the purchase, therefore by looking at the overall City of Fayetteville there seems to be other priorities. We have parks for ball people, for archery people, for model airplane people, etc. Why can't we have a park for tree people? This area needs a nature area. I agree theoretically, I would like a park on every corner, but the balance needs to be there. PRAB Page 3 Waselues: I think that our current parks have priority over new property. Palmer: Parks need increased attention, not expansion. Anderson: Isn't Fayetteville one of the top cities per capita in acreage? Edmonston:Yes, we are rated very high. Anderson: If we agree to this purchase, the citizens might think we are in great financial shape. Alexander:Has the University of Arkansas been approached on this land? Crosson: The U of A and the public schools have been contacted by letter, but no response has been made. Alexander:The traffic in this area is terrible. It seems like Planning would be concerned with this problem. We could leave it all natural except for the easement to ease the traffic problem at Leverett School. In essence, this property is being given to us if the funding is not coming out of our budget. I believe the property will probably be purchased, but I don't want a park or visitor's center there. Robertson:If the money is not spent on the land, that doesn't necessarily mean it will be Parks to spend. Anderson: Will the current CIPs get pushed back into other years? Crosson: They did in the earlier years, but with the new CIP it is more definite now. Anderson: I am afraid that using this CIP money from the police station will push other projects back. Edmonston:The new CIP is much better than the past. Crosson: It was a ten year plan before, now it is a five year CIP. Anderson: I think the recommendation should stipulate that our CIPS can't be moved as a result of purchasing this land. PRAB Page 4 Alexander:This purchase could be an investment. If we buy the land and leave it natural, in ten or fifteen years we can do something with it. If we do not purchase it, we will have no say in years to come on what will happen to the land. Robertson:There were not many people at the this public meeting, but consider there were not very many people at the Gulley Park public meeting either, but we still purchased it and are developing it. Edmonston:Gulley was in our park master plan as a needed park area. Waselues: There will be maintenance costs every year to consider. Anderson: The area will probably need security lights also. Palmer: This area does not carry the priority that other park projects do. Has anyone used the word "need" when talking about acquiring this land? Palmer: There is Gregory Park that is a nature park. Einert: That park is different. Many people use the Leverett property and it is not even owned by the City. Anderson: I would want this as a park if we don't have to sacrifice other projects. Einert: We could buy the property and sell it someday. Anderson: This land is not in our master plan, but the master plan is currently be updated. Edmonston:The new master plan is not finished. The current master plan was completed in 1979, however its population census and needs analysis extends to 1990. MOTTON:ANDRRSON/WASELUES PRAB recommends to the City Board of Directors to purchase the proposed nature park only if it would not jeopardize any of the other Park CIP budgeted programs or Capital Improvements. This area is not in our current parks master plan, but this master plan is several years old and is currently being revised. The PRAB feels this property as an undeveloped area would be a positive addition to the parks system, however, the purchase of this property is not high on our priority list. !(QTTON PASSED 5-1-1 (EINERT NAY. ROBERTSON ABSTAINING) PRAB Page 5 IV. PARK EVALUATIONS Park evaluations were turned in from PRAB members. V. PUBLIC RELATIONS COMMITTEE REPORT Waselues. Clark, and the president of the Panhellenic Council met to discuss Adopt -A -Park. Panhellenic will work with pairing fraternities and sororities for adopting city parks. Civic Clubs will be contacted for Adopt -A -Park and donated items for Gulley Park. Robertson suggested talking to fishing clubs to Adopt the Lakes. VI. OTHER BUSINESS MOTION: PALMER/WASELUBS The PRAB recommends to request the Police Department to provide increased patrolling to City Parks. MOTION APPROVED UNANIMOUSLY 6-0 (ALEXANDER ARSENT) Robertson questioned the Archery Clubs first target location at Lake Wilson because it could cause an injury to someone. Also, the gate that was installed by the Archery Club appears to make that portion of the park closed to the public. Clark will reevaluate the gate and target. A problem at Combs Parks is that there is no place to park outside the gate. Anderson reported that the Soccer Association is working hard on overall conditions of soccer fields and would like to commend the Parks staff on their hard work. There will be a Task Force formed consisting of members of the Soccer Association, Parks maintenance staff, and U of A staff that will meet monthly to develop a master plan and maintenance program for each of the soccer fields. Einert inquired when the park restrooms opened. Clark reported that park restrooms would be opened the end of March when the freezing weather was over. MOTION:PALMER/KINSRT The meeting adjourned at 7 50. MOTION APPROVED UNANIMOUSLY 6-0. Minutes Approved: Secretary