HomeMy WebLinkAbout1995-05-01 - Minutes• • PRAB REGULAR MEETING MAY 1, 1995 Members Present: Driver, James, Knight, Mackey, Stone, Waite, Members Absent: Richard, Savage Staff Present: Clark, Dugwyler Guests Present: Hal Brown, Cyrus Young Media Present: Rusty Garrett, Ron Wood BUSINESS: I. MOTION:JAMES/WAITE The minutes from the April 3, 1995 meeting were approved unanimously 7-0. II. LAKE FAYETTEVILLE ENVIRONMENTAL STUDY CENTER Driver: Cyrus Young has asked that this resolution be changed to an ordinance. This resolution states that this property be preserved in its natural state to be used by the school districts as an environmental study center. Young: The original resolution that was passed was vague especially on the location. This really jumped out at me. It says the eastern portion of the Lake property. This might also include the land on the east of 265 where United Way building is going to be located. I just wanted to nail down the location and by passing the ordinance it would strengthen the resolve of the property for the citizens of Fayetteville. Driver: Are you saying the property east of 265 be included in this ordinance? Young: No. The property shown in exhibit A will be the legal description of the study center. I have discussed this with Jerry Rose. We decided we need a survey and have actual legal description not general description. Mackey: Does your exhibit delete the 40 acre tract of land on the east of Highway 265? Young: Right now this is Fayetteville's property but it will be the United Way building. Mackey: We have also approved the area to become a Babe Ruth baseball complex. This portion is deleted from the study center description? Young: Yes. Mackey: In the event that the school system decides to abandon this as a study center, would the improvements revert back to the city? Young: That is a good question. Hal Brown or Jerry Rose • • • would need to answer that. This is for the people of Fayetteville. It is a joint venture. Mackey: I would like it to state in the ordinance about reverting back to the city if the school wanted it some day for something other than a study center. Young: So you are saying the if the school wants to use the property for another use, then it should stay a study center and revert to the city? Mackey: I want it to be used for the citizens of Fayetteville. Young: The whereas in the resolution state that this is to be used by everyone not just the school children. Although they do not have a lot of legal ground right now. There are a lot of others that enjoy the study center right now. Mackey: I want to commend Hal Brown on the super job he does out there. James: This ordinance won't affect the trail, will it? Clark: No. James: This original resolution was in 1973 and stated for 50 years. Will this push it another 50 years from 1995? Young: That is what I am proposing. Waite: This won't swing around to south side does it? Clark: No. Young: This is referred to this board for a recommendation. MOTION:KNIGHT/JAMES The PRAB recommends to the City Council to adopt the Lake Fayetteville resolution as an ordinance. MOTION APPROVED UNANIMOUSLY 7-0. III. PARKS TRUST FUND Waite: I made a proposal to the Trust Fund for funds to enable us to advertise for the HMR tax. They voted us authorization to spend up to $10,000. We did say we would attempt to hold it down to about $5,000 and only use the rest if we need it for the final stages of the campaign. We do have the funds to conduct a reasonable campaign. James: Will some of the be used to hire someone to help us? Driver: That is what it is basically for. Waite: They will donate a substantial amount of that. A huge amount spent will be principally television ads in the last few weeks. They will work at cost or below for us. Driver: I am meeting with a subcommittee of the Chamber of Commerce who has asked to discuss what this proposal is all about. I hope we get our charts and graphs ready • • • for presentation. We need to schedule a time to go before the City Council to get their recommendation to place this on the ballot. Clark: Should we start the process to get this on the City Council? Driver: Maybe the second meeting of June would be good. IV. DAVIS PARK PLAYGROUND Dugwyler: I am seeking approval to spend green space money for this. We do not have enough in the CIP. We will need approximately $11,000 from the green space account. This will be a tot lot for ages 2-5. The one at Wilson and small one at Gulley Park are tot lots. This is the age that use playgrounds the most. All of our other playgrounds are designed for ages 5-12. I feel it is important to have a tot lot at this park. There are two items that add considerable cost to this. Instead of a wood border, I would like to try a sidewalk around it that you can ride tricycles on. Instead of using pea gravel or sand, I would like to use cypress mulch. It will pack down and it accessible. It does not rot like other woods. It is very attractive. The project cost is complete. Driver: What is the approximate life on this? Dugwyler: This is a new company. They have a playground in Mountain Home that has been there four years. They are 100 percent pleased. At the Baptist Church here they are pleased with theirs. The one we took out at Wilson has been there a little over ten years. The standards change so fast. The wear and tear is not as fast as having to change due to standards. Driver: What is location? Dugwyler: If you look when pull up to park, this is to the left. Driver: Did Sid get out to Davis? Clark: He will take surveying equipment out, but he thinks it would feed the pond. He will report within next few days as to undercutting the sewer line. Waite: We need to get this park usable for people soon. Driver: Do we have the funding for the sand volleyball court? Dugwyler: We have applied for an LWCF grant. Dale will be going down May 24 for the presentation. We did not score very high because we have already received two grants recently. We will know the first part of June. This grant includes basketball courts and playground. Stone: Last time I was there it was a marshland. Driver: That is the problem we talked about. Sid Norbash is going to see if it is possible to redivert instead of bringing in fill. Dugwyler: This price is just an estimate. We still have to get bids. • • • MOTION:WAITE/KNIGHT The PRAB recommends to approve green space expenditures from the northwest park district up to $11,000 for a tot playground at Davis Park. MOTION APPROVED UNANIMOUSLY 7-0 V NATIONAL TRAILS DAY Dugwyler: National Trails Day is June 3, 1995. I have written a sample news release for the details we have firmed up right now. Ken Easton, State Trails Coordinator will be here. The Mayor will not be available but he has recommended Stephen Miller. The Botanical Garden Society will lead guided walks. The first is at 10:00 am until about 11:30 and the second is at 1:00 pm. One will be about the trees and the other about plants. The dedication will be around 11:30. I am working on speakers. Driver: It might be a good time for Tim Ernst to speak. Dugwyler: He will be out of town. The National Forest Service might have someone there. I have a call in to Tim Hutchinson. We will probably have the southern part of the trail done by then. Clark: Wade is walking and tagging the trail. Waite: We need to talk to Wade and organize a feature race there. James: Dale got a letter from Little Rock stating regulations for the bridges and these have been forwarded to the City engineer. Mackey: I remember a few years ago a large fraternity got on the Wilson bridge and it collapsed. Will this bridge be designed for overloads? Clark: That was an old bridge. Driver• One of the members of the botanical garden society and successfully removed some of the blue paint. I think the group that did the painting might help remove it. Clark: We have been discussing this and we will work on it. Waite: I think a run could be really nice out there. We could also talk to John McDonald. James: I talked to Wade and he thought it was a really good idea. We could invite cross country or have an individual run. Driver: I think the activities for trails day would be better than listening to speakers. Five or ten minutes should be enough. James: The speaker at Lake was a good time. Dugwyler: I am working on has any ideas? Driver: I took my class 4 Wilson was 15 minutes and it music activities. If anyone there last week and it was great. We hiked and enjoyed the sunshine. This trail will be a great asset to our community. VI. GREEN SPACE LAFAYETTE-GREGG APARTMENTS Owner/Developer: Bob Kelly Location: Corner of Lafayette and Gregg Street Park Dist: SW Units: 18 multi family Acres: .64 Land dedication: .36 acres Money in lieu: $4,320 Master Plan: No priority; neighborhood 10; 38 existing acres; 1990 needs 54.5 to 109 acres; 2010 needs 56 to 114 acres. DISCUSSION: Driver: I know our staff recommendation is money in lieu of land. I have some questions on this site related to our trail network. This is because of the possibility of trying to link Gregg Street all the way through. It will be good with our joint meeting so we will have the foresight to take green space along this trail in the first place instead of coming back later. Knight: Is there a master trail plan? Driver: There is a proposed master plan that has not passed committee. It is available for your viewing. Knight: Does it come close to this property? Driver: Yes, but it has not been adopted. The whole trails effort needs coordination. The current coordinator is in the planning office and has many other things to do. The question is what commitment do we have to develop the trails network and we need to put planning efforts in this. Knight: As this stands with no more information,it looks like we would accept money. Driver: We have had one piece of property where we accepted money and it on the master plan. We might need to reconsider that. Mackey: The intersection at Gregg and Lafayette is very dangerous. I am for money in lieu because I don't see a way for parking spaces and a trail. Knight: Dale, the staff recommendation is money. What do you think? Clark: This is close to Wilson Park. It is less than one acre and the green space requirement would be almost half of that. The easy solution is money in lieu but if we are making a trail network it might be different. But I worry about using green space for trails. If this is our responsibility we might never recover this land if we 5 • • • don't do it now. I don't feel a lot of responsibility for the trails right now because it has never been given to me. James: Where is the existing 38 acres of parks now? Clark: Wilson Park and school playgrounds. Stone: Gregg needs to go on through there to get to the University. Driver: That low water bridge is dangerous to even walk across because of the traffic speeding by. Stone: It is dangerous for Wilson Park because of the speed that people go. Driver: I am sure this will be widened and a thoroughfare. My question is will there be a bike lane along it? Knight: I feel very little responsibility right now on trails as a PRAB member until someone tells us we should be developing trails here or here. Driver: I would rather wait to make this recommendation until after the joint trail meeting. Waite: When we talk about bike lanes along the street, it is not like the trail at Mud Creek. It is really an expansion of the roadway. If you put a trail along the street, it is not park land. Driver: I agree, but if everyone passes it out of their hands and allows this developer to put 18 multi family units there, then the land may have to be condemned later and the City would have to buy it. Waite: I still see this as jointly the Street Department and Trails Committee. If they come to us with a concrete proposal that to increase the easement is to exercise the green space ordinance, we can listen to that. Stone: Many people bike to the University now. It is very hazardous up Wilson Street and crossing that low water bridge. Waite: I agree there needs to be a bike lane, but who will take care of it? Drivers That is the reason for the May llth meeting. The PRAB needs to work with the City's needs. We are an arm of the City Council just as the Trails Committee is. We need to have our questions answered as to whose responsibility it is. Waite: I think we should table this if there is time. Knight: I think we should go ahead and recommend money in lieu. Mackey: I hate to hold up a developer. MOTION:WAITE/STONE The PRAB recommends until next meeting meeting of the PRAB, Planning Commission. to table Lafayette -Gregg Apartments after the results from the joint City Council, Trails Committee, and 6 MOTION TIES 3-3, DOES NOT PASS MOTION:MACKEY/KNIGHT The PRAB recommends to accept money, $4,320, in lieu of a land dedication for the green space requirement for Lafayette -Gregg Apartments. MOTION TIES 3-3, DOES NOT PASS *Lafayette -Gregg Apartments will pass on to Planning Commission with no recommendation. OTHER BUSINESS: Clark: I will try to cover the Rick Guyton item. He lives on Highway 16 East just east of the White River bridge towards Elkins. He has about ten to twelve acres that backs up to Lake Sequoyah. There are a lot of houses being built along the lake property line. This is not the first time I have visited with Mr. Guyton. For years people have used our property to run their cattle on and have got out and damaged Mr. Guyton's trees and yard. Mr. Guyton feels that the man that is responsible for the cattle does not have a lease to use city property. He wants us to research and update all agreements around the lake. When the property was purchased many years ago, some people had life right uses to this property. Some people reserved the right to pass this to their children for agricultural purposes. However, many of the leases said everything terminated when the original owner sold the property or was deceased. I see that we can request the land agents to research these. Sturman said he had these files at one time. If people are using this that no longer have leases, we will need them to cease use. We may need to better identify the boundaries. Rick is concerned that there are a lot of guns being fired at night which means poaching may be a possibility. We might work with State Parks or Forestry Commission to encourage habitat here and have it classified as a game preserve and protect it this way. It is not int he City's best interest to have anyone using this property without a legal agreement. Knight: It sounds like Rick Guyton has a very valid argument. The first step is through research Mackey: I researched at the courthouse in 1984. There were 18 to 22 agreements. They permitted the owners we were taking land from to graze or pasture as long as he lived. The agreement ceased if the property was sold or the owner was deceased. Herb Lewis still had an active agreement at that time. These agreements should be in a file in the Purchasing agent's office. 7 Driver: How long does this research take? Mackey: If the files are no longer there, it could take two days to research with the acquisition map at the courthouse. Driver: Who does the jurisdiction of poaching fall under? Clark: Any police work on city property is under Fayetteville police. any game problems would fall Arkansas Game and Fish Commission. They would check as called. Mackey: I feel the City should pay to have these boundaries defined. If people are hunting on City property, that is a violation. Knight: Step one would be to find out who can and cannot use the property. Clark: We will research this and send a letter to people who may be in violation. I think there are only two or three families left. I do think it is important to determine the boundaries. Mackey: I would recommend that all licensees be identified, both valid and invalid. Also, I think we need to define boundaries as time and budget will permit. Driver: Let us invite Mr. Guyton to the next meeting. He might be the person to spearhead the volunteer movement out there. Knight: I am supposed to look for land in the northwest and southeast. I have talked to several realtors and we have not come up with anything. If anyone has any ideas, let me know. Driver: What about off of Hamestring in the northeast in the flood plain? Knight: All I have is what is listed. We may have to dig. The meeting adjourned. Minutes Approved: