HomeMy WebLinkAbout1996-07-01 - Minutes•
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TO:
FROM:
DATE:
SUBJECT:
PARKS AND RECREATION ADVISORY BOARD
DALE D. CLARK
PARKS & RECREATION DIRECTOR
JUNE 24, 1996
PRAB MEETING ON MONDAY, JULY 1, 1996 AT 5:30 PM IN
ROOM 219 OF THE CITY ADMINISTRATION BUILDING
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II.
IV.
V.
Approval of PRAB Minutes - June 3, 1996 [ Regular Meeting]
Introduction of new Parks Board Member, Chester Jones - Clark
C[wasn't here - on vacation - just nominated]]
Gulley Park - Mr. Sullivan(was late so moved to IVJ
Request of vacating easement of Lot #48 adjoining Horseshoe Subdivision park
land - David Harwood
GREENSPACE
Development: Garland Square Apartments
Engineer: Hill Group
Owner: ERC Properties
Location: North of Cato Springs, west of Garland
Park District: SW
Priority: None
Total Acres: 4.06
Units: 56 multi
Land Dedication Requirement: 1.12 acres
Money in Lieu:$13,440
1990 Needs: 10-20 acres
2010 Needs: 12-24 acres
Existing: 5 acres
Staff Recommendations:
Money in Lieu
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VI.
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GREENSPACE gfnt4w ? a3'° _ z
Development: Deerfield_Place_ 8 tt ggao
Engineer: Jorgenson
Owner: Gordon Wilkins
Location: Highway 16 east, west of Molly Wagoner Road
Park District: SE
Priority: None }1 ablt?
Total Acres: 11.72
Units: 29
Land Dedication Requirement: .58 acres
Money in Lieu: $8,700
1990 Needs: 7-14 acres
2010 Needs: 16-32 acres
Existing: 8 acres plus 1779 acres (3 different parks)
Staff Recommendations: Money in Lieu
Lake Fayetteville Bridge - Ackerman
d
31 L„,tstaa."'iy 4)A
Veterans Memorial Park Dedication on the Fourth of July - Clark
[ no park tour / - park tour is now hack on as of tonight's meeting -
CIP Budget Approval - Clark
Other Business
Tentative Park Tour date: August 14th, 5:30 - 8:00 pm
Attachments:
HMR Report
Greenspace Report
6/6/96 Special Meeting on Jefferson playground and on Vandergriff and Holcomb playgrounds
6/12/96 Park Tour/Discussion Meeting: Motion on Vandergriff and Holcomb playgrounds,
several Board Members that were present postponed the park tour due to personal
conflicts and absent Board Members
.4 Late Addition - Gulley Park TraillSweetser Donation of Land
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PRAB
REGULAR MEETING
JULY 1, 1996
The meeting was called to order by Bill Waite at 5:30 pm in room
219 of the City Administration Building.
Members Present: Driver, Richard, James, Ackerman, Waite, Mackey
Members Absent: McCutcheon, Jones - vacation
Staff Present: Clark, Orzek, Nelson
Staff Absent: Dugwyler - vacation
Guests Present: David Harwood, Horseshoe Subdivision Lot #48
Brenda Love, The Hill Group, Inc.
Victor Squicimari, The Hill Group, Inc.
Dave Jorgenson, Deerfield Subdivision
Tim Sullivan
Media Present: Rusty Garrett, Northwest Arkansas Times
• Jennifer Pinkerton, Morning News
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BUSINESS:'
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I. MOTION: DRIVER/JAMES
The Minutes from the June 3, 1996 PRAB meeting were approved
unanimously 6-0.
II. INTRODUCTION OF NEW PARKS BOARD MEMBER, CHESTER JONES -CLARK
as
Waite: We have a new board member, Mr. Chester Jones, but he
is out of town until July 8. We will meet him at our next
meeting.
Driver: Can you tell us anything about him?
Clark: Mr. Jones teaches at the University of Arkansas. He's
vacationing in Philadelphia, which I understand is native
country for him, and he is in the field of health education
and recreation.
1 / July 1, 1996
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III. GULLEY PARK - MR. SULLIVAN
• Waite: A presentation regarding Gulley Park was supposed to
take place. However, Mr. Sullivan is not present tonight. This
is the second deferral, so we will not put him back on the
agenda unless he notifies the park department.
(MR. SULLIVAN ARRIVED AT THE MEETING LATE.)
Sullivan: My name is Tim Sullivan, and I live on Township. I'd
like to say that I admire the work of the PRAB Some of the
things we, the neighbors, are looking at is the expansion of
the parking lot off of Township. This is a real concern to us.
The parking lot is overcrowded, but we do not feel that this
is the place that it should be expanded. We understand Mrs.
Gulley is ready to do something with her property, and it was
our understanding five years ago that parking was going to be
facilitated off of Old Wire Road. We feel Township is bearing
a very heavy brunt of Gulley Park traffic. It causes a lot of
accidents, traffic tie ups, near collisions, and a lot of
extra noise for those of us that live there. There are a lot
of things that have been done at Gulley Park, and there are a
lot of maintenance things which need to be done that are not
getting done. We have fencing that is not being taken care of.
There has never been any treating put on fence rails. Kids
walk along the rails, and the brackets are not sufficient to
hold them in place. The rails are warped, and they are
becoming an eyesore. We put a lot of money into a restroom
that is only used approximately three months, and the rest of
the year it is locked. I understand the restroom cost over
$50,000, half of which were matching funds, and it does not
seem that very much consideration has been given to the big
picture of Gulley Park. There is traffic at all hours because
there is no gate. The Park Patrol sits in his vehicle for two
minutes and leaves without getting out and looking around. It
seems that if we are going to have a Park Patrol, he should be
out walking the path and checking the happenings at the park.
If we are going to have a Park Police it seems we should be
able to have a gate such as the ones at Lake Fayetteville and
Lake Sequoyah Parks to cut down on vehicle traffic and illegal
activities. We don't mind foot traffic. We have a lot of
young people hanging out in the park because the City does not
have a curfew. We feel that there should be a gate put up at
the park, but:we were told that the only way we could do that
2 / July 1, 1996
is if we could find someone to open and close it. We feel that
if we have someone being paid on Park Patrol or Park Police
that they should be able to open and close the gate. Someone
is doing it at Lake Sequoyah and Lake Fayetteville. Why not
Gulley Park? We feel additional parking should be off Old Wire
Road or Country Way instead of Township. The service road
causes another hazard due to unauthorized use. We feel like
there would be more utilization of the other side of the park
if there was more parking over there. There is a volleyball
court and a pavilion there. The pavilion was put there with
the understanding that we were going to have Pops in the Park.
I have seen the pavilion used four times since it has been put
in.
Waite: Dale, could you refresh me on the parking lot? We
reviewed that parking lot, and I think we scaled it back.
Clark: The total we were trying to get was 30-32 spaces.
Waite: It's not a substantial increase in parking.
Driver: Dale, there were some good suggestions. I like the
suggestion of using the Park Patrol to open and close the
gate. I know some of the parks residents have taken on that
responsibility, and I believe they are paid by the City for
that service.
Clark: We have people opening and closing the gates at Lake
Fayetteville South and Finger Park.
Driver: I think that is a real possibility. I agree with you
that there should not be any nuisance in the park in the
middle of the night. As far as the restroom usage, I think it
extends quite a bit further than three months out of the year.
Clark: We usually have to close it in November when the
weather gets cold.
Sullivan: It closed in October last year.
Orzek: We have to close the restroom in cold weather to
prevent the water pipes from freezing and bursting.
Sullivan: That's not my main concern. It's just that we
utilized $53,000 to build a restroom dust so we could utilize
Federal grants. We had $26,000 that could have been used for
maintenance of our City parks. Instead of using that money to
maintain parks we were afraid of losing matching funds. To me
maintenance is much more important than adding to our parks.
If we don't take care of what we have we are going to get into
trouble. Our parks are not being maintained. Fences are
falling down. We have playground equipment that looks like its
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3 / July 1, 1996
30 years old because its never had anything done to it. I
think we needed the restroom, but I think we needed to take
care of maintenance first. The restroom is in the flood plain.
Driver. It's on sewer line. I think that's what determined its
location and the camouflage of the trees surrounding it.
Waite: I'm not sure of what you are suggesting, Mr. Sullivan.
Sullivan: I would just like to see us put more efforts into
maintaining our parks instead of just adding to them
Waite: Before we add restrooms? Okay.
Sullivan: I've been told we don't have money in our budget for
maintenance. What's better? To have new restrooms here and
leave old restrooms to fall apart? I think maintenance should
come before restrooms in the parks.
Waite: As far as location is concerned there is no additional
land to put parking.
Driver: I'd like to add that our maintenance budget did expand
with this fiscal year. I hope that you will be patient, and I
hope you will soon see the results of that. I think all of us
are in agreement that our maintenance needed more funding and
more attention. It certainly received my support.
Richard: I'd like to look at some of the suggestions Mr.
Sullivan made and see if they are feasible.
Orzek:On our park reservations we do receive quite a few for
Gulley Park.
Sullivan: For the pavilion?
Orzek: Yes, it's one of our number one places requested.
Sullivan: I don't want to take away from what has been done.
You have done a good job there. You have completed something
there that is fantastic and that is being used. You have a
beautiful park there. I just don't want to see it brought down
by lack of maintenance and additional parking in an area that
can't afford it.
IV. REQUEST OF VACATING EASEMENT OF LOT #48 ADJOINING HORSESHOE
SUBDIVISION PARR LAND - DAVID HARWOOD
Harwood: I'm a property owner in Fayetteville. The property in
question is Lot #48 of the Horseshoe Subdivision. I've
distributed copies of the lot to each of you. I am requesting
;.1 of an access easement owned by the City of Fayetteville be
vacated on the north boundary of the property. The current 20-
foot easement;that the City currently has gives it access to
4 / July 1, 1996
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a small park area behind my lot. Another 10 -foot easement that
I have on the south boundary of the property add up to 30 -feet
which from a 70 -foot width lot is fairy burdensome due to the
restrictive covenants in this subdivision. It's almost
impossible to build a duplex under the required dimensions in
the 40 feet that is clear for construction and even at that
the duplex is butted against the access easement. This has
negated sales. I tried to sell the lot during the past 24
years through three different realtors, and even at a
discounted price, I was unable to do so because specifically
that driveway would butt against the duplex wall. I am asking
a reasonable request that 10 -feet of the City's 20 -feet
easement be vacated. The City would be left with an adequate
width to access its property with tractors, mowers, and light
trucks. If the PRAB would award me the 10 feet it would
restore the salability of my lot and give me the option to
build on or sale the property.
Waite: Has the staff had a chance to look at this, and do they
have any recommendations?
Clark:We looked at the property several times because of Mr.
Harwood's and realtors' requests. We do not have a
recommendation. Our lot is locked in except for that easement.
It's our only access to our property.
Driver: What is the acreage?
Harwood: Approximately 1/4 of an acre.
Driver: Can I ask how much you are asking for the lot?
Harwood: I paid $18,900. We discounted it at $16,900 and have
been unable to sell it at that price. I don't deny that is the
City's only access to its property. I'm just trying to reach
some sort of compromise.
Ackerman. Dale, do you see any long term consequences if we
vacate?
Clark: I'm not sure that I see any long term effects, but I am
not sure. We will maintain the property with mowers, probably
not large tractors because of the property size, but I don't
know.
Ackerman: Do you know of any reason why we should not consider
this gentleman's request?
Clark: The only thing is we are short on space.
Harwood: The reason you are short is because of the developer.
Not me. If you want to seek remedy for being short of land, I
think you should pursue the developer who has perhaps not
5 / July 1, 1996
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complied with things promised.
James: I don't think we have even half of an acre. I would
rather see it stay at the 20 feet just to have the other 10
feet in there if need be. There's not much room there to
develop much of a park anyway. We need that extra 10 feet in
the future.
Harwood. Would you explain why you would need that because the
land that you own will not expand because it is locked in?
James: If we give up 20 feet does that include part of a
utility easement?
Harwood: There is utility access in there, but they do not
require 20 feet.
James: If they did need 20 feet it would be there.
Harwood: The projection of possible needs in the future is
hurting me now. I am being an unfair burden. Because you can
get by with 10 feet, I think it would be a fair and reasonable
compromise on the City's part to let me use the lot for the
purposes of which I purchased it. Right now I cannot. While it
is not the City's fault in any way, the City is the only venue
outside the judicial process I have to access any remedy at
all. If the City vacated the easement, I could use my property
and the City would not be harmed at all. Everything you need
can be taken in and out of the property in 10 feet.
Waite: There will ultimately be a sidewalk there. Can we get
our tractors in over a sidewalk?
Clark: Not if we only have ten feet with a four foot sidewalk.
Waite: We have to have a passage for equipment and a passage
to stay open at all times for people. That's the only access
to the land. If we put a sidewalk in there can a tractor
straddle it or drive over it?
Clark: They would have to dg one of the two certainly.
Ackerman: How many residents does this park currently serve?
Harwood: It would be minimal because of its unique nature and
location. It's isolated.
Clark: I believe there are thirty to forty houses in that
area.
Harwood: The lots go up to 51. They are a mixture of duplexes
and single -family units.
Ackerman. Is that park currently developed.
Clark: No.
Ackerman: My recommendation would be to take this under
advisement, go out and evaluate the situation, and cooperate
6 / July 1, 1996
with this property owner if there is any way to without
compromising our own situation long term. Perhaps we can work
out an arrangement that would be satisfactory with both
parties concerned.
Driver: Mr. Harwood. I will be glad to follow that
recommendation and look at it, but I am philosophically
opposed to vacating this easement. You have a very legitimate
reason to ask for the vacation of the easement, and I see the
conflict it presents to you. I've been on the PRAB for 4 years
and I know that there are many times when people see a use for
park land that is more in their own interest.
Harwood:I just ask that you look at it with an open mind.
Clark: How much space are you lacking to build a dwelling?
Harwood: I could probably make due with another 5-6 feet.
Waite: It looks as if this is going to take some on site
survey. This means another park tour. We do need to review
this.
V. GREENSPACE
Development:
Engineer:
Owner:
Location:
Park District:
Priority:
Total Acres:
Units:
Land Dedication
Money in Lieu:
1990 Needs:
2010 Needs:
Existing:
Garland Square Apartments
Hill Group
ERC Properties
North of Cato Springs, West of Garland
SW
None
4.06
56 multi
Requirement:
$13,440
10-20 acres
12-24 acres
5 acres
Staff Recommendations:
1.12 acres
Money in Lieu
Waite: Brenda Love has a presentation regarding Garland Square
Apartments.
Love: My name is Brenda Love, I am a partner in the Hill Group
architectural firm, and I am here to represent the developers
ERC Properties. We have changed the layout after working with
the City on requirements of retention ponds, drainage,
parking, and parking bays on the site. These changes have
caused us to put the buildings closer together than we like.
I'm here to request that the owners pay as opposed to giving
7 / July 1, 1996
park land because we do not have property to give.
Waite: Does anyone have any questions? Is the staff
recommendation to receive money in lieu?
Orzek: It is near Greathouse Park. Nancy Dugwyler and I
visited with Chuck Rutherford with the Trails Committee. It's
too far south of the abandoned railroad area to tie into the
trail.
Richard: I noticed there is a play area.
Love: That is private for our property. We like to provide a
greenspace for children to play in on premises.
MOTION: JAMES/ACKERMAN
The PRAB accepts the staff recommendation to the Planning
Commission to accept money, $13,440, in lieu of land for the green
space requirement for Garland Square Apartments.
MOTION APPROVED UNANIMOUSLY 6-0.
VI. GREENSPACE gtntw? Pe 83
Development: Deerfield Place
Engineer: Jorgenson
Owner: Gordon Wilkins
Location: Highway 16 East, West of Molly Wagoner Road
Park District: SE
Priority: None
Total Acres: 11.72
Units: 29
Land Dedication Requirement: .58 acres
Money in Lieu: $8,700
1990 Needs: 7-14 acres
2010 Needs: 16-32 acres
Existing: 8 acres plus 1779 acres (3 different parks)
Staff Recommendations: Money in Lieu
Jorgenson: My name is Dave. Jorgenson, and I am representing
the owner/developer Gordon Wilkins on this particular project.
This property is located in Baldwin and consists of 31 lots.
Two lots are RO, located on the highway, and the remainder of
the lots are R1. We basically have 30, single family,
residential lots. We think we can save a large tree, but we
are not positive.
Driver: What kind of tree?
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8 / July 1, 1996
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Jorgenson: I believe it's a large oak tree.
Waite: The staff recommendation is money in lieu.
Orzek: It's close to Lake Sequoyah Park, Trammell Park, and
David Lisle Subdivision which is a seven acre park.
MOTION: JAMES/ACKERMAN
The PRAB accepts the staff recommendation to the Planning
Commission to accept money, $8,700, in lieu of land for the green
space requirement for Deerfield Place.
MOTION APPROVED UNANIMOUSLY 6-0.
VII LAKE FAYETTEVILLE BRIDGE - CLARK
Ackerman: Bill (Waite) and I did tour the east end of Lake
Fayetteville where the trail will eventually cross Clear
Creek. We evaluated it from a pure convenience aspect as
well as environmental and also taking into consideration
the proposed expansion of Highway 265. We don't know what
is going to happen at Highway 265 yet. We picked a point on
the creek which should be significantly west of any
expansion of Highway 265. We picked a convenient point on
each side of the creek to bring our trail from south to
north and tie the loop together. We are comfortable that a
cost effective bridge that will not obstruct with water
flow can be built in the area we selected. This would be an
interim bridge until we find out what is going to happen
with the expansion of Highway 265.
Driver: What kind of span?
Ackerman: We are looking at approximately 60 to 75 feet to
get the elevation we need to not interfere with the flow.
Waite: You cannot span the entire flood plain there. Just
span the channel.
Driver: Most cities that have trails follow the course of
their rivers and when it floods they close the trails.
Ackerman: We feel we can get this project done timely and
cost effectively and get our trails open.
Waite. We're looking at doing it in-house.
Ackerman: I think we can come up with a plan that would
allow us to do it internally and not get into a lot of
9 / July 1, 1996
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logistics that are not necessary.
Waite: It's a real education to walk that trail. We will
have to decide with the Facilities Committee how best to
implement this.
Clark: I think we need to just develop a plan for starting
the implementation and handle each problem as it arises and
go from there.
Waite: I think we need a meeting with Tim Ernst and Wade
Coldwell. There is a determination that needs to be made
regarding trail width. The width of the trail will make a
substantial difference on the bridge. We need to make a
decision on the width of the trail.
Driver: I would certainly include a member of Botanical
Gardens.
Clark: I met with Donna Porter. She's anxious to discuss
trail width.
Waite: Can you set up a meeting sometime next week at LFS
with PRAB members, Hal Brown, Wade, Donna, and anyone else
who has interest in utilizing trail?
Clark: Yes, we can set something up
• VIII. VETERANS MEMORIAL PARK
Clark urged each of the PRAB members to attend the July 4,
1996 dedication of Veterans Memorial Park. He encouraged
all to set aside time to attend the program and view the
new pavilion which is still being completed. Waite
suggested that a meeting could possibly be held at the same
time with the trail people.
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IX. CIP BUDGET APPROVAL - CLARK
Clark explained that the Facilities Committee met to
discuss the proposed CIP budget and made a couple of
revisions regarding Lake Fayetteville Trail money.
DISCUSSION:
Driver: What does the Satellite Community Centers expansion
entail?
Clark: Our thoughts were to have more educational rooms
added to the facilities such as arts and crafts,
babysitting, or something of that nature. Kids Connection,
an after school care program, is also another suggestion
10 / July 1, 1996
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for both complexes.
MOTION: MACKEY/RICHARD
The PRAB moved to present the proposed CIP budget to the City
Council.
MOTION APPROVED UNANIMOUSLY 6-0.
X. OTHER BUSINESS
Clark: I distributed to you some information so you can set
up another meeting.
Waite: We had best set a date to meet. We just received the
proposed agreement regarding the Gulley Park trail/Sweetser
donation of land. This is complicated and controversial
enough that it is going to take more than just a cursory
reading. I haven't had a chance to read it fully myself.
The City Council is going to take up this matter on July
16. I think we should have a Parks recommendation for them.
This means we need to have a meeting before July 16 which
will also give us sufficient time to study this in detail.
THE PRAB SCHEDULED A MEETING ON MONDAY JULY 8, 1996 AT 12:00 PM AT
THE FAYETTEVILLE YOUTH CENTER TO REACH A RECOMMENDATION FOR THE
CITY COUNCIL REGARDING GULLEY PARK TRAIL/SWEETSER DONATION OF LAND
AND THEN SURVEY SITE OF HORSESHOE SUBDIVISION FOLLOWING THE
MEETING.
Meeting adjourned at 6:32 pm.
MINUTES APPROVED: 8-5-96 ?G"
MINUTES TAKEN BY:
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John Nelson
11 / July 1, 1996
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