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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1996-08-05 - MinutesFAYETTEVI LLE THE CITY OF FAYETTEVIIIE, ARKANSAS DEPARTMENTAL CORRESPONDENCE TO: PARKS AND RECREATION ADVISORY BOARD FROM: DALE D. CLARK PARKS & RECREATION DIRECTOR DATE: JULY 29, 1996 SUBJECT: PRAB MEETING ON MONDAY, AUGUST 5, 1996 AT 5:30 PM IN ROOM 219 OF THE CITY ADMINISTRATION BUILDING ****************************************************************************** I. Approval of PRAB Minutes - July 8, 1996 [Regular Meeting] II Introduction of new Parks Board Member, Chester Jones - Clark Eric Tschanz, Director of Powell Gardens, Kingsville, Missouri & Donna Porter - Slide Presentation N. Veterans Memorial Park Fourt of July Dedication Report - Clark V. Appraisal Property/Mt. Comfort & Ruppel Road - Driver VI. General Budget Report - Dugwyler VII. Timber Framing - Mike Langford VIII Semi -Annual Adopt -A -Park Volunteer Report - Orzek IX. Other Business ****************************************************************************** Tentative Park Tour Date: August 14, 1996, 5:30 - 8:00 p.m. Attachments: HMR Report Greenspace Report Semi -Annual Accomplishments Report 1996 Adopt -A -Park Semi -Annual Volunteer Report Handout - Parks & Recreation Could Help Attract Business 7/8/96 Special Meeting Minutes - Gulley Trail/Sweetser donation, bid award Phase I on girls softball complex discussion, request to vacate access easement at Horseshoe subdivision, discussed purchase of Mrs. Gulley's remaining land MONDAY, AUGUST 5. 1996 REGULAR PRAB MEETING NAME .(Il 1�SCJ 6 Q L tan 61.1 /itztu - r 'A 'l tG - fie Ay dahr# bac Cr) siA (DA u•-'1 A-0(44 JThkA GROUP REPRESENTING L1LAn" l ,et, Q S 0 P6 SO Cry%taw 01) tkoviit3D,.) tled'`Gsc> Nicin dig Vreuree. 41044)1 40,,i at, „Aa- -6gX GSD C tic yaAhie i /;,t usssE\ Rry 2 ci" 7 found c* 7.15 PRAB REGULAR MEETING AUGUST 5, 1996 The meeting was called to order by Johnny James at 5:30 p.m. in Room 219 of the City Administration Building. Members Present: Members Absent: Staff Present: Guests Present: James, Mackey, Richard, Jones, Ackerman, McCutcheon Waite - Out of Town Driver - Out of Town Clark, Dugwyler, Orzek, Nelson City Council members Kit 'Williams, BGSO. members Ralph Odom, Tschanz, Clancy McMahan, Barnhart, Missy Harris, Adams, Lisa Paschal Paula Marinoni, Flower Garden & Northwest Arkansas James Michael Langford, Timber North America Citizens Angie Webber, Aaron Bleidt, Ackerman, Alice Kennedy Chuck Yarbrough, USSSA Representative Media Present: Jennifer Pinkerton, Morning News Rusty Garrett, Northwest Arkansas Times Cyrus Young Donna Porter, Eric Joy Layton, Katherine Maryetta Carroll, Jim Nature Society of Framers Guild of BUSINESS: Bootsie I. MOTION: ACRERDAN/McCUTCHEOl The Minutes from the July 1, 1996 PRAB regular meeting were approved unanimously 6-0. TI INTRODUCTION OF NEW PARRS BOARD MEMBER. CHESTER JONES - CLARK C1 k: Chester Jones is a Professor at the University of Arkansas. He teaches health education, he's,been,on the faculty for three years, and he comes well qualified and interested in parks and recreation. We're pleased to have Chester on the board, and we welcome him. James: Within our board we have a couple of sub -committees. We'll get with you later and find out what interests you may have in one 1 / August 5, 1996 • 7.16 of those. ...a _:_. ERIC TSCEANZ. DIRECTOR OF POWELL GARDENS. KINGSVILLE. MISSOURI DONNA PORTER - SLIDE PRESENTATION Porter: For the last three years I have been coming before this Parks Board and all of the previous Parks Boards defining, defending, reviewing, presenting, proposing, and attempting co construct a clearer image of what a botanical gardens would be like in Fayetteville and how it could ultimately benefit this community. I proposed many possibilities for the development of this proposed City property into a botanical garden making reference when appropriate to other U.S. botanical gardens to show similarities and how other gardens have come about and how they are existi.ng.'Many questions have arisen from this Board pertaining to this type of development due to the unfamiliarity of this type of development. My answers may or may not have eased your concerns, but the one common factor to botanical garden development is that they tend to develop in many different .ways. Therefore, they are also unique in their size, their administrative policies, their staffing, their missions, their fundings, their programs, and their overall management. In an attempt to help familiarize this Board, and we've also invited the City Council and all of the Botanical Gardens members and other interested parties, to familiarize these people with the development of a botanical garden we have invited a special guest speaker to this Parks & Recreation Advisory Board Meeting. Our guest is Mr. Eric Tschanz, Director of Powell Gardens. Powell Gardens is a newly established botanical garden. When we say newly established, Powell Gardens has been in existence and open to the public for about ten years, which in realm of botanical garden life is a fairly. new botanical garden. Powell Gardens also boasts an impressive annual visitation rate of about 96,000 visitors a year. Eric has been with Powell Gardens for the past 7tz years, and he has worked throughout the development of this garden. We thought it would be highly beneficial for you to hear from someone who is presently working in a botanical garden. Tschanz: One comment I would like to reiterate is that all botanical gardens are different from other botanical gardens. We have been very fortunate in our early years that we had a major foundation (Yellow Freight Trucking) sponsor our project. Because of that backing our garden has been able to grow very quickly. You will find other gardens which have grown more quickly and others that have not grown as much. The most important thing is the establishment and development of gardens. Right know Powell Gardens owns 835 acres of land. Our goal in developing Powell Gardens is not developing just a City garden but developing a regional garden. We want to be a garden for the region of Kansas, Missouri, Northern Arkansas, Iowa, 2 / August 5, 1996 • 7.17 and Nebraska Our goal from day one was to develop a regional facility. We have a full-time year-round staff of 26 individuals. In the summer we have about 55 individuals. Our summer hours are 9 a.m. until sunset, 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. in the winter hours, and we are open every day of the week except for Christmas, Thanksgiving, and New Years. I would like to define what a botanical gardens is all about. Botanical gardens have three major goals similar to any other museum The first goal is display. Our display goes a little further with interpretation and also with plant records which really gives the pedigree of that particular plant. The next goal is education. We have a variety of what we consider environmental edu- .ional programs. The third goal is research. In the beginning we had some sampler gardens wtil.e we were in the construction phase. We have a sun garden, a shade garden, a small herb garden, and a large vegetable plot. Color in a garden is very important because beautiful displays are what brings people into the gardens. We are focusing on developing our gardens on at -larger scope than some others because we want to be an entertainment center and tourist attraction in the Kansas City area. Mr. Tschanz presented a series of slides of Powell Gardens from its earlier stages to the present. He informed the group that master planning was a vital tool and that Powell Gardens offered a nature trail for public environmental interpretation, youth education programs, adult environmental programs, a variety of hands-on classes, evants drawing family participation, plant sales, and the incorporation of the other arts into the gardens such as ballet and other cultural activities. Mr. Tschanz was also pleased that Fay Jones had designed a pavilion, a chapel, and a visitors education center for the gardens. The chapel_ is a good source of revenue due to weddings. Powell Gardens representativas are now out in the public raising funds for gardens and other projects. The Friends group has about 2000 members and has grown very rapidly over the past two years. Mr. Tschanz concluded his presentation with the statement that the interest in Powell Gardens has taken off as well as the publicity in Kansas City, and he is very excited about the gardens' future. Jamas: How many permanent employees do you have? • Tschana: We have twenty-six permanent employees which are full-time. Fifty-five is probably the maximum in the summer. We have eight interns, six in horticulture and two in education, and the rest may be on a mowing crew or in the gift shop. James: What is the admission fee you charge? Tschans: $3.00 for adults, $1.00 for children, and a $10.00 family maximum. ? / August 5, 1996 • Ansa 1 7.18 Mackey: Dc you have schnol district agreements for education? Tschanz: We have had some in the past. We realize that all school districts cannot afford to bus their students, so four days of the week we do programs at Powell Gardens and one day we send our two people into the different schools. We try to rotate around so that all schools in the region benefit from our program. McCutcheon: How many visitors did you have this past year? Tschanz: The prior year we had 96,000 and last year with the bad weather we had 72,000. McCutcheon: And you've been open ten years? How many visitors did you have in the early years? Tschanz: Not too many. We were growing by 20,000 visitors a year for awhile. McCutcheon: Do you mind if I ask for annual budget? Tschanz: Our annual budget this year will be about $1.5 million. A lot of that will go for salaries. Richard: Eight hundred acres is very impressive. Is there some concept of what a minimum size would be to have a botanical garden? Tschanz: You could do a nice bftanical garden on ten to fifteen acres. Tnere is not a minimum or a maximum, but if you have between 75 and 150 acres you are going to be in good shape. Mackey: Do you have any tax revenue to help support your gardens? Tschanz: No. We did receive a grant. Mctutcheon: You talked about San Antonio and Wichita. What kind of population base? As you get down to smaller population bases what kind of relationship is that in terms of attendance? Tschanz: 1 believe Wichita is doing 75-80,000 people. James: Is Eureka Spri.gs about 33 acres? Porter: That is a foz profit organiz.'tion. Tschanz: It's completely different from a botanical garden. Richard: If you were starting from scratch would you follow the same progression, demonstration garden then perennial garden, that same reasonable progression? Tschanz: We brought in various people and discussed what people would like to see in the garden and went from there. Mackey: Are you governed by a board of directors? What is the participation? Public? Private? Tschanz: We are a non-profit foundation. There are five family members on the board and five noon -family members and they basically appoint themselves We also have our membership organization, Friends of Powell Gardens. James: In starting a garden, what seems to be the most common mistake made? Tschanz: Rushing into things and not planning. Master planning is very important. You do not want to have to go back in and redo 4 / August 5, 1996 • something. Planning -is probably the most important thing. Porter: I'd like to let landscape architect. He Arkansas, and he has begun wcrk on will be back in front of chis Parks be doing a presentation to show the James: Speaking as an individual, I'd like to say that the brochure you distributed on tree identification was outstanding. I really enjoyed it. I think you have fought the good fight for a lot of years now, and you have a really good support base out there. I think this Board owes it to you to move rather quickly now. I can't speak for the entire Board, but T- feel your Oc`ober meeting a kick off. I'm real proud of your work. ash 7.19 the Parks Board know that we have hired a is a faculty member at the University of a preliminary mester plan. We Board in October, and he will preliminary master plan. will be IV. VETERANS MEMORIAL PARK FOURTH OF JULY DEDICATION REPORT - CLARK Clark: Some of you were present at the dedication of Veterans Memorial Park on July 4. It was raining, so we moved inside the pavilion. The day before the earthwork around the pavilion had bPAn done, so it was rather muddy. There were about B0+ people there, and it was a nice dedication. Walter McKinney and his group did an excellent job. I was pleased with the ceremony, and even more pleased that the pavilion was in shape. We have one more thing left to do on the pavilion and that's getting the pathway to the structure and the handicap parking spots. V. APPRAISAL PROPERTY/MT. COMFORT 6 RUPPEL ROAD -.DRIVER Ackerman: Driver and I went out into our northwest sector and visited with some land owners regarding some property in which we might have an interest in to enhance our park system in that particular quadrant. There is a substantial amount of construction and growth in the area of Mt. Comfort and Ruppel Roaa at this time. We visited with the current owners of the land, and they are very interested in discussing with us about a portion of their land. They have somewhere around 70-75 acres of land. They would be willing to discuss with us a park which encompass somewhere between 20-25 acres. That would certainly be our decision as to how much land we would be interested in depending on price per acreage. They have agreed to get an appraiser to evaluate the land from their perspective; we are to do the same. It is my understanding that we can get a confident appraiser to go out for approximately $650. I think it is a tract of land we would be interested in for the long term, and I think we can work with these people on a very realistic purchase agreement over a period of time. They are not interested in vacating the land immediately, and I don't believe we are ready to take on the development of that particular tract at this point 5 / August 5, 1996 • 7..20 time. Mccutcheon: Can you point out exactly where you are talking about? Orzek: It's out by Holcomb Elementary. Ackerman: it's in an area where to obtain property acquisition_ Clark: it's in an area where we Ackerman. we as a Board would certainly want for future growth. are ^'=ficic on the number of acres. :n a high growth area. We did tour this particular area during one of our park tours. It is a choice piece of land. There is a substantial amount of green space land we could tie into this piece of property. I would like to move forward with this. VI. GENERAL BUDGET REPORT - DUGWTLE" Dugwyler: Cur final version of the budget is due to City Hall August 22. We will try to get it to you prior to that in a special meeting so :hat you can review it and approve it. I am going to go over just a few things that are new or unique to the budget this year. In the past the city has absorbed the cost of ..he Youth Center and the Adult Center vans for the replacement Gusts and the maintenance costs of those vehicles. This year they have added funding to our budget, and we will start picking up the replacement costs of those vehicles. The City will still absorb the maintenance costs. We have 8198,000 worth of vehicles. Another thing that is. different this year is that last year our softball program was an irdependent program. This year it is included in our h:dget, and it will reflect the added revenue and the added expense. We will budget it like we do everything else. HMR revenues are projected this year to only increase 2% due to a mature economy in this area. Also towns to the north of us are building more restaurants. Minimum wage increase will affect us in some way. We're not sure exactly how, but we will be looking at that and working with the City to include that in our budget. We will present it to you in a couple of weeks. James: Will the purchase of vehicles still be through the City? Dugwyler: We already own the vehicles. This starts building up a fund to replace those vehicles Ackerman: Where has the softball budget fallen in past years? Clark: In previous years softball was done by a checking account. Revenues and expenses did not show anywhere except in a checking account. The City elected to show it on the City record_. Every entry fee will to reported to the City and every check which goes out is accounted for by the City. In previous years we had requested that City auditors look at that, and they feel they have gotten to a point where this can be done without a great deal of extra labor. I certainly feel better about it. Ackerman: Has the softball program sustained itself financially? Clark: Ycs. We know what total costs are, but we d, not know specific costs. We're not good at itemizing it and breaking it out. 6 / August 5, 1996 • .04 • We're 7.21 that coin: . : think we're getting _loser. TIMBER FR N'J - MIfl LANGFORD Clark: Mike ar.d I met several months ago and discussed timber framing. •,e. have talked about this type of structure within the parks syste: _.. Fayetteville. He's proposed using, a timber framing :lass. It's an i,iteresting concept we are going to pursue. Langford: : ve been working and belong to a group knows as Timber Framers T7u_id of North kmerica which is a non-profit organization. The goal of the :rganization essentially is simply to be an educational group. These timber framing projects turn into a real community affair, ..Lich is what : would like to do in Fayetteville. The possibility :s educational, the bait here is that we will get a structure up. It will cost you a little money, but it is a community effort and it isn't something you can get from an architect ..r a general contractor. It has to come out of the roots of the community itself. ?eople take ar, immense amount of pride in being able to produce. something for their own.community. The sense of belonging to that group is just incredible. : have tried to include an approach to education because I think it is a real key. Ackerman. What have you discovered, Dale, on how he can work with us and how we can work with him? Clark: We haven't decided a location. If we were to put a pavilion in Davis Park for example, Paris would be out the expense of purchasing material. Mike would coordinate the project and get the workers to come and do it. This is taking off a little bit different from what we've had to do in the past getting architects and engineering drawings. Langford: We're not completely getting away from the architects and engineers. We would have to meet stringent engineering requirements. Most if not all of these structures have already been through a finite analysis to determine if they are strong enough to withstand wind, rain, or snow. The problem in Arkansas is finding an engineer which is familiar with timber structure and who is willing to literally stamp the plan. Richard Alderman is very interested in cooperating. I don't know where money comes from. I know that if you want to pursue an idea the money can happen. I would think that on a longer range approach we could look for grant money or matching funds. This is not an expensive project at all. A small pavilion can be done for between $10,000 to $20,000. James: What size would that be? Langford: I've drawn one here that is 12 x 16 which is small. The places I keep going back to the state parks. Lake Wedington, Devil's Den, and Roaring River have beautiful structures which could be sources of inspiration. The designs are our touchstone back to 7 / August 5, 1996 %.?2 European ancestry. That :s what : would like to give to the C:ty ..arxs. Ackerman: I am certainly interested and encourage Mr. Langford to his discussions :th Dale Clark and to attend appropriate I would like to see more conversation regarding this continue meetings matter. Mccutcheon: And particula that :s a 'wonderful idea. Langford: There are obviously some and safety. I've wanted the idea of such as insurance tb build. It's an experience and our c__ tying into youth. : think logistical problems to teach young cure. Ackerman: Do you live in the Fayetteville area? Langford: Yes. Richard: Is the focus of 'imber framing to use all wood as opposed to steel construction? Langford: Realistically the idea is that wood moves, wood ages, and wood handles moisture all at the same rate. When you do not introc.:ce steel into the structure then you do not introduce the element of moisture absorption which will cause rot Wood to wood actually iastL. longer than galvanized steel. James: Could this be something we could use West Campus? We might be able to use them for this project. Langford: My understanding is that it is a small program with little funding. I would probably have to look at matching funds from private sector. I'm not really looking for money from the City. Clark: I feel like this has some merit. I think it has some artistic, I think it has some heritage, and those kinds of things. We will continue to discuss this. Location is the key factor for us as well as planning and budgeting. an empowerment that is with that people how missing in (I•fr Langford also commented on the gazebo at Gulley Park. He stated that after having watched thn gazebo for a couple of years that people were not using the structure. Ho said that it stands in the middle of a field and doesn't fit the setting or benefit the park. He would like to see more planning on where a stricture is placed so that it is really a useful and attractive part of the landsrepe.J 7111. SEMI-ANNUAL ADOPT A PARK VOLUNTEER REPORT - ORZEK Or:ek: This is our semi-annual Adopt -A -Park report to recognize all of our park participants and the 623 hours they have donated so far this year. If you have a group that :night be interested in adopting one of our parks and being recognized for their efforts in this program, t._ease contact the Parks office at 444-3471 for more information. 8 / August 5, 1996 • (See Orzek presentation page 10] 7.23 IX. OTHER BUSINESS Mackey: : wanted to answer the question of why are we building softball fields for organized sports. I think we need to look at the kids who will be using it and who have used it in this town for many years. That's who benefits. We're not looking at this year. 'We're looking at what .s going to be there twenty years from now for these :rids. it's going to be a bigger place. I` you see kids involved in organized sports activities they are not involved in illegal activities. They are not laying around doing nothing. They are a group learning team concepts, they are learning a skill, they are learning social behaviors thac are acceptable in a structured setting, they are under the guidance of trained coaches and parents. At Jaast it is a unit that is organized for a goal to be achieved. That goal is to participate and to have fun. That is. the one key. If they are not having fun then they should not be involved. As long as the kids are having fun, to me, that is an asset to the community. I believe that it shows later on in life because those kids will be having kids, and they will he involved in our town. To me it is a community thing and not just one group 'of organized sports. It affects our entire city, and it could affect our business community if we get a good facility there. If we get well organized and get tournaments coming into town other people are going to drop dollars in restaurants, hotels, and motels. I think it is.really important to get this project underway. The meeting adjourned at 6:40 p.m. MINUTES APPROVED: MINUTES TAKEN BY: 9 / August 5, 1996