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Home My WebLink About2008-07-07 - MinutesFAYETTEVILLE PARKS AND RECREATION ADVISORY BOAD Meeting Minutes July 7, 2008 Opening: The regular meeting of the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board was called to order by Chairman Wade Colwell at 5:31 p.m. on July 7, 2008 in room 326 of the City Administration Building located at 113 West Mountain Street in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Present: Park and Recreation Advisory Board members Colwell, Biendara, P Jones, Waite, Mauritson, and Bider were present for the first vote. Davidson and Hatfield came in immediately after that vote. Park Staff Edmonston, Humphry, Wright, Jumper, C Jones, Thomas, and the audience were in attendance. 1. Approval of June 2, 2008 PRAB Meeting Minutes PRAB Motion: Bider motioned to accept the minutes as written, and Biendara seconded it. Motion passed 6-0-0 by voice vote. 2. Botanical Gardens Monthly Report: Walt Eilers, Board of Directors Eilers discussed the monthly report. One accomplishment mentioned was the BGSO achieving 1,000 members. Bider asked about the encroachment issue mentioned in the report. Filers said there were several piles of dirt, mulch, etc. by the trail on the Environmental Study Center's property. Scott Starr, Operations Director for the Botanical Gardens is working with C Jones to clean it up, and hopes to be able to report the site will be cleaned up by the next meeting. 3. Request to Rename Eagle Park to Rodney Ryan Park: Contact was made with the neighborhood requesting input to change the park name to Rodney Ryan Park. In addition, several letters from the public endorsing to name the park Rodney Ryan Park are in the PRAB Attachment section. This item was tabled at the June 2, 2008 PRAB meeting for public input. Colwell was impressed with the number of letters endorsing the renaming. Mauritson said that many people thought well of Dr. Ryan. Staff Recommendation: Approval to Rename Eagle Park to Rodney Ryan Park PRAB Motion: Colwell motioned to rename Eagle Park to Rodney Ryan Park. Mauritson seconded it. Motion passed 8-0-0 by voice vote. 4. Request to Name the Gary Hampton Softball Complex Pavilion as the Rotary Club of Fayetteville: This item was tabled at the June 2, 2008 PRAB meeting for public input. Colwell asked if this was to name the pavilion only. Edmonston said yes, it was only the pavilion. Staff Recommendation: Approval to name the new pavilion at the Gary Hampton Softball Complex as the Rotary Club of Fayetteville. PRAB Motion: Colwell motioned to accept the staff recommendation. Davidson seconded it. Motion passed 8-0-0 by voice vote. 5. Park Land Dedication: Development Name: Engineer: Owner: Location: Park District: Units: Total Acres: Land Dedication Requirement: Money in Lieu Requirement: Existing Parks: Developer's Request: Staff Recommendation: Alison Jumper, Park Planner Victory Commons Bates and Associates Paradigm Companies Southwest intersection of 6`" St. and Razorback just south of the gas station. SW 12 multi -family units 1 acre 0.2 acres $8,160 Park Land at Aspen Ridge Developer is requesting to dedicate money in lieu of land. Staff recommends accepting money is lieu of land and would like to work with the developer in the future to acquire additional land to the north for the Tsa La Gi trail corridor. Estimated Annual Maintenance: None Justification: Tsa La Gi trail corridor is located on the north side of this development. Staff anticipates working with the developer to secure the trail corridor when the land develops. Mauritson asked if there would be a water feature there, since it stays wet all the time. Hoskins agreed that it was a little wet in the area. He also said that this project would be in the ten to twelve apartment range. Jumper commented that the numbers always fluctuate until the final plat was approved. Colwell wanted to know if the whole area would be raised. Hoskins said they would try to keep a rain garden there. They are working on getting the fuel tanks and buildings removed. He has already spoken to Matt about the trail. PRAB Motion: Mauritson motioned to accept the staff recommendation, and P Jones seconded it. Motion passed 8-0-0 by voice vote. 6. Regional Park Update: Steve Aust with Nock Investments for Southpass Aust was not able to attend this meeting, but will be at the August meeting. 7. Request to apply for 2009 Arkansas Parks and Tourism 50/50 Outdoor Recreation Grant for the development of Fairlane subdivision park land: Parks staff hosted a Public Meeting at the 1.34 acre park land located at 1582 Fairlane Street to discuss priorities and needs for the 2009 Arkansas Parks & Tourism 50/50 Outdoor Recreation Grant. Citizens voted to apply for the grant to develop the park at Fairlane. The top three requested amenities were a walking trail around the park perimeter, a pavilion and a playground. C Jones reported a public meeting has been held at the potential parkland on Fairlane. The majority attending wanted that piece of property for the future park. The number one request was a walking trail around the perimeter of the park. Staff is asking PRAB to approve the park area and grant. Mauritson asked if the board was asking to approve the land and also the grant. Edmonston said yes, it would be both. Hitler wanted to know what was located east of the land. Jumper said it was private land. Parks and Recreation talked to the owner a few years ago, and he was not interested in selling. Hitler asked if any trees would be planted on the property. C Jones said yes, trees would be included in the design of the park. Mauritson asked what would happen if the grant isn't awarded to Fayetteville Parks and Recreation, or some other problem develops. Edmonston said that we have met all regulations, so that shouldn't happen. Colwell asked if the socioeconomic impact was considered. Wright said yes. The points are awarded to municipalities when they are applying for a project in a low income area of the community. Staff Recommendation: Approval to apply for 2009 Arkansas Parks and Tourism 50/50 Outdoor Recreation Grant for the development of Fairlane subdivision park land. PRAB Motion: Mauritson motioned to accept Staff recommendation. Waite seconded it. Motioned passed 8-0-0 by voice vote. 8. PRAB Term Proposal: Connie Edmonston, Parks & Recreation Director Currently PRAB terns are for 2 years with 4 positions being renewed each year. In reviewing the terms of other City Council appointed commissions, boards and committees, many are for 3 years. After reviewing this issue with City Attorney, Kit Williams, he recommended that we should also consider having 9 members on PRAB in the event a tie needs to be broken by the PRAB Chair. This would need to go before City Council for an amendment to the current ordinance. Mauritson asked if the existing terms would change, or would the changes happen as each term ran out. Edmonston said a decision would have to be made but the City Council would make that decision based on current terms and where board members are in their terms. Bitler asked why nine members were chosen instead of seven. Edmonston said that the City was growing, and more representation makes the most sense. The City Attorney also thought nine was a good number. Another good thing would be that the Chairperson would cast a tiebreaker vote, if necessary. Bitler said that to make sure he understood, the Chairperson would not vote on issues unless there was a tie that needed to be broken. Edmonston said yes. The Chairperson could give his opinion, but could not vote unless there was a tie. P Jones asked how the term change would happen. Edmonston said that if PRAB approves this request, it then would go before City Council. P Jones wanted to know if PRAB would have the final vote for recommendation. Edmonston said no. Mauritson commented that it was a good idea. He said that the longer you serve on the board, the more you learn. It's good to rotate out. Staff Recommendation: Approval to increase the terms of PRAB to 3 years having 3 new members appointed each year and to increase the members to 9. PRAB Motion: Mauritson motioned to accept Staff recommendation, and Davidson seconded it. Motion passed 8-0-0 by voice vote. 9. Other Business: Edmonston talked about the trail grant letter from Terry Easton, who is the co- chair of the 2008 National Trails Symposium. Edmonston said that Fayetteville Parks and Recreation has applied five times, and has been awarded four times. Wright talked about the many recreational programs that are going on now. He said they are doing very well. He mentioned the Yvonne Richardson Center is having a field trip every day with fifty to seventy kids attending. There is a waiting list for these field trips. The summer camps are filled to capacity, and concerts have about 1,200-1,500 people attending. He also said that the Girl's World Slow Pitch will be in Fayetteville next week. Colwell asked how many teams will be playing. Wright said forty to fifty teams will play. Waite asked how the dog obedience classes are going. Wright said they were going really well. There will be another one in the fall. Edmonston said that the budget for Parks and Recreation is very challenging. She is hoping that programs won't have to be cut. Davidson made the announcement that he is resigning from PRAB. He has moved fifty feet outside Fayetteville city limits, and for that reason he is not eligible to serve on the board. He can legally remain on the board until a replacement is found for him. He has enjoyed serving the citizens of Fayetteville. 10. Adjournment Meeting adjourned at 6:26 p.m. Minutes taken by Melanie Thomas.