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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2010-10-04 - Minutes�Itn�H'•M1' FAYETTEVILLE PARKS AND RECREATION ADVISORY BOARD Minutes for October 4, 2010 Opening: The regular meeting of the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board was called to order by Craig Mauritson at 5:30 p.m. in Room 111 at the City Administration Building at 113 West Mountain Street in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Present: Parks and Recreation Advisory Board members Mauritson, Biendara, Meldrum, Bailey, Watson, and Hazelrigs were present. Waite and Watson came in later. Meinecke was absent. Staff members Humphry, Jumper, and Jones were in attendance. 1. Approval of September 13, 2010 PRAB Meeting Minutes PRAB Motion: Meldrum motioned to accept the minutes as written, and Biendara seconded it. Motion passed 6-0-0 by voice vote. 2. Botanical Garden Monthly Report: Michael Lindsey Ron Cox is focusing on fund raising. One of the upcoming events is the Washington County Bar and Grill Event on October 16 to eat, drink and enjoy the Auburn game. A Botanical Garden calendar will be available for $15 beginning October 19. There will be model train decorations inside the BG for Christmas. 3. Lake Sequoyah Boat Dock: Byron Humphry, Maintenance Superintendent Humphry recapped some history about the Lake Sequoyah boat docks. They were built in 1957. They are wooden docks with wooden posts. They don't float and are rotting. A sub- committee from a couple of years ago recommended closing Dock D, and taking no more new renters. Jackie Smith is the current boat dock contractor. His contract expires at the end of 2010. Bobby Ferrell, a Fayetteville alderman, suggested sending out surveys to the current boat stall renters. There were 58 surveys sent out, 26 of which responded. Only 11 said they would commit to a 3 year rental at a higher rate. Additional surveys went out last week. A press release was also published, so the public could submit their comments and suggestions by October 15. Staff believes the dock should be demolished soon for safety reasons. Humphry said that prices will have to be raised if new docks are built, which may be a hardship for the many seniors that use the boat dock. Several different options are being looked at, one of which is installing a better boat ramp. Staff will also consider dredging the lake to remove the silt. Mauritson said the docks are becoming a liability and have outlived their life span. Watson wanted to know what it cost to rent a boat stall now. Humphry said at Lake Sequoyah, it cost $100/year, and at Lake Fayetteville it is $250/year. Watson wanted to know how much the boat fee would be raised. Humphry said it would be the same cost as Lake Fayetteville. Hazelrigs asked if any grants were available. Jumper said a lot of the grant money was drying up. Biendara asked when the decision needed to be made. Humphry said it needed to be pretty quick, so the docks could be demolished next year. Mauritson asked what the demolition cost would be. Humphry said one of the quotes was around $74,000. They would have to use a crane. Mauritson asked if this discussion needed to be tabled, and vote later. Jumper said this was only a discussion. 4. 2011 Budget: Alison Jumper, Park Planning Superintendent Please bring your calendar so we can select a date between October 11 — 22 for a special PRAB meeting to review the 2011 annual operating and capital improvement plan budget. We need to allow a time frame of approximately 1 to 1-1/2 hours prior to our November 1 st PRAB monthly meeting. Jumper said a date needed to be chosen for the special meeting to discuss the budget. After discussion, the date was narrowed down to October 18 or 19. Jumper will send out the date to everyone. 5. Regional Park Update: Alison Jumper, Park Planning Superintendent Jumper said that City has acquired the land. A slow planning approach will be taken. Mauritson asked if Parks was coordinating a schedule with the developer. Jumper said yes. A money raising campaign also needs to be developed. Mauritson commented that at least the land belongs to the City now. Jumper commented that none of the details for the park design have been worked out. 2 Waite asked about the soccer field situation now. Jumper said that Parks has Lewis until 2018. Parks is looking at options for Asbell. Humphry said that 2 new soccer fields will be built at Lewis next year. Lindsey asked if any plans for raising money had been decided. Jumper said it was very preliminary. More will be decided in a couple of months. 6. Other Business: The group went on a field trip to the Lake Sequoyah boat docks. Humphry showed the group various problems. He said sometimes the water was higher than the posts, so it pulled down the boats. Smith has to adjust the boats when the water rises or falls. The wooden posts are rotting. The boards raise up, and are a trip hazard. As the deck settles, the nails pull out. Many places have to be patched and bolted. Mauritson said he forgot about the docks being covered. Everything will have to come down. Humphry said he is getting ballpark bids for the demolition. One solution could be to dredge the lake. That would be the cheapest way, but not necessarily the best way. Mauritson wanted to know if the $70,000 quote for demolishing the docks was for one dock. Humphry said no, it would be for all four docks. Meldrum asked how long people would have to remove their boats from the docks. Humphry said they would have until December 23, which is when the docks close for 2 weeks. Meldrum wanted to know if all the land around the lake belongs to the City, and, if so, could the dock be moved to a deeper area. Humphry said that was a possibility, but, if that happened, a new access road, etc, would have to be put in. Meldrum said he wasn't sure why Parks would want to put in a new dock in a lake that was going to silt in. Humphry said floating docks would help somewhat. Also, a dike might help. Mauritson asked if the money was available for the demolition and the rebuild. Humphry said money was available only for the demolition. 7. Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 6:50 pm.