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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2009-12-07 - MinutesFAYETTEVILLE PARKS AND RECREATION ADVISORY BOARD Minutes for December 7, 2009 Opening: The regular meeting of the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board was called to order by Chairman Wade Colwell at 5:34 p.m. on December 7, 2009 in Room 326 of the City Administration Building located at 113 West Mountain Street in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Present: Parks and Recreation Advisory Board members Colwell, Biendara, Hatfield, Waite, Mauritson, Meldrum, Watson, and Meinecke were present. P. Jones was absent. Staff members Edmonston, C. Jones, Jumper, Gipson, Humphry, Thomas, and the audience were present. 1. Approval of November 2, 2009 PRAB Meeting Minutes PRAB Motion: Mauritson motioned to pass the minutes as written, and Hatfield seconded it. Motion passed 8-0-0 by voice vote. 2. Botanical Garden Monthly Report: Walt Eilers Eilers was unable to attend the meeting, so Edmonston gave the report. The BGSO board adopted a new master plan and a two year interim plan to construct Phases 1 and 2 of the Mesa Plan at a cost of roughly $4 million. The plans have been submitted to Connie Edmonston for staff review. Also, BGSO has offered the Executive Director position to Rae Von Holdt. She accepted the position, and will start work in December. The year end finances of the Garden have stabilized as a result of a fundraising effort to add new Growing Circles members, careful budgeting, and year end gifts. 3. Park Land Dedication Development Name: Engineer: Owner: Location: Park Quadrant: Units: Total Acres: Land Dedication Requirement: Money in Lieu Requirement Existing Parks: Developer's Request: Staff Recommendation: Developer's Comments: Alison Jumper, Park Planner Narrow Escapes Bates and Associates Adam Russell South of North St. between the railroad tracks and Frisco Ave. SW 40 Multi -family 2.15 acres 0.68 acres $27,200 Wilson Park (21.5 acres), Scull Creek Trail Money in lieu Money in lieu Justification: Wilson Park and Scull Creek Trail are within a '/2 mile of the development. Additionally, the site is located adjacent to the railroad and is not conducive to a neighborhood park. Geoff Bates, from Bates and Associates, was at the meeting representing Narrow Escapes. Mauritson asked if there was a commercial building located there Bates said there was a warehouse. Meldrum wanted to know in which quadrant the land was located Jumper said it was in the SW quadrant. Meldrum asked if there were available funds in that quadrant to assist in the funding of the trail. Edmonston said that Transportation has those funds. Meinecke wanted to know if the access to the trail was closer than ''/z mile. Jumper replied that it was. Watson asked about the old road in that area. Bates said that it was mainly scruffy plants in the road. PRAB Motion: Mauritson motioned to accept the staff recommendation of money in lieu and Biendara seconded it. Motion passed 8-0-0 by voice vote. 4. Red Oak Park Stream Restoration Update: Carole Jones, Park Planner Parks and Engineering staff began to reconsider the natural stream channel approach previously recommended by the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission after the stream restoration project was completed at Gulley Park. The City hosted a public meeting on November 19 to discuss the design for the restoration of the Hamestring Creek tributary through Red Oak Park. Citizens were shown two proposed options for restoring the stream. Option 1 utilizes geotextile fabric and piping through the park. Option 2 utilizes a control structure and check dams through the park with no channel restoration. The item was also discussed at the November 30 Ward 4 meeting. Citizens were given a handout that explained each option with cost estimates and a comment form. City staff requested that the comment forms be returned by December 4. The final design and re -submittal to the Corps will be scheduled after the public comment submittal deadline. Jones said she received about 23 comments back from the public meeting, and they were divided pretty evenly. Staff will meet to discuss the results. Staff had a design planned for this park, but because the park is really narrow, the project is very difficult. City Engineering has developed a new design. Jones said she is not sure what should be done with the park. Meinecke asked how the vehicles would get in. Jones replied that one point of access is on the SE side. Colwell suggested that maybe a trackhoe could go up the creek to access the park. This would take out some trees, but would be a way for vehicles to get in. If large rocks were brought in and arranged in strategic places, it would slow down the water. Jones said that idea was discussed. Chris Brown said that possibly rock dams could be used. Colwell said that the big part of the battle would be slowing the water down. Edmonston replied that this storm water challenge was a perfect example of why we need storm water management. Jones said she has heard some discussion about getting a grant to educate the public. Biendara said that any money that Parks receives for education in the parks would be good. She also said that the majority of erosion in Red Oak Park has already occurred. She would like to see much more discussion to find the best solution for Red Oak's problem. 5. 2009 Parks & Recreation Slideshow A slideshow of the 2009 Parks and Recreation activities was shown. 6. Other Business Colwell went over some of the awards the City received in Citiscapes magazine. They were: • Best Kept Secret in NWA- Botanical Garden of the Ozarks • Best Place to Get Married- Botanical Garden of the Ozarks • Best Public Park- Wilson Park • Best Municipal Trail System & Best Place to Jog or Walk- Fayetteville Multiuse Trail Network • Best Place to Bicycle- Lake Fayetteville Multi -use Trail Edmonston handed out backpacks, shirts, and water bottles to all the PRAB members. She also gave a Certificate of Appreciation to Wade Colwell for 10 years of service on PRAB. There was also a certificate for Phil Jones for 1 year of service. Colwell and Jones are not returning in 2010. Colwell commented that PRAB is a great board to serve on. It has lots of professionalism. 7. Adjournment The meeting adjourned at 6:05 p.m. 8. Christmas Party Dinner A pizza dinner was held after the meeting to show appreciation to the PRAB members that served the citizens of Fayetteville in 2009. A Trail Trekker commercial was shown at this time. Minutes taken by Melanie Thomas 11