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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03/05/2002 - Regular Minutes - Parks Board (2) MINUTES College Station Parks and Recreation Advisory Board Regular Meeting Tuesday,March 5, 2002, at 6I0011011WEEleminsilimillimilinommon - city Hall Training Room 1,111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111,111i1:11,11111011111TelfillAVeni-111111111111111111,111121iiiiiiii:litsookiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinamonses. lopppipp'npipopllgooioog,ogCollege sgoogogooineogn,00goornlooll,o Staff Present: Eric Ploeger, Assistant Director of Parks and Recreation; Ross Albrecht, Forestry Superintendent; Pete Vanecek, Senior Park Planner; Jeff Kersten, Budget and Strategic Planning Director; Bill Cody, Risk Manager; Kris Lehde, Board Secretary. Board Members Present: John Nichols, Chair; Don Allison; Larry Farnsworth; Glenn Schroeder; Jon Turton; Bill Davis; Laura Wood(Alternate). Board Member Absent: Glen Davis. Guests: Charles Burditt and Billy Drum, Urban Forest Consultants from Iturditt Associates. Visitors: Bonnie Merz, 1700 Southwest Parkway, #173, College Station, Texas 77840 Jamie Lofand, 701 Balcones Drive, #9A, College Station, Texas 77845 L Call to order: The meeting was called to order by Chairman Nichols at 6:05 p.m. 2. Pardon — possible action concerning requests for absences of members from meeting: Don Allison made a motion to accept the absence request of Glen Davis as excused. Larry Farnsworth seconded the motion. All were in favor, and the motion passed unanimously. 3. Hear visitors: No visitors spoke during this time. 4. Discussion, and possible approval of the minutes from the Special Meeting of February 5, 2002, and the Regular Meeting of February 12, 2002: Don made a motion to approve the minutes of February 5, 2002. Larry seconded the motion. All were in favor, and the motion passed unanimously. Glenn Schroeder made a motion to approve the minutes from February 12, 2002. Larry seconded the motion. All were in favor, and the motion passed unanimously. 5. Review, discussion, and possible action concerning Board and Departmental Goals and Objectives, and City Council Strategic Issues: Eric Ploeger stated that he did not have anything specific to report under this item. Parks and Recreation Advisory Board Regular Meeting Tuesday,March 5,2002 Page 1 of 5 6. Review, discussion, and possible action concerning the current Capital Improvement Project Report: Eric reported on two (2) items: 1. The Interlocal Agreement between the City of College Station, the College Station Independent School District, and the Rock Prairie Parent/Teachers Organization concerning the repair of the Jack and Dorothy Miller Park Jogging Tract is scheduled to go to the City Council for consideration on Thursday, March 14, 2002. If the agreement is approved by Council, the project will go out to bid the following day. 2. The City held a bid opening for the Lincoln Center Entryway Expansion Project, and the project is also scheduled to go to the City Council for consideration on March 14th. Glenn S. asked if there had been any progress on the purchase of land next to Woodway Park. Eric responded that progress is being made. This item was a report only, and no motion was made. 7. Report, discussion, and possible action concerning the proposed Urban Forest Management Plan (City Council Vision Statement #3, Strategy 4.a): Forestry Superintendent Ross Albrecht said that the development of an Urban Forest Management Plan has been a goal of the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board for the past few years, and has recently become a goal of the City Council as well. Requests for Qualifications (RFQ) went out in October 2001, to five (5) fi s. (A copy of the RFQ was included in the Board packets.) Three (3) firms responded to that request, and Burditt Associates from Conroe was contracted to work on the plan. Ross stated that a draft plan is scheduled to go to the City Council for consideration on May 9, 2002 (Note: the presentation to Council has moved to June 13, 2002), and that the Department would like to have approval from the Board beforehand. Ross introduced Charles Burditt and Billy Drum who gave an update on the progress to date. Mr. Burditt and Mr. Drum gave an overview of the Urban Forest Management Plan by showing a PowerPoint presentation and handing out a plan outline. (See attachments please note that the data used for the PowerPoint were examples only, and not taken from actual College Station numbers.) Mr. Burditt said that risk is one of the greatest issues for any community, and expressed the importance of College Station having a tree risk management policy in place. John Nichols stated that the Urban Forest Management Plan should be incorporated into the Recreation, Park, and Open Space Master Plan as it is updated. Parks and Recreation Advisory Board Regular Meeting Tuesday,March 5,2002 Page 2 of 5 Eric said that a special meeting may need to be set up in late April or early May for possible Board approval of the draft plan before it is presented to the City Council. This item was a report only, and no motion was made. 8. Discussion, consideration, and possible action concerning potential future capital improvement projects: Eric stated that included in the Board packets was a list of the potential future capital improvement program (CIP) project items ranked in order by project category. He added that staff had prepared three (3) additional ranking sheets for three (3) scenarios for the upcoming bond issue. The Parks and Recreation Department could receive: • $5 million, e $6 million, or • $7 million. Eric said that the City's list of proposed future CIP projects would be presented to the City Council on March 28, 2002. He asked that the Board fill out the ranking sheets by shaded priority and return them to Kris Lehde by Monday, March 15th. The results will then be e-mailed to the Board. Eric added that with the help of O'Malley Engineers, he redid some of the figures for the Veterans Park and Athletic Complex, Phase II development, and passed them out to the Board. Because of the cost to develop Phase II of the park, the Board discussed the following options: 1. Submit the Phase II development as a separate item on the CIP; or 2. Develop Phase II in two (2) parts (i.e. softball complex vs. the exercise trail and pavilion). The Board was particularly concerned with the high cost to build the three (3)-field softball complex. Eric said that there are some areas of the project for which the cost could be reduced, but it would also reduce the quality of the product as well. After some discussion, Eric said that he would bring a more detailed breakdown of the costs involved with a more specific explanation of the project back to the Board for their review for the April meeting. This item was intended for discussion only, and no motion was made. 9. Discussion, consideration, and possible action concerning the Board's Fiscal Year 2003 budget issues and priorities: Eric stated that the Fiscal Year 2003 budget process started in January. He introduced the City's Budget and Strategic Planning Director, Jeff Kersten. Jeff said that this is the third year that the Budget Office has solicited input from advisory boards early in the budget process. Feedback from the boards will be taken to the City Council during their annual Strategic Planning Retreat in May to be considered in the overall strategic planning and budget process. Jeff said that the Budget Office would like to have any input back within 30 to 60 Parks and Recreation Advisory Board Regular Meeting Tuesday,March 5,2002 Page 3 of 5 days (around May 1st) He handed out a sheet of questions being sought from the boards (see attachment). John N. asked if Parks staff had any input. Eric responded that the Council strategies are a staff priority. This item will be placed on the April agenda. John urged anyone who might have any thoughts for the budget process to e-mail them to Kris prior to the April meeting; Kris will circulate any comments to the rest of the Board. John added that it would be important to include the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board Goal to purchase batting cages and backstops for Bee Creek Park in the budget process. This item was intended to solicit input only, and no motion was made. 10. Discussion, consideration, and possible action concerning a park land dedication request for the Legacy Addition Subdivision: Senior Park Planner Pete Vanecek stated that the developer of the Legacy Addition Subdivision is proposing a 15-lot subdivision next to Sun Meadows, off of Graham Road. The land requirement is only .223 acres, and the proposed development is in close proximity to Southwood, Edelweiss, Westfield, and Jack and Dorothy Miller parks. Glenn S. made a motion to accept the fee in lieu of land for the Legacy Addition Subdivision. Bill seconded the motion. All were in favor, and the motion passed unanimously. Jon T. made a motion that the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board recommend that the Planning and Zoning Commission consider requesting that the Legacy Addition Subdivision provide access at the end of the cul-de-sac to the community parks through the greenway or greenbelt adjacent to the end of the cul-de-sac. Bill seconded the motion. All were in favor, and the motion passed unanimously. John N. suggested that staff present a thoroughfare plan for future park land dedication requests. 11. Report, discussion, and possible action concerning a focus group meeting that was held on February 28, 2002, to discuss possible developer incentives for neighborhood parks (City Council Vision Statement #4, Strategy 4.a): Eric stated that Don Allision and Bill Davis were at the focus group meeting. Parks Senior Secretary, Pam Springfield, put together notes from the meeting (see attachment). There is $200,000 budgeted in Fiscal Year 2002 for developer incentives. Eric said that the focus group had met on this topic before. After the initial meeting of the group, the suggestion had been presented to the City Council that there be some type of monetary incentives. During that meeting, the Council directed staff to come up with some alternative ideas other than monetary incentives. This item was a report only, and no motion was made. This item will be on a future agenda. Parks and Recreation Advisory Board Regular Meeting Tuesday,March 5,2002 Page 4 of 5 12. Possible appointment of a Fees Subcommittee: Eric said that the annual appointment of a Fees Subcommittee is part of the Department's annual budget process. Glenn Schroeder, Larry Farnsworth, and Bill Davis volunteered to serve on, and were appointed to, the Fees Subcommittee. No motion was made. 13. Discussion of next meeting dates and agendas: Meeting Date: - Tuesday, April 9, 2002, at 6:00 p.m. Possible Agenda Items: - Discussion of the Veterans Park and Athletic Complex, Phase II costs for development. - Discussion of the future CIP. 14. Adjourn: The meeting adjourned at 8:20 p.m. Parks and Recreation Advisory Board Regular Meeting Tuesday,March 5,2002 Page 5 of 5