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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06/14/2005 - Regular Minutes - Parks Board Parks and Recreation Advisory Board Tuesday, June 14, 2005, 7:00 p.m. The EXIT Teen Center 1520 Rock Prairie Road College Station, Texas Staff Present: Stephen Beachy, Director; Eric Ploeger, Assistant Director; Curtis Bingham, Parks Operations Superintendent; Pamela Springfield, Staff Assistant Members Present: Jodi Warner, Chair; Jeannie McCandless; Glenn Schroeder; Don Allison; Larry Farnsworth; Gary Erwin; Kathleen Ireland Members Absent: Carol Blaschke; Gary Thomas; Ann Ganter, CSISD Liaison Guests Present: Ken Fogle, Transportation Planner — City of College Station, Development Services; Lee Adams, Principal — MDG (Municipal Development Group) 1. Call to order. The meeting was called to order by Jodi Warner, Chair at 7:03 p.m. 2. Pardon — possible action concerning requests for absences of members from meeting. Jodi stated that Carol Blaschke had turned in a request for absence; Glenn Schroeder had indicated that he would be arriving a little late; and, Ann Ganter, the board liaison from the College Station Independent School District, was seeking the appointment of another person to act as liaison because she was unable to meet on Tuesday evenings. Kathy Ireland moved to accept the request for absence submitted by Carol Blaschke; Don Allison seconded. The vote was called and the motion carried unanimously. (A request for absence had been received from Gary Thomas, but was inadvertently left off of the list of requests turned over to Jodi Warner at the beginning of the meeting.) 3. Hear visitors. Hearing none this item was closed. 4. Discussion, consideration, and possible approval of minutes from Regular Board meeting of May 17, 2005. Item #6 in the second paragraph, in the sixth sentence down, the word "and" needed to be added to make the sentence read correctly. There being no further changes, the vote was called. Don A. moved to accept the May meeting minutes with the aforementioned change. Larry Farnsworth seconded, and the motion passed unanimously. 5. Discussion, consideration, and possible action regarding proposal related to potential park land in Park Zone 6 (Southwest Park). Ric went through a brief history of the Southwest Park property. The city owns 4.77 acres, purchased over twenty-five years ago. There has never been enough property dedicated in addition to that, in which to build a park. Most recently, the Board had seen a condominium-type project and accepted additional property facing Southwest Parkway, however, that deal had fallen through. A new developer has taken an option to buy both pieces of property - the Butler and the Shick tracts - for both multi-family and commercial development. The major impediment to developing the Butler tract is access. There is only one way in and it is a private easement. If the city were to divest itself of the property it would have to be put to a vote by the citizens and then it would have to be put up for bid. The developer's initial proposal had been for the city to trade him the four acres for ten acres in order to satisfy his dedication requirement and consolidate the Shick property for a better development. This may take place. He has also considered putting a road through his property, which he does not want to do because he wants to use it for commercial development - but it would save time. He wants to move students in by the fall of 2006. He has also talked about furthering his dedication by dedicating greenway and allowing the city to put in a trail. Don A. asked about the divesting-of-property process and Steve B. stated that it was a state law that if you transfer the use of public property in any way or sell it, it has to be put to a vote. A special election would be very expensive and it takes ninety days to get something on a ballot. The state has made this a deliberately difficult task in order to protect public lands. Lee Adams with MDG was representing the developer and there to answer any questions. He stated that he was trying to work out access with the school district, but asked the board if they had a preference. Several members stated that they felt that the best option was to extend the existing park. The school might like it, but the neighborhoods to the north would be what it would serve and the existing land was dedicated by those properties along Southwest Parkway. Lee asked Ken Fogle, Transportation Planner, what he thought. Ken stated that from an engineering/traffic/planning position, there needed to be a public road to open that up. The only issue would be where it tied into Southwest Parkway. Steve stated that this was an information item only and nothing had been finalized, but the Board may see it again on a future agenda. 6. Report, discussion, and possible action regarding the College Station Bike Loop and Pedestrian Master Plan — Ken Fogle. Steve said that the Board had requested periodic updates regarding this item. Ken Fogle gave a presentation to update the Board on the Bikeway and Pedestrian Master Plan. He told the members that a big part of the plan was the recreational aspect and they were trying to connect the neighborhoods and parks, creating a full system that could be used to bike or walk throughout the city. He explained the different components of the system — bike lanes, bike/pedestrian paths, and bike/pedestrian routes. Maps had been distributed to all members present. On the maps, the solid lines represented completed lanes/paths/routes and dashed lines were proposed. There were 25 miles of existing bike lanes and 36 miles of proposed lanes. Bike routes were basically any street that was wide enough to allow cars and bicycles to share the road together, and were easy to implement. Some had signs, but the routes for more advanced cyclists did not. There were 70 miles of existing bike routes and approximately 54 miles of proposed routes. Bike/pedestrian paths — the off-street trails - were the hardest to implement. There were 12 miles of existing bike paths and 45 miles of proposed paths. The last CIP budget allocated about one million dollars to build the paths and greenways. Development Services is trying to spend about $200,000 per year, along with trying to get grant money, in order to finish the projects. The bike loop was started in the early 1990's when College Station applied for federal Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) enhancement money and received about one million to build the bike loop. The loop is now approximately halfway complete. The Hike and Bike Task Force had identified potential CIP projects, ranking about twenty of them. Ken briefly went over a few that were on the high priority list. He stated that some of the projects could be done in-house and staff would be looking for grant money to do others. • The WPC Upper Trails will be complete in the fall. At some time in the future the hope is to connect those up across Texas Avenue to trails behind the Bed, Bath, and Beyond store, but there is no funding for it now. • Central Park Lane is proposed to go straight through to Colgate but at present is approximately 200' - 300' shy of connecting to Krenek Tap Road. Once the road is complete (later this fall), it will be striped with bike lanes. • Lincoln Avenue exists between University Drive and Texas Avenue and will be striped with bike lanes. • The biggest bike loop project left to do is connecting Bee Creek Park with the City Center project area. This project is on hold until the Texas Avenue widening and the Bee Creek channelization projects are finished. Parks and Recreation Advisory Board Minutes June 14, 2005 Ken stated that either he or Kristan Weaver would be glad to come back periodically for updates. He finished by adding that College Station had just received an award for being a bicycle friendly community - the only city in Texas to receive it. The Board thanked Ken for his presentation. 7. Presentation, discussion, and possible action regarding the Parks and Recreation Department Five-Year Strategic Plan FY2005 — FY2009. Steve went through the plan explaining the different components which included what the department does, what resources the department has, growth assumptions, self-analysis, strengths, weaknesses, and bullet point strategies. An updated park system inventory was also included as part of the plan. The department now has forty-three parks - almost 1,200 acres of park land — with eight undeveloped parks. Most of those undeveloped parks will be addressed over the next several years. The plan was also based on known council issues and direction, Parks Board issues, and other issues that staff was aware of. Based on the council retreat that had just ended, it could impact what was in the plan. Steve finished by saying that this document was updated annually and served as a guideline for staff. Gary E. and Jodi both commended staff on the plan. Steve said it would be used and incorporated during the next master plan update. Larry F. made a motion in support of the document. The motion was seconded and the vote was called. The motion passed unanimously in support of the department's Five- Year Strategic Plan. 8. Update and discussion regarding the community-wide Needs Assessment Project. The members had received copies in their packets of the survey that had been mailed out to citizens, some city staff, and the school district superintendent's offices. A follow-up reminder card had also gone out. The project was a little behind schedule. Staff had hoped to be able to have the Board to review the report in July, however it looked as though it may be September before that would happen. The needs assessment would play a key part in the update of the department's master plan. Steve stated that he felt that it was important for the Board to see the survey and what questions had been asked. This was an informational item only and no action was required. 9. Discussion, consideration, and possible action regarding appointing members to the Fees Subcommittee to develop recommendations for 2006 User Fees. Staff would like to get started on the 2006 User Fees so that they can be presented to council for approval in September or October. Staff had met, and once the Board subcommittee was confirmed, a date could be set to meet. Larry F. was on the subcommittee but would be going off the Board. Jodi asked if anyone had an interest in serving on the subcommittee. Kathy I. said she would be happy to serve. Pam would set up a time for the subcommittee to meet. Steve stated that the Board would also need to look at appointing someone to serve on the VPAC subcommittee at some point in the near future. 10. Report, discussion, and possible action concerning the Capital Improvement Program. The Park Land Dedication Projects list had been included in the member's packets. Ric stated that there had not been a lot of significant changes since the last meeting. • The rubber cushioned surfacing for the last 1/3 mile of Thomas Park jogging track would soon be complete, making this the longest rubberized trail installed to date. • The Steeplechase Park project was about ready to go out to bid. • Council had recently approved the Crompton Park design. • The Veterans Park & Athletic Complex, Phase II conceptual plans would be brought to the Board soon for approval and then the project would be on its way to the final design. • Mrs. Youngblood, the wife of man who had died when their vehicle went into the Central Park pond in 2004, wanted to install a bench at the pond in honor of her husband. Along with the money she wants to donate, staff was looking at putting in two benches with a connecting walkway to create a more formal area. The plan was still being worked on. • Jodi asked about the status of the Park Land Dedication Ordinance update. Steve said that based on the last information he had received, the Board might be able to review it at the July meeting, but he would check on it. Parks and Recreation Advisory Board Minutes June 14, 2005 11. Review, discussion, and possible action concerning Board and Departmental Goals and Objectives, and City Council Strategic Plan: The appraisal had been completed on the proposed regional park site for the initial tract of 4,609 acres. Steve stated that he'd met with the TMPA director and staff, and had presented that appraisal. The appraised value came back at $1,071 per acre. TMPA staff and Judge Dixon from Grimes County who had attended the meeting as well, seemed pleased with the appraisal. TMPA will present the appraisal to their Board of Directors in Denton on July 8, 2005. TMPA has agreed to hold to that appraised value through 2008. The Conservation Fund Office out of Austin, a nationwide, non-profit organization, could also become involved in the project. If they participate, Grimes County would be the owner and enter into the agreement with the Conservation Fund to seek funding. There is also the potential for private, not-for- profit, foundation funding from Houston, however, most of those are heavily committed over the next few years. Dr. Crompton had talked to the Houston Parks and Recreation Department Director, who had written a letter to the Governor. Congressman Chet Edwards was also very interested, so there is the potential for federal - particularly highway- funding for mitigation efforts. This project will not been advertised or go public until a commitment can be obtained from TMPA. The next key step was for the TMPA Board of Directors to commit to that. The ability to have three years to put together the funding makes this project more doable. This portion of the land will be released in 2007- 08. The remaining acreage comes up for release several years after that. The appraiser, Jim Jeffries, found that the land would not be suitable to do a typical subdivision. 12. Discussion of next meeting date and possible agenda items: Steve said he would check on the Park Land Dedication Ordinance revisions to see if an item could go on the July agenda for discussion. • Regular meeting - July 12, 2005 • Steve stated that at the present time there were some Parks staff members attending a conference in Colorado about recreation centers and would come back to the Board with a report in the near future. They would also be visiting a landfill site that had closed and had a regional park built on it. A report would be given on that as well, along with some ideas concerning operational issues that the park may be facing. The city's current landfill is anticipated to close in 2007 or 2008. 13. Adjourn. Don A. made a motion to adjourn, which was seconded by Kathleen I. Jodi W. called for the vote. All were in favor and the meeting adjourned at 8:40 p.m. Parks and Recreation Advisory Board Minutes June 14, 2005