Loading...
Study SessionDO NOT REMOVE - PRAB File Matenal City of Boulder ~ Parks and Recreation Advisory Board Study Session Minutes June 15, 2002 Meadows Branch Library Meeting Room 4800 Baseline 9:15 a.m. -1:15 p.m. The following are the minutes of the Jur~e 15, 2402 Ciry of Boulder Parks and Recreation Advesory Board (PRAB) study session A permanent set of these mtnutes and a tape recordtng (marnta:ned for a penod of 6 years) are reta:ned en Central Records (telephone 303-441-3043) Board Present: Ed von Bleichert, Chair; Dave Wimng, Pam Hoge, Thomas Sanford and Suzanne O'Ne~ll Board Absent: Susan Csb~rne, Vice Chair; Chazles Manlove Staff Present: Jan Geden, Doug Hawthome, Georgia Jackson, Cate Bradley, Kate Bemhazdt, Julya Bndgewater, Teri Olander The followuig people were also present• ~ Chazhe Deans, Planners Ink ``'' Blazse Rastello, Planners Ink Teresa Gnlls, Management and Plamm~g Assistance Team (MPAT) Dtana Smith, Royce Arbour, Inc I. Introduction Geden spoke about revisions to ~e mformahon m the Recreahon Facihhes Needs Assessment Prehminary Findmgs that was sent to Board members. She said it would be confusmg if they compared the needs assessment sechon to the survey, as the text that was imhally written did not mclude the "Don't know" responses. The "Don't know" responses were later mcluded so the Boazd could see not only what people said but also what they didn't know. Geden mformed the Boazd that Pages 27 through 32 were not good mformarion and the Board would be given corrected text at a later date. II. Recreation Facility Needs Assessment Findings Deans spoke bnefly about each aspect of the Recreation Facilities Needs Assessment findings. • Community Outreach Interviews ~ Twenty internews were conducted with vanous leadership stakeholders and one of the thmgs heard consistently was the need for mcreased partnership opportuniries with Boulder Valley School Dtstrict (BVSD), CUlBoulder and the YMCA. There also was a need expressed fo~ more gynmasmm space, mdoar rumm~g track, an aquat~c center and a performmg arts cultural center ~"'"~ Focus Grouns - Sports, Busmess & Non-Profit -High need for prachce/mulh use fields -BVSD facihties not adequate in number, locarion, condrtion and cost -Paztnerslup opportunit~es outside of Valmont -Need for tce sheet (mdoor or outdoor), tenrus complex (mdoor or outdoor), cross country skung and bicycle race course -More facihries needed for youth achvihes and sports -Arduous process to develop a partnerstup agreement -Pazks Department needs clearer miss~on statement -Commumty schools out of space -Partnership opporhuutaes w/pnvate schools, performmg arts and museums -Lack of e~ubit space and need for 500 to 800 seat performmg arts/cultural center Sanford left the meehng at 10 a.m. Hoge asked for clanficahon [m the report] as to whether dissatisfachon with BVSD facihhes was mamly due to the condthon of the facihries. Deans satd he would have to Irsten to the tapes to deterirane if that were the case, but added that even when the field cond:ttons were adequate, the communzty schools charged $22 00/hour to use the field Geden added that she was having prelimznary discusszons with the school dzstrtct to look at potent:al pannershzps that would benefit both the school d:strict ,,,~ and Parks and Recreahon ,,,,. Hoge asked wluch busmess groups were represented and asked to have that mformarion mcluded m the final draft O'Neill asked whether these busmess groups spoke of strengths as well as weaknesses Deans responded tn the a, ffzrmatzve and said he could get that summary informatton to the Board Commumt~Workshov - Open house attended by over 35 partic~pants. -Lack of practice fields -Increase accessibility and facilit~es for those wrth disabthhes -Ultunate Fnsbee squeezed out -Need for tennis courts complex for tournaments -No performing arts facilihes -Need for more gazden plots Deans stated that more user groups than general pubhc attended the commumty workshop Resident Survev Deans said pazk usage m Boulder was mcredibly high and that Boulder was an acrive commumty. He added that the overall sahsfachon rate with Boulder facilrties was '~ very good. v~ Mmutes of PRAB Smdy Sessron 06/15/2002 - Page 2 DB3i~~ ~puac auvui uio d~iivitlcS wiui ui2 LuSiicSi ~'i3CuCipahon rates - from tulnng~ ~ walkmg, bicychng and ~oggmg with a 90% panc~ipation rate to softball, which had a `, 9% participahon rate Geden reminded the Board that the needs assessment was prunanly lookuig at future facility development. She added that other mformahon related to programmmg and collaborahon was also bemg obtamed and could be used for the Master Plan and policy development as it relates to the organizahon as a whole. Grills remmded the Board that a low participahon rate of 6% was a sigmficant group with 6,000 panc~ipants out of a populahon of 100,000. Geden spoke about the importance of a cleaz mission statement for the department as it relates to commitment to providing service and prionhzahon for a methodical approach to future development. von Bleichert added that teenagers and people with disabilihes had been idenhfied as two groups that cihzens felt were the most unportant to provide facihues for and fherefore those two ~oups might be placed tugher on a priorihzarion list. Smith addressed the tugh participahon rate for Ulhmate Frisbee and said it was a sport that crosses genders and crosses all age levels Deans said dog parks and off leash areas for dogs was highest on the list of potenhal ~ new or addirional programs or facilit~es. von Bleichert asked if responses mdicated a lack faciliUes or a lack of facihhes m proxumty to the responder. Rastello responded that the questton of facility speczfic location was not rncluded :n the survey and therefore that ~nformatzon was not ava:lable. Rastello added that provuzon was a matter of mission and pohcy on whether to provzde a czrywtde complez or spread faczlztzes out There was discussion about whether the general public understood the term Legion ball field. Deans stated that Boulder was off the charts on the number of pools yet there was a desire expressed for more pools. There was d~scussion that ttus could be based on locahon or the time available for use - or the fact that the North Boulder RecreaUon Center was closed for renovahon. Likewise, the desire for additional community gazden plots could also be a function of locahon and proximity. • Trends & Benchmark Analysis - National Trends Partnershros Deans said that partnerstups conhnue to gazn m strength as faz as parks and facihtaes provisions and that Boulder was already ut~hzing tlus approach Economic Imnact ~... Pazks and Recreahon Departments have an econorcuc impact through tourism, tournaments and special events. Mmutes of PRAB SNdy Sessmn O6/15/2002 - Page 3 Reaeahon ProQramminQ ~ Providmg lifelong opportumties for recreahon for families, youth, adults and semors _ as well as mtergenerahonal programmmg - combmmg seniors and youth m programs • Trends & Benchmark Analysis - Local Trends Demograplucs Highest growth pro~ected for North Boulder, Crossroads azea and southeast Boulder. Local Trends von Bleichert spoke about CU students and how so many remam m the area after graduarion. Rastello smd he could look into the matter as CUprobably had that informat:on. Hoge spoke about the mcreased enrollment at CU and how that could affect the need for more playmg fields von Bleichert asked how to read the peaks and valleys of use - how to determme whether the declme is permanent or cychcal Geden replied there was no defznzt~ve answer as some things are area spectfic, some related to the culture of the city and some are truly fads Bradley spoke about the issue as it relates to the life cycle of a facihty Facihtv Usaee Membership to facilrtaes is approximately 87% resident and 13% non-resident. Lessons (i.e gymnastics, pottery, dance) taken are approximately 75% residents and ~ ~ 25% non-residents. There was discussion as to how the mformarion could be used to determme fee structure The Boazd took a 10-mmute break. Boazd members expressed a desire for a copy of the materials used for the screen presentahon and Deans sa~d he would get that mformation to them Hoge also asked for the execuuve summary. . • Trends & Benchmark Analysis - Boulder compared to 6 cities on a per capita basis - Ranking There was discussion as to the relevance of the data for Littleton because the populataon of Littleton was 140,000 yet the South Suburban Recreahon District encompasses a lazger popularion. Deans and Rastello sazd they would get the Distnct populahon and change the name from Littleton to South Suburban Recreation Distnct. Gnlls said the same was true for the crty of Wesmmster as the Hyland Hills Recreahon Distnct served it ~' Mmutes of PRAB Study Sesswn 06/15/2002 - Page 4 Deans said Boulder's rankmg compazed to other comm~uuhes was not as accurate m ~ hght of the above. Hoge asked whether the data• mcluded pnvate facilihes. Rastello responded ~n the negatrve Hoge added that data on pnvate facihries could be helpful when evaluahng need for a facil~ty. For example, Hoge suggested an azea with a tugh number of pnvate pools might not need to be provided with public pools Rastello stated that the data provided only one element or tool to be used when deternumng need. The data contazned mformahon on what the city provides per populahon as compared to other commumhes. von Bleichert asked whether data on pnvate facilities would be collected. Bradley responded that data had been collected on prtvate faczl:ttes wzthzn Boulder but zt had not been done as part of the benchmark survey for other communztees Deans said clanficahon and revisions would be made for the followmg: populat~ons of the two recreaUon distncts (South Suburban and Hyland Hills) and a dishnchon between lap and leisure pools. Wimng suggested park acreage might not be accurately reflected as undeveloped pazkland or open space might be mcluded m those figures He suggested it should be specified as acres of developed city pazks per capita. ~ • Boulder Guidelines There was discussion about the 14 mulh-use fields, wluch mcludes 9 fields at Pleasant View that aze only used for soccer Olander clanfied that the term multi-use field was used to define a long, rectangulaz field that was lazge enough to program for ultimate fnsbee, football, lacrosse, rugby or soccer The dishnchon was that mulh-use or mulh-purpose denoted a programmable field for games or pract~ce. She added tt-at there were 5 mulri-use fields outside of Pleasant View• two at Columbme, rivo at EBCC and one at Hazlow Platts Pazk O'Neill said it would be helpful to have a sepazate sheet of mformaUon on the mulri- use fields Wuung and Hoge spoke about North Boulder Pazk and other azeas that have potenhal to be used as mulh-use fields. Gnlls stated that the ground and turf in those parks were uneven and not suitable for some achv~ries. Hoge suggested upgradmg fields m those pazks to be mulh-use fields Geden said she would consider an even tugher percentage of square footage per person for the modehng pazameter for recreahon centers. She suggested loolung at razsing the figure for the Master Plan to the 2 2- 2.4 squaze foot per person range p'"~ because of the level of fitness m Colorado. ~~ Mmutes of PRAB Study Sess~on 06/ I S/2002 - Page 5 Hawthorne asked whether the squaze footage for the expansion and renovahon of the NBRC was mcluded m the total of squaze feet for recreahon centers. Rastello stated ~, that the NBRC was :ncluded in the total ...w Wimng said the number of pools might not be accurate because of how different communitaes count their pools -separate pools, leisure and lap pools Geden suggested checking wuh other commuranes to see how they determtned the number of their pools Gnlls stated that there were groups trymg to compile databases with all of tlus mformahon for ttte mdustry of parks and recreahon. The difficulty was that each center or distnct was d~fferent and dishnct. For example, some commumhes may mclude semor centers m the square footage for recreahon centers wtule other commuturies do not Open space vetsus developed pazkland was another area that was difficult as it was not measured consistently by all commiuuties. Cmlls spoke about commg to an mtutrive feeling about what was happemng natronally and regionally. Geden concurred with Gnlls and said that there would be no defimhves to make good decisions Data would be made avazlable and there wouldn't be any absolutes; yet the Boazd and staff would be asked to make decisions Cmlls said it would be a philosoplucal discussion whether Boulder should be at the cumng edge of square footage per person for recreation centers or whether to allocate ~ more money to outdoor facilihes because Boulder has a very achve outdoor ~ commumty Bradley and Deans sazd the numbers could be debated, but rt was important how they were applied and used as just one tool m the decision making process GIS Service Area Analysis Deans spoke about the maps and how they were developed to show sernce azea analysis for each facility. Dog Pazks von Bleichert asked whether the size of each dog pazk should be considered when determmuig service azea. Deans said tt could be, but had not been cons:dered for the enformakon and map zncluded zn the Board packet Hawthorne stated that a dog pazk had been proposed for Tantra several yeazs ago and the neighbors were strongly opposed to the idea because of issues with traffic, pazkuig and noise The strategy for dog pazks has changed over the years from dog pazks in smaller locafions to more commumty-wide dog pazks that have adequate pazkmg and buffer zones away from the neighborhoods von Bleichert asked whether the dog park at EBCC was temporary. Hawthorne responded in the affirmatzve and sa~d that the dog park was a temporary use facilzty ~ at EBCC unt:l such ttme as the undeveloped area at East u Master Planned '"` Mmutes of PRAB Smdy Session 06/15/2002 - Page 6 Tenms Courts ,,.~ Hoge asked how many courts were at the Millennium Hotel and Hawthorne ~,~ responded that there were ten courts. Hawthorne sazd the maps indicated two courts at Angel Pmes and that those courts were not bemg programmed and may eventually be removed. Hawthome suggested that those courts should not be included in the data and Board members concurred. Wmmg asked what was meant when a tenms court was programmed by the city. Olander responded that all tennis courts could be reserved and when not reserved were on a first come, first served baszs Geden added that all tennis courts could be programmed for classes and rented out for spectfic hmes. Olander added that Fairview was not included on the map because ct was used only for overflow in the summer when school was out Shelters Wuung suggested upgrading existing shelters that were not currently programmed if additional picmc shelters were needed. Wnilng also sazd there ought to be a footnote to indicate that there aze p~cr:ic shelters m Mountam Pazks and Open Space - specifically up on Flagstaff. Geden added that there should be a future discussion for a footnote as a lot of amemhes aze offered through Open Space that need to be considered when makmg decisions ~ Bradley stated that two addihonal shelters were proposed for future development at Footlulls [Commumty Park] and East [Boulder Commwuty Center]. Commucuty Gazdens Wining mquired about pwchasing addihonal land at the Hickory site for addihonal garden plots Hoge said that Gardens might be an area where proacimity should be considered. Geden responded that the Director of Community Gardens had stated that management of the gardens zs eas:er when more plots are zn one area rather than spread out over vartous locahons It would be resource ~ntens:ve to have small garden areas throughout the c:ty Hawthorne added that cazeful considerahon would have to be given to expandmg the gazdens at Hickory because of neighborhood concerns over traffic and parkmg. • Facility Needs Assessment Recommendations Deans spoke about the facility hst and methodologies used to idenhfy the quanhty needed and the recommendation Deans said that the recommendahon for mulh-use fields was not exactly 12 - it could ~^ be 10 or 15 - but the number demonstrated that the need was lugh. ~ Mmutes of PRAB SNdy Sessron 06/15/2002 - Page 7 Wimng asked whether the need for a ski trail was m addihon to the ski trazl proposed for Valmont [City PazkJ Deans responded that the slct trail at Yalmont C~ty Park '"" (VCP) would fi11 that need Gnlls stated that what she was heanng from the commumty was not ~ust the need for more tenms courts, but a need to have eight courts m one place. Deans sa~d that the srx addihonal courts could b2 added to exiskng areas wzth courts Bernhazdt queshoned the need for one bike racmg facihty when three of the four rankings were Low Deans responded that the ranking under Focur Groups should be changed from Low to Moderate Grills said that the discussion for the Master Plan would need to address the followmg queshons: • Is there a need for the facihty~ Would people use rt~ • Is the facihty something the city should subsidize with tax dollars? Geden sazd the queshon could also be asked whether the city should build facilihes that will allow revenue capab~hhes to subsidize other programs wluch could be very unportant with dechmng revenue streams O'Neill saad tttat with regard to bicycle racmg the resident survey only totaled 21 % and to 60% it was not unportant at all. She asked how the Moderate, Low and High were determmed on the resident survey. Deans responded that some of the Valmont ,~ questions about btke racing served to boost the resident survey ptece and show a ~ htgher level ofsupport , Wimng said rt would be helpful to understand quantity of facilihes needed as compazed to ttungs that already have funds committed. Geden responded that untzl a project was designed and under constructton it was not a reahty Rastello stated that part of the next level would be how to meet tdenhfied needs through partnerslups, what was currently bonded and funded and what was proposed. Hoge asked about data on what facihhes aze avaalable m the wmmunity Deans responded that the next level will address how to sat~sfy identifted needs O'Neill asked if the need for 12 addrtional multi-use fields was based on 2001 populahon rather than the pro~ected 2020 popularion. Deans responded that zt was based on 2001 populahon as pro~echons were for I2, 000 addihonal people over 20 years, which was less than one- percent growth rate von Bleichert sazd it would be useful to have a list identifymg each type of existing field (mulh-use, httle league, and softball), based on uses. A spreadsheet or map idenhfymg each type of field wtth the followuig mformahon would be helpful. -Is it programmed~ not programmed? ,,,,,, -Is there an IGA~ -What is the condit~on of the field~ ~ -Quanhty of fields Mmutes of PRAB Sady Session 06/15/2002 - Page 8 -Fees for use? ,~", `~- Geden responded that she was currently working with the school distnct for athletic facihty needs assessment. N. Next Steps . Prepare final draft • Conduct another community meedng - poss~bly m July • Revtew meering results and revised recommendahons with the Boazd • Prepaze final Recreation FaciliUes Needs Assessment report with unplementat~on and fundmg strategy Hoge asked for an explanahon for facihhes not recommended - such as the Arts, Bowlmg Alley and Pottery Lab. • The meehng adjourned at 1:15 p.m. ~ Attest: Georgia ackson ~~ Recording Secretary ~' ~ APPROVED BY PARKS AND RECREATION ADVISORYNBO~. Ed von Bleichert Boazd Chair Mmutes of PRAB Study Sess~on 06/IS/2002 - Page 9