Loading...
01.15.25 OSBT MinutesApproved February 12, 2025 OPEN SPACE BOARD OF TRUSTEES Action Minutes Meeting Date January 15, 2025 Record of this meeting can be found here: https://bouldercolorado.gov/government/watch-board- meetings (video start times are listed below next to each agenda item). BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT Michelle Estrella, Chair Harmon Zuckerman, Vice Chair Jon Carroll Brady Robinson Sarah Glynn OSMP STAFF MEMBERS PRESENT Dan Burke Jeff Haley Jennelle Freeston Lauren Kilcoyne Heather Swanson Sam McQueen Lisa Goncalo Kacey French Katie Knapp AGENDA ITEM 1 – Call to Order and Roll Call The meeting was called to order at 6:00 p.m. AGENDA ITEM 2 – Approval of the Minutes (00:01) Brady moved the Open Space Board of Trustees to adopt the minutes from December 11, 2024, as amended. Sarah seconded. This motion passed unanimously with the exception of Jon, who was not present at the December 11 meeting and abstained. AGENDA ITEM 3 – Public Participation for Items not Identified for Public Hearing (00:03) Giles Troughton spoke about wildfire management and safety concerns. Lynn Segal spoke about budget and OSBT’s role in development in Boulder. AGENDA ITEM 4 – Matters from the Board (00:13) The board discussed the agricultural housing guidelines written item. Harmon asked about demand for agricultural housing, and asked if we have enough housing for demand. Lauren Kolb shared that we are meeting demand. She noted that we anticipate demand increasing. Harmon asked if OSMP has an interest in reducing commuting, emissions, and housing for workers. Lauren Kolb responded that some housing can be converted. Dan added that Boulder County has a robust housing portfolio as well and we can partner together. Michelle mentioned that she did not realize we had housing that was not on agricultural leases. Dan noted that we’ll come back with a discussion about our residential portfolio. Brady asked if these would be subject to regular disposal. Dan said yes, it would need to go to OSBT and City Council. Michelle asked to clarify if income is exclusively from work on the farm, the department is not asking to substantiate it but if they do have other income, they do need to verify their income. Lauren Kolb responded that some workers only work a couple days on the farm and then have another full-time job, so we would want to verify income. Sarah spoke about the fires in Los Angeles and acknowledged the wildfire risk in Boulder. She read a list of upcoming wildfire and climate action items on future OSBT agendas and meetings with members of the public. Michelle noted that Giles has read the Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) and is very knowledgeable. She shared that he had an outstanding question about why the WUI is defined as a thin strip of Boulder land. She wanted to make sure staff respond to Giles’s questions. Dan confirmed that staff will respond. Harmon noted that some of the things Giles brought up may be Planning Board or other board issue, but OSMP mitigation projects can reduce carbon emissions. He noted that connecting those actions to wildfire management is important. AGENDA ITEM 5 – Matters from the Department (00:31) Kacey French and Katie Knapp presented “Fort Chambers / Poor Farm – Upcoming Planning, Design and Engagement for the Interpretive Experience along the Healing Trail”. Michelle shared that she liked seeing the dates under each engagement window in the presentation and would have liked to see it in the packet that way. She asked if OSMP will proactively reach out to folks who have said they want to be a part of the process. Katie confirmed that she will and that the dates have not been set yet. Sarah asked if there is a second announcement coming for the agricultural farmstead enhancement proposal for tenants. Heather clarified that the announcement went out in December and the detailed Request for Proposal (RFP) went out that day (January 15). Harmon shared that he was glad to see that there is participation from community and tribal members planned. Kacey French presented “Implementation of E-bikes on City of Boulder Open Space Trails”. Jon asked a question about the chart that showed “mountain bike prohibited, not e-bike” and wanted to understand if that was an area where e-bikes were prohibited. Kacey said the intention was to separate out traditional bikes from the e-bikes. Jon pointed out that there were only seven interactions related to e-bikes. Brady asked what the process is for someone who has a disability to get permission to use an e-bike on a trail where e-bikes are not permitted, like the North Sky Trail. Michelle added that the ADA allows people with disabilities to take e-bikes. Lisa shared that you are able to use electric mobility devices on the OSMP trail system without providing evidence. Staff are not allowed to ask about the nature of a disability. Michelle asked how people were approached to get the data about seven e-bike violations. Lisa shared that she is not sure about the nature of the violations. Michelle said she was surprised by the data and shared appreciation for taking on the policy change. She noted that we have gotten positive feedback and there is a climate impact with this because it gives people access to trails that they could not bike to before. She asked what is next now that we have this data. Kacey shared that the original motion allowed OSMP to add trails. She noted that OSMP implemented e- bikes on a little bit of the North TSA. Kacey shared that it is not part of OSMP’s work plan to bring this to the community to allow e-bikes on more trails. Dan added that a priority of this was to be consistent with partners like Boulder County, so part of this project is monitoring what other agencies are doing. Michelle asked to clarify if a full public process is needed to implement e-bikes on a new trail. Kacey and Dan confirmed that a full process is not needed, but public process is recommended for something beyond the spirit of the initial recommendation. Harmon asked if the spirit of the direction for no e-bikes west of Broadway was because these are steeper trails. Kacey shared that some community members did have that concern, but there were also some community concerns about e-bikes on all trails. Dan reminded OSBT that staff recommendation and board recommendation were not the same, then City Council took staff’s recommendation and added some trails west. He reiterated that trend analysis and monitoring will take a couple years. Harmon supported the data collection approach and shared that he thinks trends are heading more toward e-bikes. Michelle shared that the progression of the e-bike access process shows how the community is changing. She encouraged staff to continue to watch data and continue to listen to the community’s needs. Lauren Kilcoyne and Sam McQueen presented “High-Level Strategic Guidance Informing Annual Budget and Work Plan Development”. Harmon noted there is a priority for public safety and asked if that is because of the Citywide Strategic Plan. Lauren shared that it is a combination of safety as a top priority in the city and Rangers doing OSMP safety work, so we are capturing those connections. Harmon noted that if we are reporting back safety connection to show we are doing our part, he is fine with that approach, but if we are trying to over allocate resources to show the city that we’re helping more with public safety, he would not support that. Dan responded that we are inventorying what we are already doing with this new tool, but we are not being asked go outside open space charter purposes to meet this. It plays a role in enhancing but there is not an expectation that departments go out of their way to make something happen if it is not related to what they do. Michelle added that because it is listed as strategy one, safety feels like a top priority for us as a department and it is not what open space is about, so it does not resonate with her. Lauren shared that she does not recall why safety is listed first on the Citywide Strategic Plan. There are places where Rangers are involved and we track into those strategies to the extent that they apply but we do not want to conflate that with overall ownership. Brady recalled a conversation with a Ranger from the OSBT Retreat and said that he would love to see evidence in the budget citywide to address that. He shared that he is not sure if there is something the board can do to elevate this so we can take a citywide approach. Lauren noted that we do not want budget discussions to be just about budget. It could be addressed in the budget and/or scheduled as a separate topic for discussion. Sarah asked if she was reading correctly that the safety priority was from 2024. Dan clarified that the safety priority the board has been talking about is a citywide adopted strategy for all departments and when we get into the areas to pay closer attention to from the Director’s Team, those are our OSMP strategic areas. Those are not necessarily related to the Citywide Strategic Plan. Brady shared that he understands how we do enhancements but has had less insight into areas we want to deprioritize. He asked if there are active management strategies on the operating side. Lauren shared that we think about balanced reduction types across every expenditure type and gave examples of decisions around CIP and operating budget. Sarah shared things she is excited about and where she sees opportunities for thinking strategically, including tying community engagement to climate work and providing spaces for the community to be gathering. Michelle shared that she agrees with Brady and raised the trail maintenance backlog as an area the community wants to make a dent in. She added that we need have more visibility into reallocations in the operating budget and it was good to see reallocations and options for a budget constrained future. Michelle noted that she was concerned about the CIP going down so much because she would like to see the trail maintenance backlog addressed. Harmon shared that he is interested in hearing more about fleet renewal, electrification, and horizons for paying off reinvestments. Brady asked for a ten-year look back on things like FTE changes, CIP, and maintenance backlog. Dan gave several verbal updates, including that the CO Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety (DRMS) work is wrapping up at Marshall Mesa. ADJOURNMENT – The meeting adjourned at 8:00 p.m. These minutes were prepared by Sam McQueen