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1 - Draft Minutes - Open Space - December 10, 2008 OPEN SPACE BOARD OF TRUSTEES Minutes December 10, 200$ BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT Pat Billig Kay Tauscher Bill Briggs John Putnam Allyn Feinberg STAFF PRESENT Mike Patton Dean Paschall Jim Reeder Steve Armstead Delani Wheeler Eric Stone Ann Goodhart Cecil Fenio Ronda Romero Pam Prentice Heather Swanson Mark Gershman GUESTS PRESENT Dr. Michael Miller and Fred Quartarone, Colorado Division of ~~'ildlife Dr. Charles Southwick, Professor at University of Colorado Kristine Nelson, Regional Trails Planner for Boulder County CALL TO ORDER L~ The meeting was called to order at 6:00 p.m. AGENDA ITEA'I 1-Approval of Minutes John Putnam moved that the minutes of November 12, 2008 be approved as read. Kay Tauscher seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. AGENDA ITEA'I 2 -Public Participation Ray Bridge, Boulder, spoke on behalf of Friends of Boulder Open Space (FOBOS) commending the Grassland Plan. I1~1r. Bridge passed out comments on the Grassland Plan from FOBOS to staff members. The plan establishes a matrix for measuring and preserving resources for future plans, which is a level of detail that has been lacking for some time. On the issue of balancing recreational uses, IVfi•. Bridge's opinion is that the Grassland Plan is an ecosystem plan and recreation is addressed in the ~~`isitor 1Vlaster Plan {V~~iP). l~•fadison Post, Eldorado Springs, brought a petition signed by 40 neighbors who object to trail closures in their area. The neighbors request that Open Space and Mountain Parks {OSMP) rescind the gate removals and seasonal bird closures in nearby Open Space. Mr. Post has shown this petition to OSMP twice, and is unhappy with the response. He believes that leadership at OSMP does not view man as part of the ecosystem but more a tlueat to it. There is nothing in the VA•g' about accommodating man's presence in the ecosystem. The department's management seems to take the stand of "better safe than sore}r". The neighbors want to know if there is a way out of this situation, if they should continue to appeal to the Open Space Board of Trustees (OSBT) or if they should hire a lawyer and go to City Council on behalf of the many disgruntled citizens. They would like to know if there is a possibility of using a mutually acceptable arbitrator. John Putnam requested a copy of the petition. Guy Burgess, Boulder, President of the Boulder Area Trails Coalition (BATCO} said that BATCO submitted a letter to OSMP via email during the Cnassland Plan public comment process. The letter referred to the relation between humans and nonhumans in the ecosystem. IVIr. Burgess disagrees with the Grassland Plan because it was developed without the human aspect of the ecosystem. The plan should promote human understanding of nonhuman environments and develop ways for them AGENDA ITEM I PAGE 1 to exist together. This plan could be a model for other wildlife areas outside of Boulder County. Mr. Burgess suggests adding a few chapters to the plan that address ways to balance humans, recreation and wildlife. AGENDA ITEM 3 -Director's Update Mike Patton gave a quick update on the 2008 Christmas tree cutting event. Three hundred people signed up for permits and aver eight hundred individuals attended; there were no accidents. The turnout was goad and it was a positive experience. This year (_)SMP used online registration and it was closed within 20 minutes of becoming available. The number of participants is limited to the available parking at the summit. Delani Wheeler gave an update on finances. Revenues tlu•ough the month of September are down about two percent from initial projections. The city's finance director has come up with a plan for 2009. The general fund major expenditures will not be released at the beginning of the year. Instead there will be a series of three check-in dates with City Council before major expenditures are released: May 19, July 21 and October 30. The department's financial team and financial advisor will meet on January 20, 2009 to discuss the bond market. All vacant positions are being held open and seasonal hiring will not begin until April 2009. I1~1ike Patton added that the mid- February banding has been put on hold. Prospects for bonding are not good. Sales tax revenues for this year are two percent less than projected; although revenue growth is still positive, it affects OSMP's revenues by about $450,000. Open Space and Mountain Parks made a commitment to the Board and the community that when the Spring Brook Loap opened there would be two additional rangers on staff. Those two seasonal rangers have been hired. Kay Tauscher asked alike to define a seasonal position. Mike explained that "seasonal" is a luring term; the positions are not along-term commitment and the two rangers have been hired for a year. Seasonal employees do not receive benefits. Adjusting the amount of seasonal hiring is one option for cutting back in the budget. There is a hold on hiring for all standard positions. John Putnam asked if bonding has to be approved by City Council. Mike and Delani said that it does, and that OSMP also must ask for the Board's recommendation. Steve Armstead gave an update on Spring Brook Loop and presented a photo tour of the trail. The trail opened last Tuesday, December 2. Steve handed out a new brochure for the Spring Brook Loop area. Rangers, outreach staff and trail guide volunteers are all staffed on the trail and rangers have begun the sustainable recreation monitoring. There will be a document that shows the results of the monitoring. Interpretive signs are placed in various locations to educate the public, and staff` presence will continue. Restoration work will continue through the spring. Kay Tauscher complimented staff on the new brochure and signage, saying they are a huge improvement. Steve said the Goshawk Ridge Trail is almost complete. The bridge installation is tentatively scheduled for next week. The trail is projected to open the first week in January. Mike said there was community involvement on the new look of some of the signs. Eric Stone said staff recognizes that different plans may appear to be in conflict with one another. The VMP focuses on visitor enjoyment, whereas the Grassland Plan focuses on ecological protection. The Trail Study Area {TSA) plans are where the two come together. The draft Grassland Plan is asking "What could we do~`what should we do?" rather than recommending the actual implementation. Mark Gershman recognized all the staff members that have been involved in developing the Grassland Plan. Fifty people attended the open house. Seventy comments from the public came in by the December 5 deadline. Mark shared many concerns from the public. There were many comments regarding prairie dog conservation. The comments were split between people who AGENDA ITEM I PAGE 2 thought there was too much in the plan about prairie dog conservation and others saying there was not enough. Mark informed the Board that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has received a petition to list the black-tailed prairie dog for protection under the Endangered Species Act. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agreed to have a 90-day inquiry period which will go through the beginning of February. There were a number of helpful recommendations given. The public comment process went well and the next step is to compile a summary of all the comments and make them auailable. The Grassland Plan team will be working on responses to comments as well as revisions to the Grassland Plan. Staff has not yet decided on what community meetings will be held. The revised plan will then be brought to the Board for its recommendation. Bill Briggs asked if staff is going to make revisions before the Board has given their comments. Mark replied that the Boarcl will have the current public reuiew draft document and a summary of public comments as well as some indications of the direction staff will go. T, Like Patton added that some issues will be addressed immediately. Staff foresees two meetings/study sessions on the draft plan and, ultimately, a public hearing. This plan is likely to be called up by council due to the prairie dog issues. Bill asked if staff is aware of changes as of today. ~-lark responded yes and that staff will provide responses to comments and hold study sessions. Bill requested a prepared document of comments along with OSMP's stand on changes and what would they look like. Allyn Feinberg said that it would be helpful to know what the public had a chance to review and discuss any changes that may be implemented. Mike said that when the plan comes back to the Board it is important that everyone can be present. Allyn asked if the public could, somehow, be im~oh%ed in the study session since it is difficult for members of the public to attend but not be allowed to give input. John Putnam asked if a document of comments with responses could be posted for the public. This would inform them of the procedural context so everyone understands how the pieces fit together between all the different plans. This might filter out the misunderstandings and leaue only the big issues to be addressed. AGENDA ITEM 4 -Matters from the Board None. AGENDA ITEM 5 -Chronic Wasting Disease Study Results Heather Swanson gaue a presentation on the results of the Chronic ~~lasting Disease Study. Dr. 1~Iichael Miller, Fred Quartarone, and Dr. Charles Southwick were available for questions. Kay Tauscher asked what a prion is and how it is transmitted. Heather explained that a prion is a protein that has been altered. The disease can be transmitted through a uariety of ways, and evidence shows it is transmitted through the digestive tract. Dr. Michael Miller, Senior Staff ti eterinarian with the Colorado Division of ~?Vildlife {CDOW) answered questions from the Board. John Putnam asked if OSl~~ has a comment ready for members of the public who may be concerned with the public health aspect of clu•onic wasting disease. Heather said that information is posted on the OSMP Web site. Heather will prepare information as comments start to come in that can be forwarded through the front desk or by email. Public Participation None. Return to Board & Staff No further discussion. MOTION This was an information item only. No action is requested from the Board at this time. AGENDA ITEM I PAGE 3 AGENDA ITEM 6 - Consideration of the disposition change-of--use of approximately 585 square feet of the McKenzie property pursuant to Section 177 of the Boulder City Charter. Jim Reeder gave a power point presentation showing the area involved. The county is proposing to connect the Cottonwood Trail with the Four Mile Creek Trail to provide safe passage from one trail to the other. The county will add 744 feet of paved trail from Four Mile Creek Trail which will connect to an overpass pedestrian bridge. There will be 292 square feet of wetlands impacted. The county wwill have to create 585 square feet of wetlands because of the two to one mitigation requirement ratio. No trees will be removed. A fence will be installed to keep the livestock out of the new wetland area. The city wetland regulation requires that the county obtain a wetland permit. OSMP is asking the Board to approve the change-of--use and recommend to City Council that it do the same. Bill Briggs asked if this was a disposition. Jim explained that as defined in the charter it should be considered a disposition because it is taking a piece of ground and permanently changing the use. Kay Tauscher clarified that OSI1~1P is not selling the property. Mike Patton said that OSMP is proposing a different use as well as changing a wetland. This will be a permanent change of use, so by definition it is required by the charter that OSBT approve use changes. John Putnam asked who will be maintaining the property and Jim said that the county has afive-year monitoring period spelled out in the permit. Public Participation None. ~ Return to Board & Staff No further discussion. MOTION Kay Tauscher moved that the Open Space Board of Trustees appro~~•e the disposition change-of--use of 5$5 square feet of land an the McKenzie property far the purpose of wetland mitigation and move to recommend that the Boulder City Council approve the disposal/change-of--use of this parcel of Open Space property. Jolui Putnam seconded the motion. VOTE All in favor, none apposed. Staff and the Board discussed potential dates for the Grassland Plan study session. They agreed to meet an Februar<~ 25. ADJOURNMENT -The meeting adjourned at 8:07 p.m. These draft minutes 1re~°e prepared by Pam Prentice. AGENDA ITEM I PAGE 4