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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Parks & Recreation - 9/26/2011 City of Boulder Parks and Recreation Advisory Board Council Chambers 1777 Broadway September 26, 2011 Action Meeting Minutes To listen to the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board meetings in their entirety, please go to the following link: www.boulderparks-rec.org Board Present: Bob Yates, Marcelee Gralapp, Rick Thayer, Kelly Wyatt, Mike Conroy Board Absent: Myriah Conroy; Michelle Estrella Staff Present: Kirk Kincannon, Jeff Dillon, Alice Guthrie, Sally Dieterich, Sarah DeSouza, Steve Whipple, Mary Neumann, Randall Rutsch The meeting was called to order at 6:05 p.m. 1. APPROVAL OF AGENDA The agenda was approved. II. FUTURE BOARD ITEMS AND TOURS Kincannon provided an update on future Board items: • 10/12/11 - PRAB Retreat • 10/24/11 - PRAB meeting - Boulder Reservoir Master Plan (BRMP) discussion • October or early November 2012 - PRAB tour of Pottery Lab and Columbia Cemetery III. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION Public participation was opened. No one spoke. Public participation was closed. IV. CONSENT AGENDA A. Approval of minutes from August 22, 2011 The minutes from August 22, 2011 were approved as written. B. Informational Items 1. Park Development Update 2. Energy Efficiency Update 1 Written updates on these items were provided to the Board as part of the packet materials. Board Chair Yates explained that these items are informational items that require no Board action or discussion. If the Board prefers more detailed information or discussion, the item can be called up and moved to Agenda Item VI, Items for Discussion/Information. Yates made a motion to accept the updates as presented by staff. Wyatt seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. V. ITEMS FOR ACTION A. B-Cycle Station at North Boulder Recreation Center Randall Rutsch, City of Boulder Senior Transportation Planner, spoke at this meeting requesting the PRAB to approve a Boulder B-cycle station at the North Boulder Recreation Center and to amend the existing revocable license for Boulder Bike Sharing to allow this location on park property. He provided a brief history of B-cycle in Boulder which includes thirteen bike rental stations, mostly located in downtown Boulder. B-cycle plans on expanding to seventeen stations by the end of 2011. He added that the PRAB has a direct role in approving use of Parks and Recreation Department owned property with regard to leasing, permitting or licensing park land. The public hearing was opened. No one spoke. The public hearing was closed. Gralapp made the following motion: I move that the PRAB accept the recommendation to approve a Boulder B-cycle station location at the North Boulder Recreation Center. Conroy (Mike) seconded the motion. The motion passed 5-0, with Estrella and Conroy (Myriah) absent. B. City of Boulder's 2012 Capital Investment Program Round 2 Bond Projects Recommendation to the Capital Investment Strategy Committee Dillon presented the update on this item as a follow-up to the September 21, 2011 PRAB study session on this item. He explained that Round 2 of the Bond Project Initiative relates to projects that would potentially go to the voters in November 2012. He added that the PRAB is being asked to recommend approval of the Department proposed project list to the Capital Investment Strategy Committee (CISC). He said the final project list will be presented to City Council in June for 2 finalization in July 2012. He added that this would be a ballot item in November 2012. The public hearing was opened. Andrew Davies, non-resident, Executive Director of Boulder Valley Lacrosse, encouraged the City of Boulder to add more available field space for youth sports programs. He said sports groups are struggling to find more field space for age groups from first grade through high school. Tom McCartney, non-resident, and Meg Sanders, resident, representing Boulder Youth Football, pooled their speaking time and asked staff to provide more field space for the youth football program. They said that some communities do not charge a fee for field use and that some charge a flat fee of $2,000 per year. They added that the cost for 30 boys to play football in Boulder is $30,000 per year with fields often not available as there is competition for the space with adult programs. Jack Taylor, non-resident, coach of Bison Baseball, Diamond Baseball of Boulder, spoke of the need for more ball fields in Boulder. He said Bison Baseball has twelve baseball teams that play on two fields provided by Boulder County. He added that the teams play 60 games per year, but no tournaments are scheduled in Boulder due to the high cost of renting a field. fle urged Boulder to build new youth baseball fields. Eric Harman, non-resident, representing Diamond Baseball, spoke of the urgent call for more youth baseball fields in Boulder. He said a recreational needs bond issue was passed twenty years ago, but the needs have gone unanswered. He asked the Board and staff to think about the young people in the community and to re-visit the need for new/more baseball fields. Vicki Moore, resident, President of North Boulder Little League, spoke on the shortage of youth fields in Boulder. She said in 2010-11 they served 2000 kids. In 2006 they served 750-800 kids, or a 33% increase for a 5 year period. She added that the program has reached capacity because there are not enough fields to add any new users. Steps taken have been: reduce the number of games, starting season earlier, etc., but the bottom line is the need for more fields to serve the kids that want to play Little League. She added that there is also an underserved population of 15-18 year old kids that want to play ball, but have nowhere to play. For the 2012 bond initiative, she asked that building more fields and a stronger maintenance/repair program be included. Cathy Bukowski, resident, representing Boulder Bison Youth Baseball, asked that a complex be built for Little League baseball so that competitions could be established in Boulder creating revenue increases. 3 The public hearing was closed. The Board was in agreement that new baseball fields should be at the top of the project list. Other projects in order of importance were: • Athletic fields • Recreation Centers • Flatirons Golf Course • Boulder Reservoir • City and Community Parks • Neighborhood Parks • Pearl Street Mall • Historic and Cultural Facilities • Land Acquisition Dillon said the next step is to take this information forward to the committee and prepare for the October 19, 2011 Capital Investment Strategy Committee (CISC) meeting. C. Public Hearing and Consideration of a Motion Calling for a Sub- delegation of authority from the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board (PRAB) to the City Manager to Grant Leases, Permits or Licenses in or on Park Lands, not to Exceed Three (3)Years, on Behalf of the City of Boulder Pursuant to Charter Section 164 Kincannon provided background information on this item. He said this item provides the most efficient way to process items that are not significantly controversial, which gives the City Manager the authority to act on behalf of the PRAB for leases that are three years or less. Leases longer than three years must go before City Council for approval. He added that staff is requesting that the Board authorize the City Manager to act on behalf of the PRAB's interests relative to leases, licenses and permits for City of Boulder parks. The Board was opposed to this item as written, and chose not to take action at this time. VI. ITEMS FOR DISCUSSIONANFORMATION There were no Items for Discussion/Information. VII. MATTERS FROM THE DEPARTMENT A. Asset Management Program Update Dillon provided a verbal update on this item and provided a written summary to the Board. He said asset management captures the following data: • What assets we own • What are the assets value • What repairs are needed • How assets are used 4 The Department has inventoried the assets, assembled a team to develop a professional asset management approach to be completed in November and will then begin implementation to provide a facility condition index on each of the major assets and sub-assets owned by the Department. This will detail asset value, repairs needed and the cost of repair. B. Master Plan Road Map Dillon gave a short verbal timeline update on this item: • RFP final draft in process with senior staff • Proceed to City of Boulder Purchasing Department • Potential mid October release • Potential end of October selection C. Boulder Reservoir Master Plan Update Guthrie provided the verbal update on this item. She said staff is finishing the draft Master Plan, the staff review and will go to a larger City of Boulder staff review. She added the following timeline: • Plan to be given to the PRAB -October 24, 2011 meeting • Public open house and comments - November 16 • Return to the PRAB for public comments, public hearing and adoption - November 28, 2011 meeting VIII. MATTERS FROM BOARD MEMBERS A. PRAB Retreat Yates reminded the Board about the PRAB retreat scheduled for October 12, 2011 at Marcelee Gralapp's home. He added that the retreat would be facilitated by Heather Bergman. Gralapp provided directions for Board members. B. November and December Meeting Dates The Board elected to keep the November meeting on November 28, 2011 and to re-visit the possibility of canceling the December 19, 2011 meeting date. Yates added that there will be a ribbon cutting at Columbia Cemetery in late October for the newly constructed storage facility that will be combined with a tour of the cemetery for PRAB members by staff representative Mary Reilly- McNellan. Yates added that perhaps a tour of the Pottery Lab could be scheduled for the same date. IX. NEXT BOARD MEETING: October 24, 2011 X. ADJOURN The meeting adjourned at 8:01 p.m. 5 A VED BY ARKS AND CRE T DVISOR D (-----13ob Yates Board Chair Attest: l Sally Dieterich Recording Secretary 6