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HomeMy WebLinkAbout07-14-11 Recreation and Parks Advisory Board MinutesBozeman Recreation & Parks Advisory Board P.O. Box 1230 · Bozeman, MT · 59771 Minutes of the Recreation and Parks Advisory Board (RPAB) July 14, 2011 Meeting was called to order at 7:01 p.m. by William VandenBos. Present: Board: Sandy Dodge, Bill VandenBos, Chris Guy, Julie Zickovich, Tawnya Storm, Sue Henning, Bob Wade, Jared Nelson, and Jesse Tuffte Minutes: 09 June, 2011 minutes were unanimously approved Open Public Comment: No public comment Parkland Dedication Review (Chris Saunders): Mr. Saunders gave an informational presentation on the parkland requirements. Some general discussion regarding parkland requirements ensued between the RPAB and Mr. Saunders. The RPAB thanked Mr. Saunders for his detailed presentation. Committee Reports: City Commissioner Perspective (Sean Becker): Sean Becker gave an informational update on the 25th street development. He also discussed that the housing ordinance will be on the agenda at the next commission meeting. Gallatin Valley Land Trust (Kelly Pohl): Volunteers: we are having a very busy volunteer trail work season, and have completed many projects with community groups totaling over 1,200 volunteer hours. Work projects have included: o resurfaced the trails at Bozeman ponds o resurfaced sections of the Burke Park trail system o addressed some erosion problems in Burke Park o pulled weeds at Lindley Park o pulled weeds at Drinking Horse Mountain o Thursday night volunteers are removing weeds and resurfacing the Gallagator Trail and spurs between College St. connector and Ice House Park Morning Star Trail resurfacing: We have submitted permits and expect to begin this work in August. Regional Park trails: We have a contractor at the RP this week installing new connector trails from Oak Street connecting into the lake trails. East Gallatin Recreation Area: We will be reviewing flood damage and exploring trail reroutes and clean up with the City in the coming weeks. Grants: GVLT was awarded a $10,000 grant from REI to help improve the Westside Trail (including Bozeman Pond connector trail) and to install the new boulder at the Regional Park. We also submitted a $45,000 application to the Recreational Trails Program for work on the Triple Tree Trail – many thanks to RPAB for the letter of support. GVLT’s Longest Day of Trails event was very successful on June 24 and we had over 170 people join the land trust and participate in guided bicycle rides on the trail. Thanks to all of you who were able to come out and support the land trust! Parks Division Report (None present): We dodged a bullet with the flooding; repairs and re-routes are being completed on the Sourdough trail and part of the trail near the Gardner parking lot. The East Gallatin trail will require a more extensive plan. We are not going to keep repairing the trail and have it wash away each spring. The alternate work week (7 days a week) has been implemented as of June 19th. We have had our first casualty, with a full-time leadworker giving notice and her final day was yesterday. Essentially, what Ron and I unsuccessfully argued with the “powers that be” is that our small park and cemetery crew will be spread way too thin and what we could potentially see is “diluted” crew confined to doing the “bare bone basics”(garbage, dog stations and opening restrooms and a little mowing) – that is what we are seeing unfortunately. Most user groups are or have wrapped up the spring season. We have tried to get out and take advantage of their absence and aerate, overseed and work on infields. This has been quite a challenge with fewer full-time employees working the weekdays. We are working with the Optimists out at the Bozeman Ponds to install a swing set, small playground and a climber just east of the pavilion, that project is done and ready to enjoy. We have decided the 5th climbing boulder will be placed at the Regional Park. Everything “meshed” together with the location and the potential that this project could jump start a few others earmarked for the Park. We meet next Tuesday on-site with the builders. I have talked to numerous User Groups about going to a percentage in regards to what we charge them for User Fees. My argument is a “flat tax” is fair across the board, with each group sharing the same percentage- Some really like the idea and others are adamantly opposed. I am suggesting a new sub-committee that will provide input on User Fees and how potentially they are assessed. I have a long history with the groups and that might be the backdrop to the conversation. Recreation Report (Jamie Saitta): Summer Programs (Hand out program guide) We have a very talented group of Recreation Leaders this summer! Our classes are in full swing and our registration numbers are up. We offer programs in all interest areas for kids age 2 and up and we see close to 2,000 participants in our summer programs alone. Our FY11 Recreation Program Revenue was up almost $19,000 from FY10. Total in FY11 was $83,468. Our Spring T-ball League had 440 kids and we added a 3 year old league which was a huge success! Almost all of our swim lessons at Bogert Pool are full. Adult Programs Adult kickball is underway and we have 11 teams and close to 200 people participating, up from 6 teams last year! We will be working with Ron on a new adult fee proposal to bring to you and the Commission in the near future. We have lots of ideas for adult programs, if you have any let us know. Fall, Winter Program Guide We have been working on our schedule for fall and winter; our guide will be out on August 14. Look for it in the Chronicle. We will continue to offer evening preschool classes which we introduced last year and saw great success. We have started contracting some of our programs out, so we are able to offer more of a variety of classes. For example: Dog Camp, Golf, Skyhawks Sports Camp, Kids Yoga, etc. Upcoming events The Sweet Pea Children’s Run will be on August 6 at 10am. We need 50 volunteers! Please let us know if you or someone you know is interested in helping, it is a lot of fun! Our 2nd Session of Outdoor Adventure Club starts tomorrow. This is a program for kids age 12-14 and includes climbing on the city boulders, fly fishing, SCUBA and whitewater rafting. The Noon Optimist Club subsidizes the program which allows the fees to remain very low ($20 City $28 Non-City) Cancellation of August Meeting (William VandenBos): Mr. VandenBos moved that we cancel the August meeting, it was seconded and unanimously passed. Meeting adjourned at 8:25 p.m.