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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11-07-2013 Trails, Open Space and Parks (TOP) Committee Minutes MINUTES OF THE TRAILS, OPEN SPACE AND PARKS COMMITTEE MEETING, NOVEMBER 7, 2013 COMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT: Don Beeman Sandy Dodge Tom Starner Doug Chandler Cyndy Andrus, Commission Liaison Bob Hawks, Chair COMMITTEE MEMBERS ABSENT: CITY STAFF PRESENT: Mitch Overton, Parks& Recreation Director Chris Saunders, Policy& Planning Manager Doreen Olean, Recording Secretary A. Meeting was called to order at 9:04 a.m. by Chairperson, Bob Hawks. B. Approval of Minutes of October 24, 2013 meeting— :07- Minutes were approved as written with the exception of the Rough Cut Matrix item for Bozeman Pond Park Expansion. Committee members with at least 5 yeses lists Committee member Beeman twice and does not mention Committee member Chandler. All five Committee members of Dodge, Beeman, Hawks, Starner and Chandler passed the Rough Cut Matrix with at least 5 yeses. Committee member Dodge motioned to approve the amended minutes with the above change. Committee member Beeman seconded. Motion passed unanimously. C. Changes to the Agenda - :51— Recording Secretary Olean stated that item H. i should state confirmation of next Committee meeting on November 21 rather than November 14, 2013. D. Public Comment- none E. Disclosures- none F. Special Presentation: Bozeman Pond Park Expansion Application —Gallatin Valley Land Trust—Kelly Pohl—1:59—Proposing expanding Bozeman Pond Park by about 9 acres. Location of project is immediately north of Bozeman Pond. Centrally located and well connected to other trails in the Main Street to Mountains system. Adjacent to other parks (Bozeman Pond and Aashiem Fields). Two fold goal of expanding a community park and completing critical trail components in the Main Street to Page 1 of 6 MINUTES OF THE TRAILS,OPEN SPACE AND PARKS COMMITTEE MEETING, NOVEMBER 7, 2013 the Mountains trail system. Partnership with Haven. Shared a conceptual plan with the Committee. Trails would create a loop trail around the park. Southern section of park would be a natural area with native vegetation. Would include a fenced off-leash dog area in the northern part of the park. Partnering with Run Dog Run to build a 3 acre area for exercising and training dogs, thus taking pressure off other dog parks in Bozeman. Includes a natural playground for kids and a picnic area. Also parking lot for park and for Aasheim Fields and restrooms. Would provide a 24 acre flag ship park if this project is approved. Goal of PROST Plan to aggregate and consolidate parkland. Serves an underserved area of town. Would be the 4th largest park in Bozeman. Seamless integration with Bozeman Pond and Fish, Wildlife and Parks is a goal of the PROST and Community Plan. City of Bozeman operates, leases and maintains Bozeman Pond Park, but land is owned by FWP. FWP supports this project. Visible park to public and could become a destination park. Links into the Streamline bus stop on Fowler by the park for easy accessibility. With added trails there would be about 2 miles of trails in the park. Stream corridor could be restored. Hyalite School would be able to use park and supports this project. PROST Plan encourages parks and trails to schools whenever possible. Other supporters include Bozeman Breakfast Optimist Club, Recreation & Parks Advisory Board, Bozeman Police Dept., HRDC, Hearts & Homes and the statewide coalition against domestic & sexual violence. Budget of approximately$600,000 for the purchase price of 9 acres of land. Improvements for the property are approximately$500,000 which includes infrastructure improvements, restrooms, irrigation. Total request for Bond monies is $1,045,000 which is 89% of total project costs. $133,000 match monies will be provided. Maintenance costs should be low because of the two parks close by that are already maintained by the City Parks Dept. GVLT will assist with the trail maintenance and Run Dog Run will maintain the Dog Park. PUBLIC COMMENT Terry Cunningham—36:20-with Run Dog Run a 501 (6) organization. Mission is to advocate for additional off leash dog facilities but also to promote responsible pet ownership in the city. Have built dog facilities near the Softball Complex and an exercise area at Heart of the Valley. Installed 5 waste stations at the Regional Park and maintain them with volunteers. Really support this project. Nothing like this in the city (fully fenced area to work with your dog). Will include a separate area for puppies and small dogs. There will be no user conflict, since the dog park is fenced. Ron Dingman -41:05 - 215 Wilda Lane (lives east & adjacent to this property). Was involved with the development of the Bozeman Pond years ago. City has been trying to add to the north end of the Bozeman Pond for a very long time. Huge asset to this park. Opportunity to aggregate parkland. The area to be purchased is already being used by the public. Great use of this bond money and Page 2 of 6 MINUTES OF THE TRAILS,OPEN SPACE AND PARKS COMMITTEE MEETING, NOVEMBER 7, 2013 encourages committee to support this project. Neighbors in the area also support project. David Cook—42:47—7th Avenue, representative of the Recreation & Parks Advisory Board which gave unanimous approval to this project. Also giving personal thoughts. Great extension of Bozeman Pond Park. Wonderful mix of Run Dog Run, Haven and GVLT. Mr. Cook highly supports this project as does the Recreation & Parks Advisory Board. Tom LeProwse—45:45—worked on initially starting this park with Don Raymond and James Goehrung. Mr. LeProwse worked with Earle Bradford for several years in developing this Pond Park from three ponds to one and from two polluted ponds to one viable pond for kids and dogs to swim in. The goal of this park was to make it last forever and always be beautiful. To get this piece of property at the end of it is a magnificent opportunity and hopes that Bozeman does not lose this opportunity to expand this park. It is a great park and is well used. Pond is used for fishing. A beautiful park, go for it. Kristy McFetridge—50:58—Executive Director of Haven. Haven has been serving the community since 1979 providing shelter, advocacy and support of services to victims of domestic violence. There has been a dramatic increase in need of services in the past five years. Last year provided services for 1032 different members of our community. The number of people staying in the shelter has doubled each year over the last five years. Haven has identified that they need a new facility. Expressed Haven's support for expanding the park and also working together to continue to serve our community and make sure everybody in the community has the option to be safe. Bob Wade—56:15—407 Overbrook Drive. Works with Dave Skelton's middle school cross country team that has 80 plus middle school runners from August to early November. They often work out at the Bozeman Pond Park. It is about a mile run around the pond. Easy to watch and keep track of all runners in this park. This expansion would improve the facilities for this group and other groups. Is a brilliant idea. Ron Price—58:34—Board member of Haven and of Bozeman Police Dept.— great opportunity for Haven and the City. Great level of partnership between so many different groups and entities that are driving a much needed growth in that part of the city, both because of the location and the dog involvement. Safety components of it, the on command cross walk that crosses to the ball fields drive a lot of great safety changes on a cluttered street. A secure model facility provides a face for the community. So many kids come to the shelter and to have this aligned with the park is great. Supports it wholly as a board member of Haven. Page 3 of 6 MINUTES OF THE TRAILS,OPEN SPACE AND PARKS COMMITTEE MEETING, NOVEMBER 7, 2013 Ray Heagney-2:11:51, Fish Wildlife and Parks, stated that FWP would like to support the project at the Bozeman Ponds with the purchase of the land to the north of the park. Would enhance recreational opportunities on the west side of Bozeman. This park is still classified as a fishing access site. 1:01:42 Committee member Starner commented that he had done a site visit of the park. He has walked the extra land. This would be an easy addition to that park. Parking is a real issue on the east side of the street during baseball games. Glad to see the initial parking lot is in the budget. Fully supports the project. Committee member Hawks said this is a time sensitive project. Committee member Dodge stated there is not a lot to not like about it. Particularly likes the dog park aspect. Director Overton made comments from park's staff side. This is a parcel that a lot of people have had their eye on for some time. Maintenance will be existent, is fairly small and can be easily absorbed incrementally through the budget process. Infrastructure costs will need to be under discussion. This project is aligned with the PROST Plan. We want to make sure we continue to have a park in this area of town. 1:09:38 Committee member Beeman is very supportive of this project. Committee member Chandler is in support of the project. It is a heck of an opportunity. Mr. Saunders addressed some of the concerns regarding future infrastructure needs. Purchase of the land by itself does not trigger impact fees. G. Action Items: i. Bozeman Pond Park Expansion —Community Benefit Matrix and Prevailing Characteristics Matrix ➢ 1:16:06 Committee members Beeman, Chandler, Dodge, Hawks and Starner all scored more than 60% thus passing the Community Benefit Matrix for this project. ➢ Committee members used the Prevailing Characteristics Matrix: Parks- for scoring. Committee members Beeman, Chandler, Dodge, Hawks and Starner all scored more than 60%thus passing the Prevailing Page 4 of 6 MINUTES OF THE TRAILS, OPEN SPACE AND PARKS COMMITTEE MEETING, NOVEMBER 7, 2013 Characteristics Matrix: Parks -for the Bozeman Pond Park Expansion project. ➢ The proposal will be passed onto the City Commission for approval. ii. Discussion of City Commission Resolution & Memorandum for Bozeman Creek at Bogert Park Enhancement Project—Motion & Vote ➢ 1:25:55 Committee member Chandler moved to reconsider the previous motion to recommend $250,000 be funded and additionally requested up to $190,000 for a total of$440,000 in the event the other sources of funding are not available and consider a motion that includes the above language, but would also extend the project to Story Street. Committee member Beeman seconded the motion. Discussion—Committee member Chandler has talked with Dave Crawford and Mike Sanctuary and feels there are some options with the sewer and of extending the project. The street could still be kept in place. Gary Wiener stated the reasons that the project was not extended to Story Street was: the cost of moving the sewer; the landowners along the north/south leg of Bogert Place were opposed to closing the east/west road; and how much of the parkland would be taken up by channel meandering. The plan that was pursued would avoid the biggest pitfalls of public controversy, avoid the biggest infrastructure costs, and provide the maximum benefits in resource and recreation enhancement. 2:10:22 Committee member Chandler voted yes on the above motion. Committee members Beeman, Dodge, Starner and Hawks voted no. Motion failed to pass. This failed motion will give options for a report to the City Commission if desired. H. Discussion i. Confirmation of next Committee meeting date on November 21, 2013. ➢ 2:17:15 The next meeting will be held on November 21, 2013 at 9:00 a.m. to discuss the upcoming Bozeman Pond Expansion presentation to the City Commission on December 2"d. This meeting will be held at the City Shops Training Room. The Bozeman Creek Enhancement presentation to City Commission is scheduled for December 9tn I. FYI - none Page 5 of 6 MINUTES OF THE TRAILS,OPEN SPACE AND PARKS COMMITTEE MEETING, NOVEMBER 7, 2013 J. Meeting adjourned at 11:28 a.m. f Bob Hawks, Chairperson ATTEST: Doreen Olean, Recording Secretary PREPARED BY: Doreen Olean, Recording Secretary Approved on Page 6 of 6