Parks & Urban Forestry Board

UNAPPROVED DERBY PARK AND URBAN FORESTRY BOARD MINUTES September 23, 2021 Call to Order: 11:00 A. M. Roll Call: Members Present Members Absent Sherii Farmer Jason Griffin Marty Hunt Bruce Renberger Dave Peebler Matt Beigel Rick Dame Also in attendance: Robert Mendoza, Joe Loflin, Shana Sneath Approval of Minutes: Motion: Matt Beigel moved to approve the minutes from July 8, 2021 Second: Rick Dame second. Vote: All yea, motion carried. Open Forum: Mr. Hunt asked about moving a sign from Mason Ridge to Spring Ridge to direct traffic to High Park more easily. Mr. Mendoza indicated we would check into it. Old Business: Tree/Right of Way Maintenance Enforcement: The City created an informational webpage on right of way and tree maintenance/trimming. The City has begun enforcing these issues as there are a lot of overgrown areas that are not being maintained. Items in the right of way are the responsibility of the homeowner. So far, this process has been a success and homeowners are complying. Web Page Updates: Public Works is in the process of updating all documents and information across all divisions for public education. Army Worm public education/Lawn reseeding education: Army worms attacked this year. The John C. Pair Horticulture Center helped immensely with putting out an educated response to the public regarding the worms. K-state put out an article and video series on reseeding and fertilizing your yard to help it recover from the army worms which was posted on the City’s webpage. Thank you to Jason Griffin and his crew for their work on this. 1 New Business: Disc Golf Course Improvements: Adding signage and secondary t-boxes and other improvements will not be added this year as there has not been time due to other projects. Improvements most likely will begin at the beginning of next year. Central Park Operating hours/Neighborhood Impact Discussion: Central Park has a walking trail that is lit all night so 3rd shift workers can walk. However, the park is experiencing a lot of vandalism in the overnight hours as the park is open 24 hours per day. Neighbors around the park are being disturbed by the misconduct of those misusing the park at night. Mr. Mendoza discussed shrinking the overnight access of the park to limit it to the walking trail so the entire park is not open all night. Signage with posted hours of the park which, would close and open it at certain hours, would allow police to remove people who were not using the walking trail and who could potentially be causing trouble. The PUF board was in agreement that shutting the park down after a certain time would be beneficial and could alleviate some problems. High Park Land Addition: The City has purchased the house just east of High Park, the Zollinger Property. The police and fire department will be using it for drills and eventually the house will be torn down and the land will be used for the park. Park Master Plan Update: The City sent out an RFP and we received 6 of them back. Mr. Mendoza presented the vendors and their project cost to the group. There will be numerous opportunities for the public to voice their opinions on what the Parks Master Plan should look like in the future. Concept designs will be presented for High Park, Garrett Park and Hand Park. Motion to adjourn: Dave Peebler moved to adjourn the September 23 2021 PUF meeting. Second: Sherii Farmer, second. Vote: All yea, motion carried unanimous. End. Respectfully Submitted, Shana Sneath Public Works Coordinator, Mary Hunt Chairman 2