Parks Commission

Call to order 2-20-14 at 7:37pm Minutes Emily moved to approve minutes from January, Lyn 2nded: minutes were unanimously approved Emerald Ash Borer John Akielaszek, Montpelier Tree Board member and emerald ash borer first detector, presented an introduction to emerald ash borers and the issues threatening VT and the park. John pointed out how all surrounding states are already infested. Hubbard has over 600 ash trees, many in areas where once emerald ash borers arrive; falling branches of infested ash trees would threaten safety on Hubbard Park trails. John noted that in a conversation with city manager Bill Frazier, Bill had stated that funds could be found to assist in the removal of trees that line the streets of Montpelier once infestation has been discovered, but funding sources for safe removal of Hubbard Park, North Branch Park and private residences have not been established. John suggested that Alec become an early detector, to which Alec agreed. Geoff and John pointed out that some of the Hubbard trailside ash trees have already been tagged by state officials John stated that there needs to be more counts of trees and identify clusters of trees that will be infested in the future once the inevitable infestation of VT occurs. Cataloging the location and numbers of ash will help civil authorities plan for the liability and arrival. John discussed what would need to happen to firewood transportation in the city and state once the infestation is discovered. Lyn asked where the EABs have been discovered around VT. John noted that none have been reported in the ADKs, but NH has them. It was asked what preventative measures have been taken. Injecting a poison and Russian wasps have been tried elsewhere, but there is no conclusive vaccine or effective treatment to date. Dan Voisin of Montpelier asked what happens once the infestation occurs: John says that in 3-5 years the tree will die and become very brittle and dangerous. Early detectors will help us to get ready for dangerous tree conditions. Cara pointed out that we need to get a NB park count of ash trees and everyone agreed that this should be a priority. Cara questioned the cost of Alec becoming an early detector: Geoff and John believe it’s free of charge. Geoff spoke of the decimation of Ohio ash trees within 3 years of the discovery. (75% dead) Geoff will speak with the high school about getting kids to help catalog ashes Members of the commission agreed that it was important to post notifications at park entrances warning of EAB. There was a discussion of a contest during Ash Tree Awareness Week to identify and tag Hubbard and NB ash trees. John discussed the possibility of a revolving community loan fund to help private land owners afford the cost of large tree removal once VT is infested. City gov’t has not yet taken up this suggestion, yet. “The sky is not falling yet, so the call to action is slow,” noted John. Geoff volunteered parks department staff member Stephanie or possible others on the parks dept. payroll as possible organizers for an identification campaign or contest. Discussion of NB Nature Center and education programs John discussed getting students (and, thus, their parents/families) interested in the trees, the beetle and the early detection. Alec will start IDing trees with ribbons and Geoff will talk with Stephanie regarding the identification process. Incident Reporting Moving on to the discussion of anonymity of incident reporting and the city attorney’s response as relayed by Bill Frazier: The email of public record by the city attorney was read aloud. The city’s attorney stated that even if anonymity is requested by the submitting party, if the report is in writing, the filer’s name is a matter of public record. The commission decided to allow people to submit anonymous reports and warn everyone on the reporting form that anything they submit to the commission or Geoff is public and anonymity will not be granted even if the person requests it. If the reporter’s name is on the form, it is public record. The commission discussed what it and Geoff will do with all reports, anonymous reports and verbal reports. Members of the commission agreed that Geoff should keep everything he gets (email or written), including verbal incident reports. Lyn and Cara discussed the need to track all incident reports (and create a database) so they are a matter of public record. Alec offered to train Geoff’s Americorps members on how to enter the forms into a database for the purpose of reporting and tracking. Geoff agreed that this system would be created and accessible to all staff members. Geoff briefly discussed a serious incident where a park visitor was bitten by a dog. A report was filed with Geoff and the police. Blood was visible through winter clothes on the victim’s leg. Geoff stated that the victim was clearly traumatized and had trouble providing a thorough description of the assaulting dog and owner. Mountain biking in Hubbard Park proposal: On behalf of the Montpelier Area Mountain Bike Association (MAMBA), Tim Flynn and Dan Voisin presented a proposal to create a bikeable loop within Hubbard Park that would be comprised of new and existing trails. The map and proposal was distributed. Dan discussed the map, some of the terrain challenges and discussed the need for novice trail in Montpelier. Dan conveyed the idea that line of sight, speed and potentially hazardous interactions would be thoroughly investigated and researched. Tim discussed that he and Dan were present at the meeting and available afterward to answer questions and to discuss the proposal. Tim stated that MAMBA is following successful models for multiuse trails in other parts of the state and country. Cara stated she would like time to fully read the proposal before commenting on it or proposing a process for working with the proposal. Lyn asked Geoff how the current map differs from anything he envisioned. Geoff voiced his opinion that any shared use on any heavily used “historic” trails would be problematic. Emily wanted to make it clear to Tim and Dan that “kids riding on the trails by spring or summer” was not a realistic timeline. Tim expressed his opinion that there has been little movement by the commission into exploring the possibility of creating a bike trail in Hubbard Park since the idea was first brought to the commission in early 2013. Dan said he was frustrated at the 9 months passing with no successful contact of private landowners adjacent to the park where Geoff had stated there may be a potential by a few to allow the construction of a multiuse trail across their land. Geoff updated everyone on his attempted contact with two private landowners. His communication attempts had not been fruitful. Tim asked Lyn (who then passed the question on to Cara) how the commission will handle this request. Cara discussed the desire of the commission to have a strategic plan in place instead of reacting to multiple requests. Emily went on to further explain that a strategic park planning process had been discussed 5 or 6 years ago—and the idea was brought up again recently—that would create a visionary future plan for the park so that the commission could be proactive in its goals for the management of Montpelier’s parks and not reactive to every proposal brought before the commission. Geoff suggested possibly applying for RTP grants for a public land planning process regardless of whether or not it’s biking centric. Geoff also discussed talking with an adjacent landowner about an expanded outer loop around Hubbard Park. Tim voiced his opinion that he would prefer the process and proposal to focus on Hubbard land and not periphery private properties. Geoff clarified his earlier thought that applying for an RTP grant could include the current MAMBA proposal. Aaron asked if this was specific for to mountain biking. Geoff clarified that it will be for expanded multi-use trail planning. Dan clarified that the land planning process would be all inclusive and his earlier discussions with Tom Jackman, Planning Director for the town of Stowe, provided some basis on which Montpelier could model its public process for gathering comment, seeking funding sources, among others, while recognizing quite different circumstances. Emily clarified that is was her belief that the commission needs to take the MAMBA proposal into consideration in a greater context and the commission will not prioritize one group over another, but the commission needs to give the proposal careful thought, absorb and read it thoroughly before responding. Canine Code of conduct Discussion that this draft is not the correct draft. Lyn advocated for sticking with the Code of Conduct that was voted on at the January meeting. Cara asked Geoff whether or not he contacted the rec. dept about the possibility of a fenced in dog area outside of Hubbard. He did not as of yet. Danis asked that we remove the old posted Code of Conducts, as the language has changed. There was discussion about the informational pamphlet created by the Friends of the Dogs of Hubbard park. The Parks commission feels like this could be posted around the park. For the moment the idea of an incident reporting panel should be removed from the pamphlet since it hasn’t been created. Lyn suggested running the final informational pamphlet by the Friends of the Dog of Hubbard Park group and where to post them. Scoops and posts next to dog waste stations were decided to be removed, resulting from discussion of their causing confusion as to what to do with pets’ waste. Parks Greenprint for Montpelier Lyn made a motion to close the public comment period and officially adopt the Commission’s 2011-2012 Parks Greenprint for Montpelier planning document and accompanying map. Emily seconded, etc. Unanimously approved, Kip abstained and clarified he was not aware of the accompanying informational documents in addition to the map and could not vote with limited knowledge of a project conceived and completed before his service on the commission began. Park mission/planning FY15 document Emily questioned if the commission had actually set the priority of a natural playground area. Geoff discussed that clearing and construction of some small features of a naturescape playground had begun. Some members of the commission voiced their approval and wanted the play area promoted if [what Geoff stated] was the case. Carr Lot and Stump Dump Kip and Geoff will attempt to go to the next meeting to advocate for green space in the transportation complex. There was discussion of poor city posting of the previous meetings on the topic and failed attempts by Geoff and Kip to attend an earlier meeting that was actually at a different date. Discussion of Stump Dump property and if it’s entirely sold or not. Lyn will look into that. Dog Waste committee Lyn and Danis talked about the next dog waste committee meeting. And they discussed the placement of a thank you to contributors to be posted at the dog waste stations. Summer projects and ongoing business Yestermorrow will not be able to assist with rebuilding the storage shed at the Parks Office. Congratulations were offered to Geoff from Aaron on the steps up to National Life. A railing will be added for safety (dangerous especially in winter) and Aaron suggested more steps at the bottom. Signage at the bottom of the steps and Statehouse suggested. Park gates: Geoff needs to start the application process to allow the gates to be closed again (the commission listed this as a priority in light of mud season coming very soon). High priority for Geoff! Kip brought up the desire to have increased directional/trail signage in Hubbard Park. Other members of the commission recognized the need for some trail signage and “you are here” maps for visitor orientation. Geoff and Alec are going to work on signs. Lyn will take a picture of the EMTI “you are here” maps. Alec suggested an addition to the signage in French. Geoff noted that he has observed a number of bicycle tire tracks on biking-prohibited trails. Kip asked if they were “fat bike tracks”, which Geoff acknowledged they all were. Geoff suggested that if the commission wants to talk about bikes and possible increased use in Hubbard Park, he believed that winter is a great time for a trial due to the limited trail impact the snow cover and frozen ground presents for all winter uses. Lyn asked how bikers would know that riding was not allowed on many, if not all, of the Hubbard Park trails or North Branch river trails. Geoff stated that trail signage had been in place previously, but signs had been ripped down twice (not by him or park staff). There are rules pertaining to bike riding at the kiosks and online. There was discussion of reposting signs at trailheads. Alec did not yet supply the commission with hours worked by caretaker house tenants during the reconstruction process and Lyn did not get a hold of anyone at Onion River Exchange despite an attempt to discuss rewarding the unpaid labor of Shannon, Simon and Linden. This is still under discussion. The meeting concluded with recognition of Aaron for his exemplary service on the commission. Geoff presented him with a poem of appreciation, aloud. Adjournment 9:30pm Next meeting: March 20th