Parks Commission

Parks Commission meeting 1­20­15 Meeting begins at 7:05pm Agenda Lyn moves to add “river proposal” the agenda for the evening. Bryan 2nds. Unanimously approved Emily proposed bumping up the events request discussion in the agenda. Events Talia Brooks, Marketing Director at Onion River Sports: Requested approval of the ORS Snowshoe th​ Romp due to be held January 30​ , 6­8pm. Talia stated that the event would be “the same event as it has been for the past 20 years”. Talia stated that there have been no incidents with the romps in the past and this community event would follow similar formats as in past years. Geoff agreed that the events have gone well in the past, that it has been free and very much enjoyed by many community members. Geoff had no additional requests regarding details of this event. Tristan Von Duntz, Events Director at Onion River Sports, gave a brief overview of the event: luminary­lit path, fire in the Old Shelter, demo snowshoes, free event to the public Lyn moved to approve the Snowshoe Romp proposal, Bryan seconded. Unanimously approved th​ Tristan Von Duntz, events director for ORS, brings the 6​ Annual Frozen Onion bike race proposal to the table. There is a registration fee for the event but all proceeds benefit for the women’s Mountain Moxie cycling team and their charitable programing, as in years past. Proposed date for the event: st​ February 1​ , morning. The event would mostly follow the“Classic Route” would follow as the courses have in the past, primarily on the roads/approved summer cycling routes, but some changes were proposed. Geoff and the commission reviewed and modified the proposal. Tristan also brought a “new loop” proposed route for the commission and Geoff to discuss and consider. Geoff, Lyn and Emily had questions regarding the proposed new loop and deferred to Geoff regarding the feasibility of the new loop, safety concerns, etc. Tristan discussed using more marshals in the past with the “new loop” to warn other trail users and control bike traffic/speeds. Geoff offered thoughts on the proposed new loop regarding steepness, potential conflicts, narrowness Modifications were suggested to the proposed course by Geoff and agreed upon by commissioners. A question was raised regarding advanced warning and signing the race course. It was decided that the course should be marked 1 week in advance with main trail entrances having maps and race warnings, as well to give park regulars reasonable warning so they work their park visit around the times if desired. Emily requested further explanation of the marshalling and conditions check­ins with Geoff Geoff explained the conditions question: make the call 24 hours before the race (that the conditiojns were safe enough to hold the race) with Geoff in advance of the race. Bryan asked what the marshals would actually do and how would they minimize conflicts on the trail. Tristan said he would work with Geoff to assess the amended proposed route and marshal stationing and with Geoff’s approval, would figure out the exact route within the next few days. (map can be found on ORS’ Facebook event page. https://www.facebook.com/onionriversports/photos/gm.1375865852722906/10152981712933150/?typ e=1&theater Lyn asked how Geoff would make the call on conditions. Geoff and Tristan explained that they were both in favor of only holding the race if it had no lasting adverse effects on the trails and that the trail conditions were safe enough, ie snowy not icy.. Kip asked for clarification on the signage and when it would happen—ONE WEEK prior to Feb 1 was the consensus. Public input on ORS’ Frozen Onion event proposal: Elisa Otter from Mountain Moxie attested to the worthiness of the events and what it supports—getting girls on bikes, youth empowerment through Mountain Moxie’s Moxie Sparks program. 80% of the funding of their Moxie Sparks program comes from the Onion River Frozen Onion events Bill Merrylees from Community Connections gave testimony as to youth health, the importance of outdoor activity at a young age and general community involvement. Donna Bate commented that signage is very important to adequately warn other trail users. Bryan commented that he felt the signs should be better than the TKMBD signs. Nancy Hammond commented that allowing children to ride on trails normally closed to biking could lead to improper usage in the summer. Geoff attested that ORS has been good about notifying attendees that the Frozen Onion events have special permission to use normally off­limits trails and he had confidence that ORS would do so with the event, again. Tristan agreed. Bryan moved that the commission approves the race based on a coordinated effort between Tristan and Geoff to lay out a safe course and give Geoff the authority to change the course and cancel if necessary. Lyn seconded. Unanimously approved. River Park Prroposal​ (do we have digital copy to include here?) Scott Mallory gave a brief history of the North Branch and Winooski rivers in the Montpelier area Scott and Winn Turner attested to safety issues regarding the current dam by Shaw’s. Death of fisherman last year, canoeist died within the last 10 years, attempting to allay some safety concerns by pointing out that man made dams are classically very dangerous since they have a certain hydralic effect T (​he drop after a dam creates a hydraulic, which is a backwash that traps and re­circulates anything that floats). Win and Scott said one phase of the project would be to remove the dam making the area much safer for boaters, fisherman and anyone else wanting to access the river. Win Turner testified as to what the park will be comprised of since he thought the whitewater park part would be a small component of it. Most people gaining access to other downtown river park areas tended to be people using the area during lunch breaks or other times for visiting and did not enter the water. The group is hoping to seek funding from the Land and Water Conservation Fund: currently at $1.2 million available. Municipalities can apply for LWCF money which make City of Montpelier is a key sponsor. Win spoke to liability concerns: Swimming pools are more dangerous based on national statistics Scott and Win requested Parks Commission support before the project comes before City Council. Geoff attested to his support of this project. Access to the river is something he has heard for years that many people in Montpelier want and as a city of four rivers he sees it as an important opportunity. Bryan: how much money are they applying for? “$200000” was Scott’s answer Dam removal costs were discussed. “expensive” was the consensus, though it was pointed out that there are grants and funds available to assist with removals/restoration. When asked for a rough estimate of the whole project Geoff offered, maybe $2­3 million. Bryan raised the point that riparian restoration can be very expensive and permit­laden. Win reiterated that the river park group is looking for general support from the commission at this time “our city will benefit financially, environmentally, culturally, it will provide a better riverside experience.” The importance of riparian restoration was discussed. Geoff: “without the support of this group, there will be very little hope of having this plan move through or the focus on riparian restoration and a riverside natural park/access area” Kip: what's the average water flow? Enough? Scott: “yes” (historical water flow charts were presented) Motion: Bryan moved that the commission support the establishment of the River Park, as it is consistent with the Parks Greenprint. Seconded by Lyn. Unanimously approved. MAMBA/biking proposal discussion: Dan Voisin and Yvonne Byrd, director of the Montpelier Community Justice Center, were present for this discussion Dan Voisin, MAMBA President discussed meeting with Todd Bailey, identified as a leading voice in the opposition to allowing increased access for biking in Hubbard Park. Bryan: discussed a collaborative approach outreach effort he engaged in. He drafted a memo for a way to move forward or engage the community in construction discussion. (See Parks website for memo) Dan: Todd and Dan discussed issue, MAMBA board met and approved a proposed path forward where opposing viewpoints would be brought together in a series of public meetings with the hope of coming up with a biking proposal for Hubbard based on identifying common goals or common ground. MAMBA board agreed that they should hold a public meeting to listen to the concerns of the community. A proposal would hopefully come out of those meetings and the proposal would be presented to the commission to consider, discuss and perhaps use in helping to formulate its own public input outreach effort on the controversial topic. Lyn asked for clarification as to whether these initial discussions would be MAMBA led Dan: welcomes having a moderator/mediator (possibly someone from the MCJC) and “yes”, MAMBA (not the Parks Commission) would hold this first round of community meetings. MAMBA would primary assist in the public outreach and listen to feedback and run the public meetings as a collaborative conversation. The commission would then review the proposal that comes out of these 2 public meetings initiated by MAMBA and decide what, if any direction to take. Dan discussed organization of the meeting as part of a panel of diverse viewpoints. Emily thanked MAMBA as a small nonprofit for stepping up and offering to shoulder the responsibilty of holding public meetings. Yvonne expressed her concern about how public meetings can sometimes devolve into free for all. She recommended opening the discussion up to something broader: what uses should be in, or activities occur in, our public parks? She thought the general idea of the public meetings was good in that differing viewpoints can gain understanding of each other's views. After some discussion members of the commission agreed that MAMBA should focus on the biking proposal and not tackle a broader view of all potential uses, that it would be best for the commission to handle the broader park planning discussion. Emily asked how can the MCJC can help? Yvonne said she is a city employee. Available to assist any City entity. Donna Bate testified as to how facilitators assisted in contentious issues that occurred during the 1 Taylor discussion. Dan theorized as to how meetings would go and how a proposal would be crafted from the meetings Charrette model discussed favorably. Dan expressed interest in getting input from Yvonne regarding the process Lyn would like input into the proposed process, not the proposal. She added that everyone probably won't all agree about the process and proposal, but that's ok. Yvonne: expressed concern about providing support for a specific group, MAMBA, given it was not a city entity though there were city related issues Lyn: it needs to be made clear that MAMBA is not conducting this process on behalf of the Parks Commission. Bryan discussed his memo and his trust in this MAMBA charrette process Dan: trail inventory discussion. Delayed due to work conflicts, but coming Nancy Hammond asked how will the meetings be communicated? Dan: “Parks Facebook page, Front Porch Forum, MAMBA, Bridge, Times Argus, calendars, Montpelier Parks page” Dan says there will be 2 week warning and will create or direct folks to an email account to give comment if they cannot attend meetings. Yvonne clarified that she thought it appropriate to provide MAMBA with process suggestions ahead of the meeting or charette. Marilyn Mode: supports getting public input from varying viewpoints. Marilyn asked for transparency regarding the memo that Bryan drafted. Bryan has no problem submitting the memo as public document Geoff: recommends sticking to mountain biking in the discussion, not discussing other uses and their appropriateness, not having MAMBA take responsibility for general park planning. Waste station sponsor signage discussion Geoff preferred having waste station sponsor signs ½ the sized that Danis originally had made and thought the commission approved Danis Regal: recommended we ask for another quote on the new, smaller signs Geoff said he was quoted $30 each for the smaller versions. Lyn: expediency recommended and agreed upon by Danis (so as not be disrespectful to sponsor/funders). Danis and Geoff will check the measurements. Commission asked Geoff to proceed with installation. Park Expansion. Bryan moved that we head into executive session due to the sensitive nature of park expansion discssions. Lyn seconded, all in favor. Lyn moved that we end exec session. Kip seconded. Unanimously approved Parks Greenprint Commission needs to review greenprint. Conservation commission has expressed interest in input/support/guidance on putting together a final Greenprint. Discussion of a joint meeting with the Conservation Commission to discuss common goals and the Greenprint ACTION: G ​eoff will contact Roy Schiff to discuss next steps and propose joint meeting Budget Update: Overall amount is the same, Geoff was unclear where cuts had been made. Roads appropriation discussion—commission proposed a cut of $500 in response to City’s request, budget has in fact increase. Vehicle/equip was reduced from 8k to 9k Commission discussed rent increase, commission had pushed back on proposed $100 increase, The current budget has the rent going up $100/month, Geoff will ask that it stays the same ACTION: G ​eoff will check in with Sandy regarding the road maintenance number increase, and the caretaker house rent increase. ACTION: J​ essie and Geoff need to finish the lease. Will check back in Feb meeting. Minutes from November approval: will be discussed/approved at the Feb meeting Donna Bate: name needs to be corrected in Nov minutes Meeting adjourned 9:30pm