Parks Commission

Parks Commission Agenda Tuesday, April 21, 2015 7pm Police Station Conference Room Attending: Carolyn Grodinsky, Emily Boedecker, Bryan Pfeiffer Staff: Geoff Beyer, Alec Ellsworth 7:03pm – meeting opened. Carolyn proposed motion to approve March minutes, Bryan seconded all in favor. Commission reviewed proposal for Park gate from Timberhomes LLC, and discussed design, siting, pedestrian access when gate is closed, construction and cost. Commission agreed two kiosks not preferred design. Authorized Geoff to continue to pursue design options to enhance pedestrian access, and draw traffic to future kiosk, without impeding safe passage of vehicles and snowplow, and to move ahead with two gates within budget of $8,000. If sufficient funds are left over Commission agrees with prioritization of kiosk at the Winter Street entrance. Alec requested permission to temporarily install and use cabin on site for use by residents of the caretaker house. Commission discussed and determined within bounds of permitted use of rented home space, provided no permit required. Requested that Alec and Geoff clear this with zoning first. Geoff shared opinion of Richard Shear that license fee should remain at current level. Ideas floated included donation box at Quirky pet to cover some of the cost and to sell dog licenses at Quirky pet. Commission agreed that encouraging greater participation in license program is important, deferred to City Council to generate revenue previously committed to, and reiterated statement from last parks commission. Carolyn stated intention to comment as dog owner and dog walker. Bryan will share the statement from last parks commission concerning dog licenses with the City. Commission discussed music in the park event proposed by Alec with the participation of Montpelier Alive as promotional partner. Alec asked three questions, are we comfortable charging for the event and if so how much, are we comfortable having food vendors, and what are rain plans? The Commission discussed asking for suggested donations and encouraging walking and biking to the event by charging for parking. Initial investment in creating the series and applying for grants is being made by Alec and other volunteers. Hope is that series once established could generate revenue for the parks. Carolyn offered to contact National Life to explore volunteers to help with planning, and commission encourages interested to contact Alec directly at ellsworth.alec@gmail.com. Event will be weather permitting in case of lightning risk, but with musicians stages under the shelter minor weather disturbances should not impact event. Bryan reviewed proposal for commission subcommittees. Commissioners discussed merits of proposal, which committees are most important, how many subcommittees the commission can support, and what task should be addressed at the commission level. Emily said need to be clear about what work should be addressed at the Commission level, and what should be at the subcommittee level. Committee can assign tasks to a subcommittee. For example fundraising needs to be addressed at the staffing level for grant writing, and to explore event fundraising opportunities, this work would fall into two committees but the commission has overall responsibility. The proposal was modified to propose three standing committees: 1. Land Acquisition, Visioning and Greenprint Suggested members: Parks, conservation and planning commission member, Parks Director, member(s) of public a. Greenprint, revision and communication b. Land acquisition c. Developing parks vision 2. Outreach, Education and Events Suggested members: parks commissioner, Montpelier Alive, member(s) public a. Events, kick off committee with Music in the Park b. Signs and maps c. Website content 3. Long-term Administrative Planning and Budgeting Suggested members: parks commissioner, parks director, representative of the City, member(s) public a. finances and budgeting b. departmental integration c. park staffing d. transition Emily will request that commissioners indicate their interest in staffing the subcommittees. Geoff raised question of a proposal to consider merging city departments. This has been an ongoing conversation but appears to be at the point of being considered more seriously. Emily volunteered to contact the city for more information. Carolyn shared that the planning commission is holding three public hearings on zoning for Sabin’s pasture and will share the dates with the commission. Carolyn volunteered to set up a meeting together with Conservation Commission chair Roy Schiff, Aaron Brondyke past commissioner and Emily Boedecker to review parks greenprint and the need to consider parkland in the plans for Sabin’s pasture. Bryan will generate a draft parks position statement. Geoff shared information that a community member is gathering signatures to encourage some control of deer in Montpelier, and shared his opinion that deer browse will have an impact on habitat in the park in the near future. Bryan agreed to contact Mark Scott and see if there is a local expert who could help evaluate impact on parks. ACTION ITEMS Alec and Geoff to contact zoning and ensure no issues with cabin storage. Bryan to share parks statement on dog license fees with the city. Emily to call Bill Fraser to understand process for evaluating combining city depts. and process for engaging commission. Emily to poll commissioners on interest in staffing each subcommittee. Carolyn to set up meeting to review Park Greenprint in relation to Sabin’s Pasture zoning. Bryan to contact Mark Scott to find local deer expert. 9:04pm – meeting was adjourned.