Parks Commission

Montpelier Parks Commission Meeting Minutes 12­15­15 Commission members present: Bill Johnson, Kip Roberts , Emily Boedecker, Carolyn Grodinsky, Bryan Pfeiffer via phone Parks Dept Staff Present: Alec Ellsworth and Geoff Beyers Meeting called to order 7:05pm Brief discussion regarding minutes/agenda posting. Glitches and permission issues abound. Agenda discussion and approval. Minutes and Agenda posting to the City website: Emily suggested that the Commission member who takes the minutes needs to submit minutes to the th​ commission within 3 business days after the meeting for review. By Monday (4​ business day), the Chair will give final approval and clear up any disagreements/discussions and then the chair will post, with someone *to be decided* to be backup. Carolyn moved to accept the Nov minutes, Bill seconded, unanimously approved. ​anguage was discussed, a few minor edits regarding “welcome” language and other edits. Dog flyer: L Bryan will incorporate suggestions and submit a last draft to Commissioners Bill proposed approving the provisional document with a few minor changes proposed by other parks members. Seconded by Carolyn, unanimously approved. Park Signage: Alec presented a couple different signs options for trail signage. Alec cataloged 40 (legal) trail intersections in Hubbard and 13 in NBP Emily mused about how the Commission wants to manage the process of determining signage placement, prioritization and frequency. Entrances, waste stations, kiosks, etc. The Commission prioritized putting up speed limit, and Dog Code of Conduct signs. Directional signage will follow, as this initiative has been noted as a priority for the Commission due to public feedback and anecdotal accounts of lost park­goers. Geoff suggested that he and Alec work on a few priority spots first, then we can evaluate and add as time and budget (!!) allows. NOTE FOLLOWING DISCUSSION ABOUT BUDGET CHALLENGES. Discussion from Commission members regarding colors or signs and placement priority preferences. Suggestion from Marilyn Mode: add a city of Montpelier seal to give the signs and their contents weight. Bryan suggested a final review of the finalized colors, size and design of the Code signs for approval. Geoff will research and circulate final designs via email for approval: speed limit and Code of Conduct. Alec reminded the Commission that trail signage and directional signs are a priority for the Commission and we should decide on direction for directional signage to take advantage of a lesser workload and slower time of the year for the staff. Geoff and Alec will prioritize and start to create directional 4x4 intersection signage for trails​in the park with the blessing of the Commission in a rustic, natural manner. Directional maps and “you are here” maps and individual trail markings: this discussion will be left until January. Carolyn discussed with the Commission an idea to c​o­promote all the winter/outdoor activities on the City page, Parks page, and Morse X Country Center page. Carolyn is working for Morse Farm Ski Touring Center and planning events over the winter, including a guided ski tour from the Center to Hubbard or North Branch during this winter. The Commission approved of this idea. Budget discussion: Budget now includes an 80/20 split in time with Geoff and Alec between the Parks and the Tree Board. Geoff stated that the City asked Geoff to cut his budget by 20% Revenue correction discussion by Geoff. Property insurance discussion: used to be calculated based on FTEs, but now it's base on property values. Parks loses ~$4000 in this budget calculation. Geoff asked Sandy to find that difference from some of the other departments that got the windfall of the assessment change. Geoff is contributing Parks funds from the Enchanted Forest and other events that take in revenues to the city, but Sandy will find the $4k shortfall. City’s Budget Congress meeting will be Thursday for director heads. – Goal: find $200,000 in cuts somewhere. The park informational and directional signage initiative may suffer from budget cuts. “Core Services” will not be cut currently. Geoff suggested outside the box thinking regarding funding for our parks. It's Geoff's opinion, and that of other commissioners, that the Montpelier Parks lend to the vibrancy and attractiveness of our city. Bryan and Geoff and Bill pointed out that even completely eliminating the Parks Department's total budget will not fix the City's budget shortfall issues. Bryan says we could possibly take this plea to our constituency and the public in general and seek support for our parks. Emily voiced a common opinion that the Commission is very concerned that cutting the Parks budgets any more will be at the detriment to our fair city. Park Impact Fees. Bill discussed the Impact Fees and his discussion with Mike Miller. The City Council rescinded the Impact Fees in September 2014. Geoff and others voiced their concern regarding the commission and the parks director not being notified about important meetings that impact parks. Marilyn Mode pointed out that the City Council possibly was advised that impact fees negatively affected new business construction in the city and vote in accordance with that assumption. Review of City Council minutes confirm this assumption. Bill and Emily suggested that a strongly­worded letter be drafted about Parks involvement in important budget decisions in the future. “this should be a policy” Bryan talked to John Odem about 2 spots being open on the Parks Commission and Emily will follow­up. Emily will invite to Bill Fraser to a future Parks Commission meeting​ to discuss the flow of communication and budget concerns. Continued Budget Discussion: Geoff says we will experience $4/5k shortfalls in subsequent years. Shelter Rental Fees: Geoff says that by having a stepped scale in Shelter reservations, we're actually charging for use, not reservations. Geoff believes that we cannot technically charge for reservations due to an old grant for shelter construction. Bill suggested that this ties into the budget discussion: we have to charge more, groom less, etc., unless we charge for reservations, use fees, etc., if the Parks Dept budget is cut annually. Emily and Bryan asked G ​eoff to check in with the city attorney regarding the collection of fees and our options in the park. Website update: Geoff will add the Winter Trails Map back to the City Parks page Emails for Parks Commissioners – not working. E ​mily will ask Seth for options. ​lec will follow­up. Suggestion to add an event calendar on the Parks page. A Bryan pointed out there's one on the City Homepage only. Bill moves to adjourn, Carolyn seconds, unanimously carried. 9:03pm