Parks Commission

Daniel Dickerson Carolyn Grodinsky Bill Johnson Fabienne Pattison Sarah Swenson Geoff Beyer, Parks Director Alec Ellsworth, Parks Caretaker Montpelier Parks Commission – Meeting Minutes July 18, 2017 Present: Sarah Swenson, Daniel Dickerson, Fabienne Pattison Meeting began at 7:10 pm. Sarah chaired the meeting Agenda approved (Dan’s motion, Fab seconded) Commission didn’t have sufficient numbers to approve June minutes. Multi-Use Trail Working Group discussion Dan filled the other members in on the trail working group meeting held July 10th. One specific request that the group had for the Parks Commission was to open the trail in North Branch Park leading from the pool/ballfields to North Branch Nature Center to biking. There was discussion on whether the trail was wide enough to safely accommodate walkers and bikers, especially if bikers are riding at high speeds. There was also discussion on whether to potentially build a secondary, narrower trail parallel to the existing trail specifically for walkers. Commissioners ultimately decided to push the discussion to August so that the entire Commission could discuss the potential options. Park Planning Initiative Dan led a brief discussion on his desire for a parks master planning process. He said that ideally this would be a combined effort between parks and recreation and could be a free-standing document or could get wrapped into the master plan if it is re-written in the near future, as has been discussed by the City Council. His rationale was to give the Parks Commission goals and objectives not only for future parks space, as is shown on the greenprint, but also for existing parks. This effort would involve the community and could even incorporate some of the multi-use trail planning discussions. The Commissioners present expressed interest in this effort and Dan stated that he would organize some concrete options for how the planning process could take place with the hope to secure funding in the next budget year. Zoning/Master Plan Update Commissioners tabled this discussion as there was no new information to be shared. Canine Outreach Fab and Sarah will meet in the future to discuss what kinds of outreach efforts can be done. Fab mentioned her idea of creating an educational video to put on Orca. Director and Caretaker Updates Alec said he didn’t have current numbers on ticket sales for the HOWL fest taking place July 21-23. He said that food vendors had been secured for each day but he still needed more volunteers. Commissioners asked questions about access to the park during the festival and how alcohol would be handled (it will not be allowed). It was mentioned that a feedback effort would be important to help the event in future years. Geoff said he didn’t have numbers handy for the final FY17 Parks budget but would email them out to committee members. Geoff filled the Commission in on the 8 individuals from Volunteers for Peace who have worked to complete a new stage/shelter near the old shelter and will be doing other work in the parks over the next 7-10 days. Commissioners will hold the August meeting at the new stage at 6pm on August 15th and will discuss multi-use trails, zoning and canine outreach. Dan moved to adjourn at 8:30pm and Fab seconded. www.montpelier-vt.org/464/Parks-Commission parks-commission@montpelier-vt.org 802.223.7335