Parks Commission

Daniel Dickerson Carolyn Grodinsky Bill Johnson Fabienne Pattison Sarah Swenson, Chair Geoff Beyer, Parks Director Alec Ellsworth, Parks Caretaker Montpelier Parks Commission – Meeting Minutes January 16, 2018 Present: Sarah Swenson, Bill Johnson, Carolyn Grodinsky, Daniel Dickerson, Fabienne Pattison, Geoff Beyer- staff, Alec Ellsworth-staff Meeting began at 6:05 pm. Several members from the public were present. Agenda approved. No minutes approved. November and December still require approval. North Branch Multi-Use trail proposal Dan gave an overview of the presentation from December for Sarah and Bill as they had been absent from that meeting. He also gave an overview of the multi-use trail working group meeting from Monday, January 8. At the meeting Dan had brought up the possibility of an alternate proposal that would limit the long loop to pedestrians only for the short term and would construct a trail that had previously been planned for phase 2 along the park border to complete a multi-use loop. This plan had been discussed by the Parks Commission as a way to secure the support from individuals who might oppose the idea of most trails in North Branch being open to multi-uses in the future. Other members of the working group were not in favor of this approach, and argued that Hubbard was already set aside for walkers, and the border trail was held for phase 2 as it will require more funding. Additionally, the proposal had been altered so that most of the border trail was removed. This had been done because the terrain where the trail would go would be too difficult to develop into a trail. Geoff offered to talk to an abutting landowner to potentially secure an easement so that the border trail could be added to the plan again. Geoff also mentioned that when North Branch park was created the management plan did allow for future multi-use trails so long as they were constructed responsibly. Commissioners decided to hold a one hour public hearing in February for all members of the community to attend and to aim for making a decision in March. Dan will type up a one paragraph blurb to go to news outlets and on to Parks webpage, Facebook and FPF to advertise hearing. K9 Task Force City Council gave the Commission 6 months to come up with a proposal for the council. The proposal will most likely include the following: incident reporting is working and should be allowed to continue; additional outreach and education efforts should be made, on the website or a blog; additional signage is needed with areas of high use potentially to become leash only (sled hill, shelters, roads); a dog park should be placed somewhere else in the city to alleviate pressure on Hubbard. Budget Geoff said that $6k for operating and $6.5k for Vista position needs to be raised to make budget in FY18 as well as $3k from Enchanted Forest. The Commission discussed the idea of starting a “Friends” organization that could do fundraising for special parks projects and initiatives. Geoff will talk with Community Services Vista to see what can be done on this going forward. Caretaker Updates Ice on Fire preparations are ongoing. The snowmobile is out of commission and being repaired. Alec mentioned again that the bio-blitz will be held by North Branch Nature Center the same weekend as HOWL fest and it might be a good idea to combine events. City Council approved for Geoff to use the Parks impact fee to buy property bordering Hubbard. Parks will need to do fundraising for the rest of the money. Commissioners will hold the February meeting on the 20th at 6pm and will hold a one hour public hearing on the North Branch trail proposal, further discussion of a “Friends” group and discussion on park signage. Carolyn moved to adjourn at 8:00pm and Dan seconded. www.montpelier-vt.org/464/Parks-Commission parks-commission@montpelier-vt.org 802.223.7335