Board of Park Commissioners

BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS REGULAR MEETING MINUTES City Hall, 1st Floor Council Board Room 4SSN. Main Wichita, KS 67202 February 8, 2016 3pm Present: Hoyt Hillman, Cindy Claycomb, Troy Palmer; Chris Clark Absent: Ron Allen, Tori Deatherage, Chris Highfill Also Present: Troy Houtman (Director of Park and Recreation}, Elizabeth Harlenske (City Assistant Attorney}, Penny Garding (Clerk}, Greg Olmer, Troy Hendricks (Staff), Brent Thomas (Chairman, Wichita Parks Foundation} Hillman called the meeting to order at approximately 3:08pm. Hillman introduced a new member of Park Board, Chris Clark. He was recently appointed by Pete Meltzner. PUBLIC AGENDA None. REGULAR AGENDA Item 1: Approval of Minutes Motion by Palmer, second by Claycomb, IT WAS UNANIMOUSLY VOTED to approve, sign and file the minutes of January 11, 2016, Board of Park Commissioners Regular meeting. (4-0) Item 2A: Naming Recommendation of Pracht Wetlands !Troy Houtman) Houtman gave a brief history of Pracht family wetlands property. He stated the property meets Chapter 13 guidelines regarding naming after a deceased individual. Pictures of proposed park amenities were shown. The area is located at the corner of 29th & Maize Road. The actual dedication is about 40 acres and is adjacent to additional acres we have already. Our recommendation is to name the property Pracht Wetlands, in honor of the family. If passed today, we will take it to City Council next month. David Hambrick, Slawson Companies, provided a history of when the property was received from the Pracht family, approximately one and one-half years ago. The Slawson family purchased the property and felt it only fitting since the Pracht family has been maintaining the property as a wetlands for about 100 years. It only makes sense to honor that family to make this their named property and not the Slawson name. Houtman made the recommendation to name the property the Pracht Wetlands. Palmer made a motion to approve the recommendation of naming of the Pracht Wetlands. Clark seconded the motion. Claycomb asked if staff has gone through all of the naming criteria and are we okay. BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS MEETING February 8, 2016 Page 1 of7 Houtman responded that all Chapter 13 criteria have been met. Motion by Palmer, second by Clark, IT WAS UNANIMOUSLY VOTED to approve the recommendation of naming of the Pracht Wetlands. (4-0) Item 2B: Pawnee Prairie Park Usage (Councllmember Jeff Blubaugh) Councilmember Blubaugh asked to have a policy discussion on permitting bicycles in Pawnee Prairie Park. When you approach the park you see signs indicating bicycles, rollerblades, and skateboards are prohibited in the park. It says City Ordinance 3926-4. The way it reads it looks like it would be a misdemeanor or felony for even being caught with a bicycle in that park. We pulled the ordinance and looked at it and my understanding is the ordinance is from 1985 thatsays not necessarily no bicycles in the park, but says the Park Board has the right to discuss policy on what is allowed in park. The park is 625 acres; 11/2 miles long x 1/2 mile wide. It is designated as a nature park. I would like to understand and discuss why bicycles are not allowed in there. Children are not allowed to ride bicycles in the park. I am hearing from constituents all the time, we have this great park all around some of the most densely populated area of Wichita, yet a child can't even go in there and ride a bicycle. The parking lot is full on weekends but I do not see any stock trailers. I would like to go forward with plan to allow everyone to use the park to the best amount. I do not understand the. concept that horses and bicycles cannot get along in a 625-acre park. Handouts were provided to the board members. Hillman opened the podium to those attendees who expressed a desire to speak on this topic. Speakers will be allowed 2 minutes each. Michael Gomm, 11903 W Dora Ct. It is a disappointment to me that my family cannot ride our bikes in Pawnee Prairie Park. My kids are forced to have to go into the streets of the subdivisions or out onto Maize Road or 31st & Pawnee area, with 40 MPH traffic, at some risk: We've enjoyed having Air Capital Park that opened on the north side. The huge irony of having this wonderful bike park within the city is that the huge residential area that is immediately adjacent to it cannot access it legally or safely. If you live immediately west, you cannot ride your bicycle to get to Air Capital Park because of obstacles­ Pawnee Prairie Park. The only option is to use the Kellogg frontage road to get to park. Terry Fry, 1902 N Frederick. Pawnee Prairie Park is the principal riding place for horseback riders in this area for 75 years. The issue of whether or not bikes and horseback riding belong in the same park is simple, it is a safety issue. It's not a question of whether or not a horse is broke, horses are animals, and you never know what their predicament may be at any given time. A lot of trails there have blind corners and a tremendous amount of shrubbery and trees. If bikes are permitted anywhere in that park, it is going to become a safety issue. It is not the single-track riders, it would be the recreational riders that want to go as fast as they can through the park, and run into the horse. It is probably not the bike rider that is going to get hurt it is going to probably be the horse or horseback rider that gets injured. I encourage this to remain as is, this is a unique asset for the City of Wichita and surrounding area and the only place in the area for horseback riders to ride. Jo Martin, 1608 W Dallas St. Even though it is currently not legal for bicyclists over there, we do see them. I've had a couple run-ins where I've had to step off the path and even twisted my ankle. Small children on little bicycles is okay, that's no different than pushing a stroller. My issue is with the adults that don't adhere to cycling rules. They come up behind you and don't say anything, and sometimes you don't hear them. Sometimes you get startled and step off to the side. The sidewalks are nice and wide, but, if you have adults going both directions, thatall the room there is. If you have a cyclist coming toward you, there is not enough room for passing, and it's not level with the ground. Would like to remain the same. Although there should be some leeway to where young children could ride over BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS MEETING February 8, 2016 Page 2 of 7 there, we need a place for young children and family units. Te rry Parnam, 201 E 53'" St. N. I believe bicycles should be allowed in the park. When I go to Ai r Capital Park, it is designed more for people who want hills, ditches, etc. I've been in Pawnee Prairie Park many times; seldom do I see a horse during the week. I've never been aIlle to understand why something couldn't be worked out. Even if some days a re horse days and some days are bike days. If horses are frightened of a bicycle, they would be frightened of a wheelchair, strolle rs, or anything small and mechanical like that. The re a re plenty of people who ride and bike on the trails at the Zoo and get along fine, I don't know why they couldn't get along at Pawnee Prairie Park. Aaron Santry, 1902 E Park. President of Kansas Single T rack Society. We are a single-track building organization and do not claim to represent all cyclists. Because of history with seeking access at Pawnee Prairie Park I felt it important for us that we issue a statement on this. Mr. Santry read a prepared statement, a copy of which was presented to each board member and is attached. Houtman asked about safety with multi-use of different trails. You mentioned there might be an issue with both pedestrians and bicycles using trails at Pawnee Prairie Park. Santry replied horses and cyclists cur rently use the Prairie Sunset Trail but it has a long sight line so you can see the ho rses from a distance. The way the trails are currently designed the sight lines are not adequate and could see where coming around a corner could spook a horse which could result in injury for the rider of both the vehicle and horse. If this is going to happen at this time, some work is going to have to be done on the trail to either make them wider or physically segregate them. Or maybe make two parks, and have one be a cycle park. Lyndsey Fry. 1530 Smith Ci rcle #104. This pa rk has been c reated by, ridden by and maintained by horseback riders. We can't load up and go to another pa rk to ride trailsthat we have developed like these that are such an asset to t!,is community. Dad and she mapped the trails at PPP which amount to about 12-15 miles of trails that we ride regularly. Cyclists can load up and take kids to other pa rks in the city. Horses have to be loaded up and taken to park as well. Would like to maintain the horse pa rk as it was intended to be. Greg Alexander, 10101 W Lotus, provided map to board. All for bicycles in park. Air Capital Park is a great park and is utilized by mountain bikes same as Pawnee P rairie Park is utilized by the horses. Big thing is access for the neighborhood west of Maize trying to get to Air Capital Park. The re is just a very small amount that needs to be taken so that bikes can go through the gates and over the bridge to get to it. It comes down to a safety issue. I am not going to take five-year old on a f rontage . road to get ove r to a park. If I take my bike, hi.s bike, my wife and other child and try to get four bikes into a car with four people, we have to take two cars. It's a huge project, when all we need is one access gate and go through a very small portion of the park that is not utilized by the ho rses at all to access the bridge to get to Air Capital Park. This comes up about every four years. The only way to solve it is to decide we are going to have a number of acres for each. Clark Miller, 6501 W 36"' St South. Saw on handout the re's a pictu re where the sign says folks can walk thei r dogs. So when it comes to spooking horses and spooking other walkers, I would believe that dogs on a leash or off a leash is a bigger issue than a bicycle. Originally from northwest Neb raska so I've been to quite a few travel management things from the Forest Service and we ended up successfully having horses and bicycles utilize the same trails in that a rea and that was 10-15 years ago. I have sons·ages 6 and 11 and I really like Air Capital Park. It's rough and its fun, but too much for children, looking for something a little mo re easier riding. Would like one day a week. BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS ME£TING February 8, 2016 Page 3of 7 Autumn Miller. 6501 W 36th St South. There's just not a real good place for small children to ride their bikes. I don't know if they could stick to pavement, horses don't usually like that. That is what I've heard. Maybe having a wheel width that you can't go beyond, that would encourage smaller children. LaKimbra Baldwin, 8711 Southwest"Lost Lake Road. The equestrian park is the only one in this entire area. Bicyclists have numerous areas, all along K-96. The City has provided beautifully for bicyclists to ride all over Wichita. Equestrians have only one place to go. To be fair to every equestrian in this area that likes to take advantage of that, please keep Pawnee Prairie Park for equestrians. As to the ability to access the other park, I think that is a great idea. Put a place where they can go from one point to another to be able to access that park. This park has historically been set as equestrian. It is dangerous for bicyclist to be on same path as horses because of all the blind corners. The single-path guy is correct. Speed bikers careening around corner and horses with kids chattering and talking on them are not going to hear that bicyclist. The bicyclist is going to get kicked and the horse is going to bolt. You are going to have a disastrous accident which is going to put the City of Wichita at liability. Jana Reed, 6255 Second Road, Douglass KS. I take family, children, friends and I give lessons to children. This is the only place to take them that is short enough distance so that they can experience something other than just where my horses live. Any other place to ride is along day drive. Bicyclists can ride in so many different places, they have more parks, they can ride on the roads; we as horse equestrians are very limited to the places we are allowed to ride. Bicycles are harder to train around than dogs. Please consider keeping the park available for equestrians and students. Bobby Smith, Winfield KS. I come to Wichita often, I am a cyclist. I have not been in the park in a long time, because cycling is not allowed. When I look at the size of land available, I agree cyclist should not share trail with horses in the park. I also don't think the trails are something adult mountain bikers would want to ride on because horse traffic tears up the trail. Mountain bike trails are a lot smoother and narrower. If a bush grows up, we don't ride around it,.we trim it. I think there is enough land there you should be able to do something for kids to use sidewalks. It is possible you can build segregated trails in the park, it just depends on how much area the horse riders use. In favor of something for families in the area. Also in favor of making a trail and exploring how to have signage and allow all users to enjoy the park. Anna Romey, 300 S Khedive St, Maize, KS, I am totally in favor of remaining a horse park. Why do bikers feel the need for privilege to ride Pawnee Prairie Park? The only park for horses is Pawnee Prairie Park, there's Kanopolis, but that's at least an hour, if not way more, far away for local riders. Hillman closed public input on Pawnee Prairie Park for today. We will not make any motions or binding agreements today. Would like to recommend the Park Board develop a master plan for the park that incorporates a good deal of the input for today. Palmer made a motion to work on a master plan for Pawnee Prairie Park. Clark seconded the motion. No discussion. Vote was Unanimous. (4-0) Hillman asked if there was any staff input on Pawnee Prairie Park. Houtman stated developing Master Plan takes a lot of resources and time. It takes input from a lot of people. He's glad we did not do a knee-jerk reaction today and make a decision right off the bat, because there is a lot of unintended consequences that could result from making an off-the-cuff decision today. There is opportunity for joint usage, we just need to figure out how that is going to look. As a person who owns a horse and a bicycle, the trails just aren't designed for both. It would be a matter of redesigning the trails, spending some money and time. ·Also we would need to-develop signage and rules, and increase the maintenance as well. We have not put money in in Pawnee Prairie Park in a long time. There is one sidewalk that connects from the nature center all the way to the BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS MEETING February 8, 2016 Page4of7 parking_ lot, it's 4 feet wide. It's difficult if you are a pedestrian walking with other pedestrians, much less pedestrians with bicycles or pedestrians with horses or bicycles with horses. Today highlights what additional work we need to do. It can be put into the plan for the year and a request for budget put in with the City Manager's Office in.regards to a Master Plan this year. Addressing the access to Air Capital Park and Sunset Trail is a section that sounds very doable and may be able to.be addressed now along with some policy issues and signage. Additional work needs to be done in the park, what upgrades are needed to other amenities. We have a parking lot that probably needs some lighting and restrooms that probably need some care as well. We have the old nature center building that is vacant, what do we want to do with that. We may need to hire outside experts to help with this. Allowing bicycles is dangerous at this time. Item 2C: Friends of the Kansas Wildlife Exhibit (Brent Thomas) Thomas stated last week the board met, with six new members coming on board. Currently getting them up to speed on work being done over the last couple years. We are having a Board Retreat on February 27to start working on some items for the year as well as Foundation operations. Looking back, 2015 was a big year for us. One thing we did was the inaugural Independence Day Block Party downtown on the July 4th . We had Slide the City and fireworks downtown for the first time in years. Working towards the 2016 event. It may not be an all-day event, but will have fireworks and activities in the downtown area on July 4th. This year we had 2,000 sliders for SUde the City and almost 8,000 people downtown for the fireworks. ICTrees is another initiative that got a lot of traction this year. Working with supplier partners they were able to-get 700 trees and 400 volunteers f or projects across the city. The 2016 goal is to get 1,000 trees planted around Wichita. To focus on the Kansas Wildlife Exhibit, the group received a donation of $100,000 from the Pamela Edwards Pet Trust. That.allowed the committee to formulate a plan to work on new ideas and try to find efficiencies and help with stuff at the exhibitas well. Some of the items that have been worked on are the beaver escape. and robbery attempts. Some of the things that are being addressed are,the security system and animal health issues. The beaver is hurting himself getting from the pond into its den with the sharp curve and his large size, additional theme work, replacing the netting, painting structures, as well as new signage. Primary things accomplished are the new security system installed this year. Still working through some technical issues with the vendor, but the cameras are working. The technology is new, so the hardware is struggling with the volume of data being received. Cemrock, who is working at the Sedgwick County Zoo, spent time at exhibit doing work, providing rock and helping with beaver den entry. Next on .plan for the exhibit is formulating a master plan. One of the things being evaluated now is replace of the netting. The challenge is finding a product that is visually appealing so can see exhibit, but secure. Also, looking at where cleaning and repainting steel fits in the priorities. This spring the committee is looking at professional grade educational.signage. April 8, National Zoo Day, is when we hope to have the signage in place. The committee is working with Steve Perry, retired landscape architect and Jeanette Summers and staff at the Zoo, looking for available signage products. Steve is working on design of the signage. Actively working on the master plan. WiUbe providing it to City Manager as part of the agreement. Houtman asked about what the nextgrand event the Foundation is planning. Thomas stated there·are physical improvements needed at venues like the Hyatt Lawn, which will be used going forward for multiple events. The biggest issue is getting our message out. Now that we have a full slate of board members, we need to.do a better job of communicating and getting the word outto the people of Wichita that the Park Foundation exists, Houtman, as Park and Recreation Director speaking to the .Park Board, Staff and 11ublic, there are two things to point out. I often tell people when I talk about my department, I talk about the Park Board being my right hand and helping with policy and the Parks Foundation helping with fundraising and BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS MEITING February 8, 2016 Page 5 of7 doing gr eat things in the community. I can't do w ithout either one of them. Br ent has been ther e . since day one listening to ideas. Things we have done th is year could not have .been done w ithout Brent and Stacey Hamm. We can turn them loose and let them do greatthings. Item 4A. Recreation Update (Greg Olmerl Olmer stated the floor at Evergreen Recreation Center was.sanded down, re-striped and resealed. This is really appealing to the adult men's baske tball league that is starting up. City of Wichita logo is in two spots and.in the middle it says Evergreen Recreation Center. Last week Olmer and 6 additional,staff attend ed KRPA in Dodge City. The department received 6 awards, 3 from th e Recreation side: Mickey Lara for Athl etic Professional of th e Year, Troy H endricks and Barbara McGuire for programming wh ich was the Recr eation Mobile Stat ion, and Brian Hill for Aquat ic Professional of the Year. Councilmember Bryan Frye was awarded as well. Next Tuesday at 8:45 we will b e doing the presentation in Council Chambers. Houtman sta.ted if any Park Board memb ers can attend it would b e great. Erika Devor e from KRPA will be r e-presenting awards in front of Council. Next year's conference is in Manhattan and in Wichita for 2018. Item 4B. Golf Update CTroy Hendricks) Hendr icks stated rounds were down 20%.over 2015. Weather was a big deal, we had 10 days of rain or snow. Th e average high temp erature was thr ee degrees lower than 2015,,but the average iowwas thr ee degrees warmer. We had a gr eat weeke nd to finish th e month off. 1,500 rounds wer e played over those three:days, with two days over 700 rounds, we've.never done that before in January. Revenue was down 9%, but that is only $10,000. Expenditures & encumbrance's ar e up 3% which is a timing issu e with encumbrances being $22,000 for some,ch emicals that are already ordered. so we have on hand when it's needed. Houtman stated that a pr esentation was made to Counc il to brief them on all th e golf items. Council had several questions that were answered on th e spot and some additional follow-up was given yesterday. The groundwork has been laid for major improvements on marketing efforts and cost controls and new revenue ideas. Council was also made aware there are still hoops to go. through. They all came to an understanding ther e is conc ern about keeping golf around, itstill needs to be a prior ity. Item 4D. Wichita Parks Foundation Update.(Chris.Highfllll Hillman stated Brent did an outstand ing job coveringWichita Parks Foundation . Item 4E. OJ Watson Park Committee Update (Hoyt Hillman) Hillman stat ed they still have not gone to Chance to inspect train. Item 4F. Aquatics Committee Update (Tori DeatherageI f Houtman stated staf has been meetin g with City Ma nag er. We are focusing on one of thr ee options with inputfrom City Ma nager and staff. We are go ing to be taking it to the Aquatics Committee next week. The idea ofa centralized aquatics center is not getting any traction. The focus is on·four or five sites that we really wantto update and mak e them into.nice·aquatic centers. It also includes five closures of aging pools that's going to happ en over the y ears. Once it gets.through the Aquat ics Committ ee we will bring to Park Board. W e will then tak e it to Council. The idea is to get it all done by May and take to Council with a plan to start.hiring a consultant/architect to build our pool s. The first monies will be available to us in 2019. Claycomb stated she thought itmight be going to Council Workshop on February 23. BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS MEETING February a, 2016 Page6of7 Houtman responded we've got to go two steps before that and push it through the Committee. It's a moving date; more than likely it will be April. If there's a chance it can be taken to Council Workshop in March, we will. He will keep Park Board members updated. Item 4G. President Hillman asked Chris Clark to tell us about himself. He feels we owe Patricia Vizzini a thank you. He would like the Board to send a ·note to her to thank for her service. Clark spoke about himself. Councilmember Pete Meitzner is a friend and knew of his interestin getting involved with one of the City's advisory boards and asked him recently to help out with the Park Board. Hillman stated we do have some big issues coming up this year. Item 4H. Director Houtman stated he will make sure Chris Clark gets a copy of the PROS Plan. We are working with MIG and have met every weekend, looking at items no longer relevant and adding new items. Hillman will continue to provide input as well. A draft has been sent to MIG. When we get close to a final draft he will make sure the Park Board gets one more look. Greg Olmer is working hard on recreation plan. Our accreditationvisit is in June. We are about 80% complete with the self-assessment document. We have learned a lot about our policy and procedure items. lfwe do get accredited.we will be the only department in the City. We will be the third or fourth city in the state to become accredited. There are less than 200 across the country. We will need help when visitors are here. We will have breakfast reception for them along with the Executive Director from KRPA, Mayor and City Manager. Claycomb asked for dates. Houtman stated he will provide date information tomorrow. David McGuire stated the visit dates are Monday, June 27 through Wednesday, June 29. Houtman stated we will have a quick breakfast the morning of June 27. Houtman stated one of the things the City Manager asked was to change the perception of the City. Houtman said Councilmember Clendenin said we have some self-esteem issues. The City has a reputation of not having a lot of trust with the community. He wantsto show off the great Park and Rec staff across the state and the country. So we submitted our programs for several awards and won six out of twelve. awards. One of them was Councilmember Frye, he won an award for being an elected official, butpart of it was due to his work here on the Park Board. We are going to re-award those next Tuesday at Council. We.also won an award from Visit Wichita. We.have been successful as Park and Recreation and have had an impact on economic drivers in the community. Hoyt Hi BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS MEETING February 8, iOI6 Page 7 of7