Board of Park Commissioners

BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS REGULAR MEETING MINUTES Monday, April 10, 2017 3:00- 5:00 P.M. 455 N Main C I T Y o OF City Hall, 1 st Floor WICHITA Board Room Wichita, Kansas .67202 Members Present: Cindy Claycomb, Hoyt Hillman, Tori Deatherage, Bill Ramsey, Troy Palmer, Ron Allen, Chris Clark Absent: None City.Staff: Troy Houtman (Director, Park & Recreation), Elizabeth Harlenske (Assistant City Attorney), Penny Garding (Clerk), David McGuire, Troy Hendricks, Larry Hoetmer (staff), Councilmember Jeff Blubaugh; John Philbrick Item Descril!tion Call to Order Cindy Claycomb, President, called the meeting to order at approximately 3:03 p.m. Public Comments There were no comments from the public. 1 Approve Minutes Recommended Action: Approve, sign and file minutes of the March 13, 2017, Board of Park Commissioners Regular Meeting. Motion by Palmer, second by Allen, IT WAS UNANIMOUSLY VOTED to approve, sign and file the minutes of the March 13, 2017 Board of Park Commissioners Regular Meeting (7-0). 2A Force Main Easements - John Philbrick, Real Estate Administrator Philbrick presented a request for easement across property owned by the Park Board. The City has a project to build a force main between Sewer Plant 1 and Sewer Plant 2. It will go through two parcels impacted by the park. The first easement is entry to Emery Memorial Park, south of MacArthur Road and west of 1-35. The easement does not impact the park or the drive into the park. lmpactto improvements during construction will be repaired. The tract is valued at about $2,250, based on appraisals in the area. This is Park Board land and will require Park Board approval to sell land to the City. The City will then go ahead and get an agenda item to get it approved. The second easement is.Chapin Park, owned by the City of Wichita, but managed by the Park Department. The easement will bisect the park running from the river to MacArthur Road. There would be more impact to the park during construction. The paths will be blocked west of the construction. Construction is slated to occur this fall and next spring, during minimal operational time for the park. Impact to the entrance, signage or anything will be repaired as part of the project. One thing that will be BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS REGULAR MEETING April 10, 2017 Page i of 19  added is toward the north end, the path that runs toward the river will improved with a 12' wide all-weather roadway. That will tie into the path system and allow maintenance of improvements at the river. This is City land, so this is more of an advisory item. Claycomb inquired of the Chapin easement, if the path isdosed, can we ask to have detour signs for pedestrians and bicyclists? Philbrick responded the blockages will occur at natural turn a rounds. The paths on the east side of the park will be closed at MacArthur Road. They will only be able to access the park from the Hydraulic Avenue side. Palmer inquired about how long the project will take. Philbrick responded the construction on the river, through federal mandate, has to occur in the winter, October through March, to avoid impacting spawning of endangered species. The hope is to do the work through Chapin at the same time. The time through the park should not be any more than six months. Motion by Hillman, second by Palmer, IT WAS UNANIMOUSLY VOTED to sell the.section of Emery Park property to .the City of Wichita for $2,250 for the force main easement; (7-0). 3A Pawnee Prairie Park - Troy Houtman, Director, Park & Recreation Houtman stated we spent a lot ohime going back and listening to comments and have incorporated ideas intothis draft plan. Hoetmer stated we met with stakeholders from the community and listened and learned. The plan today is quite different than what was presented before. We met with stakeholders, the equestrian community, bicycling community and residents from the neighborhoods. We had City Council and Park Department Staff in attendance as well. At that time we vetted the plan that was presented. We talked about the issues with that plan, things we felt could be improved to reflect the concerns of the community. There were several key recommendations from the ad hoc committee that are incorporated into the revised plan. In the plan today there are large areas that have been maximized primarily for use by equestrians and hikers. Bicycles are prohibited in these areas. We have. some new multi-use paths that will be uUlized for biking. It is a softer footprint. We heard many times the desire to have no pavement in the park. The park has a rich history of being nature based. There is a breakdown of the three different areas talked about in .the previous presentation with where we p�opose the dollars to be spent. On the displayed graphic, the blue hatched area is set aside solely for equestrians and hikers. This area of the park will be prohibited for bicycling. In the initial plan, we looked at the Cowskin Creek and utilizing itas a natural border. We understand there are dozens of utilized pathways and trails that are not shown on. these graphics. The magenta trails represent the multi-use pathways. We.are recommending these be chipped limestone'. The yellow path is the existing concrete path. It extends from the east entrance to the west entrance. BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS REGULAR MEETING April 10, 2017 Page 2 of 19  • Area A has changed from the previous plan. The hatched area (blue) on the west.and south sides of the Cowskin Creek, has been set aside for equestrians and hikers only. Bicycles will be prohibited. It is accessed by the pedestrian bridge that is currently in the southern portion of the park. The existing path (yellow) needs work and upgrades. The equestrian pathways are shown in aqua blue. There are some crossings between the equestrian and bicycle paths. Atthese junctures, we are proposing barriers for safety purposes and encourage dismount to pass through. The red hatched area shown is a low water crossing to the Cowskin Creek. Some examples of barriers were presented. We will focus on them being more natural looking, The horse and equestrian users will have the right of way. • Area B has changed significantly from the previous plan that included a neighborhood green. We have reduced the foot print. There is a chipped pathway to connect from the parking lot to the south end of Carrwood Dr. The playground initially located north of the parking area has been moved to south and east of existing parking lot. Again, the blue hatched area is set aside for exclusive use by equestrians and hikers. Bicycles will be prohibited. • Area C is an important connector for the bike path system. East and west is the Prairie Sunset Trail. It is an important conduit for the bike path system that connects into the City of Wichita and will eventually connect to downtown Wichita, Userswill share the bridge to cross the Cowskin Creek. When the committee met, there was a Kansas Single Track Society member in attendance. They requested expansion into this area and we have determined that is not a good idea. We are keeping it.as it was, for equestrians. Carrwood Drive. is an existing residential street. Between Carrwood and the park is a fence. We are proposing the bicycle users access Carnivood. We would institute the use of sharrows (bicycle lane pavement markings) for bicycle use. There would be no need to add more pavement Once we come to an agreement, we would like to meet with the equestrian community and develop an MOU on park usage. And, also work with the Park Department on a maintenance plan. We want to maintain it as a nature area. We will continue looking at park usage. Houtman stated a lot of the feedback we have received over the past couple years is the need for better, updated signage and more trash cans. There was a question about adding lighting in the parking lot if the park closes as dusk. He responded there are gates that are left open to assist police officers and other people who need to access the park. The park is not open but we want lighting in the parking lot area. There are a lot of little things we can do to upgrade the park to make it nicer. BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS REGULAR ME�NG April 10, 2017 Page 3 of 19 Ramsey inquired how many members of different sections ofthe community were involved in the ad hoc committee. Houtman responded there were nine at the table discussing the plan. There were three equestrians, two bicyclists, two neighborhood member and two Park Department staff members. There were also two observers, one Park Board member and members of City Council present. Ramsey inquired how those members were chosen; were they volunteers or were they put forward by those respective communities? Houtman responded we asked active equestrian members. We had members from Kansas Single Track Society and Bike Walk Wichita representing the bicycle community. The .neighborhood members were Councilmember Blubaugh's recommendations, including the Neighborhood Association president and a resident. Ramsey inquired if there was consensus at the end of the meeting. Houtman responded we did not have consensus on everything. We did get a lot of information and incorporated that into the plan. Staff felt the safety aspect was important and suggested the barricades. Staf f tried to incorporate as many ideas as possible and still have a working model that accomplished some areas for bicycling. We did get feedback on the concrete trail and always having to dodge the horses or the manure. That trail is not verywide, that is why we are proposing not allowing horses there. They will have the rest of the park to use. Ramsey inquired if the bicycle trail on the west side would cause any clearing of trees to make a firebreak between the residences and the park and the park encroachments? Houtman responded the yellow trail is not in the park. Along the top part, there will need to be some clearing. Mostly it will be . trees .we do .not want in the park. Some of the cedar trees are not native and are a huge fire danger. There is not much clearing in this plan. The south is an existing path we would just be widening and improving. Claycomb added the staff took feedback from the users and incorporated as much as possible. Hillman stated the two year study is great and he appreciates what the City has done. We should also look at whatthe county can do to support the equestrians. Is there any feedback on the development of the equestrian area on Furley? Houtman responded the Furle� property used to be a City property and there were ideas of turning that into an ATV park. That park eventually went back to the County. Furley used to have horses and some stables there. That might be an opportunity to explore there. That could be an endeavor for the Kansas Horse Council, as they are looking for opportunities to expand horse trails. He would be willing to work with the County to see if they would be willing to discuss. Deatherage inquired about the parking lot in Area A, it is the only parking for equestrians to park with their trailers. When they enter the park they have to cross over bike and pedestrian paths. ls.there a way to make it so they don't have to cross paths? Houtman responded it would not change how they enter into the park. The pedestrians and bicycles are going to have to come to that portion, we will have to put stop signs for bicycles and hikers and they will have to look to see what traffic is coming through. It is not in the parking lot, it is in the driveway at the very entrance ofthe park, Deatherage clarified it.is in Area A where the blue and purple trails intersect. Houtman responded that is going to be a crossing point. We want to make BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS REGULAR MEETING April 10, 2017 Page4 of 19 sure we put good signage or barricades there. We chose this as the bicycle/pedestrian area, it is wide open with no trees and we can reduce the vegetation. Equestrians will have the right of way. Bicycles will have to stop. Deatherage stated other than the entrance all the other possible intersections are optional to equestrians. Council member Blubaugh inquired about Area A. In the past couple years, the Park Department has been mowing some lanes. Will the equestrians no longer be able to ride in the open area? Houtman responded that could be worked on. The reason it was being mowed in the past was to encourage the horse to use that instead of the sidewalks. Claycomb inquired about traffic calming and will the barricades be both ways or for bicycles only. Houtman respond in this situation it will be for the bicycles. Claycomb clarified the traffic calming will be for the bicycles and the horses will go straight through. Houtman stated the red hash is where there are bridges. It is hard to come up with a plan that will give one person the right of way, everybody uses it. That.will be an area where everyone has to pay attention. We will have the barricades, people will have to dismount and pay attention to their surroundings. Public Discussion - Claycomb presented the rules. Each speaker will be allowed two minutes. One question from the public was asked for clarification on the route through the park. Houtman clarified the route the path was going through the park and the path intersections. This is a draft and he is willing to listen to ideas on how to handle the intersections. Chris Kaegi-Stevens, 11220 N Rock Road, Valley Center. Presented handouts to the Board. She is the Regional Director, Region 4, Kansas Horse Council, which includes Sedgwick County, as well as the eleven counties that surround Wichita. Thanked the Board for the opportunity to speak. Expressed apologies for things that were said at the last meeting. As equestrians we are constantly facing opposition and the threat, real or otherwise, of having lands and trails being taken from us without any consideration. At the February 13 meeting when the master plan was revealed to the public and after being designed by only bicycling enthusiasts, there was a specific number mentioned regarding the number of horses in Wichita. That number is why I am here today. I would like to see the 50 that was mentioned and raise it by 1,215. That number of only 50 horses registered in the City of Wichita was baffling. It is perplexing because I have never seen a horse standing in line at a voting booth or paying city taxes. (time called, Jucly Brunhoeber donated her speaking time) Horses don't vote or pay taxes, people do. Much has been said on social media and in replies after concerns were shared with many in government positions in Wichita, that we, the equestrians, are spreading this information. I decided to do my own research. First, contact was made with the American Horse Council and requested any information they could share from their economic impact study results. Then contact was made with the Kansas Horse Council and economic impact study results were BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS REGULAR MEETING April 10, 2017 Page 5 of 19 received from them. Then.reaching out to area equine business in and around Wichita and asked them how many Wichita residents do you serve and how many horses do those residents own? Here are those results: 23 stables that were contacted have 254 Wichita residents that own 364 horses. Of the four trainers that were contacted, they have 43 owners and 36 horses, because most of theirs they ride their horses. Of the nine veterinarians, 643 Wichita residents with 1,215 horses. Those are all Wichita horses. 12 farriers, 215 owners with 939 horses (time called, Tammy Halsey donated her speaking time). Thirty five individual Wichita residents contacted her, stating the\ have 220 between them. Four Wichita visitor sites, including Cowtown, OJ Watson Park, Sedgwick County Zoo and Wichita Mounted Police Patrol have a total of 21 horses. She does not understand the 50 registered horses. The total compiled expenses show the average cost of owning an equine in our area on a monthly basis is $1,163. It is important to know the impact equestrians have when the horses are brought into the city. There are additional numbers in the handouts. They may be a surprise to many since you have been given misinformation regarding the number of residents who own horses and the number of horses they own. It comes as no surprise to us as horse owners and facility operators in the Wichita area. This shows that with a little due diligence the truth can shed light on the assessment ofthe impact equestrians have on the city of Wichita and we should not be so easily discounted. Even though there is a great number of horse owners that live within Sedgwick County, we still pay property and sales taxes on things we own and purchase. Yes, we haul our horses to Wichita to ride at Pawnee Prairie Nature Park (time called). Sue Lamberson, 9950 S 119th Street West. Just to add to Chris's subject. Lived in Wichita, owned property, paid taxes, had horse, bicycles, boats, etc. I moved out of Wichita to keep my horses on my own property. I still live in the area and shop and do all my business in the City. Did not like being told that since I am not a city of Wichita resident my money is not as green as everyone else's. It seems to me the budgetfor this park would be better spent cleaning up the trash and fixing the erosion. Think about using some of that money for that.. Also, concerning horses leaving droppings on the sidewalks, as a horseback rider, I apologize to anyone who finds horse poop on the cement. It should not be happening. Riding horses on.cement is not good on their feet. Valerie Brunhoeber, 1172 S Springdale Rd. Read a prepared history of horseback riding and the park. (Time called during the reading, Donna Peery donated time.) The question was asked, since horseback riders have right of way, why do they have to dismount? Some people may have trouble getting on and off their horse and need assistance. Harriet Barber, 6550 E 45th Street North, Catholic Care Center. Once the bicycles get their foot in the door it will keep going. Marsha Mendenhall, 8140 S Laura, Haysville. Has lived and worked in Wichita for 40 years. Bought horse four years ago and boarded it outside the city. When she .retired she moved outside city to keep the horse with her. Still shop, pay taxes and go to the doctor in Wichita. I do not understand why my opinion does not carry the.same weight as other residents. I have been observing all the issues going on and a few nights ago, I saw for myself. On a District IV Facebook page, legitimate questions were BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS REGULAR MEETING Aprll 10; 2017 Page &of 19 being asked. As soon as they were posted they were deleted. The only postings left were ones that supported Mr. Blubaugh's opinion. Considers that biased and unethical. If it is a City of Wichita Face book page it should represent the City of Wichita, not just his personal opinion. I agree the dismounting and mounting of horses at crossings is a bad idea. There are bicyclists have the same issues. If you continue with the proposed plan you are making a huge mistake. Daniel .Bugner, 5700 W Kemper St., Wichita. Here today as a District IV resident. Personally, and with family; use the park 3-5 times a week. We are completely against the changes to the park. We want to keep it as a.nature park. We won't lose all ofthe nature, but it will be detrimental. Quoted Wichita.gov "The City of Wichita maintains more than 100 miles of bicycle paths, lanes and other bicycle facilities. Many of the paths travel through and along scenic areas, such as the Arkansas River." That does not include the hundreds of miles of public roadways. Will direct the rest of my time at Councilman Blubaugh. (time called, Dottie Lundstedt donated her time) You are an elected official and held to a higher standard, or should be. You are supposed to be my voice. I came up with an adjective describing the actions on the District IV Facebook page lately: "childish." You do not represent me nor my family by the actions that have gone on on that page. I do not know ifit was you and don't believe it is a City sanctioned page, it is a District IV page. Myself personallv over 60 comments have been deleted that are opposed to this. It is uncalled for, it is disrespectful and rude. I am a taxpayer and work hard for my money, I feel like my voice should be heard, not deleted. Then I get a personal friend request from you because you want to send a personal message, like you have done several others. Signage may help, but it won't stop speeding. It's a good option but it doesn't work. If we let bicycles on these paths, someone will get hurt. Just like the Prairie Sunset Trail, the equestrians will suffer and they will lose another place to ride. (time called, Jana Reed donated time) Keep it a prairie nature park. There are a lot of improvements that could be made to the park. There are too many opposing things going on. We are going to ultimately run into a problem and it will be with safety. The safety of people doingwhat they enjoy should be as easily affected by a simple decision to maintain what we have now or to continue to change something that is ultimately going to take away from whatthe park was originally designed for. Ronald Schremer(?), 2910 S 107 East. It is a nice place to ride. The next closest place to go is an 80 mile round trip. It's part of our heritage. Made a comparison to the Indians, "we don't.want to take your land, we want to share it with you." We all know how that worked out. capri Kent, 6505 N 159th East, Benton. I do all my shopping in Wichita. I am the weekend coordinator for the Steel Magnolias. We are a Wichita Christian Riding Group for Women. We have been in business for 25 years and probably 80 members. Speaking fo( several of the girls who do not have a lot of money, they can't travel 80 miles to go ride their horse so they plan on going with us to Pawnee Prairie Park. Or girls that have older horses and they don't want to trailer them for an hour in the summer time. Some have limited schedules because they are professional women and can't take a lot of time off work. Art Hatch, 2634 Glacier Dr. Our house is adjacent to the west boundary of the park. Pawnee Prairie Park, Plumlee Trails for horses and hikers, no mention of bikes. Please BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS_REGULAR MEETING April 10, 2017 Page 7_ of �9 let Pawnee Prairie Park remain a horseback riding and hiking park. The master plan proposed by Councilmember Jeff Blubaugh will allow bicycles into the park with separate trails for hikers, horses and bikes. It will increase the amount of paved nature trails and decrease the haven for wildlife in the park. They have done a real good job on the wildlife, they are practically all gone, in spite of the fact there are several signs of deer in the area. They still drive over the speed limit. Air CapitalBike Park, just to the north of Pawnee Prairie Park, threatens to expand into Pawnee Prairie. There are bike parks, dog parks, skate parks, etc. around Wichita.. But this crude Wichita gem for horseback riding and hiking is being seriously threatened as such because Jeff's insistence that it must be open to bikes that will increase·traffic. A safety risk for horseback riders, hikers. Angela Valentine, 9317 E Silverlake Rd, Haven. Photos of the debris that washes in every time that we have hard rains were shared. She attended the Park Board meeting on 3/13 and a request was made at that timethat Ann Keefer with Wichita Festivals have an up and coming artist paint A Price Woodard Park with vibrant colors to spruce up the area. Her presentation was wonderful and the area would look great when it is done. However, a member of the.board wisely asked who would be responsible to bear the cost of maintaining this. Where will the funds to maintain any changes at all to the park come from? What is currentlythere is not maintained, how will anything else be maintained. The park has very little funding and the large majority of maintenance that has been done was done with equine volunteer hours and at their own personal expense. The Wichita City Council has recently had to make the tough decision to close seven of the ten city pools due to lack offunding for them from operations, which I understand is the same source of funds for park maintenance. It seems extremely fiscaily.irresponsible and unwise to take on more when cuts are needing to be made. to what's currently in existence. It equates to "I can'tafford my current bills but I'm goingto go out and buy a brand new car." It doesn't make sense. Paul Berry, 1141S W Taylor, Wichita. The gentleman earlier did have it right, the main issue is safety. Two years ago I was walking in Swanson Park and coming around one of the curves, a guy on bike came flying through and I startled him. I came up with my arm and caught him right below the chin. He went off the bike. Both of us were scared and upset. Afterthat happened I asked the guy, you know there is a sign that says no bicycles. He responded he didn't think anything could happen, there's nobody over here at that time of day. That is a reflection of where we are, it is a safety issue. Everyone has their reasons, but we do need to do something about safety. It is not good to mix bikes and horses. Lindsay Schwarz, 5700 W Kemper St, Wichita. Started off by quoting from Mr. Blubaugh's website, "As a representative of the people of District IV, I would like to know how citizens feel about.the issues which affect them within the neighborhood and city." His actions recently have demonstrated that is a bold faced lie. I made one comment on.a Facebook post which was then deleted, and I was quickly blocked from commenting on the page. I live in the district and should be able to have my concerns voiced and listened to. There is no level of professionalism. If you give the bikes an inch they will take a mile. I would allow bikes on.the other side if we are really trying to connect the neighborhood to the bike park, but leave the rest for horses and hiking. BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS REGULAR MEETING April 10, 2017 ·Page 8 of 19 Chipped limestone is going to be a waste of money. If you have been to the park since there was gravel dumped alongside the paved path, a lot of it has been washed away by the water. So a lot ofthat will be wasted money. The playground will affect the wildlife. A couple weeks ago there was a children's party happeningand I knew they were there from a half mile away. Jim Martin, 2422 Yellowstone Court. I am more of an advocate for the wildlife. The other thing to mention is the money. We've closed down swimming pools all over town and..now we are going to spend $1.2 M to put some rocks in a park. I don't think the people on the north side of this town and Edgemoor are goingto like the fact we are spending money out here but we .can't keep their swimming pool open, I am curious, I know there .are signs at every entrance there are signs that say "no bicycles." Who is going to come in and tell those people they can't ride there? The Park Department has no Park Patrol anymore. There are two patrol cars for the Police Department on the west side of the Big Ditch, I don't think they are going to come out and run a.bicycler out of the park. We've got rules but who is going to enforce them. A lot of these people with the horses are from out oftown and have all been told their voice really has no bearing here. They are tourists and in the city of Wichita, we like tourists; Tourists bring money to the city of Wichita. Ellie Skokan, 5825 Memphis, Belle Air. Here today representing the Southwind Group of the Sierra Club. Is concerned it did not seem like any hikers were involved in the ad hoc committee. Sierra Club has been involved with Pawnee Prairie Park since at least the late '80s. For. clarification the north bridge, shown in red, is actually multi use, correct? Houtman responded that is correct. Skokan then inquired why is the existing trail, the main trail on the west side of the creek, not shown anywhere. Claycomb responded not all of the trails are sho.wn on the map. Skokan added then there is no reason that is not shown? So some of the blue trails are new? Houtman responded a lot of these are existing trails. Skokan inquired if the blue lines are indicated as horses only? Claycomb responded they are horses and hikers. Houtman stated all ofthe trails are open to hikers. Stephanie Blue, 8924 W 82 nd St, N, Valley Center. It has been made abundantly clear non-residents have no opinion in this matter. A fair share of us equestrians work in Wichita. I do 99% of my shopping in Wichita. I was a citizen until recently when we moved to the country to have horses. I am having a hard time grasping that I no longer am considered a part of the community that I have grown to love and should have zero say in what is best for this park and its patrons. Also; we heard that maybe we should charge day fees for horseback riders since most don't live or pay taxes in Wichita. Then we could collect enough money to pay for a bridge and open areas back up that have been closed. Are we going to check IDs now? Should the same rules apply to cyclists and hikers from out of town or is it just for horseback riders? Some people had posts that were deleted,they were also banned and blocked. Some of the questions that people asked were if this plan doesn't work or someone gets hurt, will this be revisited and will bike use be prohibited? Banned and blocked. Another question was how much of the cost is lighting and why is it needed if it is closed from dusk until dawn. Banned and blocked. What is the. plan for drainage and why is such a small area left natural. Banned and blocked. I also want to know where are the people that are for this plan, I have not heard any of them speak today? BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS REGULAR MEETING April 10, 2017 Page 9 of 19 Lindsay Frye, 1530 Smith Circle. I own three.horses and in the last ten years I have spent over $55,000 on.horses·in the Wichita economy. There were no hikers represented on the ad hoc committee. The one neighbor that did reach out.that was a hiker was not allowed in the group as well as another person that was an opponent to bicycles being in the park was removed from the committee and was replaced with a more pro-bike person. This plan.is what we should have started with. We wasted two months of people's time. because of a lack of input that the Park Board has directed twice now. Onthe plan, we have requested for horseback riders, for safety purposes, some of the. low water bridge crossings be addressed. Apparently there's money for the hiking and cyclists side ofit, but not the horseback rider's side. That north bridge is another place where there could be an access point from the Prairie Sunset Trail over to the Air Capital Park and not through the north end of Pawnee Prairie Park where equestrians ride, as well as the north end bridge. Sherry Ibrahim, 11411 W Birch Lane. I use the park as a runner and hiker. I train for runs and marathons in the park. When I've been in the park, sometimes you about ' get bowled over by a bicyclist who doesn't know manners on coming up behind you and isn't capable of reading the signs in the park. I have never been nearly run over by a horseback rider. They apparently have better control of themselves and pay attention. There are a lot of signs in Wichita city parks. There is no enforcement of them because there isn't funding or personnel for that. We have to keep in mind if we are going to claim we are going to have sign age and that is going to enforce regulations, we need to recognize that it doesn't .. Bikes use the park now, and for the most part they try to stay out of our way. It seems they prefer the early morning hours when they perceive less people will be in the park. That is easier to live with than if they are allowed in the park and now they don't see there is a reason they can't be on thistrail but they can be on that trail. The only kind of bikes capable of riding on those limestone paths are mountain bikes. There are a few gravel bikes in the city, but a gravel biker isn't going to bother trying to ride through Pawnee Prairie Park because they are going to be on the back roads where they can go fast and lots o miles, You are going to tell me that a mountain biker who is going through the park isn't goingto decide it is more fun to go through all through those extra paths. The park signs just can't be read anymore. They are outdated and the little red slash signs that are supposed to mean none of this, can't be seen, they have all peeled off. We need to pay more attention to maintaining the signs we already have. Ray Walker, 2521 Teton Circle. Speaking only for himself. Have always received respect from equestrians; not so with the bicyclists. More than once I have come around the twisty bits ofthe trails and almost been run over by an exuberant twelve year old on a mountain bike. I don't believe they will pay much attention to No Bikes Allowed signs, they haven't for years.. He is concerned about the wildlife, it was their home first. Last year at an HOA party in July he was told, after expressing negative thoughts about the bicycles, that the only plan ..at the time was to run a path up the west side inside the fence so the bicyclists could get on and go up to access the mountain bike trails. That was in July. Then see the presentation is dated February 2016. I think, to say the least, I was misled. One question, what are the kiosks for? Houtman responded kiosks provide direction to get to amenities and where the trails are located. BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS REGULAR.MEETING April-10, 2017 Page.to of 19 Michael Gomm, 11903 W Dora Ct. I will be the dissenting opinion of the day. The new draft plan is not perfect, but it does address some concerns expressed to Councilman Blubaugh by other area residents that were interested in a shared use solution for this resource that the residents in the area don't have access to. It does give safe bike access to the City's only single track park from.the adjacent community. It provides an immediate solution for the Prairie Sunset Trail high water crossing that connects the east and west. It provides a de facto west side trail head for the Prairie Sunset Trail, with hopes of eliminating the illegal private property parking that is going on. It also provides a public playground and family bike path, a community park to a part of the city that simply does not have access to one via their feet or a bike. We are bordered by Kellogg on the north side, the. park on the west side, there are thousands of residents there. Five schools worth of kids. There is no public park, no place for them to go. I would rather have my son riding safely in a park and not on the street. The future maintenance issues are contentious, I've seen them at airports and a number of other different things. Bruce Gilder, 1722 E 2nd Ste 3. If this is going to be an equestrian park, you have this bicycle trail basically destroying the southern half of the equestrian part. lfthe equestrians are the ones who have maintained the trails for the last 50 years, where are the regulations on that? Are you goingto all of a sudden say they can't go in there and maintain the trails and work them, it has to be done by City employees? Why not spend this money differently. You have $1M from the Hyatt, take $500,000, put it in a fund earing 8-10% interest and hire someone to replenish your staff. Clean the park and creek. I gave photos two months ago and not a thing has been done on cleaning it. That creek has become filthy and offensive. We are talking about spending $1M to fix it up, but not spending a dime to clean and maintain it. That seems to be a lack of proper priorities .in this situation. Are the horse riders, the people that actually use it, still be the ones to break trails, clean the trails, keep the trails up, is the City going to take over that? Orwill it be said you can't legally do that, nobody can do that anymore. When we' have $160M in annual debt load inthe City and we are spending $1M on a park, that is a lack of priority. carol Lambe, 2221 N Bramblewood St. #303. I own two residences in Wichita, a small ranch in Belle Plain and personally own 22 horses. We train a lot in Pawnee Prairie Park. My questions concern some of the. specifics of the areas designated for bicycles. Our hydrantto get our horses water is in the bicycle area. This part of the parking area is grass area and is designated trailer parking. They have a trail going right through it. We have used this area for many events with people coming from all over. Now you have a bike path going right through the trailer parking area. Are you going to reroute plumbing to get water to the horses so they don't interfere with the bicyclists? You have this going.through this area of trees, there is fencing all along, there is no way you are going to separate the horses from the bikes. Here is Tyler, the roads connect, there is travel all over the city with bike lanes, put a bike lane up Tyler. (time called, Donna Kirkpatrick donated time) There is the golf course over here with a made up bike path, In the equestrian area, talk about putting better use to dollars, this is impossible to pass due to all the rocks in the area. They are medium size boulders that horses have a hard time getting across. We have to dismount in thi5 area to·get through. Spend money where it is effective. BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS REGULAR MEETING .April 10, 2017 Page 11 of 19. Ernest Webb, 2215 W Crawford. I am a long time Eagle Scout. Learned about nature, conservation, covering and keeping our natural resources intact. Safety has to be a primary issue that is looked at. Expense and how to use money has to be a major obstacle that needs to be looked at. Swimming pools are being closed. We have natural resources that we have·available, a nature area that is set up with wildlife so our young people can go enjoy. Putting a bicycle group in here will be the opposite of what everyone's outcome should be. I don't believe we have the funds to maintain it. Let's conserve our money and use it in the best place we can. Nobody wants. to get hurt, nobody wants to waste inoney. I think we would be wasting money to put a bicycle area in this area as it sit right now. We .have to .look atthe important things and what our budget a Hows and use our resources to keep the nature area intact for future generations. John Rankin, 11254 Carr Court. There has bee.n a lot of hard .work on this plan. It has changed a lot from the beginning. It is a pretty good compromise. There is something here for everyone to dislike. I understand and sympathize with where you are coming from. But I aiso look at this and realize when you talk about history, West Street was the west end of Wichita. Now we are looking at houses all around here. All we are saying is we want to be able to let these folks tool around in here. It doesn't let bicycles into the park, it just adds,a little bit of access on existing paths. As for twelve year olds, we are always going to have little jerks out there riding their bikes. It is just always going to happen. Next year it will be a new one. There is nothing you can do about that. New signage will help. Publicity will help a little bit. Even without these changes it will help. I would like for my.wife and I to be able to just tool around on these areas to the south. I want a safe way to get up to Air Cap to mountain bike and to get up to the rail trail. This provides that and it also provides great separation and clearly signs the rest of the area from bicyclists. Terry Fry-1902 N Frederick. Sometime back I circulated a White Paper that most of you have probably seen. There has been no response to it whatsoever. What is refers to the history of this park starting with the City Council Resolution in 1973 that said access to this park would only be by hikers and equestrians. It goes further into District Advisory Board meetings where the same decision was.made. And also prioritization of this Park . Board, that also ruled that this access.would be limited to hikers and equestrians only. Before this plan can be considered there.needs to be a public discussion about where or not this is.going to be maintained as a pure nature park. That has been missing from most of the conversation. Equestrians have had to respond to the plans submitted without there being.any consideration about the true nature status of this park. lf this plan is adopted it will be the beginning of the end of this being an equestrian park. It is the only park in the area for equestrian trail riding. It will only take $957,000 to ruin that status. I recommend this plan be rejected and we go to different conversation. Me and several other people in the audience have more knowledge about this park than anyone who represents the City of Wichita.or anyone who works for the City of Wichita. But we have never been consulted about any of this. Council Member Jeff Blubaugh. i would like to deviate from my prepared statement. The question has come up several times, who are the. people that support this? They are at work, their kids are at school. (Claycomb brought the room back to order and BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS REGUIAR MEETING April 10, 2017 Page 12 of19 asked for the respect shown to them to be shown to CM Blubaugh as well.) There are over 15,000 people that live within a couple square miles of the park. They don't have a park in this area. You can't,expect kids to ride their bicycles across Kellogg. And you can't expect them to go across K-42. This is the only area they are going to have. The Goddard School District has over 5,500 kids. 40% of these kids, over 2,000 kids, live in this neighborhood. They have no bike lanes and nowhere to ride, and no public park to utilize. I did get a couple accusations earlier that I was being unprofessional and childish. I don't think there are very many in this room that.can say I have not responded to your email. I have spent hundreds of hours responding to emails. I won't engage in arguments on social media simply to be showboating the issue. If you have a legitimate concern, send me an email and I will respond to it .. I do care about my constituents. I represent 60,000 people in my district, not counting the rest of the city that I represent and I am passionate about my area. This is.the first time I have requested any type of parkimprovements to our area. We support other park development throughout the city of Wichita, it is only fair we get this area to utilize. I will agree with the gentleman earlier that is my constituent, if we are truly concerned about nature, this area should not be, other than this lane here, this should be untouched. To have horse lanes in here, thatis too thick, you have to go in and continually cut the trees down. That was the first plan originally to leave that alone. However, we tried to make a compromise with. the equine society and open that up to them. That is where the majority of your wildlife is. I walk the park four to five times a day, there is a deer bed down behind the condos in the dry creek. They cross through there every evening. I am not going to do anything to jeopardize the outdoors. We did run this through our District Advisory Board last week and our DAB IV had a unanimous vote of support for it. This is something.the constituents want, it is something our area of town really wants. I have taken a lot of public scrutiny over this. I would do it again. I've been fighting this for the last 18 months, I've had hateful, nasty things said to me and about me. I would do it all again because it is.the right thing to do. Claycomb addressed a couple things that were said, in order to set the. record straight. The original plan designed by Park staff at the request of Councilmember Blubaugh, there were no bicyclists included. The Park Board has not said that non-residents do not have a say in this. The Park Board has never had a discussion about fees for this park. Houtman stated Park staff has spent a lot of time trying to find a compromise that works for everyone. Would like to open it up to find ways for everyone to support each other and everyone's interests and ideas of what the park might be. He deals with this every day in every park. There are conflictingjnterests between basketball courts vs. tennis courts, and resources for one item over another. I am challenged daily to find support for one activity over another. We look for right compromise and utilize resources. We look at statistics, interest, talk to neighborhood folks, go to DABs, and bring it to the Park Board. We try to use all the resources we can. Maintenance and operation is a challenge for this parkas well as other parks. We rely BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS REGULAR MEETING April 10, 2017 Page 13 of 19 on volunteers at all parks. We continue to improving maintenance, but will need volunteers as well. There are challenges with all of our parks. Ramsey inquired who provided this sheet? I want to address this quickly. I talked to my councilman. and asked what it would cost to do a bridge? That bridge is $4M. It is off the table. Houtman added whatwas just presented is a bridge that would connect the Prairie Sunset Trail. It goes overthe Cowskin Creek. What we are doing is working with the Prairie Travelers to do a low water crossing that will help alleviate the situation. It is not a permanent solution. Ramsey stated he had not really heard of Pawnee Prairie Park until the last year. SincE then he has had several opportunities to go visit the park. It is a tremendous asset for the city. This has brought to light that it is in serious need of upkeep. There are several homes that had sheds encroaching in the park area. They have set up camps in the park area. This park is huge. I am having trouble understanding why this cannot be a mixed use park. There is so much going on out there. There is so much land available. It is a nature park with equestrian trails, it.is not an equestrian park. There are 15,990 residents within one square mile of this park. That is almost exclusively on the west to south side. There is no accurate count of the number of horses that come through the park on a weekly basis. I've heard varying numbers, 10 a week, so that is 40 a month. Let's quadruple that and say there are 160 horses that come through that park in a month. 160 horses is 1% ofthe residents within one square mile of that area. I drove all over that area looking for something.for 16,000 residents for the kids, there is nothing there. I can see no logical reason why there cannot be a playground and bike trail of some type. I am still not sold on the loop. The bike trail connecting the neighborhood to Air Capital and to the playground is an absolute must. The neighborhood needs a way to get there. I likes the barriers that have been presented. There needs to be some research done on that to find a way to make sure people can't get around the barriers. We should make sureto not have the horses dismount. If we do have them dismount is there a way to provide platform or stairs to make it easy for them to get back on to their horse. This should be a mixed use park. There was probably a point in time, where people who owned wagons got really ticked off because we were paving the . roads. It is just what happens. Clark stated from the professional side as an architect, there are significant dollars in the budget set aside for design. The plan is conceptual at this point, there is still a lot of details have come up in these comments that are not figured out yet. Staff comments have confirmed that. It is still an evolving idea. Hillman shared a concern on the overlap for.bikes and pedestrians and horses. He still sees a potential for expansion of the parking lot and maybe a change where the horse watering would occur. He would support an addition parking lot on south of the existing one that would bring the bicycles into the south route. Not in support of the north route (magenta trail) from the west side parking lot. BOARD OF. PARK COMMISSIONERS REGULAR MEETING April 10, 2017 Page 14·of 19 Ramsey added one thing that everyone should be happy about. Mr. Blubaugh has brought attention to the park. No matter what we do moving forward, that is a plus for everyone. There will be more attention on the park and its maintenance. Claycomb inquired about the comment regarding the chipped limestone washing out because of thewater that runs through there. Houtman responded the new trails are in relatively flat areas. Where the sidewalk is, we have placed several different types of materials-addressing some major erosion occurring along the sidewalk and threatening its stability. We are not finished trying to repair that erosion. Those were quick measures taken to get that going. The new trails proposed are in flat areas and drainage is not as much. of an issue. This is very similar to what we have at the Prairie Sunset Trail. It is relatively flat,. and when the base is done correctly, the chipped limestone is pounded into the base. It does:not need as much maintenance. Claycomb inquired about the area where there is trailer parking and water for the horses. Are we looking at a path through that? Will it keep them from watering their horses? Houtman responded where it is going to cross is actually east of where they park. Audience members clarified where they park their trailers and where the hydrant is located. Houtman stated we can explore that and possibly move the trail further to the east to allow access towater. Claycomb stated part of this park is designated as Wichita Wild, would that need to be changed with the new trails. Houtman responded no, there are.several Wichita Wild parks that have bicycle trails through them. Claycomb asked Houtman to address maintenance of the park. Houtman responded we are adding designated bicycle areas, but it is not adding a lot of new trails. It does need more maintenance. A lot of the trash is coming in from upstream and streets. The natural vegetation collects trash. We would like to get more volunteers to work through there more often. With our limited staff we are only out there a few times during the week. The changes do not have a lot of maintenance impact. It does give us the opportunity to pay attention to the park and do more things. It could be the catalyst to get more resources and volunteers. We rely on people like the Wichita Parks Foundation to raise money that can be used to address the infrastructure or pay for groups to come in and do some studies. We need to have a better understanding of what is in the park. The nature portion is a critical factor. Palmer inquired what are we trying to accomplish today. Claycomb asked if the Board is ready to make a recommendation or do we want additional feedback on research or changes to the plan? Today we are looking for a recommendation or sending it back. Palmer responded he still would not support paths that cross horses, kids, bikes, etc. in the south loop. He stated he wants to activate the park. Putting in a playground is a great idea. Connecting the Prairie Sunset Trail is perfect. Just cannot get past connecting bikes through that horse area. Claycomb confirmed the west area is fine, but the south loop is where there is concern. Palmer agreed. He does not disagree there is nothing in the neighborhood for the kids, there are lots of kids. Yes, there are BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS REGULAR MEETING April 10, 2017 Page 15 of 19 the bratty twelve year olds that are going to ride their bikes. But if we don't make that connection, they are less likely to ride where they should not ride. Claycomb stated we are hearing support for the westtrail and could recommend moving forward with that. Then either no to the south loop or say are there other options we could look at f or that area. Ramsey stated I would like to see us say we have established we are going to have mixed use in this park. We.know Mr. Blubaugh has a budget of $1M. It has to have a playground, we have to. allow bikes access to the playground and to Air Capital Park. But we would set forth parameters and turn it back over to that committee and say, you figure it out.and tell us what is going to work. Maybe it is not the same.committee, there are people upset they were not involved in it. If they can't figure it out and come to a resolution, I will adopt this plan in a heartbeat. I would rather have them figure out how to make it happen and they are all involved in the process. Motion by Ramsey, second by Palmer, IT WAS UNANIMOUSLY VOTED to adopt.the west trail and send it back to a committee that consists of five representatives from the equestrians, five representatives from the neighborhood, and include hikers and bikers, with the parameters there will be a playground, there will be bike trails that connect the playground to the neighborhood and to the Prairie Sunset Trail, and it has to stay within the $1M budget. (7-0). Houtman responded we will work with the committee to develop an option and bring that back. !twill be critical for Park operations to include an MOU with each of the partiesthat use the park, included either now or lateL This is important so that we can ensure we have the expectations and understand what are the responsibilities and authorities of everyone as we move forward. It was lacking in the past and we want, to make sure that helpswith communication and expectations in the future. Claycomb added that has been successful at Air Capital Park with the single track group. Ramsey stated the. only other question is we need to set a deadline on when that plan needs to be brought back to the board. Houtman responded what worked well last time was within about two weeks after our last meeting we were able to develop a committee and.get them in a meeting where we set down to talk about what the options were. Staff was then able to put that information into another draft. It took us two months to do that. That should be doable for the department. Claycomb stated the June meeting would be appropriate. Houtman inquired about consensus, how much are you expecting. There may be a situation where there is no consensus. Do you want to put it upon us as staff listens to the information and puts a plan together, or either they decide and put it all together or you go with that plan. Ramsey responded it was his intent if they cannot come together and learn to coexist, I would vote to adoptthis plan. They have to find resolution. Clark stated what he is hearing is the motion on the table is we are approvingthe west half, what we are reassessing is the loop. If there is no proposed changed to the loop, then it comes back to us and we either vote to approve it or not. At some point it needs to be voted on. All agreed. BOARD OF PARK·COMMISSIONERS REGULAR MEETING April 10, 2017 Page l&of19  5 minute break. 4 Recreation Update (Greg Dimer) Not in attendance, report was emailed to the Board 5 Golf Update (Troy Hendricks) Hendricks stated March was a little cooler and slowed things down a little. March rounds were down 21% from 2016 with revenue being down 24% from 2016. Staff did a good job of controlling expenses, they kept those under 2016 by 4%. Year-to-date rounds are down 4% from 2016. Overall, revenue is down 5%, expenditures for the first three months is down 1%. Our net position is $47,000 better than it was a year ago. It still shows in the red, but with a good April, we will be ahead year to date. New golf carts were delivered last week. Response has been good. Houtman added he stopped by Tex Consolver on Saturday morning and there were 20-24 carts lined up and ready to go. Hendricks stated when the Cowskin Creek floods it floods the golf course too. 6 Golf Advisory Committee Update (Hoyt Hillman) Meeting will be tomorrow. 7 Wichita Parks Foundation Update (Troy Houtman) Houtman stated the Foundation is working on Fourth of July plans. We are not getting as much support as had hoped from the Wingnuts. 8 OJ Watson Park Committee Update (Troy Houtman) Houtman stated the Easter egg hunt was great. The next project there is irrigation. We are done with tree planting. We are partnering with the volleyball group, that was previously at Jersey's, setting them up at Watson. We are looking at different options to allow alcohol. It would require an ordinance change. As we move forward we will bring more information. The reason for the move is Jersey's is adding on to their facility and where the addition and development is will be where the sand volleyball courts are. Instead of purchasing more land, they are discontinuing it. 9 Aquatics Master Plan Update (Troy Houtman) Houtman stated we are moving forward with the agreement with YMCA. He is meeting tomorrow with Council and the YMCA to discuss distribution of the first round of pool vouchers. McAdams will not be opening this summer. We will need the board's assistance as we begin meeting with every DAB and create a subcommittee for them to come up with the theme for their district splash pads. The more work we can get done ahead of time, the less money to we have to give to designers and can keep it in the project. A Request for Qualifications (RFQ) will go out in the fall for all the pools and splash pads. Allen inquired if we know where the splash pads will be in connection with existing pool. Houtman responded what staff wants to do is place them on top of where the pools a"re. Then we save the bath houses, fences, utilities. It will be looked at site by site. We will have staff go to each pad to open and pick up trash. BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS REGULAR MEETING �p"ril"lO, 2017 Page 17 of 19 10 President's Update (Cindy Claycomb) Claycomb expressed thanks to the board forthe input and reaching out to council members. Orientation was completed with Townsend and Ramsey. 11 Director's Update (Troy Houtman) Houtman expressed thanks to the board. This has been a difficult topic. For clarification, regarding the accusations of trying to keep the equestrian group in the dark. I as given direction to make this happen. We had to start somewhere. The first draft was good for what was given. Getting feedback from all three groups was helpful. It has been difficult to have consensus. No one group is willing to give anything up. It is appreciated that today we said we will have bicycles on the west side. We appreciate the concerns with crossing paths, but it happens all over the country, whether it is pedestrian, bicycle or streets. We will look at it one more time. The northern bridge will still require dual purpose. Are you in favor of some type of barricade:zig zag. Ramsey added. there is work that will need to be addressed there to allow bikes through. Houtman added just because bikes are allowed in, it does not change the nature aspect of the park. Horses have just as much impact on that as well. We will need support in putting in more dollars for the maintenance of this park. When we have a staff person go out once a week and rely on volunteers to pick up the trash and maintain the trails, and it is not acceptable, this where we get to a place where everybody loves it, but it is not maintained to the right standard. The other part too is how much do we allow the equestrian people to build new trails because that has an impact as well. This is why the MOU needsto be a big part and strong control on who does. what in the park. Ramsey stated is there a reason why we can't coordinate. a clean-up, like the downtown cleanup? Houtman responded volunteers and picking up trash is one thing. But blockage trees and other debris is another situation. In a true nature park you leave that there. It is a hybrid of all the things we want If you really want itto be a nature park, you would reduce the footprint. That would be reducing the amount of horse traffic, obviously bicycle traffic; and people traffic as well. It has to be a balance of all that. Palmer stated you have said a couple times, you are having a hard time getting a consensus. How come we are not hearing from bike riders? Clark added people in support of something do not show up, they assume it will pass. Ramsey added it is not the bikers that want this, it is the neighborhood to ride their bikes. It is two different things. Palmer added the bikers (not the. residents) he hastalked to say if we get it we get it, ifs a win for us. If we don't it is no loss, we have other places to ride. Then you take the families, if this is important to them, why are they not here stating that. Claycomb stated in our motion we said five horse people and five neighborhood people and some representation from hikers and bicyclists. The bicyclists are not concerned.about this. The neighborhood.is concerned about it. Ramsey added the neighborhood may come back and say we don't care about that loop, we don't need BOARD-OF PARK COMMISSIONERS REGULAR MEETING April 10, 2017 Page 18 of 19 it. Allen added the bicycle people would come back in if they were shut out. They feel they know it is going to pass. Harlenske stated a couple weeks ago we were sent a photo of the no bikes allowed sign from Pawnee Prairie Park. The ordinance on the sign is the one repealed in 2010. It was her understanding Mr. Kupper was going to replace the signs with the correct ordinance. If enforcement is wanted, the ordinance needs to be updated. College Hill signs need to be reviewed to make sure the right ordinance is quoted. Houtman responded he is counting on that budget to upgrade the signs. Houtman stated he has talked with the Mounted Police about this situation. They will go out any time and write citations. Palmer and Ramsey inquired about how to get them to make that their station. Houtman responded they used to have their stables there. It would require someone to pay for new stables, more security and lighting would be required. Clark stated he intentionally did not respond to any comments that came up today until he had some time to think about them. One that he needs to get out there is safety is a valid concern. There were a lot of demands that why put trails here, just put a bike lane on the road. If we want to talk about sharing paths, what is a higher safety risk? Bikes and horses on the same path or bikes and vehicles on the same path? I would rather take my changes with a horse than with a motor vehicle. Deatherage stated even if we all pass a plan it can change once it gets to City Council. Claycomb added we are trying to determine if this will go to City Council. It probably ought to, whether it ha� to or not. Hillman stated it is a Park Board Park. Houtman responded he would have to go to Council anything over $50,000. He would go to them with the vendor for putting in benches, drinking fountains, signs, etc. They would then say yes or no. Claycomb added even if we said yes, they might decide something different. Deatherage is under the impression most of the council members are on board with this plan. Did anyone hear different from their council member? Ramsey responded yes, he has the same concerns I do. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at approximately 6:11 p.m. The next regularly scheduled meeting will be held on Monday, May 8, 2017. BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS REGULAR MEETING April 10, 2017 Page 19 of 19