Board of Park Commissioners

BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS REGULAR MEETING MINUTES Monday, June 12, 2017 3:00- 5:00 P.M. 455 N Main C I T Y D OF City Hall, 1 st Floor WICHITA Board Room Wichita, Kansas Members Present: Cindy Claycomb, Hoyt Hillman, Troy Palmer, Bill Ramsey, Ron Allen, Tori Deatherage; Chris Clark Absent: None City Staff: Troy Houtman (Director, Park & Recreation), Elizabeth Harlenske (Assistant City Attorney), Penny Garding (Clerk), David McGuire, Greg Olmer, Larry Hoetmer, Troy Hendricks Item Descrlmion Call to Order Cindy Claycomb, President, called the meeting to order at approximately 3:02 'p.m. . Houtman requested the Golf Report be moved to the first agenda item after the Approval of Minutes, Motion by Palmer, second by Claycomb, IT WAS UNANIMOUSLY VOTED to adjust today's agenda. (7-0) Public Comments There were no comments from the public, 1 Approve Minutes Recommended Action: Approve, sign and file minutes of the May 8, 2017, Board of Park Commissioners Regular Meeting. Motion by Ramsey, second by Palmer, IT WAS UNANIMOUSLY VOTED to approve, sign and file the minutes of the May 8, 2017 Board of Park Commissioners Regular Meeting (7-0). 5 Golf Update (Troy Hendricks) Hendricks stated the rounds report was emailed out last week. • YTD rounds down 7%. Rainfall through the end of May is ahead of last year . • Revenue down from 2016 by 2%. The cart paths are open but people don't want to play • because they cannot get off the cart path. Closed days during month . 0 MacDonald was closed 2 days 0 Clapp was closed 1.5 days • Hired temporary crew to do bunker repair work at MacDonald . Lonnie Wright, 1722 S Lulu, has golf stabilized? Are we still forecasting that we might have to cut bac_k on golf? BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS REGULAR MEETING June 12, 2017 Page 1 of 17  Hendricks responded rounds have been consistent the last 3-4 years. We are hoping to see an increase in rounds with a drier summer. The golf cart replacement has been getting more people out to play. Tex Consolver has not run out of carts on a weekend, except one day. Before they were all out by 10:00 a.m. We won't see a huge increase, across the United States rounds are down at mostfacilities. We are looking at different ways of growing the game. We have partnered with First Tee of Greater Wichita and doing some programming through them. Last year was their first year and they had 75 kids. This year they have over 150. Wichita Junior Golf Foundation has also seen an increase of about 30.kids over last year We are hoping if kids start playing, parents will start playing too. Wright added we still need to grow before we stabilize? Hendricks responded yes. 3A Pawnee Prairie Park Houtman shared that the NE Sedgwick County Park.has opened up. There are over 600 acres available for equestrian use. This is additional park land for anyone to use. The County has not promoted it yet, butit is open and available. Houtman shared the timeline of meetings and discussion items. He thanked participants of the ad hoc committee that met on May 5 and May 12 for their time and input. During those meetings a revised plan was developed. During the April Park Board meeting the west trail going up to the Prairie Sunset Trail was agreed upon. The concern was in Area A. How can we ensure a safe location for bicycles and horses and how they can interact together? That was the direction from the Park Board. Our original proposal included a loop for the bicycles to go all the way around and connect the east to the west. One of the concerns was how to cross the horse trails. Everything in the blue hashed represents areas for equestrian use. We did notfocus on the center area butthat could be used for equestrians as well. He pointed out the areas of concern where the horses and bicycles interconnect. These areas were discussed in our ad hoc meeting and the feedback was as long as the area is open and maintained with good sight lines, itwould be a safe operation towork with. Staff would ensure these intersections would be well maintained and include signage. Another part is the need to educate people on how this park is used and the expected use of each of the stakeholders. We will work this.into an MOU with expectations of all of the user groups. During our conversations we had several ideas and plans about getting the bicycles from one end to the other. We came back to the purple loop, which representsthe bicycle route. One concern was the area.used as overflow parking for the horse trailers on heavy use days. Having a bicycle trail there would have an impact on the horses, not while being ridden but while they are at their trailers, getting water and fitted for their saddles. The equestrians suggested increasing the size of the current trailer parking and move water to that location. After some research we can connect that waterline from the street. They recommended a circular traffic flow so we could have the trailers going into the parking lot.on the south and exiting up by the cross street. There are some trees there now that would be removed and make them entrance and exit,only. We talked about the purple is for bicycles only. We would hug that as close as we can, or integrate it into.the trees, for shade. There is still this northwest corner that will be a congestion point. We will need to make sure we have really good signage for that and that BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS REGULAR MEfTING June·l2, 2017 Paee2of17 we educate people on how horses, bicycles and pedestrians all can.cross this in a safe manner. We will redirect some of these trails. Bicycles will only be able to enter off t_he parking lot. Up along the north we would connect to the existing.road, reducing the amount of changes and construction to be done. The purple is granite gravel or dirt, depending on our budget. We are not putting any concrete into the park. Tliis is what was discussed and everyone agreed this was a good solution. A citizen inquired about the current paved sidewalk, is thatt he yellow line? Houtman responded yes. The citizen asked ifthat is the pedestrian path and the purple will be newly created trail of gravel. Houtman responded yes. Houtman stated the west area is still available for equestrian use. They will have all their trails through there. He stated they would use Carrwood asthe connecti_on from Pawnee.to the Prairie Sunset Trail to reduce the amount of construction and impact to the park. That would be bicycle trail on existing road. We will have connecting points to the Prairie Sunset Trail and just south of Air Capital Park which we would use to make that.connection to the east. We still.need to workthese things outside of today's decision. • Increasing the parking lot with ingress and egress. We can do this in house with staff. • Clear log jams and remove trash. Every rain storm it all comes back .. We want to work on a bigger plan with Public Works on a campaignto educate people on trash on the streets and the effects downstream. • Improve signage. Current signage is outdated.and needs to be updated with the decision made here. • Upgrade and prepare higher maintenance standards for the park. • Create MOUs with all stakeholders, not just the equestrian group. There is a running group that wants to utilize the trails hosting trail running races once or twice a year. In exchange they want to do some volunteer work cleaning up and helping maintain the_ park. • Monitor usage. Develop some baseline numbers on who is using the park and when and how. This will help us make better decisions in the future. When we did a walkthrough of the lower blue hatched area, we discussed the concern of the equestrians using the area next to the yellow concrete path as a walking pa_th. Two years ago signage was put"up encouraging equestrians not to use the area because ofthe erosion happening parallel to the sidewalk. To change some of that we put down some fill dirt to ensure the sidewalk is safe. One of the requests, not from the ad.hoc committee but from staff, was to prohibit use by horses due to erosion. Claycomb expressed thanks to the ad hoc committee for their work. Claycomb shared ground rules for today. We will take comments on southern loop only. The decision has already been made there will be bikes in the park. There will be no personal attacks against City staff, City Council o r Park Board. You will not be allowed to donate time to another speaker. There willbe two minutes for each speaker. We will not add people to the speaker list later, now is the time to add to the list. BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS REGULAR MEETING June 12, 2017 Page 3 of 17 A citizen inquired if questions regarding clarification will be included in the allotted two minutes? Claycomb stated clarification questions will not be included in the two minutes. Michel Raymond, .16810 S Victory Rd, Haven, KS- shared pictures with Park Board. She rode in the park yesterday, 6-11-17. Within a three hour span she encountered eight different bicyclists coming off the horse trail by the low water bridge and by the pavilion with signage clearly stating no bicycles. They blatantly disregard th.e signs. Therewere 11 and 12 year old girls dropped off by their parents to ride their bikes in the park. They stated they had no.cell phones, but an iPad with no internet service. An adult male with two small children on bikes coming out of the trees on horse trails. The little girl stated is was hard riding her bike on those trails. Adults coming out of trees on equestrian trails with clear no bicycles signage. If your plan is to build paths with that $1.2M budget, build and 8' barrier fence around the bike trail to keep the walkers, equestrians and deer safe. And, the bikes in their own spot as they apparently have no regard for signage. This would also prevent bicyclists.askingfor more in the future as they probaoly will, until they gain 100% of the park. Let the interruption speak volumes. If this expansion is done without an 8' barrier fence, someone will get seriously hurt or killed and it will be on your watch as Park Board members and City Council members. I spent money in Wichita after my ride. Deborah Durr - pass Lindsay Schwarz, S700 W Kemper - Pawnee Prairie Park is my park. My daughter and I go there almost every day. It is different than anywhere else in the city, so comparing t other parks is pointless. Most of the changes being implemented are effectively going to ruin what makes this park special and make it another cookie cutter. I know I am wasting my breath; that has been proven so many times throughout this process, including the ad hoc committee. I've heard so many lies, we'll hear one thing and later on it comes back and it has magically changed, over and over again. It is discouraging, but here we are again to give it one last shot because·this park really means something to us. The maintenance is one of the biggest issues of this park. The City really can't even be bothered to maintain what exists already, so I .don't believe they will maintain anything that is added. Most of my favorite trails have been completely unusable until about five days ago because the grass has been waist high. There are a million things that could be done to improve this park. They are all tiny but needed. They are not included in the plan or the budget. If you are interested she can provide a list, although nobody cared last time. Lindsey Frye, 1530 Smith Cir, #104- It is unfair that we are not able to speak longer because at the end of the last meeting Jeff Blubaugh did not have time limit. He was able to use all the time he wanted in retort to what everyone was commenting. That is not fair, especially since this is supposed to be the last meeting and you have already made up your mind. Let's review the history being ignored to protect this park. Ms. Frye read a.detailed history ofthe park. Here we are again fighting about multiple decisions that were made in the past by the Park Board and the City Council to leave the park as it was designated and has been voted on multiple times. At the March Park Board meeting it was said by Houtman that more than likely an outside agency will be hired to lead development.so as not to be biased by staff. What happens is Blubaugh steps in to personally come upwith a master plan and uses the Park Department to help. No input or involvement from the public as promised in this.development. (Time was called) The last ad hoc committee was a 19-1 vote for the revised plan which they came back one week later (Time called again) none of it was allowed, so this is not a reflection of what was agreed to by that 19-1 committee vote. BOARD OF-PARK COMMISSIONERS REGULAR MEETING June 12, 2017 Page 4 of 17 Claycomb asked again to keep comments to the southern loop. We have heard the history and we have heard complaints about bicycles being in the park. We need comments on the southern loop today. Blue requested to ask a question regarding the southern loop. Is that a done deal? It has to exist? Or is this deciding if we are going to have it.or not, Claycomb responded we a're not deciding if we are going to have·the southern loop, we are deciding the format of that southern loop. That is what the ad hoc committee talked about at their two meetings. We have already voted to have bicycles in the park. Blue responded our understandingwas for the west path. Ramsey respond we covered this in the·ad hoc committee. You asked this specific question. Do you remember my answer? Blue responded but we are still trying to wrap our hands around it. Ramsey asked, but do you remember my answer? Citizen responded when you dictate to.the committee how it'no be done... Ramsey stated I'm asking to the young lady there (Blue). Blue stated I'm still going off reading the minutes. Ramsey stated the idea was that we had to connect the two parking lots. Blue stated that was the intent behind it and technically that does not match your words. Ramsey stated the intent was that the parking lots had to be connected. Claycomb again, the comments are on the southern loop. Chris Stark, 720 S Hiram - This is the only park on my side of town and I am here to exercise my first amendment rights. This park was set aside as a wilderness area and should remain as such. I am also an activist and member of the Southwind group of the Kansas Sierra club. While my views are not the same as others I am opposed to this because it is nothing but.a land grab by self-serving politicians. These commissioners who proposed and are in favor of this are just the same as the money interests they represent. If this proposal isn't dropped I will use every means necessary to stop it; from national media exposure and other meanswhich I see fit. I will continue to be· a thorn in your side. Read a quote from John Muir who also rode a horse in the Sierras. David Halsey- pass, it's useless. Edwina Whitmer, 1ZS89 SW 90thAve, Zenda - I did have this little thing written out. see there is no difference in what you guys are going to do. You've done it your way, you are changing it. It's a park for the horses, it's always been a park for the horses. It's a bonding place. Do you know what it is like to get on a horse, go out there and ride and just be free? You go out there after a bad trashed week, you go out.there, and you are with that.horse, with people walking. It's nice, you can just kick back and relax. Now you want to change it around. You are going to spend $1.2M to make differences, when something is already there. You could be fixing pools in the city, fixing other parks in the city that are dirty when you go play ball there. I think you are putting your money in the wrong spot. I'm upset because of what's going on. It's not fair, have you been out there? Have you been on a horse or go walk there and all of a sudden you see wildlife. You are going to go in and trash the park with your equipment, you are going to change it and chase out the wildlife. You can ride up next to deer that are not afraid, they feel safe. But you want to go in with your equipment and changes, you want to put bikers in there. It isn't fair. The people that started had insight to know we needed a park for horses. All we have is buildings around us, and homes and people building and trashing things. I don't think it is fair. You with the glasses BOARD ·of PARK COMMISSIONERS REGULAR MEETING June 12, 2017 Page 5 of 17  on (Palmer}, I've watched you sit over there and snicker when people were talking. That is not nice. Claycomb stopped the discussion and reminded everyone there were to be no personal attacks. Whitmer responded she did not like him snickering at the speakers. Claycomb asked her to take her seat. Whitmer inquired how do people in Wichita know how you are spending your money. Are you notifying them by water bills or what? Karla Scribner, 1073 E 140th Ave, Mulvane - I have always been proud of being from Wichita until now. I didn't realize we had the good ole boy system. You and I know that majority rules. It's supposed to rule. When you have 40 against2 it should have been voted opposite. There were 40 of us in there against two people and you chose to go the way of the big boys. You chose to ignore the people and what we want. You work for the people. You work for us. We pay your bills. We have a corrupt system. This will be what your legacy is. This is what peoplewiUremember you for. Someone has big plans for that land. It is in the makings. There is a large agenda here and it will manifest itself in the open after you run the horses out. We have our own deep stake here. I am ashamed of you for letting someone bully you into this.sordid affair. The people have spoken on the subject and you will not listen. This is my conclusion to the story and I feel so ashamed of this city that I have loved for so long. Halsey-asked to look at the northern part of the park (Area C} and inquired how do horses access the Prairie Sunset Trail. Houtman stated there are a couple different things going on. As,of now they are going to have to share the access points to get to the west pink. Halsey clarified the pink would not be bicycles only. Houtman confirmed. We have to make sure there is signage. To go east, it is a little more difficult, we have to go through Air Capital Park. We are proposing coming over and using the very east edge of the park to connect to that. We are working with the Prairie Travelers on the low water crossing, hoping to someday have a bigger bridge. Right now we have to share it until we can get that access. Halsey stated you do have plans eventually for a north crossing. Halsey then asked about on the south (Area A}, you have them coming across and down old Pawnee, then do they come back into that prairie where you have already started moving dirt, on the south side of those trees off of Pawnee or do they stay on Pawnee clear to the low water? Houtman asked if she was referring to bicycles. Halsey responded yes. Houtman deferred to Hoetmer for cl_arification. Halsey stated it looks like you curve in and cross back to the south side of the windrow of trees, which would still leave the Pawnee road open to equestrians. Hoetmer confirmed that is correct. There may be somethings when we get closer to looking at that area such as grades and vegetation, that might require minor changes, but at this time that is the way it is. Tammy Halsey, 106 E 80th St S, Haysville-There is no argument about bicycles - no bicycles. I hate that this is even an issue. Regarding the loop on the south side, my preference would be keep the south and ditch t_he north, meaning the north and east purple. That was your original plan when we were at the last meeting. Council tabled it for more in depth review and for some reason it is slili in•there now. Are bicycles going to be allowed on the concrete as well? Houtman responded no, just on the purple. Halsey stated it is currently a free-for-all out there and it is very scary. If she had any say, this purple south route would be it and ditch the north part. Pat Silva, 106 E 80th St, Haysville-I am visiting family. It is a nature center, not a park. It is God's land.. I've been following this through my family. It is sad listeningthat you have BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS REGULAR MEmNG June 12, 2017 Page 6 of 17 already made this decision. You've listened to the people but you didn't hear them. Good luck to the riders, good luck to the cyclists. I pray no one gets hurt or killed. Bruce Gilder, 1722 E 2nd - I was on the advisory committee. There are still issues that need to be addressed. How are you going to enforce the signage? During the last two weeks, I've found bike tracks throughout this park. You said once the signage is up, the police can enforce it. What are.you actually going to do ·to get them out there.on a regular basis to enforce them? Is there going to be an officer at each parking lot 24-hours per day or while the park is open during the summer? How will you do that? Right now you don't see that happening? Are we supposed to call 911 whenwe see bicyclists out there and they are going to rush out there to give them a ticket? I don't see it happening. That.is allowing one little footstep for the bicyclists in this park. Without having a divider like a wall to keep them separated from the rest of it, they are.going to continue to infiltrate the rest of the park to the point everyone is already using it we are going to just go ahead and take it over. You go ahead and give it to them because they are already using it, and run the equestrians out. It is notthe bicyclists that are going to get hurt, it is the equestrian riders. Another question is on the areas in the south where they are supposed to be mowing down grass. Some of the bicycles are going to be going quick. How much distance are we going to give them? We talked about.100 feet, is that enough? Especially if they are disobeying the rest of the·rules on getting into the park are they really going to give the horse riders the right-of-way? I'm sorry, but if you don't give me the right-of-way, I'll send flowers to your funeral. I would like to know where the media is. They've been invited on our side several times, they showed up once and then disappeared. Did someone disinvite them fothis? This is.a major deal. I am just curious about that. One point, horses consider bicycles evil things they don't understand. When you consider it from that point of view this is.a (Time called} Ramsey stated he remembered talking about the distance for the clearing.being 150 feet. Gilder responded recalling it was 50 or 100 and we were setting it at 100. Now, considering how quickly some ofthese bikes can move and the horses spot them all of a sudden, and the bicycle starts slowing down, all of a sudden, it appeared quickly, this demon just appeared, I wonder if 100 fee is really enough. Ramsey sta_ted 100 feet is 30 yards, what, in your opinion, is an appropriate number. Gilder responded he would have to leave that to the people mcire educated with the equestrian side that have experience with the interaction. Claycomb inquired about crossings? Ramsey responded we talked about putting crossings in so that the bikes would have to dismount. They said with enough clearing it would not be an issue because everyone could see.one another. Chris Kaegi,Stephens stated as long·as the bikes are going to have to. dismount, their integrity in this is a question. We come across them when we have been out there because they are already on the trails. Are you aware ofthat? Claycomb added horses are already on the sidewalk and they are not supposed to be there. Ramsey added we talked about this at the ad hoc committee, you are going to have bad bicyclists, bad equestrian riders.and bad hikers. What I'm asking is what the appropriate clearance is or do we need to put barriers in to force the .bikes to dismount? I realize what we were told by the equestrians at the meeting was that the barriers were not necessary if you have enough clearance. Gilder stated from a casual bicyclist stand pointthat is fine. But when you talk about some of these groups that are out there for-the thrill of the speed, pushing to go as fast as they can, that is not going to work. l'.m.not sure caution and yield signs will be sufficient. That has made me reconsider my position. Brecken Blue, 8924 W 82nd St N, Valley Center - I like Pawnee Prairie the way it is, I don't want bikes in the park. I love it because it is close to my house where I get to spend BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS REGULAR MEETING June 12, 2017 Page 7 of 17 time with friends, I like getting to see wildlife. If bikes have to be allowed, can we not have barriers to keep us safe. I would not want to fall inthe creek, �ecause it is a 10-20 foot drop, air because a bike came zooming past. Stephanie Blue, 8924 W 82nd St N, Valley Center - shared pictureswith Park Board members. Let's be honest, people don't always follow the rules. The pictures handed out were taken at Pawnee,Prairie,Park on May24. As of now bikes are not legally permitted in the park, but yet here they are. What do you think it will be like on those trails once bikes are actually allowed? I take my 10 year old daughter there and I don't want to have to fear for her safety. Most likely her mare wouldn't spook too bad at a bike, but being run off a trail at a 20 foot drop to the creek is another story. If and when a bike does venture onto a horse trail at the wrong time, because some will, and an accident occurs, and someone gets kicked out of the park, my questions is, will that be horses. Our fear is if that does occur we will be the ones on the chopping block. The equestrians who _have built and maintained this park for the last 50+ years will be in danger of losing. I understand the west path is a done deal. What we have issue with is the.connection and the loop on the south and west sides. We are not in agreeance that this is needed. We were forced into ad hoc committees. I want to offer up one last time an invite to members of the City Council and Park Board, before a final determination is made, to come enjoy a ride at Pawnee Prairie Park on horseback so you see and enjoy the experience it offers but also see the areas of concern that we have. We have several safe mounts that are reliable, even if you have zero horse experience. Marion Kruger - pass, because as usual, with this group or any group in_the City, they do not listen to people. Tammy Morgan, 120 W 80th Haysville- the first ad hoc committee ... Troy Houtman takes the horseback riders aside to inappropriately and defensively lecture them before the meeting, to tell them to cooperate because this.is already done. When the thing comes out another ad hoc committee is created because of the ill-conceived and heavily bike advised first committee chosen. In 19-1 vote and agreement was drawn for the master plan, only for Houtman to announce days later that many of the decisions made were off the table. Days after that, at the next ad hoc meeting, aUthe ad hoc committee had worked on and agreed to was thrown out and Houtman dictated what the revised master plan was going to look like. What did Mr. Blubaugh and friends get ahold of Houtman to tell him to get things back to line. Here we are, bac_k to a plan that the ad hoc committee did not agree on or like, but were told how it was going to be. What you see here is not the ad hoc committee's agreement, but rather the predetermination of politics, not at all what the ad hoc committee agreed to in the first meeting. We hold you responsible,Mr. Blubaugh for the ruining of this haven. For the beginning of the end of horses being allowed in the wildlife park that is in existence because of the equestrians and enjoyed by all age groups. Mahy state the reason they go to and enjoy Pawnee Prairie Park is to escape the very group you are helping air their tires up to get ready ride as they expand the area they already have north of the park. Because what the rest of the city has done to cater to two wheels is not enough and Pawnee Prairie l'ark looks like a great biking race track. (Time called) Tasha White, 942 W 51st St S - I have, not just on the south loop because that is what we are talking about right now, but as a tax payer, I am infuriated with all of the money that is spent on this project. Her daughter plays in tournaments at W_ichita parks. Justttiis weekend we were at South Lakes, it was horribly maintained. The bathrooms were filthy. Her high school rents·South Lakes from the City for their high school ball games. We have never had use of the scoreboard, we never had concessions until four innings into the last game. If we BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS REGULAR MEETING June 12, 2017 Page 8 of 17  are going to spend money·on this, why are we not keeping our city pools open, keeping all the other parks maintained? If you can't maintain what we already have, how are you going to maintain this? And yes, I do have horses, and I have to trailer my horses, they are kept off property, so the whining of people having to trailertheir bikes somewhere to ride is crap. But if you can't maintain the parks and the property the City already owns, as a tax paying citizen, I'm a little furious. Because $1.2M could pay somebody to run a concession at a high school ballgame or some of that $1.2M could run the scoreboards at a huge tournament. My tax dollars, I should have a say in how they are spent. Chris Kaegi-Stevens, 11220 N Rock Road - My position in being here, besides being an equestrian, I representthis region as the Regional Director for Kansas Horse Council. Before I state what I prepared.to read, would li_ke Houtman to come up for another explanation. I served on the ad hoc committee that helped discuss this. I am not going to say agreed to it, we. helped discuss this. One thing that was just shared with me before this meeting is that th_e cement trail, when this was talked about in the ad hoc meeting, the equestrian trail that is along beside this were going to be left alone. It was shared with me before this meeting started that may be in question now. The whole reason we went alongwith this south loop is that was going to be left as is. If that changes, and I noticed it was not really touched on when this was presented, and it needs to be because these are the people who are going to be riding itand using it as hikers and·pedestrians. lfthat .does go into effect, you need to know that is not part of what was discussed. Do you·understand that? That is not something we are going to agree to. Do you understand that? That was not discussed in the ad hoc committee that you had formed. Also, just for the folks that are here, this overflow parking part going across this area, with the bicyclists, this whole area is going to be sectioned off so that you cannot park there anymore. If you are not aware of that,_you need to be made aware. (Addressing Houtman) If you want to go ahead and talk about that further, that might be. a good idea and then I will come back up. Houtman stated as mentioned earlier, this is what was presented and some of the finer details regarding this parking area, which is an open· field. With _the expansion of the parking lot, this was not going to be needed. _It would give a trail for bicycles to go through and an open space, which is one of the things asked for. At the very beginning when we discussed the park, was having some open grass area where people to throw Frisbees, footballs and that kind of stuff. When it is mowed, you can do those things. In my presentation, this Area A is what was discussed and presented as best I could to the ad hoc committee. Staff, whether it is this park or another one, always have an opportunity to share _their thoughts and ideas. Staff and I went and looked at it and they shared some concerns f they had. I shared with Chris I was going to presentwhat staf had some concerns about. This goes back to two years agowhen we were having a lot of complaints on the sidewalk and the equestrian use there because of the erosion after walking parallel to the sidewalk, there is a lot of erosion there, and a lot of.horse manure being left there. Two years ago we asked and encouraged the equestrians, we created an alternate path, to use alternate path so they would not erode the shoulders of the sidewalk. It is still a concern. We are always looking at best practices and best ways to maintain it, that is why I presented it. I want to make sure, that was not-the presentation from the ad hoc committee, it was a concern from staff. I wanted to be very transparent on that. I wanted to share that with you prior to the meeting. Kaegi-Stephens responded I want it to be clarified, because when you are doing that presentation, you are going through the motions and I just wanted it to be pointed out so.that they were aware that was not something we chose, but it was from staff. Houtman BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS REGULAR MEmNG June 12, 2017 Page 9 of 17 added hopefully that answers questions. Citizen inquired so we can or can't use it? Kaegi­ Stephens responded we cannot. You cannot ride along the side where the cement trail is. Frye stated that erosion is not from horses riding along beside the concrete, that is from water. Let's try not to scapegoat horses on that deal. So you are cutting off even more miles of trails that you had originally not agreed to. Houtman responded the horses did have a good part of the erosion. Secondly, we have three trails that are not being used for equestrians and the whole rest of the park will be. open to equestrian use. Frye responded out of all of the miles of all the trails that wind in and out ofthere... Sl:ark stated he has seen water erosion it is not for horses. Claycomb brought the meeting back to Kaegi-Stephens for her two minutes. Kaegi-Stephens - She thanked Houtman for clarifying that. The ad hoc met for their first meeting and came up with a plan. The following week we met again and many of the plans and discussion made previously were changed and more bike paths were proposed as you see here. Once again we were told one thing, that all they warited was a corridor,.andthen the truth came-out, what they really wanted was access into the entire park. As you can see, they now have and have taken because they are there all the time. As equestrians we stop to speak to those we, meet along the trail. We offer close encounters to strangers, even offering to allow them to pet and lover our horses. And often even offer ridesto their children. We interact with those we meet along the trail. It is a greatexperience for us as well as those we meet. You have heard us mention Irene Plumlee and.the love she had as an equestrian for-clearing and maintaining these trails for years. Officially named, by proclamation from this city The Plumlee Trails cin August 26, 1986. These trails are she and her husband's legacy. My question to those of you·sitting here today on this board, preparing to make a decision for the future of this rare gem of Wichita, whatwill your legacy be. r - - - -- - -· - , Steven Wolfe, 420 N Topeka - I usethe park quite a bit. I am with the Kanara-on No Jutsu we·train martial arts out there. We use the park because ithas a very unspoiled natural state. That is a big thing to us, and a lot of people. You are going against a lot of public opinion. We clean the park, we take trash out of the river. As long as we are there we are going to do that. I've seen the riders maintain the park too. ltseems like you have made up your mind. You should listen to what these people are saying. I observe them out there and they make that park a very unique experience. I move here a year and a half ago and I love this town. A big part of that comes with that park. You have a very unique, special thing here, don't ruin it. Dori't put a bunch of asphalt in there. That is just silly. Claycomb brought the discussion to the board. Palmer inquired where is the funding coming.from for this. Houtman responded Council Member Blubaugh has considered using his proceeds from the Hyatt Sale, which is $1M. The estimated budget we are looking at is about $1.2M of improvements. We would look for grants or other types of community dollars. We would use sweat.equity from volunteers and probably some staf work as well. It would be a combination of all of that. Palmer responded so no tax dollars right? Houtman responded, right. Claycomb stated it should be noted the Park Board can'tallocate money, it is not coming from our decision .. We can't make the decision to allocate money, that hasto be City Council. Clark stated, just for clarification, I heard earlier, the magenta bike path will be either granite gravel or dirt, not asphalt or concrete. Is that correct? Houtman responded thatis·correct. Citizen started inquiry. Claycomb responded at this time we are discussing as a board. BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS REGULAR MEETING June 12, 2017 Page.10 of 17  Hillman stated he does hear and read all notes you have sent. He appreciates that, even the ones that are bitter and nasty. He understands this is a special park and understands your enthusiasm, even though it is not portrayed as such sometimes. He really does support the concrete bicycle path, the yellow line. That _makes sense. It bypasses all the major parts of the park. He would support a motion to keep that in place and the bicyclists have to simply turn around and go back the way they came. That would keep the bicycles and equestrians further apart. The rest of it, _he is not in support of. He does not believe this board has been pressured to be predetermined in any manner. This board looks at all of the parks throughout the city with staff. We normally get excellent cooperation from everyone and we work to solve the greater good. We get excited people from time to time, but never to the level of anger that he is seeing from group. A year and a ,half ago the President of the board was not available and as Vice President, he led the initial meeting on this topic. There was a lot of enthusiastic concern and we had a very good, calm meeting. He has not been a part of it since then, but the idea of a master plan came out of that meeting. Wewere successfully able to incorporate a lot of good ideas and a lot of ground has been covered since then. He have learned a lot since then.and appreciate your input on this concern. He will be supporting the yellow line across the bottom to connect for this, and probably nothing else. do like the idea of separating and improving the parking lot and making it a onecway in and one-way out. And, separating the water so that the fountain for the bicyclists and the fountain for the horses are totally separate. Claycomb added a year and half ago we did visit this. At that meeting we decided we did not have the money to go outside and do a master plan. We were able work on a master plan using park staff with no outside money. We get complaints when we use outsiders and we get complaints when we don't use outsiders. There is also no developer involved in this plan. There has no be no developer involved in any of this that we worked on. We are not being pressured by any outside developer. Houtman stated with the master plan we heard the idea we wanted to get more-ideas and best practices from across the country, Looking at what it would take to bring in a consultant, we are talking $250-500,000 dollars, so the discussion came back what can we do to use that money more effectively in making improvements to the park. Clark stated this a detail of his and not necessarily a part of our decision today, but he would encourage staff, if the plan goes forward with the.intent that there will be crossings between equestrian paths and bike paths, that we seriously look at barriers that would force bike riders to dismount The concerns.about safety are valid, especially at the_ March meeting. Concerns were brought up and suggestions were made about_barrier types. Very simple and inexpensive ones that would do the job. His point is just to consider that. It is a detail item and not part of the master plan though. Houtman added that was a suggestion staff brought forward and something we thought would be easy to implement, We are not talking about concrete barriers, we are talking about some other type of barrier that is more aesthetic that could be out there. In.discussion with the ad hoc committee, it was said maybe we don't need that.. That is something we would always continue to evaluate. If there is continuing issues and ·problems we can come back and try that as an option. We will continue to evaluate the situation. Clark stated it is the same thing, where he would trust a traffic engineerto decide where you need certain restrictions on _road exceptions. Here, without standing at the specific intersections and seeing what the visibility is like, it is hard to make a decision. As a detail item, he would encourage strong· considerationof that. Deatherage inquired about the purple path across the top and if it is currently being used by equestrians? Houtman responded the red path? Deatherage responded yes, the top corner. BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS REGULAR MEETING June 12, .2017 Pase 11 of 17  Houtman responded, the purple path; that is not there yet. Deatherage stated there is currently no horse traffic through th_ere? Houtman_ stated this portion here, starting at the parking lot and through the open field, parallel to the street and catching the old Pawnee. That trail is not there yet. That is why we chose using the existing street because we would have less construction to deal with.and decrease the cost and we could use that funding for signage. Claycomb added it keeps it away from where the trails are now too. Deatherage stated the second part of that, would it be ,possible bicycle path cut, make the loop smaller, and cut here so there.is an entrance-for horses that completely doesn't cross the bike path? Houtman responded we had different ideas from the ad hoc committee. You are talking about a trail that goes·from the. parking lot directly to the bridge location? Deatherage responded yes, something straight through. Claycomb added for the .bicyclists. Houtman stated that still would cross somewhere along the bicycle path. The reason why these locations were looked at is because'they provide the .best line of sight. Claycomb added that is where_ we talked about keeping the magenta path close to the tree line. If we took it across it is out in the open across the prairie. Ramsey added it was to keep it close to tree line for some shade without interfering horses. Claycomb added the-ad hoc committee talked about that. Kaegi-Stephens added to bring it in closer to the trees they would have _that natural barrier of the tree Une there. It would be somewhat ofa safety barrier. Ramsey asked for a show of hands who was on ad hoc committee. I can't tell you how much I love eve_ry ounce of input that you have. Thank you for being part of the process. Here is my challenge on this. When we met Friday we came up with a compromise that everyone was good with. The following Friday I had to leave early and before I left, we still had that same thing in place. Which was just the southernmost connector. We did not have the northern loop. Then Monday we had a northern loop. For me that is a little odd and I did talk to Mr. Houtman to see how that happened. I was stunned. I would fully, without a doubt, support the southern loop. I was there, I saw everybody, everyone was in agreement; and they were happy. There was only one person that was not completely satisfied. That was the May 5 meeting. After I left the following Friday, it all changed. I don't know what­ happened, I wasn't there. I can fully support, I know what we all agreed on and I have a problems with that upper loop. _Not that anybody made anything up or is trying to be subversive, itis just bizarre to me. Houtman responded in the.second meeting as we were·going through the discussion there were some_ideas about connecting paths. Each of the stakeholders were_coming up with options and ideas. There was compromise with a lot of folks. We talked about compromise over and over. One of the things that came f orward was the whole idea of the loop. Kaegi­ Stephens added that they didn't want the week before. Houtman.stated they did want the loop, but it was ... Ramsey stated they did want the loop. One person was very adamant about it but everyone else was willing to compromise. They did want the loop. Houtman stated as we looked at options in the,second meeting, the suggestion concerning overfiow parking, if we could expand the parking lot, then thatmakes that area available for bicycles, which then would create the ability to make the whole loop. That, along with the agreement that we can make some cross paths for bicycles and horses as long as we provide good sight lines and signage. It was discussed by all of the stakeholders. He was impressed with the good dialog and compromise to come up with the. plan. Claycomb stated her understanding was the east and north to complete the loop, once we got-the parking figured out, horses don't even ride through there. Thenthe horse folks asked for the trail.that goes straight across, so they have access right back to the parking lot. It was BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS REGULAR MEETING June .p, 20.17 Page 1:Z of17 part of all the compromise. Not everyone was happy bu_t it was_a compromise. It gave the bicyclists the loop they wanted. Clark stated ifhe is hearing it correctly, the south portion of the loop was agreed on and the north was added later. Ramsey responded.the ideas was after the May S meeting, we were going to come back in one week simply to look.at the plan as it was drawn out and make sure everyonewas good with it. Somewhere after he left at4:45, it changed. He was not part of that, but Cindy and Troy was there, I trust them and believe what they say. Personally, I know everyone was onboard, except for one person, 19 people were on board.with the south loop, before we put the north loop in. I have to trust everyone was onboard with it after we put the north loop in. Claycomb stated when we came back together on May 12 we could not get agreement at the beginning of that meeting. Ramsey responded at.the beginning of that meeting there was some, Blue asked again why we had to connect them. We addressed that. We addressed a couple other questions that people had again, that had already been addressed. Then we launched into, Troy brought up the fact that we had n_ottalked about the concrete path. He wants to make sure there is understanding that path is already there. It is supposed to be pedestrians only. No horses, Horses zigzag across sidewalk, no bicycles. That is why we came up with the magenta one that is just outside the trees to provide a barrier and would not interfere with the horse trails or the sidewalk. That was the compromise everyone came to. Claycomb added what happened is the bicyclists asked, after you left, what if we made that a loop, and she does not recall there was any pushback on that. Blue stated it was either cross hatch the w_hole prairie area for the future or that. Kaegi­ Stephens added we were given two choices, either to come in here and cross hatch all of the area for bikes so that they could put in anything they wanted to in the future. Claycomb stated she did not recaUthat. Kaegi-Stephens added between those two, they were then held back to just doingthe loop instead. Troy then closed it up saying no, we are not going to ... down to the last second he (Michael Gomm) was still saying he wanted the cross hatch for more trails going in there in the future. Clark stated we are getting lost in whatwas agreed on at what time. It seems that the more contentious portion would be the south side. If everyone is in agreement with that, the north is only adding one additional crossing. There are already two on the south portion that everyone has already agreed on. He is failing to see the big concern with adding the north loop. If this is going to be an investment it would make it significantly more worthwhile to have that loop there. Kaegi-Stephens stated her greatest concern... Claycomb stated we are finished with public comment at th_is point, everyone has had their time. Kaegi-Stephens stated she "was asked to.be on the ad hoc committee, I was telling you that this was not discussed." Deatherage inquired if the board.was being asked to vote on anything today? Claycomb responded we would need a motion before we could vote. Hillman stated having looked at this closer and the fact that there isn't code (legend) across from this, he did misread. He is very much_in support.of the south purple route. He wanted to make that correction. Ramsey stated he would make a motion. He wanted to. see an ad hoc committee put togetherto make sure we got all the input. The input he saw and is comfortable with a_nd understood it-to be. He is willing to put forth the motion: Support the southern portion of BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS REGULAR MEETING June 12, 2Q17 Page13of17 connectivity between the two parking lots, but not the east and northern portion of that loop. Palmer.second. Clark stated that would essentially mean bikers can get to each side and turn around and go back.· Deatherage inquired if we need to state if we would like to leave that open for consideration in the future? If we decide if the bikes and horses are getting along and if the park is getting more popular, to maybe re-evaluate. Claycomb responded that iswhat the ad hoc committee said-. Let's put that in there so we don't.lose it. They recognized _that over time this may change. Ramsey inquired then can we put in we would re-examine. for that portion only in two years. If there are any problems thatwould not be moved forward with. The ultimate concern is the safety of every single_person in the park and access to the entire public. He would be willing to re-examine in two years, once we know how things are going. For the time being he is not comfortable with it. Claycomb as_ked Palmer if he would accept that as a change to the motion. Palmer-stated yes. Claycomb stated there is one question, she does have concern about what staff brought up about the horses going back and forth across the sidewalk and there is enough space for all of the three the things we are talking about. She asked Houtman for additional comments. Houtman responded we were looking to prohibit horses on the sidewalk and directly parallel, about 15-20 feet away, if there are trails there they are welcome to _do.that. The biggest concern is the shoulder of the sidewalk. Claycomb added and they would still have the.space for the bicycle trail to be able to go in and out to get some shade. Deatherage inquired if that needed to be included in the motion? Claycomb-responded this is they will be·able to go back and forth across the sidewalk. What you are saying is we don't want thein parallel right along the sidewalk. Ramsey stated, just like the bicycliststhat we are asking to stay off the horse.trails, we can ask the equestrians to give some distance between the sidewalk and ride parallel. If we expect one to do it, we should expect the other. Claycomb stated there are going to be things that need looked at as needed. Clark stated based on the new motion it seems like a missed opportunity to not complete the loop given that we are only adding one extra-crossing. If barriers are incorporated or.mow zones, whatever it ends up being, if there is all this money spent and we are not creating this loop, it seems like we are going through all this and falling.short of doing it the right way. I haven't had a lot of time to think about it because what I've seen is the loop and now in the last five minutes we are deciding whether or notto actually complete the loop. Ramsey responded part of this was we need to have it under a $1M budget and right now we are exceeding that. By the removal of that northern loop we are going.to help attain that budget. Clark responded let's say that cut out $50,000. Is it worth spending $950,000 and having it kind of done half right? Or do we spend $1M and do it right. Ramsey would argue the definition ofright. He would rather hold off and see, safety wise, I think that money is absolutely well spentto make sure we are doing the·safest thing. Claycomb re-stated the motion. Motion by Ramsey, second by Palmer, IT WAS UNANIMOUSLY VOTED that we approve the southern part ofthe southern loop and in .two years re-examine the possibility of completing the north and east bicycle.loop. (7c0) BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS REGULAR MEETING June 12, �01? Page·14 of 17  Frye inquired if the north loop is coming out will that impact parking lot? Houtman responded that is something we can address·that with staff. He may have resources to do that in house. The advantages of increasing the size of the parking lot is well viewed and I think.we can get the water line over there. He will do everything he can with staff to make that happen. There are a lot of advantages to having that parking lot. Ramsey, Allen & Palmer left meeting 4:45 4 Recreation Update (Greg Olmer) Olmer stated there were a couple special events in May • Fly A Kite at Chapin Park- @350 people. We will host another in the fall. • Pools opened Memorial Day. Linwood was down about a week. Numbers are looking pretty good for now. McAdams Pool is closed. All others are open and on line. • Other Initiatives: SayYES! Which gi_ves pool access for free. Kids get a badge from the Transit Center. • Barry's Crew held their second event at Boston Recreation Center- Mother's Day weekend-lower numbers. Inside and outside.activities. 75 people. • June 0 Barry's Mobile Rec station - set up next to splash pads 0 Naftzger-touch a truck theme-good turnout New staff has been hired. We are in the process of hiring an intern. Jessica Jones.is the new Administrative Aide II. 6 Golf Advisory Committee Update (Hoyt Hillman) Hillman stated the next meeting is coming up at MacDonald Golf Course. 7 Wichita Parks Foundation Update (Troy Houtman) Houtman stated the July 4 is coming up. Hope everyone comes out for the fireworks. The Astronauts band will be playing. 8 OJ Watson Park Committee Update (Troy Houtman) Houtman'stated we are moving forward with the irrigation project. There have been some small improvements. We are going to start.looking at shelter with next year's money. When we get a better conceptual idea we will bring that back to the Park Board. Hillman stated they have added paddle boards. The kayaks have been expanded up to about 22. Both have been successful. They had a couple specialty camps this summer. Overall reservations are up and revenue is up. BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS REGULAR MEETING June 12, 2017 Page 15 of17  Hillman stated the SayYES! Includes golf and footgolf LW Clapp. Houtman said they are counting the rounds, just not the revenue. SayYES! Is for 7-17 year olds. The program runs June 1-August 31. Kids can ride a bus anywhere in the city for free. The Library has some programs for the.kids who sign up. One thing that was highlighted in the decision was why are people not coming to parks. Transportation kept coming up as a barrier. Steve Spade, Transit Director, wants more bodies on his busses. This will teach kids how to ride the bus, creating a habit for them to use and ease concerns about the stigma. When you get past that, you have a free ride to go anywhere the bus route goes. Then, using it to get to our facilities and services. Hillman stated it was not getting enough coverage so he sent info to Bike/Walk Wichita to postand he posted it on Outdoor Wichita to promote it further. Claycomb inquiredjf the Council Districts have promoted it on their Facebook pages. Hamm responded she has been coordinating the efforts on this. It has taken a while to get the correct information out. She.advised Hillman what was posted earlier is not.the correct. There is a new poster that is being put out on social media pages. The media did pick it up. All the media stations reported on it. Power 93 they were promoting it and will continue to promote it all summer long for free. Claycomb stated to Olmer, she appreciates the monthly highlights on recreation. 9 Aquatics Master Plan Update (Troy Houtman) Houtman stated they met with Janet Johnson to start'developing a plan for community engagement. As soon as we get past Pawnee Prairie Park we will begin to address the plan for community engagement for each of the districts that will have·splash pads. Claycomb inquired if he will hire contractor for the design work? Houtman responded yes, after the community engagement. The more direction he can get and the more.decisions that can be. made the less h.e has to spend on a designer and can tell them what to do. Instead of them having to go out and pay them to talk to people, we can do it ourselves. That means more money can go back into construction of pools or splash pads. The design money is in 2018. This fall we will do the community engagement and hire the designer after that. Claycomb inquired when McAdams will be back on line. Houtman responded 2019 will be construction, he is not sure it will be ready for summer, but we will make the effort to.make that happen. 10 President's Update (Cindy Claycomb) Claycomb thanked Chris Clark for his service to the Park Board. This is his last meeting. We will welcome his replacement, Eddie Fahnestock. 11 Director's Update (Troy Houtman) Houtman stated this Pawnee Prairie Park issue has been difficult and emotional. We thanked them for coming to the ad hoc committee. He appreciatesthe board sticking through it. You got a lot of positive and negative messages, As staff, we have a direction to take and we try to be as unbiased as possible. Regarding the two ad hoc committees, he did the· best he could to make sure everyone was heard. He is glad a decision was made. We will put some implementation plans in place in the next few months. This does not happen overnight. The first thing we. need to do is make sure Council Member Blubaugh is going to provide us those dollars. We still need his approvalfor the dollars and the rest c;>f council approval to spend it. We will hear some negative feedback on the decision on social media. Clark inquired if the next step the council vote. Houtman responded what happens is Council votes ori spending the dollars. Council Member Blubaugh will have to tell us if he is supportive of us spending BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS REGULAR MEmNG June 12, 2017 Page 16 of17  those dollars. If he is, then we put the plan together and take it to council. They would then have to approve it. Anything more than $50,000. Claycomb added Council Member Blubaugh could decide that he does not like this plan and it could just die. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at approximately 4:59 p.m. The next regularly scheduled meeting will be held on Monday, July 10, 2017. BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS REGULAR MEETING June 12, 2017 Page 17 of 17