BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS REGULAR MEETING Park and Recreation Department 11th Floor City Hall Monday, July 14, 2008 3:30 p.m. Present: Glen Dey, Bryan Frye, Matt Goolsby, Janet Miller, Andy Solter, and John Stevens Absent: Tom Roth Also Present: Doug Kupper, Director, Park and Recreation; Marty Miller, Director of Botanica; and Myca Bunch, staff. President Miller called the meeting to order at approximately 3:30 p.m. PUBLIC AGENDA No Items. REGULAR AGENDA Item 1. Approval of Minutes On Motion by Stevens, second by Frye, IT WAS UNANIMOUSLY VOTED by the Board to approve the June 9, 2008, Park Board minutes. Item 2A: Botanica Overview Marty Miller spoke to the Board and said he began working at Botanica on January 14 and is very excited about his job. He said the attendance at Botanica has grown in the past few years and the gardens are looking great with the addition of the Woodland Bird Garden which opened in early 2008. Miller said they are now working on the addition of the Downing Children’s Garden for kids’ preschool through Grade 5. Miller showed the Board illustrations of the different proposed sections of the Children’s Garden and explained many of the features and how they would attract and appeal to children. The lead donation came from the Downing Family which earned them the main naming right for the Garden but there are still many other naming options available throughout the Garden for possible future donors. Miller went on to say that children today are losing their connection with nature as a result of time spent playing video games and watching TV. He said this Garden will be a safe and educational opportunity for families to get their children outside to explore nature. He said the new garden will be located west of the main gardens and be approximately one acre in size. Item 2B: Retreat Discussion and Date The Board agreed to hold the annual Park Board retreat meeting on September 20, 2008. Location and time will be decided later. Item 3A: Habitat for Humanity Proposed Pocket Park Karen Walker presented the Park Enhancement Proposal application sent by Linda Stewart from Habitat for Humanity. Walker said, based on her review, she referenced several parks within a 1 mile radius of the proposed park location but there are no parks within a ˝ mile range. She continued reviewing the application and explained that there is not a neighborhood association in the area. She said the proposed space is located next to the road and would be deemed safe during the day, but at night they may need to provide additional lighting. She doubted if any kids from east of the proposed park would cross the creek to access the park. Walker also said that there are no sidewalks around the property and this could pose ADA issues. She said that overall the application scored 23 points out of a possible 56 points. Kupper reminded the Board that they were asked to match the donation from the anonymous donor and after the park is completed, the land would be donated back to the Park Department for regular maintenance. Linda Stewart said that her quote from Athco, LLC will increase after August 13, 2008 and she would like to have a decision before then. Miller said that the Board’s next process is to go to Phase 2 of the evaluation to determine the cost of operations. She said they could review the information at the August 11 Park Board meeting and then take the item to the City Council on August 12 if approved. Goolsby asked who would determine the placement of the street lights. Kupper replied that those decisions were left up to either the developer or from Public Works. On Motion by Miller, second by Goolsby, IT WAS UNANIMOUSLY VOTED that staff complete phase 2 of the proposed pocket park assessment and present the recommendation at the August Board meeting. Staff was also asked to prepare an Agenda Report to present to City Council on August 12, 2008, in the event the Board approves the request. Item 3B: Cell Tower Procedures Miller said in March the Board received a request to place a cell tower in Orchard Park. In April the City Council adopted the Board’s proposed list of parks where they would consider the placement of cell towers. Miller reminded the Board that at the April meeting they did approve a cell tower to be placed in Orchard park and recognized it as a leasable site. At that time, the Board also asked the requester, Greg Ferris, to present the idea to the Neighborhood Association for their approval of the lease and return to the Park Board for final approval. She said Mr. Ferris did not visit the DAB before submitting his item to the Planning Department. Miller presented a copy of the email she sent to Council Member Fearey. She said the two issues before them are to discuss the procedures concerning cell tower requests and to discuss how they want to handle the situation at Orchard Park. Miller said Fearey thought the approved site listing gave them a “blanket approval” to put towers on those sites. Solter asked if the Board had made it clear to the Planning Department what their intent was with the Cell Tower approval list. Miller said they did tell Planning Department staff and their response was that the procedure could not be built into the zoning procedures. Miller said there is nothing on paper dictating where public input will be considered for the placement of the cell phone towers. Kupper recommended the Board put those limitations into a motion so that the situation does not happen again. He said another option is for Park staff to be the ones to take the proposal to the DABs or Neighborhood Associations instead of the developer. He said this would ensure they do not end up in a similar situation in the future. Stevens said whatever decision the Board makes they need to remember that each Neighborhood affected has a right to know of the plan before it happens. Miller said the developer plans to do that after the City Council approves the request at the July 15 City Council meeting. Goolsby asked if a presentation to the DABs needed to be included in the procedure plan. Miller said they could consider that as an option. On Motion by Miller, second by Frye, IT WAS UNANIMOUSLY VOTED by the Board to amend the cell tower request procedures to the following steps: 1) Cell Tower Applicant contacts Park and Recreation Department with request for placement of cell tower on park property. 2) Director of Park and Recreation consults list of parks where towers will and will not be considered. If the requested location is in a park that will not be considered, applicant is advised as such. If requested location is in a park that will be considered, applicant is advised that neighborhood input will be sought and then presented to the Park Board for consideration. 3) Park Department notifies nearby neighborhood association(s) and presents cell tower request for their consideration and input within 30 days of applicant’s request. If no neighborhood association exists, the presentation will be made to the District Advisory Board and their input will be sought. Applicant will be notified of the date and time of the meeting. 4) Park Department staff then presents the cell tower request along with the collected neighborhood feedback to the Board of Park Commissioners. Applicant will be notified of the date and time of the meeting. Following deliberation and discussion, the Board will vote to either a) recommend to the City Council that the site be leased or not if the park land is City owned, or b) approve or deny the request if the park land is owned by the Board of Park Commissioners. 5) Director of Park and Recreation notifies applicant of the action taken by the Board of Park Commissioners. 6) If the action was to recommend to the City Council that the site be leased, then the Director will also notify the City Council and Planning Department of that recommendation. Miller commented that she would contact Bob Aldrich from the Neighborhood Association to advise him that the Park Board will not have another opportunity to deny the request for the cell tower in that park. Miller said she would also advise Councilmember Fearey of the Board’s action. Item 3C: Chapin Park Kupper showed the Board a map of the Chapin Park land development site. He said they are currently in Phase I of the development process and the current cost of the development is around $5.2 million of which they currently have $700,000 in the budget. Kupper said they will have the bid documents to build the road from MacArthur into the Park as well as the parking lot and the dog run enclosures during this phase. The dog enclosures will be between 3 and 5 acres total. He said they will partner with the Oz Bike Club to develop a mountain bike trail system which will be delineated by the architects with no additional costs associated. Goolsby said the DAB had concerns as to why the path was not placed closer to the river. Kupper said that the ground in that area is not stable enough to place a path in those areas. Kupper said the picnic shelters featured are a special material so they will hopefully not wear out quickly. He said there will also be water facilities for the dogs. Janet said that she hopes that those that frequent the park will be responsible and pick up after their dogs and take care of the facilities. Kupper said they are looking at a completion date of summer 2009. Solter asked how they were going to pay for the mountain bike paths. Kupper replied that the paths are unpaved paths and will not have a large cost associated with them. Kupper mentioned that the Chapin area was closed in July due to Methane Gas exposure. He said that this was a result from the increase in rain the area has had, but that they should not have further problems. Item 4: Review of Pending Issues No Items. Item 5. Updates from the Director and President Kupper reported the following items: Bike Path Grants – Kupper advised the Board that they were not awarded TE Grants this year so they are proceeding with using the City’s matching dollars of $250,000 set aside in CIP funds. He said they will use $100K of these funds for the bike path under the Minisa Bridge. $50,000 will be used to complete the 21st Bike Path and the other $100,000 will be used to design the bike path from Grove to McAdams. He said at the July 15 City Council meeting they will be asking City Council for permission to apply for the Recreation Trails Program (RTP) Grant to build the Delano Bike Path. Kupper said there is currently $800,000 of matching money in the CIP they will ask City Council to use to design the East Bank Bike Path from Kellogg to the South Central Neighborhood. Lincoln Park Gazebo – Kupper said the Gazebo was funded in 2005 and they will be going to bid for the design of the structure soon. Sunset Park - A citizen has asked the Park Department to change or post the hours at Sunset Park due to the number of 911 calls placed from area citizens to complain about noise, loud music and loitering of teenagers in the parking lot. Goolsby asked if changing the hours would really stop the kids from going to the park. Kupper said it would give the police more power to keep them out of the park during the new hours which are from sun-up to sun-down right now. Frye said he would like to research the issue and talk to the police about what neighborhood associations exist in that area. Miller reported the following items: Upcoming PROS Meetings: * September 25 – The PROS plan will be presented to all DABs at City Hall. * September 27 - Public Meeting with Mayor Brewer at City Arts * October 6 – Author of “No Child Left Inside” Richard Louv will be in Wichita * November 3 & 5 - The Draft PROS Plan to be presented to each DAB. * December 7 – City Council will vote to adopt the Final PROS Plan. Item 6. Issues on the Horizon No Items. Item 7. Adjourn Miller adjourned at approximately 6:00p.m. ___________________________________ Janet L. Miller, President ATTEST: _______________________________ Myca J. Bunch, Recording Secretary Board of Park Commissioners July 14, 2008 1