2000-09-11• • R~~L~D
0 r T 2 3 2000
CITY OF 1QERID~A:Y
Meridian Parks and Recreation Commission September 11, 2000
The regular meeting of The Parks and Recreation Commission was called to
order by David Moe at 8:21 p.m.
Present were David Moe, Sheri Baker, Tammy deWeerd, Debbie Watkins, Jim
Keller and Tom Kuntz.
Agenda: Sheri Baker made a motion to approve the agenda with the changes of
putting new business ahead of old business. Jim Keller seconded. All ayes
motion carried.
Minutes: Sheri Baker made a motion to approve the minutes for August. Debbie
Watkins seconded. All ayes motion carried.
Public introductions/Comments: Present were Michelle and Terry Whipple of
1522 West Chateau and Edward Spellman of 1424 West Chateau were there to
discuss Tully Park.
Correspondence/Announcements:
Tom addressed the articles in the Statesman written by Tammy de Weerd and
David Moe. Both the articles were well written. The Mayor wrote a thank you
letter to Joe Simonich for the property that he deeded to the City. Construction
on the pathway should begin this spring. Optimist contacted Tom regarding
wanting to help with a BMX track, possibly at Storey Park riear the green shelter
since there are not a lot of houses in that area and the police could see it from
the parking lot. Recreation Superintendent Catrina Thomas handed out the fall
activity guide and went over some of the classes being offered for fall.
David Moe asked what the status of the tennis courts at the high school was.
Tom said they were almost finished, but he would check on it.
Old Business:
Recycling Revenue- Tom would like to hear from Tammy De Weerd about the
ordinance adopting the recycling program and where the revenue will go. The
garbage company suggested that the revenue go to the parks dept. should the
Commission write a letter? Sheri spoke to Steve at SSI, he said that no
designation had been made, they just want to make sure it doesn't go into a
general fund. David asked Sheri to draft a letter to Council stating that the
Commission strongly suggests the funds go to parks.
New Shelter @ Tully Park- Tom informed the Commission that staff went to
Tully Park several times and asked the patrons where they felt the best place to
put a shelter was. Almost everyone said they would like it next to the playground
so that they could have their party or picnic at the shelter and still see the kids
on the playground. The Whipples, who live directly behind the area of the new
shelter, felt that was a good location for it. They would like some privacy slats put
in their fence so that not only would people not be looking into their yard, but they
also would not be intruding on other people's picnics. Mr. Spellman would like it
if all of the amenities were not along the perimeter fence. He stated that all of the
noise is in one area of the park, and that area is behind his fence. Jim moved to
adopt the shelter location with putting in privacy slats and additional trees. Sheri
suggested we pull up the privacy slats around the playground. With that
amendment, Sheri Baker seconded, All ayes motion passed.
Storey restroom/chamber expansion- The Chamber plans on changing their
building. They will be putting the visitor center where the breezeway is now, and
the bathrooms will open to the west, making them ADA accessible. The Chamber
would like the City to share in the cost. Tom will readdress this at a later date.
Dave Costello Recognition-This has not been gotten to yet, and will not be
addressed at the City Council Meeting on Oct. 3. David will have more
information next month.
Comprehensive Plan- Tom said he is not planning on spending any more
money of the Comprehensive Plan, he is planning to spend some money on an
action plan that will allow us to implement parts of the comp plan. Jim Keller said
that it should be referred to as an executive summary that includes an action
plan. That way, we don't have to justify anything, we just say here is our
executive summary, and we would like you to adopt this. Back up data is
available in the Comprehensive Plan. Tom is meeting with Jerry Dragoo to
discuss the executive summary (action plan) to provide the following:
1. A park layout plan which will tell us where parks need to be. This will help
Tom on a day to day basis when he has a developer call to meet with him;
Tom can say how much acreage we need as a park in their development.
2. The management plan will address how many staff members we will need
next year at budget time to take care of all of the new acreage.
3. Re-calculating impact fees based upon the new comprehensive plan.
4. Capital improvement plan, which is where the Commission will come in to be
active in prioritizing what we want to do in the next 6 years.
5. Trails Plan, which we will want to keep Ed involved in as chair of the pathway
committee.
David Moe asked how much this would be costing us. Tom said it would cost
$3,000 out of this years professional services account, and up to $7,000 out of
next years budget. Jim Keller said he would not jump into putting a trail plan into
this plan. He also felt that it was dangerous to include maintenance needs for
next yearbecause it may get us back into a discussion of money and budgets
that we don't need to re-address, lets get the park plan adopted. Tom said that is
a key component to who we are and what we do, and if we develop what we
have planned in park acreage, that we cannot take care of it with the staffing
level that has been requested this year. Sheri suggested using a projection plan
of X amount of acres requires X amount of employees and X amount of
maintenance. Tom said Jerry Draggoo thinks Norm is not that far off.
New Business:
Bricks for Generations Plaza- Construction will start on phase 2 in October.
We will have 2 walls with over 300 bricks available to sell. Staff recommends
pricing those at one hundred dollars each. Tom would like to know the feelings
of the Commission. Debbie Watkins made a motion to charge $100.00 per brick
on a first come first serve basis from top to bottom, one wall at a time. Jim Keller
seconded all ayes. Motion carries.
Directors Informational Items:
Vandalism in Parks- Some kids went through the parks late at night and kicked
several heads off sprinklers. The amount of damage was about $1,500.00. The
kids were caught due to some anonymous tips.
Storey Park Irrigation system bids were opened fast week, the low bidder was
Hillside Nursery at $126,000. The other bidder was at 142,000..
Department Logo- Staff came up with recommendations. Commission didn't like
any of them.
5-mile creek pathway- Nampa Meridian has approached Boise Ada County
COMPASS and us with a master pathway agreement so that it won't take so long
to get new pathway agreements in place. Our attorney and we have reviewed the
plan and made comments. Boise met with Nampa-Meridian, and the Boise City
Attorney suggested that we, along with Ada County, meet to discuss the master
pathway agreement without Nampa Meridian present. Tom will make that
recommendation to Council and the Mayor. Tammy suggested that the meeting
take place before the next COMPASS meeting.
Other Business:
David Moe asked where we sit, now that we have all of this money. Tom said
that we will need to secure the services of CTA for Bear Creek. They will start
design specifications next week. David asked what the reasoning was for CTA.
Tom said he wanted to make sure we spread the wealth around. We will be
using Briggs Engineering who is hired by the developer. The developer would
like to start moving dirt this fall.
Generations Plaza phase 2 will start this fall. Water tower landscaping will start
this fall. 56 acres is out to RFP (request for proposal) with no time line. Chateau
no RFP, Jensen Beltz has not followed up, process to start in October.
Joe da Rosa cannot commit the time to the Commission anymore. There are
now 2 Commission seats open and David Moe will contact Kendra at the
Statesman to see if she will do an article about the vacancies. There was a
discussion about where the candidates should live. Debbie suggested going to
PTA/PTOs and adult sports teams to let them know about openings.
Tom said that he would like the Commission to consider sending the Mayor and
Council a letter regarding raising the mill levy.
Adjournment
Jim Keller made a motion to adjourn at 10:10. This was seconded by Debbie
Watkins