2001-04-09D+, :.~:
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Meridian Parks and Recreation Commission April 9, 2001
The regular meeting of The Parks and Recreation Commission was called to
order by Sheri Baker at 7:03.
Present were Sheri Baker, Debbie Watkins, Ed Fong, Tammy De Weerd, Creg
Steele, Jim Keller, David Moe, and Tom Kuntz
Agenda: Tom asked to add the Recreation Guide to correspondence and
announcements, and Keith Borup property and the mil levy to other business. Ed
Fong moved to accept the amended agenda, Creg Steele seconded, all ayes
motion carries.
Approval of Minutes: David Moe made a motion to approve March's minutes
seconded by Creg Steele, all ayes, motion carried.
Public Introductions/Comments: Jim Hall from Boise Parks was in attendance
for a Q&A session regarding the Action Plan.
CorrespondencelAnnouncements: Tom asked that the Commission look over
the motions for March. We are having problems with dogs off leash at Tully Park
so we have sent a memo to the Police Dept. asking Animal Control to patrol the
park and let patrons know of the ordinance. Boise will let us use their mutt mitt
stations. Bring in your plastic shopping bags to the Parks office. Tami handed
out invitations to that Arbor Day Celebration. The grand opening of Generation's
Plaza is set for June 1. Staff will start planning the celebration and getting the
word out. We are working at getting the fountain on by the end of April. Tom
went over the brochure and softball. We have had quite an increase in
participation in classes and softball.
Consent Agenda:
Discussion Items:
Action Plan: Tom hopes to accomplish two things, prioritize the last chapter, and
have a workshop with the Council to come up with a plan that the Council will
support. The numbers right now may not be realistic. There is the possibility that
we could go to Council with the plan without a funding plan.
Sheri said that five years ago, Jim Hall pushed for land when none was available
and it is now paying off. Jim said that nine years ago, they had the same
problems that we are having now. The land was available but they didn't know
where to start. He said to start with the outer land and move in. If you think that
you can wait and buy later, you are wrong. Meridian needs to aggressively buy
land because the price is only going up. In Boise it was $15,000 an acre and
now it is $75-100,000 an acre. Boise has hired a real estate agent that donates
part of his fees to help find land and talk to property owners. He tells them about
the donation process and how they can get a park named after them.
Boise is sitting on a lot of acreage. They have purchased 1,000 acres since
1992. Sheri asked if there was an uproar about not greening up what they had.
Jim said once the land is gone, it is gone. You can always get the money to build
but you can't get the land back. You can have a park system that has a lot of ,
undeveloped land in a couple of years, or you can have a nice small green park
system with no land in a couple of years. Boise has 8 acres per 1000 citizens.
That is higher than the national average. Jim said the bigger parks are working
out better than the neighborhood parks. Debbie Watkins asked how we could
pay for this. Jim said that a serial levy only needs 51 % of the vote and will raise
property taxes for 2 years generating revenue of approximately two million
dollars. Meridian's impact fees are too low, and we should look into collecting
fees outside the city limits. This could generate funds to buy parkland. Boise
charges $721 for single family. Sheri asked how we can charge existing citizens
and not just new growth. Jim said we should look into donations from farmers
who would love for someone to knock on the door and offer to name a park after
them for some donated land. He also suggested partnerships with PAL or
Optimists to help with development. Let service clubs do some fund raising.
Service clubs can develop parks at 25% less than what it costs a city. What kind
of a commitment does someone like Optimist Football get? They have lifetime
use of the facility for football in the fall and soccer can use it in the spring. So the
best ways to generate funds are impact fees and increasing the area of impact,
serial levy for instant cash, partnerships and development agreements, and the
general fund. Jim said that at McDevitt Park, on Eagle Road they have 10 acres
set aside for a youth sports complex and community center that they may be
interested in working with us on.
Bear Creek- Tim Taylor came in to speak to the Commission regarding
development of Bear Creek Park. CTA was hired to do the master plan and the
bid specs, which has taken $10,000 of the $100,000 budgeted for the park. The
developer is asking for the $90,000 paid in June, and the remainder of the cost-
$129,360 at the beginning of next fiscal year. If this is the case, they will waive
the 11 % interest. The Hardin Drain has been tiled and is complete. The cost to
excavate that is $24,000. In the development agreement since the park was a
donation, what was expected of the developer was not really nailed down, but
since the developer was providing the 18 acres and irrigation system and grass
and the the drain, we were not going to spend money to fill a big hole. Since the
developer is putting in sprinkler and grass, we felt they should also do the rough
grading and excavation of the park. Sheri asked if it was an unspoken
agreement that they would put the grass and sprinklers in, wouldn't they need to
do the fine grading anyway. After some discussion, Jim made a motion and
Debbie seconded that the Commission recommend to Council to pay$192,500
upon completion, and that the City Council make a line item adjustment to
accommodate that. The vote was 2 for and 3 against, motion does not carry.
After further discussion, Creg Steele made a motion that the Commission
recommend to Council that we do the project at $190,000 paid upon completion,
and the additional $100,000 be transferred from the pathway line item. Jim
Keller seconded, 5 ayes and 1 abstain, motion carries.
Single Loaded Street Issue- Shari Stiles informed Tom that she will recommend
that Cedar Springs be considered a planned development, thus requiring 10%
instead of 5%. A planned development has commercial property on two ends
and she will. We may have the option of going back and recommending that it
be single loaded the whole way. Sheri suggested that if the opportunity presents
itself, Tom recommend the single loaded street.
Action Item:
Park Action Plan-We need to have a separate meeting for the plan. We will
meet in Jim's office so that the Commission can be in agreement on the issues
and take them to Council. We will meet on the 26th of April at 7:00 at Keller and
Associates.
Skate Park-Tom wanted to bring back up the Tully Park site for review. He says
all the ammenities are already there. David Moe made a motion to go forward
with the 58 acre site on to the west of the water tower. Debbie Watkins
seconded, all ayes motion carried.
Storey Park Master Plan- Tom would went over a drawing that was made with
possible improvements to Storey Park. Tom would like to get costs on
eliminating the front road, a large playground structure and adding shared
parking with the Chamber and shelter. He would like to put this in the budget for
next year. We did put in the budget for last year to do the re-design work. Tom
has a proposal from CTA to do the work.
Keith Borup-Tabled
Mill Levy- Tammy hopes that Council will divide the money with police and fire.
She would like the Commission to get the information out there and get people to
the polls. Our mill is very low. There is a three percent cap that the legislature
has put on us so it will go down again, but it will at least give is a million dollars
and put us in the game again. Tammy would like the Commission to create
name and phone lists so we can get the word out.
David Moe made a motion to adjourn at 10:12, seconded by Debbie Watkins.
Approved: '~_ Date: I v
PresidentSheri Baker