12/14/2009 - Minutes City of Tigard
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Parks & Recreation Advisory Board - Minutes
MEETING DATE: December 14, 2009 7:00 PM
MEETING LOCATION: Public Works Building, 8777 SW Burnham, Tigard, OR 97223
The purpose of the Parks and Recreation Advisory is to advise and advocate
for park and recreation opportunities for a growing Tigard.
1. Roll Call: At 7:00 p.m. the meeting is called to order by Chair Jason Rogers.
Members Present: Brian Davies, Kim Leinberger,Jason Rogers,Trisha Swanson, Holly Pohvka,
Troy Mears,Mike Freudenthal
Audience: One audience member attending; did not sign in.
Staff Present: Steve Martin,Martin McKnight,Duane Roberts,Dianna Weston
Council: Marland Henderson
2. Approval of Minutes—March 16, 2009
Brian Davies makes a motion to approve the minutes, and the motion is seconded by Troy Mears. Motion
passes unanimously.
3. Comments from the audience: none
4. Staff Comments/Introduction Diana Weston: Diana Weston introduces herself as the new Events
Coordinator for The City of Tigard. Diana is in the planning stages for a summer concert series to be held at
Bishop-Scheckla Pavillion in Cook Park. Diana's office is in Administrative Services Division,Tigard City Hall.
5. Trails Update Report—Duane Roberts: Duane makes a power point presentation to the PRAB and
distributes hard copies of the presentation.
Neighborhood trails plan is complete. The plan was funded by an ODOT grant because neighborhood trails
and access ways are primarily used for transportation. The plan focused on short cuts within neighborhoods
that would reduce out of direction travel. Premise is reducing out of direction travel would cause people to
consider walking and biking. There are 43 projects identified: 14 have been submitted for consideration as
CIP's.
In September a trail survey and count was conducted by 40 volunteers at 5 different trail points over 5 days.
Metro is still tabulating and conducting analysis on the numbers. Preliminary results show about 2/3 walkers
and 1/3 biker during weekdays. Weekends show a 50/50 split. One quarter of the weekday users were using
trails as transportation—significant because a lot of trail funding comes from transportation dollars.
PARKS & RECREATION ADVISORY BOARD Minutes — Dec. 14, 2009
City of Tigard 1 13125 SW Hall Blvd.,Tigard,OR 97223 1 503-639-4171 1 www.tigard-or.gov I Page 1 of 3
The Intertwine is a branding effort initiated by Metro in September. Intertwine refers to the regional trails, parks,
open spaces, etc.within the Metro boundary and will be used as a tool to leverage federal dollars.
Duane says that Metro Councilors will not only be seeking federal transportation dollars, they will also be
seeking funding through health care revenue streams because of the health benefits of trails and parks.
Another aspect of The Intertwine is to provide a central source of information regarding trails and parks.
Duane says that the cities of Tigard, Durham,Beaverton and THPRD are partnering on the "Crescent
Connection,"in response to Metro call for well-connected Active Transportation Corridor Demonstration
projects. The Crescent Connection is twelve miles in length, extending from the Tualatin River to THPRD
Nature Center in Beaverton. The cost of the Durham-Tigard portion of the improvements is estimated at$4.7
million.
Duane remarks that there is a lot of public and political support for the "Rail to Trail" conversion of the 3700'
corridor extending from Tiedeman to Main. The rail line hasn't been used for about three years and rail to trail
conversion has been identified as a project in the Urban Renewal Plan. The difficulty has been that Portland-
Western Railroad still has an active easement and ODOT, the underlying land owner, considers the space as an
active line until easement is extinguished. Formal abandonment is a federal legal process; a railroad may
abandon a line only with the permission of the Federal Surface Transportation Board.
Library trail construction is underway and on schedule. The two contractors are to finish projects before the
end of January. Public access to the trail should happen soon thereafter.
Trail System Master Plan is being funded through by a$92,000 ODOT Transportation and Growth
Management Grant. Duane hopes that the study will answer questions about filling gaps in the system. Duane
believes that the grant will provide enough money to ensure a high quality plan. Details of the Master Plan
should include cost estimates, alignment plans and community input/support. Steve Martin and Duane will be
managing the study and are waiting on the go-ahead from ODOT to start.
Metro has a$300,000 grant to develop Westside Trail Master Plan (Power Line Trail.) About 1 mile of the trail
is in Tigard. The trail runs about 16 miles from the Willamette to the Tualatin River. Public outreach, property
research and alignment questions need to be answered. Property research is important because ownerships and
easements are difficult to un-tangle. THPRD will finish 6 miles of trail by 2013.
Trisha Swanson asks how trails plan is meshing with downtown urban renewal. Duane says that COT has
submitted projects through Metro and Washington County for highway bill funding to help with re-alignment
of Fanno Creek Trail through downtown. Federal stimulus dollars have also been applied for.
6. Review of Joint Meeting and Bond Measure Discussion
Troy Mears is curious about the timing of moving forward with bond. Jason Rogers believes that the PRAB
should give a formal recommendation to the Council. Councilor Marland Henderson believes a parks bond has
a chance to pass if packaged well but will face competition in either a May or November vote. Chairman
Rogers says that if the recommendation from the PRAB is for May, time is of the essence. Brian Davies
recommends more support from PRAB for TPL/bond measure effort going forward.
Brian Davies Makes a motion to recommend a May parks bond measure to City Council.
Troy Mears seconds the motion. Motion carries. Mike Freudenthal and Trisha Swanson abstain.
Councilor Marland Henderson notes that Council goals will be set in two weeks so, PRAB should consider
moving ahead in a timely fashion.
Chairman Rogers agrees to send an email or letter with the PRAB recommendation.
7. PRAB Applications and Current Member Status
PARKS & RECREATION ADVISORY BOARD Minutes — Dec. 14, 2009
City of Tigard 1 13125 SW Hall Blvd.,Tigard,OR 97223 1 503-639-4171 1 www.tigard-or.gov I Page 2 of 3
Steve Martin says that there are three current applications for the PRAB. Two candidates will be interviewed
on December 15. It is possible that City Council will confirm the new members in January.
Chairman Rogers thanks Trisha Swanson and Michael Freudenthal for their service to the board. Mr.
Freudenthal addresses the board and mentions that a lot has been accomplished in the last 6 years. He
appreciates the opportunity to have served and pledges to actively support the PRAB's goals. Trisha Swanson
thanks the PRAB and says that working on the PRAB has been fun and rewarding.
8. Start PRAB Goals and Visioning for 2010
Tabled
9. Park Project Updates — Steve Martin
Next two PRAB meetings will be held on second Monday of the month. January 11 and February 8.
Shelter#1 is replaced at Cook Park. Nearby bathroom will be built after July 1,2010.
Greg Stout, formerly a Senior Utility Worker,is now the Grounds and Greenspace Coordinator.
Senior Utility Position formerly held by Parks Supervisor,Martin McKnight will be filled soon.
The addition to Jack Park,has been slow but, Steve thinks the property will be paid for by mid-January.
Pole Barn has been delivered to Summerlake Park. The building will be used as storage for equipment.
The skate park restroom is near completion. Special order fixtures have yet to come in.
COT is close to finishing a natural resource management plan for the Brown Property. Metro wants to stay
involved with managing the property. The next step will be to start the engineering plan for Fanno Creek Trail
to go through the Brown Property.
10. Property Acquisition—Interest and Priorities.
The PRAB went into executive session.
11. Adjourn 8:30 P.M. (approximately)
PARKS & RECREATION ADVISORY BOARD Minutes — Dec. 14, 2009
City of Tigard 1 13125 SW Hall Blvd.,Tigard,OR 97223 1 503-639-4171 1 www.tigard-or.gov I Page 3 of 3