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08/11/2003 - Minutes Parks & Recreation Advisory Board Monday, August 11, 2003 Members Present: Michael Freudenthal, Darrin Marks, Shelley Richards, and Carl Switzer Staff Present: Ed Wegner, Dennis Koellermeier, and Twila Willson I. Introductions Ed Wegner opened the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board Meeting at 7:30 p.m. He welcomed the board members and visitors. He announced that Kristin Gaston would not be serving on the advisory board and that she would soon be moving to Texas. The alternate, Jason Ashley, would step in as replacement. Two other board members were unable to attend the first meeting because of other commitments. The minutes for the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board Meetings would be topical in content and the meetings would not be recorded, however, a record of motions would be kept in detail. Biographical information sheets were distributed with a summary of information about the advisory board appointees and each person had the opportunity to briefly expand on their background information. Mr. Wegner stated that there was a lot of enthusiasm among the participants on the advisory board and it was clear that new ideas and direction would be gained from their background and experience. Mr. Wegner outlined plans for upcoming meetings to include: • getting to know the participants and the parks • elect officers possibly in October • pursue the direction the board wanted to proceed with and the projects the board wanted to take on • budget process starts in November • tour the major parks on a Saturday in September II. Handouts and History of Tigard Parks The City of Tigard's Park System Master Plan and park brochure was distributed. Mr. Wegner explained that the Master Plan does not outline organized recreational activities or programs because there are no recreational programs sponsored by tax dollars through the City's budget. Mr. Wegner gave a presentation of each of the parks within Tigard, showing maps and explained the amenities available at the parks. Highlights of that presentation follows: Cook Park A lot of money has recently been invested in the expansion of this park with the joint partnership purchase of 23 acres with the Atfalati Recreation Foundation (Southside Soccer Club and Tigard Little League) as well as an additional 7 acres purchased from Unified Sewage Agency. The expanded park now features a wetlands and gazebo viewing area, butterfly garden, trails and paths, parking lots throughout the park, restrooms, concession stand, five soccer fields, four baseball fields, gazebo/shelter (where the Tualatin Valley Community Band performs and numerous weddings have been held), maintenance building, two playground areas, portable restrooms by the boat ramp area, and four other covered picnic shelter areas. The funding package for the park expansion project included money from the leagues, system development charges (SDC's), grants, and low rate loans. Summerlake Park Features include a fenced in off-lease dog park area, covered picnic shelter, playgrounds, trails and paths, ballfield, tennis courts and the lake. Other projects that were scheduled to take place at Summerlake Park have been placed on hold due to budget cutbacks and the inability to maintain the expanded areas. On the opposite side of the lake/park area there are encroachment and dog issues that will become issues of concern in the future. The lake is also part of the Summercreek drainage system, which is part of the Tualatin Basin Watershed, and issues concerning fish, endangered species, waterflow channels, etc., will be issues that will need addressing within the next few years. Aquatic weed harvests are necessary in the lake at Summerlake Park and that is very costly. Dog Parks The City's three dog parks operate with the help of volunteers. • Potso Dog Park, behind Coe Manufacturing (Wall Street and Hunziker Rd.) • Ash Street Dog Park, off Burnham St. • Summerlake Park, off-lease area Fanno Creek Park— Library segment This park and trail system will run along Hall Blvd., wrapping around the new Library, and is an extension of the park system that runs behind the City Hall up to Main Street. This will hopefully become part of the system that comes from Tualatin to Beaverton. The improvements for this park are not funded by the Library funds and will have to come through other means. Grant money has been applied for and initial approval received. The construction of this area will take place over the next 1 % years. Bonita Park This park will be located on Bonita Road off Milton Court. HUD grant money will fund this low income neighborhood park. It will include basketball courts, large lawn areas, wetlands area, playground, water fountains, restrooms and scattered picnic tables. Recreation programs have not been part of the city services. The City did back the Atfalati partnership concept for after school activities, etc., but that failed on the ballot. In an effort to address youth concerns, the mayor started the Youth Advisory Committee and through that committee it was decided to start the Park and Recreation Advisory Board again. The schools are also pushing for recreation funding to help support the pools, school resource officers and maintenance of fields on their property. Financial stress is being felt by families, the community and the City. The Parks budget has been cut 18% this year, eliminating 8 full-time temporary seasonal positions and cutting back on services to restrooms, weeding and other maintenance services. Booster and Rotary clubs have worked to offset school budget cuts to after school sports and activities. There has not been much community support to extra curricular activities. Efforts are underway with the City of Tualatin to obtain federal support and funding for a pedestrian bridge to connect Tigard's Cook Park, Tualatin and Durham Parks. Annexation of Bull Mountain will be an issue of discussion by the Park and Recreation Advisory Board. There is no park land set aside in that area and the good areas are being used up by developers. Annexation will require service to that area for parks. Land in that area is expensive and the City can't outbid the developers. 111. Set next month's meeting, agendas, and meeting topics It was decided that advisory board meetings would be held on the second Monday of each month at 7:30 p.m. through the end of the year. It will take some time to get things underway and to evaluation what is wanted for parks and recreation in Tigard. Recommendations from the board and staff will be taken to the City Council and the minutes of the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board will also be provided to Council. The Advisory Board may also wish to occasionally schedule work sessions with the City Council to discuss pressing issues. The Skate Park will come under the Park and Recreation Advisory Board. The next regular meeting will be on September 8t' and topics on the agenda will include a visual park tour by Dan Plaza, Parks Manager; Rich Carlson, Skate Park chair, will update progress on the Skate Park; recreation district; Tualatin River bridge; capital improvement project update. On Saturday, September 27, there will be a tour of the parks in the afternoon. Mr. Wegner distributed a copy of the Resolution to establish the Park and Recreation Board. Mr. Wegner reported that the Park and Recreation Advisory Board meetings may eventually be televised to provide information to citizens. In the meantime, he encouraged spreading information to other youth committees. He suggested that it may be good at some point to select a student liaison in order to get input from youth and also a school board representative for their recommendations. Further discussion recommendations included: • e-mail the meeting agenda and other information one week before the regular meeting • provide a copy of the adopted budget and back-up materials • meet for coffee to discuss views informally and get to know each other better The Park and Recreation Board e-mail group would be established after review with the attorney of what could be discussed in that media. Board Members were advised to contact Ed Wegner (ext. 2595), Dennis Koellermeier (ext. 2596), or Twila Willson (ext 2597) if they had questions or needed more information. IV. Adjournment The meeting adjourned at 8:56 p.m. Park and Recreation Advisory Board 4 � Jason Ashley David Baumgarten Scott Bernhard Michael Freudenthal Darrin Marks Shelley Richards f Scot Sutton Carl Switzer ` 8�l1��t3