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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES Parks Advisory Board 2014-11-20 .Town of Estes Park, Larimer County, Colorado, November 20th, 2014 Minutes of a Regular meeting of the Parks Advisory Board of the Town of Estes Park, Larimer County, Colorado. Meeting held in the Town Hall Room 100, Engineering Conference Room, in said Town of Estes Park on the 16th day of October, 2014. Present: Dewain Lockwood Merle Moore Ronna Boles Celine Lebeau Terry Rustin (by phone) Also Present: Greg Muhonen, Public Works Director Kevin McEachern, Public Works Operations Manager Brian Berg, Parks Division Jen Imber, Public Works Administrative Assistant Bob Holcomb, Town Board Trustee Absent: Chris Reed Chair Lebeau called the meeting to order at 12:31 p.m. GENERAL BUSINESS It was moved and seconded (Lockwood/Moore) to approve the October 16th meeting minutes and the motion passed unanimously. 511 W. ELKHORN AVENUE POCKET PARK Terry Rustin provided a memo with photos regarding the proposed pocket park along this section of the Riverwalk. Due to the trash/debris-filled property on the south side of the river, Terry doesn’t recommend the placement of a pocket park in this location. Ensuing discussion centered around solutions for screening this small section of unattractive property adjacent to the proposed park, including trees or plants on the Town’s property or a privacy fence on the apartment-side of the river. Upgrading the park could provide incentive f or other properties in that area to make improvements and the board feels it is still a great opportunity for advancements. Brian Berg informed the board that allocating time and money to this west section of the Riverwalk would divert resources away from the Town’s current effort to upgrade the east side of the Riverwalk. Core parks and the Riverwalk are not currently up to the standard the Town is hoping to maintain. Upgrading the downtown corridor is the Town’s priority, and this core area should be completed before expanding efforts to other areas. Staff recommends revisiting the West Elkhorn Riverwalk improvements project in a few years, to avoid pulling away resources from the priority upgrades . Merle Moore asked about the discussion with private property owner regarding work done on Town property. Operations Manager McEachern was not aware of any conversations that had taken place between staff and the property owner since the October PAB meeting. PUBLIC ART ORDINANCE Director Muhonen proposed Town Hall wall space be taken into consideration when developing the public art policy. Merle Moore and Terry Rustin stated it was woven into the fabric of the draft policy, effectively addressing those concerns. PUBLIC ART GUIDELINES DOCUMENT The subcommittee consisting of Merle Moore and Terry Rustin reviewed art policy documents from other cities and followed a similar format when drafting the Town’s ordinance and guidelines. The Town’s draft art policy documents were provided to the board for review. Parks Advisory Board – November 20th, 2014 – Page 2 The subcommittee examined funding mechanisms for purchasing, installing and maintaining public art. A funding source such as adding a percentage into capital construction costs would be a very unstable cash flow for the program and would not provide much of a budget for acquiring new art, so it would be advisable for the Town to have a system in place that encourages art donation. Most artwork currently seen around Town is donated and the board must be careful not to craft a policy that diminishes this trend. Artwork maintenance is currently budgeted annually, but the Parks Division picks up the cost of installation as donated artwork is acquired. A required percentage of capital construction costs could help diffuse both maintenance and installation costs. Director Muhonen pointed out that most high-dollar capital projects are undertaken by the Town, and that a required percent dedicated to an art fund would simply be dipping into public funds. Making installation a condition of the donation was also discussed. Several members felt it was important to determine if the policy’s purpose is to control the quality and types of donations or to develop a steady stream of incoming art. If the Town is willing to continue funding for installation and maintenance of donated art, no funding mechanism is needed. PAB should determine what a reasonable budget amount would be for this purpose annually. Currently $5000 per year is budgeted for cleaning and maintenance of artwork. Discussion on funding mechanisms will continue in December. LANDSCAPING OF THE NEW TRANSIT HUB PARKING STRUCTURE PAB members asked about the allocated/rolled over funds from previous years that were set aside to hire a landscape architect for the master planning of the parking structure site. Director Muhonen and Operations Manager McEachern will follow up on the status and availability of these funds. With no other business to discuss, a motion was made (Lockwood/Moore) to adjourn the meeting at 1:35 pm, with all voting in favor.