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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES Parks Advisory Board 2018-10-18 Town of Estes Park, Larimer County, Colorado, October 18, 2018 Minutes of a regular meeting of the Parks Advisory Board of the Town of Estes Park, Larimer County, Colorado. Meeting held in the Conference Room of the Estes Park Museum on the 18th day of October, 2018. Present Merle Moore Vicki Papineau Wade Johnston Also Present: Brian Berg, Parks Supervisor Megan Van Hoozer, Public Works Administrative Assistant Patrick Martchink, Town Board Liaison Greg Muhonen, Public Works Director Absent: Dewain Lockwood Geoffrey Elliot Chair Merle Moore called the meeting to order at 8:35 a.m. PUBLIC COMMENT No public in attendance. GENERAL BUSINESS A motion was made and seconded (Moore/Johnston) to approve the September meeting minutes and all were in favor. Due to the fact that this advisory board has only five active members and a m ajority were in attendance, Trustee Liaison Martchink stated that it’s reasonable to allow a vote. For clarity moving forward, the existing PAB By-Laws need revised to reflect this allowance. MRS WALSH’S GARDEN (MWG) UPDATE Chair Moore reported the MWGAC is working on their preliminary plan for 2019. Guidelines still need established outlining how to continue organizing the garden, potentially by life zone (in areas where plants grow best). The committee is still determining the 2019 efforts/initiatives. Chair Moore stated that the Visit Estes Park’s (VEP) webpage makes no reference to Mrs. Walsh’s Garden (MWG). Supervisor Berg would touch base with VEP to request this reference be added to their site. Administrative Assistant Van Hoozer will ensure reference is added to Town Park’s Division webpage. Moore stated the committee is determining whether the name of the garden will continue as ‘Mrs. Walsh’s Garden’ or change to ‘Colorado Native Garden’. Moore to confirm and have verbiage provided to Van Hoozer for needed consistency. Parks Advisory Board – October 18, 2018 – Page 2 The existing list of public art was provided to the Town in 2017. Moore stated that if promoting public art it would be all art, not just sculptures. Van Hoozer will create a link to the current inventory on PAB webpage. Co-Chair Johnston will discuss the compilation of all art, along with the art galleries, with the Estes Arts District (EAD). Key information about the individual art pieces is available within the list of public art soon to be linked to the PAB webpage . Johnston will create the art location map in collaboration with the EAD. EAD mentioned in prior discussions that if a map were to be created for town-owned art, the EAD would like galleries listed as well. Johnston is taking further discussion to the EAD. DOWNTOWN WAYFINDING UPDATE Muhonen provided the PAB an update of the Downtown Wayfinding project. He reported good attendance at the recent public meeting. Muhonen shared the public meeting display documents relative to pedestrian wayfinding, along with comments from the public meeting and invited members to view the comments. Of the documents reviewed the most popular pedestrian wayfinding option was #2 with suggested changes. It was suggested to utilize color-coding consistent throughout town. A comment was received that the rule of thumb on pedestrian signage scale is that all need to be a minimum seven feet tall to avoid having pedestrians hit their head on the sign. Muhonen stated that Public Works would prefer to e xtend the size of the planned masonry base to prevent that from occurring. Johnston agreed that planters should be added for functionality of space while Papineau suggested seating be added. Moore expressed that some of the signs shown in the displays are overkill for Estes Park. Member Papineau agreed and expressed concern about the current small town feel and the impacts of these signs when it’s very easy to just tell someone how to get to their desired destination. Berg stated that the wayfinding design needs to ensure there is adequate space for Parks equipment to provided the needed care of the Town’s sidewalks, trails and landscaped areas. Moore suggested illuminating all wayfinding signage rather than only kiosks. Muhonen stated it would be expensive but was do-able. Supervisor Berg stated that with all the lights existing along the downtown corridor sign illumination should not be an issue. Muhonen stated that during the 2019 budget process a request for $50,000 was submitted for Phase 1 of this project. This request made it into the recommended budget for adoption by the Town Board to occur the second week of November. PARKS DIVISION UPDATE  Nearly all annuals were pulled with the exception of those in raised pots  Pruning continues  Blow-out of the irrigation system is approximately 75% complete with the exception of the Fairgrounds  Sensory Garden o The Parks Division can commit staff time only to a small section of the lower turf tier in Confluence Park and is planning to request Town Board Parks Advisory Board – October 18, 2018 – Page 3 approval at the next scheduled Town Board Meeting. Chair Moore asked how creating this type of park in that location will help people. Berg explained that this area is not planned to be a destination, but a pocket park that you discover as you walk along. The signage will be key to finding out about each planting. Creating a bigger garden is outside Parks staff capabilities. Moore disagrees with this approach and doesn’t feel the sensory garden aspect will be properly interpreted since it won’t be used as a ‘real’ sensory garden. He further stated that this approach doesn’t accomplish or represent what a sensory garden should provide. The Parks Division views this as a space where families can walk through and experience plants in a different way. Moore would like examples of how this park is interpreted. He is not understanding the concept. Berg went on to state that this particular area is currently underutilized and he will continue to make the most of existing pocket parks to allow a new experience. Moore lastly stated that he feels the Town is missing a real opportunity to have this initiative be more of a therapy garden. He takes exception to taking over this green, grassy area and isn’t convinced this is the best way to do this since it’s not a therapy garden. He’s not a fan of eliminating green space when signage around town could be an answer. The Parks Division will move forward with this plan. OTHER BUSINESS Kathy Snyders, AIPP applicant for the 2019 Yarn Bombing, was in attendance to discuss the recently submitted application and addressing concerns from the 2018 Yarn Bombing. Supervisor Berg received feedback at this year’s Yarn Bombing that it was so spread out no one understood what the yarn was about or why it was hanging on the trees. Berg suggested centralizing the wrappings to have a higher impact rather than having a more extended disbursement. Potentially keep the wrapping to the area along Elkhorn Avenue from Sheep Island to Bond Park. For easy maintenance and to ensure the yarn wraps stay as placed, they should either be wrapped with fishing line or have Velcro applied. Snyders will be responsible to ensure there is daily maintenance for placement and appearance. In 2018 rain caused the wraps to sag and provide a poor appearance. Moore suggested covering tree identification labels to indicate the purpose for the yarn wraps using sturdy laminate for the duration indicated on the application. Berg will confirm if that is compliant with the Town’s sign code looking into the code language and how it relates to this being considered a temporary art installation. A motion was made and seconded (Papineau/Moore) to approve the 2019 Yarn Bombing AIPP Application with the noted changes and all were in favor. AIPP FUNDING Chair Moore asked Muhonen, if a 1% art allocation were approved, how much would be generated from the Downtown Estes Loop (DEL) project and what future projects would have a large impact. Muhonen stated the DEL project would generate approximately $1.79M with the next large project, if approved, being for the stormwater infrastructure Parks Advisory Board – October 18, 2018 – Page 4 upgrades. Moore is reaching out to other communities that have a funding stream for art. A motion was made and seconded (Johnston/Papineau) to adjourn the meeting and all were in favor.