Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES Family Advisory Board 2019-08-01RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS Town of Estes Park, Larimer County, Colorado, August 1, 2019 Minutes of a regular meeting of the Family Advisory Board of the Town of Estes Park, Larimer County, Colorado. Meeting held in the Room 203 of the Estes Park Town Hall, on the 1st day of August, 2019. Present: Laurie Dale Marshall Michael Moon Jodi Roman Karen Randinitis Nancy Almond Christy DeLorme Sue Strom Also Present:Ron Norris, Town Board Liaison Travis Machalek, Assistant Town Administrator Suzanna Simpson, Recording Secretary Absent: John Bryant Rachel Balduzzi Guests: Jon Nicholas, Estes Park Economic Development Corporation Adam Shake, Estes Park Economic Development Corporation Claire Bouchard, United Way of Larimer County Grant Stump, United Way of Larimer County Katherine Chu, Communities That Care Chair Dale Marshall called the meeting to order at 3:30 p.m. PUBLIC COMMENTS: None WELCOME NEW BOARD MEMBERS: On behalf of the Family Advisory Board, Chair Dale Marshall welcomed returning board member Sue Strom and new member Christy DeLorme. ESTES PARK EDC AVALANCHE REPORT UPDATE: Jon Nicholas provided an update on the Avalanche Report from 2015. Through a grant, Avalanche Consulting helped create the Economic Strategy Report in 2015. Partnerships were identified as a key component, as work across organizations helped to obtain greater community alignment. Earlier this year, the Estes Park EDC held four stakeholder meetings on four different themes. This information was provided to Avalanche to update the report and ensure that it was a working document which helped to foster discussion and capture efforts and successes. Statistics obtained show that there is record low unemployment, progress on workforce housing projects, the median age is increasing, housing prices are rising, the number of seasonal recreation homes is increasing, and the Estes Valley is losing talents through young families leaving the area. Development code issues and workforce housing remain key priorities. Member Randinitis mentioned the positive impact that a college in Leadville had on the community, specifically how it helped provide amenities for the younger population and wondered if pursuing higher education in Estes Park had been considered. Jon responded that in the original report, professional services, including education, was identified as one of the industry clusters to pursue. Also, the University of Northern Colorado owns Old Man Mountain and there have been discussions around the future of that campus. Chair Dale Marshall would like the Family Advisory Board to be kept updated on any changes to the status of the campus. The board discussed vocational efforts by the school district through programs like RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS Family Advisory Board — August 1, 2019 — Page 2 CareerWise and how they may contribute to keeping youth in the community once they graduate. COMMUNITIES THAT CARE COALITION UPDATE Katherine Chu provided an update on the Communities that Care Coalition. They are working on primary prevention at community and systems level and building public support for quality childcare early in life, building public support for social and emotional learning, working on building public support for a substance use ordinance and support for additional prescription drop-off locations, placed strategically around town. They are also working on how to implement strategies and determining allowances in funding. Katherine has offered assistance to the Family Advisory Board when developing the Family Portraits. Member Moon stated that one of the primary challenges in collecting data is the inclusion of front range/Fort Collins in most big data sets. Chair Dale Marshall was recently introduced to someone working on gathering data specific to Estes Park and she is planning to invite him to a Family Advisory Board meeting. Member DeLorme asked if he may have suggestions for how to get more participation from the Hispanic community as they are currently reluctant to even sign documents for the Family Resource Center. They have provided bilingual teachers to explain the process and confidentiality involved, but they still do not want to participate. There was discussion on relationship -building and data gathering with this portion of the community. A lack of trust exists due to national conversations around immigration and Census data collection methods. Member Moon stated that he feels this is significant enough of an issue to bring to the Town Trustees. Without this information on our Hispanic community in the Census we cannot get resources to support them. There was suggestion of hosting a "Census Night" with childcare and dinner provided to help anyone with concerns fill out their forms. Trustee Norris recommends that United Way or other community groups sponsor this instead of a government organization like the Town. The Town's Public Information Officer Kate Rusch is part of the committee working on the efforts through the Department of Local Affairs and will bring the information to the Town Board. Adam Shake mentioned that he has data from the Business Expansion and Retention surveys that he conducts with local businesses. The identification of the business is confidential and will not be provided, but there are other data points that could be useful to the Family Advisory Board. Trustee Norris would like to see a sample. Member Moon stated that it will be interesting to have workforce data for the Family Portraits. Chair Dale Marshall will follow up with Adam directly. Because of the broad community representation on the Communities that Care Coalition, Trustee Norris wants to be sure to share any linkage that is relevant to the Family Advisory Board with staff and Trustees. Katherine announced that they are holding a community engagement event on Oct. 16 from 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. More details to come. TRUSTEE LIAISON REPORT: The 2020 strategic plan emphasized making more and better decisions based on good data. Anything that the Family Advisory Board or the Estes Park EDC can do to help obtain good data is appreciated as that will be used to develop the criteria used for priority decisions. The preliminary plat for the Wildfire Development was approved. The Estes Valley Planning Commission is reviewing the development plan next month. RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS Family Advisory Board — August 1, 2019 — Page 3 During the recent Colorado Municipal League meeting, Ron had a chance to speak with the regional director of Department of Local Affairs. He said that the state is emphasizing early childhood education and housing of all kinds. He was able to talk to him about the Town's Childcare and Housing Task Force and said that he was quite interested. He plans to invite him to come to Estes Park and talk with the community about their efforts around housing and childcare. Ron feels that discussions should also be held with the Family Advisory Board members. APPROVAL OF JULY MINUTES: It was moved and seconded (Moon/Randinitis) to approve the July special meeting minutes and the motion passed unanimously. GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS Member Roman received positive feedback from the realtors who were provided with the Community Resource Guide. She also wanted to give kudos to the police department in a recent mental health effort, as a mother she knows has had positive experiences with how they interact with her son. Trustee Norris added that he has also heard positive feedback around our community policing efforts. Member Roman reached out to Salud regarding support groups for those who suffer from chronic pain — they are in the beginning phases of starting that group. There was significant group discussion around mental health concerns and the impact on the community, specifically around the lack of resources and awareness. Trustee Norris mentioned the County's Behavioral Health initiatives and the upcoming grant opportunities. These are available only to nonprofits, not government agencies. The deadline to apply is August 29. Assistant Town Administrator Machalek pointed out that one significant issue facing the community in terms of mental health is the absence of a nonprofit dedicated to mental health. This discussion is applicable to the Family Advisory Board because it is a barrier to family success. Adam Shake asked if there was data specific to veterans in the community. Chair Dale Marshall would like to include that in the Family Portraits. PRESENTATION & DISCUSSION OF DRAFT INTERVIEW QUESTIONS FOR CREATION OF FAMILY PORTRAITS: Chair Dale Marshall presented the draft questions created by her and Vice -Chair Balduzzi. The primary goal was to formulate questions that can be adapted to the multiple stakeholder groups the Family Portraits are attempting to cover and to focus on the main discussion points of community character and surviving versus thriving. Following discussion with the board, the draft questions are: 1. Do you experience barriers to family success in Estes Park? If so, what are they? 2. What exists in the community that supports your family success? 3. What does your family need to thrive in Estes Park? 4. How do barriers that you experience cause stress? Trustee Norris suggests one more open-ended question — such as "Is there anything else you want to share?" He will send to his daughter for additional comments. Chair Dale Marshall will send Executive Assistant Simpson the sheet containing the list of priorities that were determined and then the questions can be finalized. Trustee Norris confirmed that the goal is to paint a picture for elected officials, retired citizens or other segments of the population of what families are dealing with to live here. Chair Dale RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS Family Advisory Board — August 1, 2019 — Page 4 Marshall added that the portraits will cover a variety of family types, not just a service industry employee who is single as an example — it could be a two -income family with college degrees. OTHER BUSINESS: Seeing no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 5:09 p.m. NEXT MEETING The next meeting of the Family Advisory Board will take place Thursday, September 5 at 3:30 p.m. in room 203 at Town Hall. Suzanna Simpson, Recording Secretary