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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES Family Advisory Board 2019-02-07Town of Estes Park, Larimer County, Colorado, February 7, 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 7th day of February, 2019. Present: Laurie Dale Marshall Jodi Roman Michael Moon Rachel Balduzzi Karen Randinitis Sue Strom Courtney Hill John Bryant Also Present: Ron Norris, Town Board Liaison Suzanna Simpson, Administration Executive Assistant Absent: Nancy Almond Tyler Schmitt Carrie Brown Guests: Claire Bouchard, United Way of Larimer County Katherine Chu, Larimer County Chair Marshall called the meeting to order at 3:32 p.m. PUBLIC COMMENTS Katherine Chu provided an update from Communities That Care. They are working on strategy and have decided to focus on filling in gaps on childcare, including helping to organize the waitlist and other resources, and forming a subcommittee to work on the details of this focus area. Katherine will work with other groups such as EVICS, ECE, EVRJP and the newly formed Ad Hoc Task Force from the Town. Claire Bouchard announced that she and Grant Stump will be in Estes Park soon doing an exercise with nonprofits and the community for education on Estes Park United. COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS Chair Marshall introduced this new agenda item. This is an opportunity for Family Advisory Board members to share opportunities related to the Family Advisory Board or an action already completed. It is also a time to share anything anecdotal or items being tracked around housing and childcare. Family Advisory Board – February 7, 2019 – Page 2 Michael Moon: The last month and a half has been spent trying to understand the facility aspect of the ECE proposed childcare center. An advisory team has been formed. They are looking at 170-190 child capacity, with 50/50 infant/toddler and pre- school. The next step is to put together a detailed business plan to be ready in April. They are interested in pursuing discussions with CU Boulder Journey and incorporating that program into the center. Chair Marshall is interested in compiling the information gathered that could be useful to others pursuing childcare opportunities. Member Randinitis asked if the recent removal of the EPIC performing arts center from the Stanley Master Plan freed up any space for the childcare center. Member Moon responded that the center was proposed to be on the deed restricted part of the property. Trustee Norris will get more information. Moon also stated that the engineering site plan is almost ready and will reveal whether the four-acre concept is accurate. Rachel Balduzzi: Approached by the Mountain Festival team to see if the Family Advisory Board wants to have a booth at the festival. The event is May 3 and would be a great opportunity to connect with kids. John Bryant: Governor Polis is putting forth a proposal for full day Kindergarten. Currently the school district pays for it completely, so this could result in a significant savings for the district. Member Moon added that HB 19-1052 allows for the formation of a child development taxing district, including both property and sales tax. There is bipartisan support in the house and senate. Member Bryant also added that the school district is starting to push back on individuals that try to communicate through the school rather than use a translator. Jodi Roman: The Community Conversation at the library last week was enlightening. There was a good mix of community members and opportunity for discussion. The need for a community vision was an important takeaway. There may be another gathering next month. Laurie Dale Marshall: The Poverty Simulation will take place March 20 and registration is open. TRUSTEE LIAISON REPORT: Trustee Norris will take updates from the Community Connections to the Town Board. The Ad Hoc Task Force has met and are determining roles. Travis put together a reference book with many useful items including the Town’s strategic plan, the Avalanche report summary from the Estes Park EDC, the childcare survey, housing Family Advisory Board – February 7, 2019 – Page 3 needs assessment and Stanley Park Master Plan. The Town has added the need for ways to support childcare and housing to the strategic plan. Some of the groups that the task force hopes to meet with are the Estes Park School District, Estes Valley Recreation and Park District, the Estes Park Housing Authority, International City and County Managers Association (ICMA) and Colorado Municipal League (CML), as well as tying in to future League of Women Voters forums. Discussed barriers to progress on housing and childcare, with the biggest barrier being distrust of government on a local and national level, stressing the need for input. Important to note that everyone benefits from childcare and workforce housing. The comprehensive plan committee created a list of groups for future outreach around land use issues and will share that with the Family Advisory Board. APPROVAL OF JANUARY MINUTES: It was moved and seconded (Moon/Roman) to approve the January meeting minutes with corrections and the motion passed unanimously. CHILDCARE WAITLIST DATA Chair Marshall distributed two possible formats for the childcare waitlist that EVICS is creating with the help of the Family Advisory Board. Members Moon and Roman worked on an additional format to expand the data collected, adding questions covering openings, age and scholarships or other support systems. A future desire is to create a pie chart similar to Breckenridge’s which shows the income impact associated with childcare in Estes Park. Discussion continued on how to make this impact visible within the workforce. Chair Marshall encourages pursuit of this concept through committee work. Member Bryant suggested changing the narrative of the waitlist to “what are you doing with children aged 2-5?” Discussion about the school becoming a collection point for this data. Member Bryant suggested that the Family Advisory Board have a table at the Kindergarten Roundup. Chair Marshall asked Members Moon and Roman to continue discussion about waitlist and other survey ideas and report back at next month’s meeting. Trustee Norris stated that his daughter specializes in qualitative data collection and he will speak with her about possible methods for these efforts. Member Hill expressed concern about returning to the survey discussion, as there have been multiple surveys distributed to the community through various groups in Town. Claire Bouchard suggested the Be Ready Fair as another opportunity for the Family Advisory Board to collect data. Family Advisory Board – February 7, 2019 – Page 4 FAMILY ADVISORY BOARD OUTREACH Several opportunities are available for the Family Advisory Board to participate in different events – some examples that were discussed were the Mountain Festival, the Be Ready Fair and Kindergarten Roundup. Chair Marshall mentioned the possibility of members presenting at Town Board meetings, and she offered to present on behalf of the board at the next meeting. The plan will be to present every other month and see how it goes. More discussion on this topic at the March meeting. Chair Marshall feels encouragement of HB 19-1052 would be an important place to start. Katherine Chu offered to join a Family Advisory Board member at events on behalf of Communities That Care. Discussion about what type of activity would be involved. Member Hill suggested an activity that covers all ages. This item will be brought forward in March for further discussion and decision on events and activities. MEMBERS: There are currently four openings on the board. Board members discussed how to add more diversity to the group. Member Hill suggested concentrating on diversity in representation and culture, as the board is becoming heavily focused on childcare and it would be helpful to expand the skills and the demographic of the board. Chair Marshall encourages board members to provide input on the meeting date and time, and if any members have issues with the current schedule. She also asked the members who have a term expiring in April to advise if they will reapply by the next meeting. The board discussed ways to promote the openings with Executive Assistant Simpson. Job listings are promoted on the Town’s social media and occasionally by email, but individual postings are not separated out. Simpson will talk with Public Information Officer Kate Rusch on options for heavier promotion of the openings. Member Bryant suggested a link on the Family Advisory Board landing page on the Town’s website that links to the jobs page advertising the opening. Bryant also suggested that a flyer could be distributed in the Friday folders. Member Hill offered to update the existing half-sheet document used by the board at events. This will go out in the Feb. 22 folders. Hill also suggested exploring reasons for a potential lack of interest if more applications do not come in. OTHER BUSINESS: Chair Marshall reminded the board on behalf of Member Almond that Speak Up For Kids Day is April 2 in Fort Collins. Seeing no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 5:11 p.m. Family Advisory Board – February 7, 2019 – Page 5 NEXT MEETING The next meeting of the Family Advisory Board will take place Thursday, March 7 at 3:30 p.m. in room 203 at Town Hall. Suzanna Simpson, Recording Secretary