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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes_PAREB_04.13.2006Minutes of the Meeting of the Parks and Recreation Board City of Georgetown, Texas Thursday, April 13, 2006 The Parks and Recreation Board of the City of Georgetown, Texas, met on Thursday , April 13, 2006. Members Present: Kent Buikema, Mike Simpson, Bob Mathis, Kay Cobb, Ron Doernbach Members Absent: Barbara Owens, Mark Ramsey, Mark Shepherd, Van Chandler Staff Present: Randy Morrow, Kimberly Garrett, Jill Kellum, Heather Brewer Minutes Regular Meeting 1. Call to Order The meeting was called to order by Kay Cobb at 7:08 pm. 2. Roll Call 3. Introduction of Heather Brewer, Urban Forester — Morrow Heather Brewer was introduced by Morrow and welcomed by the Parks Advisory Board. Brewer has a degree from Stephen F. Austin in Forestry. Brewer was asked of previous experience and she stated she worked for the City of Round Rock, a power company, and sold residential trees. Buikema asked if it was unique for a City to have an urban forester. Morrow stated that we did have an urban forester previously but the program was cut. He stated that with a population this size it is warranted. He said usually they have a whole staff which included an urban forester, arborist, and crew that concentrates on the trees. Morrow stated that the urban forester position is partially funded through a grant with the Texas Forest Service. Brewer advised the board of her recent activities. She planned and organized the Arbor Day celebration with the Garden Club. She has done a walk through inventory of San Gabriel Park to see areas for future plantings and see what needs to come down as it may be at that point in its lifespan. Brewer has been working with the Planning Department with new development and getting the tree ordinance established. She is working on the memorial tree program and stated we are looking at becoming a Tree City USA city and a tree board would have to be established. This board could function as an advisory/support board for the program. Brewer has been consulting with homeowners about their trees and doing inspections. Brewer has been doing some guest speaking and consultations. Brewer's focus will be on a plan for the parks and also working with the Planning Department on new development. Garrett stated that with the Community Center the contractor is required to do landscaping and there will be 48 new trees planted in San Gabriel Park since there is no room around the Community Center to plant them. Doernbach asked how many trees were in San Gabriel Park. Brewer stated there is not a count for how many trees; that she has been looking at how many trees have been planted in all the parks in general and on an average there are about 2 - 5 new trees in each of our parks which needs to increase. Doernbach asked how old the trees were in San Gabriel Park. Brewer stated that some of the trees in San Gabriel Park are over 100 years old. She stated that a lot of the American Elms were starting to decline as well as the Cottonwoods and Pecans always have large deadwood. Morrow stated that Brewer is working on getting a new water truck and working on the budget. There was some general discussion on care of trees. 4. Update on Community Center renovation - Morrow Morrow stated that the roof is off and the contractors stated that it is on track and will be done by the end of the year. The groundbreaking went well. Simpson asked about the budget for the renovation of the Community Center and Morrow stated that all the features are still in the contract. 5. Update on Dog Park - Simpson Simpson stated they are still getting signatures on the informal petition. He stated that he received a message from the Mayor that states he was willing to put the Dog Park on the agenda as soon as he gets word from staff. Simpson stated that he continues to work with the Parks and Recreation staff in Fort Worth and Harris County about the estimates and the funds that are needed for construction and that the project would be about a 3 year phase that he would like to propose. 6. Update on STEP Grant and the trail connecting to SH 130 - Garrett Garrett stated they are working with Wilbur Smith, a consultant, who has been contracted by TXDOT to do a bicycle master plan for State Highway 130. They approached the City of Georgetown about applying for the funding. The project goes from the trail in San Gabriel Park follows the river through Katy Crossing Subdivision connects FM 971 then to highway 130 and connects to Berry Springs Park. The City of Georgetown would then like to connect the trail to the old landfill then to Holly Street to connect to the transit station and then work on a plan to connect with Southwestern. Mathis asked if they would follow the railroad. Garrett stated that the trail would have to go through the neighborhood because they can not follow the railroad track. The STEP grant is an 80/20 match and the trail is about $5 million dollars, which is 5.3 miles of trail. The City of Georgetown's match would be 1 million dollars. There are 24 applications in the Austin area and the City of Georgetown has applied for 6 out of the 24 grants. The application is submitted in April and then all applications are reviewed and in January they get sent to the commission for review. Simpson asked if the match would come out of the budget and Garrett stated it would be a bond. If we received the grant it would take 3 — 4 years. Simpson asked if you would have to go through private landowners and Garrett stated that it would not include a lot of private land. The City of Georgetown has a letter of support from the Katy Crossing Neighborhood Association. Cobb asked if the schools would be tied in to the trail. Garrett stated that the trails will connect to the schools in that neighborhood. Morrow stated that it would be good access to the park and to Lake Georgetown without having to get on FM 971, for the residents in Katy Crossing. 7. Discussion and possible action regarding parkland dedication fees — Garrett Garrett presented a proposal at the City Council Workshop on Monday night to increase parkland dedication fees and for large subdivisions over 300 units to develop a park and the homeowner association to maintain the park. The current fee for parkland dedication is $250 per unit and we are proposing $600 per unit. There was a comparison of 12 cities done and Cedar Park's fee is $720 and all other cities on the comparison were well above this amount. Garrett stated that City Council wants to explore a land value system which uses a market value adjustment formula. This method is hard for the developer to understand, hard for staff to communicate, and hard for the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board to calculate. Garrett stated the proposal was to take 1/3 of the parkland dedication fee and put it into an interest bearing account to use for regional park development for Garey Park. Then City Council stated that the fees were not high enough. Morrow stated they have presented this to City Council twice. Garrett stated that last time it was presented it was more geared to dedicating land. Garrett stated that this time they presented the fee aspect. She stated that builders like the idea of paying fees instead of dedicating land because land prices are so high. Doernbach asked if council was leaning towards the fee increasing. Morrow stated they wanted more justification for the fees. Doernbach asked what council thought about allocating the money for Garey Park. Garrett stated that they liked the idea. Garrett states it would help to match the grant. Doernbach asked when this issue would be brought up again and Garrett stated that it has to go through legal. Morrow stated that in some cities they use a formula to calculate the land or fees that would be given and Garrett stated they are trying to keep the process simple. 8. Approve minutes from March 16, 2006 meeting C. Mark\Ramsey, Chair Park Board Simpson made a motion to accept the minutes and Buikema seconded the motion and it passed by unanimous vote. 9. Future agenda items 10. Adjourn Simpson made a motion to adjourn the meeting. The meeting adjourned at 7:48pm. Approved: Attest: %)/ 1 /' l� 11 :�a LA - 1, nd Recreation Board Kay Cobb, Skcreta\y Pa/Ks & Recreation