LARIMER COUNTY OPEN LANDS ADVISORY BOARD MEETING
MINUTES
Thursday, July 22, 2004 – 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., Loveland Library MP Room
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Present:
Open Lands Board Members:
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Brian Hayes |
Jim White |
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Jean Carpenter |
Peter Kast |
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Sue Sparling |
Lori Jeffrey-Clark |
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Duane Pond |
Bob Streeter |
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Bill Newman |
Eric Hamrick |
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Staff
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Jerry White |
Kerri Rollins |
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Meegan Flenniken |
Patricia Brennan |
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K-Lynn Cameron |
Charlie Gindler |
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Gary Buffington |
Tom Bender |
Absent:
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Ted Swanson |
Mark DeGregorio |
Chair, Peter Kast called the meeting to order at 5:05 p.m.
The minutes of June 25, 2004 were approved by a motion from Duane Pond seconded by Eric, with one change of deleting Kerri Rollins from the attendance.
PUBLIC COMMENT
INFORMATION ITEMS
· “The Laramie Foothills Mountains to Plains Project”
o OLAB field trip on Friday July 16, ,2004
o County Commissioner field trip on July 23 from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm
o Legacy grant proposal update
· Fossil Creek Reservoir Regional Open Space:
o Visit this developing facility prior tot he August 26 OLAB meeting at 3:00pm
o Interviews for the Manger position at Fossil Creek will be on July 28
· Devil’s Backbone Management Plan update
· City of Fort Collins and Larimer County – Management of Open Lands: K-Lynn and John Stokes initiated this discussion on July 7
· Field trip to Carter Lake at 2:30 on Friday, July 23, 2004 – Sue Sparling signed up
· OLAB picnic at Chimney Hollow on Saturday July 31 from 11:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. Hikes and tours provided.
· Tom Bender handed out information on wolf management in Colorado. Colorado is using plans from Idaho as an example. Colorado will develop a plan by November.
PRESENTATION
· Volunteer and Community Development Program – Patricia Brennan
Patricia reviewed a brief history of the Parks and Open Lands Department. Staff annually works with over 2,100 volunteers who contribute over 23,000 hours. Volunteers work on trail building and maintenance, permits sales and dissemination of information to visitors. An Adopt-a-trail program maintains about 75% of our trails. Volunteers also do campground programs, act as campground hosts and help on cleanup projects. Volunteers lead educational hikes, are on site naturalists and park ranger assistants. They pull weeds, do clerical work, take photos for publications and run errands. People of all ages and walks of life volunteer for our Department, as do groups, organizations and associations. Patricia even has volunteers from out of state helping with brochure design, web design and power point presentations.
ACTION:
· Letter of support for the “Laramie Foothills Mountains to Plains Project” GOCO grant proposal
Eric moved to submit a letter of support to Great Outdoors Colorado for the Laramie Foothills Mountains to Plains Project. Sue seconded and the motion passed unanimously.
Discussion Items
· Proposal regarding Neighborhood Access to Parks and Open Lands – Meegan reviewed the need for a neighborhood access policy. She then reviewed the proposed policy that was included in the July packet. Bob commented on #7 that the entity requesting the improvement should pay for the improvements unless it was a public access that we wanted. Brian asked if a locked gate was necessary, and Meegan said no, as long as vehicles could not pass through the opening. Charlie commented we would want a gate if the property was used for grazing. Jim asked about capacity of the area and adding additional parking spots that would provide increased access. K-Lynn clarified that these will not all be public trailheads, this policy is directed to Homeowners Associations (HOA's) requesting special access. Sue asked if the HOA’s will pay for additional signage and K-Lynn said they would. Eric suggested that all signs look the same and be a part of their permit fee to keep a professional look. Bob asked what the process of applying this policy would be. K-Lynn said a directional type of sheet could be developed on the steps of the process for applying for special access. Bob asked if there are some issues/items that are “deal killers” and he gave some examples. Meegan said staff is still discussing some of these issues and she will include Bob when she addresses those points. Jim asked if the groups that are asking for private access points have had input. K-Lynn said they will be invited to the OLAB meeting when the next draft of this policy is completed. Peter suggested the policy might become a part of the management plan.
· Proposal regarding Memorials on Parks and Open Lands – deferred to August OLAB
· User fees for Open Spaces managed as a part of a Parks funded recreation area:
Ø Soderberg Homestead Trailhead and Open Space at Horsetooth Mountain Park
Ø Ramsay-Shockey Open Space at Pinewood Reservoir
K-Lynn reviewed the discussion and public consensus of the Open Lands Program (OLP) charging fees to enter open spaces. Though paying fees on open lands was delayed for future years, there are some exceptions that K-Lynn said she would like a better feel from the Board regarding charging fees at open spaces that abut existing fee areas. K-Lynn would like the public to have the opportunity to comment on these exceptions and she will bring it back as an action item at the next meeting. Open Lands will receive the funds generated from these fees.
Director’s Report
Gary asked the Board what they thought of a new department name as “the Department of Natural Resources”. Peter said that the OLP is a voter funded program he would like the name not to get lost in the mix. Sue suggested the Department of Natural Resources and Open Lands. Eric concurred that for future ballot initiatives 'Open Lands' must be in the name. Jim agreed. Bob suggested putting it out to the public to see how they perceive the meaning. Meegan said that since weeds and forestry are similar to volunteer and ranger programs that take place on all of our parks and open lands then maybe we can just keep 'Parks and Open Lands'. Bob said he thought that all programs would like to be represented in the name. Jean does not support a change to 'Natural Resources' as there would be significant confusion with the City of Fort Collins department with the same name. She feels the public is clear what is in the department by its current title. It is important to maintain the label 'Open Lands' so the public knows where their tax dollars are being managed.
EXECUTIVE SESSION: Duane moved to go into Executive Session. The motion was seconded by Sue and passed unanimously.
The meeting was adjourned by a motion from Duane. The motion was seconded by Sue and carried unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 7:55.
