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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - PRAB - 07-15-2010MEETING MINUTES CITY OF MILTON PARTS AND RECREATION ADVISORY BOARD Thursday, July 15th, 2010 11:3o a.m. Executive Conference Room CALL TO ORDER Meeting was called to order by Chairman Mark Reed at 11:4o a.m. ROLL CALL Roll call was taken by Mark Reed. MEMBERS PRESENT Mark Reed Kathi Cook Jack Flowers (via conference call) Lauren Jackson (arrived at 12 p.m.) Sabrina Moore Sandy Sheley Scott Stachowski (arrived at 11:50 p.m.) OTHERS PRESENT Richard Owens, Owens Environmental Design Bill Loughrey, Milton Citizen Cyndee Sonacci, Parks and Recreation Director Tom McKlveen, Parks and Recreation Intern Quorum was announced by Mark Reed. APPROVAL OF PAST MINUTES Motion to approve minutes of the May 20"' meeting was made by Sandy Sheley and seconded by Sabrina Moore. The vote was unanimous and motion carried. Minutes from the June 17th meeting were not available due to the absence of a quorum. PUBLIC COMMENT None NEW AND UNFINISHED BUSINESS a) Mark Reed asked Richard Owens to make a brief presentation regarding the concept plan he had prepared for Birmingham. Park. Richard began by introducing himself and Bill Loughrey and giving a brief background about how the concept came to be. He mentioned there was a slight error in the scale used for the concept plan because the 2005 Fulton County master plan for Birmingham Park had been used for a base. He mentioned he was familiar with the recent Parks and Recreation survey results and used it to revise the initial concept plan he had drafted. He identified all of the components included in the pian including a world class equestrian facility including various show and practice areas for different areas of riding, 96o stalls, and a grand prix area with a restaurant. He also identified a new greenspace entrance off of New Bullpen Road, a perimeter road encircling the park, 1,500-2,000 parking spaces, several active sports fields, equestrian trails, mountain bike trails, paved multi -use trails, an outdoor learning area, picnic areas, and a scenic overlook. Richard stated that there would be several opportunities for public/private partnerships and that this venue would take the place of older, not well-maintained facilities in the metro -area. Kathi asked about the size of the equestrian area compared to the equestrian area at Wills Park. Richard stated that it was twice as large as Wills Park and slightly bigger than the horse park in Conyers. Kathi stated that Alpharetta has to subsidize the area at Wills Park and asked about the cost associated with maintaining this facility if it is twice as big. Richard stated that the increased size would allow for increased use and could attract the A shows that Wills Park doesn't. He stated that Conyers is losing its attractiveness for the A shows. He said that the equestrian facilities included in the concept plan were designed by one of the top horse show managers. Jack asked if the gfio stalls were temporary or permanent. He also commented that he wondered if the economy wasn't to blame for the decrease in interest noted for Conyers. Bill stated that this facility would bring approximately eight A shows from Conyers to Milton. Mark asked about the number of employees needed to maintain the entire park. Bill commented that at least two full-time employees would be needed for the equestrian areas and Cyndee commented that at least two full-time employees would be needed for the rest of the park. Kathi commented that the equestrian area made up about 40% of the total park and she asked how much of the developable space it consumed. Richard stated that it made up about $5-90% of the developable land at Birmingham Park. Kathi asked if something smaller would work. Richard stated that the goal was to create a world class venue as a draw and an economic engine for the community. Kathi commented that the commercial in the Birmingham area is limited. Richard said this would help the commercial area grow. Kathi stated that the Milton Comprehensive Plan wouldn't allow for more commercial growth. Richard said that could be addressed if this becomes a reality. Kathi said that if it was allowed, it could create a potentially bad situation. in Birmingham. Jack asked about traffic, if there were planned road improvements, and who would pay for those. Lauren commented that the developer should be responsible for paying for road improvements. Mark asked if there were any final questions. Lauren asked when the concept plan was initially developed. Richard stated that the concept plan began before the survey results were available but since then he has added priorities from the survey and taken additional input from Cyndee to try to make the plan represent the needs of Milton. Scott asked about the number of parking spaces and if that was adequate. Richard stated it should be. Mark ended the discussion and thanked Richard and Sill for their time. b) Mark began the discussion by recapping work session held on Monday, July 12. The list of FYii Capital requests was discussed briefly. Kathi asked if we could add a parking area at Birmingham Park to the list. Cyndee stated that a parking area had been discussed previously, but that the consensus had been to wait until a master plan was finalized for proper placement. Kathi stated she was just talking about a temporary gravel lot that would be fairly inexpensive. Cyndee stated that the Public Works area would be relocating either near the front of the park or out of the park in the near future. The board agreed to use the Public Works area since it already included gravel and just add to it to create a parking area. Cyndee stated that because of the total cost involved, this would be included in Maintenance and Operating and not Capital. Cyndee also mentioned having a community work day next spring to create and enhance some trails at the park. Lauren asked if we could also add Milton Center to the proposed list of ICAs. Cyndee stated that for now, she didn't know if we could utilize it full-time and it was in Alpharetta and not Milton. She stated she would be willing to inquire again when she knew the specific needs there. She also stated she would like to use some facilities there, like the theatre, as needed and if available. Once the 2 discussion was complete the board numbered the Capital priorities accordingly. Sandy made a motion to approve the list and Kathi seconded the motion. The FY11 list of Capital projects was approved unanimously. Kathi asked if she could briefly review the proposed paint colors for the volunteer initiative to paint the Crabapple Community Center. The colors were Antique White for the base and Urbane Bronze for the trim. All board members were in favor of the colors presented. Kathi stated should we pass these colors to the Design Review Board. Kathi left the meeting at 12:55 P.m. c) Mark asked Cyndee to update the board on her FY11 Maintenance and Operating budget requests. Cyndee stated that she was planning to add two summer camps next summer that would require the addition of some seasonal part-time staff positions. One camp would be a regular day camp held at Bethwell and the other would be a mild disabilities day camp potentially held at Cogburn Woods. Lauren asked if the camps would break even and Cyndee said yes and that her goal was to make sure all future programs at least broke even. Cyndee also stated that she would be asking for a full-time program coordinator position and a part-time program assistant. She also stated that expenses from the City's maintenance contract would now be included in the Parks and Recreation budget instead of Public Works. This would appear to be a significant change. The lease and maintenance fees from the IGAs with the schools would also be included. A Parks and Recreation brochure and mailing would also be a new addition to the budget. For Special Events, no major changes were made. Since hotel/motel taxes are down, the overall budget would be reduced somewhat. COMMITTEE REPORTS a) Finance — Mark mentioned the ongoing discussions regarding a Milton City Hall. He gave a brief update from CPAC. b] Partnerships --Scott gave a brief update on the revision of the HYA agreement. It will be on the Council agenda for August 2. Scott stated that he and Lauren would try to get some more information regarding potential partners. Jack offered some additional input regarding the equestrian facility concept. He mentioned that a good venue should include multi -use facilities and should not be bigger than Conyers. He stated that we need to take a community approach first and not a regional approach. Cyndee stated she would follow up regarding maintenance and operating costs for the horse park in Conyers. Lauren left the meeting and Jack left the conference call at 1:25 p.m. c] Communications — Sabrina stated that she and Kathi would be meeting to review ongoing projects with Jason. Cyndee stated that Jason had already begun working on a template for the Parks and Recreation brochure. CITY STAFF REPORTS AND COMMUNICATIONS a) Cyndee gave a series of brief updates to the Board. Upcoming special events include the Milton Community Kick-off at Milton High School on Sunday, August 1 from 1-6 p.m. B at the Movies will be held at Birmingham United Methodist Church on Saturday, September i1 at dusk. The movie will be announced soon. The Crabapple Antique and Arts Festival will be held on Saturday, October 2. The City is planning to be a sponsor again this year. The Mayor's Run will be held on Saturday, October 16. A route is being discussed. The Milton Roundup will be held on Saturday, October 23 from 12-5 p.m. at Birmingham United Methodist Church. b] Cyndee is in the process of working on a proposal for an IGA with the Fulton County Board of Education. c) Cyndee stated that a program called Surgance Rewards was available to the City and would provide free gift bags with items for all participants, coaches and volunteers for our youth sports programs. Cyndee will follow up with HYA to see if they are interested. OTHER BUSINESS a) Mark said he would send out a meeting notice for another work session for August. This work session would include a brief presentation of the Milton Trail Plan and a discussion of a 3 -year Capital Plan for Parks and Recreation projects. He also reminded everyone to remain focused on the results of the needs assessment survey. Numerous presentations and proposals are being made regarding various partnerships and projects. The board needs to listen to each of them, but also needs to stay focused on the priorities identified in the needs assessment. NEXT REGULAR MEETING DATE Thursday, August 191h, 11:3o a.m. LOCATION OF MEETING The location of the meetings will be the Executive Conference Room at City Hall. ADJOURNMENT Motion and Vote: A motion was made to adjourn the meeting by Scott Stachowski and seconded by Sandy Sheley. The vote was unanimous and motion carried. The City of Milton Parks and Recreation Advisory Board meeting adjourned at 1:31 p.m. DATE APPROVED: ALIw Mark Reed, Chair Milton Parks & Recreation Advisory Board Ll