Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout06252013 OF PORT TOE � ys ti City of Port TownsendwA Meeting Minutes Parks, Recreation and Trees Advisory Board Tuesday, June 25, 2013, 4:30 pm - 6:00 pm City Hall Meeting Room 41 L Meeting called to order at 4:35 pm by Chair, Rosemary Sikes. Members in Attendance: Daniel Milholland, Ron Sikes, Rosemary Sikes, Lys Burden, Jason Cecil(referred to as Cecil below) and Debbie Jahnke; Sally Robbins sent a letter of resignation due to on-going health issues. Staff: Steve Wright Visitors: IL Approval of Agenda —Other topics were added (Volunteers, July 23rd Meeting and Contact from Judy Surber). Agenda was approved as amended III. Approval of Minutes —Minutes for May 28th were approved as amended. IV. Staff Report, Parks &Recreation 2013 Budget—Steve Wright asked to be notified two days before PRTAB meetings and would attend as needed/as possible. Steve explained what groups are maintaining which park facilities at this time. Discovery Bay is handling the roundabouts. Steve brought up an offer from a volunteer who wanted to work with the Parks staff to maintain the Carnegie Library grounds. Since City Council voted that the library would have to pay for its own grounds maintenance, PRTAB suggested that Library grounds maintenance arrangements should not be handled by Parks Department staff or through volunteers to the Parks Board since staff are so depleted and the Library has its own funding stream. Rosemary discussed the Labor Leader group that volunteered at Kali Tai in June as a possible source of labor. Clarification was provided with regard to a YMCA request to plant trees at Mountain View and the 'refusal'received. The issue is maintenance of new plantings and the Parks staff cannot commit to maintain more than they already do.New plantings must come with a maintenance commitment due to budgetary and staff depletion.No group or individual has adopted the Commons to maintain plantings at this time. V. PRT 2013 Work Plan A. Tree City USA— 1. Report Progress of Parkside Park Planting: City staff is very busy with other issues, but the latest suggestion is to begin work in August. The City's budgeted amount isn't apparently enough to complete work but the hope is to get the berms, fence and irrigation installed at least, so that planting can begin. The park has stewards signed up to see that it is cared for and donations lined up for young trees to be purchased. Admiralty Audubon will provide a number of understory plants when the berms have been planted with trees. 2. Next Steps for Significant Trees brochure of PT: Plan is for Cecil to work on the next phase of the tree brochure which is an expanded number of trees and information for each tour area. The plan is to develop individual pdfs on the PRT website for each of the listed tree walks and others as appropriate. These would include photos and more information about individual trees. David Gluckman volunteered to provide images of the trees; Cecil will contact him. 3. Discussion of Tree City(DNR) Grant Opportunities: Grant deadline is in October of each year. Little League parent(L. Anderson) made contact with Tree City and was sent on to PRTAB contact to discuss the possibility of planting a windbreak of trees at the Little League fields. It was determined that the fields are owned by the County but under the jurisdiction of the Fair Board and so Lisa Anderson indicated that she would attend their July meeting to inquire. B. Volunteers for Our Parks - 1. Work party at Kali Tai Lagoon Nature Park held from 9am—noon, Saturday on June 22nd was very successful with 16 volunteers total. Major progress was due in part to presence of eight volunteers from Labor Leader Northwest under the leadership of Jacob Talamante. Emphasis was on pulling the last stand of Scotch broom and garbage pick-up. 2. Update on Park Volunteers: Chetzamoka:No activity to date in June, but email was sent to Barb Pastore on June 16. For the Haller Fountain Steps Bonnie Cora and Pat Herkle continue to take the lead with others helping on b-y-o-b (bring-your-own-bag) basis. No volunteers have contacted Debbie for the Bell Tower. Steve reported that Park staff had to resort to weed-whacking the gardens there after flowers had died back. The idea of putting together an annual report of volunteerism in our parks was suggested. It could be posted to the website and reported to the local newspapers to try to promote more volunteer help. C. Vision for Bulbfest 2013 - Danny Milholland heads the effort to plant possibly 3000 bulbs at Bobby McGarragh(Cherry Street)Park in mid-October on Sunday Oct 13 or 20. Daniel indicated that the order had to go in promptly so we could get the recommended bulbs. The Parks Dept. budget contributed by ordering approximately $250 worth of bulbs. Board members and visitors also contributed. It was agreed that Board members Milholland and Jahnke would provide the necessary remainder of funds to allow timely ordering and accept reimbursements if fundraising was adequate. D. Complete Park Functional Plan -Park Functional Plan update has been on hold because staff time is being committed to the MPD process. PRTAB discussed the implications of not having a viable parks functional plan before the next RCO grant deadline in Spring, 2014.Port Townsend has not been eligible for RCO funding since 2005 and would remain ineligible until 2016 if the plan is not updated this year(since RCO has a two-year cycle of funding). PRTAB discussed the possibility of merging the 1999 Parks Plan currently in place but out of date with the draft plan, while trying to accommodate the concerns and comments received from citizens in conjunction with the joint PRTAB/Planning Commission workshop. Lys moved for the board to ask City planners about the possibility of drafting a short-term plan(along the lines mentioned above), so we can apply for RCO grants. Danny Millholland seconded, and the board approved unanimously by voice vote. E. Metropolitan Park District Report- The MPD Steering Committee met on June 13 after an Open House on Saturday, June 1. The Open House was well-attended by concerned citizens. Many questions were based on what benefits would accrue to communities that are distant from the most expensive facilities, in particular this is a South County concern. At the meeting on June 13, the open house results were discussed, as well as alternatives for MPD boundaries, funding and tax considerations, and plans for public and stakeholder outreach for the summer. The full steering committee will take a summer hiatus from June 23 until the fall. VII. Future Meeting Agenda Items - to be determined later, as board members may be away on summer vacations. VIII. Visitor and PRT Board Comment— 1 .Since Sally resigned from the Board, Debbie was nominated to serve the vacated Vice Chain position. Lys moved, Ron seconded and the motion was approved unanimously by voice vote. 2. It was noted that July is National Parks and Rec Month and that the City has drafted a resolution in the past. 3. Lys mentioned that PT Pedalpalooza was scheduled for July 12-21 this year. 4. Steve noted that the Portugese laurel(named Chuck) in Chetzamoka is dying from fungus, is a hazard for kids to climb and must be cut down this fall. We have an opportunity to create a bench from the stump and organize a community celebration of this iconic tree, living in the park for so long. The event is worthy of a press release. 5. Danny Milholland reminded everyone of the A—county Picnic on August 18th to be held at H.J. Carroll Park. Everyone was encouraged to attend for free corn on the cob and all the activities: farmers market, entertainment, first responders and other info booths. IX. Adjournment—Meeting adjourned at 5:50pm. Action Steps Needed: 1. Notify Steve of the PRTAB meeting a couple of days ahead of time. 2. Make sure a letter is sent to the Friends of the Library about maintaining the Library grounds. 3. Cecil will work on the expanded tree brochure segments;we need lots of photo documentation of the trees selected. 4. Lys still has it on her list to check on software for logging in volunteer hours. 5. Annual Report on Volunteering in Our Parks need to be compiled and the Adopt-a-Park program needs to be promoted.