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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCouncil Minutes - April 11, 2018_unbound Mayor Jerry Merrill Council Members: Christopher Mann Jordan Busby Mikel Walker Tisha Flora Brad Wolfe Sally Smith City Staff: Stephen Zollinger – City Attorney Matt Nielson – Finance Officer Keith Davidson – Public Works Director Val Christensen – Community Development Director Scott Johnson – Economic Development Director Deborah Lovejoy – City Clerk 5:30 P.M. City Hall Joint Meeting with Planning and Zoning Commission Kristi Anderson said the prayer. Roll Call of Council Members: Attending: Council Member Flora, Council Member Mann, Council Member Busby, Council Member Walker, Council Member Wolfe, Council President Smith and Mayor Merrill. Planning and Zoning Commissioners: Attending: Melanie Davenport, Kristi Anderson, Mark Rudd, Greg Blacker, Steve Oakey, Darrik Farmer, Rory Kunz, Bruce Sutherland, Melanie Davenport, John Bowen, Gil Shirley, and Chairman Heidi Christensen.  Review Draft of Parks Plan - MGD&A – Jay Bollwinkle with the Grassley Group from Salt Lake City, Utah. Mr. Bollwinkle started the presentation. He thanked everyone involved in participating in the Parks Plan. He explained that the draft of the parks plan is getting close to being finalized but right now it is still editable so now is the time to ask questions and point out changes that need to be made. There will be another approval meeting with the Planning & Zoning Commission the first part of May and then City Council the middle of May so the goal is to get this Parks Plan as close to perfect as possible before that time. The final adoption will be presented at City Council meeting in May. He also indicated that this plan should be updated every 10 years.  Mr. Bollwinkle reviewed the visions and goals for the Parks Plan. He also reveiwed the Public Input for the Parks Plan. They took information gathered at the meeting held here and put it into a survey that went out to city residents and college students. Fifteen percent of the population responded to the survey which is really good.  Mr. Bollwinkle explained the Level of Service (LOS) needed for the Parks and the number of acres per one thousand people that are needed for parks. They have found that the LOS in areas with mountains near by can be flexible because of great recreational oportunities close by. Mr. Bollwinkle commented that trails is always rated the number one thing in public input surveys. He believes Rexburg has a great start on some amazing trails but there are some gaps that have been identified. The City should continue to connect the trails with parks and public activity areas.  Mr. Bollwinkle reviewed the Parks Plan Goals and Objectives listed below.  Mr. Bollwinkle explained that the Trails Goals are separate from the Parks Goals because trails are so important. He reviewed the Goals and Objectives for the Trails Plan. The Teton River has potential for some great trails because it is so beautiful. He has never done a Parks Plan that has as nice of amenities as the Teton River.  Mr. Bollwinkle explained that Rexburg has a lot of neighborhood parks which are around three to five acres. Community Parks are around five to ten acres. Rexburg could use some more of the community size parks. He reviewed the Park Development Priorities. He believes a regional park where the gravel pit is now, would be very good.  Mr. Bollwinkle reviewed the current and proposed park locations on the map. The green sections show where there are current parks, the circles indicate where the proposed parks will be located. He explained by 2038 the city will need 84 acres for parks. The city needs to start working on finding land for the parks now and not wait until it may be to late.  This map shows the trails with the green lines representing the trails that have been proposed and the blue and red lines representing the existing trails.  Mr. Bollwinkle reviewed the current trail locations and the proposed trail locations. He said the focus should be on the Teton River corridor. The trails could be an economic driver for Rexburg.   Mr. Bollwinkle reviewed the funds needed for park maintainance. As more parks are added, City Council needs to make sure they budget for maintainance costs.  Mr. Bollwinkle explained the Parks and Trails Build Out Funds.  He mentioned the importance of having an action plan.  Mr. Bollwinkle explained the importance of having an advisory board for parks and trails. A parks committee and a trails committee can help to make sure that parks and trails are a priority when new developments come.  Mr. Bollwinkle reviewed the intial tasks that the proposed boards should be working on.   Mr. Bollwinkle opened the meeting for questions. Council Member Smith asked about winter recreation. Mr. Bollwinkle believes that there could be some good opportunities for more cross country skiing, tubing and ice skating. Steve Oakey asked if they analyzed the usage of the existing golf courses. Mr. Bollwinkle said the study didn’t include the golf courses. Mr. Oakey is wondering what the future holds for the area where the airport is and the Legacy Golf Course, given the fact that revenue is down for the golf course and the airport will be moving. With the waterways all around that area and the green space already there, it seems like an obvious place for a park. Mr. Bollwinkle agrees and he mentioned that many places are adding other games that use golf courses like Foot Golf, Pitch & Putt courses (Pitch and putt is an amateur sport very similar to golf but where the hole length is typically up to 80 yards), and Topgolf (Topgolf is a game that anyone can play (and win). Score points by hitting micro-chipped golf balls at giant dartboard-like targets on an outfield. The closer you get your ball to the centre or ‘bullseye’ and the further the distance, the more points earned. The fun and games don’t stop there; you can even indulge in delicious food and drinks brought to you while you play) Mayor Merrill said there has been discussion regarding the Legacy Golf Course when the airport moves to the different location. Melaine Davenport asked about grants. Mr. Bollwinkle believes the advisory boards will be the best resource for grants. He suggested the city hire a grant writer or have an employee or volunteer who looks for grants. Mayor Merrill asked about a Zions Bank employee to dicuss funding. Mr. Bollwinkle said that he was hoping to have Susie from Zions Bank come to the City Council and talk about funding and how to get it. Perhaps they could schedule another work meeting with Susie sometime before the adoption of this plan. Melaine Davenport asked (inaudible) Mr. Bollwinkle said the city already has great parks. There are simple things that could be done to update the current parks. Council Member Wolfe asked if the plan includes having recreation activities in the river. Mr. Bollwinkle said the plan didn’t go into depth with the type of recereational activites for the river. Steve Oakey asked about the willingness of BLM to donate land. Mr. Bollwinkle said the BLM is great for that. The BLM and Forest Service is in favor of having trails and there is usually funding for connecting to BLM trails. Melaine Davenport asked what the plan shows for the east side of Rexburg. Daniel Torres replied they focused on city trails and showed the county’s trails as a courtsey. Derrik Farmer asked how much is budgeted for trails. Finance Officer Nielson said there is a trails fund that the City has not put money into for several years but they would like to start putting $25,000 from the General Fund and $30,000 from the impact fees into the trails fund every year. Mr. Bollwinkle said when a development is going in, the city could ask the developer to include the trail in their development. It’s an advantage for the developer because the houses will sell for more money. There are many ways to fund trails including: eagle scout projects, developers, grants, etc. Heidi Christensen asked about the cost to have a kayak park. Mr. Bollwinkle said kayak parks can be quite successful but it’s usually a private company that builds and maintains them. The city could use incentives to get a company to do a kayak park. Rexburg is fortunate to have a year round river for something like a kayak park. Tawnya Grover suggested to have a visual tool in the building department for developers to see where the parks and trails are planned to go. Melaine Davenport said the visual tools also keeps the development of trails in mind. Steve Oakey asked if there has been oppositon to trails going through someones property. Mr. Bollwinkle said that sometimes there will be a situation where someone won’t allow a trail through their property so they have to wait until ownership of that property changes. They have found, however, that most people are in favor of having a trail through their backyard because they want to use it, too. Most trails are an asset to the community. Mr. Bollwinkle encouraged everyone to look over their packets and mark where they would like to see more trails or other changes and get it back to Daniel Torres. Economic Development Director Johnson reminded everyone that this Parks and Trails Plan is a draft and has not been adopted, yet. Adjournment 6:22 P.M. APPROVED: ____________________________ Jerry Merrill, Mayor Attest: ____________________________________ Marianna Gonzalez, Deputy City Clerk