City of Ashland

PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION

STUDY SESSION
MINUTES

December 1, 2005

ATTENDANCE

Present:    Commissioners D. Amarotico, Eggers, Gardiner, Rosenthal; Director Robertson; Superintendent Teige

Absent:     Commissioner Lewis; City Council Liaison A. Amarotico; Superintendent Gies

CALL TO ORDER

Gardiner called the study session to order at 7:05 p.m. at the Parks Office, 340 S. Pioneer Street.

VOGEL PARK MASTER PLAN REVIEW

Robertson reviewed the park planning process to date and talked about the public meetings held, input solicited, and park site draft designs reviewed. He expressed his wish to use the meeting to further review the three draft designs and provide clear direction to the design team to enable them to complete a final draft plan. He encouraged the commissioners to review the proposed design features, which were generated by the commission, staff, and the public, and to offer their thoughts and concerns about each element.

Discussion Among Commissioners

Commissioners reviewed each of the three plans (A, B, and C), comparing and contrasting various features. They agreed to walk through the items on the list provided by the Lewis team. Due to time constraints, they were able to review approximately half of the 24 items on the list. Items discussed included entry area, restrooms, creek and riparian restoration, trail system, the barn, vehicular access, parking, use areas, community garden, bicycle parking, and drinking fountain.

Commissioners debated adding more community garden plots at the site and also discussed parking lot size, creating a well-defined entrance area, whether to include restrooms and where to place them, whether or not to “lead” people to the riparian area (to minimize human impact on sensitive areas), providing ADA accessibility to the creek site, placing drinking fountains near restrooms, locating “human-used areas” together, and designing the area to allow for environmental education without negatively impacting the sensitivity of the area

Several citizens provided input, especially in terms of the community garden portion of the park site. The commission agreed to continue the discussion at future meetings.

TRAIL MASTER PLAN DOCUMENT PRESENTATION

Robertson reviewed the trail master plan process, reporting that it was expected to be completed in one year but that it was nearly complete after two years of effort. He reminded the commission of the work of the committee, including the five public meetings that set the stage for the process and drew between 30-75 people each, and the efforts of the committee to formulate a document to combine all the elements involved in the process. He reported that the city has good length-wise (lateral) trail corridors but lacks in terms of north/south connections, so the group decided to dovetail on existing creek corridors, with the hope that willing landowners would donate easements or right-of-ways to the city. He welcomed Scott Kurtz, Chair of the Trail Master Plan Committee, and invited him to speak to the commission.

Scott Kurtz provided further information about the project, stating that it was a team effort, with David Lewis serving as a consultant on the document, taking the large quantity of information gathered and placing it into its current format. He reported that the committee is a year behind its deadline but that the group made steady progress and is proud of its efforts.

Kurtz indicated that the document is visionary in nature and will take decades to implement. He reported that the group worked with the city’s Legal and Planning departments to determine how the document might fit into the City’s Comprehensive Plan. He stated that final edits are expected to be completed the second week in December, with the document going before the commission at their December regular meeting, at which time the public will be invited to provide comments. At the December 19 regular commission meeting, he reported that the committee planned to request that the commission recommend adoption to the City Council at its January 3 meeting, with adoption potentially occurring at the City Council’s January 17 meeting.

Once completed, the document will be posted to the city’s Web site, with copies distributed around town [including the library and the Community Development building].

Discussion Among Commissioners

Commissioners agreed to read the document prior to their December 19 regular meeting and to consider recommending to the City Council the adoption of the document in January 2006.

ADJOURNMENT – By consensus, with no further business, Gardiner adjourned the meeting at 9:00 PM.

Respectfully submitted, Susan Dyssegard, Ashland Parks and Recreation