City of Ashland

PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION

SPECIAL MEETING
MINUTES

August 15, 2011

ATTENDANCE

Present:         Commissioners Eggers, Landt, Lewis, Rosenthal, Seffinger; Director Robertson; Superintendents Dials and Dickens

Absent:       City Council Liaison Slattery

CALL TO ORDER

Eggers called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. in the Parks office, 340 S. Pioneer Street.

APPROVAL OF JUNE MEETING MINUTES

Special Meeting – June 20, 2011

Under “Consideration of Wastewater Project Proposal,” in the motion in which the commission approved Phase I and conceptually agreed to Phase II, Landt asked for the minutes to reflect the commission’s decision to include a friendly amendment regarding “adding, within Phase I, tree planting in un-treed areas.” Eggers asked that “treatment effluent” be changed to “treated effluent.”

MOTION Landt moved to approve the minutes as amended. Lewis seconded the motion.

The vote was: All yes

Study Session – June 20, 2011

Under “Review Bluebird Park Stairway Design,” in the paragraph in which Landt asked for pricing on powder coated steel that could be painted, he asked for the removal of the final phrase: “the color of redwood or rust.”

MOTION Rosenthal moved to approve the minutes as amended. Lewis seconded the motion.

The vote was: All yes

Special Meeting – June 22, 2011

Under “OSF Request to Use Parks Property for Productions,” in the third paragraph quote by Eggers, she said she preferred “wanted to grant the request” to “wanted to make the request a reality.” On page two, in the section in which trees in the Feast of Will lawn area were discussed, she said the trees were black locust, maple and oak rather than spruce, maple, and oak as indicated. On page three, she said the trees that she requested to have fenced from start to finish were black locust, maple, and oak (not spruce).

MOTION Landt moved to approve the minutes as amended. Lewis seconded the motion.

The vote was: All yes [Rosenthal abstained]

Eggers introduced and welcomed the new Parks Superintendent, Bruce Dickens.

THE SISKIYOU CHALLENGE REQUEST

Dials said she misinterpreted information received from the City of Ashland Planning Department about costs associated with Conditional Use Permits and, based on that misinterpretation, organizers of The Siskiyou Challenge pulled their request to sell in Lithia Park so were invited back to speak to the commission. She reminded the commission that The Siskiyou Challenge was a six-leg multi-sport relay race scheduled for September 24, with proceeds benefiting the non-profit Rogue Valley Farm to School (RVF2S). She welcomed organizers Deborah Gordon and Tracy Harding and invited them to speak to the commission.

Deborah Gordon said the request was simple: The Siskiyou Challenge organizers enlisted food vendors, including Standing Stone Brewery and Arctic Creamery, to donate food and beverages to event participants. She said organizers hoped vendors could sell their products in Lithia Park to non-racers and spectators, with profits donated to RVF2S. She said the 2010 event included 200 racers and 50 fun run participants and the 2011 event could have as many as 300 participants and 300 spectators.

Discussion Among Commissioners

Eggers said the organizers were requesting an exemption to an ordinance against selling in the park and asked if they could sell tickets beforehand rather than in the park. Organizers said that might work for some of the non-participants but not for all.  Landt said it was important that all Parks staff costs were covered by requestors.

Robertson said staff would need to inspect food booths regardless of any selling activity, which would incur staff costs along with garbage service. Dials said The Siskiyou Challenge was a zero waste event that would not generate garbage. Seffinger said the commission denied the Pride Parade’s request to sell and asked if the commission would need to approve both requests if they approved the request from The Siskiyou Challenge organizers. Rosenthal said the commission was in the business of promoting healthy recreational activities and spoke in support of the request to sell by The Siskiyou Challenge organizers.

MOTION: Rosenthal moved to grant a special exception to the ordinance against selling in parks and allow The Siskiyou Challenge organizers to vend in Lithia Park on September 24 from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Seffinger seconded the motion.

Discussion of Motion

Commissioners said they denied the request by organizers of the Pride Parade to sell in the park and they would not want that organization to feel less important. Dials said the two requests were redirected to the commission after staff denied both requests based on staff’s interpretation of the selling ordinance. She said The Siskiyou Challenge was a much smaller event than the Pride Parade and was a zero waste event but staff still denied the request based on the wording of the ordinance. She said if the commission chose to change their policy then staff would have more discretion to approve similar requests in the future.

The vote was: Rosenthal, Seffinger - yes

Eggers, Landt, Lewis – no

ADJOURNMENT– By consensus, Eggers adjourned the meeting at 7:40 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Susan Dyssegard, Ashland Parks and Recreation