Regular Meeting – September 24, 2001 Regarding the last paragraph under Staff Reports that addresses the tennis court resurfacing project, Commissioner Landt said that he would like to strike both "and instead retain those monies for regularly-scheduled resurfacing" from the sixth line and also "and to retain those monies for regularly-scheduled resurfacing" from the first sentence of his motion. Instead, he would like to correct the motion to read "Commissioner Landt moved to postpone the tennis court resurfacing project in this fiscal year and put it back on its original timetable." There was no opposition among Commissioners. Commissioner MacGraw moved to approve the minutes of the September 24, 2001 Regular Meeting as corrected. Commissioner Eggers seconded.

Phil Selby (278 Idaho Street #4) was present to speak. Mr. Selby, a long-time Ashland resident, noted that he has been an active and regular visitor to Lithia Park since 1938 or 1939. He outlined some unpleasant incidents, involving both himself and others, with cross-country runners over the past three years. Mr. Selby feels that there needs to be some other area for the cross-country runners to practice in and hold their meets. He feels that the purpose of Lithia Park is not for cross-country racing but to walk in and admire the scenery and so on. He noted that the population of Ashland is growing, park usage is increasing and that much of this growing usage is by senior citizens. Due to that, Mr. Selby thinks that it’s time for a change. He requested that the Park Commission work with the city schools in finding places other than Lithia Park for the cross-country teams to practice and hold their races. He stressed that he was not requesting that cross-country have no races in the park system, just not in Lithia Park. In the interim, he would like signs posted when runners are active and for runners to verbalize warnings as they approach from behind.

Barry Peckham (40 Granite Street #8), a member of the high school cross-country coaching staff, was present to answer any questions the Commissioners might have. Mr. Peckham noted that many signs are posted for the large State of Jefferson meet. He also noted that cross-country practices vary—locations include North Mountain Park, Iowa Street, the TID Ditch trail, and other places as well as Lithia Park. When runners do come through the Park, he said, they come down through a section of the Park as part of a larger loop. If a practice includes Lithia Park at all, practice time in the Park is essentially limited to 3:45 – 4:45 p.m. on school days. Mr. Peckham pointed out that not all of the runners seen in Lithia Park are members of school district cross-country teams.

PUBLIC FORUM – None

Commissioner Jones asked staff opinion. Director Mickelsen said that prior to converting to natural gas it may be appropriate to determine the payback to doing the conversion. He suggested moving forward with Options 2 while giving staff time to research the costs for replacing the heating systems with natural gas.

Commissioner Lewis asked whether or not Commissioner Landt intended to keep the restrooms warmer if they were converted to natural gas. Commissioner Landt said no, the restrooms would still be kept "just above freezing" to keep the pipes from freezing. Commissioner Lewis said that, in that case, he could not see spending the money for the conversion.

MOTION – Commissioner Eggers moved to direct Staff to implement Option 2 of the October 15^th memorandum and to ask Staff to work up some estimates on payback periods for installing gas heaters in the YMCA City Park bathroom and the Hunter Park bathroom. Commissioner Lewis seconded.

Council Liaison Don Laws expressed his concern that implementing this option would not enable the Commission to meet its 12% reduction commitment. Realizing that weather is always a factor, he said that without an analysis of the energy savings, he did not see that this option would allow the Commission to meet it goal. He said that as a Councilor, he was concerned how this would impact the City’s overall plan to reduce electric consumption. In response to Councilor Laws' concern, Commissioner Lewis asked Staff how long it would take to winterize and close the restrooms should it become apparent that Option 2 alone would not achieve the 12% reduction goal. Superintendent Gies said that Staff could winterize and close the restrooms on short notice.

After additional brief discussion, staff was asked to develop some clear estimates related to what the savings would be related to Option 2. Staff was also asked to come back to the November meeting with an estimate of what the payback period would be if two of the larger restrooms were converted to natural gas.

Director Mickelsen inquired as to whether Commissioners would be available to attend the proposed Study Session. It was agreed that the Study Session would be set as proposed. Director Mickelsen also publicly thanked the City Council for graciously rescheduling its November 7 meeting so as not to conflict with the OS Plan Community Meeting.

Commissioner Eggers reminded the Commission that she was the Parks Commission representative to the Forest Lands Commission and offered to provide reports back from those meetings if the Commissioners would like. She also invited Commissioners and the public to attend an October 27^th workshop regarding monitoring the fire hazard reduction proposal for the Ashland Watershed.

The Commission agreed to continue meeting the 4^th Monday of every month during 2002 with the exception of May and December. In those two months, because of holiday conflicts, the Commission will meet on the 3^rd Monday of the month.

Director Mickelsen reminded Commissioners of the November 7, 2001 7:00 p.m. Open Space Plan Community Meeting. He also proposed a 6:00 p.m. Study Session before the November 26, 2001 Regular Meeting to present information related to the golf course.

Proposed Agenda items: Pay back period for recouping costs if restrooms are converted from electric heat to gas heat and analysis of electrical "savings" that would be anticipated when electric thermostats are changed over.