HomeMy WebLinkAbout07-02-2013Parks and Recreation Board Meeting
Minutes
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
5:30 p.m.
Auburn Senior Activity Center, Rotary Room
Call to Order
The meeting began at 5:45.
Members present were Laura Keim and Vicki Gilthvedt. Excused members were Greg Dobbs and David
Domenowske. Unexcused members were Richard Artura and Michael Hassen. Department staff present
were Parks Director Daryl Faber, and Parks Secretary Julie Mehl and citizen Scot Pondelick.
II. Minutes
The minutes of the May and June meetings were not approved as there is no quorum.
III. Committee Member Input
IV. Correspondence /Public Input
V. Old Business
VI. New Business
VII. Department Report (Faber)
West Hill Neighborhood meeting — About 15 people were quite vocal and a little negative at the
beginning of the meeting. It's the first time we have reached out to that area since they were annexed.
Once folks realized it was not going to be a high use area, they were pleased. The ending comments
were positive. The main complaint was the lack of police presence. The parking issue was also a main
concern. The citizens conveyed they have not seen much of a change since the annexation. We will put
the comments on the City website and will have a place where folks can add additional comments online.
Some other questions were regarding how the area will be policed, will the park hours be from dawn to
dusk. Why not an equity of parking on the West side and 3201h street. That is a steep trail in and there
is existing curb, gutter and sidewalk on W Street. We should put a sign up "West Hill Nature Sanctuary"
and folks could choose to park there. Another issue discussed was how do we get the park back to
Northwest native, there are some folks who have lived in the area for 20+ years and would like to get rid
of the blackberries. We'll update the concept plan to include more benches for older folks, work on the
corner access issue (there is a house on the right -of -way). We will get some service groups together,
the high school wants to adopt the park and we can contract with a few firms in the grubbing business
because the kids rarely want to attack those. Perhaps put some goats in the park to eat the
blackberries. The water testing is being done. Citizen Scot Pondelick asks if it will be possible to swim
in the lake. Maybe in five years we could install a beach area where folks could wade in waist deep but
will really be more of a nature sanctuary. It shouldn't be an expensive project, $20,000 including
benches & the walkway. The parking will cost a little more but we'll be able to get help from the Public
Works Department.
Mary Olson Farm — The legislature has approved $340,000 for the Mary Olson Farm bridge project.
There used to be a bridge for horse drawn carriages and farm implements to be moved to the South
meadow. That bridge will be replicated and open up the South meadow. Native habitat projects will be
included as well.
Community Center — Three million dollars has been allocated for the community center from the Capital
Building Commercial Fund. We applied for this a year ago, this should give your city council members a
nice topic to discuss where the additional four million will come from. At the last community center
meeting we used pink tape and marked off where the building would be. We took the construction
contract which was drawn up two years ago and and re- estimated what we've already paid BLRB and
what the real site work is. It's bid at $310 per square foot x 20,000 s.f. totalling 6.2 million plus two
million soft costs (sales tax etc.). Most of the A & E has been paid so Shelley's estimate is a little high,
and Rich's may run a little low. Scot add that we should have more rooms for activities, there is only
two rooms plus the large room. Daryl adds that it manages our space in this building to be freed up so
we can have more space for our teens. That's a bigger hit than our current building, the teens
participating in the after school program are awesome. If you're not into sports you're not going to
participate. If we can get some homework help, cooking, music, career path help it would be great.
VIII. Adjournment
A. The meeting was adjourned at 6:15 pm.
Approved this Day of , 2013
Michael Hassen, Chair
Daryl Faber, Director
AUBURN* MORE THAN YOU IMAGINED