Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council Committees - Parks and Human Services - 03/19/2009City of Kent nt Parks and Human Services Committee Meeting Parks and Human Services Committee Meeting Minutes of March 19, 2009 Minutes of March 19, 2009 Call to Order: Debbie Ranniger called the meeting to order at 5:02 p.m. Call to Order: Debbie Ranniger called the meeting to order at 5:02 p.m. Council Committee Members Present: Debbie Ranniger, Elizabeth Albertson and Tim Clark. Council Committee Members Present: Debbie Ranniger, Elizabeth Albertson and Tim Clark. Item #1: Meeting Minutes Dated February 19, 2009Item #1: Meeting Minutes Dated February 19, 2009 Elizabeth Albertson moved to approve the minutes of February 19, 2009. Tim Clark seconded. The motion passed 3-0. Item #2: Rental Agreement with Highline School District for Camp Waskowitz – Authorize Highline School District’s Camp Waskowitz has been the site of the Kent Parks Summer Residential Camp for the past twenty-nine years. The camp accommodates 160 boys and girls entering the 5th, 6th and 7th grades. Campers experience nature, campfires, hiking and swimming – some for the first time. Thirty of the thirty-eight staff are volunteers and eight are paid a stipend of $300.00 for the week. Camp registration fees cover all program costs. Some of the senior leaders are teachers and nurses who take time off from work to participate in the program. One third to one half of the campers are funded through scholarships. Two fund raisers are coordinated each year by the Youth/Teen Manager Julie Stangle and staff to help support scholarships. Dave Street and has been the Camp Director for the past twenty-nine years. The camp is scheduled for August 6 – 10 this year. Tim Clark moved to recommend authorizing the Mayor to sign the rental agreement with Highline School District for the 2009 Summer Residential Camp at Camp Waskowitz. Elizabeth Albertson seconded. The motion passed 3-0. Walk on Item #3: Amendment to the Conservation Futures Interlocal Cooperation Agreement with King County for Open Space Acquisition Projects – Authorize The City of Kent and King County entered into an Interlocal Cooperation Agreement (ICA) on January 29, 1991 for Conservation Futures Levy funds. They City of Kent applies on a regular basis and applications are due in March each year. When awarded a grant, King County prepares an amendment to the ICA to allocate those funds. The City of Kent was awarded a total of $1,085,000: • $150,000 in 2005 for Clark Lake Acquisition projects • $785,000 in 2006 for Clark Lake Acquisition projects • $150,000 in 2007 for Clark Lake Acquisition projects On September 10, 2007, the King County Council approved Ordinance 15898 to allow the City of Kent to expend these funds on the acquisition of any parcel at Clark Lake. The City of Kent acquired the Clark Lake parcels in 2007 and will seek reimbursement as soon as Council accepts the amendment. Originally, grant applications were for the Walla property, Rockwell property, plus additional lake properties. The remainder of the lake property was purchased, but no Purchase and Sales Agreement has been obtained for the Walla property, as well as the other homeowners along the lake. The acquisition plan is to purchase parcels along 240th Street and 248th Street in the future. Lori Flemm gave an overview of the phased development plan. Priorities remain the same and still concentrate on the area off 248th Street. Phase I: To expand parking lot, provide picnic shelters and flushed toilets. Currently, there is a small parking lot off 240th, a fishing pier off the lake and portions of trail system are in place -- built with the assistance of volunteers. Phase II (off 120th): add to the parking lot and create a trail head connection. Phase III (off 240th): after acquisition of the Walla house, develop an interpretive center, create a larger parking lot, and add a bus drop off. Phase IV: Develop the lake property itself and construct a retreat center/city community building, new parking lot, and widen access off of 240th. Elizabeth Albertson moved to recommend authorizing the Mayor to sign the Amendment to the Conservation Futures Interlocal Cooperation Agreement with King County for Open Space Acquisition Projects, and amending the Land Acquisition Budget. Item #4: 2009 Potential Grant Application List – Informational The following list details the grants that Parks and Open Space staff actively research and apply for throughout the year to help defray the costs of acquisition and development of land. This list is not all-inclusive; staff takes every opportunity to apply for additional funding. Public Comment is required on many grant applications, so this is an opportunity for citizen input. • Panther Lake: 6.6 acres, located in the potential annexation area, off 208th Street. Applying for KC Conservation Futures funds. Debbie Ranniger questioned where the money will come from in light of state budget cuts - especially with the potential reduction in capital funding. Debbie also asked what is the likelihood of receiving these fund. Jeff Watling responded that these funds are from the state. We applied this year for next year’s fiscal cycle. In answer to the likelihood, Jeff agreed the outlook isn’t very positive, but Parks and Human Services Committee Page 2 Minutes of March 19, 2009 our goals remain the same. In the case of the Panther Lake acquisition piece, it goes along with the Strategic Plan and is built into our PAA -- how we might assemble park property without expending city funds. Debbie asked if we should be looking at other ways to fund these projects. Tim Clark recommended that staff examine the construction and maintenance side, instead of acquisition. He also suggested creating grants that help families with temporary employment. Jeff responded that our capital vision is three-pronged; acquisition, development and redevelopment. Jeff referred to the Parks Department 2009 budget presentation, as well as our capital program for this year, and our focus on reinvesting in the current park system. Jeff stated that traditionally, there are more dollars for acquisition than development. Also, CDBG funds will soon be available through the stimulus package for some of our capital projects. Jeff reiterated that staff continually look at alternative funding opportunities for development, redevelopment, along with acquisition. Tim Clark commented that CDBG funds often require matching money. He suggested putting the money towards some of our help groups, such as the Kent Parks Foundation, to see if that may enable us to capture a source of funds previously inaccessible. Lori Flemm continued with the details of grant applications. • Kent Side Hill: 27.74 acres, east of 167 and north of 212th . Applying for KC Conservation Futures grants. Land owner will donate 50% of land value, so no city funds involved. • Shirley Francis Trust property: 4.7 acres on west hill off 238th St. Landowner will donate 50% of the value. Applying for King County Conservation Futures. • Patchen’s Property: 4.5 acres on east hill future botanical site. Intend to apply for largest parcel for $472,500. Applying for King County Conservation Futures funds. • Urban Forestry Management Plan: Consultant services to conduct hazard tree assessment and forestry analysis through King Conservation District reimbursable grant. • Volunteer events. Reimbursement grant for materials used at major planting/cleaning events through King Conservation District. • Kiwanis Tot Lot #1: Play equipment and site furniture through CDBG Economic Stimulus Funds. A public meeting for input on play equipment s scheduled for next week. • Clark Lake Park Invasive Plant Removal: Restoration of outfall creek/habitat areas by removing invasive plants and planting native plants. Earth Corps Stewardship Funds. Parks and Human Services Committee Page 3 Minutes of March 19, 2009 • Urban Forestry Stewardship: Analysis of land and recommendations for sustainability through Bullitt Foundation. • Wilson Playfield Master Plan. Installation of new solar powered, interactive, high activity play equipment called Neos. Funds provided by a local service club. Item #5: Potential Off-leash Dog Areas on East Hill – Informational The City of Kent owns several undeveloped park parcels on the East Hill of Kent. Citizens have requested a dog off-leash area on the East Hill. The City of Kent is working with King County and local cities along the Highway 18 corridor to locate a southeastern King County Regional off leash dog area. However, the acquisition cost of the selected site is cost prohibitive at this time. To solve this demand voiced by citizens, staff is analyzing the use of underdeveloped, 1-2 acre park sites as interim off leash dog areas. The proposed sites are: Chestnut Ridge, Morrill Meadows, East Hill Park, 272nd Street Park , Pine Tree Park, 132nd Ave. Park, and Springwood Park. A Public meeting is tentatively planned for May 12, on the east hill. To save money, no postcards will be mailed. Public notification will be through the newspaper, the city’s Web Page, neighborhood associations, and emails using the off leash dog park data base. Cost estimates will be ready for the public meeting, and Planning and Permitting staff are under advisement. Audience member Gene Bruce of Chestnut Ridge asked how to define a wetland. Lori Flemm explained that wetland areas are identified by certain soils, vegetation and standing water. Debbie Ranngier suggested including a flip chart at the public meetings to generate volunteer interest in maintaining the interim dog parks. Item #6: Follow-up Report on HVAC Systems at Riverbend Golf Complex and Centennial Building – Informational As stated in the report last month to Committee, staff initiated a conversation with McKinstry on an ESCO program regarding the need to replace the HVAC at Centennial and Riverbend. Late last month the Department of Energy sent notices of an Energy Efficient Block Grant Program offered through the energy stimulus package. Though funds have been delegated to Kent, details of the implementation have not been released. Both HVAC projects at Riverbend and Centennial Building qualify for these funds. The Riverbend project will rate very high because of its alternative energy component. Staff continue to look at creative ways to complete the HVAC project at the Centennial Building, i.e. phasing the project would have less impact to the budget, or scheduling construction during daylight hours and re-locating staff temporarily may speed up project completion, therefore keeping costs down. Staff will keep the Parks and Human Services Committee Page 4 Minutes of March 19, 2009 Committee updated as funding is dedicated and strategies are prepared. Parks and Human Services Committee Page 5 Minutes of March 19, 2009 Item #7: What’s Happening As reported during the Parks Committee meeting in February, the city was approached by the Federal Way School District to jointly plan and design a new neighborhood park up on west hill. The proposed site is West Hill Park and linking to Sunnycrest Elementary School. Federal Way is looking at site options and costs. City staff will get public engagement and gather feedback. An interlocal agreement will be necessary to define this partnership and financial responsibilities. More to come as site options are reviewed and an agreement is negotiated. Staff began the process for updating the Comprehensive Park & Recreation Plan and the Parks & Open Space element of the Comprehensive Plan. The first step is gathering public input. A survey will be available online to help us understand how we can meet our citizen’s needs in the years to come. Public input gathered through the update process will help direct our future parks planning efforts. The survey can be accessed via a link on the City’s homepage, as well as the current project webpage. In addition, surveys will be made available at other Parks facilities such as the Senior Center and Resource Center. There are no signs of decreased participation in programs or services. Community Garden rentals opened this week and all 20x20 lots were fully booked in two days. Registration for the elementary school track program is very high. Twenty six of twenty eight elementary schools are involved. Just over 1,300 have registered already. There has been an increase for requests of full scholarships. The program starts Monday at Willson Playfields from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. The program culminates at the Junior Olympics in May at French Field. Representatives of the Faith community have been invited to meet and discuss a cooperative effort to manage human service needs on April 1, at the Senior Center from 11:00 to 12:30 p.m. On April 14, the Housing and Human Services Division, along with the City of Renton and South King Council of Washington, is hosting a meeting to bring South King County agencies together to discuss the current funding situation for human service programs. For the 4th year in a row, the Spotlight Series brochure was recognized as “Best Brochure.” Parks also received a silver award for “Best Overall Promotional Campaign” for the Summer Concert Series. The 2008 Christmas Rush was awarded a silver for “Best T-shirt Design” and the 2008 Fourth of July Splash poster received a Bronze for “Best Advertising/Promotional Poster.” Many thanks to the Multi Media Department for their creativity and congratulations on the cooperative effort with Cultural staff. On Saturday, March 21, Park’s staff, Police staff and Service Club volunteers will paint over graffiti in parks, on city buildings/businesses. Starbucks is donating coffee in the morning and Chiptole’s is providing lunch. Dave Hobbs, President of Kiwanis and Parks and Recreation Program Specialist has been an integral part in Parks and Human Services Committee Page 6 Minutes of March 19, 2009 Parks and Human Services Committee Page 7 Minutes of March 19, 2009 coordinating graffiti clean-up efforts in Kent. A Public Meeting for Kiwanis Tot Lot #1 is scheduled for Tuesday March 24, from 6:00 -7:30 p.m. in Kent City Hall. Kids are encouraged to come and pick out play equipment. In an effort to continually search for sustainable products, Tim Clark encouraged to Park’s staff to attend the Green Festival in Seattle on the March 28 and 29. The conference is committed to providing new and innovative ways to be energy efficient. Debbie Ranniger asked two boy scouts to share what they had learned by attending the Committee meeting. Chris Bruce: Troop #407, referred to the city considering Chestnut Ridge Park to be a dog park, and Ian Bruce: Troop #407, learned that a solar powered Neos playground equipment is being installed at Wilson Playfields. Debbie Ranniger suggested Neos play equipment for the proposed neighborhood park at west hill. The meeting adjourned at 6:12 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Teri Petrole Committee Council Secretary