Loading...
8/3/2023 - Meeting Minutes PARKS,NATURAL LANDS,URBAN FORESTRY AND TRAILS ADVISORY BOARD of SALT LAKE CITY Formal Meeting Thursday,August 3,2023 5:00 p.m.—7:15 p.m. Join Via Zoom:https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83424152072?pwd=ZG5LSWpaSFVgSWFBaOdLRjZFTTNXQT09 Or Join at the Public Lands Administrative Building: 1965 W.500 S.Salt Lake City,UT 84104 Upstairs Parks Training Room Join by phone Phone: 1-346-248-7799 Webinar ID:834 2415 2072 Access code:565143 Approved Minutes 1. Convening the Meeting 5:00 PM A. Call to order - Brianna Binnebose - Clayton Scrivner - Melanie Pehrson - Samantha Finch - Aaron Wiley - Kerri Nakamura Jenny Hewson Ginger Cannon Dave John CJ Whittaker - Phil Carroll - Talula Pontuti Chair Comments 5 mins Ms. Binnebose thanked Ms. Larsen for her work on the agenda and for responding to feedback. Ms. Binnebose also thanked Mr. Whittaker for meeting with her between meetings to work together on understanding and moving through the finer points of approving the Trails Subcommittee. Ms. Binnebose also reminded the Board of the two action items, approving the Trails Subcommittee and donation threshold, and the adjustment made to the agenda to bring those to the start of the meeting. Ms. Binnebose reminded the Board this is intended to expedite the meeting. Ms. Binnebose welcomed Ms. Nakamura to the Board. 2. Approval of Minutes 5:05 PM Approve June 1, 2023 meeting minutes 5 mins Ms. Hewson motioned to approve the June meeting minutes. Ms. Cannon seconded the motion. The Board unanimously voted to approve the June meeting minutes. 3. Public Comment 5:10 PM Verbal comments are limited to no more than 3 minutes; 15 minutes total. Written comments are welcome. There were no public comments. PARKS,NATURAL LANDS,URBAN FORESTRY AND TRAILS ADVISORY BOARD(/-SALT LAKE,CITY 4. Introductions 5:25 PM A. Introduce Kerri Nakamura — Kristin Riker 5 mins Ms. Riker introduced Ms. Kerri Nakamura as the newest Board member. Ms. Nakamura spent 30 +years in public service specializing in the intersection of public policy and budget. Kerri's career includes time served in the SLC council, SLC mayor, Utah League of Cities and Towns, state of Utah, University of Utah, SL County Council, and most recently as chief of staff to the Salt Lake County Mayor. She is passionate about building community and values the role that governments at all levels play in strengthening communities and individuals by providing spaces and services that are inclusive, equitable, and accessible. Kerri has been an avid advocate for funding and a long-time user of public parks, urban trails, recreation programs, and open spaces in SLC and surrounding communities. She enjoys traveling and some of her best travel moments are found in parks, open spaces, and on urban trails both in the U.S. and abroad. Kerri's excited to help SLC achieve the strategic goals of the Reimagine Nature Plan and unabashedly advocate for SLC's wonderful parks, public lands, urban forest trails, and open spaces. Ms. Nakamura added that she spent her first 8 years of life in the Rose Park neighborhood before moving to Sandy. Ms. Nakamura explained that she eventually moved back to Salt Lake City with her husband. Ms. Nakamura talked about starting her career in City Hall and being excited to see the younger generation now working there. Ms. Nakamura thanked the Board for allowing her to serve Salt Lake City once again. B. Introduce Joe Ramos— Kristin Riker 5 mins Ms. Riker introduced Mr. Ramos as the new Parks Operations Manager. Mr. Ramos explained he grew up in New York City and had a long military career, went to college, and spent some time in Denver. Now Mr. Ramos has been living in Utah for 3 —4 years. Before his current role, Mr. Ramos was the rapid intervention coordinator for our homeless engagement and response team but has now been with Parks for about 3 months. Mr. Ramos noted he is responsible for areas of the city South of 400 S, trails and natural spaces, and the entirety of the Jordan River. Ms. Cannon asked whom he supervises. Mr. Ramos explained he has Districts 3, 4, 5, 6, and the Greenhouse Team. Mr. Ramos thanked the Board and encouraged them to reach out to him about any park issues. 5. Director's Report 5:35 PM - Summary of current high-priority department items. — Kristin Riker 5 mins Ms. Riker highlighted some events including Yoga in the Park, Weekly Film Series at Liberty Park, our first-ever drone shows at Jordan and Liberty Park, and Yappy Hour events. Wasatch Hollow has been impacted by the spring run-off. A restoration plan is in place to include the park, street, and sidewalks. Ms. Riker detailed the various maintenance projects that are currently in progress in this area. Mr. Ramos explained the various challenges that have come with restoring Wasatch Hollow and some of the more specific repairs to come. Ms. Riker stated the natural area has already been restored by the Trails and Natural Lands crew. Mr. Scrivner inquired about the effects the restoration project may have on planning PARKS,NATURAL LANDS,URBAN FORESTRY AND TRAILS ADVISORY BOARD of SALT LAKE CITY improvements in that area. Ms. Riker and Mr. Millar discussed a constituent CIP request for the area that was not recommended. Ms. Riker discussed Liberty Park and the news surrounding the park about camping and homelessness occurring in the park. Ms. Riker noted a meeting she had with the mayor's executive team and police day-of to deliberate about the issues. Ms. Riker wants the Board to know she and her team are aware of the issues in Liberty Park. She informed the Board that Public Lands is a stewardship department and wish to take care of the community rather than become law enforcement. Mr. Scrivner stated how the 9-line has come up for them recently and inquiries about Public Land's responsibility to the trail and surrounding area. Ms. Riker and Mr. Scrivner discussed jurisdiction in the area. Ms. Riker discussed the coyote situation around Parley's Historic Nature Park including a dog attack. Public Lands has been working with the Department of Wildlife. Currently, Public Lands is just monitoring the site and working to educate the community. Members of the Board continue to ask various questions and discuss the situation in the foothills and Parley's Historical Site. 6. Board Action Items 5:40 PM A. Review and approve Trails Subcommittee 5 mins Mr. Whittaker shared his screen to review the notes for the Foothills Subcommittee. Ms. Binnebose asked the Board if the questions that were left in the document were answered sufficiently to move forward with approving the subcommittee. Ms. Finch asked Mr. Whittaker if the non-Board members have added bios. Ms. Finch and Mr. Whittaker discussed the necessity of non-Board member bios. Ms. Binnebose explained to Mr. Whittaker that bios are necessary for the subcommittee to be compliant with bylaws. Mr. Scrivner motioned to approve the subcommittee. Ms. Pontuti seconded the motion. The Board voted in a majority to approve the subcommittee. B. Approve donation threshold. 5 mins Ms. Larsen recapped the history of donation approval and reminds the Board of previous discussions about creating a donation threshold. The average donation is around $2,500. Members of the Board continued to discuss the necessity of a donation threshold and amount. Mr. Wiley inquired about neighboring businesses donating to Public Lands and the process of asking these businesses directly for assistance. Ms. Riker explained that Public Lands cannot directly ask for donations or assistance from individuals or businesses neighboring public lands. She stated however that Board members themselves may be allowed to suggest ways individuals and businesses can assist. Mr. Scrivner thanked Ms. Riker for explaining these points. Ms. Binnebose suggested a possible motion to include stipulations regarding controversial donations, extra ongoing maintenance costs, and staff discretion. Ms. Cannon suggested amending the motion with the caveat that all donations should still be reported regardless of dollar value amount. Ms. Binnebose clarified that the Board will be voting on the motion to allow staff to have the discretion to bring to the Board the direct PARKS,NATURAL LANDS,URBAN FORESTRY AND TRAILS ADVISORY BOARD(/-SALT LAKE,CITY recommendations with the caveats being potentially controversial, having high ongoing operations costs and with the stipulations that the Board will receive a report on the donations that staff is receiving. The Board voted to carry the motion. Ms. Binnebose thanked Ms. Riker for explaining some of the Public Lands processes that affected the discussion of donations. 7. Staff Presentations, Updates & Discussions 5:50 PM A. Presentation of upcoming donations. —Tom Millar or Katherine Maus T Mr. Millar introduced himself as the Planning Manager for Public Lands. Mr. Millar shared his screen, presenting a photo of his baby, Anna, mentioning just returning from maternity leave. Mr. Millar mentioned three different upcoming donations: 1. Riverside Park Lighting— Larry H. Miller: This would extend their current funding for lighting one of the baseball fields and now Public Lands is lighting two. Mr. Wiley asked where the project was at with the lights. Mr. Millar said it is the northeast and northwest sides of the parks that will be lit. Ms. Riker said they were going to use CIP funding the purchase the lights. Ms. Riker guessed maybe next Spring for the light installation. Mr. Wiley is excited to see what this will do for fall baseball. 2. Liberty Park Basketball — Utah Jazz: This will partially pay for some of the new Liberty Park basketball courts. Demolition will start on Monday. Most of the funding will come from CIP funding. It will have a Jazz logo at the center of the court. Ms. Cannon asked how this came to fruition. Mr. Millar shared they realized the project wouldn't have everything done that they wanted to due to funding, so Public Lands began reaching out to organizations. They reached out to the Jazz because of, at the time, the All-Star Games. 3. Futsal Courts— Calle: This donation will be for goals, art, and soccer balls for the area in Sherwood Park which is a current concrete volleyball court that is under-utilized. The City will fence it to turn it into a futsal court and Calle will donate the rest. Ms. Hewson asked for clarity on what's entirely in the donation. Ms. Riker said she wasn't sure, but she thinks they will be doing the striping of the court as the group is very motivated as is the County. Calle originally wanted to use the old tennis courts at Fairmont, but Public Lands told them no because Public Lands knew they were eventually wanting to do something with that space. The Board and staff continued to discuss the Calle donation. B. Presentation of Park Ranger quarterly report. — Nicholas Frederick 15 mins Mr. Frederick shared his screen to display Q2's Park Rangers Quarterly Report. Right now, they are tracking what they are doing. He is hoping as they continue along, it will develop into something comparative over time. They have seen an increase in park visitors due to the warmer weather, their admin duties are occurring at the Carriage House, and the Rangers have been working on more educational programs and creating their policies and procedures. Their program is now over a year old, and the policies and procedures will help with onboarding new Rangers. Their three main pillars of metrics are: 1. Customer Service: The last three months have been focused on training. They brought in a trainer to provide education on dealing with de-escalation training. PARKS,NATURAL LANDS,URBAN FORESTRY AND TRAILS ADVISORY BOARD of SALT LAKE CITY Another trainer they brought on focused on peer support/team resiliency training. Another aspect of Customer Service for the ranger is providing event support. Mr. Frederick shared the data for customer service (greetings, 101%; patrol, 16%; event support, 2,333%; meetings with community partners, 1,140%; training, 21%; and services offered, -66%). 2. Public Safety: The biggest factor in Public Safety this quarter was related to the flooding that occurred.They've provided a lot of support with building sandbags. They spent a lot of time in Parley's educating people about the high running water in that area. The Rangers would also educate the public on air quality education. The Rangers now also have radios to listen in on PD and fire to be aware of what's happening in certain areas. It's only one-way, so the Rangers don't report anything via the radio. The Rangers also received a briefing about the Urban Wildfire Interface, specifically the Foothills. Ms. Binnebose asked if any of the Rangers have gone through the basic Wildfire Training. Mr. Frederick said no. Ms. Binnebose shared she used to be a coordinator. She said it could be helpful for the Rangers to have that training for basic awareness. Mr. Frederick shared the numbers for Public Safety (patrol, 16%; litter control, 135%; vandalism/graffiti, 12%; park maintenance, 247%; unhoused check-ins, -52%; connect to services, -68%; compliance-dogs, -82%; leashes, -87%). The Board and staff continued to talk about Public Safety. 3. Education: They have been working with lots of schools and youth groups. Their metrics for Education are way up (educational programming, 353%; compliance-park policies, 86%; programming/education, 51%; program development, -67%). The first anniversary of their program was in July. The Rangers were involved with the July Holidays and provided support for the Public Lands campaigns such as, Keep Your Cool and Be W.I.L.D. Ms. Cannon asked if they had a breakdown of what kind of compliance issues they are facing. Mr. Frederick said not currently, but it's something he can incorporate. Ms. Cannon was curious about this because of the e-bike issue. Mr. Frederick said it's harder to tell because you can't always tell if the motor is running, just if people are speeding through. Mr. Wiley congratulated Mr. Frederick on the program reaching a year. Mr. Wiley asked what their top three priorities are for this next quarter. Mr. Frederick said the standard operating procedures, trying to keep turnover numbers down, and the public programming. The Board and staff continued to discuss the Park Rangers. C. CIP discussion. —Tom Millar 20 mins Mr. Millar explained that the Capital Improvement Program is one of the only ways that the City and constituents within the City can apply for funds that come from the General Fund to fund Capital Improvement Projects. It is something that doesn't exist already, has a useful life of five years, and costs at least $50,000. Mr. Millar reminded the Board that in June he asked for any ideas they may have for a project based on their experience in their communities or applications that have come through in the past that didn't get funded or ones that need more money. The Planning Team consolidated project ideas from PNUT, Parks Divisions, PLACES Group, the engineering division, and the Trails and Natural Lands team. Staff then scored the projects. Ms. Riker asked if the scoring criteria could be explained. Ms. Maus explained that these projects haven't gone through their official scoring criteria but were an additional round to better flesh out some of the projects. Some of the criteria were the department where the project came from, the likelihood of it being PARKS,NATURAL LANDS,URBAN FORESTRY AND TRAILS ADVISORY BOARD(/-SALT LAKE,CITY funded, and time criticality. Fives were the highest priority items and ones were the lowest. Next staff will take these projects through another scoring system, which will include factors like equitable distribution throughout the City, Council District locations, efficiencies with other projects that are currently happening, and what was discussed last year. Mr. Millar shared his screen to display the 19 projects. Mr. Millar asked for feedback from the Board. They won't be applying for 19 projects. Ms. Cannon asked if this was the full list. Mr. Millar said no, it's the projects staff has consolidated. Ms. Nakamura clarified that this doesn't include projects submitted by community members. Mr. Millar said yes, and that the staff doesn't get to decide if the application gets submitted, the staff has to work on the application regardless. Ms. Riker explained that column D "IF Eligible" is important because the staff has close to $20 million in Impact Fees that could be used to help cover some of these projects. The Board and staff continued to discuss CIP funding sources. Ms. Cannon asked if there was a way to determine which district these projects are in. Mr. Millar added another column listing the project's district. Ms. Maus clarified that with this first round, they tried to focus on projects that would benefit the entire City. Ms. Cannon observed that some of the projects are multiples from years prior. The Board and staff discussed some of the projects. Mr. Wiley suggested including the usage of each space as a factor into which projects should be funded. Mr. Millar agreed, and he is working on making the Board's prioritization ranking a little easier. This is just the first step in flushing out these projects and what the staff has done so far. Mr. Millar will have a more in-detailed list for the Board to review in October. The Board and staff continued to discuss CIP. The Board and staff discussed the Golf-related project, taking inventory out of Golf and placing it into Public Lands, and building new parks. Ms. Finch asked about a recent news article regarding new positions at Public Lands. Ms. Riker shared that around 11 new positions were created for Parks and Trails and Natural Lands. Public Lands asked to convert some funds into the Operations fund because they have $200 million in projects and adding another $2 million in projects wouldn't be as helpful as allocating those funds into Operational dollars. The Board and staff continued to discuss staffing. Ms. Cannon said that based on the list of projects Mr. Millar shared with them tonight, she doesn't see anything missing. Ms. Cannon observed the only districts she doesn't see are Districts 4 & 6, but she understands that the Citywide projects could touch those. Mr. Millar reminded the Board that there are two projects in District 4 from the GO Bond, but they can add projects to this list still. The Board and staff discussed constituent applications and the possible overlap with internal applications. Ms. Binnebose requested for the next time staff shared CIP with the Board include a column with how the projects are tied to the Reimagine Nature Plan. Mr. Millar said yes with the goal listed, not just "yes" or "no". The Board and staff continued to discuss CIP. D. Allen Park Presentation. — Katherine Maus 10 mins Ms. Maus introduced herself as one of the Parks Planners. Ms. Maus shared her screen to display the Allen Park-Adaptive Reuse and Management Plan. Public Lands received funding PARKS,NATURAL LANDS,URBAN FORESTRY AND TRAILS ADVISORY BOARD of SALT LAKE CITY in 2021 for Allen Park. There are 15 structures they are needing to figure out how to manage and maintain the historical and ecological wellness of this park. A cultural landscape report has been published which shows an inventory of everything in the park and treatment recommendations for the future. This concluded at the end of last year.The second input with be community engagement. Some of the goals for this park are: - Save large, natural open space from development. - Preserve an important cultural resource. - Protect and enhance Emigration Creek and its riparian corridor. - Preserve the potential to connect trails through Allen Park-there are a few opportunities to improve access to the park from multiple points, including the surrounding trail systems. - Create a new park with active community use. - Consider national historic landmark designation. Some of the key factors being considered in the planning process are: 1. Preserve and enhance riparian and stream habitats. 2. Achieve City's sustainability and equity goals and policies. 3. Respond to community vision and goals. 4. Be fiscally responsible for capital investment and ongoing maintenance. 5. Provide for physical safety and preservation of structures. Ms. Maus highlighted the project timeline. They are aiming to wrap up phase 2 of this project in the Fall of 2023. Public Lands has contracted three different firms to help with this process as well as internal stakeholders. A Community Advisory Committee is representing different key groups with what the community wants to see for the space. The public engagement process started in June, and this will all be open until September. Ms. Maus continued to discuss community engagement. She shared information on how to get involved with this project and places to find more information. The Board and staff continued to discuss Allen Park and community engagement. E. Foothills updates and discussion. —Tyler Fonarow 10 mins Mr. Fonarow introduced himself as the Trails and Recreational Manager. Once they have the final reports from their consultants, he hopes to do a more in-depth update for the Board. Mr. Fonarow shared his screen to display the Salt Lake City Foothills Natural Area &Trail System landing page. The Trails plan was launched in 2020, and since then around 15 miles of trails were created. Based on some feedback, the Mayor put a pause on building trails. The main page has lots of great information on current projects, trail updates, and trail plans. The Trails Plan tab has information from SWCA and SE Group, two consultants Public Lands brought on board. Mr. Fonarow explained the work these consultant groups did. He invited the Board to review all the information online. Mr. Fonarow shared that the 2020 plan was a good outline, but it was missing a lot of content; it was a lot of talk, but it didn't provide the steps and procedures for the execution. Another contract with SE Group started today for additional communication support. For example, the Master Plan signage missed out on opportunities for the Foothills, so they are working on adding an amendment to the Trails Plan. Mr. Fonarow shared some high-level takeaways from the consultants from the original plan in 2020 and putting more focus on the maintenance of the Foothills. Mr. Fonarow continued to discuss the Foothills trails and consultant findings. Public Lands is also working to prepare the Mayor's Office ahead of time once things really get moving. Mr. PARKS,NATURAL LANDS,URBAN FORESTRY AND TRAILS ADVISORY BOARD of SALT LAKE CITY Fonarow invited the Board to visit the Trails website to view all the information staff currently has posted. Ms. Finch asked what was lacking the first time around. Mr. Fonarow said he thinks it was a lack of experience. Ms. Riker said they relied too heavily on the trail builders and their experience, so like Mr. Fonarow said, a lack of experience in Public Lands, wasn't a lack of money. Mr. Fonarow said they are focusing on the education side of the trails, like the Be W.L.D. campaign and having Park Rangers in the Foothills. The Board and staff continued to discuss the trials. Mr. Fonarow emphasized now that Public Lands is its own department, there's so much more support to focus on this. Ms. Binnebose asked what they are doing for daily updates. Mr. Fonarow said they are using their Communications Specialist to post on their social media. The Board and staff continued to discuss the trails. F. Community Engagement. —Ashlyn Larsen 5 mins Ms. Larsen shared she talked with Public Land's Community Engagement Coordinator, Minerva Jimenez-Garcia, and shared the Board was interested in being more involved with engagement events. Rather than creating another calendar for Ms. Jimenez-Garcia to update, Ms. Larsen and Ms. Jimenez-Garcia will send calendar invites to the Board members. They tested it out with Mr. Wiley and Ms. Pehrson with some upcoming events in their area. Events will be sent out based on needed support and to comply with OPMA, we will limit the number of invites sent out to Board members. Ms. Larsen will check in with Ms. Jimenez- Garcia regularly and invites will include expectations of how the Board can provide support at these events. Ms. Binnebose said she appreciated the clarity of the City events versus Community Engagement Events but focused on specific things staff needs support on. Ms. Hewson asked if they are going to run into the quorum issue. Ms. Riker said it can happen by accident, but Ms. Riker will find out more. Ms. Nakamura said as long as they're not their doing Board business, it should be fine. Ms. Riker said it just can't be a planned event.The Board and staff continued to discuss Board involvement with community engagement. Ms. Nakamura said the staff at the 24th of July event were extremely helpful. 8. Board Discussion 6:55 PM A. Subcommittee Reporting Ms. Binnebose reminded everyone to review the subcommittee folders on Google Drive. B. Board comments and question period Ms. Cannon asked if there could be a list of current subcommittees and who's on them. Ms. Binnebose suggested a spreadsheet. Ms. Riker reminded the Board they can make new subcommittees. Ms. Cannon suggested adding that as an agenda topic for next month. Ms. Hewson asked for an updated organizational chart. Ms. Larsen said there is one in the Onboarding Presentation in Google Drive. Ms. Finch requested an individual section for the organizational chart. The Board discussed their ranking process for CIP. Mr. Scrivner asked if there was a perspective date for the retreat. Ms. Binnebose suggested January. Ms. Binnebose asked Ms. Larsen to update their calendar for the longer January meeting. Ms. Riker asked Ms. Larsen to look into reserving the Memorial House again. Ms. Cannon suggested Fisher Mansion. C. Next meeting: September 7, 2023 PARKS,NATURAL LANDS,URBAN FORESTRY AND TRAILS ADVISORY BOARD of SALT LAKE CITY D. Request for future agenda items - Spreadsheet of current subcommittees and ideas for new subcommittees. - CIP on the Westside, what's being worked on, how the community can help, and projects. - Demo run-through of the Board's current process of CIP for newer Board members and time to take suggestions. 9. Adjourn 7:15 PM Ms. Cannon motioned to adjourn the meeting. Ms. Nakamura seconded the motion. The Board unanimously voted to adjourn the meeting.