HomeMy WebLinkAbout2005-0627 Joint SS MIN
CITY OF ASHLAND
Ashland City Council, Ashland School Board,
and Ashland Parks and Recreation Commission
JOINT STUDY SESSION
MINUTES
June 27, 2005
ATTENDANCE
Present: City Councilors A. Amarotico, Chapman, Hartzell, Jackson, Silbiger; Mayor Morrison;
School Board members Amrhein, Littleton, Marr, Parker; Parks Commissioners D.
Amarotico, Eggers, Gardiner, Lewis, Rosenthal.
Absent: City Councilor Hardesty; School Board members Alexander and Patton
Staff: City Administrator Grimaldi; School Superintendent DiChiro; Parks Director
Robertson
Moderator: Mayor Morrison
Notetaker: Parks Director Robertson
WELCOME AND INTRODUCTIONS
Gardiner called the joint study session to order at 7:00 p.m. at the Ashland Senior Center, 1699
Homes Avenue, welcoming all present. He invited members of the City Council, School Board, and
Parks Commission to introduce themselves to those in attendance.
AGENDA REVIEW
The group reviewed both of the proposed agendas and agreed to use the agenda submitted by
Councilor Hartzell.
BRIEF UPDATE BY EACH ELECTED BODY
Morrison [who arrived shortly after the start of the meeting] asked the group to voice their most
pressing concerns about the future of the city. Each elected official spoke of at least two issues;
Robertson recorded each in turn.
Issues included affordable housing, co-housing, homelessness, the future of Briscoe and Lincoln
Schools and playgrounds, short- and long-term open space plans, senior services, city
demographics, transportation, safety and security at schools and school events, traffic safety,
pedestrian safety, increasing the number of employment opportunities within the city, formalizing
agreements between the three elected bodies, rising housing costs, land costs, energy
conservation and consumption, and others.
PUBLIC INPUT
Morrison opened the floor to the public, inviting attendees to express concerns to the group.
Bryan Holley, 324 Liberty Street, read a statement on behalf of the Ashland Tree Commission [of
which he is a member] regarding the importance of resuming and maintaining a proper irrigation
regimen for the health and well-being of the trees at Briscoe and Lincoln School playgrounds.
Jim Young, 265 N. Main Street, spoke on behalf of the Lithia Arts Guild [of which he is the chair]
about the success of the Arts Festival, a Lithia Arts Guild fundraiser held on June 11 on the front
lawn of Briscoe School. He stated that the fundraiser was a new way of using open space to
communicate with the public, and he advocated for finding other creative ways to use both the
Briscoe and Lincoln school grounds for educational and entrepreneurial endeavors.
Joint Study Session – June 27, 2005
Page
2
PUBLIC INPUT, Cont’d.
Melissa Mitchell-Hooge, 271 High Street, read a prepared statement on behalf of the “Save Our
Schools and Playgrounds” Committee, [for which she serves as president]. She reported that
SOSP is currently researching towns around the nation that are facing similar challenges as
Ashland [with respect to the declining numbers of children entering public schools each year]. She
listed a number of issues affecting SOSP and the citizens of Ashland, and expressed deep concern
about the need to restore water to the Briscoe and Lincoln School grounds and trees.
Zane Jones, 227 W. Hersey Street, a neighbor of Briscoe School, requested that water be
restored to the school grounds. He also spoke about the need to properly maintain the grounds
and asked that the School Board and the Parks Commission continue to work together to jointly
resolve issues of mutual concern.
Rivers Brown, 1064 Asland Street, spoke about the special qualities within Ashland and the need
to maintain neighborhood schools, as they may be needed in the future.
Paul Copeland of Ashland expressed urgent concern about the need to resume watering the two
school grounds.
Phil Miller of Ashland talked about finding creative solutions for the schools’ watering needs.
DISCUSSION AND SELECTION OF TOPICS FOR COOPERATION / NEXT STEPS
Staff volunteered to type the list of issues and concerns and a representative was appointed from
each elected body as the conduit through information would flow. Designated representatives
include:
Heidi Parker, Ashland School Board
?
Cate Hartzell, Ashland City Council
?
Mike Gardiner, Ashland Parks and Recreation Commission
?
The group set a follow-up meeting date of Thursday, July 28, 2005, at 7:00 PM – place TBD. At
that time, the list will be sorted and priorities will be set.
ADJOURNMENT – With no further business, Morrison adjourned the meeting at 9:00 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Susan Dyssegard
Ashland Parks and Recreation
Joint Study Session with City Council, School Board, and Parks Commission
June 27, 2005 @ 7:00 PM
Ashland Senior Center
1699 Homes Avenue
List of Priorities and Goals
? Review open space and trails issues.
? Consider housing issues.
? Improve maintenance of playgrounds.
? Create co-housing awareness and other housing issues (eco-village).
? Review uses of School District property, including parks and playgrounds.
? Plan holistically – consider impacts on schools, plan and coordinate between all
three elected bodies.
? Develop strategies to increase enrollment in schools district-wide.
? Consider ways to retain Lincoln School as an educational site.
? Find resolution on Briscoe/Lincoln School playgrounds issue.
? Revisit short and long-term Open Space Plan properties – what’s fresh/what’s
stale?
? Provide more services for seniors (growing population within the city).
? Keep Briscoe and Lincoln as neighborhood parks in order to maintain the goal of
providing a neighborhood park within ¼-mile of every resident in Ashland.
? Find solutions to declining enrollment in schools / provide more affordable
housing.
? Coordinate between elected boards in placing bond initiatives on upcoming
ballots.
? Secure Briscoe and Lincoln as neighborhood parks and target other parks and
open spaces for future needs of community.
? Transportation: make it easy and affordable to use public transportation around
town.
Page 1 of 4
Joint Study Session with City Council, School Board, and Parks Commission
June 27, 2005 @ 7:00 PM
Ashland Senior Center
1699 Homes Avenue
List of Priorities and Goals
? Manage growth of changing demographics; provide affordable housing options.
? Provide more services to youth within community; use holistic planning to
achieve this.
? Improve coordination and communication between Parks Dept. and City Council.
? Fund the Parks Commission/City Council’s Open Space Plan.
? Consider potential tax impacts on citizens when making decisions as elected
officials.
? Create symbiotic relationship between schools and public (retain schools as public
property).
? Increase security measures at schools (both during school hours and while the
buildings are closed) and at school events.
? Maintain a diverse population.
? Improve quantity and variety of community service projects.
? Proactively reach out to students and youth.
? Promote local manufacturers/employers to operate businesses in Ashland; show
young people “how to stay in this town.”
? Look at land holdings; find affordable housing options.
? Promote partnerships for workforce housing.
? Take steps to formalize agreements between City Council / School Board / Parks
Commission.
? Review housing inventory within community – what can one get for the price?
? Improve drinking/driving prevention efforts; brainstorm ways to prevent
drug/alcohol-related fatalities.
Page 2 of 4
Joint Study Session with City Council, School Board, and Parks Commission
June 27, 2005 @ 7:00 PM
Ashland Senior Center
1699 Homes Avenue
List of Priorities and Goals
? Improve traffic safety.
? Consider increasing the number of public restrooms in the downtown area;
brainstorm ways to prevent vandalism at those facilities.
? Cooperatively provide programs for youth in area (Parks Dept. and schools).
? Work on alleviating or controlling costs for PERS.
? Make efforts to control land costs.
? Create more opportunities / options for public arts and public performance space.
? Promote greater coordination between other large employers/governing bodies in
the area, including SOU and Jackson County Commissioners.
? Work on controlling energy consumption and conservation.
? Redefine “the good life.”
? Work together to lobby state legislature to allow the City of Ashland to secure
SDCs for schools.
? Find ways to alleviate homelessness.
? Foster communication with citizens about what we do / how our work impacts the
community.
? Use City Source newsletter to communicate the work of the School Board.
? Partner with the City to advertise “green fuel” buses; promote them to the general
public.
? Make more effort to lobby regionally.
? Promote strong individual to community-wide communication; check attitudes
toward what we think we need: are those things “best” for the community as a
whole?
Page 3 of 4
Joint Study Session with City Council, School Board, and Parks Commission
June 27, 2005 @ 7:00 PM
Ashland Senior Center
1699 Homes Avenue
List of Priorities and Goals
? Create solution for grounds keeping needs at schools.
? Consider development of a demographic goal or ideal: How many kids is
“enough”?
Public Input: Goals of staff and community members
? Consider economic development / impacts
? Develop a long-term vision that will be shared City-wide.
? Create contingency plan: React to proposals that may perforate urban growth
boundary.
? Meet monthly with three elected groups; work on making progress with goals.
? Review urban growth boundary.
? Coordinate properties / services for community members.
? Market Ashland to young, committed families with entrepreneurial spirit.
? Maintain high quality of water in local creeks and the watershed.
? Redefine public education; take a bigger look at public education – extend it
beyond schools.
? Create connected trails system.
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