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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1993-03 03/29 REG MIN tf I , CITY OF ASHLAND PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION :R.EJGt.JLAR. ~-rING MINUTES March 29, 1993 Vice-Chair Alsing called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. at 340 S. Pioneer Street. ATTENDANCE : Present: Absent: Al Alsing, Tom Pyle, Teri Coppedge, Wes Reynolds, Ken Mickelsen, Councillor Hauck Pat Adams I. ADDITIONS OR DELETIONS TO THE AGENDA Vice-Chair Alsing indicated that he would like to place a discussion concerning developing a foundation for parks under New Business. II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A. Re2U1ar Meetin2 - February 24. 1993 Commissioner Coppedge indicated that the minutes read on the motion to approve the minutes of the January meeting that Commissioner Alsing both moved and seconded the approval. The minutes should read that Commissioner Reynolds made the 'motion. Commissioner Pyle made a motion to approve the minutes of the February 24, 1993 meeting as corrected. Commissioner Coppedge seconded. The vote was: 4 yes - 0 no III. BILLS AND FINANCES A. Approval of previous month's disbursements Commissioner Reynolds made a motion to approve the previous month's disbursements as indicated by Payables checks i~746l - 7554 in the amount of $77,267.27 and Payroll checks #6040 - 6095 in the amount of $32,529.33. Commissioner Pyle seconded. The vote was: 4 yes - 0 no IV. AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION ON mE AGENDA A; Ashland Gun Club reQuestin2 extension of lease Bill Lambe, President of the Ashland Gun Club, was present 1n the audience to request that the Commission grant an extension of the Gun Club's lease for the Lithia Springs site beyond March 31, 1998 when it is currently scheduled to expire. He explained that the Gun Club is applying for a grant from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife for improvements to the site such as restroom facilities, improved boundary fencing, and additional concrete work and shelter. The grant requires that the facility remain in use for a minimum of 10 years after the improvements are completed. Because the Gun Club's lease for the site currently expires in five years, the Club is asking that the lease be renewed at this time for an additional 10 to 20 years so that it can qualify for the grant. . Ashland Parks and Recreation Commission Re~lar Meetin~ - March 29. 1993 Page 2 Ashland Gun Club lease - continued The Commission reviewed.a memorandum from staff outlining the history of the Gun Club's sub-lease of the property from the Commission which has a lease from the City which also expires in March of 1998. After some general discussion concerning the proposed improvements which the Gun Club would like to make, Commissioner Pyle inquired of Director Mickelsen why the Commission leases the land from the City and, then sub-leases to the Gun Club. Director Mickelsen said that it was his understanding that back in 1968 when the City first leased the property to the Commission that the reasoning was, that the Commission could administer the land for "recreational" purposes. As to why it was not dedicated as park land, he believed that the City chose to keep ownership of the property because that is the location of the Lithia springs. Commissioner Alsing inquired as to how much park staff time is involved with administering the site. Director Mickelsen responded that perhaps once a year staff will go to the site to look it over but that the Gun Club has been very responsible in taking care of the area. Commissioner Alsing said he had one concern and that was that if there was going to be any building done on the site that it probably should be approved by the City and not the Commission since the City is the actual owner of the site. Commissioner Reynolds indicated that he was not very familiar with the site and felt that he needed to become more familiar prior to acting on the request. General consensus among the Commissioners was that before they acted on the request that they would like to tour the site. Mr. Lambe indicated that he would be happy to show the Commissioners the facility at any time indicating that on April 13th the Club would be holding an open house. The Commissioners decided to meet with Mr. Lambe on the site at 4:00 p.m. that day. MOTION Commenting on the need to proceed in ~ timely manner, Commissioner Reynolds made a motion to request a discussion of the Lithia Springs site lease agreement be placed on the City Council agenda. Commissioner Coppedge seconded. Commissioner Pyle indicated that he would like to find out whether or not the Council wanted to continue this leasing arrangement with ~he Commission and, if so, why. Commissioner Reynolds said that since the Commission could not extend the sub-lease agreement with the Gun Club without the City also extending the lease with the Commission that it made sense to get on the Council's agenda to discuss the topic. The vote was: 4 yes - 0 no . Ashland Parks and Recreation Commission Regular Meetin2 - March 29. 1993 Page 3 VI. OLD BUSINESS A. Marketplace - Calle Guanaiuato Director Mickelsen indicated that Mr. MilIus was in the audience and understood that he would like to speak to the Conmission. Mr. Millus, the individual whose proposal to operate the marketplace on Calle Guanajuato was selected by the Commission at the previous meeting, indicated to the Commissioners that he felt that they deserved a personal explanation as to why he had withdrawn his proposal. Mr. MilIus said that although department staff had been very cooperative in working with hi~ that the agreement which he had been asked to sign was very "open ended" meaning that under the agreement the Commission or Department could add so called "addendums" and make changes from week to week. He also said that from the time he was awarded ,the bid until the time he made known his decision to decline the contract that he had received a "rashing out from the crafters" indicating that he and his wife had been receiving harassing telephone calls into the late night hours. He said that it was strictly his decision to pullout, that he and his wife decided it just was not for them, and that he appreciated the Commission's consideration in the matter. Stan Dew (273 Steinman Drive), a crafter, said that he had participated in the Marketplace when operated by Judie Bunch and he did not understand why "people would change horses in mid-stream" when everything was operating alright anyway. Considering the MilIus' decision to reject the three-year contract for operation of a the marketplace on Calle Guanajuato, the Commission discussed its options in choosing a marketplace operator. In considering how to proceed, the Commissioners generally felt that. in order for the marketplace to begin operation in May this year, that the marketplace operator needed to be chosen as soon as possible. Commissioner Pyle inquired about a portion of a staff memorandum referring to an "artisan's co-op". Director Mickelsen indicated that he had been contacted by a group of crafters who had expressed interest in developing a non-profit organization com~osed of crafters who might organize with the purpose of running the marketplace. Jim Young (1102 Holton Road, Talent), a crafter, was present 1n the audience. He indicated that a group of crafters had met to discuss the possibility of establishing a "co-op" which might run the marketplace on Calle Guanajuato. He indicated that, from the crafters' point of view, that perhaps this kind of organization could give the marketplace more stability in that the Commission might be willing to contract with a non-profit organization for longer than three years. He said that ~ Ashland Parks and Recreation Commission Re~lar Meetin~ - March 29. 1993 Page 4 Marketplace on Calle - continued the Portland and Eugene 'marketplaces operated successfully as a non- profit without the upheaval of perhaps changing managers everyone to three years. He also indicated that, even if the crafters chose to develop this kind of organization, he did not believe that there would be sufficient time this year for the group to become the marketplace operator. Commissioner Pyle inquired as to the thinking of the other two persons who had submitted proposals. Jerry Bunch, speaking for Judie Bunch, indicated that after running the marketplace for seven years she considers it her own business and that the Commission has taken that away. She cannot understand why this would be done when it was running smoothly and was in good shape financially. He said that he did not believe that a co-op would be an efficient way to run the marketplace because all decisions would have to be taken to committee whereas a sole proprietor can make their own decisions. Tom and Marsha Wilson, past editors of the Crafts Advocate, said that they were present in the audience on behalf of the Cuffney's who could not be there because of a family emergency. Mr. Wilson said that he personally for a long time felt that the marketplace operation on Calle should be a co-op but that he no longer felt that way. He did not believe a co-op would work because the size of the operation on Calle could not afford the overhead of a co-op run organization. He said that he was also surprised that the Commission had found no difference in the three proposals submitted stating that the Cuffney's proposal was far superior in his opinion; that the Cuffney's proposal included the concept of allowing the crafters to revolve with spaces whereas Judie Bunch's operation was more like a private club. He said that if the Commission was primarily interested in generating revenue that the Cuffney's 3% would generate more revenue that the MilIus' 5% in that it would be much better run. Bringing the topic to discussion among the Commissioners, Vice-Chair Alsing inquired as to whether or not the Commission chose to make some kind of decision at this meeting or to re-bid the proposals. He said that if the Commission chose to re-bid the proposals, he felt that a formula for weighting the criteria for selection of an operator should be used. Commissioner Pyle agreed with the concept of having the Commission weight the different criteria so that the Commission would have a better method for selection among the proposals. He also said that he was concerned about the length of time it' ,would take to re-bid and still have the marketplace operating in a timely manner. Vice-Chair Alsing inquired of staff how long it would take to re-bid proposals and bring the results back to the Commission. Director Mickelsen said that it could be done by the next Regular Meeting at the end of April. Vice-Chair Alsing suggested that because of the timeliness of needing a decision that the Commission could consider MOTION MOTION MOTION MOTION MOTION Ashland Parks and Recreation Commission Regular Meetin2 - March 29. 1993 Page 5 Marketplace on Calle - continued rejecting the current proposals and offering a contract toMs. Bunch for one year only. Co~ssioner Coppedge said that she felt that the Commission should go back to the original bids and did not feel that the Commission should select another option without opening the process up to the public again. Several comments from the audience indicated that the crafters felt that beginning marketplace operations in a timely manner this year was important. Commissioner Pyle made a motion to reject the other two proposals submitted for the three year contract, to offer Judie Bunch a one year contract based on this year's guidelines set forth by the Commission and Ms. Bunch's proposal based on a fee of 2% on the gross income generated from sales, and to have the Commission continue to study process for selecting a marketplace operator/promoter in the future. Commissioner Reynolds seconded. In discussion, Commissioner Pyle indicated that he believed that offering Ms. Bunch the operation of the marketplace for this year would be the most expedient means of allowing the marketplace get going this year. The vote was: 3 yes - 1 no (Coppedge) B. Review bids for equipment and forestry work Having reviewed the bids received for several items, Commissioners made the following motions: For the playground equipment bid, Director Mickelsen said that the low bidder, Miracle Recreation Equipment Company, had not met specifications for the equipment. He recommended that the Commission accept the bid from the second bidder. Commissioner Coppedge made a motion to accept the bid from Park and Playground Products without the spiral slide for a total bid price of $ 6,268. Commissioner Pyle keconded. The vote was:. 4 yes - 0 no Commissioner Reynolds made a motion to award the bid to construct a shaded fuel brake to Grayback Forestry Contracting, Inc. in the amount of $11,817.50. Commissioner Pyle seconded. The vote was: 4 yes - 0 no Commissioner Pyle made a motion to accept the bid for a dump truck bed unit from Advanced Truck Body and Equipment Company for the total bid price of $3,984.50. Commissioner Reynolds seconded. The vote was: 4 yes - 0 no Co~ssioner Coppedge made a motion to accept the bid for a tractor- drawn aerator from Farwest Equipment Company for a total bid price of $ 3,995. Commissioner Reynolds seconded. The vote was: 4 yes - 0 no Ashland Parks and Recreation Commission ReRular MeetinR - March 29. 1993 Page 6 OLD BUSINESS - continued C. Aooroval of deed for Railroad Park The Commission having reviewed a memorandum from the City Attorney regarding the Preliminary Title and Bargain and Sale Deed for the Railroad Park, Commissioner Reynolds questioned whether or not it would be worthwhile for the Commission to "dig up" or move some of the debris on the site and have DEQ investigate whatever may be hidden by these objects prior to accepting the deed. He said that as he reads the memorandum from Mr. Nolte that.DEQ had advised SP that SP is not required to perform any further cleanup but that that does not necessarily mean that DEQ would not require any further cleanup at any time -- perhaps at City expense. He said that perhaps the City would like a little more certainty that we will not run into any problems before taking title. MOTION Commissioner Reynolds made a motion to recommend to the City Council to proceed with efforts to obtain title to the Railroad Park site with a further recommendation to proceed with caution encouraging the Council to determine whether or not the City could obtain additional certainty that there are no hazards on the property. Commissioner Coppedge seconded. The vote was: 4 yes - 0 no VII. NEW BUSINESS A. Park Patrol staffinR The Commission reviewed a memorandum from staff which outlined the proposal to create a Central Area Patrol Officer within the Ashland Police Department who would be assigned to organize and supervise the Park Patrol, assist in patrolling Lithia Park four to five months out of the year, and, on a year-round basis assist in particular park related law enforcement problems. Director Mickelsen indicated that the Commission had allocated the fund to support half of this police department position in the upcoming 1993-94 budget. Lieutenant Mel Clements was present in the audience to answer questions regarding this new position if approved. Commissioner Pyle indicated that the Parks Department would be paying for 50% of the officer's time when the officer would not be spending 50% of his/her time on park business since the officer would also be patrolling part of the downtown area and only actually working in the parks four to five months of the year. Director Mickelsen said that even though the time was not allocated 50/50 that, in staff's opinion, Parks would be receiving 50% of the value of the officer's time because that officer would be responsible for organizing, hiring, and coordinating park patrol as well as being the officer particularly responsible for learning about and dealing with specific park related issues on a year-round basis. Lieutenant Clements said that during the Ashland Parks and Recreation Commission Regular Meetin2 - March 29. 1993 Page 7 Park Patrol Officer - continued four to five months that the officer would be assigned to the CAP area that 50% of that time, five days a week, would be spent patrolling Lithia Park or the outer parks as well as supervising the Park Patrol. On the CAP officers day off, another police officer would be assigned to the area so that Parks would actually receive the coverage seven days a week. He added that in recent years the Park Patrol has just been an added burden to the patrol sergeant who did not really have adequate time to train and supervise. Developing and training Park Patrol would be a primary function of the CAP officer. Commissioner Alsing expressed the same concern as Commissioner Pyle as to the percent of coverage parks would be receiving. Commissioner Pyle said it that even if the officer was spending 50% of hi~ time in Lithia Park during the summer that the trade off was that the other 50% would be spent downtown rather than in the outer parks. Lieutenant Clements explained that the officer would focus his/her time where needed. If, because of Park Patrol coverage, it was more important for the officer to shift some time to the new Garfield Park or Hunter Park, the officer would do so. He said, however, that the downtown foot patrol officer has been very important to the Police Department in that many of the problems which are associated with the front of Lithia Park are also on the plaza and in the shop areas at the core of downtown". One officer familiar with the entire area would be most effective in working with the problem as a whole. Commissioner Reynold~ said that.with the addition of new parks into the system that perhaps the Commission will need to address additional coverage throughout the parks system at some point in time. Lieutenant Clements said that in his opinion this could possibly be the first step towards a full~time officer devoted to parks. MOTION After some further discussion of particulars, Commissioner Reynolds made a motion to accept the proposal for funding the CAP officer as pres'ented. Commissioner Coppedge seconded. Commissioner Pyle said that he had a philosophical problem with having the Parks ,Department pay for police protection. It seemed to him that the citizens should pay for this through a police levy rather than with the parks levy. The vote was: 3 yes - 1 no (Pyle) B. Creatin2 a foundation for parks Commissioner Alsing said that he was interested in pursuing the concept of creating a foundation 'for the parks system. He said that he would' like to investigate the particulars of how such a foundation could be set up and asked the Commission's approval to proceed. The other Commissioners indicated that they would have no problem with Commissioner Alsing investigating the how-to's of creating such a foundation. . Ashland Parks and Recreation Commission Reaular Meetin~ - March 29. 1993 Page 8 VIII. CORRESPONDENCE, COMMUNICATIONS, DIRECTOR'S REPORT A. Use of parks for promotional activities Director Mickelsen reported that recently the department had received three requests to use Lithia Park for promotional advertising photo shoots. One from a local business, one from a Korean airlines, and one from Eddie Bauer for their catalogue. Commission policy has consistently been that no commercial ventures will be allowed in Lithia Park. Considering the recent level of interest, staff inquired as to whether or not the Commission would like to re-evaluate current policy. Strong consensuS among the Commissioners was to adhere to current policy which prohibits using Lithia Park for promotional/commercial activities indicating that they wanted to keep the park available to the general public for use with such interference. However, the Commission did indicate that if staff would like to investigate the concept of a policy whereby portions of the park could be used for promotional activities which could generate income for the department without impacting greatly on the use of the park by the general public that staff could do so. B. Report on trucks from Safety Committee Director Mickelsen reported to the Commission that the Safety Committee had brought to the department's attention the fact that the department owns two Chevrolet trucks which have the gas tanks mounted ~utside the frame and which have made the news of late as to their possible hazard upon collision. Although no official recall of the vehicles has occurred, the Safety Committee has reported that some members of the staff have expressed concern about using the vehicles. He said that the 1973 Chevy is scheduled for replacement in the 1993-94 budget. The 1986 1/2 ton truck is not currently scheduled for replacement. MOTION After some discussion, Commissioner Coppedge made a motion requesting staff to replace the 1973 truck promptly after the first of the fiscal year. and to sell or trade in the 1986 truck and purchase another vehicle of approximately the same year or slightly newer. Commissioner Pyle seconded. The vote was: 4 yes - 0 no C. Letter from Tavler Foundation Board Director Mickelsen advised the Commission that he had received a letter from the Fred Tayler Foundation Board regarding the Reservoir Area Project which indicated that in the future the board wanted all work completed on a project prior to applying for Tayler funds. IX. ITEMS FROM COMMISSIONERS Commissioner Reynolds indicated that he would like to have a study session scheduled so that Commissioners and staff would have the opportunity to discuss some general ideas for future planning for the parks system. The other Commissioners concurred that this would be appropriate. Commissioner Reynolds also expressed concern that the . Ashland Parks and Recreation Commission Regular MeetinR - March 29. 1993 Page 9 ITEMS PROM COMMISSIONERS - continued Co~ssion keep in touch with the wetlands issue but said that at this point in time he did not believe he had the time to do so. Commissioner Coppedge said that she would like to keep in touch with that issue. In general discussion, the Commission also decided to try to contact Jim Davis, the creator of Garfield. the Cat, to determine whether or not it would be feasible to have a likeness of Garfield placed at Garfield Park. Commissioner Pyle indicated that he would draft a letter to the appropriate party. Commissioner Pyle advised the Commission that at the June meeting he would be turning in his resignation indicating that he would not be able to complete his term of office because of taking a sabbatical leave which would keep him out of Ashland for some time. He said that his last meeting would be in July. X. NEXT MONTH'S AGENDA The Commission scheduled a Study Session for Wednesday, April 14, 1993 at 7:00 p.m. and the next Regular Meeting for Tuesday, April 27, 1993. XI. ADJOURNMENT With no further business, Vice-Chair A1sing adjourned the meeting. ' Respectfully submitted, /L:J ~ Ann Benedict, Management Assistant Ashland Parks and Recreation Department 1:\MINUTES\MARCH.93