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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPRC Agenda 04032024 AGENDA Orange County Parks and Recreation Council Natalie Ziemba, Chair; Andrea Zimmerman,Vice-Chair; Casey Collins; Chris Colvin;-Louise Flinn; Rod Jones, Gina Reyman; Trevor Robinson; Xilong Zhao; Lilly Kohout(YD). April 3, 2024 6:30 p.m. Note Location: Solid Waste Center Meeting Room 1207 Eubanks Road Chapel Hill, NC Time Item Title 6:30 I. Call to Order 6:32 II. Report of the Chair a. Chair Comments b. Appointments c. Additions or Changes to the Agenda 6:40 III. New Business a. Approval of Meeting Summaries — February 7, March 6 b. P&R Projects in the Manager's Recommended FY 2024-34 Capital Investment Plan (Attachment 1) c. Recreation Programs and Events Update (Attachment 2) 7:45 IV. Old Business a. P&R Master Plan 2030 Mid-Plan Review - Update 7:50 V. Report of the Director a. Updates 7:55 VI. Council and Committee Reports a. Intergovernmental Parks Work Group (next mtg April 10) b. Items from the Council / Sharing of Volunteer Opportunities 8:00 VII. Adjournment Next Meeting: May 1 (Cookout - Blackwood Farm Park) Draft Meeting Summary— Parks and Recreation Council February 7th, 2024 Bonnie B. Davis Center, Hillsborough Members Present: Andrea Zimmerman (Vice-Chair), Mikki Fleming, Xilong Zhao, Chris Colvin, Louise Flinn, Trevor Robinson Members Absent: Rod Jones, Grayson Shinn, Gina Reyman, Natalie Ziemba, Lilly Kohout Staff: David Stancil, Abby Mattingly Co-Chair Andrea Zimmerman called the meeting to order at 6:33pm. Report of the Chair: a. Chair Comments—Chair Natalie Ziemba was out of the country, and Vice-Chair Andrea Zimmerman conducted the meeting. David Stancil informed the group that Natalie Ziemba would be attending the annual report presentation next week with him to deliver the council's annual work plan results to the Board of County Commissioners. b. Changes to the agenda— No changes were made. New Business: A. Approval of December 6 Meeting Summary- No changes were made. Zimmerman moved to approve the meeting summary; Xilong Zhao seconded. All in favor, none opposed, motion carried. B. Appointment Recommendations: Abby Mattingly reminded the council of the open seats and of their recent recommendation to the BOCC, which will be examined at their next work session. Since the council has not received any applications from Little River Township, the group was only able to address the vacant At-Large position. Zimmerman began the conversation by bringing attention to an applicant with a background in earth science and leadership. Louise Flinn suggested leaning towards an applicant with a background in recreation, considering the recent conversations in ensuring both parks and recreation have prominent advocates on the council. Mikki Fleming suggested an applicant with a background in recreation who had been addressed as a potential recommendation in prior meetings. Zimmerman mentioned that the council might want to consider the dates that individuals applied when considering if an applicant would still be interested in the position. Zimmerman moved to recommend Gregory Husketh, Flinn seconded, all in favor, none opposed, motion carried. Staff will reach out to Husketh to ensure his continued interest in the position before formally recommending him to the BOCC for consideration. C. Potential Capital Investment Plan Reductions (BOCC Retreat): Stancil shared some of the outcomes of the BOCC annual retreat where they considered upcoming capital funding needs, especially of the schools. Stancil shared some of the bond scenarios discussed and some of the things in the county facilities plan identified as needs for the County and could potentially be included within the Capital Investment Plan (CIP). One of the items relevant to the council in that list is the inclusion of a new Central Recreation Center. As a part of this funding scenario, they are looking at reductions in the existing CIP, while this is just a proposal that came before the Commissioners, there is a consideration to reduce several existing projects by $17 million. The majority of the projects under this current consideration are parks and open space projects. The projects reviewed under these considered reductions would be deferred to the year 2035 or later. One element that the PRC would be interested in would be the delay in construction of the two large soccer projects—Soccer.com expansion and Millhouse Road Park. The county has a deficit of available soccer fields, and reducing the budget allocation to these projects could postpone new field construction. Stancil added that while addressing the growing need for school improvements was clearly a high priority for the Commissioners, no formal action was taken during the retreat to commit to these specific proposed reductions. The CIP will be presented in April and public hearings will follow. At that point any reductions in the recommended CIP will be known. Trevor Robinson asked if the council could request the BOCC to find reductions elsewhere. Stancil informed the council of their ability to do so, however, he advised the board to wait to consider this at a later meeting once the CIP has been recommended. Zimmerman asked if fields would be included in the potential school improvements and rebuilds. There are no current proposals to include new field construction, but the council could request joint use with any new school construction. Stancil noted that much of the school's needs, as he understood them, were renovations and rebuilds of existing older school facilities, which would likely not include new field areas. Zimmerman extended interest in monitoring the discussions for potential shared use facilities. Conversations already underway will continue with soccer organizations that may create some solutions to the field deficit. An update will be provided in March. Old Business A. P&R Master Plan 2030 Report - Status: Stancil reminded the group of the Parks and Recreation Master Plan as the council last addressed the topic in September. The Master Plan was drafted in 2014 and extends to 2030. Beginning in 2022, the council recognized it as a good time to begin assessing the progress of the plan, in keeping with the Plan's own recommendation to review at 10 years. The council has completed approximately two-thirds of the mid-plan review. While the Council planned to bring the review to the Commissioners, they are under no set deadline. Stancil will continue to draft the remaining recommendations to bring before the council in April. The council will then discuss and finalize the review to be sent to the Commissioners by June. Report of the Director A. Project/Program Updates—Stancil shared that he has been writing an RFP for a consultant to create the Countywide Trails Plan (CTP). It will need to be sent to the County Manager for approval in March, proposals from firms will be solicited in April or May and hopefully the contract will be awarded by the BOCC to a consultant in early summer to begin the community engagement and data collection process. There is continued progress in a stewardship and management plan for the Headwaters Preserve (a portion of the Greene Tract owned by the County). The Greene Tract has long seen a lot of activity, and it is in the County's best interest to advance a management plan to mitigate some of the risks associated with current usage and the volunteer trails in erodible areas. A plan will speak on how the County will manage and care for the property. The Council can expect a draft of that in the spring, with plans for trail work beginning in the summer. A designer has been hired for the disc golf course at Blackwood Farm Park. An Agreement has been made and the designer (Disc Golf Design Group of Asheville) will begin work with the aim of having that submitted in April. The designer will not be doing the construction on the course and construction will hopefully begin late summer or fall. The new tennis/pickleball courts to be constructed at Fairview have been designed and submitted and are pending approval from Hillsborough. A bid should be awarded for construction before the summer break and the goal is to have them completed later this year. Stancil posed a question to the Council that he had been asked whether one of the three new courts should be designated as a pickleball court or if they should all be stripped for both tennis and pickleball. Pickleball has rapidly gained popularity in Orange County and there has been some demand for exclusive pickleball dedication. A brief conversation from the council reflected a desire to see the courts designated as shared use courts. The Perry Hills Mini-Park is nearing design completion. Construction should begin towards the summer. The County and the Friends of the Mountain to Sea Trail are launching a pilot project for the Friends to hire an ombudsman to speak with landowners along the path to facilitate the creation of future trail easements. Planning staff and the consultants are still working on the Land Use Plan, and they are releasing a Factbook to include data on open space and farmland. Staff has been involved in helping review parts of that effort There is a rezoning request for land behind future Millhouse Road Park by a tree service company. The staff is working with the Planning Department and applicant to ensure that any new proposed access easement will not interfere with the planned soccer center at that location. B. May 1st Cookout Meeting Site? Once a year the council conducts their meeting at a park site. Stancil informed the council of the parks with an available shelter site. Zimmerman proposed Blackwood Farm Park as a potential site. Robinson supported this. Fleming referenced the centralized location as being convenient for the council. Zimmerman moved to host the meeting at Blackwood, Fleming seconded, all in favor, none opposed, motion carried. Council and Committee Reports A. Intergovernmental Parks Work Group (next mtg 4/10) B. Items for the Council/Sharing of Volunteer Opportunities— Flinn discussed the New Hope Creek Corridor Advisory Committee. There was a new development in Durham County but no other information to share pertinent to the Council. Fleming and Mattingly provided a brief update on the progress with Orange County Library to create a Storywalk Trail. Efland Cheeks Park was selected as the site to install the Storywalk. There are continued conversations on if the installation will be permanent or moveable. Stancil provided an idea of what the council should expect at the March meeting when they address the outside agency funding requests. The agencies and scorecards will be provided to the council prior to the next meeting. Adjournment: Zimmerman adjourned the meeting at 7:41pm Next Meeting: March 6, 2024 (Davis Center, Hillsborough) Draft Meeting Summary— Parks and Recreation Council (PRC) March 6th, 2024 Bonnie B. Davis Center, Hillsborough Members Present: Natalie Ziemba (Chair), Andrea Zimmerman (Vice-Chair, remote), Mikki Fleming, Chris Colvin (remote), Louise Flinn, Trevor Robinson, Gina Reyman, Lilly Kohout (YD) Members Absent: Rod Jones, Xilong Zhao, Staff: David Stancil, Abby Mattingly, Ardra Webster (remote) Chair Natalie Ziemba called the meeting to order at 6:33pm. Report of the Chair: a. Chair Comments— No report from the chair. b. Changes to the agenda— No changes were made. New Business: A. Review of the Outside Agency Requests: Ziemba gave an introduction to the process for reviewing outside agency requests. The council will read through the submitted applications and discuss them to come to a consensus on scoring. The scores will be considered when the County Manager meets to decide on final funding.There were three applications forwarded to the PRC for this year, and all three applicants have been awarded funding in the past. The Council began by discussing the application of Triangle Bikeworks. The organization hosts several biking events throughout the year and teaches youth leadership skills alongside the physical training. Mikki Fleming offered insight into some of the discussions that took place last year when the council met. It was noted that the organization serves heavily outside of Orange County, and the Council was uncertain as to how funding was distributed with that consideration. The Council discussed last year's awarded funding. The group acknowledged that the organization has two full-time staff members and might lack the capacity to dedicate themselves to filling out the application, but they agreed that some of the numbers lacked clarity. The Council then proceeded to create scores in all three sections of the Outside Agency Scorecard and determined on a final combined score of 64.5. Questions listed by the PRC for notation included clarity on the budget and some of the projected outcomes. The council next reviewed the Swim for Charlie application. This organization seeks to teach youth to swim and increase water safety. The organization operates in Durham County as well, and while the council understood the requests from Orange County to be applied within Orange County, they agreed that it would have been nice to have more information on any funding awards or requests from Durham County. There was a discussion on program target demographics and how that compares to the school demographics/application demographics. The Council overall had a high degree of consensus and clarity on the application. The PRC then proceeded to create scores in all three sections of the Outside Agency Scorecard and determined a final combined score of 82.5 . There were no additional questions listed by the PRC for notation. Finally, The Council discussed the Bridge II Sports application. This organization works to improve access to sports for students with disabilities and impairments. Business officer Ardra Webster filled the group in on the organization's funding request from last year and noted that there was a significant decrease in funding requests. Andrea Zimmerman voiced concerns over some of the notable changes in projected outcomes. With the projected outcomes and costs, some of the math appeared incorrect to the Council. The PRC noted that section three seemed to have missing elements of the application. The organization noted in its application that the outcomes report is pending, and the Council discussed the challenges of how to grade a missing element of the application. The PRC then proceeded to create scores in all three sections of the Outside Agency Scorecard and determined a final combined score of 55. Questions listed by the PRC for notation included INSERT Old Business A. Appointments: Abby Mattingly provided an update on appointments and reappointments. Ziemba and Chris Colvin were submitted to the BOCC for reappointment, alongside the recommendation for Gregory Husketh. There is a new youth delegate position that has opened up. Fleming's term will expire at the end of the month and there is one applicant from the Cheeks Township. Trevor Robinson motioned to recommend Allen Parker for the upcoming Cheeks Township vacancy, Zimmerman seconded. All in favor, none opposed. Staff will follow up with Parker to ensure continued interest before sending the recommendation forward. Report of the Director A. Project/Program Updates Stancil provided an update on meetings with HYAA regarding the Lawrence Road ballfields. A soccer organization has reached out about a potential partnership for the fields at Millhouse. In light of the hour other items were deferred. Council and Committee Reports A Intoronvornmontni PnrkS Work Group (next mte 4/10) B. Items for the Council/Sharing of Volunteer Opportunities— Adjournment: Zimmerman adjourned the meeting at 8:18pm Next Meeting: April 3, 2024 (Solid Waste Op Ctr)