Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources Advisory Board

MEETING MINUTES

 

Monday, November 5, 2007 @ 5:15 p.m.
Cary Town Hall – Conference Room #11130

316 North Academy Street Cary , NC 27513

www.townofcary.org



Attendance:
Jeff Boucher; Robert Bush; Sal Cammarata; Tony D’Amico; Susan Davenport; Marilyn Goldman; Dennis Hoadley; Tullie Johnson; Steve Smutko; Kay Struffolino; Wesley Lo, Teen
Council Representative


Absent:  Nels Roseland, Council liaison


Staff:
Mary Henderson; Bruce Crocker; William Davis; Dwayne Jones; Doug McRainey; Helen Stanfield; Gail Taylor; Denise Dickens; Paul Kuhn, Kevin Laven

I.           Call to Order/Roll Call – Steve Smutko, Chair
Chair Steve Smutko called the meeting to order at 5:15 p.m.

II.         Adoption of Agenda – Steve Smutko, Chair
ACTION: 
Kay Struffolino made a motion to approve the November 5th agenda; the motion was seconded by Tullie Johnson.  The motion carried by a unanimous vote.

III.        Minutes – Steve Smutko, Chair
►Adoption of Minutes of
October 1, 2007 (Aquatics Facility Kick-off)
ACTION: 
Kay Struffolino made a motion to approve the minutes of the October 1st Aquatics Facility Kick-off Meeting; the motion was seconded by Tony D’Amico.  The motion carried by a unanimous vote.

►Adoption of Minutes of October 16, 2007 (Joint PRCR Advisory Board & Cultural Arts Committee (Old Cary Elementary)
ACTION: 
Kay Struffolino made a motion to approve the minutes of the October 16th Joint PRCR Advisory Board meeting; the motion was seconded by Tullie Johnson.  The motion carried by a unanimous vote.

IV.        Public Speaks Out
None

V.         Special Presentation
Bartley Park
Phase I Presentation – Paul Kuhn, Senior Parks Planner

Doug McRainey, Parks Planning Manager, began with an overview of the proposed Bartley Park , a 50-acre tract the Town purchased in 2000.  The character of the land and its historical use as a working farm will be incorporated into the design.  Paul Kuhn further elaborated on the Phase I components currently proposed for the park.  Phase I Improvements include:  playground; sprayground; dog park; greenway trails; restroom building; picnic shelter; parking; road improvements, utilities and landscaping and public art.  Denise Dickens, Public Art Coordinator, talked about the proposed art component including the creation of a flock of sheep in an open field area as well as a “Whirly Gig” sculpture to be placed in the center of the children’s play area.

On October 29th a Public Meeting was held to present the Phase 1 Development Plan.  Construction is scheduled to begin in fall 2008 with completion of construction during the summer 2009.

Member concerns:

1)       Were against the location of a future maintenance facility at Bartley Park ;

2)       Questioned the size of dog park;

3)       Questioned the viability of a single access into the park, particularly when the community center is built;

4)       Questioned how formal the multi-purpose fields would be;

5)       Questioned when the sewer system would be constructed.

Staff noted that they will address these concerns as the site plan progresses.  Doug McRainey confirmed that the proposed district maintenance facility will not be constructed at Bartley Park .

ACTION:  Kay Struffolino made a motion to move forward with staff’s recommendations for Bartley Park , Phase I; the motion was seconded by Tullie Johnson.  The motion carried by a unanimous vote.

VI.        Land Dedications – Doug McRainey, Parks Planning Manager
►Silverton PDD Amendment (07-REZ-13)
Doug McRainey presented the Silverton Amendment with the following staff recommendations:
Approval of a payment-in-lieu for the multi-family units in accordance with the Town’s Land Development Ordinance in place at the time of site plan approval.

-          Approval for the Developer to provide a 30’ wide Town of Cary Greenway Easement along the western property line; will be located in Zone 3 of the Urban Transition Buffer and will allow for crossing of the creek at a location designated by Town staff at time of site plan approval.

-          Approval for Developer to construct approximately 1,770 linear feet of 10’ wide asphalt multi-use trail along the northern and eastern property lines, and to provide a 20’ wide Town of Cary Greenway Easement to be centered on the trail.

-          Approval for Developer to construct 6’ wide asphalt private trail connections to the public greenway trail; location and number of connections to be determined at site plan approval.

Greenway Committee reviewed this project at their October 18, 2007 Meeting and recommended approval unanimously.

 

ACTION:  Dennis Hoadley made a motion to approve staff’s recommendations as presented; the motion was seconded by Sal Cammarata.  The motion carried by a unanimous vote.

 

►Koppers Development (07-REZ-17)
Doug McRainey presented the Koppers Development with the following staff recommendations:

-          Approval of a payment in lieu of parkland dedication for the value of 1.06 acres.

-          Approval for the Developer to dedicate a 30’ wide public greenway easement along the western property boundary (approximately 220 linear feet), to be located in the outer 50’ of the extended buffer around the creek.  Developer to receive credit against the required payment-in-lieu for providing this public greenway easement.

-          Approval for Developer to construct 6’ wide private asphalt trail connections to the public greenway easement.  Locations of the private connection(s) will be determined at time of subdivision plan approval.

 

Approval for Developer to convey a conservation easement to the Town over a 200’

 

Greenway Committee reviewed this project at their October 18, 2007 Meeting.  The Greenway Committee requested staff look into the extension of McCrimmon Parkway , and the associated grade-separated pedestrian crossing called for in the Carpenter Community Plan, in relation to this property.


ACTION:
  Robert Bush made a motion to approve staff’s recommendations as presented; the motion was seconded by Marilyn Goldman.  The motion carried by a unanimous vote.

VII . Reports
A.         Committee Reports

Athletic Committee – Jeff Boucher, Chair
Jeff reported that Athletic Committee did not meet in October.
Cultural Arts Committee – Dennis Hoadley, Chair
Dennis noted the October 16th Joint PRCR Advisory Board Meeting and the Cultural Arts Committee Meeting to review Clearscape’s presentation on the Old Cary Elementary Program Report.  Dennis also noted that the 2008 Cultural Arts Committee meeting days will change to the fourth Wednesday of the month.
Greenway Committee – Robert Bush, Chair
Robert Bush reported the committee reviewed the two Land Dedications presented earlier on the agenda.  Robert also presented the committee’s concerns regarding the lack of coordination with development projects relating to greenways and pedestrian connections.  The committee received the FY08 sidewalk priority list put together by the Planning Department and discussed the impact of those projects on future greenway projects.  The committee felt that there is a lack of communication and disconnect between the departments concerning the impact of these projects on the PRCR Master Plan and the overall Transportation Plan.  The committee also felt that the department should have a discretionary fund set aside each budget year to cover the cost of small incidental projects. 
PRCR Director Mary Henderson will talk with Department Directors of both Planning and Engineering and the Town Manager to establish a better structure to include PRCR greenway and pedestrian comments when sidewalks are going through the approval process.  Steve Smutko recommended that the process be included in the Master Plan update.
Robert also noted that the 2008 Greenway Committee monthly meeting days remain the same.

►Teen Advisory Committee – Tony D’Amico, Chair
Tony reported that the committee met and discussed ways to more effectively get the word out about teen programming, noting that the two program brochures do not have a cross-reference.  Tony also reported the committee continues to plan on the 2008 Teen Forum scheduled for March 15th.  The Forum’s environmental theme includes four categories:  organic foods; recyclables; papermaking and alternative fuels.
Goals Committee Reports
     
Safety Town – Jeff Boucher
           
No report.
      Scholarship Fund – Sal Cammarata
Sal noted he will schedule a meeting with Selby Wellman to talk about the RailHawk’s involvement with the Scholarship Fund.  Sal also met with Diane Hillsgrove and talked about necessary criteria used to evaluate the need and to grant scholarships.

B.         Public Meetings
►October 2, 2007          Old Cary Elementary/Public Input/Finalize Programming

►October 24, 2007        Community Aquatics Facility/Discuss Site & Programming Update & Input
►October 29, 2007        Bartley Park Phase I Presentation

C.         Staff Reports – The following staff reports are going to Council Committee.

►PR08-08        Koka Booth Amphitheatre at Regency Park – Management Plan and Budget

►PR08-09        Consideration of Bid Awards for Middle Creek Park Phase II/PR1037
►PR08-10        Fit Community Communications Plan


D.         Administration – Mary Henderson, PRCR Director
Accreditation Update – Helen Stanfield, Recreations Project Coordinator
Helen Stanfield and Kevin Laven teamed to present a PowerPoint presentation on the Self-Assessment Report and the Accreditation Team Visitation beginning the week of November 26th.  This will be the PRCR Department’s 5-year re-accreditation.
►PRCR
Long Range Program Plan – Mary Henderson
Members were provided a program matrix, a component of the Long Range Program Plan distributed at the October meeting.  The plan, a fluid, working document, guides staff, not only in program planning; but budget planning as well.  Elements of the plan include the mission statement; philosophy historical data, program evaluations, new initiatives; trends analyses, demographics (age, geographical data).  This plan will help staff stay ahead of the curve as staff works to further develop track-out programs, health & fitness and senior programs.

The Board accepted the plan as a working document.
►Old
Cary Elementary Update – Mary Henderson
The Cultural Arts Committee and the PRCR Advisory Board made a recommendation to Town Council and that recommendation goes before Council on December 13th.  Staff will meet and update the new council members prior to the December meeting.
►Community Aquatics Update – Mary Henderson
Mary Henderson gave a PowerPoint presentation of information gathered from the 3 public meetings held on the two proposed sites for citizen input:  1) Hawes in western
Cary ; 2) Tract in n. Cary .  The PRCR Advisory Board will be asked to make a recommendation to Council at the December meeting.  Mary noted that a Community Aquatics Council Work Session will take place following the December 13th Council, either in December or January.

E.         Recreation Programs – Dwayne Jones, Recreation Manager
Dwayne referred members to the Program Update and noted that he recently attended the National Institute for Recreation Inclusion in Virginia .  Management Learning Laboratories has been selected to conduct the Specialized Recreation Study to access the needs of the community for these services.
Senior Center Update – Kay Struffolino
Kay provided members with a handout of The Senior Center’s recent activities:   Starlight Dance on October 18th/90 attendees; 500 residents registered for flu shots at the center; annual Veteran’s Luncheon will be held November 9th; Thanksgiving Party on November 16th and a 3-day trip to Savannah and Charleston was sponsored in October.
►Teen Council – Wesley Lo
Wesley reported on recent volunteer opportunities for Teen Council members with a total of 439 volunteer hours in October.

F.         Cultural Arts Programs – Lyman Collins, Cultural Arts Manager
Members were referred to the Program Update.

►Festivals Committee – Marilyn Goldman

Marilyn Goldman provided a copy of the October Festival Committee meeting minutes.  Kay Struffolino was elected as Vice Chair and Paul Wasylkevych was selected as the 2007-2008 Committee Co-Chairs.  The Festival Committee is accepting applications for two at-large openings and new work teams assignments will be made for the 2008 Festivals.

G.         Athletic Programs – William Davis, Athletics Manager
William referred members to the Program Update

VIII. OLD BUSINESS

Black Creek Watershed Study Update – Susan Davenport
Susan reported that the next Black Creek Watershed Association meeting will take place November 19th and that association received a $1000 grant from the Cary Community Foundation.

►Recycle Containers at Town of Cary Parks/Greenways – Mary Henderson
Mary Henderson noted that she spoke with Public Works regarding expanding recycling efforts at our outdoor facilities.  Currently, recycling is done at our staffed facilities at Bond Park and Hemlock Bluffs.  Trash containers, when not monitored, recyclables become co-mingled with trash and therefore it is not efficient.  PRCR does provide recycling containers at major events, i.e. Lazy Daze and Spring Daze and we can request recycling at any PRCR Event.  Public Works is working to add recycling opportunities at our major facilities (USA Baseball; Cary Tennis Park ; SAS Soccer Park ). Mary noted it might be good to budget now to include major facilities and events.  Mary will follow up with trial testing at some facilities; on timing; implementation and talk further at the January meeting.  Steve Smutko suggested recycling as a goal for 2008.

IX.        NEW BUSINESS
►Appointments to the Volunteer Awards Selection Panel – Helen Stanfield
Helen requested that committee chairs appoint a representative to serve on the Volunteer Awards Selection Panel.
►2007 Annual Report to Council (2007 Goals:  1)
Safety Town ; 2) Scholarships
Chair Steve Smutko asked that each committee revisit their goals; determine if they were useful or not and also, talk about goals for 2008.
►Board Member Information Share
Tullie Johnson reported the Hemlock Bluffs Recycle Sale netted approximately $2500.  Tullie also provided two handouts: 1) NC Naturalist Fall/Winter 2007 publication and, 2) a flyer promoting the Dinosaurs Special Exhibit at the
Museum of Natural Sciences , October 27, 2007 -March 2, 2008.

X.         ADJOURN
►ACTION: 
Kay Struffolino made a motion to adjourn at
8:45 p.m. ; Tullie Johnson seconded the motion.  The motion carried by unanimous vote.

Please contact the Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources with any questions about the minutes.  The e-mail address is gail.taylor@townofCary.org and the phone number is (919) 462-3961 .