Meeting Minutes
The meeting was called to order at approximately 7:04 p.m.
1. Roll Call:
Chairperson Davids took the roll.
2. Approval of Minutes
a. Minutes of June 16, 2005
During discussion of these minutes at the July 7 meeting, members requested that Mr. Shroyer’s specific statements regarding the impact of field lights and noise on surrounding property values be included in the minutes. Chair Davids distributed a memo dated July 19, 2005 on this subject.
After discussion, members agreed to change the third bullet under Item 3 as follows:
“Field lights will impact residents surrounding the park, and may negatively impact property value by reducing the number of offers to buy.Depends on what motivates the buyer.”
The minutes of June 16, 2005 were unanimously approved.
b. Minutes of July 7th
The minutes were reviewed and unanimously approved.
3. Next Steps Proposal – Chairperson Davids
Chair Davids led a discussion regarding the next steps to be taken as the committee completes their work. He listed three areas for discussion and resolution:
- Converting vacant city owned property to cash which would be used to purchase new land for athletic fields
- Evaluation of school property for development of additional or upgraded space
- Modification of existing fields to better serve the user groups.Use of natural or synthetic turf and lights will be discussed
The report and recommendations from this committee will include all three of the above listed components. The report will first be submitted to the Park and Recreation Commission for review and comment. The commissioners’ comments will then be reviewed by the committee which will adopt or reject the comments, produce a final report, and present the report to the City Council.
4. Values Discussion
Two pages of “values” were presented to the committee for review.The pages are entitled, “Suggested Values Discussion – as of July 21, 2005” and “Community Values”.Included were additional “values” sent by members to staff to be included in the discussion.
Various members expressed their opinions on this subject which are summarized below:
- Katherine Tynan – The Heather School neighborhood could not support changes which would increase usage at Heather School.The status quo should be preserved.Quiet enjoyment is a high value.
- Eric Von der Porten – We should bear in mind the city motto “the City of Good Living” during these deliberations.
- Ray Merala – Athletic fields build community.Both children and adults develop relationships on the field which carry over into the community at large.
- Greg Harris – Increased field capacity is important, especially during the high use seasons of spring and fall. We should plan carefully and budget conservatively.
- Bob Dehner – While cost is an important element, it should not be the deciding factor.We need a plan and then fund it over time.
- Barry Weiss – We should consider year-round use, including summer and winter, an important element if all demands are met. He also noted that “increasing competitiveness is not a value advanced by the Parks and Recreation staff.”
After a lengthy discussion of how best to prioritize “values”, Chair Davids offered to consolidate the items listed into summary statements. These will be e-mailed to the members who will vote their preference. Each member will pick five value statements ranking them five for the most valued, then four, etc. The results of this ranking will be summarized for review at the next meeting.
5. Model to Measure the Incremental Benefit of Different Field Scenarios
Member Greg Harris presented a computer model designed to provide an objective measure of the incremental benefit of different field scenarios. The PowerPoint presentation reviewed the model design criteria, capabilities, benefits and assumptions. Due to limited time for presentation and discussion, members requested that the model and its assumptions be discussed at our next meeting.
Committee members thanked Greg and the subcommittee – Ray Merala, Barbara Billings, Vince Gritch and Tonya Booker representing staff – for the many hours spent in developing this model.
Committee members also requested that Greg change terminology from “plastic” to “synthetic” turf in keeping with common nomenclature.
6. Public Comment
Karen Molinari encouraged the committee to give high priority to community use when discussing the future of field space.
7. Next Meeting Date
August 4, 2005 at 7:00 pm in the Library.
8. Meeting adjourned at approximately 9:04 pm.
