Open Space Advisory Board Agenda and Packet 2014 10 08

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Open Space Advisory Board Minutes September 10th, 2014 Page 2 of 5 3) The Trail and Land Acquisition request to Boulder County document (reviewed at OSAB's August 2014 meeting) was reviewed and approved by City Council, and submitted to the County. 4) There was a fish kill at Warembourg Fishing Pond. Catherine ran a contract for algae control on the pond. The contractor didn't use improper or hazardous chemicals. But there may have been too much algae killed, too fast, as oxygen levels dropped low enough to kill the fish. During the investigation of this fish kill, it came to staff's attention that there is a major milfoil infestation at the pond, extensive enough that it may need to be controlled more aggressively with a chemical. Milfoil cannot be removed mechanically —that tends to further propagate it. Ember is working with State Parks and Wildlife to determine whether the fish stocking rates are appropriate. Apparently the Fish Frenzy trout stocking and the Parks and Wildlife stocking (bluegill, largemouth bass) may be incompatible, and there may be too many fish overall, which may be further depleting the pond's oxygen levels. Staff is also looking at Hecla Lake. There are some weeds establishing that are not yet out of hand, but extra caution must be considered in their control, since the water there is to be used for agriculture. 5) Coal Creek Trail should be finished this week. There are two remaining problem spots along the Coal Creek Trail: under the railroad, (where Urban Drainage is doing the work, and estimates that it will be finished in the next few weeks), and under Hwy. 36 (where the CDOT is doing the work, and estimates the work will be done in 2015). 6) There was an education program called Wildlife Detectives on Sat., Sept. 6, and fifteen people attended. On October 7, the Greenwood Village Wildlife Rehabilitation Program will be from 7 -8pm. 7) At Bullhead Gulch, City staff is monitoring the landscaping maintenance being done by the developer. The land will ultimately be handed over to the City to maintain and staff wants the contractor to have the vegetation in good condition before the hand -off occurs. Staff is concerned that the vegetation will be high maintenance, since the topography of the land makes mowing is difficult. Ember has asked the landscaping subcontractor for a maintenance hours estimate to help with future planning. VI. Board Updates: 1) Christopher shared that Superior bought property at Colton and McCaslin. 2) Spencer asked whether there was a plan to formally follow up on the discussion of the Memorial Bench program. Spencer has concerns about putting memorials up all over Open Space. He felt that memorials are not the core competency and mission of Open Space. Missy and Helen suggested that another approach to memorials could be a dedication towards site - specific programs (e.g. education programs), rather than monuments. Missy suggested an informal moratorium on new memorial dedications until OSAB comes to an agreement about the plan.