City Council Study Session Summary 2015 01 27

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City Council Study Session Summary January 27, 2015 Page 2 of 4 Council member Sue Loo said that any discussion of creation of a Parks Board should include Horticulture and Forestry Advisory Board (HFAB). Mayor Muckle thinks OSAB should stay focused on Open Space. He feels HFAB is the place for Parks Board. Board member Tom Davinroy said OSAB may be reluctant to take on "Parks" — they are more interested in connectivity with trails. OSAB feels the perception is that OSAB is where people go to talk about Parks. Open Space list of ranked properties was discussed with the merits of having or not having certain properties on list. OSAB should direct people who have non -OSAB questions to Council. Citizens sometimes don't understand the difference between Parks and Open Space. When citizens come to OSAB it is an opportunity to educate the public on how ranked lists are prioritized and the differences between Parks and OSAB. If the purview of OSAB is to expand to trails the Charter would have to be changed. Mayor Muckle would like HFAB to handle Parks. Were that to happen, a lot of big ideas for Parks and a lot of conversation about what the mission would be needs to take place. Council member Loo advocates for a separate Board. Recommend short and long term strategies and /or tactics to study, manage, improve and restore Open Space: There was a discussion about prairie dogs and counts and weed control. Staff is prioritizing hot spots concerning weed management by doing baseline studies. Additional studies will need funding and collaboration for future planning and management. • Resource studies related to social trails and weed management • Once studies are completed, advocate what to spend funds on • Trail hosts and Park Rangers • Board knows they need to proactive; want to contribute more to the operational budget • Education — children's programs, adult education, perhaps share resources with other communities • Volunteer programs • Not just maintenance of the land, but also how it is used. Need code enforcement • Want to make sure the Wayfinding plan being developed actually happens. Michael Menaker hopes to not set up competition between OSAB and HFAB. He suggested exploring spending some of the Open Space money on maintenance and education. Deb Fahey not sure about spending money. John Leary said there needs to be an agreed upon set of principles on percentages, funding and agreed concept of mission of Open Space.