Open Space Advisory Board Agenda and Packet 2016 12 14

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Open Space Advisory Board Minutes November 9th 2016 Page 3 of 6 Ember passed out the City of Louisville wayfinding trail map and provided some basic facts about the system. It includes 7 square miles of land around the perimeter and within the City, serving 20,000 citizens, including one solely -agricultural property. There are 23 miles of trails with both soft and hard surfaces on Open Space. Open Space staff have been recently tasked with trail planning for the entire City for the Wayfinding program. Open Space is a very popular amenity with citizens. Open Space staff has grown. In 2007 there was only one full-time employee. Now there is a "specialist" position (resources, education), a "maintenance" position, and a full-time ranger (who patrols Open Space, Parks, the Recreation Center, and the Coal Creek Golf Course). Next summer there will be two seasonal employees, not just one. Rob asked if it works better to have Open Space staff doing maintenance rather than general City maintenance. Ember replied that doing mowing "in house" has been helpful for keeping weeds from spreading. Rob Burdine (City of Lafayette's Open Space Supervisor) reported that the City of Lafayette has 1300 acres of Open Space land. They have two full-time employees, himself and a maintenance employee. They contract out their education and outreach program. It is run by a contractor, Martin Ogle, who has worked out very well. Staff also supervises Isabelle Farm and its associated operation at the Thomas Open Space, and hire seasonal staff for maintenance and to directly supervise the Boulder County Youth Corp for 8 weeks in the summer. Much of their resource management work is done by contractors under Rob's supervision. He sees ecosystem management as a key part of his job. Rob also does a lot of work managing citizens' issues. Lafayette has applied for a $4.6 million Nature Play Inspire grant from GOCO, and they are currently one of the highest ranked communities to win it. The idea is to create places for people, especially children, to "play" in natural spaces while "armoring" the Open Space to protect it. The Thorne Nature Experience is spearheading the idea. BVSD is also a partner, as Sanchez Elementary and Pioneer Elementary would be two sites included in the grant. Current Lafayette Open Space staff projects include finishing up the Harney Lastoka flood management program with Boulder County and Louisville, updating their prairie dog management plan, a new sign program contract currently out for design, and working with CDOT and BNSF to improve crossings. Lafayette Open Space recently acquired a property that included a garage where Open Space staff can now keep supplies. They also recently received a grant to create a mobile app for Open Space properties. Mike asked what the time frame on the app's roll-out would be. Rob was hoping for the end of the year. Ember asked what percent of Lafayette's City - owned land is zoned agricultural. Rob estimated 25% (mostly jointly owned). IX. Discussion Item: Louisville Wayfinding Project - Presented by: Laura Scott Denton Laura presented the City of Louisville's Wayfinding project (see the packet). The representatives from Lafayette seemed very interested in the project. Lafayette citizens also ask for long regional artery-type trails and they liked the "subway map" logic of the new Louisville trail map. Lafayette received a Walk and Wheel grant from Kaiser to help integrate Public Works bike lanes with Open Space trails into a general system and to stitch together trails into networks across land -owner jurisdictions. Mike remarked that Lafayette has been highly successful in earning interesting grants. Laura asked whether Lafayette has trail names on their Open Space land and was told that they did not. Lafayette are in the process of developing new Parks and Open Space signs, and they admired the Louisville ideas. 5