Open Space Advisory Board 2017 06 14 Final Minutes

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Open Space Advisory Board Minutes June 14th, 2017 Page 2 of 7 J. On June 21st, at 7pm, Catherine will give a natural resource talk at Harper Lake. K. On July 8th there will be a weed pulling event at Davidson Mesa. The weed - grazing goats will also be there as well. L. The new ranger was sworn in on June 7th and she is in uniform. She has been doing some education, including a booth at Davidson Mesa and an etiquette campaign on Coal Creek Trail as well as patrolling. M. Linda has been missing recent meetings because she has been sick and wants to let the group know how much she misses OSAB and hopes to be back soon. VI. Board Updates - A. Mike saw a bald eagle on Davidson Mesa. B. Graeme saw a pair of ferruginous hawks near downtown. C. Jim emailed some comments to Ember about items on tonight's agenda, since he couldn't attend. Ember will share them at the appropriate times. VII. Public Comments on Items Not on the Agenda - A. City Council member Ashley Stolzmann (228 S. Jefferson Ave.) came to the meeting to make a comment. She wanted to clarify her thoughts to OSAB about the Storage Tek/Phillips property. Her opinion is that the main opposition to its purchase for open space would be cost. She thinks the City could think of creative ways to fund it, such as a voter -approved bond, or regional partners. She thinks it's not a crazy idea to consider buying this land, but she needs guidance on how it could work. She thinks citizens would be in favor of it. She also commented on the Bullhead Gulch railroad crossing. She thinks it should be an at -grade crossing (not an underpass), because people will continue to cross over the tracks there, regardless. She continues to think that an at -grade is a workable alternative to an underpass. B. Maryann Heaney (1117 Lafarge Ave) is a member of the Sustainability Advisory Board and she came to the OSAB meeting to tell the board about their project of putting beehives on Louisville building rooftops. They are working closely with the Boulder County Beekeeping Association, and that group has been great. They are working to identify 2 or 3 good locations, and then they will get some beekeepers willing to tend the hives. Apparently a project like this has been done at a SLC library to great effect. She reports that urban honeybees have good survival rates over the winter and the height of buildings serves to get the hives up and away from predators. OSAB members thought it sounded like a cool project. Mike asked if there were any heights that were too high. Maryann didn't know, but there are no buildings bigger than 2 stories in Louisville, and two stories isn't too high. Helen asked what will happen to the honey. Maryann reported that the honey would belong to the beekeeper doing the work, but the pollinator benefit would be shared by the community. Helen asked if there would be an education component to the program. Maryann answered that they intend to tie it into education programs. Helen shared with Maryann that Open Space has a volunteer network that might be interested in helping with the bee project. Maryann also reported that the new community garden is having a music event tomorrow, one of several events the site is permitted to host. Jeff asked if the garden plots were all filled. Maryann answered that they are full to capacity. Jeff commented that the City is looking at trying to better tie the north side of town into the City's community, and things like community gardens could be part of that effort. Maryann said that the Kestrel development has a garden plot set aside for its residents, but there don't seem to be any other suitable parcels of land in the area.