Open Space Advisory Board Agenda and Packet 2023 03 08

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Open Space Advisory Board Minutes February 8, 2023 Page 3 of 7 7. Discussion Item: Introduction of New Staff Members Ember announced two new Parks, Recreation, and Open Space Department staff members and asked them each to introduce themselves to the board. Bryon Weber, Project Manager —Bryon began in January. His desk is physically located in the Public Works office, but he is a Parks and Open Space employee. He will be working on projects across the Department. His background is in urban planning and landscape architecture. He has a list of roughly 70 projects and is currently figuring out how to prioritize them. His first project will be median landscaping, particularly in fire - affected areas, then park and playground improvements, then work on storage at the Golf Course. His first Open Space project will be a trail re -surfacing and regrading project at Coyote Run. He is hoping there will be a RFP for this project released within a week or so. Helen asked if he had been asked to work on wayfinding yet, and Bryon replied that he had not been. Charles asked for more information about the Coyote Run project. Bryon said that the trails need to be leveled and graded so they don't flood or run off, and reassured the concerned board that they would remain crusher fines trails. He said they would also address a few problematic social trails that are causing washouts on the main trail. David asked Bryon for his recommendations about the social trails at Coyote Run and asked him to keep his eye out for that issue. Michiko asked for a definition of social trails and Ember said social trails are trails caused by people going off formal trails, often as short cuts. On Coyote Run, two social trails do damage to the actual trails because they are so steep, causing runoff and washouts. Jessamine said that these Coyote Run social trails might represent a nice test case for dealing with social trails using neighborhood engagement, as they are used almost entirely by locals, which might simplify public outreach. Brendan Close, Senior Natural Resource Specialist —Brendan has a degree in forest and range management from CSU. He has done a lot of work on botanical inventories and management. He is interested in weed control and restoration of natural ecosystems. He previously worked for the City of Westminster. He is working on the Wildfire Hazard & Risk Assessment project. He is also working on getting grazers on city open space land for weed and vegetation control. He added that another benefit of grazers is soil organic material amendment that can improve the water -holding capacity of the soil, which is particularly helpful after a fire that burnt away a lot of the soil organic matter. He pointed out that having grazers on the land is actually quite expensive, as it requires temporary fencing, transportation, herding dogs, and trucking in water for the animals. Ember added that she might come to the board with education materials to get help anticipating citizen concerns about these grazing projects. Susan asked about the success of previous grazing projects at Harper Lake. Ember said one time it was very effective at knocking back weeds and stimulating natives, but one time it was not, though both times the program was popular with locals. She emphasized that this kind of work requires adaptive management (timing the program to match conditions in the field) so she is happy to have Brendan actively leading the project. Brendan cautioned the board to have patience, as prairie restoration work takes around 5 years. 5