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City Council <br />Meeting Minutes <br />September 24 2019 <br />Page 2 of 5 <br />Laura Scott Denton, chair of the Open Space Advisory Board (OSAB), stated the goal of <br />this exercise is to define the long-term goals and priorities for open space management. It <br />is time to change the focus from acquisition to management. The OSAB Committee is <br />looking at costs, gaps in funding, optimal practices, and how to align staff workload with <br />City priorities This is built upon the PROST Master Plan and they hope to update it to <br />align with current goals She added these goals are subject to OSAB and Council <br />discussion <br />The priorities they are discussing include <br />• Foster Citizen Engagement — education programs, marketing pride in stewardship, <br />increase volunteer engagement and visibility <br />Councilmember Loo asked for the budget to be more clear on how many staff are <br />supporting the education program in their duties and would like a discussion on the work <br />priorities of open staff staff <br />• Resource Management — native prairie restoration, new Senior Natural Resource <br />Manager, wildlife habitat enhancement, weed management. <br />• Invest in Wetlands — bird habitat enhancement, Coal Creek investments including <br />access points to the creek, management of wetlands for riparian ecosystem health <br />• Pursue scientific approach to land management — repeatable, in-house inventories <br />for vegetation and wildlife, on -going, long-term ecosystem health scoring system, <br />updates to the public on how preserving land <br />• Enhance User Experience — outreach and enforcement of rules and regulations, <br />decreasing barriers to usability; serving diverse user types, look for opportunities to <br />enhance nature play and access, and provide adequate maintenance staffing <br />Members discussed the pros and cons of wayfinding signs for open space <br />• Respond to Citizen Trail needs — social trail prevention and remediation, develop a <br />trails master plan, create a new category for hiking trails, and a city-wide network <br />approach to trail building <br />Councilmember Stolzmann would like a plan or policy on how the City addresses social <br />trails Mayor Muckle stated we know residents want more variety in trail type and that <br />should be discussed <br />Councilmember Stolzmann recommended making sure the group looks at the open space <br />definitions in the charter to be sure the plans align <br />