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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-Parks-2015-04-14Approved: 5/12/15 CITY OF ITHACA PARKS COMMISSION Tuesday, April 14, 2015, Noon to 1:30 p.m. Cornell Cooperative Extension, 615 Willow Avenue, City of Ithaca MINUTES Present: Commissioners: Larry Fabbroni, Margaret Hobbie, Dan Krall,, Ellen Leventry, Roberta Moudry (Roberta taking notes) Staff: Megan Wilson, City Planner JoAnn Cornish, Director of Planning & Development Jeanne Grace, City Forester Jim D’Alterio, Recreation Facilities Director/Cass Park Ari Lavine, City Attorney Bill Goldsmith, BPW liaison Josephine Martell, Common Council liaison Others: Marc Messing, Christopher Glaubitz (CBC), Kevin Brew (CBC), Cynthia Brock Ellen asks for review and approval of March minutes. Dan moves to approve them, Larry seconds. Vote unanimous. Megan: The city is holding open houses on the draft comprehensive plan. Megan distributed a flyer for open houses and encouraged all to attend. Parks commissioners and others interested in green space in the city are encouraged to attend and offer imput on that aspect of the plan. Jeanne will talk about geese in city parks. Dan Krall mentions that the Tough Turtle, a 5k race with obstacles, will take place this weekend (April 18) at the Children’s Garden. Persons to be heard Marc Messing: Concerns in the past about CBC and issues of safety. He describes an event on Monday morning. It was the first morning of varsity practice. He went down shortly after 6, and walked to park bench to watch activities start – to watch sports, and also to observe safety practices, etc. CBC called the police and complained that he was in the park and watching practice. He had no interaction with any member, parent, rower. He does not know what the complaint contained. Cynthia Brock: Wants to build on discussion at BPW last night and the convening of a working group on water recreation. She assumes the lease will go through, and Approved: 5/12/15 hopes that we can continue to explore ways to allow the public to access the water and the benefits of the rowing club and other facilities that give access to the water. Kevin Brew, President, CBC: He thanks the city for its support. It is a scholastic and adult program. Programs are open to public, and one doesn’t need to be a member to participate. The licensing will help the CBC to move forward and support rowing. CBC is committed to safety for rowers, and harassment of employees. The boat club is a good thing for the community and we do not put people at undue risk. He states that there are 120 scholastic rowers, and about 50 members of the CBC. He also stated that staff who feel threatened by individuals in the park are instructed to call the police and not deal with the person. OLD BUSINESS 1. Proposed License Agreement with the Cascadilla Boat Club for use of the Stewart Park Boathouse (12:20) Ari Lavine speaks. He mentions two memos, one from himself explaining state grants, and one from the mayor convening a water sports working group, and urging passage of the licensing agreement with the CBC. Bill notes that there are two resolutions. One was proposed to the BPW and one with colored statements is the revised resolution passed by the BPW. (We also had a draft resolution proposed for passage by Parks) Ari Lavine answered questions submitted last month after the meeting by members of the Parks Commission. The city would not be liable if there were unauthorized access to the second floor. If members of the public are excluded from club membership, that is complicated, and the city requires public use. There is no liability, but the city would have an obligation to act. Larry asks what city agency would manage any such complaint. Streets and Facilities would be the first agency. The Superintendent of Public Works would be the final arbiter. Common Council also has the explicit ability to void the license. The license requires specific things that might go beyond the requirements of bylaws. If there is an injury on the lake, the CBC would be liable, and the city would not. The city would likely be sued, but in his opinion would not be liable. What is the city’s responsibility for safety in youth programs operating in city parks? The city has no technical expertise in boater safety. We are responsible for ensuring that agencies and CBC for example have safety protocols in place. What about state laws controlling water safety? Does the city have a legal obligation to enforce or insist that a licensee abide by state laws? Ari notes that the license contains a Approved: 5/12/15 clause that states that the CBC must abide by “mandatorily applicable.” Jim spoke about the Dragon Boat event. Jim states that the city has no jurisdiction of the water. The county sheriffs have boats on the water. Basic safety protocols are required, but he does not actively police this. Larry believes there is a grey area, that there is no oversight of health and safety on city property. What happens if some other citizen comes and says they don’t believe the CBC is adhering to health and safety protocols? Who will they go to? There doesn’t seem to be a policy, just a single license. Ari notes that there is a clause in this license, and the city has many licenses with many groups. He notes that the city does not police these groups. The city cannot and will not take on the responsibility to check to see if groups are complying with law. Larry notes that US Rowing standards were noted several times. Isn’t there some way to protect health, safety and welfare in city parks? He believes that there is an issue that moves beyond legality, and that it is a broader policy discussion. Jeanne notes that if there were a food complaint at the golf course, the city would pass this to the health department. Jeanne suggests that concerns from the city, or from a resident, can and would be passed onto the appropriate authority. Jim notes that he has accident reports that must be filed if there is an incident in Cass Park. Jim notes that for example Cal Ripkin softball is a member of a larger organization and complies with their rules. A local group in violation of the umbrella organization’s standards/guidelines would be censured by that group. Dan notes that we have heard that several parents are concerned about safety, but that with the exception of one, they have not stepped forward or removed their children from the CBC program. It is their choice to have their children in that club. We are not hearing about safety problems. Why would parents permit their kids to continue with a group that they feel is not safe? Cynthia asks about who makes sure that a building, for example, complies with city regulations? Joann Cornish notes that the building has been inspected. Jim notes that there should be an annual fire inspection, and Cass Park for example gets a certificate of occupancy. Cynthia asks if the docks have been inspected for safety. Ari and JoAnn believe that these inspections are a part of the licensing agreement. Larry is unclear if there is a national standard for rowing safety. He is concerned with CBC adhering to safety standards. Larry is concerned about public access, and the vague language in the license concerning access. He would like to see a regular schedule of access. He would like a specific schedule for launch access as well. Approved: 5/12/15 Larry notes that we asked last month for a roster, or for a breakdown of city residents. Bill notes that he received some additional information this morning. It appears that there are about 50 members, and that 30% are city residents. There are about 120 scholastic rowers. Larry notes that we do not know who is a member or rower with the CBC and that it would be helpful to know how many are non-city residents. As we continue to address shrinking contributions for parks from the Town of Ithaca and others, it is helpful to know specifics (when possible) of usage of city parks by non-city residents. Larry believes that some safety standards should be in place. Ari believes that the CBC has put safety standards in place. Larry acknowledges this but is still unclear about safety protocols – what is the accountability? Ari suggests that BPW is the correct place to go to complain about safety concerns. Question about the three-year lease. After one year, the two year lease becomes a three year lease again. Bill notes that it is an unusual way to phrase this. Ellen notes that this is concerning because it doesn’t really require people to pay attention. Maybe that is why the CBC paid $46 per year after year since the 1970s—and now we should be paying attention. A lease that runs out must be renewed andrenegotiated. But a rolling lease can go on and on. Ari says this will not happen. The license has a clause that notes that the fee was set on an appraisal. It says the city may adjust the rate, and there is a specific person (the city chamberlain) who will monitor this and will track appraisals. He says the rates will be adjusted with new assessments every five years. Cynthia notes that the current assessment dates from 2012. Dan proposes that we pass this resolution. Larry seconds. Margaret has a question and would like to include the BPW resolution about the creation of a working group on water recreation. Roberta suggests adopting all revisions proposed and adopted by the BPW. Margaret Hobbie seconds. Parks passes the resolution unanimously, adopting the resolution as revised by the BPW, with the only change being the replacement of “water sports” with “water recreation.” NEW BUSINESS 1. Petition from Northside United Children for a Playground for Older Children in the Northside Neighborhood (1:00) Joann Cornish suggests that Conway Park could be a possible site for ages 9-15. Dan noted that there will be more opportunities near GIAC for basketball, etc. Ellen notes that these spaces are often dominated by young male adults and are not necessarily comfortable for young women. Approved: 5/12/15 Jeanne notes that we have a few pocket parks on the Northside, but few spaces for play for older children. Bill references an earlier meeting with the Permaculture Park at Conway Park, stating that this represents a move away from recreational space to planned garden space. He notes that the school property adjacent to BJM and GIAC would be the perfect place for active play, but Dan notes that the district intends to eventually build on that site and they will likely not want to develop it extensively as an open space. Ellen notes that the Bordoni trailhead can be intensively used but it doesn’t take a good deal of space – perhaps there are small open spaces that would work well. Larry asks about the DMV parking lot Is there any possibility to lease that land? The city is getting denser and we need more recreational space. JoAnn notes that the group did come forward and take action, and that we should respond in some way. The age group is 9-14, and they may have some suggestions about the space that they would like. Dan will meet with them and look at possible sites while learning more about what they envision. Larry has a suggestion – he would like to send a woman on the commission as well. 2. Signage at Ithaca Falls (1:10) Jeanne : As the warm weather is approaching, a safety meeting focused on the dangers of swimming in the gorge. Cornell has agreed to fabricate a sign about dangers of swimming under waterfalls, and replace the Cornell symbol with the city symbol. This sign will be placed right by the falls. MEMBER/STAFF REPORTS 1. Friends of Stewart Park Update (1:20) Rick Manning – three items. All need more discussion. Rick suggests that Stewart Park consider purchase of locking racks for canoes and kayaks. Many parks have locking racks, available for a fee. At Treman, it is first come first served, and could be implemented quickly. Rick would like to see where it might fit better visually in the park and near the boathouse. The carousel restoration is progressing. There are more horses to paint, with a special event to kick off fundraising campaign for the playground in the works. Rick suggests limited mowing in Stewart Park for reasons of geese control and conservation. Jeanne notes that she can begin this and see how it works. Jim notes that he has done it in Cass Park…..he feels that it is a longer discussion and that choosing places to leave un-mowed is not an easy decision. Jeanne notes that we have a lot of geese. It is an issue that comes up when you have mowed lawns near water. We can either keep the geese, or note that there is a problem and solve it by removing them. These are not migratory geese, and live in Ithaca year round. There is a USDA program that would remove geese in June or Approved: 5/12/15 July, kill them and process them as food. Josephine is familiar with this program and says it is cruel to the animals and that the meat is untested and thus questionable. Larry suggests that we consult Cornell’s Lab of Ornithology to see if they have suggestions.