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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes ADVISORY PARK BOARD MINUTES MARCH 12, 2007 Present: Bill Akan, Bryan Bain, Ted Bowen, Bill Gogolewski, Jim Michelson, Larry Pasquini, Terry Wohler Excused: Kay Hansen, Jim Schwochert Staff: Thomas Stephany, Director of Parks; Vince Maas, Parks Operations Manager; Bill Sturm, Landscape Operations Manager/City Forester; Trish Wendorf, Recording Secretary CALL TO ORDER Chairman Pasquini called the meeting to order at 6:00 P.M. A quorum was determined to be present. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Motion by Bowen for approval of the February 5, 2007 minutes, as distributed. Seconded by Wohler. Motion carried 7-0. PARK BUSINESS 1) Dogs in City Parks Mr. Stephany reiterated his Memorandum addressed to the Board dated March 8, 2007 (said Memorandum on file at the City Parks office and made a part of these minutes). He stated there has been an overwhelming response from the public by way of petitions, surveys, forums, emails, etc., in favor of allowing dogs on City Park trails. He reiterated that the Oshkosh Police Department notes only two warnings have been issued and that no citations were issued for the last five years as to individuals walking their dogs in City parks. After checking with the City’s insurance carrier, it was determined that recreational immunity would apply if dogs were allowed in City parks. Grace Strum, 1340 Menominee Drive, asked the Board to think about safety as their top priority. She stated she already has observed dogs in City Parks, which is against the Ordinance and noted the Ordinance is not being enforced. She is not concerned so much about dog “droppings”, as she is about the safety of children and the elderly with dogs being aggressive. She stated she had discussions with some teachers at Webster Stanley Middle School, who are also concerned with dogs being allowed in City parks. Ms. Strum then distributed an article from the Oshkosh Northwestern (said article on file at the City Parks office and made a part of these minutes), entitled Dogs and kids together: mass hysteria. She is opposed to the proposal of allowing dogs in City parks. John Koehn, 1625 Spruce Street, concurred with Ms. Strum’s comments. He stated kids love to tease animals and “those animals tend to react with an open mouth”. While he would approve of a dog park, he does not think dogs in City parks is suitable for citizens and children. Pat Berger, 251 W. 12th Avenue, stated she has two hunting type dogs. While recently on a Canada trip, she was impressed with their parks – no garbage or goose droppings and no dog droppings even though dogs are allowed in their parks. Dogs are natural predators of birds (geese) and would deter geese from “wintering” in the parks. She stated she is in favor of allowing dogs on City park trails. Joseph McLree, 1202 E New York Avenue, stated he supports dogs being allowed to walk on trails in City parks. He suggested allowing dogs on City trails on a trial basis. ADVISORY PARK BOARD MINUTES PAGE 2 MARCH 12, 2007 Denise Frueh, 1310 Fairview Street, urged the Board not to approve the proposal. She stated dogs in parks and the geese problems are two separate issues. Parks are too heavily used by people and allowing dogs in City parks would become a safety hazard. Paul Kalous, 911 Merritt Avenue, stated he is in favor of the proposal and stated people need to step up and be responsible for their own dogs. Mr. Stephany stated he had discussed the issue of dogs on the WIOUWASH Trail with Rob Way, County Parks Director, who indicated he had received no formal complaints about dogs biting, rushing anyone, etc., on the trail. Mr. Michelson stated he had personally witnessed many issues with dogs on the WIOUWASH Trail and had discussed those issues with Mr. Way. He stated that his number one concern is safety for the public and would not support the proposal. Dogs on trails would create a safety hazard. He did not feel that people would use the trails because of the fear of not being safe with dogs on those trails. He would prefer to see one or two dog parks in the City. He suggested Sawyer Creek, North High Conservancy Park, Rainbow Park (upriver from the pier in a central location) or Bauman Park (along the river in a central location) as possible sites for a dog park. Mr. Gogolewski concurred with Mr. Michelson’s comments. He stated enforcement also becomes an issue. Mr. Bowen concurred with both Mr. Michelson and Mr. Gogolewski. He stated he has a dog that he trusts with his family, but when the dog is in the public, the dog is reined in. While he is opposed to the dogs on trails in City parks, he would favor a dog park. Mr. Wohler stated he owns a dog as well. He stated he would support the proposal due to the amount of people that have stated they want it. He concurred that the City needs a dog park, but noted that there is no support for that. He stated dogs can just as well bite a person that is on a sidewalk or a roadway, as they can on the trails. The dogs would scare off the geese in the parks and as for dog droppings, he feels the public is showing more responsibility in that they are cleaning up after their dogs. He stated he would support the proposal in certain areas of the specified parks. Mr. Akan stated there has been a lot of public support for this proposal. His first option would be for a dog park though. He stated while safety is an issue with dogs on trails, there are also safety issues with bikes, rollerbladers, joggers, on those trails. He stated he would support allowing dogs in parks on trails with restraints and with adult supervision. He suggested giving the proposal a trial basis. He stated give the dog owners a chance to step up and show the Board they can be responsible. Mr. Bain stated the Board needs to be careful and not to generalize both sides. The Board could address some of the safety concerns by allowing the dogs in specific locations in the City parks. He stated the dogs should be leashed and in the care, custody and control of an adult. He stated the City has to commit to enforcement of the proposal and suggested that the Board approve a trial basis of one year for the proposal. Discussion ensued relative to the surveys submitted. Mr. Michelson stated that part of the problem with allowing dogs on City park trails is that those trails are too narrow. Mr. Wohler argued that there are conflicts all the time on trails with current activities. Mr. Gogolewski inquired who would enforce violations with respect to the dogs on City park trails? Mr. Stephany suggested that the Park Rangers duties could be expanded to do the enforcement. Mr. Bain stated that the public could also contact the Oshkosh Police Department directly if they witnessed a violation. Hopefully the public would be diligent and step up if they witnessed an offense. Mr. Gogolewski stated the Park Rangers don’t have the time to cover the boat launches, yet alone assist with the enforcement of dog walking violations. Mr. Akan stated he hoped by way of hefty fines for violations of dog ordinances -that would get the public’s attention. ADVISORY PARK BOARD MINUTES PAGE 3 MARCH 12, 2007 Motion by Bowen to remain status quo and not allow dogs in City parks. Seconded by Michelson. Motion carried 4-3 (AYES: Bowen, Gogolewski, Michelson, Pasquini; NAYS: Akan, Bain, Wohler). Mr. Stephany inquired of Mr. Bain if he felt this proposal should move onto the City Council for action. Mr. Bain stated the proposal could go to the Council as a failed item, but felt if the Advisory Park Board’s recommendation was against the proposal, he didn’t feel the Council would approve it either. The public is always welcomed to contact their Council representatives if they would like the Council to consider the proposal at one of their meetings. Mr. Michelson requested that staff pursue looking at creating a dog park within the City. 2) Boat Launch Projects Mr. Stephany reiterated the proposed boat launch projects to be considered, to-wit: Extend the easterly four ramps at Rainbow Park; construction of a fish cleaning facility at Fugleberg; and contracting with an engineering firm to design a new launch area at Rainbow Park. He stated at the February meeting, it was the consensus of the Board to hold up on the fish cleaning station. He suggested extending four boat launches at Rainbow Park for the next project. Before continuing discussions about the addition of a new launch area at Rainbow Park, he felt dept measurements should be taken at Rainbow to determine if a new boat launch was feasible. Mr. Gogolewski inquired as to the estimated cost to do a depth measurements at Rainbow. Mr. Stephany stated that the firm (Radtkes) that did the depth measurements at Miller’s Bay in Menominee Park charged approximately $5,000, and he felt the cost for Rainbow would be consistent. Mr. Bowen inquired if the depth measurement fees would come out of the boat launch revenue fees and Mr. Stephany stated that was correct. Motion by Bain to extend the easterly four ramps at Rainbow Park as proposed and venture into the study of depths of water at Rainbow Park for the construction of a new boat launch area utilizing boat launch revenue fees to pay for said study. Seconded by Gogolewski. Motion carried 6-1 (Nay: Wohler). 3. Sponsorship Signage Policy Mr. Gogolewski reiterated his reasoning for bringing this proposal before the Board – in order to raise City revenues and help organizations raise money for their groups/clubs. The revenues from the sponsorship signage could possibly help with the expenses for maintaining and improving the diamonds. He stated he was impressed with the City of Marshfield’s signage and guidelines, per information previously submitted by Ms. Wendorf from various cities/towns as to their sponsorship signage policies and standards (said information on file at the City parks office and made a part of these minutes). Misters Michelson and Bowen concurred that the City of Marshfield’s guidelines are a good model for the City of Oshkosh to follow. Mr. Stephany stated he concurred with Mr. Brown of the Town of Brookfield Park & Rec in that “It seems that many Park & Rec’s are being forced to find monies to support their facilities and programs where we resisted in the past.” Discussion ensued relative to the various groups/clubs the proposal would affect, the sporting event diamonds involved, and who would be responsible for obtaining sponsorships. It was the consensus of the Board that specific guidelines need to be set into place before approval of the policy. Motion by Gogolewski to proceed with the Ordinance change, but prior to forwarding the proposal onto the City Council for approval, the matter should be returned to the Advisory Park Board for approval of signage guidelines. Seconded by Akan. Motion carried 6-0 with 1 abstaining (Pasquini). ADVISORY PARK BOARD MINUTES PAGE 4 MARCH 12, 2007 CITIZEN’S STATEMENTS There were no Citizen’s Statements. PARK DIRECTOR/STAFF REPORTS Mr. Stephany reported that the Parks crew started the Menominee Park block building project. He wanted to make the Board aware that some arborvitae had been removed in the area to allow for the expansion. He stated work has begun on the concession building in the zoo. Mr. Maas reported that staff is doing maintenance work on the boat launches, painting park signs; continuing to maintain/repair park equipment; working on the tree pruning program; continuing work on the elk exhibit in the Menominee Park Zoo; continuing work on the CIP projects as outline by Mr. Stephany; as well as working on the ADA issues with the restrooms throughout the park system. Mr. Sturm stated his crews are continuing work with the street tree pruning and removal projects as well as finalizing documents on the street tree inventory project and identifying areas for new street trees. He also stated that he is working with the State to control/prevent the potential emerald ash borer problem. He went on to explain the borer problem and how it came to being and what steps are being taken to control it before it hits our state/area. ADJOURNMENT They’re being no other business, Motion to adjourn by Gogolewski; Seconded by Bowen. Motion carried 7-0. The meeting adjourned at 7:42 P.M. Respectfully submitted, Trish Wendorf Recording Secretary