March 23, 2026 — Parks and Recreation Advisory Board Regular Meeting

Transcript

Captions from City of Boulder YouTube recording.

[0:01] Great. Alright. Thanks, everyone, for joining us tonight. We have a quorum of Prabh members present, so I'll officially call this meeting to order. Would anyone like to make a motion to approve the agenda for tonight? So moved. Okay, second? Second. Thank you. Is there any discussion to approve the agenda? Alright. Any… We have a motion and a second. All those in favor, say aye. All those opposed, say aye. Or nay? All right. Hearing no opposition, this motion passes, and the agenda is approved. I will now turn it over to the Director for future Board items. This… oh, go ahead, Allie. You go ahead, Madam Chair. I was too excited about what's coming, but finish so that you can explain what's happening here.

[1:03] All right, this item will be presented by our Director of Parks and Recreation to highlight upcoming board activities. As a reminder, this is also where members of the PRAB can suggest items to be considered for scheduling at our next agenda-setting meeting. I will turn it over to you. Director. Thank you, Madam Chair folks. My name is Allie Rhodes. I serve as Director. Parks and Recreation for the City of Boulder. So, on page 2 of the PRABS packet, which is online, if folks haven't had a chance to preview it, this is where we highlight the next coming months of meetings. I don't read this to the board, but I did want to call out a few upcoming important engagements. One that's not on here that everyone should know about is next Tuesday, March 31st, the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board will participate in a study session on recreation facility scenarios. At study sessions, there is not public comment, but the community is welcome and, invited to participate online. You can watch it through Zoom. And so at that meeting, you'll see background and information on potential scenarios for all three of our recreation centers, which are in need of investment.

[2:10] And then there is a date for the City Council study session, and your future boardroom items. It says early April City Council Retreat. On Thursday, April 9th, City Council will have a study session where they will talk about the citywide facility portfolio with a deep dive on the recreation centers. And so, we are very eager for those important conversations. We all know they are, Overdue and timely. And then I wanted to call out, in April also, you'll talk later tonight during Matters from the Board, you will welcome two new board members, and so you have significant items under Matters from the new… the, board. at the beginning of the meeting, those new board members will be inducted, and then, I believe it's on your matters from the board tonight to talk about potential mentors, and you will start that meeting with the election of the new chair and vice chair.

[3:03] And then following in May, I want to call out City Council study session every year. The second week of May. They get a financial forecast on city revenues and funding, and they'll talk about ballot measures for 2026. That May conversation will be informed by your conversation next Tuesday and their conversation April 9th. So we've got a big couple of months ahead of us. We're very excited, we're here. to do hard work and support your good conversations. The other things I just want to give a highlight to, we just finished the annual maintenance closure at the East Boulder Community Center. This is where we close our facilities for a week each year to do smelly or messy maintenance that we cannot do when the buildings are occupied. The East Boulder Community Center is back open to the community, and then coming in May is the beginning of our outdoor season. So the Boulder Reservoir and Spruce Pool will open Memorial Day weekend, Scott Carpenter Lap Pool will open slightly earlier for a shoulder season. We are refining those dates now, and that you'll see them at your April meeting.

[4:10] And that's what I've got. Thank you very much. Any questions from the board on… Future board items. Alright! Oh! Okay, comment, go ahead. I'll just give everyone fair warning now, I don't think I'm going to be here next Tuesday. As you all know, I'm in grad school, and we have class Tuesday nights. So, depending on how things go tomorrow, maybe I'll decide to skip class, but probably, probably I won't be here. So, Jenny, you and I will coordinate ahead of time. Perfect. Thank you for letting us know. All right, now we're moving on to the public… to public participation portion of the meeting. This portion of the meeting is for members of the public to communicate ideas or concerns to the board regarding parks and recreation issues.

[5:00] For which a public hearing is not scheduled later in the meeting. Tonight, there are no public hearings. During this public participation time, public is encouraged to comment on the need for parks and Recreation programs and the facilities as they perceive them. All speakers are limited to 3 minutes, that is a hard 3 minutes. Depending on the nature of your matter, you may or may not receive a response from the board after everyone delivers their comments. The board is always listening and appreciative of community feedback. Tonight, if you could please present, any additional guidelines, and then you can call on our first speaker. Of course. Thank you, Madam Chair. Gonna review the decorum rules here. Sue. The City has engaged with community members to co-create a vision. for productive, meaningful, and inclusive civic conversations. This vision supports physical and emotional safety for community members, staff, and board members, and upholds democracy for people of all ages, identities, lived experiences, and political perspectives.

[6:03] For more information about this vision, visit our website, I'll spare you the URL, and the Boulder Revised Code Section 16B. City will enforce the rules of decorum found in the BRC Section 16B, including… Participants are required to sign up to speak using the name they are commonly known by. Online participants must display their full name before speaking. Currently, only audio testimony is permitted online. No attendee shall disrupt, disturb, or impede the orderly conduct of any board meeting in a manner that obstructs the business of the meeting. This includes failing to obey any lawful order of the presiding officer to leave the meeting room, or refrain from addressing the board. Only one person may speak at the podium at a time, unless an accommodation such as an interpreter is required. All remarks and testimony shall be limited to matters related to city business. No blocking the aisles in violation of the fire code, or in a way that obstructs the vision or audio of other audience members.

[7:02] No signs or flags are permitted in the meeting room, except for one per person that is no larger than 11 by 17 inches, and held no higher than the person's face. We ask that you not affix items to the podium, dais, walls, or other surfaces. Finally, no participant shall make threats or use other forms of intimidation against any person. Obscenity, other epithets based on race, gender, or religion, and any speech or behavior that disrupts or impedes the meeting will not be tolerated. In-person participants are asked to refrain from expressing support or disagreement verbally, or sounds such as applause or snapping, with the exception of declarations. Traditionally, support is shown through American Sign Language, applause, or jazz hands. That concludes the rules. And so… Also, a reminder to anyone speaking at the podium to make sure your mic is red. Hit that little button so it is live, and that way we can make sure we hear you. Okay, so we'll start with the in-person folks. I've got, first up, Don Burgle.

[8:07] Hi, I'm Don Burbo. Yes. Beautiful. Thank you. Don Bergl, I'm president of the Boulder Tennis Association. And you've seen me here, before, and I'm back. to express our surprise and dismay over the East Boulder Racquet Court project getting pushed back by two tennis seasons. Today I'm asking for two things. Urgency and accountability. The tennis community, represented by Boulder Tennis Association, BTA, has been so patient over the past 5 years. We've watched the city conduct studies and suffered delays as nothing moved forward. More recently, we've built a constructive relationship with Parks and Rec And we trusted that there would be courts To play on next summer.

[9:05] This latest delay seems to come for no valid reason. Why so much time pass with nothing done? All we've seen for progress is the land annexation. We've been deceived, and promises have been broken. The city seems to believe that PowerPoints, meetings, and web pages constitute progress. But for the tennis-playing citizens, these are empty milestones that mean nothing. No one understands how we got this far and still have to select design firms and construction contractors. We waited last year for the city to hire a new employee to work the design. Has anything actually been done? If competitive bids are required, why didn't that start 2 years ago? How can Parks and Rec not be aware of the contracting requirements? Was everybody asleep? The city demonstrates no sense of urgency, just bureaucracy that keeps them employed year after year with nothing to show.

[10:06] There are many projects competing for resources, as you know. Inflation keeps moving. We're worried that Parks and Rec will never get this done. So, accountability and urgency. And we call upon Prabb and the City Council to hold Parks and Rec accountable for this mismanagement, and make real changes that actually serve the citizens and the taxpayers of Boulder. Thank you. Great, thank you, Don. Next up is Catherine Sundvall. My name is Catherine Sundvall. I live in the East Boulder community. on a. street with a tribal name, Illini Way.

[11:03] And I am the coordinator for the Boulder Botanic Gardens project. And we are… proposing that this project be built… be created on the Hogan Pancos property. We've been working on this project since 2010. We've had various, meetings with the city in 2018, including a, purchase agreement with the previous owners, which was Mike Boyers, Lou Delicava, and a dentists named Woody, who were the previous owners of the property, To purchase the property. And do a public-private partnership with the City of Boulder to build a botanic gardens on the property. Now, we are proposing to do the same

[12:01] thing again, with the Northern Arapah… or Northern Cheyenne. as partners in the project, and you'll be hearing from Chief Phillip Whitemann today, he's here, to talk about the Northern Cheyenne ideas for the property. Funded by… Descendants of the Sand Creek Massacre soldiers. represented by Robert Bacchilder, who will be, speaking today as well. We also have partnerships with Denver Botanic Gardens. The Denver Zoo. the, Butterfly Pavilion and the Cheyenne Botanic Gardens to assist us with this project. So I hope that the eBoard will be working with us on a botanic gardens, instead of…

[13:02] Tennis courts with stadium lights, paving over sacred land to the Cheyenne. Thank you. Thank you, Catherine. Next is Alia Gondor. My name is Alia Gondur. I wanna… I thank you for letting us share this input, and I want to say. start by sharing part of a letter to the editor from August 2024 that was entitled, This Good Little Boulderite is Fed Up. I have lived in Boulder for almost 25 years, and when elections roll around, I tend to reflexively vote yes on local tax proposals. I appreciate all we have in Boulder, and sincerely believe that taxes are the price of a free society. I'm also a tennis player, and I'm sick of listening to empty promises from the city, specifically Parks and Rec, about addressing the dire shortage of public tennis courts that they have helped create.

[14:02] Our public servants have known for years about the brewing storm that would see the destruction of Rocky Mountain Tennis Center, the impending loss of CU South, and conversion of many existing public tennis courts to pickleball use. Now they lavishly congratulate themselves for developing a plan that might build new courts a decade from now. Boulder has a huge, vibrant, and frankly, now rather angry public tennis community. If the city plans to turn tennis into a country club sport, I will no longer be voting to fund any more of your pet projects. That letter ran a few days after, an activist group formed due to the above-mentioned anger published this. in the, Boulder… Boulder camera on August 25th, 2024. The next time we had the opportunity to interact with PRAB, or with Parks and Rec, we were informed that you were hurt by our actions. So we backed off, and we tried really hard to work with you, attending many, many meetings, giving as much input as we could, as you would allow us. We repeatedly said we were here to help, be it through fundraising, public-private partnership, whatever it took.

[15:16] And for a while, you've made us feel quite optimistic. We felt like we were all on the same page, that things were moving forward, and that we would be ready to break new ground on tennis courts this year. In short, we did our best to work with you, and we trusted you. So, how have we arrived here? Is it incompetence? Is it dishonesty? Is it deception? Is it something else? Boulder needs to waive… my understanding is that the, Open source bidding is a big delay now, is the big delay now, and Boulder needs to either waive that requirement, or find a way to seriously expedite it. We're still here, we still want to work with you. But you can't violate our trust that we put in you and expect us to be silent.

[16:01] I understand that Boulder's trying to be uber-inclusive, but maybe it's gone too far? I'm a woman. As a Palestinian-American, I think I'm technically a minority. But frankly, I don't care who builds the tennis courts, we just want them built. Thank you so much. Good jazz hands. Alright, next are Mary and Eric Durham. If we're up together. Yes, and recognizing that you're two individuals, you may pool your time to 6 minutes. Okay. Oh, we won't. We won't need that. We'll stay within 3 minutes. Hello? It's good to be here with you. So, yesterday, we had the. privilege as a family to greet the Cheyenne and Arapaho elders with a language.

[17:00] They would speak together. From what you just observed, so that was Plains Indian Hand Talk. So, it was a powerful experience to sit in on their gathering, hearing stories of the chokecherry trees and birds guiding them through blizzards, among other stories. Picturing the same lands we stand on today. So, we have a chokecherry tree in our backyard, actually, a living reminder of the sacred plant that fed the indigenous peoples on this land for centuries. Regarding the use of the annexed land at Hogan Pencost, we would be very disappointed to see the use of this lush, vital wetlands be designated for the implementation of a concrete desert of. and pickleball courts. We spend time near this area, and the Baba Link Trail almost every day, and just the other night, we were blown away at the serenity. Of the area on this unseasonably warm evening walk. It's sad to think about how the magic of this evening would be dramatically altered should the stadium lighting be constructed at the planned courts.

[18:03] Furthermore, as a fifth generation Coloradan and Boulderite. My great-great-grandpa would take my grandpa to the same area to spend time in nature. It personally impacts me to think about this nature being removed in favor of something that there is already plenty of in the area. So, for these reasons, we would much rather see the land use designated for the proposed botanic gardens and Hantox sculptures. Depicting that Mother Earth is always speaking to us. We'd love to bring our daughter, Flora, to a botanic garden to teach her the history of the land, telling her stories, and listening to the sounds of the native frogs in the area. Just like the Cheyenne herd 200 years ago when camping there. We'll leave this, here with a few statements. Communal memory matters, communal healing matters, and our connection to the earth matters, and this is what we want to pass on to the next generation.

[19:05] So thank you so much for your time. Thank you. Next up, we have Judith Dak. Just in the nick of time. So, I want you to know that I have the great pleasure fortune. of owning and living in a house that backs up to North Boulder Park. And you may be thinking, oh, here comes a NIMBY, but I will tell you, no, actually, I'm a YIMBY. I say yes to everything that goes on in that park. Because I get to see right out my kitchen window. Sorry, I read… I just got this notice, like, hours ago that this was happening.

[20:01] So… So anyway, I get to see people who can take a breath and sit under a tree, who play their guitar, write in their journal, people who do things that those of us who plan programs would not even know are needed and are happening. And as a mental health provider, I see what a difference this free resource makes in people's lives. And so that's why I just wanted to come here tonight and let the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board know how grateful we are to our city planners, especially to Bill and Tina. who my neighbors and I met with at the end of 2025. And we were able to express to them just all of our concerns with the current plan, and all the changes and additions they, that they had hoped to make to the park. Now, most of them were completely unnecessary, but we were only 3, we were only 3 women speaking, and we offered to partner with them and help them figure this out.

[21:09] A meeting was planned to get community feedback, and so my neighbors and I activated all the various groups who use that park. The Nordic Skiers, the North Boulder Little League, the volleyball meetups, the slackliners, the yogis. So many people showed up at that meeting that Tina and I later laughed about how small the space was, as the turnout was way more than we ever expected. And so we are just thrilled to see that the community, the greater, wider community, and the neighboring community's input was taken seriously and was valued, and the plans were altered significantly. So, thank you, Bill and Tina, I don't know if you're here, and thank you, also to Allie and to Mark, too. Thank you. There are just a few things that we want to make a note of. We're concerned that it says that the ball fields are moved 75 feet south.

[22:04] Instead of 500 feet south. Well, what does that mean, and why are they moving the ball fields at all, anyway? That's everybody's big question, why they want to move the ball fields. They are perfectly located with decades of water management proof. Yes, there is a small marshy area in the north ball field, but that can be easily dug out, backfilled, regraded, and reseeded. And let me tell you, that would be a lot less money. Does that mean my 3 minutes is up? Okay, all right, well, thank you. I look forward to hearing the plan tonight. And neighbors asked if they could have more notice in getting it. Judith, I'm sorry, yeah, we have to be done at 3 minutes. Thank you. Very good, thank you very much. Grace Thompson is up next. Yeah, isn't it Mike? Is this Mike Stapler? Yeah. Okay, we can take Mike Stapler next, go ahead.

[23:02] Hi, I have lived in Boulder a long time, many years, and you may recognize some of these comments because I made them at your August 2023 meeting. I'm not here because the city seems to have over-promised and will under-deliver on the East Courts. Instead, I'm here to ask that more focus. money, be given to making South Boulder courts the standard. For municipal courts everywhere. I know that the South Boulder Rec Center is under review. And I urge you to treat the South Boulder courts completely separately. There's really not much connection, except for there's a bathroom that sometimes you can get to. I've, visited many municipal pickleball courts, including Grand Rapids, Santa Fe, Aspen, Carbondale, Steamboat Springs, Frisco, Silverthorne, Superior, Louisville, Lafayette, and Longmont. I've also played in Mexico and Vietnam. By far, the City of Boulder

[24:00] has the furthest to go with citizen pickleball experience. When you visit the South Boulder Courts. You can't miss the large cracks. Four years ago, I was shoveling snow with a plastic shovel, And a large… Bigger than this piece of paper. Shingle-sized piece of the surface came off. The good news. It happened between two courts, so the large, single-sized patch now serves as a reminder to all of us it's a symbol of poor maintenance. The bad news is that… It remains a large, ugly, shingle-sized patch. And that it happened 4 years ago. The courts have only gotten worse. Several weeks ago, I gave a similar presentation to the City Council. As a result, I was put in touch with a Parks and Rec staff member, Tina. Very helpful. Mostly regarding, current plans, you know, it's very… a lot going on. Even though now things are changing, it was a helpful conversation.

[25:03] I have an accounting background, including in government, and I would like to be able to get all available information on budget and what money is spent on South Boulder courts. Both now, and in the recent past, and then going forward. I would also like information about how we. Can influence next year's budget process, both operational and capital. In the next day or two, if you can't connect me to someone else, I plan to reach back out to Tina, and since she doesn't do accounting, I imagine she'll… You know, refer me on to some… someone who does. You know, a budget is a plan. Spending is a measure of success. Going forward, I'd like to be able to let others know about how the city is doing with the South Boulder Court Plan and the spending. Hopefully, it'll be fantastic. Oh, I said my time. Hope you can… appreciate your volunteer time, hope you come out and play some pickleball with us.

[26:07] Great, thank you, Mike. Now we got Grace Thompson. So this is a good follow-up to… to Mike, actually. So I'm Grace Thompson. I am a co-founder of Boco Pickleball Club, which was founded in, 2022. For two purposes. One. we wanted dedicated pickleball courts in Boulder, and two, we wanted to make sure that courts that we were using, multi-use courts, were well maintained. So, we're still waiting on our designated courts. Four were promised in 2022. That was followed by a court study. Then in 2024, after the court study, we were, told that we'd be getting 22 courts, and we're still waiting. Zach,

[27:14] from Boco Pickleball Club, he's our president. he's gonna address that topic, and Tom Watson, and all the delays we've been going through. And, we're equally frustrated with tennis that we've been working with for the last few years, trying to work together. the pictures that I gave to you, are addressing the maintaining of the courts, and I'm going to talk about that. The flyers speak for themselves. Those are just 4 of the courts. Seven courts, look very similar to those, and those cracks go… All the way across the courts. And it's becoming, a bit of a problem and a safety hazard, and we have brought this up multiple times, and things still have not been done.

[28:00] So we're just asking if Parks and Rec will, pay closer attention to these courts and, at least reseal them, as they have at East and North. And that's it You'll be hearing from Zach. Thank you very much. Next, we have Karen Phillips. Good evening. I'm gonna follow up on, what Judith Dak was talking about with North Boulder Park. My name is Karen Phillips, and I have. have lived… Bye. at or very close to North Boulder Park for over. 50 years. I raised my kids here, one of my kids now has kids, and we've been waiting for that playground to update for the last four years. It's now been subsumed in the general planning of bigger things, but we're really looking forward to that.

[29:03] So, what I really want to follow up on is a little difficult to speak about, because I understand that the planning folks are going to be presenting at this meeting, and I don't really know what they're going to say. The last that I was able to see was from January. And, we still have some concerns that we would like for you to pay particular attention to in the coming months, please. The main concern is, for me, tonight, is that, in reporting all of the public input. It was mentioned that people really wanted to preserve that open area of North Boulder Park. What was not mentioned is that so many people were very concerned, why are we moving ball fields? I mean, I just can't imagine tearing down those gigantic fences And moving everything over, it seems like an unnecessary expense, for one thing. I would rather that money be saved, I don't know how much it would be.

[30:00] And put it towards South Boulder Rec Center, or tennis courts, or Botanic Gardens. Why are we doing some of the things that we're doing? I think we need to be careful we're not overdeveloping North Boulder Park. And in particular, the concern that is continually echoed by the planning folks is that there needs to be some mitigation of some flood area. There's kind of a swampy area in one of the ball fields, and as Judith pointed out. you know, there's some other options, to addressing that concern, such as backfilling. When I attended the public meeting, one of the planners, Shahomi Kuriagawa. Was specifically going over this map of all the water flow and everything, and, you know, it was, like, overly, marked up, trying to explain to people which way the water flows, and what they were going to try to do about it. And so I tried to simplify things. I asked her specifically, can you look at backfilling?

[31:01] Can you look at mitigating it where the ball fields are? And she said, yes, it is possible. So I am asking the board tonight to please follow through and make sure that there has been some effort Because with all of the water mitigation, why are we moving ball fields as if there's no other water mitigation going on? There's so much coordination with, the other project, with Alpine balsam. So, the other concern is that there not be a narrow way, where people have to walk between two ball fields. I'm not sure how they're being presented. Thank you. Thank you very much. Next, we have the Northern Cheyenne Traditional Chief, Philip Whitemann, Jr. Was he present tonight? And do you have any more showers after that, if we can take the time together? Yes, if you got 2, you can do 6 minutes.

[32:07] Record. Okay, do you compress that a lot. Okay, hello? Good evening. My name is. Chief Philip Whiteman, he yogurt Gusta Nejo. Now, Neil, hey, Stuarts, I come here to ask you. And share with you. My great-grandfather, White Antelope, used to camp there. I got to go to his site there today, and I prayed and I cried. And… Those conwood trees, if they could tell a story. What my people went through. To try to preserve and protect what they had. It was universal. They had no concept of eminent domain, or dominion, or ownership. How can you own something that owns you, like the air, land, and water? And today, we don't see anything like that. I went there tonight, to today. I went there to that site, and I just… there was a bench there, and I just laid down, and I went to sleep.

[33:10] I slept there for about half hour, 45 minutes, just to feel what my grandfather must have felt there. But with the, development, with all the, Resources that's been, taken away from our people. That those cottonwood trees, they're sacred to the land, and that land is sacred to us. We're a part of it, and as progress and manifest Destiny, we don't stand a chance. And I support that garden, because I think that the people, they need to be on the earth. They need to be able to put their hands in the ground. And I believe that right now, where we're going, our country and our war, the war and the world, where it's at right now, it's all in the name of progress. It's all in the name of greed, it's all in the name of taking and stripping the natural resources from Mother Earth.

[34:14] I think today we're doing what we need to slow… slow this ship down that's… that's a Titanic. Somehow, someway, maybe they can reconsider further development. Instead, develop garden, develop a place where people can come. I've seen people walk in there. They're not gonna be, they're not gonna have that same feeling once the… once that land is fully, fully taken and developed into, what you… what you're suggesting. It ain't that peace and that quietness ain't gonna be there. So, Chief Phillip is speaking to the Hogan Pancos property, the East Boulder Community Center that served as a winter.

[35:01] camp. for the Cheyenne people, with his direct ancest on his mother's side, White Antelope, and, ancestors on his father's side. camping there, and they were tricked to move from there, to Sand Creek, and the cottonwood trees up at that property, some of them are gone because they were used to build for chambers after that, but they were used for target practice, including on the Cheyenne people before the Sand Creek Massacre. Chief Phillip has submitted And has written, an editorial in the Denver Post about the Sand Creek Massacre and the intergenerational effects of genocide, and how the Cheyenne people have been displaced from this land and from Colorado alongside their Arapaho relatives by genocide. And so, what he's proposing is actually, in that piece, is to use Indigenous knowledge to counter these intergenerational effects of genocide and climate change. And so, with it comes the opposition

[36:06] To paving over, wetlands. to develop, further, tennis courts, spending time there today. There is tennis courts there, and they weren't actively being used, so there should be, a youth study about how often those tennis courts there are being used, but also traditional youth studies and further archaeological and historic studies in direct connection to the Cheyenne people as decision makers. The international standard for this is called prior informed consent. It's recognized under the Convention on Biological Diversity and the other RIO conventions, which all speak. to the importance of recognizing Indigenous knowledge. Under the Convention on Biological Diversity, it speaks to prior informed consent of Indigenous peoples. who have traditionally used or occupied the lands and waters, and this is the case for this property. So it's really important, as the neighborhood has, to engage and to start to engage with

[37:09] the Cheyenne people and to take their knowledge into account. As Chief Phillip has said, he's a direct descendant of the Sand Creek Massacre. He also submitted an article that he wrote in the Denver Post, making a call to end genocide. There's pictures of his great-grandfather, Vehoek. Who was a 3-year-old at the Sand Creek Massacre and had to flee for his life. And finding out about the direct connection, to the city of Boulder and to the camp… to the traditional camp there. And how it was used, including how the cottonwood trees were used for target practice, and then how the Colorado volunteers moved, including from here, and their soldier descendants, who we'll be addressing you too. to speak through that connection, so there's an opportunity to use the botanical garden as a truth and reconciliation project, and to also meet international standards of Indigenous peoples being decision makers regarding access, and also to have benefit sharing with them. And this could be a Truth and Reconciliation project. Nayashiman, thank you.

[38:11] And, Ms, before you sit down, are you Nicole Chavez? I am, for the record, Nicole Chavez, yes. Fantastic, thank you. Alright, next we have Christine Breskel. I only need 3. Oh, it's okay. Hi, my name's Christine Breskel, and I'm actually here to speak about, probably. participation at Prabh, but first I wanted to just quickly address something that I think it was Mike in the blue, spoke about with the South Boulder Rec Center tennis courts. I just wanted to say that on pickleball courts, that as someone who cares deeply about keeping our core amenities, you know, the pool, gym, and the South Boulder Rec Center. That we, too, care about keeping the courts, just so you know that, you know, that is very important.

[39:02] That I know that all the people, you know, there are thousands of us who care about keeping these critical amenities there, and that includes the courts, just so you know. But what I was actually wanting to speak about was just about public participation. I know that last meeting you guys considered or talked about limiting public participation. You know, reducing time for perhaps from 3 minutes to 2, and limiting total time to 45. And I just wanted to urge you not to do that. This is the one time for the public, it's one time a month to address you guys. One evening, one time a month. Any other engagement, any… nothing is the same, where we get to actually on the record, in public, address you guys. And, it's really important to the community to be able to have this time, and, whatever… I mean, I understand you wouldn't want 10 minutes per person, I get that, but I think 3 minutes is very reasonable, as are, you know, maybe if you had, I don't know. 40 people or something, maybe that would be a bit much, but it seems like, given that these are once-a-month meetings, unlike Council, which is twice the amount of time, you know, they have double the meetings that, you know, are had here,

[40:11] I just think it's really important that the public be given the full opportunity to, speak to you guys without limitations. And, also too, I think as, you know, public servants, both city staff and Prabh, I think in this context, the service being provided to the public is listening to the public in addition to you know, listening to staff and whatnot, so I think that's… Yeah, part of why shouldn't be limited. Thank you. Thank you. Next, we have Heather Smith. My name is Heather Smith. I'm a Boulder resident, member of the Boulder Tennis Association Board. and the tournament director for the Austin Scott Tennis Tournament.

[41:01] The Austin Scott Tournament, which is hosted by BTA, and sponsored by local businesses, including Game, Set, Match and Bab-A-Lat, is the longest-running USTA tournament in the North Metro Denver, Boulder area. This year will be the tournament's 58th year. While the tournament is traditionally a Boulder event. The tournament was held in Longmont in 2025. And will be held in Longmont again this year at Longmont's Public Tennis Complex, which has 10 lighted courts. In 2024, we couldn't hold the tournament at all. Because we couldn't find court space. In previous years, the tournament was held at the courts at CU South. But in 2024 and 2025, CU South was being leased to the Rocky Mountain Tennis Center. And now the courts at CU South are set to be demolished. The tennis community of Boulder, was counting on the courts being built at the East Boulder Community Center.

[42:05] It was… we were counting on it to be the new home for the Austin Scott Tennis Tournament, and we are extremely disappointed that the project is being pushed back. Last year, at the last… at the tournament last year, we had over 300 players. And 16 local sponsors for the week-long event. Tennis events like the Austin Scott Tournament are good for Boulder residents, and good for Boulder businesses. Tennis is a lifelong sport that brings people together. And we shouldn't have to drive to another city to play. Thank you. Thank you. Next, we have Mo Siegel. Hi. I'm Moe Siegel, a long-time resident of Boulder. Just quick history, started Celestial Seasonings.

[43:03] Whole Foods Board, 14 years. I'm currently on the GOCO board, grayed out. Doris, Colorado. We're giving away $86 million to keep Colorado beautiful this year. We've given away $1.5 billion. I've been the chair, I've been the co-chair… I mean, not co-chair, vice chair. on the board of Boulder Community Hospital for 9 years. I've been on 23 boards. I was the BOCO representative to the city, trying to get pickleball courts, and I heard a lot of promises of which none came true, as in, none came through. And it was a terrible experience. I went into it after having, joined, Jeff Haley in the Chautauqua playground, and our family helped sponsor it, and it was a joy working with Jeff, and I wanted a public-private

[44:04] cooperation and willing to get it done with other people. I've got a lot of friends, some in low places, some in high places, and I repeatedly said to Allie that I would be very willing to introduce Boulder Parks and Rec to really wealthy people that might be able to cooperate on projects. But then we did the Chautauqua Court Project. I paid $160,000 for it. It was a year late. It was over budget, It was a painful process. I begged for 3 pickleball courts. We got a tennis court. and 2 pickleball court lines. It could have held 3 pickleball courts, but I was told, no, we will not make it solely pickleball, even though a pickleball player is paying for it.

[45:03] I asked why I got no answer. So, I'm not gonna introduce any of my rich friends. to try to help, because it's a horrible experience working with Boulder Parks and Rec as a private individual. There is not a single dedicated court, and if you look at the information of what Buena Vista has, Carbondale has, Longmont has, go across this state. We are the only big place that doesn't have a single one. We were promised Dedicated courts in East Boulder in 2022, 24, 25, 26, 27, and now it's 28. The answer was Gun Barrel. Come on, I would get rid of the head of Parks and Rec. Allie.

[46:02] Next, we have Lynn Siegel. Is she present? Okay, I don't see her. I show her on the virtual list, also. I did originally have her on virtual, but I'm also not seeing her online, so Lynn, let us know if you hop on. Otherwise, Mary Schnuaz. Hi. My name is Mary Snevweiss. I spoke last month. On February 23rd, in support of the South Pole Direct Center. About 50 or 60 people were here in support of a lap pool and gym at South Boulder Rec Center that night. And after the meeting, or after the, public input. portion, I was hopeful that our actions could have a positive impact, because all of you are here to represent residents like me, and help the city define what should be prioritized within Parks and Rec on behalf of all of us taxpayers.

[47:00] After going home and listening to the remaining meeting, I was shocked and appalled. When the topic of South Bowl Direct Center was discussed. by the… by the group. Some members of PRAB were dismissive, disrespectful, bordering unscornful to another PRAB member who is asking hard questions and trying to have a real discussion about this topic, that so many community members had just taken time out of their busy days to show up in support of. One of the specifics I remember related to a number quoted for the South Boulder Rec Center replacement of $30 million. One Prabh member badgered the other about making up numbers, when in fact, the number mentioned, which, as I was listening, I knew, because I had read the article, was from a Boulder Reporting Lab article from the Director of Parks and Rec. It was a quote. It wasn't a made-up number. It was just a very negative interaction, and it felt extremely unnecessary, and hearing that was really… Extremely disappointing. I ask that you all remain open to differing viewpoints. Hearing residents' concerns, and trying to come up with an outcome that meets everyone's needs.

[48:00] Be open to revisiting topics instead of pushing forward with plans as they are, especially when then you find out that there's a huge outpouring of support for something different. Because when you guys are all making plans, a lot of us have no idea until it's a year later. When hundreds of people are showing up to community, to city council meetings, it means that they really care, and the issue is very impactful to many, many lives. Please be respectful of each other and represent your friends, neighbors, coworkers, children by being willing to question and listen and work together to find solutions that benefit all of us in Boulder. Disagreement can produce really positive outcomes if everyone is open-minded. Thank you for listening. Thank you, Mary. That's the end of the pre-registered folks for in-person, so we're gonna hop to virtual, and after that, there'll be a chance for anyone else that wishes to speak in person or online. We have Zach Majorca coming up. Zach, you should be able to unmute and speak at this time. Great, can you hear me? Yes, but get up on that mic.

[49:01] Okay, great. Thanks, everybody. My name is Zach Mallorca. I'm the BOCO Pickleball president. BOCO, as Grace mentioned earlier, is the non-profit community organization that represents the interests of pickleball players across Boulder County. I've been the president for the last 2 years, a Boulder resident for about 8 years. I'm here to talk about the East Boulder Rec Center. work project. I'd like to first say that We have seen a concerted effort from Parks and Rec in the last year to increase the quality and frequency of the communication between our organizations, so I actually wanted to say thank you for that. I feel like there has been a good faith attempt to increase the communication between the organizations. Unfortunately, I think the news hasn't been good. We've been disappointed a few times, as other people have attested to. And that's hard.

[50:03] I guess I wanted to say two things. One, I wanted to remind everybody that we currently have zero dedicated pickleball courts. In Boulder. There are multi-use courts in Boulder, as has been mentioned before, but unlike tennis, we have zero dedicated pickleball courts, so when people talk about tennis tournaments, events. we can only sort of listen on wistfully. That… that just isn't a possibility, given the current situation. That we have. So I come to you with a very tactical suggestion, a very concrete tactical suggestion in regards to the East Boulder rec center project. I would like to decouple the pickleball court project from the larger project. So, currently the plan is to build new tennis courts in the Hogan Pentecost annexed property. And then convert 3 of those tennis courts, current tennis courts, to pickleball.

[51:02] My suggestion is to fast track and decouple that project, and do the pickleball project now. We're reusing the existing concrete slab. All we're doing is essentially resurfacing that court, and making a few other changes, it could very easily be done now. The only challenge to that is that that space currently occupies 3 tennis courts. I don't want to do anything that would further diminish the number of courts that the tennis community has. But I feel like we can maybe think creatively together about partnering with other entities that have tennis courts available, so we can simultaneously address the tennis court community's needs, but also addressing the pickleball community's needs as well. Thanks for your time. Thank you, Zach. Next on my list is Ron Reiner, but I'm not seeing him online. Is he present in person?

[52:00] Not seeing that. Well, let us know, Ron, if you are here. Next, then, online, we have Robert Bachelder. You should be able to unmute at this time. Still seeing muted. I'm gonna send you a prompt on Zoom asking you to unmute. Last call, Robert. Are you able to unmute? Okay, I'll give one more chance at the end when we do last call on virtuals. Thank you in the meantime. Finally, I have Dr. Edward M. Spevik. Are you present online? I do not see you there either. Or in person. Okay. Well, good. Any of those folks, if you come in late, let us know. Now it's time to… we've concluded the advanced sign-up portion of public comment, so if anyone in person would like to participate now, please give me a show of your hand.

[53:09] Alright, seeing none… Any other virtual folks? I see a Tony S, a Jim Elliott, and a Fran Green that have hopped on, and an Alex Webster. I… can you raise your hand on Zoom, if you would like to speak at this time? Okay, I'm not seeing any raised hands, so go ahead and raise those hands if… You're able, or if you're one of those other folks we missed. With that, though, that will conclude public comment. Madam Chair? Very nice job. Thank you very much for doing that on such short notice. All right, thank you everybody for participating, and that will conclude the public participation section of the meeting. I will pass it to staff to respond at this time, and then I'll send it over to Prabh for comments.

[54:07] Thank you, Madam Chair. First, I want to echo the gratitude to Chris. He is here last minute and short notice, because our normal meeting facilitator is sick, and you just did that flawlessly, managing all of that, so thank you for that. And thank you for all of you for coming here tonight. Regarding North Boulder Park, the neighbors who came to that, the concept plan is being shared tonight and will be available online, and so you'll see see that. And Bill will be here to present those updates and give you an update. Looks like you've already connected with him. And then on the courts at East Boulder Community, Park, you will hear… the board will hear updates on that project, including the phasing, and I just… I want to acknowledge, I hear the frustration. We know, ugh. I think probably the… the frustration is it feels like, again, there's a delay, and that's… that's valid. I get it. So we hear the interest in finding efficiencies and getting these courts projects done as quickly as possible. We hear the need from you for us to be experts and to manage city process better.

[55:12] The team and I are going to review the timeline, and plan carefully, and we'll report back, and I'd also like to consult with our colleagues in Planning and Development Services, and so you can expect to hear a report out from us through Our partners, our connections at Boulder Tennis Association and Boco Pickleball in the next few weeks. I don't have answers for you tonight, you'll hear more in the presentations, and then we'll report back. You heard from a couple of folks around a proposal on botanic gardens. So, Tina Dalton has been Ms. Sundoval's contact for many months now. She's outlined a path forward for them to submit a proposal, and what a meaningful project might look like. She's also explained the courts project underway and that's been approved, and we'll move through the various planning processes, as you'll hear again later tonight. And then regarding the South Boulder courts in the meantime, those have been delayed. You know, the practice has been to completely rebuild courts on a concrete slab, so that they're not subject to the cracks that we see on these asphalt slip sheets.

[56:13] We had been delaying that. Not wanting to spend a significant… to do four courts would be several hundred thousand dollars. We understand we can't delay. We'll need to do an asphalt resurfacing. We'll identify funding for that and get that taken care of as quickly as possible. So, I'm sorry you've had to call that out again. I see the head shaking, I understand the frustration, and in that same report back, we'll share a timeline for getting those taken care of. That's all I have. Thank you. Okay, I'll turn it over to the Advisory Board for any comments. on public participation. I just wanted to thank everyone who came out tonight. We heard from a couple of voices that we don't. usually hear from in these meetings, so just really appreciate all the different perspectives, and thanks for coming out and sharing.

[57:10] Any other comments? I had a couple… oh. No, no, no, no, please. Okay. I just had a couple of questions, maybe for staff, based on some of the public participation that was given. One of the questions was for… The East Boulder courts, can open source bidding be waived? Is… I'm just curious if that's an option that we… I'm not sure if you're ready to discuss it, but if there's any information you could give. That question specifically, so there. There are options to circa… so, first of all, open source bidding is designed to achieve a couple of things in… in government process. One, it's for taxpayers to get the best, most competitive bid, so it's to open it to a competitive bidding process. The other intent, this year, the city has announced what's called a Business Opportunity Project, and the goal is

[58:02] to ensure that our spend… our spending advances our equity goals. And so currently, minority and women-owned businesses are underrepresented in Cindy spending, and the way that we'll do procurement will allow opportunity for all businesses, still allowing for great projects to be competitively bid, and so by doing the full request for procurement, well, that's what that process is designed to do. There are exemptions to that process possible. For example, in an emergency, and you need to spend money to respond to address community needs, or there's something called a sole source, where you can say there is one person who is best qualified to do this, and you can ask for exemption for that project. That's something that could be considered, but very carefully, because again, you're exempting from those… those procurement rules that have been designed. To, again, effectively steward TAC dollars and city goals. So I can report back on that specific question more. That's something we'll, unpack a little bit over the next couple of weeks as I dig in with the team.

[59:04] Thank you. And then, one other question in regard to… Pickleball, Zach had mentioned decoupling the two projects, and I don't know, because I was thinking as I was reading through the packet. we were waiting on the tennis courts to make dedicated pickleball courts, but is it… and I don't actually know if there's… is there pickleball lines on those tennis courts, or are they dedicated tennis, or is there a way to… So here's… here's the challenge with Zach's proposal. If you've heard from some of our tennis colleagues, there is a shortage of both tennis and pickleball courts in the community. Having them shared is not the desired state for either pickleball players or tennis players, you heard that from multiple folks. However, in the meantime, until we have dedicated courts, we have said we won't reduce the level of service for tennis. The good news is, you'll hear later tonight that the courts at Tom Watson will be open this fall. And those will be the city's first dedicated pickleball courts. Those will help relieve pressure system-wide.

[60:06] we continue to have concerns about reducing the level of service for tennis at East until we can add pickleball. Also note, that's the home to the city's tennis program, and it provides a lot of youth tennis lessons, and so to decommission those courts for those… that program would be problematic. It would just add the tension elsewhere into the tennis system. Thank you very much, and I have some… comments about North Boulder Park, but I will hold on that until the presentation tonight so we can have more information. And thank you always to everybody for coming. Obviously, you can see there's a lot of pressing projects here that both staff and, Preb are dealing with. sometimes Prab gets information when you do, when we get the packets and things like that, so we have a lot to learn, and to, the number of people who emailed me, I tried to get back to everybody. As we learn more information about a lot of these projects that are upcoming, I'm… always willing to talk via email or sit down for coffee anytime, so please feel free to reach out to me whenever you'd like to, and thank you all for participating in our public process. I think it's also really important.

[61:07] I had some coffee Okay, I have a series of questions, and I want to make it. easy for staff to be able to respond, so do you want me to just… ask one question, and then we can go through them. Would that be. The easiest way? Yeah, although. Are they related to the courts and to North Boulder Park, or… everything, everything. Everybody said. Yeah, some of them I might… I might reserve to the presentation, but yeah, go for it. response, yeah. So, I think the first big question I had was, I heard a tension tonight between courts and the botanical gardens. This is the first time I've heard about the botanical garden concept. I don't know, is… can you give us some context? Maybe I missed it, maybe… do you all know about the botanical gardens? I just want to make sure I'm not the only one. Okay. Okay, okay, so from Council. So we have not talked about the botanical gardens issue at the PRAB, at the PRAB level.

[62:06] How, has… I understand you responded, Allie, that, you know, the, that the tennis courts have already been approved, and so we're just going to move on down the road, but have we heard, from, Chief Phillip before? Phillips, excuse me, or Chief Phillip, have we heard from the Botanical Garden folks that were present today, prior, and if so, what did we do with that information to prioritize or to balance the interests of… you know, having a botanical garden versus tennis courts, because I know from the Prabh perspective, it hasn't been discussed, so can you give us a little information on that one? So, two parts to that. First of all is that what, I can't… I believe the first contact with Ms. Sun… and I'm looking to Tina, who's been Ms. Sunval's contact, was at one of the open houses for the East project before annexation. Ms. Catherine is still here, she met with Tina. I was just checking to see, yeah.

[63:05] talked to us and shared this idea. So since then, Tina's met with her and talked to her, and we've, you know, there have been emails, and Tina's outlined what So, to send us an idea is one thing. We get ideas all the time from community members, and so what does it look like to make that idea an actual thing? Tina has outlined that path, she sent examples, we've used the Bill Bauer memorial process, where the Military Officers Association came to us and said, hey, we'd like memorial, we would like a thing. So she's outlined the path forward, and so when there's a real proposal and something to look at, then we'll happily consider it. And I want to clarify the comment on the the tennis courts project, the next step in that project is site review, and so they're not a done deal. They need to… when land is brought into the city, how it gets developed is carefully and thoughtfully done, and so during site review, there's still opportunity for there to be conversations about what gets developed at the site. And if at that time there's a legitimate and reasonable proposal for a botanic Gardens, that would be part of the conversation.

[64:05] So when did we hear from the botanical Garden people? I'm looking to Tina, it would have been sometime in the spring of 2020… 4? Or 5? Yeah. Yeah. It was… and to be clear, it's been with Ms. Sunval, the, I've not met, Mr. Whitehorse before, or any of the other public speakers. That's, those are newer participants in the process. Okay. So it isn't a done deal, then. We're not gonna just make decisions and it's gonna be a tennis court. We're still open to considering whether or not we need to make some reprioritization or balance the botanical gardens idea. So, What has been decided and approved by the city is that East Boulder Community Park is a possible location for additional tennis courts. That's why we've pursued annexation, so that we would have appropriate parkland for both pickleball and tennis. And that's the plan worth proceeding with. It's been publicly discussed and approved multiple times.

[65:08] to… Upend those plans now. would require significant community conversation and council input. They've… again, similarly, they've, they've been involved in the public engagement and the capital plans, and so what we're open to are proposals that balance both community interests. So how do we get the community that's advocating for the botanical gardens to play a meaningful role in advocating for that? What do they need to do to do that? Tina's emailed those instructions explicitly to them, and given examples. Okay? Next issue, so I guess I would say, as a board member, I was very interested in that commentary, and, I would want us to balance that.

[66:01] that's just my vote. I'm one of five here, but I would want us to balance that and consider that. I think the advocates for the botanical gardens made some very good points that are worth thinking about, and I just don't… I want to make sure they feel heard, and that we're doing something, potentially, to give them some meaningful input into this process. suggest that, maybe at the end, from Matters from the board, we bring that up one more time, and we can talk about considering it in future agenda items. That sounds great. Great, yeah, thank you. The next question I have is, Let's see… oh, the North Boulder Park, public comment. A couple of folks said that some of the changes that were being made in terms of moving the ballparks Or the ball fields seemed unnecessary, completely unnecessary, and that there were potentially issues that… these water issues that could be managed maybe with less expensive solutions, like backfill, for example.

[67:01] What are we doing to explore that? I think we're going to hear it… hear that later, so is that going to be part of later's conversation about how we could potentially save money on that effort, and then just do a sort of a less expensive fix, and not have to move the battlefields? So what you'll hear from Bill later is you'll see, first of all, you'll see that final concept plan. It's complicated to include it in the packet, and so he'll walk through and talk about both the reasons for moving the ball fields and explain the alternatives that they explored. Okay. So to those folks who are in the room, I guess on those issues, we'll have to, you know, have a conversation later and understand better what those issues are. Let's see here, sorry. I had a question about, the courts issue, the tennis courts issues.

[68:01] Are we… I wish I understood from that community, are we using the Fairview courts, for example, and high school courts? Are those just not options? Are those part of the analysis of overall capacity for the City of Boulder? the. 2024 court system plan looks at overall community capacity, and it looks at public courts, and I knew that many groups do use the courts at Centennial and at Fairview. They are part of our joint use agreement with the school district. And so, yes, they're considered that plan, the court system plan, you might… that was before your time on Prab at all, so I realize you haven't, we haven't had a chance to talk to you much about that at all. And I'd be happy to go over it with you, if helpful. So, Fairview courts are considered part of the capacity that we count as the… as an agency, we say Fairview can be used, and we'll upkeep those. No, they are managed and operated by the school district. Oh, okay.

[69:04] Let's see, sorry, there's just a lot here. I assume we'll hear more when we talk about the Tom Watson pickleball courts, so I know there's just a lot on the pickleball courts issue. Yeah, okay, I guess those are the… those were the biggies, and we'll have to have a discussion about the other issues. Thank you. Okay, anything else from Prabh at this time? Nope. Alright. Then, again, that considers public participation closed, and we're going to be moving on to the consent agenda. For, For the consent agenda, would anybody like to make a motion to approve the minutes from our February meeting? Sure. Okay. Second. Okay, we have a Bernie has a second. Are there, is there discussion on the minutes or anything else in the consent agenda?

[70:06] I have just one, just because this was brought up, get up on the mic there, Bruce. Thanks. Well, let's do it. I do want to just call out, because this came up, Christine Russell brought this up, we did make a decision last month to change our public comment policy. We agree with what was said about the importance of taking public comment. We all really value the opportunity to hear from you each month, as well as via email during the month. However, we did make a decision to pull our regulations into line with City Council, which is in the minutes from last week. We are establishing a 45-minute time limit with 3 minutes per person if there are fewer than 15 folks, or 2 minutes per person if we have more than 15. I think we're probably over that tonight, so we will continue to be flexible, but those are our official rules. Can I add, Bernie, just, we were, Clarissa actually helped me with what… what needs to happen next, and we missed this, I'm sorry, is that these need to be reviewed by the city attorney and then amended

[71:08] as a formal action at your April meeting, and so that will happen at your next April meeting. And so we… I should have looped both the Chair and Vice Chair in on that, that we had consulted before this meeting. So the regulations stand for tonight as currently with 3 minutes per person and no limit, and so that they would take effect after you amend the handbook. Yeah, and I'm sorry I forgot to give you that update. How many people did we have tonight? Sorry, Frida. No, of course, we had 19 registered, 16 spoke. 19 registered, 16 spoke, okay. And so the new rules are 20… Or 45 minutes. Great. Thank you. Okay, anything else in regard to the consent agenda besides the minutes, from anybody on PrEP? Yes. threatened this. part of the consent agenda this summer recruitment campaign. Looks great, I like the slogan, I think it was catchy. I just wanted to ask, just about some of the efforts to, you know.

[72:12] pool the best applicants in Boulder, and reach out to maybe some, individuals who come from more, like, disadvantaged backgrounds. What are some things that we're doing to try to get them to apply? I'm looking to our senior, Manager for Business Services, Jackson Haidt. Every year, a different member of our leadership team sponsors different teams we have to advance work, and this year, Jackson is leading… you're not leading Summer Squad, who's… Brian Beery's not here, so Jackson saw me look at him and stood up helpfully. Thank you, Jackson. Thank you for the question. My name's Jackson Haight, Senior Manager for our Business Services team. I spent. We sponsored the team last year, and what we've done is we have reached out to different high schools, different middle schools, and contacted those individuals. In July or August, you will see a demographic report of our hires, and that indicates how many of them are referrals from other employees who have worked for us in the past.

[73:05] Where we are getting the applicants from, as well as their demographic, backgrounds. I can tell you last year we had 30 different languages spoken on our staff, so… Really good diversity. We do compare the diversity of our candidates to the overall, Boulder County, as well as state of Colorado diversity. So our equity goals are we very much want our staff to resemble, or exceed the community that they are serving. So, we do have a variety of things. You will see all of the flyers are in Spanish this year. We do encourage a variety of applicants. Some of our program participants have started out as, children or participants in our program, and then transitioned onto staff. So we see that a lot with our aquatics programs, as well as our gymnastics program, that I think that those are some examples of what we do. Yeah, that's fantastic, and I think it is really just such a great opportunity, at that stage to be able to work and learn more, and then maybe even pursue a career later on.

[74:05] Thank you. All right, any other comments or questions on the consent agenda? All right, all those in favor of passing the consent agenda, please say aye. Aye. Those, who are against, please say nay. Hearing no opposition, the motion passes, and the consent agenda is approved as posted. All right, moving on to matters from the discussion. Matters for discussion. Looks like we have… we're ready, we're locked and loaded. We are, and I'm welcoming up to the dais, actually, some colleagues from Planning and Development Services, and so this will be y'all's third touch on the major update to the Boulder Valley Comprehensive Plan, and I am Grateful for Chris and Tucker's time tonight. I'll buy them some while they get situated here. So as a reminder, the Boulder Valley Comprehensive is really the document that outlines who we aspire to be as a community. It outlines policy direction that all work in the City of Boulder must align, and really one of the key elements of it is the land use and defining what we want our city to look like as there are

[75:22] opportunities for development. and redevelopment. I've been through multiple updates to the Boulder Valley Comprehensive Plan, and not only was this the most speedy process to scene, which is why Chris maybe needed some oxygen before coming up here tonight, it's been the most transformative. I have been so impressed with the engagement. And the depth of work this team has done to modernize, really, what is a 50-year-old document to think about who we want to be and what a bolder future is. And so, Again, the PRAB's been consulted twice on this plan. You were consulted early in the process on engagement, and then,

[76:03] and the steps, and then you were consulted last fall on the policies of the Boulder Valley Comprehensive Plan, and so tonight, Chris and Tucker are reporting back as part of their tour of boards. This Thursday, they will visit in a joint session with the City Council and Planning Board, and your input will be shared with them along with that of some… plenty… I guess, I don't know if you're seeing all 20 boards and commissions, but you're seeing many of them. So with that, I'm going to hand it over to Chris Ranglos. Good evening, Pratt. My name's Chris Ranglos. I am a staff member in Planning and Development Services. I'm a senior planner on the Comprehensive Planning Team. We're excited to be back. It's been about 6 months or so now since we've last spoken to you, and over that 6-month period, we have been hard at work, drafting, what you see before you tonight, which is the draft Boulder Valley Comprehensive Plan. This is a really important board, I think, to give us feedback on this plan. As you'll see in the presentation, one of the really key overarching themes that we've heard throughout our year and a half now of engagement is this sense of connection. And our community is really desiring that, and that comes in a lot of different ways, but I think one of the most unique and powerful ways that it comes through is through our parks and recreation activities.

[77:16] So we're gonna give you guys about a 15 or so minute presentation. I know you have a lot on your agenda tonight, so we'll try and be quick. If we don't get through everything tonight, if you have additional feedback, if you haven't really dove into the draft plan yet, we do have a public comment period open until April 6th, so you can visit the project website at boulderFuture.org, and provide us any kind of feedback that you may not be able to squeeze in tonight. With that, I'm going to turn it over to Tucker Horst. Tucker Horsch is gonna kick us off. He'll give about half the presentation, and then I'll come back in and talk a little bit more about the plan. Thank you, Chris. Yeah, I'm Tucker Horsch. I'm also on the Comprehensive Planning Team in Planning and Development Services. Yeah, I'll get us started. So tonight, we're just gonna update you on the process, where we are on the project, so we have the draft plan out, so we'll share an overview of the draft plan, highlight some next steps, and then we'll discuss… we'll have a discussion, and we have a couple quick key questions.

[78:11] Just a reminder, on your role in this process, so there's four formal adopting bodies for the plan, City Council, the City Planning Board, the County Planning Commission, and the Board of County Commissioners. So these bodies will ultimately take action on the plan, once we roll into adoption. All other boards serve in an advisory capacity. Your role is still incredibly important. You'll help us identify where policies may need refinement, where there are gaps, and what might be a glaring issue or a mission based on your expertise. Your feedback really helps shape any recommended changes before the plan advances further. So during the adoption process, you also have the opportunity to provide formal recommendations to Planning Board and City Council, which become part of the public record and help inform their decisions. We see this as a collaborative step. Your insight really helps us strengthen the plan before it reaches final action.

[79:07] These are the key questions for our discussion tonight. We will come back to these at the end of the presentation. Now I'll walk you through the process and how we came to the draft plan we have today. A reminder, this is a major update, which only takes place every 10 years, and minor updates at the midpoint between the major updates. So this is kind of the process we went through. We began with a boulder Today, focusing on project orientation and existing conditions. We tried to ground the project in data, trends, and also what the community is experiencing. From there, we moved into A Boulder Tomorrow. We worked with the community to define a shared vision and identify priorities. That was the… listening and understanding phase, and really finding out what people want Boulder to become. Then, a bolder direction, that's where we translated the vision into policy options and a preferred direction. This is where we discussed trade-offs and started to, talk about some key choices about the plan.

[80:05] Today, we're in a bolder Future, reviewing the draft plan and the future land use map. This is where all of that early work has come together. This timeline reflects a deliberate progression from understanding, to visioning, to direction setting, and now to refining the draft before adoption. How we got here? So, everything in the plan has been driven in some way by community input. So, we set out to host, or the team has set out to host the most inclusive engagement process that the Comprehensive plan has ever put forward. There have been over 60 different opportunities to engage with the project team and submit feedback. This includes open houses, online questionnaires, pop-ups around town, community conversations, a statistically valid survey, and a lot more. We've received thousands of comments, ideas, and concerns from community members. The draft plan reflects these community-driven ideas and policies and a land use strategy intended to move these ideas into the future. And then driving the draft plan, like Chris said, is one of the themes we heard about the most, which is a desire for greater connection in the Boulder Valley.

[81:06] In addition to connections, the community also shared specific desires for the future. People want thriving local businesses, they emphasize safe streets for walking, biking, and riding, a strong desire for welcoming public spaces where people can gather and build community, and then climate and wildfire resilience remain top priorities, fostering an inclusive economy that supports everyone. Residents want stronger local food systems, from farms to markets, and neighborhoods that are more multifunctional, where people can access goods and services easily. People want stronger connections to nature, our parks, trails, and open spaces, they want stronger connections to daily needs, like shop services and transportation. Connection to opportunity is really important, so access to jobs, education, and resources for everyone. The community also highlighted housing, making sure homes are available, affordable, and fit diverse needs, and then a call to strengthen connections to each other, building a sense of belonging and community across Boulder.

[82:03] And as a reminder, we were with you back in September of last year, The biggest takeaways from that meeting were the desire to continue protecting parkland and maintain levels of service as the population grows. And to consider additional complementary uses on parklands to meet evolving community needs, especially in the context of a changing climate. With that community feedback in mind, I'll hand it back over to Chris, who will go over the specifics of what is in the plan. Thank you. Okay, so we will start here. Just a quick refresher on really what the comprehensive plan is and what it isn't. This is really the community's 20-year vision for the Boulder Valley. It sets the long-term direction for how we grow, how we change, and how we invest over time. It guides major decisions across major areas, including land use, housing, transportation, climate action, economic vitality, and more. But it's intentionally broad because it serves as the policy foundation for many different city and county actions.

[83:08] The plan also informs zoning, budgeting decisions, and future sub-community and department plans. It doesn't replace those tools, but it does set the direction that they follow. And importantly, this document is used by policymakers, staff, boards and commissions, and community members. It's both a policy framework and a public guide for understanding where we're headed over the next 20 years. We established some goals for this update, pretty early on in the process, using community feedback that we've heard. So clear and understanding language, was the first goal, more direction setting and being less prescriptive. Create a plan that's really, at the end of the day, more adaptable and flexible and responsive to change over time. And it also needs to remain action-oriented, and aspirational.

[84:00] While we are reimagining the plan and updating its goals, some foundations do remain as strong as ever. So, we continue to value the compact community surrounded by open space, protecting the lands, the natural systems, and the scenic vistas that make Boulder so unique. Strong neighborhoods and a sense of place remain central, giving residents a connection to their community. Climate leadership and environmental stewardship continue to guide our decisions, reinforcing our commitment to sustainability. And collaboration between the city and county remains strong, ensuring that our planning is coordinated and serves the broader community effectively. There have been some new ideas, and areas of emphasis that we've heard from the community, so these include the concept of 15-minute neighborhoods. Housing supply and diversity continues to be a strong topic of conversation and area of emphasis within this plan. The night economy is a new concept, that we've heard a lot from the community about. Arts and culture continues to remain strong. Local ag and food systems, our natural infrastructure, social connection, and the overall future land use strategy.

[85:12] So I'll briefly just kind of walk through the way the plan is organized or structured, in case you haven't had a chance to dive in. Chapter 1 is really the introduction to the plan, the process that we've been taking. It's a look back on 50 years of planning history in Boulder, and it's really a community snapshot in time and trends, including your typical existing conditions. Chapter 2 is the vision and the values. These were established, early on in the project, through a lot of community engagement, and has been established and really guided the remainder of the project. So all of this input has really shaped the community vision for the Boulder Valley. At its heart, you know, it's really about working together to ensure that everyone belongs, creating opportunities for all who live, work, or visit here, and sustaining the health of our community and environment for generations to come.

[86:05] This vision guides every aspect of the plan, from the policies to the actions, and keeps us focused on what matters most to our community over the next 20 years. Chapter 3, I would say, is probably the meat of the document. This is the policy section. It also includes the planning areas map, as well as feature topics or spreads, that you may have seen in the plan, and those are really just meant to provide additional detail, additional information around some of those key topic areas that we've been hearing from the community. For the approach to our policy updates, We tried really hard to make them easier to read, and more understandable to policymakers, to decision makers, to city staff, to the community. We really wanted to limit the redundancy that we do see in several of the current policies. And also keep the policies at the right level of detail. And through that, we have successfully managed to take 210 policies that exist within the currently adopted comprehensive plan down to 102 policies.

[87:09] I will point out some of the parks and recreation-related policies. These include 15-minute neighborhoods, urban natural infrastructure, nature-based urban cooling and heat management. Social and resilient infrastructure, parks and rec facilities and programs, nature everywhere, trails and path networks, as well as community health and wellness. Chapter 4 is the land use chapter. This presents the overall concept of our future land use strategy. It defines the designations and those definitions. It also includes the future land use map. So for the future land use strategy, I won't spend too much time here, but do just want to provide sort of a high-level, overview of how this has been broken down. I will start by just mentioning that previously we had 26 designations, some of them being a little bit redundant, and so we've been able to pare those down to 12 designations now. This is really part of that right-sizing. We're really, you know, looking at viewing land use really at the neighborhood scale rather than parcel by parcel.

[88:11] We wanted to differentiate between the different land use designations with limited overlap. We do see a bit of overlap with our current designations, and we also wanted them to be adaptable. These designations allow multiple future outcomes that are still consistent with the vision, that we had just discussed. So we have four sort of overarching designations between neighborhoods, hubs, systems, and special purposes. So within neighborhoods, you see Neighborhood 1 and Neighborhood 2, Neighborhood 1 being the lower density of the two. Neighborhood 2 is really a higher density designation and strategically located along a lot of our transit corridors. Hubs include Community, Regional, and innovation and Production Hub. A lot of the 15-minute neighborhood concepts that you've been hearing, those will most likely find itself in the community hubs, some regional hubs, and potentially some innovation and production hubs as well.

[89:04] Systems, these are natural systems, so you can see parks is included under systems. We also include greenways, open space, we've taken 3 current open space designations and paired those down to 1. And then also included rural lands, which is a lot of the unincorporated, land that's in the unincorporated Boulder County. And then for special purposes, this includes industrial facilities and the university-owned lands. So the definitions, have evolved, I would say, quite significantly, over the past 6 months, but certainly looking back to the 2015 plan, the 2015 plan typically provided a few high-level sentences related to, the desired outcome within these different use categories. So what we've done is we've broken it down to try and provide some additional detail. What it is, is sort of your definition, why it matters, and then what you can expect out of these designations. So that includes uses, urban design, and mobility.

[90:01] And the uses, of course, were included in the previous designations, but I think where this has really evolved is that we are starting to establish some urban design and mobility expectations, within these different land use categories. So, implementation, Implementation of this plan is going to unfold over time. This is a 20-year plan, so change will happen gradually. It's not going to happen overnight. It's going to be guided by zoning and other regulatory updates, future area and sub-community plans, as well as capital investments. Every city and county department has a role, and partnerships with the community are going to be essential in making this work. The plan also connects to the citywide strategic plan to ensure coordinated action across the city, and ultimately this plan sets the direction and its future decisions that will bring it to life. Okay, we're getting close. I just want to, point out a couple of upcoming milestones that I think would be good to make the board aware of. In March and April, the draft will go to all four of our policy-making bodies, so Planning Board, City Council, the Board of County Commissioners, and the Planning Commission. For a series of study sessions, the first one, as Allied mentioned, is going to be this Thursday between the Planning Board and the City Council.

[91:14] But really, over the next month or so, we'll be reviewing the draft plan with each body to get their feedback, much like the feedback that we've been collecting from the community for about 20 days now. We'll also host office hours. We hosted an office hours last week, and have another one coming up here on April 1st, I think it is, where anybody from the community can come and directly chat with staff about the plan. In May, the project team will revise and polish up the draft based on your feedback tonight, all of our other advisory boards and commissions, as well as all of the feedback that we've been hearing from the community. Then in June, the formal adoption process will begin, which will include public hearings. We're still finalizing these dates. June 4th will be the first one. The ones that follow that are still a little bit up in the air, so the month of June will really be the crux of when we're bringing this forward for public hearings and consideration of adoption.

[92:09] these are the key questions. Again, I'm happy to flip back over to these, let you guys sit on them for a bit, but before I do, I, just do want to leave you with a few key takeaways. You've heard a lot over the last 10-15 minutes or so, but it really comes down to 3 ideas with this plan. For a Compass, this plan is aspirational. It doesn't predict the future or ensure certain outcomes into the future, but it does help guide us toward the future that our community has told us we want to create. For community, the plan reflects more than a year and a half of ideas, conversations, and collaboration with people from across the Boulder Valley. This plan is not our plan here at the dais, it's really the community's plan. And then connection. I mentioned that at the beginning of our presentation, but we've heard strongly how important, people care about staying connected to each other. I think this is largely coming out of the pandemic era.

[93:05] But people want to remain connected to nature and to the places that make this community so special. So we hope that we, that you do ultimately see that reflected in the plan. And with that, maybe I'll just flip back over to the key questions, let you guys sit on those for a minute, but we're happy to take any questions. Thank you so much, that was a great presentation. Parks, Parks and Recreation Advisory Board, any comments or questions? on that presentation. Looks like Yvonne's got one. I can wait unless somebody else… Thank you very much for the presentation. I really appreciate the… the comprehensiveness of the… of the document. It's very, very good. Well, I have one question for staff, and then I have an idea. But I'll make one comment here. What I really appreciated about the…

[94:01] Comprehensive plan were 5 things that stood out to me as relates to parks, rec centers, specifically. Number 20 was maintaining existing assets. I was glad to see that in there, that there's a prioritization or a value to trying to maintain what we have, which, as we've heard some of the public comments, we're not doing the best job maintaining our existing assets, so I really think that's a good value, to have in the plan. Also, the 15-minute neighborhoods, as you said. That would be the second, the community hubs, the reducing reliance on cars, I think that's super important as we think about our rec centers, the resilience hubs during emergencies. And, and I have a comment on how to make, it better, but first I had a question. How do… how does the staff, I guess this would be for Allie or anyone on the staff. How do we take those… that value set from the comprehensive plan

[95:01] How do we operationalize it when we're thinking about, our rec centers? Yeah, I wish there's a graphic in the comp plan that… that is probably not in the deck or back pocket. You've got it. He's got it! So there's a graphic that I'm gonna let Chris pull up, but I talked about earlier that the comp plan is an umbrella, right, and everything we do fits under it. And Chris talked about that it's aspirational. I'll point out that within the policies of the Boulder Valley Comprehensive Plan, there's tensions with some of them, right? So, let me… I'm trying to think of an easy example that won't cause an uproar, but, Often it'll show up with, energy efficiency and a desired set of wants and needs. And… but so this… this graphic, I love that you had it available. So, this shows that the… you all have heard us talk about the Sustainability, Equity, and Resilience Framework. That's the seven goal areas that describe who we want to be as a community.

[96:04] The Boulder Valley Comprehensive Plan further unpacks those 7 goal areas with the 97, 99, 102. How many policies are we at with this plan? 102. 102 policies, and so then there's the citywide strategic plan, which there's a 3-year plan, it's being updated. And then underneath that, departments operationalize that in their department plans, which ours was done in 2022. You hear us reference that a lot. and then in each year's annual work plan. And so, basically, as we look at the work plan, as the department plan is developed, it all should be within the context of the Boulder Valley Comprehensive Plan. And so, the next BPR plan will be developed in 2028, and it will be under the lens of this new comprehensive plan. Did that answer your question, Yvonne? I guess so, that's pretty broad. I don't really know, maybe you can't provide me with a more specific answer, because obviously there are tensions. I mean, I think you're talking about the East Boulder Rec Center being, you know, there's all these climate goals that we're trying to accomplish, but then, you know, there are tensions with other issues in terms of

[97:16] My concerns, around… possible consolidation of rec centers and making people drive to get to other locations. And I just don't really understand, I don't have a lot of, I don't have a good line of sight on how we balance that, because I've not heard in any of the plans around East Boulder Rec Center, for example. If we were to consolidate south into east, which my vote would be no, absolutely no, but if we were to do that, what that would cause in terms of greenhouse gas emissions. And all the other, you know, sustainable-type, goals within the plan. But that's okay, I understand that's a tough question to answer, so I'll just move on. So what I was thinking was, I'd love to find a way to potentially…

[98:09] In the definitions section of the community hubs, the resilience hubs. I wonder if we might be able to better define that To… to include, more explicitly recognizing rec centers, all three of the existing rec centers, as community-scale hubs that would deliver on the goals. And the reason I'm saying that is, I can imagine, like, we have 3 places that are, you know, distributed around the city. That they exist, and we'd like to maintain them. We'd like to keep them in operation. You know, the wildfire risk is huge in the city of Boulder. where, in the event, in a scenario where we have a massive wildfire, like LA, for example, and we have people evacuated, you know, people, maybe even the elderly community, in, in, for example, South Boulder, or the South Boulder community, but everywhere, not just South Boulder.

[99:12] Where you need a place to… if they can't go to a hotel, they don't have the means to go to a hotel, they don't have air conditioning in their homes, or even if it's a bad smoke day, maybe it's not an evacuation, but it's a bad smoke day. using those facilities, to, create safe havens or resilience hubs for the community. In the worst case scenario, putting up cots in the gym. And it's a cooling center, and it's a place for people who have been evacuated, stay. But in a maybe not so worst-case scenario, you've just got a really bad smoke day, and it's super hot, as we know we're going to have more extreme heat days, it's a cooling center. It's a place for people to you know, get out of their homes if they don't have air conditioning, because not everybody can afford to have air conditioning. So, I… I would… I was wondering, is that…

[100:01] is that something that you all might consider? And I don't know if it has to be a vote by this board, but is it something you could consider to say… it… because that aligns with the maintaining existing assets and all the other You know, resilience hubs during emergencies, reducing reliance on cars, 15-minute neighborhoods. having those centers, to be, prioritized. And the last thing I'll say before I'm quiet here is, Somebody posted on, what is that? the neighborhood… Yes, thank you. Next door, that, there have been shutoffs of power at various of the various rec centers, and it would be lovely, I would think, if we could somehow designate those facilities as critical infrastructure, those three centers as critical infrastructure, so that, potentially they… and I don't know how this works behind the scenes with the power companies, but potentially they would not be subject to the same

[101:09] Power outages, the voluntary power outages, so that, again, you have these hubs that can be You know, a respite for the community in these emergency situations. I don't know if there was a question there, but I agree with you, and that's all really valuable feedback, that our team can absolutely look into. This notion of resilience hubs, I think, is a really good one, something that we have talked about. some of the most successful resiliency hubs really are not government buildings, they're actually community-driven buildings, and so I think a lot of our land use designations allow for those types of community-serving uses to evolve and to occur not just within community hubs, but a lot of our land use designations. But we'll continue looking into it, and if we need to specifically designate that within the land use definition for the ones that do make the most sense, then I think that's a good revision for us to consider.

[102:03] I was brainstorming over the weekend, trying to figure out where to put that. I was thinking in the definition, the page on community scale hubs, I think it was, there was where you were showing that, if that definition could just include rec centers. Then I think that would get us there. Yeah, I think so. And I'll just respond, Yvonne, you started with a process question. I'll just clarify. No vote is needed on this item. Chris and the team are here to take all input from the board that then they'll synthesize with feedback they're getting from the community and from others for, for consideration with the final draft. Thank you, Allie. Okay, any other feedback on… On the comp plan. Alright, so I'm gonna get a little bit into the nitty-gritty, but, okay, so, number 88.

[103:01] Parks and Recreation facilities and programs. So I love the whole statement. I think it really brings to life so many things, that we care about when it comes to parks and recreation. My question is whether we would want to be just, like, a little bit more specific or measurable, just as an idea for that, for that policy. So if you take a look, for instance, at, 81, What's interesting is, like, I mean, this one maybe is on the other side of the spectrum, but if the city commits to ensuring 15% of all homes will be permanently affordable by 2020, or by 2035. So, again, that really, like, puts a stake in the ground, that we are committing to 15%. So I'm wondering if maybe we want to beef up 88, around parks and recreations a little bit. And I don't think that there's a specific, like, target that we would need to state, but even putting a stake in the ground that we want to maintain service levels as the population increases, and there's more stress on services, something like that, I think, would take a little bit more of a stand in terms of just…

[104:10] you know, what is our aspiration for Parks and Recreation over the next, you know, like, Number of years. I'm not sure, again, if there was a question behind that, but I think it's really… Oh, it was just feedback. Yeah, on that one, that maybe we would consider, putting something that would be, like, a little bit more measurable, in… in… in revising 88. Yeah, I think so. I think we can look into it and try to understand what that might be. I will say for 81, the permanently affordable housing goal, the reason that you do see this and not a lot of other metrics within some of these policies, is that has been an established goal, an established metric that exists within the Housing and Human Services Department plan. And so if there were to be others, I think there is as well, for a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, then those metrics did ultimately find their way into the plan. But if we can find a way to stake… put a stake in the ground a little bit harder on Parks and Rec services into the future, I think we can look into it.

[105:08] Chris, can I ask you. to speak on urban service standards and how those are being contemplated. So, in prior iterations of the comp plan, there are standards for urban service provisions, and currently for urban parks, there are around a playground within a quarter mile of every community member, a neighborhood park of 5 acres or more, within a half a mile. Those are not being included in the comp plan, because I think that's the opportunity to do what Kira's talking about, and so maybe you could talk a little bit about that. I would say that is probably. the location as well as, you know, an update to the Parks and Rec Department plan. I think that that's also another valuable place to put metrics and to sort of put a stake into the ground. But to Ali's point here, the urban service criteria and standards. will likely end up either within the citywide strategic plan or within the individual department plans within the department master plans. So, they will not be in the comprehensive plan any longer, but like I said, we're still kind of deciding whether the most appropriate place is going to be within department plans, or somehow looped into the citywide strategic plan.

[106:11] Okay, great. Yeah, I'd love to hear an update on that, once we get to it. Sure. I… in the answer to the two key questions, I think, yes to both, if that's what we're being asked here today. And then I just have a comment or two. I think… I think this plan is fabulous. I mean, if you look at the concept of neighborhoods 1 and 2, really creates clarity about what the city's been trying to do for a really long time. And so, I think that's really gonna work. It simplifies everything. And, you know, and I also appreciate the fact that it… and you emphasize this, and maybe some people haven't understood this in the past, is that it's aspirational. The comp plan has always been aspirational.

[107:01] And so it… it doesn't, you know, there's no enforcement mechanism to it or anything like that, so I specifically appreciate that, too. And then… Yeah, and I even like the way that the, you know, the definition of Parks and Rec, and this, you know, is broken down into systems, and then also falls under a hub, too, which I think it just clarifies our mission, and the mission of Parks and Rec. And then finally, where are office hours held? the Tate Building, so here, I'm not sure specifically which room, but there are two options. You can either, host… we're going to host a virtual option for people who may not be able to make it over here, so if you're at work, want to take a break and chat with us about the comp plan, you can give us a call and we can do that. But yeah, we'll be here somewhere on the first floor, one of the conference rooms downstairs, West 101 or North 101. Great, thanks for a great job on this.

[108:04] I also just want to thank you for a great job on this… on this plan. This is… it's very impressive. I particularly appreciate the… The attention given to multimodal transportation, electrification, and the economic policies, I think those are all important for us to be aspiring to. I don't have a question. I do want to just highlight, in light of some of the comments we heard during the public comment this evening, this plan opens with a very, detailed and thoughtful land acknowledgement, and I think we should all Read that and sit with it as we think about the comments we heard this… earlier this evening. Thank you. Thank you. Any other comments? I have some. I will… Give, also. So, just to clarify, I have… I think you guys did a great job. I was critical at our last…

[109:01] with the last presentation about this, I remain critical, mostly with Neighborhoods 1 and 2, just because it concerns me slightly with the, ability to, change the character of our existing neighborhoods in such a drastic way, you know, is what this particular plan is doing. I also realize, though, that it is broad, and it will then go down into the strategic plan. I know Council's really supportive of this plan also, though, which… Leads me to believe that it will probably end up drastically changing a lot of Boulder, this particular plan. With that in mind, I think you guys have also done a really phenomenal job with community outreach. I mean, I've attended… A portion of the 60-plus engagements you guys have done, and it's great every single time. It's really clear, and it… and it does… I mean, the last one I attended was just at the dairy, and I mean, there were tons and tons of people there, which is just awesome.

[110:00] I do think… I saw more people there paying attention than, have in the past, probably, because as we get to this point, it just becomes a larger topic. And so I feel like over the last few years, as you guys have been working on this. Just in general, when things happen, that… prompt change, you tend to have people attend who want change versus people who don't want change, or like the way things happen to be, and so I think that maybe now you might be getting a little bit more feedback on… on that, but I do also think we're kind of down the road pretty far on a lot of this stuff, so it is… it is what it is. you know, my concerns with, with the Neighborhood 1 and 2, and allowing. kind of mixed-use in the neighborhoods and things like that. I think that that's something that we're already doing, and it's not working. We have so many empty mixed-use storefronts right now all around Boulder. So, you know, in my opinion, if you're taking feedback, I…

[111:01] I'm not sure that's the best way to go, is just to create additional empty storefronts for… I mean, do you have… do you currently have have you done studies to… I feel like we already have 15-minute neighborhoods. Personally. So I'm curious as to… you know, I've talked to people before at some of these events who say, you know, I have a coffee shop, and you're talking about putting a mixed use in the middle of a… you know, a Newlands or a Chautauqua or something, where it'll… in order for a coffee shop to survive in Boulder, it takes over 200 transactions a day. So, I… you know, I'm just wondering… You know, we talked about flexibility last time, and I'm kind of asking the same questions about it. I don't think you're off here. I think that we do have a lot of 15-minute neighborhoods already. Some of them are more complete than others. And so, then there are areas of town that are really far away from being a 15-minute neighborhood, and so the work that's to come related to 15-minute neighborhoods There'll be some mapping exercises that are done to understand specifically where those more complete 15-minute neighborhoods are, where the less complete, and where the really no 15-minute neighborhoods exist. And then we can establish actions and priorities in a lot of different ways, future plans that really target those areas that need a little bit of a boost to complete their 15-minute neighborhood.

[112:19] And then the 15-minute neighborhoods that do exist already, I think just closely monitoring those and ensuring that they remain successful 15-minute neighborhoods will be a priority of ours, too. But it'll really be those two, sort of, what's missing from the neighborhoods that are close to being a 15-minute neighborhood, and then, again, for the areas of town that are pretty far away from that, you know, finding ways to complete those 15-minute neighborhoods as well. Great, thank you. And that, 15-minute neighborhood concept in general, you know, is one thing, and then… kind of adding that density within the… within the neighborhoods is concerning to me from an environmental standpoint, from… from a water standpoint also. Boulder's a really unique place,

[113:03] we have, you know, I'm glad that you've got agriculture listed in here as much as you do. I think that's real important. Some people I've talked to are like, let's pull some of that water away from agriculture and put it towards density, and that is something that I wholly disagree with, so I'm… I'm glad to see that agriculture's being protected. In this plan, particularly. Not that I think that density is bad, necessarily, but environmentally, I think it needs to be. Taken into account. And then… Last, well, two things. Title IX will need to change within the strategic plan in order to have most of this stuff implemented, so I think that's a big step. Not involved with the comprehensive plan, but I wanted to make that note publicly. And then, Can you talk a little bit about the status? One of the other things that I find slightly distressing about this process is that you allow individual land use changes. Which you didn't touch on at all, and I know there's about 30 that came through, went through Council, and those are being reviewed by staff now, so I just wanted to see if there was any update on those individual land use changes. So, gosh, I'm not gonna be able to…

[114:02] cite off specifically which of the 34 moved forward. I will say, though, the majority of them did move forward for integration into the draft plan. There were some out at Twin Lakes, Request789, that did not receive enough votes to move forward. And so where we're at right now is we were at City Council and Planning Board, the four decision-making bodies on the plan throughout January and a little bit into February to finalize the list of requests that would be considered or incorporated into the draft plan. So they have now been incorporated in the draft plan, the ones that were recommended… were recommended back in January. If you want to look at specific outcomes on any of those requests, you can do so online. If you click on… the website's a little bit difficult to navigate, I'll be honest, but there are a couple of different land use maps that you can, tinker through, and one of them does include, in a purple hatch, all of the community change requests that we did receive. And what the outcomes of the proposed land use designation is on those. Great. And then my last question is, how are the office hours? The office hours that you've had, are they well attended?

[115:05] I would say so. We've gotten, gosh, I don't know how many specifically off the top of my head, 10 to 15 people that came to the first one, and they were really high-quality conversations, which I think was probably the most important thing. We got some good feedback. From community members, we're continuing to hear good feedback. You know, I think our staff, we've been in the weeds on this for a year and a half now, and so this has actually been a really good time for us to take a step back, let the community review it, and have conversations about what's being proposed that we haven't had conversations about. And so… Both the event on March 10th at the Dairy Arts Center that I know you attended, and the office hours, I think, have been really enlightening for us, and useful, ultimately, in the next iteration of this plan, which you'll see in the middle of May. Great. And actually, one last thing is I wanted to agree with Yvonne. If there is an ability to add those rec centers in as part of community hubs, I think that would be a really important thing as well. Thank you. Okay, thank you. Thank you so much for the good work and for the presentation tonight, I appreciate it. Thanks for the feedback. Any other questions or feedback from Prab?

[116:03] Thank you. I think we're moving on to the next… Matters from the departments? It is getting a little warm in here. I was just… I was. Madam Chair. that Jackson, bless his heart again, I just look out into the audience and he stands up and helps. He's been looking at the temperature, but I also might… I could use a bio break and some additional water. Okay. If before we move into the final matters, either here or after the next one, if we could take a brief break, or I can just sneak out. No, that's okay. Let's take 5 minutes, 4 minutes, let's come back at, 8.04. Kristen Hucker, thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. First dives, so…

[117:13] So let's get back to it! All right, folks, your next matter from the department, we are coming back to you with a final concept plan for North Boulder Park. Up here, joining Scott and I on the dais, our Senior Landscape Architect, Bill Wildenberg, and Shihomi Kuriagawa from our Planning, Design, and Construction team. Alright, Chris is gonna advance the slides for me. Thanks for listening. all walks of life, and even moose enjoy North Boulder Park. The unprogrammed space makes it appealing to multiple. Multiple types of visitors, such as teens, volleyball players. Ultimate Frisbee, winter skiing, Slacklining, and more. The program space.

[118:01] is a destination for Little League, basketball, ping pong, fitness court users, birthday parties, and even the top track, too. Tonight, we will look at some of the updates since the last Prabh touchpoint. The image you see above is an aerial view of the park from 1958. Can you go to the next slide, please? I'm also a neighbor of the park, those are my kids in the final draft design information. The engagement updates will be the larger focus of tonight's presentation. More importantly, how we took the community's feedback and incorporated them into the plan. We'll discuss the key themes, design, schedule, and next steps. Next, please. The engagement efforts have directly influenced the design of the park. Community members can stay up to date by signing up on the project website, too.

[119:01] Next, please. Transitioning to the park design, it is important to look at how the park functions today. Please note, we are looking at the space in this slide from the southwest corner of the park. This project was originally slated as a playground. just a simple replacement. However, with several flooding events impacting the playground, the project team sought to protect The future investment by addressing the stormwater infrastructure. Please note, as you see the proposed plan, that we are leaving amenities in good shape alone. The pavilion restroom will remain the park hub. Next, please. This was the first plan proposed for the park. It included areas that converted the green space to low grasses, several nature discovery nodes, and a large stormwater conveyance component. The locations of many amenities have shifted, but many of the concepts moved forward into the final plan we will see today.

[120:04] Next, please. Moving forward, the next iteration. incorporated the second engagement event feedback focusing on teens. Specifically, they asked us to prioritize teen-specific amenities A full basketball court and volleyball courts. Provide creative seating and hangout space. Develop sports programming and balance new development with open space preservation. This is the plan shared with the community at the most recent open house. The feedback from the open house, there is a strong community desire to preserve North Boulder Park's open, flexible, multi-use character. with particular emphasis on protecting Nordic skiing. Expansive green space, and informal community activities. Community members want to ensure the park keeps the open lawn area for various uses.

[121:03] Nordic skiing, volleyball, Ultimate Frisbee, yoga, slacklining, picnicking, walking, reading, and family gatherings throughout the year. Next, please. The feedback provided influenced the plan we're seeing today. I'm going to detail… go into detail of this plan in just a minute. Next, please. The public engagement feedback really focused on three key themes. The importance of preserving large, multi-use open lawn areas for informal activities. The need for a dedicated third space for teen socializing and informal activities, and maintenance and safety concerns. And the image you're seeing in the upper right is one of the original uses of the community space inside the restroom pavilion. Next, please. So this is the… The final plan. It's hot off the presses, it has been a lot of development over the last 3 to 4 months, and I'm gonna go through some of the community feedback as we look at this plan, and just kind of discuss the updates.

[122:12] So, some of the updates include the flex lawn to the south of the pavilion has been reduced, and the multi-use open space is maintained by revising the walkway location Which many feel is the boundary of the large, multi-use open space. That walkway location is the one that goes through the center of the park, that connects Cedar Avenue and 9th Street on the top of the page. And then Cedar Avenue and the alley, which is on the bottom of the page. Overlays for Nordic Skiing, Ultimate Frisbee, volleyball, and two sizes of soccer fields have been applied to the plan to ensure these activities can occur in the future. The ball fields move slightly south of the current location. It was originally moving 510 feet to the south, now it's 70 feet to the south.

[123:02] The small shift allows the drainage improvements to address the marsh that has taken over a portion of one outfield, while balancing other community feedback on the desired amenities. The proposed walkways near the play area have mostly moved back to their present-day alignment in order to preserve picnicking in the shaded northeast portion of the park. This shift allows the flexible space in this area to be maintained, and also allows for more variations in the Nordic ski track. So that's really all of the comments on preserving the large multi-use open lawn area. Now I'm going to shift and keep on this plan, but I'm going to shift to the second piece, which was the need for a dedicated third space for teen socialization. and informal activities. These updates include a full basketball court and lawn space for volleyball are now shown in the plan alongside creative seating that can incorporate low-level lighting that is dark sky compliant.

[124:03] These amenities are located to preserve the greatest amount of existing open space and balance use across the site. And then I'll just note that those amenities, Bill, is that in number 11 and 10? It's really… 20 and number 5. Okay, thank you. I can't, I can't see that far from here. For the maintenance and safety concerns, the pavilion is being renovated with three-season partitions that allow unobstructed view into the play area. Additionally, the Tot Track location has been relocated from the last plan so that it is once again adjacent to the play area. The park hours are not changing, and a security camera that communicates with the Boulder Police Department will be added, which will automatically turn on when the park closes.

[125:01] And then finally, all maintenance concerns. We have tried to address in the current plan, including limiting the amount of high-maintenance landscape areas, as you saw in the first plan. You can go to the next. Here you can see the Nordic Ski Track overlaid onto the plan, showing a similar length track, and one that includes an inner and outer loop, as requested by Boulder Nordic Club. We've met with them several times to keep refining the plan that works into the future for Nordic skiing. Max, please. This specific view overlays Ultimate Frisbee. 11 versus 11 soccer, 7 versus 7 soccer, it's just the size of each field. We are not implying that soccer will specifically be programmed, but rather that we have enough space to play.

[126:01] Next, please. The question on why new ball fields has been asked. We are indeed concerned about the existing marsh in the Northfields outfield. As even with filling this area, the park has a high water table. There are other reasons, too. The backdrop boards are being used as retaining walls, with irrigation water draining towards them. the orientation could also be better. This view shows all MLB ball field orientations, with the preferred orientation being north or northeast. Notice that Coors Field is directly north. Finally, facing them away from each other is safer, as balls are moving away, and kids are moving away from one another, too. In summary, we are balancing best practices, building fields for high play value. Next, please. The project team is looking… working with a local architect to enhance the existing pavilion and restroom structure, too.

[127:03] The team has updated the space to have an eastern view towards the playground by removing the block wall presently there. The south end will open up to the lawn, where visitors can have an indoor-outdoor experience, all while viewing the Flatirons as the backdrop to their activities for the day. Next, please. The next step is to move into more detailed design work. We'll continue with design development, then construction documents, renovation of the restroom pavilion. Permitting for the site, then construction of the site. Next, please. The park has evolved over time. Are there any questions? This is a view showing the park. I think it's around the late 60s, and it was an image sent to me from a couple living in Alaska now that used to work… live on Delwood and 8th just last week. Very good. Thank you so much for the presentation. Questions or comments?

[128:03] From PrEP. I have a question, the last iteration that we saw had a substantial, place for teens. And so it's been significantly modified. How or have we elicited comment from those folks? I remember it's, like, several people from BVSD, Boulder High in particular, who provided input. Yeah. Have we solicited any information from them? Are they okay with this proposal? I've gone back to Growing Up Boulder, who is the… who is the entity that had basically hired the teams to help work on the project. The area is actually similar in size, and in the last iteration had some of the things they asked for. This iteration has the three things they wanted most included in the plan, and that little lawn area just… can we go back to the plan, actually?

[129:02] Which is… Is it 9, or slide 9, or something like that? There's a flexible lawn area just to the south of the restroom pavilion, and that lawn area can have rentals that teens can check out. Free of charge, as long as you return the equipment, you won't be charged. But we're gonna have volleyball and… some of the amenities they asked for in that. They asked for, creative hangout spaces, and that's what we're going to be developing further as we go forward. And they asked for full-court basketball, and that's included in this plan for the first time. Okay, cool, thank you. Can you go to about… my pages are different than yours, but try 9. Wow, that was a good guess. So, if you look just below

[130:00] The restroom, which is labeled as 3. It shows a full-court basketball. If you see the, label, which is… 11, that's an area where they can rent nets and volleyball, and set up themselves, or play. The area that's noted as 5 is where we plan to have some creative outdoor hangout space. And where 5 was before is we had the tot trap down there, and we felt two things were going on. The teens aren't going to want to hang out by little kids riding their bikes around. And secondly, the parents are going to want to have those kids riding their bikes around over by the playground in case there's multiple children there. Okay, great, thank you. Other comments?

[131:00] Right. Okay. Yeah, so the plan is great, and I also just want to thank you so much for, you know, the process that you outlined, talking with the community, understanding what their needs are, and then adjusting the plan. And I think some of those, like, decisions are really smart too, right? just the idea that there's this natural breaking point, you know, with that path near the event lawn. So changing that, visually changes how much space you have, even though you're not adding additional space. So, yeah, I think it's really smart. I just had one question. I think some of the earlier drafts, we talked a little bit about, more, like, contemplative spaces, I think, like, nature immersion. Are there any changes to, like… I think we're keeping all of the existing trees, there's no changes to that, but are we adding any trees or, other, like, spaces that more incorporate, nature? there's. Trees being added surrounding the area that says number 11.

[132:05] And it is a little bit different graphic. All the existing trees, have a little crosshatch in them. And all the proposed trees are smaller and a slightly different shade of green. I know it's maybe hard to see on this kind of screen. I appreciate you watching. walking us through it. There are trees being added. This is really… a Phase 1 capital improvement project that you're seeing the plan for. What we're also hoping to do is add more nature discovery zones in future years. Sounds great. Okay, there are questions, Yvonne? I think that's my question. Yeah, thank you. I had a… I just wanted to go back to the public comments. Folk… a couple folks stayed for this part of the presentation. Could you address, just a little bit more, flesh out those conversations that you've had with the community members on,

[133:07] moving the ball fields, I don't want to… there were a lot of comments, so I… if you could just address some of those comments, and then I might have a follow-up question. Yeah, we… we were balancing all of the things that we're seeing to make ball fields… two ball fields work into the future. One is the marsh that's currently there. If you go to North Boulder Park, part of the outfield is not playable. We did contact the engineer, We're probably going to add a drain to that area and connect it, actually, to a pipe versus what we're doing in some of the other areas of the park. But the concern is there's such a high water table, meaning that all of the grass there is like a big sponge, that it may not alleviate the marshiness, even with the drain there. So that's why we still move things around a little bit. And also, the best practice is to have a more north-oriented feel, and having them face away from each other is just a safer way to play, and that's input from both North Boulder Little League, as well as our recreation Program Manager.

[134:16] And did the Boulder, when you spoke to community members about that, how did they react? Well… Two things is, one, we moved it from being 510, 515 feet south of where it is today. To almost back to where it is presently. And I guess that's kind of where I'm sort of trying to think through. So you said we're only moving, 70 feet, is that what you said? And the cost to do that is what? I don't have an exact number, but it'll be backstop fencing, and then sideline fencing. And grading. So, my guesstimate? Is probably $100,000.

[135:01] And… what's worst case scenario? Let's say you don't do that. Let's say we get a huge flood, what will happen there? Just… you have a marsh. And it'll take a while to dry out. That's a question. if… If it flooded there, it'll… all of the drainage eventually goes to the space on the upper right, where Alpine Balsam connects to the park. There's… right now, 9th Street just reopened. They added, basically, a bridge so that water can flow from the park underneath the road and into the new development. The West City campus. And all of that will still drain to that one spot. So I think… our studies, what Bill had mentioned, and you know as he's listed off all the different program elements and needs. between Nordic and yoga and volleyball and baseball, or excuse me, softball. There's a lot of needs that this area has, and we want to make sure that we service

[136:04] the community and how they'd like to use the park. And then we have to balance it out with, just technically what is best for the play value of those ball fields. So the best play value for them is the orientation that we show here, so that those backstops being next to each other, hitting balls away from Teams, so that it's best Best practice and safer for the players, but as well as it balances out better drainage. I'd like to just add one practical comment. I coached for Northwiddle Little League for 6 years, and I know that these fields, it's not just in a flood that this marshy area is impacted. Anytime it rains, these fields are the first to close because of their inability to manage the drainage, and so it impacts playability on a regular basis. And then the other note I just want to make on community engagement is what the team is balancing is also input from close-by neighbors. who are… who, you know, some have had ball fields in their front yard for decades, and for some where it's shifting slightly south, it's a change, with the rest of the community using the field and using the park. And this orientation bill, will you remind me about what the fencing… what you all landed on for it supporting the open lawn access?

[137:18] That was so valued by… by so many folks. The… do you know what I'm talking about, the fence between the two fields? Like, how that changes? Yeah. by moving it further north, it preserves more of that open space, more of that green space. There's still a sideline fencing that's low, it's 3 feet. And then both backstops are now in a similar location, versus having high fencing in one location, walking past the field, and then having high fencing in a second location. Okay. I'll… I'll keep moving.

[138:02] the… let's see, the last question I had… oh, on the pavilion, it's enclosed somewhat, right? If you go back to that picture. Is there a reason to enclose it? What is the activity or the envisioned… Thing that's happening in there. It's… Mostly going to be locked open. We're gonna close it down at night. It's for vandalism, but the reason we're opening it up is to have that view and a more safe experience of people having birthday parties or using the space, and then also having children in the play area. And… I wanted to add to that, too. We had planned for this to be A space in our first window of engagement, asking the community on youth programming specifically, how they would like to utilize the space and the structure, and we got a lot of feedback on youth programming, and so enclosing it, allows us to have a three-season shelter, so we can actually use it for longer. It's not just summertime use, but we could also use it for educational purposes, arts and crafts classes, so it becomes actually more multi-purpose.

[139:16] Got it. Okay. I think… I think that was it. Thank you so much. Thanks, Bill and, Ashomi. This is a great plan. It's great to see it come together over the last couple of years. Can you correct me if I'm wrong, but we did some work on the bathroom already, right? We did. And is that done, or does that have to be, like, now revisited? It's… The work in the restrooms is mainly gonna stay the same, but we're gonna put better hinges on the door. Okay. But the reason that work was done was we had porta-potties in the winter, because there was such a need for restrooms there.

[140:00] And that work added a chase that could be heated, so that we could eliminate those porta-potties and just use the restrooms year long. So that work does not go away, it's just added upon. Great, thank you. Okay, not to… spend more time talking about the location of the baseball fields, but I have one… one final question. At least, I have one more question. We… Obviously heard a lot from the neighbors who, made their preferences clear. Can you characterize for us, from all of your community engagement. Why… why is there so much resistance to moving these fields when removing one of the fields, when it seems like there's a lot of engineering and practical and safety reasons to do so? I don't think a lot of people want to see change to North Boulder Park whatsoever, and part of it is that it's the biggest, largest open space that's accessible to the community in this whole area. And I just say a lot of it is also based on Are you destroying Nordic skiing by moving the ball field fencing? So, we've worked through those details, and I feel like we have a plan that works for those multi-use spaces now, as well as Nordic skiing.

[141:12] Okay, thank you. Did anyone get to ski there this year? I got to ski there. Alright, that's great. Yeah. November was the best one. Okay, can you show me just the, what it looks like now? Can you go up a field? That's what… oh. One more. That's now. Yep. And just for orientation, the sidewalk that you can see that goes from Cedar to 9th, that's your best orienter to current, and then the proposed plan, because the sidewalk largely stays in that same alignment. People really gave us helpful feedback about that being a through connector for, pedestrians and cyclists. Okay. And then can you go back to where it, to what it… to the… to the plan? There, okay.

[142:05] And so it's that… Snakey line. Yep. Yep, okay. And then, We have capital… I know we talked about capital dollars for this project, a couple of times. Is that capital number adjusted at this point? Just, you know, same? Same, and it includes, money. As a partnership with utilities to do some of these stormwater improvements. I want to add on that, because I heard early… I'll just share my own eagerness to address this play area, because really it was vandalized in 2021, and it's… it's way past time to improve this play area. The team has been smart. to say, let's do this right, and let's do it all at once. The current play area, anytime there's a rain event, when there are rain events here in Boulder, it gets completely washed out because of the flooding that comes across Delwood. And so the drainage work that's happening in tandem and funded largely by utilities to the tune of, I think, a couple of million dollars is going to make the whole park more resilient. And so this is, I think, an example of where

[143:14] It has been slow, but it's gonna be done really well and better for the community. And, I know it's a little bit in the… and we're in the design phase, but in general, do you have a time frame for this project? We're going to go into construction of the restroom and pavilion at the end of this year, and we want to do that first so that When that is done, we're not bringing in a contractor and undoing some of the site work that had just been completed, so the restroom goes first. That contractor gets out, and then the site comes in next. But the site has a bigger permitting process, which is why, also, it's going second. Okay.

[144:00] Great. All right, any other comments or questions? Nope. All right, I think, thank you for the presentation. We appreciate the… Answers to all of the detailed questions, and… If anything else comes up, we'll let you know, but it's great final plan. Great, thanks. Thank you. Thanks, Bill and Chihomi. And then I'm… if… I'm assuming this… I appreciate folks' patience with the… this design is online, or is being posted online tomorrow? It'll be posted this week. Perfect. Thanks so much. We'll follow up with you offline, ma'am. Judith, if that's okay, Bill has your contact info? Or actually, maybe you can follow up with her just one-on-one afterwards. Great. So as Bill and Shihomi step down, your next matter from the department is the court system plan updates and the construction projects. And so, we're gonna do a little transition, and Judith, I know Bill can give you some updates on that. And so, coming to the dais for the very first time is landscape architect Jake Minden, joined by Senior City Planner Tina Dalton. So, earlier tonight, you heard a lot of public comment about courts, and I appreciate holding some of the questions

[145:14] Jake and Tina are gonna give… An update on, the construction at both Tom Watson Park, as well as at East Boulder Community Park. And so, I think they're getting situated, but Tina can kick us off. Matt. Matt Pilger with our team is also available. We'll support if there's specific questions that we can't answer here for Tom Watson Park. So with that, I'll hand it over to Jake, newly joined our team from the great state of Washington. We're glad to have him on board. Hi folks, I'm Jake Minden. I'm a landscape architect, and I joined, Parks and Rec 3 months ago. Thank you for the introduction.

[146:01] I'll be moving into the position of project manager for East Boulder Community Park. Tina will be by my side throughout the project, and I'm going to give you the court system update today. So, as Allie mentioned, or Tina mentioned, Matt's online, and, can answer any questions, but I'm gonna go through Tom Watson Park, project update, and then East Boulder Community Park. Okay, so, for Tom Watson, this project is bringing the first dedicated pickleball courts to the BPR system, which is exciting. The initial phase of the project includes 12 dedicated pickleball courts with lights. Three small shade structures, a community gathering plaza with food truck parking, accessible concrete walkways, resurfacing of the existing basketball court, deconstruction of the existing play area and restroom.

[147:01] The project is currently in permitting and technical document review. Groundbreaking will follow shortly after we receive approvals from Planning and Development Services, anticipated for late April. The estimated construction timeline is 4 to 5 months for Phase 1, with the grand opening of the courts this fall, which is good news. Phase 2 planning and budget evaluation is beginning this month to confirm total scope. We anticipate funding is available to complete these amenities listed on the slide in 2027. Nature play area, resurface parking, new restroom, and refurbished loop path. Oh yeah, sorry. Nature play area? Yeah, the Phase 2, planning and budget evaluation is starting this month, and includes those amenities. And if I could, before you move on to EastJake, I just want to add for members of the Prabh, because most of you, I think, actually weren't necessarily part of the court system plan conversations. Bernie was our board liaison for that project, and is

[148:11] intimately familiar with the courts, but I just wanted to highlight that in that project, we outlined just 5 spots in our system where we could add courts. We are below service levels for both tennis courts and pickleball courts. in this city. And so, in the early of 2025, We realized that the funded and planned courts at East Boulder Community Park, which really is still a great project because of what it will do for both pickleball and tennis, but it's going to take longer than we thought. We said, where can we get some courts on the ground and fast? And so even though it's not as fast as we had hoped, the fact that we're getting these courts open this year, it was a reflection of that East is just taking longer because of the required process to annex And then develop new land in the city. And so, we're really hopeful that getting these 12 dedicated courts, as you've heard so many folks say, pickleball is incredibly social, and having 12 courts together and dedicated, we think it's really going to be helpful. It doesn't fix that people do want the courts, as do we at East, but we think it'll help.

[149:17] Okay, moving on to East Boulder Community Park. So, we'll start with some more good news. On February 19th, City Council unanimously approved the annexation of the former Hogan Pancos property, adding about 20 acres of parkland into Boulder City limits. This newly annexed property is adjacent to the East Boulder Community Park, where new tennis courts are proposed. This successful annexation allows the Parks and Rec Department To proceed with plans to develop tennis courts on the expanded park property. And just to note, this project no longer includes the indoor facility due to site constraints. Okay, so just returning to where we ended last at the end of the concept design phase with our previous design consultant.

[150:06] You're looking at part of the overall site plan of this concept design. This represents the 8 new dedicated tennis courts. to be built on the former Hogan Pancos property. These courts will be accessed from the existing parking lot in the southern portion of the existing park. And those 8 courts, those are 8 new courts, but they represent a total of 5 additional courts to the system, because 3 existing tennis courts on the existing park site will be converted to 6 dedicated pickleball courts. Okay, schedule update. So… The schedule has shifted. I know this is disappointing news, and the opening of the courts is meaningfully different than what we previously anticipated and shared.

[151:01] It also reflects a realistic and conservative approach to the design, permitting, and construction process. With thoughtful planning and development standards, especially for a newly annexed property, we can ensure long-term success of this project through this updated timeline, which I'll talk through now. So the gold bar represents the RFP process, requests for proposals for design development and construction documents. Those are two design phases. And the RFP creates a competitive process that ensures the city gets best pricing and the highest value in terms of design quality and project delivery. This is a change from our previous approach to use our former design consultant, but this RFP process is required and is aligned with procurement policy designed for community benefit. This, smaller green bar here represents wetland monitoring. This is required to take place throughout the summer months of this year, and, is designed to confirm updated wetland boundaries and buffers.

[152:07] And this process will ensure our design is as sensitive as possible to adjacent ecological assets and site conditions. Design, development, site review, permit. This is the light blue and the… Slightly darker blue bars. So these phases allow for citywide review of proposed development of new city parkland, including the opportunity for community members to weigh in. It also makes sure development of newly annexed land complies with city codes and regulations. Our previous timeline was a more optimistic, and after initial review with Planning and Development Services and our design consultant. The required timeline for permitting needed to be expanded. This represents the largest change to the updated schedule, adding approximately 6 to 8 months.

[153:04] Construction. So this is the last darkest bar. Due to schedule updates in design and permitting, the construction Timeline has also moved, and this is planned to occur starting in the fall of 27. We are estimating a more conservative construction schedule due in part to the unknowns of weather impacts of building over the winter. So, our next steps, we're currently in a contracting phase. We're working to put out an RFP, and get a design consultant under contract. Wetland monitoring, we're planning for that to happen this summer, and site preparation on the expanded parkland will also begin this year. And we're continuing to seek project efficiencies where we can. And… Thank you. Welcome any questions. Or additions.

[154:00] Yeah, that's okay, I just wanted to add a few things. So, one of the things I think Allie talked about before was exemptions, too, that are. process to expedite the process, and actually did attempt to, do a sole source, but when we looked at the actual criteria, we were unable to go through the sole source and were asked by our purchasing department to go fully through with the RFP. And then another thing I just want to say about the botanical gardens, we have been working, diligently to help, our community members put together a proposal that we would actually be able to bring to the table. One of the reasons we really haven't shared it with Prabh is because we're trying to get enough information To put it together in a full proposal. And I also would want to say that tennis courts and a botanical garden, or some of the ideas that they have that are yet to be vetted, could still happen in the same space. There's, approximately 19 acres out there, and the tennis courts are really being built on kind of the smallest portion, closest to the busy activity that already exists at East Boulder Park.

[155:02] And now, questions. Thank you. Oh, my mic was on that whole time. Sorry about that, if anybody heard me breathing. Questions from Prabh? Comments on… this… Project. Yes, please. Thank you. Could you give us a little bit more information on why the design and permitting are so delayed? I mean, I, you know, we received a lot of comments about people are frustrated. And, I'd just like to know specifically if you have some more information you can share with us as to why that process is taking so long. Yeah, I think it was outlined in the Prabh memo, so I would refer to that a little bit, but really just looking at it, the more information… we really couldn't start some of those processes and have those conversations until we had the property annexed. The property annexation happened on February 19th. And that's when we were actually able to then have a property that we were able to discuss with our Planning and Development Services Department, and really get some more realistic aspects in how that looked, and look at what our

[156:08] procurement and purchasing process was. When we were able to go through those conversations, we ended up with that longer timeline. Is there any way to expedite We know what's coming down the design and permitting, or we just have to follow the process and go with the flow? We will continue to look for areas to expedite it, But again, we're being a lot more conservative this time, too, because what we don't want to do is set up a disappointment as well. So we will continue to look for those avenues, without making promises ahead of time. Great, thank you. I'll maybe add a little just sensitivity there, because I think… Our team is working hard to… not throw Planning Development Services under the bus here, and blame permitting, or they're not doing that at all. And so. you know, one in the site review, that's not… that's not reviewing the construction documents to see if things align with city code for the actual construction of the courts. During site review, there's first the process to say, is it appropriate to build tennis courts on this site and allow for a conversation with the community around what gets developed there. That process has to happen, and it is in that design… that site review is in that big bubble of

[157:22] design and permitting. So that's… that's one process that's going to take several months. And then through that, then moving into design development and actual, the technical construction documents, there could be multiple submissions. And the team is really giving the most… generous or conservative outline of the timeline, because it's realistically what could happen. Could it be faster than that? It could. We're pretty leery of promising that right now. As you heard tonight, folks are really not happy with us. They're not happy with… we were overly optimistic with how quickly we'd be able to develop this new land. And so now we're taking a different approach, and we're being really conservative with how long it could take.

[158:11] I guess I'm a little confused. The annexation happened just last month, or just actually in the last few weeks. But prior to that. it sounds like the tennis community was being promised something, and I… I'm sorry, I don't know There's clearly angst and… anger and upset. They're upset, right? So what was going on before the annexation in these conversations with the community that led them to believe that they were going to get these courts sooner? And then… because you… I think you just said that Well, we couldn't really do anything until the annexation was completed, so if you could just clarify, maybe I just misheard you. What we had set out as an original timeline was for construction to begin at the end of 2026, and that would then make the courts playable in 27.

[159:01] So, that's where the timeline changed, and then we also have to put in some weather, you know, and… Constructing over the winter can be variable as well. Okay, so it's really been… they're upset, the community is upset, the tennis community is upset because they're saying, wait a second, we thought we were going to get it in 27, and now it's going to be 28. Correct. Okay. And then, Back to the botanical garden issue, is there a site plan where you can kind of at least describe for us where you think that it's still possible to have a botanical garden? Did you have… I can't remember if one of the images you had shown, just to kind of show us, just generally, really high level. I really do not, because I don't have a proposal from the community. So there have been a lot of different ideas that have morphed over the last year. And so we haven't actually been able to determine the scale of the project, what it would need to build, what kind of land we would have to build on, how… so I'm looking for some solid information from them, so we could look at potential, but we just don't even have enough information to do a high-level.

[160:13] Identification of where it could go. Oh, sorry, go ahead. Well, I just wanted to add to the comment earlier that the whole site, and we're talking about the site that is west of 55th Street there, right? So if you think of the property that has the star… nope, stay where you were, that was perfect. Thanks, Chris. So that lower triangle is the entirety of the property that is the park expansion. Oh, okay. Much of that parcel, we won't develop. Its priority is stormwater detention, and there's some wetlands there. Those really could be ideal for fostering additional native species for nature play, for quiet contemplation, and so, to Tina's point, we've outlined what the path forward would look like. Give us a proposal, tell us what you're wanting to build, so that we could have a more thoughtful conversation, and that… and that's just… that's just not happened yet. But I expect that in the future, should there be funding available, you would see proposals from a… this is an ideal and incredible opportunity for

[161:10] Some natural areas within our system. Yeah, and one of the speakers was talking about the tennis lights, and how that could impact, and I certainly don't understand the science there, but I can imagine that could be an issue. And the fact that we're already moving forward with an RFP… just concerns me, like, in that RFP, process? Are we talking to those potential competitors to say, hey, there may be, we might want to develop this adjacent land, or not develop it, but create, a botanical garden of sorts adjacent, so we need to use whatever you're going to design here for the courts to be sensitive to those eco… ecological issues, because I wouldn't want them to just move forward and design without any understanding of some of that potential context.

[162:06] We do have an ecological report that's been done. So what we did, we had a professional wetlands consultant come out. There is a report, you can find it on the project webpage. And really what we did look at is we're looking at wetlands, we're looking at wildlife, we're looking at habitat, and the types of vegetation that are there. And so where we're potentially building the tennis courts is really where there are a couple of existing, kind of, old sheds, that is the most compacted ground and the least habitat available, and so what we have done is looked at all of the ecology of the area and been sensitive to what is out there, and you'll see… Where the… it says OSMP expansion there. That corner is actually also part of Hogan Pancos, but we do know that some of the more sensitive species are in that area, and Open Space in Mountain Parks has adjacent property, and are… are… really good at managing those types of things. For example, you'll hear about the, Prebbles Metal Jumping Mouse. There is a federally protected area that is on parkland that's a little bit,

[163:11] Kind of in this… This gray area here. And we are staying well outside of even the buffer zone of that, and we know that 55th Street, for example, is one of those major barriers for that kind of… species. But can the RFP, or who… I don't know the detail that you're putting in the RFP, but could the people who are responding to the RFP have that information, that there may be a potential… I understand you don't have any information yet, but there may be a potential for a botanical… adjacent botanical garden, and so light sensitivity needs to be considered when they're designing the temps courts. and light sensitivity will be considered regardless. Okay, got it. Thank you.

[164:04] Yvonne, any other questions? Sorry, one last. Last question, thank you. I'm sorry, I thought I was done, but I'm not. On the additional scope, I see that, you know, it's contingent on available funding. Can you just elaborate, like, what scope of these additional items is optional? What funding source would support it? And how does this project, with these additional scoping needs or wants, rank against unfunded or underfunded needs at SBRC in North or East? I can jump in on that if you can hear me okay. Yeah, so I'm assuming you're speaking to the Tom Watson, Phase 2 piece of that. Hey, Matt. Yes. Real quick, sorry to interrupt, would you mind just introducing yourself? Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah, so I am Matt Pilger, I am with our planning team. I am our department's, senior asset manager over our asset management program, and I am also serving as the project manager for the Tom Watson project.

[165:12] So, a couple pieces that kind of play into that phasing, specifically, say, the, nature discovery area, as part of Phase 1, we are removing a play area, that is really the northeastern-most play area in our system, and is certainly used, and we want to make sure we're still returning, one to that area, while then, the parking, is a space that… it's a, again, heavily used space. We understand we're bringing in, 12 new courts to further activate this space, and it's actually already in poor condition, The reason it's kind of being waited on is similar to, what's happening with North Boulder Park of doing the shelter first.

[166:05] We don't want to put in a new parking lot and then bring in construction trucks or, potentially a crane in to bring in a new restroom and essentially ruin it. So that's kind of why it's being delayed, and then, obviously, a new restroom facility. Currently, the restroom that's on site has been closed for about 3-4 years. Due to various, various reasons. But ultimately, so there's been porta that's on-site. They really just don't meet the need. There's a lot of issues that happen with them. It's also, Pretty expensive to maintain the 3 to 4 portivets that are there, right now, where, to be able to introduce a restroom, even within maintenance of a restroom, we're likely going to be recouping our costs within only a few years, compared to how much we're having to pay with Portovets, especially with an increase in that. With that said, when it says contingent on available fundings, part of that is, right, there's… there's cost escalations, there's different things like this.

[167:08] For the most part, those 3 amenities are funded as part of this project. The parking lot, the restroom facility, and the nature play. The nature play, area, the size and scope is still a little bit there, and same with the restroom, how many stalls, ultimately, we're able to provide within that. The loop path currently is… kind of in flux. We actually have multiple grants out there, that we've applied for, one to help expand the nature play discovery, one to fully refurbish the loop path. And we have a couple others, that are related to this project to helpfully, offset certain costs as well. But ultimately, we're saying contingent on funding, just because there are… obviously, we're in a Phase 1, we're moving to a Phase 2, there is cost escalations, that are occurring.

[168:00] you know, there's a lot of unknowns right now, in the world, and I think, although we are moving forward, we have funding available for those. We're also just understanding that it is a next year project, or a next year part of the phase, and just want to be cognizant of that. Yeah. That answered your questions? Great. Yep. So just… just to clarify, so we're… will there be open restroom facilities, when the pickleball courts open? Yeah, so we are currently reviewing what the best option for the interim between a new facility is put in. Really, the two options we're exploring and trying to determine fiscally, which makes… which is best, is either an introduction of additional portalets. Which, again, further cost. Or having some form of temporary restroom trailer. So maybe it's a little nicer gray, different things,

[169:08] There's a few different options within that, whether it's a rental or a purchase option, but really all three, there's financial pieces that we're kind of evaluating, figuring out, and also just trying to determine just the total amount of amount of those temporary facilities we need. Even if we had, say, a restroom trailer, we're having to pay to have it serviced, emptied, things of that nature. And potentially, if we were buying it, we're kind of putting the… the liability on us, if it's vandalized or broken, then we're having to fix it or pay for that, and so there's kind of this leaning towards, additional portilets, but we haven't just made that final decision yet. That's part of the valuation over the next, probably, month. But with the plan that when The courts open this fall, there will be additional, restrooms available, or portalets, or some form of, of that available, until a permanent restroom facility can be in.

[170:10] Yeah, thank you so much. Yeah, that's great detail. Just another question, just on the timeline. So I remember that optimistically, I think we were gonna pour concrete, and the facility was actually gonna be opened, you know, in the winter, but then it became too late in the season to be able to pour concrete. So just wanted to hear, and is the timeline right now worth the potential opening in the fall, is that further delayed, or are we, like, back on track to, you know, we couldn't pour the concrete over the winter. But now we can do it, so we're sort of back on track. Or have there been any, like, further delays? Yeah, for the most part, I would say we're back on track. When we chose to pause, and say we're gonna push it, we were looking at likely a March-April

[171:04] Initial groundbreaking anyways. Maybe it's been pushed slightly a little bit, and that's partially to ensure the permitting, stormwater review, and all that process is completed. And so, once we do, say, hey, this is our groundbreaking date, it'll be our groundbreaking date. We just don't have that right now until we kind of get that official, permitting review. But yeah, when we… Back in September, when we put a pause on the project, we said that March-April groundbreaking, was kind of it, and that was partially the weather-dependent. I think internally we were likely assuming it was more of an April. But, you know, Colorado weather, you never really know, and so we were hopeful with March. But being that we're still in this permitting review, piece, I think we're right about where we were thinking we were going to be last year. So, wait, did it move from April to fall for, like, oh, oh, oh, great.

[172:04] No, no, yeah, for groundbreaking. Okay, so we're on track based on, like, just, we just had to delay a little bit because of, yeah, being able to pour concrete. Yes, exactly. Yep. Okay, got it. Yeah, and some of the other additional things that happened over the winter, we did some additional infiltration testing, for stormwater and things to confirm, the… the turf field south of… of the courts are… were able to, handle a 100-year flood, rainfall, and things of that nature as well, so just additional steps. We've… The… restroom was determined, a portion of it was determined to be over 50 years old. Initially we were thinking it was 48. That required an additional historic review. We've gotten through that review, have the approval for a demolition from a historic perspective, but it… just, again, waiting on that, the final permitting for some of the… those other pieces. But we have also made a few.

[173:08] We've been working with our contractors, for example, if, say, the demolition or deconstruction permit is delayed on the restroom, we can still move forward with… site grading to be able to get the post-tension concrete quartz moving forward. Those are really the longest part of the construction, and those require, a substantial amount of curing time as well. So we do have a few other contingencies in if, like, other portions of the permitting process are a little bit delayed, just to allow us to continue moving forward and not to have a substantial delay. On… in the rest of the project. Sounds good, thank you for the update, and this is a very, very exciting project that I know the full pickleball community will be happy to have, so, thanks for all the work on this. Yeah, absolutely.

[174:02] Thank you. Okay, it's a funny, controversial statement, but it seems like Boulder likes to get in Boulder's way when it comes to implementation. No offense to planning and permitting. But I understand that that is, an issue. Can you tell me how long you believe the permitting for this will take? Altogether. That'd be Matt? Yeah, so… for the Tom Watson project. And Matt, just correct me if I'm wrong, we're nearly done with permitting. This process started last summer. If we were to try to… Say that this is… you know, not that we can compare the two, but… If we were going to look at how long this was, and then we can kind of estimate East Boulder. It's… this is… informing some of the lessons from this project is informing the timeline. It's one of the reasons the timeline is conservative from East, is because we're taking lessons from this project. Okay. Yeah. And there was, I remember, some specifics and. We needed additional stormwater analysis. That's… that was one of the delays last fall, and so that is… we are taking a learning approach, and as we go through each project, really helping that to inform the timelines, and it's why you see that really conservative estimate for East Boulder Community Park.

[175:13] And the wetland study that's in conjunction, and it's running… it's running kind of parallel to permitting? At East? Yeah, at east. Yes, so site review will move forward while we do the wetland monitoring. And will the wetland monitoring in any way… Could it potentially… stop the project, or… we've done enough studies already that this is just a… procedural study. Yeah, it's… it's going to be a lot of… it's groundwater monitoring, and so, that is also… a lot of the concerns that we heard in the early stages and continue to hear from neighbors are because of the high water table out there as well. They… some past projects have affected some of the groundwater and some pumps in their basement, for example. So we want to be very sure that anything that we do on that property is not going to negatively affect those neighbors in pushing the water into their basements, and so that

[176:06] In addition, it's gonna help us Actually, I think move through the permitting process faster, because we'll have more information, and our engineering will be solid, there'll be less questions. Okay, great. OneNote, I guess… comparison to Tom Watson, since you kind of asked as well, East Boulder will have some additional, permitting due to that wetlands. There are some wetlands, permitting requirements and things, that go through that Tom Watson did not. Okay. Thank you. Yeah, an example of things that we learned from Tom Watson is we're looking at doing that deconstruction permit ahead of time, ahead of the building permit, so like Matt just mentioned there, even though they can be done a little bit separately, we're pushing all of those as soon as we can so they don't end up surprising us later. Okay. And then I wanted to just address one other thing that was written in the packet about, the delays was hiring freeze and lack of staffing, so if you could discuss that.

[177:00] take that one and just note, because I know our planning team is kind of taking a… taking one on the chin tonight for just how long things take, and I understand it. I understand people's frustration. One of our teammates received a promotion last year, the week of the hiring freeze, and then we had another teammate move to Europe, and so our planning team was down two landscape architects. For most of last year, and we simply cannot keep projects moving with half as many landscape architects on the team, and things did have to pause. And so, East Boulder Community Park was one that was paused. This one, you know, Matt has helped out as PMing, but I would say it more moved along at a slow pace than a rapid pace. People are asking for, you know, a rapid pace, and it takes a full team to move at that speed. Had you been fully staffed, do you think that some of the design work would have been able to take place? Yes. Okay. I mean, I know we would have been able to do things more in parallel, we would have been able to do things differently. Even already, you know, Jake joined the team in

[178:01] December. And Julia, our other landscape, joined the… architect joined the team last year. We're… I mean, in 3 months, these folks are getting up to speed, and it's amazing the capacity difference it makes. And the annexation portion of the project, did Council… was that pushed at all, or was that where we thought it was gonna be? Go ahead, Tina. I think one of the dates did get pushed at one point in time, but it was more a lot… more… that didn't have the biggest impact. It really just was how long it took all of the information, and to address community comments, and, to make sure that we were doing the right things and following the process. So it was more, I would say, more complicated than we thought it was going to be, and that was more of a time difference than any slight push of a council meeting. Okay. And then the, you had mentioned in some of the slides that you had a previous design consultant for EAST. Is that just…

[179:00] Was there a reason you are… were re-RFPing, or was that just preliminary design consultants, and now we're going into a different kind? Yeah, that was one of our, options that we, tried to expedite the process, so we do have some annual contracting, and so we were able to use a design consultant, under our annual contracting, so we didn't have to go to RFP for that very first portion. The next portion, exceeds the limit of that dollar amount for our annual contract, which means we have to then push into the RFP. Okay. All right, great. And then my last question is, if we were to discuss doing the botanical garden option, that is privately funded? That would have to be defined in the proposal, and it would have to be privately funded for us to… with all the priorities that we have right now, I guess I couldn't say for sure, but that would then have to be looked at in our broader CIP to see if it even kind of fits into what our mission, vision, values, and how that aligns. We just don't have anything solid to really grab onto just yet, but we are working hard with them to really get that into a place that we can really start to define that.

[180:13] And then the last thing is the… I just wanted to address the South Boulder cracks in the… since we're on pickleball. Did you… you said earlier that we are gonna… fix these cracks? Are we temporarily fixing them? Are we re-pouring? I forget. So we had hoped. to completely refurbish these courts to the best practice, that concrete post-tension slab, and so we had been waiting to make that investment, because it does can limit, right? It's right up against the building. It could limit options for a future South Boulder Recreation Center. Knowing that that's several years away, we will… I will talk to the team and identify fundings. Resurfacing is still an expense in the tens of thousands of dollars, so I'll report back in a few weeks when we've been able to look into it, but we certainly need to make sure that we are maintaining the courts that we have. Okay.

[181:01] All right, that's… Jenny. Yes, question. Second. Yeah, please. I empathize with the community's frustration over this delay. As we heard, we thought we had a plan, there's been delays. Okay. That said, like… I think most of us, I was hearing about the Botanical Garden Project or idea, for the first time tonight. Also, I… learned about the native history of this property for the first time tonight. I see this as a large tension for you all, and so I don't envy you, but, How… talk to us a little bit about how you will engage that concern, and how we will address the… not just the desire for a botanical garden, but also the assertion that building on this property is disrespectful of heritage. I want to address a couple of things. First of all, we have been talking directly with Catherine for, as I shared, many, many, many months. Tina has spent, I would say, hours at this point on the phone, and there have been many, many emails. Tonight's public testimony was the first time we've heard those comments also. And so, I could see there'd be a perception that we're disregarding this assertion that this is precious.

[182:17] And, highly… highly sacred native lands. That was the first time we'd heard that. And so, I think what the… perhaps I'm reading into your comments, but I'm hearing surprise that perhaps staff haven't been talking to you about a valid proposal, and that's… I just… I want to confirm that… that… or maybe clarify, and happy to share any of the emails that, you know, Tina has spent significant time trying to point these folks to, here's what that would look like, here's what it would require, and really trying to support a thoughtful consideration of this opportunity. And so I assure you, that's what we will do, that's what we have been doing, and will continue. Just building on that, can I say one thing? And I think that the funding issue is valid, we don't have the money, and that's fine, but I think it's…

[183:09] just holistically, to be thinking about, alright, if we're already going to be going out for an RFP and getting these courts on the site, I just want to make sure that we are being, considerate of that issue as you are talking to design firms about this other potential idea, and… and just making sure that we're sensitive to that, right? Because I… I don't want to… Do something where it then somehow harms that ability to do a botanical garden, even if we don't have the funding. Right. Yeah, and one of the other things that we're asking for in this proposal is looking for some core sources and references. We're also missing some of that, so we've got to do some of the research on that, too, not to, you know, minimize anything that they were talking about, but I think, you know, as a…

[184:03] government person, right? Like, I want to come to you with, you know, where are those resources coming from, and how do we really share that? And, it does… it does… I think we're really intrigued and really interested in this, and we are… we are looking for some of those answers as well. Okay. Any other questions on… Tom Watson, or the courts, or East Boulder. No more questions or comments. Okay, great. Thank you so much for the information. It's very appreciated, it helps us… immensely informed the community as well, so we're really appreciative, for that. Next, we have matters from the board. Which, I will… pass to Allie, I think, to start out with Prabh Orientation and mentoring? I think this is actually a matter for you all. I typically, this time of year, you all discuss what the orientation and mentoring plan is for the two board members. We've already agreed orientation, a lot of it, is going to be folded into the April business meeting.

[185:05] rather than a study session. Last year, we had a separate study session because we had four new board members we were onboarding. This year, we're only onboarding 2, so in addition to one-on-to-one time with myself and members of my team, we're including some of that. budget orientation and department orientation at your April business meeting, and then I think it's for you all to talk about your mentoring approach. Okay. Yeah, I, I agree that the, orientation that we did last year was helpful, because we had so many new members. This year, I think it can be done by, in our regular business meeting plus, you know, I'm sure that we'll have discussions individually with each. Of course, always, as Prabh, feel free to reach out directly to the new members, you know.

[186:00] I know I called each one of you, we had good conversations and stuff, so I think that they would probably be happy to hear from everybody on the board, if you have a chance to do that. And then, you know, Allie taking that on, plus we have the additional study session this, this, month, so I think, That is, gonna be… And that's such… they won't attend that. But they were invited. They… They will not attend as board members. They're certainly welcome to listen in, as are other members of the community. We shared information about it in the official email we sent them from staff. Their first business meeting will be the April meeting of the Parks and Rec Advisory Board. Can you, and I don't know if you've done this or not, but can you provide us with contact information for the new members? Yes. Email and phone number? Okay, great. And then mentoring… of the new members, do you think? Like, how… or do you… or do you want to talk about our… I guess the reason we… why do we put mentoring on there? Do we want to…

[187:02] Well, I mean, I think in the past, we've… had more formal mentorship assignments. We didn't really do it this year because we had so many new members. Right. Again, it's just the two of us. Right, exactly. So, I mean, we can decide if, like, you know, if a member of this body wants to say, I'm going to be Channing's mentor, That, I think, is okay. I don't… I also don't know if it's 100% necessary. Okay. Network. Well, what is… Yeah, do you have… Yeah, our first-year members. I mean, I'm happy to reach out. I like that idea of, like, reaching out to both of them, and then seeing if they want to meet, grab coffee, they want to do a phone call, sort of just, like, gauge what level of support they're looking for. And then maybe we can even go from there, right? Like, after a coffee with them, maybe… you do want to have more of a formal mentoring relationship, or maybe that's not really what they're looking for. Or we could get into the. Kind of let them come to a meeting or two, and then decide who they might jive with the best, also, and let them make that choice.

[188:07] Could you also provide, or could… do you think, Clarissa, once you… when you provide the, email and phone number. The… their… I know we can find it through going… going through the packet and everything, but can they… can you provide their application? Just so we have some background on them? Yeah, let me figure out the best way to do that, and we'll follow up with you. Okay. I mean, I have… the packet's, like, 800 pages, but, you know, it's a lot of clicks, but if it would be okay to just send over those two applications, it might just be a little easier on everybody, that'd be great. reviews are still online. interviews are still online, and the packet's still online, but I might just be… have it all in one spot, but yeah. Do you have any comments, questions? No, I agree with Kira's approach. I think that's, you know, it evolves. Naturally. And so, you know, if we reach out and they're interested in having a discussion, or having coffee, or whatever, and then gauging their need, and…

[189:02] You know, what they're looking for. It'll… it'll happen. Great. Good. Any other comments on that particular… No? Okay. Vice Chair and Chair Selection Process, we've all been there for that, so, That is… Also, in this… book that I have, there is a… procedural item that you and I can talk about. So, all of that is listed, so we'll go through… We'll probably talk through that, just because it's the chair and the vice chair that'll have to manage that portion of the meeting. Next time, so we'll probably go through that in agenda setting, too, just to make sure that we have any… Faces covered. Correct, and I also… the other thing I want to call out, I, I had the… oh, I do have the handbook open. I wanted. to call out what the process says about,

[190:01] the chair and vice chair nomination process, and I'm sorry, I should have… I'll just own, I was… I was on spring break with my kids last week, and did not do the, you know, the review of the packet that I normally do. What… what I should have made sure that we included for you was the chair and vice chair selection process. And so if you all would like, I can just share with you, because I think there's something about sharing in advance, or is it at the meeting? I'm just not remembering at the moment, and so if you want, I can look it up real quick. Last time, we didn't have a chair, because Elliot had resigned, so Bernie ran it as vice chair. This time, in the little cheat sheet here, it has for use at the April meetings. We will be electing officers later in the meeting, so as former vice chair, I will be presiding officer until then, so I think I can still start it. as chair, and then we'll do the induction of the new members. The secretary reads the oath.

[191:02] And then, I'm just making sure I'm not rereading what's already in the, yeah. And then the chairs ask… the member… chair asks members to spend time to introduce themselves. So then the officer elections, it says Secretary announces the two nominations currently received and accepted, which should happen… Via email, I think, before the meeting. And, then, then Secretary asks if there's any other nominations. Clarissa Heavy. Secretary will ask if there's any other nominations at this time, and then it goes through the process. So, I'll start the meeting as chair, and then we'll go through the election process from there. So, we could talk to Clarissa a little bit about that also, I think. Great, thank you. Yeah, this one's very specific, and it has Chuck's name in it, so that's pretty funny. I don't even… I don't know, I think this was a PDF that I got, but,

[192:01] This whole thing has to actually be adjusted. But I've got to figure out where I got it, and then if it's adjustable. So, I can talk to Claris about that, because I'm sure that's where I got it. Okay, so… Robert's Rules of Order, Chair and Vice Chair will be elected. Is that… Good for that… Common? Okay. Any other comments or questions about election of chair or vice chair for the April meeting? No? Okay. If you are interested in being chair or vice chair, please feel free to submit that nomination, your nomination, or if there's somebody you think should be nominated, all of that is listed. That process is listed in the handbook, the nominating process, so send an email if you're interested in that. Well, we can also talk one-on-one, so if anybody has any questions about being chair, being vice chair, and you'd like more information, feel free to call me or anything like that. We can talk about that, and Bernie, I'm sure, will be happy to take those calls for vice chair as well.

[193:07] All right, and then, so that was matters from the department, and so we're moving on to… Matters from the board. I will, talk Prabh matters. The… this portion of the meeting is for members of the board to report back on Prabh's annual work plan. Goal of each member attending two or more Parks and recreation-related community activities per month, promoting parks and recreation through social media, attending site tours, and supporting the department's partnership initiatives. What items would board members like to report on at this time? And I will open it back up in the beginning, if there is anything anybody would like to add to an upcoming agenda. After this particular… this was a big meeting with lots of public comment. If there's anybody… anything anybody would like to add to agenda setting, feel free to do it at this point as well.

[194:00] Yeah, that's cool. Yes. I have a couple things. There was a young woman who is at Fairview High, I think she's a junior, and she posted on Nextdoor, I just happened to come across it, that she was, that she got approved a… by the parks… to do a walking path at Harlow Platts. And, It's… the idea is… and I'm not gonna give it justice, but the idea was… She thought, you know, perhaps A walking path where you get barefoot, and you walk on different types of textures, like Pebbles and stones and maybe other materials. That that, you know, I think she's called it reflexology? I'm not familiar with the science there, but essentially, you know, it's a good idea, I love it. It's a really curative idea. My concern is that, she was posting on Nextdoor to get a budget to be able to build this thing, and after she got approval from Parks.

[195:06] Living across from Harlow Platts, there's a lot of… I don't know how to say it, but it's goose excrement, is the best way I can describe it. There's a lot, and it's everywhere, on sidewalks, on grass, anywhere around the lakes. So I guess I'm a little concerned about that project and how it got approved through Parks. Because what I would like to see for South Boulder is something comparable to what we see at North Boulder, some real investment. And I have no idea where we are at Harlow Platts to be invested in, but I know we're behind on the playground, and there's lots of opportunity, just as there was at North Boulder, and lots of investment opportunity, down the road. But I'm a little concerned about one-off projects being, number one, approved. And number two, I just… unless the parks is going to invest in maintenance, and I don't know if the parks person, whoever spoke to this young lady, unless… unless she also got some sort of…

[196:09] sense from the agency that we're gonna also be maintaining it to clean up the excrement. I just can't imagine that this Project is gonna get used by… my neighbors or myself. Like, I'm not gonna take off my shoes and walk on those rocks. Maybe when it's first open, but not after a week. So anyway, if you could give some information on that, I think I'd appreciate that, just because I think if we're going to do it, we need to do it more holistically, and we need to invest in maintenance. So that was one issue. The second issue was the Mo Siegel issue. I was disturbed by his comments, I gotta say, you know, if this gentleman has… contacts with wealthy Boulderites, that's not someone, you know, I want to disregard. I want to know why things went south,

[197:00] And… because, you know, we, as we all know, we're in a shortfall, and we're going to be for the foreseeable future economically, so having friends, who are willing to donate and contribute and do private-private partnerships is something we don't want to take lightly, you know? I don't want to burn any bridges, so that was the other issue. I was also wondering about that situation. Can you… Allie, can you, like, characterize for us a little bit? Like, is this a situation where Mo made a large donation and thought he would get more control of the project than he ended up getting, or was it that Mo, had unrealistic expectations, and maybe we didn't manage them the way that we could? Like, how… why is Moe so unhappy? Here's what I think is fair for me to say in a public forum and on public record. When Mo agreed to his donation, we outlined a letter of donation that included his role in the project, that included a timeline for the project, and the scope of the project. We fulfilled all of those obligations.

[198:09] I was at the opening, everyone seemed really happy that day. I was at the opening, too, and I was surprised to see this change, because he spoke pretty highly of it at the time. At the opening, yeah. missing something there. Yeah. Well, maybe that's something that we can… I guess maybe what. else is, is fair to share is there were multiple times during the project where, Mo called our project team or myself to question the methods or quality by which things were happening. I'll give a very specific example. When the concrete was first poured, he didn't think it looked good. He was concerned about the perception of the concrete before the final layers had been proved. Our team heard his concerns. They talked to, experts

[199:00] in other departments, our transportation department, they're pretty experts in pavement. We talk to experts with other companies, and they all… Agreed that it looked just fine. We didn't have concerns about the quality. Mo asked me if I would… bring in his consultant to look at it and revisit the work of our team, and I said that I would not, that that didn't align with my leadership style, that our team had done the due diligence and heard his concern. And would be moving forward, as outlined, that I was confident that the next layers of the self-leveling concrete and the asphalt surface would meet the conditions and the project quality. He called me 3 days later to say that he'd asked some other people and that we were right, and that he was satisfied. So that's just an example of there were, you know, multiple questions along the way that I feel like our team thoughtfully considered. He did request things of the project that we were not able to achieve, but that… that still aligned with… again, we had… when he agreed to the donation, we outlined what the project would include.

[200:01] We outlined a timeline, and we delivered on those, including, at the beginning of the project, he did ask, could this just be dedicated pickleball? And we said, we're not going to reduce levels of service for tennis or pickleball right now. As you heard tonight, there's an interest in more both tennis and pickleball. And that court was going to stay multi-sport until we could build the tennis courts at East Boulder Community Park. He agreed to that when he made the agreement. He brought that question up again multiple times. And we didn't change our answer. And so, unfortunately, we just… we didn't agree on several of the things that he asked. We were in a place, I hear you, we do… we are in a financial shortfall, and we would love to get other donors. our job. That is not always fun and is often hard is to think of the entire community, especially in a project where, it serves… it serves the whole community and not just one community member. Thank you for that response. Your first…

[201:03] the path. So I can… I… you brought that up as matters. I'm happy to, in the April consent agenda, give an update on that walking path. What I remember is it was requested. We have an external funding process where community members can come to us and say, I want a thing. It's not in your plans, it's not in your funding. An example, I believe it was in last month's packet, you heard about a memorial for, stillborn and, and, pregnancy losses. That is not in our plans, it is not in our budget, and our team worked with them to say, here's your path forward, here's how that could work. And we've gotten to an agreement where that project is funded, and not just the construction. We do have to think about ongoing operations, because we're short. And they've gone through that process. I'm aware that this person submitted a request through that process, and I don't, at the tip of my fingers, have the current state, but we can report back in April. Okay, other matters from the, board?

[202:03] Crab Manor. Maybe this is more of a question, and that we can discuss sometime later, but… I was interested in that, I think it's the Downtown Development Authority that they're discussing. And… . I'm wondering what. our role is on those types of projects, because that seems to definitely impact what we're doing, in the Central Park area, or have an impact on that Central Park area. And I think, Ali, I shared with you one of the RFI responses. Just seemed really… really interesting and really significant, so… maybe it's, just a question that I can shoot you, you know, sometime in the future, or maybe if the board… other board members are interested in it, it might be something that we might want to, you know, discuss what our role is. I don't… I don't… if we even have a role, but it just seemed… Michael, can you hop up on there? We're missing your audio on the digital. Pardon me? Yeah, could you, bring the mic a little closer? Our friends online are not hearing you. If you will. Yes, please. To the degree that you're able.

[203:11] So the way a request would like that is at agenda setting. I can talk with Jenny and Bernie, I'll talk with my team about what we might be able to do. I need to consult with the team. It might be feasible, in May, we have penciled in coming back to you on the civic area and talking about naming, and so, if there's room on the agenda, and if the team can fit it in the work plan at that time, we could talk to you about both the DDA and the East Bookend Partnership process. Thank you. So stand by, you'll see a follow-up on that at the April meeting and after agenda setting. Great. Any other comments, or crab matters? I have one. Gary, you go first. I just, you know, this meeting… highlighted, I think, for a lot of us, that there's so many competing demands, and it's very…

[204:01] I find it hard to hear about these projects that are presented to us as zero-sum, and that, I'm sure, is very frustrating for you and your staff. So, thank you for all the work that you do to bring these projects forward in a way that we can hopefully Take action that… Does the best for the city, even if not every single person's gonna be satisfied all the time. Thank you. I appreciate that, and maybe you were looking at me that… that maybe I could respond. I think I'll just, okay. Thank you. So mine is, just about play Boulder, since that's my liaison role. I just wanted to mention, we did not have a meeting last month due to spring break. But, we have created a development committee, which is a really interesting concept there. We had our first development meeting for that, and I,

[205:00] I think we're going to… Come up with some really interesting opportunities for, some things have been brought to play, which is there's a woman who is turning 70, and for her birthday, for her presence, she wants to plant 70 trees. And so she contacted Play, and she said, I would like you to plant 70 trees for me, what will that cost? And then she reached out through her invitation for her birthday and said, instead of bringing me a present, please donate to this organization in order to plant these trees. So there's a lot of different opportunities like that that are coming up, memorial opportunities or birthday opportunities and things like that. So, place finding a way to get, really active. From… and innovative, from a… the foundational standpoint, to do really, interesting and environmentally friendly and, equitable things for the community. So it's been… it's been moving forward in a really interesting fashion. If anybody's interested in, tree tenders and how to care for trees in your community. There's a tree tender training that's, 3 weeks starts tomorrow… it's 3 times.

[206:07] It's once a month. It starts tomorrow, and it's 5 to 7.30, so if you're interested, feel free to reach out to me for an email, and they give you food, and drinks, and teach you how to take care of trees, and how they get planted, and things like that. And interesting information about the tree canopy in Boulder, which is good for… Insulating us from heat and things like that. So, play is, doing well. We'll have our meeting next month. Okay. Anything else, from Matters from the Department? Our manners from the board, sorry. Okay, our next board meeting is… we have the study session the 31st. Next meeting in April, the date of that… I believe is the normal date. We did not have to change it. For April, so it is April 27th. It is back here in Council Chambers, anticipating public comment.

[207:01] Again, that'll be the day that we initiate, or initiate, doesn't feel right, but we, bring on our new members. And… Madam Chair, can I just highlight one thing for the study session that we had been planning, just like with City Council, with no public comment, that that study session would be entirely online? I know that the appointment says Tate Building, and I think that's because we associate a location, but I just… I want to check with you all that that's been our plan, and we're actually considering some of the, you know, online engagement activities that might help you as you weigh in on the scenarios. So it's all Zoom? Yep. Yep. Great. So it will be soon? Yes, sir. Okay. That's… I realized we should… yeah, it's… it's… you all haven't had a study session in a long time, and I think last year, with the onboarding of the new ones, we chose to do it in person, so that you could all get to know each other, but typically these days, in the modern era, study sessions are entirely virtual. It will be, will be virtual, too. Yes, ma'am.

[208:03] And that study session is run by the chair, still, or is that run by Staffel? So. That's another great question. What'll happen is you'll start the meeting. And you'll hand it over to us to walk through a presentation. And then really, we'll work with you, Jenny, I'll reach out to you in advance around how this is… and this is what happens with City Council study sessions, is we re… those are, facilitated by a rotating member of Council, and the project manager and that member of council talk about the meeting facilitation, and they work in partnership to get through the conversation. Perfect. Okay, great. Alright, with all that in mind, there's no further business for Prabh tonight, so the meeting is adjourned. Thank you, everybody, for coming. I wasn't to my dog. Do you? Why? Is it? Oh, oh.