May 18, 2026 — Parks and Recreation Advisory Board Regular Meeting

Transcript

Captions from City of Boulder YouTube recording.

[0:02] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Alright, hi everybody, sorry we're a minute late.

[0:06] Speaker 2 (Board & Commissions): We'll get started here.

[0:16] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Okay, so we will, call the meeting to order, and at the first…

[0:21] Board & Commissions: The first item is the approval of the agenda.

[0:22] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): May I have a motion to approve… to consider the agenda? Motion. And is there a second? Seconded. Thank you. All those in favor of…

[0:33] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Well, is there any discussion? I know we have maybe a question about the agenda.

[0:41] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Yeah, I had a question. It looks like,

[0:45] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): From the materials we are supposed to take action.

[0:48] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): On a specific matter.

[0:49] Speaker 2 (Board & Commissions): And it's not noticed in the agenda as an action item.

[0:53] Speaker 2 (Board & Commissions): So, I really…

[0:55] Speaker 2 (Board & Commissions): I'm not sure what we should do, is whether or not we should amend the agenda, or put it off until the next meeting.

[1:02] Speaker 2 (Board & Commissions): You know, my position would be there's been ample notice, because it's contained in materials that were distributed on Wednesday, that an action item was going to take place, and so…

[1:12] Speaker 2 (Board & Commissions): We could amend the agenda, but, I think it would take a…

[1:17] Speaker 2 (Board & Commissions): I could make a motion to do that, I'm not really sure. I would like to hear other… other members' thoughts on it.

[1:22] Speaker 2 (Board & Commissions): Yeah, it's so much.

[1:23] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): My opinion is that, we can amend the agenda to note that in this agenda as an action item. We've discussed it, and I think there's been enough discussion that I feel comfortable taking a vote on it tonight, but it should be in the correct part of the agenda, that's my opinion. Does anyone else have a feeling?

[1:39] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): I do. I think that we should push it to next month, because… We should allow for.

[1:46] Speaker 3 (Board & Commissions): Public comment.

[1:48] Speaker 3 (Board & Commissions): On an action item, which we have not given enough time to notice.

[1:53] Speaker 3 (Board & Commissions): Jenna.

[1:56] Speaker 3 (Board & Commissions): Although, during the public open session, it was discussed as.

[2:02] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): a topic. Yeah, we certainly got feedback on it. Kira, or…

[2:09] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Bart, do you have any thoughts?

[2:11] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): I'm curious exactly what… which item we're talking about. Sorry, we are talking about amending our, handbook. The handbook. Yes.

[2:19] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): And I guess for the benefit of those in the gallery, there's an item on our agenda tonight to amend the handbook to codify

[2:26] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): 3 minutes per speaker, with no restriction.

[2:31] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Which is already what we do in practice, but we're just codifying it.

[2:34] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): So… Mike, what do you think? Do you want to make a motion?

[2:39] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Or Jenny, do you want to make a message?

[2:41] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): I'd make.

[2:41] Speaker 2 (Board & Commissions): a motion to amend the motion to add an action item regarding the, amendments… proposed amendments to the handbook. Okay, and…

[2:53] Speaker 3 (Board & Commissions): I guess, Jenny, do you want to make a different motion?

[2:56] Speaker 3 (Board & Commissions): No.

[2:57] Speaker 3 (Board & Commissions): But I would like to ask, is Yvonne joining?

[3:00] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Yvonne is on her way home, and I think we'll be joining online. Is she online?

[3:06] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Okay, but we do have… we do have a quorum, so we're gonna… we told her that we were gonna proceed, and she's aware.

[3:12] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Deanna, do you have any further thoughts?

[3:16] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Okay. Okay, so Michael, why don't you make your motion?

[3:20] Speaker 2 (Board & Commissions): So I make a motion to…

[3:23] Speaker 2 (Board & Commissions): Amend the motion to amend the agenda by adding an action item

[3:29] Speaker 2 (Board & Commissions): Concerning the amendment to the handbook.

[3:34] Speaker 2 (Board & Commissions): Nailed that. How's that for amendments? Yeah. That's great.

[3:38] Speaker 3 (Board & Commissions): Second that motion.

[3:39] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Okay, so let's… and I think the way that Michael stated it was very clean. We can just have one vote in which we would… if it goes forward, we would just accept the agenda with that amendment.

[3:49] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): So, all in favor?

[3:52] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Please say aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed?

[3:56] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Jenny.

[3:58] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Okay, so the motion carries, we will make that change, we'll move…

[4:03] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Matter from the board, excuse me, matter from the… yeah, matter from the board up to an action item.

[4:09] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): And otherwise, we'll go forward with the agenda as it is stated.

[4:13] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): With that, let's go to future board tours and items.

[4:19] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Thank you, members of the Prabh. Folks, I'm Allie Rhodes. I serve as Director of Parks and Recreation.

[4:25] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): For future board items, these are in… sorry, being on one screen is problematic.

[4:34] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): We are on page 2 of the PRAB packet, if anyone's curious. The, items I want to call out for you are the next steps in the conversation. It says City Council will discuss the long-term financial strategy and ballot measure check in mid-June. That date is Thursday, June the 5th, or 25th, sorry.

[4:53] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): So Thursday, June the 25th, is when they'll have their next conversation on, ballot measures.

[4:59] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): And then, I also wanted to highlight for you that next month, we'll come to you with some thoughts on the annual tour. So, for new members, once a year, we hop in a van, and we drive around Boulder and show you sites where we have upcoming capital projects.

[5:15] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): And it really helps to be on the ground and to visualize some of these efforts, and so we'll bring to that meeting our list of proposals, but if you have requests on a project you'd like to learn more about, we would welcome your input at that meeting on July. So this is a heads up that will be coming to you.

[5:31] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): for that discussion at the July meeting.

[5:37] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): I think that's all I need to highlight right now. I will just, I guess, maybe just on the Department of Events of Other Interest, I'll just note that this weekend is Memorial Day, or aka Boulder's Best Weekend in my book, so we, across our park system, will be hosting,

[5:52] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): hundreds of thousands of people. No drama, no exaggeration there. So we open for the summer the Boulder Reservoir Swim Beach, and for boating, Scott Carpenter and Spruce Pool Leisure Pools will open. We will host the Boulder Creek Festival downtown here in our downtown park. On the Pearl Street Mall, we'll host the Boulder Boulder Expo. On Monday, over 50,000 folks will run through the streets of Boulder. Many of our parks support.

[6:17] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): the event. For example, if you ever see the belly dancers at Salberg Park, they are moving, complements of electricity provided at the facility there, and that happens throughout the city. So I just want to call out that it's a really big weekend for our team.

[6:31] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): And then starting in the next week, we will, as school ends for the summer, we will begin caring for and entertaining so many of Boulder's children through our summer camps. So we are entering our peak season. We always look forward, we always say we want to have as much fun as we can, as safely as we can. We have hired,

[6:52] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): Hundreds of people to support our camps, our outdoor pools, all of our summer operations, and we're really looking forward to summer.

[7:01] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): That's all I got tonight.

[7:05] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Okay, thanks, Ellie.

[7:07] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Does anybody have any questions on these items? And also, I will highlight, because this came up.

[7:11] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): just a little while ago. This is an official time when anyone on the Pratt may ask for an item to be calendared in a future agenda-setting meeting. Does anybody have anything to mention?

[7:21] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Or discuss.

[7:27] Speaker 2 (Board & Commissions): I guess this is an official time, but since Yvonne isn't here yet, should we postpone that, or…

[7:34] Speaker 2 (Board & Commissions): just wait until Yvonne gets on to, to weigh in.

[7:39] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): We can get Yvonne's input later in the meeting. I don't wanna… I don't wanna hold things up.

[7:48] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Any… anyone else?

[7:50] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Okay, great, so we can move forward, onto public participation.

[7:57] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): And…

[8:03] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Sorry, bear with me.

[8:12] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Okay, so we will now open to public participation. This portion of the meeting is for members of the public to communicate ideas or concerns to the board regarding parks and recreation issues that are not scheduled for public hearing tonight.

[8:22] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): There are no public hearings this evening, so all participation will happen at this time.

[8:27] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): During this public participation time, the public is encouraged to comment on the need for parks and Recreation programs and facilities as they perceive them. Each speaker has up to 30 minutes to speak. Depending on the nature of your matter, you may or may not receive a response from the board after your comments. However, we are always listening and appreciative of the feedback.

[8:43] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Clarissa, could you please… Present any additional guidelines.

[8:50] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Yes, Jen will be presenting them today.

[8:55] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Okay, the City has engaged with community members to.

[8:59] Speaker 5 (Board & Commissions): Co-create a vision for

[9:02] Speaker 5 (Board & Commissions): 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.

[9:19] Speaker 5 (Board & Commissions): For information about this vision, visit our website and the Boulder Revised Code.

[9:29] Speaker 5 (Board & Commissions): The City will enforce the rules of decorum found in the Boulder Revised Code, including participants are required to sign up to speak using the name they are commonly known as, online pers…

[9:42] Speaker 5 (Board & Commissions): Participants must display their full name before speaking.

[9:47] Speaker 5 (Board & Commissions): Currently, only audio testimony is permitted online. No attendee shall disrupt, disturb, or impede the orderly conduct of any board meeting in a matter that obstructs the business of the meeting.

[10:02] Speaker 5 (Board & Commissions): This includes failing to obey any lawful order of the presiding officer to leave the meeting room or refrain from addressing the board.

[10:14] Speaker 5 (Board & Commissions): Only one person may speak at the podium at a time, unless an accommodation such as an interpreter is required.

[10:22] Speaker 5 (Board & Commissions): All remarks and testimony shall be limited to matters related to city business.

[10:28] Speaker 5 (Board & Commissions): No blocking the aisles in violation of the fire code, or in a way that obstructs the vision or audio of other audience members.

[10:37] Speaker 5 (Board & Commissions): No signs or flags are permitted in the meeting room except for one person that is no larger than 11 by 17 inches and held no higher than the person's face.

[10:49] Speaker 5 (Board & Commissions): We ask that you not affix items to the podium, dais, walls, or other services.

[10:58] Speaker 5 (Board & Commissions): No participant shall make threats or use other forms of intimidation against any person. Obscenity or other epitaphs based on race, gender, or religion, and any speech or behavior that disrupts or impedes the meeting will not be tolerated.

[11:14] Speaker 5 (Board & Commissions): In-person participants are asked to refrain from expressing support or disagreement verbally or with sounds such as applause or snapping, with the exception of declarations. Traditionally, support is shown through American Sign Language applause… applause or jazz hands.

[11:43] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Okay, thank you. We have… Two in-person participants, Catherine Sundvall, will go first.

[12:04] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): There you go, you got it.

[12:06] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): My name is Katherine Sundvall. I live on Illini Way among.

[12:11] Speaker 6 (Board & Commissions): many Indigenous name streets surrounding the East Boulder Rec Center and East Boulder Community Park.

[12:18] Speaker 6 (Board & Commissions): I'm also the local coordinator for the Boulder Botanic Gardens, LLC.

[12:24] Speaker 6 (Board & Commissions): For the last few months and various hearings, you have heard from our board members and supporters individually.

[12:31] Speaker 6 (Board & Commissions): You heard from the traditional northern Cheyenne Chief, Philip Whiteman Jr, and his lawyer, Nicole Chavez. They told you about Chief Phillip's ancestor.

[12:42] Speaker 6 (Board & Commissions): Chief White Antelope who camped at Hogan Pancust.

[12:46] Speaker 6 (Board & Commissions): In 1863, Chief White Antelope received a Medal of Peace from President Lincoln for his successful efforts to create a mutually beneficial coexistence between the Cheyenne miners, farmers, settlers who settled in the emerging town of Belmont.

[13:05] Speaker 6 (Board & Commissions): You also heard from Robert Batchelder, who is descended from the family that homesteaded Chautauqua.

[13:12] Speaker 6 (Board & Commissions): Robert is also descended from Granville Berkeley Jr, who operated the cannons that were used in the Sand Creek Massacre, where Chief White Antelope and other Cheyenne and Arapo leaders were murdered in a planned genocide.

[13:27] Speaker 6 (Board & Commissions): Chief Phillip and Dr. Edward Svivak also spoke separately to you about the importance of the federally endangered Prebbles Meadows Jumping Mouse and the northern spotted leopard frogs that live in the Hogan Pancost critical habitat.

[13:46] Speaker 6 (Board & Commissions): These species, along with the cottonwood trees, are sacred to the Cheyenne, and are designated as cultural keystone species.

[13:54] Speaker 6 (Board & Commissions): Why, you might be asking?

[13:57] Speaker 6 (Board & Commissions): When the Cheyenne first came to the South Boulder Creek drainage roughly 200 years ago, they traveled from Bear Butte, South Dakota, looking for a new home.

[14:07] Speaker 6 (Board & Commissions): When they saw Valmont Butte, it reminded them of Bear Butte, and when they saw the Prebbles Mouse and the leopard Frogs, they created a sacred story that is still told today by many Native Americans, not just the Cheyenne.

[14:22] Speaker 6 (Board & Commissions): There are many videos available on the internet and children's books based on the story that originated Hogan Pentecost.

[14:30] Speaker 6 (Board & Commissions): As you can see, we have brought together Cheyenne leadership, soldier voices, important scientists, and neighborhood support to create a beautiful and healing contemplative Boulder Botanic Gardens experience where we all can commune with nature, reflect on the past, and co-create a beautiful future with our Indigenous brothers and sisters. As Edward Svivak

[14:54] Speaker 6 (Board & Commissions): Beautifully said. This is a project of restoration, but it's also a project of re-storying.

[15:04] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Okay, thank you very much.

[15:06] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Next up, we have Rachel Bloombaum, who I believe is here in person.

[15:15] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Hi, my name is Rachel Bloombaum, and I have lived here in the City of Bold… Boulder.

[15:23] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): For over 50 years.

[15:24] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): I…

[15:25] Speaker 7 (Board & Commissions): I appreciate all the time that you have spent

[15:28] Speaker 7 (Board & Commissions): Considering or reviewing and discussing all the studies and plans completed by staff and making decisions that seem to favor some sort of action on much-needed and long-overdue

[15:39] Speaker 7 (Board & Commissions): court construction.

[15:40] Speaker 7 (Board & Commissions): I also appreciate the efforts that have been undertaken to revitalize several courts in the pocket parks around town. However, regarding the ever-shrinking number of available tennis courts, I am so discouraged that the tennis community has had to come and show up, continue to come and show up, and harass you folks and your team.

[16:00] Speaker 7 (Board & Commissions): About the court situation. It's been going on for really far too long. I know you've heard from others before me about the loss of courts in Boulder, including not only the loss of city courts to pickleball, but also the loss of several sets of CU courts, private courts at the Rocky Mountain Tennis Club.

[16:15] Speaker 7 (Board & Commissions): and Boulder Valley School District Courts. I hope you're also familiar with the many years of talks between the tennis community and the Parks and Rec Department. It has been a very frustrating and drawn-out process of a lot of talk and not enough action.

[16:29] Speaker 7 (Board & Commissions): Finally, we've gotten to the point of having a workable location and a concept at East Boulder Community Park, only to have once again been told that the project has been substantially delayed.

[16:40] Speaker 7 (Board & Commissions): I really do appreciate your support of that plan. What I find discouraging is yet another delay, and it's a long one. In 2024, the Tennis and Pickleball court system plan identified a need for 22 additional tennis courts in the City of Boulder. There was a vision and a timeline to begin to make a dent in that deficit.

[16:58] Speaker 7 (Board & Commissions): The tennis community finally breathes a small sigh of relief.

[17:02] Speaker 7 (Board & Commissions): We felt progress was coming, and that we'd finally been heard. There was unhappiness about how long it would all take, but relief that something was going to happen, and now we're facing another delay.

[17:13] Speaker 7 (Board & Commissions): While I'm speaking to you here, hopefully many of my tennis friends are up in Longmont playing in the 58th annual Austin Scott Tennis Tournament.

[17:22] Speaker 7 (Board & Commissions): There's a lot of great tennis being played, there's a great atmosphere, spectators, players, local businesses supporting our cause. You should check it out. It's a great spectator sport. For 58 years, this tournament has been put on by the Boulder Tennis Association, and prior to the last few years, it's always been held in the city of Boulder.

[17:41] Speaker 7 (Board & Commissions): Please help us bring it back.

[17:43] Speaker 7 (Board & Commissions): Boulder needs a place for the tennis community to gather. Largely league play… I'm sorry, league play, tournaments, social tennis, classes for youth, for adults, they all require several courts in one location, and that concentrated location provides for the meeting, socializing, playing, and competing

[18:00] Speaker 7 (Board & Commissions): Between people from all walks of life with a common passion.

[18:04] Speaker 7 (Board & Commissions): You, the amorphous city.

[18:07] Speaker 7 (Board & Commissions): Has tested our trust many times over. There are many among us who do not believe that the city will ever serve the tennis community appropriately and provide what has been established as a reasonable number of courts for our community.

[18:18] Speaker 7 (Board & Commissions): Please prove them wrong, and do everything you can to move this court's project along at East Boulder Community Park so that Boulder will have a home for the tennis community. Thank you for your time and efforts, past and ongoing, for the local Boulder tennis players.

[18:36] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Alright, thank you. Next, we have, Robert Bettshelder, who's online.

[18:44] Board & Commissions: I don't see him online.

[18:48] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Okay, let's see, is, Trish Esmer online? Or Emser online? Yes.

[18:57] Trish Emser: Hello there, can you hear me?

[18:58] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): I'm sorry, Trish, are we good on the timer?

[19:03] Board & Commissions: Okay, great, go ahead.

[19:04] Trish Emser: Thanks. Trish Imzer here. Thanks for letting me give some comments tonight. I did speak to y'all a few weeks ago, and I honestly had the impression that you might have thought I was complaining about camping in our parks.

[19:17] Trish Emser: So I wanted to be a little more clear this evening, especially since I haven't really seen any improvement in our parks from a drug use perspective and smoking perspective.

[19:27] Trish Emser: So I did send you all a deck.

[19:29] Trish Emser: And, just at a high level, as a citizen, I do not feel that our civic area parks are safe for children or adults at this point in time. And what I sent you in the photos are photos that I've taken.

[19:47] Trish Emser: And please also know that these are typical pictures. Some of the pictures, for example, on slide 2 of people smoking, and I've circled in red where those are, anything from meth bongs to other types of glass pipes and cigarettes.

[20:06] Trish Emser: Seem to be a real contradiction with the rules that are posted, at least in the Wildwoods Park, and I do believe it is a park rule that people shouldn't be smoking, so I'm always confused by why this is happening.

[20:20] Trish Emser: a lot, especially with open drug use. On slide number 3, I've got some pictures of

[20:27] Trish Emser: are multi-use paths that are often clogged, especially in this area. And, you know, my understanding from Safe Zones for Kids initiative is that we were really prioritizing, and we had been doing an excellent job of keeping the pathways clean.

[20:43] Trish Emser: As I help out with the farmer's market bike valet, I see more and more conflicts, and I'm very concerned that this is going to create accidents.

[20:53] Trish Emser: On the next slide, I do want to bring up the topic of the ecosystem of Older Creek. I know there was a time that near 9th Avenue, there was a sharps container because of, you know, the known drug use, and we are handing out needles and foils and pipes still by the county.

[21:10] Trish Emser: But I understand from people who helped clean up the area, they wouldn't let their kids wade in this creek because of the needles that have ensued, and especially with the sharps container gone. And the desecration of the steps is something that I believe I've pointed out to you already.

[21:27] Trish Emser: And then finally, on the last one, the reality, there's actually a person who I know, was charged with felony

[21:37] Trish Emser: drug sales, who's in this children's park on this day after his court appearance, there appeared to be some drug transactions that occurred in that playground, which I find very concerning. If some substance is dropped there, it could obviously be in the wrong hands.

[21:54] Trish Emser: So, my final request here is, this situation is really degraded. These are not the rules that were set in place, including safe zones for kids, and I would really like it if the city could either start mitigating the issues… Okay.

[22:08] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Thank you, Trish.

[22:09] Trish Emser: Or, Do something to warn visitors, thank you.

[22:15] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Okay, and finally we have… well, we have Michael Broder.

[22:29] Michael Broder: Hi, Michael Broder.

[22:32] Michael Broder: I'm a resident of Boulder for 6 years, and like Trish said before me, you know, safe zones for kids.

[22:43] Michael Broder: initiative, and the periodic surges, by BPD, have had, positive effects

[22:53] Michael Broder: Periodically. But in my view, conditions, and I…

[23:01] Michael Broder: I should have started by saying I want to address safety and security on the paths and park areas. And it's my contention that, and I'm not alone in this, that conditions have markedly worsened.

[23:16] Michael Broder: I'm an avid bike rider, but I will not ride on any bike paths within the city limits. I find it way too dangerous.

[23:28] Michael Broder: And thus, I don't have any war stories about, you know, incidents or run-ins that I've had.

[23:35] Michael Broder: Thankfully.

[23:37] Michael Broder: A couple of questions come to mind. Why does the city hand out drug paraphernalia and Narcan kits in the downtown area? Why do we allow… why do we allow one one-hundredth of a population to compromise the safety and security of

[23:55] Michael Broder: The 99.9% of the rest of the citizens' residents residence of Boulder.

[24:01] Michael Broder: Will we allow this dangerous condition

[24:07] Michael Broder: to continue, especially with hosting Sundance and events that we have, and the city that we are. So…

[24:18] Michael Broder: I ask, is there solid input and pressure that PRAB can impress upon and provide to City Council and the City Manager?

[24:29] Michael Broder: So many residents are tired of what seems to be inaction or turning a blind eye to the blight that we experience, particularly

[24:40] Michael Broder: in the parks, and on the paths. And I ask that,

[24:46] Michael Broder: We take action on that behalf.

[24:49] Michael Broder: Thank you.

[24:52] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Alright, thank you. Has Robert Bettshelder joined us?

[25:00] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): No. Okay, so let's move on to,

[25:03] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Zach? I'm sorry, I don't know how to pronounce your last name, Zach. Oh, you're okay. Thank you.

[25:09] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Looks like it's already on.

[25:10] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Thanks, everybody. My name is Zach Mallorca, I'm the president of Boco Pickleball.

[25:15] Speaker 8 (Board & Commissions): Community organization that represents the pickleball-playing community.

[25:18] Speaker 8 (Board & Commissions): Here in Boulder.

[25:20] Speaker 8 (Board & Commissions): I think we've had a presence here at some meetings in the past, and…

[25:26] Speaker 8 (Board & Commissions): we had another delay in one of the most recent projects, the Tom Watson.

[25:30] Speaker 8 (Board & Commissions): project, and I guess I'm… more than anything, I'm just here to express a little bit of frustration with that, and my hope that we can continue to

[25:40] Speaker 8 (Board & Commissions): To really scrutinize and be on top of these projects.

[25:45] Speaker 8 (Board & Commissions): We are one of the only communities who don't have any dedicated pickleball courts.

[25:50] Speaker 8 (Board & Commissions): Still.

[25:51] Speaker 8 (Board & Commissions): in the area, a lot of the other municipalities seem to have figured it out. I know

[25:57] Speaker 8 (Board & Commissions): Parks and Rec's intentions and hearts are in the right place with these projects, but so far, the execution has been lacking for a variety of reasons. I think it's really difficult to point to any one reason why we still don't have courts here.

[26:13] Speaker 8 (Board & Commissions): But I'm just hopeful that as we go forward, we can count on your continued support to monitor the situation, make sure that we do get to the finish line on some of these projects.

[26:26] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): All right, thank you, and I guess I will have one final call for… for Robert. Has he… has he joined us?

[26:34] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): No.

[26:35] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Okay, then we can end public comment, and I'll just ask, Allie, do you have anything to… you want to respond?

[26:42] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): Yeah, I would love to just… I, was it Rachel? Rachel, and Zach, and I let folks know offline, is that, I mean, I think the frustration

[26:51] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): we acknowledge it, we share it, and we… we know that probably it won't be resolved until we have ribbon cuttings, and we are doing our best to get there as best and as quickly we can, and I know we've probably exhausted your patience at this point, but we're just gonna keep our heads down and working hard, and look forward to celebrating with you when we get there. We've got some

[27:09] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): key milestones coming up, and one of the commitments we made last month is that as we reach key milestones in each of our projects, we're gonna… we've broken down the timelines online so that it doesn't feel like this black hole of… I think the phrase I heard was, like, a black hole of design or whatever. So we wanted to give you,

[27:26] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): updates on a more regular basis so folks can see that… that we're, we're moving the projects forward. And I believe that in June, there should be good updates on both the Tom Watson project and the East Boulder Community Courts. So, stay tuned.

[27:42] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): And then I did want to follow up on both Trish and, I believe it was Michael. The PRAB had requested an update on the City's Safe and Managed Public Spaces program, and just generally the homelessness strategy in general, and I am coordinating. Our Housing and Human Services Director and our Homelessness Manager said they would be happy to come to the PRAB and share more about that topic. We're looking at calendaring that for either the August or the September meeting, and I'm just… they're just… I'm pending their availability, as well as

[28:07] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): a colleague who supports the Safe and Managed Public Spaces program. So, you didn't see that on your future board items, but it is being calendared.

[28:19] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): It is on the feature board items, in… In August.

[28:24] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): Well, I'll note that that's tentative, because I'm pending confirmation from both Kurt and Megan Newton and the SAMS folks. It's August or September, and it's still TBD. I'm sorry, I missed that. Okay, well, we'll adjust that.

[28:35] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): an agenda setting.

[28:37] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Any, any responses or comments from the Prab, Michael?

[28:40] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Donna?

[28:41] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Kira?

[28:43] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Jenny?

[28:44] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Oh, yeah.

[28:47] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Alright, I just wanted to.

[28:52] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): this is kind of a specific question, I guess, and Allie, or I'm not sure if either one of you can respond to it, but,

[29:01] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): The, the comment about the city handing out needles?

[29:05] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): Or the county handing out needles on city? I don't know what that is.

[29:10] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): I don't know the.

[29:11] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): current…

[29:12] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): details and programming, and that… I'd be happy to fold that in that update. I'm aware that the Boulder County Works Program is what it's called. It's a public health prevention program that, does provide tools for safe drug use. It is a way to minimize harm and damage from folks who have substance abuse issues, and…

[29:33] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): I'm not aware of it happening on city property. My understanding in the past is it was done through Boulder County Public Health and in their offices, and there was a place. I can look into it and get back to you. That would be great.

[29:44] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): Thank you.

[29:46] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): And then, the other comment I wanted to, oh, and the urban rangers, is there… I mean, because they're part of the SAMS… is it… they're part of the SAMHS program? Is there any particular… have you been hearing from them anything that's specifically about what's going on at the creek currently?

[30:05] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): I know that their numbers and my own observation show that, two things. One is that generally, the symptoms of homelessness that we always see in the parks, we are seeing less reports year over year, and seeing less homelessness year over year. And…

[30:22] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): every year in April and or May, there is some sort of a seasonal spike that happens as the weather gets warmer, and we are seeing some of that. I have,

[30:30] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): run the creek path in its entirety the last two Sundays, and have been, one, I want to thank the folks who participated in the Boulder County Creek Cleanup, including our Prab member, Mike Schreiner. Several of them comment on me that they were surprised at how clean it was, and that there really wasn't as much to do as they would thought. And so I just…

[30:48] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): I want to balance… I hear the frustration, I saw the pictures, I know that there are things happening in the parks that both violate code, that make folks feel unsafe.

[30:58] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): And I think the city's investment in safe and managed public spaces is showing in a lot of really positive ways, and I'm eager for that conversation in August or September, so we can bring you more data and let you know, what's working and what challenges we're working to address, because it's certainly,

[31:17] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): It's not perfect, it's something that… that I think a lot of cities are struggling to manage, as are we. Okay.

[31:23] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): Yeah, I know people have different, you know, experiences down there. I definitely see a lot of things and relate to the pictures that are being shown, so I'm excited for the conversation in August. And then last, the pickleball for Tom Watson. I know that originally that that groundbreaking was supposed to be April and then May, and now it's pushed. Can you just give a little update on that?

[31:44] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): I might ask Mark to pop up, but I don't… I think we're…

[31:48] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): Should get permits any time in the next couple of weeks, and we'll be breaking ground?

[31:53] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): I wasn't aware of another delay. I think we're on the same track we'd been on the last update we gave you, and I think that's what Zach was speaking to, but I don't think anything's changed since April. Yeah, Mark Davison, Parks Planning Manager, we're still on track for the same groundbreaking.

[32:07] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): I thought it was.

[32:07] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): It was May. No?

[32:09] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): We're still hoping for end of May, could be the first week of June, but we're pretty hopeful for the end of May. Okay.

[32:16] Speaker 10 (Board & Commissions): permitting process, we're into the final steps of that, and we should hear back in the next couple of Fridays, and then we should be ready to go on the ground. Okay.

[32:24] Speaker 10 (Board & Commissions): Thank you, that's it for me.

[32:29] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): I just wanted to express my, empathy with Trish and my.

[32:34] Speaker 11 (Board & Commissions): Michael's comments about the homeless situation along Boulder Creek Path. It's a complicated situation with a lot of different,

[32:43] Speaker 11 (Board & Commissions): city organizations involved, the police. I will also note, I ride the Boulder Creek paths a lot, and it's not just in the parks where these problems exist. There's a lot of places on private land where that happens, too. So, it seems like it's not exclusively a parks and rec issue.

[33:03] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): I'll just say that I also ride the pass a lot, including, I walked a section of it today in the rain, and

[33:09] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Lots of people trying to stay out of the rain, of course, but I…

[33:12] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): I have heard also from the police department in their recent open house that

[33:17] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Service calls related to homelessness are significantly down from last year, which is, I think encouraging.

[33:23] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Nevertheless, that doesn't… Make it better for people who don't feel safe using our parks.

[33:27] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Okay, with that, why don't we move on to the…

[33:31] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Oh, I'm sorry, Yvonne, I forgot you were with us. Do you have any comments on the public comment? No, okay.

[33:37] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Okay, so let's move on to the consent agenda,

[33:44] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): This is an agenda item that is a group's routine and informational items that may be approved in one motion unless board members request an item be removed for separate discussion. Board members may either make a motion for the board approval to remove an item for a separate discussion tonight, or request the Chair and Vice Chair consider the item for future agendas planning.

[34:03] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): The consent agenda tonight includes the approval of the minutes from last month, from April 27,

[34:10] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Updates from the Director of the Parks and… updates from the Director of Parks and Recreation, Parks and Recreation Planning Design, and construction updates, and Parks and Recreation Operations Updates. I do want to call out, and we should have… I apologize, I didn't do this during when we considered the agenda, we have noted

[34:26] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): approximate time windows for every item on the agenda. We are hoping that we can keep discussion of the consent agenda to about 15 minutes. That's not firm, but that is a guideline that I'm going to manage us against.

[34:39] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): With that would anyone like to make a motion to approve the consent agenda?

[34:46] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Motion.

[34:49] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Seconded.

[34:50] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Okay, thanks. With that, we'll open it to discussions. Does anyone

[34:56] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Let's start with Michael. Do you have any questions or comments?

[35:02] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Adult, thank you.

[35:10] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): So, yeah, I have just a question on the snowstorm.

[35:13] Speaker 12 (Board & Commissions): response. Ugh, so sad to see all the damage across town. It really, truly looked like a hurricane had come through, after the snowstorm. I wondered if you could just provide a little bit of context,

[35:27] Speaker 12 (Board & Commissions): on the damage to, like, the urban canopy as a whole? Was it just, you know, we lost limbs of different trees? Did this…

[35:35] Speaker 12 (Board & Commissions): Provide any lasting damage, to the trees that are in the park system.

[35:45] Speaker 12 (Board & Commissions): Scott Schuttenberg, Deputy Director.

[35:48] Speaker 12 (Board & Commissions): Yeah, in talking with our forestry team, this storm was certainly significant.

[35:53] Speaker 13 (Board & Commissions): significant, but wasn't as bad as previous storms that we had experienced. And so, while there were several limbs that were broken, cleanup was pretty quick. We were able to work with our contracted, services,

[36:06] Speaker 13 (Board & Commissions): quite a bit. There were some tree loss, I don't have a final number, we can get back to you with that. But my understanding is the storm wasn't, wasn't as bad as we had experienced in previous storms. So, Allie, do you have anything to add on that?

[36:20] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): I was just pulling up, Kathleen, she knows anytime… Kathleen is our forester, she's amazing, she's nationally recognized for her work. Around noon, anytime there's a storm, she sends us a quick assessment, because she knows we're all waiting to hear, and just adding a few notes to what Scott said, one is that we saw less damage in areas that had recently gone through our rotational pruning, and I highlight that because it's such an important part of our forestry program, is that cycle of

[36:45] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): Rotational pruning. We're on a once-every-10-year cycle. Ideal would be 7. That's what fully funded looks like, and it's just an example here, the areas that recently have been pruned. This is also a plug for homeowners that tree care is really important when you do do rotational pruning of your trees. And that's, about 70% of the urban canopy is on private property, and so just private property tree care is also

[37:08] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): Really important. We also just really appreciated the community did a great job of cleaning up their limbs. Sometimes, that can be an issue, and I feel like, you know, our communications team has been doing a good job of getting out press releases and getting info out to people. Our webpages are really robust, and we saw the community do a really great job with picking up limbs. We saw folks

[37:29] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): You know, where limbs were down on paths or sidewalks, they moved them before we could get there. Our CRM, this is the, constituent relations management software, it's our customer service online hub. We see lots and lots and lots and lots of requests for tree issues in the days following a storm. I see every single survey, and it's so impressive to me how many people are like, oh my gosh, I let you know a limb was down, and I looked out my window, and it was gone.

[37:53] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): And of course, that's not the magic response every single time, but our team did a great job.

[38:00] Speaker 12 (Board & Commissions): Great, thanks.

[38:05] Speaker 12 (Board & Commissions): Connecticut? Nope.

[38:06] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Yvonne, do you have any questions?

[38:09] Yvonne Castillo: Yeah, I had a question about the minutes, from March. I think, we had some conversation. I just wanted to make sure that that got addressed.

[38:20] Yvonne Castillo: I was concerned about the March meeting minutes.

[38:24] Yvonne Castillo: Do you remember that, Bernie? .

[38:27] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Do you have a specific question about the.

[38:29] Yvonne Castillo: Yeah, it… so it… yeah, just to refresh everybody's memory. So, in the March… I believe it was the March 31st study session.

[38:39] Yvonne Castillo: And I don't have those meeting minutes in front of me, but there was some language in there that I was concerned about.

[38:46] Yvonne Castillo: That the implication was there was consensus around,

[38:54] Yvonne Castillo: I think it was consensus that the meeting minutes revealed consensus by the board on investment across the board for all facilities, but again, I don't have that in front of me, so I… as I recall, we were going to defer approving the minutes on that.

[39:15] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): No, we… we… I do recall the discussion, but we… we approved the minutes in the meeting last week, or last month.

[39:26] Yvonne Castillo: Okay, that, yeah, that wasn't my recollection, because I, I, I dissented in… in that.

[39:33] Yvonne Castillo: In the language that was used, it said there was consensus.

[39:39] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Again, I remember the conversation, but we took a vote, and the meeting minutes were approved. There was no motion to amend the minutes.

[39:50] Yvonne Castillo: Okay, I'll have to go back and look. Sorry, I don't recall that. I thought we were deferring until another time to talk through that.

[39:59] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Okay.

[39:59] Yvonne Castillo: Michael, I mean, I remember Michael raising the issue and saying we could talk about it later and take a vote, but…

[40:06] Yvonne Castillo: But I don't know, I'm sorry, collectively, is that everybody's recollection?

[40:10] Yvonne Castillo: That we were just… Going to approve the minutes.

[40:16] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Cute.

[40:17] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): I do… I also recall a conversation, I believe that,

[40:21] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): The option, once we were finished, was given to either approve or not approve the minutes as is, and it was unanimous.

[40:29] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): So the consent agenda was approved unanimously by… By the whole board.

[40:35] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): But the option would have been to not approve it, because we… But there was… there was…

[40:40] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): The option of tabling it or not approving it, and then everybody approved.

[40:44] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): All of it. Except for Dana, who abstained.

[40:46] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Oh, right. If I recall. That's right.

[40:49] Yvonne Castillo: Okay.

[40:50] Yvonne Castillo: Sorry about that, I don't remember that, but okay, thank you.

[40:54] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Anything else, Yvonne?

[40:56] Yvonne Castillo: Nope.

[40:57] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Okay, so there's been a motion and a second to approve the consent agenda. Everyone in favor?

[41:02] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Aye.

[41:03] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Anyone post?

[41:06] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Anyone abstaining?

[41:08] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Okay.

[41:09] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): consent agenda is approved, and we amended our agenda, and then we now do have an action item, which is next on the agenda.

[41:19] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): So… let's see… Sorry, I need to find the right page of the packet.

[41:27] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Thank you, page 34.

[41:33] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Okay, so this is a, an item to amend our handbook. This has been discussed in the last three meetings.

[41:40] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): And we've also received some public comment on it.

[41:44] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): We had considered… Language for our…

[41:49] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): For our handbook, that might have… might have been…

[41:51] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): perceived to impose… well, would have, limited public input, which we certainly don't want to do here. So the…

[42:01] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): There are proposed deletions,

[42:04] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Which is, the speakers must sign up to speak to the board by a certain time before the meeting, and then we will also delete the PRAB May by majority vote, allow members of the public to speak to the PRAB at a meeting, even if the speaker failed to follow the instructions for public comment.

[42:18] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): It has been the practice of the Prabh to allow speakers to address the board, even if they fail to follow such instructions, unless the speaker has repeatedly failed to follow such instructions.

[42:26] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): So again, that language is proposed to be deleted.

[42:29] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Proposed replacement language. Members of the public may sign up to speak either in advance of the meeting or during the public comment portion of the meeting. Each speaker will be allotted 3 minutes to address the board. There is no overall time limit for public comment.

[42:43] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): And I will just say that we put that into practice tonight. We had some people sign up in advance, we had…

[42:49] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Some people sign up in person, I think we would all agree it went fairly smoothly.

[42:53] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): So…

[42:57] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): The recommended action tonight is for a motion to approve the amendments to the Prabh handbook as presented in this attachment, which is in our packets on page 34.

[43:06] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Would anyone like to make that motion?

[43:10] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): And then we'll discuss.

[43:12] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): So… Okay, is there a second?

[43:15] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): I second. Okay, great. So let's, let's take a comment from the Prabh. Yvonne, do you want to start this time?

[43:23] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Okay.

[43:24] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Channing?

[43:26] Board & Commissions: I think it…

[43:27] Speaker 11 (Board & Commissions): Makes a lot of sense.

[43:29] Speaker 11 (Board & Commissions): Okay. No comment?

[43:30] Speaker 11 (Board & Commissions): Kara? No problem.

[43:34] Speaker 11 (Board & Commissions): I think one of the things that I had suggested.

[43:37] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): Possibly, with regards to wording on the revised text, was that.

[43:43] Speaker 14 (Board & Commissions): Signing up in advance was preferred, or maybe encouraged to help with Planning for the meeting.

[43:52] Speaker 14 (Board & Commissions): Even though, people could sign up at the meeting as well.

[44:00] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): I do recall that, and I guess you could,

[44:06] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Should propose an amendment to the proposed language, and at this time, if you… if you so desire.

[44:13] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Is that something you would want to do?

[44:15] Speaker 14 (Board & Commissions): I guess I would be interested to know if anyone else…

[44:20] Speaker 14 (Board & Commissions): Feels that that would be an improvement to the text, or if everyone is fine with the wording as proposed, which is just the use of the word may.

[44:31] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Yeah, so your preferred language might read something like, Members of the public.

[44:38] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Are encouraged to… Oh, are encouraged to sign up to speak, either In advance.

[44:46] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Or encouraged to sign up in advance, but may also… okay.

[44:48] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): We'd have to… so we do actually have to write in session if we want to change. Michael, do you have any thoughts?

[44:58] Speaker 2 (Board & Commissions): Ernie, I didn't understand your last… your last thought. We would have to change the…

[45:01] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): So we… if we wanted to update the proposed language tonight.

[45:06] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): We would need a motion to do so, and then we would have to agree on what that language was tonight, or we could…

[45:13] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): move this item to a further… another month out. Would we new… yeah.

[45:16] Speaker 2 (Board & Commissions): That was my thought. If we amend the language tonight, do we have to have another session?

[45:21] Speaker 2 (Board & Commissions): And in that… in that regard, then I would… Think that the proposed amendment

[45:29] Speaker 2 (Board & Commissions): Is outweighed by the need to get it done tonight, so… Okay. My thought.

[45:36] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): Mr. Chair, may I ask for a proposal? Sure. I…

[45:39] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): that's an inadvertent… I think staff also support that language, because the… I think we shared the sign-up in advance is so much logistically easier, and we don't want to create a barrier and want to allow folks to sign up night of, and so…

[45:53] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): I don't think any member of the community is going to read the PRAM handbook for how they are to do this, and so you can… you have a couple of options. You could amend

[46:04] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): and approved tonight as is. We can just make sure the website instruction is very clear that you're encouraged to sign up in advance, and you may also sign up, online. So the Prabh handbook is the logistics, but how it's messaged to the community happens on our website.

[46:21] Speaker 2 (Board & Commissions): I like that. I mean, I think it's a real practical suggestion. Are you okay with that, Dan?

[46:27] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Okay, so that would support going forward with language as written?

[46:30] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): And… right, Hannah?

[46:32] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Okay.

[46:33] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Well, is there any further language? Any further discussion?

[46:37] Speaker 2 (Board & Commissions): I have none.

[46:38] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Yvonne?

[46:40] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Okay, so let's take a vote,

[46:42] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): All in favor of the proposed Language. Say aye. Aye.

[46:48] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Okay, that was unanimous. So the handbook is updated. Thanks, everybody.

[46:54] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): And that gets us to matters from the department.

[47:03] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): Getting back to the right page, so our first matter from the department tonight…

[47:09] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): Sorry, we have a matter for discussion first, I believe.

[47:12] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): Thank you, Shihomi. Before matters from the department, there is one matter for discussion that is renaming the civic area.

[47:18] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): You see Charlotte O'Donnell joining us virtually. She's keeping her, recovering germs at home. She feels great, but is keeping her respiratory. We also have a teammate joining us from Growing Up Boulder. Chelsea, thank you for joining us.

[47:33] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): And, Shihomi's gonna support directly in the room from the dais. So this is… you've heard about the process of this item a couple of times now, and Charlotte is bringing forward, for your discussion, a proposed new name for our biggest, park downtown. This precedes an action item that you will have to consider at your June meeting. And with that, I will hand it to City Planner Charlotte O'Donnell.

[47:58] Charlotte O'Donnell: Awesome, thanks, Allie. Shahomi, did you want to write a little bit of an introduction as well?

[48:06] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): I think we're good to go. We can, kick off on renaming, and tonight will just be the renaming, we don't have any.

[48:12] Speaker 15 (Board & Commissions): design updates for Civic Area. So, thank you.

[48:17] Charlotte O'Donnell: So…

[48:26] Charlotte O'Donnell: Alright, are you all seeing that okay?

[48:32] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): I… I have to say, it's pretty small.

[48:35] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Is there any way that we can go to presentation mode?

[48:38] Charlotte O'Donnell: Yeah, I just… I just changed to presentation mode, but maybe that's what didn't work.

[48:42] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): We're still seeing our whole window.

[48:44] Charlotte O'Donnell: Okay, okay, let me try, different.

[48:47] Charlotte O'Donnell: A different way to share.

[48:49] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): I think we can see it well enough, but if there's text, we might want to be able to…

[48:53] Charlotte O'Donnell: Yeah, I'll just share my… I'll just share my full screen.

[49:09] Charlotte O'Donnell: Okay, great. Better.

[49:12] Speaker 15 (Board & Commissions): We're seeing a window that has multiple slides on it, Charlotte.

[49:16] Charlotte O'Donnell: oh my gosh, won't let me… it won't let me, stop feeling very nice tonight. Okay.

[49:24] Speaker 15 (Board & Commissions): Clarissa does.

[49:25] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): I'll have… Oh, there we go, okay, okay.

[49:27] Charlotte O'Donnell: Yeah, maybe we'll just go… there's not too many words in this presentation, so…

[49:32] Charlotte O'Donnell: We'll just try to go forward, I'll make it as…

[49:34] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): We're good here.

[49:35] Charlotte O'Donnell: So, yeah, thanks.

[49:40] Charlotte O'Donnell: Okay, so… hi, I'm Charlotte O'Donnell. I know we saw each other last month. I'm a city planner with the Boulder Parks and Recreation Department, and I've had the pleasure of getting to, work through our renaming of the Civic area.

[49:56] Charlotte O'Donnell: Tonight, we're here with a recommendation on the civic area. We're going to share about the engagement feedback we received, which also is in your memo, so this is all the same information you received in your memo. But then we'd like to have time for discussion. This is an item for discussion, which precedes item for action, as Ali mentioned.

[50:14] Charlotte O'Donnell: And so we are consulting with you all tonight on any questions you have about the community engagement findings, any questions you have about the recommended name, and anything else that would be helpful for you all to support a naming conversation for the action item at that June meeting.

[50:31] Charlotte O'Donnell: As a quick reminder, this is supporting some of our key themes, in addition to the design work that's part of this, Phase 2 project, and specifically youth engagement, which we're really happy to have Chelsea here with us tonight.

[50:44] Charlotte O'Donnell: So, we're here in May at this discussion item, as a reminder of where we've been, and then a couple more steps to come in terms of, action and celebration, if the Prabh, is…

[50:57] Charlotte O'Donnell: On board for adopting this new name?

[51:00] Charlotte O'Donnell: So to talk about… a little bit about where we have been more in detail, we shared a bunch about the youth engagement process.

[51:08] Charlotte O'Donnell: at R.

[51:09] Charlotte O'Donnell: at the last meeting, at the April meeting. But we came out of the engagement process with

[51:18] Charlotte O'Donnell: 8 potential name ideas, and then shared those with the community, online as well as in person, which is… that's what this photo is of, of folks voting in person at the D del Nino event.

[51:31] Charlotte O'Donnell: And got a lot of great feedback on the 8 name ideas, as well as, some other… a few other suggestions through this naming process, and…

[51:42] Charlotte O'Donnell: Are really excited by the feedback we got with

[51:46] Charlotte O'Donnell: two clear frontrunners, which is a very interesting situation, and actually went in and tried to clean the data, and thought, surely, as we take out duplicates, we'll land on a winner, and sure enough, there were the same number of duplicates that we saw online.

[52:05] Charlotte O'Donnell: for each of those, and they remained tied after that, data cleaning process. And so, getting almost 300 votes for each of these names, really exciting. And then, in third, having a really strong,

[52:18] Charlotte O'Donnell: vote for Creekside as well, another name that, has to do with our creek.

[52:23] Charlotte O'Donnell: And so that's part of the reason that we're bringing forward the name Boulder Creek Park as the recommended name for this section of… section of park. The two creek-based names, we believe, and we also heard this concern from

[52:37] Charlotte O'Donnell: from community members directly, including in person and online, that the two… having two names that had Creek in it may have split the response, whereas the other names were more unique.

[52:48] Charlotte O'Donnell: And, we heard many comments such as, my section option would have been Boulder Creek, or it should be this and Creekside, as you can see in those two quotes that we pulled.

[52:58] Charlotte O'Donnell: This also is consistent with the overall emphasis and excitement and enthusiasm we've heard for the creek as the key feature for this space throughout the engagement process. So these are a couple quotes just from this,

[53:13] Charlotte O'Donnell: responses to these name ideas about why Boulder Creek?

[53:16] Charlotte O'Donnell: park fits this space, but it's a consistent need. We've heard that, not only is it a park at the core of the space, right, there's a lot going on, there's civic uses, there's urban uses.

[53:28] Charlotte O'Donnell: But, it's a park at the core, and at the core of that park, or the heart of the park, heart and soul of the park, as one of these quotes, share, is the creek itself.

[53:41] Charlotte O'Donnell: And so with that, we also got additional feedback, and other names are going to continue to influence the placemaking of this important park, such as Sunset Plaza, which was the fourth most popular name, and one of the names that our Santa students

[53:57] Charlotte O'Donnell: came up with, as well as Creekside Park was one of the names they, suggested. And that'll continue to…

[54:04] Charlotte O'Donnell: influence the colors, the signage, the design, and how people are using the space, potentially programming. We also hear that the concept of peace, or the feeling of peace, sister cities, festivals, and the farmer's market are all really important elements, and those will be elevated through the design and placemaking process as well. So, beyond just a name, we've got a lot of really

[54:28] Charlotte O'Donnell: helpful feedback, on the overall themes, and I'll, give Dr. Chelsea Hackett, who's here with our Growing Up Boulder partner, a chance to chime in, on anything else about how the youth engaged for this process, and, anything else you'd like to perhaps know.

[54:46] Chelsea Hackett (She/Her): Yeah, just, I think we're very grateful to have had Youth Voice at the forefront and really involved in this process. We were able to be very transparent with them throughout that this was demonstrative of democracy, so they would be coming forward with ideas and names, and then those would be presented to the wider community.

[55:05] Chelsea Hackett (She/Her): And we got, I think, a lot of understanding from them that the process was just as important as the final piece.

[55:12] Chelsea Hackett (She/Her): And I do know that they were very excited about the potential of the names like Sunset Plaza and Creekside Gardens, and these ideas of it being, like, a heart and soul being

[55:24] Chelsea Hackett (She/Her): represented in other ways, and we were lucky to have Rios, who's going to be involved in the design, present during some of the sessions. They actually got to speak with students and get a really deep understanding of what the young folks wanted to see represented in that space. And I wanted to say that something else that was unexpected

[55:42] Chelsea Hackett (She/Her): is Zonta is very close to the Civic area, or the, Boulder High is very close to the Civic area. We started our sessions with a lot of…

[55:51] Chelsea Hackett (She/Her): negative perceptions that have been shared tonight as well by community members about the safety of that space and the welcoming, or it not feeling welcoming, and we were really…

[56:02] Chelsea Hackett (She/Her): pleasantly surprised to see that having a future-oriented view on the space and thinking about what it might be in the future, how it could include all people in a safe and welcoming way, seemed to have a shift in some of the attitudes of the students, even about their excitement to be in that space.

[56:19] Chelsea Hackett (She/Her): it was a really valuable experience, and we got a lot of great feedback from the students. They felt valued by the city with their voices, and they're excited to see what comes next.

[56:32] Charlotte O'Donnell: Thanks, Chelsea. Yeah. Yeah, it was a really powerful experience, and I was glad to be, there as well, and

[56:40] Charlotte O'Donnell: I think, Rios and the exchange that our designers actually got to have with these students will keep carrying forward as well, and just their perceptions, so, of the space and their excitement around what the space could be. It's a huge part, so…

[56:57] Charlotte O'Donnell: With that, I'd like to keep it short and simple, and open it up to the Prab for any questions you have about the engagement findings, about the recommended name, and anything else you might want to, support a conversation in June.

[57:13] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Okay, members of the proud, what do you think, Michael?

[57:19] Speaker 2 (Board & Commissions): I was just wondering how many,

[57:22] Speaker 2 (Board & Commissions): With respect to the engagement, how many additional… I noticed that the window was opened, and after those names were proposed, or the window continued opening, so how many different suggestions did you get, or is that something that couldn't adequately be tracked?

[57:38] Charlotte O'Donnell: Yeah, we didn't do a full final count of the name recommendations. There were around 20, other suggestions, of which you saw

[57:49] Charlotte O'Donnell: Let's link back to…

[57:51] Charlotte O'Donnell: this slide. These were… well, Sunset Plaza was one, so, and Peace Park was one. Sister Cities, Farmer's Market, and Festival Park was, some of the other three that we heard. Besides that, a lot of them were,

[58:06] Charlotte O'Donnell: Often, kind of, like, combinations or plays on some of the name ideas, that had originally been put forward.

[58:17] Speaker 2 (Board & Commissions): Okay, thank you.

[58:18] Charlotte O'Donnell: Yeah.

[58:18] Speaker 2 (Board & Commissions): So I hope…

[58:24] Speaker 14 (Board & Commissions): Yeah, I think it's really great to see, a common…

[58:31] Speaker 14 (Board & Commissions): preference towards something with the creek in it. I'm actually…

[58:35] Speaker 14 (Board & Commissions): Personally, I think Boulder Creek Park is less confusing than having

[58:43] Speaker 14 (Board & Commissions): Creekside, which is also the name of a school that's not necessarily in that vicinity, and I think taking those components of people wanting Creek in the name, that Boulder Creek.

[58:57] Speaker 14 (Board & Commissions): That being what it is anyway. For the park name is… is a really good… strong preference.

[59:09] Speaker 12 (Board & Commissions): Yeah, I just wanna, thank you for walking us through the engagement process. I love that it involved different segments of the community that we don't always hear from, so I love all of the youth engagement. I also think that having Creek in the name is great. I do think, you know, like, what makes

[59:29] Speaker 12 (Board & Commissions): Boulder, the park that we're talking about, different from the other central parks out there. I mean, I think it is the creek, so I love that that… and landed in the…

[59:39] Speaker 12 (Board & Commissions): final name.

[59:41] Speaker 12 (Board & Commissions): One question I just had was around including the word Boulder in the park name. So just wanted to hear a little bit about the thought process around that. Is it typical to include the city name in the park name?

[60:00] Charlotte O'Donnell: Yeah, I would have to look at our own park system, so maybe this is a question we can come back to for June as well, with an exact answer of, several of our parks do include

[60:12] Charlotte O'Donnell: Boulder in their names, or at least in their official names,

[60:15] Speaker 15 (Board & Commissions): And Charlotte, can I also add that.

[60:17] Charlotte O'Donnell: Yeah.

[60:18] Speaker 15 (Board & Commissions): The reason for Boulder to be included in the naming was because of the name of Boulder Creek.

[60:23] Speaker 15 (Board & Commissions): So, locating the name of the creek, which is Boulder Creek, as the signature feature of the park.

[60:29] Speaker 12 (Board & Commissions): Okay, I think that… that actually helps, provide, like, shed some light on that, because then you're tying Boulder Creek to Boulder Creek Park. But yeah, I mean, it is obvious, if you name a park in Boulder that it's a Boulder park, so I think that helps. Thank you.

[60:53] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): Alright, in regard to the questions for Prabh, I do not have any questions about the community engagement findings.

[60:59] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): I don't have any questions about the recommended name.

[61:03] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): I'm curious if people will take out the boulder and just call it Creek Park, since it was Central Park, Boulder Central Park, so I'm curious to see what the community does with it.

[61:12] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): I can't believe there was a tie. Nice job figuring out how to break it.

[61:19] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): It wasn't the one I voted for, but I still am very appreciative of majority rule, so let's go with that. And,

[61:27] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): how can staff support a PRAB naming conversation at the May meeting?

[61:31] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): I don't think that there's anything additional that will need to be done except to write up the motion language, probably.

[61:37] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): Thank you for all your hard work.

[61:42] Speaker 11 (Board & Commissions): I had a couple questions about, you know, just the resolution of the tie, and just some general comments about the alternatives. I wondered if there was any consideration to the fact that Boulder Creek stretches for a lot of miles, and it doesn't necessarily specify a single location.

[61:59] Speaker 11 (Board & Commissions): If I was to name one of the parks in Boulder, Boulder Creek Park, I think Evan Fine would be the one, because that's where a lot of people congregate directly on the creek itself.

[62:11] Speaker 11 (Board & Commissions): I was also wondering if there was any…

[62:14] Speaker 11 (Board & Commissions): weight given to the historical significance of Frederick Law Olmsted doing work in Boulder, and also in New York City, and that sort of historic tie between the two cities.

[62:33] Charlotte O'Donnell: Yeah, I can start, and Shahomi, Ali, feel free to jump in. I think that's part of the reason we elevated that name idea, is that those historical connections that you mentioned.

[62:45] Charlotte O'Donnell: And, something that we wanted to get the community feedback on. And, of course, you see it tied. We heard a lot of love, especially from, I think our historic folks, or folks that know that history. But yeah, ultimately, also heard a lot of love for the creek. And we're looking to install,

[63:04] Charlotte O'Donnell: a story walk and some more interpretive information in the park, so that's… that story about it being Central Park and about Olmsted Jr. being involved will not go away. It may not be present in this name. But ultimately, we also want something that it… people feel fits this whole space, not just

[63:21] Charlotte O'Donnell: Near the bandshell that's currently known as Central Park and had that original design. So…

[63:27] Charlotte O'Donnell: Yeah, that's kind of where we're landing as part of the community engagement process, but appreciate that feedback.

[63:36] Speaker 15 (Board & Commissions): The other thing, too, that I would add on to, Boulder Creek as it transects the whole city, is that what we kept coming back to was,

[63:45] Speaker 15 (Board & Commissions): Civic area as it was originally, or will be originally known as, is sort of cut up into multiple pieces.

[63:53] Speaker 15 (Board & Commissions): So areas here, like here by the Tate, behind the library, and then also in Central Park. The one thing that unifies this entire space and the one thing that draws a lot of folks to this specific park is Boulder Creek.

[64:07] Speaker 15 (Board & Commissions): And you are right, Evan Jean Fine is also known for, a lot of activity with the creek and tubing and such, but, it has been, in our, already named in our system for quite some time, and so we really feel confident that being a central location

[64:24] Speaker 15 (Board & Commissions): In a pretty large park.

[64:27] Speaker 15 (Board & Commissions): is… is a great influence on that Boulder Creek name that we picked. And then also, just to mention what…

[64:34] Speaker 15 (Board & Commissions): Charlotte noted was, the third place, frontrunner for the name was Creekside, and so if you added two names together that the community really felt had that creek, key feature in there,

[64:49] Speaker 15 (Board & Commissions): technically… something with Creek in it would have won out.

[64:56] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): I want to add just one note about park naming in general in honor of people. So, we had a lovely partnership with CU's History Department in 2020 through 2022, where various iterations of classes helped us with the study of our park names. About a third of Boulder's parks are named for people.

[65:13] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): The remaining two-thirds are a geographic landform, or maybe just the street they happen to be on. But the leading practice moving forward is that if a park is named for a person.

[65:25] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): It's at the bequest of a community group that feels deeply and personally around someone who had an impact. So, Frederick Law Olmsted himself was not in Boulder. It was his sons, the Olmsted brothers, that did our first improvement plan. And while, we actually have an Olmsted park in our system, it's the grounds that the North Boulder Recreation Center sit on.

[65:46] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): There's just a lot of interest, and in fact, alignment with some of the Indigenous cultures around naming a place for the conditions that represent it, and so one of the things we learned through that study with CU is that

[65:58] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): some of the tribes who called Boulder home, they would name something like the place of the Shining water, or the place of the oaks, after the natural features that defined it, and so…

[66:08] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): I… I… I like that with this recommended name, it is… it is continuing that tradition that we learned about during that research.

[66:17] Speaker 11 (Board & Commissions): Thanks, I appreciate the clarification. And also, I wasn't necessarily suggesting that Edmont should be renamed, but just that there might be some… some confusion about, oh, the Boulder Creek is a big feature here, so Boulder… that must be Boulder Creek Park.

[66:37] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Yvonne, do you have any comments?

[66:40] Yvonne Castillo: No, thank you. Thanks to staff for coordinating all the community engagement, but I'm good, thank you.

[66:47] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Yeah, okay, so thank you, staff, that was, that was great.

[66:50] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): We don't, as we just learned earlier tonight, we don't have a lot of super formal duties here as proud members, but naming a park is an exciting one, so it'll be great to bring this to a formal vote next month.

[67:01] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): And with that, I think we can move on to matters from the department.

[67:07] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): All right, I'm gonna… Shihomi and Charlotte, thank you for that, and Chelsea, thank you for joining us. I agree, excellent work on the engagement. We're gonna do a transition up here on the dais. So this next item, I'll just…

[67:18] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): bring folks back to the April meeting. We had your budget orientation and 2027 budget development kickoff scheduled. We ran out of time, and we kicked that to this meeting, which means Jackson gets to be here in person, and he is so excited, because he was really sad to have been in Croatia when this was originally scheduled.

[67:38] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): So I'm welcoming up here our Business Services Manager, Jackson Haidt, and our Senior Budget Analyst, Stacey Hoffman, and I want to let you know that if,

[67:48] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): I just… I talk to other directors, both in the state and around the country, all of the time, and they are all jealous of what we can do around our

[67:59] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): our budget strategy and analysis and our fee work, and it's because of these folks to my right, and I'm super grateful that they're on our team. And so the intent of this item is a few things. One, we want to continue the… I know Channing and Dana, during your orientations, I talked a little bit about BPR funding.

[68:17] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): But you're not gonna… well, Dan is a CFO, so never mind. But generally, you're not gonna understand it in an hour, and so just know that your budget onboarding is gonna take some time. We're gonna continue it tonight with an overview of our funds. We're gonna talk about the operating budget and the capital budget.

[68:34] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): We're gonna talk about how we set fees, and we're gonna talk about the 2027 budget process.

[68:40] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): And with that, I think I can hand it over to Jackson.

[68:44] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): And I'll just note that we're gonna try and keep this to an hour.

[68:47] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): We'll do our best.

[68:50] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Thank you, Ellie, for the long introduction. My name is Jackson Haidt, I'm the Senior Manager for our Business Services.

[68:55] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): This is the ninth budget session I've gone through with Prabh, so, for the new faces, welcome. For the old faces, I'm sorry you're listening to this again.

[69:06] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): A lot of this is really just the foundation setting that is going to guide the next few months, so we're going to just review Prabh's role with the budget development process, go over our key funding sources, which are called out in the 22 department plan, and haven't changed significantly, and then we will also introduce our strategy for developing the 27 budget.

[69:28] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): So I think first off, the alignment with the department plan, our budget really focuses on taking care of what we have and the financial sustainability themes. Financial sustainability is very obvious. The taking care of what we have is we do look at the total cost of ownership for delivering our programs, as well as maintaining our facilities.

[69:48] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): So perhaps…

[69:49] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): role, is called out in the Charter, and there's two responsibilities related to the budget development. The first is shall make recommendations to the Council concerning any expenditure or appropriation from the Permanent Park and Recreation Fund.

[70:02] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): And then the second is shall review the City Manager's proposed budget, as it relates to Parks and Recreation, and submit its recommendations concerning said budget.

[70:12] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): So with this,

[70:14] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): When we come back to you in September, there will be 3 suggested languages, or 3 suggested motions. These motions focus on the City Manager's recommended budget, the City Manager oversees the day-to-day administration of the department.

[70:27] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): and creates a recommended budget that goes to City Council. This is what you will have input on, and ultimately, we will fill in these X's with what the dollar amounts are called for in the recommended budget.

[70:38] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): The first focuses on the budget as a whole, which looks at both our operating and capital budget. The second motion is specific to the Permanent Park and Recreation Fund. As called out in the Charter, there is specific language for approving those appropriations. And then finally, our six-year capital, investment improvement program.

[70:58] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): Focuses on 2027 through 2032, so that is our roadmap for capital expenses, which will also have a dollar amount associated with it.

[71:07] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): I will just pause here real quick. I have covered the key…

[71:11] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): what we'll be doing, are there any questions here?

[71:19] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): Alright, we're going to go over funding sources now. We have a very fun, spreadsheet that's been shared with you, and Yvonne, I know that you're online, page 25 of the packet also has this as well, if you'd like to follow along.

[71:35] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): Great. Thanks so much, Jackson. Again, Stacey Hoffman, so nice to be back with you all.

[71:40] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): We are going to.

[71:41] Speaker 17 (Board & Commissions): really review our funding sources at a high level. As Jackson said, we are very fortunate that we do have multiple funding sources, in which do support our operating and our capital expenditures. Just to give a really just quick look at what you are looking at.

[72:00] Speaker 17 (Board & Commissions): So, your second copy, since I think we gave you one last month as well. This really just highlights our five main funding sources, and then we did put in some other capital funds.

[72:11] Speaker 17 (Board & Commissions): Across the top, your summary of sources of funds is either… is the revenue that is allocated to the department to spend. This is based on our 2026 approved budget.

[72:23] Speaker 17 (Board & Commissions): And then the secondary, set of pie charts along the middle here, this is our expenditures.

[72:31] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Just Stacy, looks like Channing did his homework, but nobody else has a handout. Is… were we supposed to have…

[72:36] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Yeah.

[72:42] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): I do. I am ready to go.

[72:47] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Thanks.

[73:02] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Great, thanks so much.

[73:05] Speaker 17 (Board & Commissions): Okay, so, as I was saying, in the, the top pie charts are going to be, sources of income, and then your second is going to be the expenditures. In our first column to the left.

[73:18] Speaker 17 (Board & Commissions): And also, on the top of the slide, the first fund that we are going to review is the General Fund. This is a governmental fund which accounts for the revenue and expenditures across the city. It is basically…

[73:32] Speaker 17 (Board & Commissions): Supports for parks and Recreation, our forestry department, it also, does department admin, and then our park operations, primarily, is what is spent out of this. The general fund is made out of sales tax, property taxes, fees, and then other fees.

[73:52] Speaker 17 (Board & Commissions): And it is allocated, during the budget development process every year, and it is approved by City Council. So we do have

[74:02] Speaker 17 (Board & Commissions): spending out of this fund for those areas. We also do take a subsidy transfer to support the Recreation Activity Fund, which is another fund that supports the department as well, and that is for community benefit programming.

[74:18] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): Are you… is it okay if we ask a question?

[74:20] Speaker 17 (Board & Commissions): Go ahead, please ask questions as we go through this. Okay, alright.

[74:23] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): What… how is that number decided? When… when staff is putting together the overall budget, how is that particular number decided for parks out of the general fund? Is it an average percentage, or…

[74:35] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): Based on our… Expenses? I'm just curious.

[74:40] Speaker 17 (Board & Commissions): Yes, so, it is based on our expenses. We do start with a base budget that is, based on prior years, so when we're building the 2027 budget.

[74:50] Speaker 17 (Board & Commissions): We do have a base budget. We do put on inflationary, contractual, and then also guideline expenses on that to get a portion of that budget,

[75:01] Speaker 17 (Board & Commissions): Baseline, and then that is what we recommend and submit forward.

[75:06] Speaker 17 (Board & Commissions): to, throughout the process, to central budget, and then the executive budget team. And then it will be decided whether or not the city can basically, you know, appropriate that amount of money, or if adjustments need to be made.

[75:23] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): Jenny, I'm just going to add real quick that the general fund is shared by about, 12 to 13 departments, so it has the most flexibility, but also the most pressures on it. So we don't have a set allocation every year, but we do go through the competitive review process of what are the greatest needs and highest priorities across the city as a whole.

[75:44] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): And I'll just note for the Prab, we'll suspend me calling on you for this portion. If you have questions, please raise them.

[75:54] Speaker 17 (Board & Commissions): Okay, second fund is our lottery fund. This is a special revenue fund that accounts for state conservation trust fund proceeds. It is awarded to local governments based on population. The department uses this fund for capital improvement projects.

[76:11] Speaker 17 (Board & Commissions): And that is what it is dedicated for. So, as you can see for 2026, we have about $1.5 million, dedicated to support capital projects.

[76:22] Speaker 17 (Board & Commissions): We do share this fund, with Open Space and Mountain Parks, and then also with Greenways, so it is a split, distribution amongst those three departments.

[76:34] Speaker 17 (Board & Commissions): The .25 cent sales tax fund is a special revenue fund. This is funded by voter-approved sales tax funds. It was renewed through 2035, during the last…

[76:46] Speaker 17 (Board & Commissions): Cycle, and this fund is probably one of our most flexible funds, as it does support both operating and capital projects, for maintaining our parks and also our recreational facilities.

[77:01] Speaker 17 (Board & Commissions): You can see how much the fund is, basically used amongst various programming on that pie chart in the middle. As you can see, it's used for operations and maintenance, it supports our volunteer and community building, it just supports department administration.

[77:19] Speaker 17 (Board & Commissions): Urban parks, park operations, forestry. So, there is a lot of use of the fund on the operating side, and then also we do allocate out funding for this to support our capital improvement program.

[77:31] Speaker 17 (Board & Commissions): out of this fund. This is one fund that we do talk a lot about. It is under some constraints, as we are experiencing a flattening of, sales and use tax, and just

[77:44] Speaker 17 (Board & Commissions): Realizing that that funding source is not keeping up with inflation, so it is a fund that we are looking at, and watching.

[77:52] Speaker 17 (Board & Commissions): Also, with this fund, we do, do a portion of it over to the Recreation Activity Fund to support community benefit programming, and then also to sustain some other operations.

[78:05] Speaker 17 (Board & Commissions): Up on the slide, it's just a great graphic, I think, too, that just shows how much, we do receive. This is dedicated to Parks and Recreation, so we do get about 3 cents for that, and it is a fund.

[78:18] Speaker 17 (Board & Commissions): That is exclusive to parks.

[78:24] Speaker 17 (Board & Commissions): The recreation… any questions?

[78:27] Speaker 14 (Board & Commissions): I have a question on that particular, revenue generator.

[78:32] Speaker 14 (Board & Commissions): It looks like the summary of uses of funds was actually higher Then…

[78:40] Speaker 14 (Board & Commissions): the source. So, what happens in a situation like that?

[78:44] Speaker 17 (Board & Commissions): That's a great question. You're going to see that across, fluctuation across the .25, the Recreation Activity Fund, and then also the Permanent Parks and Recreation Fund. And a lot of that is really driven by our capital expenditures. So, in some years, we may have higher expenses,

[79:02] Speaker 17 (Board & Commissions): That are appropriated within that budget year.

[79:06] Speaker 17 (Board & Commissions): above the revenue we're saving, and then we may save up, right, if we have a larger capital, project coming down the way, that we may not program all of that money, build that capital, and then put it into those projects.

[79:25] Speaker 14 (Board & Commissions): This is the industry manufacturing person in me.

[79:31] Speaker 14 (Board & Commissions): I don't know, does the city depreciate its buildings and other assets when it does capital improvements? Is it like a…

[79:40] Speaker 14 (Board & Commissions): Business.

[79:42] Speaker 14 (Board & Commissions): In terms of financial reporting that way?

[79:46] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): Not at the same level as you would see in the private sector.

[79:49] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): What you will see is we have an ending fund balance, so all of that would then return to the beginning fund balance of the following year.

[79:57] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): Capital assets, we look at what the total cost is for the construction of it, and then the best practice, that's called for in our department plan, as well as the facilities master plan, is to put aside 2%, current replacement value.

[80:12] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): For, the ongoing maintenance of those buildings.

[80:23] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): I can't believe I'm asking this question for the first time, after all these years of reporting, but…

[80:28] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): 25% sales tax, and this is just because I'm looking at it this way.

[80:33] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): 25% sales tax fund, but it's…

[80:37] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): 43 cents? I… 0.25. 0.25, so .25… Of a penny. Of a penny. Of the penny. So, 43 cents is what's collected…

[80:49] Speaker 17 (Board & Commissions): I'm struggling with math. So, this chart right here is for every… if we just look at for every sales tax dollar collected in Boulder, approximately 43 cents is,

[81:00] Speaker 17 (Board & Commissions): goes over to the City of Boulder, okay? That's shared amongst the general fund, the community culture resilience and safety tax, transportation, open space, arts culture, and then out of that, what is dedicated for the tax-approved fund by the voters for Parks and Recreation is about 3 cents of that.

[81:20] Speaker 17 (Board & Commissions): 43 cents that's coming in.

[81:22] Speaker 17 (Board & Commissions): Okay.

[81:23] Speaker 17 (Board & Commissions): The rest of it then goes to state of Colorado. A lot of it does, fund Boulder County, and then also the RTD.

[81:30] Speaker 17 (Board & Commissions): Okay. So…

[81:33] Speaker 11 (Board & Commissions): This is just a detailed question, but I'm curious why, in the source of funds, Belmont City Park shows up contributing $80,000?

[81:43] Speaker 17 (Board & Commissions): Yeah, so actually, Belmont City Park, for being, you know, a free park, does have slight, revenue generation, and that is really with a lot of community partnerships, so they do rent out space for camp.

[81:56] Speaker 17 (Board & Commissions): And, do some of the programs in which fees are charged for that usage. And then they do some revenue share with some programs, so bike parks in the summer and such, so that is why they, generate about $80,000 a year.

[82:11] Speaker 11 (Board & Commissions): And why does that end up in the sales tax fund, instead of, like, a use fund? Like, the recreation Activity Fund?

[82:17] Speaker 17 (Board & Commissions): Valmont City Park is, solely funded out of the .25 cent sales tax fund, so we can take the revenue in there, because that is where their expenditures are coming out of.

[82:29] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Does anyone else have any questions while we're… I think, while we're… Yvonne, do you have anything?

[82:35] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Jenny's still there.

[82:37] Speaker 17 (Board & Commissions): Stacey? Yeah, Denny, are you okay? Yeah, we get time.

[82:40] Speaker 17 (Board & Commissions): Okay. This is my own brain.

[82:43] Speaker 14 (Board & Commissions): Alright.

[82:45] Speaker 14 (Board & Commissions): So, is… are there other opportunities? For example, you brought up the one on Belmont Park and organizations that rent the space, or something like that. Are there other revenue-generating

[83:00] Speaker 14 (Board & Commissions): opportunities out there. Like, I'm thinking, to your point on the tennis tournament in Longmont, and to me, that seems like that's a revenue-generating opportunity.

[83:12] Speaker 14 (Board & Commissions): Or, I'm very knowledgeable in the competitive swimming.

[83:18] Speaker 14 (Board & Commissions): area, and I know that there are other facilities, for example, that are revenue generators, like VMAC is a cost-neutral facility,

[83:32] Speaker 14 (Board & Commissions): Are there more of those that we don't necessarily see here transparently, or that we can be taking advantage of to help fund some of these facilities and operations?

[83:43] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): We're going to get there on the next slide. The Recreation Activity Fund is where the majority of our user fees come in.

[83:48] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): Across the department, we have about 900 different fees that we charge annually for everything from, youth programming to older adult programming. It includes all of our rentals, membership fees.

[84:00] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): third-party, reimbursements from insurance companies. So in August, you will get an overview of, some of those 900 fees that we are proposing adjustments to.

[84:10] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): We have a fee policy that guides all of our fee setting, and then the majority of the fees within Parks and Recreation are set through a city manager rule.

[84:17] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): So we'll talk about that a little bit more tonight, and then do a deeper dive on it in August.

[84:29] Speaker 17 (Board & Commissions): Great, good question.

[84:31] Speaker 17 (Board & Commissions): Okay, to the next fund, Recreation Activity Fund. As Jackson just stated, this is where we do see a lot of revenue generation, by user fees, participation fees, grants, donations come in and support our programming out of here.

[84:48] Speaker 17 (Board & Commissions): And then we do take a, subsidy transfer from the general fund to support community benefit programming, such as youth, engagement, with our…

[84:59] Speaker 17 (Board & Commissions): Children out in the community, also, for people with disabilities, and then also age-based discounts.

[85:06] Speaker 17 (Board & Commissions): This fund really supports, operating recreation, the reservoir, and the golf course services and programs, out of this fund. It is a fund that we do look at very

[85:19] Speaker 17 (Board & Commissions): Close, being quasi in enterprise, so we do like to see that this fund is generating the revenue to also cover its expenses.

[85:29] Speaker 17 (Board & Commissions): In the most recent years, starting in 2024, we have been taking a subsidy transfer over, from the .25 cent sales tax fund to support community benefit programming, and then also our, sports turf operations there.

[85:47] Speaker 17 (Board & Commissions): So that is really the Recreation Activity Fund.

[85:50] Speaker 17 (Board & Commissions): Questions on that fund?

[86:00] Speaker 17 (Board & Commissions): All right, Permanent Park and Recreation Capital Fund, this is going to be the fund that the Prabh is, probably most familiar with, if you've been on the board for a while, because, this is the one that you will be giving,

[86:15] Speaker 17 (Board & Commissions): approval for, for the, expenditures out of it. This is a capital project fund. It is funded by property and development excise taxes. This fund is dedicated, to support our CIP programs.

[86:29] Speaker 17 (Board & Commissions): So, acquiring land, renovating, or improving existing parks and recreational facilities. It does not fund routine…

[86:38] Speaker 17 (Board & Commissions): maintenance or operations. This fund, however, does support the planning and construction team, because the nature of their work is supporting our capital projects within the department. So, it does support that work group.

[86:55] Speaker 17 (Board & Commissions): On the slide here, just another, graph for you, just showing for every dollar worth of property tax collected in Boulder, the city does receive about 13, 14 cents, and, Parks and Recreation receives about a penny from that.

[87:13] Speaker 17 (Board & Commissions): In the last column on your chart is just other capital funds. These do rotate. They are really considered one-time use. They do support our capital improvement program. We have the community culture, resilience and safety.

[87:27] Speaker 17 (Board & Commissions): or CCRS, fund, which is dedicated sales tax for the construction and improvement of capital projects.

[87:35] Speaker 17 (Board & Commissions): That is, funding the, civic area, or the new name of the new park that we just, heard the presentation on. Boulder Junction is another capital project fund that accounts for the development of areas around the Boulder Junction.

[87:51] Speaker 17 (Board & Commissions): Land development, and then we do have the Capital Development Fund, which is basically development fees that are awarded to our department that we can use for projects.

[88:06] Speaker 14 (Board & Commissions): Does Boulder or the county, do…

[88:11] Speaker 14 (Board & Commissions): TIF, or Tax Increment Financing Districts exist here? I'm thinking of areas that

[88:18] Speaker 14 (Board & Commissions): need redevelopment for revitalization. Is that something that's used here? I'm from Chicago, so…

[88:26] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): Currently, we don't have a TIF. Something that's under exploration by the city as a whole is the Downtown Development Authority, which would look at increased property values to offset operating expenses. So that's still in the exploratory phase, and I believe is…

[88:42] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): coming to you in June.

[88:43] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): you'll get more information on an update on the DDA process, and just kind of an update on all things downtown.

[88:54] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): Just back to .25.

[88:56] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): aside from the slide that I was struggling with, can you explain admin allocation and transfers, what that means?

[89:07] Speaker 17 (Board & Commissions): Yeah, absolutely. So, we do have a cost allocation, and it is actually paid out of two funds, the .25 cent sales tax fund, and then there's a small portion paid out of the permanent park and recreation fund, and that is, basically

[89:23] Speaker 17 (Board & Commissions): what we pay for internal services with the city, so to support IT, HR, also legal services. So that is a, allocation that is split amongst all the departments, and depending on what their funding sources are, they will pay, into the overall central services of the city.

[89:43] Speaker 17 (Board & Commissions): As far as the transfer portion of that is concerned, that is the subsidy transfer that has been going over to the Recreation Activity Fund, for the community benefit programming, and then also, just to help offset any costs

[89:57] Speaker 17 (Board & Commissions): We do have one that is ongoing, that is programmed into the out years for the community benefit programming, and then we have a conditional transfer that we may program in for a couple of years, and then it's really

[90:11] Speaker 17 (Board & Commissions): Kind of stepping down, over the next couple years, too, down to zero.

[90:17] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): And then we were, when we were in,

[90:20] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): earlier, we talked briefly about the Permanent Parks and Recreation Fund, and Bernie had asked a question about it, and you sent it. Is this now the time, or are there different slides?

[90:29] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): I was thinking it would come up on the consent agenda with the overview of the council conversation, but now is perfect. So, Thursday night, City Council discussed potential ballot measures for 2026.

[90:40] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): Two are advancing, that are, relate to permanent Parks and Recreation Fund. One is an expansion and an increase. Sorry, not two. One. There is one ballot measure being pulled that would look at two things. One, expanding the uses of this. So right now, it's limited to just

[90:59] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): acquisition or development. So, we cannot use it to plow snow, we cannot use it to mow the grass, it's only a permanent improvement. So, largely, this is where you see these fundings are fund our planning team and capital projects. So, the expanded uses would include parks and recreation operations and other underfunded needs in the city. So it would expand the use, and the proposal that is being pulled is to increase

[91:24] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): increase it from .9 mills to 1.352 mils, which it would get… generate an additional $6.6 million a year in funding.

[91:33] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): So those, if you get a phone call from a pollster, I hope you pay attention carefully.

[91:41] Yvonne Castillo: Allie, I'm sorry, can I ask a quick question on that?

[91:47] Yvonne Castillo: Can you hear me?

[91:47] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): about.

[91:48] Yvonne Castillo: Oh, yeah, I'm sorry, Ellie, I'm sorry, could you slow down those numbers just a little bit? I was trying to write that down, what you just said, how much that would increase.

[91:58] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): Yeah, and I'm gonna pull up the slide from Council on Thursday night to make sure that I have it accurate,

[92:04] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): I was glancing at it quickly before… here we go. So, to go to 1.352 mils.

[92:13] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): Would be… would generate $6.6 million a year.

[92:22] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): And again, that's just one of six items being pulled. There are others related to bond debt and facility improvements. This would, create some of the operational capacity that has been a challenge.

[92:32] Yvonne Castillo: Thank you.

[92:34] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): And Allie, that additional funding would be then… it would have to stay within parks, right?

[92:39] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): That's not the expanded language that is being pulled. It would expand it for other funded needs in the city as well.

[92:47] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): So part of the conversation that we had last year was when we were potentially talking about undedicating funds like this.

[92:55] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): Is that… Still on the table, according to those conversations?

[93:01] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): The language that is going to be pulled, and that was supported by City Council on Thursday night, is an expansion of the use, so it's still fairly dedicated. I don't remember the final language being pulled, but it's still all the current uses, so acquisition, improvement of parkland.

[93:16] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): Park and Recreation operations, that's an expansion. And then, I don't remember off the top of my head, but they will also pull, are there other uses that folks would support?

[93:29] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): Thank you.

[93:31] Speaker 2 (Board & Commissions): So, that would remain within the Permanent Parks and Recreation Fund, which is under the province of Prab, then?

[93:38] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): What is being pulled is that it's renamed, and it doesn't have a jazzy name at the moment, but it would be something around healthy, socially thriving, and safe. So it's trying to address those underfunded needs in the city.

[93:50] Speaker 2 (Board & Commissions): not a permanent parks. So what I'm asking really is, would… would the extra $6.6 million be within the province of Prabbe to approve or not approve the spending?

[94:02] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): What is being pulled is that the administration of it would change also, and so it probably would not all be under the purview of Pratt, because all the uses would not be parks and recreation uses. Okay, thanks.

[94:13] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): So it is undedicating.

[94:15] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): Ish.

[94:16] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): Okay.

[94:17] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): It's…

[94:17] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): It's a loosening of it from just parkland acquisition and improvement, right? So, park and recreation operations is a part of it.

[94:28] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): as are, and I'm sorry, I don't have the final language in front of me that'll be pulled, but this is what City Council will discuss on June 25th, is what actually goes on the ballot.

[94:37] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): So this.

[94:37] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): This is… We have the potential, with that particular language to lose… 4 point… $7 million.

[94:51] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): I… I don't see it that way, because I think it's pretty widely known how underfunded parks are, and how much this community loves parks. I think… I didn't want to grab the language that City Council discussed, so that you can see the way that they're…

[95:03] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): considering it, and I'm looking at their PowerPoint from last week. I also shared with you all the memo.

[95:09] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): I mean.

[95:09] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): Very specifically, when this originally came up and they did a straw poll, they…

[95:19] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): Man, I gotta go back and look, but I thought that this one was getting pulled out.

[95:25] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): Oh, polling. So, I wanna…

[95:27] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): What's that? Remember, there's a few steps ahead of us. So, first step last night, them deciding what to pull. Next step happening now through early June, polling the community.

[95:36] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): That input, along with Council's policy decision on June 25th, will inform what actually goes on the November ballot. Right, I guess… So it's all in the exploration phase. What they approved Thursday night was, let's pull it, let's see what the community tells us.

[95:50] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): So, this was a controversy that… Tara voted for this.

[95:56] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): Then she pulled it back in a hotline, and then she was gonna discuss it, and now… but it's still moving forward.

[96:03] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): So I wanted… That's really, that's in the weeds, I understand. Well, I just think it's…

[96:07] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): I think precision matters on a topic like this, right? And so, is it detedicating it? And I say ish because there are still very specific uses that are going to be pulled. It's not just general governance, and the community won't know what it would be spent on. The polling language is going to be specific about what types of uses folks would support.

[96:25] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): And that language, in that particular pillar of what they were going to pull is a parks… an undedication-ish of parks and open space, right?

[96:35] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): It is not, there's nothing about open space in this language. Really? Okay.

[96:39] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): Thank you.

[96:41] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): There's nothing about transportation. Those are seen to be addressed by the funding sources that they have. It really is about these underfunded needs.

[96:52] Speaker 14 (Board & Commissions): This has a little bit been in the back of my mind, but since it was just brought up, is there an area of overlap between Parks and Recreation and Parks and open space that…

[97:03] Speaker 14 (Board & Commissions): I should be aware of. It seems like there would be, and…

[97:09] Speaker 14 (Board & Commissions): Since they probably have separate budgets.

[97:13] Speaker 14 (Board & Commissions): I'd like to know what that gray space is, or…

[97:18] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): Sure. I mean, what I jokingly tell people is if the grass is mowed, it's ours, and if it isn't, it's probably theirs.

[97:25] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): But there is a lot of overlap in the services that we provide, and we are, in the name of a ship efficiency and good governance, and at the direction of the city manager, have been looking at where are our services really similar, and where could we partner together? And so, and across the city, right, there's a lot of maintenance functions. Transportation and maintenance has maintenance of the greenways, and they have maintenance of right-of-way trees.

[97:48] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): So across open space and parks and Recreation, the things that are distinct are organized and paid recreation. That is not allowed on City of Boulder open space properties, and so if you see any organized paid activity, that is a Parks and Recreation purpose. Open space also does conservation and habitat protection. That is not a function that we, you know, while we do it passively, and we actually do it really thoughtfully in places, like our golf course is an Audubon site.

[98:13] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): We were really thoughtful about how we support birds.

[98:16] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): At our golf course. But…

[98:19] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): Other than that, in the Parks and Recreation Department, again, think about, like, urban parks, active,

[98:28] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): active recreation, community gathering, whereas open space really is, and there's charter-mandated uses for open space land that, a lot of folks in Boulder are really, really familiar with, because it's a cornerstone of who we are. We were the first city in the country to tax ourselves to buy open space in the 1960s, and because of that, we have this robust system

[98:47] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): Of 45,000 acres that is

[98:50] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): the eight charter-mandated purposes, so… and there are things that really don't happen on parkland. Conservation Council actually right now is talking about making it specific that it's also for wildfire mitigation.

[99:03] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): Yeah, am I answering your question?

[99:06] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): It's complicated, but we talk all the time. How about that?

[99:11] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): And I'm gonna suggest that we, refocus back on the budget, if that's okay. Is anyone else… do you have questions pertaining to this?

[99:18] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Anyone else on the board have questions about the budget?

[99:23] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Okay, let's keep moving then.

[99:25] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): Cool. I'm gonna take this one. This goes over the five core funds at the very top, and then the three alternate funds that Stacy just mentioned. It defines whether it's a restricted use or not.

[99:36] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): How this fund was created, and basically the intention behind it, whether that's capital R operating. And then we wanted to provide clarity that a lot of the revenue development occurs with the finance department.

[99:48] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): They contract out with CU, Fleet School of Business to have, different economists' forecasts to help develop our revenue targets, whereas more of the expense targets are developed within the department, based on our

[100:01] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): Actual expenses, relationships with vendors, and, knowing what it costs to operate a system of our size.

[100:10] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): Gonna pause here real quick and see if there's any questions.

[100:18] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): Okay, we're gonna move on to 27 budget development. This calendar and timeline really shows you what to expect.

[100:25] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): I will call out that the 2026 Adjustment to Base 1 that appears under May, that will actually be coming to you in June. It's headed to City Council this Thursday night, so it wasn't ready to share with you tonight.

[100:37] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): In June, we will come back and share with you what our department proposal is that's being submitted to the finance department and city manager's office.

[100:46] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): The city has an executive, budget review team, EBT, and that's the formal process where every department is able to submit their budget, get eyes on it from other departments, and really look for those redundancies and overlap where services and, budget could be stretched further if, there's better coordination.

[101:05] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): So, Prabh will be asked to provide input on the budget proposal as submitted. Once again, it is the City Charter that the City Manager recommends the budget, and Prab has input on, that recommended budget coming from the City Manager's office.

[101:20] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): In August, I mentioned that we will talk through the 27 fees with you. We're not going to provide all 900 fees, because there's different mechanisms for setting the different fee policies. We will likely focus on our daily access fees, our membership fees, our golf course fees.

[101:36] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): And then any fees where we are seeing substantial changes. We go through a methodology called service delivery for setting the cost of our different individual

[101:46] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): programs and activities such as youth gymnastics lessons. We generally look at those quarterly, to an annual basis, just reflecting that the market changes, and there is some timing associated with that, that may not necessarily align with the

[102:02] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): Annual calendar year, fiscal year budget, as you look at it.

[102:06] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): As I mentioned at the very beginning, in September, we will be asking you to take a formal vote or recommendation

[102:13] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): On the City Manager's recommended budget. That is the three motions that you saw at the very beginning of this presentation.

[102:20] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): And then those recommendations will be shared with City Council.

[102:23] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): There will be a study session first, where they get an overview of the entire city budget, and then there will be two public hearings, with public comment, and ultimately, we expect that the 27 budget will be adopted on October 15th.

[102:38] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): That gave staff, 2 months to get it implemented, and then the funds would become available on January 1st.

[102:45] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): Are there any questions on this timeline, or perhaps involvement?

[102:55] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): Okay.

[102:56] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): So I think that, we develop our budget within the department, relying on guidance from, the finance department, as well as the city manager's office, since that is the recommended budget.

[103:08] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): Ultimately, our intention is to create a balanced budget for each of the three funds that we have direct control over, while also, accounting for all of the other guidelines that exist across the city for, cost allocation, the cost of maintaining,

[103:24] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): our buildings, our computer infrastructure, you name it. So we do balance the operating budget. As you saw, in some years, the expenses may exceed revenues, and that really just comes down to cash flow, and we can see years where that's vice versa.

[103:40] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): The city as a whole generally keeps 16.6% in reserves, in each of the funds. So, each fund has its own reserve policy. The reserve is intended for a rainy day circumstance.

[103:53] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): This aligns with GFOA best practices, that you have about 2 months of, operating expenses maintained in reserves, and with Boulder, being especially prone to natural disasters, we do maintain those reserves for natural disasters.

[104:09] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): As I mentioned earlier, the revenues are really, primarily developed by the finance department in consultation with the CU Leeds School of Business.

[104:19] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): Within the Recreation Activity Fund, because we are looking at individual activities, memberships, daily drop-in fees, point-of-sale items, we're looking more at the revenues associated with that and the 900 fees that we do have.

[104:31] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): So that's the area where we'll see the closest coordination between revenues and expenses. Everywhere else, we are getting revenues from the, city finance department and aligning our expenses with the available resources.

[104:44] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): As called out here, the expenditures, we really do look at our trends. How much are we… of our budget are we spending on an annual basis? What are the contractual or inflationary, aspects? Have we gotten, letters or rate increases from different providers?

[105:00] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): Whether that's our garbage services, it's the cost of fuel, a lot of the same similarities we have in our own personal budgets are, the same issues that the city has in dealing with

[105:11] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): price increases.

[105:16] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): So, zooming out a little bit, as we develop the budget, we are focused on aligning with multiple different citywide plans.

[105:25] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): We have the Sustainability, Equity, and Resilience, or Budgeting for, Resilience and equity framework, that really guides our decision-making across the city as we look to prioritize the dollars to the highest and best use where there's the greatest impact.

[105:38] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): With that, the executive budget team is very focused on data-driven results. They're looking at the outcomes and verifying that dollars are going towards areas where outcomes are being met, and that they also align with the citywide strategic plan and the council priorities.

[105:54] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): Within this, you have heard about the long-term financial strategy. This is looking at four different pillars, or work streams. It's everything from our fee generation or revenue, it's the flexibility of funding, some of the policy conversations that you were talking about, Jenny.

[106:12] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): And then I… what am I missing? There's four pillars of it. You've heard it before, it was linked in the memo, but we can provide more information if there's questions on it.

[106:23] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): Finally, we have the department plan from 22, which was,

[106:28] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): Reviewed by both Prabh and City Council, and within this, financial sustainability is the theme that relates most to budget. But each of the six themes do talk about budget to a degree, and these are the two that we really lean into and review as part of the budget development process.

[106:48] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): On this slide, we have specific goals called out from the department plan, focus on existing resources and having, transparent financial decision making.

[106:58] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): We're pursuing non-traditional funding sources. A stated goal is to have, 3% of all, revenue received coming in through partnerships, sponsorships, and grants by 2030.

[107:10] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): And then we really try to prioritize equitable access, for community members in need.

[107:21] Speaker 14 (Board & Commissions): Can you elaborate?

[107:22] Speaker 14 (Board & Commissions): like… Examples of partnerships or sponsorships.

[107:31] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): Yes, absolutely. I think the most obvious one that we have is with Play Boulder, our non-profit partner. Within the contract with them, we provide them a small monetary donation, and the contract calls that they are going to fundraise for capital projects on our behalf.

[107:49] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): So, currently, they've been working on a quartz campaign. That is one example. You have other smaller examples where, a rotary group wants to donate a new water fountain.

[108:01] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): Our individual donors are giving memorial trees and memorial benches, so those are some of the examples.

[108:09] Speaker 14 (Board & Commissions): Is there, anything actively being done, for example, with CU, in terms of partnering with them on facilities and other…

[108:20] Speaker 14 (Board & Commissions): Activities.

[108:22] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): Yeah, we have an active conversation going with CU where we are hoping to meet the community's indoor tennis needs together. That's in the exploration phase. We had hoped to make it happen at East Boulder Community Park, and the site just isn't…

[108:34] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): There's not enough developable area, and it would have had… it just didn't work there. So we continue to talk, and we're trying to figure it out, but we don't have answers at the moment.

[108:48] Yvonne Castillo: Hello, can I ask a question?

[108:53] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): Yes.

[108:54] Yvonne Castillo: Oh, just building on, what Ali just said, sorry.

[108:58] Yvonne Castillo: Jackson, it was actually for Allie. Can you repeat what you just said, that we don't have enough

[109:04] Yvonne Castillo: space at East Boulder for the tennis.

[109:06] Yvonne Castillo: Facilities, can you repeat that?

[109:09] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): So we had had the idea, and we explored if the new property at East Boulder Community Park, where we are building the 8 outdoor tennis courts, we had looked to see if that was possible to build indoor tennis courts as a temporary measure.

[109:26] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): In the future, Balmont City Park could be a long-term home for both Tennessee and aquatic needs that are not met in the recreation centers. So that's… that's the long-term plan. It's been outlined in several documents for over 20 years. We had thought there would be a temporary solution possible at East Boulder Community Park. It is not.

[109:51] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Anything else, Yvonne?

[109:52] Yvonne Castillo: No.

[109:58] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): Alright, focusing more on our revenue side, this is just a continuation of different plan strategies. We do have a fee policy, which was an outcome of the, 22 department plan that was approved by Prabh back in 2023.

[110:14] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): And with that, we have cost recovery targets for our different facilities and different programs that we are looking at on an annual basis. Later tonight, you'll hear more about the capital improvement program, our CIP budget, which guides capital investments over the next 6 years.

[110:29] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): And this is really continuing to take care of those buildings, and taking care of the assets that we do have.

[110:38] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): So going into the revenue generation side, this is the fee policy that was approved by Pratt. It was one of the recommendations that came out of the department plan.

[110:47] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): Within our fees, we really look at the graphic on the top right, I really love. Where the community benefits, so it's serving a broad range of communities, taxes is supposed to help offset the cost and pay for these services. Where it's an individual benefit, something like an individual sport, personal training, golf.

[111:07] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): That's where user fees, are paying the majority of the cost because of the individual benefits.

[111:13] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): Ultimately, we have gone through and looked at all of our programs, and the fee policy lays out 10 different categories to clarify where the subsidized dollars we get are going towards to ensure that there is equitable access. And then individuals who have the ability to pay and are

[111:31] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): Participating in more individualized activities are paying, higher rate to help offset those costs elsewhere.

[111:38] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): Ultimately, we do have a financial aid program. This program has continued to grow year over year.

[111:44] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): With that, we do give $500, to each participant to participate in certain activities, and then eligible individuals also get a free, membership pass to the three recreation centers, the two outdoor pools, and the Boulder Reservoir.

[111:59] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): This is a way that we really are focused on community recreation, and is how we are different than a private sports club that operates at a for-profit

[112:09] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): Margin. So, this is really the benefit of community parks and Recreation, and something that we're proud to deliver.

[112:17] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): As I mentioned earlier, the fee schedule, is something that comes from the, fee policy. This looks at our 900 or so different fees. We'll come back to PRAB in August to provide transparency on what those fees are.

[112:31] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): The city… I'm sorry. The fees are, implemented through something called the City Manager Rule. So these are not codified fees, but do go through a notice period where there is public notice, individuals can provide input, and then the fees take effect.

[112:47] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): This is a process that we have generally aligned with starting on the calendar year. So on January 1st, it is easiest for us to implement new fees. It provides some clarity on expected timeline and, expectation from community members.

[113:02] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): Ultimately, we have shared with the PRAB the last, 4 years since the fee policy was adopted. Every time we are doing fee adjustments, you see a copy of the proposed fees. We take your input, and then this does go through the city manager rule, because there's nothing called for, in the charter language as far as PRAB's role in setting fees.

[113:24] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): Jenny?

[113:28] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): I remember, like, 2 years ago, there was a, like, a $500,000 budget shortfall. We approved the budget, and then you came back later with the fee policy. Will there… will the fee… is the fee policy…

[113:41] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): In August, we'll get… we'll get…

[113:44] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): a sneak preview, and then… I know we don't have to approve it, but is any fee increase shown in the budget that we approve?

[113:54] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): the fee increases that… in August, when you're reviewing the proposed fees, those are the fees that we are accounting for in the September budget when it comes back to you for approval.

[114:05] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): So ultimately, that is us submitting a balanced budget. We may need to, if the POB has input to reduce certain fees or increase certain fees.

[114:17] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): That would definitely change our revenue and expense scenario, that it comes with trade-offs, that if you are looking to reduce a fee, we would need to either reduce expenses or increase an alternate fee.

[114:31] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): I want to chime in. Jenny, I think you're remembering there was a year where we had a placeholder for additional revenue in the budget, and we said, we're going to generate an additional $500,000. We're not quite sure exactly where we'll come back to with that. So then, in the fall, as we brought forth fee proposals.

[114:47] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): there wasn't a lot of wiggle room to reduce them, because the revenue was needed to balance the budget. That's what you're talking about. Yes, yes, yes, exactly. So you're going to see that more in sync this year, where the proposed, and I, just to say, Jackson just said this, but just to connect the dots with what you're talking about, the budget, the city manager's recommended budget is going to have

[115:04] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): both the revenues and the expenses, and the fees that you see in August will be the fees we expect to generate those revenues. Okay. So it'll be synced up.

[115:13] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): and Bernie's gonna hate this question, but, can you give us any sneak peek on fee… what… I know this is a little bit off-topic, but what… I know it's high level, but anything that we can expect?

[115:25] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): Coming up with fee increases? Is there anywhere, any… any big, like, changes?

[115:30] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): I don't know how Bernie feels about the question, but I… I… we're not going to, because the minute we start talking about fees, we want to include the thoughtful analysis, the reasons why, because if we just start dropping things without all of that, you can… there's chaos and delay, in the words of the conductor, so…

[115:46] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): I understand completely. Thank you.

[115:49] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): I will say, when we come back to you, we will have a fee survey, fee study, where we have looked at fees for comparable agencies. So we look at CU, BVSD, and then the surrounding municipalities, the Y, so all of that will be shared with you when it comes back. My concern is.

[116:05] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): Of course, that we've raised fees all the years that I've been here, so I just am really cognizant of the community already being kind of pinched.

[116:12] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): I want to add something on this, because… and we'll maybe bring this to you as part of the budget, is, you know, Dana, you asked about where could we be generating money, and certainly there might be areas to optimize and to generate revenue.

[116:25] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): Every year, the National Recreation and Park Association does a parks metrics, and it's this amazingly helpful database of just data from across the country, and…

[116:34] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): For agencies serving communities of our size, the median cost recovery percent, based upon your entire operating budget, is 21%. So for…

[116:44] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): Every $100 that they spend to operate their system, they're bringing in $21 in revenue. The… the high number for agencies serving communities our size is… is about 34%. We're at 39% cost recovery across our operating budget, and so for a public agency.

[117:01] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): Yes, fees where folks have an ability to pay is an important part of it, and we are very cognizant where we're approaching market, where we might be creating financial barriers and addressing that equity purpose that is the role of public parks and recreation. So I just… I want to call out, it is a careful balance. We do consider ourselves a social enterprise, that we can generate funds that could subsidize some of those services.

[117:24] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): But it is… it has to be carefully done.

[117:30] Speaker 14 (Board & Commissions): Jackson, just clarify for me, because you said you do benchmark with Nearby municipalities and…

[117:38] Speaker 14 (Board & Commissions): the Y and other organizations. I thought I read somewhere in the package that that happens every two years? Is… is that every year? Every two years?

[117:51] Speaker 14 (Board & Commissions): What's the timing on that?

[117:52] Speaker 17 (Board & Commissions): Yeah, I can take that one, since my team is the one that spearheads that market study. So we do use both public and private, surrounding

[118:03] Speaker 17 (Board & Commissions): municipalities and organizations, and we will do our fee study about this time of year. Reach out to organizations and see if they are another municipality in setting their budget, what they are looking at for fee increases.

[118:17] Speaker 17 (Board & Commissions): And then we will actually go back at the end of the year, in check fees again. So the report actually does get developed, two times a year.

[118:29] Speaker 13 (Board & Commissions): I'd also like to chime in and say we look at our partnering agencies and the agencies around us all the time.

[118:36] Speaker 13 (Board & Commissions): With the changes in minimum wage and the expenses going up so rapidly over the last 5 or 6 years, we've had to stay on top of that. So it's actually really hard, because the second we look at another organization and what their fees are.

[118:49] Speaker 13 (Board & Commissions): they're already increasing their fees again. So it's not just what's posted on their website, we're having conversations, contacting different organizations, and really trying to do our best to stay on top of it on an annual basis.

[119:09] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): This is the last slide on operating budget, so we'll just pause and see any questions on operating before we move to capital.

[119:19] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): 3COP.

[119:23] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): Cool. So we're going to talk through the Capital Investment Program. The acronym for this is the CIP, for short.

[119:30] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): Every city seems to have a different combination of those letters, so I'm sorry if I get it confused.

[119:35] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): Basically, the 6-year CIP focuses on how we plan to spend our dollars over the next 6 years. Within that, when Prabh will see the motion language in September, you are only appropriating the dollars in the first year, so that will be in 2027.

[119:51] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): Everything in 28 through 2032 is kind of a pencil mark placeholder for future dollars and what we expect to spend.

[119:59] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): With that being said, the planning team does a phenomenal job of looking at a two-year work plan, so what are the projects that are coming up over the next two years?

[120:06] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): So they can start, coordinating with other departments. We don't want to go in and do a park refresh to find out that utilities is coming in and replacing the water lines, as an example.

[120:17] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): This coordination allows us to really prioritize with other departments, and then look ahead as far as what those work plan needs are for our staff, as well as the funding resources.

[120:26] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): And to start working on contracts.

[120:29] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): So, this is the general timeline.

[120:32] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): With that, I…

[120:37] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): In September, Prab is really going to hear about the 6-year CIP, but it's the 1-year CIP that you are taking the formal motion on, so that's only the 2027. You will recommend the overall 6-year CIP, but what I'm highlighting is every year the CIP comes back to you, and you are appropriating that next year.

[120:57] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): So that's why I like to say that it's written in pencil, and we can, revisit it as needs change.

[121:06] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): Within our capital investment program, we have 4 different overall categories. We have, capital maintenance, which really focuses on the department plans taking care of what we have.

[121:16] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): This looks at, the assets, or the condition of the assets within the field.

[121:22] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): We'll be focusing on park refreshes. This is where we do a named refresh of a park that's reaching the end of its life cycle, where all of the amenities in the park may be, at the end of that life cycle, and we'll go in comprehensively to look at everything.

[121:36] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): A recent example of this is North Boulder Park. We're currently going through everything to look at the play features, the ball fields, the restrooms, and how those all interact with each other. So that was the design update you got back in March, with construction, breaking ground later this year.

[121:53] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): We also have asset categories. Assets are broken out into categories where we have, like, assets across the entire system. So, this can be everything from, the shelters that we have, and restrooms are typically packaged together.

[122:07] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): We look at our parking lots. Something that's underground that you don't see a lot of is our irrigation system. So all of the different assets have associated life cycles with them.

[122:17] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): Our planning team looks at what that life cycle is and how to invest in them on a regular basis, so we're doing more preventative maintenance, proactively instead of having a catastrophic failure.

[122:28] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): And then finally, we have system planning. This looks at the entire system as a whole.

[122:32] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): To really guide what the key plans are over the next, 5 to 10 years. So an example of this would be the department plan. The future of recreation that came to Prabh last fall is another example. And a named project that you'll be hearing more about is,

[122:50] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): I'm gonna mess up the name, but the Future of Parks, has a prettier name than that now.

[122:57] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): So those are really the four key categories we have. Within this, we've identified what the 26, 27, and 28 projects are. The 26 projects all have funding for them currently, but because those are in the works, we wanted to make sure that we're not forgetting about them, and that you're hearing about it.

[123:14] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): As I had shown two slides ago, we are really looking at two years out, and this helps our planning team with staff capacity, it helps us with budgeting.

[123:22] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): So these are the priority projects that you'll see over the next two years. Similar to all of the other planning projects, it will come to you at a point in time so you can see the, conceptual design, schematic design, and then eventually celebrated in some ribbon cuttings as well.

[123:43] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): So with that, that is the quick overview of budget development. I will say next month, we will come back to you with what the budget has been submitted to the executive budget team. The real big ask will be in September, when we're coming back to you for

[123:57] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): the formal motions that were shared with you at the beginning of the meeting, and in August, we will share a deeper dive on our revenues and fee projections associated with

[124:07] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): Fees that are called for in the city manager role, so…

[124:10] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): I'll leave the questions up here, and turn it over to Bernie.

[124:15] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Thanks, Jax and Stacey, that was, very informative.

[124:18] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): We've been asking questions as we go, but I have a feeling there may be more.

[124:21] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Channing, do you have any?

[124:24] Speaker 11 (Board & Commissions): So, to address that second point, what additional data or information? You may already do this, this is my first year, so it's always helpful for me to see deltas.

[124:32] Speaker 11 (Board & Commissions): You know, if something goes way up, or something goes way down, that's… that's the most interesting thing to me, and it kind of… so, will you guys do that?

[124:41] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): Yes, we'll have it as a percentage amount and a dollar amount. Beautiful, thanks.

[124:51] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): I just wanted to touch one more time on the whole permanent Parks and recreation thing, just because, the ballot measures that are going to be talked about, I know it's going to be in June, but it looks like the title of it is Parks and Public Improvement…

[125:03] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): That's what the title… does that sound right to you? Just so I know I'm looking at the right thing.

[125:08] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): Are you looking at the PowerPoint or the memo?

[125:11] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): at the meeting that they had last week. The… yep.

[125:14] Speaker 17 (Board & Commissions): the memo?

[125:16] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): Parks and public improvement, mill levy increase and expansion of use, which would expand the permanent Parks and Recreation Fund mill levy to support funding for capital infrastructure renovation, replacement, and maintenance projects and or operations, right?

[125:30] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): Yeah, we're talking about the same thing, that the actual name of the fund is a TBD. It's a TBD, okay.

[125:36] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): Yeah, I just wanted to… I mean, I think… I just think that that's gonna be a really important thing for us, right? Like… Yeah.

[125:44] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): I mean…

[125:45] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): Folks have asked me this, like, and you said, even do you see, gosh, we could lose $4.4 million?

[125:51] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): I don't share that concern, because I think we have over a decade of data and community engagement showing that there's a need for more funding for Parks and Recreation, not less, and so I see it as a growing of the pie, not a splitting of it, that I think that can only be a win for Parks and Recreation.

[126:08] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): And certainly that's, you know, up for input and opinion, but that's mine.

[126:12] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): Okay.

[126:13] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): And then they'll poll on this, the conversation will be in June, they'll make a decision, and then we'll just get a report on that.

[126:19] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): Right?

[126:20] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): Correct, unless Council asks for any input from Pratt for some reason.

[126:24] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): Okay, great. Yeah, I just want to make sure that we keep an eye on that as we go forward, because, yeah.

[126:31] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Thank you. I definitely agree, Jenny. It's, it's,

[126:34] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): There's sufficient vagaries in that title that…

[126:37] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): They talked about that, like, it's a little scary.

[126:40] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): So I'm glad you're feeling confident, Ali.

[126:41] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Any questions here?

[126:52] Speaker 14 (Board & Commissions): Yeah, I just wanted to say that I really appreciate that you're looking at things across an entire category.

[126:59] Speaker 14 (Board & Commissions): Or systematically, to me, I think that holistic…

[127:06] Speaker 14 (Board & Commissions): Kind of economies of scale approach is really important, especially in an environment with accelerating costs.

[127:15] Speaker 14 (Board & Commissions): Because I think… It really needs to be considered. Both in…

[127:23] Speaker 14 (Board & Commissions): Build cost, as well as operational and maintenance costs, how to make things more efficient, and whether that means looking at all the courts across the entire system, and consolidating localities, or,

[127:42] Speaker 14 (Board & Commissions): You know, there's a need to look for efficiencies, given generally declining revenues, and… accelerating.

[127:52] Speaker 14 (Board & Commissions): costs across the board. So I really appreciate that approach, and…

[127:58] Speaker 14 (Board & Commissions): I think it's a really healthy way to look at things, especially as you put together the budget.

[128:08] Speaker 2 (Board & Commissions): I have two questions, but one probably you can't answer.

[128:13] Speaker 2 (Board & Commissions): And I'm looking at, in particular, page 23 of the packet.

[128:17] Speaker 2 (Board & Commissions): One thing I noted was, the statement that staff are proactively communicating that some priorities may be delayed or remain unfunded.

[128:29] Speaker 2 (Board & Commissions): Can you give any more detail about what that might entail, or is there anything that's on the board, or something that's being considered now, or is that just something that you just remain flexible?

[128:39] Speaker 2 (Board & Commissions): With the understanding that, based on whatever funding you get, and the funding constraints in the future, you're just gonna have to flex, and…

[128:47] Speaker 2 (Board & Commissions): You're letting us know that that's a possibility.

[128:51] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): Yeah, I mean, I think I'll… I'm just… I'm gonna try and speak really plainly here, because I… I feel like we've been communicating, maybe in governance speak, for over a decade, that we have a… a challenge where the costs, to the point Dana just made, the cost of providing services is growing like this, and the cost of revenues is growing like this.

[129:09] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): And so we've been telling the community in Parks and Recreation, with both the 2014 department plan and the most recent 2022 department plan, that without additional revenues, we will be reducing services.

[129:20] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): And I'm trying to communicate that more in a plain-speak way, not to create fear at all, but to create clarity that the cost of this amazing parks and recreation system that we have in Boulder that is so robust and that we have

[129:32] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): playgrounds within a quarter mile of every home, and we have 3 amazing recreation centers, and 2 outdoor pools, and 1,800 acres of parkland. The costs of providing that at the level we provide it

[129:45] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): are not funded, and we are in the place of, we will be proposing reductions with the 2027 budget, and so that statement refers to… there are priorities that the community shares with us. They have priorities around accessibility, and around access, and around the condition of the parks, even.

[130:02] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): That, that are not possible within current funding sources.

[130:05] Speaker 2 (Board & Commissions): It's an incredible balancing act, and, you know, I really appreciate everything that staff goes through to…

[130:11] Speaker 2 (Board & Commissions): to kind of, you know, maintain what we have, but it's not… doesn't seem like it's always going to be possible. And I realize that on page 22 of the,

[130:19] Speaker 2 (Board & Commissions): The packet, you know, it talks about the fiscally constrained for projects, and that seems to me to point to where there may be

[130:27] Speaker 2 (Board & Commissions): Potential, some adjustments to what the services we can provide.

[130:33] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): Yeah, I wanna… this chart is really helpful. I love that Mike called y'all's attention to it. So, this comes from the BPR plan, and this is based on 2021 math. We said, the fiscally constrained scenario is, what can you do with current funds?

[130:47] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): And this is what we projected then. We are not going to reach these targets, and that's one of the updates we'll provide as we develop the 27 budget, that we are actually going to be below these targets in some of these service areas.

[131:00] Speaker 2 (Board & Commissions): And then… I guess this is question 2A.

[131:05] Speaker 2 (Board & Commissions): On page 23, that's… you talk about project prioritization and reducing the number of projects to focus on highest impact investments.

[131:14] Speaker 2 (Board & Commissions): What's a highest impact investment, and how do you… how do you reach that decision?

[131:20] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): I think that we have a lot of different data that we're looking at. This is specifically referring to capital projects, so a tool that we're looking at predominantly right now is what are the total number of visitors going to a park?

[131:32] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): A park that has 3,000 visitors versus 30,000 visitors, if they both have the same amenities, we probably want to reinvest in that park with 30,000 visitors, because there is a greater need or community desire for that park, so…

[131:46] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): I think that's one example. We are looking at the age of our assets, lifecycle replacements, grouping and bundling everything together.

[131:55] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): We have data from multiple different sources, whether that's reservations of our court systems, it's looking at aggregated data from a third-party company that can tell us how many people are in a park that doesn't have the traditional gates or entrances on it.

[132:11] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): Or something at the reservoir where you do have a visitor gate that's capturing the majority of the users going in for day use.

[132:19] Speaker 2 (Board & Commissions): equity as part of that approach, too, right? Correct.

[132:21] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): Within the 22-department plan, we do have an equity mapping exercise that was done. So, we looked at equity mapping for where our financial aid participants live.

[132:32] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): We do have some tools that show us, proximity to parks for different financial aid recipients, that we look at on a regular basis. We also have Urban Tree

[132:43] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): Urban tree canopy, as another equity measure, and then access or distance to a park as well.

[132:49] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): Thank you. That's a very, very good answer.

[132:52] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): Yes, ma'am.

[132:55] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Yvonne, do you have any questions?

[132:57] Yvonne Castillo: Yes, I do, thank you. Kind of building on what Michael was talking about on page 23, the strategic trade-offs and discussions that are being had between, I assume, staff and council, back in November.

[133:14] Yvonne Castillo: we, as a board, or as an organization, we wrote a letter to Council, that pre-winter retreat letter, and…

[133:24] Yvonne Castillo: I have the letter, I don't know if y'all remember it, but

[133:29] Yvonne Castillo: we essentially said SBRC's condition and required rebuild illustrate the urgency of providing adequate revenue to fund BPR's operations at the levels that Boulderites expect from their city. Essentially, we were saying that

[133:45] Yvonne Castillo: You know, we need to prioritize South Boulder Rec Center, among… it was with the poster child for deferred maintenance and problems, and we need to rebuild.

[133:54] Yvonne Castillo: I am really struggling, because I just was, you know, looking at the slide that, Jackson, you put up on the CIP, ongoing major projects.

[134:03] Yvonne Castillo: And South Boulder Rec Center isn't listed, and so I don't understand what was the point of

[134:09] Yvonne Castillo: are writing that letter, and nothing has changed. When we wrote the letter back in November, we knew we were in a fiscally constrained environment. We knew we were going to, need to be asking for an expansion of the permanent fund, and we were asking specifically Council to incorporate

[134:28] Yvonne Castillo: South Boulder Rec Center's required rebuild into long-term funding and capital planning. So I just, every time I attend our meetings.

[134:37] Yvonne Castillo: I just don't understand how we wrote the letter 6 months ago, and nothing's changed necessarily. We are still in a fiscally constrained environment, and for some reason, South Boulder Rec Center has just… it's not on the list, it's not…

[134:52] Yvonne Castillo: being prioritized. I know conversations are happening between staff and council.

[134:59] Yvonne Castillo: So, I guess, I mean, I'm just trying to figure out, like, where are we? Why did we write that letter? Does Council know that that is still our priority, or has something changed?

[135:09] Yvonne Castillo: And if Council is asking staff what we think as a body should be prioritized, are we telling Council, South Boulder Rec Center is our top priority, because that's what we said 6 months ago?

[135:22] Yvonne Castillo: So, so can someone help me understand why that letter was

[135:28] Yvonne Castillo: Sent, and we all agreed to it, and…

[135:31] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): So, I'd like to point an important point of clarification. I think we've clarified a few times, the slide you see are existing and funded projects. As everyone's aware, the South Boulder Recreation Center replacement is not funded.

[135:43] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): Thursday night, City Council agreed to pull two items related to Parks and Recreation. One is, as we've discussed already tonight, an expansion of the Permanent Parks and Recreation Fund that would increase funding and uses. So, I believe Prab was heard on that item.

[135:57] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): Two other items that are being pulled are general obligation bonds at varying levels of significant investment. I believe both scenarios will include investment in renovating the North Boulder Recreation Center and replacing the South Boulder Recreation Center. I believe Prabh and the community have been heard. I believe Council was responsive on Thursday night.

[136:17] Yvonne Castillo: So, I haven't had a chance to listen to that. Are we saying that in sequencing, we would… we, as a body, are recommending to Council that South Boulder Rec Center, rebuild would be first priority, and then North Boulder renovation would be second priority? Is there a sequencing there?

[136:35] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): Can I… can I just jump in and kind of colloquy on what Yvonne said?

[136:40] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): I think…

[136:41] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): that… so our next meeting is 3 days before the next council meeting, and I think that as part of Prabh's responsibility, is to fight for that funding for parks. And I'm slightly concerned with the language that's written right now.

[136:57] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): And so I was thinking maybe what we could do as a group is, and I'd be happy to spearhead this.

[137:04] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): And then we've… and it's kind of like how we wrote the letter before, but I feel like we should write a letter

[137:10] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): Pro- in the next month.

[137:12] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): And… and really fight for that particular funding to be dedicated to parks infrastructure.

[137:21] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): Including all of the rec centers. I'm not sure about how we would manage,

[137:27] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): the prioritization of any of it at this point, but I do think that having a letter come from Prabh, if we write it over the next month, the way that it happened last time.

[137:38] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): And then Clarissa can send it out for everybody's review, and then from there, we can approve it at the next meeting, and then get it to Council before their Thursday meeting. I mean, in my opinion, that would be something that…

[137:50] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): would be an important thing for… for us to do. You know, over the years, I've been concerned with undedicating that fund, and I'm really uncomfortable with taking the permanent Parks Fund out of Prab. It's, like, one place where we have

[138:05] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): Community, citizen, resident-led.

[138:08] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): budget approval, I think that that's really important, so to try to take that away, I don't like that. Regardless of how they end up working that out, I just think that a letter from Prabh fighting for as much

[138:21] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): of that budget as we can get, if that pulls well, I feel like it's an important thing to do. I'd like… Okay, I want to just.

[138:27] Yvonne Castillo: I have…

[138:28] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Yvonne, hold on, please. I'm gonna have a quick…

[138:31] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): I want to make sure I clarify with Jenny what you're proposing. And for the benefit of Channing and Donna, the way that we would write a letter as a board, not as individuals, but as a board, we would, need to all vote to approve the language, and then we could send it.

[138:48] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): So, Jenny, you are proposing that we write a letter that asks them to change the language of what they're polling, is that right? I mean, I…

[138:55] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): I'm not necessarily asking them to change the language, I don't think that we'll have much… that won't have a lot of impact, but I think that…

[139:02] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): saying that we're watching what's happening. As a community, we know we're underfunded in lots of places, but we need to prioritize parks.

[139:12] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): however they decide to do it. And I, I just, I don't like the…

[139:16] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): the language… I mean, again, I don't think that we're gonna have much control over that, but I just want them to know that we're all watching, and we want to make sure that if a ballot measure like that is pulled and passed.

[139:26] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): that parks is top of priority, so we're not looking at the 15 underfunded buildings, and to Yvonne's point, we're looking at the rec centers first, or something, you know what I mean? Like, it's gonna be an impassioned letter, not asking for anything more than just fighting for money for parks, is what I'm looking for.

[139:43] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): And I think, one of the main challenges with perm parks is that it's currently…

[139:49] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): too restricted, but we don't want it to be too unrestricted either, right? Okay.

[139:55] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Okay, I'm gonna propose that we finish the conversation about the budget, and then we return to this conversation during matters from the board. Great. Is that… Yes. Okay.

[140:02] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Okay, Yvonne, you asked a very specific question about process, I think Ellie answered it. Did you have any other questions?

[140:09] Yvonne Castillo: No, I… yeah, I think it… I don't… I don't think the answer… I got an answer that I'm… I'm… I missed… maybe I'm just not satisfied with the answer, because I think the… the bigger issue here is…

[140:24] Yvonne Castillo: if Council… and I don't know what's happening behind the scenes. I'm assuming Council's watching these meetings, and they're… or, you know, maybe they're listening to us, these conversations, but I'm assuming they're going to you, Allie, and they're saying, well, what does parks… what does the PREB want… want to prioritize?

[140:42] Yvonne Castillo: I assume those questions are being asked, because there's no way we can fund 80 million at East, 85…

[140:50] Yvonne Castillo: at North, and then a rebuild at South. It's just not possible. We don't have that level of funding, and I don't think there's an appetite for the voters to spend that level of new building

[141:05] Yvonne Castillo: expenses for renovations. So, when we wrote the letter back in November, my understanding was, and it's in the letter, we were telling Council, of all the facilities, the rec centers, we need you to prioritize south, because it has to be fully rebuilt.

[141:24] Yvonne Castillo: And so, nothing's changed since then, and so, if we're being asked by Council, what does PRAB want to do, or what do we care about? Because I know I've had individual conversations with Council members, they're… my understanding is they're waiting on us to tell them, where's our priority? Because we can't get it all.

[141:42] Yvonne Castillo: And so that letter, apparently, is not in front of them, and so I guess I'm just asking frankly.

[141:49] Yvonne Castillo: Allie, when you're having conversations with council, they're turning to you, are we still reiterating

[141:56] Yvonne Castillo: that South Boulder has to be rebuilt, that's what we told them, and so we want that to be sequenced first, before we start spending 80 and 85 in other rec centers. And I'm not an advocate for not investing and taking care of what we have. 100%, we gotta do that. We didn't do that in the past.

[142:16] Yvonne Castillo: But if we have to rebuild South.

[142:18] Yvonne Castillo: then we should be very clearly messaging that to Council to say, we're not asking for the world here, but we definitely need to sequence south as the priority.

[142:30] Yvonne Castillo: So my question is to Allie, really. Is that conversation happening? Are they asking you where our priorities are? And are you conveying to them

[142:38] Yvonne Castillo: based on what the Prabh wrote in November, that South is our priority.

[142:44] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): I think if we return to that letter, you'll find, Yvonne, that while South was identified as a very important project, it wasn't… we didn't specifically say, this is our number one priority.

[142:52] Yvonne Castillo: Yes, we did. That's exactly… I have the letter in front of me. We said that. We said South Boulder has to be fully rebuilt. It is the poster child for why the system is not working for us, and that we're specifically urging Council to prioritize South as a rebuild. We've got to do that.

[143:12] Yvonne Castillo: And to incorporate it into the capital planning and long-term funding.

[143:17] Yvonne Castillo: So, we asked for that, and I just don't understand why it seems to be like we're still talking about, no, we have to invest in all three centers.

[143:25] Yvonne Castillo: But we don't have the money for all three centers, so we've got to be realistic, we've got to be reasonable, we have to give a very clear message to Council that we believe, if this letter still stands.

[143:37] Yvonne Castillo: that we want to be efficient with tax dollar monies. The taxpayers are not going to approve

[143:45] Yvonne Castillo: another huge, tranche of funding to do all, you know, everything we want. So how do we help them prioritize?

[143:56] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Okay, we have the letter in front of us here too, Yvonne, and while, certainly, SPRC was an example that you and I, when we worked on this letter together, both agreed needed to be included.

[144:05] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): And I think we should consider it a win that in our two requests, one of them is moving forward, specifically the expansion of the perm parks and also mill levy increase.

[144:18] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): As we know, the CIP process is ongoing.

[144:21] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): And…

[144:23] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): Both of your requests are being considered. I'm not sure how… I'm not being clear on this.

[144:29] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): Council on Thursday night agreed to poll two general obligation bond measures to fund facility investments, including the South Boulder Recreation Center.

[144:39] Board & Commissions: Okay.

[144:40] Yvonne Castillo: Sequencing is what matters. It's the sequencing that I'm concerned about.

[144:45] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Okay, we can revisit that at a later time, I think. Dana, do you have a question?

[144:51] Speaker 14 (Board & Commissions): So, my question is this. So, in manufacturing.

[144:56] Speaker 14 (Board & Commissions): there's generally an 80-20 rule. If you look to make things 100% efficient.

[145:04] Speaker 14 (Board & Commissions): It costs more than what you get out of it, and usually 80% is good enough.

[145:11] Speaker 14 (Board & Commissions): And in putting together the CIP, budget.

[145:16] Speaker 14 (Board & Commissions): Are you considering 80%, where maybe not every… Recreation Center has everything.

[145:27] Speaker 14 (Board & Commissions): Maybe… maybe… south?

[145:32] Speaker 14 (Board & Commissions): doesn't have a pool, because you're gonna put that capacity someplace else. Or maybe not every new building is 100% LEED certified. Super…

[145:45] Speaker 14 (Board & Commissions): ecological, you know, maybe it's only 80%, because for every dollar you spend to get it that 100%, it really costs more than what you're gonna get out of it. And I…

[145:59] Speaker 14 (Board & Commissions): I don't have current numbers at my fingertips at all.

[146:03] Speaker 14 (Board & Commissions): My information is probably a couple of years old, but I remember when they were building the new pool in Arvada, the Jeffco pool.

[146:14] Speaker 14 (Board & Commissions): And they were doing quotes for a new facility, a new pool here in Boulder.

[146:19] Speaker 14 (Board & Commissions): Boulder was quoting 3 times the actual cost of what the new Jeffco

[146:25] Speaker 14 (Board & Commissions): pool was. And why is that? Is that because they're going for this 100% here? And maybe…

[146:32] Speaker 14 (Board & Commissions): The city needs to step back a little and say, hey, we can't do everything perfect for everyone.

[146:39] Speaker 14 (Board & Commissions): maybe 80% is good enough, because it's gonna cost us 75% of what otherwise was quoted for a capital project, or operations, or… so…

[146:52] Speaker 14 (Board & Commissions): Is that part of what you're considering for this next budget, is 80%, not 100%? And that goes for

[147:01] Speaker 14 (Board & Commissions): You know… Again, looking at things across the system holistically, do you really need a lot of inefficiently run

[147:12] Speaker 14 (Board & Commissions): Everything at every center? Or is it better to consolidate?

[147:18] Speaker 14 (Board & Commissions): Both for operations and build cost.

[147:23] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): Yeah, I think that was a very, lots of different dimensions and parts to it. I think zooming out to look at the highest level first, we know that our system is underfunded as a whole for just taking care of our current assets.

[147:36] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): Our capital investment CIP budget is currently about $5.5 million a year. We know just to take care of everything to, industry best practice will be closer to $18 to $20 million a year.

[147:49] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): So, we already know that we're $15 million underfunded to support the replacement of our playgrounds, the taking care of 2% for ongoing maintenance every year.

[147:58] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): That I think that there isn't any money that's set aside for fixing those issues. I think what's very beneficial is there's been an understanding and, that our system is aging.

[148:13] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): It's towards the end of its useful life, and it is important to look at these things, not just what the cost is for replacement of a building or an asset, but what does the total cost of ownership cost over the life cycle of that asset?

[148:24] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): Whether it's 30 years or 50 years. So I think that that is a giant shift in methodology that the city has taken over the last 5 years with the adoption of the Facilities Plan.

[148:33] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): Specific to the recreation question, the future of recreation.

[148:37] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): asked a lot of those questions that you just asked, earlier last year. And within that, it was looking at what is the magnet facility at a different recreation center that pulls those individuals in. So, North Boulder Rec Center has the gymnastics program, the East Boulder Community Center has the AgeWell Wing.

[148:55] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): I think that that is something that we are looking at collectively, that we don't necessarily need to have the exact same mix of assets at every, facility, but maybe there are certain amenities that everyone expects at a recreation center.

[149:09] Speaker 16 (Board & Commissions): Whether that's cardio equipment, weight equipment, space for programming, we are looking at the future of that and how we can be more flexible and adapt to those evolving needs of recreation over time, while also accounting for the fact that these are expensive facilities to operate and maintain.

[149:29] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Okay, we are at, like, 80 minutes on a 60-minute conversation, so,

[149:32] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Folks we haven't heard from, Kira, do you have any questions? Janning? Okay. I'm gonna propose we move on, or I'm gonna actually just move us on.

[149:40] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Thank you, Jackson and Stacy, very informative as always. We look forward to proceeding through this with you.

[149:47] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Next up, we have a discussion around board liaison roles.

[150:00] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Is that you, Allie?

[150:06] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): getting to that page, thank you.

[150:11] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): Anyone has it up, and has the page number. 24. Thank you!

[150:15] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): All right. We don't have a presentation on this. The materials are in your packet on page 24. So, first I want to clarify, what is the role of a liaison? So, liaisons have been used in past projects to…

[150:30] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): help a board member deepen their understanding on a topic, and to serve as an advisor on engagement, communication, and process. A liaison does not have an extra vote. My family watches Survivor, I don't know about you all. There's no extra votes given if you are a liaison and you don't have extra decision-making power. It really is an advisor on process and engagement.

[150:52] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): We have used these most successfully with some of our larger planning projects, the Aquatics Feasibility Study. I think Bernie was a great example with the court system plan. He really helped with the conversations we were having with so many of our pickleball and our tennis players as we navigated the courts conversation, that we are still navigating. Those relationships were really helpful.

[151:14] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): So, based upon our work plan, and also, I asked the team to look at where there is a meaningful opportunity. And so, I think in years past, we've tried to say, oh, there's 7 board members, we need 7 projects, when there actually wasn't maybe an opportunity for meaningful engagement. And so, right now, the list is at 3. It might change through the year, but, first is the long-term financial strategy, and whoever is this liaison

[151:39] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): would participate one-on-one meetings monthly through July.

[151:43] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): That role could shift and change, depending on ballot measures.

[151:48] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): We are also looking for a liaison on the Pearl Street Refresh. We are going into Engagement Window 1 on that project this summer.

[151:57] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): And then, we have a park system plan underway that would help with community-wide understanding of what is actually happening in our parks. So, traditional planning methods, we go out to people and say, do you use the baseball fields? Do you use the basketball courts?

[152:11] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): This method actually looks at what activities, what are people doing in the park, and how are the parks designed? This would inform… it would be another tool, Mike, to answer your question about how do you decide where you spend money.

[152:22] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): Across the park system.

[152:23] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): We're really excited about this project. It'll be a key pillar in informing the next department plan update. That's the first time I've said this out loud in this forum, which means it's coming. That'll be a lot of the Prabs work in 2028.

[152:38] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): And so, there are 7 of you, but only 3 projects, and so I'm sorry, that means someone… a few of you will not be a liaison for a while, but we will add to this list as projects develop, and certainly with the 2027 work plan.

[152:53] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): I'll note that… sorry, just one more clarification why the list is smaller. We're moving out of engagement and into design and construction on lots of our projects, right? The Tom Watson tennis courts, moving into construction. East Boulder Community Park, moving into design. So that's why you see this… this list smaller, because less planning, more doing.

[153:14] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Thanks, Allie. So, just to underscore, this is a way for members of this board who want to engage more deeply in a handful of projects. It's not required. I did find it very rewarding. I will say I now also feel,

[153:29] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): share in a lot of the disappointment of the court using community because of having participated in that process a few years ago, so that's part of this, too.

[153:38] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): I have ideas about what I… who I would like to see doing what, but I'd love to just ask if anyone has any questions. Dana?

[153:46] Speaker 14 (Board & Commissions): Can you elaborate for me? So, for the long-term financial strategy liaison, like… Who are the one-on-one…

[153:59] Speaker 14 (Board & Commissions): monthly meetings or other meetings with? Like, what…

[154:04] Speaker 14 (Board & Commissions): what groups would this liaison be liaising with? Could you clarify for me on that? That's a great question. For the park system plan, it seems to me like there isn't a specific group, so what are the thoughts in terms of liaising?

[154:23] Speaker 14 (Board & Commissions): Being new to this… Advisory Board, I'm unclear in terms of…

[154:35] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): I love that question, because you're helping me with the role clarity. It is not this person's job to be the liaison with the groups, right? And so maybe there's a different word we should be using. That is still administrative work and the work of staff. The liaison would help advise, process.

[154:52] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): an engagement, and perhaps come alongside us as we do that engagement. On the long-term financial strategy.

[154:58] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): For this discrete period, June through July, it's very much internal. It'd be meeting with Jackson and Stacy and myself and or Scott.

[155:05] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): And then it could evolve to external, again, depending upon ballot measures and what moves forward.

[155:12] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): the park system plan, that engagement is going to get developed. There's a whole ton of people that use our parks, and we would have different strategies for how we engage with them. We'd be looking for the liaison to give input on that engagement strategy.

[155:27] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): not serve as the liaison to all… we're not asking, if you're the park system liaison, that you go meet with Boulder Disc Golf, and with the Climbing Collective, and the different folks that are out using the system. It's really a process advisor.

[155:40] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): I guess the other aspect of it is that you sort of become an expert on the project, and when there's discussion here in this meeting, you're able to represent the project a little bit more deeply, in addition to what we hear from staff.

[155:50] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Does anyone else have any questions about this?

[155:54] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Would anyone like to volunteer?

[155:55] Yvonne Castillo: Oh, could I have a question? On the long-term financial strategy,

[156:02] Yvonne Castillo: I don't know, if you need a special expertise in financial,

[156:09] Yvonne Castillo: in the financial world, and that's not me, but what I am is design and construction expertise. Do you need design and construction expertise in that, or is that just going to be pure numbers?

[156:22] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): pure numbers.

[156:28] Yvonne Castillo: Because when you're talking about numbers.

[156:31] Yvonne Castillo: The numbers have to attach to…

[156:34] Yvonne Castillo: the best, you know, back to what Dana was talking about.

[156:38] Yvonne Castillo: When you're talking about facilities construction.

[156:42] Yvonne Castillo: you know, I really was interested in what Dana was talking about in terms of

[156:47] Yvonne Castillo: You know, you're looking at a system of rec centers, so if you're going to be talking about a system of rec centers and maximizing aquatics needs.

[156:56] Yvonne Castillo: and other… other issues, then I can help with that, because, again, I've said this multiple times in our meetings, but…

[157:05] Yvonne Castillo: Building new pools at East is not a good use of money.

[157:10] Yvonne Castillo: That's… whereas if you're gonna have to rebuild south.

[157:15] Yvonne Castillo: and you're already going to have to dig a hole in the ground and spend the money on the systems that go into a pool, that's a good use of taxpayer dollars, because you're going to have to do it anyway, so building pool capacity for the entire system for the City of Boulder for aquatics.

[157:31] Yvonne Castillo: So, if… if that's the level of conversation that goes into the long-term financial strategy, I would like to participate. But if… so it's hard to understand, like, what…

[157:43] Yvonne Castillo: Where… how you're going to attach numbers, and what kind of expertise you need.

[157:48] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): Yeah, I want to clarify, that effort is not about facility planning, and so I hear your questions. That's not what that effort is about.

[157:55] Yvonne Castillo: Okay.

[157:58] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Other questions?

[158:00] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Or is anyone interested in attaching themselves to any of these, Jenny? I just wanted to…

[158:04] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): Did we talk about play? Because I would love somebody to…

[158:08] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): reminded me, I'm so sorry, and that is, play is on the list, and it should be up here. So let me actually, Clarissa, maybe you could pull up that slide deck for us so that we can look at the projects and see them. I mean, I know we're all on the screens, but it's nice then we can all be looking up,

[158:25] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): Jenny, I'm so glad you… Course.

[158:36] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): Okay, great.

[158:38] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): And this… so play is on there, and I just want to clarify the… the park plans that are up here, those are just plans for you to be aware of. We did not assign a liaison to North Boulder Park or Primos Park, because there's not a meaningful need at this point. Those projects are moving into design.

[158:55] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): And so, that's why we've not advanced that in the memo.

[159:03] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): I would like to…

[159:06] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): have somebody else take Play Boulder Foundation, just because I've been on it now 2 years, and I feel like they could use a fresh eye. And I would like to take, Civic Area Phase 2.

[159:23] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): So, Play Boulder is the foundation arm of the Parks and Recreation Department.

[159:27] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): They, fundraise for, all different sort of community benefit. They offer a Play Pass to, our marginalized communities, you know, children that need to get into the rec centers, they can't afford it. They offer no cost after an application, it's called the Play Pass.

[159:47] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): They, are a big part of urban forestry. They do tree planting, all across Boulder County. They have a really great group for that. It's really, really fun. And then,

[159:58] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): They have a golf outing, which I'll probably stay on that committee. They meet monthly.

[160:04] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): To discuss, kind of, ongoing projects, and you're the liaison, so basically what you would do is go to the meeting, kind of.

[160:13] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): And Brian, he's there from parks every time, and he'll give an update, and then you can…

[160:19] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): relay any other information that may need to come from Prabh, and then you come to this meeting, and at the end of the meeting, you say, oh, this is what Play's doing this month, kind of a thing.

[160:27] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): And, I mean, they're just… it's a great group, they meet once a month, and then they have a lot of great events if you want to go, but you don't have to go.

[160:34] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): Let's play.

[160:35] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): And they're kind of… I'm sorry. Also, like, if somebody has,

[160:41] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): money that they want to donate to a parks… what's it called… what's it called? It's the, the agreement…

[160:48] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): Between play and… The MOU? Yeah, so there's a… what's that stand for again? Memorandum of Understatement. Thank you. My brain is done now at 9 o'clock.

[160:58] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): they have a memorandum of understanding with, the City of Boulder, and so if somebody wants to donate, like, as we're doing the East Boulder rec projects, if there are people that want to donate and potentially

[161:08] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): fund the lights. Play would take that money and then work with the city to fund it. So they do other small projects on behalf of the City of Boulder as well.

[161:19] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): Dana.

[161:21] Speaker 14 (Board & Commissions): So, I think just to help me learn more about

[161:26] Speaker 14 (Board & Commissions): government, budgeting, and that sort of thing. I would be interested in volunteering

[161:34] Speaker 14 (Board & Commissions): To serve whatever you call it. If not liaison, then to… for the long-term financial strategy.

[161:42] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): I was hoping you wouldn't. Okay. Yeah.

[161:45] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Just to help me…

[161:48] Speaker 14 (Board & Commissions): Lifelong learning. Yeah, good.

[161:50] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Kira, Mike, Channing, Yvonne, anyone else want to volunteer for any of these others? I'd be interested in.

[161:56] Speaker 12 (Board & Commissions): our Pearl Street Refresh, but also, since there are limited liaisons, I'm also open if someone else feels passionate about it. But I do walk to and from, like, the length of Pearl Street every single day, so…

[162:11] Speaker 12 (Board & Commissions): I think you're a perfect person for it. Okay, perfect.

[162:15] Speaker 11 (Board & Commissions): Michael Channing, do you want to snap up any of the others?

[162:18] Speaker 11 (Board & Commissions): I'd like to know more about play, I guess, and the time commitment, but… .

[162:24] Speaker 18 (Board & Commissions): Why not?

[162:24] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): Why don't you come to a meeting and see how you like it. Okay. There's a meeting this week, I will not be at, because it's my daughter's graduation, but, what day? Thursday?

[162:33] Speaker 18 (Board & Commissions): Evening. I think I can make it Thursday.

[162:35] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): Okay, so I will put you in touch with Angie Jeffords, who's the director. Let me look at my calendar. Either way, I'll put you guys in touch, and if you can't make this one, you can come to the next one. Okay, perfect.

[162:43] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): Jenny, I believe Angie's also on vacation this week. Okay. And so I wonder… I'm not… if the board is meeting, maybe there's a… if you're not able there, maybe you and Angie and Channing have coffee, or… well, you guys can figure it out. I don't need to.

[162:57] Speaker 11 (Board & Commissions): You got it. I am, I am play curious about that. Okay, thank you, yeah.

[163:03] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Michael, do you have any issues in any of the others? I'd be interested in the part system plan. Okay, I think you're in. But I'm okay if somebody else wants it.

[163:10] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): I didn't hear anybody else. Okay.

[163:13] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Alright, great, thanks, everybody.

[163:17] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Alright, that brings us to matters from the board, and we've already dealt with our handbook. So, Jenny, do you want to talk more about a letter idea?

[163:25] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): Yeah, I mean, why don't we… if…

[163:27] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): Is there anybody who is anti this plan?

[163:32] Speaker 12 (Board & Commissions): I think I just need to learn a little bit more about the ballot measure, and specifically how it's worded is the only issue. Okay, well.

[163:39] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): why don't I do this? If you… if you… we have a month to kind of…

[163:45] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): Shop it between all of us, with the coordination, obviously, of our lovely Clarissa, so…

[163:53] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): If you would like, I can write up a definition, kind of of… I mean, I don't know, should this come from staff? The… like, what is the ballot measure?

[164:03] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): What is the language that they're polling? I think is the question.

[164:05] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): The specific language.

[164:07] Speaker 18 (Board & Commissions): That'll be finalized.

[164:08] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): by the end of the week. Okay, so…

[164:10] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): potentially you, Clarissa could… Clarissa, could circulate that next week.

[164:15] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): Yes, your other option when you think about timing.

[164:19] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): is… so, City Council is going to meet… Thursday, June 25th.

[164:25] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): That packet will be available.

[164:28] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): Thursday, June 18th.

[164:31] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): If you really want to live life on the wild side, you could plan to have your letter crafted, but then finalized after materials go out, so that you're responding to what you've learned from polling and from other information. Otherwise, it's… I mean, it's a… you can do it differently, and before, it's just a data point that they'll want to synthesize with what they learned from the polling and the other information.

[164:51] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): Yeah, and in…

[164:54] Yvonne Castillo: So…

[164:55] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): the council to… not the polling questions, no, because at the end of the day, whatever comes out of polling… and I mean, maybe it gets… maybe the public doesn't like it, and none of it matters anyways, and I guess that's what we would find out on the 18th.

[165:09] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): But if the public likes it, maybe we pre… I can pre-write a letter

[165:16] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): in advance of that, assuming that this is something that the Council decides to do, that basically says, alright.

[165:22] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): The polling has come out positive for this particular thing. As… as staff is crafting the ballot measure language, please note that we want to make sure that parks is… the parks system as a whole is prioritized in however that ballot measure language is written.

[165:38] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): Because my concern is that undedicating the permanent Parks and Recreation Fund, we could hopefully not lose

[165:47] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): you know, the $5 million line item, hopefully we would get more, but I don't like the hopefully. So, at the end of the day, I think it is the responsibility of Prab, in my personal opinion, to fight for every dollar that we can get for our park system. And so, I want to make sure that Council understands that as they write the ballot measure language, it should not be obtuse enough

[166:07] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): Or they could take it all and put it in…

[166:09] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): the fire stations, and I… I know that's terrible, but like, you know what I mean? Like, that would be my concern, is that they would… they'd get, you know, $6.6 million out of it, they'd bond against it, and they'd put everything towards everything other than parks. That's public infrastructure, because that's how it's written, is public infrastructure, not parks.

[166:26] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): And to be clear, that's how the language that's going to be polled is written, but not necessarily the ballot language, right? Yeah.

[166:33] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): They'll be able to write however they… I mean, I think they'll be able to adjust the language

[166:39] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): Because the ballot… I mean, I think. I don't actually know that for a fact.

[166:44] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): So we're in… we're pretty in the weeds. Yeah. Which is great. Do you have a question?

[166:48] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Well, it's fine.

[166:52] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Michael, do you have any thoughts?

[166:55] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): I feel like you're on the verge of one. Please use your microphone.

[167:02] Speaker 18 (Board & Commissions): Michael, can you turn it on, please?

[167:03] Speaker 2 (Board & Commissions): It seems like it's pretty limited, the ballot measure, or what the proposed.

[167:07] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): right now? Polling is questioned, right? I mean, it's what I'm concerned.

[167:10] Speaker 2 (Board & Commissions): about is, you know, we have taken positions before, and specifically I'm talking about the last March study session.

[167:17] Speaker 2 (Board & Commissions): about ranking.

[167:19] Speaker 2 (Board & Commissions): you know, what are we going to do with the various rec centers? And I think what the minutes reflect, at least, is that we wanted everybody, you know, to at least maintain services across the board. And staff had recommended, you know, there was options one and options two, and I think options two

[167:35] Speaker 2 (Board & Commissions): Staff had recommended, too, the more robust options for both north and… and east.

[167:41] Speaker 2 (Board & Commissions): And, and not for sales. So I think we want to be consistent, and not specifically rank

[167:47] Speaker 2 (Board & Commissions): we're gonna… all the money needs to go to South. That would be… that's not… that would not be my position.

[167:53] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): I agree. I think we just need to advocate for the park system as a whole. That's fine, yep. Would be my… Okay.

[168:00] Yvonne Castillo: But we've, in the past, if I could say, in the past, like, the… and I know we're talking about polling versus ballot, but in a ballot measure, I think it was the CCRS last year.

[168:14] Yvonne Castillo: I thought it named East Boulder Rec Center, am I correct… am I wrong on that?

[168:20] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): Yes, it was the 2021 CCRS that named the East Boulder Community Center.

[168:24] Yvonne Castillo: Right. And so, just so we're all aware, there… we've been polling in South Boulder. We know what South… a lot of South Boulderites are going to say, is

[168:34] Yvonne Castillo: You pulled the rug out from underneath us. You told us…

[168:39] Yvonne Castillo: to vote for the CCRS extension so that we could get investment in South.

[168:44] Yvonne Castillo: And so many residents

[168:47] Yvonne Castillo: voted for the extension for CCRS. So, just be aware that if the ballot measure, or the polling, you know, I know that comes first.

[168:56] Yvonne Castillo: If we are asking questions that are too broad.

[169:00] Yvonne Castillo: you… we… the risk is going to be that South Boulder residents are going to say, no, I don't want any more tax… I don't want any more tax burden unless you are now going to guarantee me that the investment… that my tax dollars are going to go to help rebuild South Boulder Rec Center.

[169:16] Yvonne Castillo: I think that's gonna be a challenge, like, I mean, at some point, the South Boulder residents are just gonna say, no thank you, I don't want the tax burden, and I think we need to be realistic about that. It's just…

[169:30] Yvonne Castillo: It can be broad.

[169:31] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): Council's gonna manage that polling language, so that's definitely, you know, if you've got concerns about that, you should direct that, I think, directly to Council, because that's… council and staff are gonna craft that polling language. In my opinion, I just want to make sure that we don't lose any money in this ballot measure. So I'm just trying to fight for parks as a whole. So I…

[169:50] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): I think, having thought about this for the last couple of minutes,

[169:54] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): I think that we may want to keep our powder dry until we see the results of the polling, and also start to be able to have concrete conversations about what is the language they want to put on the ballot. And at that time, our ability

[170:07] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): To act maybe public-facing and not council-facing.

[170:11] Board & Commissions: Like…

[170:12] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): What do you mean? Like, we may want to write… publish a news… a letter in the newspaper.

[170:17] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): About the ballot, and why we support it, or don't support it.

[170:21] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Okay.

[170:23] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): That's fine with me, too.

[170:24] Yvonne Castillo: But at some point earlier.

[170:25] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): Or on behalf of myself, either way. Right. Yeah.

[170:28] Yvonne Castillo: At some point, isn't Council asking us What do we think?

[170:34] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): No.

[170:35] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Now, we've expressed ourselves to Council, and I think we should be proud of ourselves for being fairly effective, as we just discussed a few minutes ago. We wrote a compelling letter, and we got

[170:46] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): We advance the conversation forward, which is pretty amazing for…

[170:49] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): for any group of volunteers, I think.

[170:53] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): I guess I'm just not sure that this is a moment where we can have a lot of impact.

[171:00] Yvonne Castillo: So, Council is not asking us… I just want to make sure… Council's never going to ask us, what are your priorities, Parks? If we can't… we can't fund the… we can't fund all rec centers at the level that you, put in your study session.

[171:15] Yvonne Castillo: So we can't do that, so where would your priority be? You're… you're saying they're not asking us that.

[171:21] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): No, my concern is with this particular ballot measure language, or with this particular

[171:26] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): Poll… the polling that they're doing on this particular Option.

[171:31] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): It is undedicating the Permanent Parks and Recreation Fund and expanding the use.

[171:36] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): So my concern is that we're gonna lose $5 million.

[171:40] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): And Allie's does not think so, and I hope she's right for sure, but I just think we should advocate on behalf of Parks, that if you're gonna undedicate this money.

[171:49] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): we want to know that in this ballot measure language, or we want to state in the ballot measure language that the PRAB feels very strongly that parks, as a system, should be prioritized over anything else, because

[172:00] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): when they… when they… if they write this ballot measure language in a way that says it's parks, it's public infrastructure, it's underfunded, it's super broad. And they could… they could take that money and put it all towards the fire stations. And we could lose $5 million.

[172:16] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): It'll be a very bad outcome.

[172:17] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): So that's my concern. So I just want to make sure that parks as a whole… like, I know you're talking about prioritization, I'm talking about actually just not losing the fund completely. That's what I'm concerned about.

[172:27] Yvonne Castillo: Right, and I understand that, and I actually support that, is what you're saying, but I don't think it's black and white, in terms of, you know, fire stations and wildfire issues, because I think we've talked about this before, that rec centers, because of their distributed nature, they can act as resilience hubs.

[172:47] Yvonne Castillo: And, you know, it depends, again, on the polling, how the question's asked, but I think most people are going to say, yeah, we want… not only do we want rec centers to provide these functional, recreational, you know, physical needs for us, but we also want resilience hubs

[173:04] Yvonne Castillo: We want them to act as resilience hubs so that in the event of a huge wildfire, we have a place to go to take a shower if we're evacuated, or, you know, we… maybe the gym becomes a place where we can sleep, for… for the night, till we find a hotel or find family we can stay with. I mean, so it's not… you know what I mean?

[173:24] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): It's not gonna… it's not gonna be specific. This language is gonna be as broad as it gets. Okay, Dan, you have a question?

[173:29] Speaker 14 (Board & Commissions): So…

[173:31] Speaker 14 (Board & Commissions): Can I just ask where we even might be able to see this polling question that ultimately comes out from the City Council, so we know what the.

[173:42] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): It'll be in their packet on June 18th.

[173:44] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): So, in the City Council packet, as well. I thought that's the answer.

[173:47] Speaker 14 (Board & Commissions): to the polling question.

[173:49] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Yeah, so the question is, where can we see the question that they're going to be testing? Oh, okay.

[173:53] Speaker 14 (Board & Commissions): Yes, that's my question.

[173:54] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Yeah, and I think staff can provide that to us.

[173:58] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Soon, right?

[173:59] Speaker 18 (Board & Commissions): So the way…

[174:00] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): it works is Thursday night, City Council, they themselves don't draft the language either. It's a very, attorney-heavy work in Colorado because of compliance with state revenue laws and, the taxpayer Bill of Rights. So, Council gave direction around what they would like to see pulled generally.

[174:19] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): Folks in the city now are working with the attorneys to craft that polling language. When it is final, I don't see why it couldn't be shared. I believe that will be sometime next week, and the polling will begin.

[174:32] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): The results of the poll will be included in the City… I just… I'm clarifying process here as I answer. The results of the polling will be shared in the City Council packet for their meeting on June 25th, which will be available on June 18th.

[174:47] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): And so, just to be clear, neither City Council nor Prabh are influencing the writing of the polling, because it really is, I'm learning a lot in the two weeks as I'm seeing it happen. Like, the attorneys are doing a lot of the writing because of the compliance with state revenue laws. Yeah, I…

[175:02] Speaker 14 (Board & Commissions): I guess the reason I'm asking the question is polling… Can be biased in itself.

[175:08] Speaker 14 (Board & Commissions): And I think it's really important to understand what…

[175:14] Speaker 14 (Board & Commissions): the questionnaire basically is, and how it's gonna be distributed.

[175:19] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): We don't have any… we don't get any input on that.

[175:21] Speaker 14 (Board & Commissions): But it sounds like… next week?

[175:24] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): We're working with a professional firm that responded to an RFP last year, and so this professional firm is helping with the crafting of the language based on what they know about voter response and bias and wording of language.

[175:40] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): So our option, next option's the 18th, is just to see what happens when that call comes out.

[175:48] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): Yeah. But even if we have the questions, it doesn't… it doesn't matter. I mean, we need the answers to the question. We… because we won't have any input on the questions.

[175:57] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): Right, but we can meet.

[175:58] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): But we want to know what it is. Yeah.

[176:02] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): That's right.

[176:03] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): Yeah, absolutely.

[176:06] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): Okay, well, we can just scrap the letter.

[176:08] Speaker 12 (Board & Commissions): But I also think, let's consider, Bernie's point down the line. We might… where we might have the most influence is once this process comes to a conclusion, and there is, recommended language for the ballot in November for us as a board to…

[176:28] Speaker 12 (Board & Commissions): Either support it, hopefully.

[176:31] Speaker 12 (Board & Commissions): And maybe write a letter to that effect. So maybe it's just something we can think about, you know, in the months that follow.

[176:39] Speaker 18 (Board & Commissions): And I guess I.

[176:39] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): I have another question, Ellie, is do you know… maybe you don't know this yet, but, like, we're… the consultant is in the process of crafting the language for the question for the poll now.

[176:49] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Then it goes into the field, and then…

[176:52] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): I would be interested to know the process from after we get the results of the polling to when the ballot language is finalized. How does that happen, and what's the timeline?

[176:59] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): Great question. So…

[177:03] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): June… I'm just gonna pull up real… if you give me a moment, I'm gonna pull up Council's agenda, because I can tell you the… the dates and the process. So, on the 25th…

[177:17] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): Alicia Johnson. Sorry, I just am gonna find the Council Agenda Runway really quick.

[177:23] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): So on the 25th, they will give

[177:26] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): language in response to the polling. That's June 25th.

[177:31] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): And then…

[177:36] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): They will draft that evening an ordinance on ballot measures.

[177:44] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): And then, there will be a second reading of the ordinance. So, you learned tonight about the city code, Council passes ordinances, bonding.

[177:53] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): Tax funding changes, those happen through ordinance changes.

[177:58] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): The second reading of the ordinance is calendared with a public hearing for August 6th.

[178:04] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): If those ordinances get approved on August 6th, then they move into ballot preparation for

[178:11] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): the November election. One thing I want to clarify as you all are talking about your roles, after second reading and when the ordinance language is approved, staff's role shifts dramatically.

[178:22] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): We are politically neutral. It is our role to implement policy, not to, not to,

[178:30] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): not to influence the outcome of a ballot, and so we are available to provide facts. We can answer questions at, you know, Rotary or HOA meetings. We cannot advocate.

[178:40] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): And that is something that often board members find themselves doing, because again, just to be clear, staff cannot, we're legally limited from advocating on behalf of any ballot measure, or against it.

[178:54] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Okay, so this is what I'm gonna propose. We wait until the 18th, of June.

[178:59] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): to see the packet, and see what the… then we get the actual language.

[179:03] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): And then, it sounds like we'll have time after the results of the survey to

[179:09] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): convene again at our next regular scheduled meeting in June.

[179:13] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Sorry, in July.

[179:15] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): And we could, at that time, opt to write a letter.

[179:20] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): Yeah, I think so.

[179:21] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): Right.

[179:23] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Okay. Okay, and then we would still have the opportunity to…

[179:26] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Be influential on the final language.

[179:28] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): Yeah, I mean, once it's written, it doesn't matter what we think.

[179:31] Speaker 2 (Board & Commissions): I think it may not even get on the ballot. I mean, it may… the polling would say, we're not even doing this, so… Yeah.

[179:37] Speaker 18 (Board & Commissions): Okay. Is that okay? Yeah, that's great. Okay. Thank you all for…

[179:41] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Tumoring me. Of course. Okay, so we have, last thing on the agenda is just visual… excuse me…

[179:47] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Verbal matters, proud matters, dan, do you have a question?

[179:56] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Yes, Brad Matters. Tonight, not tonight,

[180:02] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Matters from the board. This portion of the meeting provides board members an opportunity to share updates related to Prabh's annual work, plan to

[180:11] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Sorry, perhaps annual work plan goal of each member attending to or more Parks and Recreation-related community activities per month, promoting Parks and Recreation.

[180:19] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): through social media, attending site tours, and supporting the department's partnership initiatives, or any other engagements you may have had with the Parks Department and Facilities. Does anyone have anything they want to mention?

[180:32] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): I'll just mention play. The meeting is this…

[180:36] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): coming week, I won't be there for that one. They've got a lot of good things going on with development, and the golf outing is coming up in September. If you're a golfer, there's tee time, there's… or you have a business that would be interested, there's lots of great sponsorship, and there's a couple of foursomes left, so please…

[180:53] Speaker 9 (Board & Commissions): It's September 11th at Flatirons.

[181:02] Speaker 14 (Board & Commissions): So I have a question on Primos Park.

[181:05] Speaker 14 (Board & Commissions): Just curious, since we're going through the naming process for the large expanse of greenery by the…

[181:14] Speaker 14 (Board & Commissions): been the stage.

[181:16] Speaker 14 (Board & Commissions): That's a new park.

[181:19] Speaker 14 (Board & Commissions): So, given that a lot of… I know that there was community input into the name of that, and I'm wondering, is that, like, the final name of it, or is… it can be based upon ecological…

[181:34] Speaker 14 (Board & Commissions): characteristics of the area, or maybe violet, because that's where I had to go, like, Google Map it to see.

[181:43] Speaker 14 (Board & Commissions): where it was, and find out that, oh, yeah, this is in that area that they're kind of developing around Violet, right? And I'm just wondering, is…

[181:53] Speaker 14 (Board & Commissions): I totally appreciate the community engagement for naming the park, and… What it is, but,

[182:03] Speaker 14 (Board & Commissions): You know, after a while, it's hard to, like, track all these park names when they don't really relate to anything.

[182:10] Speaker 14 (Board & Commissions): in the locality, or the geography, or… and I'm just wondering…

[182:16] Speaker 14 (Board & Commissions): Does this advisory board only name parks bigger than a certain size, or all parks, or,

[182:27] Speaker 14 (Board & Commissions): You know, they have this open house, which I think sounds awesome, and it's gonna be really interesting to see the design plans, but could you educate me a little bit in terms of…

[182:40] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): So, we named… the program named Primus Park, I can't remember if it was last year or the year before, but it was, approved by this board following an extensive community engagement that involved, the neighborhoods up there who are

[182:53] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): You know, intended to be the primary users of the park.

[182:57] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Extensive discussion with the… yeah, everyone who lives there, especially with the…

[183:02] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Yes, thank you. Utilizing the community connectors, and especially, getting input from the manufacturing home community that abuts the park.

[183:10] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): That happened… I don't remember what year, maybe Allie does… 2004… 2024. So, yes, there was a process, and we are not going to rename it anytime soon.

[183:23] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): No, I just…

[183:25] Speaker 14 (Board & Commissions): since…

[183:26] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): Yeah, the part I'll add is that Violet Park had been its de facto name, just because it was on Violet Street, and that's what we were looking to change, and the name Primos had… has now deep meaning to the community members. That type of a park, so all parks get named.

[183:42] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): That type of a park is intended to be a neighborhood park, serving folks who live closest to it, and

[183:48] Speaker 4 (Board & Commissions): The name was loved when it was selected, and it's deeply loved today.

[183:55] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Yeah, I guess that was one thing that really came through of that community engagement, was that, you know, we asked, what would you use this part for? And, like, the top thing was, I'm going to gather with my most of my friends and my parents, and etc, etc. So, I think it's a great name, yeah.

[184:10] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Okay, any other matters from Prabh?

[184:14] Speaker 12 (Board & Commissions): I mean, I feel like this is the time where I talk about how I used the parks over the last month.

[184:20] Speaker 12 (Board & Commissions): So, yeah, I mean, now that it's, like, the weather is great, I've been out in North Boulder Park, was playing some badminton with some friends on a Friday night, and we looked around, and it was kind of like.

[184:35] Speaker 12 (Board & Commissions): we were sort of surrounded by a lot of high school kids, but I just want to say, because, like, sometimes, you know, I feel like they get, like, maligned on, like, what are they doing in the park on a Friday night? So I can say, like.

[184:48] Speaker 12 (Board & Commissions): They are just, like, hanging out with friends, like, more, like, underneath the, like, the street lamps, so it's, like, where it's, like, lit in the park.

[184:56] Speaker 12 (Board & Commissions): And then a group of girls came over to us and asked if they could play badminton with us, so we did play with them. Yeah, it was really sweet. So I saw a lot of, like, you know, very, like, wholesome activities going on with high school students, yeah, in the park on a Friday night.

[185:14] Speaker 12 (Board & Commissions): Yeah, and then also, you know, the farmer's market is also in full swing, so it's nice to hang out in, Boulder Creek Park.

[185:24] Speaker 12 (Board & Commissions): And also just see how everyone's using, the Wildwoods area over there. So, I mean, especially when the farmer's market is active, the whole place is covered, and you see everyone there too, right? Like, parents, kids,

[185:41] Speaker 12 (Board & Commissions): Groups of people just, like, hanging out, so… yeah.

[185:44] Speaker 12 (Board & Commissions): I mean, you know, this is… this is the season for parks.

[185:49] Speaker 2 (Board & Commissions): Oh, I just want to put a plug in for volunteer opportunities. I participated earlier.

[185:55] Speaker 2 (Board & Commissions): About 3… 2 weeks ago, 3 weeks ago, in the Boulder Creek cleanup, and it was… it was a great, number of people that came out, and, there was a decidedly less amount of trash than I expected.

[186:12] Speaker 2 (Board & Commissions): I thought I'd have a full bag, but I only had a half bag, so I left kind of disappointed. But, there's two more opportunities to do that. I don't know specific dates, it's on the website, the volunteer website.

[186:23] Speaker 2 (Board & Commissions): And I ran into Allie there, who wasn't picking up trash, but was running, preparing for her marathon, so it was good to see her.

[186:35] Speaker 11 (Board & Commissions): I had a golfing friend take me out to the driving range at Flatirons, and was very proud to show me the restaurant there, and, like, really gushed about how… what a fantastic facility it is for a public golf course.

[186:52] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Yvonne, do you have anything?

[186:54] Speaker 1 (Board & Commissions): Okay, then we are adjourned. Thank you everybody, we'll see you, next month.