MEETING OF THE PARKS & OPEN SPACE ADVISORY COMMITTEE

BOULDER COUNTY, COLORADO

Regular Meeting Minutes

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Third Floor Hearing Room
County Court House
1325 Pearl Street, Boulder
Members Present:
  • Janet George
  • Tony Lewis
  • Trace Baker
  • Paula Fitzgerald
  • Drew Adams
  • Jackson Moller
  • Kristine Johnson
  • Derek Turner
  • Carol Byerly

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1.
Call to Order

 

2.
Roll Call

 

3.
Election of Officers

 
  • Moved byCarol Byerly
    Seconded byKristine Johnson

    POSAC members voted to postpose the election of new officers until new members are seated in March or April. 

    APPROVED

4.
Approval of Last Month's Minutes

This item has attachments. 
1.Dec 19 Minutes.pdf
  • Moved byTrace Baker
    Seconded byKristine Johnson

    Trace Baker moved to approved with minor edits. Kristine Johnson seconded.

    Abstained: Tony Lewis, Carol Byerly, Jackson Moller, Derek Turner

    APPROVED

5.
Presentations

 

5.1
2024 Closings Summary

This item has attachments. 
1.Real Estate Division Annual Report.pdf

Staff Presenter: Janis Whisman, Real Estate Division Manager


Action Requested: Information Only

Q: Do you also document natural changes to an area when you monitor a CE, or just changes that the landowner made?

Response: We document both, but those of concern are changes that the landowner made. 

Q: While monitoring, what percentage of problems do you find?

Response: We find fewer problems now, because we visit regularly and landowners know to expect us. We found more violations when we first started monitoring because many landowners didn't understand the program or why we were needing to monitor.

Q: What efforts this year live up to the Land Commitment?

Response: We no longer use landowner names for naming properties. This is to honor the land and not necessarily the landowners. I have also been participating in the Volunteer Naturalist training to teach the history of the area and how the program got started. 

 

Public Comments:

None

5.2
White-Nose Syndrome in Bats in Boulder County: BCPOS Response and Internal Management

This item has attachments. 
1.White Nose Syndrome.pdf

Staff Presenter: Susan Spaulding, Environmental Resources Sr. Specialist


Action Requested: Information Only

Q: Are bat boxes a good thing?

Response: Yes, anything that makes bats' lives easier. Our Building and Historic Preservation group will work on building some larger structures on our properties to house bats. Any kind of shed structure with hidey holes will work well.

Q: Some areas shown on the map are not contiguous, so how does WNS propagate over some large areas?

Response: It's only now arriving in the west from the east coast. Some areas don't have the right climate for hibernating bats. Other areas just may not have gotten WNS yet. 

Q: What are the federal resources available?

Response: I don't think there has been much of a federal response to WNS. I don't know why that is, because bats are critical for us.

 

Public Comments:

None

6.
Public Comment Period for Items Not on Agenda

 

Cindy Johnson, unincorporated Boulder County. She spoke against the cancellation of open rides at the fairgrounds. She doesn't think staff have adequately connected with stakeholders before making the decision to cancel the open ride. She made arguments for reinstating the open ride once a week. She asked POSAC to vote to reverse the decision. 

Howard Reinstein, Adams County. He is willing to pay an extra fee to use the riding arena at the Boulder County fairgrounds.

Heather Middleton, Boulder County. She spoke in favor of reinstating the open ride. She wants to see ways to interest young people to ride. 

Ronda Nickoley, She has used the Boulder County indoor arena for decades but she is frustrated that the indoor open ride has been discontinued. 

Pam Andringa, unincorporated Boulder County. She spoke in favor of the indoor open ride.

Tony Lewis asked for staff to provide a timeline of the process through the decision by the BOCC at the Feb. 27 meeting.

Drew Adams asked for a comparisons of other counties that have kept their arenas open and how those counties communicate with their stakeholders. 

Paula Fitzgerald asked for a breakdown of costs and affordability of the proposed master plan for the fairgrounds. 

Janet George asked for more detail of the costs of keeping the open rides.

7.
POSAC Members Comment Period for Items Not on Agenda

 

Tony Lewis thanked Paula Fitzgerald and Jackson Moller for their years on POSAC before they step down next month. 

Paula Fitzgerald gave a call out to county staff for all their work and coordination. She also thanked her fellow POSAC members. She encouraged members to attend the field trips that are offered. 

Jackson Moller encouraged members of the public to apply for openings on POSAC. Recruitment periods run December to January.

8.
Director's Update

 
  • Fifteen Soil Health grants came in totaling $350,000.
  • There have been controlled burns west of Lyons recently and staff are planning upcoming burns near Heil Valley Ranch and Hall Ranch.
  • BCPOS completed a study with NoCo Places to look at illegal trails. We found just over 60 miles of illegal trails. Staff plans to bring the results to POSAC at a future meeting. 

9.
Adjournment

 

8:31 p.m.

 

This is only a summary of the meeting. The meeting video is viewable on the POSAC webpage.

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