Laserfiche WebLink
Approved September 10, 2018 <br /> <br />Page 2 <br /> <br />and she has a hard time getting him down the steps. She also had other testimonials from <br />residents stating they also had a hard time maneuvering the steps with their young <br />families when going to Birch Park (See attached PowerPoint for testimonials). One <br />woman even stated that the stairs slow her down on her jogs. <br /> <br />Ashley had invited with her 2 other neighbors to speak on the behalf of the neighborhood <br />and their concerns regarding 12th Street access to Brandywood Park and the stairs to <br />Birch Park (Brandy Eckman and Jessica Friedman). They all stated that the stairs were an <br />issue as well as the busy street. Jessica stated that her house is on the other side of the <br />neighborhood and her kids are easily able to participate in the fun Parks & Recreation <br />programs offered at the park during the summer and that it broke her heart to hear that <br />other families cannot take advantage and participate as easily, or at all, in these programs <br />due to stairs and busy street. Jessica stated that kids should be able to safely bike .07 <br />miles to play at a park with their friends without their parents worrying about them <br />getting hit by a car. <br /> <br />Rick DeGardner, Public Services Director and Pat Huelman, Park Board Chair spoke to <br />the ladies concerns. They spoke about that park being on the docket during past meetings <br />and the trail for 12th street, however funding for the trail just wasn’t there this year (not <br />enough money to do all the updates to the park and put in a trail as a trail is very <br />expensive). They addressed that a switch back/ramp for Birch Park is not possible due to <br />the steep slope and narrow width of property that provides access to Birch Park , however <br />they would continue to consider extending a trail on 12th avenue to Brandywood as <br />funding became available. This would at least give their neighborhood safe access to a <br />park. <br /> <br />5. New Business <br /> A. Discuss Park Signage – Park Board Members discussed uniformed park signage <br />brought to their attention by Council Member Dale Stoesz. The overall consensus was <br />that if they were going to put signs in the parks they wanted to do it and do it right. The <br />idea of a metal sign did not appeal to them as they would want a more “warm and <br />welcoming” type of sign like Clearwater Creek currently has with landscaping around it. <br />Although they all agreed that these signs are needed and would be beneficial, it was not <br />currently a high priority due to limited funds and more pressing issues such as the safety <br />concerns along 12th street for residents trying to access to Brandywood Park. They agreed <br />that they would put this in their notes for something to consider doing in the future when <br />more funds were available and after other park issues such as equipment and trails were <br />addressed. <br /> <br /> Park Board comments regarding signage: <br />• Abby Haworth proposed finding more eagle scouts to build the rest of the signs <br />for the parks as they did for some of our other parks. States the wood signs <br />with the landscaping around it is very warm and inviting.