Parks and Trails Committee Update

Room for Planned Open Space?

by Robin M Johnson

On Wednesday, July 12, the Midway City Council spent time in their work meeting discussing applicants for the new Parks and Trails Committee called for in the general plan. They discussed things like how many members the committee would have and the tasks and direction the committee should take.

Last April Midway City posted a newly proposed Master Plan for Valais Park on its website and scheduled a public hearing for comment. The public hearing was held on April 26. Many opinions and suggestions were made in that meeting.Comments made in the meeting were referenced several times in this work meeting. 

One suggestion in the public hearing, made by Doug Jenkins, was for the city to form a committee to plan the city’s parks. Further, to include people on the committee who have had experience in parks and recreation. This suggestion was taken to heart by the city council. Applications for the committee were taken in May and June, with a total of twelve citizens applying to serve on the committee.

Colleen Bonner, mayor, said, “We’re going to talk about our Parks and Trails Committee. Brad (Wilson, city recorder,) sent you those applications. We’ve talked about assigning that committee tonight, it’s on our agenda; however, if we feel like we want to reopen it and look for more applications we can. We had some pretty good applicants.  I just wanted you to all get a chance to look at them. Have you had a chance to look at them?”

Bob Probst, council member, said, “How many are we looking for, Mayor?”

Bonner said, “About seven, I think. Right, Michael, isn’t that what we decided?”

Michael Henke, city planner, said, “Yes, seven is what we decided.”

Bonner suggested that Dennis Poppinga, former Parks and Recreation Director for Evanston, Wyoming, would be a good candidate to facilitate the committee. During the public hearing Poppinga made several important points about planning public parks including: park facilities should be multi-use and not duplicated and planning in this way would promote economic development, operation and maintenance are the most expensive so parks should be designed for the lowest maintenance costs, public and private partnerships can support public parks, and the city can develop a public participation process for parks. In addition Poppinga said open space is at a premium and should be protected. Parks take time to fully develop and over time the needs for parks and recreation can change.

Regarding Poppinga, Bonner said, “When we had our open meeting, he was the gentleman that talked a lot about parks. I have talked to him a couple of times and asked him to be … our facilitator, he’d be a nonvoting member, to kind of get things organized and started and kind of set the parameters, he has agreed to still do that.”

Karl Dodge, council member, said, “Would we have a city council member on that?"

Bonner said, “As a nonvoting member I would think that Lisa would be on that committee, she’s over the parks.”

Kenny Van Wagoner, council member, said, “I think we ought to have two … I really do, I mean, it’s a big issue.”

Kent Kohler, council member, said, “I think we ought to have two.”

Bonner said, “That’s a good suggestion.”

Dodge observed initially that some of the applicants had some good qualifications; however he was concerned that most of the applicants came from one area of the city. “Seven of the twelve were people that live right around Valais, two of them are in Dutch Fields, and then three others.”

Through discussion everyone agreed on the need to have a committee with a broad perspective. To do that would require good representation from all parts of the city to avoid creating a committee with an agenda or a limited focus.

Kohler said, “That’s kind of what we like to do on … planning commission for example; is have them kind of diverse throughout the city and not have just one particular area, have the majority of your members from that area. Probably the same holds true for something like this, too. I would think.”

The council considered opening the application process again in the hope of attracting more candidates from the southwest quarter and other sections of the city. In the end, they chose not to do that since the process would take time. The previous opening was posted for three weeks.

Bonner said, "We had it up on our website, we put it on our facebook page, and we announced it in our meeting. I think once it gets going and ... established, and people start talking about it ... as it goes through the process maybe more people would become involved and say, 'hey, I'd like to serve on that sometime' and we say, 'fill out an application and we'll keep it on file'. I think it's going to be a ball, it's new."

Discussion focused on each application, attention was given to each candidate who had applied: what each brings to the table from their experience, their vision for parks and trails development, and the area where each lives and would represent within the city.

It was noted that two of the candidates are husband and wife. The consensus was to choose one or the other, but not both. Highlights from the applications include an architect who designed parks for a living, financial experience relating to parks and recreation, research on dog parks and children's parks in communities all around the country, desire to be involved, the time to be involved, experience with developing trails, and grant writing experience. 

Midway Lane Bicycle and Walking Trail, photograph taken Fall, 2013
Photo credit: Robin M Johnson (c) 2013

Bonner said the city used to have a trails committee that is no longer functioning. The reemerging committee is adding parks with trails because one of the ideas in the city’s general plan is joining the city parks into a network through interconnecting trails. The vision is to connect all city parks and trails together over a long period of time.

Bonner said, “I think with the growth … it’s going to be really important not just to focus on parks, but to focus on how we can interconnect our parks and our trails. And I think it’s a big project. I think it’s going to take quite a few years, so they can get it all, nothing happens over night, it all takes time.”

Dodge said one candidate specifically mentioned a desire to help shape the Valais Park.

Bonner said, “I think that’s kind of the driving force, is the Valais Park.”

Dodge said, “I recognize that, but I’m worried that that’s all people are going to care about is the Valais Park.”

Bonner said, “Right. That’s why I think if we have Dennis (Poppinga) facilitate it, because his was a broader perspective; to evaluate what we have in the parks … what we can do to improve each park that we have now.”

Dodge said, “What would you suggest he be? Would we give a title?”

Bonner said, “He would be basically the chairman and the facilitator. I think … we need to look at all the parks, and what their uses are. The Valais Park is always going to be the main focus, because it’s always going to be the largest piece of property that’s unfinished, and it was set aside to be a recreational park. But that doesn’t mean that’s where we have all focus. It will be part of the focus.”

Dodge said, “It obviously has to be.”

Once the committee is up and running Bonner suggested Poppinga would use suggestions made in April’s public hearing as a guide for the committee’s work. A short synopsis of public hearing comments follows. Several who commented shared a broader vision of the whole park system in support of Poppinga’s position stated earlier in this article.

However, most of the public comments focused specifically on Valais Park since the master plan was the subject of the public hearing. Some wanted Valais Park to stay just as it is, some asked for better maintenance, others supported some recreational development, and some liked the master plan with its amenities just as proposed. Keeping the focus of the park on families and activities for gatherings was important to several. Many felt Valais Park was not the best location for soccer fields; rather they should be located near the Elementary school. There was much support for pickle ball and little support for Bocce. Parking and increased traffic was a concern to the neighbors of Valais Park. Preserving the wetlands was a high priority for most. Protecting the view corridors created in the park was also valued by quite a number.

Length of terms for committee members was the next item the council and staff discussed in their July 12 work meeting. Terms of two, three, four, and even six years were considered. Staggering terms was also recommended. In the end the idea with the most support came from the city recorder.

Wilson said, “When you set up a city, or a municipality and you have your first election, half of the council serves a two year term, and the other half serves a four year term. But once those initial two year terms are over then everybody is doing four year terms. But it’s staggered at that point.”

Van Wagoner said, “That would be a wise way to do it.”

Lisa Christian, council member, said, “That makes sense.”

After two years those members with two year terms would be replaced with new members who serve four year terms. In this way every two years about half of the committee will complete their term and be replaced. Each member would have the option to serve a second term, but not a third. In the event someone vacates their position early, another citizen can apply and be appointed to complete the remainder of that person’s term and have the option to serve one term of their own.

Next they discussed how to choose which members would serve two years and which would serve four. Bonner said, “That group themselves could maybe decide, or they could even just draw straws to see who gets to be the four year and who gets to be the two year.”

Finally, the council and staff discussed how the council would turn in their specific recommendations to fill the seats on the committee. Bonner suggested each selecting seven candidates that night, but after several minutes of paper shuffling they decided it would be better to take their time and study their applications.

Wilson broke into the paper shuffling and said, “If people are unable to choose now you could always have them submit the seven to staff and we could just punch them in, whoever gets the most.”

Bonner agreed, “That’s true, you can do that, if you’d like to do it that way, that’s not a bad idea. You can just email them to staff.”

Probst said, “Yeah, I don’t know that I can pick all seven tonight or not. I got four or five, but …”

Dodge said, “I would be inclined to each submit a list of seven, if there is a top guy, let the mayor choose.”

Dodge made a motion that each council member submit seven applicants to Michael Henke and copy it to Brad Wilson and Mayor Colleen Bonner. Staff will compile the votes, the top seven will be appointed to the committee. If there is a tie the mayor will decide who should serve. Kohler seconded and the motion passed unanimously.