Community Meeting Summary
January 26, 2005

The following is a synopsis of the January 26, 2005 Community Meeting held by the Parks, Recreation, and Neighborhood Services Department and Councilmember Cortese's Office.

• Brian Hartsell (Parks Manager) kicked-off the meeting with a round of introductions and a review of the meeting agenda.

• Councilmember Dave Cortese reviewed the history of the park master planning process through approval of the Master Plan in October 2003, and proceeded to discuss the schedule for Phase 1 development.

• Park development will be divided into two major phases:
  - Phase 1:  Majority of the Park Amenities and Land, except for Community Center and Swim Center
  - Phase 2:  Community Center and Swim Center

• Current Phase 1 Schedule:
  - Master Plan Approval:  October 2003 (Done)
  - Environmental Analysis:  October 2003 (Done)
  - Begin Phase 1 Park Design & Development:  November 2004 (On Schedule)
  - Bidding and Award to Contractor:  September 2005
  - Begin Phase 1 Construction:  January 2006
  - Anticipated Beneficial Use (completion of all of Phase 1):  April 2007

• Councilmember Cortese reviewed the risks of the current schedule.  Obviously the city still faces difficult budget decisions.   While funding is in place to build Phase 1 of the park (approx. $6 million) and cannot be used for anything other than Fowler Creek Park, the funding cannot be used for salaries, etc. to design and manage this project.  That funding must come from the city's general funds.  The park construction funds also cannot be used to operate and maintain the park.  So, if the city has to cut the budget, the park development schedule may be delayed.

• Evelyn Velez-Rosario (Parks Manager) made a presentation about playground equipment options from two major manufacturers of tot (under 5 years old) equipment and youth (6-12 years old) equipment.  Using lots of photos, drawings, and pictures, she described the features and differences between the options offered by the 2 manufacturers:  Landscape Structures and Kompan.  She also presented 2 options for water play areas.
  
  The community audience was invited to voice their preferences between the 2 manufacturers through an informal vote.  For the tot playground, the majority of the residents favored the equipment by Landscape Structures. 
  
  Nearly all of the attending residents favored Kompan for the youth playground but requested a combination of their Galaxy and Big Toys product lines.  
  
  The water play manufacturer selected was Raindrop.

• The city will hold another meeting on February 16th at the Carolyn Clark Elementary School at 6:30pm for Kompan to make a presentation to the community on the two product lines selected for the youth playground.  The city really wants to give the community significant opportunities to become involved in the equipment choices and in the design process of the park amenities.

View the Community Meeting Presentation
by Evelyn Velez-Rosario (1.2MB PDF)

Copyright (c) 2005 by Friends of Fowler Creek Park.  All rights reserved.