Urban Design Commission Public Hearing - January 11th

We are scheduled for a public hearing in front of the Urban Design Commission (UDC) on Wednesday, January 11th. The Commission meeting begins at 6:30pm, and the agenda will be known closer to the day. Those wishing to speak are encouraged to come earlier to ensure that they are present for the public hearing (in the event the agenda is modified).

Below are the links for the documents submitted to the UDC.  These are very large documents and hopefully everyone will be able to view the documents without issue. 

For viewing online: https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=sites&srcid=ZGVmYXVsdGRvbWFpbnxub3J0aHJqc3B8Z3g6MzI1MmQ3NWQzY2IwYTViNA

For download (and easier printing): https://sites.google.com/site/northrjsp/udc-materials/UDCReviewPackage-AllSheets-11-18-11.pdf?attredirects=0&d=1

Past VIP and Public Involvement Information:  https://sites.google.com/site/northrjsp/udc-materials

Russian Jack Community Council Presentation

 Senior Park Planner, Suzanne Little, presented an update on the UDC Submittal to the Russian Jack Community Council on November 9, 2011 and Director of Parks and Recreation updated the NorthEast Community Council on November 10, 2011.

Russian Jack Community Council approved a motion in support of the UDC Submittal and extended appreciation to the Department for its significant efforts in public involvement.

July Parks and Recreation Commission Minutes and Resolution

We have uploaded the minutes for the July 2011 Parks and Recreation Commission meeting where the commission reviewed the results of the VIP Committee process. Their resolution in support is also uploaded. Click on the links below:
2011 PRC Minutes
2011 PRC Resolution regarding the north RJSP project

These are also available by navigating through our "Related Files" link in the upper right side of this blog.

The light poles have been installed

The light poles have been installed for the northern half of Russian Jack. Stay tuned for the actual lights and cabling required for them to work.

New Trail Lighting for north RJSP

The Anchorage Park Foundation signed a construction contract today with Inlet Electric for the installation of 21 pole lights that will illuminate a portion of the existing paved trail in the northern half of Russian Jack Springs Park. The trail lighting will extend from the picnic shelter in the northwest corner of the park to the trail’s approach to Boniface. Providing lighting for this existing paved trail in the north was the highest priority that arose from the project’s VIP (Very Important Parks) committee work. The contractor reports lights will arrive in 6 – 8 weeks and that the project will likely be completed around Thanksgiving. They will be starting work as soon as possible to install the electrical line and the poles for the lights.

Letter of Thanks to VIP Committee

Letter from John Rodda to the Very Important Parks (VIP) committee:

Please accept my heartfelt thanks for your participation in the north Russian Jack Springs Park VIP Committee’s deliberations since January of 2011 involving over twelve hours of meeting time for each committee member as well as numerous hours outside of meetings for additional consideration. 

In addition to the 12 public meetings held during the summer of 2010, the six meetings of the VIP Committee brought valuable information to the discussion regarding needs of current and future nRJSP users:

• Meeting One – Introductions, Overview of Project Goals, Approving Committee Tenets, Existing Conditions, Identifying Stakeholders
• Meeting Two – Stakeholder Presentations
• Meeting Three – Top-5 List Presentations
• Meeting Four -  Prioritization Matrix
• Meeting Five – Supported Priority List
• Meeting Six – Review of NW Corner Concept
• Electronic Input Regarding Revision of NW Corner Concept

Throughout our nRJSP VIP deliberations there has been good public discussion and a realization by the Department that no final plan will satisfy all members of the group.

After review of all input from the Entrance Concept review, the Department has chosen to postpone major construction until next construction season.  I have directed the Project Team to proceed through the normal municipal design development process shown below with major construction planned for Spring 2012.    Upcoming public meetings for consideration of these plans are as follows:

• Consideration of Conceptual Design including Concept A2, as presented to the VIP Committee, at the Parks and Recreation Commission on July 14^th, 2011 6 PM at Spenard Community Recreation Center
• First consideration of nRJSP First Review Design at the Urban Design Commission (to be announced)
• Last consideration of nRJSP Second Review Design at the Urban Design Commission (to be announced)

To maximize and leverage improvements - In the remainder of 2011’s construction season, we will design and construct the entry driveway and adjacent pathway, leveraging improvements with the existing PRUHS contract for water and wastewater project.  In addition, the Trail Lighting will be constructed before snowfall this year and will light as much of the paved trail beginning at the North West part of the existing paved trail with the $100,000 allocated. 

The Department appreciates your willingness to be involved and thanks you for your assistance in prioritizing improvements for the north part of Russian Jack Springs Park.  Thank you for your valuable input and your service on the VIP Committee.

Parks and Recreation Commission Meeting - July 14th

The project team will be back before the Parks and Recreation Committee next week for an update:

• Consideration of Conceptual Design including Concept A2, as presented to the VIP Committee, at the Parks and Recreation Commission on July 14th, 2011 6 PM at Spenard Community Recreation Center

Additionally, the project will be in front of the Urban Design Commission:

• First consideration of nRJSP First Review Design at the Urban Design Commission (to be announced)
• Last consideration of nRJSP Second Review Design at the Urban Design Commission (to be announced)

Russian Jack Springs Park VIP Committee Holds Its Sixth Meeting - draft summary

Attendees for the on-site final meeting of the nRJSP VIP on June 7, 2011 were: 
Fred McLeary, Kathy Lyn Thompson, Kathleen Plunket, Frank Desroches, Terry Cummings, Carla McConnell, Don Brooks, Clif Reagle, Beth Nordlund, Tim Kosednar, Marc Grober, Tess Nott, Kep Pierce, John Rodda, Peter Briggs & Suzanne Little

The group reviewed preliminary design information by Corvus with depictions of each of the elements prioritized by the group at the last meeting including:

• Trail Lighting – $100,000 - design team determined that bringing electricity from the NW side would provide more lighting for the money than bringing conduit and wire from the transformer on DeBarr.
• Building improvements – main water line to building is not functional – may be able to leverage current construction project to provide excavation for repairs, although repairs may take whole $50,000 budget
• Fenced Dog Area – $15,000 funding adequate to complete 50 foot by 50 foot enclosure at 4 feet in height with fence preventing entrance by dogs onto Boniface
• Signage – $20,000 one main park entry sign, two smaller park signs, friendly rules signs and wayfinding signage on trails
• Park Entry & Playground – $300,000 (combined) includes trail connections to sidewalks and existing trails with measured walking loop along with welcoming entry to park and play components
• Parking reconfigured 120-space parking to eliminate pedestrian-vehicle crossings - new parking must be paved and lit – estimated cost $200,000
• Tennis – Committee wishes 4 rehabilitated tennis courts costing $200,000 - the committee allocated $65,000 – the tennis court construction can not be accomplished without sufficient funding
• Picnic Shelter  - Committee allocated $100,000 but the shelter is not included in this phase of work to maximize work on other elements

The review of the reconfigured parking / entry area engendered opposition from some committee members regarding removal of trees for parking.  John Rodda requested suggestions for parking configurations that would work by drawing the solution on the plan at the meeting. A sketch was accomplished that would not require removal of trees and it was determined that further refinement of the concept would be completed by 5 PM Tuesday, June 14th to be e-mailed to the whole committee.  The committee would get comments back (reply to ALL) by 5 PM on Friday June 17th. Discussion (as summarized by John Rodda) was that the design would be acceptable to the group if the revised drawing showed a design that eliminated the removal of trees from the treed area to the south of the tennis courts. This would be accomplished by reconfiguring the community/play areas, trails, tennis court and other elements on the plan that was shown to the group.

The group walked through the restroom building which was observed to be in very rough shape.

Russian Jack Springs Park VIP Committee Holds Its Fifth Meeting - draft summary

The north Russian Jack Springs Park VIP committee held our fifth meeting last night. Previous meetings achieved sharing of historical and current information about current uses and needs in the park. A prioritization exercise in meeting #3 produced a rough listing of key areas where investment is needed.  In meeting #4, that list was prioritized with an understanding that it was a working document. 

Given several million dollars in value of work on the list from meeting #4, meeting #5 attendees grappled with the limited in-the-ground construction budget of $700,000 to assess what items would actually be funded to achieve some of the desired outcomes and which items would not receive funding at this time.  Meeting #5’s discussion led to the creation of supported priority list approved by the VIP Committee for the desired capital improvements using available funding (see photo below).

The design process will now begin in a collaborative project team effort.  The goal will be to design-smart and value-engineer to achieve as much as possible given limited funding. 

The nRJSP VIP Committee requested one more meeting to review the preliminary design, once it is available.  We anticipate the preliminary design will be available for review by the Committee in 40 to 60 days.

The group present at VIP meeting #5

Russian Jack Springs Park VIP Committee Holds Its Fourth Meeting - draft summary

The fourth VIP meeting was held on March 22, 2011. The intent for this meeting was to further examine the potential priority items that the group had identified at their previous meeting.

In order to get an initial look at how the committee might prioritize their previously developed master list of 'potential priorities', the committee was asked to place stickers on the items that they felt were the Top Seven items for the people they were representing (neighborhoods, community councils or stakeholders). The photo below shows how the group allocated their dots.

This was a preliminary prioritization for the sake of discussion only.

Below are the results of this ranking, showing prioritization (#1 being most agreed upon). A number of items had equal ranking, and are indicated on the same line.
#1 - Lighting trails & Refurbish bathroom/utility building
#2 - Signage
#3 - Open entry/welcoming entrance & improve parking
#4 - Additional picnic facility(ies)
#5 - Maintain and improve soccer fields
#6 - Additional trails & destination playground & amend master plan
#7 - Recondition tennis courts & Ice rink
#8 - Replace removed trees & Convert soccer to open space
#9 - Maintain Girl Scout area as is
No dots - Use Girl Scout area for unleashed dog walking & Provide parking off Boniface for dog area & Fence dog area & add frisbee golf & add basketball & add volleyball & redo camping area

It should be noted that each of the items has had at least one 'champion' at previous meetings, so a "no dot" ranking does not mean that these will not be considered... it meant that the people who had previously brought up these issues were not present (or had changed their mind on their priorities).

Russian Jack Springs Park VIP Committee Holds Its Third Meeting - draft summary

At the third meeting (March 1, 2011), the VIP committee came prepared with their "Top Five" lists for improvements they would like to see made to the north part of Russian Jack Springs Park. We asked people to present their lists and give brief reasoning for their inclusion, and to help us summarize their item appropriately in a master list. Each subsequent person was asked to add their items that they felt were significantly different enough from previous ones to warrant an additional item being listed. The image below is of the final 'master list' that was developed with the group.

The goal is now to take this list and develop a supported priority list, where these items are ranked in order of how soon the VIP committee would like to see them addressed/implemented.

Russian Jack Springs Park VIP Committee Holds Its Second Meeting - draft summary

The Meeting was opened with a very brief review of project goals, scope and schedule by Suzanne Little followed by attendee introductions around the room. We then listened to presentations by stakeholder groups:

Stakeholder Group Presentations

Lars Spurkland, East High School Skiing :

• Use trails until grooming stops
• 70 kids, 3-4 days/week
• Desire for:
• Signage to show multi-use vs. skier only use (internal loop)
• Ideally a lit loop on north (minimum of out and back on multi-use trail)

James Starkey, Soccer:

• Currently 4 fields for kids (8v8)
• Significant potholes in the soccer fields
• Use heavy – 565 kids playing soccer – M-F 5 PM to 10 PM – one game per hour – Tournaments on weekends – 120 kids @ changeover
• Desire for:
• Improve Soccer Fields
• Improve Parking
• In 10 years could use another soccer field
• Partnership: Currently maintain fields during summer for soccer use
  

Scott Kolhaus, Alaska Tennis Association:

• 274 ATA members
• 4 tennis courts at RJSP currently (would love to have tournaments at these courts but they are dilapidated)
• Desire:
• Four courts ideal
• Recommend resurface 2 courts
• Partnership: ATA willing to partner to take care of nets and wind screens

Don Brooks, Softball

• 227 Teams (ages 10 to 80+) with approx. 4,000 players
• Desire:
• Bathroom / Storage Building – recommends refurbishing and ASA would maintain bathrooms
• Also needs additional portable toilets – just one ordered currently
• Recommends using the treed area south of the tennis courts for parking
• Chip seal parking, and ideally indicate parking stalls
• Partnership: Currently spend $100,000 / year on maintenance

Brian Dean, Junior Nordic

• Weekdays in Winter 6:30 – 7:30 and 10 – Noon on Saturdays – 50 to 100 skiers
• Lack of off-season maintenance creates poos skiing conditions (dirt surface trail has frost heaves and dirt mounds up in the middle of the path)
• Needs consistent winter grooming
• Likes narrow wooded trails
• Desire:
• Would like lighted trails in a loop
• Would like curly part of the trail (internal loop) to be groomed and lit
• A trail-head is needed on the North side of the park with a kiosk and a park map
• Selective widening of trails
• Suggest grooming the soccer fields in the winter for skiing
• Partnership: NSAA might be willing to maintain

Clifton Reagle, Skiing

• Wishes to have lit trails

Christa Burg, Dogwalkers

• Appreciate recent improvements, and walkable trails in winter
• Desire:
• Lighted trails would be nice
• Fenced dog area (doesn't need to be large)
• Partial fence along Boniface
• Partnership: Users actively try to keep park clean

Girls Scouts (through a letter)

• Traditionally summer use for Day Camp, but will no longer be using for such

Andrew Lee (through a letter), Arctic Orienteering Club

• Uses park about twice per summer with 60 to 100 attendees for an event
• Has an RJSP map for it's beginner to intermediate users
• Desire:
• Minimizing alterations to little used areas of the park that are ideal for orienteering

Tim Kosednar (through a letter), Alaska Disc Golf Association - ADGA

• Would like an 18-hole disc golf course to be considered
• Very popular activity with 15-20 year olds
• Available course space lags behind demand
• A course could be ready for installation within 1 year (perhaps in area that Girl Scouts are vacating)
• 100 rounds of play a day might be expected during the summer
• 1 or 2 official events per year, and maybe a weekly league night
• ADGA would maintain the course and there is a potential partnership with King Career Center for maintenance and improvements

The Stakeholder presentations took longer than anticipated so Committee Members were asked to send their top 5 priorities to Suzanne by Friday, February 4th.  The results would then be compiled and we would use the 3rd meeting to achieve a prioritized plan.

IMPORTANT - VIP MEETING #3 HAS BEEN RESCHEDULED TO FEBRUARY 23RD FROM 6 – 8 PM AT WILLIWAW ELEMENTARY LIBRARY – please adjust your calendars.

Russian Jack Springs Park VIP Committee Holds Its First Meeting - draft summary

Committee Members

 

The first meeting of the north Russian Jack Springs Park VIP committee was held January 19, 2011 at Williwaw Elementary School from 6 – 8 PM. The meeting opened with introductions of the five community council representatives, stakeholder group representatives and others present. 

A brief exercise was conducted that posed the question “what makes a good park?”.  Attendees were asked to write down five items.  Participants provided the following responses that were shared with the group:

• Maximize use of the park year around
• A commitment to long-term maintenance
• A connection to nature
• Trees/nature/wildlife/urban forest
• Open Space
• Usage appeal to community/community appeal
• Safety (not scared to walks through park, not scared of urban forest, structures, facilities, need lighting)
• Calm/relaxing/sense of solitude
• Clean and safe environment
• Accessibility (parking, access to community/users, neighborhood connection from home to trails to park)
• Loud music/concrete areas
•  Involve people/ to develop ownership for improvements
• Park use survey could reveal what elements are used, how much they are used, for how long and during what season
• Park Plan
• Signage
• Trails and trail connectivity
• Cost Effectiveness (ties to park plan)
• Frequent use
• Reuse/creative plan/stimulating elements/non-traditional elements

Answers to "what makes a good park?"

 Park Planner, Suzanne Little reviewed the scope and responsibilities of the Committee and the group selected a Chair, Carla Hadley and Co-Chair, Tim Benitendi. The Committee approved the draft agenda for the meeting with the motion to approve made by Kep Pierce, seconded by Tim Benetendi and approved unanimously by the Committee.

A brief summary was provided of the 1979 Master Plan, the 1997/98 Master Plan Revisions, and the outreach efforts from last summer and fall. The information that was provided is available in various documents that are posted within the Related Files section. The slideshow is available at this link:VIP Meeting 1 Presentation

The committee was presented with a list of improvements that had been identified by public input to date. This list is available in the Related Files section (link: Now/Later Exercise). The list examined the items and addressed their compatibility with existing Master Plan materials.  The Committee was  asked to rank the items as ’Do Now’  or ‘Do Later’ bringing the paperwork to the next meeting for compilation.

The intent is that this exercise will provide a first level of analysis for potential improvements, with additional ranking and analysis to happen at the second meeting.

The Committee concurred that it would be useful to hear brief reports from stakeholder groups and the Committee was asked to consider what information stakeholder groups needed to provide.  The Committee suggested having the stakeholder groups answer the following questions:

• how the group currently use the park (if they do),
• how they would like to use the park in the future and
• how the group does already or proposes to partner with the MOA to provide services or bring the facility to wider use
• how the group can or does cooperatively utilize park facilities with other users

The list of potential stakeholders that will be contacted for the next meeting may include the following (assuming groups exist for some):

• Tennis
• Soccer
• Softball
• Skiing
• Biking
• Disc Golfing
• Running
• East High School
• Volleyball
• Orienteering
• Horshoes
• Girl Scouts

Stakeholder Group Brainstorming

An initial plan for three 2-hour meetings was developed with the goal of completing a supported prioritized plan of action by the end of the 3rd meeting.  The Committee may choose to hold additional meetings to achieve the goal of completing a supported prioritized plan of action.

The Agenda for the second meeting will be set in consultation with the Chair and Vice-Chair of the Committee.

The next meeting is scheduled for February 2nd at 6 PM at Williwaw Elementary School.

The third meeting is scheduled for February 16th at 6 PM at Williwaw Elementary School.

P&R Meeting with Northeast Community Council

Parks and Recreation Department Director John Rodda attended the Executive Committee Meeting of the Northeast Community Council (NECC) on January 6th 2011 to listen and respond to concerns about Russian Jack Springs Park. The Community Council President, Kevin Smestad opened the meeting to any person outside the Executive Committee who might wish to attend. Attendees expressed vehement concern about the safety clearing accomplished in the Summer of 2010 along the major paved trails in both North and South parts of the Park in which sight lines were created. Mr. Rodda responded that there were many calls received by his office from people who did not feel safe walking on the main trails in the park. NECC has previously and consistently expressed opposition to tree removal in the park and felt that the clearing was unwarranted and that no one was informed about the action. Additional concerns were expressed about the public process and the mail notification of surrounding residents in the public involvement process conducted to obtain input about needs and desires for improvements in the north part of Russian Jack Springs Park.