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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2023-02-14-Park-Board-Packet Director’s Report | February 14, 2023 Active Projects Below is a list of CCPR’s major projects categorized by status. Details, if relevant and not covered as an agenda item, follow within this report. Planning Stage 1) Chinese Garden 2) Interlocal Cooperation Agreement Amendments/Capital Funding Strategy 3) Japanese Garden Expansion (City/Township led project) 4) Monon Community Center Indoor Playground 5) Thomas Marcuccilli Nature Park Master Plan 6) Thomas Marcuccilli Nature Park/Wellhead Overlooks (funded by Carmel Utilities) 7) The Waterpark’s Next Splash Plan 8) White River Pedestrian Bridge 9) White River Corridor/Hamilton County South River District (in coordination with Hamilton County Tourism, Conner Prairie, and Hamilton County Parks & Recreation) 10) White River Greenway North Extension Procurement or Contracting Stage 11) 2024-2028 Comprehensive Parks and Recreation Master Plan 12) Bear Creek Park/Albany Village Donation (closing on property) 13) Central Park/Interurban Trail Connection & Trailhead Enhancements (funded by CRC) 14) Waterpark Cabanas 15) West Park – The Core Shelters 16) West Park – The Groves Perimeter Trail 17) White River Greenway Central Extension – Phase 1 Construction Pending 18) Central Park Lagoon Trail Construction/Project in Progress 19) Monon Community Center Guaranteed Savings Projects 20) Monon Greenway Structure #7 Director’s Report | February 14, 2023 Page 2 21) Monon Greenway Structure #12 Substantially Complete with Punch List Items Remaining 22) Central Park Dog Park Trail Expansion 23) Meadowlark Park Improvements 24) Monon Greenway Improvements from City Center Drive to Gradle Drive (City/Township led project) 25) River Heritage Park Phase I Improvements 26) West Park – The Core Improvements Final Completion Achieved (for projects identified as active last month) Not applicable Park Closures at a Glance Status of parks with projected reopening dates (if applicable). PARK STATUS PROJECT NOTES REOPENING DATE Monon Greenway (Carmel Drive to 116th Street) Closed AT&T fiber line relocated. Weather and water levels of creek have prevented installation of new culvert. TBD Monon Greenway (Smoky Row to Hagan- Burke Trail) Closed This is a City-led project to replace Structure #7 and improve stormwater north of Smoky Row in coordination with the North End subdivision development. TBD Central Park Thanks to the keen observation of Neil Whitehead (one of our Park Operations Managers) who noticed a congregation of Duke Energy employees and contractors parked in the East Woods trailhead, we learned that Duke is planning to replace their poles for a high-voltage transmission line that traverses through the east side of Central Park along the path of the former Interurban Railroad. This power line starts at Duke’s substation located off 111th Street. It is largely contained within the residential property of our park neighbors south of Central Park Drive East and continues north within the park along the eastern side of the Interurban Trail before crossing 116th Street. Duke has an easement for this transmission line dating back to 1939 and 1948, and therefore, has the right to replace the poles and clear vegetation within the easement that conflicts with access or the safety of the transmission line. The greatest impact to the park will be where the line crosses Central Park East Drive and along the Interurban Trail. While there is no scenario in which we can avoid closing the Interurban Trail while utility work is occurring, CCPR is stressing that Central Park Drive East must Director’s Report | February 14, 2023 Page 3 remain open for park visitors. CCPR will confirm with legal counsel, but the easement appears to require Duke to repair at their cost any damages resulting from their project. The Duke project, which is anticipated to take 6-12 months at minimum, will likely impact the timeline for the Interurban Trailhead enhancement, which is being funded and constructed by the CRC as part of the agreement for The Corner project. We were originally targeting the trailhead to be completed before fall 2023, but this will be dependent on Duke’s progress. The transmission line project may also impact the placement of the connecting trail between The Corner and the Interurban Trail, which is necessary for The Corner to meet egress requirements based on their building permits. Since this impacts a CRC project, Corporation Counsel has been assisting the CRC and the City in trying to mitigate any conflicts with the Duke transmission line and easements. On a more positive note, CCPR had a kickoff meeting with Baumgartner Asphalt on 1/26/2023 for the trail project that will complete the Lagoon Trail Loop. This project will begin as soon as weather breaks and is anticipated to be completed in time for use this summer. Chinese Garden Attended School Board meeting on 1/30/2023 to present the idea of developing a Chinese Garden on Carmel Elementary School property south of the new Carmel Clay Public Library parking garage. Received consent from Carmel Clay Schools (CCS) to develop a concept plan for the proposed garden which will be presented to the School Board and Park Board at their meetings in March or April 2023. If the School Board consents to development of a Chinese Garden at this location after reviewing the concept plan, a management agreement will be prepared that will need to be approved by the respective boards. CCPR has entered into an agreement with Purdue University to have Dr. Yiwie Huang and some of her students in landscape architecture to develop the concept plan for the proposed garden. Dr. Huang and her students will facilitate stakeholder meetings, focus groups, and a survey to solicit input to help inform their design. Comprehensive Parks & Recreation Master Plan The kickoff meeting for the new park system master plan will be on 2/21/2023. Staff will meet with representatives from PROS Consulting to review the scope, finalize timelines, and begin strategizing the critical public input process. Dog Park Also presented a proposal and preliminary concept plan to the School Board at their 1/30/2023 to seek consent to explore developing a dog park, community garden, and trails on school property located at the southwest corner of Main Street and River Road. Received notification from CCS on 2/8/2023 that we do not have support for the preliminary plan as proposed. CCS expressed some openness to considering a plan if vehicular access and parking is off Main Street instead of River Road, as originally envisioned, and the dog park kept as far west as possible. Based on preliminary discussions with the City and Weihe Engineers, this adjustment in location may present Director’s Report | February 14, 2023 Page 4 insurmountable challenges to secure the necessary permits. CCPR will continue investigating, but the inability to use the higher land off River Road for parking infrastructure and the dog park will likely rule this site out as a viable location for an east side dog park. On 1/18/2023, staff visited an approximately 2-acre property adjacent to Carmel Creek near the southeast corner of 116th Street and Rangeline Road that was offered by a resident as a location for a dog park. The City Forester and a representative from the City’s Engineering Department responsible for stormwater management and permitting within the floodway/floodplain also walked the site with CCPR staff. Proximity to our existing dog park, neighboring residences, and topography of the site all create impediments to developing this location as a dog park. As an alternative to a dog park, we also evaluated the Carmel Creek site as a potential nature preserve with the potential for a future trail. The City Forester determined that the site has some good trees and its location within a riparian corridor contributes to the natural attributes. One challenge is that the eastern end of the property is bisected from the western portion by a decent size drainage swale, creating potential challenges for maintaining the eastern section, especially if any trees become hazardous and need to be removed in the future. It also adds to the cost of constructing a trail by adding the need for at least one bridge to create an effective loop trail most preferred by park visitors. The Park Board has historically only accepted or acquired parkland that is at least 5 acres in size, unless it is contiguous with an existing park or greenway. While the property is close to Central Park, the lack of connectivity to the park or the ability to create a greenway system, along with the previously identified factors, makes this site of limited value for inclusion in the park system. Orientations/Park Tours Met with new Park Board members Carrie Hollie and Kristin Kouka on 2/2/2023 to provide a general orientation of CCPR funding and operations, as well as a tour of the park system. Also provided a tour of the park system to new City Councilor Teresa Ayers on 1/26/2023. If any existing Park Board member would like to have a similar tour of the parks, please contact Sandi Young to arrange a date. Please allow 4 hours for the tour. A lot has changed over the past couple of years, so this is a great way to check out the reimagined parks and see firsthand the locations of the future improvements we have in store. Staff Reports Based on the feedback received from the Park Board at the 1/17/2023 workshop, I am working with the senior management team to identify how best to streamline staff reports and incorporate key metrics that are helpful for the Park Board. Once staff has prepared recommendations and sample reports, I will convene a committee comprised of senior management and several Park Board members to review. This meeting will likely occur in Q2. Director’s Report | February 14, 2023 Page 5 Thomas Marcuccilli Nature Park CCPR finally received a solid draft of the Thomas Marcuccilli Nature Park (TMNP) Master Plan from MKSK on 1/12/2023. After reviewing the draft, CCPR provided some edits and has been working closely with MKSK to wrap up the report. It is now anticipated the final draft will be complete in time to present to the Park Board at its March meeting. West Park Bids will be opened on 2/17/2023 for construction of three picnic shelters and installation of the 116th Street perimeter path from the entry drive to Jill Perelman Pavilion to near the park’s western boundary. Presuming all goes well, we anticipate bringing a recommendation to the Park Board at the March meeting. Construction on both projects is anticipated to begin in the spring with the goal of having everything completed for use in summer 2023.