City of Fulton Parks Ad Hoc Committee met August 21.
Here is the minutes as provided by the committee:
Attendees (committee members):
• Jackie Wilkin
• Brad Houzenga
• Katie French
• Kathy Kuebel
• Zack Ratcliff
Jackie welcomed everyone on the ad hoc committee. Went over the mission statement for the group, timeline involved (final presentation deadline of December 2nd), and review of ideas & suggestions (previously given to Jackie) from Mayor Ottens.
Committee selected Zack Ratcliff as the secretary to keep meeting notes / minutes.
Committee agreed that any grand re-design of School Park would be best formulated by a landscape architect with input from the committee that is gathered directly and indirectly from the Fulton public. Ancillary to that thought process, gathering support from the city council and mayor to approve funds to hire the landscape architect when the appropriate time comes. Using the designs and layouts of the architect to present various options of a re-design: informally referred to Design A, Design B, and Design C – to both the city council, mayor, and public in general. There was also discussion that once that point was reached, we could then use that design layout in potentially applying for grants and fundraising to help offset some of the total cost of implementation of said design. The committee recognized that this will involve a long-term plan that may need to be implemented in various stages.
The committee did a review of the items that the City Council previously authorized (in the 8/12/19 meeting) for School Park. Most of the items seem to be movable items that could be incorporated into a re-design – where those items may be located in a different physical location within the park. The committee would like to ensure that these items can be moved in the future. The concern among the committee is the model of the Handicap swing that was previously presented to the City Council and public during the 8/12/19 meeting. The concern being the safety and accessibility of that particular model. It was shared that someone from the city (police? Public works?) would have to come and physically unlock the handicap swing “gate” each time it would want to be used. It also appears to need two adults – in addition to the person in the swing – to operate this model.
The committee is universal in its support for a handicap accessible swing – and certainly appreciative of the generous donation from the Kiwanis Club to fund the purchase – but wonders if the currently suggested model is the best option for the park and the desired usage.
The committee wants to solicit public input, ideas, and suggestions from the citizens across all age demographics. We would like to see the School Park as a multi-generational use park. How can we incorporate items to the School Park block to accommodate toddlers, grade school, teenagers / young adults, families, and older adults. To gather this public input, we discussed using both online (social media) and traditional (mailers and public meetings/ interactions at the park) forums that give options for various age demographics and encourages participation.
We assigned ourselves various tasks / action items to complete, to further our discussions above, before our next Ad Hoc committee meeting. Which we have scheduled for Wednesday August 28th at 7:30pm at City Hall.
https://www.cityoffulton.us/public-meetings/public-meeting-minutes/city-of-fulton-parks-ad-hoc-committee-meeting-minutes-august-21-2019.html
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