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FINAL- CASE Committee Minutes 21-05-20CASE COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES THURSDAY, MAY 20, 2021 VIRTUAL ZOOM MEETING CASE COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES, MAY 20, 2021 PAGE 1 | 3 1. ROLL CALL Present- Committee Members: Lisa Mattis, Pedro Campos, Chris Cofelice, Justin Chesney, Ruth Stanley, Kathy Ryan and Thomas Walsh Town Council: Mayor Pro Tem Amy Phillips and Council Member Lindsay Hardy Town Staff: Cultural, Arts and Special Events Manager Danita Dempsey, Town Manager Eric Heil, Planning Director Matt Pielsticker, General Government Manager Ineke de Jong and General Government Intern Emily Myler 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Committee Member Stanley moved to approve the CASE meeting minutes from April 15, 2021. Committee Member Walsh seconded the motion and Committee Chair Lisa Mattis took a vote. The motion passed unanimously. 3. PUBLIC COMMENT Sarah Straub, a local Avon resident, joined the meeting and commented on how complicated it is to make public policy and decide on how best to improve Harry A. Nottingham Park. She requested as much green space as possible, improved parking and increased maintenance. 4. CURRENT ACTIVITY CASE Manager Dempsey introduced Planning Director Pielsticker and Town Manager Heil, who led the discussion of Harry A. Nottingham Park (“Park”) improvements. Committee Member Campos also joined as a member of Zehren & Associates, who provided conceptual plans for the Park. East Harry A. Nottingham Park Improvements Town Manager Heil introduced the plans. He said Park improvements are part of a 10-year plan for Avon and the plans are designed to take on many years of use as Avon grows and changes. He took the comments made by Sarah Straub to heart and is conscious of going over the capacity limits. The staff working on the plans have to balance getting as much use out of the Park as possible without overprogramming it so it no longer feels like a public park. The Committee Commented/inquired: A. Why is Avon not considering an AstroTurf field if there may be environmental benefits? Town Manager Heil said the Town is conscious of water shortages in Colorado and has many plans to combat that. Right now, the Park is priority for water use as a valuable community asset, but it is possible alternatives to real grass may be part of the conversation in the future if conditions continue to get worse. Planning Director Pielsticker said his department will collect comments from the Committee and bring them to the Planning and Zoning Commission and Council over the summer. He directed focus to the first page of the packet where opportunities for art, circulation, storage, restrooms, and power are highlighted, but he is also interested in hearing comments on the entire packet. He is hoping planning will conclude at the end of this summer, and construction can begin summer of 2022. Committee Member Campos shared his screen and went over four conceptual design diagrams for the Park. The Committee Commented/inquired: CASE COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES THURSDAY, MAY 20, 2021 VIRTUAL ZOOM MEETING CASE COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES, MAY 20, 2021 PAGE 2 | 3 A. Can Town Manager Heil speak more to what he feels are wants vs. needs for the Park? B. Having a permanent concessions space is a need. C. Permanent concessions may need to wait to allow for more important things. D. The fourth concept is nice because it includes concessions and also a controllable entrance to the Park to prevent outside alcohol coming in. E. Sarah Straub commented she didn’t think concessions are needed at this time. F. Concessions are more of a want since vendors usually come in with their own trucks or trailers. G. Residents that live close to/in the park don’t want multi-day events in the park. H. The fit court should stay where it is because it doesn’t need to be close to parking. Instead of putting the fit court on the East side of the Park nearby parking, that space should be used for something else that needs that proximity to the parking lot. I. If the concessions stand fits, why not do it? Town Manager Heil clarified that a new concessions space would be mainly used by the Town for bar operations and third- party food vendors will not be using it. It would be beneficial to have the space dedicated to the Town’s concessions needs to minimize setup and teardown time for Town events staff. The downside is that a fixed concessions space can’t be tailored to the needs of specific event layouts. The Town’s alcohol sales will be used to support special events programming. A. Concept four is nice because it keeps the trees, and it shows art and focal points. B. What would a multi-use plaza look like? C. Having an ice machine close by would be a huge help for beverage sales. D. A paved plaza may not be a need compared to keeping lots of green space. E. The fitness courts are great where they are now under the trees. Working out right next to a parking lot with no shade is not as nice. F. The walkway is a great spot to put art like what is on the Main Street Mall. G. Buildings should be art. H. Concept four is great and rotating it would take advantage of the view of Beaver Creek Mountain. I. The spot in concept four where Parks and Recreation Storage is located would also be a great passive spot. J. The cabin could be a place to have concessions since there are already ice skate rentals there. K. The south parkway needs more trees. L. Parking should be its own plan, right now it is important to focus on the Park itself. M. Is restroom capacity of 2,000 users the right number to aim for? Where else can restrooms go? N. Making concessions easier with a permanent stand that handles four service lines will reduce costs of labor and attract/retain more staff to run them. O. Beverage and food concessions should be separated with restrooms in between to prevent congestion. P. A blend of concepts one and four with an orientation towards Beaver Creek and nice walking paths would help incentivize people in nearby homes to walk to events instead of drive. Q. It is difficult to envision the view with the old Town Hall still in the way. The concepts have been designed to take advantage of the view with the building gone. R. It feels like there needs to be more prioritization and sacrifice in the plans to do this well. CASE COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES THURSDAY, MAY 20, 2021 VIRTUAL ZOOM MEETING CASE COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES, MAY 20, 2021 PAGE 3 | 3 Town Manager Heil said that Town Council has specifically directed staff to add more bathrooms and replace the retaining wall so those are the two baseline projects. Bathrooms should serve at least 2,000 people. There is also a need for event asset and secure alcohol storage nearby the venue, a gray water dump for vendors and shelter from inclement weather. He also expressed that relocating the fit court is between a want and need, because it is close by the children’s playground so there is a risk that kids will play on it and get hurt. It would be valuable to have a space to store and sell concessions for events, but more discussion is needed to decide if that is a want or a need as events are only a portion of what the Park is used for. The plaza and multi-use court are both more wants than needs. Both additional green space and parking are needs. He also said that the most helpful comments from the Committee would revolve around use of the space and how to add art to it. He was not sure where else the Parks garage can be located that doesn’t take up a valuable space close to the stage but allows for increased park maintenance. There is also need for a second green room and/or a space with a shower and kitchenette for Recreation use where the Cabin is currently located. Council Member Hardy added that the Planning and Zoning Commission never approved the current location of the fit court. Committee Member Campos said that the multi-use plaza can be whatever is needed, but it isn’t a field. It would be valuable for it to be space to just hand out since most of the rest of the park has some sort of dedicated use. CASE Manager Dempsey said she likes concepts one and four. Concept one promotes passive space and includes restrooms. Concept four’s multi-use plaza may not be useful all year long and would take away parking. Concessions will be very successful but also very time consuming in the future, but right now it may be able to wait in deference to more immediate needs. It is important to also consider how this new space will interact with the upcoming West Recreation Center parking lot and the old Firehouse. The Cabin could be moved or added on to and that space used for storage. 6. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 2:00 p.m. Respectfully submitted by: Emily Myler General Government Intern