Parks & Recreation Advisory Committee

Prospect Parks & Recreation Advisory Committee 

Virtual Meeting Minutes

February 16, 2022, 2:00 pm via WebEx

Members Present:  Carolyn Embry, John Evans, Ron Cundiff, Sarah O’Dell, Linda Wardell

Members Absent:  Lynn Granger, David Holmes, Sallie Schneider

Others Present:  Doug Farnsley, Don Gibson, Lee Tucci

The meeting was called to order shortly after 2 pm

• Minutes from the two January meetings were distributed to committee members, but no action was taken as there was not a quorum.
• Mayor’s Update
  • Mayor Evans reported that a budget amendment will be presented for first reading at the February City Council meeting.  The amendment will propose funds for the police department to replace radios and firearms.  There will also be funds proposed for public works, which will include some park projects.
• Parks Update:
  • Linda reported that her request for the American Recovery Program Act (ARPA) funds for this fiscal year included $82,000 for the Harrods Creek Bridge project and $3,000 for invasive plant removal of the lesser celandine in Little Hunting Creek Park and Putney Pond & Woodlands.  The invasive work must be done in March before the plant flowers.  Linda had advice from the Olmsted Parks Conservancy that it is basically impossible to eliminate it from stream banks, but it would make sense to remove it from upland areas.  Ron expressed his opinion that we should observe how widespread it is this spring and decide later if this is a plant we want to tackle. 
  • ICF has completed its contracted invasive plant treatments in Hunting Creek Park.  They have stump cut and treated basically all of the trails.  They have done follow-up foliar spraying of the Blue Trail uphill from the trail and between the Blue Tail and the road to the parking lot.  Next fiscal year, if the budget is available, they will foliar spray between the Blue and Orange Trails, and along the Orange, Red, and Green Trails.
  • ICF will complete their contracted work to stump cut and treat invasive plants along the shore of Putney Pond in March.
  • After consulting with ICF about the other invasive plants brought to our attention by Jacquelyn McGrail, it appears that all could be treated by foliar spraying.  However, they do not advise treating Japanese Small Carpet Grass, as it is basically impossible to eliminate.  The Japanese Chaff Flower and the Fountain Grass in Harrods Creek Park can be treated when they do follow-up foliar spraying next fiscal year.
  • The remaining current year's parks budget is planned to be spent on the following:
    • Replace two-foot bridges on the Blue Trail.  Ron has been in touch with Jack Broghamer to get a proposal.
    • Preliminary work by OHM to allow us to get bids for the Blue Trail stream crossing improvement, and trail repairs on the Green Trail.  The preliminary work will be in the $3-5K range.  Depending on the remaining budget, it is possible that one or both of these projects could be done in this fiscal year.
    • Eagle Scout project reimbursements.
    • Equipment, such as leaf blowers, is needed for park maintenance.
• Scout Update:
• Seth Jolly will replace the first bridge on the woodland trails in Putney Pond & Woodlands as his eagle project.  The bridge location will be moved slightly, and the trail rerouted to the new location.
• For his eagle project, Levi Lucas will update the trail mileage marker on the Orange Trail in Harrods Creek Park and will also put gravel on the connector trail from the parking lot to the Blue Trail.
• There was much discussion about bringing back the wildflower walks.  Linda will contact Jacquelyn McGrail about leading them again this year.
• The next meeting will be on Monday, March 14 at 5:00 pm.