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ATV Park Ad Hoc Minutes 12/04/2012 F F� All Terrain Vehicle (ATV) Park Ad Hoc Committee Meeting C cis Main Conference Room o ,4y O-v 2885 S.Horseshoe Drive �- F /3 Naples,FL 34104 N0497 �D Dec.4,2012 5:30 P.M. 0„ Chairman-Joe Pelletier Vice Chair-Felix Garcia Jeff Close William Combs Jonathan Harraden Mario Menendez Barbra Pinx Meeting Minutes for 12-4-12 Regular Meeting Start: 5:40 p.m. End: 6:56 p.m. Location: 2885 S Horseshoe Dr,Main Conference Room Meeting Attendance: Joe Pelletier,Jeff Close,Mario Menendez,Felix Garcia,Barbra Pinx,Jonathan Harraden,Hans Russell,Connie Deane,Valerie Kullick Absent: William Combs Also present were members of the public: Peter Fagan,Terry Cooke,Tom Castro,Alan Castro,Scott Perez,Greg Westgate,Keith Larson,Ed Lukosavich Meeting called to order by Joe Pelletier,Chairman. I. Call to Order The ATV Park Ad Hoc Committee meeting was convened at 5:40 p.m. by Joe Pelletier. A quorum was present. Roll Call was taken.Attendance noted above. II. Adoption of Agenda A motion was made by Barbra Pinx to adopt the agenda as presented. Motion was seconded by Jonathan Harraden and motion passed unanimously. III. Adoption of Minutes A. September 12,2012 Meeting(Carrie Williams discussion) Joe asked if everybody had looked at the drafts of the minutes provided and asked if there were any changes or questions they may have.Barbra made a motion to accept the 9/12/12 minutes as presented,seconded by Mario,approved unanimously. B. October 17,2012 Meeting(Devils Garden Presentation) 1 Joe asked if anybody had any changes or questions on the October 17, 2012 minutes. No one did- Barbra made a motion to accept the 10/17/12 minutes as presented,seconded by Mario,approved unanimously. C. October 20, 2012 Meeting(Winchester Lakes Property Tour) Joe asked if anybody had any changes or questions on the October 20,2012 minutes. Connie had a question she has been trying to get answered. There is an abbreviation in the third paragraph from the bottom on page two. PAR- ...owners who would like to donate their property to PAR for expansion...-Connie wonders if it stands for Parks and Recreation. Hans confirmed that it did stand for Parks and Recreation,though it was a somewhat unusual form of abbreviation for it. Mario made a motion to accept the minutes with a change made from PAR to Parks and Recreation. The motion was seconded by Jonathan and it was approved unanimously. IV. Old Business Discussion of last week's presentation about Florida Tracks and Trails Joe commented that during the last meeting,Florida Tracks and Trails (FTT) made a presentation and Peter Fagan and Terry Cooke were here at the meeting tonight if anybody had any further questions.Joe asked Connie if she had any of the information packets left from last week's meeting -Connie confirmed that she did and went to her office to get them. Joe asked who was not present last week and Barbra and Jonathan said they had not been present. Joe told them about the packet each member received last week with the information about the park.Speaking for himself,he told them that he had been impressed with the presentation and plans for the park from last week's meeting.They came as members of the public tonight and are willing to answer any additional questions anyone may have. Connie returned with the presentation board/aerial map for the proposed park. Joe said that FTT currently has 1,000 acres with another 500 acres secured. Barbra asked if they had an option on the 500 and the answer was yes.Barbra explained she worked for SFWMD (South Florida Water Management District)and asked if they'd gone through all the permitting process yet. Terry Cooke answered that they had. Joe started a short review of the park for the benefit of the people that were not at last week's meeting. He pointed out the five tracks and the two ATV trails totaling 26 miles on the aerial map, as well as the parking areas and the amphitheater. Terry took over and gave a brief overview of the park;he pointed out Area 1 which is a 14 mile track and Area 2 which is a 12 mile track. All trails are one direction. Ed Lukosavich read that no coolers were allowed.He wants to know more about the alcohol policy of the park. Terry said that he has an alcoholic beverages permit for the whole park. However,he feels strongly that in order to control the environment of the park,he has to control everything that is in the environment. They have been working on a colored band system for the park that will allow drinking in certain areas at certain times.He said they will allow drinking in the park but not allow drunks.He said their system will be enforced-with vendors given full authorization to not serve people who have had too much.He's not sure of the final 2 procedure that will be followed yet,but it was being discussed and will be implemented and enforced. Ed asked about ATVs and motorcycles using the trail system. Terry said that they would probably keep them on separate trails-it just depends on the amount of motorcycles versus ATVs.He said they would probably switch them up-maybe ATVs on the lower trail in the morning and motorcycles upper and switch them in the afternoons.Maybe switch them two times or four times per day.He's not certain yet. Barbra wanted to know if they were going to allow larger vehicles (than ATVs,motorcycles,side-by-sides) in the park. Terry said no-he said there are plenty of spots for the bigger trucks to go.He realizes that he cannot make 100%of the people happy-he's aiming for 98%. Barbra also questioned taking Collier County money to Charlotte County- wondered how that was going to go over. Joe said that that is why we have this committee-to explore all the options and figure out what is most beneficial for Collier County residents. If Collier County decides to take part in this deal,all the details would need to be worked out. Ed wanted to know how far the park was from the interstate.Terry replied 11 miles.There was then an inquiry about parking(for motor homes,etc.).Terry said they have ample parking-he pointed out that there are four (4)-one thousand car parking lots,which they plan on using for concerts and events,as well as the large lot for trucks and trailers. Barbra asked about camping areas. Terry showed her the 530 site camp areas on the map.He said it was divided into two areas -east and west. The west campground is for families,the east for people without children. There are bathrooms,showers and a swimming pool only for people using the campgrounds.He also added that they will have a repair shop with certified technicians on site.They will have security patrolling the parking area on six wheeled vehicles.They will be working with Charlotte County Emergency Medical Services (EMS) for medical issues (as required by the county).Terry also showed the children's track they will have for kids age 12,or age 10,and under(not decided yet). This will be a safe area for children riding the smaller 50cc bikes. Barbra asked how funded they are right now with the project.The response was about a third of the way. They have many meetings scheduled for the next ten days.Peter said they have the$11.3 million dollar piece of land under their control,with an estimated$10 million dollars for development of phase one. The second phase will be the water park and zip lines. Terry said the reason they returned to the meeting tonight was to see if the committee took them seriously last week. He said they are going to get this park done and is more than happy to go over facts and answer any other questions the committee may have. He thinks the park has everything the committee is looking for(and then some) for Collier County residents. Barbra agreed and felt that the$3 million dollar budget the committee has will not provide the means to find their own park. She thinks it will have to be some sort of private/public partnership. She wondered what Barry Williams from Parks and Recreation felt about this presentation,but no one had spoken with him at this point. Joe said that Terry made an offer to give a of tour the property whenever it was convenient for the committee. Terry said he had even drawn up some waivers if people wanted to bring their own ATVs for the tour.Otherwise,he has buggies that are higher up and can be sued to tour the 3 property.It was discussed and Joe thought that buggies would probably be better-because of the noise and wearing helmets-that would make it more difficult to discuss the property. Greg wondered if any part of the property was developed or utilized yet. Peter replied that it was not built yet.The trail system is not developed. Terry said they have the right to be on the property, some areas are cleared and there are tracks they can use when touring. They are aiming for March, 2013 for a ground breaking date. Terry thinks they can have the trails open in about six month's time. They are aiming for a Jan. 1, 2014 Grand Opening day.He thinks construction will go quickly once they start. There are several different contractors that will start on different areas as soon as they are ready.He said the tracks will probably take 90-120 days,paintball 90 days-the trails will probably be the easiest. Tom Castro brought up the fact that he thinks it has to be determined if the Board will let them spend their money out of county.Barbra said that this money that is earmarked for the ATV Park is state money and is specifically dedicated for this purpose. She said it is money that SFWMD gave to Collier County to do a public/private partnership.It is state money(taxpayer money)dedicated for ATVs. Tom also mentioned that if we did find a place in Collier County,we would have to think of what it would cost to maintain it and run it.Mario agreed and said that it would take a lot of develop and maintain (vendors,licensing,insurance,equipment,etc). This is already provided with a park in place. Joe wanted to talk about a date to tour the property as soon as possible.They discussed several dates in December and January. It was determined that most will be able to make Dec. 15-and have a quorum attend. They felt the sooner the better.Barbra made a motion to have the tour on Dec. 15,Jeff seconded the motion and it passed. It was decided to meet around 9 a.m.at the North Collier Regional Park Administration Building. Connie will e-mail Barry to see if he will be able to drive that day and will e-mail details to committee members. A. Discussion of key items to include in progress summary to Board of County Commissioners (BCC) Some general discussion of what needs to be presented to the BCC followed. They talked about at which meeting this should occur. Connie said there was a meeting on the fourth Tuesday in February and all thought that would be a good time. Felix thought the main point to make to the Board was that we have explored many options and will need to enter into some sort of partnership to be able to do the most we can with the money we have. Most members thought that it would not be possible to buy property and start a place from scratch-they just don't have enough money or backing. We have to present the conclusions we have come to in the times that we have met. They asked Hans if the committee could get an updated map with the properties they have looked at or pursued and the response we have received on inquiries. Tom Castro suggested that during the presentation to the Board,you let them know how much equipment would cost to start and maintain a park,as well as all other costs involved. Joe suggested if anybody had any thoughts or comments on this matter,they should e-mail Connie. B. Alternative Members Status-Connie Deane 4 Connie received four applications tonight for the two alternate member positions. She hopes we can provide an executive summary to the BCC in the next few months to approve the recommendation of the two alternative positions once the committee has a chance to determine their choices. V. New Business A. Discussion with Mitch Hutchcraft with Consolidated Citrus/King Ranch incorporated in Fort Myers. Hans introduced Mitch Hutchcraft,who represents Consolidated Citrus,which controls a number of different business entities. Mitch was kind enough to respond to our initial inquiries on property use for an ATV park. Hans said most of the land they represent was citrus, but perhaps there could be fringe property with long term lease possibilities.It is just something to explore. Mitch introduced himself and said that when he was first contacted, his initial impression was negative, but he was willing to be educated and learn a little bit more about what the committee is looking for. Barbra asked what his thoughts were on the FTT park property information we just discussed. Mitch said he came in late and did not see any of the presentation, so he could not comment. He said that what Hans said was correct- they (King Ranch) have some concerns about the project but he didn't know enough about it to say no. He wanted to learn what the committees needs were before deciding. Mitch said that virtually all their property was either in citrus or water management systems (in support of citrus). He said there were some odds and ends around the fringes in native habitat but it is not any significant kind of acreage. He thinks perhaps their citrus land would be over the committee's budget too. He also has concerns about liability and access to the citrus property. He said the property is all owned by King Ranch and they have property in nine counties. He said King Ranch actually reached out to the Water Management District five years ago with an offer of a site in response to this issue and it didn't go anywhere. So that has been taken off the table and put into other uses. Mitch said they have been aware of the issue and has talked to another landowner who is actively pursuing use of his land. He's not sure if we have contacted him but it is Bill McDaniels on SR 82. He may have property we would be interested in. It is in Hendry County close to the borders. Joe explained what we (the committee) were about. He said that we are mostly family oriented people, talking about safety and clean family fun. We have been looking for property to create a simple trail system and have been unable to find something that fits the bill. Mitch said that he hears what is being said and thinks that based on what Joe is saying, it is far more feasible and realistic to partner with someone, rather than starting a park. He thinks that the liability issues for King Ranch would be too great to provide any type of riding park. Mitch said there may be some property in Hendry,in the northeast quadrant of Church Road and SR 82, that may be available. He said about one third is shallow lake, and would need to be cleaned up. Joe thought that would be too much water for a trail system. They discussed some of the problems encountered so far- not enough property acreage, too much water on the land, not enough trees - just bare property, expensive. Felix just wanted to reiterate that he thought they would not be able to do much with the budget that they have. He thinks we will need to join something that is in place. Mitch agreed that what they have in terms of property is not a good fit. He wished the committee luck in finding what they need. 5 Joe asked if there was any new business. He said we did discuss visiting Devils Garden on January 20 because they are having an event. Do we want to continue to follow up with this? Everybody agreed that we should still visit.Connie will pursue that and arrange it. VI. Public Comment Tom Castro advocated that the best use of the money the committee has would probably be to use it in some sort of partnership. Anything else would be huge money. VII. Next Meeting Date The committee discussed possible dates for the January meeting. They decided that the next ATV Ad Hoc Committee meeting will be held on Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2013 at 5:30 p.m., at the GMD Construction and Maintenance building,2885 South Horseshoe Drive,Main Conference Room. VIII. Adjournment A motion was made by Barbra and seconded by Jeff to adjourn and passed unanimously. Having no further business,the meeting was adjourned at 6:56 p.m. 6