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ATV Park Ad Hoc Minutes 06/19/2013 ATV PARK AD HOC COMMITTEE MEETING Growth Management Division , Main Conference Room '�'' 'J,C`� 2885 S Horseshoe Drive Fd �e° �� ��.t- ` Naples,Fla. d - 57 94. June 19,2013 p �, 5:30 P.M. J, c3D I. Call to Order/Roll Call 0 n The ATV Park Ad Hoc meeting was called to order at approximately 5:32 p.m. by Chairman, Joe Pelletier. A quorum was present. Those in attendance were as follows: ATV Park Committee Joe Pelletier, Chairman Jeff Close, Member Jonathan Harraden, Member Mario Menendez, Member Barbra Pinx, Member Greg Westgate, Alternate Member Ed Lukosavich, Alternate Member Not Present: Felix Garcia, Vice Chairman—Excused William Combs, Member—Excused Berry Williams, Parks &Recreation Department Director—Excused Staff: Nick Casalanguida, Growth Management Division(GMD)Administrator Toni Mott, Collier County Manager Property Acquisition Connie Deane, GMD Community Liaison and ATV Park Committee Staff Liaison Tami Buchan, GMD—Minutes II. Adoption of Agenda The agenda was approved as submitted. III. Adoption of the 3/20/13 Meeting Minutes Chairman, Joe Pelletier requested a motion to approve the 3/20/13 minutes. Barbra Pinx: I move to approve. Mario Menendez/Jeff Close: Seconded the motion. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY IV. Old Business—Request for Information/Letters of Interest ATV Park Ad Hoc Committee Meeting June 19,2013/Page 2 of 6 Nick Casalanquida was present for roll call, but had to leave for another meeting. Connie Deane passed out packets to the committee, which included the Request for Information (RFI), and a list of those who were provided the RFI. Connie advised the members that staff are waiting for responses. Connie reported that she had received a phone call from Kevin Podkowka, with the Florida Forest Service, who said there are approximately 1,000 acres in the Picayune Strand State Forest that may be available for ATV use. Kevin Podkowka will have to follow the chain of command and get back to staff with more information. The land is located within Collier County. Connie said Mr. Podkowka from the Forest Service said that because we would be dealing with a government agency on the approximately 1,000 acres in Picayune Strand, it's going to take more than a couple of weeks to obtain more information to provide to the committee. Discussion ensued regarding environmental issues that exist and should be expected to be an issue. Connie asked the committee if anyone had additional addresses that they would like to provide so she can send the letter out to more people. It was sent out initially on 5/31/13. The Parks & Recreation Dept. provided a few more addresses after that date and it was then sent to seven additional entities. A total of 23 contacts have been provided the RFI to date. Connie confirmed that a time limit for responses was put on the letters which was July 1. Chairman Pelletier asked Connie if she had received any other information on potential property for ATV use. Connie said she had received some information from Parks and Recreation Department Director Barry Williams. He had received information/response from Miami-Dade Jet Port property: Jet Port Property Connie advised that Barry Williams had a conflict and was unable to attend the ATV Park Committee meeting. Barry has been working with the Miami-Dade County Parks & Recreation Department staff, and he had hoped to have something by now but unfortunately did not. Miami- Dade Parks & Recreation have advised that they plan to meet with the newly elected Mayor in early July. This needs to be accomplished before they can provide information to Barry Williams. Greg Westgate commented that he had visited the Jetport site, and it was very wet. It was his opinion that the property is not usable for what ATV riders are looking for in Collier County and he recommended that it not be considered. He asked if any of the other committee members had visited the property. Chairman Pelletier said that he had been to the Jetport site and agreed that the property was wet. Jonathan Harraden stated that during the summer rainy season the property stays very wet. It was noted it was all cypress; Jeff Close said the property resembles a lake. Chairman Pelletier asked if there were anymore comments advising that he is not interested in using the Jetport property for ATV riding. No further comments were made. ATV Park Ad Hoc Committee Meeting June 19,2013/Page 3 of 6 V. New Business A. C-43 Reservoir(Hendry County) Lease—Toni Mott Toni provided the information her staff had researched. County staff was advised that there may be some excess property at the South Florida Water Management District's C-43 Reservoir. The majority of the property is currently under a one year lease that would create a delay. It was also noted there could be some environmental issues there as well. Barbra Pinx commented that with agricultural land there would be the same issues that were experienced at the Lake Trafford property. Further discussion ensued regarding the property location being near Alva off SR 80. It was questioned as to why members didn't have any handout information on the proposed Picayune 1000 acres. Connie stated that was because she had just spoken with Kevin Podkowka of the Florida Forest Service in the past day and nothing has been provided by the Florida Forest Service in writing at this point. While Kevin Podkowka would like to set aside 1,000 acres the Florida Forest Service has to go through Tallahassee and their chain of command first. He called to let the Ad Hoc Committee know that he's interested in looking into this. The committee members further discussed assisting with property maintenance, curbing environmental issues, accessibility issues, etc. Terry Cook of Florida Tracks & Trails said that he understood that there was a problem in Picayune Strand because the canals had been filled in. He said that six months of the year it's flooded and the other six months it is dry. Greg said that depending on the amount of rain that we get each year, sometimes it never dries up out there. He said that he tried to ride out there last year and it was just starting to dry out; then we got more rain and it's been wet all year. Mario Menendez stated that the members will have to wait to see if there is even a possibility for use and what is out there. B. Website Update RFI added—Connie Deane Connie stated that the website had been updated with the RFI letter added as a link. Connie asked Ed Lukosavich if he would add the RFI to the Florida Trail Riders website. Ed replied yes he could, noting that he had put some information on there about two months prior. Jeff Close asked Connie if the list of contacts provided to the committee included all the contacts that the RFI was sent to; she confirmed that it was. Connie advised that only one phone call has been received thus far, which was from the Florida Forest Service. He then asked if the committee had received any responses to the letters yet. Connie replied that nothing had been received back in writing,just the Florida Forest Service phone call. ATV Park Ad Hoc Committee Meeting June 19,2013/Page 4 of 6 C. Other Chairman Pelletier asked for any additional new business. Jeff asked if Terry Cook of FT&T had replied to the RFI. Connie said that he is here and perhaps he would like to respond. Terry Cook of Florida Tracks & Trails (FT&T) told the committee that he will be submitting a response package and he apologized to the committee for his behavior the last time he was there. He advised the committee that FT&T plans to begin construction this September. He explained that his park will be built in phases, detailing an overview of each phase. A grand opening date has been tentatively set for Jan. 1, 2014. At that time he plans to open with the initial phase(s) completed. Greg expressed his support for a positive partnership with FT&T Jeff said that he expects extensive legalities involved with such a partnership. He does not want to go through another year of this intensive searching to provide a recommendation and not be any further than the committee is at this point, Barbra said the committee is now moving in the right direction. Chairman Pelletier said that the committee now has permission to look beyond the county's borders having previously gone beyond protocol in looking for property outside Collier County. Barbra stated they had done a great job looking within Collier County. Chairman Pelletier said that $3 million wasn't a lot of money to purchase enough land so they needed to look for the best deal that can be obtained with taxpayer's money. He is anxious to see the offers (responses to the RFI)to determine what the best deal will be. Greg said that the committee needs to look at services offered, too. Mario said we're not there yet. Terry Cook, of FT&T, further explained the amenities planned for FT&T. Barbra expressed concerns about the amount of asphalt planned to be used in his park. Terry explained that asphalt holds up better under high traffic volume which he expects to have at his park. He explained that if he doesn't use asphalt on the trails, then the park will only be usable for six months out of the year, instead of all year long. Terry Cook left the meeting at approximately 6:20 p.m. Barbra suggested that the next committee meeting be held after the RFI closing date. Chairman Pelletier stated (for the record) the RFI closing date was 7/1/13 at noon. Chairman Pelletier suggested a tentative date of 7/17/13. The committee agreed to that date. Toni Mott stated that she won't be available. Connie will let the committee know if the date works for Nick Casalanguida and Barry Williams. Jon said that he feels the money could possibly be used for safety classes for kids and suggested perhaps 100 acres could be obtained to set something up. Greg said he would support safety classes. Barbra told the committee that the $3 million was designated for use in a certain way and can't be split up to be spent any other way. ATV Park Ad Hoc Committee Meeting June 19,2013/Page 5 of 6 Greg and Ed both mentioned that they think Florida Rides and/or Honda offers safety classes or some similar items. Greg made mention of other off road parks that have safety courses/classes. The committee agreed that safety was a big concern and would look at the RFI's to see what safety services they may offer. Barbra reiterated that the money can't be split up for use on different items. Chairman Pelletier asked for any additional questions.No further questions were brought forth. D. Public Comment Rob White from the Redneck Yacht Club asked about the RFI. He was concerned about exposing their financial information. Barbra told Rob that there are no requests for financials in the RFI. Connie suggested that the group provide whatever information they felt best represented the activities on their property. E. ATV Park Committee Next Meeting Date—Quarterly Meetings The next meeting is tentatively scheduled for July 17, 2013 at 5:30 p.m. F. Adjournment A motion was made and seconded to adjourn the meeting. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY Having no further business, the meeting was officially adjourned at 6:40 p.m.