City Council - workshop

All right.

Good evening, everyone. A couple of housekeeping items before we get going on the update. Any questions about the update agenda first? Any questions about the formal meeting agenda?

All right.

So who would like to read the land acknowledgement tonight? Do it tonight. All right, we have 7A, which is Rosh Hashanah, and John has asked for that. 7B, which is Yom Kippur, and John has asked for that. Then we have item 14A, which is the temporary moratorium. And then 14B, which is amendment to the budget. Is that you, Chris? Yes, ma'am. Thank you. I think that is it. All right, anything from you?

I have two quick things. We do have received applications for vacancies on the planning commissions. There are two vacancies. We did receive three applications, two applications for one vacancy in Ward 2. and one application for a vacancy in ward three. So your council policy, this is one that it does specify specifically the interviews will be held by the council. You could make a decision to set aside that policy and ask the planning commission to do that interview based on your behalf. October 6th, there are four items that are currently scheduled on that meeting. It appears that we could likely move some items if you wanted to hold those interviews on October 6th.

What is the pleasure, counsel? Do it October 6th? Is everybody okay with that?

Yes, ma'am. So to be clear, you would only be interviewing for the Ward 2? For the Ward 2. Okay. Okay? Yeah, that works. And then thanks. Thank you to council member Russell. He did alert us that Adams County is recruiting more municipal elected officials. for the Adams County Regional Opioid Abatement Council. So my understanding is that previously Councilmember Garcia represented us and then previous Mayor Pro Tem Bigelow was a nominee if a vacancy became open. And then I don't believe a vacancy ever opened after the council had identified her for that scene.

So just to give you a little more background, Peter had reached out and there's just a there's a number of vacancies on that committee just because of turnover with the terms and as well as Mayor Pro Temporel, she passed away and she was also on there. So he hasn't had much luck and he asked me to share with you guys. So

Do you know when the meetings are?

He said there's three left for like this year. They're basically like quarterly. They just had an extra meeting or something like that, I think is what he said, is why there's three instead of two left for the remainder of the year.

Just trying to see if anyone is interested, but they probably need to know day of the week and all that.

It's Thursday. I'll tell you the dates of those meetings. I don't think we can know, but they were on Thursdays.

Letters of interest by September 15.

Yeah, he didn't give me the details in that email he sent me either. Is anyone interested first in participating in this?

I told him that I would be an alternate. Outside of council as well. So he asked if nothing else to be an alternate. We brought the rest forward for somebody that maybe wants to do it full time.

I don't know. We can find out. It's probably during the day. But it's okay. If everybody's okay with it, we can put Chris up as an alternate with a letter of recommendation from the council.

I agree.

Unfortunately, I was looking online. I couldn't find quickly. Yeah. Thursday afternoon.

All right. Looks like we can put him up as an alternate. Thank you for that. Anything else, Dancy?

No, that's it for me. Thank you.

Jessica?

Nothing for me.

Thank you. All right, let's go ahead and jump into our update. First item on the agenda is the parks and rec master plan.

I'll introduce both of these items together because the parks team and our consultants are going to take it from here. So we've had prolonged planning processes just to set the vision for future park recreation, open space and art resources. Both of these plans are scheduled to come to the council on September 22nd for your adoption. We do have the Parks and Recreation Master Plan, which is in your packet, you will have seen is a really lengthy document. And so we have recommended some resources in the budget to continue to further distill and make that a bit more actionable for future budget prioritization kind of activities. So with that, I'll give the floor to Chris Steinke. I do know that our first, the arts and culture master plan consultant was delayed by travel and will be joining us virtually. So with that, Chris, you can take us away.

Thanks, Nancy. Good evening, Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem, city council members. Chris Steinke, Interim Parks and Rec Director. Do some quick introductions here. So we got Bob Keyes, Deputy Director on the far end. Paul Gorkhalter, Special Projects Administrator right next to me. Then we've got Lynn Halston, our Project Manager from HR Green right here. And then Julie Gamick, the Principal Planner from THK and Associates. Those are our two consultants that will be going over the master plan here in a bit. So let's get this thing going here. Okay. The purpose of the presentation, obviously, is to review the consultant's recommendations for the Parks and Rec master plan and the next steps. Our agenda tonight will be looking at the strategic plan alignment, master plan timeline, the consultant findings and recommendations, which we'll be spending the bulk of the presentation going over, prioritization and implementation, and then staff recommendations. So as far as strategic plan alignment is concerned, the parks and rec master plan is woven throughout the strategic plan and touches three of the four focus areas. And the master plan is specifically aligned with the goals listed here with connected communities, vibrant purposeful development, safe, supportive, livable community. Our master plan timeline. The master plan was last updated in 2017. And with the pandemic, we typically update the master plan every five years or thereabouts. But with the pandemic, that progress slowed. And we began the next update in 2024. We did have a touch point with city council in 2025. And we're here the summer of 2026 with a plated master plan. With that being said, I'm going to turn it over to Brent and Julie and let them take it away.

Well, thank you everyone for your time this evening. We really want to thank city council for letting us present this. We want to thank city staff for all of their active participation over this process. And we definitely want to thank the community who on many occasions provided really valuable input to the plan. Oh, my apologies.

You want me to click here? You guys, sorry, my apologies.

So as Chris mentioned, this is an update to the 2017 master plan. The goal really of this plan is to serve as a five to 10 year roadmap. It's meant to be a supplement to the comprehensive plan and work in combination with other plans that the city have developed. The factors for the outlook of this plan really are based on growth, the changing demographics in Thornton and environmental considerations. As the city's footprint expands, this plan is intended to help the city make strategic decisions about how the parks and open space and recreation programs and land acquisitions expand also. So from the very beginning, community and stakeholder engagement was a top priority for the city and it was a top priority throughout the process. The consultant team and city staff on many occasions discussed the best way to engage folks, the best ways to reach out to the multiple different segments of the community. So engagement was really important throughout. We used some traditional methods of outreach, such as T-mail. We had posters at all the rec centers and public locations. We were at most of the community events. We had in-person meetings with folks. And we had some what the consulting world calls contemporary methods of engagement, including direct emails to important people within the city. We had virtual meetings. We had online surveys. And then we used social media quite a bit to get the word out and encourage people to engage with the process and tell us what was the good, bad, and ugly, and really where they wanted to see the park system go. As Chris mentioned, we had a touch point with city council in June of 2025. And at the time, we had several city council members who were quite communicative, especially in a couple of very good ways to reach the Spanish-speaking community. So we were very pleased with not only the input, but we did take that input to heart and reached out to the Spanish-speaking community multiple times through multiple facets. Unfortunately, with... some of the political environment in the last couple of years, a few of our events ended up getting canceled because we didn't want to put the community at risk in any way. But we were able to speak with several Spanish speaking community leaders on multiple occasions and made sure that we were in line with the goals and the vision of that segment of the Thorpe community as well. Other folks that we had the opportunity to talk to, we had a tag group, so a technical advisory group that we engaged multiple times. The online survey had several hundred responses. We had in-field evaluation, so the consulting team was out in the field working on things in addition to getting staff input. We participated at Thornton Fest, Dino Fest. Bryn dressed up as a dinosaur. It was really quite fun. We had Dia de las Muertes, where we came and interacted with the community. We also did market analysis and some benchmarking with Thornton and the surrounding communities to make sure line values and also kind of with the contemporary communities around. And finally, we use the statistically valid survey that Thornton had commissioned in 2023, I believe. So we use that information as well to help support our data. So with all of this input, then what happens to it, right? So we took all of this input. It was all documented in some way, whether that was providing the survey results, providing comment responses. We took all of those and kind of organized them by theme. Oftentimes, in community engagement, four or five or even six themes always kind of rise to the top. We assessed the feasibility of the things that we heard And then we reviewed it for alignment with the goals of the city, with the staff, and with the goals of the community. Ultimately, our objective is to identify needs, understand the perceptions of the community, understand perceived barriers. And we really wanted to identify priorities, goals, and recommendations moving forward. And again, we really look to engage the community at different levels, including the TAG, POZAC, the Latino communities, being at events. And it just gives every person in the community a different way to engage at a level that they're comfortable with. So all of this input led us to the development of the vision and mission statements, which are on the screen and are also in your packet. So really, the vision describes the aspirational features So where do we want to go? In a perfect world, where do we want to get to? The mission defines the purpose. So what it does, for whom it's for, and how we're going to get there. So together, they really form the roadmap for the discussion, the decisions, and the planning process. And with that, I'm going to turn it over to Bryn.

So. together with those results from both in-person engagement events and surveys, as noted by Julie, those indicate that residents envision parks, open spaces, recreation, and community programs that balance new amenities and high quality maintenance, engaging play spaces, strong trail connections, and cultural and environmental enrichment. These community validated priorities provided useful direction for refining the plans, final goals, and recommendations. Now we'll talk a bit about the analysis and inventory and benchmarking component. So during the plan development, the inventory benchmarking and analysis efforts were focused on evaluating the current systems, identifying areas for improvement, and ensuring the plan's goals and recommendations align with the character and community vision of Thornton's Parks and Recreation. Throughout plan development, the consultant team employed data-driven methodologies to inform decision-making, including industry standard metrics and tools such as geographic information systems. Research and data provided by the Trust for Public Lands, ParkServe GIS tool and the National Recreation and Park Association's Agency Performance Review Report were utilized during the planning process to develop benchmarks. Benchmarking allows Thornton to compare the performance of local parks, open spaces, recreation and community programs against nearby communities and national averages, identifying opportunities, setting realistic goals and driving innovation and potentially gaining a competitive edge. While benchmarking is useful, it is important to note that each city has different assets, constraints, and meets community desires in unique ways. According to the Trust for Public Lands ParkServe, Thornton is very accessible, and that is the chart on the left on the screen right now, with 88% of its residents within a 10-minute walk or less of a park in open space. Scores include all parks within a 10-minute walk, which may include parks not owned by Thornton, such as Adams County or an HOA. And then we will jump to the Slide on the chart on the right, which is related to parkland dedication. Parkland dedication is a municipal requirement for developers to set aside a portion of land for public parks and open spaces or pay a cash equivalent to support new residents. It is a mechanism for the city to acquire critical land for more parks and trails that link into the larger city network, which could be extremely expensive or challenging to acquire potentially otherwise. developers dedicate to the city a specific ratio of land within their subdivision for neighborhood parks or green spaces. So the parkland dedication metric provides another way to kind of benchmark Thornton's parks as far as a growing community against similar communities in the area. So Thornton's parkland dedication requirements for new developments are consistent with surrounding communities. This indicates that as Thornton grows as a community, the parkland will be dedicated to the city at a rate similar to some of the neighboring communities. Master plan best practices for parkland acquisition and opportunities as one of those first steps towards successfully meeting the parkland needs of Thornton as a growing community. And that includes partnerships with other agencies such as metropolitan districts, HOAs or other municipalities can be a great way to expand benefits and manage costs. Evaluating the trade-offs and investments that fulfill the community's desires can be a function of timing in specific property owner situations. The plan also emphasizes continuing a culture of operations and care to maintain the city's existing assets and preserve their legacy. For Thornton's existing parks and open spaces to continue delivering wide-ranging benefits, they must be well-maintained and properly operated. The core of Thornton's parks and open spaces and recreation and community programs is the idea of inclusive access for all people to programs, facilities, places, and spaces that positively impact their lives in the community. The components of the plan, as illustrated in a diagram on this slide, are a tool to help government officials, city staff, and community members prioritize future improvements to elevate the role of parks and recreation in the daily lives of Thornton residents now and years to come. plan provides guidance on acquisitions, caring for existing assets, programming, budget and policy direction to our local government decision makers, stakeholders and the community members are equipped with context and understanding to advocate for big ideas and efforts with rippling effects across the community. So the goals and recommendations of the plan provide a structure and accountability to see the big ideas realized in the community at a realistic pace. As noted by the diagram on the slide, the goals and recommendations were informed by multiple inputs, including in-person events, surveys, stakeholder engagements, demographics, projections, benchmarking, and analysis. The goals are intended to articulate the ideals and values to be pursued by the community, are outcome-based, and guide decision-making. Recommendations detail the steps and best practices to achieve the goals. They provide specifics and examples of how the goals could be realized with short, mid, and long-term outlooks. The goals and recommendations were organized into two broad groups, parks and open spaces and recreation and programming. With that, we will jump into the goals. So the goals for parks and open spaces, looking at that kind of 20-year framework of where we'll be in 2046. Lorton's parks and open spaces are diverse and fall along a spectrum from manicured parks to conserved open spaces. Each space uniquely contributes to the community's quality of life and identity and sense of pride. And with that, I'm going to read off real quick the parks and open space goals. A city with parks and open spaces which are accessible, offer comprehensive amenities, and are inclusive for all residents to enjoy regardless of age, ability, or socioeconomic background. A city with recreation, community, and special use centers that are critical hubs of the community developed through a combination of strategic planning, proactive maintenance, community engagement, and a focus on equity, safety, and accessibility. New land for parks and open space is acquired in alignment with long-term acquisition strategies around significant areas of need and growth, including the growth management area from the city of Thornton's comprehensive plan. Regardless of location in Thornton, neighborhoods are within a reasonable 10 minute walk to a park or open space. Significant cultural resources are preserved and protected for the present and future generations and are accessible and understandable to the public. Thank you. And the second slide, with long-term availability and health of our natural resources such as creeks, the long-term such as creek corridors is secured for present and future generations through protection, restoration, promotion of biodiversity, and implementation of environmentally responsible practices. Multiple opportunities exist for all ages to develop a deeper understanding of nature, cultural heritage, foster curiosity, and promote environmental stewardship. a high quality parks and recreation system that is safe and aesthetically pleasing through continuous maintenance, innovation, upkeep, renovations, and strategic planning. And finally, home to exceptional parks and recreation amenities built with sustainable materials to last their expected lifetime and in alignment with crime prevention through environmental design principles when possible. And there, we will jump into these. recreation. So Thornton's recreation and programming system promotes physical and mental well being builds stronger and social connections and boost economic development. They create safer neighborhoods by providing positive outlets and foster a sense of community pride and identity through shared activities and events. And the goals of the recreation and programming where we'll be in 2046 are a leader in providing varied and comprehensive recreation facilities to fulfill the diverse needs of our vibrant community. A city with recreation facilities that are well-maintained, accessible, and inclusive for all residents to enjoy, regardless of age, ability, or socioeconomic background. A recreation system that has a positive impact on physical health, mental well-being, and social interactions of our community through spaces, facilities, and programs tailored to Thornton's unique community. And strong leadership within the Parks, Recreation, and Community Programs Department that promotes efficient management, exceptional customer service, and sustainable operations. So great communities like Thornton deserve great parks. This plan provides... I apologize. There was another slide that I thought was in there, but we're going to thank you in questions. Go ahead.

Good?

Sorry.

All right. So thank you, Brennan and Julie. I appreciate that. So Councilor Packett, Tansy mentioned earlier, we provided a lot of information, the master plan, the executive summary and the strategic implementation plan. And there you'll find the 17 parks and open space recommendations and the 23 parks and recreation recommendations, along with other strategies and actions throughout the plan. So what are the next steps? After hopeful acceptance of the Park and Recreation Master Plan by Council, what staff will do? We'll start with, we'll onboard the new director and brief them on the goals, recommendations, and actions of the plan. We'll integrate the recommendations into the strategic plan. We'll create implementation strategies that will need to include funding options as we can't do everything all at once. And some of the recommendations not in need of funding can begin immediately. The 2027 budget does have $100,000 set aside to begin the implementation phase. And lastly, we'll bring an implementation strategy to council in early 2027. So with that said, it is our recommendation that we move forward with the master plan in a regular meeting for acceptance. And that concludes our presentation with any questions that you might have.

Thank you all for putting this together. This has been much appreciated. over the last year and a half looking forward to this. There's just some coincidental timing because I went through the master plan. It is a long document, so I see all the hard work that you put into it. But just yesterday, I know a couple of us were meeting with the Thornton Tennis Association, and the master plan said that we have a surplus of two tennis courts. Their perspective with the Thornton Tennis Association, there's not enough courts. They've limited their membership and aren't growing because they're or so to play currently. So how do we, I guess, get to those crossroads where we have a think last year they got access to horizon high school so they can see some more courts that's correct um they're also going out to like bright uh for some of these matches or tournaments so out of those things a lot and that was confusing to me that it seems like you know some of the guys on the ground just telling us we could really use some more courts and then the the plan saying we have to meet where where are we missing the opportunity for those residents that they've Yeah, sure. You actually have courts you're not accessing or what is, can you give me some context around that because that they contradict pretty significantly.

So I will take the question about what the plan recommends and where those numbers came from. So we did benchmarking and It was early 2025. Basically what that means from a high level strategic planning is we looked at all of the facilities that City of Thornton had and we came up with that number in combination and speaking with staff, speaking with maintenance folks and the GIS information that's available through the city's GIS database. Then what we do is we take that information and we compare it to similar sized community based on population. In this case, it was Arvada, and Westminster, oh, it's slipping. It's Lakewood, thank you, slipped my mind. So we compare that data against similarly sized communities in a reasonable regional range, right? And we look at the data and then we also look at national recreational trends that is published on a national level by the National Recreation Association. And we take all of that data and we compare and we contrast. And from a high level strategic benchmarking, umbrella, that's where the excess courts in the master plans were noted, is based on what you have versus comparable size communities versus the national benchmarking.

Pardon me. Yeah, thank you. So let me add on to that. So their lens, when they were looking at the numbers that they were looking at, they did not talk to Thornton Tennis Association. And so I think Thornton Tennis Association is the fourth largest in the state of Colorado. So what they're looking for for them to be successful is multiple courts in one location. So there is a recommendation for us to analyze adding four more courts to the carpenter rec center. And we've actually tried to put that in the five-year CIP budget. Now, from a high-priority standpoint, I don't know that that's going to be the case, but because all the competing demands, but it is in there based upon what TTA is looking for. We did, as you mentioned, we did try to alleviate some of that pressure by securing horizon scores.

Okay. So we said just our city just has a high concentration of tennis players. And so when you compare that to the others, then that's why we're not connecting the dots. And they did speak highly of you and said that you were looking at areas around the rec centers. And that was my concern. when I saw the two surplus, I was like, well, that doesn't add up. And we just have a lot of tennis players in North Michigan.

Well, and that's true. And we have, because the association is so good, so big, and quite frankly, a pretty good, pretty competitive group, it attracts people from outside the city as well.

I have Justin, then Drew.

So, Some of the survey results section of the plan, I saw a very interesting quote that said certain neighborhoods, especially older areas of Thornton, particularly South Thornton, report fewer upgrades, outdated parks, and limiting nearby amenities compared to newer areas. So I was wondering if you could highlight some of the elements of the plan that specifically address those concerns about South Thornton.

You want to take that one, Brent?

No, we do have, yeah. So there are recommendations that will add in particular acquisitions and partnerships to attempt to sort of address some of those areas that may be older neighborhoods where sort of the kind of expectation now wasn't always met at that time for kind of parks and recreation. So we do have recreation recommendations in particular that recommend looking into that further.

Yeah, and I just want to speak to Bryn's point a little bit further. So parts of original Thornton that were built in 1960, in 1960, they didn't look at a neighborhood and say, we need to put a park here. We need to consider how people are going to recreate on their bike for 100 miles at a time. Good, bad, or ugly, it just wasn't part of the city planning conversation in 1960 or 70 or 80. It was really kind of the early 90s from a high-level planning standpoint that parks and recreation and connectivity through open spaces became a consideration and a topic for a good neighborhood plan, especially when master planning and large subdivisions started coming online and became very popular. So Some of that is, it's true not because Thornton didn't do a good job or didn't do their job at the time. It's just true because at the time it wasn't a topic. So I think to some extent that in combination with some sections of Thornton being 100% constructed and 100% built out and there being limited opportunities. We have done our best to kind of recommend that when those opportunities do come to light, that the city really takes them and says, this is it, this is our chance.

We're gonna think. One kind or another.

in Thornton, which is over 15,000 people. How does this new master plan improve from the 2017 plan, the processes or ideas on how to serve those people with this?

Our broader community and making sure we're capturing those individuals. in those decisions, but I'm sure Chris and Paula would like to add anything to that as far as detail.

Well, I think they're exactly right. And with the addition of Becky Post, we go to her quite often for recommendations on how we can improve. Because, you know, quite frankly, we need her advice. And so they call it out as one of the recommendations. So it's really on us now to take it to the next step with improvements in that area.

Yeah. And I'll add that Becky has done an incredible job with the programs of the recreation department. I've worked with her directly. My daughter has taken some of those programs, and they're amazing. If that came out of the 2017 plan, then we are definitely on the right track. And so my question was, let's keep this going. And I'd love to see us to build on that because we're already in a really.

master plan, which is kind of more of that 10,000 foot level. But I'm sure that city council is aware that the city is already working really hard to enact some of those things. The citywide bicycle and pet plan has done a lot of investigation as far as making crossings compliant and adding crosswalks and blinkers and noise things so that people can safely cross roadways. I know there's been some conversation within the park staff to do a visually impaired trail potential. I know that staff is actually talking about quite actively. So staff is already moving quite a bit of this forward. The master plan is just kind of a step above that. So we're continuing to recommend it, but you guys are already doing a great job, really starting to see some of that come to light.

Joe? Appreciate the report tonight. A lot of great things going on. I did have a couple questions. How are things like rec center expansion, like at Trailwinds, or in new areas like in the north and northwest area of our city, are those spelled out in the master plan?

HAB-Masyn Moyer- So we do have based on the Community input and surveys, we do have specific recommendations like wise that discuss conducting specific project evaluation for the design cost location feasibility and priority and funding for various recreation facilities.

HAB-Terry Palmos- How does that translate to action. I'm learning how it all connects.

Fair question. Really, it comes down to prioritization and funding. That's why when we've talked about you know, the signal ditch property of North. I mean, we, we don't have a whole lot of, of, of land up North and that's why, you know, council is going to decide and with, I'm sure the staff's recommendation on what to do with that ground. I mean, but thinking, thinking down the road here, that's a critical piece of property. And, and, and what do we do with that?

Yeah.

But I mean, that might be potentially one of those locations.

Okay. Yeah, I mean, obviously that's a concern on the north end because we're, you know, we're continuing to build a ton of housing. We're, you know, many times these neighborhoods kind of feel like they're on islands and trail winds becomes further and further away, folks, you know, as we go further north. So, yeah.

about these goals.

So, you know, usually goals are measured, you know, the SMART acronym, specific, measurable, attainable, and I forget what the other categories are. At times, we have the time, we have most of those things built in here. But like, when I look at new land for parks and open spaces acquired, you know, effectively, we acquired one acre, and that's hitting the goal. That would be missing the work, in my opinion, or we require 1,000 acres by 2045, and that would be kind of more in line with hitting a goal. So is that part of the process? Is that something that can be done here to be specific about, like, what are we really going for? So everybody kind of understands, like, wow, that's a big goal, and I know where we're going, and now we have something to measure against.

I can start. Certainly part of the prioritization is high quality wildlife corridors along water. It doesn't really spell out acreage, but person percent. You also obviously have the land dedication fund and the cash and lieu that talks to that. But this plan, and you guys correct me if I've missed something in there, but it really talks about high priority places in that future land growth. So it covers that. Also, and the recreation portion of it there are multiple uh call outs for new two new ball fields four new baseball fields two football gyms and so on as well so it specifically calls that out the goals for the recreation side not as much on the trails well on the trail sides it's more the quality it's more quality versus quantity on that on the recreation side would you say it's more quantity versus quality on that side yeah but they're specifically and there are

going to provide more detail, but then going to be refined into those implementation plans. So there are the recommendations, such things as developing three new parks in the next 12 years where gaps exist in the current system and planning to strategize land to secure land for parks in open space in advance of annexations or subdivision developments, really leaning into that parkland dedication and other items to try and match with that growth.

And I think you can also tie in the overall theme of that 10 minute walk. So the 10 minute walk for all residents in Thornton, which is a high priority, it calls out the requirement to get land in those areas with new development as well.

Is there anything related to the Big Dry Creek corridor to kind of make that more of a continuous protected open space area? Similar to what Westminster has?

So that is recommendation parks and open space. Recommendation number four includes prioritizing acquiring open spaces containing important habitat. And that does name specifically riparian corridors such as Big Dry Creek.

Great. Awesome.

Thank you. Ash. So in the variations in survey responses to geography, There's a major zip code misnomer here. Like 8026L is never addressed here. I'm just curious, did we not get anybody in there that responded? I think that's a large part of board one.

I would have to go back and look specifically at the data, but I am happy to do that and pass a response on to staff to share with city council.

And also... The safety concern was that a medium reading. I would like to see that prioritize to high rating. I know that in some of our parts. We really need a lot more police presence. So I was very disappointed that that was at a meeting.

Other questions, Chris.

Just a real quick one. The 10-minute walk. I've done that for years and obviously it's part of this work. Is there a distance that's associated? I mean, people walk at different speeds. When a resident asks, then I'm like, oh, it's in a 10-minute walk. But if I'm talking to an older resident or I'm talking to a 15-year-old, Their depth of 10 minutes is the big difference. Is it like a half mile that you guys usually use to associate that? Or what is 10 minutes supposed to be distance-wise? Yeah.

So typically, you can touch on this too if you want. Go for it. Because that is an average based on, right, everyone, to your point, has different modes. And the nice thing about the way that working with the Trust for Public Lands GIS data is it looks specifically at paths and routes. So it's not going to say it's a direct route. connection between where the park is and that resident is looking how does that resident actually get to that park and it's not going to say you just walk through this person's house in this field and you get there it's you know this is where the sidewalk is this is where that trail is based on the GIS data so and yeah typically correct me if I'm wrong Julie because it's I have bad time with numbers sometimes. But yeah, a 10-minute walk is typically like half a mile.

Yeah, but I think they define it as between a quarter and a half. Quarter and a half. Thank you. Yeah. And to your point, I am a slow walker. And so I know exactly that that, to me, would be like, well, you can make it in 10 minutes, but I couldn't make it in 10 minutes. So.

No, that helps. They can use that in perspective. What does that mean for specifically? So thank you. Yes.

HAB-Masyn Moyer- Any other questions. HAB-Masyn Moyer- So we okay bringing this forward for the September 22. HAB-Masyn Moyer- I think, looking forward to seeing the next steps as they come out with some of the feedback you've heard tonight.

Happy birthday to you.

Happy birthday dear Justin. Happy birthday to you. All right.

Thank you for letting us embarrass you. There are cupcakes in the back corner over there. And we can talk about the next Thornton Arts and Culture Plan.

Okay, thank you. Council. Here's the leases with me. He's the Lisa Zimmerman arts and culture manager to present the arts and culture master plan. And I think Tansy mentioned earlier here, our consultant had some travel difficulties. So maybe you can see if he's online. Perfect.

Thanks so much.

Okay, and we'll let you take it away.

Thank you. Good evening, Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem, and council members. I'm Elisa Zimmerman. As Chris mentioned, Arts and Culture Manager here with him, as well as Josh Lapp, who's co-founder and principal of Designing Local Consultants, who's joining us virtually to present the Northern Arts and Culture Master Plan for 2026 through 2030. We'll briefly summarize the plan with more details included in your meeting packet. Our goal tonight is to get your feedback on the plan, such as what you agree or don't agree with, any gaps you notice in answering your questions, to be able to move this plan forward for formal adoption by resolution at a regular meeting. This plan supports three of the four strategic goals council created as well as priorities listed in the comprehensive and parks and open space plans as documented in the recommendations that Josh will review with you. You'll see the strategic plan codes in there with each action step so you can relate them directly to your strategic goals. Why an arts and culture master plan? The focus of arts and culture has changed since 2019, as has the city in terms of size, diversity, and quality of life needs. This plan is a short-term roadmap, as well as a long-term investment strategy to help arts and culture stay relevant, sustainable, and support the community better. This master plan is the third to be created for the city, building on the vision and goals of the first two plans by TASHCO, and adapting them to reflect her programs city resources and future opportunities. A letter of appreciation for this planning process from cash to President crystal Russell is included in your packet. Go back Josh you ready to talk.

Really.

Unfortunately, we are losing every third cent billable. Breaking up.

Okay.

No.

Might have to continue without. Josh, I'm going to go ahead and then chime in. Okay. Your connection is still broken up. Sorry. I know Ohio is far away.

Okay.

The community engagement process was really key to the recommendations and strategies that Designing Local presented regarding targeted focus groups consisting of city council members, Tashko board members, staff, and local those last fall for people to fill out while they're waiting in line to get their free books from cash. And there was additional public surveys sent out to other stakeholders as well. And all these recommendations were ranked based on community feedback, where the planning team engage hundreds of residents about the goals of the plan. This next slide has more statistics about the timeline for the community engagement process, the council members, staff members, TASCO members, others that were key focus groups at the beginning, starting in August. And then the additional stakeholder interviews that occurred July through September of last year. And then the public survey that was up online from August through December, as well as printed copies that were available for those who needed them. And then the pop of events that occurred in August and December, 2025.

And I am back if anyone can hear me better this time.

Much better.

Okay, great. Um, I think Elisa covered everything that I was going to mention as part of the community engagement timeline, um, except for potentially that for us, this was really a two phase process. Um, because I think the collection of information was really important in those focus groups and interviews, um, and the survey, but following up and making sure that everything that we heard as part of that initial information gathering process was kind of confirmed in our follow-up events at Dyno and Winterfest. So that was a really helpful thing for us.

Thank you. I'll go on to the next slide. And you can continue, Josh, if you'd like.

Sure, yeah. So just, you know, as you look through the plan, much like the Parks and Rec plan, it is a long document. So we just wanted to give you a few highlights. So the executive summary, which is also available in Spanish, I think is a really helpful way to just look at a snapshot of the overall plan. You can look through and see all that information that we gleaned from the public engagement and the needs assessment, and then also some interesting research that we did around kind of access to... facilities and other items that you can look as part of that section. And then ultimately, the recommended strategies, action and timeline based on that community feedback is available as well. So those are kind of key components of the plan. There are a lot of others that I won't go through, but those are the key sections. And then we get into the recommendations. So overall, the recommendations, they are in some key categories here. I'm not gonna read each one of these, but really expanding capacity, enhancing the overall ecosystem of artists and arts opportunities, activating spaces and really supporting those signature community offerings that we know are really vital to cultural life in Thornton. And then identifying new avenues of funding and figuring out ways to strengthen local artists and cultural opportunities, and then really elevating and breaking recognition to the cultural and creative fabric in Thornton. Those are really the basis of our recommendations that are broken out in more actionable ways, as we'll see in the next slide. So we were very focused on implementation. And so this is what we're going to be seeing is really a snapshot of what is in the overall plan. So really... One of the things that was very important and that we identified as part of our public engagement process as well is that there's really a need to elevate and bring more awareness to arts and culture in Thornton and the offerings that are already there. So elevating arts and culture within the city as it functions, as well as bringing it on par with some of those other kind of signature offerings that the city has in terms of parks, recreation, active adult opportunities. And then, you know, really just thinking about arts and culture as being a key component of the things that happen within the city. So continuing to establish cross divisional support for arts and culture and aligning that with the operations of Parks and Rec as well. And then continuing to collaborate. That was is also something really important.

that are already happening.

So these are immediate actions and things that Elisa and her team are already working on making sure that they are implemented in the near future. And then near term, so these are, this is really thinking about like years one and two. So not, we might not be ready to do it today, but soon. And so really thinking about, you know, how we expand representation within arts and culture offerings. There's already been a lot of work around that. So that's a key one here. And then, you know, things like developing artists opportunities and an arts and educator directory is one of those key opportunities. But the near term are really, again, sort of low hanging fruit, but things that are going to happen in years one and two. We can go on to midterm. So the midterm opportunities are more focused on the kind of three to five year range. Some examples are developing a mini grant and or artist in residency program, thinking about ways to do art activations in public spaces and neighborhoods. And then working with the private sector to think about how we can incorporate public art into new developments. And the midterm actions are things that, of course, just are going to take more coordination and time. So I think the private sector collaboration example is one where even if we identify an opportunity today, it's going to take a couple of years to figure out how to execute that opportunity or maybe until a development is complete and allows for the installation of an artwork, for instance. So that's kind of where midterm falls. And as we look at the long term actions, these are what I would call aspirational. So, you know, these are maybe not in that kind of three to five year span. Maybe not all of these happen, but these are all things that we want to aspire to accomplishing and are kind of those bigger things. So, for instance, supporting the development of a cultural arts center, you know, that's a key long-term opportunity. It's something that's been studied before and identified as something that folks would like to see, but is definitely one of those more long-term opportunities. And one of those things that is, you know, more aspirational and will need more resources is So with that, we can go on to the final slide and I'll pass it back to Elisa.

Thank you, Josh. Well, thank you for listening to our presentation. Please let us know if you have any questions and what action you would like to take this evening.

All right. I heard two buttons press, but only one lit up. I have Roberta and then Joe.

So my question is, I know that we've done some changing of departments and where things are housed now. Where do we see some of these initiatives moving places in the new structure with the reorg and everything?

Well, sure. I mean, let me take the first crack at it. And so, so arts and culture is moving over to recreation that hasn't, I mean, we've, we've been talking about it and, and kind of getting all the pieces set. It formally, it hasn't happened yet, but we're very close. So we'll, we're anxiously awaiting arts and culture and, under our umbrella and we'll continue to work together and try to create the best programs and festivals and events that we can.

The only thing I would add is so the public art portion does has been realigned already with the economic development team. And so I would see this plan not being owned or managed by Parks and Recreation, but more as a city I think there are roles and contributions across the entire city to contribute to this. There was reference to many strategic planning teams that represent many different representatives across the city. So I think one of the advantages that was identified, which I do think is aligned with some of the objectives here, is recognizing art as an economic engine and as a place-making contributor. And so I think that was one of the points of rationale, I think, of aligning the public art resource with the economic development team. So hopefully that change has just happened, I think, in the last month. So hopefully it starts to help identify and leverage new partnership opportunities with that framing.

So when can we expect to see, like, updates on how that alignment's working with the economic development team? Because I think that's, I'm excited for it. I know it's, it's been kind of always a struggle bus with Tash going, you know, us trying to get funding for public art pieces and different, with the, um, economic development aspect of our city. I know a long time ago we had in our bylaws that there would be like a connection with BTAC and TASHBO. So just wondering if that's gonna be something that's moving forward a little bit more and how will we get updates with that new initiative? Yeah, I think a key in helping our arts programs develop and get funding.

I think that's a great question. You do get a quarterly update already from economic development. So I think we could certainly include a section in that quarterly up recognizes. I think there's already some recognition of those kind of place making opportunities, but more explicitly call out efforts related to recognizing arts as an economic driver and those place making opportunities. So we can certainly update that quarterly HAB-Juliette Boone, update that you already get to make sure that it's addressing these efforts. I don't know what specific conversations, you know, we do have a task. Oh, it looks like several tasks of members here. So I know we have been to task and talked about the reorg and I think recognize that We'll want interaction between the economic development team and TASCO going forward. I can't speak to what, if any, conversations have happened about collaboration opportunities between BTAC and TASCO, but we can follow up on that.

Next, we just make sure that we end the quarterly updates that have been out of development. We get updates on what's going on with the arts placement into economic development, because that with the rework was just an important aspect. I know from my perspective, being heavily involved in the arts and thought before I was elected, and I'd like to see that that continued to, to grow and just have accountability on that and eyes on it as we move forward, because I think it's, really important to make sure that, I think it's an important aspect of our economic development. I spoke to it many times and working with Adams County, there was just more connections with public art, the arts and economic development. So whatever we can do to make that a more of an accountability piece on a quarterly basis would be great.

Sure.

Yeah, I would echo Roberto's comments there. Public art, permanent murals for me are super important. I think that's great that it's switching to the economic development side because I do believe in it as a placemaking tool. You know, I would agree too, like when I was on VTAC, there was always, I always wondered like, why didn't we talk to Tashko about murals? And for whatever reason, that connection could just never happen. So it'd be really good to see that actually come together. I do like the art activation program in public spaces and neighborhoods. I think that's a great, great idea. And then the live work space for artists. And I think it was development and incentives around that. I think that's pretty neat to, the idea and add some vibrancy, we'll call it, to some areas potentially. As far as historically relevant art, that's like, yeah, I've heard from many people about some of the art that they see around town and sometimes it's a little too modern and too abstract to be, I don't know, to be appreciated. Is there time or is there an element in the master plan that talks about incorporating more of our history of our city into art that's in public realm. Maybe embracing agricultural heritage of the area. Of course, embracing images and things from around the founding of the city. In the 50s, I'm sure there's some really great art or image.

Economic development will to make sure that we have a lot of voices at the table when that art is talked about. And I think just being very clear about what the call for artists says, what it actually says, what the intent is, and whether it's more historical in nature, that type of thing. I think we certainly want to respect the artists that that apply for those projects and certainly their vision with certain descriptions within the call. So we can certainly follow up with you on that when we have a bit more detail.

Yeah, no, I appreciate it. I think we're at a point now in our city where it seems like we can maybe guide that a little bit more directly about the type of artists and images that we want. You know, I mean, because we do have a, we're at a point where we have a lot of history, a lot of things that we've been really embraced. And I think, I think we should see that in our public art. Appreciate it.

Roberta? Just take the opportunity again to, if we can get, when we can get an update on the Ehlers-Benz Native American art pieces that were grant funded. Do we have an update on any movement on that at all?

Not that I'm aware, but I would think that would be part of the quarterly update that economic development will give. We do have our public art coordinator here. I don't know, Erica. The library is completed and comment on that.

Given time tonight, Mike, that if we could follow up with a written report, that would be great. Yeah, thank you.

Any other questions? Oh, sorry.

Very quickly. Elisa and Chris, great presentation as always. And I love the fact that we're seeing the framework has begun with the collaboration partnership, not just, you know, like with economic development with Parks and Rec, but also amongst the boards, amongst with BTAC and TASCO. You know, I'm a past TASCO member myself as well. So I think this is very instrumental and important in our city's growth. So continue to work. Thank you.

All right. Any other questions? Are we okay bringing this forward for adoption similar to the last plan? I'm not hearing, seeing any nos, so great job. Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you, Josh. All right, we have a request for three youth event funding.

I don't forget it's coming forward. Again, as has typically been the case outlined with the requests. plus four, and the status of the current funding solicitations.

Thanks, Stansy. Good evening, Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem, and members of council. Being mindful of time, I will repeat this relatively quickly here. So tonight we will review three youth event funding requests. Just as a reminder, Council Policy 5.1 does require that requests for youth funding events do receive council approval. Let's skip this slide to get to this point here. Tonight's three requests are from students of Mapleton Early Career Prep, students of Academy High School, and from students of Future Forward at Bowman. The first two requests are from students from Mapleton Early Career Prep and Academy High School. Both are Mapleton School District Schools. Both requests are for $600 each to offset the cost of a table for attending the Latinas First Foundation Luncheon and that purchase the student table. The Latinas First Foundation, it's the 15th anniversary celebration. It's a luncheon event scheduled for October 2nd, held in Denver. The event does bring together community members, leaders, students, and supporters in recognition of the contributions and achievements of Latinas in Colorado. The third request is from students from Future Forward at Bowman from Adams 12-5 School District. Students have also requested $600. It will offset the cost of attending the Technical Student Association, or TSA, Colorado State Conference. The event will be held on February 25th and 27th. In Aurora, the Technical Student Association, it's a national career and technical student organization dedicated to work on STEM academics. The events will include competitions, workshops, and a place for students to connect. This slide here is a summary of where we are to date. $33,520 has been spent. I will just note if all three requests do move forward at full cost, this will take the new total of expenditures at $35,320. That means it would exceed the 2026 budgeted amount by $320. Just here's the slide. This slide just does provide a list and summary of all of the nonprofits sponsorship and youth event funding requests continued onto this slide here. And so getting to the point of discussion here, this is looking for some council direction. There are a couple options for that council to consider, some alternatives. So first alternative would be to fund, for council to fund move a request forward to next council meeting to refund all three events at a full request, which would mean that we'd need to look for a budget to make up that difference for the $320. A second alternative would be to divide the remaining balance evenly amongst the three requests. It'd be just slightly below $500 per request. A third option alternative would be

the requests so with that um try to do that quickly happy to answer any questions roberta how many more funding requests do we like estimate you might have until the end of the year because i know there's history on that so just looking at What happened?

We did pull the data from last year for 2025. And so the amount of requests have already exceeded and not just in dollar value, but in 2025, there were 23 total requests for both nonprofit and youth funding. There were 17 nonprofits, six youth event. In 2026 year to date, we've had about 21 nonprofit events. We've had five approved youth funding events. And then if we would do this, that would be another three. So then I would take the total up to about 29 if all items were approved. So somewhat hard to tell in terms of date there, but I would say we've already exceeded the amount for the past year.

Someone else pushed the button that I missed?

I would say it's probably not okay to go over budget, so we need to address that somehow.

Justin?

I'm okay with funding all three requests.

So we have one that says fund them all and one that says don't go over budget. So if we don't go over budget, that would be $480 per ask if we want to keep it even.

I would be in support of that.

PB, Harmon Zuckerman, yeah I mean this is, this is one of the reasons, like we had the last funding thing I asked for more coming forward same as for where to get this time because. PB, Harmon Zuckerman, kind of shoots us in the foot at this point, I hate not wanting to fund the kids for those things that are wanting to go to for the events, but same time we should stick to our budget and that's where we're at.

others.

Say it again, Cherish.

Roberta, John, Dave, and Chris.

I think we should split it, the option you have, you split the remainder between these. And so this is it, like we're in September and we're already done. So I think we need to look at next year. And when we're, you know, we're in the beginning of the year and we're having requests come in, I think we just need to be a little bit more conscientious of what we're approving because what is a little bit frustrating to me is it's the school year now and we're going to have more youth groups asking for money. And it's really unfortunate because we're going to be in a position where we're going extremely over budget. We're only in September. We still have October, November. If we're approving more of those things, we're going over budget, over budget, over budget. So maybe we need to be careful about how we're allocating our funding in the beginning of the year to different organizations and galas and all that kind of stuff. That's kind of where I'm at.

OK. Chris, Dave? Same.

Right there, right? What do you think? I should have said something about kids. That's always what I think everybody wants. Um, but we are looking at budgets getting a little bit tighter and probably anticipate that even next year as well. So I can appreciate reverse gesture. Maybe we are a little tighter fist in the beginning of the year in case more of the kids stuff comes up in the school year. Um, but you're getting by already. It's curious.

I do agree as well. But I also think that as we do our planning retreat in the spring, that maybe we allocate a certain percentage for students versus for nonprofits. That way, at least we have something. And then at the end of the year, whatever we have left, we can figure out what to do with.

Just one other point. And I think that we've, I would also like to know just for like a point of information, how much money we've given to like golf, special things, because like- Yeah, I mean, that's money that could have went to students that need money for educational things and that kind of.

And maybe it's not golf, right? It's about events that we go on to and what those are and who all has attended.

But specifically things like that where it's more like we're going and it's, you know, that money could have went towards student allocated needs, especially since I've been on council. I've noticed that like even there's more schools that are more needy that aren't asking and we're not giving because they're not asking, but now we have more of them asking and we don't have funding, so.

All right, so there's consensus to give them each the remaining split between the three of them. And then we'll have more conversation next year as we put that budget to use. Thank you. Thank you. All right, we have two minutes to take a break and get these incentives.