Town Council - Regular Meeting

Heat. Heat.

Good evening. Welcome to the February 2nd, 2026 town council meeting. We'll go ahead and reconvene this meeting. Let the record show that all council members are here with the exception of Mayor Prom John Dak who is on a boat somewhere in the great mood for him. Um, first item of business in front of us. They're not actually item of business, but if you would please uh stand and pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Thank you all. Appreciate you crowding in and making uh making room in our what do we call it? our our secondary home, you know, our temporary home, temporary home. Um we will have them we'll have them back back in our big space hopefully in June. Um first item in front of us is special presentations. Um we have a special presentation for the Douglas County Hall of Fame award recipient, Mr. Brian Ali. Uh presenting today is Mary Colton from Parks and Recre. Mary's.

Thank you, Mayor. Good evening, mayor and council. Tonight we have the privilege of recognizing this wonderful man to my right, Brian Ali, whose dedication and volunteer service have had a tremendous and lasting impact on Parker, Douglas County, and the great outdoors we all enjoy. Brian was recently recognized with the Douglas County Hall of Fame award and the Oakleaf Award from the Douglas Land Conservancy, two honors that reflect decades of commitment to conservation, stewardship, and community service. Brian has volunteered his time with Doug County Open Space and numerous other local organizations for decades. He has contributed countless hours as trail ambassador, hike leader. Here's one of my favorites. weed warrior, trail crew member, and educator helping people connect with, understand, and care for our public lands. Since 2014, Brian has served as Parker's representative on the Douglas County Open Space Advisory Council, including six years as chair. Is that right?

That is correct. Six years. In that leadership role, you helped guide decisions that shaped how open space is preserved and funded across the county. Brian, your impact is especially visible at Harvey. how much you love Harvey open space. So much I'll be out there in three weeks in February to do stewardship on a couple more times.

As a member of Kosak, he helped recommend approval of the land transfer of the town. Beyond that, he assisted with site cleanup. He leads hikes. He even helped with the land transfer of the town. Um, and because of because of Brian, Harvey Open Space is actively stewarded and truly loved by the community. It's a real job. These awards recognize what so many of us already know. Brian's service is thoughtful, consistent, and rooted in a genuine love for the outdoors and for his community. Brian, we are truly fortunate, lucky to have you here in Parker, Douglas County. On behalf of the town of Parker, thank you for your decades of service and for helping preserve the lands we all treasure. We are incredibly grateful for you. And now I'd like to pass um the mic if you will to a few of the folks who played a role in nominating Brian for these awards and can share more about what those awards represent. So Jay, would you like to come up and take council members? Uh good evening. My name is Jay Sage. I'm here because I've been a volunteer for the Douglas County Open Space and Natural Resources Division for 30 years. I'm also the chairperson of the county open space advising committee. That means I've had the pleasure of working alongside Brian on open space issues for 12 plus years. And when you think about it, given that Brian volunteers for Parker, for open space for the county, four, five times a week, I think he's got experience well beyond my 30 years. uh if you do that calculation wanted to tell uh a quick two stories about Brian. First of all, I'd like to think ask you as uh council people to think about who got you involved in serving your community. Who is your mentor? Could have been your mother, your uncle, a teacher. And for Brian, I wanted to

focus on his father. Brian tells this fantastic story about his father and what he gave back to the country. You see in World War II, Brian's dad was a crew member of a B7 Flying Fortress. He was a ball turret gunner. So, he was in a confined space. And the story just gets well say better, maybe not better after that. Uh, flying over Yugoslavia, they found out a B7 doesn't fly well with one wing. See, they're shot down.

And Brian's dad fortunately parachuted to relatively safety. Well, he was picked up by the Germans and served as a prisoner of war during the war. But that's an inspirational story for us, Brian, for you and it gets us uh into that volunteering and service service community. Um, if you think Brian got into the volunteer game after retiring from an exceptional career as a King Supers store manager, you're wrong. Now look at that face and take off the the goatee and think of him a little bit younger. Yes, he was in the south side of Chicago an alter boy with a Catholic church. So he started serving his community very young. And you can imagine the priest before the service looking at the alter boy roster and going, "Yes, that kid does a good job. I'm glad he's working with us today." But the fascinating thing about Brian as a volunteer, he's a problem solver and he sees synergies. So being an alter boy, he found out three things very quickly. Number one, he could service his community, which was fantastic, service his church. He had a habit of volunteering during school hours, uh, mass. So he found that's number two, a way to miss half a day of school. And here's a synergistic part. Brian found out by missing half a day of school as an alter boy, he could also be patted on the head by the priests and the nuns for missing half a day at school. So that's real creativity and problem solving. Brian uh as far as I can recollect for the past two years he's been involved with 14 charitable organizations throughout the county which he volunteers for them. So Brian I think the best thing about Brian is his infectious personality which uh gives us a reason and thank him for being the reason we can all smile tonight. So thank you Brian. It's been a pleasure working.

Good evening, uh, council members. Thank you so much for, uh, um, the support for Brian Ali. Uh, he has been instrumental uh, with our open space um, department for years since 2014. Uh, as a matter of fact, the first time I met Mr. Ali, uh, I had taken my children out to an open space uh, and volunteered uh, with some of their friends for some of their community service hours. And Mr. from Ali uh actually got to teach me about uh weeds and which ones uh native plants and which ones we like and which ones we don't. So uh I never knew how instrumental he would be in my career path. So um my name's Anders. I'm the director of open space with Douglas County and uh that some of the things that Brian does for this county. Uh first of all, you guys have appointed him from the town of Parker. It's extremely important that he represents his um his area. So he continuously looks at uh where are we investing our money at? What what what strategies do we have to kind of bring the folks from Parker in this area to some of our open spaces um and the stewardship uh the stuff that he has done to preserve these properties. I look at places like Hidden Mesa, um I vulge um and these are areas that Brian has spent tremendous amount of time in Harvey open space. Um and much of it is that stewardship and that's why he was um given the Oakleaf Award which is an award on stewardship with the Douglas Land Conservancy, a very important partner of ours uh in open space that helps preserve and conserve our lands for years for future generations. Um and then uh more recently the board of county commissioners have created a hall of fame for important people in this community and Brian is one of the very first that was awarded a hall of fame award uh through all of his dedication all of his service that he's brought not only as somebody that has represented um

this county in terms of where are we spending our money on open space he was instrumental in uh getting the um sales tax reapproved uh back in 2022. So, we have 15 more years to be able to use uh open space dollars to go and build uh more parks, do more with open space and preserve our history. Um and Brian, without Brian, I don't know that that happens the way it did. Uh 88% of the folks here in Douglas County voted yes for that. Um, so his service there, but then like I said, uh, hands hands on on the the properties, uh, taking down weeds, doing all the fun things. He really gets into it and he knows no boundaries. So, it's not just what we do in open space. Um you'll see him working with task force park task force uh many other areas um Jefferson County and then our colleagues in parks will probably say a few things but wanted to just thank you very much for pointing uh Brian to um co-sac. THANK YOU

COUNCIL. Thank you very much. My name is Steve Schultz. the director of parks and uh recreation with the county. Um, and I just like to say that uh Brian uh I learned tonight that he lives in Parker. I thought he lived in county buildings and open spaces. But anyway, I I I think that the uh beauty of of Brian is that again he was very instrumental in getting the tax passed. Now you you link Brian to open spaces quite a bit, but we're seeing a lot of benefits in that in parks and I think that's true partnership. Um as we move through some projects, we have Macanta coming up, we have some other projects. Um that tax has has provided many for many different projects and and very proud of the partnership with the town in you mayor, which I've got to see a lot of times. uh not in pants all the time, but

long pants. Long pants, but but Brian was instrumental in going out to parks and putting up flyers and putting up signs uh at Bulch and around all the facilities and I think it truly truly is a sign of him and it's hard to give back because I think we all benefit from him. So short and sweet, it's hard to follow those three. Um but thank you very much for your time and recognize your work. Thank you VERY MUCH. Like to say

thank you uh council tug. I think I know Brian for a long time. I appreciate all you do for open space and county. It's fantastic and inspired by your love open space just like I am and rest of council. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you for all all that you have done. We uh couldn't have done it without you. pretty as somebody who, you know, has lived here my entire life and my papa's life and my mom's life, um the work that you do to preserve the history along with the parks and the wrecks and the open space is it's catastrophically important to our town and to the county. So, thank you for that.

Thank you, Brandy. I have to follow all of that, but thank you for everything you're doing. I mean, you know, inspirational and hopefully it doesn't end or stop. So, keep it up. Good. Thanks. Laura, please. We just appreciate your many years of dedicated service and also love. Thank you for the lovely story of your father as a veteran in World War II and I can see that you followed in his footsteps with your dedication. Thank you.

And then for myself, I'm sorry, real quick. Um, I like to joke in in in Parker that I'm Parker's volunteer number one because as much time as I spent in this building, but I know that the true volunteer is is is Brian. I mean, undoubtedly the biggest volunteer in this community. And here's the kicker is he doesn't even live in town. He lives in a mile east on Anchorage, but he still takes Parker as his home and gives back. And it's absolutely amazing. I I I too was going to mention some things and and and obviously Harvey Open Space um you know is huge to the town of Parker but regionally um Sandstone Ranch huge the new to becoming Lost Canyon um that unfortunately Castle Rock's getting credit for sorry just kidding sorry Jason but most importantly the the open space initiative I mean incredibly incredible job um we directly Steve benefit. You all can see that this year with what's going on in Salisbury Ranch or Salsbury Ranch, Salisbury Park. Um and and what's going to go on over in Lone Trade eventually down in Casser was was largely due to the effort of that man right there. So Brian, thank you very much. Um you are a mentor to me. I have talked to you many times about running for the same seat over and over again, and I would not be here today if it was not for you. So thank you, Brian. Thank you. Brian, any last word? Just anything?

Well, a lot of our KOAC members will tell you just give me a mic and I will handle anything. I certainly would like to recognize one of our volunteers are here tonight, Toby Levy, sitting in the back room. She started trails with me a few years ago now and now she's a commissioner for the pros. It's recreational open space. So, thank you, Toby. We have Amy KN here as well. Amy, you mentioned Sandstone, Josh. Amy was the project manager for Sandstone Ranch. It turned out to be a wonderful place. And now, look at her now. She's overseen Rudrass Recreational District. Thank you.

And Jay Jay as well. He I knew who to pass the baton to quite easily when I was ready to get being chair for six years when I originally agreed to only do it one year. But Jay's done an outstanding job. And Dan being the newest to open space, he's been he's taking the bull by the horn. So he's done an excellent job guidance and leading us to bigger and better things. So thank you all. Appreciate it. And thank you town council and Mr. Mayor for the recognition. And thank you Mary. We've worked together for quite some time. So, appreciate everyone. Keep up. And as you know, public service is a privilege.

And people say, "Why do I do what I do?" Well, open space is a labor of love for me. So, I tell everyone who's moving on to the next chapter of their career is is find your passion. Find what you really want to do, then you can stick with it. And that's what I have found. So, I'm very grateful for that. THANK YOU. UH PARKS AND OPEN SPACE FOLKS, IF YOU WOULD join us up in front here. We're going to do a little picture in front of our de Should we drive you down that way this way? Here we go. Great. Take right on three. One, two, three.

One, two, three. One, two, and three.

Thank you.

Thank you all. Appreciate it. All right, council. The next item of business in front of us is public comment. Public comment, no action will be taken on these items. Public comment is an opportunity for town residents and other interested individuals to speak about items that are not on the agenda. This comment period is limited to 30 minutes of total time with each additional each individual, excuse me, allowed a maximum of three minutes to speak. You must sign up ahead of time in order to comment and that sign up begins 30 minutes before the start of the meeting. The council will accommodate as many speakers as possible during this time with reference to town residents, but a public comment extends beyond the allotted 30 minutes. Town council will continue that comment period at the end of the meeting prior to adjourning for those who have already signed up as any matters raised by individuals during the public comment period or pardon comment are not on the agenda and other potentially interested parties would not therefore be aware of these discussions of these matters. Town council will not engage in dialogue regarding any items raised during public comment. With that I will call up I do not have anybody signed up on the sheet. So, it is my honor to call up uh Parker Unified, our open opening speaker, please.

All right, council members. So, of course, we're here. My name's Mark Clemens. Um I'm one of the administrators at Legend High School. This is Officer AJ Naro, uh Parker, police officer, our SRO at Legend High School. Um, I think most importantly we're here to promote an event, but also to get a plug in for Legend High School, probably the best high school arguably in the state of Colorado, for sure in Douglas County, uh, and the only one in Parker. Um, most importantly, we have a big event coming up, so I'm going to let other people speak on it, but we really want to promote the the event. Um, and then go ahead, AJ.

Yeah. So, um, our unified event, I'll let them kind of explain what it is a little bit, but, um, we would like to formally invite you guys if you guys can make it. Um, the more the marrier. Um, we're trying something a little different this year. Parker PD is, uh, we haven't done great historically. One one, so we're trying to kind of recruit some coaches. Uh we already have our head coach picked, but we would like to um provide you guys the offer of the assistant coach gig if any of you are. So we don't need an answer right now. Okay.

We would like to extend that to you if you're interested. And this March 11th should be a Wednesday 6 p.m. If if you're going to come coach, like a AJ said, the police department needs all the help they can get. the the officials we pick. So, you can probably see how this works out, but they can use all the help they can get. All right. Yes. Any help we can get, they probably won't have enough. We're still going to come out on top, right, Matt? Right, Alex? Yes.

All right. I'm uh Jared Door. I'm one of the SSN teachers. SPE teaches at Legend. I coach our unifi team. Come up here. You two come up here with me. Come on. Both of you. Come on back. Um, but Parker PD game or is we can actually call it pack the gym night. I mean, there's uh we we can always argue about how many years we've been doing. I think we're about 10 years in started and it was just a uh event with uh just the Parker PD and their families and our families. The following year we decided to grow it into something bigger. We said let's make this a fun night for all. Um since then we have packed the gym every year for uh this game. I think what's so great about this event, it's not only an opportunity for these guys to step up and showcase what they can do and and be on that big stage, but it's an opportunity to bring together our student body um with uh to cheer on their classmates. Um it's opportunity to bring in their families, our Parker PD families, our community. And it's just such a fun event for everybody. I mean, there's so many laughs, tears. I remember my first the first year we did it. I had to kind of walk away from the bench kind of towards the end because it was just like it was amazing how packed it was, right? And that everybody was there for for each other and and cheering on these guys and you know I had to kind of wipe away some tears at that moment but it's a it's a fun night of smiles, laughter, cheers. Um so we would love for you all to come and be a part of that night to cheer us on to you can try to help the Parker PD. It's probably not going to do any good but you can try. Um, but we'd love for you to be there. Mac, I want you to tell them what do you like about the Parker Police Department or Pack the Gem Night?

Huh? It's fun. It's fun. What's fun about it? Um, PE for Parker PD to come. Uhhuh. Do you like beating them? Yeah. Alex, what do you got to say? What do you like about pack the gym night? um mostly to way of the mostly the game of it and actually allowed to block people. If you don't know, Alex, we Alex is actually our second tallest on second.

We have another one that's taller than him and all they got to do is stand like this the whole time. It's hard to shoot over and it's pretty fun to watch. So, all right. You got anything else you want to tell them about? If we run out the tickets, that means we had the gym very packed.

What's really fun about this is it we when we started this, the first time we did it as a fundraiser is we split the proceeds with Parker PD and we actually took half the proceeds and then we gave the other half to um the falling officers fund. Since then, Parker PD came back to us and said, "Hey, we want to make this a fundraiser for you guys." Which is really awesome. It gives our guys opportunities to buy sweet swag for them like you see they got on tonight. It's opportunity to buy um jerseys if we need them, equipment if we need it. Um doing team dinners. We do team dinners. So this last winter we actually had an alumni game and we had all of our alumni athletes and partners that come back and afterwards we did a team dinner. So we were able to buy 30 some odd pizzas for everybody to eat. So that's where it really helps us as a as a program is to be able to supplement things that we can do for these guys and provide opportunities for them to uh you know have some awesome experiences. So it is a fundraiser um but it's also an amazing night of like just community. So we'd love for you guys to be there. Thank you.

I think what's what's encouraging this year is the sketchiest ref that really tall one. He retired. So I I think that actually might have a chance. I got there might be a GSPD. I feel good. Um, actually, if I don't, it's out of character or no, it's out of sync, but if we could, I'd like to do a picture. That'd be great. Council, sorry. One more time. Take a picture.

Do we get the fun t-shirts again this year? What's happening?

AJ lay on the ground. One, two, three. Awesome. Thank you very much. Good. Thank you very much. Appreciate you coming down. Thank you. Thanks. Thank you. Thank you. It's all now.

All right. Continuing public comment. Any member of the public wishing to address council in general public comment, please make yourself known. So, anybody else in the hallway? All right. We will close public comment at watch 7:26. Oh, it's right now. And move on to item four, reports, items, and comments from mayor and council. Let's start with Mr. Miss Hefta if we could.

Um, yes. This week I I just did a bit of outreach. Um there was a power outage in Parker and Cora this week and so I did get some questions on that from residents which of course I refer to the town and because the town can always answer those questions especially the traffic department. Um and also I did some veteran outreach. I have some questions um some from some veterans community and I was able to hook them up with the services at Douglas County in Colorado. Thank you, Laura. Eric, quiet couple weeks. Um, had an opportunity to to interview several members of our community for the investment advisory committee with uh John. Um, holy smokes, do we have some incredibly wellqualified people in our community that actually want to serve not easy decisions by any means, but those individuals that we selected will be in front of us. So, awesome. Thank you, Brandy.

Yeah, on um the 28th, I attended the Sierra Middle School groundbreaking. They're doing a whole addition um that's going to allow sixth graders to go through the school and also get them off of wellwater so that they don't have what they call Sierra days where they have to shut down the school because the the well and the sewer is backed up. So, that was really special and wonderful, one for what it is, but also because my mom went to that school and I went to that school and my sister went to that school. So, you know, and I don't think it's changed in the 50 years since my mom went there. So, I'm excited to see what that's about. So, that was wonderful to be a part of that. And then on February 1st, I was reappointed to the public safety and crime prevention federal advocacy committee for my third term. I'm excited about that. We're going to be heading up to DC here in March to go uh advocate for specific things around public safety. Um I will have more to share on that when I get back in March, but I'm very excited because I've got some things uh going on that that we've been working on for a few years. So that's all.

Thank you. Randy and No, I don't have a lot of updates for council, so I will give the floor to someone else. I have nothing else to report.

Thank you guys. For me, um let's see. Going backwards on the 28th 29th, excuse me. I uh um attain I'm sorry, I went had a Zoom meeting uh regarding data centers. Um they are the new and upcoming thing and they're they're popping up in Colorado. Um and so we had a lot of this was uh on behalf of the metro mayor's caucus. 38 mayors in the inside the Denver metro area get together form a caucus and and thus they could talk to all of us at the same time and so we had questions and and they uh they were answered and and uh thought it was a very productive uh meeting. We definitely left some of our concerns out there and and uh um just incredibly grateful for them giving the time um to the metro mayors. Uh prior to that on the 24th I had the Metro Bears retreat. Um we escaped over to Lakewood Golden area at Red Rocks Community College for the day and uh spent 9 hours 10 hours together if you call it happy hour also. Um um just talking about everything and anything that affects all of us. We had some candidates for governor come and speak to us. We asked them question. We had a panel of four legislators come speak to us. We asked them questions. Um everything right now for us in Metro Mayors uh res revolves around uh the state's preeemption of our zoning and housing um opportunities and and what we do here um individually. Um with that prior the day prior I had Colorado miscalculous housing I said the housing board and or housing committee excuse me and obviously discussion there is getting the word out to the state what it is we're already doing at the local level. um we don't know that that story's been told well enough at the Decal. So they take it upon themselves to to try to govern for us and we we need to let them know that we're very good at self-governing. And so that is our new goal this year. We're getting that message out saying Parker's already doing this, Golden's doing this. Arvvada has done this and letting the state know before they pass these uh band-aid fixed laws that we can actually do it better

at the local level. Um immediately after that I had CML executive board where we discussed policy and managing the color municipal league which is 200 actually unfortunately 270 members strong. We lost a member because they uh unincorporated I guess is the word. Um yes they uh they had some issues down in uh um a certain town. Um so they are unincorporated now. And then on the 21st we had partnership Doug County governance governments um um Mayor Kibla and Mayor Kiba. I don't I don't want that.

Town manager and I um we're down again an opportunity where uh regionally um all the municipalities in Douglas County, Douglas County, the school district, the library district, some of the fire districts, we all get together in a big room. Uh Hounds Ranch, we all get together in big room and talk about things every other month. The managers meet monthly, electeds join the managers every other month and it's a great opportunity to discuss all things Douglas County. And then prior to that, I'm sorry, later that day, I also have CML BAM committee, which is budget audit and management committee. Um, and this is all about finances for CML, which is uh interesting. We are trying to make dual dues, all of the communities pay dues, and we're trying to make dues easier to understand because it has been a complicated formula. So, more to come on that. Thank you for that. Uh, next up, we have consent agenda. Item six on your agenda. Um, or I'm sorry, item five on your agenda. In front of you are items 5A through well 5 A through 5B. I would entertain a motion on consent agenda items. Please

move to approve consent agenda items 5A and 5B. Thank you. Do I have a second? I have a motion from Wils and a second from Hendricks. Hendricks, yes. Harington, yes. Wilks, hi. Franen, yes. Hefta, yes. And consent agenda passes unanimously. Uh point I do not. Okay. So council in front of you is something labeled public hearings. It's ordinance number 3.253.8 on first reading a bill for ordinance to amend the comp park village development guide and plan amendment number seven pursuant to the town of Parkwood land development ordinance and amending the zoning ordinance and map to confer conform therewith. Stacy, you're going to present to us.

I do not have a presentation for you this evening. The applicant has asked to make changes to the PD guide before this actually goes before you. So we are asking that you continue this application to a date uncertain. So council if you'll notice on your council action paper there is a motion if there is a act to be continued if somebody would I would entertain that motion. I move I move to continue ordinance number 3.253.8 to a date uncertain. I have a motion from Franen. Do I have a second? Second. I have a second from Barington Hendricks. Yes. Bington. Yes. Wilks. Hi. Branson, yes. Hefta, yes.

And that motion and that ordinance is continued to a date uncertain. Next in front of you, we have items seven resolutions. First up, item 7A, resolution number 26-015, a resolution to adopt the town of Parker Cultural Strategic Plan for the period of 26 to 36. Presenting today, Miss Carrie Glasber. The floor is yours. Oh, beautiful pictures. Yay.

Thank you. Okay. So, it seems like a while ago, but it was mid November that we were in front of you at a study session and we had keen independent research who is our consultant that we've worked with for the last year on our strategic master plan. And just as a a refresher during that time, we shared some of our top level findings. For instance, the fact that at Parker Arts, we pull patrons from all over the state, not just from Parker. Those patrons also tend to overindex in all areas concerned with the arts and culture. That demand continues to grow for arts and culture. We also shared our SWAT analysis with you. And then at a top level shared our revised mission, vision, values, and priorities. You probably don't remember those, so we will be just going over them quickly today. But since then, the progress that we've made, we took all of that information and we wrapped it up into one small 195page document, uh, which is now our cultural master plan. After putting that together, we put it out for the public again for another chance at any public comment. And our cultural commissioners as well as some of our key staff reviewed it, and now it is ready for adoption. And that's really why we're here today. I do want to recap a couple of things for you before we get there. Just a reminder about our last plan that we had that ended in 2019. It really was still at a point where we were growing and kind of how do we get people to know about us? What do we want to program? And it was very it was really solely inwardly focused just on how we do things in our own building within our four walls. Um that is going to change and you'll hear a bit more about that. Um and then also any good plan

independently as a department should ladder up and and work well under other plans especially the town master plan and our plan does that. The town's uh town of Parker's vision is to be the preeeminent destination community of the Denver metro area. And it goes on to say more that our plan is going to ensure that we can do everything to help make that happen by becoming the premier cultural destination. Uh also the the comp plan while it's not finished yet, they're still working on it, but they they have presented to you that they have five community values that they have called out. Two of which we really have a significant part in. One is economic vitality because the arts do help stimulate the economy. They give people a reason to come here, to live here, to spend their money here. So, we will help with that. And then also, literally what's called out in one of their values is history, culture, and a sense of place. And that's what we do every day with with arts and culture. So more of a recap uh was that this year-long process we talked to a lot of different people from artists and musicians, dance and theater companies, our own partners, our members, our sponsors, our staff, other department staff, um town managers, staff, commissioners, all of you as as council members and of course our patrons. We did it through a variety of different ways, whether it was public meetings, one-on-one focus groups, interviews. So, spoke to a lot of different people. And one interesting thing, you've seen this before, but just a reminder, is what didn't change from our last plan to now. We've done a really good job of kind of knowing what our community wants and creating that brand. And the the four top things that came um up this time and also they were exactly the same words are variety. They want a variety of

programming, affordability, quality shows, and convenience. And by convenience like location, the fact that we're really accessible, um easy to get to, free parking, all of that kind of falls under it. But those four things have continued to be consistent no matter how much we've grown. And so we know it's important to keep those things in mind as we move forward and decide what we're going to book and how we're going to price it. And so you'll see that kind of coming along in our plan as well. So Keen had left you with some takeaways that I just want to touch on again and remind you that what they found um is that the arts are really thriving in Parker. The community wants even more of what we're doing. that it is helping to drive economic vitality and the quality of life. We are one of the things as well as you know parks and wreck and trails what they want to see in in Parker. But the thing is is that Parker we cannot do it alone. Like Parker Arts cannot be the only game in town and we shouldn't do it alone. And you'll hear more about that. The more that we can empower other creative businesses to to come here and grow and be successful, the more successful we will all be. And then just a reminder that and I think you kind of asked this question as well, Eric, is that it is not realistic that we will ever be 100% self- sustaining. And so as a community, if we want to continue this, we need to know that we will have to continue to fund arts and culture in Kirker as well. So here is our revised vision statement for Kirker Arts. And your vision is really about what you want to achieve and what your community should look like when you have achieved that. And so for us, it is really about making us that thriving cultural destination. And that again is lock in lock step with what the town wants to be as that preeminent

destination in in the South Denver metro area. Our mission, so what we do, who we do it for, and how we do it. There it is again. We we are enhancing the quality of life and economic vitality and we are supporting artists and ultimately bringing people together. There's our revised mission. And then this is kind of what we are looking at as our values. So the things that will continue to guide our organization. So I talked about the quality, variety, affordability, and convenience. Those are woven into these values because we don't want to forget about those. Also, our last mission statement, I don't expect you to remember, but it specifically called out history, science, the arts, and we didn't want to lose that either. While we didn't think it needed to be spelled out in our mission, we don't want to lose the fact that those are important as well. So, you you will see those in our in our values essentially. So, those are the things that will guide us as a as an organization. Okay. Then I want to move on to what it what it all this really culminated in was three big priorities for us to focus on over the next 10 years. And and they do build on each other. So I'm going to start with the first one. And this while I said our last plan looked inward, this does as well, but it really instead of like what are we going to program, this is making sure that we are set up to be sustainable for the future. This is looking at our systems, our programming, our spaces, our partnership and really our finances so that we are set up for ultim ultimal optimal su optimal success moving forward. Okay. So that is we need to look inward shore up ourselves and make sure we are good for the future. Once we have done that we really need to start looking outwards and this is something we have not done a lot of up

until now. I mean, now that we're in our 15th year and we are good and we're solid, we need to start looking. There are a lot of other creative businesses out there. There are studios, dance studios, there are art studios, there's music stores, there's there's jewelry makers, all kinds of other creative businesses. Honestly, I'm not sure that we know who they all are. We don't know their owners. We don't know their mission. We don't know how they can help us and we can help them. So this next step of that plan is looking and finding out who they are, how we can help each other, and then also how can we continue to attract new cultural businesses here because if we want to be a premier cultural destination, we need more to help us do that. So how can we attract them? It's tough for them, especially you've heard of starving artists. How can they afford to live here? How can they afford rent for a business or a gallery? So that is looking outwards as well. And that's not going to be just us. We're going to be working with community development and and um and economic development specifically. So, uh that is the next part. Take care of ourselves. Then start looking outwards and growing that creative community because as you heard before, we cannot do it alone. We cannot be the only game in town. We need to have other creative businesses to make this a a creative and cultural destination. Finally, once we have that, our third and and final step is really invigorating downtown Parker specifically, but Parker as well as a thriving cultural destination. So, we have a strong community and now we can really begin to promote ourselves as that that cultural destination. Combining all of the assets, not just what we do within our walls and our four cultural areas, but new festivals, new cultural events, new public art projects, and again, those three priorities build on each other. So,

those are the priorities. underneath those uh you know you I don't expect you to read this but this is really and then I didn't you don't need to whatsoever but just to show you that those are three highle priorities but beneath those there are objectives there are tactics there are metrics there's timing for all of that this is our internal document and uh that is all laid out there it's just wanted to you know reassure you that that exists so you have a copy of the full plan. As I said, it's 195 pages um with all the appendices. Uh after this is adopted, it will go on our website. We'll share it with our partners, with other businesses, and begin to execute it. But it is ready to go and and we are very excited about this plan to look not just within our walls, but build the entire creative community in in Parker. And with that, I will turn it over to you for any questions or clarification before moving on to vote.

Thank you very much, Todd. Questions, please. I have no questions. And any questions? Thank you. And Brandy? Nope. Thank you. And Eric, no questions. And Laura, one question. Yes. Um, I really appreciate your ability to want to reach out to the community. We have so many artists here and musicians. Um, do you have a a a plan on how you're going to do that to reach out to those artists and and musicians in the local community of how you're going to implement that?

Yeah. I mean, I think while I don't have it all laid out because that's part of of the next step is we know what we want to do. We haven't necessarily laid out every single step. I think we already have a good idea because we work with a lot of them. you know, we book them at our summer concerts or they play in our musicals or so we we have some good contacts already. you may not know exactly who they are, but also economic development is a great, you know, they they've got all the business um directories and so I think there'll be a number of different steps and it may be inviting them to open houses and so I think that it'll be a multi-step plan to do that and that'll go for the artists and you know all the different different areas of of being um creative.

Thank you. um question. Can you talk about the involvement of the cultural commission on this plan and and maybe what those citizens did um on behalf of staff

in putting it together or put or both the future? Okay. Um they were very involved. So uh I think you're aware from us talking to before that we have different subcommittees within our commission. So we've got the history committee and we have the um science committee. Well, around this time as we started kick this off, we created a uh strategic planning committee. So, it's it's a subcommittee of the overall commission and they they probably in particular spent more time on this, but all of the commissioners were interviewed. They were part of of reading through this, of asking questions as we started to get pieces and parts and seeing the insights. They attended these open houses that we, you know, that the public were at. So they were very involved throughout it and some of them we had the chair of it sitting on most um you know we had at least monthly check-ins with our with our consultant. So, and and now, as I mentioned, they've read the final one, but I think what's even more exciting is, okay, now what do we do with it? And one of the goals in here is to to elevate their role because, you know, they've all been fantastic in helping us execute. you know, they they work as MC's at the event or they help plan the craft and and they're they're very much doers, but I think we need to elevate them to an activism role as well, advocacy and and and um so I'm very excited and as are they about what this means for them too and how they will continue to be involved.

Awesome. Thank you. So, thank you. Any other questions? And then we'll open public comment at 9:48. It's 9. Sorry. Wow. 7:48. Any public wishing to address council on this specific item? Make yourself known. Seeing none, we'll close public comment at 7:48 and go back for final statements. Todd, nothing other than thank you for your work and I'm in support. Thank you.

Yeah. I want to thank you for all your time, all the volunteers, all the staff, and this 13 monthsl long process just builds on previous councils, commissions, staff, the planning efforts, and I'm just honored to be part of the future plan that's can help ensure that we continue to thrive and be a cultural destination. So, thank you. Thank you, Randy.

Yeah. when you talked about the accessible, the quality, the affordable, and the variety. I feel like you have done such an amazing job of hitting all four of those on the head. You know, I've never once heard, oh, I can't go to the show at the pace because it's too expensive or, you know, there's not enough shows to see. It's in fact, it's the opposite. Everybody's like, I want to see all the shows and there's so many I can't see them all. So, I think you guys have done a wonderful job and I'm excited to see what that looks like over the next 20 years. Thank you, Randy. just appreciate the thought and the uh the work that went into putting this plan together. It's it's a lot it's a labor of love, but it it shows well and I think it sets up our future in a really good way. So,

thank you for your work and certainly volunteers, whoever is listening. Thank you guys. Thank you, Eric and Laura. Thank you, Carrie. You're you're one of the best directors um of arts I think I've ever met. um you really know how to effectively manage the Pace Center and bring quality entertainment to Parker and this strategic plan, this 10-year plan just really illustrates your talent. Thank you. I appreciate that.

Thank you, Laura. Um for myself, I I when I first got elected many, many years ago, I couldn't understand why there was so much time and money spent on planning. This plan, it was the main street plan. It was the Parker Road Corridor master plan. It was the comprehensive plan. I was like, "What are we doing? This is insane." Now, obviously, 13 years later, here I am. And I we could not run the town as we do without planning ahead. Um, and I think that these strategic plans, these these comprehensive plans are of the utmost importance. But I think what also is amazing about them is they're dynamic. Um, you know, we we have a plan, we're going through a comprehensive plan, the 2035 plan to update it to a 2050 plan. And this is a a a microcosm of that just in one department. But lessons learned during our previous plan of what was working and what was not. And now we're going to take those lessons forward and create even stronger and better cultural department. Um the town is always learning. There are always are our mistakes and and things happen or or there are things that we can do better. But um we will do things better and and we are uh we are the best and our arts and our parks and our police and every other department speak uh speak to that. So, thank you very much for the work you did. We appreciate you.

All right, with that council, I would entertain a motion. I move to approve resolution number 26-0 for voted as part of the regular agenda. I have a motion from Hendricks and a second from VS. Hendricks, yes. Bington, yes. Wils, hi. Franen, yes. Fa, yes. And that passes unanimously. Thank you. All right. Thank you. We're excited to get working.

Nice. Next up under resolutions, item 7B, resolution number 26-016, a resolution accepting the donation of the Tacoma 31 lowwater turf and installation services at Salsbury Regional Park field number four for sustainability purposes. Mr. Bruce Lee, the floor is yours, sir. Thank you for having me. Um, yeah, with that, we are here to explore 31, which is a type of green grass. So, we're working um we're working with Green Valley Turf. Uh we're donating approximately 25,000 square ft of turf for in the dollar amount of approximately $54,000 in value um for a trial use on field number four in Salsbury Park. Uh the trial will consist of converting field 4 for cool season which is Kentucky bluegrass to um which is a high water use turf to this Toma 31 which is anticipated to be a low water use turf being season ideally about 50% savings potentially. um allows us to to evaluate turf performance, water savings, uh maintenance requirements, and playability while min minimalizing operational and financial risk. Um the results we hope to get from this will inform future decisions regarding turf conversions in our park system. One of our highest use water, one of our highest use of water is in our our sports fields and this might be something that we can, you know, make an adjustment to. Um a little bit about to 31. Um, as some of you may know, it's a fairly new turf, but it's um a water wise turf that's been hybridized for Colorado. So, with that, it was um developed out of Oklahoma State University, made publicly available approximately 2019. Still fairly new. I mean, Colorado is cold, so it's not well adapted yet, but we're we're getting there. Um, it's just not trial yet. Uh some folks have it on sports fields um just not baseball fields. Uh it was developed specifically

as a warm season cold tolerant droughtresistant turf which is what we're really looking for. Um it's a type of turf that is still new as I mentioned specifically the warm season turf for ball field use in municipal setting. That's what we're hoping for. And that was the very specific question that we asked was where can you see it? And it's going to be here in the winter ideally. Um right now we're on an installation schedule. Ideally we will convert um in July which is optimal for this type of turf. Um as warm season warmer is better which is kind of unique and it could really help us you know in that redevelopment of turf areas. So um it'll last a few weeks. It should be a rel relatively quick turnaround uh with minimal impact to programming. We've been working very closely with recreation and we'll get this thing turned around as quickly as possible. There's a healing period that hopefully won't take long as long as it's hot. So with that, based on the potential based on the potential sustainable environmental and operational impacts, uh staff recommend the approval of resolution number 26-016, a resolution accepting the donation of Tokama 31 lowwater turf and installation services at Salsbury Regional Park number four for sustainability purposes.

Thank you very much. Questions, Mr. Please. Um I was just looking at the financial impact. So seems like it's small. Can you talk about that a little bit? The field is small. Uh the financial impact

it is um you know and and right now ideally it will be small. They're donating 100% of the labor and service. We are going to re we're going to repurpose the repurpose. We're going to recycle the turf. We're going to compost it. And so there will be a little bit of labor in that. And ultimately, if we're doing our job right, which is we love turf and we're good at growing it, we should be able to sustain this for the future and with minimal impact being that it is 100% donated. That is the goal. Thank you, Laura Eric. That was my only question. So, thank you.

And Brandy, sorry. No, I don't have any. Okay. Yeah. I'm so I the donation is wonderful. Green Valley Turp. Um so will they also benefit from this because now they'll have a place to showcase it. That's a possibility. Yeah, we're not advertising that, but yeah, we we will likely, you know, if they want to, you know, we intend to advertise or or market this just as much as them, if at all um on their behalf, but um you know, ultimately if they wanted to, they would have to notify us and let us know they got somebody coming down that might be interested in looking at this turf, but that is an opportunity. Okay. Thanks.

And no questions. Thank you. With that, we'll open up public comment 7:56. Any member of the public wishing to address council on this item? Seeing no close public comment 756 and go back for closing comments. Anything Todd? Maybe I like to borrow some from my backyard too, but otherwise no, I'm support I'm excited to see how it does. We've had a lot of questions about me. Eric, no comments. Looks good. I like it.

Supportive. you know, this has been so wonderful to work with this on the last three and a half years. Um, I am excited about it. The potential that we have on a greater scale, and I love that we're able to do this as a town to set the example, but the potential on a greater scale for all the non-functioning turf and when it comes to water conservation, everything just gets me all excited. And I know that you know that because I'm pretty sure I've been talking everybody's ear off about this Tacoma 31 Bermuda grass for years now. So, thank you for making this happen and thank you for doing it on a scale that this isn't just like, you know, the front lawn at town hall. This is on a grand scale that I am very very optimistic that it's going to work for us. So, I appreciate the work. Yeah. Thank you.

Thank you, Brandon. Yeah, I would just echo uh actually echo my comments previously. We we we lead the way. Um and this this is an example of that. Um renowned parks and wreck and and you know, they're looking to us to to give it a go. I at a huge cost on them. And this is not cheap turf. It probably will not be cheap turf for the near future, but at least we'll get to see if it works and it's worth the investment. So again, I kudos to to Parks and Rec for getting this opportunity here in town and and letting us study it ourselves. Well done. With that, council, I'd entertain a motion. I move to approve resolution number 26-016 as part of the regular agenda. Thank you. I have a second. Uh, second from I'm sorry. Motion from Ves, second from Hendricks. Hendricks, yes. Fington, yes. Wils, hi.

Uh, Franen, yes. And Hefta, yes. And that passes unanimously with no other business in front of this council. We are adjourned at 7:58. It's my watch. I saw you guys. My watch actually is