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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2008-10-29 Work Session Minutes DESCHUTES COUNTY GREENPRINT: A NATURAL RESOURCE, PARK, OPENSPACE AND TRAILS PROTECTION PLAN FOR DESCHUTES COUNTY AND ITS INCORPORATED JURISDICTIONS Kristin Kovalik Trust for Public Land 115 NW Oregon Ave., Suite 9 Bend, OR 97701 Phone (541) 382-2092 Fax (541) 322-9723 PROJECT SUMMARY: The Trust for Public Land (TPL), working in partnership with Bend Metro Park and Recreation District, the Deschutes Land Trust, the Cities of Bend, Sisters, Redmond, La Pine and the Redmond Park and Recreation District, proposes developing a County-wide Greenprint based on goals of common interest across the county. The resulting Greenprint will function as a planning tool for county, local land and natural resource protection and park and trail development efforts. Through the Greenprint process, communities can identify lands that meet a wide range of land conservation goals, and can develop an action plan for implementing voluntary and incentive-based strategies to: ‰ Create a regional, interconnected trail system that includes multi-use trails connecting parks and recreation facilities, federally managed public lands, schools, neighborhoods and business districts, as well as other destinations in and between the cities and county. The planned trail network can meet the recreational, environmental and alternative transportation goals identified by the communities. ‰ Protect the lands most critical for water quality and quantity by analyzing data on soils, slopes, land cover, and groundwater recharge, with a strong focus on the protection of the Deschutes River, groundwater resources and drinking water supplies. ‰ Meet the park, natural resource and recreation needs of the rapidly growing populations in Deschutes County, identifying ways to use investments in parks, trails and open space as a proactive strategy to guide future growth and ensure the quality of life that is essential to the health of community members. ‰ Protect the unique natural resources of the area, including wildlife habitat, forests, wetlands, riparian corridors, scenic vistas, working lands and historic resources. TPL’s Greenprint is an interactive, community modeling process that uses a geographic information system (GIS) to identify priorities for planning and conserving parks, trails and natural resources based on local input. We work with key stakeholders and the public to identify goals and values around land conservation and recreation. Then we form a Technical Advisory Team to work with TPL on developing scientifically sound models that incorporate the best available data with current local and national research. The result is a set of maps that prioritize exactly where the community should invest its limited resources in order to meet its many goals, an analysis of funding and implementation strategies, and a web-based Greenprint model that Deschutes County, Bend Metro Park and Recreation District and the Cities of Bend, Redmond, La Pine and Sisters, and the various natural resource groups can use to implement their land protection, park, recreation, open space and trail goals. BACKGROUND AND NEED: During the past ten years, Deschutes County has experienced the most rapid growth of any county in Oregon largely due to its quality of life and year- round recreation opportunities, including cross-country skiing, snowboarding, fishing, hunting, hiking, rock-climbing, whitewater rafting, and golfing. Over the last 15 years, the City of Bend has grown 268%, Redmond 228%, and Sisters 157%. Population projections through 2025 predict Bend growing an additional 35%, Redmond 91%, and Sisters 67%. While a high rate of growth offers tremendous opportunities, it can also threaten the natural resources, unique character and quality of life that residents have come to enjoy. The Cities of Bend, Redmond and Sisters are experiencing heavy growth and there is a need to plan in a way that sustains the local economy, environment and quality of life. The Greenprint will provide these cities with an open space plan, as well as a tool that can be used to guide additional community planning efforts in the future. PROJECT SCOPE AND PROCESS: TPL’s Greenprint planning process and scope will incorporate the following steps: ‰ Stakeholder and public outreach to develop natural resource, park, open space and trail goals, ‰ Prioritizing lands for protection that meet identified goals, using a GIS-based Greenprint Model, ‰ Conservation finance analysis to identify all existing and potential public sources of implementation funds from local, state and federal sources, ‰ An Action Plan with implementation strategies, ‰ A web-based Greenprint that can be used long-term by federal, state and local governments and other partners to update and share data and maps and guide future implementation. In order to make the process as cost-effective as possible, TPL proposes running a stream-lined, county-wide Greenprint planning process, that would rely on the input of a county-wide Stakeholder Group and the community as well as data collected from a public opinion survey and current conditions review, to set the goals and criteria for the Greenprint. TPL has partnered with J.T. Atkins & Company PC, a local planning firm with the qualifications to be able to manage the process locally. TPL proposes creating a county-wide Greenprint Stakeholder Group with representatives from the economic and business sectors, county and jurisdiction staff, natural resource agencies, recreation user groups and NGO’s, that will help guide the development of the Greenprint. We will work with the Stakeholder Group and the public to identify goals and criteria for conservation that span jurisdictional boundaries within the county. Five public meetings, one in each jurisdiction and one in the unincorporated area will take place twice during the Greenprint process in order to gain broad community input. TPL will work with Deschutes County, the local jurisdictions and members of the Technical Advisory Team, to collect all necessary data and build the model framework. Once the Greenprint Model is complete, TPL will work with the Stakeholder Group and public to prioritize and weigh the goals in order to create a land protection scenario with broad support. In addition to interviews and document review, we have also incorporated a public opinion survey to further inform the process. The results of the public opinion survey will provide the county-wide Greenprint Stakeholders with a detailed overview of goals and priorities for conservation throughout the county. Because the Stakeholders and public will have responsibility for identifying goals and criteria that apply to all jurisdictions in the county, we think it is important to collect as much information upfront as possible in order to inform the process and ensure that the Greenprint reflects values and interests from communities throughout the county. TPL has grant funding to pay for the survey, which will cost about $20,000, allowing us to offer this important service at no cost to the county or local jurisdictions. The public opinion poll will build on, rather than duplicate, the survey being completed by Bend Metro Park and Recreation District, which is a detailed park use and satisfaction survey. Our understanding is that the county and local jurisdictions would like to have a final Greenprint that reflects the unique issues and opportunities faced by each jurisdiction and that can be used for a variety of county and local land acquisition and planning purposes in the future. We think the approach of working with a county-wide Greenprint Stakeholder Group and public will result in a land protection, planning tool that will function effectively at local and county levels. BUDGET FOR THE DESCHUTES COUNTY GREENPRINT: Current Conditions Analysis and Kick-off Meeting - $18,000 ‰ Kick-off meeting with Greenprint Steering Committee and Stakeholders ‰ Interviews with elected officials and key stakeholders ‰ Review of related document, reports and surveys ‰ Current Conditions Report and Base Maps Public Opinion Survey – $0.00 ($20,000 cost covered by existing grant) ‰ Design questionnaire ‰ Administer poll and analyze results ‰ Present results to County-wide Task Force Goal and Criteria Workshops with Public and Stakeholders – $20,000 ‰ Two Stakeholder and five public meetings to identify goals, priorities and criteria for the Greenprint Model Framework. ‰ Develop draft criteria matrix and data inventory GIS Data Collection - $9,500 ‰ Collecting and processing GIS data, including collecting, preprocessing, validating and refining data and criteria matrix as required Greenprint Model Design and Implementation - $30,000 ‰ Develop criteria matrix, identify data sources and get feedback on model design through WebEx meetings with Stakeholders and/or Technical Advisory Team ‰ Construct GIS models for each goal ‰ Work with Greenprint Stakeholders and Technical Advisory Team to validate and refine Model Presentation, Goal Prioritization Workshops - $33,000 ‰ Two Stakeholder and five public meetings to review and refine priority maps and weight goals for composite priority maps Parcel Prioritization - $6,500 ‰ Develop parcel prioritization criteria and matrix ‰ Model implementation ‰ Customize tools for parcel analysis and produce analysis statistics ‰ This budget assumes that parcel prioritization would be done with a single set of acquisition criteria for all jurisdictions Conservation Finance Analysis - $0.00 ($7,500 cost covered by existing grant) ‰ Finance Feasibility Study Funding and Implementation Workshop - $5,000 ‰ Meeting with Steering Committee and Stakeholders to present results of public funding research, polling and survey ‰ Develop action plan Maps, Statistics and Final Report - $20,000 ‰ Writing, layout and design of final report o Producing model outputs, including maps and statistics. Greenprint Model Delivery – Web-based (Internet Mapping Site) - $12,000 ‰ Website creation, setup and data configuration ‰ Training for jurisdictions and partners ‰ Website maintenance and support for 12 months Total Project Budget $154,000 Includes all tasks listed above and project management fee To date $101,00 has been committed to the Greenprint project. TPL, Deschutes Land Trust and the Bend Metro Parks and Recreation District have each committed $30,000, the City of Bend $5,000, the Redmond Park and Recreation District $2,500, the City of Redmond $2,500 and the City of Sisters has committed $1,000. ABOUT THE TRUST FOR PUBLIC LAND: The Trust for Public Land (TPL) is a private nonprofit organization that works nationwide to conserve land for public use. TPL has worked in and around where people live since it was founded in 1972, and has demonstrated expertise in developing and analyzing park and open space programs. TPL helps prioritize lands for protection, pinpoint neighborhoods in need of new parks, and identify lands that safeguard important natural resources – and then develop action strategies to help realize local goals. TPL’s Geographic Information System (GIS) approach, known as Greenprinting, targets lands that are strong candidates for conservation and helps establish local land conservation goals. TPL currently has over two-dozen active visioning and greenprinting projects in cities and counties around the country. These projects cover a range of activities, including mapping, planning, financing and transaction services around public open space.