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c:\documents and settings\droubidox\local settings\temporary internet files\olk44\history of parks and pathways committee final web version 2009.doc Several years ago, the City sent a survey to the citizens of Eagle asking them what their priorities were for their community. Recreation including Parks and Pathways was at the top of the list. The original committee was appointed when the city received the donation of the land from the Merrill Family for the Merrill Park. The original committee consisted of members with backgrounds in Baseball and Soccer, Corps of Engineers, Idaho State Parks, Flood District 10 and Idaho State Lands. Don Stockton, a retiree from the Idaho State Lands, had worked successfully in acquiring the 25 foot easements needed for the pathways along the river. Angela Deckers was interested in building parks and served as a citizen volunteer to help plan the Merrill Park as well as give input for the Guerber Park. I was fortunate to be Liaison with this Committee from 1995‐2002, at which time I became Mayor for the City of Eagle. The City has always been very creative in the way we acquired the land to build the parks and pathways. We negotiated with Ada County to lease the 84 acres of land where the Skateboard Park exists today for $1.00 a year. We annexed the land and we formed a youth committee by partnering with the Police Department to plan and develop the four acres of the active skateboard park with basketball and roller hockey areas. This Skateboard Park was one of the first in the Treasure Valley. The rest of the 84 acres has a master plan that includes a bicycle park and ball fields. The Velodrome bicycle club is making progress in building this park. The Merrill Park land was donated by the Merrill Family in 1995 in remembrance of Reid Merrill. The planning, selection and oversight of Don Belts Landscape Architects for the park development was done by the Parks and Pathway Committee. Guerber Park land was found by working with ITD, and purchased for $11,000. It was excess land left over from the building of Highway 55. We also negotiated with Ada County Highway district to purchase a small piece of land that connected to the ITD piece and the Parks and Pathway Committee began to plan for the Guerber Park. Through a Development Agreement with Dennis Baker for the Lake Moor Development, we were able to negotiate more land for ball fields. We worked with Mr. Baker and the City of Boise to assemble 30 acres of land between Eagle and Boise to build a sports park. This park will be planned jointly with the City of Boise to share the costs of park development. When we began to successfully build the parks and pathways we also realized that we needed help to fund these projects. We worked with the BCA and we hired a consultant to put together the City of Eagle Park Impact Fees that included a Capital Improvement Plan. During the process of building the Merrill Park we also started working on the Pathway system and built the bridge to connect to the pathway along the river. We worked with adjacent property owners to allow us to move fences that were blocking the pathway as well as convincing additional property owners to allow us to build the 10 foot pathway along the North Channel. ---PAGE BREAK--- c:\documents and settings\droubidox\local settings\temporary internet files\olk44\history of parks and pathways committee final web version 2009.doc We also worked hard to convince the Eagle River Developers that they needed to build the 10 foot paved Asphalt Pathway that runs behind the Hilton Hotel to the edge of the Merrill Park. Don Stockton and Chuck Ferguson worked with the Corp of Engineers to get the permits to allow us to build the trails that now run down to the river as well as the bridges that allow for pedestrians to enjoy the walks by the river. He also convinced volunteers to build the pathways behind North Channel Center that connect to the path along the bypass. This spring we will complete two more projects that took three years to get the funding through Enhancement Funds at ITD. By partnering with the developers we were able to secure the matching funds that will build the bridge into Merrill Park, connecting the North and South side of the Boise River, as well as connecting the pathway under Eagle Road. Through the years, we as committee members have represented the City on regional committees such as the Foundation to Ada Canyon Trail System and The Boise River Trail Committee. We also worked with staff in creating the development standards for the pathways that exist today. We are very pleased with our volunteer efforts for this community and look forward to working with the City Council in planning for the recreation needs of our community for the future. Respectfully Submitted Parks and Pathways Development Committee 2009