Vote Jeff Shappard
for
EPRD Board of Directors
Why are you running for the EPRD board?
I want to be a part of building a new vision for our community. We live in this beautiful area, one of the most desired communities in the United States and I'd like to help Evergreen Parks and Recreation District (EPRD) build more trails, use the trails and open space we already own to better suit the desires of our community, and improve what our indoor facilities have to offer.
When projects are proposed, they unnecessarily balloon in scope and expense. The annual budget for EPRD isn't small, but money should be spent wisely and in alignment with the needs of our community. Our outdoor spaces (sports fields), are good in the summer (except for the elk poop, how quaint!), but during the winter and "mud season", we find ourselves scrambling for indoor space, often resorting to driving down the hill for paid facilities. We can do better.
One of our greatest assets of this community are the citizens themselves. We need to encourage community involvement and empowerment. We need to encourage people to vote in local elections and beyond that, to invite and capitalize on ideas and desires of the people of Evergreen. Elections only create ~2% voter response and many people in our community don't even know that EPRD has an elected board. Our community deserves better. If we work to let the public know what EPRD provides for them in terms of amenities, district residents will be more likely to tell us what they want. This year, the Board unanimously voted down an initiative to mail out ballots for this year's election due to budgetary concerns. Given the historically low voter participation, how can we even know what our constituents want or who they want to represent them?
Metrics help us make decisions in business and a measured plan on how, where, and what we build. Constituents can tell us what they want to pay for specific amenities.
Sustainability and Environmentalism
Although parking for our indoor and outdoor facilities is another issue, I'd like to explore the possibility of electric vehicle (EV) charging stations at the Lake House, Buchanan Recreation Center, and Wulf Rec Center parking lots.
We can charge a similar amount that people pay elsewhere to pay back EPRD for installing the EV chargers, offer a convenient place to recharge EV cars and trucks while people use our facilities, and help the environment while not incurring long term costs for taxpayers.
If a new recreation center is built, it should be done using the standard of LEED (Leadership in Environmental and Energy Design) building design and construction. LEED certified buildings cost less to run and maintain, create more equitable communities, lower carbon emissions, and help address climate change. As part of a more proactive approach to running EPRD, this is a good place to start.
Recycling and composting programs at Wulf and Buchanan Rec Centers align with current community initiatives, such as those of the Evergreen Sustainability Alliance.
These are just a few ideas that can help make a big difference for our community and start to proactively address some of the bigger issues that impact our world.
More Trails, Better Access
I'd like to help EPRD build more trails, designate their use as appropriate, and help change the plans Denver Mountain Parks and JeffCo Open Space has for our area. Currently, EPRD isn't as engaged as they could be with trail planning, the overcrowding we experience in parking lots and adjacent roadways.
Our fabulous parks see a lot of use from locals and visitors alike. On the weekends and evenings, our parking lots are overfull, something I'd like to help change. Although this isn't exactly "EPRD's juristiction", it could be something we can impact. This is our local area and our citizens should have their voices heard as non-local entities (JeffCo Open Space and Denver Mountain Parks) plan to bus people up here from Denver to a "Mountain Park Hub" they plan to build at Dedisse. In the planning meetings I've attended, I haven't seen any attendance or participation from EPRD board members or department employees.
An expanded program to teach people how to mountain bike, trail running camps in the summer for kids, trail maintenance, and outdoor education programs would all benefit our community. Right now, there are programs, led by groups outside of Evergreen that do this great work, but by getting our local rec department more involved, EPRD will become central in the conversation JeffCo is having about how trail maintenance should be performed, how trail expansion might take place, and what we should do about significant parking issues at our trailheads.
Can we build better relationships with JCOS and DMP to influence the types or changes made to our local parks? Can we bulid relationships with Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) and the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office so that something is done about parking on our roads?
Finally, should we expand local trail systems and create directional trails or mountain bike only trails? This has proven effective in nearby areas (Apex Park, Maryland Mountain, etc.), by separating on-foot and "pedal" traffic. Is this an idea we can bring to Evergreen Mountain/Three Sisters, Bergen Peak, and Bell Park?
Accessible Playgrounds and programs
Why don't we have a more inclusive mindset in Evergreen? There was one wheelchair swing at one playground, but it broke, was taken down and now more than two years later, hasn't been replaced.
We can do more to make our playgrounds, recreation facilities, and parks accessible for all. By ensuring our playgrounds are accessible by everyone, we will attract families with more diverse needs and support the needs of people who live here today.
This can be done with the budget EPRD has currently, it doesn't take a mill levy or other tax increase...we can build outdoor facilities today and increase the programs EPRD has to offer for children and adults with special needs.
Lake House Events
We can make more of the events we hold at the Evergreen Lake House, especially in the winter. A "locals pass" is an idea EPRD should explore, imagine: you don't have to wait in line with your family to ice skate, kids have skates for the entire season, lessons are provided to people who want to learn to skate, play hockey, or progress to a new level of skating proficiency.
What if we had food trucks? Our Winter weekends could be more eventful and people would be more likely to 'make a day of it' if hot meals are available, similar to what we see during the Summer Concert Series each year.
If we did it in a way that didn't harm the golf course, could we also be allowed to sled during the winter? People could pay a small fee that covers parking and sledding, and enjoy the amazing views, excitement of sliding down the hill, and then warm up with a toasty waffle and hot cocoa at the Lake House.
Off Leash Dog park
We all know that the way the Evergreen Dog Park was run previously just wasn't good enough. People didn't pick up after their dogs and this was gross and bad for local water systems. There were too many cars parking on the road outside of designated parking areas, this was dangerous for dogs, people, and drivers passing by.
We can do better. We can compost or actively biodegrade dog waste. We can approach parking from the aspect of how many visitors are allowed into the park at any one time, and how much off-street parking is available. By charging visitor fees, we can also recoup much of the cost for running the park.
1.) By forming an Inter-Gorvernmental Agreement (IGA), EPRD would relieve JeffCo of responsibility for the Evergreen Dog Park, something that they (Jefferson County) doesn't want to oversee.
2.) Friends of Evergreen Dog Park (FEDP) have been a huge supporter of getting the dog park back and campaigned diligently to keep it from closing in the first place. Just this week, they made presentations to JeffCo in an effort to get the EDP back, thank you! Their hearts are in this effort and we support their longstanding hard work to get the dog park back.
3.) If we set up a dog park to generate revenue, the park ends up creating money for ongoing projects and to offset the initial project costs for opening the dog park. This includes upgrading some drainage at the bottom of staircases to prevent runoff, installing any additional fencing, creating more parking, and building composting dog poop stations in the park! Maintenance costs of the park would also be offset from this revenue and it would likely be revenue-positive after the first year.
4.) We see digital pay stations at ski resorts, public parking facilities, etc. and are easy to obtain, implement, and run over time. Let's use them at the dog park to obtain fees from users
5. If we experience issues (traffic, environmental, crazy dogs, parking issues), we could use volunteer dog par ambassadors to be the first point of contact. A strike system would be developed to help remediate future issues to prevent closures.
6.) By scheduling regular closures and leveraging community engagement (volunteers), we'll keep the park in tip top shape, address any repair needs that come up, and give dog owners in Evergreen a sense of 'ownership' of the park. We're in this together and if we bond around our common interests, this will be a wonderful addition (re-addition?) to our community.
Knowing that this is a very important issue for our community, this is an idea I'd like to develop with input from district residents. If you have questions or concerns about a dog park in Evergreen, please submit that information below!