Town Council hears park plans

by Stephen Crane

The parks of Pinedale now have a master plan of their own, which was presented to Pinedale’s Town Council on Monday evening by representatives of WLC Engineering.

Particular attention was paid to the newly acquired 18-acre addition to the southern end of Boyd Skinner Park that surrounds Pine Creek.

“When the town voted to purchase this property, everybody was very excited that we stopped development,” said Mayor Stephen Smith. “Rather than have 20 homes in there, now we have this green space.”

The Pinedale Park and Tree Board met to discuss the options available for the area, and everyone agreed that the area should be kept as natural as possible.

WLC Engineering was then asked to provide a proposal for the area that took these factors into account.

“What is proposed is a walking path down along (the western edge of) the river and down to the southwest corner (of the park),” said Brian Gray, of WLC.

The new acreage will also have two areas of minimal development, including that southwestern corner, which will have 16 parking spaces, a few picnic tables and some natural playground equipment.

The other area that is proposed for minor development is in the northeast corner, running parallel to South Tyler St.

“The Lion’s Club was interested in putting in a picnic shelter or pavilion-type structure there, with a restroom and a kitchen kind-of-thing that people could use to have a large picnic or gathering,” said Gray.

The structure is tentatively planned on being 80x60 feet, with 14 parking spaces directly adjacent in a looped parking lot as well as an additional 11 parking spaces further down S. Tyler St.

An 800-square-foot “croquet court” would also be created just west of the pavilion, which is “basically a big grassy area to play lawn games and that kind of stuff on,” according to Gray.

South of the pavilion would be a large, natural playground.

“We’ll have some boulders, log-type of structures that the kids can play on,” continued Gray. “Something that’s a little more natural than just swing sets and the orange and green that most playgrounds have.”

A portion of the 18 acres also contains a wetlands area that WLC plans to access using boardwalks “similar to what you’d see in Yellowstone Park…to keep the disturbance to a minimum,” said Gray.

WLC, in conjunction with the Parks and Tree Board, is also working on a wetland enhancement and stream restoration project for the area to improve fish habitats and provide increased recreation for children.

“I think the general consensus is to keep it as natural as we can,” said Mayor Smith. “And that’s what we want. We’ve put great effort to keep everything in the park as natural as possible.”

Also:

— The Town Council rejected a request by J.J. Brandstatter for a release of his company’s $300,000 retainage, due to the unpaid subcontractors from the Pinedale area.

Brandstatter is the owner of Twin Peaks Excavating, a Colorado-based company that has been contracted by Pinedale to complete work on a public works project. The company, however, has failed to complete payment to many of the local contractors that the company has been using throughout its construction.

Therefore, the Town Council was unsympathetic to Brandstatter’s request.

“I have no intention of releasing any of this, none, and I think your company needs to be publicly flogged for sticking it to our guys,” said councilman Dave Smith. “The people that live in this community, that are owed hundreds of thousands of dollars haven’t been made good on it.

“Ethically and morally, this is a bunch of B.S.”

— Three residents from southwestern Pinedale approached the Town Council with bills in their hands for thawing pipes at their houses.

As part of construction on Phase III of the Water and Sewer Rehabilitation Project, the elevation of street surfaces was changed, which has many residents in that area complaining that the construction has caused the frozen pipes.

All three residents said they had bleeders running at the time of the freeze-ups.

“Let us take a look at it, and we’ll get back in touch with you,” said Mayor Smith, who also wanted to remind Pinedale residents that pipes are still very susceptible to freezing. “It’s getting warmer, and people think they can stop running their bleeders, but what happens is the frost gets pushed down into the ground, and it’s a more dangerous time of the year.”

— Pinedale Public Works was allocated $20,000 for the purchase and installation of a new wet-well pump.

— The Engineering Department was given $55,000 to contract with McKinstry for a water-metering study.

“I think it would be good to gather the information now, and update it as needed,” said councilman Dave Hohl.

The department was also granted $20,000 to update the town’s Web site and install a new server system, which will include videoconferencing capability as well as online videotaped copies of town meetings that can be downloaded by the public.

— Ordinance 443, which will annex Pinedale Campground into the town limits, passed its third reading.