Highland City Open Space Steering Committee

Last year Mayor Ritchie began an Open Space Steering Committee to research and propose solutions for individual open space neighborhoods. The committee has been working hard at creating and revising the Open Space Maintenance Agreement and has begun reviewing each of the 18 open space developments. Many issues and concerns have been addressed which include: homeowner improvements to immediate adjacent open space (Open Space Maintenance Agreement), trails, fencing, orphaned open space parcels, parks, and many other unique and individual concerns. Over the next few months these neighborhoods will be contacted individually and the committee is requesting comments/concerns and whether or not homeowners will be interested in utilizing the new Open Space Maintenance Agreement. The Open Space Maintenance Agreement allows residents to improve adjacent open space which has previously been designated as "natural vegetation". Many people call this "natural vegetation" weeds! The Open Space Maintenance Agreement does not pertain to property previously improved such as grassed open space and grassed park areas.

The Open Space Steering Committee is requesting your help. Please have a list of concerns/comments ready for your committee representative. Also, if you are interested in participating in the Open Space Maintenance Agreement, please let your committee representative know. While comments and concerns will be reviewed, the primary purpose of this neighborhood review is to evaluate the interest/participation in the Open Space Maintenance Agreement. Your Open Space Steering Committee representatives are: Highland Hills-Carol Kounanis, Mercer Hollow-Doug Cunningham, Chamberry Fields-Kristi Vick. You can send any comments/concerns to openspace@q.com and the information will be forwarded onto your representative or you can contact them directly.

Detention Basin Sod

This week work will begin to prepare the ground in the detention basin (Chamberry Park) for sod. The ground will be raked, low spots regraded, and herbicide sprayed to kill existing weeds. This will also occur on the east dirt slope of the Highland Hills Ithica Playground. Once the ground has been prepared, sod will be laid. Please remember to stay off the sod for 2 weeks. After that, it's all game!

Detention Basin Sod Coming Soon!

Tonight, Tuesday, July 20th, the Highland City Council approved funding to install sod in the detention basin, (Chamberry Park). Sod will be coming soon! Remember that you will need to stay off of it for two weeks, but after that, you can run at your heart's content! Just remember, it's not for motorized vehicles or bycicles (of course, sleds are o.k. and oh, so much fun in the snow!)

Detention Basin

The previous city council budget session allowed for funding of the detention basin. Highland City Council will be reviewing and approving the action item 9.3 on the agenda for sodding of the detention basin/Chamberry Park on Tuesday, July 20th. The action items are tentatively scheduled for 9:40, however, City Council meetings don't always follow this time well. You can email your city councilmen/councilwoman and encourage them to support this action item. You can also show your support by attending the meeting. You can find each city councilperson's email address at http://www.highlandcity.org/cgi-bin/hc/elected_officials.html.

Detention Basin - Come Show Your Support!

Highland City is holding a special session tomorrow, Tuesday, June 22nd, to consider the city budget for next year. It will be held at 6:00 p.m. at the Highland City building. One of the budget items will be to address sod in the detention basin (Chamberry Park), piping the open drainage system and canal behind the Ithica Park playground, and leveling/covering the dirt hill behind the playground. Please come and show your support for funding these important items so that the work that was started can be completed!

Open Space Steering Committee Meeting Tonight

Tonight, Monday, June 21st there will be another Open Space Steering Committee Meeting at the Highland City Building. From 6:00-7:30 will be presentations on each of the 18 open space developments. Information has been collected from each of the 18 neighborhoods by their representatives. There will be a public comment portion at the end of the meeting. This is a great time to make your voice heard! See you then!

Highland City Open Space Steering Committee

WE NEED YOUR INPUT! THIS DEFINITELY WILL AFFECT YOU! This volunteer committee consisting mostly of open space residents is different from our little neighborhood project group. This committee has been formed by the city through active volunteers to represent the 18 open space developments in the city. It is identifying and working on resolving the concerns and needs in the 18 open space developments. We need itemized information to give to our representatives on the committee to present at the meeting in two weeks, Monday, June 7th at 6:00 p.m. In order to get through all of the developments, time has been set aside at this meeting to briefly present concerns and items for each. There will also be a public comment time at the end of the meeting. Please pass any comments along by responding to this email so that they can be itemized in our presentation to the committee ( openspace@q.com ). You can also contact your city volunteer representative directly.
o Chamberry Fields – Kristi Vick, kvandkv@msn.com (801) 492-0112
o Highland Hills – Carol Kounanis kounanisce@hotmail.com (801)592-2750 or Doug Ybarra doug.ybarra@pearson.com (435)602-0782
o Mercer Hollow – Doug Cunningham, douglastc@yahoo.com (801)216-4144
• Items identified by the Open Space Steering Committee needing attention/resolution –
o Budget – clearly delineating where the $20 maintenance fee paid monthly to the city is used. Also defining open space, city space, native vs. landscaped, parks, etc.
o Restructuring/rewriting the Open Space Agreement and Application
o Improving communication to open space residents
o Orphan parcels – what to do
o Possible lease of open space
o Trails: connections/safety
o Fencing ordinance
o Resident input – wants, ideas, concerns, etc.