Overland Park

February 2010 Minutes

Minutes of Overland Neighborhood Association (ONA)

Present: See Liz.

Call To Order: 6:34pm

Due to the immense throng, the Minutes and Treasurer’s Report were postponed.

Casey Davenhill, along with CU Denver graduate students Courtney and Deb, gave a brief over-view of the Overland Ponds Project.

President Sandy circulated a petition favoring Rudy Sandoval's appointment as Manager of Safety.

Jeff Shoemaker of the Greenway Foundation had a family emergency and couldn't attend.  Instead, Councilman Christ Nevitt succombed to a series of bad puns, beginning with his intention to "tee it up" for Gordon Robertson of Parks and Recreation.  Robertson described the River South Masterplan Draft as a "vision, not a project."  He thinks the South Platte River should be regarded as "an asset, but a dumping ground," and mentioned a desire to widen the river trail from its current 8-foot width to the standard 12-foot width, moving vehicular roads if need be.  The idea would be to connect people to the river rather than the current industrial orientation.  Noting that Washington Park is over-used, he proclaimed the need to expand park space along the River, though he admitted "there is no money for land acquisition."

Robertson said that, contrary to common belief, Denver ranks merely average in park land per capita, ranking somewhere near Toledo, Ohio.  With a current population fo 600,000 and a projected rise to 800,000, the need for parks will only increase.  He noted that the City of Denver has 5 18-hole golf courses, and that golf courses account for a relatively high percentage of the City's total green space.  A possible option might be to reduce the Overland Golf Course to 9 holes.

Reaction to this was passionate, most feeling betrayed by the absence of public notice.  Despite Robertson's claim that informational leaflets were distributed to all homes adjacent to the golf course, those present who actually live adjacent to the golf course said they received nothing.  Robertson said the "consultant team" was supposed to have covered that task, but apparently didn't.  Members of the Overland Golf Association said they were not contacted either.

Many suggested the City's need for parks could be addressed elsewhere, like Fort Logan, Denver's mountain parks, Genesee, Ruby Hill or Harvard Gulch.  The notion of the Masterplan as merely a "vision" was disputed.  Nevitt was called upon to instigate a cost/benefit analysis of the golf course's fate.  Citing the high volume at the golf course, one attendee wondered why "we're having a population increase and yet we're reducing the size of the golf course?"  Three high schools use Overland as their home course.  One speaker noted that the Overland neighborhood has a unique character.  "We're not Wash Park," she said.

Robertson said public input will be sought in March on the priorities of their various projects.

The meeting was adjourned at sometime after 8:00pm.