September 28, 2023

To the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors and the Santa Cruz County Parks Commission

RE: Locating a Pump Track in the Historic Felton Covered Bridge Park

Good afternoon all,

First, we would like to thank Parks and the project team for the noticeable differences between the most recent public meeting and the first. We’ve been able to review the slides in more detail and after also reading the articles that have come out concerning the location of the proposed pump track, we would like to voice a few of the Valley Women’s Club’s concerns and ideas.

Ideally, it be better to consider alternative locations in Felton for the pump track. Other locations on public land that do not have the flooding, restroom, parking, traffic safety, and nuisance issues we previously discussed with you on September 20^th. SLVUSD property and the overgrown back lot area of the Felton County Corp Yard between Hihn and Plateau are two great locations that would have few to none of the same concerns as the Covered Bridge Park. We respectfully request that these options are more thoughtfully considered before being rejected.

Ideally, the Felton and broader SLV community would have been invited to participate in a brainstorm or workshop session regarding how to update the underutilized active use area of the Felton Covered Bridge Park currently taken up by an unmaintained volleyball court, that are more aligned with the Felton Town Plan and Covered Bridge Park Master Plan. We previously sent you a list compiled by the community of alternative ideas, there are several (exercise equipment and pickleball especially) that would have the wholehearted support of the VWC. It is not too late to start fresh with this outreach.

But assuming these two things don’t happen, or that they do happen and a pump track at Felton Covered Bridge Park is still the result, we have some design and other suggestions to help the project better align with the Town and Park plans, as well as be more palatable to the other half (or more) of Felton residents who are not interested in a pump track there.

• Design drainage for a 50-year flood, not a 2-year flood as stated at the meeting. Felton Grove already floods dramatically every 5-8 years, and this will only intensify with climate change. Please consider permeable pavement also
• Include funding for a third portable toilet for the park in the project, and increase frequency of pumping. Currently the toilets appear to be pumped weekly, and by Day 6 they are a health hazard to all users of the park
• Further reduce the footprint of the pump track, such that only 3-4 children or a couple of preteens can use it at a time. If the track is not big enough to draw crowds or older teens/adults, then much of the parking and nuisance/drinking/drugs concerns could be mitigated
• Incorporate traffic safety improvements for bicycles and pedestrians at the Mt Hermon Rd/Graham Hill Rd intersection into the project, as well as safety improvements to the crosswalk at South Covered Bridge Rd. Build a sidewalk from the Highway 9/Graham Hill Rd intersection to the northbound bus stop at North Covered Bridge Rd, and add a bus shelter
• Use every design option feasible to minimize the visual presence of the track: 
  • Permeable pavement, green to match the grass 
  • Pump hills no higher than the knee, or at most the hip. Same height restrictions for the split rail fence around the project. These modifications would allow parents supervising one child at the playground to still visually supervise their other child on the path loop, as was the original intention in the Park Plan
  • No advertising signage on the split rail fence, as was shown in the first meeting
  • Well-maintained native pollinator-attracting plants between the pump track paths
  • Keep in mind also that the intended viewshed of the bridge was the viewer being on Graham Hill or Mt Hermon looking towards the bridge, not standing on the bridge looking out, as has been shown at the meetings

This Park is public space designed and built by the people and for the people of Felton and the San Lorenzo Valley as a visually beautiful public open space for peaceful enjoyment of a protected and nationally registered Historic Landmark. Please listen to your constituents and do your best to keep it that way while seeking to provide enjoyable physical activity opportunities for our youth.

Best regards,

Alisan Andrews, President
Valley Women’s Club