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2008-07-08 Parks and Rec Comm MinutesApproved CITY OF MENDOTA HEIGHTS DAKOTA COUNTY, MINNESOTA PARKS AND RECREATION MEETING July 8, 2008 The July 2008 meeting of the Mendota Heights Parks and Recreation Commission was held on Tuesday, July 8, 2008, in the City Council Chambers at City Hall, 1101 Victoria Curve. The meeting was called to order at 6:30 P.M. The following Commissioners were present, Chair Paul Portz, Ray Morris, Larry Craighead, Tom Kraus, Michael Toth, Maureen Brackey and Liz O'Brien. Staff present were: Guy Kullander, Parks Operations and Project Coordinator, Jake Sedlacek, Assistant to the City Administrator, Teresa Gangelhoff, Recreation Programmer, and Nancy Bauer, Recording Secretary, MINUTES: Commissioner Kraus made a motion to approve the minutes, with a correction as to when the sport tiles were installed at Valley Park, seconded by Commissioner Craighead, AYES NAYES Chair Portz added an item at the end of the agenda -Discussion Dog Park. Ms. Gangelhoff handed out a report with totals from donations for the 2008 parks celebration. A running balance is kept in the parks celebration checkbook and there is $8,100 for next year. A report of the prizes was also given out. The next four youth trips are pools and aquatic centers. The Cliff Timm Memorial Fishing Derby has 10 spots left and if residents would like to sign up their kids they need to do it before next Wednesday. Safety camp is full. Golf camps and lessons are still available and information is on the City's website. The week long skateboard camp is coming up on July 26' and was very popular last year. Commissioner Kraus asked if there was a waiting list still being taken for safety camp. Ms. Gangelhoff reported a waiting list was still being taken. South St. Paul and Mendota Heights is full. West St. Paul still has some openings. Commissioner Craighead asked is the reports that were handed out were recorded in the minutes for historical purposes. Mr. Sedlacek responded that there is a copy of the Parks and Recreation Commission agenda that is kept which includes all memos and handouts. Page - 1 7/8/08 Approved Commissioner Toth asked Ms. Gangelhoff if she was still looking for volunteers for the fishing derby. Ms. Gangelhoff responded she was. Commissioner Toth said he would like to volunteer. 2009 PARKS CELEBRATION Chair Portz reported that the Mendota Heights Parks Celebration is normally held the first Saturday of June (June 5, 2009). Next year, School District 197 has selected June 5, 2009, for their History Festival, to celebrate their 150' anniversary. Ms. Gangelhoff said she has called and emailed the committee and has not heard back from anyone. Someone recommended that the City's celebration date be moved for next year. The petting zoo, Splatter Sisters, and Teddy Bear Band have all been secured for next year. It may be a good thing to coordinate with the history festival. The weekend before June 5' is Memorial Day weekend and the weekend after there is a tournament scheduled for Mendakota Park that is held every year. Chair Portz asked where the events were being held for the school districts history festival. Ms. Gangelhoff thought they would be in the halls at Hemy Sibley High School. Commissioner Morris said it would be nice to talk to the committee and maybe doubly market both events. Chair Portz said the kids playing in the ball tournament are the right age for the events of the park celebration and come to the celebration events. Ms. Gangelhoff responded that it is a Mendota Heights Athletic Association in-house tournament, the same weekend as the City's celebration, and all are Mendota Heights kids. The tournament the following weekend is for MSF and is by invitation only with one Mendota Heights team playing in the tournament. Chair Portz commented that the logistics of changing the celebration are big. Commissioner Kraus said the school district's celebration is held over three days and some events may overlap. There may be a potential for conflict. The downside to changing everything isn't justified. Commissioner O'Brien said there may be a direct conflict with events in the evening, if there are events in the evening. Mr. Sedlacek said he hasn't heard if the Fire Department was holding a dance next year. This year was profitable but not as much as they were hoping for. Ms. Gangelhoff said the 5K would be held in the morning and a movie will be shown in the village the Friday night before the City's celebration. Page - 2 7/8/08 Approved Chair Portz said with good communication it could work out better having both events the same day. Ms. Gangelhon said she would try to talk with someone from the history festival. Chair Portz said he liked the idea of working together. Unless there is a major conflict it could be worked out. Commissioner Toth said the park celebration should be locked in on the June 5`' date for next year. Mr. Sedlacek said he would informally report to the City Council that the date was discussed and the Parks and Recreation Commission would be June 5`" . Mr. Sedlacek showed the Mendota Heights website and the web streaming of public meetings on the internet. Anyone at any time can look up Mendota Heights' meetings and watch on video discussions at those meetings. The type of use it gets will be monitored. The meetings will be on the website for one year. Commissioner Morris asked how many hits the City's website gets. Mr. Sedlacek said he didn't know but would check into it. 2009 CITY BUDGET RECOMMENDATIONS Mr. Kullander reported that the Parks and Recreation Commission needs to make a recommendation to the City Council for 2009 capital improvement projects to be placed in the draft 2009 city budget. Recommendations must be for projects that are funded or partially funded from the special parks fund. Commissioner Morris said he would like to move the tennis court that didn't get funded in 2008 into the 2009 budget. Mr. Kullander said the special park fund balance at the end of the year will be about $150,000.00. Several projects in the past two years, at the request of the Pazks and Recreation Commission, City Council has funded half of the capital improvement projects with other funds. We could look at the $150,000 as $300,000. That is a Council option to fund the capital improvement with other funds other than the special parks funds. There are not a lot of capital improvements coming up in the next few years. Once the money is spent in the special park fund it will be gone. The City is 98 % built out. Commissioner Craighead said he would like to do the Friendly Hills Playground rehabilitation and the backstop at Friendly Hills ball field in 2009. Everything would then get shifted to other yeazs. Commissioner Kraus suggested that the projects get prioritized. If funding isn't asked for by the City Council aren't going to fund a capital improvement project. If certain things don't fit in the budget there will be a list of things to do in the future. One thing that needs to be discussed is Page - 3 7/8/08 Approved having a study commissioned to determine what the needs there are in the parks. The study was the basis for a referendum that passed to fund the special park fund. Let's prioritize the capital improvement projects and ask for what we think we need, and then let's start to think about what to do once the funds run out. Commissioner Morris said he agreed with prioritizing the projects. If we only as for $1505000 they are only going to fund $150,000. If there are more projects listed and more money in the budget they may budget for more projects. Chair Portz said he has talked to the City Council about the budget and it was recommended the Commission ask for what is needed rather than worry about how much money there is to spend. If the projects are needed for the community there will be money for the projects. The City Council may match what is in the special park fund. Let's recommend what projects we think are needed and not worry about how much money is needed. Chair Portz asked if any more comments were received about the sport tiles at the tennis courts. Mr. Kullander responded he recently received two comments and both were positive. Commissioner Kraus has heard some comments negative and positive. He has heard more positive comments than negative comments. Commissioner Morris recommended that a different sport tiles surface be put down on anther tennis court. Chair Portz recommended that a tennis court be added to the 2009 budget with a different surface. Commissioner Kraus said he could support that. Commissioner Craighead asked if there is a tennis court that needs major work done to it in 2009. Mr. Kullander responded that the tennis courts are about the same age, built in 1970 and 1972. One court is resurfaced every four or five years. The sport tiles are about the cost of 10 years of routine maintenance on a tennis court. Commissioner Craighead asked if there was a tennis court that needs major work. Mr. Kullander responded that the courts are all in about the same shape. They are not unsafe for play. A contractor looks at the courts and I let the contractor decide which is in the worst shape and that one gets re -surfaced and the rest get routine crack repairs. Commissioner Kraus suggested a court away from Valley Park should be redone in the sport tiles. Mr. Kullander responded that he would recommend the Friendly Hills Park for the sport tiles resurfacing. That court gets a lot of use. Commissioner Kraus said that if the Friendly Hills tennis court was redone and the playground equipment getting rehabilitated, the drawback would be that it could be viewed as putting a lot of emphasize to that park. Page - 4 7/8/08 Approved Or. Kullander said that another option would be to rehab the playground equipment at the Victoria Highlands Park in 2009 instead of Friendly Hills Park, Commissioner Kraus said if Council couldn't support redoing another tennis court that the Friendly Hills Playground equipment could be done in 2009. Commissioner Craighead recommended that the backstops be replaced at Friendly Hills Park as there are some major issues for softball and baseball. Commissioner Morris recommended doing rehab to both playgrounds, the backstops, and one of the tennis courts and then push everything down on the list. Let's get the playgrounds done first. Commission Toth asked about the $15,000 price difference for the two playground rehabilitations. Mr. Kullander responded that Victoria Highlands was a new park in 1990 when the playground equipment was put in. Equal money was put into the neighborhood playground improvements in seven parks. Friendly Hills Park was a bigger, existing park with a larger playground. There is a shift in elevation in the playground which makes it more costly. Friendly Hills Park is a highly visited park. Commissioner Toth asked about the Rogers Lake Park playground that was recently installed. Mr. Kullander responded that the swings were saved and new borders put down. Anew playground element was added. The playground was enlarged a little bit with the new equipment. Commissioner Toth asked about the life expectancy of the playground equipment. Mr. Kullander responded that industry guidelines recommend it should last about eight to 10 years depending on usage. Chair Portz commented that what he was hearing is that the Friendly Hills playground rehabilitation, Friendly Hills ball field backstops, a tennis court be resurfaced with sport tiles, and Victoria Highlands playground be rehabilitated in 2009. Commissioner Kraus wanted to know about MHAA's challenges about storing equipment and would it make sense to consider storage space instead of a tennis court. Commissioner Morris asked it would be nice if MHAA split the cost. Or. Kullander responded that the storage building at Mendakota Park has been brought to the City Council on two occasions and the City Council rejected it. MHAA no longer has the money to match City funds right now. Commissioner Kraus asked how great the need was for city usage. Mr. Kullander responded that Public Works would like a storage area for chemicals and stuff like that. It's not a necessity but a convenience. The City Council would probably not support it. Page - 5 7/8/08 Approved Commissioner Toth asked if it was needed at Mendakota Park, Mr. Kullander responded that Public Works would like it at Mendakota Park because there a lot of tournaments at Mendakota Park, Commissioner Toth asked if MHAA could lease the building if it was built. Mr. Kullander responded that MHAA recently closed their office and they are storing things in garages because they could not afford storage fees. I would expect they may ask to waive the fees for the storage buildings. Chair Portz asked if there was time to talk with MHAA to find out their needs for storage and budget purposes. Commissioner Morris said that the City Council would not support it. Commissioner Kraus said it's more a MHAA need and not a City need. There are other options for storage needs available to MHAA. Commissioner Toth asked where the storage building would be built at Mendakota Park. Mr. Kullander responded that is another issue for discussion. The batting cages weren't always there and in the past, it was thought to put the building there. Chair Portz commented that the Mendakota Park storage building be removed from the 2009 project list. Commissioner Morris said the sun shelters are things that can be done to improve play. Commissioner Craighead said replacing the backstops at Friendly Hills Park would improve play for MHAA. Chair Portz said what he is hearing is storage for MHAA probably wouldn't get approved and there are other alternatives. Mr. Kullander recommended that the sun shelters not have a higher priority than the backstops. Commissioner Craighead said the two playgrounds should have the highest priority, with the backstop being third, and a tennis court being fourth for 2009. Commission Morris said he would leave it up to Mr. Kullander which tennis court to redo. Commissioner Kraus asked which playground should be advocated as first. Commissioner Morris said both should be redone. Mr. Kullander responded that both should be presented and let City Council decide. Page - 6 7/8/08 Approved Commissioner Morris said both should be presented and then all the big needs are being taken care of. Mr. Kullander reported that 1985 was the last time a parks facilities needs study was done that evaluated programs, fields, etc. That type of study would not be funded from the special park funds and would have to come from the City Council, Commissioner Kraus as how much was spent on the last study. Mr. Kullander said the cost kept ballooning because things were always being added when the referendum was forming. To do a study on a city wide basis would be about $25,000 to $35,000 to do a complete inventory and evaluation. Commissioner Kraus asked how the rest of the Commission felt about it. Commissioner Morris said it was a good idea. Chair Portz said it has been 23 yeazs since a study was last done. Commissioner Morris made a motion to recommend to the City Council for 2009 budget purposes - 2 playground rehabilitations (Friendly Hills Park and Victoria Highlands Park), backstop replacement as Friendly Hills ball fields and a tennis court as a second priority and the City Council commission a study on the usage and programs of the parks. Commissioner Kraus seconded the motion. Commissioner Craighead recommended that 50% of the funding come from other City funds. Commissioner Morris said he would take that as a friendly amendment. Chair Portz asked about the Friendly Marsh Park development. Mr. Kullander said that should be put on hold pending the Mendota Plaza redevelopment. More information would come out if a parks study was done. Commissioner Brackey asked about the Ivy Park fountain that is in the capital improvement plan. Mr. Kullander responded that 15-20 years ago that was a pond up there with wood timbers around itI When storm improvements were done up there the pond was enlarged with overflow structures so water wouldn't exit the pond unless it came to a certain level. Trash and duck weed are in the pond. There are complaints the pond looks terrible. A fountain was recommended to push trash to the edges. The pond is hard to maintain because of the steep sides. Pumps and electricity to run the pumps would be expensive. Commissioner Kraus said some might think it looks nice and other might think it looks bad. There is no real need for a fountain at this pond. There have been other requests for fountains. Page - 7 7/8/08 Approved Mr. Kullander said he would present the projects to the City Council in two memos but recommend them with one motion. AYES 7 NAYS 0 DAKOTA COUNTY COMPREFIENSIVE PLAN REVIEW Mr. Kullander reported that the Dakota County's 2030 Comprehensive Plan is 596 pages and the Parks and Recreation Commission received a summary version of the plan. Chair Portz he was impressed with the report and pleased that there was a long list of what Dakota County wanted to see in the parks. One of the things they wanted to see was increased external revenues to advance parks and open space systems. I7:�;iti11.31;ID Mr. Sedlacek reported the Jr. PGA hosted a tournament with 68 participants in June. Course revenues for 2008 outpaced expenditures by $35,032, including prorated recreation program revenues. Expenditures that did not make the worksheet include maintenance management fee ($5,000) and the last maintenance contracting billing ($1,500). Significant expenditures for June were professional services $1,135 (audit), maintenance contract, payroll costs, and operating expenses (for repairing the #4 tee box). Revenues for June were $49,446.94 and expenditures were $19,064.54 with operating revenue over expenditures of $30,382.40. The goal at the end of the year for net operating revenue is $40,000. 2,651 rounds of golf were played in 2008 compared to 2,538 in 2007. Construction of bathrooms is well underway and expected to be done at the end of July. The greens committee will meet on Thursday night. They will be discussing a capital improvements plan, fees, siding color and landscaping. Would it be ok with the Parks and Recreation Commission if the greens committee picked out the siding color? Commissioner Morris and Craighead said yes. Mr. Sedlacek said it would be a 6" lap siding with a hazdy board material. 30 RSVPs have been received for the Par 3 party. 10 tee times have been set aside starting at 9:00 A.M. at eight minute intervals and will be assigned as people show up. Regular fees will apply to the golfers. Lunch will be served around 11:30, Hot dogs and chips will be provided. Folks will be asked to bring a side dish or dessert to share. Formal invites will go out on Friday. Commissioner Craighead asked what the date was. Pa6e Approved Mr. Sedlacek replied Saturday, August 2id Chair Portz said it was for families. LIL I "A REGIONAL PARK MASTER PLAN SITE CONCEPT Mr. Sedlacek reported that the City of St. an provided background information on three concepts they are considering for Lilydale Regional Park. The City of St. Paul asked for feedback. Mr. Sedlacek asked for any comments that the Commission wanted forwarded. One of the concepts includes a dog park. Commissioner Morris wondered if there would be a charge for the dog park. The City of Minneapolis charges non residents a double or triple fee if park users are not residents of the City of Minneapolis. If there is a dog park that includes a fee that Mendota Heights, Mendota and Lilydale residents pay the same fee as residents of St. Paul. Commissioner Craighead said the report talked about a vegetation management study and was wondering if the buckthorn issue along the river trail would be addressed. Removal of invasive plant species is discussed and they don't say much about invasive plant species. Commissioner Portz said the existing railroad bridge could be a problem for traffic. There is not room for 2 cars on the road. It would be a needed improvement. Commissioner Morris said it was a nice comprehensive plan. Commissioner Kraus thought of a question to ask the City of St. Paul, what is the priority to make it a natural preserve versus accessible to human and animal traffic. They both could be on the site. There could be a conflict between the two priorities. It's a unique area. The area is somewhat isolated and are there any security issues? How will the park be patrolled? Mr. Sedlacek said he would draft a letter to the City of St. Paul and show it to Al Commissioners before sending it out. Commissioner Kraus said he appreciated the City of St. Paul for keeping Mendota Heights in the loopI Chair Portz said he saw the discussion at the City Council meeting regarding the dog park. The Parks and Recreation Commission was in favor of the dog park and the City Council was not in favor with the idea. There is a need in the community to have a dog park. The hockey rink is only used for three months out of the year and sits there for nine months. A dog park would be an efficient use of the park facilities. There are issues about dogs in the neighborhoods. Some of the issues are unrelated to the hockey rink. I think a trial period would be a good idea. There is a legitimate need for a dog park in the community. Mr. Sedlacek reported some people feel strongly about having a dog park and some people feel strongly about not have a dog park. Staff did not know much about the issue. More background Page - 9 7/8/08 Approved information is needed. If the Parks and Recreation Commission feels strongly about this issue more information can be gathered. The question is does the City have an area for a dog park. There would be more responsibility for the City if there is a dog park. It is recommended that a dog park be an acre in size, have a double gated entry, fence, shade, water and signs. South St. Paul is putting together a dog park and he called for information and has not heard back. Commissioner Kraus said let's say we wanted a dog park, do we have a place for it in the City? Commissioner Morris said he didn't know of a large enough area for a dog park. Commissioner Craighead said that after listening to the City Council discussion last month he wavered on the idea of a dog park. Residents didn't like the idea of bringing your dog to the hockey rink without a leash. Commissioner Toth asked how do you control the waste from the dogs? Someone may not pick up after their dog. If they don't does the City crews pick up the waste everyday? There isn't enough acreage for a dog park. This would be a lot of work and decisions to make for a dog park. Commissioner Kraus said he was disappointed in the decision of the City Council even if there are some issues. This would have been a good opportunity to try something where there aren't a lot of alternatives. We don't have the space or resources to create a dedicated dog park. Chair Portz thinks there is a need for a dog park in the community and it should be researched. Using Marie Park on an experimental basis is a good idea. Commissioner Morris said that the size requirement is lacking in the community for a dog park. Perhaps work with St. Paul or South St. Paul to be a cooperative dog park. The dogs need space. The hockey rink is too small for bigger dogs. Commissioner Kraus said the hockey rink is a limited space and the number of dogs allowed in there would need to be limited. Alternatives should be provided so residents could walk their dogs to a dog park instead of getting in their cars and driving to a dog park with their dog. Especially with gas at $4.00 a gallon. Chair Portz liked the idea of having a dog park residents could walk to. Permitting was discussed to keep the number of dogs down in the hockey rink. Marie Park would be a good experimental site for a dog park. Chair Portz said if the Marie rink experiment worked the other rinks in the City could be looked at. The need is there and it needs to be looked at further. More information is need such as land and ways to administer the park. COMMISSION COMMENTS Commissioner Craighead asked Mr. Kullander if the fencing contractor at Hagstrom King Park looked at moving the fencing down a couple inches at the Valley Park tennis courts. Page - 10 7/8/08 Approved Mr. Kullander said the fencing work at Hagstrom King Park hasn't been started yet, but he will have the contractor look at the fence at Valley Park tennis courts. Chair Portz said he watched the discussion of the landscaping on Highway 110 and it sounds like a good idea. On Excelsior Blvd in St. Louis Park there is a welcome sign on the side of the road made of stone that would look good on 110 at the end of the bridge. The sign is on Excelsior Blvd going west into Minneapolis. Commissioner Toth asked Mr. Kullander when the fencing work would start in Hagstrom King Park. Mr. Kullander responded that it should start in the next couple of weeks. Commissioner Morris made a motion to adjourn. Commissioner Kraus seconded the motion. AYES '7 NAYS 0 The meeting adjourned at 8:32 P.M. Page - I 1 7/8/08