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2008-04-08 Parks and Rec Comm MinutesApproved CITY OF MENDOTA HEIGHTS DAKOTA COUNTY, MINNESOTA PARKS AND RECREATION MEETING Apri18, 2008 The Apri12008 meeting of the Mendota Heights Parks and Recreation Commission was held on Tuesday, April 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: Paul Portz, Larry Craighead, Ray Morris, 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: The minutes were approved with one change to attendance - it should be noted that Commissioner Ray Morris was excused from the March Parks and Recreation Commission meeting. Commissioner Craighead made a motion to approve the minutes with the correction, seconded by Commissioner Brackey. AYES 7 NAYES 0 RECREATION PROGRAMMER'S REPORT Ms. Gangelhoff reported that registrations for Parks and Recreation Programs are now available on line for downloading. Safety camp has openings. All youth trips have openings. A flyer is going out in May and information will be in the Hites Highlites. Tennis is filling up. Last year there were 188 kids in tennis and the same number is expected this year. There are openings for the fishing derby. The golf camps are filling up. Golf leagues are almost full. Adult softball is full and ready to go at the end of April. There is a skateboard camp set for August. The big thing to push is the Generations Teas with West St. Paul, South St. Paul, and Inver Grove Heights. All ladies are invited to attend on May 10`h at the Thompson Park Activity Center. Tickets are $6.00. You can register here or at the Thompson Park Activity Center. The Simple Steps program is back and you can go online and register. There are free water bottles for people that sign up for Simple Steps. There is also a free Dakota County walking guide that highlights walking areas in Dakota County. Page - 1 4/8/OS Approved Chair Portz asked if the Parks Celebration was mentioned. Ms. Gangelhoff responded that the Parks Celebration is coming up June 7" . It will be the same as last year with some new things this year. At Rogers Lake Park on Friday night there will be a skateboard competition open to everyone. That night there will be registrations taken with a $10.00 fee. If they win the competition that night they go on to another competition in August. There is talk about a Taste of Mendota Heights at the Town Center on Friday night. Saturday is the celebration with a 5K and bike rodeo. The Fire Department is planning to hold a dance Saturday night at Mendota Plaza. Chair Portz said it sounds like the day will be great and the evening should be fun. Commissioner Morris asked what the hours were of the fishing derby. Ms. Gangelhoff responded that check in starts at 5:30 P.M. Fishing starts at 6:00 P.M. and there are three rotations every half hour, land, shore and casting contest. There is entertainment from 7:30 P.M. to 8:00 P.M. Winners are announced at 8:00 P.M. Commissioner Morris said that he would try to make. SPECIAL PARK FUND Mr. Kullander reported that the current balance of the Special Park Fund as of March 315` is $83,534.13. Opus has been invoiced for the Summit development. The invoice is for $117,516.85 for park dedication fees. Most of the Opus park dedications fees have been received except for $8,155.75 which should come in the next six months. The working capital available in the Special Park Fund in 2008 for project planning is $204,000 to $207,000. The projects that are already started for 2008 will require about $58,000. The balance at the end of December 2008 should be about $150,000. Commissioner Morris asked if there would by any more money coming from the Opus project. Mr. Kullander responded the $8,155.75. There are a few isolated lots that may split this year that would bring in $2,700 for each lot split. There are no ongoing developments right now. In the industrial park, if there is a new lot developed the City would get 10% of the land value for the Special Parks Fund but there are no developments expected in 2008. The Parks and Recreation Commission should consider the 2009 improvements in the 5 Year Capital Improvement Plan. They are listed in the memo. If the improvements were approved it would draw down about $113,000. If money was spent on all these improvements it would bring the fund to about the $30,000 to $50,000 range, the lowest it has been in 20 years. The improvements should be looked at again and reprioritized. A couple of the projects for 2009 may be considered a lower priority. This issue should be visited at a future meeting. The City budgeting process begins in June and goes through August. By then there should be a list of projects the Parks and Recreation Commission want to go forward with in 2009. There will be a Council workshop and they would discuss which projects they wish to support and fund. Page - 1 4/8/08 Approved Commissioner Morris asked if there were any expectation of funds other than Opus. Mr. Kullander responded no, not with the housing market the way it is. The Augusta Shores II project has been put on hold because of the housing marking. Mendota Plaza is taking about redeveloping the Mendota Plaza. Mendota Plaza is going to the Planning Commission later this month and the City Council next month. There is nothing firmly set. It would fall into the 10% of land value if the lot is split and the redevelopment goes ahead. Chair Portz said that the Council has approved matching funds from the Cell Tower Fund for two of the projects that will be completed in 2008. Mr. Kullander responded that the Parks and Recreation Commission has requested funding from the Cell Tower Fund and the City Council has approved a 50% matching to the Special Park Funds. Chair Portz said the Parks and Recreation Commission has worked with a large reserve - it wasn't planned to work down the fund but that is the reality. The smaller fund should not stop us from identifying needed projects for parks and trails. It will be the City Council's decision whether to fund future projects or not. Mr. Kullander said the Parks and Recreation Commission should not stop planning projects. The Commissioner should keep identifying the needs and respond to requests from the community. Commissioner Morris asked if the there were any more parks scheduled for playground replacement beyond the Friendly Hills Park in 2009. Mr. Kullander responded that one other playground, Victoria Highlands has the 1990 components and older wood border timbers. Commissioner Morris asked if all the playgrounds were done then. Mr. Kullander responded that Friendly Hills Park and Victoria Highlands were the last ones. Commissioner Toth asked for information about the storage building for Mendota Heights Athletic Association (MHAA) and Public Works. Mr. Kullander responded that it has been an issue that has come up three or four times over the last 10 or 12 years. MHAA has asked for additional storage space for their equipment. Their equipment is stored at private garages or storage sheds and asked the City if there was a building they could use. Public Works is short of storage space for loads of fertilizer, ect. and are limited to where they can store it. The last two times the Parks and Recreation Commissioner recommended a storage building at Mendakota Park to the City Council they Page - 3 4/8/08 Approved have not supported the recommendation. The City Council has not seen it as a high priority project. There may be another location for a storage building that Council may support. Mr. Kullander said he would like to bring the list of projects back at the next meeting and give a brief description of the projects for 2009 and 2010 and then the Commission can reevaluate the priorities and projects. We are in the first year of the five year plan. The Parks and Recreation Commission needs to figure out what projects should be done for 2009 and which projects can be pushed further down the list. The Friendly Marsh field was on the list for 2008 and the City Council asked the Parks and Recreation Commission not to proceed this year. If field space is in short supply for Lacrosse and other uses residents may wish the City to revisit this issue sooner rather than latter. Chair Portz said it is a good idea to look at the two years. MINNESOTA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPOTATION - COMMUNITY ROADSIDE LANDSCAPING PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM Mr. Kullander reported that Mr. Carroll, of MnDOT Landscape Unit, could not make tonight's meeting. He will be at the May meeting. MnDOT has a roadside landscaping program that assists Cities with roadside "beautification" of right-of-way along highways. The program helps with funding. MnDOT has identified Highway 110 as an area for landscaping. Landowners would have to be notified. Some landowners don't want trees blocking the views of their buildings such as Mendota Plaza. Along Highway 110, 20-30 years ago there were a lot of Russian Olive Trees. They have matured and died off. One of the suggestions was flowering crabs along the highway. Plans must be prepared and public meetings held. Native plantings could be used along Pilot Knob. Mr. Carroll asked Commissioners as they drive along Highway 110 and see if anything needs to be done that can be discussed at the next meeting. Chair Portz said the idea is interesting and would look forward to the presentation. Commissioner Morris asked if the City has a lot to do with the funding. Mr. Kullander responded no. Commissioner Morris said great - let's do it. COMPREHENSIVE LAND PLAN UPDATE -PARKS PLAN Mr. Sedlacek reported that the City of Mendota Heights is updating their Comprehensive Land Use Plan. The City is required to have this plan. It sets the vision for the community and this is how the community sees the development in the near and long term future. It has been used heavily in relation to the Par 3 Golf Course. The land use decision at the State Supreme Court for the Par 3 came down to that fact that in the Comprehensive Land Plan the land was designated as open space that trumped the Zoning designation which was residential. It is time Page - 4 4/8/08 Approved to update the plan. Attached are the pages for the Parks Plan segment of the Comprehensive Plan from 2002. Some of things have changed. The Parks and Recreation Commission needs to go through the document and update it. Commissioner Morris said that according to the summary that the plan hasn't been heavily updated for 21 years. It is time to take a serious look at the document and there are a few dated things. Mr. Sedlacek responded that it was possible. Do we want a couple of Commissioners get together with staff to draft a plan or do it a meeting with all Commissioners? Commissioner Morris thought it would be hard to discuss as a Commission and would volunteer to be on the group to discuss the plan. Mr. Sedlacek thought the group could consist of himself, Mr. Kullander and a couple of Commissioners. Commissioner Craighead said he was on the Commission the last time it was updated. All Commissioners redlined their ideas and it was discussed in one evening at a meeting. Commissioner Morris said it would be nice to look at the plan as a small group and bring it back to the Parks and Recreation Commission for final tweaking. Mr. Sedlacek said he liked Commissioner Craighead's idea of all Commissioners redlining the plan with their ideas for the small group to look at. Commissioner Morris said it was a good idea. Commissioner Kraus said he would volunteer to be on the group. Chair Portz said it sounded like a good group. He also commented that the current plan does not include the Par 3 or the Pilot Knob site which are big items. Commissioner Morris said it did not include Town Center or the trails through there. It doesn't include the new N.U.R.T. trail. Chair Portz said on page 26 it says there will be lighted ball fields. Commissioner Morris said it would be nice to set a date to get comments back. Mr. Sedlacek said it would be nice to get the comments back in a week while it's fresh in everyone's mind. Commissioner Toth asked if Mr. Sedlacek would send a draft through email. Page - 5 4/8/08 Approved Mr. Sedlacek said he would send it out. Mr. Kullander reported that he and Sue McDermott met with Dakota County regarding Lite Dakota County Parks, Lakes, Trails, and Greenways Plan for 2030. Dakota County is looking at the entire County for planning linear parks that connect other parks, libraries, playgrounds and green spaces. The current plan was updated from comments they received from Mr. Kullander and Ms. McDermott. A trail is being discussed from Valley Park, up the N.U.R.T1 trail and continue through West St. Paul to South St. Paul. It is a very ambitious plan. Another trail being discussed is Dodd Road and Highway 110. Federal funding would be used to fund these trails. The Dakota County Greenway plan and the 1996 Dodge Nature Center restoration plan objectives should be included in the Comprehensive Land Use Plan. The City's 2002 Natural Resources Management Plan and the two Pilot Knob Natural Resources Managements Plans also can provide valuable information. Mr. Sedlacek asked that the Commissioners to go through the documents and make changes as they see needed. COMMENTS Staff Comments Mr. Sedlacek reported that the Spring Clean Up is set for Saturday, May 3rd from 8:00 A.M. to 2:00 P.M. at the Mendota Plaza. Most everything would be taken except household hazardous waste. Enter off South Plaza Drive and have your Mendota Heights id. Mendota Heights is going to be webcasting meetings. No date as been set yet. Residents can go online and review the meeting on the internet, Par 3 is all systems to go. All leagues are returning. The new clubhouse manger is Tom Perkins. Green fees are the same as last year, $9.00 Monday through Friday and on weekends $11.00. Fee analysis is still being worked on. It is set to open possibly Saturday - depending on how much snow we get this week. Mr. Kullander reported that all tennis nets should be up by this weekend and the Valley Park (sports tiles) tennis courts look really good. Mr. Sedlacek reported that the seasonal port -a -potties have been placed in the parks. Commission Comments Commissioner Toth reported that last month Mr. Sedlacek and Commissioner Brackey attended MHAA meeting last month. He will attend MHAA meeting next Monday and report back to the Parks and Recreation Commission at the meeting in May. Page - 6 4/8/08 Approved Commissioner Craighead reported that he talked to a resident about stakes being buried in the ground at various parks for compass and GPS systems. The resident was invited to tonight's meeting. The caller was also referred to Mr. Kullander. Mr. Kullander responded that he did not get a call. He is aware of games using that technology. If he did get a call he would refer them to Mr. Blum at Public Works. Mr. Blum probably would not have problems with the buried stakes but would need to know where they are buried for mowing reasons, etc. Commissioner Morris said the games are Geocaching. Chair Portz said that since there are new members on the Commission they should get together socially. Maybe a Commission golf outing would be nice at the Par 3 in the afternoon or on a weekend. There could be brats afterwards to socialize and support the community facilities. It could be planned at the May meeting. ADJOURN Commissioner Kraus made a motion to adjourn, seconded by Commissioner Morris. AYES NAYES The meeting was adjourned at 7:20 P.M. Page - 7 4/8/08