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2011-01-11 Parks and Rec Comm MinutesDraft• CITY OF MENDOTA HEIGHTS DAKOTA COUNTY, MINNESOTA PARKS AND RECREATION MEETING 7a January 11, 2011 The January 2011 meeting of the Mendota Heights Parks and Recreation Commission was held on Tuesday, January 11, 2011, in the City Council Chambers at City Hall, 1101 Victoria Curve. The meeting was called to order at 6:37 P.M. The following Conunissioners were present, Chair Ray Morris, Commissioners Tom Kraus, Michael Toth, David Miller, Stephanie Levine and Steve Commers. Staff present: Jake Sedlacek, Assistant to the City Administrator, Teresa Gangelhoff, Parks and Recreation Programmer, and Nancy Bauer, Recording Secretary. Minutes Commissioner Kraus made a motion to adopt the minutes from the November 9, 2010, meeting. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Commers. AYES 6 NAYS 0 Parks and Recreation Report Ms. Gangelhoff reported that summer programming is already being planned with the cities of South Saint Paul and West Saint Paul. The tennis program will stay the same as last year. Safety camp will be held August 9, 10, and 11, 2011. Golf signups will be held at city hall in March. Revtrak will be used for signing up for other programs. The winter break youth trip was attended by 16 kids for bowling, lunch and a movie. Gymnastics starts this Saturday. Skating started this past Saturday and all classes are full. There is a new skating teacher. She is a very experienced and excellent teacher. There were 22 rink attendants hired this year. The rinks opened on December 17, 2010. There was one day the rinks were closed because of rain (December 30, 2010). Simple steps will be returning. The school flyer will go out in the schools soon with the summer programming. Chair Morris said it has been a good winter for the skating rinks. Page - 1 32 Draft Commissioner Commers said the skating instructor is excellent. He has two kids enrolled in skating lessons. City Council and Commission Updates Mr. Sedlacek congratulated Commissioner Miller on his three year appointment to the Parks and Recreation Commission. Mayor Krebsbach, returning City Councilmember Duggan and new Councilmember Petschel were sworn in on January 4, 2011. The Council has set a procedure for appointing a new councilmember. The Council will interview candidates on January 13, 2011, and intend to appoint a new councilmember at the January 18, 2011, City Council meeting. After that candidates will be interviewed for the other commission open seats and there is a good pool of candidates to choose from. February is usually the organizing meeting where the commission elects a chair and vice - chair. You can hold the election in February or move it to March if the Commission is so inclined. Commissioner Commers said he would like to hold the elections in February. Chair Morris said he would be absent from the February meeting because of a business trip. Commissioner Toth asked if there would be a quorum in February to hold the election. Commissioner Morris responded there would be a quorum in February. Chair Morris said he would be interested in continuing as the chair. Commissioner Commers asked if the commission could be hold the elections tonight. Mr. Sedlacek said the Commission could hold elections tonight but a motion should be made to hold the elections tonight. Commissioner Commers made a motion to hold elections tonight due to the chair being absent from the February meeting. Commissioner Toth seconded the motion. AYES 6 NAYS 0 Commissioner Commers nominated Chair Morris for Chair of the Parks and Recreation Commission for 2011. Commissioner Kraus seconded the nomination. Chair Morris asked if anyone else was interested in being chair. Page - 2 1/11/11 33 Draft There were no comments. Commissioner Commers closed the nominations. AYES 6 NAYS 0 Commissioner Kraus nominated Commissioner Commers as vice chair for the Parks and Recreation Commission for 2011. Commissioner Commers accepted the vice chair position. Chair Morris asked for any other nominations for vice chair. There were no other nominations. Chair Morris closed nominations. AYES 6 NAYS 0 Mr. Sedlacek reported that Mayor Krebsbach will hold a meet and greet prior to the February meeting starting at 6:00 p.m. Chair Morris asked Mr. Sedlacek to pass along thanks to the Mayor for being present next month. Par 3 Mr. Sedlacek said the annual report is not ready for the January meeting. It will be presented at the February meeting. Public Works has plowed an access to the clubhouse and maintenance building and both have been holding up well this winter. City Council would like to replace the roof on the clubhouse in 2011. The greens committee will be starting up again soon. Golf clinics will be changed a little bit. There will also be in- person registration for leagues because not everyone is able to sign up for the same tee times. Chair Morris asked if members are being sought for the greens committee. Mr. Sedlacek said they are looking for citizens to be on the greens committee. If anyone is interested in serving on the greens committee they should email Jake at jakes @inendota- heights.com. Commissioner Toth asked if the new roof on the clubhouse would have insulation. Mr. Sedlacek said the roof would be redone with no insulation. Commissioner Miller asked if there has been discussion to change the hours at the Par 3 because of the losses in March and October of last year. Page - 3 34. Draft Mr. Sedlacek said the hours have been discussed and will be part of the annual report. Trail Needs Planning Mr. Sedlacek said in November it was discussed moving ahead with the trail needs planning process. A letter was received from former commission member Craighead with concerns about the trails. Staff has met with a Dakota County Public Health grant writer to help develop proposals for previously identified trail projects. There is no trail on Dodd Road from Highway 110 to Marie Avenue, the trail on Sibley Memorial Highway from Wachtler Avenue ends at the Summit townhomes and there is the Valley Park restoration. Engineering staff has been in contact with MnDOT engineers regarding improvements to the Sibley Memorial Highway right -of -way to include trail connections. A meeting has been scheduled with ISD #197 to coordinate their needs for trails and they were responsive to the idea to discuss trail needs. An open house should be set up with the Parks and Recreation Commission to get feedback on the trails. Commissioner Levine remembers there was discussion about putting up signs along the trails but signs could not be installed until spring. Chair Morris suggested a June or July meeting for the open house and put up signs along the trails with the date of the open house. Commissioner Toth asked if all the trails are plowed in the winter. Mr. Sedlacek said the trails are plowed after all roads are all plowed. Commissioner Levine said she is impressed and thanked public works for the great job for plowing the trails so quickly. She has received a lot of positive comments about the plowing of the trails. Commissioner Miller said the same goes for the streets. Chair Morris said the June 14, 2011 meeting would be the day for the trails open house. Kensington Park Playground Project Mr. Sedlacek reported in October the Commission did a brief look at the parks facilities. It was realized Kensington Park should be a higher priority. The playground equipment was installed in 1989. The equipment has held up well. Safety and paint are concerns. This is a project for 2011. City Council budgeted $28,000 for a backstop at Friendly Hills Park and $52,000 for Kensington Park. Page -4 1/11/11 35 Draft There is money to make improvements at Kensington Park. There are two soccer fields at the park. The play structure is small compared to the area it is in. There is some flexibility for redoing the playground equipment. The play area is bounded by concrete curbing which is in good condition. There is 6600 square feet to resurface which could get expensive depending on the materials chosen. Some of the materials are • Engineered wood fiber — the lowest cost at $1.50 per square foot installed • Rubber mulch (the next step up) at $10 -15 per square foot — depending on market rates — needs to be replaced every six to eight years • Poured in place surfacing at $20 per square foot — at Mendakota Park - better access for handicap individuals • Rubber tiles about $20 per square foot - same accessibility as poured in place, offers better fall protection and is a new product These surfacing products can be used together, like combining the poured in place surfacing and mulch. A platform or island could be created like at Mendakota Park by mixing the products for the surfacing. Chair Morris asked about the requirements for accessibility for children with disabilities Mr. Sedlacek said the two to five year old equipment is accessible. Any surface that is chosen is considered accessible. He also reported that there is a Community Development Block Grant for accessibility needs. A grant has been applied for in the amount of $18,000 and it looks like the project may be eligible for the grant money. Chair Morris asked if that money would be in addition to the money budgeted by the City Council. Mr. Sedlacek said it is in addition to the money in the budget. Chair Morris reminded the Commission that the $52,000 would be coming out of the special park fund and the funding in the special park fund is diminishing. Commissioner Levine asked about the limits on the structure — when do we start replacing equipment again? Chair Morris said he thought about 15 to 25 years. Mr. Sedlacek said the next project would be the main play equipment at Mendakota Park, it is in good shape and may just need refurbishing. Chair Morris said, if the grant money comes through this would be the most money spent on a playground. I would like to focus on the project to get the project moving forward and have it installed early in this year. Page - 5 36 Draft Commissioner Levine said she would like to visit the park and get feedback from the users. There should be an open house at the park on a Saturday in the summer to get comments. Commissioner Kraus said the Mom's Club has given feedback about the wood fiber surfacing. They do not like it because little kids are apt to put it in their mouths. The surfacing will have to be some kind of mixture because of the cost of the materials. He suggested doing some of the surface as poured in place or tiled, and the rest as rubber or wood mulch. Mr. Sedlacek asked the Commission about Commissioner Levine's comments about getting feedback. Chair Morris said if decisions are not made until August it is hard to get vendors to put it equipment before the frost. Mr. Sedlacek said it is a good idea to get feedback about the park from the users. He will report back in February about the grant money and have an analysis of the funding possibilities. Chair Morris asked if it was possible to check with the Council to see if they were willing to let the Commission use some of the funds from the backstop project to do the Kensington Park proj ect. Mr. Sedlacek said he would check with the City Council. Commissioner Miller asked if an article could be put in the Heights Highlites regarding the surfacing of the park. Mr. Sedlacek said it would be tight most of the space is used up in the Heights Highlites and maybe he could contact the Mendota Heights Patch to do an article about Kensington Park. Parks Celebration Discussion Mr. Sedlacek said after some thought he would like to keep the parks celebration in June and so would Mendota Heights Athletic Association. The reason for changing the date was because of staff time but there would be staff time available to hold it in June. He would like to bring it back to families and the parks. Commissioner Levine said she is all for it. Commissioner Commers asked if it would be scaled back. Mr. Sedlacek said it would be scaled back on how it is administered. Commissioner Commers said June is a great time to hold a parks celebration. Chair Morris said the general consensus is to hold the parks celebration in June. Page - 6 1/11/11 37 Draft. Commission Comments Mr. Miller said there was good discussion tonight. Chair Morris said he received a letter from a young gentleman about putting lights at all the ball fields. The letter was appreciated and well formed. It is good he hear from users of the parks. Commissioner Levine said residents should comment on the trail system and park equipment. Commissioner Commers said there was good discussion tonight. To get Kensington Park right is his goal for 2011. Congratulations to Chair Morris on this nomination as chair and thanks for nominating me as vice chair. Commissioner Kraus made a motion to adjourn. Commissioner Commers seconded the motion. AYES 6 NAYES 0 The meeting adjourned at 7:50 p.m. Page - 7 38