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2017-12-11 Parks and Rec Comm MinutesCITY OF MENDOTA HEIGHTS, DAKOTA COUNTY, MINNESOTA PARKS AND RECREATION MEETING December 11, 2017 The October meeting of the Mendota Heights Parks and Recreation Commission was held on Monday, December 11, 2017, at Mendota Heights City Hall, 1101 Victoria Curve. 1. Call to Order – Chair Pat Hinderscheid called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. 2. Roll Call – The following Commissioners were present: Chair Pat Hinderscheid, Commissioners Steve Goldade, Bob Klepperich, David Miller, and Nissa Tupper. Absent: Ira Kipp and Stephanie Levine. Staff present: Assistant City Administrator Cheryl Jacobson, Public Works Director Ryan Ruzek, and Recreation Program Coordinator Meredith Lawrence. 3. Approval of Agenda The agenda was approved as presented. Motion Klepperich/second Tupper. AYES 5: NAYS 0: ABSENT 2 4. Approval of Minutes from November 14, 2017 Motion Klepperich/Second Goldade to approve the minutes of the November 14, 2017 Parks and Recreation Commission meeting. AYES 5: NAYS 0: ABSENT 2 5. Unfinished and New Business 5.a Presentation on Skateboard Park – Mark Rodriguez, 3rd Lair Recreation Program Coordinator Meredith Lawrence explained that this item was on the activity list and was recently requested. She then introduced Mr. Mark Rodriguez of 3rd Lair to talk about the skateboard park at Roger’s Lake Park. She noted that 3rd Lair partners with the City on the majority of its skateboard camps in the summer. Mr. Rodriguez gave a presentation on the current condition of the skateboard park and what improvements could be made. He also shared that skateboarding has experienced a boom and that there are skateboarding locations in almost every community throughout the Twin Cities and nationally. Skateboarding and action sports are some of the fastest growing participant sports in the world and will even be in the Olympics in 2020. He described the current condition of the Roger’s Lake Skateboard Park as ‘falling part’. He made the following improvement suggestions:  Either fix the cracks in the ground or, better yet, pour a new cement floor/base  Keep the half-pipe ramp that is there, it’s in good shape and is a gem for the park  Everything else should either be rebuilt or have maintenance work done - or completely done away with - in lieu of brand-new equipment  Ideally, completely rebuild the skateboard park Commissioners asked questions regarding the best materials to make the equipment, the amount of time park amenities should last, types of ramp that should be installed, how long the maintenance work would take, and how the City could determine if there would be enough participants to make the investment worthwhile. When questioned, Mr. Rodriguez noted that the maintenance contract they have with Cottage Grove is $10,000 per year. He also noted that the cost of the new skateboard park installed in St. Louis Park was $230,000 [smaller footprint then in Mendota Heights] and is free to users. At a minimum, to re-do a park in a meaningful way, would cost approximately $250,000. The cost to just do maintenance on the Roger’s Lake Skateboard Park, minus the floor since that is outside of their expertise, would be approximately $5,000 - $10,000. Mr. Rodriguez stated that 3rd Lair would be happy to assist the City in preparing a written assessment with tiered options on items that could be done from the minimum that needs to be done, what would be nice, and what would be best case scenario. Motion Goldade/Second Miller to direct staff to work with 3rd Lair to come up with a list of fixes and improvements to the Roger’s Lake Skateboard Park, including the surface repair as an item to investigate. AYES 5: NAYS 0: ABSENT 2 5.b Bluebill Drive Right-of-Way Vacation Public Works Director Ryan Ruzek explained that a couple of months ago the City received a request to vacate an undeveloped right-of-way on the north side of Rogers Lake. Council did proceed with vacating that right-of-way known as Rogers Avenue. The homeowner to the north of this right-of-way there is a 60-foot right-of-way known as Bluebill Drive that goes all of the way out to the middle of the lake. This platted right-of-way is not serving any sub- dividable parcels and is not in the best interest of the city to retain. However, the City does have a storm sewer that goes down the center of the right-of-way, which outlets into Rogers Lake. Minor maintenance to that outlet is done by city staff and eventually that pipe would need to be replaced. If the Council were to go ahead with this right-of-way vacation they would require a 20-foot easement to be dedicated back to the city over the storm sewer. The DNR responded on the previous vacation and stated that it was located close enough to Rogers Lake Park, and that the park has ample parking and has a fishing pier and a boat launch that they saw no need on that north right-of-way for the city to maintain it for any public access. The notice has been sent to the DNR for this current vacation request and staff does not anticipate any feedback to be received from them until early February. The public hearing is to be scheduled for February 20, 2018; staff was seeking comments from the Commission on if they see any value to this 60 - foot right-of-way as it exists today. Commissioners asked questions pertaining to future needs of this right-of-way in providing additional access to Rogers Lake, if ownership of the right-of-way would revert to the homeowners on either side, could the city reclaim the right-of-way once it was vacated, if there would be any cost savings or reduction in liability to the city, if the property would go back on the tax roll, how many of these right- of-way situations exist on Rogers Lake, what situations would initiate this type of request, and why would this be agreeable to the city. Commissioners expressed their opinion that this vacation sounded reasonable. 5.c Ash Tree Management Policy Revisions Public Works Director Ryan Ruzek explained that in September 2017, the Commission reviewed the current Ash Tree Management Policy. At that time, there were suggestions made by the Commission to include treatment in the policy. This revised policy does not go as far as the Commission had wanted in terms of trying to get a program going to treat private trees as Council has not really expressed a desire to offer a city-wide subsidy to treatment of private trees. Council usually holds goal setting workshop in January and this would be a good time to poll them again on how they would like to proceed with some of the Ash Tree Management. 5.d Grant Tracking Discussion Public Works Director Ryan Ruzek noted for the Commissions information that the City is a member of the Lower Mississippi Watershed Management Organization (LMRWMO). Part of that organization is to hire a consultant that maintains a Grant Tracking Database. They are consistently combing all of the other agencies websites and information that they come across to keep this database together. He stated that anyone on the Commission could review the information in the database and make a recommendation to staff and the Council on applying if they see something that would be of benefit to the City. 5.e Fee Assistance Program Discussion Recreation Program Coordinator Meredith Lawrence explained that recently there has been an influx of residents seeking financial assistance in the recreation programs. Currently, the City of Mendota Heights does not have an assistance program or policy set in place. Upon investigation, it was discovered that cities surrounding Mendota Heights all have Fee Assistance Programs that have a set amount or percentage that the student would receive off if they qualify. Staff proposed a Fee Assistance Policy that they would put in place making it clear to residents what they would qualify for. It would also make it easier for staff to have a clear policy to go by.  This program would only be available to Mendota Heights residents who can prove their address as part of the application.  The maximum that a family would receive each calendar year would be $100 per child and would include programs such as skating, gymnastics, summer playgrounds, tennis camp, and golf camp.  To be eligible for the programs, students must be enrolled in the district’s free and reduced lunch program or have a parent who is on active duty in the military.  Children under the age of 18 would be eligible and they would receive a 15% reduction on each program up to a maximum of $100 per child Staff provided a summary of other community’s policies, of which Mendota Heights would fall somewhere in the middle, along with data from the MN Department of Education regarding Free & Reduced Lunch for the ISD 197 District. The commission asked questions that Ms. Lawrence answered. Suggestions included:  Instead of a 15% reduction, the family would pay 15%-20% of the fee and the city would pay the rest, and the maximum per child be increased to $150-$200 per calendar year.  Split the fee 50/50 with the family paying 50% and the city paying the other 50%.  Follow West St. Paul’s example – 50% per child for two programs  Donation program where citizens can contribute to the scholarship programs Motion Miller to adopt the same policy as West St. Paul – where individuals receive funding for half of the program fee per child, which can be used twice during the same year. Motion died for lack of a second. Motion Hinderscheid/Second Goldade that the City establish a Fee Assistance Program where eligible families would contribute 15% of the fee per child for one activity and 50% of the fee per child for a second activity; limit two activities per child per calendar year. Eligible programs would include: skating, gymnastics, summer playgrounds, tennis camp, and golf camp. AYES 5: NAYS 0: ABSENT 2 5.f Par 3 Financial Report Recreation Program Coordinator Meredith Lawrence presented the Par 3 Financial Report to the commission. Par 3 had Tiger Tots Golf Camp with 24 participants, Golf Camp with 134 participants, Wednesday Night Women’s Golf League with 89 participants, and Junior Golf League with 148 participants. The estimate is that there were 6,000 rounds of golf played this year. Revenue budget was estimated to be $171,250; actual revenue as of November 30, 2017 was $145,211. Expenditures were estimated to be $140,816 and the actual expenditures was $144,128. Currently there is a $1,000 profit. However, there are recurring costs yet to be paid for December. Notable items: there was a one-time expense of the solar panels; some of the pull carts were replaced; and some unbudgeted marketing expenses. Commissioners asked questions about revenue being down and what specific groups were down, marketing expenses, and for staff to provide a comparison of 2016 to 2017. A final close-out budget will be provided to the City Council in January and staff proposed to bring that to the commission in January as well. A suggestion was made that the Commission revisit the no fee increase since the revenue has been flat over the last couple of years, especially in light of the one-time expenditures that, most likely, will continue to occur. Since the fees will be set next week, staff suggested that if the fees were to be changed they should be done at this meeting. Ms. Lawrence pulled up the comparison rate chart on the screen for the Commissioners to review. Discussion occurred over different ways of marketing to increase revenue without raising the rates. Staff suggested that the rates be raised by $1/round. Motion Miller/Second Klepperich to increase the current rates by $1/round, leaving the second additional round at $6, and leaving the foot golf at the current rate of $8/round AYES 5: NAYS 0: ABSENT 2 5.g Set Meeting Dates for 2018 Recreation Program Coordinator Meredith Lawrence shared the proposed meetings dates for the Parks and Recreation Commission in 2018. It was noted that there may be a school referendum vote scheduled for Tuesday, May 8; however, that may not affect the Commission. Staff will review the State Statute about whether or not the Commission will be able to meet before 8:00 p.m. 6. Reports 6.a Parks and Recreation Commission Activity Report Recreation Program Coordinator Meredith Lawrence noted that she had spoken with Community Development Director Tim Benetti in the morning and he was still compiling the information regarding goals and plans on bringing a progress summary to Council at it January 2, 2018 meeting. Both Mr. Benetti and Mr. Phil Carlson will return to the Commission in the future to provide an update in early Spring. 6.b Recreation Update Recreation Program Coordinator Meredith Lawrence provided the update:  Friendly Hills Warming House is almost completed; still on budget  Two field trips are scheduled in December; 12/27 is bowling / movie; 12/28 is tubing. Each trip is $25/day, registration on the Mendota Heights website or in person at City Hall  Staff is currently planning the Royal Ball scheduled for February 11, 2018 at the Concord Exchange Building  Skiing lessons to begin at Friendly Hills Park on January 6, 2018 and will run through February 3, 2018. Registration is online or in person at City Hall  The City hopes to have ice by the middle of next week [Wednesday, December 20]  Gymnastic classes began Saturday, December 2; 48 youths registered this year, and will run through February 11, 2018  Certified Playground Inspection – Ms. Lawrence is currently working to compile information on the inspections and will have that information available at the January 2018 meeting  Ice rinks are starting to be flooded; hours for the rinks to be posted on the City’s website and there is a rink hotline that will be updated. 6.c Natural Resources Update Public Works Director Ryan Ruzek shared that the Public Works crews attended a winter maintenance training program through Dakota County. They are looking to improve some of their salt usage to help improve some of the water quality. Tips:  Use salt and sand at home  Use only what you need  If it’s warmer than 15 degrees use salt; if it’s colder than 15 degrees use sand  After the area is warm and dry, sweep up the leftovers for reuse Suggestion was made to put sand down on the 5K trail. It was noted that Sibley High School is looking to demolish their three tennis courts and maybe staff or the commission could look into the possibility of using them for pickleball as a cost saving measure. 7. Announcements and Commission Comments Mr. Pat Hinderscheid and Mr. Ira Kipp were reappointed to the Parks and Recreation Commission at the last City Council meeting, for a 3-year term. Commissioner Nissa Tupper expressed her appreciation for the diligence staff had in preparing the materials for the meeting and for their follow-through. She really enjoyed the presentation on the skateboard park and learning more on the options as it is a good asset for the community. She also appreciated the discussion on the Fee Assistance Policy in making the City’s programming successful. She also reminded residents of the holiday lights collection box at City Hall. Commissioner David Miller complimented Ms. Lawrence on her first full meeting and her performance, which was as if she had been on the job for a year already. There was good discussion this evening and he believed that the Commission came up with good recommendations. Commissioner Bob Klepperich expressed his appreciation to Commissioners Hinderscheid and Kipp for re-upping for another three years as they are very valuable assets. He also recognized the Commission’s student intern, Clair, for her being in attendance and for being a silent partner in everything they do. Commissioner Steve Goldade noted that it was a great meeting, very well organized, and he enjoyed the conversations. Chair Pat Hinderscheid felt that a lot of ground had been covered. He expressed his appreciation for Ryan Ruzek being in attendance, that is always helpful. He acknowledged Ms. Cheryl Jacobson for attending; he noted that Ms. Lawrence did a nice job and provided good information. 8. Adjourn Motion Goldade/Second Klepperich to adjourn the meeting at 8:37 PM. AYES 5: NAYS 0: ABSENT 2