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2002-08-13 Parks and Rec Comm Minutesi CITY OF MENDOTA HEIGHTS DAKOTA COUNTY, MINNESOTA 7�7�� :►y\�I7:7xe177Y�CeI►�Ke�ital���te7��E►`[�� AUGUST 13, 2002 The regular meeting of the Mendota Heights Parks and Recreation Commission was held on Tuesday, August 13, 2002 in the 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 Richard Spicer and Commissioners Stan Linnell, Larry Craighead, Paul Portz, and Raymond Morris. Commissioners Missie Hickey and Dave Libra were excused from the meeting. City Staff present were Parks Project Manager Guy Kullander, Recreation Programmer Teresa Gangelhoff and Administrative Assistant Patrick C. Hollister. Mr. Hollister took the minutes. This meeting was televised by NDCTV and replayed the following Friday at 1:00 pm and 7:00 pm. MINUTES Commissioner Linnell moved to approve the June l 1, 2002 minutes as written. Commissioner Portz seconded the motion. AYES: 5 NAYS: 0 I�/:\i;� �_:_11J/ � �JSiY!)���/]IY1J17\��IIYIIII:ZN ILYu I:\�%ZH IIt9111►Y IY � 11:\,I Ms. Diane Hellekson of Barr Engineering presented the final draft of the Natural Resources Management Plan. Ms. Hellekson showed the Commission vegetafion maps of Mendota Heights and northern Dakota County. Ms. Hellekson said that the biggest challenge facing Mendota Heights from a natural resources management perspective was the eradication of invasive species such as Buckthorn and Mustard Garlic. Ms. Hellekson said that it would also be a good idea to attempt to reduce the amount of land area within the City of Mendota Heights dedicated to lawns and impervious surface. Ms. Hellekson said that the City's first priority should be to preserve high -quality natural areas such as Valley Park, the Copperfield ponds, Rogers Park, the Ivy Hills area, and a pocket of diverse native vegetation along Highway 13 below Ivy Falls. Ms. Hellekson also advocated education and enforcement by City Staff and the involvement of local residents, schools, and community groups in the restoration and preservation of native vegetation and the elimination of harmful species. Commissioner Portz commended Ms. Hellekson on a good report. Commissioner Portz noted that Amur Maple is listed as an undesirable invasive species in the report. Commissioner Portz said that he has a few of those trees in his yard and asked if he should remove them. Ms. Hellekson said that it would be best to remove them, although since Commissioner Portz' property is not near an identified "high -quality natural area", the existence of Amur Maple on his lot is tolerable if he is really fond of the trees. Ms. Hellekson said that in a location such as Kensington Park under the power lines, however, it would be best to remove them. Commissioner Portz asked about garlic mustard in Valley Park. Ms. Hellekson said that at this point Valley Park seems to only have a small quantity of garlic mustard. Commissioner Morris said that it would be good for the Public Works crew to attack garlic mustard this year because it can reproduce quickly and by this time next year there could be two to three times as much. Commissioner Morris said that eradicating it now could save money in the future. Chair Spicer asked what the City's next steps for implementation of the plan should be now that the report is finished. Commissioner Craighead said that a proposal for an implementation plan over the next several years should be presented to the Council. Ms. Hellekson said that although her allocated budget has been spent for this plan, she on be willing to make any minor changes to the report. Commissioner Linnell said that it was a good report, but that he did have two suggestions. Commissioner Linnell asked for an "original cover map" or "pre -settlement map" showing what the native vegetation in Mendota Heights would have originally looked like. Commissioner Linnell also asked for a reference to restoring oak savannah m some areas. Chair Spicer added that he would like Ms. Hellekson to put together a prioritized sheet of action steps that the City should take for the next Parks Commission meeting. Ms. Hellekson said that she could easily prepare these three items for inclusion in the final report. UPDATES Chair Spicer asked Staff to provide Lite updates while Mr. Kullander set up the visual aids for his presentation on the Parks 5-Year CIP Staff provided updates on the following items: • Recreation Programmer's Update • Parks Project Manager's Update • Marie Park Tennis Courts • Police Report Several Commissioners commented that they would have liked to have been consulted on the issue of resurfacing the Marie Park tennis courts before the Council had made its decision. PARKS FIVE-YEAR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN Mr. Kullander presented the Parks Five -Year Capital Improvement Plan. Mr. Kullander informed the Commission that the planned expenditures for the next five years exceeded projected income into the Special Parks Fund. Mr. Kullander said that the Commission could either reduce the number of projects in the CIP or ask the Council for additional funding for the Special Parks Fund. The Commissioners felt that all items in the Parks 5-Year CIP were necessary expenditures arising from either citizensexpressed needs or safety concerns, and that there were no easy or obvious cuts in the CIP. Commissioner Morris moved to ask the Council to provide more finding for the Special Parks Fund over the next five years, either m the form of continued cell/pcs revenue or some other source. Commissioner Craighead seconded the motion. AYES: 5 NAYS: 0 Commissioner Portz asked Staff to inform the Council that the City of Mendota Heights spends less on Parks and Recreation than most other comparable communities in the Twin Cities metropolitan area. 2003 CITY BUDGET The Commissioners discussed the idea of asking the Council to approve a line item under Park Maintenance within the 2003 City Budget to begin implementation of recommendations included in the Natural Resources Management Plan, Commissioner Portz moved to request that $1Q 000 be included in the 2003 Budget for implementation of the Natural Resources Management Plan, with the exact use of the funds to be determined later. Commissioner Linnell seconded the motion and offered a friendly amendment that the City also pursue grants to educate our citizens about the eradication of invasive species. Commissioner Portz accepted the friendly amendment. AYES: NAYS: OTHER COMMENTS Commissioner Craighead said that there was a lot of grass growing in the City's trail system and that the Public Works Crew should spray the grass before it widens cracks in the trails. Commissioner Craighead also asked if using the aerator at Rogers Lake during the summer could reduce the algae in the lake and improve fishing. Mr. Kullander said that using the aerator during the summer would not reduce the algae or increase the number of fish in Rogers Lake, Chair Spicer noted that someone at the June Fishing Derby sponsored by the City had recently caught a 19.5-inch Northern in Rogers Lake, ADJOURN Motion made to adjourn by Spicer and seconded by Linnell. AYES: 5 NAYS: 0 The meeting adjourned at 8:30 p.m.