2003-09-09 Parks and Rec Comm MinutesCITY OF MENDOTA HEIGHTS
DAKOTA COUNTY, MINNESOTA
PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION MINUTES
SEPTEMBER 9, 2003
The regular meeting of the Mendota Heights Parks and Recreation Commission was held
on Tuesday, September 9, 2003 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
Larry Craighead, Paul Portz, Dave Libra, Stan Linnell, and Raymond Morris.
Commissioner Missie Hickey was excused from the meeting. City Staff present were
Recreation Programmer Teresa Gangelhoff, Parks Project Manager Guy Kullander 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 Libra moved to approve the August 12, 2003 minutes with revisions.
Commissioner Portz seconded the motion.
AYES:
NAYS:
RECREATION PROGRAMMER'S UPDATE
Ms. Gangelhoff presented the Recreation Programmer's Update.
Chair Spicer commended Ms. Gangelhoff on her excellent work this summer.
PARK RESERVATION FEES
The Commission discussed the idea of raising the parks reservation fees for residents/and
or non-residents. The Commission decided to leave the fee structure alone for now and
asked Staff to bring the fee structure back to a future Commission meeting for an across-
the-board inflationary adjustment.
PAR 3 GOLF COURSE/PARKS REFERENDUM
Chair Spicer, acknowledged Mr. Robin Ehrlich, 1656 Gryc Court in the audience, and
invited him to address the Commission.
Mr. Ehrlich presented a letter to the Commission entitled "A Proposal For A Referendum
To Purchase Mendota Heights Par 3 Golf Course To Mendota Heights Parks Commission
September 9, 2003",
Mr. Ehrlich said that the Mendota Heights Par 3 Golf Course is a valuable asset to
Mendota Heights and that it would a great loss to have the land developed as a residential
area. Mr. Ehrlich remarked that the Parks Commission, the Planning Commission and
the City Council have all voted unanimously at previous meetings to maintain the status
quo of retaining the golf course.
Mr. Ehrlich said that in order to finance this endeavor, he would like to suggest that a
new parks referendum be placed on the ballot at the earliest feasible time. Mr. Ehrlich
said that his understanding was that the money from the previous parks referendum has
been essentially depleted so now would be a good time to continue park development and
funding with a new referendum. Mr. Ehrlich said that the golf course could be the
centerpiece or just a component of the referendum depending on other plans of the Parks
Commission.
Chair Spicer said that Mr. Ehrlich had a very sympathetic audience in the Parks and
Recreation Commission, and invited him to stay for the discussion of the 2004 Parks
Budget to see if the Commission could recommend funding for a referendum study for
next year to the Council.
2004 PARKS BUDGET
Mr. Kullander told the Commission Chat he had brought this item back from last month's
meeting at Commissioner Hickie's request. Mr. Kullander said that the 2004 Budget had
not yet been finalized. Mr. Kullander reminded the Commission that they had
recommended at the last meeting that the parks budget have a line item of $7000 annually
for the removal of invasive species. Mr. Kullander said that he did not know if the
current draft 2004 budget contained this item.
Commissioner Linnell said that in light of this evening's discussion regarding the Par 3
Golf Course, he would move to amend the Parks Commission's budget request.
Commissioner Linnell moved to amend the budget request from $7000 for invasive
species eradication to $5000 for a parks referendum study as a first priority, with invasive
species eradication as a secondary priority.
Commissioner Libra seconded the motion.
AYES: 6
NAYS: 0
ROGERS LAKE SKATE PARK
Mr. Kullander said that despite numerous attempts to contact the contractor for the
Rogers Lake Skatepark, there has been no response. Mr. Kullander added that fortunately
no payment had yet been made to the contractor, and that the City could still decide to use
a different contractor. Mr. Kullander said that although the Parks Commission already
recommended using True -ride last month, he wanted to check one last time.
Conmlissioner Morris moved to again recommend that the Council aathorizc Mr.
Kullander to switch to an alternate bid proposal from TrueRide, Inc. in Duluth to build
the skate park.
Corrunissioner Portz seconded the motion.
AYES: 6
NAYS: 0
PARK DEDICATION FEES
Mr. Hollister said that at the August 2003 Commission meeting, the Commission had
requested that this item be continued to the September 2003 meeting. Mr. Hollister said
that at a recent City Council meeting, Councilmember Krebsbach had suggested that the
Park and Recreation Commission discuss raising the per -lot Park Dedication Fee. Mr.
Hollister said that the City currently charges $1500 per new lot for a residential
subdivision. Mr. Hollister said that Councilmember Krebsbach commented that this
figure no longer reflects the value of a vacant lot in Mendota Heights. Mr. Hollister said
that Councilmember Krebsbach suggested that the appropriate fee, given the value of land
in the City, could be considerably higher.
Conmlissioner Liumeli moved
Dedication Fee from $1500 per residential 10l to $2700 per residential lot.
Commissioner Morris seconded the motion.
AYES: 5
NAYS: I (Craighead)
Commissioner Craighead explained his negative vote by saying that he felt that the fee
should be raised to $5000 as suggested by Councilmember Krebsbach.
WAGON WHEEL TRAIL/ROGERS LAKE IMPROVEMENTS
Mr. Kullander updated the Commission on the proposed project for fishing improvements
on Rogers Lake. Mr. Kullander said that the Council, at their September 2, 2003
meeting, approved the Conditional Use Permit for over 400 cubic yards of fill and a
wetlands permit for a scaled -down version of the project.
OTHER COMMENTS
Commissioner Linnell asked if Dakota County was going to install a trail along part of
Victoria Road before turning it back to Mendota Heights and Lilydale.
Mr. Kullander said tbat the Council would not be installing a trail along �,�ictoria Road,
but that after the Cities receive the road back they could use MSA funding to build a trail.
Chair Spicer commented that much of he City's 21 miles of hails are in bad shape and
need maintenance.
Mr. Kullander said that there is money in the budget for trail maintenance and that the
Parks crew would be improving the worst trail segments nest year.
Motion made to adjourn by Libra and seconded by Linnell.
AYES:
NAYS:
The meeting adjourned at 7:35 p.m.
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