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2004-02-10 Parks and Rec Comm MinutesCITY OF MENDOTA HEIGHTS DAKOTA COUNTY, MINNESOTA PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION MINUTES FEBRUARY 105 2004 The regular meeting of the Mendota Heights Parks and Recreation Commission was held on Tuesday, February 10, 2004 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, Stan Linnell, Dave Libra, Missie Hickey, and Raymond Morris. City Staff present were Parks Project Manager Guy Kullander and Administrative Assistant Patrick C. Hollister. Recreation Programmer Teresa Gangelhoff was excused from the meeting due to illness. Mr. Hollister took the minutes. MINUTES Commissioner Libra moved to approve the January 13, 2004 minutes as written. Commissioner Portz seconded the motion. AYES: '7 NAYS: 0 RECREATION PROGRAMMER'S UPDATE Mr. Hollister and Mr. Kullander presented the Recreation Programmer's Update on behalf of Recreation Programmer Teresa Gangelhoff, who was excused from the meeting due to illness. Chair Spicer commended Ms. Gangelhoff on an excellent start to 2004. ORDINANCE PROHIBITING THE FEEDING OF GEESE Mr. Kullander informed the Commission that Mr. Clifford Timm had requested that the City adopt an ordinance prohibiting the feeding of geese, particularly Canadian Geese, within City limits. Commissioner Morris agreed that residents of Mendota Heights should not be feeding waterfowl. Commissioner Libra asked if the City should take an incremental approach by First banning the feeding of geese only on City -owned land, as opposed to all property. Chair Spicer said that he liked Commissioner Libra idea. Commissioner Moms said that the City of Rochester, Minnesota is experiencing a big problem with geese and that it would be interesting to learn how Rochester is handling the problem. Commissioner Libra said that the same might be true for Saint Cloud, Minnesota. Commissioner Linnell suggested that rather than begin with an ordinance, it might be better to start with an educational effort, perhaps with signage and encouragement to create vegetated buffers around bodies of water. Commissioner Portz said that he was in favor of regulations against the feeding of geese. Mr. Kullander said that the greatest concentrations of geese within the City are probably at Rogers Lake and the golf courses. Commissioner Morris said that Canadian Geese, despite being viewed as a nuisance, are actually federally protected specie and that while people should not feed them, the City would need to check with state and federal officials before undertaking any efforts to more aggressively remove or eliminate them. Commissioner Libra moved to request that Mr. Kullander conduct more research on this issue. Commissioner Morris seconded the motion. AYES: 7 NAYS: 0 JOINT CITY COUNCIL/COMMISSION WORKSHOP ON MARCH 9, 2004 Mr. Hollister informed the Commission that the Council, at their regular meeting on February 3, scheduled a joint workshop with the Parks and Recreation Commission for Tuesday, March 9 from 6-7pm in the Large Conference Room. Mr. Hollister said that the regularly scheduled Parks and Recreation Commission meeting would begin at 7pm in the Council Chambers the same evening. Mr. Hollister said that Staff would prepare an agenda in advance of the workshop. Mr. Hollister added that in response to the questions from the Commission, the Council asked the Commission to provide some specific examples of park facilities or trails that they would like to see expanded for the workshop. Mr. Hollister asked the Commission to provide Staff with input as to what the Commission would like to discuss with the Council at the joint workshop. 2 Chair Spicer asked each Commission to say what they would like to discuss with the Council at the workshop. Commissioner Craighead said that he thought that the workshop shop focus on the "big picture" rather than the "details", because one hour is not enough time to discuss the details. Chair Spicer said that he would like to as the Council what they think the Parks and Recreation Commission's role should be. Chair Spicer added that he thought that the Parks and Recreation program at the City should be expanded to a full department, with more of Mr. Kullander's time allocated to parks and with a full-time Recreation Programmer. Chair Spicer added that with development slowing down in the City, the Special Parks Fund needed some sort of yearly stipend to sustain it. Commissioner Portz said that he would like to ask the Council about long range plans and how much park land the City should own. Commissioner Morris said that he would like to discuss the role/purpose/mission of the Parks and Recreation Commission with the Council. Commissioner Morris said that the City should take a strategic approach to parks and recreation development. Commissioner Morris said that the Council should host a public meeting to solicit input from stakeholders, businesses, and members of the public as to what they would like to see in terms of City parks and recreation. Commissioner Morris said that the City should work with other cities around it to avoid duplication. Commissioner Morris said that the Parks Commission has been adrift and that they needed to start over and look at the purpose of the parks. Commissioner Morris added that he would not be available for the workshop because he will be out-of-state. Commissioner Hickey said that she agreed with Commissioner Morris, and that public input is important. Commissioner Hickey said that she would like to review the Barton - Ashman study on green space and the Parks and Recreation Commission's mission statement. Commissioner Linnell said that the population demographics of Mendota Heights and the surrounding area are changing and that the population is aging. Commissioner Linnell said that he would like to talk about parkland acquisition and trail expansion. Commissioner Libra said that he thought that Mendota Heights' residents should be educated more about the park facilities available in Mendota Heights. Commissioner Libra added that while it was probably not a topic for the workshop, the Parks and Recreation Commission could promote a park clean-up in the spring, perhaps with various organizations "sponsoring" various parks. Chair Spicer asked Staff to prepare a draft agenda based upon the comments from the Commissioners and to distribute the agenda to the Commissioners in time for any comments before finalizing the agenda. Mr. Hollister said that Staff would prepare an agenda and provide it to the Commissioners by the end of the week. Mr. Hollister asked that if the Commissioners had suggestions for either revisions to the agenda or additional background information to be provided, they let Staff know by February 20. Mr. Hollister said that the Commissioners may comment either by e-mail or by phone. Mr. Hollister said that Staff would be placing this agenda with any suggested revisions on the March 1 City Council agenda for their acknowledgement. Mr. Hollister said that Staff would then distribute the final form of the agenda packet for the workshop to all participants by March 5. Staff provided updates on the following items: • Par 3 • Garron/Acacia Mr. Hollister added that there was no Police Report this month because there were no incidents in the parks in January 2004, Mr. Kullander said that the aerator at Rogers Lake had stopped working temporarily because a muskrat had been caught in it. Mr. Kullander said that the muskrat had been removed and that the aerator was working again. OTHER COMMENTS Commissioner Craighead said that he was interested in extending the trail from Valley Park to Par 3, Mr. Kullander said that he could add that link to the trail plan. Commissioner Portz said that when he was in Texas recently he met someone who had spent time in Minnesota and complimented the state on its trail system. Commissioner Portz said that Minnesota is famous for its trail system. Commissioner Morris said that the Twin Cities were recently rated as the number one fun place in the country. Commissioner Linnell asked Mr. Kullander about the status of Dakota County's North Urban Regional Trail. Mr. Kullander said that the County was still working on it and that it was still planned to go through Valley Park. Motion made to adjourn by Morris and seconded by Portz. AYES: 7 NAYS: 0 The meeting adjourned at 7:34 p.m.