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2004-04-13 Parks and Rec Comm MinutesCITY OE MENDOTA HEIGHTS DAKOTA COUNTY, MINNESOTA JOINT CITY COUNCIL/ PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION WORKSHOP MINUTES APRIL 13, 2004 The Joint Workshop of the Mendota Heights City Council and the Mendota Heights Parks and Recreation Commission was held on Tuesday, April 13, 2004 in the Large Conference Room at City Hall, 1101 Victoria Curve. The meeting was called to order at 6:00 p.m. The following Council members were present: Mayor Huber and Council members Duggan, Vitelli, and Schneeman. 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 City Administrator Jim Danielson, Parks Project Manager Guy Kullander, and Administrative Assistant Patrick C. Hollister. Mr. Hollister tools the minutes. All participants introduced themselves. Chair Spicer said that the Parks Commissioners enjoy serving on the Parks Commission and that everyone gets along very well, but that the Parks and Recreation Commission has lost its sense of purpose. Chair Spicer said that the Commission does not know what they should be doing now. Chair Spicer said that he feels that the Commission should be planning more for the future. Chair Spicer said that the City has built a lot of parks infrastructure since the last referendum, but a lot of it needs maintenance. Chair Spicer said that it is hard to plan year-to-year without knowing what financial resources are available. Chair Spicer added that Mr. Kullander's time dedicated to park purposes is also limited. Chair Spicer said that a lot of the remaining open space that the Parks Commission had previously eyed for acquisition is now gone or may go soon, such as the Foss Property, the Burow Pond, and the Par 3 golf course. Chair Spicer said that the Parks Commission wanted to know where the Council stood on acquiring more park land. Chair Spicer said that the City is now in a maintenance period, and that the Commission meetings had become boring. Commissioner Craighead said that he was concerned about the maintenance of the City's trails. Commissioner Linnell said that he was also concerned about maintenance. 1 Commissioner Morris said that he was concerned about the development of new park facilities. Chair Spicer said that his seat used to be the "MHAA seat" and that the Commission doesn't work with MHAA anymore. Chair Spicer asked what the Council expects of the Parks Commission. Chair Spicer said that the Parks Commission can make recommendations in terms of maintenance and plans, but that the final decision rests with the City Council, Mayor Huber asked what the role or mission of the Parks Commission should be and what the City should do now. Chair Spicer said that maintenance had become very important and that the Parks Commission has a maintenance plan. Mr. Kullander said that he has developed a draft maintenance plan that covers trails and play equipment. Commissioner Morris said that some equipment has gone bad. Mr. Kullander said that much of the park play equipment was installed in 1989 and is now reaching 15 years old. Mr. Kullander said that the play equipment can be maintained, but that new pieces can't be added and still meet current Consumer Product Safety Guidelines, Mr. Kullander said that as some older pieces wear out they can be repainted, but not all. Commissioner Linnell said that trail maintenance is also a looming issue and that much oI the City's trail system was also installed in 1989. Councilmember Schneeman asked if trails ever have to be torn out to be reconstructed, similar to street reconstructions. Mr. Kullander explained the process of trail maintenance. Mr. Kullander said that trails typically have a 15-20 year life and that Mendota Heights' trails were now 13-14 years oId, Commissioner Craighead said that one year or so ago he requested $10,000 to $20,000 per year for trail maintenance. Commissioner Craighead said that the City is putting a small amount of money into trail maintenance. Commissioner Craighead said that the Council used park dedication money and water tower revenue for replacing park structures. Councilmember Duggansuggested increasing the finding for trail maintenance. Councilmember Duggan said that he feared that the cost of trail maintenance would be greater than Mr. Kullander's estimates. Commissioner Morris said that the Council has to make crucial decisions regarding the City's parks. Commissioner Morris said that the City's employees do good job, but at some point there will be significant maintenance costs. Councilmember Vitelli said that he was under the impression that the City's parkland as a percentage of all land in the City was more than adequate by most standards. Councilmember Vitelli said that he believed that the parkland was roughly 20% of all land in the City, and that if this was the case, he was not in favor of more parkland acquisition. Councilmember Vitelli also said that in business generally it is thought that each additional one dollar of capital improvement generates ten to fifteen cents per year for maintenance. Councilmember Vitelli said that the City should have a maintenance policy along those lines. Chair Spicer said that using such a formula the maintenance costs would be big. Mr. Kullander said that a large portion of the park maintenance efforts is simply mowing the grass and field preparation, and that Public Works does a great job with this. Mr. Kullander said that maintenance of play equipment, trails, and buildings has lagged behind in some cases due to limited funding. Councilmember Vitelli asked how much the City has invested in park infrastructure. Councilmember Vitelli said that the City should budget 15% per year for maintenance. Mayor Huber said that the City would know after the legislature adjourns whether or not they extended the levy limits. Mayor Huber said that at the moment, no levy limits are proposed for 2004. Mayor Huber said that if levy limits were imposed, it would be difficult to add to the parks budget because roughly 70% of the City's budget is for labor and benefits. Mayor Huber said that if levy limits were off, the City could raise taxes. Commissioner Hickey said that someone had suggested doing a survey. Commissioner Morris suggested having -public hearings to find out what people think of what we have now, and what we need for the future. Commissioner Morris said that there are new threats to the park with buckthorn, and that waiting to address the problem compounds the problem over time. Commissioner Morris said that it is easier to tackle the problem at the beginning. Chair Spicer said that trail, playground, and other maintenance could cost up to $1 million over five years. Chair Spicer said that there might be some money coming from development at Acacia, but that antenna revenue was limited. Chair Spicer agreed with Mayor Huber's comment about labor costs, saying that 90% of court system costs are labor -related. Mayor Huber asked for thoughts on acquisition of park/open space land. Councilmember Schneeman said that she talked to Mrs. Foss about her 8.5 acres west of Wentworth Park. Councilmember Schneeman said that the City might be able to get that land as a donation. Councilmember Schneeman said that there is a family that is giving 9 acres to Eagan. Councilmember Schneeman said that the old referendum will expire in 2007 and that the City could do a new referendum to purchase Par 3 and the 8.5 acres owned by Mrs. Foss, Chair Spicer recalled that several years ago Councilmember Schneeman asked him to make contact with Mrs. Foss, which he did. Councilmember Schneeman said that Mrs. Foss wants to preserve her land as it is. Chair Spicer said that the Foss parcel was actually rather low on the priority list. Chair Spicer said that out of the top ten parcels that were listed for acquisition several years ago, the City is now down to about 4 or 5 remaining. Councilmember Schneeman said that even though Fort Snelling State Park is within Mendota Heights' city limits, she did not really count it as part of the City's park system. Mr. Kullander said that nevertheless Fort Snelling State Park is an amenity for our residents. Councilmember Duggan said that most parks in Mendota Heights are in the southern part of the City, and that few parks are in the northern part of the City. Councilmember Duggan said that Par 3 is one of the last private green spaces north of Highway 110. Councilmember Duggan said that he supports an effort to acquire the Par 3 golf course. Councilmember Duggan said that the literature about parkland makes a distinction between open space and accessible space. Councilmember Duggan said that even if one subtracts the privately owned open space in Mendota Heights, the percentage of parkland in Mendota Heights would still be considered adequate. Councilmember Duggan said that the City should acquire the Par 3 golf course. Councilmember Duggan said that he agreed with Councilmember Vitelli about creating a maintenance plan. Councilmember Duggan said that he thought that most households would be willing to pay $15/year extra for better trails. Councilmember Duggan said that the City should improve its park facilities. Commissioner Morris said that the Par 3 golf course would open up across -country ski trail area. Commissioner Morris said that the ski trail was proposed several years ago. Commissioner Morris said that as people age, they want recreational facilities closer to home. Chair Spicer asked if the City would have to bond. Mayor Huber said that the City has to pass a referendum in order to bond. Chair Spicer said that a referendum takes lots of preparation. Mayor Huber asked who thought a referendum would pass. Commissioner Craighead said that it would have to be a smorgasbord referendum, covering a lot of different citywide projects. Chair Spicer said that not all referendums pass. Councilmember Duggan said that a successful referendum requires proper preparation and proper presentation. Mayor Huber said that he was uncomfortable asking the voters for a referendum for maintenance. Mayor Huber said that if the levy limits were removed, it would be possible to raise taxes for maintenance. Councilmember Vitelli said that recently failed school referendums demonstrate that the public is not supporting them. Mayor Huber said that it was OK to raise taxes within reason for maintenance. Mayor Huber said that a purchase of Par 3 would have to be taken to the voters. Commissioner Craighead asked what the mission of the Parks Commission was. Commissioner Craighead said that the Parks Commission wanted Mr. Kullander to do extra tasks, but the Mr. Kullander has little time available. Commissioner Craighead said that Mr. Kullander should have more budgeted time for parks purposes so that he could pursue grants. Mayor Huber asked City Administrator Danielson to provide the Parks Commission with Ms. Schabaker's and Momy's numbers regarding homeownerstax increase if a referendum were to be proposed. Commissioner Libra said that he was interested inputting slurry on trails. Commissioner Libra said that the Valley Park Bridge cost $70,000-$80,000, $25,000 of which came from the Special Park Fund, Commissioner Libra said that there has not been much replenishment of park funds. Commissioner Libra said that the Parks Commission tries to push things around to accommodate the budget situation. Commissioner Libra said that the Parks Commission had recommended both the Wentworth warming house and the lighting of Mendakota Fields but that the Council had turned down both of them. Commissioner Libra said that if the referendum were only for purchasing the golf course it would not have a wide enough appeal to pass. Commissioner Libra said that he was interested in the Lexington Avenue trail. Commissioner Libra said that the City has wonderful assets such as the trail system. Commissioner Libra said he wanted to focus on what kind of money the Council was interested in spending. Commissioner Morris said that Eagan is good at getting ISTEA matching grants for extensive trails. Chair Spicer said that there is an initial budget costs for getting these grants. Councilmember Schneeman suggested working with MnDOT and Dakota County. Commissioner Libra said that the City has trails that go to a certain point, and then end. Commissioner Libra said that some segments are difficult to improve physically. Chair Spicer said that the time had passed 7:00 pm. Chair Spicer asked the Council to tell the Parks Commission what their mission should be for the next 2-3 years. Councilmember Vitelli said that he could not follow the logic of why the City needs a referendum for more park space. Councilmember Vitelli suggested that the Parks Commission come up with a number for yearly park maintenance, which may be as much as $300,000/year. Mayor Huber said that the City currently receives $27,000/ year in taxes from Ecolab. Mayor Huber suggested that the Parks Commission work with Ms. Schabacker to determine what the cost would be per household to buy Par 3. Mayor Huber said that otherwise the priorities would be trail maintenance and trail connections/extensions. Chair Spicer said the Parks Commission needed to wait to see if there are levy limits imposed. Mayor Huber said that the City could have a referendum vote for a small amount to take care of small stuff shortm buying the golf course. Chair Spicer commented that this was a good workshop and that it would be good to have this kind of workshop between the Council and the Parks Commission once a year. 1 The meeting adjourned at 7:10 p.m.