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1996-08-13 Parks and Rec Comm MinutesCITY OF MENDOTA HEIGHTS DAKOTA COUNTY, MINNESOTA PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION MINUTES AUGUST 13, 1996 The regular meeting of the Mendota Heights Parks and Recreation Commission was held on Tuesday, August 13, 1996, in the Large Conference Room at City Hall, 1101 Victoria Curve. The meeting was called to order at 6:35 PM. The following members were present: Norton, Spicer, Liberacki, and Libra. Commissioners Damberg and Kleinglass were excused from the meeting. Also present were Engineering Technician Guy Kullander, Recreation Programmer Chris Esser, and Administrative Intern Patrick C. Hollister, APPROVAL OF MINUTES Commissioner Norton moved to approve the July 9, 1996 Minutes with no corrections. Commissioner Libra seconded the motion. AYE5: NAYS: FRIENDLY HILL5 TOT LOT TREE PLANTING Ms. Sylvia Nelson appeared before the Parks and Recreation Commission to request improvements to the "Friendly Hills Tot Lot." Ms. Nelson stated that the children of the surrounding neighbors had lost the use of the park for two seasons due to the stockpiling of construction debris and other materials. Ms. Nelson continued that although the contractor had done an excellent job of grading and leveling, the seeding did not take due to excessively rocky ground, minimal topsoil and a lack of rain. Ms. Nelson presented the following "wish list" for the Friendly Hills Tot Lot: 1. Picking up of Rocks, the Addition VT :I , and Reseeding this fall 2. A 4'-wide bituminous "Trike-Track" or "Tread Walk" around the perimeter of the park for Tricycles, Strollers, "Big Wheels", etc. 3. Four trees 4. One or two Park Benches and a Picnic Table 5. A half -court basketball pad and backboard on one of the corners [Commissioner Linnell arrived at this point.] Chairman Spicer informed Ms. Nelson that the official position of the City is that this parcel is not a park. Chairman Spicer continued that the City does not want to incur responsibility for another "Tot Lot", having learned from previous experiences with another "Tot Lot". Nevertheless, Chairman Spicer added, planting trees in the City is always a good idea, and he would entertain a motion to recommend that the City Council authorize the planting of additional trees on this parcel. Commissioner Libra moved to recommend to the Council that they authorize Staffto do the following: 1. review the site restoration and reseeding of the parcel by the street contractor 2. install at least 4 trees to be paid out of the street reconstruction project. Commissioner Norton seconded the motion. AYES: 5 NAYS: 0 Ms. Nelson complimented the City on its excellent maintenance of City parks, thanked the Parks and Recreation Commission for their motion, and said that she would attempt to revive the now inactive Friendly Hills Homeowner's Association for other future improvements at the tot lot. VICTORIA CURVE TRAIL Mr. Kullander informed the Commission that Council had directed Staffto look at the possibility of providing a trail along Victoria Curve and to present the plan to the Commission for review. Mr. Kullander provided the Commission with the following scenarios: Extend the City's trail system along Victoria Curve and pay for it from the Special Park funds. 2. Widen the shoulders on both sides of Victoria Curve with funding from the Road and Bridge Department or some other fund source. Commissioner Liberacici moved to recommend that the Council select the second option, widening the shoulders on both sides of Victoria Curve if Council desired to improve roadway safety from City Hall to Hunter Lane. Commissioner Libra seconded the motion. AYES: NAYS: BIKE TRAM STRIPING AT VALLEY PARK AND CURLEY Mr. Kullander informed the Commission that Council had inquired about the possibility of striping the bike trail in Valley Park. Mr. Kullander continued that the MnDOT literature on the subject recommends against striping bike trails less than 10 feet wide, which is the case with the City's bike trail. Mr. Kullander continued that an alternate possibility would be cutting down trees and excess brush along the bike trails, as necessary, where there is bad visibility. Mr. Kullander added that any safety concerns along the bike trails were really a matter of visibility and poor site distances rather than traffic volume. Mr. Linnell moved to recommend that the Council not paint the trails, but instead brush out a minimum of four feet on both sides of the trail where possible (removing only those trees that are a direct safety hazard) and revisit the issue of striping the trails after the clean -out had been completed. Mr. Libra seconded the motion. AYES: NAYS: FIVE-YEAR CIP PLAN Mr. Kullander explained that Council had inquired about the absence of a new tennis court at Hagstrom-King Park in the five-year Capital Improvement Plan recommended by the Parks and Recreation Commission, Commissioner Libra stated that the Tennis Courts the City currently has are rather lightly used, and that they are quite expensive to construct and maintain. Mr. Kullander informed the Commission that the Barton -Ashman 1985 Park and Recreation Facty Needs Study manual recommends that the City have eight tennis courtsI Mr. Kullander added that the City currently has 12 courts with an additional 8 at Sibley High School and 3 at Visitation, for a total of 23 courts. Mr. Kullander added that to his knowledge the city had received no written or oral correspondence from residents asking for a new tennis court. Chairman Spicer asked that Staff relay the following sentiments to the Council: 1. that the City already has more tennis courts than it needs 2. that the City had received no written requests for additional tennis courts 3. that a new tennis court constitutes a "big -ticket" item which is not customarily put in the Parks 5-year CIP 4. and that the Parks Commission was mainly in the business of responding to need. (Although all Commissioners present appeared to concur with the above, no formal motion was made to that effect.) Mr. Kullander informed the Commission that the City had received a request for a "bang board" at the Friendly Hills Tennis Court from Mr. Brian Muthyala. Mr. Kullander added that bang boards should be physically separated from the rest of the tennis court so as not to interfere with normal tennis play. Chairman Spicer said that any such Bang Board should have a sign that prohibits its use during normal tennis play. Mr. Spicer asked Mr. Kullander how much a bang board would cost. Mr. Kullander replied that it would cost from $3000-$4000 dollars to add one at an existing court. Chairman Spicer directed Mr. Kullander to write a letter to the resident requesting the 'bang board' stating that the Parks and Recreation Commission had discussed his request and had decided to reconsider the installation of a bang board at any new tennis court which might be built in the future. C���Y.YK1111���' • 1 .y Mr. Kullander informed the Commission that he and Commissioner Norton had continued work on developing a Cross -Country ski trail in valley Park. Chairman Spicer asked if it would be possible to create even a segment of this trail in time for this winter. Mr. Kullander answered that the Par 3 Golf Course had expressed a willingness to work with the City this fall to develop a trail on the Par 3 Golf Course. Commissioner Norton moved to authorize the expenditure of up to $10,000 from the Special Parks fund for the creation of a segment of the proposed Cross -Country ski trail most likely linked to Par 3) in time for this winter while investigating other possible sources of revenue. Commissioner Liberacki seconded the motion. AYES: 5 NAYS: 0 Chairman Spicer requested that this item be placed again on next month's agenda. 0 [Chairman Spicer excused himself from the meeting at this point.1 CELEBRATE MEIN DOTA HEIGHTS PARKS0, Mr. Esser informed the Commission that everything was on schedule for the fifth annual Celebrate Mendota Heights Parks on Saturday August 24. Mr. Esser added that he would like to especially thank volunteers Strom, Weisenburger and Burline. Mr. Esser continued that Commissioner Kleinglass had already volunteered, and that there was still a need for additional volunteers. Commissioner Libra asked why the Celebration would be held in August this year instead of the usual July. Mr. Esser explained that by the time he was hired as Recreation Programmer, he found himself "at the mercy of the Scheduling Book" and that August 24 was the best remaining date. Mr. Esser also expressed his regrets that there would be no softball tournament coinciding with the Celebration this year, which is typically a major draw to the event. Mr. Esser concluded that he is already taking steps to assure that the 1997 Celebration will occur in July, complete with the softball tournament. Mr. Esser produced a summary of the Summer Programs he received from ISD 197 Community Education. Mr. Esser said that the estimate of 201 total Mendota Heights children participating was probably too high by 40 kids. Commissioner Norton added that even accounting for such an error, the programs still involved more kids than previous years. Mr. Esser added that West Saint Paul planned to pave one of their hockey rinks for off- season Rollerblade hockey and that he and Mr. Kullander would wait until West Saint Paul had one season of experience with this idea, consult them on its feasibility, and contemplate this possibility for Mendota Heights. FIVE YEAR CIP PLAN Commissioner Liberacki asked if the bids for items such as "Porta-Potty" enclosures and bleacher pads should be "lumped together" in a single year in order to save money on volume. Mr. Kullander said that this would be possible. Commissioner Linnell moved that the expenditures for all 10 porta-potty enclosures be moved into the 1997 column under Special Park Funded projects and to request that Council consider including this expenditure in the 1997 City Budget. Mr. Liberacki seconded the motion. AYES: NAYS: f 71-�7s��3iJiZe� Commissioner Linnell moved to request that the Council reconsider the $8,000 for replacement hockey boards in Wentworth Park as a maintenance item rather than a Special Parks Funded item. Commissioner Liberacki seconded the motion. AYES: 4 NAYS: 0 Commissioner Libra moved to commend the Council on allocating funds for afull-time Recreation Programmer, Commissioner Linnell seconded the motion. AYES: 4 NAYS: 0 Commissioner Linnell moved to recommend the Council should consider the possibility of acquiring more land around Lake Augusta than the required 10% park dedication as this is among the last undeveloped land in the City. Commissioner Libra seconded the motion. AYES: NAYS: BASEBALL FIELDS As directed by the Parks Commission at a previous meeting, Mr. Kullander presented an update for possible Baseball field development at two sites: 1. Northeast Quadrant of Dodd and 110 (The upcoming workshop between Council and the Planning Commission will look at possible development options.) 2. Friendly Marsh Park (This would large enough, but there is no direction from Council to look further at this site.) Commissioner Linnell asked if a new field would be possible at Mendota School, Mr. Kullander replied that it would not. Commissioner Linnell directed Staff to as the Council when it plans to evaluate the possibility of new fields, and to tell them that the Parks Commission was awaiting direction from Council on the matter. IVY PARK LANDSCAPE IMPROVEMENTS Mr. Kullander informed the Commission that some plants had apparently been stolen, roots and all, from Ivy Falls Park. Mr. Kullander stated that other plants did not survive the winter. Mr. Kullander added that although the Contractor had replaced the dead plants as guaranteed, he would not replace stolen plants. In a separate item, Mr. I{inlander reported that the local Boy Scout volunteers had provided from 15-18 boys working for 7 hours to help improve Ivy Falls Park. Mr. Kullander explained that the Scouts had picked rocks, spread wood chips, installed landscape edging and replaced plantings. The Commission suggested that the Scouts be thanked in the next Heights Hilites and that Chairman Spicer send a thank -you letter to each volunteer on behalf of the Parks and Recreation Commission, LI1�17:rYD1.� Updates were provided by Staff on the following items: • NSP Substation • GIS Trail Map • Dodd Road Trail • Summer Basketball • Parks Report • Police Report ADJOURNMENT Motion to adjourn made by Liberacki and seconded by Libra. AYES: 4 NAYS: 0 The meeting adjourned at 8:55 PM. Respectfzrlly Submitted, Pah•ick C. Hollister