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1989-09-12 Parks and Rec Comm MinutesCITY OF MENDOTA HEIGHTS PARK AND RECREATION COMMISSION MINUTES, SEPTEMBER 12, 1989 A regular meeting of the Mendota Heights Park and Recreation Commission was held on Tuesday, September 12, 1989 in the City Hall Council Chambers, 1101 Victoria Curve. Commission Chair John Huber called the meeting to order at 7;40 P.M. The following members were present: Huber, Lundeen, Katz, Owens and Spicer. Damberg was excused. Staff members present were Acting City Administrator Jim Danielson and Referendum Project Manager Guy Kullander. In the audience: Liz Witt, Chuck Bangasser. APPROVAL OF MINUTES AYES 5 NAYES 0 ACTIVE PARK UPDATE CONSULTANT PROPOSAL Commissioner Spicer moved approval of the minutes of August 30, 1989 as submitted, Chair Huber seconded. Jim Danielson reported on the status of the Mendakota and MnDot TH149 R.O.W. Active Park Sites. Mendakota Active Park needs to be purchased from CG Rien Co. Council has order that an appraisal be prepared in anticipation of making an offer to purchase the property. TH149 R.O.W. needs to be acquired from MnDOt. MnDot has said that the first step in acquiring this R.O.W. would be for the City to acquire title to the underlying fee ownership. Then MnDot will sell the property to the City. This would be at least a six month process. Barry Warner, Barton-Aschman (BA) made a presentation to the commission on a proposal to provide professional services necessary to design the 1989 Park Bond Referendum improvements. Barry's proposal had been distributed to the Commission in written form in a brochure dated September 61 1989. Commissioner Spicer asked how the City could contract for final plans when all the sites to be designed were not yet in City ownership. It was then concluded that the contract should be broken down into multiple phases that AYES 5 NAYES 0 FENCE MARIE PARK HOCKEY RINK AYES 5 NAYES 0 IMPLEMENTATION PROCESS PAVING HOCKEY RINKS duties as the City Hall Building Manager. Commissioner Katz made a motion to appoint Guy Kullander as the City's Park Construction Project Manager. The motion was seconded by Bill Owens. Commissioner Owens stated that he had to leave the meeting early and asked that the Commission consider fencing the ends of the hockey rink at Marie Park similar to what has been done at the Wentworth and Friendly Hills Parks. Estimated Costs to be $2000-$3000. Commissioner Owens moved to recommend to the City Council that chain link fences be installed at the ends of the hockey rink in Marie Park, extending the fence farther adjacent to the pleasure rink for added safety, costs to be budgeted from the Park Fund. Seconded by Commissioner Spicer. Commissioner Owens was excused at 8:45. The Commission discussed whether there would be a need for extra Commission meetings for planning purposes. It was determined that extra meetings would not be needed at least until after the next regular meeting at which time it could be reevaluated. Chuck Bangasser was at the meeting to discuss the bituminous surfacing of hockey rinks. He had heard that hockey rinks surfacing had been deleted as an item of construction. He reported that Dick Putman has several examples of where the paving of hockey rinks had been successful. He asked that at least one be done with the Park Bond Referendum construction on a trial basis. CITY OF MENDOTA HEIGHTS PARK AND RECREATION COMMISSION MINUTES, AUGUST 30, 1989 A special meeting of the Mendota Heights Park and Recreation Commission was held on Wednesday, August 30, 1989 in the City Hall Conference Room „ 1101 Victoria Curve. Commission Chair John Huber called the meeting to order at 7:40 P.M. The following members were present: Huber, Lachenmayer, Lundeen, Katz and Spicer. Damberg was excused. Staff members present were City Administrator Frazell, Public Works Director Danielson and Administrative Assistant Batchelder. In the audience: Councilmember Blesener, Dave Ayers, Mike Dwyer, Jeff Stenhaug, John Knowlin and Mike Kluznick, all members of the Citizen's Park Review Committee. ACKNOWLEDGMENT Commission Chair Huber gave special thanks to OF CITIZENS PARK Councilmember Blesener and former Commission REVIEW COMMITTEE Chair Jim Stein for their roles in the successful Parks Referendum. He stated that they deserve special recognition for the energy and dedication they put into the referendum to ensure its passage. Councilmember Blesener thanked all the members of the Citizens Park Review Committee for their efforts and dedication. She stated it was satisfying to her that there was a community wide effort and that the success of the referendum was a reflection of the whole community working towards a goal. Commission Chair Huber explained that there would be no recount of the referendum vote. ROLES OF THE PARKS Commission Chair Huber explained that the COMMISSION Parks and Recreation Commission would be taking the lead role in the implementation, design and oversight of the Parks Referendum. He invited any interested members of the Citizens Park Review Committee who still wish to be active to get on a mailing list so that they could be included in any forthcoming discussions that they might be interested in. Councilmember Blesener stated that the Citizens Park Review Committee would be wrapped up tonight, but that their input, attendance and participation would be welcomed and encouraged in the implementation phase. Commission Chair Huber stated that the Parks and Recreation Commission may have to meet twice a month during the planning and implementation stages of the Parks Referendum. BALLFIELDS Commission Chair Huber explained the timing of construction for the ballfields and the neighborhood parks. City Administrator Frazell explained the Kensington Park, Sibley and Mendakota sites and the timing, constraints and potential construction details for each. A discussion of the Mendakota site and its potential ensued. The Parks Commissioners indicated that this site should be pursued as an active ballfield site and requested that staff research the possibilities of the Mendakota site and place this on the September 12th agenda. City Administrator Frazell also outlined the circumstances surrounding the MnDOT right-of- way as a possible ballfield site. He stated that acquisition could take a year. NEIGHBORHOOD PARKS Commission Chair Huber stated that the timing of constructing the neighborhood fields would be contingent on when the new active fields were finished. He stated that we cannot take the neighborhood parks out of line until the new fields are up and running. He discussed the planning stages for neighborhood parks and the amount of participation in the planning that abutting neighbors would want to have. TRAILS The designing, specifying, bidding and construction processes were looked at. Public Works Director Danielson stated that the engineering staff could and should handle the trails portion of the referendum. He stated that there were things the City could do on trails this year but that it would be more economical to do as large bids. He stated that the engineering staff at the City would do the planning and designing over the winter and be ready to bid and construct next spring. There was a certain amount of hand holding that the City staff will have to do with property owners as the trails go in, he stated. PLANNING PROCESS Public Works Director Danielson explained which roles the City staff could and should handle and what were likely roles for professional consultation. Councilmember ADJOURN Blesener stated it was important to have a project manager to coordinate all the details, contractors, construction, etc. There was a discussion on what the consulting role would be, what type of work they should do, what firm to go with and how to get started on the design phase. Barton- Aschmann's role as consultant was discussed. Staff was directed to determine which roles could be handled by the City and which were appropriate for a consultant and to come back at the September 12th meeting with proposals. Public involvement in the planning phase was discussed, especially as related to the neighborhoods near the neighborhood parks. City Administrator Frazell suggested that we have Barton-Aschmann do the schematics to present to the Parks and Recreation Commission and notify people if they wish to comment on the schematics in a public meeting. The idea of having an in house project manager was placed on the September 12th agenda for consideration. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 9:30 o'clock P.M. Kevin Batchelder Administrative Assistant