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1993-02-09 Parks and Rec Comm Minutes`"CITY OF MENDOTA HEIGHTS DAKOTA COUNTY, MINNESOTA PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION MINUTES <" FEBRUARY'9, 1993 The regular meeting of the Mendota Heights Parks and` Commission was held on Tuesday, February 9, 1993, in the L"ty Hall Large Conference Room, 1101 Victoria Curve. The meeting was called to order at 7:05 o'clock P.M. The following members were presents Libra, Katz, Linnell, Norton and Damberg._ Commissioners Kleinglass "= and Spicer had notified City staff that they would be arriving , late. Also present were Administrative Assistant Kevin Batchelder;a Recreation Programmer Michelle Morgan and Parks Project ManageL Guy'= Kullander. a. _ INTRODUCTION OF NEW MEMBERS Acting Chair Katz introduced the new Commissioners, Stan Linnell and `Dave Libra, who had recently been appointed by City Council to fill two vacancies on the Parks and Recreation Commission. Introductions were made around the room. Katz welcomed the new members and stated the Parks Commission is)- epthusiastic to have two committed and interested members join or their group. Commissioner Katz also stated Commissioner'' Hunter had been appointed to the Planning Commission, by the City Council and that they wish him well on the Plannirigt'` Commission and thanked him"for a job ,well done these past, £ew`' years on the Parks Commission, Administrative. Assistant Batchelder statedan -orientation would be provided for the two new members in the coming reeks: APPROVAL OF MINUTES ' Commissioner Norton moved to approve the. January minutes. Commissioner Ramberg seconded the ;notion. or r AYES: 5 NAYS: 0 SOFTBALL LEAGUE RULES 1 ` rL-1993 i, Recreation Programmer Morgan lariefly, reviewed proposed softball league -rules and regulations,with the Commission. Morgan stated the rules include sections on eligibility, rosters, equipment, game play rules, protests, sportsmanship, Mendota Heights park regulations, weather, standings and.: movement of teams amongst leagues. Acting Chair Katz inquired about the rules on eligibility for post season. Morgan stated that players who happen to be on more than one team must declare which team they will be playing on during the post season tournaments. Commissioner Norton inquired about the statement of "pregnant women are discouraged from playing". Parks Commission decided that a general statement such as "persons with medical conditions are advised to consult with a doctor prior to participation in softball leagues" would be preferred. Commissioner Damberg inquired about assumption, of risk. Batchelder stated -the City is obtaining liability insurance through the United States Slow Pitch Softball Association (USSSA) for all sanctioned leagues. lie stated that the individual teams also have an option to purchase liability insurance through TISSSA. Batchelder stated that the City's General Liability Policy has received a copy of the USSSA agreements to include as a declaration within the City's policy. Morgan stated the City is offering four leagues for summer play and that the desired number of teams in each league would be eight teams. She stated the leagues could go with a six team minimum. Commissioner Norton moved to direct staff to implement the softball league rules for 1993. Commissioner Libra seconded the motion. AYES: 5 NAYS: 0 PARTNERSHIPS AND TRAIL CONNECTIONS Administrative Assistant Batchelder stated the City of Mendota Heights had recently been included in a•planning„group-'that bills itself as the "Partnerships in Trail, CcnneCtions! o .The.', purpose of the group is to coordinate and act �a'n trail connection opportunities, mainly in the Mendota Bridge area, Batchelder stated participants include rthe City's of Minneapolis, Bloomington, Mendota Heights, -Eagan, the-DNR, Fort Snelling State Park, Dakota County, St: Paul and -other interested parties. Batchelder stated that this group was involved in efforts to act on a joint grant proposal under the auspices of••Ithe Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) which provides federal grant monies for bike trail projects. Batchelder stated the group is meeting to; discuss trail connections and the benefits of a coordinated approach to trails on a regional basis. Batchelder stated that each participant had been asked to submit a wish .list for a preliminary look at the possibilities of a joint application for ISTEA funding. The Parks and Recreation Commission reviewed the options for trail links to the City of Mendota Heights, trail systems to the regional trail system and across the Mendota Bridge. Batchelder explained that the time line for ISTEA applications is going to be very quick with a possible April 1st deadline for all the Cities to come up with a joint grant application for funding. Batchelder stated that he was reviewing the possibility with the Parks Commission in the hope that the details could be brought back at the March 9th Parks Commission meeting but was not sure how fast the jointgrant application would be moving. Batchelder stated it -may be necessary to proceed to the City Council for approval on participation in a joint application prior to the time it can be brought back to the next Parks Commission meeting. Parks Project Manager Kullander explained how the Soo. Line Regional Trail, proposed to be acquired by MnDOT, would be part of Dakota County's regional trail system. Kullander explained two under passes that are needed in order to make Soo Line Regional Trail a possibility. Kullander stated these underpasses are at the Highway 110 Frontage Road heading down into Mendota and at the new Highway 13 crossing :of. the railroad. Commissioner Linnell stated the City of Mendota Heights should encourage the County to do the Soo Line Regional Trail System. He stated this regional trail has potential to link to hundreds of miles of other trails throughout the region including Harriet Island/Lilydale Regional Park, Fort Snelling State Park, the Minneapolis trail system and the Eagan trail system which extends to the Zoo and to Lebanon Hills Regional Park. He stated the DNR was interested and supportive of this effort. The Parks Commission discussed City priorities and felt that the underpasses for the Soo Line Railroad and the Soo Line trail construction should be our priorities. The Commi`:$sion encouraged the City staff to follow through on a possible joint ISTEA Grant application with the other organizations;. Commissioner Spicer arrived at 7:30 o'clock P.M. Commissioner Kleinglass arrived at 7:45 o'clock P.M. Parks Project Manager Kullander briefly discussed the Mendota Interchange highway project with the Parks Commission. ELECTION OF OFFICERS Commissioner Damberg moved to appoint Commissioner Katz as Chair and Commissioner Spicer as Vice Chair and Administrative Assistant Batchelder as Secretary for the 1993 Parks Commission year. Commissioner Kleinglass seconded the motion. AYESs NAYS: REQUEST FOR TENNIS COURT RESERVATIONS Chair Katz introduced a request for tennis court reservations by the St. Thomas Academy tennis team for the spring season boy's tennis season. St. Thomas Academy is requesting the use of Roger's Lake Park and Friendly Hills Park tennis courts Monday through Friday from 3:15 P.M. to 5:15 P.M. for the period from April 1st until June 1st. Batchelder quoted the Park P.eservation Policy as "tennis courts are available on a first come first served basis for Mendota Heights residents and are not to be reserved. The following community groups may reserve tennis courts with the permission of the Parks and Recreation Commission and the City Council: Mend -Eagan Athletic Association, all public and private schools in Mendota Heights". Batchelder stated that St. Thomas requests for reservations of tennis courts had been routinely granted until 1992 when the City Council only granted half of their request and did not allow the Friendly Hills tennis courts to be reserved, because of the heavy use that it receives from the neighborhood and would tie up all courts south of Highway 110. Commissioner Spicer moved to recommend that City Council approve the St. Thomas Academy tennis team request for reservations with the City allowing St. Thomas to reserve Roger's Lake Park and one park north of Highway 110 specifically Marie or Wentworth Park tennis courts for use by the 1993 St. Thomas tennis teams. Commissioner Norton seconded the motion. AYESo 7 NAYS0 0 NATIONAL SPORTS TRAINING CENTER Batchelder stated that the City had received a request from the Minneapolis Park and Recreation board to consider granting conceptual approval in support of a feasibility study grant to assess the need and financial projections for a proposed national sports training center in the Fort Snelling area. Batchelder stated that this national sports training center is modeled after a similar center in Blaine. Commissioner Spicer stated that the Blaine facility was a multi use facility including soccer fields, a velodrome and other olympic sport qualifying facilities. Commissioner Kleinglass moved to recommend that City Council approve conceptual support for a national sports training center at Fort Snelling and authorize to Mayor to send a letter to the City of Minneapolis endorsing the concept of this center. Commissioner Spicer seconded the motion. AYES: 7 NAYS: 0 VERBAL UPDATES Recreation Programmer Morgan stated she had been getting many requests from various user groups for scheduling time at Mendakota Park and other softball fields throughout the City. Morgan stated it was going to be difficult for all user groups to have access to Mendakota Park. She stated at this time the City is giving primary consideration to adult softball leagues and that the next priority would be high school softball leagues. Morgan stated she has received requests from Visitation Convent, Sibley girl's fast pitch team and Mend - Eagan teams as well as attempting to schedule the new Mendota Heights adult leagues. Morgan stated that the City would attempt to provide access to these fields for all user groups but it was obvious that everybody would not get all of their requests. Morgan explained that West Publishing had submitted a letter to the City requesting the use of three fields on Thursday evening. The Parks and Recreation Commission discussed this request and decided it conflicted too much with the adult softball programming already scheduled for Thursday evening at Mendakota Park. Batchelder stated the newsletter was scheduled to be delivered to Mendota Heights homes in the next week and that this included articles on the new softball leagues, the sand volleyball leagues and park reservation procedures. Batchelder stated that the City Administrator had agreed to a annual schedule for the newsletter that would accommodate the registration periods for recreation programs. Commissioner Norton stated that Inver Grove Heights is currently using Dakota County's piston bully for grooming of cross country ski trails on their new golf course. She stated the City of Mendota Heights should pursue joint use with Dakota County of this equipment for grooming trails in our City. Commissioner Spicer inquired if City staff had followed through on a recommendation from the Parks and Recreation Commission to pursue discussions with the owners of the Par 3 Golf Course for acquisition. Administrative Assistant Batchelder stated City staff had made inquiries with the owners last year, but not recently. Morgan stated she is currently working with the Cities of West St. Paul and South Ste Paul to make available to Mendota Heights children a safety camp this summer. Morgan stated the safety camp would include bike safety, fire safety and stranger danger programs. She stated Mendota Heights residents would be able to participate and that this would all be fee based programming. Morgan also stated that she was in the beginning stages of planning a nature camp for Mendota Heights children involving a naturalist who would provide a day camp for children to learn about and discover nature, The Parks Commission inquired about the Annual Celebrate Mendota Heights Park festivities. Batchelder stated he would, place this item on the March agenda and at that time we could begin forming another citizen°s task force to help plan fop the upcoming celebration. Batchelder stated the City had purchased a bobcat for. the; street department and that this equipment was useful fccg, plowing narrow sections of our trail system. Batchelder stated that following direction from the Parka: Commission, revisions have been made to the Park Video and it had been finalized. He stated it is now airing on Channel 18 and that the City would be provided with two copies that would_ be available for viewing. Batchelder stated that Judy Skiei Voss had edited the video including new footage, better audio and enhanced lighting and he encouraged everyone to watch this program. Commissioner Linnell inquired about Ivy Falls Park and the impact of the Ivy Falls Creek Project on the Park. The Parks. Commission requested that Klayton Eckles, Engineer, attend the March meeting to discuss the design of the pond in Ivy Fails Park. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business the Parks and Recreation Commission adjourned at 9:00 o'clock P.M. Respectfully submitted, Kevin Batchelder Administrative Assistant