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2024 07 16 CC Work Session MinutesCITY OF MENDOTA HEIGHTS DAKOTA COUNTY STATE OF MINNESOTA Minutes of the City Council Work Session Tuesday, July 16, 2024 Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, a work session of the Mendota Heights City Council was held at City Hall, 1101 Victoria Curve, Mendota Heights, Minnesota. CALL TO ORDER Mayor Levine called the meeting to order at 4:30 p.m. Councilmembers Lorberbaum, Mazzitello, Miller and Paper (arrived 4:41 pm) were also present. Staff in attendance included City Administrator Cheryl Jacobson, Assistant City Administrator Kelly Torkelson, Public Works Director Ryan Ruzek, Assistant City Engineer Lucas Ritchie, Natural Resources Coordinator Krista Sprieter, Park and Recreation/Assistant Public Works Director Meredith Lawrence, Finance Director Kristen Schabacker, Community Development Manager Sarah Madden, and City Clerk Nancy Bauer. VALLEY PARK STREAMBANK STABILIZATION AND TRAIL IMPROVEMENTS Public Works Director Ryan Ruzek stated that Dakota County and the City is working with SEH, Inc. on designing the streambank stabilization for Interstate Valley Creek and trail improvements in Valley Park. He noted that the project is on an accelerated timeline to get the project out for bid in August and open bids in September. He highlighted that these improvements would have noticeable impacts on the park. Joe Barton, with Dakota County Soil and Water Conservation District and Lower Mississippi River Watershed Management Organization, provided background on the project, which is 60% designed. He stated that SEH, Inc. had taken the lead in applying for a grant for this project and nearly $600,000 was awarded. Barton stated that the creek has substantial erosion and discharges into the Mississippi River. The project will fix the erosion issues and reduce stormwater flow into the Mississippi River during heavy rain events. In total, six projects were identified in the park and will be implemented with the grant money. Mr. Barton described the project improvements including removing trees, fixing the eroding slopes, diverting stormwater pipes, replacing a weir, improving contractor access, bridge replacement, providing additional water storage, revegetating, and removing invasive plants. A representative from SEH reported that the trail design is at a 30%design level. The trail design, aligmnent and two bridges were discussed. The bridges would be built to Dakota Comity Greenway standards. PARK SYSTEM MASTER PLAN PROJECT UPDATE Park and Recreation/Assistant Public Works Director, Meredith Lawrence reported that the preliminary data and initial results for the Park System Master Plan will be presented tonight by Confluence/PROS Consulting. Brad Aldrich and Mo Convery of Confluence/PROS Consulting presented their work completed so for on the park master plan. The master plan is to establish a clear 15-year vision for all of Mendota Heights parks, open spaces, and public spaces. The vision will guide all future maintenance, improvements, and potential development within the park system to meet both current and fliture community wants and needs. It will also provide vision, goals, and suggestions for how to stretch dollars, costs, cost recovery, prioritization, identify changes, and provides a tool for staff and decision -makers. Phase 1 (needs assessment) and phase 2 (community engagement) for the plan have been completed. The existing parks, park inventory, park assets, demographics, trends, level of service, programs assessment, benchmark cities (New Brighton, New Hope, Golden Valley, and Green River, WY), equity, improvement prioritization, and community engagement were discussed. Recommendations include a reallocation of investment in progrannning to address inequities in the current distribution. Additionally, the consultant recommended the addition of multiple parks and recreation staff to support existing programs and services as well as an expansion of staff to address the requests for firture growth. The challenges of finding similar cities for comparison were discussed. Council suggested getting benchmark information from the cities of West St. Paul, Vandais Heights, and Little Canada. Park programming and staffing needs for adding additional programming was also discussed. Assistant City Administrator Torkelson noted that failure to address existing staffing needs creates a retention challenge as staff are able to go work in the identified comparison cities with less workload than in Mendota Heights. Ms. Lawrence said this will be studied further as part of the master plan. The results of the community outreach were presented noting that respondents love the parks, feel they are well maintained, desire more inclusive improvements, and the diversification of amenities. Councilor Miller thanked the consultants for the thorough report. He commented that keeping an open nand about how we think about and how we use our open spaces is important as well as finding other revenue sources is also important. Councilor Mazzitello commented our parks were developed from a referendum and at a different time. He asked if we were using our spaces the right way and what needs to be done to repurpose those spaces to meet current needs. He questioned if there is a revenue source that we are not capitalizing on that can help fund improvements and ongoing maintenance of those improvements. Councilor Lorberbau n said the report was fascinating and the city has a lot of needs. She questioned how to prioritize those needs when it comes to the parks. Councilor Paper said the discussion regarding the number of ball diamonds was interesting. The consultant noted that Mendota Heights is well above the national standard of one field per 4,000 July 16, 2024, Mendota Heights City Council Work Session Minuses Page 2 people. Mendota Heights currently has one field per 616 people. There are 11 existing fields in the city. Ms. Lawrence said the existing program registration and participation rates will be studied in the next phase of the plan. Councilor Mazzitello asked how we leverage the programming of neighboring communities to meet resident requests and needs of our community. Mayor Levine commented that our community is unique because we share resources with neighboring communities and the school district. She also liked the focus on programming and what can be done for a low cost. She is also looking forward to the roadmap, the CIP and funding sources information. PROPOSED TITLE 15: ENVIRONMENTAL STANDARDS Jennifer Haskamp of Swanson Haskamp Consulting presented information on the proposed draft of Title 15 of the city code regarding Environmental Standards. She noted that the new title was created so that environmental standards and regulations were in one place within city code. The Environmental Title is separate from the Zoning Title however the two sections will cross- reference each other. She stated that the goal is to have the Environmental Standards approved concurrently with the Zoning Code update. The council reviewed with Haskamp the chapters within the proposed title. It was noted that the Natural Resources Commission is the recommending body and is responsible for the review, amendment or study of this title when directed by the City Council. They will also be responsible for giving recommendations to the Planning Commission or City Council as required by the title or as required the Zoning Code. It was suggested that the proposed section be discussed at an upcoming Planning Commission meeting. 1 � It Elul � 1 The meeting adjourned at 6:49 p.m. ,, Stephanie ts, Levine, Mayor ATTEST: N cy Ba er, City Clerk July 16, 2014, Mendota Heighls City Council Work Session Minutes Page 3