1987-04-21 Joint Council-Park Comm minutesCITY OF MENDOTA HEIGHTS
DAKOTA COUNTY, MINNESOTA
Minutes of the Joint Meeting with
City Council and Park & Rec Commission
Tuesday, April 21, 1987
Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, the joint meeting of
the Mendota Heights City Council and Park and Recreation
Commission was held at 7:30 o'clock P.M. on Tuesday, April
21, 1987, in the City Hall Council Chambers, 750 South Plaza
Drive.
Mayor Mertensotto called the meeting to order at 7:30 P.M.
The following members were present: Mayor Mertensotto,
Councilmembers Blesener, Cummins, and Hartmann.
Councilmember Witt arrived late in the meeting. Parks
Commissioners present included Chair Stein, Commissioners
Doffing, Katz, and Lachenmayer.
Mayor Mertensotto began the meeting by asking City
Administrator Frazell to list on the board all of the
athletic facility options that had been originally considered
in the Tarton-Aschman study.
There was then a group discussion clarifying the needs for an
athletic complex. Park Chair Stein indicated that the
Barton-Aschman study had documented the need for three or
four ballfields, a soccer field, parking and a comfort/
storage. It was also noted that a minimum 20-25 acres would
be needed on any site.
It was noted that several of the sites originally discussed
in the Barton-Aschman study, including Wachtler and
Perkegwin, are no longer available due to current
development. The McCloud/Ahlstrom site was eliminated as
being too expensive, and the School Forest site as not
readily available and having bad topography for an athletic
complex.
It was then narrowed down that the two reasonable
alternatives are to continue working with School District No.
197 on a site around the Henry Sibley campus, or to consider
some of the property owned by developer Jim Riley south of
Mendota Heights Road and east of Dodd Road.
Councilmember Blesener indicated that she is still in favor
of working with the School District on the Sibley campus.
Councilmember Cummins said that he had originally supported
the concept of working with the School District, but had a
problem with the School Board's attitude and approach, and
was beginning to question whether or not the two parties
could work together. He also indicated that he was bothered
by the fact that the contributions from the two parties were
growing increasingly unequal, with the City contributing much
more than the District.
Parks Chair Stein said he thought the School District option
was still in the best interest of the City, and said that one
of the additional costs of the Riley site was taking this
valuable property off the tax roll. He said he thought it
was easy to take a negative attitude toward the School
District because of the problems, but the School Board was
ever changing and that the City could now take a more
assertive position in the negotiations.
Councilmember Hartmann said that he couldn't support putting
over $1,000,000 of City money into the Henry Sibley complex
if there was a possibility of the City losing all that
investment sometime. He said that he also felt there were
many people in West St. Paul who opposed the agreement.
Chair Stein responded that he felt the proposal would benefit
children from all communities who attend Henry Sibley High
School and who are participants in Mend/Eagan athletic
programs. It was also noted that the West St. Paul Soccer
League would probably use some of the fields.
Councilmember Cummins questioned whether it might be possible
to consider using a site south of Mendota Heights Road but
closer to Dodd Road.
Mr. Bernard Friel, 750 Mohican Court, said that he thought
the Henry Sibley approach was bad for both the City and the
School District. He highlighted concerns about the
District's future financial capability, and whether they
could make a commitment to financing the maintenance of the
athletic facility.
Parks Chair Stein said that he didn't see finance as being a
concern by the Board now, and Councilmember Blesener said she
felt those concerns could be addressed in the agreement.
Parks Commissioner Doffing said that even without School
District financial participation he still felt the Henry
Sibley site was the best of all the alternatives.
Councilmember Blesener said that she did feel the City should
take a hard look at the alternatives of both the Henry Sibley
and Riley sites. It was agreed that the City staff should
solicit a proposal from Barton-Aschman Associates, the City's
parks planner, to do an analysis of the Riley site, including
a point by point comparison of the pros and cons of the Riley
versus the Henry Sibley site.
There was some discussion of the issue of consumption of
alcohol in the athletic facility. There was a general
concensus that it would be acceptable to ban alcohol use, but
an acknowledgement that realistically people were going to be
consuming some alcohol.
Meeting was adjourned at 8:40 P.M.
ATTEST:
Charles E. E. Mertensotto
Mayor
Kevin D. Frazell
City Administrator