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Parks Commission Minutes 02-20-1997 . . . Minutes Regular Meeting w Parks Commission Thursday, February 20,1997 w 4:30 p.m. Members Present: Members Absent: Staff Present: Larry Nolan, Earl Smith, Robbie Smith Fran Fair Jeff O'Neill, Roger Mack, Wanda Kraemer, John Simola 1. Call meeting to order. Chairperson Nolan called the meeting to order. 2. Consideration of approving the minutes for the regular meetin~ January 16, 1997. COMMISSIONER E. SMITH MADE A MOTION SECONDED BY R. SMITH TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF THE JANUARY 16, 1997 MEETING. Motion passed unanimously. 3. Added items. There were three items: 1. Signs in the parks 2. Name Outlot A 3. Public Works overload 4. Interviews for Parks Commission. There were three applicants for the position vacated by Bruce Thielen's election to the City Council. The people interviewed were Mike Lundquist, Rick Traver, and Jeffrey Burns. All of the candidates were very qualified for the position and the Commission discussed each one's qualifications in regards to what was most needed by the commission at this time. After discussing each applicant in length, Rick Traver was chosen to be recommended to the City Council for the position. 5. Hockey AssociationIV ance Ellis - 6:00 Vance Ellis, Monticello Youth Hockey Association - YHA, had requested to be on the agenda to review the Agreement of Understanding for the 4th Street skating rink and warming house. Vance Ellis, Denny Taylor, and Ray Henningson came to the meeting to represent the YHA. Ellis reported that their equipment to keep the ice in skating condition was in need of replacement. He inquired if the City would be able to help in this area. Roger Mack, Street Superintendent, stated the City could not leave equipment at the rink for the YHA to use because of insurance restrictions. The equipment would need to be operated by a City employee. Mack had the rink attendants track the number of skaters using the rinks and found the use of the Page 1 . . . Parks Commission Minutes - 2-20-97 rink has greatly increased since the agreement was executed. Mack stated that it is probably time for the City to take the responsibility of clearing the snow at the rink but the YHA would still need to have some type of equipment for clearing ice shavings during practice. YHA agreed this could be accomplished. It was discussed and agreed that the YHA would still be responsible for the flooding of the 4th Street rinks. Next the warming house was discussed, Mack had taken pictures of the facility to demonstrate the needed repairs. The windows had been broken in the past and replaced with blocks not glass so the inside of the building has no natural lighting. This is also a safety concern because the attendant cannot see to supervise the rink when inside the building and visa versa. Simola suggested a window be installed where the window had once been. Staff will need to research what type of window could be installed that would be stronger because of the possibility of being hit by a hockey puck. Next O'Neill reported that the electric bills for the restroom area are considerably higher than the electrical bills for the warming house at West Bridge Park. This is because the restrooms are on the outside of the building and have a separate electric heating system. O'Neill inquired if the warming house was remodeled would the savings from the electrical bills eventually pay for the changes? This was discussed and lead to the question, if this rink would be large enough in a few years or if a new hockey rink and warming house should be in the future plan? The Parks Commission would discuss this further at a later date to decide if this item should be included in the long range planning goals. The idea of hard surfacing the rink for summer roller blading use was also discussed. This has been done in a number of communities with excellent results because the rink area in the park can then be used all year for skating. The Parks Commission stated this was an item that had been discussed and will be reviewed again during budget meetings. The consensus of the meeting was to have O'Neill revise the Agreement of Understanding and take the recommendation to the City Council. A copy would be sent to Vance Ellis. Mack would research the possibly of installing a window and improving the ventilation in the building for the next season. There will be two meetings a year, in September and March, with the YHA and the Parks Commission to discuss the operations of the rink. (The YHA will contact the Parks Commission to be on the agenda the month prior to the meetings.) This will be added to the budget meetings for discussion on contracting snow removal and review of the size of the facility. 6. Snowmobile Ordinance - update Wanda Kraemer, Development Services Technician, reported the Police Commission was in the process of developing a signed snowmobile route through the City. The Police Commission had previously met with four officers from the Wright County Sheriffs department in February and then scheduled a special meeting for March. Page 2 . . 8. . Parks Commission Minutes - 2-20-97 The special meeting was scheduled to include the snowmobile clubs. At this meeting the Police Commission, Wright County Sheriff's Office, and the Monticello Trailblazer snowmobile club will decide the best route through Monticello. The intent of the signed trail is to help avoid confusion for snowmobilers on route through Monticello, to help protect the hard surface of the pathway system by keeping snowmobiles off, and also to assist the Sheriffs's office in the enforcement of the snowmobile ordinance. The Sheriffs department is meeting with all the cities in Wright County to develop a uniform snowmobile ordinance throughout the County. 7. Prairie Restoration - update Jeff O'Neill, Assistant Administrator, reported to the Commission that Sonya Smith, an intern from the University of Minnesota, will be meeting with city staff to create a management plan for the prairie and savanna areas along the pathway system from Prairie Lane to West River Street. Smith's internship is through the Scientific and Natural Areas Program of the DNR. She is interested in an educational project addressing a current natural resource. There is also an interest from Wright County Parks Department and NSP for a management plan to restore prairie grass and oak savanna areas at Montissippi Park and land around the NSP plant. Status report on 1997 budget items Per requested by the Commission a copy of the budget items was included in the agenda packets. Chairman Nolan stated he would like to see a pathway plan so there is a section completed each year. Jeff O'Neill, Assistant Administrator, reported there would be an item going to council to recommending a feasibility study of three pathway areas. He would keep the Commission informed on this. There was discussion on the $12,000 storage/concession building in the budget for the Meadow Oak Outlot A Park. Roger Mack, Street Superintendent, would bring back design ideas and cost estimates to the March meeting. 9. Prioritization schedule Jeff O'Neill, reported the City Council would be reviewing the list of projects and budget items on Saturday, March 15,1997. The Council will be attempting to get an overall view of priorities items that need to be completed. 10. Updates A. Amending the subdivision standards to street widths. Jeff O'Neill reported a meeting had been scheduled for February 27,1997 to review the width of the street in new residential subdivisions. The Page 3 Parks Commission Minutes - 2-20-97 . Committee's object will be to write criteria for street widths. B. West Bridge Park 1. Meeting on 1997 improvements - Jeff O'Neill reported that a committee met to discuss the options on Bridge Park improvements. There is not a completed plan at this time. 2. Storage of co mID unity band chairs - Jeff O'Neill made a request for the community band to store about 20 chairs in the warming house during the summer. The band will then use the park for their weekly practice location. John Simola thought this could be a good use of the facility and the chairs could also be used by other people reserving the building. Roger Mack would order the chairs and a rack to store them. 3. Park Cleanup - John Simola, Public Works Director, reported he had scheduled the Wright County Sentence to Serve for three days in June to assist with clean up efforts in the Battle Rapids and Otter Creek parks. 11. Added items. . A. Signs in the parks. A sign should be placed in each park stating the name of the park. B. Name Outlot A. The park under the freeway overpass, Outlot A by Meadow Oak Subdivision, should be named. A suggestions was made to have a name contest during the pathway celebration. C. Public Work "overload". John Simola, Public Works Director, stated that the public works department has so much general maintenance work in streets and parks to take care of they cannot add more park construction projects at this time. He suggested to the Parks Commission to consider contract help for future projects. 12. Ac:ijourn. A MOTION WAS MADE BY COMMISSIONER R. SMITH SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER E. SMITH TO ADJOURN THE MEETING. Motion passed unanimously. !JJ~ KMMJ7~ . Wanda Kraemer . Development Services Technician Page 4