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Parks, Arts and Recreation Commission Minutes 07-23-2020PARKS, ARTS & RECREATION COMMISSION MINUTES I JUL 23, 2020 MINUTES PARKS, ARTS & RECREATION COMMISSION MEETING THURSDAY JULY 239 2020 - 8:00 A.M. "To enhance communitypride through developing and maintaining Cityparks with a high standard of quality. " Members Present: Lynn Anderson, Bill Fair, Jack Gregor, Nancy McCaffrey, Brian Stoll Members Absent: Julie Jelen, Maria Peterson, Karen Vetsch Staff Present: Sara Cahill, Beth Green, Matt Leonard, Ann Mosack Tom Pawelk, Angela Schumann, Sue Seeger Others Present: Representatives from Lakota Group 1. Call to Order. Chair Brian Stoll called the meeting to order at 8:00 a.m. and declared a quorum. 2. Approve Minutes of Regular Parks & Recreation Commission Meeting from January 23, 2020. NANCY MCCAFFREY MOVED TO APPROVE THE REGULAR PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES JANUARY 23, 2020. MOTION SECONDED BY BRIAN STOLL. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY, 5-0. 3. Consideration of adding to or removing items from the agenda. None. 4. Citizens requests and comments. a. Skate Park: Pawelk has received some public requests for a skate park. He will follow up with the requests and bring back more information to the next meeting. b. Anderson and McCaffrey said they have both received many compliments about Monticello parks. 5. Lakota Group presentation of Parks and Open Spaces chapter of Comp Plan. Schumann introduced representatives from the Lakota Group, the company working on Monticello's new Comprehensive Plan. The City Council adopted the vision plan in February 2020. Since that time, they have been working on the formal comprehensive Page 1 of 4 PARKS, ARTS & RECREATION COMMISSION MINUTES I JUL 23, 2020 plan and currently working on the Parks, Pathways and Open Spaces section of that plan. Lakota is looking for feedback from the PARC. The representative from Lakota Group shared a power point presentation with the PARC. The presentation included: • Project update and timeline • Draft Parks, Pathways and Open Space Chapter • Q&A • Next Steps Discussion included future trail connections. Pawelk indicated that one of the main connections is being completed at this time, the Riverwalk Trail. The next priority will be to complete the trail connection from the city limits to the Bertram Chain of Lakes Regional Park. Most other connections are future hookups to developments. Schumann noted that there is a pathway connection map which illustrates all of those connections and that will be included in the chapter. Other highlights would be to include river and scenic overlooks. There are designated areas for scenic overlooks in the plan and Lakota will include written language in the plan to indicate this. Pawelk noted that there is an overlook opportunity at Chestnut and Willow Streets. MontiArts should be recognized as part of the park system and Seeger noted that they view parks and trails as opportunities for public art installations. The vision is to develop Monticello as a regional arts attraction. Seeger also said that it will be important to focus on Monticello as a river town and to create the identity around that, especially in terms of clean water ways and being a responsible community in regard to that. McCaffrey said she is working on history signage for East and West Bridge Parks. This will be educational and informational signage to highlight the history of Monticello as a river town. That language should somehow be included in the parks chapter of the future comprehensive plan. The representative from Lakota said that they are interested in putting information out to the public to get their input. It was suggested that MontiArts at the Farmers Market will be a great avenue in getting feedback from the public. Lakota will put together some exhibits for that. 6. Motion to approve 4th Street playground renovation project. Tom Pawelk shared a slide showing the updated playground renovation project. He stated the equipment is already purchased as it was originally slated for Ellison Park but those designs and specs have since changed. The play equipment meets the ADA standards and will fit nicely in the current playground location. There will need to be a small extension and a sidewalk section added to the south. The only equipment remaining to be purchased Page 2 of 4 PARKS, ARTS & RECREATION COMMISSION MINUTES I JUL 23, 2020 is the dual swing set at a cost of $1,500. Pawelk noted that this will be the last playground renovation project, until West Bridge and Ellison playground will be replaced in the future, and those are included in the long-range CIP. Another thing to note is that Parks is running short-staffed and will not be able to get the new playground equipment installed this year but it will be included in next year's projects. NANCY MCCAFFREY MOVED TO APPROVE THE UPDATED PLAYGROUND RENOVATION PROJECT FOR 4TH STREET PARK, INCLUDING PURCHASING THE SWINGSET THIS YEAR AT A COST OF $1,500. MOTION SECONDED BY LYNN ANDERSON. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY, 5-0. 7. Motion to approve Par West Park turf conversion proiect with Xcel Energy. Tom Pawelk explained that he is working on a joint project with Xcel Energy to convert 4 acres of open space under the transmission lines at Par West Park into natural prairie grass and wildflowers. The existing turf will stay in place but they will chemically treat the weeds and then drill in various native grass seeds and wildflowers. The project cost is $14,000 and Xcel Energy is doing a 50150 cost sharing match so the city's portion will be $7,000. Pawelk explained that they have the locates called in so they can pull out the old disc golf equipment this week. They will bring the project to City Council the first week in August. Once the area is replanted and grown out, they will look at putting in a trail through the property, connecting to the existing two neighborhood trails. LYNN ANDERSON MOVED TO APPROVE THE PAR WEST PARK TURF CONVERSION PROJECT WITH XCEL ENERGY. MOTION SECONDED BY NANCY MCCAFFREY. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY, 5-0. 8. MontiArts Update. Sue Seeger provided the MontiArts Update (see attached). 9. MCC Update. Ann Mosack and Sara Cahill shared the MCC Update (see attached). 10. General Park Updates. a. BCOL: Pawelk said the project is 99% complete, and he encouraged members to take a drive out to see the park. The entrance road has been paved into the parking lot (combined with the turn lane project on Briarwood), and the native flowers are coming up around the pond and it looks really nice. b. Otter Creek Restoration Project: Pawelk said he applied for a permit through Wright County and is happy to report that he received approval to renovate and repair the ditch bank at Otter Creek Park. The project will consist of adding rip rap to the creek bank and filling in the washout area. Many people like to swim or kids like to play in the creek so crews will put in 12" boulders and a concrete step for Page 3 of 4 PARKS, ARTS & RECREATION COMMISSION MINUTES I JUL 23, 2020 ease of access going into the creek. There will also be some restoration done to the old dam. Noting future projects at Otter Creek, the Rotary has indicated a desire for a wedding arbor at the park so those details are being worked out. Also, staff is inventorying benches in need of replacement at the park. Most are memorial benches that are now 20 years or older. c. River Walk Trail: Pawelk said the bridge is in and yesterday the contractor did the grading for the trail. Weather permitting tomorrow they will put blacktop down and then restoration next week. The Presbyterian Homes gardeners will help with the landscaping restoration. The consensus from visitors to the area is that everyone is loving the fishing pier down there already. d. Budget process: Pawelk said he has been reviewing the Park Budget and tightening this up to get more accurate numbers in order to be able to move forward with Bertram and future expansions of the park system in general. In some areas he was able to reduce the budget to allow for funding to pay for an additional person for MontiArts. Public Art: Allison Huntsley, the artist who painted the flower mural on the building at 25 & Broadway has been commissioned for another art grant for a mural to be painted on movable panels that would be installed at an undecided location downtown. Because the surface of these panels is untested as far as paint adherence, she has agreed to take one of the 4 x 8 sheets and do an experimental mini mural to give to the Parks Department to be installed in one of the public park spaces. Essentially, a free piece of artwork and way of doing a materials test until she moves onto the larger project. 11. Next regular meeting scheduled for September 24, 2020. The next regular PARC meeting is scheduled for September 24, 2020, at 8 a.m. This will most likely be an online GoTo meeting. 11. Motion to Adjourn. NANCY MCCAFFREY MOVED TO ADJOURN THE MEETING AT 9:58 A.M. MOTION SECONDED BY LYNN ANDERSON. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOULSY, 5-0. RECORDED BY: cSFSetlz C) reen DATE APPROVED: 9/24/20 ATTEST: Page 4 of 4