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Parks Commission Minutes 12-22-2005 Parks Commission Minutes: 12/22105 MINUTES MONTICELLO PARKS COMMISSION - REGULAR MEETING Thursday, December 22, 2005 - 4:30 p.m. "To enhance community pride through developing and maintaining city parks with a high standard of quality." Members Present: Fran Fair, Nancy McCaffrey, Larry Nolan, Rick Traver and Council Liaison, Tom Perrault. Members Absent: None Others Present: Adam Hawkinson, Parks Superintendent and Jeff O'Neill, Deputy City Administrator 1. Call to Order. Chair Larry Nolan called the meeting to order at 4:30 p.m. and declared a quorum present. 2. Approve minutes of November 17. 2005 rel!ular Parks Commission meetinl!. FRAN FAIR MOVED TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF THE NOVEMBER 17,2005 REGULAR PARKS COMMISSION MEETING. BEN HITTER SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 3. Consideration of addine: items to the al!enda. Ben Hitter added discussion of a skating rink at the Groveland Park. Adam Hawkinson added a request to flood the park at Country Club Manor and also an announcement that he would like to make at the end of the meeting. 4. Citizen comments and reauests. No one was present under citizen comments. 5. Trail connection between Mack property and Carlisle Villae:e. There was no information provided on this item. Parks Commission directed this to be placed on the January agenda. 6. Park Maintenance. Park Superintendent, Adam Hawkinson reviewed the work the Parks Department staff had completed. The Parks Commission discussed the problem with snowmobile use in the parks and on the trails. Tom Perrault suggested that information on snowmobile regulations should be put on Channel 12. Adam Hawkinson stated at the entry points to the City the snowmobile trail is marked and it is mapped. 1 Parks Commission Minutes: 12/22/05 Fran Fair asked about mulching for the plantings at East Bridge Park. Adam Hawkinson stated that there was some matting that the Water Department had that would be placed over the plantings. 7. Discussion on chanfle in time frame when park development takes place. Deputy City Administrator, Jeff O'Neill entered the meeting at this time. Adam Hawkinson provided background on the procedures the City had used in park development and some problems that were encountered. He cited the Groveland area as an example where residents didn't know where the park was or what kind of park it was going to be. It was suggested that the park in a development be developed right away rather than waiting for development to fill in. That way residents know before the select their lot and build a home where the park is going to be. Jeff O'Neill stated the Council at their last meeting had increased the park dedication fee to $3500 per residential unit. He is now doing an inventory of existing parks and what it costs for park development. If the developer is giving a cash park dedication those funds should be provided to the City prior to development taking place. Larry Nolan stated in the past the concern was cash flow. He added that the Parks Commission has talked about having a sign placed in any new development at the time it is approved that designates the area proposed for park and gives a general indication of what kind of park will be developed. Nancy McCaffrey stated that establishing a park development plan when the development is approved doesn't mean that the park development plan can't be fine tuned as time goes on. The Parks Commission will consider this further and it was requested to be placed on the January agenda. 8. Discussion of proiects to consider for possible flrant applications. The Parks Commission discussed various projects that might possibly be considered for grant applications. A connecting trail segment between the Mack property and Carlisle Village was one possible project. Adam Hawkinson reported that the City of St. Michael was working on a trail along CSAH 18 and Monticello's trail system in this area could connect with theirs at some point in the future. He noted that projects that involve several entities generally receive higher placement for grants. He added that the Clearwater group is still working on a county wide trail system. Another possible project was a trail segment on County Road 39 East from Gillard Avenue to Battle Rapids. The City could work with the City of Otsego on trail connections between the two communities. Jeff O'Neill talked about a trail segment between the Bondhus property and the wastewater treatment plan that could be brought up to connect to the sidewalk on Broadway. The Parks Commission discussed the willingness of the property owner to work with the City on constructing this trail segment. Adam Hawkinson asked about the River Mill area and whether there was any further information on making the freeway ramp in that area a frontage road once the new freeway interchange is completed. Jeff O'Neill said at this point there is a 50-50 chance that it will become a frontage road. It was felt it would be best to wait with doing anything on the trail in this area until it known whether there will be a frontage road and its exact alignment. 2 Parks Commission Minutes: 12/22/05 Adam Hawkinson explained the grants generally require matching funds from the City. January is when the application documents for the grants can be obtained and submittal of the application is around March 1 st. There are different types of grants that cover items such as trail connections to existing trail systems, construction of new trails and park shelters. The grants for park shelters require that the shelter includes restrooms and he did not suggest this grant be sought unless there was support by the City Council for this project. Jeff O'Neill reported that NAC, the City's consulting planners, will be starting on a master plan for the Water Tower Park. He also reported on the status ofthe Poplar Hills development (Schluender property). The Council has approved the preliminary plat. Because the developer has reduced the density of units from what was originally proposed, the City will have to buy additional land in order to have sufficient area for the proposed ballfields. The developer is asking $43,000/acre for the land. Larry Nolan suggested that the Parks Commission look at this again do determine if they could get by with less land. Jeff O'Neill stated that the developer had laid out his plat with a set amount for park land and would probably not want to redesign his plat because the Parks Commission changed the amount of park land they wanted. It was noted that the developer was the one who changed the design to go with a lower density and it was felt the Parks Commission should have an opportunity to review the changed design and if appropriate, change the park land area. It was stated that the $3500 park dedication fee was meant to cover both park land acquisition and development. Tom Perrault brought up the Ocello development which because of the density of units could contribute 13 acres of park land for a 65 acre development site. The Parks Commission directed Adam Hawkinson to proceed with the grant application process. It was the consensus of the Parks Commission that although they would like to see a trail develop in the County Road 39 area, the prime focus for any grant application should be the Groveland area. 9. Water Tower Park Plan/Emerald Heie:hts. Jeff O'Neill updated the Parks Commission on the status of this development. The original project was not feasible because of the costs and risks associated with the proposed retaining wall. The project was too expensive for the number oflots that would be created. The developer will be coming back with a revised plan which would eliminate the 8 lower lots. There is a possibility of this land then being available for the City to purchase and to incorporate with the Water Tower Park site. There was some discussion on possibly a connection with the Spirit Hills Townhome development. 10. Consideration of Daved 8 foot wide trail extension from Pioneer Park to Edmonson Ave. Jeff O'Neill stated this item should be pulled from the agenda until such time as the revised Transportation Plan was ready to be reviewed and then all the trail segments needed could be reviewed at that time. 3 Parks Commission Minutes: 12/22105 11. Riverside Cemeterv - tree locations. lot site and other issues. Adam Hawkinson eXplained there is an information box at the cemetery that contains a brochure with information about the cemetery. He suggested that this brochure be updated. Ben Hitter suggested this information could also be placed on the web site. A copy of the updated brochure will be brought to the next meeting. Adam Hawkinson also reported that they are finding people buried in the wrong spots. Some bodies have been buried in the alleyways rather that on the grave plot. Some are buried 12' away from where they should be. Since the Parks Commission handles issues related to the cemetery Adam Hawkinson felt they should be aware of this. Adam Hawkinson brought up in the new part of the cemetery (the side closest to the trailer park) they are going to run into some problems with the trees located there. Some of the trees encroach into the lots and the question is whether the preservation ofthe trees is the greater priority. Adam Hawkinson stated that if the tree is at the head or foot of the grave site, the plot could be used for a cremation site. Rick Traver questioned if the area around the tree was dug up for burial sites what were the chances of damage to the tree roots. Adam Hawkinson stated if the lots were cremation lots, the area dug up would be smaller and would not be as deep. Also since not all the lots would be dug up at one time, it is possible that the tree could recover from any root damage before another lot was dug up. Fran Fair suggested that with the emphasis on cremation rather than burial, it may be a good idea to designate that section for cremation lots. Larry Nolan suggested that this item be placed on the next agenda and that a drawing ofthe cemetery area be given to the Commission so they could visualize better these issues. 12. Park Commission terms. The terms of Larry Nolan and Nancy McCaffrey will be expiring as of December 31,2005. Both members indicated their willingness to serve another term. The Parks Commission recommended that the Council appoint Larry Nolan and Nancy McCaffrey to another term on the Parks Commission. Added Items: lee Rink at Groveland Park: A petition was received from residents in the Groveland area requesting that an ice rink be constructed. The Parks Commission asked Adam Hawkinson about the feasibility of getting it done this year. Adam Hawkinson felt that with the snow compacted down, the Parks Department could probably get something set up in a relatively short period of time. For this year the rink would be located in the area of the roughed-in parking lot. Some picnic tables and benches could be brought in and used for people to sit on while putting on their skates. NANCY MCCAFFREY MOVED TO HAVE THE PARKS DEPARTMENT CONSTRUCT AND FLOOD AN ICE RINK IN THE GROVELAND PARK AREA. RICK TRAVER SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. lee Rink at Country Club Manor Park: Adam Hawkinson stated he had received a request for an ice rink in this area as there was no skating area nearby. However there is property owner whose house 4 Parks Commission Minutes: 12/22/05 is on the northwest comer of the park that would be impacted by a rink. At the present time the water from the park runs off in the direction of his property and for that reason Adam Hawkinson said he would be reluctant to do anything that would direct more drainage to that property. Adam Hawkinson said there is a possibility that a rink could be placed where the beehive storm sewer manhole is located. Larry Nolan asked if there was a light in the area. Adam Hawkinson indicated there wasn't. The Parks Commission felt without a light and with the limited number of users, it would not be practical to put in an ice rink at this location. They did feel this was an item that could be looked at for next year. Resignation: Adam Hawkinson announced his resignation as Parks Superintendent effective January 6,2006. He stated that the criticism that was directed towards him overshadowed the good work and the accomplishments of the Parks Department staff. He complimented his staff on all that they had done for the parks. The Parks Commission expressed their appreciation for the time and effort Adam Hawkinson had put in on the City's parks and thanked him for his work with the Parks Commission. 13. Adiourn. RICK TRAVER MOVED TO ADJOURN AT 6:05 P.M. NANCY MCCAFFREY SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. o Q...u h" ~.A.-l.,} '"S ~ II Recording Secretary - 5