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Parks Commission Minutes 03-22-2012PARKS COMMISSION MINUTES I March 22, 2012 MINUTES PARKS COMMISSION THURSDAY MARCH 22, 2012 - 8 A.M. "To enhance community pride through developing and maintaining City parks with a high standard of quality. " Members Present: Larry Nolan, Gene Emmanuel, Nancy McCaffrey, Beth Bigelow Members Absent: Tim Stalpes, Brian Stumpf, Council Liaison Others Present: Tom Pawelk, Park Superintendent, Angela Schumann, Community Development Director 1. Call to Order. Chair Larry Nolan called the meeting to order at 8 a.m. and declared a quorum present. 2. Approve Minutes of January 26, 2012 Parks Commission Meeting. BETH BIGELOW MOVED TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF THE JANUARY 26, 2012 PARKS COMMISSION MEETING. NANCY MCCAFFREY SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 3. Consideration of adding items to the agenda. Spring Park Tour — Nancy McCaffrey would like to add a spring park tour for the Parks Commission. Tom said that once everything is greened up in May he will have seasonal staff starting and will be available. Gene Emmanuel asked Tom to pick out some dates for the tour and email the Commission a few different dates to choose from. Playground — Nancy McCaffrey said that she has a playground idea that she would like to share with the Parks Commission. She shared that in the AARP magazine they talk about seniors who sit on the benches and watch the kids play. The article talks about senior venues that can be attached to or around a kids play area so adults can do some exercises. Many parents and grandparents bring their children to the parks so this would be a good opportunity for them to play and work together. Nancy thought that would especially be nice for Ellison or maybe at a major park like in West Bridge. Tom Pawelk thought that was a good idea for along some of the pathways as well. Nancy gave the article to Tom to think about for future consideration. Larry Nolan agreed that's a good idea worth looking into. Page 1 of 5 PARKS COMMISSION MINUTES I March 22, 2012 4. Citizens requests and comments. None. Larry Nolan said that he noticed when we had snow that East Bridge Park was used a lot and there were a lot of kids sliding. Tom Pawelk said the parking worked well there with the overflow parking at Cedar Street. 5. Pathway Construction Update. Tom Pawelk said we'll need a motion and decision made on this. This is the pathway information that Tom said he emailed to everybody on the portion from Fallon to Cardinal Hills Park on the south side of School Boulevard. Tom said we're going to continually have tree root problems on this pathway. Tom said if we do remove it we'll remove that piece in -house with the Parks Dept doing the work and put it back to green space. Tom said he needs a formal recommendation for City Council. Tom said he has not spoken to residents. It's an area that is not maintained during the winter months. Nancy McCaffrey said she walked it the other day and she noticed how bad the whole section was and water collection, etc. Nancy is wondering if we should fix the cracking problems and the back entrance to Pioneer Park as well. Tom said that section of pathway is on the schedule to be crack filled this season. Tom said he had an inspector come out from the state to look over the pathways and the inspector agreed that this portion of the pathway should be put back to green space. Tom informed the commission of an in -house project that they're sharing with the Street Dept at Pioneer Park. There is a pathway there which is currently graveled and it's well used so they are going to pave it. Tom said there will be a ped ramp and gates on the end of it and it will run it into the pre- existing pathway. Tom said there is another section of pathway on the east end of town at the last cul -de -sac off of Jason Avenue out near Beth Bigelow's that needs improvement. He said they're going to present it as an option to the City Council to pave it with the township road street improvements. Tom said that was another pathway that was recommended for improvements by the state inspector. Tom said the two other sections from Oak View Lane to Meadow Lane will be included with the township road improvements. Those are pathway sections already in existence and will be resurfaced. These are originally pathways from 92, 93 & 94. Angela Schumann said there's an unpaved pathway along Edmonson that has been requested to be paved by a resident of the Featherstone Development. This is a pathway that is not shown on our Park and Pathway Plan but Angela said that Jeff O'Neill believes we should look at it. Angela said it wasn't incorporated into the plan because that area was vacant. Angela inquired as to whether or not the Parks Commission supports a pathway there connecting the sections. Angela said it may be premature to do this now but with a request from a resident she needs to follow up. Angela said she believes the Page 2 of 5 PARKS COMMISSION MINUTES I March 22, 2012 request is from someone who is disabled and they're having trouble getting where they're going. The consensus from the Parks Commission is to inform the resident that the requested pathway link will be incorporated with the development in the future but that it is not financially feasible or warranted at this time. Tom said it may be 10 years before that area is developed so he agreed there are other pathways that should take precedence over this one. GENE EMMANUEL MOVED TO MOVE FORWARD WITH TOM'S REQUEST TO REMVOE THE SECTION OF THE TRAIL ON FALLON AVENUE. NANCY MCCAFRREY SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. NANCY MCCAFFREY MOVED TO DENY THE PATHWAY CONNECTION PROPOSAL ON EDMONSON FROM CHELSEA TO SCHOOL BLVD IN AN UNDEVELOPED AREA, BUT TO CONSIDER THIS PATHWAY CONNECTION IN THE FUTURE WHEN DEVELOPMENT OCCURS, AND TO REVIEW PERIODICALLY. BETH BIGELOW SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. NANCY MCCAFFREY MOVED TO RE -PAVE THE THREE PATHWAY SECTIONS AT THE EAST SIDE OF TOWN TO BE INCLUDED WITH THE TOWNSHIP ROAD PROJECT, AND FURTHER TO ADD AN ADDITIONAL SECTION IN PIONEER PARK TO MAKE A TRAIL CONNECTION FROM FARMSTEAD TO PIONEER PARKING LOT. GENE EMMANUEL SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. Larry Nolan inquired as to whether or not the funds have been budgeted for these improvements and Tom Pawelk clarified that they have been budgeted. 6. Springy Tree Order Update. Tom Pawelk gave an update on the spring tree order and said tomorrow is the deadline. There are approximately 80 trees that have been ordered thus far, slightly down from last year. 7. Discussion of Hoglund Adopt A Pathway Sign. Tom Pawelk said that this request has gone through the proper channels and has been approved by the City Council for the Hoglund Family to adopt this pathway in the Groveland area. Tom went over the map showing the area. Tom said he wants to have a uniform signage for future adoptions of pathways. Tom asked if we want to have it similar to the "No Motorized Vehicle" signs reflective, or made out of wood and keep it simple such as "This pathway is adopted by the Hoglund Family ". Tom said he doesn't want some oddball thing out there and he wants it uniform. Larry Nolan said he thinks the sign should blend in with the area and Nancy McCaffrey said it's a personal and emotional thing and the sign should be something that stands out and shouldn't look like an ordinary park sign. Beth Bigelow suggested that we provide the donators with some Page 3 of 5 PARKS COMMISSION MINUTES I March 22, 2012 options for signs that they can choose from like we do for the memorial park benches Tom said this situation is unique as it's a 5 -year commitment. Gene Emmanuel said that he will trust Tom's judgment to develop a couple different sign options. Gene asked Tom to come back with the options and the pricing to the Parks Commission 8. Grant Update. Angela Schumann said that the Outdoor Recreation Grant (which is the only grant available for the athletic fields) for Bertram is due March 30th. She said the draft is complete and under review. Upon grant approval, they will get some firm planning going. Angela said that other grants are being submitted for passive areas of the park. Angela said there's a meeting at the Y next week regarding their day camp plan. They are working with the same landscape architect the City and County has used and are proposing to move the camp to the north end of Long Lake. Tom said if anyone wants to attend the meeting with the Y they are welcome and he will email out the meeting date /time. Angela said they will soon be closing on parcels 9, 10 and 12 at Bertram. The grant for the regional trail for Segment 4 along CSAH 75 (connecting to the shoulder) is also due March 30th, as well as the Local Trails Grant (for Segment 3 to the Xcel Ballfields); Bruce Westby is writing that one. Angela said they will be meeting with Xcel to go over the easement language the first part of April. Angela said the City Council unanimously approves these improvements to be made with the grant funding and the Council is asking for private donations to cover the additional $67,000 that will be required for the City to put out for the project. 9. Playllround Maintenance. Tom Pawelk informed the Parks Commission that they'll be tearing down and replacing the slides in West Bridge Park so they will be out of commission for a while. Play structure repairs will take place in Sunset Ponds and Pioneer Parks also and all of the work is being done in- house. 10. Discussion of Park Rental Times. Tom Pawelk had some concerns about the park rental times. He said the time being split up to allow for two rentals /day is working fairly well but there have been a few issues with the morning time being too early. The current policy allows for rentals from 8 a.m. - 2 p.m. and from 3 p.m. - 9 p.m. Tom said he's lost a few customers because of the times and we're trying to get the most out of our shelters. It was agreed to change the rental times to 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. - 9 p.m. The rental fees will remain the same. It was agreed by the Parks Commission to try out the new rental times for this season and then re- evaluate for next year. Page 4 of 5 PARKS COMMISSION MINUTES I March 22, 2012 11. Update on Lions Beer Fest at West Bridge Park. Tom Pawelk said this is the first year and this is going to be a huge event with over 50 microbrew people. The dates for the event are August 17 — 18. The event is actually on the 18th but they'll need Friday night to prep and set up. Tom has some concerns about people bringing their kids to the park with the beer being served and how that will work. Larry Nolan said that we do the same thing for Riverfest and it hasn't been an issue. Angela Schumann said that the City does require special event permits. Larry said it could be set up where the playground is not part of that environment. Tom said he just wants to make sure this doesn't come back as a negative for the community. Gene Emmanuel said he thinks there will be a different mindset between the Beerfest and the Riverfest attendees. Tom said if the advertising is done well people will not want to bring their children to the event as they will be funneling people on buses to the local pubs. Nancy McCaffrey said she's sure the Lion's have done their homework and will be prepared. Nancy said maybe a good resource for Tom would be to talk to another city's park superintendent who has been involved in an event like this. It was agreed that proper planning and advertising will be the key to success. 12. Next Meeting Scheduled May 24, 2012. Next meeting scheduled for Thursday, May 24, 2012 at 8 a.m. in the conference room at the Public Works Facility. 10. Adiourn. GENE EMMANUEL MOVED TO ADJOURN AT 9:10 A.M. NANCY MCCAFFREY SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. RECORDED BY: 6��cth C� rc(in DATE APPROVED: May 23, 2012 ATTEST: Page 5 of 5