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BCOL Advisory Council Agenda Packet 10-07-2011Bertram Chain of Lakes Regional Park —�� Advisory Council Meeting Agenda BERTRAM Friday, October 7, 2011 8:00 -11:00 AM C H A I N O F LAKES Bridge Room, Monticello Community Center REGIONAL PARK 1) Approval of August Minutes (Attached) 2) Consideration of adding to and approving agenda Action Items• 1. Presentation and request from Dustin and Drew representing the Minnesota Chapter of Kicking Bear 1 on 1. This not for profit group mentors and educates youth on the values of Natural Resources and community. They are requesting approval to hold their annual weekend camp at Bertram Chain of Lakes Regional Park. Nearly 400 youths each year participate. 2. Lake George Regional Park /Guy Robinson Y Camp tour report. Approve /recommend location of future Y camp at Bertram Chain of Lakes Regional Park; and develop parameters. (Staff report from Lake George will be mailed out prior to the meeting for your review, it is not attached). 3. Access use agreement, develop standards, ordinances and recommend approval. 4. Natural resource restoration plan for parcel 5, review time line, process, and costs. Recommend action, and developing agreement. 5. Take action to establish an Executive Committee to report to City Council and County Board, relating to topics such as; expenses, operations, responsibilities, and improvements. 6. Formal adoption of concept plan, as prepared by Graham Sones. (Plan Attached) Informational Items: 1. Marketing, promotions, programming and park use developments for 2012 2. Grants and funding update 3. Phase 3 acquisition process and time frame 4. Other /Additions 5. Adjourn MEETING MINUTES BERTRAM CHAIN OF LAKES REGIONAL PARK ADVISORY COUNCIL Friday, August 5,20118:00 a.m. Bridge Room, Monticello Community Center Advisory Council Members Present: Martyn Dibben, Jim Lindberg, Lyle Trunnel, Pat Sawatzke, Glen Posusta, Rose Thelen, Wes Olson, Sandra Theros, Gene Emanuel Advisory Council Members Absent: Clint Herbst, Pete Stupar, Janice Bergstrom, Larry Hance Staff Present: Angela Schumann, Stacy Marquardt, Graham Sones Staff Absent: Marc Mattice, Jeff O'Neill, Kitty Baltos, Tom Pawelk Others Present: Kurt Zwefdel and several members of the Awareness Committee from Cargill Kitchens 1) Call to order Martyn Dibben called the meeting to order at 8:05 a.m. 2) Approval of June 3, 2011 Meeting Minutes GENE EMANUEL MOVED TO APPROVE THE JUNE 3, 2011 MEETING MINUTES. MOTION WAS SECONDED BY SANDRA THEROS. MOTION CARRIED 9 -0. 3) Consideration of adding to and approving agenda None 4) Family Fun Day Recap Angela Schumann reported that there were just under a 1,000 visitors to the Bertram Park for Family Fun Day. The Monticello Lions did a great job helping out with the food and donated an estimated $781 in profit to the Friends of Bertram. All sponsors were in attendance and all activities went on as planned. There was discussion about how to more thoroughly disseminate information about the land acquisition process and the master planning effort into the event. It was agreed to provide park info and opportunities for input at each activity station in the future. 5) Update on County Board and City Council Actions regarding 2011 proposed purchase Pat Sawatzke noted that Wright County had held over the decision about the next acquisition of Bertram property until after the state shutdown. The issue will come before the County Board in the next month and will likely pass on a 3 -2 vote again. Angela Schumann pointed out that the YMCA has now agreed to the purchase of 126 BCOL Regional Park Advisory Council Minutes: 08/05/11 land and water acres included in Parcel 7. This acquisition includes Y camp buildings which will allow the City and County to negotiate for use of the beach. The next steps are completion of appraisals, legal surveying and developing a purchase agreement which includes terms of use. It is expected that the acquisition will be completed by the end of the year. 6) Donation recognition- Cargill Cargill employees raised funds for Bertram Park through their Earth Day Every Day Program. City staff assisted in writing a grant to Cargill Corporate to match those funds. Over $7,000 was raised for oak savannah restoration for Bertram. Several representatives from Cargill's Awareness Committee presented a check to the Advisory Council at the end of the meeting. The Advisory Council presented Cargill a thank you poster. Angela Schumann encouraged attendees to vote for Bertram as America's Favorite Park on the LivePositively website for a chance to win a $100,000 park grant. 7) Establish date and time for Guy Robinson/Lake George Park tour The Advisory Council agreed to meet at City Hall on Friday, August 12`h to carpool for the Guy Robinson/Lake George Park tour. Angela Schumann will confirm with the Y that this time will work for them. 8) Year 2012 grant funding updates Stacy Marquardt presented the grant funding recap provided by Marc Mattice. The Legacy Bill was signed into law during the special session. The bill included exclusive appropriations for Greater MN Regional Parks and Trails of $7 million for FY 2012 and $7 million for FY 2013. In comparison, the $3 million in funding appropriated in FY 2010 and $4 million in FY 2011 were shared with Metropolitan Regional Park and Trails. 2. In FY 2012 Legacy Grant for Greater MN requests can be increased without also increasing the local match beyond 10 %. Approximately $3.7 -3.8 million for park projects can be anticipated for 2012 if funds are again split evenly between regional parks and regional trails projects. Grant applications which are not approved may be resubmitted for the following year. 3. $175,000 in FY 2012 funding will be utilized to implement a statewide regional park and trail study of users and facilities. The study will establish protocols to determine the origin of visitors and projections of potential use for the Greater MN Parks and Trails. This information will also assist with developing criteria to determine priorities for Parks and Trails acquisition. No local match is needed for this study. 4. A nine member committee will make funding allocation recommendations to the Governor beginning in FY 2014. 2 BCOL Regional Park Advisory Council Minutes: 08/05/11 Metro parks will be awarded $15 million in FY 2012 and $16 million in FY 2013. 9) Friends update The Friends of Bertram plan to meet after the Advisory Board meeting. The Friends will continue to host the community table at the Farmer's Market once a month. A Community Breakfast fundraiser is planned for October. 10) Treasurer's Report There were a few questions about specific line items in the Treasurer's Report included with the agenda. The $10,958.30 in funds on hand includes the recent Cargill donation which is earmarked for oak savanna restoration. 11) Cancel September Advisory Board meeting The September 2, 2011 meeting was cancelled due to the Labor Day holiday weekend. 12) October 7, 2011 agenda items a) Status of the Park Development Plan/next steps b) Phasing plan for initial minimal improvements to the property so that the public can begin using and continue supporting Bertram c) Discussion about outlining an RFP for a consultant to provide estimated costs for planning/landscape architect/engineering assistance for the project 13) Other updates Angela Schumann reported that Jeff O'Neill had not heard back from the Minnesota Youth Soccer Association (MYSA) but in reviewing board minutes on their website had determined that they'd decided to hire a firm to do a site selection search. 14) Adjourn The meeting was adjourned at 9:10 a.m.. Recorder: Kerry T. Burri Approved: October 7, 2011 Attest: Angela Schumann, Bertram Advisory Council Bertram Chain of Lakes Regional Park Advisory Committee September 25, 2011 8:00 a.m. Lake George Regional Park /Guy Robinson YMCA Day Camp Site Visit Report Members in attendance: Martyn Dibben, Pat Sawatzke, Wes Olson Staff in attendance: Kitty Baltos, Stacy Marquardt, Angela Schumann, Tom Pawelk, Marc M atti ce Other present: Brian Kirk and Lynsey Frantz, YMCA representatives The group departed Monticello City Hall around 8:00 a.m. and arrived at Lake George Regional Park /Guy Robinson YMCA Day Camp around 9:00 a.m. to meet YMCA representatives for a tour of the operations and how the camp interacted with regular park use. Lake George Regional Park is 270 acres in size; public facilities include a bathhouse, swimming beach, seven picnic shelters, playground, sand volleyball area, two miles of paved trails, picnic areas, public access to the lake, and several parking areas. The park is operated by one full time year round maintenance /operations supervisor, four summer seasonal maintenance staff, and a maintenance person in on the grounds seven days per week May — Labor Day, along with one gate attendant. Daily entrance fee is $5 or a $25 annual permit for the Anoka County Parks System. Park visitor counts include YMCA usage and special events, during the summer of 2010 park visits were 136,000, including 1700 YMCA Campers and 3300 visits for YMCA special events (Family Fridays). Annual visits to the park are estimated at 298,000. They arrive at these numbers using formulas and systems developed by the Met Council for Parks and Open Space. Jeff Perry from Anoka County Parks works directly with the YMCA operations, he was not able to attend the site visit, he may be a good reference in the future, and his contact number is 763 - 267 -2861. First area viewed was the camp office (27' X 49') which includes office for camp manager, used as a storm shelter, first aid station. The office area included a 22 car parking area and portable toilet. The amphitheater, picnic shelter, arts and crafts building (12'X 27' open lean on each end with an enclosed center of the same size), and restroom facility were located a short distance from the camp area. The area also included a camper drop off area, 60 car parking area, private well. The arts and crafts building and restroom are used as a storm shelter as well. The Camp Office and arts and crafts building was constructed by the YMCA. However, YMCA had to follow architectural guidelines of the park and developed by Anoka County Parks Landscape Architects. The picnic shelter and restrooms were existing at the time the camp developed. All grounds maintenance and exterior maintenance of facilities are completed by Anoka County Parks; interior maintenance is completed by Y staff. Next areas reviewed were program areas. First was an archeological dig station, the other area was the archery range and Gaga Pit area. Gaga pit is a small (approx. 15' diameter) enclosed area used for a ball game called "gaga ". The archery range has 12' high netting to enclose the shooting lanes. The staging area /shooting line was covered by a 15' X 45' open structure, and hosted 6 targets. Next area viewed was the beach area. By the photos you are able to seethe lifeguard chair and the beach separation from the public. Lake George is a very shallow lake, and they seem to be able to manage any potential use conflict at the beach due to the small numbers of campers using the facility at any given time. Beach area was extensive in length. The YMCA swimming area is immediately adjacent to the public swimming area and is divided by buoys. Signs on the beach also designate the YMCA swimming area. YMCA guide noted that they infrequently have to let the public know that they are in the YMCA beach area and ask them to move. One nearby picnic shelter is available to the Y during program hours; the public may reserve this shelter after program times during weekday evenings and on weekends. The beach was about a 5 minute walk (2200 feet, approximately) from the main area of the day Camp. A public restroom facility was available at the beach. Another short 5 minute walk (1600 feet, approximately) down a trail the group had the opportunity to view the fishing area and canoe kayak programs. The fishing area has a dock, which seems to be the access dock, and two earthen fishing platforms (see picture). The Canoe /Kayak station was guarded with a lifeguard along with camp counselors; the canoes are stored on a rack, kayaks in a shed along with fishing poles, PFD's, and other equipment. Canoes /kayaks were the property of the YMCA and not available for public use. It does appear that there is more opportunity for public interaction with the camp users at this point, but YMCA guide did not mention that this was a problem. One nearby picnic shelter is available to the Y during program hours; the public may reserve this shelter after program times during weekday evenings and on weekends. The Y does have one bus reserved and on location to bus smaller campers to and from the main camp are to the fishing /canoe area due to the walking distance. One of the most successful features of the shared use agreement between the YMCA and the County Park is the ability to have most of the YMCA's camp be completely separated from the general public area of the park. The only time that there is not segregation is when the campers are using the lake. At Bertram, the camp and public areas would seem to be less defined and would require some discussions on how the campers would be kept segregated and how the public would be notified of "camp" area. ►d } t i i i c I i I �'Parkj Egtrance -- 4 I/ /I Bertram Chain off' Lakes Regional Park Development Concept Jane 10, 2011 prepared for: The Bertram Chain of Lakes Advisory Council :�• mo• by G. 5ones