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BCOL Advisory Council Minutes 06-01-2012MINUTES BERTRAM CHAIN OF LAKES REGIONAL PARK ADVISORY COUNCIL Friday, June 1, 2012 8:00 a.m. Bridge Room, Monticello Community Center Advisory Council Members Present: Martyn Dibben, Jim Hayes, Pat Sawatzke, Glen Posusta, Rose Thelen, Gene Emanuel, Clint Herbst, Lyle Trunnel, Sandra Theros Advisory Council Members Absent: Wes Olson, Tom Jahnke, Jim Lindberg Staff Present: Angela Schumann, Marc Mattice, Kitty Baltos, Stacy Marquardt, Tom Pawelk Others Present: Dave Villasenor, John Kricl (a.k.a. Muddy Brothers) 1) Call to order Martyn Dibben called the meeting to order at 8:00 a.m. 2) Consideration of approving the May 4, 2012 Meeting Minutes ROSE THELEN MOVED TO APPROVE THE MAY 4, 2012 MEETING MINUTES. MOTION. SECONDED BY GENE EMANUEL. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 3) Consideration of adding to and approving, agenda Angela Schumann added an addendum to the agenda to include the upcoming City tours of the park. Angela informed the Advisory Council that the City has two tours arranged from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Friday, June 15, and the second tour on Friday, June 22. The first tour will allow Mark Davis to get the remaining video footage he needs for his BCOL video presentation and the other opportunity is for City staff to see the park and get educated on the park so they can answer questions. The 22nd tour has been arranged with the Monticello Chamber of Commerce along with other committee's being invited to make sure everyone can get out and see the park and continue to support the park. Anyone from the Advisory Council is welcome to attend either tour. ROSE THELEN MOVED TO APPROVE THE JUNE 1, 2012 AGENDA. MOTION SECONDED BY PAT SAWATZKE. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 4) John Krcil — Muddy Brothers/Boy Scout Fundraiser & Event Planner, Aug 2013 Dave Villasenor introduced himself and John Krcil as the Muddy Brothers fund raising event for the Wounded Warier Project and the Boy Scouts of America. Their purpose is to present to the BCOL a proposal to partner with the Muddy Brothers. A video presentation was shown regarding the "mud runs ". It was explained that this is a 5K or 10K run with a physically and mentally challenging obstacle course in the mud, if approved it will be called the 2013 Nordic Bertram Regional Park Advisory Council: June 1, 2012 Mud Challenge and will be held in August of next year. Kids would have their own course called the "Mud Monster". It is estimated between 2,000 to 5,000 participants and spectators. Food, beverages, alcohol and music would be available following the event. The fee for participants will be set at $40 /entry and $60 for late entry. There will also be a fee for parking. The proposal is for the BCOL to join with the Muddy Brothers to host the challenge and to make it an annual event. The course preference would be a larger area with straighter areas for participants to run. As for wear and tear on the park, the Boy Scouts are very strong believers in the "leave no trace" motto and scout labor would be used after the event to sweep the entire area and leave the area better than it was before the event. It was explained that pits are made by scooping out an area of dirt and then water is syphoned from the lake to fill the pits, essentially making a mud pit. As for filtering the water, the system won't filter out mirco organisms but it would filter out fish. The dirt is filled back in the pit after the event and if needed they'll put in wild plant seed in that area. At this time of year it's very little impact on the area as it grows back pretty quickly John Krcil went over the maps and indicated the different route options. As long as they have access to a water source the route can go anywhere it just needs to be 3.2 miles. Dave and John have not run a mud run event previously but have run many other events and are familiar with crowd management, event management, etc. These types of mud runs are run throughout the country. Martyn Dibben said his concern is in the forested area that it would be disturbed and wouldn't grow back, Dave Villasenor said that they would rely on City to give feedback on where to go and they will build the course from there. They would prefer to use paths that are already set up. As for the course, it was explained that it would be roped off so the participants would not be trampling all over the park but only in the specific course areas and spectators would have 2 or 3 lookout points so as to minimize the park usage so the spectators wouldn't be walking the entire course and trampling the park. Clint Herbst suggested that Dave & John walk the property with Tom Pawelk and go over the obstacle course area and then come back to the Advisory Council. John said that once the trail course is set they would stay with that course each year and the only thing that would change year to year are the obstacles that they would bring in. The obstacles are set above ground and would be taken down after the event. John Krcil said that marketing will start 3 months prior to the event and this will be great exposure for the City and the BCOL Regional Park. Dave Villasenor said that this project will bring in significant income in for the boy scouts and for the partners. Being a partner is an opportunity to get a percentage of the profit margin. They specifically set aside funds in their budget for post event cleanup. The numbers are based on roughly 2,000 people coming through the program which would a lot for anywhere from $5,000 to $10,000 for the BCOL's portion of the profit. If there's a very large turnout they may move to a second day and then would receive more dollars as well. If approved, the first event will be held August 2013. The other two national competitors run the middle of August and the first of September, so this event would be billed as the "warm up" mud run for the big guys. Event setup would take place a couple weeks prior to the event and up to week following the event for cleanup. They would need a bobcat and an excavator for setup and/or cleanup. Martyn Dibben said he believes the Advisory Council will need to look this proposal over in 2 Bertram Regional Park Advisory Council: June 1, 2012 more detail. One of his concerns is that the parcels that would be more amenable to the obstacle course is the property that isn't yet owned by the City /County. Martyn said they should do what is in the best interest of everyone with the least amount of impact to the park. Some of the concerns include the park being a unique natural wildlife area and wanting to keep it as such and maybe the event isn't right for this park. Further questions regarding allowing alcohol for this event and if not allowed that may be a deal breaker. Marc said the event would require a special use permit and that you can dictate those types of requests in those permits. The County will need to make a decision on allowing an alcohol use permit in the park before approving the event. It is unknown if other events such as this are run in parks but there are 3 or 4 national groups that are putting these events on throughout the nation and in Minnesota. Equipment needed would be a bobcat and an excavator. Martyn said more research should be done and follow up at the next meeting. CLINT HERBST MOVED TO TABLE THE "MUD CHALLENGE" AND COME BACK TO THE NEXT MEETING IN AUGUST WITH MORE DETAILED INFORMATION IN REGARD TO THE COURSE LAYOUT, DESIGN, SPECIAL USE PERMIT, ALCOHOL PERMIT, ETC. MOTION SECONDED BY GENE EMANUEL. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 5) Consideration of approving expenditure to update overall Park Concept Plan Marc Mattice distributed a map of the park concept plan. The BCOL Advisory Board requested that the YMCA update the entire north end concept. They are interested in having this concept expand to the east and south so it is all encompassed into one concept. Having a good map that the public can use is going to be very important. Clint Herbst said it should be the Y's expense to have their plan cut and pasted on our plan as it's our land that they're leasing for 99 years so they can operate their camp and if the Y had not relocated then this plan would not have been necessary. It was explained that this concept plan will be used more for the future planning and future grants where it will be necessary to have a comprehensive master plan for the entire park. Angela Schumann asked about the expense of updating this concept plan and it was determined that it is a smaller expense in the hundreds of dollars. Angela said there's value in presenting the idea of the park to the public, presenting in a way that's not only visual but also in describing it. It will important in grants to request legacy funds in the future as one of the mandatory requirements is that the submitted proposal have a comprehensive master plan in place. Marc Mattice is not asking for money from general funds for this expense but to use the BCOL funds, and that will be sufficient. It will cost approximately $500 to complete this plan. CLINT HERBST MOVED TO APPROVE SPENDING UP TO $300 FROM THE BCOL FUND FOR UPDATING THE PARK COMPREHENSIVE MASTER PLAN AND TO REQUEST THE REMAINING AMOUNT FROM THE YMCA. MOTION SECONDED BY PAT SAWATZKE. MOTION CARRIED WITH 1 OPPOSED. 6) Q & A for 2012 Work Plan The work plan was distributed to the group. Marc Mattice went over the work priorities. Discussion on canoe access points between Bertram and Long Lakes. Tom Pawelk said that posting the signage should be a priority there for the motorized/non- motorized and the boat launch. The wording will be clarified from the county prior to the sign placement. Issues 3 Bertram Regional Park Advisory Council: June 1, 2012 discussed with the damn. Wright County will update the map for public distribution and they will also be posted and both accesses. 7) Wright County Planning & Zoning update regarding YMCA Conditional Use Permit The YMCA proposed their development plan the beginning of May, the Planning & Zoning Commission toured the site, and the conditional use permit was approved on the 24th of May with a waiver of extension so that they don't have to complete it all within 6 months. The Planning Commission was in favor of the project as a whole with the parks and YMCA working together. They are starting the work with a "gentleman's agreement as the ground lease is not yet in place. Marc Mattice explained that they cannot enact the ground lease until they own the land. 8) Confirmation of park rule adoption relating to motorized uses NL%tyn Dibben said this has been discussed several times over and we've made some decisions and have an understanding that electric motors will be allowed for trolling. Access for Bertram Lake will potentially involve the DNR existing ramp on the southern end for larger than kayak or canoes and that the development of a launch ramp on the northern end is off in the future because it's going to be post Y development of their area, so it will be 2014 or later that something will happen there. Everything for Long Lake basically, although the electric motors are allowed, is currently not planned to have anything other than a canoe or kayak launch site. Some may be developed later that you can get a vehicle to get that boat in close but right now most of it is going to be walking in even if it's a well cleared path. No problem with electric motors for ice augers. It was clear that there would be no use of gasoline powered engines on the lake. Martyn asked Marc Mattice to clarify what all of that means in terms of existing park rules. Marc said that the winter regulations including ATVs and ice augers were not clarified at the last meeting and Angela Schumann said that it was tabled. In the park ordinance it talks about recreational vehicles but doesn't talk about ice augers. Page 10 -11 is what's recognized in the park ordinance at this time. Marc said that they want signs at those access points but need clarification about the verbiage on the signs. Kitty Baltos brought up that there is nothing listed about accessibility for disabilities. Martyn said that typically in nature settings you build a specific trail that is handicap accessible. They cannot just ride through nature on a scooter. The trail would have to be specifically designed for that. It was determined that ATVs and snowmobiles cannot access the trails so they will not be allowed on the lakes in the winter. GLEN POSUSTA MOVED TO ALLOW ANY FORM OF POWER FOR AN ICE AUGER PROVIDED THAT NO PERSON SHALL OPERATE A PETROLEUM POWERED MOTOR, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO ATVS, PASSENGER VEHICLES, AND VESSELS, ON THE LAKES IN THE BERTRAM CHAIN OF LAKES PARK. MOTION WAS SECONDED BY JIM HAYES. MOTION CARRIED WITH MARTYN DIBBEN VOTING IN OPPOSITION. Marc Mattice recommended that access point signs would state that no motorized vehicles are 11 Bertram Regional Park Advisory Council: June 1, 2012 allowed and will not indicate ice auger usage in any way. 9) Funding Update, Grants & 2012 Acquisition Marc Mattice said they'll be applying for a grant at the end of September for partials in the MOU which are the remaining parcels of 5, 7B and 8A. They'll also put a second application in for parcels 4 and 3 because at this time the project cap has been removed from Legacy Funds. 7B is the north half of 7 that was bought this year and 8A is everything south of the tillable fields, minus 11 acres. The dotted green line on the map indicates what we should be buying this year. Marc said they have local match funds and grant money for that purchase. Marc told Angela Schumann that they won't know until late June or July if the Outdoor Rec Grant was approved for the football field. 10) Friends Update Rose Thelen said that they haven't met since they did the cleanup with the Boy Scouts. She said they took out a huge area of buckthorn. There were a lot of scouts out there working and clearing over by the dam area. There were close to 150 people out there working. There are two more Eagle Scout projects going on out there this summer. The Friends will be meeting today at 10 a.m. Angela Schumann said the Friends will have a booth and informational handouts at the annual Walk -N -Roll event and also at the local farmer's market. 11) Cancelation of July 6, 2012 Advisory Board Meeting ROSE THELEN MOVED TO CANCEL THE JULY BCOL ADVISORY COUNCIL MEETING. MOTION WAS SECONDED BY CLINT HERBST. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 12) Adjourn PAT SAWATZKE MOVED TO ADJOURN THE MEETING. MOTIONED WAS SECONDED. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. Recorder: Beth Green, Administrative Assistant Approval Date: Attest: Agela h a n, Bertram Advisory Council 5