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BCOL Advisory Council Minutes 02-07-2014MINUTES BERTRAM CHAIN OF LAKES REGIONAL PARK ADVISORY COUNCIL Friday, February 7, 2014 8:00 a.m. North Mississippi Room, Monticello Community Center Advisory Council Members Present: Mark Daleiden, Martyn Dibben, Jim Hayes, Clint Herbst, Tom Jahnke, Jim Lindberg, Larry Nolan, Glen Posusta, Pat Sawatzke, Sandra Theros, Lyle Trunnell Advisory Council Members Absent: Pete Stupar, Wes Olson Staff Present: Angela Schumann, Marc Mattice, Tom Pawelk, Jeff O'Neill, Kitty Baltos Others Present: Tim Hennagir, Monticello Times, Graham Sones 1. Call to Order Martyn Dibben called the meeting to order at 8:00 a.m. and declared a quorum present. 2. Consideration of approving minutes from January 3, 2014 meeting MARK DALEIDEN MOVED TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF THE JANUARY 3, 2014 REGULAR MEETING. MOTION SECONDED BY LARRY NOLAN. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY 11 -0. 3. Consideration of adding to and approving the agenda Wes Olson was not in attendance so Item #4, Frostbite Challenge, will be removed from the agenda. MARK DALEIDEN MOVED TO APPROVE THE AGENDA AS AMENDED REMOVING ITEM #4. MOTION SECONDED BY SANDRA THEROS. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY 11 -0. 4. Frostbite Challenge (Continued for December 6, 2013) Tom Jahnke said that he had questions and concerns regarding the fishing tournament during the annual Frostbite Challenge. With Wes Olson not available to address his concerns, Marc Mattice asked Tom to email him a list of his questions and concerns so that he can look into them and get back to Tom before the next meeting. Bertram Regional Park Advisory Council: February 7, 2014 5. Review and recommend adoption of Bylaws Marc Mattice stated that the bylaw modifications were made as noted at last month's meeting. Marc said that the county attorney has reviewed the bylaws and he has three suggestions as follows: • Article II: Membership: Change Monticello Township Officer to Representative • Article V: Vacancy: Re -word paragraph as per county attorney recommendation. • Article VIII: Meetings: Section 3: Re -word paragraph as per county attorney recommendation. The Advisory Council agreed to have Marc make the changes to be reviewed again by the county attorney and to bring back to the Advisory Council for approval at the March meeting. 6. Lake Surface Zoning Ordinance VS Park Ordinance Marc Mattice is working with the assistant county attorney on reviewing the lake surface zoning ordinance procedures. Marc said that the assistant county attorney's recommendation is to amend the Wright County Park Ordinance specifically for this park as it will allow more flexibility than the Lake Surface Zoning Ordinance. The park ordinance would still have to be reviewed by the DNR and would still require a public hearing. Marc will work with the assistant county attorney to develop the specific park ordinance and try to present a draft ordinance at the March meeting. MARK DALEIDEN MOVED TO AUTHORIZE MARC MATTICE TO WORK WITH THE ASSISTANT COUNTY ATTORNEY TO DEVELOP A PARK ORDINANCE SPECIFIC TO THE BERTRAM CHAIN OF LAKES REGIONAL PARK. MOTION SECONDED BY SANDRA THEROS. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY 11 -0. 7. Update on acquisition Phases 5 and 6 Angela Schumann said that a June closing is planned for both phases 5 & 6, which includes the 40.17 acres of the city's active athletic complex area and part of parcels 8, 7 and 5, including the beach. Currently, issues are being worked out with the YMCA on some of the acquisition documents, including the 5t' Addendum to the MOU and the amended and restated shared use agreement. Marc Mattice said that they have reviewed the documents and provided staff comments for the YMCA to review. The Negotiations Team will look over the documents after the YMCA has reviewed our comments. 2 Bertram Regional Park Advisory Council: February 7, 2014 • 2014 YMCA Camp programs in relation to the planned June purchase: Marc Mattice noted that the shared use agreement will allow the YMCA to continue to use the facilities necessary in 2014 for their day camp operations while they construct their new day camp facilities. So the chalet would still be used as their offices, the caretaker's house would be used through 2015 for their horse camp caretaker. This agreement will let them operate through August 2014, Monday thru Friday the way they typically have in the past. Marc discussed the NYPUM Program, which is the National Youth Program Using Minibikes. There is a training area by the garage facility and on Fridays and Thursdays they ride out into their own property for a trail ride. Marc said that we could agree to let them continue this program for one year on the city /county land. The Advisory Council consensus is for the YMCA to be allowed to use the area for their programming as long as it is clear to them that this will be the last year for this program. Marc said that he will bring this recommendation back to the YMCA. Clint Herbst said that he would like to see the beach ready for the public use this summer after the land is acquired in June. Marc said that the county is not ready to open the beach this year due to safety, insurance and other concerns. Marc said his goal is to start working the area in September after the camp is done for the season. Clint suggested that the City Parks Department look at how to get the beach open for the season after camp hours and on weekends. Clint said that it is important for the public to see that open and see the progress in the park for the continued interest in the park. Discussed how signage will be important for public use on weekends only. Clint asked Tom Pawelk, Monticello Park Superintendent, to come back to the next meeting with a proposal of what processes need to be in place to open the beach this summer. Mark Daleiden suggested that Tom and Marc work together to determine what is needed for safety issues and requirements for insurance purposes, etc. and come up with a plan from there. 8. Phase 7 grant update Marc Mattice said that he got notice on January 26th that we were awarded $1.4 million for Phase 7 from the Legacy Funds. We applied for a $2 million + project for a 90/10 grant match. The grant was $600,000 less than what was requested so this increases the City and County portions to over $400,000 /each as the match was slightly higher at around 20 %. Angela Schumann said that this project was the largest single grantee awarded. This grant should be closed by the middle of 2015. Marc noted that out of just over $3 million available in grant funding, over $30 million in grant requests were received. The fact that the City /County received nearly half of the grant funds available in the state is worth noting. 3 Bertram Regional Park Advisory Council: February 7, 2014 Angela Schumann said that the County GIS Department is working on a map which will outline the acquisitions to date including the subsections so that this group can understand how the parcels have been acquired and under what granting source and what funding level. It will be important for us as we look at the MOU to have that information. MARK DALEIDEN MOVED TO RECOMMEND ACCEPTANCE AND APPROVAL OF THE GRANT FUNDING WITH THE HIGHER CITY AND COUNTY MATCHES. MOTION WAS SECONDED BY JIM LINDBERG. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY 11 -0. 9. Athletic Field Subcommittee Report Jeff O'Neill said the City Council recommended looking at utilizing a portion of the City owned farmland adjacent to the park to be incorporated into the future athletic complex. Jeff said that the idea is to build this facility for the long term while trying to create the best possible plan for both the passive and the active recreational areas. Jeff said that Graham Sones put together a drawing concept which incorporates 20 acres of the city land and re- designs the original plan of the athletic complex slightly. Graham explained the new concept and the benefits of the plan which allow the fields to be broken up into groups so that we can get parking to them more directly. Utilizing a portion of the farmland spreads out the athletic complex and allows for more natural areas, giving the complex a more park -like feeling. The new plan also relaxes the south end against the YMCA "Bubble" and the park entrance road. Graham said that to the north would be a large expansion area so in the future you could double the parking. Staff included a list of positives and negatives for the partial shift of the facility. One of the key benefits is that under the proposed shift the City and County would need to acquire less property under grant programs which require higher matching dollars. This could ultimately save the City and County over $75,000. The City's Athletic Complex is a 20 year needs assessment and over the next year the City will develop an RFP and scope for the Master Plan which will be brought to the City Council in 2015. Jeff said that the BCOL Athletic Subcommittee still needs to meet to review the plan but that they are looking for a recommendation from the Advisory Council on whether or not to move forward with the new concept or to maintain the original concept. TOM JAHNKE MOVED TO RECOMMEND THE MONTICELLO CITY COUNCIL APPROVE THE NEW ATHLETIC FIELD CONCEPT UTILIZING A PORTION OF THE ADJACENT CITY FARMLAND FOR THE ATHLETIC FIELDS SUBJECT TO REVIEW AND APPROVAL OF THE PLAN BY THE ATHLETIC SUBCOMMITTEE. MOTION SECONDED BY MARKE DALEIDEN. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY 10 -0, ABSTAINED: CLINT HERBST. E Bertram Regional Park Advisory Council: February 7, 2014 10. Greater Minnesota Regional Parks and Trails Commission VS Coalition. Marc Mattice explained the Greater MN Regional Parks and Trails Coalition formed as an advocacy group to represent Greater MN regional parks and trails in 2008. They are a volunteer group that lobbies at the legislature trying to obtain funding for Greater MN. Because there was not a designated district for Greater MN they would continue to get somewhat beat down at the state level, while they did have some success as well. During the last legislative session the governor decided to make Greater MN Regional Parks and Trails under state statute a formal commission. The Commission is charged with doing district and statewide planning for regional parks and trails, setting priorities for acquisition, development, trail alignments, and reporting to the legislature on outcomes and needs. So this is now an official branch underneath the governor's office. There are three commissions organized by statute, the Metropolitan Parks and Open Space Commission, the MN DNR State Parks and Trails Division, and the Greater MN Regional Parks and Trails Commission; all on an equal playing field. Wright County is in District 4, and Marc said that he has been appointed as one of the representatives of that district. Because the commission is a branch under the governor's office, they have to support the governor's budget. Therefore, the coalition advocacy group will continue to lobby and fight for equal footing and funding and speak for Greater MN. 11. Update winter MORC (Fat Bikes) activity at the park. Marc Mattice said that at the start of the season MORC was maintaining the trails. However, now with the amount of snow and drifting, they are unable to groom and pack the trails as they do not have the appropriate equipment. Marc said that things are going well with MORC. They have applied for and received an $8,000 grant for trail development at the park. Marc will be working with MORC to determine where those trails will go. MORC may contract out some of the work to move along faster this year. 12. Friends update Martyn Dibben said that at the last Friends Meeting they held officer elections and Jim Lindberg was elected as President. Jim stated that according to the bylaws the group can have 9 members and currently there are 8 core members. Programming and events were looked at for the upcoming year with the first event, a snow sculpture contest, planned for February 22"d. Jim said that he has updated the website with current tidbits and encouraged the BCOL Advisory Council members to take a look at the site. 13. Discussion of added items None. 5 Bertram Regional Park Advisory Council: February 7, 2014 14. Next meeting scheduled for Friday, March 7, 2014 The next regular Bertram Chain of Lakes Regional Park Advisory Council Meeting is scheduled for Friday, March 7, 2014, at 8 a.m. in the Bridge Room at the Monticello Community Center. 15. Adjourn GLEN POSUSTA MOVED TO ADJOURN THE MEETING AT 9:42 A.M. MOTION SECONDED BY MARK DALEIDEN. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY 11 -0. Recorder: C Etl1 cvra 1 Administrative Assistant Approval Date: March 7, 2014 Attest: BCDOL CA 44ai jon Ang-cTa Schumann no