Parks and Recreation Commission Agenda Packet 01-24-2019Park & Recreation Commission Agenda: 01/24/2019
AGENDA
REGULAR PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION MEETING
January 24, 2019 — 9:15 A.M
Monticello Public Works Office
"To enhance communitypride through developing and
maintaining city parks with a high standard of quality. "
1. Call to Order.
2. Approve Minutes of Regular Parks Commission Meeting from November 29, 2018.
3. Consideration of adding items to the agenda.
4. Citizen's requests and comments.
5. Community Development comp plan update. (AS)
6. Discussion of 2019 park projects.
7. Motion to approve updated rules and regulation for Riverside Cemetery.
8. Motion to approve partnership with Wright County and the Cities of Otsego and Clearwater
to develop a Master Plan for the Great River Regional Trail.
9. Creative Arts Consultant Update (Sue Seeger).
10. MCC updates.
11. Motion to adjourn.
PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION MINUTES I NOV 29, 2018
MINUTES
PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION MEETING
THURSDAY
NOVEMBER 29, 2018 - 9:15 A.M.
"To enhance community pride through developing and maintaining Cityparks with a high standard of quality. "
Members Present: Lynn Anderson, Anna Bohanon, Bill Fair, Julie Jelen,
Nancy McCaffrey, Brian Stoll
Members Absent: Jack Gregor, Karen Vetsch
Staff Present: Sara Cahill, Beth Green, Matt Leonard, Ann Mosack, Tom Pawelk,
Angela Schumann, Sue Seeger
1. Call to Order.
Brian Stoll called the meeting to order at 9:20 a.m. and declared a quorum.
2. Approve Minutes of Regular Parks & Recreation Commission Meeting from
September 29, 2018.
NANCY MCCAFFREY MOVED TO APPROVE THE SEPTEMBER 29, 2018 PARKS
& RECREATION COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES. MOTION SECONDED BY
JULIE JELEN. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY, 5-0.
3. Consideration of adding items to the agenda.
a. Health Equity Discussion.
b. Splash Pad Update.
c. Bertram Athletic Park update.
4. Citizens requests and comments.
Lynn Anderson said that she had a request to move away from porta pots and install
permanent restrooms in city parks. Tom Pawelk said that it is too costly to put permanent
restrooms in all of the parks. The portable toilets have been a good option and have
eliminated much of the public urination problem. Sue Seeger noted that with the increased
use at MontiView Park it would be good to keep a portable toilet there year-round.
5. Motion to approve columbarium granite colors. Representative from Eickhof
will explain granite color options.
A representative from Eickhof reviewed the granite color options for the new columbarium
to be placed at Riverside Cemetery. Tom Pawelk showed a map of the cemetery and
indicated the planned location of the columbarium will be at the main entrance "Y" where
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PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION MINUTES I NOV 29, 2018
the existing flag pole is located. Discussed color options and blending into the natural
surroundings with a mahogany polish or the option of standing out more with a black
polish. The group voted on options and chose the mahogany polish with a sanded
mahogany band.
LYNN ANFDERSON MOVED TO SELECT THE MAHOGANY POLISHED STONE
FOR THE COLUMBARIUM WITH A SANDED MAHOGANY BAND. MOTION
SECONDED BY ANNA BOHANON. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY, 5-0.
6. Consideration to review for recommendation park dedication requirements
for Featherstone 4th Addition.
Angela Schumann discussed Featherstone and explained that it's a single-family
development on the south side of Monticello. The developer is proposing a 4th addition to
include another 24 homes. The city requires a park dedication with the commensurate need
at 11%, and Monticello holds very strictly to the state statute for that. Staff is
recommending 3.45 acres for the park dedication in this case. Tom Pawelk said that he
would like to put it in native grasses in that area.
NANCY MCCAFFREY MOVED TO RECOMMEND THE PARK LAND
DEDICATION OF 3.45 ACRES (OUTLOT B) FOR FEATHERSTONE 4TH, WITH
THE ABILITY FOR THE PARK SUPERINTENDENT TO NEGOTIATE TERMS ON
NATIVE PLANTINGS. MOTION SECONDED BY JULIE JELEN. MOTION
CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY, 5-0.
7. Creative Arts Consultant update (Sue Seeger).
Sue Seeger provided the creative arts update. She said a small celebration is being planned
at West Bridge Park on Saturday, December 1St. The Monticello Lions will be lighting the
large evergreen tree during the event. The event will begin at 4:30 p.m. with a bonfire,
cocoa, and treats. Seeger said that this event is being highlighted on the Unsilent Night
website. Unsilent night is a 4 -part instrumental harmonious piece of music with four
different tracks meant to be played simultaneously on smart phones as participants walk
throughout a designated route. The route will be through the park and across to East Bridge
Park, up the hill to River Street and concluding back down at West Bridge Park. After the
"walk" there will be caroling around the campfire and the local newspaper is printing off
lyrics to Christmas carols to be distributed at the event. The lions are helping to spread the
word, and the Monticello Chamber is posting the event on their website. Participants can
go online to unsilentnight.com to get instructions on downloading the music to be played
during the walk. The Lions are helping to spread the word about the event, and the Chamber
is posting the event on their website.
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PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION MINUTES I NOV 29, 2018
Seeger said that since working in this position she has noted problems that she is trying to
address as she's coming up with projects for the community arts program, including:
• The people of Monticello feel disconnected from their downtown, and in many cases
their neighbors.
• The downtown looks empty and run down.
• A lot of $ is about to be spent on redevelopment. People who feel disconnected from
this project/the downtown are likely to be more critical of our efforts, and less likely to
look for ways to participate and contribute.
• Businesses that are already downtown would benefit from a populated downtown.
• A lively looking, populated downtown will attract more development than an empty
"blank" one.
Seeger further discussed projects that she is planning for 2019 and included a flow chart of
putting together a specific "home" project. The complete project list and flow chart is
attached as part of the minutes.
Finally, the EDA has authorized Fred's Auto Site to be used as the home for MontiArts,
and there will be a workshop with council to discuss the remodeling needs for the building
to make this happen. The cost is roughly $12,000 with some work to be completed in-house
with Parks staff, or $18,000 if it is all contracted out. It will go to the City Council for a
vote on December l Otn
8. MCC updates.
Ann Mosack provided a brief update on the MCC building, noting that the air conditioning
unit will be replaced in early 2019. The membership rates will increase by 5% in 2019,
with the exception of the corporate membership. The MCC will start a lease for the cardio
equipment in order to save money on costly equipment repairs and maintenance. This is a
four-year lease which includes maintenance of the equipment and new replacement
equipment yearly. Mosack also noted the MCC is up $80,000 in revenue from last year.
a. Prairie Center Lower Level Floor Remodel: Sara Cahill explained that there is a space
across from FiberNet, just under 1200 sq. ft., which has been used for Friendship Island
programming for the past two summers. Within that space there are seven different
rooms and this layout has posed as a challenge, especially during larger group activities.
The remodel proposal is to demo the walls and create one large space and to replace
the carpet with vinyl. The in-house remodel cost is estimated at $10,000. The projection
is that the MCC could create additional revenue with renting the space out and it will
also help with Friendship Island programming, which profited $20,000 last summer.
LYNN ANDERSON MOVED TO RECOMMEND THE PRAIRIE CENTER LOWER
LEVEL FLOOR REMODEL PROPOSAL TO THE CITY COUNCIL FOR
APPROVAL. MOTION WAS SECONDED BY NANCY MCCAFFREY. MOTION
CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY, 5-0.
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PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION MINUTES I NOV 29, 2018
9. Discussion of added items.
a. Health Equity Discussion: Anna Bohanon proposed having a public health director
attend a future meeting to discuss health equity and how to serve everyone in the
community. The consensus is to have Bohanon do a presentation at a future
meeting.
b. Splash Pad Update: Matt Leonard talked about the council workshop on this item.
The total cost for the project ended up being $860,000 with all amenities, with the
lowest cost at $460,000, excluding some of the improvements. The council
reviewed options to keep the splash pad project moving forward; but ultimately
voted not to move forward with the project at this time due to other more pertinent
projects, and budget constraints.
Bill Fair said that the Lions will be approaching the city about incremental
improvements at the park to eventually lead to building the splash pad sometime in
the future.
c. Bertram Athletic Park: The Bertram project has been authorized to go out for bids.
Bids will be requested in January. The bids should be authorized by the end of
February with construction to begin in April if everything moves accordingly.
10. Next regular meeting scheduled for January 24, 2019.
The next regular Parks Commission Meeting is scheduled for January 24, 2019, at
9:15 a.m. in the Public Works Conference Room.
14. Adiourn.
Meeting adjourned at 10:55 a.m.
RECORDED BY: teeth &rcen
DATE APPROVED:
ATTEST:
Page 4 of 4
2019 Montiarts Projects:
Montiarts has developed a number of projects for 2019,
some bringing in guest artists or arts organizations to
provide training or new experiences, some relying on a
developing core of Montiarts volunteer artist -educators.
Sculatural Lanterns /Glow Event
This is an opportunity for Monticello to begin a new tradition completely unique not only
to our area, but to anywhere in or near the Twin Cities or St. Cloud. It is inspired by a
festival in England called "Truro City Of Lights." (On youtube a video titled "Truro City
Of Lights 2014 Highlights" provides one of the more condensed looks at this event.)
Our event is as yet unnamed, but is based on a similar concept— sculptural lanterns
would be created, there would be a short evening parade (of perhaps a few blocks)
downtown, culminating in a gathering at a public space downtown where there would be
music, bonfires, refreshments, and people would be able to check out all the sculptural
lanterns.
This is an event that would be built on every year; new lanterns would be added to the
collection. Perhaps "teams" would present lanterns, the various schools, organizations,
or companies would submit entries. It would be an event that could have a traditional
feel where people would be able to enjoy old favorites, but see new offerings each year.
The thing that sets our idea apart from what they do in England, is that ours will be
heavily focused on community -built art (Truro relies on professional artists).
To achieve this, for the first one, we need a group of experts in this type of art to come
to Monticello to teach us the techniques. A project has been planned with Heart Of The
Beast Puppet And Mask Theater from Minneapolis where a couple of their artists would
come to Monticello for 30 hours of workshop time, teaching our artist -educators about
this process, and holding a simplified workshop for kids where they would create
smaller lanterns to use in the parade.
This project would provide Monticello with:
50 small lanterns
3 mid-sized lanterns (fish)
1 large lantern (swan?)
The 50 small and 1 large lantern would be constructed in the workshops. The 3 mid-
sized would be professionally built at HOTB and transported to Monticello.
At the conclusion of this first project, Monticello Artist -educators will have obtained the
skills necessary to hold our own workshops in subsequent years, and can generate new
lanterns every year, adding to the festivities. This project has already been floated by
the local art teachers and the school district, who are excited about the possibility and
willing to assist in promoting it to area families so as many people as possible can
participate.
HOTB is a 501 C3, and the funding can go directly to them. The project can be run as a
Montiarts project, managed by me (Sue Seeger), but the check can be cut to HOTB.
Home Project
This is an idea for a community -wide community art project, based on the concept of
"home." Area art teachers liked this idea so much, some have already worked it into
their curriculum in anticipation of it happening once we iron -out the details.
The project would involve creating a video explaining the types of art that will be
included, showing various examples and explaining the concept. The end result of the
project will be our community's first large-scale display of community created art
downtown, where student art will be exhibited alongside the work of people of all ages
and experience levels from throughout the community. We'll hold an evening "opening
gala" style event celebrating the completion of the project, and the work will be on
display for a tbd time period following the event, giving everyone a chance to
experience it first hand.
It is a wonderful bridge project/partnership between the school district and Montiarts.
The school district has expressed an interest in creating more cross-over between their
students and the community at large, and feel Montiarts is a perfect vehicle for that.
One of the most impactful elements of the resulting visual display, is that a large number
of the artworks need to be created on house -shaped templates. These need to be
made of a material sturdy enough to allow artists to work with them in a number of
ways. I'm thinking thinking wood would be ideal. This is one expense for this project
yet to be determined— purchasing the wood and having it cut into house shapes. I'm
guessing this could be around $1000 but need to research this more thoroughly. The
other costs would be for the gala: catering, flowers, advertising, and some display
materials. 4 The Love Of Arts is a local 501 C3 willing to partner with Montiarts on this.
People will be free to create their own house shapes, and Montiarts & 4TLOA will hold
workshops where they can do this. The templates are to make it easier for people that
might have dexterity issues, or lack of access to materials, like seniors, kids, low income
people or physically/mentally challenged folks, to participate. There would be an
application process for these templates Montiarts would run.
The "opening night" would be a first for Monticello, a true community -wide celebration of
our own collective creativity. The houses, when unveiled en -masse, will create a very
impactful display of what community actually IS, and what ours looks like on one level;
individual works made stronger by grouping them.
There is also potential for this show to be used as a fund-raiser for Montiarts. Work
could be available for sale, with a modest commission going to the arts program to
provide funding for future programming.
Mural Projects
Montiarts just submitted a grant to the CMAB to bring a street artist/muralist to
Monticello this spring to create a mural and hold 2 workshops. I am also developing a
list of artists willing to become volunteer (until the program builds in revenue streams to
support compensation) teaching artists. These people will go through workshops when
it is possible to build them into projects that involve visiting experts, for the purpose of
skill -sharing (teaching others what they learn.) Right now there are 10 on the list, but
anticipate that number to increase as the program develops.
There are also currently 4 local artists interested in doing murals. 2 have mural
experience, 2 are professional level painters who want to broaden their abilities into this
area. I'm anticipating these last 2 will be brought up to speed through this spring mural
workshop.
Once this occurs, as a result of the spring mural workshop, I will form a "mural team" for
Montiarts. This groups will generate mural designs and ideas and apply for
commissions for public murals downtown. I will work with City Staff and the Business
community on site permissions etc.
Murals can be done by artists working on their own, where the public can observe the
activity, or can include a learning/participatory opportunity (workshop/s).
Murals cost 3 to $5000 (or more), depending on the artist, size/scope, and whether
there are workshops involved. 4TLOA (local arts 501 C3) has expressed a strong
interest in seeing more street art/murals around Monticello and are willing to partner on
projects like this, so we could design the project together, Montiarts could manage it,
and the check could be cut to them.
Concrete Art/ Mosaics
This type of art is an integral part of Montiarts's plan to help enliven some of the now
vacant -lot type public spaces downtown. It is an extremely versatile art form, allowing
for the creation of both functional and decorative art, and can be taught to virtually
anyone.
It is a major goal of Montiarts, to hold numerous workshops, teaching residents how to
make this type of art, and for it to become a hallmark of our community and public
spaces. Having these kinds of projects continuously underway, that anyone can
participate in, creates a vital community building activity that results in public art
residents will take particular pride in, & that Monticello would not be able to otherwise
afford.
There are numerous ways to support this.-
-
his:
— I need to hold some teaching workshops for artist -educators initially so I can create
helpers for the public workshops. (Materials costs of approx $1000) (Materials could be
donated in lieu of cash.)
— Materials for this type of artwork are quite reasonable, but not free. We will be
holding donation drives for things like glass & the that can be used in the mosaics, but
some mosaic materials and tools will need to be purchased, as well as metal lathe,
concrete, grout, & the adhesive. Material donations may be an option where cash is not
practical. A list of needs could be created with qtys.
— A specific project could be sponsored. We will be attempting to create "attractions" in
these downtown spaces using this art form; things that will draw people to the various
spaces that they can't see anywhere else, that provide great photo ops etc. Things like
a large sculpture people can interact with, such an an animal or canoe perhaps,
sculptural benches— benches that look like swans on a river, or wild sculptural shapes,
that may have planters built in, and various decorative art pieces to be placed within
landscaped areas that can really look like anything are some options. A stack of
pleasing shapes on some kind of pole is one idea that numbers of people with entry
level skills could work on. Another idea is fish similar to those created at an Xcel
Energy volunteer art -building event in summer 2018. Projects like this would involve
workshops that could be set-up to have the public work alongside sponsor employees,
or be set up exclusively for employees. Materials could be donated for specific projects
and those needs could be determined. Singing could be built into the project reflecting
the sponsor's support.
Music in the Parks
This is programming that was funded by the Central Mn Arts Board in 2018, and funding
for 2019 has been applied for for 2019. One suggestion, is for this programming to be
sponsored by an outside source in subsequent years, allowing Montiarts to access that
CMAB funding for community arts projects.
Montiarts generates
idea, begins connecting
individuals and organizations
to the project, and
organizing broad
strokes.
"Paint the picture."
'School art teacners
are given the
opportunity to
participate. Montiart
offers to visit classe
o explain project.
(Ideally, registration
is handled through
Community Ed,
enriching their
program offerings.
"Workshops are
organized by Montiarts
that will be cross -
generational.
-*,,supply driy,e'i�
launched, asking
people to donate art
supplies and recylcables
to the project. This
creates public buy -in
& curiosity
Workshop opportunities An organization is
are offered to biz's. asked to help provid
templates to allow
access to all citizen
(elderly, low-income
handicapped.)
Downtown biz's are
&!asked
to display
pieces after the
`opening gala at City
Hall. Thier cooperati
will be publicized.
Invite all
and the publ"
through paper,dio
civic organizatls,
Volunteers are asked
-to help collect and
-_hang the show.
A sponsor is asked
to pay for catering.
eholders
Publicize
School backpacks
end social media.
Home Project:
Mass display of house -shaped artwork by the community (all ages)
based on the theme of "Home"
at a public event at City Hall initially,
then in downtown businesses.