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Parks Commission Minutes 10-25-2007 Park Commission Minute,: 10/25/07 MINUTES PARKS CO:MMISSION Thunday, October25,2007-4:30p.nL ''Tocnh.ncecommnnltyprldethrooghdft'eloplngm.lntalnlng Cltypark,,,1th.,tand.rdofqn.lIty.~ Members Present: Gene Emanuel, Ben Hitter, Nancy McCaffrey, Larry Nolan, Rick Traver and Council Liaison, Tom Perrault. McmbersAbsent: None Others Present: Tom Pawelk, Park Superintendent 1. Call to Order. Chair Larry Nolan called the meeting to order at 4:30 p,m. and declared a quorum present. 2. Approve minutes of Seotember 27. 2007 ree:ular Parks Commillsion meetin~ RICK TRAVER MOVED TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF SEPTEMBER 27,2007 REGULAR PARKS COMMISSION MEETING. GENE EMANUEL SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 3. Consideration of ad dint! items to the al!enda. Update on YMCA tours and pathway at Pioneer Park were added to the agenda for discussion. 4. Citizens comments and reaunts. There was no one who spoke under citizens comments or requests. 9. Meetiue date for November. Since the Park Superintendent had not yet arrived, the Parks Commission discussed changing the meeting date for November. The regular meeting date falls on Thanksgiving. The Parks Commission detennined to schedule the November meeting on November 29, 2007 and not hold a meeting in December. Tfsomething did come up that required immediate action, a special meeting could beheld. 5. Park Maintenance. Tom Pawelk submitted a list of the work completed by the Parks Department staff. He reported a vandalism incident at Pioneer Park. The interior of the bathroom was damaged and Tom Pawelk estimated repair costs, including labor, to be about $600. The developer has placed a cement pad on the outlot ofUmon Crossings. It had been proposed I ParkCommissionMinut." 10/25107 at one time to have a rest area located there with a park bench and some plantings. The play structurc at Hillcrest Park is completed and is getting a good deal of use. Tom Pawelk reported on a YMCA tour earlier in the week with finance people from the state, Senator Amy Koch and Representative Bruce Anderson. Additional tours are scheduled for November 6th and November 13th. The 4th Street Park parking lot has been milled and overlaid with the striping to be done soon. The work on the viewing deck at Mississippi Park, although budgeted for this year, will not be done until next year. Tom Pawelk indicated the Parks Department will be doing some restoration work along the pathway at East Oak Drive. The area will be tilled, re-seeded and straw bales placed. 6, Open Air Shelter for West Bridl!e Park: Tom Paw elk reported that the City Council did not approve the open air shelter for West Bridge Park and his Wlderstandingis that the money budgeted for the shelter will be used fo rthe pathway improvements on Fallon Avenue. 7. Review of conceDtual drawiol!s for park at Sunset Ponds: Tom Pawelk presented preliminary plans for the development of the Sunset Ponds Park. The City had informed the developer that they would be drawing on his letter of credit to get thc work completed which prompted the developer to work on fulfilling their obligation to get the park area graded and seeded. The devcloperwill also be installing split rail fence markers for the property comers. The development plans included a ballfield and soccer field. Tom Pawelk is working with the youth baseball association to determine if an additional Little League field is needed. A Little League field would measure 225 feet from home plat to the fence. There is another 100 feet between the fence and the adjacent lots so it was felt aballfieldwoul d fit the location. The ballfield would not be lighted but there is lighting on the parking lot. A play structure, similar to that at Hillcrest Park, is proposed. Trees will be planted to delineate where the park property line is and to discourage homeowners from encroaching into the park area. The Parks Commission discussed the fields and the anticipated use. There was some concern that the parking lot space would not be adequate if the fields were used forfonnalized soc ceribal1 practicc. To discourage this kind of use, the Parks Commission felt instead ofafe nee for the field there should just be a backstop. Gene Emanuel noted that pickup games for neighborhood kids is not very common and he felt that people using the field would likely not be from within the development. In further discussion of the play structure, Nancy McCaffrcy asked ifit was being designed for a particular age group. Larry Nolan suggested that the structure not have a roof on it like the one at Hillcrest as he noted kids climbing on the roof of the structure. Rick Traver suggested leaving space for a basketball court even ifit isjust a half court. There will be a couple of options for the play structure presented when the informational meeting ""ith the residents is held_ The Parks Commission felt strongly that the park property boundaries need to be clearly defined. A preliminary cost estimate for the play structure is thought to nm about $50,000. The development plan also includes a pathway to handle foot traffic. 2 Park Commission Minutes: 10/25/07 8. Review of draft Comprehensive Plan (Chapter 4 Parks) In reviewing the draft document, the Parks Commission recommended the following changes: I. The pictures used in the document be identified. 2. Montissippi Park be identified as a county park. 3. Revisions to the section dealing with the YMCA possible acquisition to note that is a joint project wIth Wright County which mayor may not actually occur. It was also pointed out that this would be a regional park. The definitions in the draft document do not include anything for a regional park. 4. Thc list of features in the current city parks should be reviewed and updated to more accurateiy rcflect what is located at each park. Tn general discussion about the parks, Tom Pawelk noted because of the way the parks are disbursed throughout the communityalot of time is spent in traveling to the par kstodo maintenance. He added that with the possibility of the new Public Works facility being located on the south side of the city it will add to the traveling time. The question was raised whether the park system should shift their emphasis from neighborhood parks and focus more on community and regional parks. The reasons for consideting a shift in focus include: I) Having fewer parks would ease the maintenance load as far as travel time, etc. Hopefully having less parks to maintain would translate into better maintenance and development of existing parks; 2) Thc trend ofpcople to utilize parks that ofIer multiple features for all levels ofuser$ which is somethingncighborhoodparksdon'tgenerally provide and 3) The reluctance to adequalely fund for park development, maintenance and equipment. The Parks Commission in planning for park development has tried to minimize the number of small parks by placing parks in areas where developments adjoin. The Parks COlllIUission felt the Comprehensive Plan was a guideline. \Vhile the reality of the situation may not be the same as the goals of the Comprehensive Plan they felt the guidelines in the Comprehensive Plan should be adhered to. Added Items: Pathway at Fallon Avenue: The City Council at their last meeting approved a contract with Rum River Construction for pathway construction and the contractor will be starting work imm~diately_ The bids came in less than the engineer's estimate. Council liaison, Tom Perrault felt that with the good bid prices the Council should have included the alternate as well which was for a pathway conneding the west end of the Pioneer Park parking lot to the existing stubbed path extending east from Farmstead Avenue but the Council only approved the pathway on Fallon Avenue between Farmstead Avenue and School Boulevard. 10. Adiourn. NA."JCY MCCAFFREY MOVED TO ADJOURN AT 6:00 P.M. RICK TRAVER SECONDED THE MOTlON. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. ,- . . \ \0--'_";-" '-*~-~'-'-<:;~i.->-Y''1- Recording Secretary 3