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Parks Commission Minutes 01-17-2002 . . . MINUTES lUX;ULAR MEETING - PARKS COMMISSION Thursday, .January 17,2002 - 4:30 p.m. Members Present: I,arry Nolan, Fran Fair, Nancy McCaffrey, Rick Traver and Earl Smith. Members Absent: Council Liaison, Roger Carlson. Starr: Tom Grossnickle and Leo Schroden. .Ieff(fNeill arrived at 6:30 p.m. 1. Call to ()rder. Chair Larry Nolan called the meeting to order at 4::)0 p.m. and declared a quorum present. 2. Approve minutes of the December 20,2001 Parks Commission Meetinc;. Typing corrections on pages 1,2 & 4 were noted. On page 2 in the discussion of the trail alignment for a proposed residential development. Larry Nolan added that the reason he felt the trail should aligned closer to the road was safety concerns j()f those individuals who use thc trail to walk to the schools. On page 5, "and/or fencing" was added to the last sentence under Pari..; Maintenance Items. RICK TRA VER MOVED TO APPROVE': TI-IE MINUTES OF THE DECEMBER 20, 200 I PARKS COMMISSION MEETING WITH THE CORRECTIONS NOTED. NANCY MCCAFFREY SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 3. Consideration of adding items to the agenda. A discussion or the I)N R grant application was added to the agenda. 4. Citizens requests. None. 5. Pioneer Park - Pm1!I'cssRcport. Tom Grossnickle reported the work on the roofing at the shelter had slowed clown due to a ramily tragedy for the firm doing the rooJing work. The roof is papered and protected from clements but the roofing work is not complete. L,arry Nolan noted that he had not had an opportunity to reach Fred Patch, the building otliciaL to discuss if there are exelnptions from the restrooln requirements for rood preparation tilCilities. . . . Parks Commission Mi nutes - 1/17/02 6. Hoekev Rink Maintenance - A2:reel~lent of Understanding. Tom Grossnickle reported on a Ineeting with representatives of the Monticello Youth f-Iockey Association. As a result of this meeting an Agreement oflJnderstanding was prepared which outlined the responsibilities for rink maintenance. The Agreement of Understanding has been approved by the City Council and has been signed by the Youth Hockey Association. The Parks Departmcnt feels comfortable with the agreement since thc flooding work is done under city leadership with the hockey association providing volunteer labor. Having the city employees do the work is cost effective and reduces the liability issues. Tom Grossnickle and Leo Schroden reported on thc flooding work done to date. They noted the problems the weather has created and stated that when the icc is not suitable for skating, the rinks are closed. 7. SF: Area Developments - Update. Since JelT O'Neill was at another meeting, this item was delayed until his arrival. 8. Park Donations - Poliev Update. John Simola, Public Works Dircctor, was working on a list ofitcms for the Parks Commission to review that donors could sclcct from when making a donation to the city parks. However, sincc John Simola was ill and unable to attcnd this meeting, the item was tabled until the next meeting_ The Parks Commission did discuss the park bench that had been donated in memory of Jack Maxwell and directed the Park Departmcnt staff to place a plaque on the bcnch as acknowledgment oftI1e donation. Tom Cirossnickle also inclieatcd that therc was recently a trec donatcd and they would place a plaque on that as well. 9. Entrance Signs - Update. Nancy IVIcC'affrey reported on the Sign Committec 111eeting held on January 16, 2002 and submitted a report with preliminary recOlnmendations or the Committee. Shc noted that additional information is needed in ordcr to procced. Sonle or the areas the Committee covered ineluclecl: budgeting; design theme, site location and design details. After the prcscntation, the Parks Commission discusscd the various items the Conunittee covered. One itenl of discussion was whether there was a nccd f()l' an consultant fl1r thc sign design. It was noted that there were local people who had donc signs for the city and Larry Nolan indicated that one of the candidates interviewed for thc Park Superintendent position had designed signs for the community he worked for so it was felt that the consultant was not the only resourcc availablc for dcsigning thc signs. It was felt that before the design part could procecd thcre wcre some design specifics that had to be known such as what matcrials does the city have on hand or are readily accessible such as the bouldcrs: how many sections of bridge railing were left and would they be available I(lr Lise on the entrance signs; did the city have the logo design on a disk that would be 2 . . . Parks Commission Minutes - 111 7/02 available to the party doing the design. On the site locations, Nancy McCaffrey felt that John Simola would have to provide a map showing what sites were available. The Parks C~ol1llnission felt that once the sign design was detennined it would could be adjusted to accommodate the site. Earl Smith felt that if the Parks Commission did engage Loucks Associates for a design study it would show the Parks Commission is committed to the project. Rick Traver agreed with Earl Smith and stated that a consultant would establish a cost estimate for the design as well. Rick Traver questioned whether anybody in the Park Department or any Parks Comlnission member had the time to take on gctting cost inf(mnation on materials for any sign design that was approved. Fran rail' stated she had talked to Susie Wojchouski about the MCP funds that would be available for this and was told there was between $2.500-$5.000, which would be enough to 111l1d the study. Earl Smith felt that the Parks Committee could find it in their budget to fund the study and if the city hll1ded the project it would sho\\o their commitment to it. The MCP funds could always be applied to thc construction costs. The Sign Committee was directed to talk with John Silnola regarding the site locations f(Jr the entrance sign. It was also suggested that maybc they could come up with some pictures or signs that the Parks Commission could review. They would also work on filling in SOlne or the gaps as Llr as the specifics of the sign design. "fhe information would then come back to the Parks Commission. 10. Park Maintenance Items. Tom Grossnickle sublnitted a list of work that was done in December by the Park Departnlent. lie indicated that while the weather was not conducive t()r tlooding it did allow them to do other work in the parks. Rick Traver questioned the fencing at the East 8ridge Park by the sliding hill. lie noted that there had been injury there when SOlneone had slid under the fence. It was suggested that they berm up snow at the base of the fence. Another suggestion was placing straw bales along the base of the fence. This is something the Park Department wiUlook at further. Earl Smith notcd that at the Rivcr Mill sliding hill the people were parking right at the foot orthe hill. Tom Grossnickle report that they had put up signs but someone had removed them. Tom Crossnickle updated the Parks Comn1ission on the status of the pedestrian bridge and notec\that "No Snowlnobiling" signs were placed on the bridge hut there are still problems with the snowmobiles. I-Ie also discussed the gates that would be placed at the bridge and pointed out that because they have to be handicap accessible and of surIicient width to accommodate the snow removal equiplnent they probably would not be very effective in deterring snowmobile traffic. Tom Crossnickle informed thc Parks Commission about the proposed hike park that will be constructed in the spri ng in the area bet ween the Com mun ity Center, the existing skate park and the Fire Hall. ., -) . . . Parks Commission Minutes -I 117/02 11. Listin\;! of permitted volunteer activities on pari\: land. This item was tabled until the next meeting because of the absence of John Simola. Some of the Parks Commission did express a concern about the amount of the area being cleared and how much mowing would have to be done by the Parks Department at the Hattie Rapids location. 12. Review _of park land for development. It was noted that in March the Parks Commission will tour the areas notcd on the development list. The Parks Commission was inlormed that thc park dcdication fees l<Jr the Mike Cyr developmcnt had been reduced to 500;() by thc City Council. At this point Jeff O'Neill entered the meeting. Jeff O'Neill indicated that thc City would be looking at an additional 2 acre park in this general area so he questioncd whethcr the park dcdication fees should have bcen rcduced. 13. Park Superintendent Replacement - lJpdate. Larry Nolan statcd that Sg applications had been received fi)t' the park superintendent position and 9 candidates had been interviewed. Larry Nola!1, Bruce Thielen. John Simola and Jeff O'Neill conducted the interviews. Three eandidatcs will be interviewed again on Tucsday, January 22, 2002. 7. SE Arca Devdopments -Update. At the last meeting. thc Parks Commission reviewed a preliminary drawing for parks and trails for two residential developments in the southcast arca of the city and had madc reconlll1endations that JelT O'Neill was to relay to the developers. JetlO'Ncill rcported that the developers had rcspondcd t~lVorably to thc Parks Commission's recommendation but had some concerns. One of the dcvclopcrs sti II wants the park to be located near the entrance to the development lor the aesthetic effcctit would havc and he is intending to come before the Parks COlllll1ission to make a presentation on his proposal. .lefT O'Nci II noted that thc density f<:lr this proposed devclopment is higher than what is normally allowed but the housing will be upscale. Jcff O'Neill went over the prcliminary drawing showing the trail alignment and park locations. He noted the developcr had some problems with taking thc trail to the water tower trail because or the topography of the property. They also had rcservations about aligning the trail closer to the roadway because the road will likely be improved and widcncd in thc future. Since the developer is still proposing to construct the park as part of the dcvelopll1enL there was a brief discussion on how thc cost would be handled, whether it would be as a credit to his park dcdication requirements, etc. I':arl Slnith felt that because the housing density was highcr in this development it was important that thc city receive 10(Yo land fC1r park dcdication. What was shown on the preliminary sketch was less than 10%. The developer stated that the park will bc the number one asset for the dcvelopmcnt. Jeff 4 . . . Parks Commission Minutes - 1/17/02 O'Neill will check further with the developer and report back at the next meeting. The developer on the south was acceptable to the Parks Commission recommendations and will be incorporating them into their plan. Added IttlllS: The Parks Commission was intormed that the deadline for the ON R Outdoor Recreation Grant was March 3 I, 2002. As part of the grant application the city would be required to conduct a public hearing on the proposed improvements and would also have to submit their proposal to the DNR and/or Corp of Engineers to make determination whether a permit was needed 1'(Jr the work. The response from the DNR and/or Corp of Engineers \vould be incorporated into the grant application. In reviewing the files that could be t()L1mL staff was unable to locate any drawings or design or any detailed cost figures fl))' the project. The question was whether the Parks Commission wanted to pursue gelling the grant application submitted for 2002 or wait until the new park superi ntcndent was in place and pursue the grant at thatti nle. Hecause of the rather tight time frame and the absenee or any detailed design information, the Parks Commission felt it was probably not feasible to submit a grant application at this time. It was also noted that the house on the Carlson property will be removed in the near future and that possibly the development of this portion of the park could be included in the grant. It was requested that a discussion or placing swings at the West Bridge Park bc added to nextlnonth's agenda. 14. Adjourn. NANCY MCCAFfREY MOVED TO ADJOIJRN AT 6:55 P.M. fRAN fAIR SECONDED '1'111': MOTION. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. ~~~-- Recording Secretary 5