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Parks Commission Minutes 09-23-2004 . . . MINUTES PARKS COMMISSION September 23,2004 - 4:30 p.m. West Prairie Room "To ellhllllce commlllli(l' pride through developillg IIl1d mailltllillillg ci(l' Pllrks with II high stlllldard of IfUIlIi(1'" Members Present: Fran Fair, Ben flitter, Nancy McCaffrey, Larry Nolan and Rick Traver. Members Absent: Council Liaison, Robbie Smith. Staff Present: Adam Hawkinson, Park Superintendent; John Simola, Public Works Director; and Jeff O'Neill, Deputy City Administrator. 1. Call to Order. Chair Nolan called the meeting to order at 4:30 p.m. and declared a quorum present. 2. Approve minutes of AUl!ust 26, 2004 rCl!ular Parks Commission mceting. RICK TRAVER MOVED TO APPROVE TI fE MINUTES OF THE AUGUST 26, 2004 REGULAR MEETING WITI-f A TYPING CORRECTION. FRAN FAIR SECONDED TIlE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSL Y. Fran Fair was asked if she had met with Mayor Thielen regarding the bathrooms for Ellison Park. Fran Fair indicated that the Mayor was not in favor of having permanent restrooms in any parks except the major parks. 3. Consideration of adding items to the al!enda. Jeff O'Neill asked if the order of the agenda items could be changed as he had to leave at 5 p.m. Adam Hawkinson added to the agenda discussion of establishing a ponding area in Hillcrest Park.. 4. Citizcn comments and requests. No one was present under citizcn comments. 9. Insignia Development. Paul Quarberg representing Insignia Devclopment was present at the meeting. .leiT O'Neill stated this projcct is identified in the park plan as having a fairly large park which is intended to be a regional or central park. The proposed developmcnt is one of mixed uses including single lamily homes, town homes and some commercial uses. The park land area per Paul Quarberg is 41.37 acres and according to thc recently amended park dedication ordinance the park dedication is calculated to be 29 acres. John Simola asked how much of the 4] acres was not encumbered by easement. Of the 41.37 acres the area under . . . Parks Commission Minutes - 9/23/04 easement is 17.55 acres and the area directly under wires is 6.67 acres leaving a net park arca of 23.82 acres. The Parks Commission would like to get sufficient park area for necessary parking and to buy land so that a ballfield complex could be built. Amount of land needed for parking would be 4.25 acres. Larry Nolan asked if any wetlands or ponding areas were included in the proposed park land. Paul Quarberg indicated that ponding area was included in the park land numbers. 28.07 acres includes wetlands and ponding area. Jeff O'Neill said they are short of park area for what this development demands. LatTY Nolan asked about tot lot and opcn playground area. Paul Quarberg indicated that was sketched in to show how it could be accommodatcd. Jeff O'Neill noted two soccer fields are outside the wires but not outside the easement area. Does the Parks Commission feel the dimensions work? Adam Hawkinson asked ifballficld dimensions were decp enough. These fields are proposed be used f()r softball. Although the Cityballfields arc 280'-285' deep, Adam Hawkinson noted most fields are 320 feet deep.. JelfO'Neill stated that in order to have tournaments you need to have a certain number of ball fields within your complex. Adam Hawkinson felt one of the biggest concerns was lights and added that lights do not work out well when a ballfield complex is adjacent to residential development. I Ie felt the fields should he located closer to the commercial uses. Adam Hawkinson presented some sketches showing layouts for four full softball fields and soccer fields. The sketches were discussed. In presenting information to the Planning Commission and developer it is being recommended that: 1) The ball fields he moved to abut the commercial area because oflighting concerns; 2) Need enough room for four international size Soccer fi.elds. Fields would be 320' with 50' spacing. .lefT O'Neill noted that 330' is considered international size. 3) Need for a play area; 4) Parks Commission is okay with parking beneath the power lines noting polcs are located at either end of the parking lot. The qucstion is whcther the 29 acrcs is sufficient space to provide for four ballfields, four soccer fields, parking and play area or whether additional land would need to be purchased. It is proposed that the soeccr fields be separate from the ballfields. Fran Fair asked if additional land was needed where would it be coming from. Jeff O'Neill indicated that it would have to be adjacent to the existing site. Adam Hawkinson noted that thcre would have to be some benning and screening around the athletic area. Jelf O'Neill will present this inf(Jrmation to the Planning Commission when they consider the development. FRAN FAIR MOVED TO APPROVE THE PARK PLAN SKETCH AS LAID OUT BY ADAM HA WKINSON FOR THE INSIGNIA DEVELOPMENT WITH TI IE STIPULATION If IA T If IE CITY WOULD BE LOOKING TO BUY ADDITIONAL LAND TO MAKE A COMPLETE BALLFIELD COMPLEX COMPRISING FOUR INTERNATIONAL SOCCER FIEI_DS, FOUR SOFTBALL FIELDS, PARKING AND PLA Y AREA WITH THE PARK DEVELOPMENT BEING INCORPORATED WITH THE INITIATION OF TIlE DEVELOPMENT. NANCY MCCAJ"FREY SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 10. .'cotor Develooment This redevelopment project is adjacent to the Cedar Crest Apartments in thc area of Cedar Strcet 2 . . . Parks Commission Minutes - 9/23104 and the railroad tracks. As part of this project it is proposed to vacate Palm Street. Jeff O'Neill rcviewed the preliminary sketch of the project with the Parks Commission. With this devclopment it is proposed to have park dedication of cash in lieu of land. This development is relatively close (three blocks) to the Fourth Strcet Park. The park dedication fee would be based on 11 units at $1500/unit. 5. UP Development. This development is located at 61h and 7th Streets and Elm Street. Previously the development consisted of 45 units of detached townhomes. There is no alley parking so parking will have to be developed along the perimeter of the site. The nearest park to this area is Country Club Manor. Outlot A of Country Club Manor is owned by the City and perhaps could be developed as park land. Jeff O'Neill recommended taking money for park dedication to develop the JI" Street park. He indicated there is also another 8 acres on the other side of Elm Street that could be taken for park land. John Simola suggested keeping a crossing for access to the park as it is on the other side of Elm Street. John Simola felt the development was too tight as far as space. The Parks Commission felt the 8 acre site should be considered. 7. Riverside Cemetery. John Simola provided information on this item and submitted the long term plan that was set up by the Riverside Cemetery Committee. Although the committee listed long term goals and improvements for the ccmetcry there was no funding set up for implementing these goals. The cemetery operations is now under the jurisdiction of the Parks Commission which was why this item was being prcsented to them. John Simola was asking the Parks Commission to review the long terms goals and make recommendations to the City Council. The Street Reconstruction Project for 2005 is proposed to be in the area of the Riverside Cemetery. The street in this area is 32 feet wide and they would want to allow for an 8' bituminous pathway or a 6' concrete sidewalk on one side of the street which would more than likely be the cemetery side. John Simola suggested that the pathway be taken up to the entrance of Montissippi Park since there arc no other crossings of CSAH 75. The Parks Commission will need to look at thc placement of the pathway as well as look at the other recommendations of the Cemetery Committee. John Simola asked the Parks Commission to review the list and decide which ones thcy want to work on and how they should bc funded. Larry Nolan asked if anything was budgeted for this in 2005. John Simola indicated nothing had been budgeted. John Simola suggested that perhaps Park Commission recommendation on pathway alignment could be incorporated into the Core Strcet Project design. The Parks Commission discussed the capacity of the cemetery and when future expansion would bc anticipated. In 200 I there 1227 grave sitcs available and approximately 30+ sites a year were sold. Based on that inf()fmation it was estimated that by 2040 the cemctery would bc fillcd. However, as the community continues to grow that date may come sooner. There was discussion on whether the City should continue to operate a cemetery once Rivcrside was filled. It was suggested that 111ay be a survey should be done of other cities who operate cemeteries. 3 Parks Commission Minutes - 9/23104 . Added Item: PondiUl! at Hillcrest Park. ./ohn Simola reviewed the area in question. He noted the sediment ponding area needs to be extended from the pond to the creek and then to the river. The ponding area would run through the park. Drainage in the area was discussed and it was indicated that the proposed ponding work would be done next year. ./ohn Simola felt a survey of this area with established elevations would be necessary. Adam Hawkinson said the softball association would have to be notified since these field are used at least twice a week. He also noted that there has been discussion on re-establishing the skating rink at Hillcrest park. Nancy McCaffrey felt the parking situation at this park needs improvement. Staff would like to get this project out for bid in January or February. 6. Park Maintenance. . Adam Hawkinson answered questions relating to the maintenance work done by staff for the month. He noted that a trail f()J' cross country meets had been completed through the woods by Pioneer Park. The Parks Commission also discussed the Eagle Scout project to re-landscape the TH 25 side of Hillside Cemetery. The plans for the landscaping project will be approved by the Parks Commission. Nancy McCaffrey asked ifthere was anything new on the remaining two entrance signs. Adam Hawkinson had nothing new to report on the entrance signs. Larry Nolan asked that an update on the CSAH 18/1-94 interchange be added to the next agenda. Larry Nolan asked about the paving of the Grovcland parking lot. Adam Hawkinson reported that he had received some inf()rmation from the City Engineer on this and noted that according to the ordinance 24 parking spaces are needed. Adam Hawkinson will discuss the locating of the parking lot and keeping it as far away as possible from the homes adjacent to the park. Adam Hawkinson suggested using $10,000 of the budgeted funds for Tower Park for a split rail fence and then use the rest ofthe funds for a fence at Riverside Cemetery. Adam Hawkinson will research the cost for the fence and bring it back at the next meeting. 8. Review of wetland replacement application - Meadow Oaks Area. Wetlands encroaches into the back yards of several property owners in the Meadow Oaks area. It is proposed to fill in this wetland area and establish rcplacement wetland area by the Meadow Oaks park wetlands. The wetlands created at the park will be double the area that is filled in. RICK TRA VER MOVED TO APPROVE THE CITY COUNCIL'S RECOMMENDATION ON FILLING THE DESIGNATED WETLAND AREA IN MEADOW OAKS AND ESTABLISHING REPLACEMENT WETLAND IN THE AREA OF THE MEADOW OAKS PARK. fRAN FAIR SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTTON CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 11. Tree Plantinl! Event. . Adam I Iawkinson reported that a decision needs to be made on what species to order. The trees available include lindens, oaks and hackberrys. For a 1 W' diameter tree the prices would run from $21-$34 for a bare root tree. Adam Hawkinson asked if another meeting was needed for the 4 . . . Parks Commission Minutes - 9/23/04 Parks Commission to decide what type of tree is needed and what areas would be designated for planting. Once the sites are selected, they will need to be checked lor location of cable boxes and other utilities. It was also questioned who would be responsible for the locates. Other questions were who is going to do the actual planting, where classes are going to be held and who is going to teach them, staging area for trees and activities and publicity. Fran Fair asked that information relating to the money donated by the MCP fix this event be obtained and reviewed. Adam Hawkinson indicated that at the fall planting seminar sign up sheets fix the spring planting could be made available. Fran Fair also suggested contacted Susie Wojchouski at the Chamber of Commerce for her assistance. Larry Nolan suggested setting up a subcommittee to help Park stafT with some of these issues. Fran Fair and Rick Traver volunteered to be on the subcommittee. This item will be brought back at the next meeting. There was additional discussion on number of trees needed and other expenses that would be incurred for the tree planting event such as rental of special equipment, etc. Other Items: Adam Hawkinson showed a sketch of the Pioneer Park parking lot consisting of 30 space and how they were calculated. Adam Ilawkinson submitted a draft of a revised tree ordinance which would update the existing ordinance and expand the diseased tree program to include other diseases besides Dutch Elm. Adam Hawkinson suggested the Parks Commission read through the revised ordinance and discuss it at the next meeting. Adam Hawkinson noted that the amended subdivision ordinance states that outlots used for park purposes should not be designated on the plat as "parks". lIe questioned why that language was included as he felt identifying areas as parks would ease problems with home owners not knowing they were located adjacent to park areas. Adam Hawkinson submitted some information on fees collected from ballfield concessions, park rental and team fees. There was discussion on parking improvements at the Mississippi Park (Swan Park). It was lelt the pathway to the viewing area should go in this year. John Simola said the proposed parking lot improvement would not work since there would be no increase in additional parking space. It was noted that you can't do diagonal parking on residential streets. 13. Adiourn. NANCY MCCAFFREY MOVED TO ADJOURN AT 7:] 0 P.M. FRAN FAIR SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. ."'" \ .. .J . j cu........ f-..r-\ -.....J _ \ ^_o <; ~ Q Recording Secretary 6 5