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Parks Commission Minutes 03-24-2005 . . . Parks Commission Minutes - 3/24/05 MINUTES PARKS COMMISSION March 24, 2005 - 4:30 p.m. West Prairie Room "To enhance community pride through developing and maintaining city parks with a high standard of quality." Members Present: Larry Nolan, Fran Fair, Nancy McCaffrey, Council Liaison, Tom Perrault Members Absent: Ben Hitter, Rick Traver Others Present: Adam Hawkinson, Park Superintendent; Jeff O'Neill, Assistant City Manager; Gary Revnig, High School Baseball Coach; and Hidden Forest/Sunset Ridge representatives Rick Lewandowski, Denny Muyres (Edina Development Corp), Mark Woolston, (Sunset Ridge) Jon Bogart Bogart, Pederson & Assoc, lnc), Sherry Buss (Landscaper) & John Smythe (Wetland specialist).. 1. Call to Order. Chairman Larry Nolan called the meeting to order at 4:30 p.m. and declared a quorum present. 2. Approve minutes of February 24. 2005 ree;ular Parks Commission meetine;. NANCY MCCAFFREY MOVED TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF THE FEBRUARY 24, 2005 REGULAR MEETING WITH A CORRECTION ON PAGE 2 THAT BLACK CAPS WERE SELECTED FOR THE FENCE. THERE NOT BEING ANOTHER COMMISSION MEMBER PRESENT WHO ATTENDED THE FEBRUARY 24, 2005 MEETING, ADAM HAWKINSON CONFRIMED. CHAIRMAN NOLAN WILL CONFIRM THE COLOR SELECTION WITH ABSENT COMMISSIONERS RICK TRAVER OR BEN HITTER. THERE WAS NO SECOND TO THE MOTION AS NO OTHER MEMBERS WHO ATTENDED THE FEBRUARY 24TH MEETING WERE PRESENT. 3. Consideration of addine; items to the ae;enda. Fran Fair added to the agenda discussion a request from the Wright County Horticultural Society to place Bridge Park East on it's annual garden tour in July. 4. Citizens comments and reQuests. Acting as spokesperson for the Monticello High School Baseball coaching staff, Legion and VFW, baseball coach Gary Revnig has agreed to lead fundraising to purchase lighting for the high school baseball fields at the cost of $80,000. This would provide another much needed ball field for the community. All labor is to be donated by local electricians and Xcel Energy employees. The cost would be $130,000 if Musco Lighting does all the work. The goal is to finance $50,000 over 4 or 5 years. The current proposal is that $70,000 would be financed over 7 years with payments of $12,000 a year. The School Board would like to see the term on the loan as short as possible by making a large down payment. Funds have been donated by . . . Parks Commission Minutes - 3/24/05 the Legion and VFW, with additional dollars coming from signs on the field, admission charged at the 16 team VFW Tournament, as well as a possible Legion Tournament to help fund this project. To date, Gary Revnig has raised $20,000 and is asking the Parks Commission to make a recommendation to the City Council to donate $5,000 to $10,000 to lighting the baseball field. Discussion included attempting to get additional vendor bids, parking issues, increased traffic and commercial value of the land once the interchange is completed, and the no alcohol on school property policy. Adam Hawkinson stated that while the $5,000 request is not out of line, there is a contract with the Pole Cats to play on the City ballfields which would have to be reviewed. FRAN FAIR MOVED TO RECOMMEND TO THE COUNCIL THAT THE CITY MAKE A DONATION OF $5,000 FROM THE GENERAL FUNDS TO PURCHASE LIGHTS FOR THE HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL FIELDS, CONTINGENT THAT A MUTUALL Y AGREEABLE SOLUTION CAN BE MADE WITH THE POLE CAT CONTRACT. NANCY MCCAFFREY SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSL Y. 5. Review development plan - Hidden Forest/Sunset Ride;e. Rick Lewandowski and Denny Muyres of Edina Development Corporation, representing Hidden Forest, and Mark Woolston, representing Sunset Ridge, reviewed two park concept plans for an approximately 47 acres wetland park that would include the area of County Ditch 33 located at the east end of Monticello. Wanting input and guidance from the Parks Commission, and assuming wetland restoration grant money is obtained, Rick Lewandowski distributed photos of the current Ditch 33 site and then described two concept maps. One concept has several smaller ponds, surrounded almost entirely by a pathway, with a boardwalk crossing wetlands on the north end, near a neighborhood park, the other concept has one 20- acre lake running the length of the wetland, surrounded by walking trail, boardwalk with an overlook, also located near a neighborhood park. Wetland specialist, John Smythe, provided photos ofthe types of wetland plants that will be planted. Jon Bogart, Bogart, Pederson & Associates, discussed how the new outlet for County Ditch 33 would benefit lands downstream, and the need to have a slope around the lake so as not to impact housing lots. There was discussion regarding the depth of the lake which will destroy undesirable plants so new wetland plants can be planted. According to Rick Lewandowski, an estimated timeline is to have discussions with City engineer, staff and Council, obtain restoration grants, get a good plan and complete in year two. Fran Fair suggested that the wetland park be started before and clearly included in the marketing ofthe housing project. Landscaper Sherry Buss described the proposed pathway and neighborhood park. The wood chip or asphalt trail is approximately 2/3 of a mile long and include benches, overlooks and an elevated boardwalk. The boardwalk will be supported by metal posts on wide footings. Sherry Buss reviewed concept maps of two neighborhood park layouts. The park is approximately 1.5 acres and located on the north end ofthe wetland, has the nicest view, includes access on two sides as well as a parking lot, picnic shelter, a basketball court and two play areas. She also provided a handout with photo details of suggested playground features. Torn Perrault asked Parks Commission Minutes. 3/24/05 . whether it would be better to locate the park more to the southeast but that location would not provide the required twosided access necessary. Parks Commission thanked the Hidden Forest and Sunset Ridge representatives for their in- depth presentation. The Parks Commission recommends the one lake version of the wetland vs having several small ponds and that the pathway be asphalt vs woodchips. The preferred neighborhood park concept is the one with the circular play areas in the center with the parking entrance on the east side, off the less busy road. A recommendation was made to have an additional shelter and/or overlook on the wetland side of the park to take advantage ofthe view. Finally, it was suggested that the "stinger" play feature be replaced with a "digger". 6. Jefferson Concept Plan Review . Jeff O'Neill reviewed the concept plan for Silver Springs Golf Course renovation, now called Jefferson of Monticello, which will go before the City Council at the second meeting in April. There will be a planning meeting at 3 PM, Monday, April 4, prior to the public hearing. This is only a beginning, lots of changes are expected to be made. The golf course will be reduced from 36 to 18 holes. Park space and a trail system needs to be considered. Consideration should be given to building trails into Otter Creek area. Should the wetlands be considered as parks and/or trails? Park dedication dollars in this high density area should be very high, and could build a fund to pay for a good share ofthe sports facility located near the 1-94 Interchange at Orchard A venue. Jefferson Parkway will run the length of the development. There most likely will be a mix of private and public funds for road maintenance. 7. YMCA Development The YMCA is considering selling property on Long and Bertram Lakes. There are discussions about preserving the area as a potential regional park. 8. Poplar Hills There is no change to report: 300 apartments and 400 housing units, three fields, two junior fields are proposed. Pathway meets standards. 9. Park Maintenance Adam Hawkinson submitted a list of the work completed. He reported 437 trees have been ordered for the tree planting date of Saturday, April 23. Requests have been received from two-thirds ofletter responders. 10. Adiourn FRAN FAIR MOVED TO AJOURN. NANCY MCCAFFREY SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSL Y. .