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Parks Commission Minutes 06-24-2005 . . . Park Commission Minutes - 6/23105 MINUTES MONTICELLO PARKS COMMISSION - REGULAR MEF:TING Thursday, June 23, 2005 Members Present: Fran Fair, Ben Hitter, Nancy McCaffrey, Larry Nolan, Rick Traver and Council Liaison, Tom Perrault. Members Absent: Nonc Others Present: Adam Hawkinson, Park Superintendent and lefT O'Neill, Deputy City Administrator 1. Call to Order. Chair L,arry Nolan called the meeting to order at 4:30 p.m. and declared a quorum present. 2. Approve minutes of Mav 26, 2005 re2:ular Parks Commission meetin2:. Nancy McCaffrey asked, relating to Item #9, page 2, whether Adam Hawkinson had talked to the Public Works Director about having the Public Works staff do the trail work by Riverside Cemetery. Adam Hawkinson statcd his understanding was that he was to obtain another quote which he did but he has not talked to thc Public Works Director about whether this project could be done by Public Works personncl. However, he will do so. NANCY MCCAFFREY MOVED TO ACCEPT TIlE MINUTES Of TI IE MAY 26, 2005 REGULAR PARKS COMMISSION MEETING. BEN HITTER SECONDED THE MOTTON. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. Approve minutes of the Mav 31.2005 special Parks Commission meetine. NANCY MCCAFFREY MOVED TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF THE MAY 3] , 2005 SPECIAL PARKS COMMISSION MEETING. FRAN FAIR SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSL Y. 3. Consideration of add in!! items to the a2:enda. Adam Hawkinson added consideration of installing drinking fountains at East Bridge Park, Pioneer Park and Freeway Fields. lefT O'Neill added an update on the Monte Hill Villas development. 4. Citizens comments and reQuests. None. 5. Ea2:le Scout Proiect - Dock at Ellison Park (Phil Simondet) Mrs. Simondet was present to inform the Parks Commission of her son's progress on his Eagle Scout project to install a dock at Ellison Park. She submitted drawings from MinnCor, the . . . Park Commission Minutes - 6/23/05 entity that constructs the docks. The dock would be galvanized steel similar to what exists at West Bridge Park. It comes in various lengths 34', 40' or 44'. She stated that the funding of the project will be the responsibility of her son and will not involve city funds. However, since the dock is proposed to be installed on city owned land, it did require approval by the city. RICK TRAVER MOVED TO AUTHORIZE PHIL SIMONDET TO PUT IN A DOCK UP TO 44' AT ELLISON PARK AND WIT" TIlE PROJECT REQUIRING NO USE OF CITY FUNDS. NANCY MCCAFFREY SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSL Y. Adam Hawkinson will clear this with the City Administrator and the Public Works Director. It was also felt that it might be good publicity fix the project to present it to the Council as well. 7. Poplar Hill Park Desilm Questions. David Adkins and Troy Gamble representing Insignia Development were present at the meeting. In the review process for the development, they received comments relating to the park design that they felt needed clarification. The developer stated that their agreement with the City was to grade the park area out flat and turn it over to the City. 'rhe review comments implied there was additional work that they would need to do. .Jeff O'Neill stated that there was a meeting scheduled with the developer in the coming week to address those issues and wondered what additional input they expected from the Parks Commission that they didn't already have. David Adkins responded that they didn't ask to be at this meeting but were requested to attend. Jeff O'Neill reiterated that these issues would be worked out at the meeting with stafT and did not need to come before the Parks Commission. Larry Nolan stated that the Parks Commission desire was to obtain properly sized fields with adequate parking and the Parks Commission was not as much concerned with the landscaping aspects of the field design. Troy Gamble indicated that the soccer fields were 225 feet wide with 50 feet between fields. JefT O'Neill showed pictures of a soccer field complex in Rochester which had similar dimensions to what is proposed for the Poplar Hills development. Adam Hawkinson stated his concern was that the layout of the fields allows tlexibility for rotating the fields f(}[ use. Adam Hawkinson stated that as far as the grades of the field, the flatter the better. Troy Gamble indicated because of the sandy soils the fields should drain well so the fields can be fairly flat. He stated there is a 1 % grade on the proposed fields. Adam Ilawkinson asked if there was sandy loam soil available for the field area so that they had good topsoil for establishing turf. There was some discussion on the two fields located on the other side of the road and whether they were big enough to be regulation size soccer fIelds. JefT O'Neill thought they could be used when there were tournaments. Portable goals could be brought in and the field could be extended into the power line area. Adam Hawkinson felt that because of the trees these fIelds could be designed to be the primary fields. The proposal is that there would be fIve fIelds in this area and the park development would be synchronized with the home building. The developer is planning to start development in early August. 2 Park Commission Minutes - 6/23/05 . 10. Updates: Jefferson at Monticello: This development at the west end of the City would contain 2600 housing units. The ballfield complex will be done as part of the Jefferson at Monticello development. It was noted that while there was a number of green spaces throughout thc proposed development there was no neighborhood park. The park layout is going to be redrawn and brought back to the Parks Commission. It was pointcd out that the developer may take out some of the housing units and expand the commercial area of the development and they may also change the phasing of the development in order to get more of the single fami Iy and upscale housing available in the initial stages of development. The Parks Commission felt the development should include some play area as well as basketball courts. Rick Traver stated that when the balllields arc laid out the City needs to make sure they are laid out to allow adequate parking. leffO'Neill indicated that perhaps some of the park dedication generated by this development would go toward the purchase of the YMCA property. . YMCA: The City has met with the YMCA regarding the YMCA's proposal to sell the property in order to fund other programs they provide. The YMCA site is approximately 1200 acres but in order for it to be sold for development it would need city utilities. A task force has been set up of city, township and county oHicials to work on preserving portions of the site for recreational and public uses. The Trust for Public Land may also be working with the task force and the YMCA on this effort. There was some discussion on the time frame for this area to develop and the capacity in the city's wastewater treatment plant to handle additional development. Monte Hill Villas: The Planning Commission directed the developer to work with staff and corne up with another plan. The Parks Commission noted that Monticello means" Little Mountain" and they felt that the loss of this high point ofland in the city to development could be detrimental. 6. Transportation Study. Jeff O'Neill asked for a volunteer from the Parks Commission to go through the proposed update of the transportation plan to see how the pathway/trai I system matches up with the roadway system. Rick Traver and Tom Perrault volunteered to work on this. Fran Fair suggested that they show the current subdivision names as some of the developments have gone through several name changes. 8. Groveland Park and Fourth Street Park hard courts. Adam Hawkinson was requesting the Parks Commission authorization to proceed with getting the hard courts in these parks. He noted that the residents in Groveland had requested at the time the park was being developed that hard courts be included. The hard court at the Fourth Street Park was promised when a portion of that park area was used for the City's well site. . Fran Fair asked if funds had been budgeted for this. Adam Hawkinson said he thought there was but if not they could use the funds that had been budgeted for the parking lot which was not going to be put in this year. Nancy McCaffrey stated that it was important to continue with the 3 . . . Park Commission Minutes - 6/23/05 improvements for the Groveland Park so that the residents know the park is going to be developed even though it may be at a slower pace. NANCY MCCAFFREY MOVED '1'0 PROCEED WITlIINSTALLlNG I lARD COURTS AT THE GROVELAND PARK AND THE FOURTH STREET PARK. BEN HITTER SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. There was discussion on where in the Fourth Street Park to locate the hard court. It was suggcsted that the hard court be put inside the hockey rink. Adam Ilawkinson indicated the price of doing the whole rink in concrete would be about $34,000. He suggested doing the center in concrete this year and later put asphalt in the rest of the rink. The Parks Commission felt this was a good idea. 9. Park Maintenance. Adam Hawkinson submittcd a list of work that the Parks Department had completed. Fran Fair hrought up the planters at East Bridge Park and the difficulty the gardeners are having trying to tind pots that would work. Shc also suggested that the City get a few more tables for East Bridge Park. Adam Hawkinson statcd since they have added parks to the system, the City needs to purchase additional tables. Added Items: Drinking Fountain: Adam Hawkins suggested that drinking fountains be installed at some of the parks such as Pioneer Park, etc. He estimated the cost of a drinking fountain at between $300-$500. The Parks Commission expressed some surprise that these puhlic facilities did not have a drinking fi)untains and indicated if the funds were available the stafl should proceed with installing the fountains. Park Signs: At earlier meetings the Parks Commission discussed signs for the East and West Bridge Park and Parwest Park but had not authorized the signs. The lowest price received was $650/sign. The Parks Commission felt instead of a design, they would prefer that the signs have the Monticello logo instead. FRAN FAIR MOVED TO HA VE STAFF PROCEED WITII PURCHASE AND INSTALLATION OF THE SIGNS fOR EAST AND WEST BRIDGE PARK AND PARWEST PARK. BEN HlrrER SECONDED 'fl-IE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. Adam Hawkinson statcd that when the signs are delivered a committee will be set up to decide where they should be placed. Fran Fair mentioned that the East Bridge Park Gardeners will he getting funds from Prudential that arc specified to be used in East Bridge Park. Fran Fair stated they would use it for replacement plants. There was some discussion on how that type of grant or donation needed to be handled as far as financial reeordkeeping. Staff will check with the Finance Department and Rick Wolfsteller to see what they would recommend. 4 . . . Park Commission Minutes - 6/23/05 Wright County Anniversary: Tom Perrault noted that Saturday, June 25th Wright County was celebrating thcir 150th anniversary trom 10 a.m.-4 p.m. at thc Ilistorical Society. Fran Fair informcd thc Parks Commission that East Bridge Park was not going to be included in the Horticultural Socicty Tour. 11. Adjourn. RICK TRAVER MOVED TO ADJOURN AT 6 P.M. NANCY MCCAFFREY SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. \)~ ~~~ Recording Secretary '" 5