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Parks Commission Minutes 07-25-2013PARKS COMMISSION MINUTES I July 25, 2013 MINUTES PARKS COMMISSION THURSDAY JULY 259 2013 - 8 A.M. "To enhance community pride through developing and maintaining Cityparks with a high standard of quality. " Members Present: Nancy McCaffrey, Tim Stalpes, Alan Heidemann, Jack Gregor Members Absent: Larry Nolan Others Present: Tom Pawelk, Park Superintendent Angela Schumann, Community Development Director 1. Call to Order. Vice -Chair Nancy McCaffrey called the meeting to order and declared a quorum present. 2. Approve Minutes of the May 23, 2013 Parks Commission Meeting. ALAN HEIDEMANN MOVED TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF THE REGULAR PARKS COMMISSION MEETING ON MAY 23, 2013. MOTION SECONDED BY TIM STALPES. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY 4 -0. 3. Consideration of adding items to the agenda. A. Trailhead Project. Tom Pawelk said the final paved trail was put down yesterday so the project now has 100% blacktop on the paths. All of the signs are up as well. Park staff has to do a little bit of concrete work at the trailhead and put in the waste receptacles and there are a few areas to be hydro- seeded yet. Tom said he is working with an electrical contractor to get lighting in the box culvert; more lighting is always a good thing to deter vandalism. B. Fishing Pier. Tom Pawelk said the park staff got the fishing pier installed at the BCOL Regional Park on Long Lake. Tom said they were working on it, broke away to go to lunch and when they went back out to finish there were already a half dozen kids fishing on the pier and another 20 kids standing in the lake fishing! Page 1 of 5 PARKS COMMISSION MINUTES I July 25, 2013 4. Citizens requests and comments. Addition of ADA swing at Rolling Woods Park. Tom Pawelk said a resident called in from the Carlisle/Wildwood area requesting the City to put in a handicap accessible ADA swing for a larger child/adult in the Rolling Woods Park. Tom said the park currently has a handicap/baby swing but her child has outgrown that swing. Tom distributed the quote options for the swings. Tom is looking for approval to go ahead and make the necessary adjustments to the play structure. Tom said they will use a green and yellow material that matches the color scheme. Tom said there is a lot of vandalism in this particular park but the residents are working together out there to keep an eye on the park. Tom said upon approval it will take approximately 4 weeks to installation. TIM STALPES MOVED TO APPROVE THE PURCHASE OF THE ADA HANDICAP ACCESSIBLE SWING SEAT FROM MIDWEST PLAYSCAPES, INC. MOTION SECONDED BY ALAN HEIDEMANN. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY 4 -0. Further discussions about upgrading the Rolling Woods Park to link it to the three developments of Carlisle Village, Wildwood Ridge and Rolling Woods as their joint neighborhood park. Angela Schumann said at the Walk -n -Roll, residents from the Carlisle Village Development stated they want their own park. Angela said they explained that the Rolling Woods Park is the park for that development and now they need to encourage those residents to adopt the park and make it their own. Angela said there is a sidewalk connection missing as there was a wetland owned by another entity but now that is bank owned so they may be able to complete that sidewalk connection to the park. Tom Pawelk said that lighting helps with vandalism and currently there is just a street light out there so we may need to look at better lighting out there. Tom said if the demographics show that we need to change the play structure age groups there then we still have time with the 2014 budget process to work that in. Nancy McCaffrey asked about holding a neighborhood meeting to gain interest and awareness for the park and Tom suggested sending out a survey and maybe doing a survey link on Facebook. Angela said that she will check into that. Jack Gregor said they hold an annual block party in Carlisle Village that's coming up fairly soon so maybe they could tie into that. Angela said the she will contact the block party coordinator. Angela said that when we do the survey we need to be clear that this is not adding a new park but upgrading the existing park and how we can improve connections and facilities in the park. Tom said the council is not opposed to having neighborhood parks, just not one in each development but where developments link together having a joint park. Nancy said we should respond to the needs of the residents. Jack asked about residents helping to fund the improvements. Tom said donations are always accepted and Angela said that the neighborhood association could essentially adopt the park. Tom said that may persuade the council as well if the residents are showing they care, there's a need, etc. Nancy said that should be an option on the survey. Staff will get further background information and details and report back at the next Parks Commission Meeting. Page 2 of 5 PARKS COMMISSION MINUTES I July 25, 2013 5. Joint meeting at Monte Club Hill with City Council 8 -12 -13 at 5 p.m. Tom Pawelk said the City Council wants to meet with the Parks Commission on site at the Monte Club Hill. They want to tour the site and discuss the use of the space. Tom said this is a great opportunity for the Parks Commission to get their voices heard and propose to change the zoning for this area to be preserved as park land. Meet at the old Monte Club parking lot at 5 o'clock. 6. Update on book booth at West Bridge Park. Tom Pawelk said that the book booth was installed in West Bridge Park and it is going over very well. He said it's really neat to see kids down there playing and reading books. Nancy McCaffrey asked about donating books and Tom said that anyone can put books in the booth. Tom said that Alicen Gorecki (the book booth designer) is policing the book booth to make sure the books in there are appropriate. Nancy asked about a formal thank you or a news article for public recognition and Angela Schumann said that she will tip off Tim Hennagir from The Times to contact Alicen. Tom said the booths are very popular and the city of Otsego now had eight book booths throughout their parks. 7. Review and discussion of replacing River Mill playground structure. Tom Pawelk said that River Mill playground is 16 years old and the main play structure has rot and decay. It is a Little Tykes brand play structure that is all faded out; it's not our typical Monticello Park play structure and hasn't been held to that higher standard. Tom said with the rotten stuff we can't get parts for it and we can't make alterations because if we do then the City would be liable. Tom said in his opinion the best thing to do is to get rid of it and start over. Tom said there are a few pieces of the existing structure that can possibly be repurposed throughout our park system in other areas, including the rock climbing wall, swings and the slide. Tom distributed the new layout plan from Midwest Playscapes which will allow for a combined play area all into one large egg shape with sidewalk surrounding the area and joining in picnic shelter and bench areas. This design is more cohesive with the park plan and allows for safer family play with being closer together to watch the children. Tom said the new design is very similar to what was put in at Hillcrest Park. This design has a smaller play area for ages 2 -5 and a larger main area for ages 5 -12. The play structure and installation will cost approximately $65,000 and Tom said that he has placed that number in the budget. The sidewalk area would be completed by city crews in order to maintain a lower budget. Tom asked for input from the Parks Commission members on their thoughts on the playground. Parks Commission agreed that this is a fully built area that needs the playground. Angela Schumann said that she will get a lot count and the year built on the houses for Tom so he has that information for Council to show the need. Tom said that in the coming years they will have many more smaller parks needing to be replaced or updated as many are nearing their life span. This playground plan from Midwest Playscapes is a 20 -25 year structure. Parks Commission members liked the Page 3 of 5 PARKS COMMISSION MINUTES I July 25, 2013 layout of the new design and agreed that it is important to maintain this feature for the residents of the River Mill development. Tom said it helps with the budgeting process to have the support of the Parks Commission when making these types of requests. 8. Review Brew Fest site plan. Tom Pawelk said that last year was the first annual Brew Fest at West Bridge Park and it was a very successful event. Tom distributed a map of the layout for this year's event which is slightly larger than last year. The park will be shut down for the day for this event which is put on by the Lion's Club. The event is on August 17th from 3 -7 p.m. Attendees must be 21+ with a valid photo ID to purchase tickets and enter the event. The Lion's will handle all security for the event. All beer stays on the premises. Beer, music and local food is available for purchase at the event. Tom said this is a Lion's run event and they retain the proceeds of the event but then they give back to the city parks throughout the year. Tom said it's two days of City staff work for setup /take down but it's a big give -back to the city and a great well attended event. ALAN HEIDEMANN MOVED TO APPROVE THE SITE PLAN FOR THE 2013 LION'S BREWFEST. MOTION SECONDED BY TIM STALPES. MOTION 9. Discussion of Park and Pathway budget improvements scheduled for 2014. Tom Pawelk said he placed $50,000 in the Park/Pathway Improvement Fund for the 2014 Budget to microseal some of the pathways. Tom said the blacktop surface starts to pit and break down and the asphalt needs oil to continue to be to be UV and resistant to the elements. Tom said they will be focusing on the areas needing repair and will hope to get the west pathway completed and put more money into Groveland next year. Tom said every city is in the same boat where they put in pathways and forgot about maintenance. Tom said Monticello's program started five years ago with crack sealing/fog sealing. Seven years ago we did a microseal as a test in certain areas; it was a new product back then and we were testing it to see how it reacted to the snow plows. Tom said it is a durable product and he is excited to get going with it. It's a very important piece in maintaining the infrastructure that is expensive but necessary. Tom said we have a pathway inventory system where every pathway has a tag on our records and when we do the inspections all the documentation goes into the database and identifies which pathways are the worst. Some of the pathways are a total rehab and past the point of microseal. 10. Next meeting scheduled for September 26, 2013. The Next regular Parks Commission Meeting is scheduled for Thursday, September 26, 2013 at 8 a.m. in the Public Works conference room. Page 4 of 5 PARKS COMMISSION MINUTES I July 25, 2013 11. Adjourn. TIM STALPES MOVED TO ADJOURN THE MEETING. MOTION SECONDED BY JACK GREGOR. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY 4 -0. RECORDED BY: 6�3eth &rem Administrative Assistant DATE APPROVED: 10 -17 -2013 ATTEST: Page 5 of 5