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Parks Commission Minutes 03-18-1999MINUTES REGULAR MEETING - PARKS COMMISSION Thursday, March 18, 1999 - 4:30 p.m. Members: Larry Nolan, Earl Smith, Fran Fair, Rick Traver, Jennifer Fearing 1. Call to order. The meeting was called to order by Chairman Larry Nolan. 2. Approval of the minutes for the regular meeting on February 18, 1999. (J.0) The minutes were not available at this meeting. 3. Consideration of adding items to the agenda. Commissioner Smith added discussion on Bridge Park and update on park surveys. 4. Citizens requests Glen Nemec, representative for the soccer club, gave a short report on the growing number of children in soccer. There are over 600 participants in Monticello. The program has been able to meet the demands because of private business allowing the club to use space and use of the school fields. The use of the area on private property will only work as long as the business does not need the extra space for expansion. At the school there are many scheduling conflicts because of all the school sport needs also. Gregg Engle, Park Superintendent, stated the area on 7th Street would support two full size fields, two junior fields with a parking lot. There could be a possibility of three full size fields. Mr. Engle will review the site and report back to the Commission. The Commissioners were given a "draft" Council agenda item to review at the meeting. The Commissioners requested the item be taken off the Council agenda until after the next Park's Commission meeting in April. There were a few items such as lighting, amount of fields, and funding that need to be discussed further. A MOTION WAS MADE BY EARL SMITH TO REMOVE THE SOCCER ITEM FROM THE CITY COUNCIL MEETING UNTIL THE PARKS COMMISSION HAD MORE TIME TO REVIEW THE SITE. SECONDED BY RICK TRAVER. Motion Page 1 Parks Minutes - 3/18/1999 passed. 5. Garden Proiects A. Review of concept plan for the Chamber Gardens (Merchants/Master Gardeners) Connie Lonsbury, Master Gardener, presented a concept plan to the Parks Commission for the corner of Pine and Broadway, by the Chamber office. The Downtown Merchants had requested assistance with a garden design for this area. Ms. Lonsburgy gave a presentation that included: window boxes added to the Chamber office for flowers in the summer, boughs with lights in the winter, a variety of flowers on the west side which included the large boulders already there but added flowers in between the rocks, also a flower garden area around the flag pole and the sign, pavers on the area next to the sidewalk - (Due to the snow being piled in this area there is a large amount of salt which makes it difficult to grow anything in that area, a bench and planter by the side door, and 18' trellises on the west side in back of the flower garden. (Gregg Engle, Park Superintendent, stated the Park's Maintenance Department would build the trellises next winter.) Wanda Kraemer, Administration Assistant, stated the Chamber Director, Kitty Baltos was aware the plan might be more than the Parks Commission had intended for a garden project, however since the Master Gardeners were willing to do an entire plan it was decided to have a complete plan done and then phase in a portion each year. Ms. Kraemer added the intersection had been discussed at other meetings as a place for improvement. B. Review of the concept plan for Ellison Park (Girl Scouts/Master Gardeners) Sue and Jim Johnson, Master Gardeners, gave a presentation on a concept plan for a garden area in Ellison Park. The area would be on the south/west corner in front of the Ellison Park identification sign. There would be a variety of flowers to add color and interest to the garden. They estimated 20 to 25 Girl Scouts would be involved with the project. Gregg Engle, Park Superintendent, stated the Parks Department would till and add mulch to the area. It was discussed whether or not the irrigation system would reach the garden. Mr. Engle stated there were adjustments to the sprinkler heads that could be made after the garden was in and the exact area was known. The estimated cost at this time was around $800. The Parks Commission agreed that if the cost did not exceed this amount the Girl Scouts and Master Gardeners could work with staff and order the supplies. Page 2 Parks Minutes - 3/18/1999 6. Proi ect "Take Pride" Wanda Kraemer, Administrative Assistant, reported on the progress with Project "Take Pride. There will be two tree care workshops held in April. On Saturday, April 24t'', from 9 to noon residents would be picking up their tree orders at the Public Works building and Ms. Kraemer requested the assistance of the Parks Commission. At the April meeting this could be finalized. 7. Discussion on Maintenance Items. - Gree Gregg Engle, Park Superintendent, reported on maintenance items completed. The department had checked all of the boulevard trees that were planted last year. Each tree was pruned and the green ribbons were removed. There was a 95% success rate according to maintenance department. A procedure for dealing with Dutch Elm disease was completed, school for information on hazardous tree removal was attended, Mr. Engle met with all of the sports associations to understand their needs, a partnership with the school was being established - the City maintenance department would assist in the care of the fields and in turn the school fields could be used for non -school sport needs. Mr. Engle stated he had completed a calender of projects for April - August. He would have the schedule mailed to the Commissioners. 8. Updates: A. North Anchor Meeting Earl Smith and Rick Traver attended the subcommittee meeting for the North Anchor. They reported to the other Parks Commissioners that the idea of all the Commissions discussing the project will be very good. Each Commission views the project according to their focus. Mr. Smith and Mr. Traver explained by using the boundaries for the project as an example. The Commissions were not all in sync on this aspect. Mr. Smith and Mr. Traver had been concentrating more on the park area where the EDA was looking a a number of blocks on either side of the park. This will be one of the main topics at the next meeting, to establish the boundaries of the North Anchor. A tour of other river cities would be on April 9t'', 1999. B. Soccer Fields on 7t' Street Discussed under citizens comments Page 3 Parks Minutes - 3/18/1999 C. Walk & Roll Wanda Kraemer, Administrative Assistant, inquired whether the Commissioners would like to do the free throw basketball game by their booth for Walk & Roll. The Commissioners were interested in doing this again. The Parks Commission and Community Education would be sponsoring the 3 -on -3 basketball tournament also. 9. Added items A. River Mill Wanda Kraemer, Administrative Assistant and Gregg Engle, Park Superintendent reported they had completed a grant for the River Mill Park. The request to submit the grant application would be on the March 22, 1999 City Council agenda. If the request to submit the grant was approved, the grant would be mailed by March 31, 1999. A decision on which projects the grants are awarded to will not be until next summer. B. Surveys Commissioner Smith inquired as to how many park surveys had been completed. Gregg Engle, Park Superintendent, stated the surveys had been included in the budget and he was planning on completing the surveys this year. C. Bridge park Commissioner Smith stated he would like to make a few improvements to Bridge Park even though the major improvements would not be decided until the North Anchor subcommittee has completed their recommendations to the City Council. The Commissioners discussed this with Gregg Engle, Park Superintendent. A few areas that could be improved would be to fence the dumpster, remove the large boulders, and add posts to deter vehicles from driving up to the building. It was requested to add this items to the April Parks agenda for further discussion. 10. Adi ourn A motion was made by Fran Fair to adjourn the meeting seconded by Rick Traver. Wanda Kraemer, Administrative Assistant Page 4