Parks Commission Minutes 08-19-1995! NUNUTES
l SPECIAL ZMETIPIG - PARKS COBOUSSION
Wednesday. August 0, - 4:80 p -m -
Parks Members Present: Chairman Bruce Thielen, Fren Fair,
Steve Andrews, Earl Smith
Parka Members Absent: Larry Nolan
City Council Members Present: Mayor Brad Fyle, Shirley Anderson,
Clint Herbst, Tom Perrault, Brian Stumpf
Planning Commission Present: Chairman Dick Frie, Richard Carlson,
Jon Bogart, Rod Dragsten
Planning Commission Absent: Dick Marge
1. Tour of the MIX Parks with QU V Planning Cnrnmififfinn anti ruty
staff.
Bruce Tbeilen stated that the purpose of the tour was to acquaint all the
Commissions with the present park system, pathway system and to talk
about park planning in the city. The Parka Commission had taken a tour
C already this mummer and found it very beneficial to actually look at each
park and evaluate the maintenance, equipment, and discuss future budget
items. Because of the three new developments currently under construction,
additional park land will also be developed in the near future. This will be
an ideal opportunity to evaluate what the current park inventory offers and
to expand in areas that need more attention. Because of the time limit not
all parks were included on the tour but the following is a summary of the
parks that the tour did include:
a. 4th Street Park - used extensively, girls softball uses this park as
their main field, the basketball court is busy, winter skating and
hockey
I. The layout of the new hockey rinks were discussed and the
possibilities of moving the lights to accommodate the rinks.
2. Dandeliontweed control will be a high priority for the parks
department. If better control cannot be achieved within the
existing budget, the Parks Commission will research the cost of
cost of hiring a company to spray for weeds in all the parks on a
( rotation bases, once every two to three years.
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2. Council was asked to come up with a name for the park- One of
the suggestions was a'Name That Park' contest in the city
newsletter.
I. Eastwood Knoll - future
C 1. The development will not have a park but will be connected to
the parks by pathways.
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Special Parka Commission Minutes - 08/09/95
C
3. Adding lines to the basketball court.
4. Curb and gutter was noted for appearance, drainage, and also
for keeping car cff the grass .
b.
Fallon Ave Park - has a small amount of playground equipment,
many commissioners were not aware of this neighborhood park,
1. Thera was a suggestion to add 'something" (basketball court)
that would add to the usage of the park.
C.
Mississippi Drive Park - Only a lot between houses.
1. No comments on how to improve this area.
d.
Future pathway- network to Ellison Park will be off of the west end
of Mississippi Drive.
f.
River Mull Park - future
1. Project under construction, just viewed the site and future
sliding hill. This will be a 1997 budget item.
g.
Battle Rapids Park - natural area along Mississippi River
1. It would be hard to develop this property because of the terrain.
It will be left as a natural area.
h.
Outlot A - future
1. This is a new park that is still under construction, area were
pointed out where the site of future/storage /concession/restroom
building, ball field layout, and parking areae might be located.
2. Council was asked to come up with a name for the park- One of
the suggestions was a'Name That Park' contest in the city
newsletter.
I. Eastwood Knoll - future
C 1. The development will not have a park but will be connected to
the parks by pathways.
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Special Parks Commission Minutes - 08/09195
CMeadow Oak Park - existing
1. The pathway through this development is in need of repairs.
2. Digging the pond deeper was discussed, this would help with
the water standing in the park and help with the stagnate
wags.
3. The pathway connection that would connect the Meadow Oak
Park Development to County Road 118 was pointed out. This
would be a pathway under the power linea.
k. Briar Oakes - future
1. The pathway that will connect Briar Oaks to Meadow Oak
development was shown at this stop.
1. Water tower site - existing
1. The site by the water tower on County Road 118/Jason Ave. was
a place the commissioners stopped and admired the view. This
could be a very scenic location for a picnic area, possibly a
community group (example: Lions) would be interested in
sponsoring development of a park at this location.
OL Cardinal EMIs Park • existing
1. Because this park is adjacent to the Little Mountain School
playground area it is primarily a picnic area. There is a
basketball court going to be installed in the future but there is
not room for many care to park.
n. School Boulevard - City street
1. The Parks Commission would like the current tree ordinance
reviewed. At the present time, trees cannot be planted by
private land owners in the boulevard Perhaps, the City could
start a program to plant trees in the boulevards. This will be
discussed further in the future.
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Special Parks Commission Minutes - 08M5
The Nk adows - drainage area
This is a very large area that is used for drainage. There cannot
ba much dans with it because it is a ponding area. A suggestion
was to dig it deeper so there was a pond there all the time, and
this would improve the appearance of the area. This was a good
example of land that should not be taken as park land.
Balboul and South Balhoul - existing
1. Most of this park area is for drainage. There is a swing set for
playground equipment and one outdoor grill. There are no
immediate plana for adding equipment. This is also an example
of land that should not have been taken for park land.
Pathway - under construction
There were many comments regarding the large number of
people already using the pathway. The completion date is still
set for the first of September.
Bruce Thielen, Parks Chairman, summarized the tour by stating he hoped
the Commissioners would continue working together in the future planning
of the park system. Thielen thanked everyone for taking the time for o
attend the tour and suggested this be an annual event.
Respectfully submitted,
Wanda Kraemer
Development Services Technician
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