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Parks, Trails & Recreation Committee Meeting Minutes May 21, 2013 <br />Page 3 <br /> <br /> <br />Olson indicated they will have removable boards at both ends of the rink, but the north <br />end by the sign is where Public Works would do the flooding. Discussion ensued on <br />whether or not to keep the fencing that is currently in place. Ms. Larson indicated if they <br />did not have a dog park they would not need the parking lot this big. Ms. Olson <br />disagreed because during the winter there are always issues with the parking lot and it is <br />very busy. Committee Member Peck felt the committee should look at having the <br />parking lot run north/south which would make the lot longer and it would be right next to <br />the hockey rink. Ms. Olson indicated she would have the City engineer look at Mr. <br />Peck’s idea of making the parking lot longer and running north and south. Ms. Olson <br />stated that if the committee wanted to go forward with the enhancements, it should be put <br />into the CIP and then would need to go to Council for approval before it goes to <br />construction. <br /> <br />MOTION: <br /> Committee Member Peck motioned to place the enhancements in the CIP <br /> seconded by Committee Member Garretson. The motion carried <br /> unanimously (9-0). <br /> <br />C. Off-Leash Dog Proposal <br /> <br />Ms. Olson handed out a draft proposal that the subcommittee put together which she <br />hopes can be brought to Council sometime in September. She stated the subcommittee <br />feels parks containing hockey rinks should be looked at first and are looking at Freeway <br />Park and Hazelnut Park. Other sites that have been discussed for future off-leash dog <br />sites are Parkshore Drive and City Hall. Staff contacted the League of Minnesota Cities <br />regarding liability and there does not seem to be liability issues. The subcommittee also <br />discussed rules, what information should be posted on the signs and the season and hours <br />of operation. She would like the committee to review and comment on the proposal and <br />be prepared to discuss at a future meeting. Committee Member Peck indicated he called <br />some of the surrounding cities in order to get input, mainly focusing on the hockey rink <br />dog parks. Since the hockey rink off-leash dog parks are smaller, it is difficult to have a <br />separate area for big dogs and small dogs. Another thing that was discussed was <br />providing bags; however, cities found they were spending a lot of money providing the <br />bags and the majority of the cities have gone away from them because if they run out of <br />the bags, it causes issues. Ms. Olson pointed out the Shoreview model which has a bench <br />in the hockey rink and a chain link fence to close it up. Shoreview also provides bags <br />and has a disposal place that gets picked up a couple times a week. They have a sign <br />with the rules and their season is from May to November. Ms. Olson indicated that <br />Arden Hills’ signs could say that dogs need to be vaccinated and licensed. Staff found <br />that the cities were very positive about the off-leash dog parks that that they are heavily <br />used. Also what they found is there is very little cost in maintaining the hockey rink <br />parks. <br /> <br />Committee Member Trites felt they should either keep the fence for liability/safety issues <br />since it is a heavily used traffic spot or they should have double doors on the rink. Ms. <br />Olson indicated she can bring this to the subcommittee but that other cities who tried the <br />