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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11-20-07 PTRC Minutes Approved: CITY OF ARDEN HILLS PARKS, TRAILS, AND RECREATION COMMITTEE MEETING TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2007; 6:30 P.M. ARDEN HILLS CITY HALL 1. CALL TO ORDER Chair Henry called the November 20, 2007 meeting of the Parks, Trails and Recreation Committee to order at 6:33 p.m. MEMBERS PRESENT: Committee Chair Bill Henry; Committee Members, John Peck, Lanny Baumann, Steve Zilmer, Joani Werner, and Rich Straumann. OTHERS PRESENT: Fran Holmes, Council Liaison; Michelle Olson, Parks and Recreation Manager; Meagan Beekman, Assistant Planner. Kris O’Brien and Katy Chayka were present until 7:30 p.m. MEMBERS NOT PRESENT : Jim Crassweller, Roger Williams 2. APPROVAL OF AGENDA: MOTION: Committee Chair Henry suggested that instead of having the City Comprehensive Update it should read the City Comprehensive Plan. He then motioned to approve the agenda as presented. The motion carried unanimously. 3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES – October 23, 2007 MOTION: Chair Henry stated there was one correction to add the word “removed” at the end of the 4th paragraph under Item #7. Committee Member Straumann motioned for approval of the minutes of the October 23 meeting, with changes. Committee Member Zilmer seconded. The motion carried. 4. MINNESOTA MASTER NATURALIST PROGRAM (DNR) – Kris O’Brien Chair Henry stated he asked the Master Naturalists to come and tell about what they are doing as Master Naturalists because he feels it has relevance for what we do in the City and in particular for the PTRC. He also stated he would like to have a discussion about Item 5, which is a discussion on how to decide how much buckthorn to take out of the wild. The reason for the discussion is, because of the large amount of buckthorn, if they are going to have buckthorn removal days, and how removal within the City should be prioritized. Ms. Chayka and Ms. O’Brien briefly described the Master Naturalist Program. They then passed out information from Minnetonka Public Works and mentioned that Janet Larson has a good program on trying to suppress buckthorn. They indicated they need to try to go in and get the female buckthorn out and that will give them time to work with the males. The reason they chose Floral Park for their project is it had been cleared last fall and the buckthorn is at manageable levels. Ms. Chayka stated there would have to be some sort of commitment to Buckthorn removal since doing this just one weekend will not help. She felt as long as there was someone to guide volunteers that would be good and they could get a lot done even if they were only occasional helpers. PARKS, TRAILS AND RECREATION COMMITTEE MEETING November 20, 2007 Page 2 5. BUCKTHORN CRITERIA DISCUSSION Discussion ensued on how to eradicate the buckthorn and possibly applying a herbicide or using Garlon 4 which can be painted on the buckthorn. Chair Henry asked Ms. O’Brien and Ms. Chayka for suggestions on what the PTRC do in terms of eradicating buckthorn from the park and where they should focus their efforts. Ms. O’Brien suggested first getting rid of the females with the berries by cutting them when the sap is falling. She stated they may have to be cut twice to stop the berries. She stated they could look into addressing buckthorn removal on a large scale and get back with the information. Chair Henry asked if possibly residents along the park could learn enough about how to do this and could work on it in an afternoon? Ms. Chayka stated if the residents along the park are interested in doing this they would encourage that. Committee Member Baumann agreed that they needed to get the community involved and get sponsors for each park. Ms. O’Brien also mentioned that residents need to remove it from their own yards and needed to get further education on buckthorn. Ms. Olson said there is an ordinance to remove buckthorn but this is very difficult to enforce. Ms. O’Brien mentioned that Janet Larson talks about taking a micro-managed approach to the removal where one person cuts, one person pulls and one paints. She also gave a handout from the City of Minnetonka on the Natural Resource Stewards Program. 6. TREE PRESERVATION ORDINANCE DISCUSSION – Meagan Beekman Ms. Beekman indicated the City Council had directed staff to look into drafting a Tree Preservation Ordinance and goals have been discussed on what the ordinance should accomplish. She did some research and found that some ordinances are very simple and others more complex whereby they state what trees can be cut, what ones have to be replaced, how large, what species, and so forth. The next step is to draft an actual ordinance and then have another work session where they present that drafted ordinance and move forward from there. She indicated the first yellow packet shows what the city of Arden Hills currently has on requirements for the tree preservation and she also provided a copy of the tree preservation ordinance that the City of Minnetonka is working on. Chair Henry asked if they could specify species that they would like to get rid of. Ms. Beekman confirmed they could specify that. She also indicated that in the current ordinance it states residents should be removing their buckthorn and feels that is something that needs to be strengthened and reworked to make it more enforceable. Discussion continued on who determines what an invasive species is. Chair Henry indicated that the ordinance should not just be a tree preservation ordinance but a tree ordinance stating both what the City wants to encourage and discourage. Ms. Beekman agreed that was true to a certain extent. She indicated there are two ordinances that encompass trees - the landscaping ordinance and tree preservation ordinance. She stated they work very closely together and the way the tree preservation ordinance is enforced is through the landscaping requirements. She stated a developer is required to plant certain types and amounts of trees and shrubbery. She indicated this was only for new projects and would encompass all new developments that require a building permit. She stated in any PARKS, TRAILS AND RECREATION COMMITTEE MEETING November 20, 2007 Page 3 instance where a building is having its footprint increased they would be required to submit a tree survey indicating species, size and number of all the trees on the lot that would be impacted by the project. What they are looking at is replacing trees per caliper. Discussion regarding the Minnetonka Ordinance and the goal of the ordinance was ensued. There was discussion on what triggered having the tree preservation ordinance. Ms. Beekman stated that if anyone has any questions when reviewing the Minnetonka Ordinance to let her know. Chair Henry indicated he believes it is an important thing to have. He indicated he did not like the bullet under Incentives that states, “a protected woodlot could be dedicated to the city in lieu of park dedication requirements.” He stated that it is important to be cautious about offering creative alternatives to Park Dedication Requirements. Ms. Beekman mentioned she would like to include something about overplanting and how far trees need to be planted from the foundation. She suggested the City could set up a fund where a developer, if running out of room to plant trees, could instead pay the cash value of the trees to the fund and the City could use that money for tree preservation elsewhere in the city. Chair Henry indicated he thinks that is a dangerous precedent. He states his preference would be not to allow that. COMPREHENSIVE UPDATE – James Lehnhoff Ms. Olson indicated Mr. Lehnhoff wanted to make sure everyone was okay with the Comprehensive Plan and if there were any comments or changes that anyone wanted to make they could e-mail him regarding anything he had presented to the group so far. The Committee had no comments. 8. CITY COUNCIL UPDATE – Fran Holmes Councilmember Holmes gave an update on the highlights of the last three meetings they had with the City Council.  They adopted the resolution for the Safe Routes to School Plan. She stated they approved the Northwestern College planning unit development update that would provide for realignment of the main road, the new parking garage and student life center.  They denied the request to continue the long-term lease on the Sheehy Park tennis court and made the decision to designate it as a public park.  At the November 13 Council Meeting they talked in more detail about Arden Plaza and the issues brought up by the Planning Commission. The developer was there to hear what they had to say and they will be voting on the PUD plan at the November 26 meeting. Another thing that was talked about is whether the City wants to have a moratorium on building in the B2 district from now on and to come up with a plan.  At the November 19 work session they talked about the budget, the capital improvement plan, and the comprehensive pay plan.  They had discussion about possibly licensing rental property because a lot of people are complaining about the homes that are rented to students and all the vehicles.  They are looking at liquor license issues because of the no smoking in the bars. The state is looking at patios so people can take their drink on the patio and smoke.  There will be two meetings on December 6. The one at City Hall will be about the Glen Arden reconstruction on the east side of Old Snelling and the one at the public works facility will be a meeting for the old City Hall property. Anyone interested can attend either one. Committee Member Peck asked if the Sheehy Park tennis court would be reconstructed and if the sentiment of the Council essentially was that they did not want to have private parks in any of the neighborhoods. PARKS, TRAILS AND RECREATION COMMITTEE MEETING November 20, 2007 Page 4 Ms. Holmes indicated the park would be resurfaced. She stated it was a combination of the private park aspect and also that the association didn’t really honor the agreement to the fullest because they hadn’t paid the rent, there was no evidence that they obtained insurance and the tennis court was in bad condition and they were required to maintain it. She stated if they had, in good faith, maintained it as they should have Council may have reached a different conclusion. 9. TRAILS, PARKS AND RECREATION UPDATE – Michelle Olson Ms. Olson provided the following updates: th The Walkable Community Workshop was held on November 8 at Flaherty’s Bowl on County Road E. After the walk there was an open discussion on what improvements needed to be made. If anyone has additional comments they can submit them to Mr. Lehnhoff. Council Member Baumann felt it would be a good idea for someone to walk the route at night to confirm that the lighting spreads as far as it should.  City Administrator Wolfe has accepted a Deputy Administrator position in Colorado. Her last day in Arden Hills will be December 28.  The Safe Routes to School bid has been submitted. Updates to the plan have been to add two traffic calming speed signs and to also add a pedestrian crossing signal that Ramsey County will pay for. Ramsey County is very supportive of the proposal. They are working with the schools to try to come up with an “encouragement program” to get kids to walk to school. The school would have adult volunteers at the crossings and possibly to meet kids at Venus Avenue. They will not hear about this until late February and are hopeful that it will work out. Committee Member Werner suggested proposing a new committee to Council, a Senior Commission, which can help with economic development. Council Liaison Holmes agreed that was a good idea. Chair Henry mentioned he attended the Active Living Ramsey County Bicycle Committee Inaugural Meeting. They focus on the development of mapping a geographic information system and bicycling in Ramsey County. He mentioned they had less interest in dedicated trails for bicycles and more interest in on-street. 10. TRAIL MAP DISCUSSION – Michelle Olson Ms. Olson informed the committee that Roseville has been redoing the Arden Hills pathway and she has added any proposed trails and links she felt needed to be added and wanted the members to prioritize these as high, medium, or low. She felt they needed to redo their strategies and add an all encompassing list of parks. She listed out the connections and estimates and came up with 8 potential trails. Chair Henry felt they should designate trail segments 1-10 differently and call them high priority and call the others in the “to-add” category as low priority or secondary. Ms. Olson indicated she is not sure she has all trails listed under the “other” category and wanted to make sure that everything was listed. Discussion ensued on which trails should be priority and secondary. 11. NEXT MEETING The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, December 18, 2007. 12. ADJOURN MOTION: Council Member Werner moved and Council Member Straumann seconded. The meeting adjourned at 8:24 p.m. \\Metro-inet.us\ardenhills\Admin\Committees\Parks Trails and Recreation Committee\Minutes\2007\11-20-2007.doc