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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-24-13 PTRC Minutes CITY OF ARDEN HILLS PARKS, TRAILS AND RECREATION COMMITTEE MEETING TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2013 ARDEN HILLS CITY HALL CALL MEETING TO ORDER Chair O’Malley called the September 24, 2013, meeting of the Parks, Trails, and Recreation Committee to order at 6:30 p.m. MEMBERS PRESENT: Chair O’Malley, Committee Members Phil Kramlinger, Jane Larson, Don Messerly, Chuck Michaelson, Harold Petersen, Steve Scott, John Van Valkenburg and Cindy Garretson (arrived at 6:38 p.m.). OTHERS PRESENT: Parks and Recreation Manager Michelle Olson, Council Liaison Fran Holmes and guest Chuck Kachel. ABSENT: Committee Members John Peck (excused), Matt Trites (excused) and Rich Straumann (excused). 1. APPROVAL OF AGENDA MOTION: Committee Member Michaelson motioned to approve the agenda seconded by Committee Member Petersen. The motion carried unanimously (8-0). 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES – June 18 , 2013 Committee Kramlinger indicated his name should be listed as being present for the June 18, 2013, meeting minutes. MOTION: Committee Member Scott motioned to approve the June 18, 2013, minutes as amended, seconded by Committee Member Kramlinger. The motion carried unanimously (8-0). 3. UNFINISHED BUSINESS A. Park Tour Evaluation Results Ms. Olson provided the committee members with a corrected version of the Sampson Park Evaluation since the copy in the packet was incomplete. She indicated that Committee Member Trites was not able to attend the meeting but had forwarded some comments. Ms. Olson suggested they review the evaluations and if there is a consensus that something is of concern they could discuss. She mentioned the larger projects would need to go through Council, but the smaller ones could be put on a list for Public Works to take care of. Parks, Trails & Recreation Committee Meeting Minutes September 24, 2013 Page 2 Ms. Olson indicated that Public Works is removing the gates at Floral, Cummings and Hazelnut Park and that this should be done by the end of this fall. She also noted that there was a comment about the need to spray paint the basketball backboards at Cummings and she will look at that for next spring. Ms. Holmes indicated there was a comment about Cummings Park being hard to find. Ms. Olson indicated there is a sign on Lexington and one on County Road F. The signs have the Arden Hills logo, the name of the park, and an arrow pointing to the park. She mentioned that staff did change the address of the park to 1219 Cummings Park Drive so that anyone using a GPS will be directed to the park and not to Wyncrest Drive, which is what was happening before the address was changed. Chair O’Malley informed that she weeded the perennial garden at Floral Park towards the end of the summer. Some neighbors stopped and they all indicated they love the gardens but realize they are a lot of work. One woman mentioned the PTRC should ask the neighbors to come and help weed. Ms. O’Malley indicated she felt this was a good idea. Ms. Olson indicated staff did have an adopt a garden program, but did not get much response. Ms. O’Malley suggested putting this back on the agenda in the spring and she would be willing to work with the neighbors to see if anyone would be interested in helping weed. Ms. O’Malley indicated that a resident felt there should be a backboard on the tennis court. Ms. Olson indicated there was a backboard but it was removed because of maintenance issues. She indicated she would check with Public Works to see what options there are. Ms. Olson reported that residents have had requests for pickleball lines on tennis courts. She indicated that staff are considering adding pickleball lines on the tennis courts at Cummings Park next spring since it would not be a substantial expense. Ms. Holmes mentioned the hockey boards at Freeway Park need painting. Ms. Olson indicated the Army was going to do that this summer with their service project but it rained. It was suggested the committee do the painting instead of doing the buckthorn removal and see if Bethel would be interested in helping since they use the hockey rink a lot. Ms. Olson indicated she would ask Bethel if they would be interested in helping and will have Public Works power wash before the committee paints. Ms. Olson reported that the section of trail leading from the parking lot to the play structure at Hazelnut Park had been redone and that the tennis court and mulch were also redone. Ms. O’Malley pointed out that there were many comments about the stump at Ingerson Park at the bottom of the hill. Ms. Olson indicated this will be taken care of at the end of the year when they do the other stump removals. Ms. Olson informed that Committee Member Trites felt that Lindey’s Park would be a good candidate for a dog park. She researched this as the land was dedicated to the City as parks and open space, but the City does not have title to the property. When Parks, Trails & Recreation Committee Meeting Minutes September 24, 2013 Page 3 discussing with the attorney he indicated the City could not utilize it in any way except parks open space. He felt prairie restoration would fit that use but that a dog park may be considered an active use. Charles Kachel indicated he would like to see a backstop back at Lindey’s Park. Ms. Olson indicated she would check into the cost of a new backstop and see if it would be cost-effective. Ms. Olson indicated that Committee Member Trites suggested that brush be cut back and maintained at the Perry Park exit for better visibility due to all the pedestrian traffic occurring between the park and Tony Schmidt on New Brighton Road. Ms. Olson indicated she would look into the brush situation. Committee Member Petersen indicated he feels the crosswalk that is on Snelling up by Royal Hills Drive should be striped down by the stop sign on McClung. He talked to several people and they all cross at the stop sign not at the crosswalk on Royal Hills Drive because there is no sidewalk there. Ms. Olson indicated she will discuss this with Public Works Director Maurer. It was the consensus of the committee that Valentine Park looks great and is highly utilized. B. Off Leash Dog Area Report Review and Recommendation Committee Member Petersen informed that the subcommittee completed a final draft for the PTRC to review and that the subcommittee is recommending Hazelnut Park for an off-leash dog park and will be proposing this to Council. Committee Member Michaelson reported that he had his wife do a run-through with her walker and she found the park to be handicap accessible. The subcommittee is also recommending providing a staging area and is recommending not providing bags. The PTRC reviewed the proposal submitted by the subcommittee and it was decided that under Suggested Rules #6 and #8 be switched and that the wording be changed to “children must be supervised” instead of “it is recommended they be supervised.” Committee Member Michaelson will be presenting the proposal to Council on Monday, October 21, joined by Committee Members Petersen and Messerly. MOTION: Committee Member Petersen motioned to bring the proposal to Council with the changes recommended, seconded by Chair O’Malley. The motion carried unanimously (9-0). Parks, Trails & Recreation Committee Meeting Minutes September 24, 2013 Page 4 C. Lindey’s Park Restoration Committee Member Messerly researched the possibility of restoring Lindey’s Park to native landscape. He indicated he did not think there was a lot that could be done yet this fall but he did get two proposals, one from Prairie Restoration and one from Minnesota Native Landscapes. Ms. O’Malley questioned which acreage was the correct acreage since they were different on each proposal. Mr. Messerly indicated he would get them to come back and remeasure. It was the consensus of the committee that Committee Member Messerly get the two proposals updated and get the correct acreage before proposing to Council next spring. Ms. Olson asked if they should get some input from the residents. Mr. Messerly indicated he would go around the neighborhood and get input which he will also include in the proposal and attempts to have the proposal finalized for the January PTRC meeting for review. C. Other Unfinished Business None 4. NEW BUSINESS A. Buckthorn Removal/Clean-Up Day Discussion ensued on whether the committee was in favor of doing buckthorn removal or having a cleanup day and it was the consensus the committee do the hockey board painting at Freeway instead of the buckthorn removal. The committee felt it best to first contact professionals or other cities to see what they are doing with the buckthorn. Ms. Olson indicated that Roseville received a DNR legacy grant for a restoration project they had and that Arden Hills could do the same if they could find some kind of funding source for it. She stated they would need to bring in a consultant to write the grant if going forward with this. Committee Member Larson indicated she would make a report at the November meeting on what Roseville did. Ms. Olson stated she had a copy of the grant and would forward it to Ms. Larson. The committee decided on October 26, between 11:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m., to do the painting of the Freeway hockey boards and that Bethel be invited to help. B. Tennis Backboard at Floral Park The item was already discussed and the staff will look into the possibility of adding a backboard this coming spring. Parks, Trails & Recreation Committee Meeting Minutes September 24, 2013 Page 5 C. Other New Business Committee Member Messerly indicated the City should check into the railroad bridge on Old Hwy 8 that feeds from Long Lake Regional Park across the freeway to the arsenal and this could be the last chance for a connection between Arden Hills and New Brighton. Ms. Olson indicated she would mention this to Community Development Director Jill Hutmacher. Committee Member Kramlinger indicated he is frustrated with the poor safety along Old Hwy 10 and other areas that do not have safe connections. He would like to start a subcommittee to see where those problem areas are and see if there are any low cost ideas for improving safety which might include restriping that street in order to make a walkway. Committee Member Larson mentioned she informed Ramsey County Commissioner Huffman about the safety issues on Hamline at the Night to Unite. Ms. Olson indicated that staff has explored restriping Old Highway 10 and she did talk to the County about it and they will not do restriping unless they are doing an actual resurfacing or a road improvement project. She indicated she will talk to Jim Tolaas and see if there are any plans to resurface in the near future. Committee Members Garretson and Van Valkenburg indicated they would be interested being on a subcommittee with Committee Member Kramlinger if one is formed. 5. REPORTS A.City Council Report Council Liaison Holmes stated that trail safety is a high Council priority. Ms. Holmes reported that the triangle parcel has been completed and that a gateway sign has been placed there and that another will also be placed at E2 and Cleveland by the 35W exit. Ms. Holmes reported that Bethel is looking at buying the Country Financial building. At this time the sale is still under consideration but Council has given Bethel approval to lease 26,000 sq. ft of the building. The main issues are tax dollars and travel between the campuses since the closest way is to cross the railroad tracks which Bethel does not want. Council Liaison Holmes informed that the old Holiday Inn is now the Eastwood Flats and that about 1/3 of it is has been rented to various college students. Ms. Holmes reported that there is some talk of a Goodwill Store being built on the property east of the E Street flats and asked the committee on their feedback. It was felt that traffic would be an issue and that a coffee shop or some type of community gathering establishment would be nice at that location. Parks, Trails & Recreation Committee Meeting Minutes September 24, 2013 Page 6 Council Liaison Holmes informed that Council and staff are working on the budget. Ms. Holmes indicated that Council approved a lighted sign for Brausens and also lighted decals at Walgreens along County Road E. Ms. Holmes informed that staff held a State of the City meeting on September 12 and a TCAAP Open House on September 17. Ms. Holmes mentioned that an Arden Hills Foundation has been established. This is a great opportunity for businesses and residents to donate benches, etc., and receive a tax deduction. She indicated there also has been talk about starting an Angel Fund. B.Public Works/Parks & Recreation Report Ms. Olson reiterated that Public Works is working on removal of the gates at Hazelnut, Floral and Cummings Park. Ms. Olson informed that several of the trail segments are being reconstructed (the trail segment from Floral to Cummings going across Hamline, a segment from Perry Park up to the pavilion and also the Hazelnut segment). Ms. Olson stated that work is being done at Johanna Marsh which includes some trimming around the tennis court. Ms. Olson also mentioned that she will be at a Parks Conference the rest of the week. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Committee Member Petersen moved to adjourn the meeting at 8:22 p.m., seconded by Committee Member Garretson. The motion carried unanimously (9-0). NEXT MEETING The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, October 15, 2013 at 6:30 p.m.