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HomeMy WebLinkAbout05-21-13 PTRC Minutes CITY OF ARDEN HILLS PARKS, TRAILS AND RECREATION COMMITTEE MEETING TUESDAY, MAY 21, 2013 ARDEN HILLS CITY HALL CALL MEETING TO ORDER Chair O’Malley called the May 21, 2013, meeting of the Parks, Trails, and Recreation Committee to order at 6:32 p.m. MEMBERS PRESENT: Committee Chair Nancy O’Malley, Committee Members Cindy Garretson, Rich Straumann, John Peck, Jane Larson, Harold Petersen, Steve Scott, Matt Trites, and John Van Valkenburg. OTHERS PRESENT: Parks and Recreation Manager Michelle Olson and Council Liaison Fran Holmes. ABSENT: Committee Members Phil Kramlinger (excused), Don Messerly (excused) and Chuck Michaelson (excused). 1. APPROVAL OF AGENDA MOTION: Committee Member Garretson motioned to approve the agenda seconded by Committee Member Peck. The motion carried unanimously (9-0). 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES – April 16, 2013 MOTION: Committee Member Straumann motioned to approve the April 16, 2013, minutes as presented, seconded by Committee Member Garretson. The motion carried unanimously (9-0). 3. UNFINISHED BUSINESS A. Parks Survey Question Review Ms. Olson recapped that at the April meeting the committee put together a list of potential questions for the park survey. She was then directed by the committee to create a draft survey in Survey Monkey. Ms. Olson indicated she has attached the draft survey for the committee to review. Staff has tentatively allotted time at the Tuesday, May 28, meeting to look at the survey and discuss. Ms. Olson indicated that if the committee has any changes she will incorporate those into the survey so they are ready for the Council packet this week. Committee Member Peck asked if it was of interest to the committee to have a question as to why residents visit the parks they do regularly. Ms. Olson indicated that in addition Parks, Trails & Recreation Committee Meeting Minutes May 21, 2013 Page 2 to the question of what parks are visited regularly, they could have a question on what type of activities they participate in at the parks. Chair O’Malley asked that question #9 read “comments or suggestions” instead of just “comments.” Ms. Olson asked the committee if they wanted to send a postcard that gives the link to the survey or if they would prefer to simply put the link on the front page of the website. Discussion ensued and it was suggested the survey be placed in the newsletter. Committee Member Peck asked how many addresses would the mailing go to if they mailed a postcard. Ms. Olson indicated that the Recreation Guide is mailed to approximately 3,000 residents, but they could save money by sending it as a bulk mailing and it would probably be around $300. Chair O’Malley asked Council Liaison Holmes if she felt the Council would be in agreement with that and Ms. Holmes indicated it would depend on how important the Council thinks the survey is. She also mentioned that June 7 is the due date for the July th newsletter and if they had the meeting with Council on the 28, they could try to get the survey information in the July issue. MOTION: Committee Member Peck motioned to present the edited survey to Council for review, seconded by Committee Member Garretson. The motion carried unanimously (9-0). B. Freeway Park Enhancements Ms. Olson recapped that at the joint work session the committee presented to Council potential improvements to Freeway Park and Council was open to the idea. She indicated that she attached a diagram of the proposed improvements and also provided a summary of the improvements. Ms. Olson noted the item that has been discussed the most is whether they would be taking too much of the pleasure rink by increasing the size of the parking lot. She mentioned that one thing the committee should be aware of when getting into the off-leash dog proposal is that other cities have indicated they were surprised at how much parking is needed. Ms. Olson pointed out that when looking at the diagram, the pleasure rink isn’t going to be losing too much and they would want to account for parking if the committee really wants to have an off-leash dog park at that site. Committee Member Van Valkenburg indicated he called different cities regarding dog parks and that was one of the big issues, to make sure there is enough parking. He questioned if the parking lot was not more maintenance type work as opposed to improvements. Ms. Olson indicated she would not consider it maintenance because they would be adding curb and asphalt since it currently is gravel. Also, by adding the curb, this would give the division between the pleasure rink and the parking lot so you would not need a fence. It would also help with drainage and then they would have a rain garden by the sign. Ms. Olson mentioned one enhancement that wasn’t necessarily recommended, but is an option, is to paint the outside of the hockey rink green. The committee also felt having the Arden Hills logo stenciled on the outside of the rink would be a good idea since the rink is very visible. Another suggestion was to use green stain as opposed to green paint for the hockey rink. Committee Member Peck questioned if there were other materials, such as plastic, that could be used. Ms. Olson indicated that plastic was far too expensive. Discussion then ensued on the entrance to the rink. Ms. Parks, Trails & Recreation Committee Meeting Minutes May 21, 2013 Page 3 Olson indicated they will have removable boards at both ends of the rink, but the north end by the sign is where Public Works would do the flooding. Discussion ensued on whether or not to keep the fencing that is currently in place. Ms. Larson indicated if they did not have a dog park they would not need the parking lot this big. Ms. Olson disagreed because during the winter there are always issues with the parking lot and it is very busy. Committee Member Peck felt the committee should look at having the parking lot run north/south which would make the lot longer and it would be right next to the hockey rink. Ms. Olson indicated she would have the City engineer look at Mr. Peck’s idea of making the parking lot longer and running north and south. Ms. Olson stated that if the committee wanted to go forward with the enhancements, it should be put into the CIP and then would need to go to Council for approval before it goes to construction. MOTION: Committee Member Peck motioned to place the enhancements in the CIP seconded by Committee Member Garretson. The motion carried unanimously (9-0). C. Off-Leash Dog Proposal Ms. Olson handed out a draft proposal that the subcommittee put together which she hopes can be brought to Council sometime in September. She stated the subcommittee feels parks containing hockey rinks should be looked at first and are looking at Freeway Park and Hazelnut Park. Other sites that have been discussed for future off-leash dog sites are Parkshore Drive and City Hall. Staff contacted the League of Minnesota Cities regarding liability and there does not seem to be liability issues. The subcommittee also discussed rules, what information should be posted on the signs and the season and hours of operation. She would like the committee to review and comment on the proposal and be prepared to discuss at a future meeting. Committee Member Peck indicated he called some of the surrounding cities in order to get input, mainly focusing on the hockey rink dog parks. Since the hockey rink off-leash dog parks are smaller, it is difficult to have a separate area for big dogs and small dogs. Another thing that was discussed was providing bags; however, cities found they were spending a lot of money providing the bags and the majority of the cities have gone away from them because if they run out of the bags, it causes issues. Ms. Olson pointed out the Shoreview model which has a bench in the hockey rink and a chain link fence to close it up. Shoreview also provides bags and has a disposal place that gets picked up a couple times a week. They have a sign with the rules and their season is from May to November. Ms. Olson indicated that Arden Hills’ signs could say that dogs need to be vaccinated and licensed. Staff found that the cities were very positive about the off-leash dog parks that that they are heavily used. Also what they found is there is very little cost in maintaining the hockey rink parks. Committee Member Trites felt they should either keep the fence for liability/safety issues since it is a heavily used traffic spot or they should have double doors on the rink. Ms. Olson indicated she can bring this to the subcommittee but that other cities who tried the Parks, Trails & Recreation Committee Meeting Minutes May 21, 2013 Page 4 double doors found they did not work out and that they caused more mainteance issues. Committee Member Tites indicated he also feels that if they have to choose between a park, Hazelnut Park is much better for a dog park because of the parking, the road in front of the park is not heavily trafficked, and the hockey rink is down out of the way making it less of a liability issue. Ms. Olson stated that these are all good points and she will have the subcommittee look into it. D. Lindey’s Park Prairie Grass Chair O’Malley indicated she would provide a brief update on the Lindey’s Park prairie grass topic in Committee Member Messerly’s absence and that he will discuss this item further at the June meeting. She indicated they will not be doing the entire area only down in the bowl area of Lindey’s Park. Ms. O’Malley reported that Committee Member th Messerly did get two estimates, however, one estimate indicated 1/10 of an acre at $2,900 and the other estimate indicated the area was 2 acres and it would be $4,800. Mr. Messerly will research this to find out how many acres there actually are. Chair O’Malley indicated that Mr. Messerly was thinking about having blue stem and different flowering prairie grasses. The committee questioned which grass would be less maintenance, regular grass or prairie grass. Ms. Olson indicated regular grass would be more maintenance because of fertilizing and mowing. It was mentioned that the triangle down by Presbeytrian Homes might also be a good spot for prairie grass. Ms. Olson indicated if the committee is in favor of doing the prairie grass it can be brought to Council in a work session after Committee Member Messerly researches the exact area and cost. C. Other Unfinished Business None 4. NEW BUSINESS A. Capital Improvement Program Ms. Olson asked that the PTRC take a look at the Capital Improvement projects that are coming up. She stated there are a lot of maintenace items that occur regularly and are on a schedule and those are automatically put into the CIP. These include playground replacement, the trail rehab which includes yearly trail resurfacing, and the hard court rehab whereby 1 to 2 courts are resurfaced each year. Ms. Olson indicated items she has included for 2014 are the Freeway Park enhancements, fencing for Perry #3 which is needed for adult softball, the Valentine Park Pathway and Forestry Implementation to handle the arrival of Emerald Ash Borer. Ms. Olson noted that there will be Playground Structure Replacement scheduled almost every year starting in 2016. Perry Park is scheduled for 2016, Hazelnut in 2017 and Cummings in 2018 and they are all on a 20- year replacement. Ms. Olson stated projects that will be considered for the CIP that need to be discussed with Council are the Mounds View High School Trail Connection, the Parks, Trails & Recreation Committee Meeting Minutes May 21, 2013 Page 5 County Road E Trail, and also Hwy 96 north since there will be a gap between new Hwy 96 and Hamline Avenue. She indicated the issue with these three trails is there is no funding identified so that is why they are in a discussion mode. Ms. Olson invited the committee to come to the CIP work sessions which are usually in June and July. Discussion ensued on the three projects and it was felt the Mounds View High School Trail Connection would be a high priority because of safety and then second would be the County Road E Trail. MOTION: Committee Member Peck motioned to propose to the City Council that the Mounds View High School Trail Connection and the County Road E Trail be considered for the CIP in the near future, seconded by Committee Member Garretson. The motion carried unanimously (9-0). B. Other New Business None 5. REPORTS A.City Council Report Council Liaison Holmes reported that progress has been made with the Valentine Park project and staff has tentatively set Tuesday, July 16, as the date for the community gathering. Ms. Holmes indicated that Ramsey County had a TCAAP Open House on May 7th and that it was very well attended. Council Liaison Holmes indicated that they are starting the road construction in the Ridgewood area by Northwestern College. B.Public Works/Parks & Recreation Report Ms. Olson reported that the Army National Guard contacted the City about doing a community project this summer. They will be painting all of the City’s warming houses and pavilions on Sunday, June 9th. Ms. Olson indicated the Department of Agriculture has done inspections of Emerald Ash Borer and they have found three suspect trees in Arden Hills. This means it is highly likely the trees have the disease but it will probably not be visible until next year. Ms. Olson indicated the property owners have been notified. They also found one positive tree at Northwestern College on the Arden Hills side by the Roseville border. Northwestern will be cutting the tree down and will treat some of their significant trees on campus. Ms. Olson indicated the City allows the residents to either treat the diseased tree or remove it and that information is also available on the City website. The Parks, Trails & Recreation Committee Meeting Minutes May 21, 2013 Page 6 Department of Agriculture will continue to work with the City to educate them on the disease. They are fairly certain it will be more prevalent next spring and the City has already been preparing for this. Ms. Olson mentioned that Public Works is behind getting the parks and fields ready because of the weather and that the seasonal workers are now on board. Ms. Olson also mentioned that Valentine Park is about 2-3 weeks behind schedule because of the weather and, hopefully, the grand reopening will be on July 16 and she hopes to finalize that date. She will then advertise the grand reopening and send notification to the residents. There will be a ribbon cutting, a dedication of the picnic shelter, ice cream social and some games for the kids utilizing the play structure and basketball court. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Committee Member Peck moved to adjourn the meeting at 8:04 p.m., seconded by Committee Member Scott. The motion carried unanimously (9-0 ). NEXT MEETING The next meeting, which is the park tour, is scheduled for Tuesday, June 18, 2013 at 5:00 p.m.