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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11-21-06 PTRC Minutes WIZEN HILLS CITY OF ARDEN HILLS PARKS,TRAILS,AND RECREATION COMMITTEE MEETING TUESDAY,NOVEMBER 21,2006; 7:00 P.M. ARDEN HILLS CITY HALL 1. CALL TO ORDER Chair Henry called the October 17, 2006 meeting of the Parks,Trails and Recreation Committee to order at 7:02 p.m. MEMBERS PRESENT: Committee Chair Bill Henry, Committee Members Lanny Baumann,Rich Straumann,Cindy Wheeler, Steve Zilmer, and Dave McClung. OTHERS PRESENT: Michelle Olson,Park and Recreation Manager; Greg Hoag, Public Works Director; Gregg Larson, City Council Liaison; Stan Harpstead,Mayor Elect MEMBERS NOT PRESENT: Committee Members Jim Crassweller and Roger Williams. APPROVAL OF AGENDA MOTION: Committee Chair Henry motioned, seconded by Committee Member Zilmer to approve the agenda. The motion carried unanimously. 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES • MOTION: Committee Member Zilmer motioned, seconded by Committee Member Baumann to approve the October 17,2006 minutes. The motion carried unanimously. 3. CITY COUNCIL UPDATE Council Liaison Larson provided the Committee with the following City Council Update: • The Council had its last review of the budget last night and will act on the budget next month. • The Council discussed the "Celebrating Arden Hills" event and it was the consensus to not offer the event next year. • TCAAP activities continue to move forward. We initiated negotiations on a new interim development agreement and the master planning process was underway. The Council was in favor of establishing a twelve member advisory team. At this point, the General Services Administration(GSA)has not been successful in getting the sale approved by Congress. • Royal Oaks has withdrawn their purchase offer for the old City Hall site. 4. PARKS,TRAILS,AND RECREATION UPDATE Michelle Olson provided the committee with the following update: • Ms. Olson and Mr. Hoag started discussions regarding flooding and staffing of ice rinks. Applications were being accepted for rink attendants. There were ten returning seasonal employees and there were a total of 15 positions to fill. • Preparations were currently underway for upcoming after school programs. Ms. Olson was also working on the Safe Routes to School Grant and the DNR Grant. • The improvements to the warming house at Freeway Park have been completed. PARKS, TRAILS AND RECREATION COMMITTEE MEETING November 21 2006 Page 2 of 5 • The Public works crew is getting ready for winter. Crews were televising the underground infrastructure in preparation for the 2007 road projects to identify potential problems. • Ms. Olson attended the MRPA seminar and was able to participate in park focused sessions. The sessions covered several topics that she will delve into in the next year. 5. BUCKTHORN REMOVAL AT FLORAL PARK REVIEW Chair Henry asked for the Committee's thought regarding the buckthorn removal event. His suggestions were that the event be held a couple of times during the fall and that before the event, the neighborhood be canvassed to inform residents to help increase participation. Chair Henry further suggested that future events include a mid-morning break for refreshments and an orientation to parks and trails. As for organization, Chair Henry though perhaps having one cutter, one sprayer and several haulers to each team would help make the removal process more efficient. Ms. Olson stated that overall, the event was a big success and we had a good turnout. The group accomplished a lot of work in the 3-4 hour event. 6. PTRC STRATEGIES PLAN—FUNDING DISCUSSION Disc Golf Course Ms. Olson stated that she spoke with Mr. Bill Ashton regarding a disc golf course. Mr. Ashton has stated that he could design a nine-hole disc golf course at Ingerson Park. The golf course would be low maintenance. The post and bucket could be removed and the holes plugged during the winter. Ms. Olson further stated that Mr. Ashton estimated that the cost for a nine-hole course, including a course layout and equipment, would be about$5,000 and a little more for the consultation fee. Also,once the course was set up,Mr. Ashton would do a lot of the marketing to publicize the disc golf course. The PTRC has allocated$7,500 for this project within the Strategies. . Committee members questioned if there would be adequate parking at Ingerson Park to accommodate the potential increased generated by golf course users. Chair Henry requested that Mr. Ashton be invited to attend the next PTRC meeting to provide the committee with more information. Bocce Golf Course Ms. Olson stated that if the PTRC wanted to proceed with a bocce golf course, an official proposal should be brought to the City Council for approval. Committee Member Baumann agreed to start working on a proposal. Trails Ms. Olson provided an update on the Snelling Regional Trail from Highway 51 down to County Road E on the north. The quote ($800,000) in the CIP was an error. Ms. Olson handed out a breakdown of the railroad sleeve and the segments, including cost for each. The entire segment from highway 51 to County Road 96, including the railroad sleeve, was estimated to cost$833,400, if the City decided to do concrete and $661,000 for bituminous. Ms. Olson stated that the City is looking at the possibility of doing the entire trail at one time. The trail was proposed to be done in 2010, also when the road project was proposed to be done because there were some funding possibilities for the trail. Another factor that would affect this would be if the railroad bridge was done at that time. Currently,the railroad bridge was in the CIP for 2007. Lake Johanna Boulevard Ms. Olson recently asked about partnerships and regional funding possibilities with Mr. Greg Mack, Ramsey County, and he did not see any possibilities. This project was included in Ramsey County's master plan, but is currently not a very high priority. Ms. Olson stated that there was some talk about the City taking back this road,but she didn't think this was close to actually happening yet. PARKS, TRAILS AND RECREATION COMMITTEE MEETING November 21 2006 Page 3 of 5 . Committee Member Wheeler asked how this project could be moved up in priority for Ramsey County. Ms. Olson stated that perhaps Committee Member Straumann could talk to Ramsey County or perhaps it may be helpful to have someone attend a Ramsey County meeting. Committee Member Wheeler stated that she recalled that Mr. Mack said that the right of way was pretty wide in that area. Ms. Olson replied that there were some good right of way areas, but there were also some challenging restrictions. Ms. Olson was not sure if those challenges had an affect on where this project was place on their priority list. Traffic Signals at County Road E and Old Snelling Ms. Olson stated that she spoke with Mr. Dan Soler,Ramsey County Traffic Engineer, about the possibility of putting in a traffic signal at the Lindeys intersection. Mr. Soler did not recall ever having a justification study done for that area. Mr. Soler thought that it was something the County could do and it would be of no cost to the City. MOTION: Committee Chair Zilmer motioned, seconded by Committee Member Lanny Baumann to request that the City Council order a traffic study for the Lindeys intersection. The motion carried unanimously. Mayor Elect Harpstead stated that County Road F was paved on the New Brighton side all the way across the bridge and it stopped at the Arden Hills portion. With the busing changes in the Mounds View School District, anyone within two miles walks to school and therefore when pedestrians get to the Arden Hills portion of the road,they end up walking in the street. Ms. Olson stated that over seven years ago that particular trail segment was voted down by the Council. • Chair Henry stated that a portion of this would be addressed with the extension of the Elmer L. Andersen trail through Tony Schmidt,to the high school,and further into Long Lake Regional Park. Round Lake Update Ms. Olson stated that she included an email she received from Mr. Mike Fix. There are a lot of files to go through on Round Lake. The email from Mr. Fix stated that the potential to human health and the environment were associated with the contamination in the sediment below the water. Regarding the trail along Round Lake, Ms. Olson stated that Knott Companies was the one company that was holding out and perhaps discussions could be opened with them again. She further stated that they had security and vandalism concerns and did not want people walking behind their building. According to Jim Perron, Public Water Superintendent, the City had a sewer easement in that area. Mr. Hoag stated that it would be a risk to get the vactor and jetter to that area during winter conditions. An avenue that he wanted to explore was to pave that segment for use as a roadway for sewer needs. I REVISION OF STRATEGIES A. Perry Park Trail Connection from Underpass Staff went out to identify the best route from Perry Park for the application for the DNR Local Trail Connection Grant. Ms. Olson stated that the two trail options, where the Mounds View students jog and behind the Little Lakes Little League field,both come with their own challenges and are not doable for ADA, unless we spend a lot of money for retaining walls and removal of oak trees. When Ms. Olson and the engineer went out,they located an area that was naturally flatter and the vegetation that would be lost would be . mainly buckthorn, and box elder trees. A trail placed in this area would be come up behind field#2. It would wind through the area, but we would be able to break down some of the berm and make the trail ADA PARKS, TRAILS AND RECREATION COMMITTEE MEETING November 21 2006 Page 4 of 5 compliant. The trail would then connect with the existing paved trail by the pavilion. While not exactly what we originally wanted, we could put in a nice trail in this area. The new estimate is $38,000 and $16,747.50 would be reimbursable through the DNR Local Trail Connection Program Grant. This application was approved by the City Council at their November 13"' meeting. Ms. Olson will go back to the Council in February with a Resolution to include with this grant application. Chair Henry stated presumably the trail surface would be blacktop. Are there concerns regarding run off on a black top path this close to a wet land? Would we be better off with a wood chip trail? Ms. Olson stated that we would not be able to do a wood chip trail because of ADA compliance. B. Safe Routes to School Trail Ms. Olson handed out a preliminary map of the area that is being considered for the Safe Routes to School Program. This program was designed to have a quick turnaround. The application form was released this past Friday and applications are due January 31,2007. The City will be partnering with Ramsey County. Chair Henry stated that in his experience,even reasonably well maintained black top trails got icy in the winter and wood chip trails, even if not maintained did not get as icy. Given that kids went to school in the winter,he asked if it would not be reasonable to think that these could stay wood chipped. Ms. Olson stated that what was to be done to the trails in green depended on the cost. However, all trails that utilize this grant funding, must be ADA accessible and wood chip trails would not be compliant. Also,the more links we have, the more favorably our grant would be look upon. The maximum grant amount was $175,000,but and it is 100 percent reimbursable • Chair Henry suggested that the black top portion be the furthest part west from County Road E2. In July of 2006, MnDOT (Safe Routes to School Program) received 76 applications and they approved 15 applications. There are no guarantees the City will be successful with the application,but we will have another opportunity to apply in August if we are not selected this time. MOTION: Committee Member Straumann motioned, seconded by Committee Member Zilmer to approve the revised strategies. The motion carried unanimously. 8. NAMING OF GOVERNOR ELMER L.ANDERSEN TRAIL SEGMENT Chair Henry presented a resolution that he and Committee Member Williams drafted. He asked the committee to review the resolution and offer comments/suggestions for changes. Committee Member Wheeler commented that"an initiative that Governor Andersen would have supported"be rephrased to avoid supposing what someone would have wanted or done. Council Liaison suggested rephrasing it to read"an initiative that is consistent with Governor Andersen's stated interest". MOTION: Committee Member Baumann motioned, seconded by Committee Member McClung, to recommend the resolution be adopted by City Council. The motion carried unanimously. 9. GOODPOINTE TRAIL MAINTENANE PROPOSAL Ms. Olson stated that there was some interest in possibly doing a Goodpointe trail evaluation to rate our existing trails to help prioritize what maintenance needed to be done. This evaluation would rate our trails, similar to how streets were rated for pavement management projects. Chair Henry asked how long this kind of evaluation had been done and if people who have used it found it PAkKS, TRAILS AND RECREATION COMMITTEE MEETING November 21 2006 Page 5 of 5 valuable. Ms. Olson replied that this came from the Roseville engineer. As for the company, Goodpointe had a history of doing pavement management projects and were now moving into evaluating bituminous trails. Mr. Hoag stated that there were a number of sources out there who did evaluations. Based on some of the preliminary looking that he has done, it was highly advisable that the City used the same vendor it did for streets. It would be more cost effective since the software was compatible. Mr. Hoag stated that Goodpointe was the current street vendor. The City piggy backed on Roseville's cost and we therefore were getting the services at a reduced cost. The Committee was at consensus to leave the final decision on this up to staff. 10. 2007 COMMITTEE MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL AND DRAFT EXPECTATIONS Chair Henry asked that those members who were not interested in continuing their committee membership for 2008 to call or email him sometime in the next week. Ms. Olson stated that committee appointments would be made at the first meeting in January. Chair Henry stated at the committee summit meeting, there was a discussion regarding clarifying, at the committee level, what was expected from each other. Chair Henry created a draft expectation and it was his intent to discuss it, adopt it in some way and then be able to use it to inform potential committee members of the committee purpose and direction. Ms. Olson stated that staff believes that the Parks and Recreation Committee was formed by a Resolution and not put into Ordinance. We may need to change that. Chair Henry suggested that the members take the expectations home and come prepared for the next meeting to discuss. 11. NEXT MEETING: TUESDAY DECEMBER 19TH Chair Henry stated that the next meeting was December 19` . Ms. Olson stated that a Town Hall Meeting was scheduled on January 16, 2007; the night of our regularly scheduled meeting therefore it would be best to move our January meeting to January 9th or January 23rd. Ms. Olson recommended that the January meeting be moved to January 9`h, because she was going to be out of town on January 23rd 12. ADJOURN MOTION: Committee Member Straumann moved and Committee Member Baumann seconded a motion to adjourn the meeting at 8:48 p.m.