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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11-18-25 - PTRC Minutes CITY OF ARDEN HILLS PARKS, TRAILS AND RECREATION COMMITTEE MEETING TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2025, 6:30 PM ARDEN HILLS CITY HALL CALL MEETING TO ORDER Committee Chair Dan Dietz called the November 18, 2025, meeting of the Parks, Trails, and Recreation Committee to order at 6:30 p.m. MEMBERS PRESENT: Dan Dietz, Kerri Seemann, Kate Olson, Nancy Jacobson, Liz Johnson, Lacy Loosbrock, Amelia Rogers, Ted Chesrund, OTHERS PRESENT: Parks and Recreation Manager Jess Skalicky ABSENT:. Committee Members Derek Hilding, SJ Julius, and Nikhath Nazir Ahmed and Council Liaison Emily Rousseau 1. APPROVAL OF AGENDA MOTION: Committee Member Jacobson moved and Committee Member Johnson seconded a motion to approve the agenda, as amended. The motion carried unanimously among members present. Chair Dietz said the agenda will be amended to include the PTRC Work Plan under Unfinished Business. 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A. October 21, 2025 PTRC Minutes MOTION: Committee Member Olson moved and Committee Member Johnson seconded a motion to approve the meeting minutes, as written. The motion carried unanimously among members present. 3. REPORT A. Council Liaison Update None. B. Parks and Recreation Report Parks and Recreation Manager Skalicky said there was an open house regarding the Park System Plan a couple weeks ago. She thanked the PTRC members who attended. She said she Parks, Trails & Recreation Committee – November 18, 2025 Page 2 would provide an overview of the most recent Park System Plan Steering Committee meeting and the December 8 City Council meeting at the next PTRC meeting. Parks and Recreation Manager Skalicky said the 75th Anniversary Committee is meeting every few weeks. Last week they determined the date, time and events. A member of the committee was assigned an event and they will start working on the details of the individual events. City Council has approved $10,000 for the event. The celebration will be held on Friday, July 17 from 4:00- 9:00, in conjunction with the Penny Carnival. The Penny Carnival usually runs 1:00-3:00 but will be changed to 4:00-6:00 and it will be held at Cummings Park. There will be bands, food trucks, inflatables and a car show. She said there will be a drone show at 9:30 that will be funded by Twin Cities Gateway Grant dollars. Discussion ensued regarding why Cummings Park was selected as the location. C. Trails and Parks Projects Update Parks and Recreation Manager Skalicky shared the update from Assistant Public Works Director Miller, noting items on the list that are bold are new. Parks and Recreation Manager Skalicky said the new item is regarding installing drain tiles at Freeway Park to address the drainage issues there. Discussion ensued regarding the timing of a fence installation and a couple of other projects needing to be wrapped up at Freeway. 4. UNFINISHED BUSINESS A. PTRC Work Plan Chair Dietz said the group can use the 2025 Work Plan as a template to create the 2026 Work Plan. He asked Parks and Recreation Manager Skalicky to bring the 2025 Work Plan to the next meeting and he asked Committee members to think about ideas for next year. 5. NEW BUSINESS A. Great River Greening Update – Natural Resources Management Draft Becca Tucker, Twin Cities Metro Program Manager for Great River Greening introduced herself. She is excited to update the group on the work that Great River Greening has done in Arden Hills. They have been working at Hazelnut Park and Floral Park. They are facilitating the development of a draft Natural Resource Management Plan. They are coordinating with the community to do work at Chatham Park. They are working to develop the structure of the management plan. They are focused on the current state of the projects, as well as what could be done in the future. Ms. Tucker said the background of each park are outlined in the management plan. They are looking at the future and working with the City to complete some of the outlined projects. She is seeking feedback to see what useful information her organization can provide for continuing management and the future stewardship of the parks. Part of the document will be specifications Parks, Trails & Recreation Committee – November 18, 2025 Page 3 for proposed work that can be done and how to do it. They have templates and specifications for mechanical removal of buckthorn and species specific issues that parks can have and how to address them. There are also species recommendations for parks that will work the best at each one, looking at soils, habitat types and other things that are working in similar areas. Ms. Tucker asked for feedback and asked what the PTRC is interested in seeing in this plan. Are we addressing the needs? Committee Member Julius said she thinks prioritization is important. What is the decision matrix? It would be good to have a commentary on how bad it is and outlining the logical steps to gain improvement. Ms. Tucker said the first section of the document outlines the current state of each individual park. The “Resource Threats and Habitat Goals” outline the pressing issues at each park. The next steps are outlined in the third section. It is mocked up for Hazelnut at this time. They wanted feedback from the PTRC before going back and completing that third section for each of the other parks. Ms. Tucker outlined the focus is on continued stewardship and management to ensure the results are long-term. Discussion ensued regarding the needs at the parks that can be added to the document. She explained how each section will be unique, actionable and applicable to each of the parks. Ms. Tucker said they hope to get some feedback on the draft presented tonight and they plan to visit the sites in the spring to outline the work that has been done so the recommendations can be tailored to the most current conditions. Committee Member Jacobson noted there will need to be funding for some of the projects. She asked if this document will be incorporated into the Park Master Plan. Parks and Recreation Manager Skalicky said no. Committee Member Jacobson asked for clarification that the Great River Greening plan is just for Natural Resources. Parks and Recreation Manager Skalicky confirmed. Committee Member Jacobson said this will have to be approved by City Council and she imagines there is no funding. Parks and Recreation Manager Skalicky said this is still in draft format. This represents a vision of the best possible scenario. However, nothing has been approved. Committee Member Julius said she would like to see it show what will happen if no action is taken. There is a cost to initiate these, but there is also a consequence for doing nothing. That would make it more expensive, the more invasive species spread. She would like to see what residents will gain be outlined. Maybe it supports bird species or some other tangible gains that can be outlined. She is in support of goat browsing. Parks, Trails & Recreation Committee – November 18, 2025 Page 4 Ms. Tucker said these are potentials. She would like there to be a hierarchy. It can outline a minimum stewardship need that would maintain the established habitat. It can also list all of the things that could be done. Those would be two different proposals with different budgets and priorities. Committee Member Loosbrock asked if there will be education for surrounding residential properties. If the parks are cleaned up, but the neighbors have buckthorn on their property, it will just spread back into the park. Ms. Tucker said there are volunteer events that will be planned and coordinated with Staff. The timing and potential needs for volunteer events will engage the community to complete positive actions in the parks. Those next steps are already funded as far as supplies, volunteer time and advertising. They can have information on hand that outlines the work that has been done, what still needs to be done and tips on how surrounding residents can help contribute to that work. There are four more years on the grant funding. Committee Member Johnson asked what Ms. Tucker would consider the group’s most successful City project and what is the history. Ms. Tucker has been with Great River Greening for eight years. She has worked with a variety of cities and volunteers. She said Great River Greening worked with the City of St. Louis Park to develop their Natural Resources Management Plan for the Westwood Hills Nature Center. It is an incredible park. It is invasive species removal in an urban park with native species establishment. She is looking forward to watching Hazelnut and Floral Parks over the next couple of years. The initial year at both parks is going really well. They have completely killed much of the buckthorn and it is not resprouting. This is a great sign. There will be continued maintenance and they anticipate long-term success. Committee Member Jacobson asked how St. Louis Park continued their efforts beyond the initial clean up. Parks and Recreation Manager Skalicky said larger cities tend to have a dedicated Natural Resources staff or larger staff in general that can be dedicated to Natural Resources projects and Natural Resources management. Committee Member Jacobson said we aren’t a large city. She asked how our small community move forward with maintaining these efforts. Ms. Tucker said as a non-profit, they don’t own any of the land they work on. Everything they do is within the timeframe of the funding they have. When the funding is gone, Great River Greening has to be complete. The project and the work completed will have to be self-sustainable or maintainable. She noted that Arden Hills has a Parks and Recreation Manager now. Community members and Public Works will be tasked with maintaining it once the grant funds run out. Great River Greening has prioritized the needs. A lot of the maintenance work will be at a low cost. That is part of the planning from the beginning. They don’t want to have something that can’t be continued once Great River Greening has moved on. There are a lot of big organizations in the City and there are potential connections the City can make to help fund and sustain these efforts. Parks, Trails & Recreation Committee – November 18, 2025 Page 5 Ms. Tucker said she is looking for feedback. The they are trying to build off of the recommendations so they can move forward with facilitating the projects. Discussion ensued when this plan would be brought to Council. Staff clarified the difference between this effort and the Park Master Plan Update that will be heard at the Council meeting in December. The Great River Greening Natural Resources Management Plan will go to Council eventually. It is only a draft at this time and a Council presentation has not been scheduled yet. Ms. Tucker said the grant funding is for a 5 year time period. They started in 2024. Great River Greening will be working in the community through 2029. Having input on the structure of the plan is the important piece over the winter. That will allow them to edit and prepare the plan so it is a useful document for the City, moving forward. Committee Members will go over the plan, as outlined and provide comments and feedback to Parks and Recreation Manager Skalicky. She will forward the information to Great River Greening. Ms. Tucker said she would like feedback on volunteer interest. Great River Greening facilitates community engagement through their management work. She would like to learn what the City’s residents want to see happening and what do community members want to be a part of. They are incorporating feedback from residents who are working on the current projects. That priority set and potential will help inform the feasible needs for the physical parks, as well as, the community members who use the parks. Committee Member Rogers said there are a lot of community members who would like to be educated on buckthorn. The City has equipment that can be used, but there are no instructions. They ended up having to hack out the buckthorn because they couldn’t get the equipment working. Residents know buckthorn is bad, but that’s all they know. There needs to be a broader understanding of how to mitigate the invasive species. She asked if the plan will be written so Public Works and community members will easily understand. Ms. Tucker said that is a guideline. Section four will contain instruction on the actions being proposed. Those instruction will be contractor-level and Public Works-level instructions. It will include lists with useful guidance. The last piece will be more technical soil and impact charts. The invasive species management protocol will be included. It will outline the actions to be taken and the timing of those actions. Committee Member Seemann asked about the woody debris disposal options at Chatham. She said there is so much the City hasn’t been able to haul it away. They have been chipping it on-site. She is concerned on how that will effect the establishment of vegetation. Ms. Tucker said they are working with a contractor on Hazelnut and Floral Parks. One of the sections were hand-cut, rather than using equipment. The material disposal will include using large kilns to burn the material at a higher temperature. This process produces less smoke than an open pile burning, it doesn’t leave any damage to the soil. There will be a demonstration at Floral of that technique. Chair Dietz asked if they will share the date of that burning and will the public be allowed to observe it? Parks, Trails & Recreation Committee – November 18, 2025 Page 6 Ms. Tucker said it isn’t going to be a publicly advertised demonstration but they would anticipate City Staff and PTRC Members will be invited. There are certain conditions that must exist to do that kind of burning. As soon as they know a date, they can share that information with Staff. They will plan to document it so it can be shared. Committee Member Loosbrock asked if the woodchips can be spread on trails and at parks. Ms. Tucker confirmed. There was some tree removal included with the Floral Park work. Some of that material was left on site to use for maintenance. B. 2027 Park Improvement Projects – Initial Site Inspections Parks and Recreation Manager Skalicky shared the presentation slides. She said this is solely a report on the initial site inspections. There are no approvals attached to any of the observations. She noted that the streets and parks projects are scheduled on an every other year rotation. Right now the City is planning for the 2027 parks improvements. The parks to be improved are Perry, Sampson and Ingerson. The first step is to inspect the parks and identify the issues that we would like to improve. The power point presentation is not comprehensive. There are three other attachments that are meant to be more comprehensive than the presentation. Parks and Recreation Manager Skalicky toured the three parks with Assistant Public Works Director Miller and Park Lead Christofore. They identified the major needs at each park. She stressed that there is no guarantee that these improvements will all be completed, but this identifies where improvements would make sense. Committee Member Olson said the Park System Plan consultants from Bolten & Menk also toured the parks. She asked if their findings were incorporated into this. Parks and Recreation Manager Skalicky said no. They did their site inspection separate from that project. The hope is that what they present and what we present will say the same thing. The Perry, Sampson and Ingerson improvements would have been identified and planned, even if the Park Master Plan were not being completed. Parks and Recreation Manager Skalicky outlined the work anticipated at Sampson. There are road signs on a tree. They will be relocated to a post. There is a bend in the trail that weaves around trees. They would like to see the trail straightened. There is some tree pruning that needs to be done. Sampson has a lot of tree diversity. The playground structure is due to be replaced. Discussion ensued regarding concrete ribbing containers and if the parks that were improved this year got them. Freeway did not and members weren’t sure if Arden Oaks did. Parks and Recreation Manager Skalicky said the only approved ADA surfaces when building a playground in 2025 are either pour-in-place which is the rubberized material or engineered wood fiber (EWF) which is a mulch-like product. Those are the only two options for playground container materials that are ADA Approved. Most Cities stick with the EWF because the pour-in- place is roughly ten times as expensive. Committee Member Olson asked if the playground needs to be ADA approved. Parks, Trails & Recreation Committee – November 18, 2025 Page 7 Parks and Recreation Manager Skalicky clarified that the playground structure itself may not be accessible but the container materials must be ADA approved surfaces. Discussion ensued regarding ADA requirements in different parks and where there may be some deficiencies. Parks and Recreation Manager Skalicky said the Sampson basketball hoops will be improved with metal nets that will help prevent vandalism. Parks and Recreation Manager Skalicky outlined the needed improvements at Perry Park. There are some failing boards and some of the supports are rusting at the hockey rink. There is potential to upgrade the lighting to push-button lights so residents can turn them on when in use. There are a lot of dead and diseased trees at Perry. There is some fence damage caused by fallen trees. There are drainage issues, causing pooling in the low spots and effectively creating a puddle in one portion of the playground container. There is a gully forming in the dog park as well. Grading can help with these drainage issues. She said there are some retaining walls at the Perry Park Trail that are failing and some fence upgrades are needed. Discussion ensued about where the Perry Park Trail turns into the Tony Schmidt Park. There is a low spot that collects water and bike users of the path are getting splashed when they cross. Parks and Recreation Manager Skalicky said the land in that location belongs to Ramsey County. The trail belongs to Arden Hills. The City is responsible for the trail and is aware of that issue. There is a sewer line that runs under the trail that is scheduled for repairs in 2029. The sewer line will be repaired and the trail will be redone at the same time. A temporary movable bridge cannot be used due to winter maintenance. Committee Member Rogers asked if the liquid on that spot on the trail is just regular water run- off. It smells funky in that area. Parks and Recreation Manager Skalicky said it is definitively not sewage. It is swamp water. Parks and Recreation Manager Skalicky outlined the other Perry Park improvements to include upgrading the grading and paving around the ball fields. There are bleachers at the dog park that were in place when it was a ball field. Those bleachers aren’t needed and would be recommend to be removed. She said the parking lot needs to be redone. There are two trees that are struggling in a center island because there isn’t enough room for both trees. There is discussion of replacing them with one tree that could thrive. Dumpster enclosures were recognized as a needed improvement. Committee Member Olson thinks we know what is budgeted for these projects. She wonders if the next step is to put a number on what these improvements would cost and identify what amount we are short by and prioritize accordingly. Parks and Recreation Manager Skalicky confirmed. She outlined the Ingerson Park list. She noted that there is a grove of trees that are declining in the upper right corner of the park. There are dead and declining trees throughout the park. There are some drainage issues at this park, as well. There are pocks left behind by removed trees. She would like to see those repaired for safety Parks, Trails & Recreation Committee – November 18, 2025 Page 8 reasons. The playground is missing a portion of the container due to rot. The benches and the actual play structure will be upgraded. Discussion ensued that Ingerson is Arden Hills’ premier sledding location. Any tree plantings will take that into consideration and will be spread out to avoid the paths sledders would take. Further discussion ensued that there isn’t enough parking to accommodate all of the people who sled there. They have floated the idea of removing the grove of diseased trees and putting a parking lot there. Committee Member Rogers noted the difference between a pavilion and a warming house. Given how much sledding happens there, she would like to see a warming house to provide more shelter from the weather. Parks and Recreation Manager Skalicky said the pavilion is functional but it’s not as modern looking as other parks’ pavilions. She added a warming house to the list of possible improvements. Committee Member Olson asked if accessibility is being considered. Parks and Recreation Manager Skalicky said there are two cul-de-sacs that butt up to the park. There is a plan for the City to build a trail between the cul-de-sacs. There are discussions of a north to south trail along Lexington from Ingerson to the park. The trail between the cul-de-sacs will be a City project. That Lexington trail would be in conjunction with Ramsey County. Committee Member Olson asked how much got removed for the improvements in 2025. How can the PTRC help the City realize the importance of adding funds in the budget for these improvements? Parks and Recreation Manager Skalicky said being on the PTRC is a good start. She will use any and all feedback she receives. Committee Member Olson said PTRC was asked to chime in on Freeway and Arden Oaks Parks and their feedback was not heard and no additional funding was budgeted for. In the end, the improvements seem to be the bare minimum. She would like to prevent that from happening again. She joined this committee to be an advocate for the parks and trails. If there is no funding, there isn’t much the PTRC can do to help. Committee Member Julius assumes there are a basic set of needs. There shouldn’t be a park that doesn’t have swing sets. They are always in use. She is a huge fan of community builds. If the community can rally to save the City some money, she is sure she could find people to volunteer. This community wants to contribute. Committee Member Johnson thought there were a lot of people who responded to a survey question regarding wanting to help. Parks and Recreation Manager Skalicky said residents were asked if they would support an increase in spending on parks projects. She said there was a majority in favor of that. Parks, Trails & Recreation Committee – November 18, 2025 Page 9 6. REPORTS FROM COMMITTEES A. Rain Gardens Work Group Updates None. B. Natural Habitat Restoration Work Group Update None. C. Special Event Enrichment Work Group Update None. D. Volunteer Coordinating Work Group Update None. E. Trails Work Group Update None. 6. NEXT MEETING A. Tuesday, December 16, 2025 ADJOURNMENT Chair Dietz adjourned at 8:00 pm.