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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-21-26 - PTRC Minutes CITY OF ARDEN HILLS PARKS, TRAILS AND RECREATION COMMITTEE MEETING TUESDAY, APRIL 21, 2026, 6:30 PM ARDEN HILLS CITY HALL CALL MEETING TO ORDER Committee Chair SJ Julius called the April 21, 2026, meeting of the Parks, Trails, and Recreation Committee to order at 6:30 p.m. MEMBERS PRESENT: SJ Julius, Liz Johnson, Derek Hilding, Dan Dietz, Ted Chresand, Lacy Loosbrock, Kate Olson and Nikhath Nazir Ahmed OTHERS PRESENT: Parks and Recreation Manager Jess Skalicky and Acting Council Liaison Kurt Weber, Arden Hills Resident Clara Bitzer. ABSENT:. None. 1. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Chair Julius approved the agenda, as presented. 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A. March 24, 2026 PTRC Minutes Chair Julius approved the meeting minutes, as written. Chair Julius asked new member Clara Bitzer to introduce herself. Chair Julius noted that Committee Member Bitzer will be sworn in at the next meeting, so she is attending as a resident for this meeting. Resident Clara Bitzer is a sophomore at Mounds View High School. She has been an Arden Hills resident her whole life. She loves to use the trails. 3. REPORT A. Council Liaison Update Council Liaison Weber said the Park Master Plan was approved at the last Council Meeting. It was unanimous, across the bench, how much Council appreciates the PTRC members who participated in putting the plan together. He believes this is an obligation for a city rather than a guiding document. Chair Julius appreciates Parks and Recreation Manager Skalicky for her work on the plan. Parks, Trails & Recreation Committee – April 21, 2026 Page 2 B. Parks and Recreation Report Parks and Recreation Manager Skalicky said the group discussed membership size. The City Council would like to have a work session discussion about it. That will be brought to the Council on May 11 or May 24. She said in January she brought a list of peer cities and their membership. They are about half the size that we are. It is difficult to have good conversations when there are 12-13 people. Not everyone gets a chance to talk. Parks and Recreation Manager Skalicky said the Park System Plan was approved. She noted the work plan outlined that we would discuss the CIP today, however Staff requested that we have that discussion at the May meeting. The information will be more organized and be easier to digest and discuss. Parks and Recreation Manager Skalicky said the Touch A Truck event will be held on May 16. She noted that Shoreview scheduled an event for the same day so we will not have the Ramsey County Sheriff’s boat there this year. Parks and Recreation Manager Skalicky said the 75th Anniversary planning is taking a lot of her time. We have received about $20,000 from sponsorships. We expect to get another $10,000. The events and activities will be fun and there is something for all ages. Planning for the car show, band and children’s activities are coming together. Parks and Recreation Manager Skalicky said the proposals for the park improvements at Ingerson, Sampson and Perry Park will be submitted to her by Monday, May 4. Parks and Recreation Manager Skalicky said the Adopt A Park program will be discussed at a Council Work Session on April 27. She is hoping the discussion later in this meeting will provide some specific language to bring to Council. Committee Member Hilding asked if the park improvements for Ingerson, Sampson and Perry will have an RFP. Parks and Recreation Manager Skalicky confirmed. We will get a consultant on board to do the planning and administrative work for the bituminous/concrete work, the trail repairs and the grading work. They will organize all of those projects and help us find the right contractors for those jobs. They’ll help us create the bidding documents. She has requested they create a process for the RFP for the playgrounds. We will send the RFP to about 12 playground vendors. They’ll know they are in competition. We will give the bidders a dollar amount and they will provide a quote. We will select the contractor who provides the best playground for the best value. Council Liaison Weber said his experience in government work has always been the low bidder gets selected. Does this process conflict with that? Parks and Recreation Manager Skalicky said it is just a different process. Legally it can be done this way and it is the standard in other cities. Committee Member Ahmed asked how that works. Each contractor will include varying equipment. Is there a bare minimum that we request? Parks, Trails & Recreation Committee – April 21, 2026 Page 3 Parks and Recreation Manager Skalicky said the best value process works by providing a very specific list of things we know we want to be a part of the playground. We also say we want a 3- D rendering, a top-down view and a map how it meets all of the standards. Those 3-D renderings can be used in the engagement process with the public, with this group and with Public Works maintenance staff. C. Trails and Parks Projects Update Parks and Recreation Manager Skalicky said Assistant Public Works Director Miller created the update. Any items on the list in bold are new since the last meeting. She said Public Works attended a pre-construction meeting with MnDOT for the MN51 trail improvements. They anticipate the project to start over the next few weeks but the actual trail construction won’t start until summer. That project is mostly in Roseville, however there is a little stretch through Arden Hills. Committee Member Olson asked if there is any information on the construction. The area is in a ditch. Parks and Recreation Manager Skalicky will get more information for the next meeting. She said the next item is the Arden Manor Park hard court construction. The bid was awarded on April 13. There is no preconstruction meeting scheduled yet. It should be this summer and she will let the committee members know when it is scheduled. Parks and Recreation Manager Skalicky said Freeway and Arden Oaks were done last summer. There were a few items remaining to be completed. The Arden Oaks walking path bid was awarded on April 13, as well. Council Liaison Weber noted that Freeway Park was supposed to have a fence installed along the on-ramp. He assumes that will be completed with the MN51 project. Parks and Recreation Manager Skalicky will get confirmation on that. 4. NEW BUSINESS A. Mounds View High School Cross Country & Ski Trails Committee Member Chresand said there is a unique opportunity for a future trail. Students and residents could use the trail. This site was originally farmland. There are a lot more trees around the lake now. There’s also a freeway running next to it. He recently walked the path and there is 10-100 feet of clearance on all sides. He outlined unused open space on a graphic that is owned by Ramsey County. He showed possible connections to other trails. Committee Member Chresand said this project would require grading of some hilly areas and maintenance to include wood chips. Committee Member Ahmed asked if the request if for the City to pay for this. Committee Member Chresand confirmed. It would be relatively low maintenance. It would only require wood chips once the trails are established. Parks, Trails & Recreation Committee – April 21, 2026 Page 4 Resident Bitzer asked if the ski trails would be groomed by the City and Mounds View High School. Committee Member Chresand said it would be mostly Mounds View because they own a groomer. They are asking for the City to approve Mounds View’s use of the area around the lake and use of the trails. He said there is dense buckthorn growth that would need to be removed. He thinks the high school could do that work. He said Irondale has similar trails on county property. Committee Member Loosbrock asked if Irondale grooms those trails. Committee Member Chresand said he knows Irondale has their own grooming equipment. He isn’t sure if there is any county involvement with the grooming. Committee Member Olson asked if the vacant land he is talking about belongs to the City or is it all county land? Committee Member Chresand said he recently found out it’s taxed as Ramsey County property. He is hoping someone can contact the County to see if there are any options. Council Liaison Weber said it’s all owned by Ramsey County Parks and Recreation. That may be a positive. Committee Member Deitz asked who would have access. Committee Member Chresand said the trails for Irondale are open to the community. Their trails are established and the end goal would be to have these trails be public, as well. Committee Member Deitz noted the graphic shows some zig-zagging. He asked if there is a standard radius for turns. Committee Member Chresand said the proposed maps are to show the concept. Discussion ensued that this is County land. Ramsey County has a large Parks and Recreation staff and a Parks Commission. Further discussion ensued that Ramsey County may have proposed projects for that land. Committee Member Ahmed thought a trail this long will require more than just a few high school students to maintain it. She said some engineering firms will consult on design projects like this, on a voluntary basis. They may be able to help with design and help identify what grade changes are required. She will bring a list of firms to the next meeting. Parks and Recreation Manager Skalicky said she can connect with Ramsey County Parks and Recreation, as well. Council Liaison Weber said we could draft a letter of recommendation from the PTRC, from the City, from the schools and the school board. Those would go a long way in influencing Ramsey County to build it on their own. Parks, Trails & Recreation Committee – April 21, 2026 Page 5 Chair Julius said she likes the idea of a letter of recommendation. Parks and Recreation Manager Skalicky said she will touch base after the meeting to create a list of next steps. B. Adopt a Spot / Encroachment Statement Parks and Recreation Manager Skalicky said she took the feedback from January’s meeting into consideration when creating the information she will present to City Council. She said PTRC is being asked to create a statement that makes it clear that the purpose of adopting is to benefit the entire city. She shared an image where a resident adopted a spot between their house and public land. They planted a row of trees which essentially extended their property and created a barrier between the two spaces. People won’t go past those trees to enjoy city spaces. It appears that is someone’s personal property. Parks and Recreation Manager Skalicky provided a draft and asked committee members to revise, as they see fit. It will be included in the adopt-a-park information. Committee Member Hilding said the draft is vague. He understands that allows for some flexibility. His recommendation is city authorization be required before anything is installed or planted. Parks and Recreation Manager Skalicky said this statement won’t be the only thing in the program materials. Council just wanted to make sure that people don’t try to use this for their personal benefit. She said this provides something that Staff can point to, if a proposed adoption application comes in that appears to benefit just one or two residents. Council Liaison Weber said this is city property. The City has ultimate control over it. Our Public Works Maintenance workers need to be able to maintain city property. He thinks the way this is written, it implies that whoever is running the program will be the ultimate decision maker on what is approved. Parks and Recreation Manager Skalicky agreed. She said she knows of one instance where a homeowner has requested permission to do something similar to the example. They wanted to know what the process was. The answer is there isn’t a process and they are not allowed to do that type of project. The response was that their neighbors on both sides have done it. The neighbors claim they received permission from the last Public Works Director, however there is no documentation showing that. Committee Member Hilding said the bigger picture is determining who decides what happens on City property. He said there are kids creating mountain bike trails at Hazelnut Park. He supports the idea, but someone from the City should be formally evaluating that to see if that is what the City wants in that space. Parks and Recreation Manager Skalicky said the enforcement will be the ordinance. If someone applies to adopt a park or spot, the Staff responsible for the Adopt a Park program will make those determinations. Her hope is that if we include this statement, people will see they can’t do things that equate to encroachment. If they were to propose something, we can say no. She thinks mountain biking trails fall under this program. Parks, Trails & Recreation Committee – April 21, 2026 Page 6 Parks and Recreation Manager Skalicky said the Rotary adopted Foral Park. There hasn’t been a systemized program until now. People have done thousands of hours of work. There just hasn’t been a way to formalize it before. She said the Rotary knew ahead of time what they wanted to do. They have done huge incredible work. She doesn’t want other adopters to be held to the high standard that the Rotary has created. Committee Member Deitz said the Rotary did submit a formal plan to the City. Parks and Recreation Manager Skalicky said systemizing this program will help ensure that whatever standards we outline are met. Council Liaison Weber said there could be a veto system. An applicant submits their plan to the City. It makes its rounds to the Park Manager, the Public Works Director and Public Works Superintendent. Those staff members can explain if something doesn’t work and give their reasons. Parks and Recreation Manager Skalicky said 90% of other Adopt a Park programs ask participants to commit to one hour, a few times a year, at a certain park, to pick up trash. She doesn’t think we will see very many groups doing work on the same scale as the Rotary. She assumes it will be more like those other communities. Chair Julius confirmed that PTRC is being asked to support the statement language provided so the item can go to City Council next week. Committee Member Olson said there is a trail with a spot that is just big lilac bushes. They are beautiful and they are great to bike past them. She thinks they were planted to make things look pretty but they also shield their driveway. She would rather have that then letting invasive species grow that gets mowed once a year. As a trail user, she prefers a cozy, manicured look. The homeowners beautified a city space and their space. Maybe that gives them a little bit of a bonus but she’d rather have a beautiful space. Parks and Recreation Manager Skalicky said the instances she is thinking about are more egregious than what is shown. Committee Member Deitz said he can think of several instances along the trails he uses. An improvement on park land, is still an improvement. Committee Member Ahmed asked if we can sit with the adopters to hear their plan and pick a few of their improvements to incorporate. That will keep the process controlled. Council Liaison Weber said there is a two foot clear zone from the trail. The city has the ability to trim lilac bushes. However, if someone were to plant lilacs all the way along the trail, that is a huge ask of the City. He appreciates the beautification of the trails, but we are relying on the homeowners to maintain that. What if they move or decide to quit trimming them? Discussion ensued regarding what is outlined in the materials other than trash pickup. The overview says parks/trails, gardens, landscaping areas and natural areas may be adopted. Plantings will have to be approved. They will be required to bring forward a plan for approval. The materials also outline Premier Partners that are high-touch, long term and intensive service projects, similar Parks, Trails & Recreation Committee – April 21, 2026 Page 7 to what Rotary is doing. Rain gardens, streets, storm drains and fire hydrants will eventually be a part of the program. Chair Julius said beyond this program, any resident could encroach. Council Liaison Weber agreed. He said this was driven by concerns about encroachment, in general, rather than the implications of Adopt a Spot. Committee Member Dietz said he has seen where a resident cut down some very large trees in the park in order to obtain a view. So it goes both ways and it’s very subjective. Discussion ensued regarding what happens if a tree is diseased. In that case, Public Works will prioritize which trees are removed. That would never be the responsibility of a resident or an Adopt a Park participant. Parks and Recreation Manager Skalicky said the language we are discussing will become a part of the “Public Use and Coordination” section. This is a PDF but eventually this information will have its own page on the City website. Chair Julius asked if any committee members had any proposed edits to the language provided. Committee Member Hilding said he proposes keeping the first sentence as is. Then it could say “Volunteers may not install landscaping, planting, structures or other improvements without written approval from the City of Arden Hills.” Then it can say “The City reserves the right to remove any unauthorized improvements.” The committee agreed to that language. MOTION: Committee Member Ahmed moved and Committee Member Deitz seconded a motion to approve the language with the proposed edits. The motion carried unanimously among members present. 5. UNFINISHED BUSINESS None. 6. REPORTS FROM SUBCOMMITTEES None. 7. NEXT MEETING A. Tuesday, May 19, 2026 ADJOURNMENT Chair Julius adjourned at 7:38 pm.