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HomeMy WebLinkAbout05-18-10 PTRC Chair: John Peck .... ..=-- 1245 W. Highway 96 Committee Members: ` EN HILLS' Arden Hies, MN 55112 651.792.7800 Cindy Garretson www.ci.arden-hills.mn.us Jody Hilgers Parks, Trails, and Nancy O'Malley Harold Petersen Recreation Committee Steve Scott May 18, 2010 Rich Straumann Council Liaison: 6:30 pm. David Grant Arden Hills City Hall/Valentine Park City Vision A strong community that values our unique environment, our fiscal soundness, and our tradition as a desirable city in which to live, work, and play. Agenda **All members should bring their P & R Facility Inventory Manual for reference Call to Order 1. APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA 2. MINUTES A. April 27, 2010 Regular Meeting 3. UNFINISHED BUSINESS A. Elmer L. Andersen Memorial Trail Signage—Derrek Hames will be at meeting for presentation B. 694/Hwy. 51 - Bike Ped Discussion (Rich Straumann) C. Other Unfinished Business 4. NEW BUSINESS A. On Site Meeting at Valentine Park B. Walking tour of Elmer L. Andersen/Safe Route trail construction progress C. Recruitment of New Members D. Other New Business 5. REPORTS A. City Council Report B. Public Works/Parks and Recreation Report 6. NEXT MEETING B. June 15, 2010 A quorum of the City Council may be present at this meeting. ............ ............. ........... ... ... ........ E HILLS CITY OF ARDEN HILLS PARKS, TRAILS AND RECREATION COMMITTEE MEETING TUESDAY,APRIL 27, 2010 6:30 PM ARDEN HILLS CITY HALL CALL MEETING TO ORDER Chair Peck called the April 27, 2010,meeting of the Parks, Trails and Recreation Committee to order at 6:40 p.m. MEMBERS PRESENT: Committee Chair John Peck, Committee Members Cindy Garretson, Nancy O'Malley, Harold Peterson, Steve Scott, and Council Liaison David Grant. OTHERS PRESENT: Park and Recreation Manager Michelle Olson and City Planner Meagan Beekman. MEMBERS NOT PRESENT: Don Messerly, Jody Hilgers, Rich Straumann 1. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Out of respect for City Planner Beekman, Chair Peck motioned to adjust the agenda by addressing Item 3A first. MOTION: Committee Member Scott motioned to approve the agenda as amended, seconded by Committee Member Garretson. The motion carried unanimously. 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES—MARCH 16,2010 Chair Peck requested that the word "met"be inserted after the word (designer) on page 2 in the first line of paragraph 2, Item B. (Elmer L. Andersen Trail Signage). MOTION: Committee Member Petersen motioned to approve the March 16, 2010 minutes as amended, seconded by Committee Member Garretson. The motion carried unanimously. 3. UNFINISHED BUSINESS A. Elmer L. Andersen Memorial Trail SiLyna2e Ms. Olson reported that she contacted the Elmer L. Andersen's family regarding the text for the signage and they are hoping to submit to the committee by May 3, 2010. Ms. Olson indicated if she does not hear from the family by then, she and the designer would draft verbiage and send to the family for review. Ms. Olson stated they are also hoping to get some photos from the family because of copyright laws. Parks,Trails&Recreation Committee Meeting Minutes April 27,2010 Page 2 Ms. Olson informed that in response to Ramsey County's comments changes were made to the signage of the sign that Ramsey County will be placing on their section of Tony Schmidt Park. Ms. Olson distributed a handout depicting the change and a map highlighting the Elmer L. Andersen section. Ms. Olson stated they have included the TCAAP area on the map and have highlighted the Rice Creek trail corridor. She requested comments from the committee members regarding the map and the wording. Ms. Olson felt the wording should be changed to include the City Council so it would read the City Council with the support of the Parks, Trails and Recreation Committee represent the interest of the Arden Hills citizens in leading the continuing development . Ms. Olson also provided another option and requested the committee's input in order to finalize the wording. She indicated that after Ramsey County reviews it will be brought back to Council for the final phase. Council Liaison Grant suggested they have the wording fairly finalized before submitting to Ramsey County or provide them with some wording options. Ms. Olson indicated that due to the fact Ramsey County came in late with the idea of using their grant money by the end of June, they are on somewhat of a timeline. Ms. Olson felt that Ramsey County was not as much interested in the verbiage as they were in the map. Council Liaison Grant suggested Ms. Olson get feedback from the Council via e-mail. He mentioned Council cannot discuss this amongst themselves since it is not a meeting. Discussion ensued regarding the two options Ms. Olson presented. All were in agreement they preferred Option 2. Chair Peck asked if they should motion in support of Option 2. Ms. Olson indicated they may want to motion on the general changes that were made. Ms. Olson explained that the smaller of the two pillars has the map on one side with the wording and the other side is about Elmer L. Andersen. She indicated she will see if Ramsey County objects to having the R in Ramsey County black instead of green. Council Liaison Grant questioned if the grant money was worth having the City co-op with the County. Ms. Olson felt it was. She indicated Ramsey County would be putting in one sign and two smaller signs with the grant money. Council Liaison Grant asked for the monetary value of the grant money Ramsey County was providing. Ms. Olson stated she did not have an exact number but believed it was roughly$4,000. Committee Member Straumann indicated they should insist on not having a red R on the signs. Chair Peck recommended they insist on having the final say in the design and having the R in black. Ms. Olson indicated that Ramsey County has been fairly flexible and that all they have asked is to have their logo on the sign. Chair Peck commented that he would like to see the Elmer L. Andersen trail with the proposed future trail segment more centered, bigger, and showing the streets around it. Parks,Trails&Recreation Committee Meeting Minutes April 27,2010 Page 3 She indicated at the original PTRC meeting the consensus was to have a full map on the sign. Chair Peck indicated what he does not like is all the white space. Chair Peck questioned how difficult it would be to change the map. Ms. Olson informed that that particular part was a separate cut out of the map and in the future could be replaced with a new piece. Council Liaison Grant also commented about not liking the white space and felt they could, for the short term, get rid of the entire TCAAP area and enlarge the map to make it easier to read. Ms. Olson indicated she is working on a version of the map without the TCAAP area included. Chair Peck indicated he would like to see the map showing the other cities surrounding Arden Hills. Ms. Olson asked Committee Member Straumann for his thoughts. Mr. Straumann suggested they have a context or location-specific type map. Ms. Olson stated that was the original purpose but felt the group wanted signs that were interchangeable. Chair Peck indicated he was still in support of a consistent map. Ms. Olson asked if they preferred a blow-up of the Elmer L. Andersen section alone or if they preferred having the entire map. She indicated the only reason she did the entire map is because that had been the consensus of the group. Committee Member O'Malley stated she prefers the whole map. Committee Member O'Malley felt they should have the Long Lake Regional Park area included because eventually the trail will extend to Long Lake Regional Park. Chair Peck agreed. Discussion ensued about the map and location of the key. Ms. Olson recapped that the committee discussed moving the map to the right, thus including more of New Brighton, and the potential connection to Long Lake. Committee Member Straumann stated he preferred a map similar to the activity map that Ramsey County just put out. Chair Peck agreed that is what he wanted to see since it shows some of the surrounding areas. Chair Peck stated he feels Arden Hills should be centered on the map and shown in white with the surrounding cities muted like on a state map. Chair Peck asked Ms. Olson to make the revisions and then e-mail the committee members a PDF version so they can review and submit comments before the next meeting. Chair Peck thanked Ms. Olson for her efforts thus far. Parks,Trails&Recreation Committee Meeting Minutes April 27,2010 Page 4 B. Valentine Park Council Liaison Grant stated he felt that the water flow has improved since removing the culvert and by getting rid of the beavers. He indicated that at some point the committee would need to come forward with some sort of recommendation for park improvement. Council Liaison Grant recommended new playground equipment and a picnic shelter. Chair Peck asked if there was a budget for modifying one of the plans and taking it to a meeting in that park in conjunction with their next monthly meeting. Ms. Olson stated the budget was up to $50,000 and the idea was to plan this year and do improvements in 2011. Chair Peck asked if this meant there were resources for them to plan and present to the neighborhood. Ms. Olson stated there was, but that they would need to bring in an engineer. She mentioned that they could get information on the water level for the engineer. Chair Peck questioned if it would be possible to have the committee bring their ideas to the next meeting and have an engineer present to discuss them. Ms. Olson did not feel it was necessary to have an engineer. Chair Peck asked if they should start the meeting at the park, we permitting. Committee member O'Malley suggested they put flyers out in the Valentine neighborhood indicating the City is interested in getting ideas from the residents on what they would like to see in Valentine Park. The committee felt this was a good idea. Ms. Olson stated she had comments from one resident about concerns over the play structure and another comment from a resident about the overall appearance of the park and feels there is interest from the residents. It was decided the next meeting would start at the park and the committee members would bring forth ideas for improvement of the park. C. Bocce Golf Relocation Ms. Olson reviewed that the bocce golf course was removed when the rain gardens at Lindey's Park were done. She indicated the Council is now questioning if the bocce golf course needed to be put back at Lindey's,be relocated or just not replaced. She stated the PTRC had tentatively discussed redesigning the course and have it relocated to Ingerson. The redesign would be approximately$1,000. Discussion ensued on whether the committee should recommend the reinstallation of the golf course to Council. Chair Peck asked if they should entertain a motion. MOTION: Committee member Straumann moved that Mr. Baumann be consulted on a redesign of Ingerson Park. Chair Peck amended the motion to table this for some time in the future depending on demonstrated interest and funding. The motion as amended carried unanimously. Parks,Trails&Recreation Committee Meeting Minutes April 27,2010 Page 5 D. PTRC Name Ms. Olson informed that Councilmember Holden asked the committee to reevaluate whether the name should be changed back to Parks and Recreation Committee. Committee Member Straumann indicated he would like to go on record as leaving the name as is. Committee Member Straumann requested that"Trails"be inserted and feels it should be left in because of all the work they have been doing with the trails. He feels they either need to keep "Trails" in the main name or they need to have a Trails Subcommittee. The committee was in consensus of leaving the name as Parks, Trails, and Recreation Committee. E. Other Unfinished Business Chair Peck referred the committee to Attachment 4B (Other Attachments), letter from Luci Baker, regarding having more connecting trails. Ms. Olson indicated she attached Ms. Baker's letter since it was addressed to the committee and would respond to the letter. Chair Peck suggested she may want to have Ms. Baker attend one of their meetings so she can see what challenges the committee is confronted with. 4. NEW BUSINESS A. TCAAP Zoning Discussion—City Planner Beekman on Behalf of Community Development Director James Lehnhoff City Planner Beekman indicated the purpose of her discussion was to give the Committee an update on where Planning is at with the Zoning Regulations and to review the Parks, Trails and Recreation Open Space Section of the zoning requirements for TCAAP. She also wanted feedback from the Committee on any suggestions or comments they may have. She stated they could continue discussions at the next PTRC meeting if it was not possible to review everything this evening. She would also welcome any comments or suggestions via e-mail. City Planner Beekman provided a brief background on the TCAAP property. The City's goal is to have the Zoning Regulations adopted in June prior to the public auction. Ms. Beekman summarized the park section with the Committee and asked for comments or questions. Chair Peck suggested the committee members review the draft and submit their suggestions/comments to Ms. Olson and she would then submit to Ms. Beekman by May 159 2010. The members thanked Ms. Beekman for the update. Parks,Trails&Recreation Committee Meeting Minutes April 27,2010 Page 6 t B. Rink Season Review Ms. Olson provided rink statistics and mentioned that this was by far the best season they have had, weather wise in her tenure. They were open longer, had a good crew, good ice rink conditions, and great attendance. Valentine Park had more users than Cummings this season. C. Other New Business Committee Member Scott felt is was not necessary to do a formal tour of all the city parks like they did last summer but would like to propose that they maybe have a tour of the Safe Routes to School and do some walking on the trail. It was decided they would do this at the next meeting where they will meet at Valentine Park. 5. REPORTS A. City Council Report Council Liaison Grant informed that Patrick Klaers has been hired as the City Administrator and his start date will be May 3, 2010. Council Liaison Grant then provided a brief background on Mr. Klaers. Council Liaison Grant commented regarding the Gateway Signs that Council was asked to vote on and indicated he did not feel the signs were the quality that they would like to have even though they were designated as temporary signs. Council Liaison Grant discussed the possible locations of gateway signs. Council Liaison Grant did not think the 4 x 4 posts were appropriate and had hoped for a mounted metal sign. He is hopeful that modifications will be made to what was actually presented so they can move forward with the placement of the signs. Council Liaison Grant informed that an Aldi's Market is going in by Wendy's and Target in Shoreview and they will be breaking ground shortly. Council Liaison Grant asked about the sidewalk by Lexington. Ms. Olson indicated she just received word that RFC would still like to go forward with the sidewalk from the railroad track to Cub Foods. Council Liaison Grant reported that for the irrigation system at Cummings has been completed. B. Public Works/Parks and Recreation Report Ms. Olson reported that the railroad has approved the plans and specs for the CP Rail Project and the attorney is drawing up an agreement between the City and the railroad. After Bolton and Menk submits maps and plans and the railroad reviews, the plan will go to Council for approval. Ms. Olson indicated that Bolton and Menk has also submitted plans and specs to State aid for approval. Ms. Olson reported that approximately 48 people helped with the Clean-Up Day in April. She indicated the volunteers did an excellent job. Parks,Trails&Recreation Committee Meeting Minutes April 27,2010 Page 7 Ms. Olson stated that this coming weekend Shoreview was having their Clean-Up Day and that North Heights was providing volunteers to help clean up Royal Hills, Floral, Cummings, Perry, and Freeway Park. The volunteers will be painting picnic tables and the hockey rinks,putting down wood chips, and cleaning up garbage. Ms. Olson indicated she will be there as well to help. Ms. Olson reported that they received 53 trees from the Friends of the Park tree sale. Some of the trees will be used to replace the oak trees along Hwy 96. Ms. Olson indicated she will be sending out thank you letters shortly. Chair Peck asked if they had anyone interested in the Memorial Bench Program. Ms. Olson reported she had one person that would like to order one. Chair Peck suggested they post in the newsletter once again and also include an application. It was mentioned to maybe post monthly or maybe as an insert. Ms. Olson indicated that doing an insert would be very costly but will discuss with the Communications Committee. Ms. Olson informed that Adult Softball started this evening. They have 34 teams this year versus 26 last year and are running four nights a week. Chair Peck informed the committee that Don Messerly had sent an e-mail resigning from the PTRC committee. He asked the committee to recruit new members for the committee. 6. NEXT MEETING—May 18, 2010 The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday,May 18, 2010 at 6:30 p.m. 7. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Committee Member Petersen motioned to adjourn and Committee Member Scott seconded. The meeting adjourned at 8:15 p.m.