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HomeMy WebLinkAboutParks and Recreation - 08/29/2005 APPROVED MINUTES PARKS, RECREATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES COMMISSION MONDAY,AUGUST 29, 2005 7:00 P.M., CITY CENTER Council Chambers 8080 Mitchell Road COMMISSION MEMBERS PRESENT: Rob Barrett, Tom Bierman, Tom Crain, John Brill, Jeffrey Gerst, Ian Mackay, Michael Moriarity and Geri Napuck COMMISSION MEMBERS ABSENT: Randy Jacobus COMMISSION STAFF PRESENT: Bob Lambert, Director of Parks and Recreation; Stu Fox, Manager of Natural Resources; and Carol Pelzel, Recording Secretary I. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL The meeting was called to order by Chair Barrett at 7:00 p.m. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA The following additions were made to the agenda: VI. C. Update on Dog Park at Staring Lake; VII. A. Forming a Referendum Committee; and, VIL A. 2. Crestwood Park Wetland Mitigation. Motion: Gerst moved, seconded by Mackay, to approve the agenda as amended. The motion carried, 8-0. III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES —August 1, 2005 On Page 9, the fourth paragraph, Bierman asked that the minutes be changed to read "He thanked Staff for removing the do not walk signs on the cross-country trails ....". Bierman also pointed out that there are still dead pine trees in Purgatory Creek. Motion: Motion was made by Moriarity, seconded by Napuck, to approve the minutes as corrected. The motion carried, 6-0-2 with Gerst and Mackay abstaining because of absence from that meeting. IV. REPORT OF CITY COUNCIL ACTION—August 2 and August 16, 2005 Lambert reported that there were no items on the August 2 Council agenda. On August 16 the Council adopted a resolution to petition the Nine Mile Creek Watershed District to commit to funding the Water Quality Improvement Projects for Anderson, Bryant, Birch Island and Smetana Lakes. The Council also approved the Riley Creek and the Edenbrook Conservation Area Trail Plans as recommended. PARKS, RECREATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES COMMISSION August 29, 2005 Page 2 V. PETITIONS, REQUESTS AND COMMUNICATION A. REQUEST FOR SUPPORT OF CITY RESOLUTION PROCLAIMING OCTOBER 15, 2005 AS BIRCH ISLAND WOODS BUCKTHORN BUSTING DAY Jeff Strate, Friends of Birch Island Woods, presented a sample of buckthorn and explained that it is an invasive shrub tree that has infested many of the woodlands throughout the United States and southwest suburbs. For the past three years the Friends of Birch Island Woods has presented educational workshops on buckthorn. Over the course of two to three years approximately 300 to 320 volunteers have cleared buckthorn from three acres in Birch Island Woods. Strate said the reason for requesting the City to proclaim October 15 as buckthorn busting days is to draw more attention to this problem. The Sierra Club will be a sponsor and a number of local community service organizations will be contacted. This will be a Saturday morning event in October and they are hoping to attract 80 to 120 participants. Strate displayed a tool that is used to remove the buckthorn. He indicated that it is his hope that this Resolution will put more emphasis on buckthorn and provide higher publicity than they have had so far. They are only focusing on Birch Island Woods. In response to a question from Gerst, Strate explained that they will work very closely with the City and the City has assigned a forestry technician to select the area in which they will remove the buckthorn. The smaller plants taken out will be left to decompose and the City will remove the larger plants. Moriarity asked how many tools they have for the removal of the buckhom. Strate responded that they have approximately eight tools in various sizes and they also have a loaner program for these tools. He explained that very little money is involved in this program because there is not enough money to rid buckthorn from the park system. Crain asked what the Sierra Club would do as a co-sponsor. Strate answered that they have a huge communications center and they will publicize this event through their internal network. Motion: Motion was made by Gerst, seconded by Mackay, to recommend the City Council approve a resolution proclaiming October 15, 2005 as Birch Island Woods Buckthorn Busting Day. The motion carried, 8-0. VI. OLD BUSINESS A. LOWER PURGATORY CREEK CONSERVATION AREA TRAIL PLAN Lambert introduced Jeff Schoenbauer of Brauer and Associates and explained that they were the lead consultants working with the neighborhood-planning group that helped the City develop the trail system in Lower Purgatory Creek. PARKS, RECREATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES COMMISSION August 29, 2005 Page 3 Schoenbauer explained that the process in developing this plan was similar to what they had done with Edenbrook and Riley Creek, which was ultimately approved by the City Council. He introduced Greg Mortenson and John McNeil, two members of the neighborhood task force. Schoenbauer reviewed with the Commission the proposed Lower Purgatory Creek Conservation Area Trail Plan and explained that it has been presented to the Watershed District and will be presented to the City Council on September 20. Bierman questioned if the steps shown would have railings. Schoenbauer responded that the State prefers low profile bridges so if you have flooding conditions the water will flow over the bridge. They will look at this further and try to address those issues so that standards are met. Schoenbauer pointed out that there was some concern that users of this area would park in the Pax Christi Church parking lot. They are looking at developing a parking lot within Creekwood Park and moving the trail closer to that lot. Schoenbauer reviewed the phasing of the project. Mortenson thanked City staff and Schoenbauer for their time and willingness to work with the neighborhood for a plan that appears good for all parties. McNeil also thanked City staff for their input and he feels that the people that wanted input into this process were given every opportunity to do so. The end result appears to be fair and accurate and represents what they have been going through. Bierman asked when the project would start and how long it would take to complete the entire trail. Lambert explained that they hope to start in 2006 and the only reason they wouldn't start then would be if they were unable to get some funding support from the Watershed District for next year's budget. They do not want to wait three or four years to start the project because of changes in ownership, which may require going through this whole process again. They may do all of the phases in two or three years and the fourth phase may be delayed longer. They are recommending a land swap with one of the homeowners and by waiting they would be able to landscape that area and give it a chance to mature. Bierman asked if this project is dependent on the upcoming referendum. Lambert said it is not. The City does have enough money for half of the projects and will request fifty-percent to be funded by the Watershed District. Planning would be done through the winter and bids would also be taken during the winter so that construction could be started in the spring. Bierman questioned how they plan to keep bikers using the Minnesota River trail from riding on this trail. Lambert explained that when they come up to Riverview Road they would continue onto the bike trail along the road. This area would be controlled by signage and enforced by Park Rangers. Brill pointed out that in Phase I there is very little neighborhood access. Lambert explained that the decision on neighborhood access was made over the last thirty years when development occurred. It also depends on how steep the banks are and what can be negotiated with the developers. Schoenbauer said they have exploited every access point possible. Mortenson explained that he lives in this area and that it is extremely steep and it has sandy soil. This would prohibit them from accessing the trails from their backyards. PARKS, RECREATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES COMMISSION August 29, 2005 Page 4 MOTION: Motion was made by Gerst, seconded by Mackay, to recommend approval of the Lower Purgatory Creek Conservation Area Trail Plan as per the recommendation of the Lower Purgatory Creek Conservation Area Trail Planning Committee and the consultant. The motion carried, 8-0. B. BIDS FOR ROUND LAKE PARK TRAIL RECONSTRUCTION Fox explained that the City has been evaluating trails and one of the things they have talked about for years is the development of a new trail around Round Lake. The trail had been undersized because of the usage and it is now time to upgrade the trail. This trail was included in the CIP and bids did come in at$82,000. The trail will be widened from eight feet to ten feet with the connectors being eight feet wide. They do anticipate redoing the Staring Lake trails next year. The reason for increasing the width of the trails is because of roller bladers and in-line skating. Also, there is considerably more traffic on these trails and ten feet gives them a better safety distance for two-way traffic. Napuck said it would be helpful to have a center stripe on these trails. Fox said this is something they can do. MOTION: Motion was made by Napuck, seconded by Brill, to recommend that the City Council award the bid for reconstruction of the Round Lake Park trails to Midwest Asphalt Corporation in the amount of$82,423. Bierman asked if the City has used Midwest Asphalt for other projects. Fox said they have used them for several projects. Bierman also questioned why there was such a difference in price from the estimate and the actual bid. Fox explained that they were estimating $200,000 for the project,but after looking at this project staff decided to do the preparation and restoration work in-house. Vote was called on the motion with all members present voting aye. The motion carried, 8-0. C. UPDATE ON DOG PARK AT STARING LAKE Lambert explained that they are still working on this project and in order for them to do it right the City needs an easement from the property owner to the south of the project. They have had the property surveyed and they have submitted that information to the City Attorney for drafting of an easement to be signed by the property owner. Once they have the easement, they will fence in the area. Staff hopes to have the park up and running some time this fall. VII. NEW BUSINESS A. FORMING REFERENDUM COMMITTEE Barrett explained that for last year's referendum, members of the Athletic Associations got together to work on getting the referendum passed. He asked if any of the Commission PARKS, RECREATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES COMMISSION August 29, 2005 Page 5 members would be interested in doing something similar. Bierman reported that the Sports Facilities Commission did discuss this at their last meeting. He asked that each of the nine Associations go back to their organizations and develop a plan to get this referendum passed. Barrett said he would like to see someone from this Commission head up a group to get the yes voters out. They could have one meeting to see whether or not this is something they want to pursue. Mackay said he would be willing to head up the group with this Commission's help. The Commission agreed this is something they should do and that they should work with the Athletic Associations. VIII. REPORTS OF STAFF A. DIRECTOR OF PARKS AND RECREATION SERVICES 1. Parks Referendum Information Flyer Lambert distributed to the Commission members the most recent parks referendum flyer. The Commission discussed the use of coins for showing the cost to homeowners should the referendum pass. The Council did discuss this and they did not have a problem with the use of coins and the City's communications representative feels that it is important to use coins. Lambert said they would be replacing the picture under the text regarding the Town Meeting. Barrett pointed out that when opening the flyer, it appears to open upside down. The Commission agreed that this should be looked at more closely to determine if the inside text needs to be turned. Moriarity said he feels that the Mayor's letter should have a more positive tone. He suggested that they add text after the list of reasons for holding the referendum that states that most importantly the reason for doing this is because the Council firmly believes there are needs that have not been met and these needs cannot be met with current funds. Bierman said the reason for this referendum is to improve the quality of life in Eden Prairie. The Mayor's letter appears defensive and does not list the benefits of this referendum. It offers opportunities for all ages. Mackay suggested that the second paragraph of the Mayor's letter be removed. This information appears to be covered in the third paragraph of the letter. Barrett said he agrees that the second paragraph should be deleted and that the Mayor's letter should have a more positive tone. Lambert explained that this brochure presents facts and is not to convince the voters to vote yes. Bierman said they do tell the residents how much it is going to cost them. Therefore, they should also be able to tell them what the benefits will be if the referendum passes. Napuck said she does not feel that the third bullet offers any information. The Commission agreed to change the third bullet of the Mayor's letter to read: "Ask for PARKS, RECREATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES COMMISSION August 29, 2005 Page 6 less money, but still improve our park system as supported in the City-wide survey conducted last year". The Commission agreed that the second paragraph of the Mayor's letter should be deleted and the third bullet of the letter be amended as stated above. Jeff Strate said he would like to see a different picture on the front cover of senior citizens actually using the trails rather than standing there. Lambert said he agrees and would look into getting a picture that shows the trails and seniors actually walking on them. Moriarity said he was happy to see that the annual operating expenses were included in the flyer. He asked if staff felt revenue would cover any of the other improvements besides those to the Community Center. Lambert said it would not. The amount shown is the net additional cost, which is about$100,000 per year if all of the questions are approved. Bierman asked how many years would the residents have to pay for these improvements should all of the questions pass. Lambert said it would probably be 20 years. Bierman asked if that is being omitted from the flyer for a specific reason. Lambert said that the amount could change each year depending on the number of residents in the City. Bierman recommended that since they are eliminating a paragraph they may want to consider adding information about funding these improvements with 20 year General Obligation Bonds. He felt this would tell the residents how the City would fund these projects. Moriarity said 20 years seems like a long time and he was not sure it should be included in this information. Brill said that information could be included in one of the four points. Mackay said he felt it should be included somewhere in the information. Gerst suggested that the bond information be included on the City's web site. This would allow people who want additional information to get it from that web site. Napuck said she would rather see it on this flyer rather than require people to go to several different locations to get all of the information. Brill recommended that they remove the word "schools" from the sixth bullet under Question#2, "This money would be used for the following projects". The Commission agreed that the word school should be replaced with the words "swim teams". MOTION: Motion was made by Barrett, seconded by Mackay, to recommend approval of the draft copy of the bond referendum brochure with the aforementioned changes. The motion carried, 8-0. PARKS, RECREATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES COMMISSION August 29, 2005 Page 7 2. Crestwood Park Wetland Mitigation Lambert explained that Crestwood Park is located in the southwest corner of Eden Prairie. It was brought to their attention that there were wetlands in this park during the design approval process. One area was more viable for a wetland; however, the area west of the parking lot was not functioning like a wetland. Lambert further explained that this park is extremely tight and there is no area for passive recreation. Staff is recommending that the City go through the process of trying to remove the wetland west of the parking lot and to mitigate it somewhere else. They are also recommending that this area then be put into a passive park area. Lambert indicated that this is a critical piece of land and it is not a good place for a wetland that would not be of high quality. Motion: Motion was made by Moriarity, seconded by Gerst, to recommend to the City Council to direct Staff to pursue a petition to relocate the non-functioning wetland in Crestwood Park. The motion carried, 8-0. B. MANAGER OF RECREATION SERVICES C. MANAGER OF PARKS AND NATURAL RESOURCES IX. NEXT MEETING The next meeting of the Commission is scheduled for Monday, October 3, at 7:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers. X. ADJOURNMENT Motion: Mackay moved, Gerst seconded, to adjourn the meeting. The motion carried 8-0. The meeting was adjourned at 8:50 p.m.