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Parks and Recreation - 08/06/2007 APPROVED MINUTES PARKS, RECREATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES COMMISSION MONDAY,AUGUST 6, 2007 7:00 P.M., CITY CENTER Council Chambers 8080 Mitchell Road COMMISSION MEMBERS PRESENT: John Brill, Chair; Geri Napuck, Vice Chair; Tom Bierman, Lee Elliott-Stoering, Jeffrey Gerst, Randy Jacobus, Ian Mackay and Joan Oko COMMISSION MEMBERS ABSENT: Rob Barrett COMMISSION STAFF PRESENT: Jay Lotthammer, Director of Parks and Recreation Services; Stu Fox, Manager of Natural Resources; Laurie Obiazor, Recreation Services Manager; and Carol Pelzel, Recording Secretary I. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL The meeting was called to order by Chair Brill at 7:00 p.m. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Motion: Gerst moved, seconded by Napuck, to approve the agenda as presented. The motion carried, 8-0. III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES —JULY 16, 2007 Gerst pointed out that under Item IX.A. Park Tour, the Commission also visited Birch Island Park. He asked that under Item V. Report of City Council, the minutes reflect that the Commission talked about the walking track issue going to the City Council before coming back to this Commission for further discussion. Elliott-Stoering had questioned why this Commission didn't have an opportunity to discuss the walking track prior to City Council consideration. Motion: Gerst moved, Bierman seconded, to approve the July 16, 2007, Parks, Recreation and Natural Resources Commission minutes as corrected. The motion carried, 6-0-2 with Mackay and Jacobus abstaining because of absence from that meeting. IV. APPROVED MINUTES —JUNE 4, 2007 V. REPORT OF CITY COUNCIL ACTION—JULY 17 Lotthammer reported that the City Council took the following action: ■ Authorized staff to submit the Camp Eden Wood bonding bill to the State. The City is looking for funds to implement a master plan and to work with Friendship Ventures for upgrades to that facility. Staff will keep the Commission informed as PARKS, RECREATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES COMMISSION August 6, 2007 Page 2 to the progress of this request. ■ At the August 7 City Council meeting, the Council is expected to award the bid for the County Road 4 trail addition. The estimate for construction was $1.2 million and the bids came in at$799,000. Staff anticipates that construction would begin this fall. ■ The Elizabeth Fries Ellet Interpretive Trail Signage was officially opened at the Richard T. Anderson Conservation Area last week. ■ The Council appointed student representatives to the Commission with the students joining the Commission throughout the school year. Mackay asked if staff could explain why the bid for the County Road 4 came in so much lower than the estimate. Fox explained that it has been a slow construction summer and the bids came in extremely low because the contractors are looking for work. Fox further explained that the City has also received a $200,000 grant from Hennepin County so the trail addition will cost the City approximately $600,000. Approximately $1.4 million of referendum money remains for additional trails. VI. REPORT OF PLANNING COMMISSION Fox reported that on July 23 the Commission considered two variances that had no impact on parks. VII. PETITIONS, REQUESTS AND COMMUNICATION VIII. OLD BUSINESS A. STARING LAKE OFF LEASH AREA —STORM SEWER CONSTRUCTION UPDATE Fox reported that at the Commission's tour of park facilities, Oko had questions regarding work that was being done on the corner of Pioneer Trail and Highway 212 and how it would affect the off-leash park area. Fox explained that this project is for the Staring Lake Corporate Center. The site grading included the construction of a series of storm water utility ponds. Fox stated that both the Planning Commission and the City Council approved this project earlier this year. The original project was approved in 2001. City staff looked at various options for discharge of the storm water and recommended utilizing an existing low land area of Staring Lake Park as the best location for the storm water pipe. Also, this project was approved before the City considered this area of Staring Lake Park for use as a fenced off-leash dog use area. Unfortunately, when this project was originally approved the economy turned on the business type office parks and the developer chose not to do anything further at that time. Fox further explained that the project was resubmitted to the City in early January of this year. It was essentially the same project as originally approved; however, the building footprints had shifted a little. The Planning Commission and City Council did PARKS, RECREATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES COMMISSION August 6, 2007 Page 3 approve it. The one thing that has changed since the project's original approval is the off- leash dog use area now located adjacent to this parcel. The storm water will be discharged through a series of ponds and pipes to Purgatory Creek. Fox stated that the City's Engineering department oversees storm water discharge and has evaluated the project. If everything is done correctly, there will be minimal tree loss and restoration will take care of some of the existing problems. Fox said they anticipate starting this project as early as next week. Fox reported that a temporary exclusion fence would be put up during construction. Elliott-S toering asked if there would be significant tree loss. Fox responded that the original project eliminated more trees than the one recently approved. Fox said he believes there are three or four trees of 12 inches in size scheduled for removal. Oko said that after visiting the dog park, she went up to the construction site and asked why the trees were marked with spray paint. She was told that they would be removed that week. She said that as a resident, she is concerned that the City wasn't involved in marking the trees for removal that were on City property. Oko asked what type of temporary fencing would be put up. Fox explained that it would be a five-foot chain link fence. He further explained that the fence would be located at the base of the hill on the west side of the trench. Approximately 1.5 acres will be off limits during construction. Oko also asked when the trench goes in, which hill will it come down from. Fox responded that it will be diagonal and after restoration it will probably not be totally sandy. Oko said she has some concerns with that. One of the reasons this is such a great area is because of the 18 inches of sand. It is soft and safe for the dogs and it would be nice to replace the area, as it now exists. Fox explained that saving the sand is not a condition of approval. The sand is found on that site because of a prior erosion problem from the construction site. Oko asked if the trees removed would be replanted in the same area. Fox said the removed trees would be replaced with a similar number of smaller trees. In response to a question from Brill, Fox explained that from start to finish, the grading and utilities construction should take a week to ten days. The City's goal is to get this work done as quickly as possible. Oko asked where the construction equipment would come in. Fox answered that it would be from the south side and they will have to restore the city fences. Oko said on the site closest to Flying Cloud the grade is about eight-feet taller than the park. She asked what provisions have been made to have the run off not run into the park. Fox responded that the developer would have to restore the site so there is no run off. The City's Engineering department inspects the erosion control fencing and this falls under the grading permit. B. OFF-LEASH AREA PRESENTATION Lotthammer reported that Oko asked that this item be added to the agenda. She will make a presentation to the Commission regarding financing improvements to the off-leash parks. Oko explained that the off-leash park is something that is near and dear to her heart and she feels that it is also very important to a number of people who use the dog parks. She PARKS, RECREATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES COMMISSION August 6, 2007 Page 4 indicated that they would like to work with the City and Parks Department to come up with a way to raise money to accomplish some of the things that people who use the park would like. These items include basic amenities such as potable water at both dog parks and some type of shelter at the Flying Cloud Drive off-leash park. There are no trees at this park and in the summer it is extremely hot and in the winter the wind is incredible. Oko said it would also be nice if the City provided dog bags for the park users and it would encourage people to pick up after their pets. Currently, a volunteer system is used where people donate bags for other users. Oko said they would like to have benches located at both parks. There have been complaints about plastic chairs at Staring Lake but there is no other seating available at this park. Oko further explained that an important issue at the Flying Cloud Park is increased lighting. Oko presented a plan for raising money to purchase the amenities mentioned above. She explained that the City currently charges $20 for a two-year dog license. For 2006-2008 1,928 dog permits were issued and for 2007-2009 there were 1,400 permits sold through June. If they increased the fee to $20 per year, the City would add approximately $40,000 to the budget that would go a long way to improving the two off-leash parks. Oko indicated that included with the Commission's agenda material was a schedule of fees other cities charge. She stated that the proposed increase in dog license fees is not outrageous. She said they are also recommending that the City require non-residents to also purchase a permit to use the off-leash area parks. Eden Prairie is fortunate to have two off-leash parks. Some surrounding communities have no off-leash parks and those residents use Eden Prairie's parks. Oko explained that Edina residents who purchase an off-leash area permit from that city are given a neon-colored collar for their dog. Non-residents are also required to purchase the collar. This would also raise additional revenues. Oko said they are not recommending that Eden Prairie residents pay twice. If they purchase the $20 permit they would get a collar. She indicated that one of the other benefits of having non-residents being required to purchase a permit is that they would then know for sure that the pet's rabies shots would be current. Oko said they would also recommend establishing a fine system to raise additional revenue. Edina has one of the strongest peer pressure parks. If a user doesn't have a collar, they will tell the user about it. An animal control person could be funded by those fees and could monitor the use of the parks. Oko said the actual cost of the collars is somewhere between $2.50 and $3 each. There may be some additional costs associated with this proposed program. Libby Hargrove, 12640 Sunnybrook Road, said she is here to support the comments made this evening. She presented a brief history of the dog parks and explained that the original concept was to have it be a pay as you go park and they did not expect the City to provide amenities. The users were continually told by the City that it was not necessary for them to pay for use of the park since other park users didn't pay a fee. Hargrove said the City's dog parks are highly successful and they do have people from outside of the community using them. The largest park problem is overuse and they can always use more space. Users know who the responsible users are and who have healthy dogs. They will not have a problem with paying a fee to have the privilege of using these parks. The fee may cut out users who are not as conscientious. Hargrove said this fee might also show the community that they are an interested part of the athletic area park users. PARKS, RECREATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES COMMISSION August 6, 2007 Page 5 Elliott-S toering questioned the number of dog owners in the City. She indicated that a $20 increase may not be so much for one dog but it may be a problem if there are two or three dogs. She asked if a sliding fee scale had been considered. Oko said that a sliding scale is a good idea. There are a number of dog owners who are foster parents for dogs and they do use the dog parks and comply with the vaccination requirements. Since they are already responsible for taking care of the dogs they may want to consider some program where they don't have to pay for this usage. This may also be incorporated into a sliding fee scale. Jacobus indicated that the survey recently conducted by the City indicated that there are approximately 8,500 dogs in the City and only 2,000 of them are licensed. He asked if the City has looked into the reason there are so few licensed. Lotthammer said he is not aware of any study as to why so few dogs are licensed. Jacobus said there appears to be less than 20 percent of the dogs licensed and if they could get more residents to license their dogs there would be more revenue for the program. Jacobus said the fee structure proposed by Oko does appear to be okay. He said he is an advocate for charging outside residents more and he suggested they consider$20 for residents and $40 for non-residents and self-policing would be fantastic. However, if only 25 percent of the residents are going to use the dog park,he asked if there is a way to have a two-tiered licensing fee. If a resident doesn't want to use the dog park why would they pay the same amount as someone who will use the park. The non- users would be subsidizing the park for the users. Oko responded that it would be similar to the sports teams who actually pay for field time through fees. She questioned if their fee covers the total maintenance of the fields. Jacobus said if they sign up to play soccer, they play soccer. Oko said she would be amenable to having a two-tiered licensing fee. She just didn't want to make it too complicated. Oko questioned how valid the survey is with regards to the number of dogs in the City. They surveyed 400 people out of 60,000 residents. To say that there are 8,000 dogs in Eden Prairie seems absurd. She stated that it would have been nice if they had done the survey of people who registered their dogs. Napuck asked what the policy or ordinance is regarding licensing of dogs and to what effect is it enforced. Lotthammer said there is an Animal Control Division in the Police Department. If a dog is running loose and does not have a license, Animal Control becomes involved. If the dog owner is responsible, there is little contact with Animal Control or Police. Lotthammer said he can believe that there are 8,000 dogs in the City and that there are only 1,500 or so licensed. People may not even be aware of the licensing requirement. He said the numbers presented by the survey are plausible. He also indicated that of the people who use the dog park there may be many who haven't gotten their dog licensed. Lotthammer explained that the City does not receive extra money from the Athletic Associations. When they sign up for soccer this money goes to that Association to run the program and not to maintain the facilities. Some communities have facility use fees but Eden Prairie does not. A dog park does end up to be a people park and they should be treated the same as other parks in the City. He suggested that staff look at how the amenities requested for the dog parks could be incorporated into the Park's normal improvement schedule. These dog parks are part of the park system and a specific fee for the use of these parks may not be PARKS, RECREATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES COMMISSION August 6, 2007 Page 6 warranted. Lotthammer further explained that staff does have the ability to look at these improvements in the budget similar to how they look at other uses in the park system. They don't normally tie revenue sources to specific improvements. They need to look at the whole system with the dollars available and to set the specific priorities. Brill pointed out that a precedent has been set for special use fees through adult softball. Whether a fee for use of the dog parks should be a precedent or not is up for dispute. He asked what the fee is for the Three-Rivers Dog Park. Oko answered that it is $30 per year per car for three dogs at a time in the park. She also reported that she did contact the Three- Rivers Park construction office to see what the status of their dog park was. They anticipate that the park will be substantially completed by September for use but not all of the amenities outlined in the final plan will be completed. Brill said if Three-Rivers is charging $30 per car that is competition that comes into play within Eden Prairie. Brill said he feels the amenities are needed in the parks and he believes water is needed at Staring Lake and they also need to consider shelters and benches. Fox explained that he was the staff liaison for the off-leash dog parks when they were first considered. One of the things they discussed at that time was where to locate these parks. Certainly people from Hopkins or Minnetonka may use the Flying Cloud site since they are closest to that site. If they were closer to Bloomington, they would use that park. A determining factor in using the various parks is the driving distance. Fox said with regard to enforcement, the Animal Control Officers do not have enough time to spend all at the parks for enforcement. It may not be possible for them to monitor the dog parks. Fox said the Off Leash Task Force debated charging or not charging for use of these parks. Since the City does not charge for the use of tennis courts or other activities, the recommendation was not to charge a fee. Likewise, there are all kinds of alternate recreational activities that the City doesn't charge a fee for. Tracy Paulson, 7000 Alpine Trail, said with regard to the dog park at Flying Cloud, there is an area that has very high grass and some people like that in a park. It gives them a reason to not clean up after their animal. However, she feels the tall grass is a health issue and contains poison ivy and poison oak. Also, there was an occasion when the garbage cans were not emptied at this location. Paulson said she would like more assistance from the City when they call with a situation such as the tall grass or overflowing garbage cans. Elliott-S toering asked Paulson if she uses the park during the winter months. Paulson responded that she does and it is extremely cold since there is no windbreak. There is also a problem with ice near the gate because of the incline at this location. Brill asked Lotthammer to address the park related and clean-up issues described by Paulson. Lotthammer explained that when there are issues, the City should be called. He indicated that staff did receive one call asking the City to take a look at the area with the poison ivy. Staff was unable to locate it. They did find some poison ivy at Staring Lake. Staff is also addressing some mowing and weed issues. Brill suggested that when people have specific issues they call and set up a time with City staff to look at the problem areas. Brill asked if there is any way to address the ice issues during the winter months such as closing the park. Lotthammer responded that his initial thought is that this area is not something they would PARKS, RECREATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES COMMISSION August 6, 2007 Page 7 plow or do snow or ice maintenance. He suggested that the users use caution when at this park but this is something they can look at and monitor. Oko explained that the bigger issue is the lighting at the back of the park. The way the park is situated there is no light in the back area. People will walk their dogs whether or not it is icy. Oko said she did not think they were looking for the City to sand or close the park but do want them to make it safe. Fox explained that staff does not have the ability to clear the snow and ice from these parks. Fox further explained that the City gets similar requests to light all kinds of amenities. Guidelines have been established on what facilities the City lights and what they don't light. They have received requests to light the trails around Staring Lake Park. Unfortunately, during the winter months it does get dark early. Oko pointed out that there is only a single off-leash dog park in Eden Prairie during the winter and that is the only off-leash area to take your dog. She indicated that people do not have to walk at Staring Lake. There are alternatives such as walking at the mall. Oko said she feels to ask for a light at the dog park is not a big request and it is a safety issue. Oko stated that one of the reasons for the proposal presented this evening is because every time someone asked for something to be added to the dog park they were told there is no money available or it can't be done or it hasn't been done in the past. They are proposing to raise money to get amenities for the dog parks that are used by many Eden Prairie residents. The City basically gave them the land and fenced it and nothing else has been done. There has to be some way to get what they need at these parks. Mackay said the report presented this evening was a good report. However, he does not believe the City has been lax in its support for the off-leash areas. He feels they have made good progress over the last few years. Mackay asked if there is any way to consider allocating some of the dog permit fees for off-leash park improvements. Mackay asked if the Edina collar fee is an annual fee. Oko responded that it is. Mackay said he would prefer that the license fee be increased to $15 a year rather than $20 which would double the fee. A member of the audience who lives on Anderson Lakes Parkway said he moved from a community that did not have a dog park and he appreciates Eden Prairie's great parks. It is very convenient for him to use Flying Cloud and he feels that these parks are also a social place for the users and not just a dog park. The resident also expressed concern for safety at these parks. Napuck said she likes the analysis that was presented this evening and that it makes sense. She did indicate that they don't know what the current dog license fee revenue is spent on. Also, Napuck said they do not know the cost for lighting the park or the other amenities or the costs for animal control. Napuck said if they are going to have people license their dogs they should have some level of enforcement along with a hefty fine so people don't take advantage of this ordinance. She said she feels there is a lot of merit to earmarking money for dog park amenities and making it an annual fee. Napuck indicated that it is time to upgrade these parks and to address some of the safety concerns discussed. Since the people using these parks would generate the money, this would be a good place to spend the money. PARKS, RECREATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES COMMISSION August 6, 2007 Page 8 Oko asked if other Commissioner members are in favor of charging a$15 license fee per year rather than $20. This fee would be for residents and would include the license fee and a collar allowing the owner to use the dog park. Fox pointed out that the license fee does pay a portion of the Animal Control Officer's cost. Currently, there are two Animal Control Officers with park rangers assisting them. The license fee does not cover the entire cost of the Animal Control Officers. The license fee is primarily for public safety to make sure that the dog is licensed. With regard to lighting, Fox explained that this is an issue to be debated by this Commission. Staff does have protocols for looking at and weighing commission and residents requests to make sure they are being fair. He further explained that staff does not make the policy decisions but this Commission and City Council do. Bierman said he is not in favor of raising dog license fees to correct the problem. He found it interesting that only a small percentage of dog owners in the City actually license their dog. Bierman said if they could enforce what they have they could get enough money to do all of the things being requested. He feels the City needs to take the initiative to find out why people are not licensing their dogs or find a way to get them to license their dogs. If they are not willing to do that, they should eliminate the regulation. Bierman said that by doubling the fee, they are not going to get more people to register their dogs. In response to a comment made by Fox regarding the charging of fees for athletic associations, Bierman explained that special interest groups such as youth athletic associations do their own registrations, coaching and refereeing and it doesn't cost the City anything. That special interest group also puts a lot back into the community. Bierman said that at last month's meeting they talked about water at the off-leash areas. He asked if they could put a tank out in the park that has a lock on it. This would alleviate the potential for contaminating the water. This would be an option other than digging a well. With regard to dog bags, Bierman suggested they look for someone who wants to advertise to provide these bags. He also suggested that the users of the parks provide the benches being requested and if that is not a favorable alternative, people could put up memorial benches similar to what was done at Purgatory Creek Park. Bierman said he is concerned about doing special interest things. With regard to safety, he could justify lighting the park but does not feel the lighting should be paid from registration fees but from park funds. Bierman stated that he is not anxious to raise or double the cost of fees when they could get more people in the City to register their dogs. Oko said she agrees with Bierman if they can get the City to commit to providing these amenities as capital improvements to the park. Lotthammer explained that funding for the parks does come from different sources including fees, taxes, etc. Lotthammer said it would be helpful for staff to take the list of things being requested and determine what the cost would be for those items and to develop a timeline for accomplishing this. Once an analysis has been completed, staff would bring back to the Commission the cost and potential timeline and funding sources for these items. Brill expressed his appreciation to Oko for the information she has provided the Commission. He asked staff to prioritize the requests and provide the Commission an estimate as to how much the amenities would cost and to determine where the funding to pay for these requests would come from. All of this information will help the Commission determine if license fees should be increased. Oko said if the City would commit to including PARKS, RECREATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES COMMISSION August 6, 2007 Page 9 these improvements as part of their park budget it might not be necessary to increase the fees. Elliott-S toering said they can look at some of the small issues but additional information will be needed for some of the bigger issues such as lighting and water. With the pending road construction, it may not be cost effective to bring in water now. Elliott-S toering said it would be great to have water or lighting at some of the smaller neighborhood parks too but those items are not included at a lot of the City's parks. She said she feels that before they decide if lighting should be done and water brought in they need to look at how it fits into the whole park system. Bierman asked why a tank with a lock could not be put in the park tomorrow. Fox responded that this might not be a risk the City is willing to take. There is the potential of something being placed in the water. Fox said he had talked to the City's Risk Manager about this and will do so again. Bierman said he challenges the park users to ask people who want to advertise to donate bags for the off-leash parks. Also,he feels the City has to take the initiative to get more people to buy dog licenses. Selling additional licenses would take care of the funding issues. Motion: Napuck moved, seconded by Oko, to recommend to the City Council that Park and Recreation staff be directed to determine the estimated costs for adding amenities to the off- leash parks and to specify funding sources for such amenities including but not limited to the Capital Improvement Program and increased licensing dog fees. Lotthammer suggested that this not go to the City Council at this time but after all of the information has been received and the Commission has determined what action should be taken. Napuck amended the motion, seconded by Oko, to recommend that the Parks and Recreation staff be directed to determine the estimated costs for adding amenities to the off-leash parks and to specify funding sources for such amenities including but not limited to the Capital Improvement Program and increasing dog license fees. Elliott-S toering said she would like to add to the motion that staff explores how they can ensure better compliance to the licensing of dogs. She asked that they look at what other cities are doing. Jacobus said he is concerned that they are basing all of this on a survey. Lotthammer pointed out that the survey is statistically valid. He said staff would have discussions with Animal Control and other City staff to see if anything has been done to gain more compliance. This information will then be brought back to this Commission for consideration. Elliott-S toering said she does not believe it is wise to create a new licensing ordinance when the existing ordinance is not working. Gerst asked that staff also look at a yearly fee versus the two-year fee. He asked that they look at any additional administrative fees that may be created by a yearly fee. PARKS, RECREATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES COMMISSION August 6, 2007 Page 10 Vote was called on the amended motion with all members present voting aye. The motion carried, 8-0. IX. NEW BUSINESS A. ROUND LAKE BASEBALL FIELD SCOREBOARD Lotthammer explained that Board members from the Eden Prairie Baseball Association recently approached City staff to propose a method for advertising that would allow the Eden Prairie Baseball Association to fund, purchase and maintain a scoreboard. The agreement between the advertisers and the Eden Prairie Baseball Association is proposed to last for the life of the scoreboard. Lotthammer further explained that the scoreboard was not included in the cost allocation for the construction of the Round Lake field. Gary Kraemer, a representative from the Baseball Association, explained that this is a first class baseball stadium and this scoreboard is what is needed to draw it over the edge and to make it the facility it should be. The estimated cost for the scoreboard is $40,000 and they would raise that amount. The Association is not asking for any funding from the City for this scoreboard. In response to a question from Oko, Kramer explained what would be lit on the scoreboard including the numbers and the team names. A copy of the proposed scoreboard was presented to the Commission. Bierman asked what type of advertising would be allowed. Kraemer answered that the four names shown on the proposal are the four who have committed to this project. They are Kraemer and Sons, Metro, Rawlings and Cityscape. If one of them did back out, they would not allow beer or cigarettes to be advertised on this baseball field. Bierman questioned who would maintain the billboard. Fox responded that this is a LED board and the lights should have a usage life of 10,000 hours. Mackay said he is uncomfortable with the bridge across the top of the board. He asked if that design could be changed. Kraemer said they could take that whole piece off; however, this is a standard sign. Mackay said he feels it looks industrial. Brill said he did not feel it looked industrial and pointed out that these are the type of billboards located at other fields throughout the state. Gerst said he has no problem with the appearance of the sign. Lotthammer explained that when you have a billboard of this size, having an opening at the top of the sign reduces the wind load. The bridge is not structural in the sense of it holding the sign up but removing it may make the sign less durable. Elliott-S toering said she liked the sign as presented. Lotthammer said that City staff is currently working with a design firm and they can get their feedback on the appearance of the billboard. Motion: Gerst moved, seconded by Jacobus, to affirm the proposal from the Eden Prairie Baseball Association to sell advertising to support the purchase of a scoreboard at the Round Lake baseball stadium. PARKS, RECREATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES COMMISSION August 6, 2007 Page 11 Bierman asked that the motion refer to the drawing that was presented this evening showing who the advertisers would be. Motion: Gerst moved, seconded by Jacobus, to amend the motion to include that City staff approve advertisers for the scoreboard. Vote was called on the amended motion with all members present voting aye. The motion carried, 8-0. X. REPORTS OF STAFF A. DIRECTOR OF PARKS AND RECREATION 1. Updated CIP Lotthammer reported that included with the Commission's agenda material were copies of the Parks Department's Capital Improvement Requests. This information gives the Commission a look at some of the items that are included in the plan and their priority. Lotthammer explained that the report now shows the sources but does not include the cash-flow analysis. This cash-flow analysis should be available for the Commission's review at their October meeting. Brill pointed out that$2 million of referendum money was allocated in 2008 for improvements to and expansion of the trail system. He asked if this report shows the money spent or allocated. Fox responded that those are funds are being spent this year and some of those funds will be carried over for 2008. Those funds were earmarked for 2007 capital expenditures. Mackay asked if the Flying Cloud fields were listed in this report. Fox said he was not sure but would have to check to make sure they are included in the requests since those fields were included in the referendum dollars. In response to a question from Elliott-S toering regarding trails and sidewalks, Fox explained that those projects are listed by priority and they will spend down from the top. Any work to be done will be brought to this Commission for review prior to beginning a project. Brill said this was good information and they will look for the cash-flow analysis to be presented to the Commission in October. Brill asked if the agreement between the MAC and Northwest Airlines would affect any of the reliever airports. Lotthammer responded that the City Manager indicated that it may not. Hopefully they will have some feedback from MAC within the next week. Fox indicated that as soon as they receive word that the issues have been settled they will develop plans and specifications so that they can begin construction. Napuck asked if there has been any feedback from the Budget Commission regarding PARKS, RECREATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES COMMISSION August 6, 2007 Page 12 the CIP. Lotthammer answered that the Commission did meet to finalize their recommendation to the City Manager with that information being presented to the City Council at the end of this month or early September. 2. PRNR Meeting Work Plan Lotthammer presented the Parks, Recreation and Natural Resources Commission work plan. He explained that the items listed are the items they are aware of that will be coming up in the future. In December they will discuss what areas this Commission should touch on in 2008. Bierman said there are certain items this Commission discusses but they never find out if they have been accomplished. He suggested that they consider creating a tickler file showing the status of certain projects. These items should be kept on the agenda until they are resolved. Oko said an example of that would be what was decided on the snow removal from sidewalks. Fox reported that the snow removal item is being discussed by the Labor Management Committee and was reviewed by streets, parks and utilities divisions and they are looking at what equipment is needed. A recommendation will be brought back to the City Council and staff will keep the Commission informed on how this is proceeding. Bierman asked about private encroachment of public lands. He said it is important to acknowledge what is private and what is public especially when development occurs. Fox explained that they are sending people out to put markers in. It is their plan to mark 25 percent of park boundaries each year for the next four years. B. MANAGER OF RECREATION SERVICES C. MANAGER OF PARKS AND NATURAL RESOURCES IX. NEXT MEETING The next regular meeting of the Commission is scheduled for Tuesday, September 4, 2007 at 7:00 p.m. in the Heritage Rooms. X. ADJOURNMENT Motion: Gerst moved, Jacobus seconded, to adjourn the meeting. The motion carried 8-0. The meeting was adjourned at 9:35 p.m.