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Parks and Recreation - 08/05/1996 i 1996 August S MINUTES Parks, Recreation & Natural Resources Commission CITY OF EDEN PRAIRIE I ( AGENDA PARKS,RECREATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES COMMISSION MONDAY,AUGUSTS, 1996 7:00 P.M.CITY CENTER 8080 MITCHELL ROAD COUNCIL CHAMBERS COMMISSION MEMBERS: Claire Hilgeman, Chair, Bruce Bowman, Richard Brown, Don Jacobson, Vicki Kocning,David Kracum,John Wilson STUDENT MEMBER: Mark Bremer COMMISSION STAFF: Robert A. Lambert, Director of Parks, Recreation and Natural Resources. Stuart A. Fox, Manager of Parks and Natural Resources. Laurie lielling, Manager of Recreation Services 1. ROLL CALL IL APPROVAL OF AGENDA Ill. APPROVAL,OF MINUTES- I I Y 15 1996 IV. PETITIONS REQUESTS AND COMMUNICATIONS i V. DEVELOPMENT PROPOSAL i A. Bent Creek Cove 11 VI. OLD B 1 INE S A. Recommendation for Policy on Charging for Electricity Use in Parks(con't from July 1S) VII. NEW BUSINESS i A. Ten YearC'a ital Improvement Plan 1996-2005 B. Winter Use of I.RT Vill. REPORTS OITCOMMISSIONERS AND STAFF A. Report of Community Center Manager / 1. Fvluation and Recommendation for Community Center Developmental Icc i ProTram IX. ADJOURNMENT i, APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE PARKS,RECREATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES MONDAY,AUGUST 5, 1996 7:00 P.M.CITY CENTER Council Chambers 8080 Mitchell Road COMMISSION MEMBERS: Claire Hilgeman, Chair; Bruce Bowman, Richard Brown, Don Jacobson,Vicki Koenig,David Kracum, John Wilson 1i 1 STUDENT MEMBERS: Mark Bremer,Emily Hanka i COMMISSION STAFF: Robert A. Lambert,Director of Parks,Recreation and Facilities, Stuart A. Fox, Manager of Parks and Natural Resources: Elinda Bahley, Recording Secretary 1. ROLL CALL The meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m,by Chair Hilgeman. Commissioner Bowman was absent. Commissioner Jacobson arrived at 7:05 p.m. 11, APPROVAL OF AGENDA Brown added under New Business,D,Discussion About Trash on LRT Trail. 1 MOTION:Wilson moved,seconded by Brown,to approve the Agenda as amended. i 1 Motion carried 5-0. Ill. APPROVAL OF MINUTES-JULY 15,1996 MOTION: Brown moved,seconded by Koenig,to approve the Minutes of the July 15, 1996 Eden Prairie Parks, Recreation and Natural Resources Commission as published. Motion carried 6-0. IV. PETITIONS.REQUESTS AND COMMUNICATIONS i None. V. DEVELOPMENT PROPOSAL A. Dent Creek Cove Staff referred the Commission to a memo dated July 24, 1996,from Stuart Approved Minutes Parks,recreation and Natural Resources Commission August 5, 1996 A. Fox,Manager of Parks and Natural Resources;and a Staff Report dated July 19, 1996, from Michael D.Franzen, City Planner. Duane Dietrich,developer,reviewed the development proposal noting there arc only three significant trees on the site. One tree will definitely be removed and the other two may or may not be removed. They intend to replace the trees with the required replacement and usually put in more than is required. A 500 foot long masonry privacy wall with decorative trees and bushes on both sides will be installed. The Planning Commission had a little concern about accesses and the developer is coming in with two accesses. There will be a landscaping package for each one of the housing units. All of the yards will be fully landscaped. There will be sprinklers and an association for these hybrid townhomes. The developer encouraged the City Planning Commission to urge the Staff to come up with some code ordinance that would handle this so it doesn't have to be clone on a PUD all the time. Fox reviewed the Staff Report. There are three significant trees on the site which arc all silver maples. One tree will be lost for sure. Depending on the ' grading of the two trees on the farthest cast end, they may or may not be saved. These two trees were counted in the tree loss because when you plug them into the formula it doesn't amount to a tremendous amount of replacement. Staff felt 100 percent tree loss on this site was not outrageous. Because of the size of the site,the recommendation from the Engineering Department was to have the developer make a cash contribution to the storm utility fund in lieu of construction of a NURP pond. It would not be possible to fit a NURP pond on this site. Regarding the sidewalk and trails,Staff would like to make sure that there , will be adequate room for snow removal because of the privacy wall being J along the front of Valley View Road. There has to be adequate site distance at both entry points because this is used by pedestrians as well as bike riders and rollerbladcrs. Staff wants to make sure both drivers and trail ucrs can see each other. All trees planted on this site can not provide visual obstruction or physical obstruction. Curb cuts made for the entrance would be done in such a manner to provide a smooth transition across the driveways 2 1 Y r Approved Minutes Parks,recreation and Natural Resources Commission August 5, 1996 would provide for handicap access. This project was approved by the Planning Commission at the July 22, 1996 meeting on a 7-0 vote and subject to the recommendations in the Planning Staff Report. Dietrich commented that the curb cuts to be used are already there by the County or the City whcn the road was previously upgraded. There are three curb cuts but they are only going to use two of them. They will not have a fence on the site for snow storage because there is plenty of room for it. Their intent is to do the wall with smaller entry decorative trees and it will not hinder the snow. Koenig expressed concern about the common open space area referred to in the Planning Report and asked how big it is. Dietrich replied it's the triangular western part of the property as the creek comes through. It's the nicest part of the site and is unusable because of the mandated setbacks from the creek. It's about half an acre in size. Koenig asked for a price range of the townhomes. Dietrich indicated they will start at$300,000. Koenig was concerned about the runoff. Fox noted the runoff for this would be channeled toward the existing storm drain in Valley View Road. The catch basins in the streets are the sand pit ones that trap most of the ' sediments and pump it out. 1 Koenig expressed concern that the snow storage will end up in the half acre common open space area. Dietrich stated the snow will be left in that area. Koenig was concerned that by the end of the winter it will look bad and there's a lot of chemicals in there. Jacobson was concerned about interference with the bridge that goes over Valley View Road. Fox replied this project does not interfere with the 's existing ramps that's there for the LRT. His understanding was that Hennepin Parks is going to just bridge the two pieces together and not change the approach ramps. They have to act within the 100 foot river way they have in there. Brown expressed concern about approving this project with so many variances. I C 3 Approved Minutes Parks,recreation and Natural Resources Commission August 5, 1996 Koenig was concerned that two maple trees would be lost due to construction of the homes. Dietrich noted they would not be lost due to construction. A possibility for loosing them would be root damage because of the sewer and water damages made.The privacy wall is a foot and a half off the property line. Dietrich indicated they will create four different landscaping plans so the people can make their choice of which one they want. They will plant obscured trees rather than bushes. The replacement will be three to four times what the City requires. The landscaping will include a large percent of deciduous trees and larger conifers. Brown expressed concern about what the common open space mitigating reason would be for a shorcland setback waiver as stated in the Staff Report. He was opposed to approving a project that is not according to the shorcland ordinance, fox noted the project is 100 feet away from the center of the creek. 1 f you look at the lot size,you can combine them together. This is about lot size,not where the house is being located. The house is set back properly from the creek. The ordinance states that if it's going to be within 150 feet of the creek,the recommendation is that the lot size be a minimum of 13,500. The request is for a waiver to have the lot size at 4000 square feet. Koenig raised the issue of golf balls in the backyards. Dietrich explained that the tee box is being relocated and there may be golf balls in the backyard. People are most likely buying these homes to be on the golf course so they won't mind. MOTION: Kracum moved,seconded by Wilson,to approve the Bcnt Creek Cove development as per the Staff Report dated July 19, 1996, and the Supplemental Staff Report dated July 24, 1996. Motion carried 5-1 with the nay vote by Commissioner Brown. , VI. OLD BUSINESS A. Recommendation for Policy on Charging for Electricity Use In Parks (con't from July 151 Staff referred the Commission to a memo dated July 24, 1996,from Stuart A. Fox,Manager of Parks and Natural Resources. 4 I ,I Approved Minutes Parks,recreation and Natural Resources Commission August 5, 1996 Lambert recommended an hourly rate of$ 1.50 per hour. It's based on the $10.00 per day fcc which is comparable to what other cities are charging if it's to be rented for more than six hours. If it's less than six hours an hourly rate would be charged. MOTION: Koenig moved, seconded by Jacobson, to approve Staffs recommendation on policy for electrical use in parks. Motion carried 6-0. VI1. NEW BUSINESS i A. Ten Year CapitaUniprovement Plan 1996 2005 Staff referred the Commission to a memo dated July 2, 1996, from Robert Lambert, Director of Parks, Recreation& Facilities. Lambert indicated Staff updates this Capital Improvement Plan at least once a year. Often a five-year plan is done,but this is a ten-year plan which is being done at the City Council's direction. The City Council wants an idea It of what's being projected so they can do long range budget planning. This is only a guide plan and these arc estimates and not based on plans and specifications. These are estimates to give an idea about how much money the City will have coming in revenue,cash park fees,referendums or grants. lie explained that there are a couple of things not included in this plan like the golf course around the airport. The golf course is only going to be done subject to what happens with the airport expansion. Jacobson pointed out that Preserve Park has an amount of$200.000 on the chart. Lambert indicated it should be$250,000. It was an error. Jacobson also pointed out the last chart shows the fund balance beginning for the year 2001 at 239,860,yet there is a footnote on the bottom showing it to be a deficit of$321,440 going into 2001. Lambert indicated this chart was upgraded and the deficit figure was inadvertently left on. It should be I r stricken from the chart. i Jacobson asked if Pheasant Woods is going to happen in 1996. Lambert noted they are opening bids next Monday for the playground. Brown asked if it was possible to make the trails around Staring Lake and Round Lake one way. Lambert noted the problem with that is a lot of people use that trail coming in from the neighborhood and to the main areas of each 5 I Approved Minutes Parks,recreation and Nutural Resources Commission August 5, 1996 park. It is their transportation trail from home to the park. They won't walk around the lake,but would always take the shortest route home. You don't put rules on trails that you know will be broken. Kocning asked what the$175,000 for the Richard T.Anderson Conservation Area is for. Lambert replied it's for cleaning up the barnyard area,putting in a parking lot and putting in the first segment of trails. Jacobson asked if there was any money coming from the general fund for the dasher boards. Lambert explained that he didn't include that in. He will continue to budget for that. He put$50,000 in for this year from the general fund and transferred to cash park fees to reimburse the City for the boards and the communication system. They included it last year and it got cut and it will get cut again this year,so why put it in. MOTION: Hilgeman moved,seconded by Wilson,for approval of the ten- year CIP with the addition of including the reimbursement from the general fund to cash park fees for the dasher boards and the dehumidification system B in the amount of$30,000 per year to refund the $60,000 dchumidifcation �i system and the$95,000 dasherboard system. Motion carried 6-0. Q. Winter Use of LRT Staff referred the Commission to it memo dated July 25, 1996,from Stuart I A. Fox,Manager of Parks and Natural Resources. Fox explained that when Ilenncpin Parks first opened up the LRT for discussion,the City of Eden Prairie got together with other cities because it seemed that each city has its own set of guidelines for rules of conduct on trails. Because this trail intersects it number of communities,there is a need for a consistent set of rules and regulations that can be enforced. , -, a The LRT was scheduled to be used as primarily a Spring,Summer,Fall dry season type thing. They arc interested in nor do they have found operating hours during the winter. It became apparent that various communities wanted to upgrade the trail during the winter and they left it open to the communities to decide. What the City of Eden Prairie has to do now is submit a winter use permit regardless of how intense or how unintentional the purpose is. 6 I Approved Minutes Parks,recreation and Natural Resources Commission August 5,1996 The City has always told people that the LRT is there for them to cross country ski on or go for a walk. Hennepin Parks wants something in their files that says the City is intending to advertise this type of usage,and that the City is going to take on any winter maintenance if there is winter maintenance. if the City does not apply for a permit,Staff will post a"trail closed"sign and put up a barricade at all entrances of the trail, s Hilgeman asked if the City has to commit to advertising the fact that the trail is open and the intended uses for that trail. Fox indicated the City has to sign the trail saying it's now for winter usage,call the City of Eden Prairie and the phone number. It's a very basic sign. MOTION: Jacobson moved,seconded by Koenig,that the City keeps the LRT trail open(luring the winter months and advertise for informal use. Motion carried 6-0. C. Trash on the LRT Trail Brown expressed concern about four houses located in the Mitchell Woods development using the trail for dumping. Fox indicated he called the Director of Operations at Hennepin Parks. She indicated to him that currently there is one person who oversees the maintenance on both the north and south corridor. They arc trying to locate the tax owners of those { properties. Staff will follow up with a phone call and make sure the owners are aware of the situation. Vill. REPORTS OF COMMISSIONERS AND STAFF A. import of Community Center Manager 1. Evaluation and Recommendation for Community Center Developmental Ice Program " I r Staff rererrLd the Commission to a memo dated July 22, 1996,from Stuart A.Fox,Manager of Parks and Natural Resources. Lambert indicated several years ago the manager of the Community Center had started a Developmental Ice program. It evolved into something that Staff feels is not beneficial to the City and is out of character to what they have allowed any where else in the park 41 system. 7 i f' A I Approved Minutes Parks,recreation and Natural Resources Commission August 5,1996 Private instructors come in free to the community center and the students pay $2.00 to skate in the morning. The instructors then charge the students for lessons. Other communities were called to see what their policies arc which are reflected in the memo. Staft's recommendation was to try to sell the ice normally allocated for Developmental Ice. This time period of 6:00 a.m.to 9:00 a.m.on weekdays could be sold to the hockey association and other users. The unsold ice during that time could then be used for Developmental Ice in a new two hour block instead of the three hour block used in the past. The Developmental Ice schedule would now be released on a month to month basis after allowing opportunity to sell the ice. There would also be an increase on the daily fee of Developmental Ice for all users. The member rate would increase from$2.00 to$4.00. The non-member rate would increase from $4.00 to $ 6.00. Instructors that use Developmental Ice would start paying the member or non-member fees. This is recommended to begin September 1, 1996. Wilson was in favor as long as it's competitive with other communities. 9 Hilgcman supported the recommendation. MOTION: Wilson moved,seconded by Hilgcman,to support the I` recommendation for the Community Center Developmental Ice Program. Motion carried 6-0. IX. ADJOURNMENT > a MOTION: Koenig moved,seconded by Jacobson,to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried 6-0. The meeting adiourncd at 8:40 p.m. 1 8