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Parks and Recreation - 01/05/1998 V'i 1998 January 5 , 1998 Minutes Parks, Recreation & Natural Resources Commission f CITY OF EDEN PRAIRIE 1 AGENDA PARKS,RECREATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES COMMISSION MONDAY,.IANUARY 5,1998 7:00 P.M.CITY CENTER 8080 MITCHELL ROAD COUNCIL CHAMBERS COMMISSION MEMBERS: Richard [crown, Chair, Frantz Corneille, Claire Hilgeman Don Jacobson,Vicki Koenig,Glenn Stolar,John Wilson STUDENT MEMBERS: Elizabeth Cook,Stacy Enger COMMISSION STAFF: Robert A.Lambert,Director of Parks,Recreation&Natural Resources, Stuart A. Fox, Manager of Parks & Natural Resources.Laurie Helling,Manager of Recreation Services 1. ROLL CALL, I1. APPROVAL OF AGENDA III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES- DECEMBER 1 ez 15, 1997 IV. PETITIONS, RF,QUESTS AND COMMUNICATIONS 4 V. DEVEI.OPMF.NT PROPOSALS A. Settler's Rider, i VI. 01.1)BUSINESS A. Prairie Bluff Conservation Area Mannocnient Plan Task Force Report VII. NEW I;l1SI�S i A. Recommendation for Process to Replace Hidden Ponds PlaygroundEquipment 1 J F 61A- B. Natural and Scenic Grant Application for AcQuisition of Option Parcel #2 of Peterson Property C. Recommendation for 1998 Trails PrQiects V111. REPORTS O1-COMMISSIONERS AND STAFF A. Reports ol'Commissioncrs ( I. Discussion of Deferral of Priorities-Glenn Stolar I I\. ADJOURNMENT 1 I APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE PARKS,RECREATION&NATURAL RESOURCES COMMISSION MONDAY,JANUARY 5,1998 7:00 P.M.CITY CENTER 8090 MITCHELL ROAD COUNCIL CHAMBERS COMMISSION MEMBERS: Richard Brown, Chair. Frantz Corneille, Claire Hilgenan, Don Jacobson, Vicki Koenig, Glenn Stolar,John Wilson STUDENT MEMBERS: Elizabeth Cook,Stacy Enger(absent) COMMISSION STAFF: Robert A.Lambert,Director of Parks,Recreation and Natural Resources; Stuart A. Fox, City Forester; Elinda Bahley,Recording Secretary COMMISSION MEMBERS ABSENT: None 1. ROLL CALL Chair Brown called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. H. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Brown added under New Business,item D,Staring Lake Park Management. MOTION: Stolar moved, seconded by Iiilgeman, to approve the agenda as amended. Motion carried 7-0. 1 Ill. APPROVAL OF MINUTES-D 'C'.MB .R 1 & 15 1997 r 7 Hilgcman noted on page 4, second paragraph, third sentence, change enforceable to unenforceable. She noted tree loss wits a typo error on page 5, second paragraph,third sentence. She also noted on page 6,the second motion,third sentence,change...with the comment...to read...with the understanding. MOTION: Jacobson moved, seconded by Hilgcman, to approve the minutes of the ' December 1, 1997 Eden Prairie Parks, Recreation and Natural Resources Commission meeting as amended. Motion carried 4-0-3 with abstentions by Wilson, Stolar and Brown. MOTION: Hilgent:tn moved,seconded by Stolar,to approve the minutes of the December 15, 1997 Eden Prairie Parks, Recreation and Natural Resources Commission meeting as published. Motion carried 5-0-2 with abstentions by Jacobson and Wilson. f Approved Minutes Parks,Recreation and Natural Resources Monday,January 5,1998 IV. PETITIONS.REQUESTS AND COMMUNICATIONS None. V. DEVELOPMENT PROPOSALS A. Settler's Ridge Staff referred the Commission to a memo dated December 29, 1997 from Stuart A. Fox,Manager of Parks and Natural Resources. Dwight Jelle, Westwood Professional Services, reviewed the site plan noting the proposal consists of 117 single fiunily units with three different products. There will be no maintenance townhomes,medium size housing,and then fairly large houses located on the bluffs. Currently,the site is a farm field with transition areas to the south along the bluff area and to the north along Riley Creek. 'he majority of the development takes place along the rolling upland area that is currently being farmed. He pointed out the NURP pond area and noted they are working with the State Archeologist to determine the exact location of some Indian burial mounds located in the southwest portion. They arc proposing a park gift of six acres to Eden Prairie on the north side which is the whole ravine area of Riley Creek and also a 40 foot wide trail connection down to the existing road which is within the City's option area. There will also be two main trails,one adjacent to Street A and one adjacent to Street B,down to the City option property. The staff report discussed a 10 foot wide trail but they would rather make it an eight foot wide trail because their right-of-ways arc about 1 I feet and would like to have some buffer between the trail and curb. He explained the erosion correction proposed noting they will work with the Watershed District and City Staff to dctcmtinc what gets repaired. They don't intend to go all the way down to the bottom for repairs. Lambert reviewed the staff report and noted the eight foot wide trail was acceptable. Fie explained this development is on the Peterson property which is north of the property that the City acquired. The City acquired 68 acres to the southwest of this site along the bluffs and they are acquiring that on a five year contract for deed with the Petersons and the Klcins. The City just recently completed acquisition of a 17 acrc parcel which is due south of the southeast corner of this site. They received a grant for that and have an option on a 30 acrc parcel between those two sites which ( 2 Approved Minutes Parks,Recreation and Natural Resources Monday,January 5, 1998 includes the site where the trail comes between the lots,and down on to the Peterson property on the bluffs. The developer has met with staff and is considering dedication of Outlots B and F to the City or presenting them as a gift. Staff was comfortable with either of these options. However, if the option is to gift the outlots a scenic and conservation casement should be place across Outlot E and a trail casement be placed across Outlot F at the time of final platting of this property. { Storm water drainage from the majority of the streets and yards will be directed into the storm water system in the streets and carried to the NURP pond on the west end of the project. At this point, the solids will be precipitated out and the overflow directed into Riley Creck by a series of closed pipes. The calculations for this NURP pond are being evaluated by the Engineering Department and will have to meet City and Watershed District approval prior to construction. ? Wilson asked about the price range of the homes. Jelle said they arc going to be in the range of$220.000 to close to$1 million. Jacobson was concerned about the lots going all the way to the edge and for the safety of children in that area. Lambert said it would be difficult to put a fence around that ravine because it goes all the way down to the road. Brown expressed concern about the runoff in section 2 and the water going down to the City property. He doesn't sec how the City property is not going to be dramatically effected unless there is a ben-n. Jclle said it's a big concern for them and they will be working with the Watershed District and City staff. The first thing '( they arc going to do is determine what is causing the erosion. The developer has a number of proposals on how to deal with some of those drainage issues and the Engineering Staff and Watershed District will have to be comfortable with how they arc intending to deal with the drainage areas before the Second Reading. Regarding the little wetland area,the staffs first proposal was t move their rear lot lines right up to the edge of the wetlands so the City owned the wetland. It would not change what their lot looks like at all and it's a better protection of the City to own that wetland. Koenig asked if there will be a homeowner's association. Jcllc said there will be for the entire project. 3 I Approved Minutes Parks,Recreation and Natural Resources Monday,January 5,1998 Koenig was not comfortable with the lots going right up to the edge of the bluffs. Lambert said he drew the line where the bluff lot lines would be and explained why he drew it right over the edge of the bluff. Koenig asked if staff was comfortable with that area being environmentally maintained. Lambert said staff have no significant concerns. 1 Hilgeman said she likes the landscaping plan but was uncomfortable not having a tree loss number. Fox explained why there is no tree loss number yet noting the tree loss would probably be very small. MOTION: Wilson moved, seconded by Stolar, to approve the Settlers Ridge project per staff recommendations and further review of the Planning Commission, and recommend the wetlands in the south be under City ownership. Motion carried 6-1 with the no vote by Jacobson. Jacobson indicated that he believes the wetlands should be in private ownership because he's very nervous about the lots being so close to the bluff area. He noted �T about a year ago he voted no on a proposal which was right up against the bluff area i also. a VI. OLD B ICINESS i I A. Prairie Bluff Con. rvntlon Area Management Plan Task FQrce Reglort { Staff referred the Commission to a memo dated December 29, 1997 from Bob Lambert,Director of Parks,Recreation and Natural Resources. t Diane Desotclle,Peterson Environmental Consultants,indicated they have prepared l a management plan for the Prairie Bluff Conservation Area. She reviewed the ' document and summarized the process and what the key components of the management plan arc. She explained the plan was designed to provide a short and long term management option for the Prairie Bluff Conservation Area in order to protect,preserve,and restore the land to it's native prairie,oak,savannah,and oak basswood forest found on the site. MOTION: Hilgeman moved, seconded by Wilson, to approve the Prairie Bluff Management Plan. Motion carried 7-0. 4 Approved Minutes Parks,Recreation and Natural Resources Monday,January 5,1998 VII• NEW BUSINESS A. Recommendation for Process to Replace Hidden Ponds PIatCL4111LQllinment Staff referred the Commission to a memo dated December 29, 1997 from Bob Lambert,Director of Parks,Recreation and Natural Resources. Lambert said they arc requesting authorization to proceed with obtaining bids for replacement of the playground equipment at Hidden Ponds Neighborhood Park. The funding source of tite proposed $50,000 project is the park's capital outlay expenditures account in the 1998 general fund budget. Staff will notify both neighborhoods and will follow the same procedure the City developed for Pheasant Woods Neighborhood Park and Homeward Hills Neighborhood Park. MOTION: Wilson moved,seconded by Stolar,to approve staffs recommendation per the memo of December 29. 1997. Motion carried 7-0. B. Nnhtrnl and Scenic Crant Annllcation for A anicitinn of nnpon Parcel#2 of Peterson Proncrty Staff referred the Commission to a memo dated December 18, 1997 front Bob Lambert,Director of Parks,Recreaticn and Natural Resources. Lambert said this is a request to go forward with the grant application. They can i always turn it down,as they have once before, but reducing it down by$200.000 would help the City to acquire option parcel#2. The City only has an option on that 1 for two more years. If they don't get it this year,there is one more year to make the application before the option runs out. A brief discussion continued about whether or not the City would need a referendum bond. MOTION: 1-lilgeman moved, seconded by Koenig, to approve the Natural and Scenic Grant Application for acquisition of option parcel #2 of the Peterson property. Motion carried 7-0. C. Recommendation for 1998 Tract.Proi cts Staff referred the Commission to a memo dated December 30, 1997 from Bob Lambert,Director of Parks,Recreation and Natural Resources. 5 Approved Minutes Parks,Recreation and Natural Resources Monday,January 5, 1998 Lambert explained the City Council has budgeted $125,000 per year for trail construction and repair. Over$80,000 was carried over from the 1997 budget to accommodate the projects proposed to be completed in 1998, therefore, approximately$205,000 is available this year. He reviewed the five projects recommended for repair and construction for 1998. Fie also reviewed the 1998 trail system evaluation chart and the scoring system City staff utilized in order to prioritize trails for consideration. He noted that the trail evaluation chart is not perfect and is somewhat subjective; however, due to the number of trail projects and requests,it is necessary to develop some system in order to prioritize projects. Staff re-evaluates each of the projects on an annual basis as petitions for these trails significantly impact the scoring totals. Jacobson commented he would rather see the trails with safety issues repaired rather than the ones with access issues,and would rather see more low value projects done rather than a few high value projects done. Lambert explained how they determine whether it's a safety issue or not and the way the trails were ranked. j i MOTION: Koenig moved, seconded by Wilson, to approve the staff recommendations of December 30, 1997 regarding the 1998 trail projects with the f recommendation that if there is money left over it be allocated to those trails that are t ranked as safety concerns and are low dollar value. Motion carried 7-0. l r D. Staring Lake Outdoor nter i d ' Brown was concerned they have this great park with great use and with great r potential of having even greater use,and they have a part-time employee working j 24 hours a week to establish it. They need somebody there with training. He said Mr.Lambert related to him they have two positions that they can perhaps combine for the salary allowance to possible try on a one ycav basis to get a little more activity at Staring Lake. Fie noted he wanted the Commission to be aware that Mr. Lambert is aware of it. There arc lots of opportunities to increase the programs that are ofi'cred and increase some income for the City. Lambert explained to the Commission how the facility has operated over the past years and why it makes sense to hire a recreational programmer to program that facility. Fie recommended the position go to a part-time recreation programmer who has a degree in recreation from Mankato State. 6 Approved Minutes Parks,Recreation and Natural Resources Monday,January 5,1998 Brown asked for a list of programs that arc offered because a lot of people do not know what is being offered out there. Lambert said he would have that for him at the next meeting. Vill. REPORTS OF COMMISSIONERS AND STAFF 1 i A. imports of Commissioners 1. Discussion of Deferral of Priorities-Glenn-Stolar Stolar said when they as a Commission choose to approve requests such as ice skating rinks,there is a deferral of other priorities on the budget. He suggested maybe once a year,or every six months,that the Commission get a list of what those priorities were that were deferred because of other decisions the Commission made. This would give the Commission more visibility to those issues. i Lambert explained they have a CIP which is updated every six months. i There are pretty significant changes that occur every time because of displacements and generally he is able to do that because they are dealing with$1 million. He always makes displacements out there for four or five years because in six months it's all going to change again. It's difficult to say t what was canceled when you add a new$5,000 project. His thought has been to never panic much about that stuff because they arc building a park system here,and as development slows down and the amount of cash park fees slows down,their needs are going to slow down too. Stolar explained that he was referring to the general fund budget. For example, when the Commission approves second seasons the park maintenance staff must defer other maintenance work. The Commission doesn't always know what that is and might not approve the second season request if they did know. j Lambert stated that much of the deferred maintenance is a cumulative thing. For example,if you can't get around to re-roofing a park shelter because you just committed to maintain ballftclds for an additional two months,the park shelter repair muy be more expensive when you do get to it in another year. No action was taken. IX, ADJOURNMENT (. MOTION: Hilgcman moved,seconded by Jacobson, to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried 7-0. The meeting adjourned at 9:20 p.m. i 7