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PR 12/04/2000 - 00008452CITY OF FRIDLEY PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION MEETING — DECEMBER 4, 2000 CALL TO ORDER: Chairperson Kondrick called the December 4, 2000 Parks & Recreation Commission Meeting to order at 7:02 p. m. ROLL CALL: Members Present: Dave Kondrick, Sue Price, Marcy Sibell, Tim Solberg, Dick Young Others Present: Jack Kirk, Director of Recreation & Natural Resources Barb Dacy, Director of Community Development Paul Lawrence, Superintendent of Public Works APPROVAL OF NOVEMBER 6, 2000 PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION MINUTES MOTION by Ms. Sibell, seconded by Mr. Solberg, to approve the minutes of the November 6, 2000 meeting of the Parks and Recreation Commission. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL MEMBERS VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED. APPROVAL OF PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION AGENDA FOR DECEMBER 4, 2000 MOTION by Mr. Solberg, seconded by Mr. Young, to approve the agenda for the December 4, 2000 meeting. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL MEMBERS VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED. 1. STAFF REPORT a. Program Update Mr. Kirk stated that an update of the programs was included with the agenda packet for the meeting. The Recreation Division regularly offers trips on days that the students are not in school. In the past month, there were two trips offered. On Monday, November 6, 39 youth in grades 1-8 spent the day rollerskating at Cheap Skate in Coon Rapids and swimming at the Shoreview Community Center. On Monday, November 27, 36 youth participated in a trip to Camp Snoopy at the Mall of America. Mr. Kirk said that the Senior Program now has a tradition of holding a Veteran's Day program and this year over 100 seniors participated. The program included a first hand account of the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Parks and Recreation Commission Meetinq — December 4, 2000 Paqe 2 b. Park Maintenance Report Mr. Lawrence stated that the agenda packet includes a report from Park Supervisor Dave Lindquist on the activities during the past month. He said that the colder weather should assist them in getting the ice ready for the skating season. The oval at the Commons Park/ Middle School facility is coming along. He said that down the road, maybe it would be worthwhile looking into the purchase of a used Zamboni to maintain the oval and the hockey rinks at this location. Mr. Kondrick suggested that staff look into the cost for a used Zamboni for resurfacing the ice. Mr. Lawrence stated that in addition to preparing the rinks and warming houses for the upcoming season, the maintenance workers had also completed some more end of the year work in the City parks. Final sweeping of leaves and putting away picnic tables was completed at several park locations. Some repairs to the puppet wagon and some work at the Fridley Community Center were also completed. c. Interpretive Specialist Position Mr. Kirk stated that Peter Cleary, Interpretive Specialist at Springbrook Nature Center had resigned his position to take a new job with Dodge Nature Center. His last day with the City was November 22. The position has been advertised and the closing date for applications is December 18. We expect to have a new person on board by the first of the year. d. Update on Springbrook Nature Center Entrance Project Mr. Kirk stated that on Monday, November 27, the Springbrook Nature Center Foundation Board of Directors held the first in a series of ineetings with the architect contracted to look at a redesign of the entrance area to SNC. The architect is to consider the landscaping, parking, outdoor amenities, memorial area, and indoor building space. This initial meeting was specifically directed toward gathering ideas and direction from the Springbrook Board and committee members prior to setting up several meetings for input from community stakeholders. Architect Dewy Thorbeck and Landscape Architect Bob Close presented several concept drawings with options for making changes to the building and outdoor space. They also presented several options for screening the traffic noise from g5t" Avenue. The architect (Thorbeck) said that floor space for the building might have to be doubled in order to accommodate program uses that have been presented to him. There will be stakeholder community meetings to gather additional input for this project. Meeting dates and times will be announced soon. Parks and Recreation Commission Meetinq — December 4, 2000 Paqe 3 2. NEW BUSINESS a. Northstar Corridor — Draft Environmental Impact Statement Mr. Kirk stated that a draft environmental impact statement has been presented for the Northstar Corridor Commuter Rail Project. The plan calls for additional railroad tracks adjacent to Springbrook Nature Center and also next to Edgewater Gardens Park. The plan will impact the regional bikeway/walkway system and affect some of the wetlands at Springbrook Nature Center. Barb Dacy, Director of Community Development for the City of Fridley, has been involved with this project and is at tonight's meeting to lead the discussion. Ms. Dacy stated that state law requires a 30-day comment period on the Draft EIS and the Northstar Corridor Development Authority (NCDA) will be conducting a number of public hearings. She said that staff would be putting together a list of potential comments on the EIS for review by the City Council. The City Council may then submit City comments to the NCDA as a response to the Draft EIS. At tonight's meeting, she would like to hear if the Parks and Recreation Commission members have any comments or statements to make regarding the information presented in the Draft EIS. Ms. Dacy further stated that the BNSF railroad is suggesting the addition of a third railroad track north of I-694, along the west side of the existing two railroad tracks. The NCDA does not support this addition, since they feel the commuter rail line is adding only 18 more trains per day. The additional track appears to be needed more for additional freight trains. The additional track would displace a section of the regional bikeway/walkway trail in the area of Edgewater Gardens Park. Springbrook Nature Center is affected by this project due to the adding of a fourth "siding" track that is proposed on the east side of the existing tracks. Land in the nature center would be taken to accommodate the track and a portion of the wetland will be affected. Mr. Kondrick asked if the existing bridges would hold these additional tracks or would new bridges have to be constructed? Ms. Dacy stated that the bridges would have to be made larger or new bridges built. Mr. Young asked what the purpose was of the siding track at Springbrook Nature Center. Ms. Dacy responded that it will allow freight trains to pull off the main track and allow the commuter rail trains to go ahead and stay on schedule. Mr. Kondrick asked who has the power to make the decision on adding tracks to this railroad system? Ms. Dacy stated that the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad owns the property, including the right-of-way, so it is expected that they will ultimately make a number of decisions regarding the scope of this project. Parks and Recreation Commission Meetinq — December 4, 2000 Paqe 4 Mr. Kondrick stated that as he understands it, the railroad would come through and take some property (at Springbrook Nature Center) on the west side of the park. Because this land was purchased with LAWCON funds, they would be required to replace this land with equal value property. They would provide replacement property just south of the existing nature center. Mr. Young asked how much of the wetlands will be affected at SNC and won't this create more of problem than currently exists with water holding capacity? Ms. Dacy stated that it will likely involve a couple of acres of wetland and this taking would have to be replaced with equal value wetland at a 2 to 1 ratio somewhere in the same watershed. The impact of holding capacity of water in the SNC is unknown at this time and would have to be studied. Ms. Sibell asked wouldn't a third track in the area of the proposed station affect the amount of parking that is being planned? Ms. Dacy responded that there appears to be a significant amount of land at the site to accommodate additional tracks and not have an impact on the amount of parking spaces planned. Mr. Solberg asked about the timing of this process and if all of the comments are responded to. Ms. Dacy said that the comment period ends on January 2, 2001 and the final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) must address all of the questions and concerns brought up during the public input phase of the Draft EIS. Once again, the City needs to get all of its concerns and comments about the impact on trails/parks on the record. The Commission identified several concerns with the Draft EIS for the Northstar Commuter Rail Project. The concerns are as follows: 1. The loss of the access/maintenance road at the western boundary of Springbrook Nature Center. The road is necessary to maintain the water control structures in this area of the park. 2. The possible loss of wetlands at Springbrook Nature Center and the ability to re-create the same value wetlands elsewhere in the park. Also concern that the loss of wetlands would cause a decreased holding capacity for the water. 3. The impact on the regional bike trail system with the safety concerns of moving an off-road trail to an on-street bike lane. 4. The loss of green space adjacent to Edgewater Gardens Park and a concern that a relocated bike trail would take away other parkland in a relatively small neighborhood park. MOTION by Mr. Young, seconded by Mr. Solberg to have the above identified items listed as concerns of the Parks and Recreation Commission regarding the Draft Environmental Impact Parks and Recreation Commission Meetinq — December 4, 2000 Paqe 5 Statement for the Northstar Commuter Rail Project. Discussion... Ms. Sibell stated that she thought the City should share this information with neighboring communities who might have a stake in the regional trail system. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL MEMBERS VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED. ADJOURNMENT MOTION by Mr. Solberg, seconded by Ms. Price, to adjourn the December 4, 2000 meeting at 8:23 p.m. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL MEMBERS VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED AND THE DECEMBER 4, 2000 MEETING ADJOURNED.