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06/27/2005 - 00028783CITY OF FRIDLEY PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION MEETING — JUNE 27, 2005 CALL TO ORDER: Chairperson Kondrick called the June 27, 2005 Parks & Recreation Commission Meeting to order at 6:35 p.m. ROLL CALL: Members Present Others Present Dave Kondrick, Marcy Sibell, Dolores Varichak Jack Kirk, Director of Parks and Recreation Jon Haukaas, Director of Public Works APPROVAL OF June 6, 2005 PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION MINUTES MOTION by Ms. Varichak, seconded by Ms. Sibell to approve the minutes of the June 6, 2005 meeting. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL MEMBERS VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED. APPROVAL OF PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION AGENDA FOR June 27, 2005 MOTION by Ms. Sibell, seconded by Ms. Varichak, to approve the agenda for the June 27, 2005 meeting. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL MEMBERS VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED. 2. NEW BUSINESS a. Jay Park and Ponding Area Project Mr. Kirk stated that the Jay Park area is scheduled for a street reconstruction project this year and the Rice Creek Watershed District is requiring new storm water guidelines as a condition of permit approval associated with this project. The solution to the new storm water infiltration requirements may be a rain garden/ water infiltration pond in a portion of Jay Park. The City of Fridley Public Works Director Jon Haukaas is at tonight's special meeting to explain this project and answer any questions that the Parks and Recreation Commission members may have. Mr. Haukaas stated that using park land for a water infiltration rain garden is not something he is promoting. It is being looked at as a possible solution to the requirements of the Rice Creek Watershed District. The RCWD views the street reconstruction project as creating impervious surface and therefore subject to the need to provide for the infiltration pond. The RCWD is telling the City of Fridley that a water infiltration pond needs to be constructed as a condition of getting the permit approval for the street reconstruction in the Jay Park area. Mr. Haukaas further stated that he walked the Jay Park neighborhood area with representatives of the RCWD and there were not many options for providing an infiltration Parks and Recreation Commission Meetinq — June 27, 2005 Paqe 2 pond. The most workable solution appears to be constructing a rain garden infiltration pond in a portion of Jay Park. Mr. Haukaas stated that on Tuesday June 7, 2005, the Engineering staff of the City and representatives of the Rice Creek Watershed District met with residents of the Jay Park area to present the concept of a rain garden in the park. Mr. Haukaas stated that he did not present this as a question of "do you want this in Jay Park". He presented this as a"will you accept this" project as a solution to the stormwater infiltration needs. He stated that a vast majority of the residents in attendance at the meeting were in support of the idea. After the meeting, a packet of information explaining the rain garden at Jay Park was sent out to the entire neighborhood. Mr. Haukaas stated that he has received three phone calls in response to the written information that was sent to the area residents. Two of the callers were interested in the possibility of rain gardens on their own property and one caller asked if the ponding could be constructed on the Stylmark property. Mr. Haukaas stated that it is difficult to ask Stylmark for more property to build the pond when they are already paying so much for the street construction project. Mr. Haukaas explained that the design of the rain garden and location in Jay Park has changed somewhat due to the fact that a utility pipe runs right through the center of the park. The pond needs to be moved some to the north end of the park and that will still allow for an open play area on the south side of the pond. The plan is for the rain garden/ pond to be planted with an attractive wildflower seed mix. It should provide for a nice looking rain garden area as depicted in the concept rendering. In order to maintain the wildflower growth, it may be necessary to have some controlled burns in the rain garden occasionally to eliminate unwanted species of plants. Ms. Sibell asked how deep the pond would be and would it always have water being held in it. Mr. Haukaas responded that the pond would be four to eight feet deep with a shallow slope on the sides. After a rain event, the pond would hold water for a short period of time. It will likely not hold water for more than 24 hours, because of the very sandy soil in the park. Ms. Sibell asked if this same solution to stormwater issues could affect the other parks in our City of Fridley park system. Could we be asked to accept rain gardens in other small neighborhood parks? Mr. Haukaas stated that there is only one other street construction project scheduled that is within the Rice Creek Watershed District and that is in the Meadowlands Park area that already has a sizable ponding area. It is likely that modifications could be made to that pond to accommodate any infiltration requirements. This issue should not affect other parks in the City. Mr. Kirk asked if this same type of requirement could be passed on to us by other watershed districts affecting the City of Fridley. Mr. Haukaas stated that the other areas in Fridley are under the jurisdiction of the Six Cities Watershed Management Organization and this type of requirement will not happen there, as the City Engineers for each area sit on this board and use their particular City's rules. Mr. Kondrick asked if there is any way out of this for the storm water requirement for the City of Fridley. What else can be done if we don't think that a pond in Jay Park is a good idea? Parks and Recreation Commission Meetinq — June 27, 2005 Paqe 3 Mr. Haukaas stated that the City could possibly fight this in the court system. There may be some good reasons to fight this, but the City could come out looking like the "bad guys" and looking like we are "anti-environment". Mr. Kondrick stated that he does not like this pond project for Jay Park. He does not like the idea of taking park land that this neighborhood could really use. He is concerned about setting a precedent of using the park to solve a ponding need, when the park is very small in size to begin with. Mr. Kondrick further stated that he would like to have some kind of "proof" that the neighborhood really supported giving up park land for this purpose. Are there some numbers that show how many residents want to go ahead with this project? From his point of view, the Parks and Recreation Commission should be against this type of project in the park. Unless we hear loud and clear from the neighbors that they want this in their park, he can't support this project at Jay Park. Ms. Sibell asked what the cost is of constructing the rain garden in Jay Park. Mr. Haukaas stated that the project would cost less than $25,000. Mr. Kirk stated that we have many "undersized" areas that serve as neighborhood parks throughout our community. It is difficult to provide the amenities that the residents want in their neighborhood parks with such small parcels of land. Jay Park is a 1.8 acre park that is serving a neighborhood of 280 plus residents. The open play area at the park is relatively small as it is and taking some of the existing area for a rain garden/ infiltration pond will really limit the potential recreation opportunities in the park. If we were talking about a 5-7 acre neighborhood park or larger, a small area for a pond would not have the same impact that it will at this particular site. Ms. Sibell stated that she is not in favor of this project at Jay Park and that the Parks and Recreation Commission should make our recommendation to the City Council. They will receive our message, take it into consideration and then make the ultimate decision. Mr. Kondrick stated that he once again feels that if the neighborhood really buys into this project and wants this, he would accept this solution. However, he still wouldn't like this approach of taking park land for this purpose. He further stated that he would hate to see the neighborhood come back to the City and complain about an inadequate amount of park land for their use. Mr. Kondrick asked Mr. Haukaas what the next step was for this project. Mr. Haukaas stated the next step was going to be another letter to the neighborhood. The letter could state that the Parks and Recreation Commission is not comfortable with this project. The City Council will likely discuss this project at the July 11 Council meeting and the residents would be informed of this. They could attend the Council meeting to provide input before the decision is made. Mr. Kondrick stated that the letter should explain exactly what is planned for the park. Parks and Recreation Commission Meetinq — June 27, 2005 Paqe 4 Ms. Sibell stated that it is our charter as the Parks and Recreation Commission to protect the open space in our parks. She would not recommend supporting this project. MOTION by Ms. Sibell, seconded by Ms. Varichak, that the Parks and Recreation Commission cannot support the proposal to take green space parkland to create a rain garden / infiltration pond at Jay Park. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL MEMBERS VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED. ADJOURNMENT MOTION by Ms. Varichak, seconded by Ms. Sibell to adjourn the June 27, 2005 meeting at 7:25 p.m. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL MEMBERS VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED AND THE JUNE 27, 2005 MEETING ADJOURNED.