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08/07/2006 - 00028855CITY OF FRIDLEY PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION MEETING — AUGUST 7, 2006 CALL TO ORDER: Chairperson Kondrick called the August 7, 2006 Parks & Recreation Commission Meeting to order at 7:04 p.m. ROLL CALL: Members Present: Dave Kondrick, Mike Heintz, Marcy Sibell, Dolores Varichak Others Present: Jack Kirk, Director of Parks and Recreation Dave Lindquist, Park Maintenance Supervisor Jon Haukaas, Director of Public Works APPROVAL OF JUNE 27, 2005 PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION MINUTES MOTION by Ms. Sibell, seconded by Ms. Varichak, to approve the minutes of the June 5, 2006 meeting. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL MEMBERS VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED. APPROVAL OF PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION AGENDA FOR AUGUST 7, 2006 MOTION by Ms. Varichak, seconded by Ms. Sibell, to approve the agenda for the August 7, 2006 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 the Program Update has been included in the agenda packet and includes program information for the past two months. The summer programs and activities have been going well. The extremely hot weather did pose some challenges for the summer recreation leaders. Ms. Sibell asked if the 49er Days was a success this year. Mr. Kirk stated that Friday night was a washout with the inclement weather. The other days and events went very well. Mr. Kirk stated that the City did receive several phone calls and e-mails regarding the softball tournament and a concern that the games were allowed to be played in some very dangerous lightning. We know that a light tower at the ballfields and a scoreboard were hit by lightning Parks and Recreation Commission Meetinq — Auqust 7, 2006 Paqe 2 during the tournament. Many people thought the tournament was being run by the City and that is why they directed their complaints about the lightning to the City offices. Mr. Heintz stated that the games should be stopped immediately when lightning is present. That is what he has done with all the baseball tournaments he has been in charge of. He further stated that he is aware of an electronic device that can be purchased and installed at a facility that detects lightning in the area and serves as a warning. Mr. Haukaas stated that someone still has to be there when the alarm goes off and then make the decision to pull the teams off the field. Mr. Kirk stated that it sounds like the on-site director for the Wrestling Boosters Softball Tournament did not make a good judgment in allowing teams to continue play during the lightning on the Friday night of the tournament. Our facility rental form for tournaments addresses inclement weather and states that games will not be played when weather conditions present potential danger to participants or possible damage to turf areas. Perhaps the statement should be more specific and state that all games shall be stopped and players called off the fields when lightning is present. The Commission members agreed that might be a good idea. b. Park Maintenance Report Mr. Lindquist stated that in addition to the regular park maintenance work for the summer and the support of the various recreation programs, the park workers have been working on the tennis and basketball courts at Creekridge and Briardale Parks. Mr. Lindquist further stated that with the drought this summer, they have been busy trying to keep up with the watering of some new sod areas and the trees that were planted. It has been a busy summer, but they have been able to keep up with the workload. Some of the seasonal employees will be done for the summer in the next couple weeks and most of the workers will be done by the end of August. 2. NEW BUSINESS a. Winter Athletic League Fees Mr. Kirk stated that staff is recommending increases for the winter athletic league fees as outlined in the memo from Mark Daly, Program Supervisor. All of our officiating and equipment fees have remained the same for this year. We have increased fees significantly over the past two years and we would like to remain somewhat competitive with area park and recreation departments that run similar programs. It is our staff recommendation that the winter athletic fees remain the same as last season. MOTION by Mr. Heintz, seconded by Ms. Varichak to approve the winter athletic league fees as proposed by staff. Parks and Recreation Commission Meetinq — Auqust 7, 2006 Paqe 3 UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL MEMBERS VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED. b. Innsbruck Park Off-Road Cycling Trail — Jon Haukaas Mr. Kondrick stated that the next item on the agenda was an interesting one and he welcomed Public Works Director Jon Haukaas to the Commission meeting. Mr. Haukaas stated that he would be the first one to admit that this is somewhat of a pet project for him and he lives about two blocks away from Innsbruck Park. Innsbruck is a pretty overgrown park and the trails need a lot of help. There is a recommendation to spend $27,000 to upgrade the trails in Innsbruck that is identified in the 2007 Parks Capital Improvement Program. When that was discussed with the City Council at a budget review session in June, it was not received very positively by the City Council. They were not very interested in spending that amount of money for trails at Innsbruck. Mr. Haukaas further stated that he did not want to see this park abandoned. He began looking at some alternatives and came across the work of a group called Minnesota Off-Road Cyclists. This group has partnered with several cities and counties throughout the metro area to create and maintain some off-road cycling trails. The group can help with the construction of trails and do regular inspection and maintenance to keep the trails in good condition. Mr. Haukaas stated that he has met with some representatives of the Minnesota Off-Road Cycling group and talked about Innsbruck Park. The focus of their group is to promote off- road cycling and create sustainable trails in the area. They promote the proper way to build trails so they are not causing problems such as erosion. The biking trails are narrow and are either built by hand or by some walk behind machines. The trails are designed to control where the bicyclists go by use of terrain, trees, vegetation and curves. Because of the curves on the mountain bike trails, speed of cyclists is controlled. Mr. Haukaas further stated that he bikes at Theodore Wirth Park in Minneapolis and his top speed on the trails there is 8 miles per hour. Mr. Haukaas further stated that Innsbruck Park is approximately 27 acres in size and about 20 acres of the park would be usable for biking trails. The cycling group could easily put in around 2 miles of trails in this park. They would follow the contours of the land and would have many gentle curves. Mr. Haukaas stated that he is not suggesting that mountain biking be the only use permitted in Innsbruck Park. He would propose to rebuild the existing loop of the walking trails around the ponds. The bike trails would be single-track trails and they are very popular with runners. All biking and running activity is in the same direction on these one-way trails. The cycling trails can be used for snowshoeing in the winter. These trails do not work for skiing because they are not wide enough. Mr. Haukaas stated there might be some outside funding which could help with the construction of the off-road cycling trail. There are federal TEA 21 transportation grants available, which require a local match. The volunteer work of the cycling group in construction of the trail can Parks and Recreation Commission Meetinq — Auqust 7, 2006 Paqe 4 count towards the City's matching dollar requirement. The Minnesota Off-Road Cycling organization would help with seeking the grant dollars and would be willing to write the grant application for the City. Grant applications are due at the end of February, with awards in May and money for construction available in June. Mr. Haukaas further stated that the cost for this project would be under $30,000 for the two miles of trails if we hired the entire process be done by a contractor. With volunteer labor from the Minnesota cyclists group, it would probably cut that cost in half. With a matching grant requirement from the City, it would put the City's cost at around $5000-$8000. Mr. Haukaas stated that to go beyond the construction, this volunteer group is willing to enter into a partnership with the city to provide on-going maintenance of the trails. Every park that the Minnesota Off-Road Cycling (MORC) is involved with has an assigned trail steward, who must inspect his or her trail once each week. The trail steward mobilizes a work group as needed to take care of the trail maintenance. Mr. Heintz asked if MORC would coordinate this maintenance group with the City park maintenance workers, so as to not duplicate efforts. Mr. Haukaas responded that they would do what we want them to and work with the guidelines we set up. In addition, they provide all tools and insurance for their volunteers to be working on the trail. This group has worked with other cities and the League of Minnesota Cities Insurance to cover insurance concerns and other cities have not had to carry additional insurance for the volunteers to construct the trails. Mr. Heintz asked if we might be able to have a 49er Days event at a facility like this and have a timed bike race on the trail. Mr. Haukaas stated that it would be possible on this trail and that it could be run as a time trial. Ms.Sibell asked if this type of trail could be used by families and would people with trick bikes make use of the trail. Mr. Haukaas stated it would be great trail for family use and pointed out that Theodore Wirth Park has a lot of family biking. As far as a trick bike, it really would not be designed for that. Mr. Kondrick asked if he had a guestimate of how many people might use a facility like this. Mr. Haukaas stated that the most popular off-road trail in the metro area is Lebanon Hills in Dakota County and it has around 8 miles of trails. That trail has 50,000 users per year. This trail in Fridley would be much smaller and draw fewer users. It could draw 5 to 10 thousand users per year. Mr. Kondrick stated that he thinks this is a good idea for Innsbruck Park. It will bring more use to this park than it has ever had in the past. Parks and Recreation Commission Meetinq — Auqust 7, 2006 Paqe 5 Other Commission members agreed this seems like a good idea and an alternate use for this park. Mr. Kondrick stated that he could see many Fridley residents benefiting from this facility. He asked staff what would be the next steps with this project. Mr. Kirk stated that he believes we should get more information on other cities' trails and partnerships with MORC. A report to the Commission on these findings should be scheduled for a future meeting and the Commission may also want to invite the immediate neighborhood around this park to provide information and get some feedback. Mr. Haukaas stated he would like to see the Parks Capital Improvement amount for Innsbruck changed from $27,000 to $10,000. If this project goes ahead, he thinks the dollar amount for construction would be in the $5000-$8000 range. He would like to see MORC work with us to write a grant application. They could come in this fall to spot the trail and then the trail could be mapped out. If the grant was awarded, the trail could be built next summer and operational by next September. Mr. Kondrick stated that it appears that the Commission is favorable to this idea and he thanked Mr. Haukaas for bringing this idea to the Commission meeting. 3. UNFINISHED BUSINESS a. Park Land Swap Proposal by Redeemer Lutheran Church Mr. Kondrick stated that this next item is one the Commission has seen before and it involves a request from Redeemer Lutheran Church to get some land from Edgewater Gardens Park to address their need for additional parking. The Church has offered some land south of Mississippi Street and some park amenities as a swap for the land in the park. Mr. Kondrick further stated that the agenda packet has a number of discussion questions related to this item that were put together by Mr. Kirk and himself in a meeting last week. Mr. Kondrick further stated that he and Mr. Kirk met with representatives of Redeemer Church two weeks ago to discuss this proposal. He stated that the church representatives are very bright people and very nice people who want to do the right thing for the members of their church. Mr. Kirk stated that this item has been discussed by the Parks and Recreation Commission at the last two meetings and members of the Commission have made a visit to Edgewater Gardens Park and the properties south of Mississippi Street. He further stated that in his opinion, the decision comes down to answering the question "Is it good for the City of Fridley and the City park system to do the land swap as the Church is proposing?" To him, that is what it boils down to. Parks and Recreation Commission Meetinq — Auqust 7, 2006 Paqe 6 Mr. Kondrick stated that the Church representatives are looking at their options and they even have looked at moving the entire church campus further out in the Andover area. They do like their existing facilities and would like to remain here, but parking is an issue. Mr. Kondrick stated that the idea of giving up park land is very difficult for him. He is also very concerned about future requests to give up portion of parks for various purposes. Ms. Sibell stated that she agrees with Mr. Kondrick that it is difficult to give up park land. She believes it is the charter of the Parks and Recreation Commission to protect the green spaces of the community and our park land. She further stated that she feels that Redeemer Church representatives should be able to move forward with their request directly to the City Council, even if the Parks and Recreation Commission does not support a land swap. Mr. Kondrick asked if the area south of Mississippi Street (where the properties are being proposed for swap of land) is an under-serviced park area, because there is not a neighborhood park located there. Ms. Sibell stated she would say no and we have nothing in our plans to construct a park in that area. Mr. Kondrick stated he agreed and what really changed in that area in 2000 was the construction of the trail bridge over Mississippi Street, which now provides easy access to a close park at Edgewater Gardens. After the bridge was put in, an under-serviced park area was now very close to a neighborhood park and no longer considered under-serviced. Mr. Kondrick asked how large a new park south of Mississippi would be if we used the two residential lots being proposed by Redeemer Church. What size would it be if a third residential lot was added? Mr. Kirk stated the two properties would provide approximately 29,760 square feet or about .67 acres for the park. Adding a third residential property would increase that to 44,640 square feet or just over 1 acre of land. The amount of land being requested in Edgewater Gardens Park is 38,120 square feet or more than the two properties and a little less than three properties. Mr. Kondrick stated that the properties being proposed south of Mississippi Street would allow for a mini-park and the City would be very limited on the amenities that could be provided in such a small area. A ballfield, for example, could not be included in a park of that size. Mr. Kondrick asked Mr. Kirk how many mini parks we had in our park system. Mr. Kirk stated that out of 30 parks that serve the various neighborhoods, 13 would be considered mini parks. These mini parks in our system are those of 1.3 acres and smaller in size. Mr. Kirk stated that neighborhood parks should really be in the 4 to 10 acre size to provide the many amenities that residents like to see available close to home. Mr. Kondrick asked what amenities the City would put into a new park south of Mississippi. Parks and Recreation Commission Meetinq — Auqust 7, 2006 Paqe 7 Mr. Heintz asked what amenities existed today in Edgewater Gardens Park. Mr. Kirk stated that the park included a tennis court, basketball court, playground equipment and a small open play area. Mr. Kirk stated that a picnic shelter would be a nice addition to the park in that area. He further stated that the amenities that are missing from that area are a large open play area or ballfield. Mr. Heintz asked if the area would be large enough to accommodate a skateboard facility. Mr. Kirk stated he would not recommend putting a skateboard facility in a small park in a residential area. He would much rather see that type of facility in a centralized community use park such as Commons Park. He would like to see a skateboard facility relatively close to the middle school and the Community Center. Mr. Kondrick asked what it would cost to develop a park south of Mississippi Street. Mr. Lindquist state that it could cost up to $50,000 to put in playground equipment at a new park. Other costs would depend on the facilities or amenities included. Ms. Sibell reminded the Commission that Redeemer Church was willing to pay for some amenities in the new park area. Mr. Kondrick asked if a new park would add significantly to our park maintenance costs. Mr. Kirk stated that there would be some increase mobilization due to moving the maintenance equipment from one location to another. The maintenance cost would increase just a small amount. Mr. Kondrick asked if the current Edgewater Gardens Park had more land than was needed for a neighborhood park. Mr. Heintz stated that he did not think so, but he did not like the look of the part of the park that was adjacent to the church property. He feels the City should do something to improve that area. Mr. Kirk stated that Edgewater Gardens Park has approximately 4.4 acres of land and neighborhood parks should have 4 to 10 acres of land. It actually is on the small side of a neighborhood park. Mr. Kondrick stated that the last question on the list was "why doesn't the City just sell some land in Edgewater Gardens Park to Redeemer Church for parking purposes". Mr. Kondrick stated that he didn't want to set a precedent by selling park land. How could we tell others no to similar requests for park land in the future? Parks and Recreation Commission Meetinq — Auqust 7, 2006 Paqe 8 Mr. Kondrick stated that at the recent meeting with Church representatives, one Church member asked if the City would consider some other land, in another part of the City, to be used as an exchange for some land in Edgewater Park. It was an interesting idea, but it would likely still leave us with a very small park somewhere else in the City. Mr. Kondrick stated that relative to the request by Redeemer Church to swap land south of Mississippi for some land in Edgewater Park, he has gone full circle on this. He was initially more favorable to the request as long as the City was getting "apples for apples" or an equal amount of land. He now does not favor the request, because he doesn't feel the City needs a park south of Mississippi Street when Edgewater Park is so accessible to that neighborhood. Mr. Kondrick stated he would like the Commission to address the question, "Do you think we should or should not give up this land for their parking lot". Ms. Varichak stated that she did not believe the City should do so. Ms. Sibell stated that she would be agreeable to a land swap if it was an equitable exchange. MOTION by Mr. Heintz, seconded by Ms. Varichak, that the Parks and Recreation Commission is not interested in swapping land in Edgewater Gardens Park for some land south of Mississippi Street as proposed by representatives of Redeemer Lutheran Church. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL MEMBERS VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED. b. Lakeshore Restoration at East Moore Lake Mr. Kirk stated that Rachel Harris, Environmental Planner for the City, has been at the last couple of Commission meetings to discuss some possible expansion of the lakeshore restoration at east Moore Lake. The Commission appeared to be somewhat supportive of this project and had asked that Ms. Harris bring back some information to the August Commission meeting for some further review and discussion. Mr. Kirk further stated that as the Commission members can see by the Memo from the Community Development Department staff, Ms. Harris did not believe that there was any money available to pay for a plan for the Moore Lake plantings or a way to get the information for the Commission. Mr. Heintz stated that the Memo refers to a landscape designer and the Commission never asked for that. What the Commission wanted was to know what the plants would look like and how tall would they be. The Commission wanted to include plants that were no higher than 18 to 24 inches high. Mr. Haukaas stated that he thought he could add a little information, since he had talked to Ms. Harris about it. The Conservation District does not have anybody on staff to put the requested information together. There is no funding to put together a plan to show the Parks and Recreation Commission Meetinq — Auqust 7, 2006 Paqe 9 Commission. Mr. Haukaas further stated that Ms. Harris was probably under the impression that the Conservation District could do a plan for Moore Lake and they have told her that they cannot. Mr. Kondrick stated that the Commission was supportive of the concept for the lakeshore plantings, but just wanted a little more information before giving the go ahead. Mr. Haukaas asked if a picture of lakeshore plantings at a similar site would be sufficient information for the Commission. Mr. Lindquist stated that he thought the Commission wanted a planting schematic to show the varieties that would be going into the planting. Mr. Kondrick agreed that was what the Commission had asked for. Ms. Sibell asked if we could put this back on the September agenda under Unfinished Business. MOTION by Ms. Varichak, seconded by Ms. Sibell, to revisit this item at the September meeting. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL MEMBERS VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED. 4. ADJOURNMENT MOTION by Ms. Varichak, seconded by Ms. Sibell, to adjourn the August 7, 2006 meeting at 9:27 p.m. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL MEMBERS VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED AND THE AUGUST 7, 2006 MEETING ADJOURNED.