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11/06/2006 - 00028872CITY OF FRIDLEY PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION MEETING — NOVEMBER 6, 2006 CALL TO ORDER: Chairperson Kondrick called the November 6, 2006 Parks & Recreation Commission Meeting to order at 7:03 p. m. ROLL CALL: Members Present Others Present Dave Kondrick, Mike Heintz, Marcy Sibell and Dolores Varichak Jack Kirk, Director of Parks and Recreation Scott Stenger, Pro Source Technologies APPROVAL OF October 2, 2006 PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION MINUTES MOTION by Ms. Sibell, seconded by Mr. Heintz, to approve the minutes of the October 2, 2006 Parks and Recreation Commission meeting. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL MEMBERS VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED. APPROVAL OF PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION AGENDA FOR NOVEMBER 6, 2006 MOTION by Mr. Heintz, seconded by Ms. Sibell, to approve the agenda for the November 6, 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 he wanted to call attention to the Pumpkin Night in the Park event at Springbrook Nature Center. This year's event drew 2,500 people on Saturday, October 21St It was a colder night than in 2005 and as a result we had a few less participants. There were over 540 carved pumpkins that were used to decorate the trail area. The ZONE (teen center) had two successful special event activities during October. The first event was a Twins party during the play-offs. Participants wore Twins hats and shirts and watched the Twins lose to the Oakland A's on television. The second event was a Halloween party on the Friday before Halloween. The teens played games, ate pizza, a few won prizes in the costume contest. Parks and Recreation Commission Meetinq — November 6, 2006 Paqe 2 The senior center Chores and More program held a Rake-A-Thon during the period of October 21 to November 4. Many local groups participated and helped seniors get their yards raked. Over a dozen groups helped rake 67 yards during that period. The Winter Activities brochure is currently being finalized by staff. It should be mailed to Fridley residents in the next week and registration begins on November 17t" b. Park Maintenance Report Mr. Kirk stated that Mr. Lindquist was not able to be at the Commission meeting, but provided an October Park Maintenance report that was included in the agenda packet. The report details the work that was accomplished by the Park Maintenance division in the past month. 2. NEW BUSINESS a. 2007 Adult Softball League Fees Mr. Kirk stated that staff has provided information on what the softball league fees have been for the past five years and a recommendation for 2007. Next year the City is looking at the second year of the field renovation project at Community Park, so it is going to mean taking 2 of the adult softball fields out of service for the entire season. We are arranging for other fields to run the adult leagues, both in our community and in neighboring cities. It is likely that we would have to pay some type of rent to use fields in a neighboring community. The reason that the field use is being discussed in relation to our league fees is that the fields for next year may not be the same quality as Community Park and teams will have to travel to other locations for games. We do know that our costs for umpiring and equipment will not be going up, but we will have some potential increased costs for field usage. We want to be sensitive to the inconvenience to our teams to have games at various locations. After much discussion, it is the staff recommendation that we have the same fee level for our adult softball leagues in 2007 as we had this past year. We did not want to raise fees and at the same time not be able to offer the same product to our participants. Mr. Kirk further stated that there is a chance that some of the leagues may not have as many games as this year due to field availability. Instead of a twenty game season, they may end up with an eighteen game season. Staff would recommend pro-rating the league fees accordingly if that should happen. Mr. Heintz asked about the possibility of installing netting to increase the height of the fencing on some of the shorter ballfields. Could this be done instead of renting fields in other communities? Mr. Kirk stated that based on costs for ballfield netting at the Community Park complex, he thought it would be more cost effective to rent fields. Ms. Sibell stated that her thought was to lower the fees just a little bit to acknowledge that we are not offering the same product as years past. People are going to be inconvenienced and it will not be the same softball program with different fields. Parks and Recreation Commission Meetinq — November 6, 2006 Paqe 3 Mr. Kirk stated that with limited budget dollars available, they were concerned about lowering the fees and at the same time paying out rental fees for other fields. It may be difficult to make the budget for softball work out. Mr. Kirk stated that they really want to promote the fact that teams that are with us through the construction process will get first priority on being in the league when our fields are improved. MOTION by Ms. Varichak, seconded by Mr. Heintz, to approve the staff recommendation on keeping the adult softball league fees the same for 2007 as they were in 2006. UPON A VOICE VOTE, WITH MEMBERS KONDRICK, HEINTZ AND VARICHAK VOTING AYE AND MEMBER SIBELL VOTING NAY, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED. b. Centerpoint Energy Pipeline Easement Request for Edgewater Gardens Park Mr. Kirk stated that Centerpoint Energy will be installing a natural gas pipeline through Fridley and it will affect several of our parks that border the Burlington Northern Railroad corridor. The parks affected by this project include Springbrook Nature Center, Community Park, Plaza Park and Edgewater Gardens Park. There are some existing utility easements that would be used for this project as well as some new easements that would need to be acquired. We have Scott Stenger of Pro Source Technologies at tonight's meeting. He is a consultant for Centerpoint Energy on this project and would like to discuss the easements required in our parks. Mr. Stenger stated that the history of this project goes back to the year 2000, when the State of Minnesota and the utilities got together and agreed to reduce the air emissions coming out of the power plants. The Riverside power plant in Northeast Minneapolis will be converted from coal to a natural gas facility, which will be a much cleaner fuel. One of the components to the upgrade of the Riverside plant is to build a natural gas pipeline from the Andover area. The path of the pipeline will generally follow the Burlington Northern railroad tracks as they run from the north to the south. One of the advantages to this route is that there is an existing Centerpoint gas line and Xcel Energy powerline through this area, so the new pipeline would be using an existing utility corridor for most of the project. Mr. Stenger stated that the existing Centerpoint natural gas line through Fridley is a 24 inch pipe to handle natural gas. The new line would be a 20 inch line that will have only one customer, the Riverside power plant. Mr. Kondrick asked if the new pipeline was dangerous. Mr. Stenger stated that it was likely safer than the existing lines in that it is newer steel, newer technology, computer controlled and new coatings on the pipeline. These lines are designed to last for 250 years or more. Mr. Stenger stated that Centerpoint Energy had asked Pro Source Technologies to handle the Parks and Recreation Commission Meetinq — November 6, 2006 Paqe 4 real estate acquisitions necessary to make this project happen. Pro Source has been asked to make some early acquisitions of property yet this year. They started with Anoka County and are now working with the City of Coon Rapids and the City of Fridley. The County and the Cities are some of the biggest land owners out there that are affected by this project. Mr. Stenger further stated that he has put together a letter and an easement agreement to propose to the City of Fridley for easements needed in the park system. He said this agreement is a working document and can be changed to meet the needs and requirements of the City. He expects that the City of Fridley attorney will want to review the document and will likely have suggestions. The main point is that Centerpoint Energy is willing to work with the City to arrive at a mutual agreement and have a check ready for the City before the end of the year. Mr. Stenger stated that he brought along a set of aerial photographs and drawings that focus in on each of the affected park areas. He would like to go through each area and describe what we are looking at. Mr. Stenger stated that the first area is the Springbrook Nature Center. The pipeline here would be constructed within the existing 50 foot easement that Centerpoint has in the nature center. What we are looking for here is an additional ten foot temporary easement to be used during the construction process only. It would be on the east side of the existing easement. Mr. Heintz asked how long the temporary easement was for. Mr. Stenger stated it was just for the construction period, however, there was not a time limit on it. He expected that it may only be for a few weeks in the smaller park areas. Mr. Stenger further stated that he wanted to mention that they would like to begin some of the construction work in 2007. The majority of the pipeline work would be done in 2008. Mr. Stenger stated that a couple of details on the segment through the nature center would be that the pipeline will go right along the service drive on the west side of the park. This would take the line about half way through the park and after that, they would have to directionally drill through the wetland. Ms. Sibell asked if the City would receive a copy of as-built drawings, so the exact location of the pipeline through City park property was identified. Mr. Stenger stated that he expected that the City would get these types of documents. Mr. Stenger stated that Centerpoint has an existing easement at Community Park and would intend to place the new pipeline within that easement. What they would need is the additional ten foot temporary easement during construction. After talking with Parks and Recreation Director Jack Kirk, they would try to time the construction through Community Park so it would not conflict with the heavy use softball season. They would likely do the construction in August or September. Parks and Recreation Commission Meetinq — November 6, 2006 Paqe 5 Mr. Stenger stated that the third set of maps is for Plaza Park, which is located just south of Community Park and just north of Rice Creek. There is an existing 30 foot easement on the north end of this park and they need to increase that to 50 feet. On the south end of the park there would be a new 50 foot easement. They run into a little problem with space in this area with the existing easements because Met Council has a 96 inch sewer line. To allow for enough room, they need to move the pipeline a little further to the east in this area of the park, and would need the new easement. Mr. Stenger stated that the last set of maps is for Edgewater Gardens Park. For the previous three park areas, the pipeline was on the east side of the railroad tracks. As we get to this park area, the pipeline moves to the other side of the tracks. There is concern with limited space on the east side of the track and the future needs of the Northstar Commuter rail project. Mr. Kondrick asked when you go under the railroad tracks with the pipeline, do you have to install the pipe deeper than other areas? Mr. Stenger stated that the standard for crossing under the railroad tracks is ten feet deep. That is deeper than the minimum three feet that is the normal depth requirement. Mr. Stenger stated that in Edgewater Gardens Park they would seek a permanent 50 foot easement and a 10 foot temporary easement to run the pipeline from the north end of the park south to Mississippi Street. They don't anticipate any impact to the existing facilities in the park, such as the play equipment or the tennis court. They will work around the existing facilities or they will restore facilities if they have to impact them. Mr. Stenger stated that in consideration of granting the easements, both permanent and temporary, to Centerpoint Energy for this pipeline project, they would pay the City the sum of $64,440 based on the square foot calculations for the easements. Through a process of determining parkland values with Anoka County Parks, they determined that a valuation of $2 per square foot for fee title was the agreed upon amount. For a permanent easement, they are proposing to pay 50% of the fee title amount or $1 per square foot. For a permanent easement across property already encumbered by an existing utility easement, they would pay $.50 per square foot. For the temporary easements valuation, they used an 8% figure or $.08 per square foot. Mr. Stenger further stated that a complete listing of the City of Fridley park property square footage calculations and the total compensation for easements on each parcel are found on page two of his letter to Mr. Kirk. Mr. Kondrick stated that the Parks and Recreation Commission has received information on these easement requests and have listened to Mr. Stenger this evening. Did the Commission members have additional questions regarding this pipeline project and did the members support the proposed requests for easements? MOTION by Mr. Heintz, seconded by Ms. Sibell, that the Parks and Recreation Commission agrees in principal with the easement proposals by Centerpoint Energy, noting that the final square footage numbers may change due to final designs and locations. The Commission would also like to leave open the option of receiving park amenities in lieu of cash for these easements as deemed appropriate by the Parks and Recreation Department staff. Parks and Recreation Commission Meetinq — November 6, 2006 Paqe 6 UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL MEMBERS VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED ADJOURNMENT MOTION by Ms. Varichak, seconded by Mr. Heintz, to adjourn the November 6, 2006 meeting at 8:50 p.m. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL MEMBERS VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED AND THE NOVEMBER 6, 2006 MEETING ADJOURNED.