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12/04/2006 - 00028878CITY OF FRIDLEY PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION MEETING — DECEMBER 4, 2006 CALL TO ORDER: Chairperson Kondrick called the December 4, 2006 Parks & Recreation Commission Meeting to order at 7:04 p. m. ROLL CALL: Members Present: Dave Kondrick, Mike Heintz, Marcy Sibell, Tim Solberg, Dolores Varichak Others Present: Jack Kirk, Director of Parks and Recreation Dave Lindquist, Parks Supervisor Kari Brown, KTB Consulting APPROVAL OF NOVEMBER 6, 2006 PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION MINUTES MOTION by Ms. Sibell, seconded by Mr. Solberg, to approve the minutes of the November 6, 2006 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, 2006 MOTION by Mr. Heintz, seconded by Ms. Varichak, to approve the agenda for the December 4, 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 Senior Program has started working with the Alternative Learning High School with a reading tutor program. The senior volunteers meet one on one with an ALC student and help them with their reading skills. Four seniors have volunteered to work with this program. Mr. Kirk further stated that the annual Veteran's Day program at the FCC was a huge success with 230 people in attendance. The keynote speaker was a survivor of the Bataan Death March in World War 2. Parks and Recreation Commission Meetinq — December 4, 2006 Paqe 2 Mr. Kirk further stated that the Springbrook Nature Center staff has been teaching the Fridley Middle School 5t" Grade Environmental Education classes. The current curriculum included an adaptation game, bacteria experiment, bird banding and buckthorn removal. Mr. Kirk further stated that the registration for the adult winter sports leagues has taken place and season play started last week. The basketball leagues play at Fridley Middle School and the volleyball league at Hayes Elementary. The broomball and boot hockey leagues will begin in late December and early January if the weather cooperates. b. Park Maintenance Report Mr. Lindquist stated that during the past month, the Park Maintenance crew had spent a lot of their work time sweeping up the leaves in the parks. They also had a late fall project at Farr Lake Park where the old asphalt trail was removed and a new wood chip trail installed. The finished product at that park is really looking good. Mr. Lindquist further stated that all the summer equipment is now put away and the winter gear is ready for use. They had a little vandalism at Commons Park and it cost them $3500 to replace a triple slide. They also had an opportunity to get up to the nature center to do some patchwork repairs on the boardwalk and a bridge. Mr. Kondrick stated that all of the parks in his area of the City are really looking good. He thanked Mr. Lindquist and the park workers for doing a good job. Ms. Varichak stated that she has received many compliments on the work that was done this past year at Briardale Park. The new facilities look really good. c. Anoka County Bike Map and Commuting Guide Mr. Kirk stated that the Anoka County Park and Recreation Directors have worked together on creating a trails map for our county area. Copies are available at City Hall in the Parks and Recreation Office. With the addition of new trail segments each year, the map will likely need to be updated on a regular basis. We have some very good trails in Fridley and many of them lead to connections with other neighboring communities. d. Winter Festival Mr. Kirk stated that the annual Winter Festival is scheduled to be held on Saturday, January 27, 2007. It was a nice event last year, although we would like to see a little more snow before the event this year. It will be held at Commons Park and the Fridley Community Center. Mr. Kirk invited the Commission members to attend the event and participate in the many activities. Parks and Recreation Commission Meetina — December 4. 2006 Paae 3 2. NEW BUSINESS a. T-Mobile Request for a Telecommunications Tower at Community Park Mr. Kirk stated that the City of Fridley has received a request from T-Mobile to erect a telecommunications tower at Fridley Community Park. A request to put up a tower at Community Park is something that the Parks and Recreation Commission has discussed at meetings in the past. Mr. Kirk stated that he had included some Commission minutes from April of 2001 when the Commission discussed a similar request from AT & T. Mr. Kirk further stated that at that April 2001 meeting, the Commission decided that a telecommunications tower should be located on the far western part of the park, in the area of fields #5 and #6. The biggest concern for the telecommunications company at that time was access to the western part of the park, since there was not a road through the park. Mr. Kirk further stated that T-Mobile has been successful in gaining permission from Anoka County to use the existing regional biking/walking trail to access the western portion of Community Park. The trails go through the County park land that is adjacent to and just south of the Fridley Community Park. Mr. Kirk introduced Kari Brown of KTB Consulting. Ms. Brown is working on behalf of T- Mobile to secure an agreement to place a tower at Community Park. Ms. Brown stated that she is aware of one question that has already been asked about this request and that is whether or not the existing telecommunications tower across University Avenue, next to the City of Fridley maintenance facility, would work for this project instead of a new tower at Community Park. They did a lot of research on this site and have determined it will not give them the phone coverage that they need for their network. Ms. Brown stated that their goal is to try and make sure that the tower, equipment and building required at the Community Park site are aesthetically pleasing and that the landowners (city) are happy with the end result. They would like to enter into a twenty year lease for this tower. They do not want to interfere with any of the activities at Community Park. Ms. Brown further stated that they feel by going around the outside of Community Park they would not be interfering with the sports events. Placing the new tower between fields #5 and #6 would be a good location for T-Mobile and would take the place of an existing light pole at the park. The stadium lights on the existing light pole would be repositioned at the same height on the new telecommunications tower. Ms. Brown stated that once construction is complete, a T-Mobile technician visits the site once or twice per month to check that all equipment is operating properly. Most of this work is done on the ground equipment. Ms. Brown stated that their easement request is for a 50 foot by 50 foot area. This is the typical size that they ask for with a"co-locatable" site. Parks and Recreation Commission Meetinq — December 4, 2006 Paqe 4 Mr. Kondrick asked why so large of an easement request. Ms. Brown stated that the easement is for enough ground space for additional carriers to come in and place their equipment building next to the tower. Another carrier would use the same pole, but they need ground space for equipment. Ms. Sibell asked what the equipment building would look like and could it match the park building at Community Park. Ms. Brown stated that they could use materials that match the existing structures at Community Park. She has brought along pictures of other equipment buildings and enclosures that they have used with telecommunications towers. She said putting up a building to match what is already there is certainly feasible, however, it does make the building a little larger because it must meet required specifications. Ms. Brown stated that pre-fab buildings will be much smaller at approximately 10 feet by 12 feet. They can have exterior aggregate coloring treatment to match the color scheme at the park. Mr. Kondrick asked if the building would be made large enough to accommodate the equipment of another carrier in the future. Ms. Brown stated that because of proprietary concerns, the carriers do not share buildings. If another carrier would co-locate on this tower, they would build their own equipment building adjacent to the tower. Ms. Brown also stated that there is a possibility of using outdoor equipment and screen it by using a fence structure. Ms. Sibell suggested that instead of placing the telecommunications tower between fields 5 and 6, it could be placed in the center field area of field #5 which is in the far northwest corner of the park. There appears to be plenty of room at the location and would be less likely to be a concern with the new Centerpoint gas pipeline that will be coming through the western boundary of the park. Ms. Brown said she did not think locating at that site would be a problem for T-Mobile. Mr. Solberg asked if there are electrical or other wiring that needs to service the pole and equipment. If so, where would the wiring be coming from? Ms. Brown stated that electric service is needed and they are looking at their options right now. It looks like it will not be easy access to the west part of Community Park. They are expecting it to be very expensive for them to get the wiring installed and it will likely involve a direct bore underground. Ms. Brown asked the Commission if using the area just outside the fence in centerfield of field #6 would be an acceptable alternative to the field #5 location. She is asking because they would like to review which area would work out best for the construction and the costs. Parks and Recreation Commission Meetinq — December 4, 2006 Paqe 5 Mr. Lindquist stated that, in his opinion, either site outside the outfield fence on fields 5 and 6 would work out much better for the park than the original suggested site of replacing the light tower between fields 5 and 6 with the new telecommunications tower. Mr. Kondrick stated that for security reasons, he would like to see a secure building for the equipment rather than the ground equipment with fencing around it. Mr. Heintz asked how much the telecommunications company normally pays the City of Fridley for rent when they locate a tower on City property. Mr. Kirk stated that the City has a standard rental agreement and receives approximately $1500 per month. Mr. Heintz stated that he would like to propose that instead of collecting rent for the first year, that T-Mobile provide four new scoreboards for Community Park. It is something that is needed at the park and has been identified in our parks capital projects list. Mr. Kondrick asked Ms. Brown if T-Mobile had ever done something like that where they provided amenities to a park or facility in lieu of rent. Ms. Brown stated yes, that T-Mobile has done that in the past. Mr. Heintz stated that the advantage for T-Mobile might be the ability to put an advertising banner on the scoreboard that acknowledged their providing of the scoreboards. If someone questions the telecommunications tower at the Community Park and asks what the City park got in return, we could point to the new scoreboards at the park. He would see this as an appropriate action because the park is giving up land for the tower and the park would get something in return. Mr. Kondrick stated that the idea would certainly be worth looking into. MOTION by Mr. Heintz, seconded by Ms. Varichak, to approve the T-Mobile request for a telecommunications tower at Fridley Community Park. The overall size of the easement site for the tower and buildings would be a maximum of 50 feet by 50 feet. The tower would be approved at location A outside the centerfield fence on field #5 or at location B outside the centerfield fence on field #6. The ground equipment building must conform colorwise with the other park buildings and a pre-fab structure would be okay if it can fit with the appropriate colors. The Commission would like to explore the possibility of site amenities (such as scoreboards) being provided for the park in lieu of the first year's rental payments. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL MEMBERS VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED. Ms. Sibell asked what the timetable would be for construction of the facility. Ms. Brown stated they would like to begin work as soon as they could get a building permit for the project. Parks and Recreation Commission Meetinq — December 4, 2006 Paqe 6 b. Park Service Area Study 2007 Mr. Kirk stated that the Parks and Recreation Commission completed a thorough study of our park system back in 1997. The Park Service Area Study to a look at all of the residential areas of our community and how well those areas were serviced by park and recreation facilities. The overall purpose of the Study was to guide the improvements and future development of our park system. Mr. Kirk stated that the Commission did a great job on that study, but it was now time to update the document. The City is in the process of updating its comprehensive plan and this study goes hand in hand with the parks and open space section of the comp plan. If the Commission is willing to review this plan, he would suggest that it be discussed over the next six or seven Commission meetings. The Park Service Area study also helps with the development and adjustments to our 5 year parks capital improvement plan. MOTION by Ms. Varichak, seconded by Mr. Solberg, to approve an update of the Park Service Area Study by the Parks and Recreation Commission during the first months of 2007. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL MEMBERS VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED c. Innsbruck Park Property Line Survey and Encroachments into Park Property Mr. Kirk stated that in preparation for a preliminary layout of possible off-road bike trails at the Innsbruck Park, the City sent a surveying crew to the park to mark all of the property lines. When that was completed, it became very apparent that a number of the adjacent property owners had encroached into the park land and were using park property as their own personal property. There were fences, sheds, gardens, play equipment, yard waste, and a lot of junk that was on the City park property. Mr. Kirk further stated that he had visited the site about a week ago with Public Works Director Jon Haukaas and saw first hand the property line encroachments at the park. City staff will be sending a letter to all property owners adjacent to Innsbruck Park to inform them of the recent property line survey. The letter will tell the property owners that the City expects all personal property to be removed from the park land by June 1, 2007. Mr. Kirk further stated that City staff is recommending that park boundary signs be placed along the border of this park to clearly identify for adjacent homeowners where the park land boundary is. These signs would be relatively small, about six inches by six inches. They would have the City logo on them and have the words Park Boundary. Mr. Kirk showed the Commission members pictures of some of the more significant issues that were are dealing with at Innsbruck Park with these encroachments. Mr. Heintz suggested that in the areas where people have been mowing into the park property, he would like to see a second sign put up that says "no mowing". Ms. Varichak asked if City staff has talked with all of the property owners that are encroaching into the park land. Mr. Kirk stated that some of the property owners have been talked to, but not all of them. Mr. Heintz suggested that when notifying property owners, we should give them a list of things they cannot do related to the park property. Parks and Recreation Commission Meetinq — December 4, 2006 Paqe 7 MOTION by Mr. Heintz, seconded by Ms. Sibell to concur with the staff action of notifying adjacent property owners of the recent survey, giving them until June 1 of 2007 to take care of any encroachments into the park, and putting up park boundary signs at Innsbruck Park. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL MEMBERS VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED ADJOURNMENT MOTION by Mr. Solberg, seconded by Mr. Heintz, to adjourn the December 4, 2006 meeting at 8:35 p.m. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL MEMBERS VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED AND THE DECEMBER 4, 2006 MEETING ADJOURNED.