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PRM 11/03/2014 CITY OF FRIDLEY PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION MEETING – NOVEMBER 3, 2014 CALL TO ORDER: Chairperson Solberg called the November 3, 2014 Parks & Recreation Commission Meeting to order at 7:01 p.m. ROLL CALL: Members Present: Tim Solberg, Greg Ackerman, Michele Barrett, Mike Heintz, and Dave Kondrick Others Present: Jack Kirk, Director of Parks and Recreation Jim Kosluchar, Director of Public Works APPROVAL OF September 8, 2014 PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION MINUTES MOTION by Mr. Kondrick, seconded by Mr. Heintz, to approve the minutes of the September 9, 2014 Parks and Recreation Commission meeting. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL MEMBERS VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON SOLBERG DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED. APPROVAL OF PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION AGENDA FOR NOVEMBER 3, 2014 MOTION by Mr. Ackerman, seconded by Ms. Barrett, to approve the agenda for the November 3, 2014 meeting. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL MEMBERS VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON SOLBERG DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED. 1. STAFF REPORT a. Program Update Mr. Kirk stated that one of the Department’s biggest events of the year is the annual Pumpkin Night in the Park at Springbrook Nature Center. This year was a record breaking attendance with 4,620 people. It was a great night. Staff works very hard on the event and we rely on many volunteers to make this a success. Mr. Kirk stated that a relatively new program at Springbrook is the Discovery Dinner series. The first one of the fall was held in September and the presentation was on the International Wolf Center in Minnesota. The second dinner was this past Saturday and featured photographer and author Stan Tekeila talking about the photography of birds. The 45 people in attendance really liked the presentation and suggested bringing the speaker back again. Mr. Kirk stated that the elementary school after school activities have been going well and the middle school age ZONE program is drawing some good numbers each night after school. The ZONE sponsored two Halloween parties at the end of October with over 150 participants. Parks and Recreation Commission Meeting – November 3, 2014 Page 2 Mr. Kirk further stated that the Senior Program had a Fall Kick-Off event in September with 150 seniors participating. The program featured some live entertainment and a pie social. The event was the first opportunity for seniors to register for many of the popular fall and winter activities such as the Veteran’s Day Celebration and the Lion’s Club Holiday Party. b. Park Maintenance Report Mr. Kirk stated that Operations Manager for Parks and Streets Jeff Jensen has provided a parks maintenance report for activity in September and October. The workers have been busy with fall clean up activity and with preparation for the winter programs. c. Springbrook Nature Center Report Mr. Kirk stated that the Springbrook Nature Center Foundation is working with Fox Advancement, a local consulting company, on a feasibility study related to the fundraising for the SPRING project. One sizeable donation has already been received from an individual toward this project for $100,000. The donor is a retired Medtronic employee and the Medtronic Foundation has indicated it will match the gift with another $100,000. Mr. Kirk further stated that there have been some nice improvements to the Lawraine K. Beery Meditation Garden at the nature center. A volunteer group of Xcel Energy employees spent a day clearing back some overgrown vegetation and weeding the area. Our park maintenance workers installed some landscape edging, installed some mulched garden beds, repaired the water feature and planted some new spruce trees. Mr. Kirk further stated that Xcel Energy made a $10,000 grant to the nature center to improve our volunteer program. Budgeted with the grant monies is some volunteer management software, some tools and equipment, and limited funding for a seasonal volunteer coordinator. 2. NEW BUSINESS a. Proposed 2015 Parks and Recreation Commission Meeting Schedule Mr. Kirk stated that he has presented the Commission with a schedule of proposed meeting dates for 2015. The schedule generally has the meetings on the first Monday of each month starting at 7:00 p.m. The meeting in September would be on the second Monday because of the Labor Day holiday. Also, there is not a July meeting scheduled which has been the practice for the past several years. MOTION by Mr. Kondrick, seconded by Mr. Heintz, to approve the 2015 proposed Parks and Recreation meeting schedule as suggested by staff. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL MEMBERS VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON SOLBERG DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED. Parks and Recreation Commission Meeting – November 3, 2014 Page 3 b. 2015 Adult Softball League Fees Mr. Kirk stated that staff has proposed the adult softball league fee schedule for 2015. We try to get the fees established in the fall of the year, as the office starts getting inquiry phone calls regarding the next year’s softball program. He has a memo from Program Supervisor Cleve McCoy with the recommended fees for 2015 and he supports that recommendation. Mr. Kirk stated that the fees would go up slightly from 2014. The recommendation for softball fees for 2015 is as follows: The Sunday Men’s League would be $706. The Monday through Thursday night Men’s Leagues would be $775 each. The Co-Rec League on Fridays would be $481. The Co-Rec League is co-sponsored with the City of Blaine. MOTION by Mr. Heintz, seconded by Ms. Barrett, to approve the 2015 Adult Softball League Fees as proposed by staff. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL MEMBERS VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON SOLBERG DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED. c. Detachment of Park Property Mr. Kirk stated that staff has had some discussions with the City of Spring Lake Park about the Emmanual Christian Center’s interest in purchasing a small tract of land in Fridley, located at 315 Osborne Road. The Church would like to expand their parking lot and landscaped area at the campus on the corner of University Avenue and Osborne Road. Their current church property is all in the City of Spring Lake Park and this small parcel would be in the City of Fridley. A conclusion of the discussion was that it made sense for the City of Fridley to detach this land and have it annexed by Spring Lake Park. Mr. Kirk further stated that, at the same time, staff started some discussion about another small parcel of land that would seem to make more sense being in Spring Lake Park, rather than in Fridley. That parcel was formerly known as John Erickson Park and was part of our Fridley park system. We used to operate a swimming beach on Spring Lake at the park, but needed to close it do to recurring problems with broken glass. There are no Fridley homes on the north side of Osborne Road where this land is located, so it was not easily or safely accessed by Fridley residents for park use. In the late 1980’s, the Parks and Recreation Commission voted to remove this park from the parks promoted in our City parks and recreation inventory. While it remains City of Fridley land, it really does not get used at all. It would make more sense to be part of Spring Lake Park, which has other properties on this same north side of Osborne Road. Mr. Kirk stated that this land was originally donated to the City of Fridley by some land developers. There were stipulations that the City name this John Erickson Park and operate this property as a park for ten years, which the City did. Once again, this is the only parcel of Fridley in this area that is on the north side of Osborne Road. The adjacent properties are either in Spring Lake Park or Mounds View. It would be his recommendation that the City allow the detachment of the property from the City of Fridley and be annexed by the City of Spring Lake Park. Ms. Barrett stated that she has assumed that this property already was in Spring Lake Park. She did not know it was part of Fridley. Parks and Recreation Commission Meeting – November 3, 2014 Page 4 Mr. Ackerman asked when this property was operated as a park and a swimming beach. Mr. Kirk stated that was in the mid to late 1970’s and early 1980’s. It has not been included as one of our parks since the late 1980’s. Mr. Ackerman stated that he sees no downside to our taking action to have this property detached from Fridley and annexed by Spring Lake Park. Mr. Kondrick agreed that there was no downside with this action. Mr. Solberg stated that the fact that you have pointed out to them what they are getting is important. He did not see any problems with moving forward on this. MOTION by Mr. Kondrick, seconded by Mr. Ackerman, to support the detachment from the City of Fridley of property formerly known as John Erickson Park and annexation of this property by the City of Spring Lake Park. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL MEMBERS VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON SOLBERG DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED. d. Public Works Project at Summit Square Park Mr. Kirk stated that City of Fridley Public Works Director Jim Kosluchar is at tonight’s meeting to discuss an upcoming project with the Commission that may affect Summit Square Park. He is not asking for any final decision tonight, but he felt it was important that the Parks and Recreation Commission know what is happening. Mr. Kosluchar stated that he is looking for advice from the Commission on this project. The City has a long range street rehabilitation plan. The 2016 2015 street project work will be between Main Street and University, south of I-694. They will be looking at resurfacing all the local streets in this neighborhood. Mr. Kosluchar stated that as part of the project, they are required to manage the storm water in the area. They are expecting that there will be a need to do some underground water storage in the area to meet the requirements for storm water management. There initial plan is to put the underground water storage chambers in the street. The problem difficulty with this plan is that there are utilities under the street, including sanitary sewer down the middle, storm sewer on one side, water main and gas main on the other side. This doesn’t leave much room for the stormwater chambers. Mr. Kosluchar further stated they are looking for a relatively large area, about a half an acre in size, for some underground water storage. One area they have looked at is part of Summit Square Park, the area that would be under the skating rink. Mr. Solberg asked what the purpose of a storm water storage chamber was. Mr. Kosluchar stated that it is to detain water. It is essentially a pond that is underground. Storm water flows into drains and the pipes carry the water to what is a big underground holding pond. The water then slowly filters into the ground. Mr. Kosluchar stated that these underground storm water storage chambers are strong enough to go under parking lots. Once installed, park amenities could be placed on top of the area. The skating rink could remain or the Commission could look at another amenity like a tennis court. A project such as the underground water storage is a little more expensive than digging a pond, but does allow for other uses above the ground. Maintenance can be more difficult because you can’t see everything, but there are inspection ports to help with this. Parks and Recreation Commission Meeting – November 3, 2014 Page 5 Mr. Kosluchar stated they are going for a grant to help cover some of the costs with the storm water management. There first option is to place the water storage under the street. If that is not possible due to the utilities situation, then they would look at alternate water storage areas including the Summit Square Park. It will take some analysis to determine the best locations for the water storage with this project. The area at Summit Square Park that is used for a winter skating rink is a fall back area for us, if we can’t find enough room in the street for the water storage chambers. Mr. Kondrick asked for some dimensions on the proposed water storage area. How many feet deep by how many feet long? This information would be helpful. Mr. Kosluchar stated that the usable space there where the rink is currently located at Summit Square Park is about 4,000 square feet. In that area, they would be looking at a volume storage depth that was about 5 feet on average. The pipes would likely be 6 to 7 foot diameter pipes. There would likely be about an 8 foot excavation that would include removal of material from the site. When the chambers were installed, material would then be backfilled and the surface restored to whatever use the City would like to have there. Mr. Kondrick asked if there would be a situation where there was too much water for the storage capacity and it would start to create water problems for the park and street in the area? Mr. Kosluchar stated that there would not be that problem, because they would install a hydraulic bypass system. When that chamber filled up in a big storm, the system would bypass it and move water to another location. Mr. Kondrick asked who was mandating that we handle the storm water with this road reconstruction project. Mr. Kosluchar stated that the Federal Clean Water Act that was passed in the 1970’s is actually driving this. An evolution of that has led to the standards that are required today. Mr. Kondrick asked if all of our neighboring communities were facing similar challenges and undertaking similar projects. Mr. Kosluchar stated that yes, to a degree, all of them are affected. Some communities are being more aggressive to meet the requirements and others are less so. To a certain extent, it is the right thing to do. It should help with future flooding problems as well. Mr. Kosluchar stated that this proposal is not a for sure thing at this point. They have put in an application and hope to get State funding which could cover 80% of the project costs. They won’t know until December whether or not they are funded. Mr. Kosluchar stated that if the Parks and Recreation Commission doesn’t have any reservations on this proposed project, one thing that they can do now is to install some _____ piezometers, which are small diameter pipes driven into the ground, in the park that monitor the ground water level. There will be other locations in the neighborhood that will be monitored as well. Mr. Kondrick asked if the water storage chambers were installed in the park, how much of the park would be affected and for how long? Mr. Kosluchar stated that it would just be the skating rink area and it would more than likely be done in the summer months. Mr. Heintz stated that if the project could be held off until August or September, the neighborhood would still have access to this open play area during the summer months. Parks and Recreation Commission Meeting – November 3, 2014 Page 6 MOTION by Mr. Heintz, seconded by Mr. Kondrick, to support the installation of monitoring pipes in Summit Square Park to determine ground water levels. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL MEMBERS VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON SOLBERG DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED. e. Metropolitan Council Sewer Project Impact upon Community Park and Plaza Park Mr. Kosluchar stated that Metropolitan Council is doing a lot of sanitary sewer system rehabilitation work in Fridley. Our City is the site of some very large sanitary sewer pipes and large junction points. Met Council will be doing three major projects in our community next year. The City wants to support the Met Council in completing these important projects. Mr. Kosluchar stated that one of the projects is going to affect the Community Park and Plaza Park area. This is going to be a major project involving some very large diameter pipes. The project area is close to the railroad tracks and in the same area as two large natural gas pipes. These utilities are on the east side of the railroad tracks and there is very limited room to work in the area. Mr. Kosluchar stated that digging up and replacing the pipe is much more expensive than what they are proposing to do, which is re-lining the pipes. To accomplish this, they need a fairly large staging and materials area. This pipe lining material is so large that they are essentially bringing the factory to the site so the work can be completed. They are proposing to use some areas of Community Park and Plaza Park as staging areas. They will also need to construct a temporary access road to get some large trucks in and out of the area. Mr. Kosluchar stated that he and Mr. Kirk have met with the project representatives on site to look at some alternatives. The latest plan would involve completely taking out one of the Community Park ball fields and using it as a materials and staging area. The construction road would come in along the existing county regional trail just south of Community Park, and Plaza Park would have some areas affected as well. To provide a large enough working area, they will also need to cut into the large berm that is on Anoka County property just south of the Community Park. Mr. Kosluchar stated that they would surround the entire work area with an eight foot high chain link fence, so the area was secure and would not be a safety concern. They would also pay for any restoration that was needed to the park and trail facilities. We talked with them about paying the City of Fridley a lump sum to restore the ball field at Community Park. He also stated that he thought that they would be willing to pay the City for some loss of use of the City park facilities. What that number is, he did not know at this time. Mr. Heintz stated that perhaps we should consider other amenities or projects for the Community Park that we should ask them to pay in exchange for having our facilities impacted for two years. Do we need another open air shelter, play equipment, new fencing, lighting, or safety netting that would improve the park? Mr. Kosluchar stated that some of that may be possible and we will find out more as we continue discussions with the Met Council project representative. He does think it is a good idea that the City get something beneficial for the park and the neighborhood as a result of dealing with this project. Mr. Kosluchar stated that he expects some good communication being provided to the residents in the area, so they know what the project is all about and what they can expect as the work progresses. Parks and Recreation Commission Meeting – November 3, 2014 Page 7 Mr. Kirk stated this item will be coming back to the Commission for a recommendation on what action to take. It is likely that this will be on the December Commission meeting agenda. Mr. Kosluchar stated that the Met Council needs to work out some things with Anoka County as well because this would impact the regional trail and some County park land. He would like the City to cooperate and be good partners with Met Council on this important project, but he recognizes that this will have an impact on the area residents and the use of some of our park facilities. He expects that we will bring back more detailed information at the next Commission meeting. f. SPRING Project Design Team Mr. Kirk stated that the Springbrook Nature Center SPRING Project continues to move along. The official grant agreement between the State of Minnesota and the City of Fridley for the $5 th million Bonding Bill money was approved by the City Council at the October 13 Council meeting. Also, an agreement with a Construction Management firm named EDS Builders was th approved at the October 27 Council meeting. We have begun our work with the Construction Manager, who will be assisting us from design through the construction phase. Mr. Kirk stated that one of the key next steps in the process is to assemble a local Design Team to work closely with the Architects and Engineers as plans are finalized for the building renovation and expansion. He would like to invite the Parks and Recreation Commission to have a member or two be part of this local Design Team. The Design Team will include representation from City staff, representation from the Springbrook Nature Center Foundation, from the Parks and Recreation Commission and possibly a City Council member. Mr. Kirk further stated that this Design Team will work over the next several months on this project. He expects that the Team will review proposals from the Architect and Engineering Firms and be part of the interviewing process as we select these design professionals. After selection of the company, the Design Team will work closely with this firm as the design plans for the facility take shape. We had a similar group that worked closely with the Pre-Design process on the SPRING plan four years ago. He would expect a similar process with this project Design Team. Mr. Kondrick stated that he would be interested in serving on this local Design Team. Mr. Heintz stated that he would also be interested in being on the Team. MOTION by Ms. Barrett, seconded by Mr. Ackerman, to name both Dave Kondrick and Mike Heintz as Parks and Recreation Commission representatives to the Design Team for the SPRING project. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL MEMBERS VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON SOLBERG DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED. Parks and Recreation Commission Meeting – November 3, 2014 Page 8 ADJOURNMENT MOTION by Mr. Ackerman, seconded by Mr. Kondrick, to adjourn the November 3, 2014 meeting at 8:40 p.m. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL MEMBERS VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON SOLBERG DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED AND THE NOVEMBER 3, 2014 MEETING ADJOURNED.