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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2002-02-11 MINUTESCity of Cottage Grove Parks, Recreation & Natural Resources Commission February 11, 2002 Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, a regular meeting of the Parks, Recreation, and Natural Resources Commission was duly held at City Hall, 7516 — 80th Street South, Cottage Grove, Minnesota, on the 11th day of February, 2002. Acting Chair Al Boche called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. MEMBERS PRESENT: Eddy Wuorenma, Al Boche, Allan Dubois, Tammy Schwartz, MEMBERS ABSENT: Jon Cheney, Steve Morse OTHERS PRESENT: Associate Planner John Burbank Ice Arena /Recreation Manager Zachary Dockter APPROVAL OF AGENDA The agenda was approved as submitted. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Motion to approve minutes by Tammy Schwartz. Seconded by DuBois. Motion Carried. NEW BUSINESS A. New Member Discussions Burbank mentioned that Diane Fredrickson resigned last month. Jon Cheney resigned effective this month. This leaves two positions open. Boche questioned about having a youth member sit on the Commission. Burbank indicated that there is room for a youth member, but it just hasn't been filled in the past years. Suggestions to staff of anyone who might be interested are invited. Burbank has a couple of applications for the two open positions. He will call these people and ask them to attend next month's meeting. B. CGAA CIP Studv The Commission reviewed the memo from Dockter with dollar amounts. Dockter went on to explain that the City is looking for some research from the CGAA to support the need for the Capital Improvements requested. Boche said the CGAA has been informed of this request Parks Commission Minutes February 11, 2002 and its presidents and members are doing some research to prove the need for these improvements. When they are completed they will give the results to staff. C. CGAA Information Letter A letter from Kim Lindquist to the CGAA was presented to the Commission. This letter requests enrollment numbers from each of the CGAA sports to help support fiscal impacts and needs. D. Budget Update Burbank submitted information on the City's budget issues. Burbank stated some of the effects could be as follows: Loss of Parks /Public Service Worker Impacts on Existing Staff General Monetary and Position Cuts Throughout the City 2 DuBois asked about the Parks /Public Service Worker. He wanted to know if it was a new position or did somebody leave and it's not going to be filled. Burbank responded that it was to get an additional person according to the budget in 2002 and also the Lead Man in Parks left in December. So, someone from the existing Parks Department will move up to the Lead Person leaving a void at the lower position and that position will probably not be filled. E. Commission Rules Burbank mentioned that rules could be changed in March when elections take place. Statute requires that the Commission look at the rules twice before making any changes. The Commission responded they would review and discuss these rules at the next meeting. F. Attendance Memorandum — City Clerk Burbank reviewed the attendance for the past year in relation to the memorandum. Schwartz asked if any absence without a written note is considered unexcused? Burbank responded "yes ". Staff will give the Commission quarterly attendance updates. OLD BUSINESS A. Update Public River Access — Grey Cloud Island Burbank updated the Commission on the county meeting that took place at Council Member Hale's house. Members were Zac Dockter, Les Burshten, John Burbank, Council Member Rod Hale, a Bonestroo Engineering Consultant, two members from the county and a Parks Commission Minutes February 11, 2002 3 representative from the DNR. The items were discussed. The DNR could provide engineering aid; possibly coordinate some of this with the FEMA Project. FEMA would not be paying for it, but the project could be incorporated during the FEMA Project. The park would be on county land between the iron bridge and the culvert going to St. Paul Park. At previous meetings it was discussed that they may relocate the roadway. The idea would cost a minimum of $100,000 so the focus right now is to not worry about relocating the roadway, but to concentrate more on the park itself. As the park is built they could worry about relocating the road at a later date. They are still looking at putting in a trail way connecting all fishing areas, the boat access and picnic areas. The parking lot will be across the existing road and would be prairie grass, wetlands and surrounded by limestone rocks. Staff is expecting minimal grading at the sight. The county has shown great interest in working with the City to use the land for a local park. The issue will be going to the next City Council meeting for discussion. Fred Madsen at 10971 Grey Cloud Trail South commented at the meeting that the park would be directly across the street from his house. Some of his concerns were trash /clean up in surrounding areas outside of the park; the park would create a lot more traffic on the island. Along with a lot more traffic, a lot more people could cause a lot more trouble in the area. He is concerned with who and how the park would be policed. He doesn't think it will be self - policing at all. He is concerned with how often the park will be cleaned and questioned if the park would be locked up at night? He feels it will cause a whole bunch of problems for the island. He would like to know if there would be a public hearing on it that he and other residents in the area could attend and speak at. Burbank mentioned that the Council will discuss the park during new business at the next meeting and will decide whether to hold a public hearing at a later date. Schwartz asked staff to discuss trash concerns. Boche responded saying the park should be locked up at some point at night. Burbank responded that the City had not planned on locking up the park due to unsuccessful attempts at doing this in the past with the prior location of the boat launch. Burbank also mentioned that the City would have more enthusiasm to provide and maintain the park which would assist in the trash clean up. There would be more of a commitment to the park than in the past at the previous location. Madsen mentioned that he understands the need for a park and boat access, but if the City is going to do it, it should be built as a decent facility and should be well maintained. All Commission members agreed. Schwartz feels if the park is poorly maintained, it will be a poor reflection on the City so all attempts should be made to properly maintain the park. Burbank said that some screening and buffering would be included to create a natural atmosphere at the park. The Commission agrees that there will be a need for more manpower, maintenance and upkeep for the park. Burbank mentioned that the plans are still preliminary and that the public will be more and more involved as the park project progresses. Rod Hale at 11701 Grey Cloud Trail South also spoke. He understands and feels Fred's concerns are legitimate, being that he lives in the area as well, and they all need to be Parks Commission Minutes February 11, 2002 0 discussed. He feels there is a need for this park and will continue to work hard towards that end. He explained that this park would be designed for efficient security. He feels the park needs to be attractive, policeable and minimize any impacts on the natural surroundings. He continues to suggest the Commission's support for this project. He also feels that financially many groups will be able to help in getting this park built. For example the DNR, Aggregate Industries, etc. would possibly be able to help in the funding of this park. He feels it should be a fairly low cost project with the help of all of these different organizations. DuBois asked Hale who owned the land on both sides of the landfill. Hale replied that Hannah may own some, but the rest is all probably county land. Wuorenma asked if Hale felt adding trashcans and restrooms would assist in the upkeep of the area. Hale responded "yes, he believes that is a correct assumption ". Schwartz inquired about putting up signs to discourage vandalism and littering, not just at this park, but also at all parks. Burbank said he could look into installing these signs. B. Update Woodridge Baseball Field #43 Naming Burbank said he is researching what other communities are doing. Some communities charge to rename the fields so he and Dockter are doing further research before sending it to Council. Boche requested more information as it progresses. COMMUNITY CENTER PLANNING WORKSHOP A. Community Center Scoping Survey #1 - Results The Commission reviewed the results of the surveys. Some points of interest include the high scores of the restrooms and the low scores of the clock tower, but Schwartz feels this should be strongly considered for children waiting for rides and needing to know what time i is since many children do not wear watches. Also, pool /indoor water park scored extremely high. Staff will review and decide where to go from here with this information and figure out what the next step for gathering more information will be. REPORTS A. Golf Division None B. Ice Arena Dockter reviewed the submitted memo. Boche asked when the downtime at the arena would be this year. Dockter responded approximately April 15 through June 15. Parks Commission Minutes February 11, 2002 C. Parks Division Burbank reported for Parks Foreman Greg Niles. They are currently working on hockey board maintenance and looking to start doing some brush cutting in the near future with the good weather. D. Recreation Programming Division The Commission reviewed the submitted memo. Boche mentioned that the Youth Expo is coming up. The Expo has been moved to River Oaks and he said it is a good opportunity for kids to find things to do throughout the summer. DuBois asked what the Adult Safety Seminar is. Burbank responded that it is a program to provide different safety information from different organizations to older adults. He indicated more information could be obtained in the Recreation office or on the City web page. E. Planning Commission Technical Packet Review 5 Burbank reviewed some points of interest from the Planning Commission meeting. Linder's Greenhouse is coming back. He wanted to let the Commission know that the West Draw Water Tower Park is going to be looking for some finalization in the designs of the park coming this spring. F. Council Agendas The Commission reviewed the agenda. A point of interest was that Rose of Sharon is still interested in building a ball field as reported by John Burbank. G. C.G.A.A. None COMMISSION COMMENTS DuBois discussed his meeting with the Metropolitan Council in St. Paul Park and said it went very well. STAFF COMMENTS Burbank mentioned that the Historic Preservation Committee is looking for a Parks Commission liaison to attend their meetings since a lot of the topics discussed overlap each other. So, he's Parks Commission Minutes 6 February 11, 2002 looking for a volunteer from the Parks Commission to act as that liaison to the Historic Preservation Committee. ADJOURNMENT Wuorenma moved to adjourn. Schwartz seconded it. The meeting was adjourned at 8:20 p.m.