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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2002-06-10 MINUTESCity of Cottage Grove Parks, Recreation & Natural Resources Commission June 10, 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 10th day of June, 2002. Commission Chair Steve Morse called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. MEMBERS PRESENT: Steve Morse, Al Boche, Paul Barthol, Allan Dubois MEMBERS ABSENT: Kathleen Kullman, Tammy Schwartz, Eddy Wuorenma OTHERS PRESENT: Associate Planner John Burbank Ice Arena/Recreation Manager Zachary Dockter Council Member Pat Rice APPROVAL OF AGENDA The agenda was approved as submitted. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Minutes of the May 13, 2002 meeting approved as mailed. NEW BUSINESS A. Met Council — Mississippi River Initiative Burbank reviewed the attached memos and discussed that the Met Council has begun work on the Mississippi River Initiative to identify local efforts for upgrading the river. Staff is currently developing a project information form to give to Met Council which includes our wishes for our area of the river. Staff 's intention is to submit the river access park, the overlook, the trail segment and the extension of 95` Street in those projects to Met Council. The Commission reviewed the memos and no further discussion was held. B. Hamlet Park Expansion Staff reviewed the potential of Hamlet Park expansion in relation to Oakwood Park and the Gateway Redevelopment process. Burbank and Ryan Schroeder discussed the issue. The redevelopment of the Gateway District and potential commercial development near Oakwood Park presents the potential sale of some Oakwood Park land. Those funds could Ptuks Commission Minutes June 10, 2002 E be used to expand Hamlet Park for additional baseball fields and other needed park amenities. An initial draft of potential Hamlet Park expansion was given to the Commission for review. Discussion ensued and staff made clear that this is the initial draft and many more drafts will be coming. This will be a reoccurring issue for the Commission. Staff also mentioned that this proposal will be going to the EDA and the Planning Commission as well. Staff asked the Commission to start thinking about what they would like to see in the park if there's an expansion at Hamlet Park (e.g. fields, trails, structures, etc...). The question came about "Why the expansion to Hamlet Park ?" to which staff replied that there was some work that needed to be done there anyway due to storm water drainage and preparation for the Industrial Park. So, staff's thought was to combine that work with the possibility of park expansion. Morse made a motion that the Commission directs and supports staff to explore the possibility of the grading of Oakwood Park in such a fashion that it would support the creation of saleable property with the understanding that it would be to create revenue for the parks system. Seconded by Boche. No discussion. Motion carried. Another motion by Boche to direct staff to continue in drafting and planning of Hamlet Park expansion. Seconded by Morse. No discussion. Motion carried. C. Hearthside Park Sliding Hill Improvements Dockter explained the fact that improvements needed to be made to Hearthside Park's sliding hill due to several injuries in the past and reviewed a list of potential options for these improvements to make it a safer hill for our patrons. He asked direction from the Commission to do this. The Commission recommends that staff make all efforts to keep the hill open for sliding. Planting of trees in a manner that would steer kids away from any dangers in the area was recommended. D. Youth Commission Seats Burbank reviewed the fact that there are youth seats available on the Commission. Boche mentioned that he may have some potential leads on youth that would be interested. No further discussion. E. Kingston Soccer Field Lighting Dockter stated that the Soccer Association had approached him and expressed the need for lit soccer fields due to scheduling conflicts. In accordance with the Cottage Grove Soccer Association, it was stated that there are too many players and not enough fields for the association. Members of the Soccer Association spoke about the need for lighting, reiterating the fact that the Association is very large. It is one of the largest in the state and also one of the largest in the country. The need for more fields, or more time on those fields is pertinent at this time. Issues with Xcel easement properties were discussed. The Commission directed staff, as an initial step, to get in touch with Xcel to make sure that lighting on those fields would be possible. The Commission directed staff to further pursue the issue of lighting Kingston soccer fields. Parks Commission Minutes June 10, 2002 F. CIP Review Staff provided the City's CIP for the Commission to look at and some discussion ensued. No formal recommendations were involved. OLD BUSINESS A. CIP Funding — Ideal Park Recreation Equipment 3 In previous meetings the issue of replacing equipment at Ideal and Pine Tree Pond Parks has been discussed. It was hoped that it could potentially be done in 2002, but that doesn't look like it's going to be possible. According to staff, those two parks are slated for replacement in 2003. Staff recommended that we go on with the replacement of Highland and Woodridge Parks in 2002 and just wait for the 2003 budget to replace Ideal and Pine Tree Pond at that time. The Commission recommended staff to go ahead with this plan. B. Public Park and Open Space Sales Requests This item is revisited from the last meeting. Once again, the issue is that a resident wishes to purchase a slice of park land (currently part of Lamar Park) off of 72 Avenue. The parkland currently isn't used or maintained by the City. Maintenance is done by the resident who wishes to purchase a 30 -foot strip of that property. Staff's recommendation is to deny the request in fear of it setting precedence to other requests of this nature. It may lead to piece - mealing by others who live adjacent to parks and the city does not want to see this happen. A motion was made by Morse to deny the request for the purchase of the land. Seconded by Boche. Allan Dubois voted nay. Motion carried. C. River Access Park Update Staff reviewed the project at hand, the potential park on Grey Cloud Island and commented that the DNR denied the request for their grant. Staff is still continuing to move forward with the project and has set up meetings with the Met Council and the county. Staff will continue to pursue other financial contributions as well. REPORTS Reports were reviewed by the Commission. No comments or questions. Parks Commission Minutes June 10, 2002 A. Golf Division B. Ice Arena Division C. Parks Division D. Recreation Programming Division E. Planning Commission F. Council Agendas G. CGAA H. Historic Preservation COMMISSION COMMENTS None STAFF COMMENTS None ADJOURNMENT CI The meeting was adjourned at 8:55 p.m.