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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2012 08-27 PRC Minutes PARKS � RECREATION COMMISSION Regular Meeting Minutes August 27, 2012 APPROVED Members Present: JoAnne Cope,Maureen Bartz,Jason Eisold,Mike Elia,son Members Absent: Barb Farrell Staff Present: Dan Schultz, Ditector of Paxks and Recreation and Sonja Honl, Recording Secretary Student Volunteers: CeCe-Amari Gaines Others Present: None 1. CALL TO ORDER: Eliason called the meeting to order at 7:03 p.m. 2. ADDITIONS TO THE AGENDA: None. 3. APPROVAL OF THE JULY 23,2012 MEETING MINUTES: MOTION bp Bartz to approve the minutes of the July 23,2012 meeting. SECOND by Cope. Ayes: 4 Nays: 0 Motion passed. 4. AUDIENCE INPUT: None 5. DISCUSSION (Response to Audience Input): None 6. OLD BUSINESS: a. UMore Ball Field Project—The fields were seeded toda,y, some trail woxk remains to be completed,the parking lot is in and the second coat of asphalt will be applied next spxing. Landscaping,backstops, side fencing,etc. have all been installed. Cope offered a name suggestion: Home Run Field. Schultz will add this to the list and bring some other suggestions to a future meeting. b. Splash Park—Examples of spla,sh pads/parks were included in this month's packet for the Commission to xeview. Schultz explained that the most desirable location for this type of amenity would be one that already has water, sewer, sanita,ry sewex and electricity. Central Park appears to best meet all of these criteria. Schultz provided an aerial view of the paxk and pointed out two spots near the playground where a spla,sh park/pad could be insta,lled. He mentioned that the paxking lot has 85 stalls for City Hall sta.ff/operations and other users. There will also be parking nearby once for nights and weekends once the park-and- ride lot is built. Schwarz Pond Park was another possible site for a spla.sh paxk, although it's more limited because the utilities are in the vicinity of the Community Center. Schultz pointed out two possible sites at this park for the splash park/pad: an area on the northeast side of the patking lot,and an area on the west side of the parking lot. T'he paxking lot here has 88 stalls, shared with RHS baseball field users and other users visiting Schwarz Pond Park. Schultz reviewed photos of splash pads in Apple Valley and Cottage Grove,roughly $250,000 each,and Robbinsda,le. Schultz described some different types of splash park amenities such as "touch" structures,ground spray nozzles,buckets that fill and tip, etc. He also talked about restroom facilities and how different cities handle public use of them. - 1 - PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION Regular Meeting Minutes August 27, 2012 Schultz felt that both Central Park and Schwarz Pond Paxk offered sttong potential opportunities.'The one drawback of Schwarz Pond Paxk is the cost to bring utilities to the site. Schultz mentioned that Central Park's playground is sla,ted to be replaced in three or four years. While neither site is perfect, Schultz would lean towaxd Central Park because of the location of the utilities."The Commission expressed concern about how the spla,sh park would impact this area,considering the use of the amphitheater and Central Park's other functions. The Commission expressed concern about people also possibly paxking at the library to use the spla.sh paxk. Schultz agreed that limited paxking there and at the proposed senior housing near the Steeple Center is a concern. Cope asked Schultz to add discussion about,having a shuttle service in Rosemount (originally discussed by the St.Joseph's Chuxch Task Force) to a futuxe agenda. The Commission mentioned sevexal potential concems with the Central Park location including police vehicles needing to get out of the lot quickly for calls and the potential for accidents,and that City Hall sta.ff and visitors already park there and the lot could get full. The Commission liked the water features at the Burnsville Commons,where people can sit with their feet in the creek. They thought this type of feature would appeal to older kids and people of all ages. The Coxmnission suggested broadening the scope of sites where a spla.sh pad could be built. They asked if there were other parks with utilities availa,ble and enough parking,and about the possibility of building the splash park at the Flint Hills site or at Dakota,County Technical College (DCTC),between the entrance road and the soccer fields, as they have concessions already in pla,ce. They felt that paYking was an issue we really needed to look at. The Commission asked if there was any la.nd the City could purchase where this amenity would be a better fit and if the Council could find funds in the Ciry . budget for this. They also asked about occupancy numbexs for splash pads,and the number of amenities pex square foot, so we can determine the square foota.ge needed. Schultz will look into this,and will also check with the City of Burnsville regaxding the cost of the creek. The Commission pYeferred the Schwarz Pond Paxk site over Central Park and felt that the parking lot at Schwaxz Pond Park was not used as much as the one at Central Park. Schultz will bring back a map of the Flint Hills site and the area at DCTC near the soccer fields and infoxmation on spla.sh park occupancy/load limitarions.The Commission thought the Flint Hills and DCTC sites could be locations for a splash park. 7. NEW BUSINESS: a. Preliminary Plat and Final Plat—KJ Walk, Inc—The Rosewood Commercial Site Pla,n was included in the packet The site is at the corner of Hwy 3 and Co. Road 42,near the small railroad building. Schultz e�lained the current plan for development,and pointed out the lots that are going to be developed. Parks dedication at 10% of 3.80 acYes would be 0.38 x $90,000/acre = $34,200. They are currendy making some adjustments to the plats, identifying sidewalks,etc. Schultz recommended collecting parks dedication fees on the three lots that are part of the final plat. MOTION by Cope to recommend that the City Council approve the preliminary pla,t and final plat submitted by KJ Walk Incorporated and the collection of the paxks dedication fees on the three lots that are part of the final plat. SECOND by Bartz. Ayes: 4 Nays: 0. Motion passed. b. Community Garden Plot Program—This year we had over 80 people apply for garden plots,and had to turn down over half of them. Thirty-fouY plots were available: fourteen at the Flint Hills athletic complex site,eight at Biscayne Paxk and six each at Winds and Jaycee Parks. Last year we had issues with the soil at the location we chose at the Flint Hills site, so -2 - PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION Regular Meeting Minutes August 27, 2012 we moved the garden plots to another area of the site this year. This yeax we also offered gaxden plots at Biscayne,Winds and Jaycee Paxks for the first time. The 2012 program was very successful and this item is being brought to the Commission to discuss grandfathering in this year's gardenexs and evaluating the size of the garden plots. After discussion,the Commission felt that we should not grandfather in this year's participants. Since the progYam is so popular that we are turning people away,grandfathering in past participants would leave no spots for new people. They agreed with giving Rosemount residents priority, advertising the ava.ilability of the plots and giving people a specified time to return the application form. They suggested allowing applicants to list their top three park choices and we would fulfill these on a first-come, first-served basis. Non-residents would have the opporninity to apply fox any remainuig sites. There was also discussion regarding having resident and non-resident rates. Schultz suggested tabling this item until he can provide the Commission with information on how other cities handle this issue. The item was ta,bled. c. Director's Report—The Parks Improvement Fund Balance as of Ju1y 31,2012 was $1,171,518.20. Dedication fees of$6,800 were received. Interest for the month was $45.19. There were no donations. There were expenditures of$52,022.68 for UMore Ball Field Improvements and irrigation well. There was a ribbon cutting last week for the newly striped pickle ball courts. The ribbon cutting was very well attended. Volunteers—Volunteer requests axe received by our department on a weekly basis. 'There are many requests on top of the groups we already schedule to help with regular maintenance duties such as weeding pla,ygrounds and plant beds at parks,painting, trimming brush etc. Recreation Programs—We had a.nother successful summer. We added an additional week of Adventure Kids Camp again this year, due to increased registrations for this progYam. Rosemount's Front Porch—The Rosemount Area Arts Council (RAAC) has proposed functioning as a pseudo-visitor's bureau,with"front porch rockers" at the Steeple Center. In exchange for this, they have asked for free use of the Steeple Center. Their proposal and service agreement wexe included in the Commission packet. Emerald Ash Borer—The Emerald Ash Borer has xecendy been found in Ft. Snelling. The City of Rosemount has a management pla.n in pla,ce that includes continuing to repla,ce trees as needed and divexsifying the trees we plant. We xeceived a DNR grant to plant 100 new trees, and will be doing this systema.tically. Trees in all of our parks have been graded and lower gxade trees (stunted, split, etc.) will be removed and replaced with another variety. Our plan is to diversify and be proactive. Hwy 3 Trail Connection in Front of Community Center—The Coxnmission asked for an update on this item. Per Schultz,the trail connection has been advertised for bid. This item will be brought back to the City Council at their second meeting in September. 8. ADJOURNMENT -MOTION by Eisold to adjouxn the meeting. SECOND by Bartz. Ayes: 4 Nays: 0 Motion passed. The meeting was adjourned at 8:24 p.m. Respectfully submitted by Sonja Honl,Recording Secretary - 3 -