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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes 04-25-05APPROVED Members Present: Leslie Defries, Mike Eliason, Mark Jacobs, Eric Johnson, Kelly Sampo Members Absent: None Staff Present: Dan Schultz, Director of Parks and Recreation and Sonja Honl, Recording Secretary Student Volunteer: Philip Harris Others Present: Mayor Droste CALL TO ORDER: Jacobs called the meeting to order at 7:12 p.m. ADDITIONS TO THE AGENDA: New Business e. Choosing new Chair and Vice Chair. APPROVAL OF THE APRIL 25, 2005 AGENDA: MOTION by Johnson to approve the April 25, 2005 agenda. SECOND by Eliason. Ayes: 5 Nays: 0 Motion passed. Mayor Droste swore in Kelly Sampo, new Parks & Recreation Commission Member. 3. APPROVAL OF THE MARCH 28, 2005 MINUTES: Johnson requested clarification of Old Business a. Park Signs – regarding the number of signs being ordered. Per Schultz, signs will be ordered for all parks previously discussed, and a sign will be ordered for the entrance to Schwarz Pond Park off of Connemara Ave. MOTION by Eliason to approve the minutes of March 28, 2005. SECOND by Defries. Ayes: 5 Nays: 0 Motion passed. 4. AUDIENCE INPUT: None. 5. DISCUSSION (Response to Audience Input): None. 6. OLD BUSINESS: a. Naming of City Park – At last month’s meeting, the Commission decided to postpone the naming of the new park in the Meadows of Bloomfield development for further discussion. Per Schultz, the current Fire Chief, Scott Aker, has reviewed the history of Rosemount’s fire chiefs. Based on his findings, he felt it would be better not to name the park after a past fire chief as there was no clearly identified chief in any of the records. Schultz also told the Commission that Chuck Doyle has spoken to the City Clerk regarding having a park named after him. He has a history in aviation. Schultz recommended naming the park after the development, “Meadows Park”. The Commission agreed. MOTION by Sampo to name the city park in the Meadows of Bloomfield Development “Meadows Park”. SECOND by Eliason. Ayes: 5 Nays: 0 Motion passed. b. Rosemount Interpretive Corridor – Schultz reviewed a map of the proposed interpretive corridor trail from Rosemount’s downtown to the Spring Lake Regional Park which overlooks the Mississippi River. The plan is to work with the Friends of the Mississippi River, private land owners and developers to design an interesting trail route that follows the City’s development patterns as land is developed between downtown Rosemount and the Mississippi River. Schultz will be meeting with private property owners and business owners on May 3, 2005 regarding this project. He was looking for input from the Commission regarding the trail alignment. Schultz explained that there is no specific timeline for the project, that its construction will coincide with the development of the area, and that the Friends of the Mississippi River is involved to provide their expertise to preserve/restore the trail route, with the larger goal of enhancing and preserving the river. Schultz has spoken to Flint Hills Resources representatives and they are in favor of the trail alignment. Besides Flint Hills, there are only seven other landowners along the trail. The trail will be a bituminous trail for walking and biking. Funding for the project will come from park development funds and parks dedication, and there may also be some donations of easements. The Commission asked how we would be able to secure easements from the landowners along the trail route, how it would be executed, and whether we would gather easements and do nothing until we have them all. Schultz explained that the final execution plan has not yet been identified. At this stage, Schultz was asking the Commission whether they would support the proposed route alignment or if they saw significant issues with this route. Schultz will bring back a new map with the actual areas that have been chosen for the interpretive corridor, along with an implementation plan. At this time, we are only identifying the trail alignment. If the Commission supports the trail alignment, Schultz will meet with landowners and begin the process. MOTION by Sampo to support the proposed Rosemount Interpretive Corridor Trail alignment. SECOND by Eliason. Ayes: 5 Nays: 0 Motion passed. 7. NEW BUSINESS: a. Goal Setting and Park Tour – Schultz asked the Commission to consider having a goal setting session and a park tour. Schultz also informed the Commission that he has been contacted by the Farmington Parks and Recreation Director regarding their Parks and Recreation Commission meeting with ours. One of their commission’s goals was to meet with neighboring communities’ commissions to share information and talk about issues they are facing. The Commission felt that goal setting was important to make sure that the Commission’s goals are in line with the City Council’s goals, and also so that the Commission could discuss and plan for future development with regard to items such as the athletic complex, other facilities, downtown revitalization, etc. The Commission agreed to have a goal setting session this summer. Having two park tours was suggested. One tour would be of new and future parks, and the second tour would be looking at and evaluating our older parks to see how they’ve aged, what’s worked well and what hasn’t, and to get some ideas regarding what we can do to improve them if necessary. Including the downtown area in the tour and discussion of the Commission’s role in its redevelopment was also suggested. Sampo asked Schultz to provide a report on every park, including information on safety issues, maintenance (when equipment was last maintained), who has adopted the parks, etc. She also requested information on the different vendors we’ve purchased park equipment from, what the warranties were, how the equipment has worked for us, and whether one vendor’s equipment performed better than another. The Commission decided to meet with the Farmington Parks and Recreation Commission in the fall. b. Glen Rose Development – Preliminary Plat – Schultz provided the Commission with a preliminary plat for this development. The plat currently includes 74 town homes on 10.75 acres located east of Hwy. 3, between Hwy. 3 and Erickson Park. Schultz had the following recommendations regarding this plat: All public trails and sidewalks should be designed and built to current standards - typically, sidewalks are made of concrete and are five feet wide and trails are made of asphalt and are eight feet wide; The trail along the main entrance to the development and leading into Erickson Park should be reviewed for realignment; The trail on the north side of 140th Circle should be identified as having a future connection to the north; Review the possibility of securing an easement for a future underpass under State Hwy. 3. Based on the number of concerns with this plan, it will be revised and Schultz will bring it back for the Commission to review again. Schultz also recommended collecting parks dedication as cash in lieu of land, and giving the developer cash credit for the off-site construction of the trail from the edge of the development to the Flint Hills trail in Erickson Park (130 feet). The amount of the credit would be agreed upon by the developer and staff, and would be included in the subdivision agreement. Schultz reviewed the plat and went over how the trail through the development would be realigned. Sampo suggested that as long as they are realigning the trail, it would be a good idea to extend it and have access all the way to Hwy. 3. Jacobs asked for a recommendation on the cash dedication/credit, and then to continue with discussion regarding the underpass under Hwy 3. MOTION by Johnson to recommend accepting parks dedication in the form of cash in lieu of land, minus the cash credit that could be given for the off-site improvement which would connect the trail from the end of the developer’s property to the existing Flint Hills trail, by mutual agreement of both the developer and City staff. SECOND by Defries. Ayes: 5 Nays: 0 Motion passed. Underpass Discussion - The Commission agreed that an underpass under Hwy. 3 was a good idea based on the development in the area and safety issues. Jacobs asked whether a formal motion was needed. Per Schultz, the Commission can recommend that we review the opportunity for the underpass, and we can discuss this further when the revised plat comes back. Schultz told the Commission that he has reminded City staff that if we don’t look at the underpass now, we may not have the opportunity to do so again. MOTION by Sampo to recommend securing an easement for a future underpass under State Hwy 3. SECOND by Eliason. Ayes: 5 Nays: 0 Motion passed. c. City Survey – Schultz reviewed a number of charts showing the results of the 2005 Resident Survey that was conducted by Decision Resources. In 2005 we had an increase in trail use and neighborhood park use, a slight decrease in community park use, and an increase in community ball field use. 76% of our residents use neighborhood parks. The survey asked about the need for/support for an athletic complex. 60% of those surveyed support the concept of an athletic complex. When asked if they would support it based on a tax increase, only 44% supported it and 49% opposed it. The survey company thought that 60% was a soft number (not enough support). Educating people and gaining support for the athletic complex may be something we can look at during our goal setting session. Regarding facilities, when residents were asked, “Do you support the construction of these tied to a tax increase,” 59% supported an aquatic center; 71% supported a senior center; 78% supported a youth center and 32% supported a second sheet of ice. Per Eliason, in surrounding communities, youth centers have been poorly attended. Senior centers and aquatic centers do get used. When asked if they participated in City sponsored recreation programs, 39% said they did, and 61% said they didn’t. 97% said they were satisfied with the programs. The survey included baseball, softball, soccer, AAA (which should have been RAAA), and swimming, which are not Parks and Recreation Department programs. In spite of this, the survey results give us a general idea of residents’ perception of City services. Johnson asked what the percentages were for surrounding cities, such as Eagan. Schultz said that we have asked Decision Resources for information on how we compare with other cities, and when we receive that data, Schultz will share it with the Commission. Schultz had provided the Commission with a copy of the survey so they could see what questions were asked and what the results were. Decision Resources will give us a cleaner version of the survey in a couple of months, and Schultz will give the commission copies when we receive it. d. Director’s Report – The Parks Improvement Fund Balance as of March 31, 2005 was $1,066,425.82. Parks dedication fees of $6,764 were received this month for one of the lots in the Aldi’s development. Interest was $1,782.92. There were expenditures of $153,717.98 for the Wiklund and Bester property purchases. We did submit another grant to the DNR for $45,000 for restoration of this property. We should find out in July if we have received the grant. Jacobs asked for an update on what happened regarding the original DNR grant for the purchase of the conservation easement for the Wiklund property. Schultz explained that when the DNR went through their final review of the $50,000 grant we had applied for to be used toward the purchase of the Wiklund easement, they realized that the conservation easement would be owned by the DNR, even though the City and the County were going to be third party right holders. Because they were going to own the easement, they couldn’t put DNR funds toward a project that the DNR would hold the easement on. It was decided that since this was an important piece of property for the City to secure, and so much time and effort had been put into the project, it was worthwhile to proceed with the it. Ms. Wiklund is now preparing to donate 15 acres to the City. We have applied to the DNR for grant money to restore the property once we own it. Senior “Do Drop Inn Room” – The Do Drop Inn Room opened today, April 25, 2005. The Rosemount Seniors will be using rooms that were vacated by ECFE when they were not able to continue to lease the rooms due to budget cuts. This is a place for seniors to meet and participate in activities Monday through Friday, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. We could not give the seniors permanent use of the rooms because the classrooms are owned by the National Guard, and used by them on weekends. New Skate Park Equipment – The new equipment was installed during the week of April 10, and the skate park opened on Friday, April 15. There have been large numbers of users since the addition of the new equipment. Schultz spoke with the Police Department and they haven’t had any issues at the skate park. Dakota County Open House – Monday, May 2, Dakota County is having an open house to discuss the Spring Lake Park Reserve Youth Lodge. They are looking at significant changes to the master plan for Spring Lake Park. Johnson asked when we were going to do the park tours next month, as that wasn’t clear from the earlier discussion. Per Schultz, in the past we have started the tour at 6:00 p.m. toured for an hour and a half, then had the meeting. Last year it was a separate evening from the Commission meeting. Schultz can pick out two or three dates to choose from, or try to coordinate it with next month’s meeting, doing the tour before the meeting. Johnson asked if they could have one tour in May and one in June. e. Choosing New Chair and Vice Chair - MOTION by Eliason to nominate Johnson for Chair. SECOND by Jacobs. MOTION to close nominations by Sampo. SECOND by Eliason. Ayes: 5 Nays: 0 Motion passed. MOTION by Johnson to nominate Eliason for Vice Chair. SECOND by Defries. MOTION to close nominations by Sampo. SECOND by Johnson. Ayes: 5 Nays: 0 Motion passed. Jacobs thanked Sterner for his many years serving on the Parks and Recreation Commission. 8. ADJOURNMENT MOTION by Eliason to adjourn the meeting. SECOND by Defries. Ayes: 5 Nays: 0 Motion passed. The meeting was adjourned at 8:53 p.m. Respectfully submitted by Sonja Honl, Recording Secretary